Oakland Wedding at Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park.
by Indigo Admin | January 27, 2023
My name is Awana Morris. During my years of high school at Oakland School for the Arts I’d learned a lot from Oakland photographers and creative directors. 2015 is not only the year I became an intern for Indigo Moments Photography, but also the year I graduated. Later that year I left to attend New York Film Academy. Now that I’m finished with school and back in the bay area I’m working full time again with Award-winning Photographer Ashley Shoemaker, doing exactly what I love.
December 9th 2022 started off as another beautiful day in Oakland California. Ashley and I prepped at the studio for our wedding shoot. The groom had already sent the address weeks in advance so we set our navigation to Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park. Along the drive the city grew quieter, trees surrounded us and all we could hear was birds and wind. Today the sky was a bit gloomy, but the sun would no doubt peak at some point today. Once we arrived at the location we saw no signs of a wedding. We drove up and down the different parking lots to spot some clues. Anything from flowers, to people dressed up, or even a sign. Nothing yet. One thing we did notice – we’d lost service at the location, and with no bride or groom in sight we decided to go back to the start of the park and ask a local for any information. They told us about a half mile up the main trail was the usual spot weddings would take place. We thanked her and drove to the furthest parking lot, proceeding on our journey. No matter the location, this is why we always arrive early. It’s important for us to get a feel if we haven’t already been to the location and see what sweet spots we might want to capture for our clients on these special days.
We got geared up pretty quickly and began on our half-mile walk that seemed a bit more than just a half mile. We joked about that and took a few deep breaths as we looked up. If you’ve ever been surrounded by Redwoods you know exactly how it smelled at that moment. You know how it felt to breathe. Moisture, air purified by the earth’s gifts with that sweet scent of terpenes. The moss of the forest was full, and the sun gave warmth, peeking through the trees only for a few moments. This was a place truly to be present.
We passed an outside school where children played, learning about the different fungi and plants. A river ran at our side, leading us further up the trail. Once we saw a few dresses and tux we realized we were getting closer, and still had plenty of time. Didn’t take much to set up once we found the wedding signs after that half-mile journey. We’d memorized some spots we’d want to stop and shoot our Bride and Groom on the path.
The guests arrived and everyone was so beautiful, and joyful, admiring the location. They took their time in finding their seats and the groom gathered everyone to sit as he’d sensed his beautiful bride would be arriving soon.
We made our way back down the path to the beginning of the trail, finding our Bride with her maid of honor. She had on the best shoes of all time. Converse– she’d decorated the laces herself. The maid held her dress as they began up the half-mile trail. Ashley captured these moments and made sure to be up at the top before Bride reached her Groom. I continued to shoot behind the scenes, watching the ceremony as it brought everyone together. This was an intimate moment, each one was and I felt honored and blessed to capture it. Once the ceremony came to a close, we gathered the family and guests all together for a group photo. We made sure to stop at all those sweet spots we’d found on the way with the Bride and Groom. As we all made our way to the parking lot, we got a few more photos of the rings. They thanked us over and over again, and it was at that moment I remembered just how happy I was to be back working at Indigo Moments Photography.
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Featured California Locations:
Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park