Tag: Wedding

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HW8 Summary

HW8 Summary

Time Log Teams

  • Date: March 1, 2026 From: 7:30pm To: 6:50pm
  • Date: March 1, 2026 From: 6:50pm To: 7:20pm
  • Date: March 1, 2026 From: 7:30pm To: 8:10pm

 

Time Log Students

  • Date: February 27, 2026 From: 6:30pm To: 6:50pm
  • Date: February 27, 2026 From: 6:50pm To: 7:20pm
  • Date: February 28, 2026 From: 3:20pm To: 3:40pm
  • Date: March 1, 2026 From: 7:30pm To: 8:10pm

Essay I.

Summary of your activities in your contents including new contents created (one paragraph). Provide all the hyperlinks (clickable) of new contents you have created this week.

This week, I added two new blog posts to my personal website that feature a recent wedding day and an open house event at Chateau Lill in Woodinville, Washington. The posts highlight both the atmosphere of the venue and the quiet, meaningful moments that unfold throughout a wedding day and a visit on the grounds. Drawing from my experience as a wedding photographer, I focused on storytelling through images and reflections that capture the light, emotion, and natural beauty of the setting. The first post introduces Chateau Lill as a wedding venue and reflects on the feeling of celebration and stillness that the location offers. The second post focuses more closely on the smaller moments throughout the day, including preparation, portraits, and the peaceful environment surrounding the estate. Together, these posts help document the day visually while also sharing my perspective as a photographer observing the details and presence that make each wedding unique.

New content created this week:

Essay II.

Summary of your “Thank you” event conversion (add screenshots) (one paragraph)

After creating the custom event in Google Tag Manager and marking it as a key event in GA4, an Exploration report was created to analyze the thank-you conversion event. The exploration filtered for the event “thank_you_page_view,” allowed me to observe event counts and user interactions associated with successful form submissions. This report helps demonstrate how GA4 can be used not only to track conversions but also to analyze user behavior and engagement related to those events.

Essay III.

Summary of your “menu click” event conversion (add screenshots) (one paragraph)

A custom event named “menu_click” was created in Google Tag Manager to track interactions with the website’s navigation menu. A click trigger was configured using the condition “Click Text” contains [menu item name], allowing the event to fire when users click a specific menu link. The event sends parameters such as the click text and click URL to GA4, enabling analysis of which navigation elements users interact with most frequently. The event was tested in GTM Preview mode and verified in the GA4 Realtime report.

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A Day at Chateau Lill | Quiet Moments, Golden Light, and the Beauty of Presence

Some wedding days feel loud with excitement. Others feel soft, unfolding gently, moment by moment, like a story you’re meant to experience slowly.

This day at Chateau Lill felt like the latter.

From the beginning, there was a quiet intimacy woven into every part of the day. Inside the bridal suite, sunlight poured through the windows while the bride stood still, surrounded by the people who love her most. Hands carefully buttoned lace, adjusted delicate details, and moved with the kind of tenderness that doesn’t need words. It was one of those moments that reminds me why I love photographing the getting-ready hours. Not because of the dress itself, but because of what it represents: support, anticipation, and the quiet calm before everything begins.

As the day moved outside, the energy shifted into something more romantic and cinematic. The gardens and natural textures of Chateau Lill created the perfect backdrop. Soft greens, filtered light, and a sense of stillness that allowed the couple to simply be together. Watching them embrace felt effortless, like they had forgotten the camera entirely. Those are always my favorite moments. When love feels less like a pose and more like a conversation happening quietly between two people.

One of the most unforgettable moments came just before the evening settled in. Guests moved around them in a blur of motion while the couple stood completely grounded in the center of it all. Still, connected, and fully present. Time seemed to slow down. The world kept moving, but for a brief moment, it felt like only the two of them existed.

That’s what I’ll remember most about this day at Chateau Lill: the contrast between movement and stillness. The laughter and celebration surrounding moments of deep calm. The way light softened everything, turning ordinary seconds into something timeless.

Wedding days pass quickly, but photographs allow us to return to the feeling. The quiet breaths, the gentle touches, the moments that might otherwise slip away. And this day was full of them.

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A Rehearsal Dinner Above the City | The Charlotte, Seattle

There is something quietly special about the night before a wedding.

It’s softer.
More intimate.
Less structured.

When this couple told me they were flying in from out of town and wanted to add rehearsal dinner coverage, I immediately loved the idea. I typically photograph engagement sessions for my wedding clients. Those are always meaningful and full of anticipation, but this felt different in the best way.

This wasn’t posed anticipation.
This was presence.

The dinner was held at The Charlotte in downtown Seattle, perched high above the city on the 16th floor. It was a warm September evening…one of those rare Pacific Northwest days that feels like summer holding on just a little longer.

The sky was overcast, as it so often is in Washington, but somehow that made the evening even more beautiful. From above, the gray clouds softened everything. The views stretched wide through floor-to-ceiling windows with Elliott Bay shimmering in the distance, Smith Tower standing timeless, Lumen Field anchoring the skyline.

There’s a life happening down at street level.
Cars moving. People rushing. City noise. Momentum.

And then there’s another life up high in the sky.

Up there, everything slows. The city feels quieter. More intentional. Almost cinematic.

A Different Kind of Engagement Session

Between welcoming guests and hosting dinner, we carved out time for a few engagement-style portraits. Just the two of them, stepping away for a moment.

No timeline pressure.
No production.
Just a pause.

The skyline behind them felt surreal, as if the city itself were celebrating with them. The warmth of the evening light reflecting against the glass, the soft gray sky, the hum of downtown far below.

It was such a beautiful shift from the traditional engagement session format. Instead of meeting somewhere separate and curated, these portraits were woven into their story…the night before they promised forever, surrounded by the people who love them most.

Modern Elegance & Meaningful Details

Inside, The Charlotte’s modern interior created an elegant contrast to the soft skies outside. Clean lines. Artistic touches. And a striking “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” artwork anchoring the space.

Classic, iconic, a nod to timeless romance.

The décor felt intentional without being overwhelming. It allowed the focus to stay where it belonged: on conversation, laughter, toasts, and the quiet glances exchanged between two people about to step into marriage.

There’s something incredibly grounding about rehearsal dinners. It’s where stories are told. Where parents hold back tears. Where friends remember who you were before you met, and celebrate who you’ve become together.

It was a relaxed evening. A warm September sky. The city stretching endlessly below.

And the gift of witnessing a couple fully present, not just as bride and groom, but as hosts, friends, children, and partners, the night before everything officially begins.

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Photographing Paris: A Core Memory, On Film

Three years ago, I photographed two pre-wedding portrait sessions in Paris.
The Ritz. The Louvre. Pont Alexandre III.

Even typing those names still feels surreal.

I remember standing in the early morning light, camera in hand, feeling like I was holding two realities at once:
I was living inside a core memory… and I was there to do a job.

There’s a strange tension in that.
The desire to fully be somewhere…to feel the air, the architecture, the hum of the city…while also carrying the quiet responsibility of creating something beautiful and lasting for someone else.

It felt cinematic. Almost unreal.

When I was in elementary, I watched the Olsen twins in their Paris movie and imagined what that city must feel like. The fashion, the romance, the bridges at sunset. Paris felt like a dream reserved for grown-up versions of myself; a future self I wasn’t yet sure I’d become.

And then suddenly, I was there.
Not just as a tourist. Not just as a dreamer.
But as a photographer.

An artist.
Working.

There is something deeply grounding about doing what you love in a place you once only saw through a screen. It collapses time. The younger version of me and the present version of me felt very close in those moments.

Why I Chose Film

For those sessions, I made it intentional to shoot both digital and film, but I prioritized film just as much.

Film has taught me to slow down.

Every frame costs something.
Each click is literal money.

Film demands intention.

It asks: Are you sure?
It asks: Did you really see that moment?

It forces me to trust my eye. To compose carefully. To wait. To feel.

What’s funny, and maybe even more poetic, is that I didn’t get around to developing the film until recently. Life happened. Work happened. Time passed.

And then one day, years later, I finally saw those images come to life.

It felt like stepping back into Paris all over again.

The light at the Louvre.
The quiet grandeur of the Ritz.
The golden glow stretching across Pont Alexandre III.

I experienced those memories once in real time…
and then again, newly, through the softness and depth only film can give.

There is something sacred about that delay. Film doesn’t rush you. It lets the memory age before revealing it back to you.

How Film Has Shaped My Digital Work

There is nothing quite like photographing on film.

And even when I’m shooting digital now, I carry that same discipline with me.

I don’t rely on rapid-fire bursts hoping one frame will be “the one.”
I move with intention.
I look longer.
I wait.

Film changed the way I see in both my professional work as well as in my personal everyday.

It taught me that photography isn’t about volume, it’s about presence. It’s about the art of noticing. It’s about honoring the moment as it unfolds instead of trying to overpower it.

Every time I get behind a lens, I feel like I’m photographing a movie.

But Paris felt like stepping inside one.

And the most beautiful part?
Three years later, I can still see it clearly.

That younger girl who once watched a Paris movie and dreamed?
She would not believe where we’ve stood.