Wedding photography by Craig Kohlruss

Monday, October 10, 2011

Big clouds over the Big Fresno Fair

Big Fresno Fair rides at night
I had quite the busy day on the first day of this year’s Big Fresno Fair.

My plan was to help out at the Fresno Bee booth with my Fresno Photo Booth. We got set up but then the skies opened up with a huge downpour. Luckily, I have a canopy to keep the booth dry. I was really worried nobody was going to come because it was so wet. But in another stroke of luck, the raindrops stopped by the time the fair started.

In the end we had quite a few kids, families and individuals come up to take a photo booth picture which we posted on the Bee’s new Snap photo gallery. I also shot a few candids, including moments from the Fresno Beehive’s facial hair contest which were added to Snap.

Toward the end of the day, I got a call from my photo editor that we need to get a dusk-time photo showing the mid-way at the fair to tell the story of the unpredictable weather situation on the first day. Great. Problem was, it was already 6:15pm and I hadn’t put away the photo booth yet. I had probably less than an hour before the sun would set and there would be no light left in the sky to make a picture. I had to hustle to break down the booth and make three trips out to my car which was parked about three blocks away. It was a cool day, but I tell ya, I was sweatin’!

So finally after everything was packed away I ran out to the mid-way with my two Canon 5Ds. I was excited that there was still a tiny bit of light left in the sky and the clouds looked really cool. Ideally, I would have used a tripod to get some motion in the rides, but I didn’t have mine with me. So instead, I just hand-held the camera at about 1/20th of a second. I set the iso and aperture to get some brightness in the sky without blowing out the lights in the rides. In the end it worked out really well and I got a lot of feedback on the Bee Photography Facebook site. All-in-all a pretty productive day. Whew!

Posted in Fresno Bee

2 comments

For more photos click here

Joni Schrantz - January 6, 2012 - 10:08 am

I shot that swing years ago too at the Big Fresno Fair, it was part of a college assignment, brings me back! Don’t think mine was as good as yours with that gorgeous sky. Great work!

Photographe mariage Bruxelles - December 12, 2011 - 10:27 am

Great shot! I love the color of the sky! Thanks for sharing this with us!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Yosemite Valley wedding: Cristina and Ramon

Cristina and Ramon’s wedding at the Ahwahnee Hotel was my very first Yosemite Valley Wedding. Of course, I’ve been to the Valley many times, and mostly to work as a photographer, but never to shoot a wedding until now. It turned out to be everything I was hoping for and more. I think what made it even more special was just how cool the couple were! I owe a big thanks to fellow shooter Patrick Pike who works plenty of Yosemite Weddings and was kind enough to send Cristina and Ramon my way. I so appreciate that Patrick! The couple was running slightly behind – hey, it happens. But they still wanted to be sure and tour the Yosemite Valley floor to get plenty of couple portraits before the wedding ceremony. I arranged a quick “first look” so that they could at least have a little bit of a wow moment. Then we quickly did our shots in several spots around the Valley and still made it back almost on time! And the ceremony of course was awesome. It was set in the wedding lawn area south of the Ahwahnee Hotel and under the apple tree. The squirrels got involved too while helping themselves to a few apples during the ceremony. Afterwards, we did some cool family portrait shots with the hotel in the background and then went to do even more couple shots. I had a great time. It was like total creative license. Very fun. By dinner time everyone had retired to the Ahwahnee Solarium which is a pretty cool little venue in itself. After food, speeches and cake, it was off to the Winter Club Room for party time. By the time it was all said and done, I was pretty exhausted, but it was definitely worth it. I hope this is the first of many wedding shoots to come in Yosemite Valley

Posted in Weddings

1 comment

Tom Ellis - Seattle wedding photographer - January 29, 2012 - 1:44 pm

I have only had a chance to visit Yosemite twice, and these photos really make me want to go back again. What a great location for a wedding! Very nice work!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tenaya Lodge wedding: Elizabeth and Brian

It’s always nice to spend a day in the mountains around Yosemite National Park and it was super nice to spend a day with Brian and Elizabeth shooting their wedding at the ever-elegant Tenaya Lodge. What a beautiful summer day we had with lots of sunshine and warm, but comfortable weather. I could get used to this!
Click here to see the rest of the images

Posted in Weddings

1 comment

Arrien Vliet - February 22, 2012 - 3:11 pm

Great great photography! I also love that second to last shot!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Engagement: Alik and Garin

The first time I tried to get together with Alik and Garin for their engagement shoot, the skies over San Francisco opened up for a huge downpour. So we thought the middle of summer would be fine right? Not in San Francisco! Poor Alik was freezing and the sky remained overcast, but we made do and had a good time anyway. It was the second SF engagement with the second Hovsepian bride of the year. Crazy eh? Alik and Garin will be getting married in downtown Fresno on Oct. 1. Stay tuned for those photos.

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Posted in Engagements

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Rick Norsigian for Backpacker Magazine

Backpacker Magazine contacted me about doing a portrait of Fresno collector Rick Norsigian. The Fresno Bee had done a few stories on him already about his mysterious collection of glass negatives found at a garage sale that he claims were made by famous nature photographer Ansel Adams. Although there is a pretty good case that the negatives could be Adams,’ no official member of the Ansel Adams library have agreed to give their seal of approval. If they did, of course, they would be worth thousands or even millions. I had yet to meet the man but when I finally did, it was a pleasant experience. He was very gracious and of course gave me his complete side of the story. The above photo of Rick in his home full of various collections and antique finds and holding one of the glass negatives was the one chosen for the magazine.

Posted in Editorial, Portraits

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

San Francisco engagement session

san francisco engagement session
Okay, so it wasn’t quite the beautiful spring day we were hoping for at Elizabeth and Brian’s engagement session at San Francisco‘s Palace of Fine Arts and Baker Beach – in fact it ended in clouds and rain – but we couldn’t complain. Hey it’s San Francisco, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, rain or shine. And the couple was great. We really had some fun with it and even walked out on the beach in the drizzle with the Golden Gate Bridge nearly obscured by fog in the background. I know Elizabeth and Brian will have a great wedding in Fresno this fall because they were absolutely cool about the weather. “It’s San Francisco weather,” Brian said. So true. Fun times.
Click for more photos of Brian and Elizabeth’s engagement photos

Posted in Engagements

1 comment

Monty Steedman - November 10, 2011 - 2:30 am

Fantastic engagement shot, love the umbrella!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Married: Jon & Jamie

fresno wedding photography
She was suffering from a cold and there was a strong threat of rain at an outdoor wedding, but when all was said and done Jon and Jamie’s wedding at Sierra Meadows Golf Club in Ahwahnee was amazing. The service wen on without a drop of rain and by the time it was over, the clouds actually parted to let the evening sun shine through. It was an incredible photography experience. But more than that, I really enjoyed working with Jon and Jamie – two people who couldn’t have been nicer and more accommodating to their family, guests and even me. Thanks guys and congrats!
Click here to see the rest of the pix!

Posted in Weddings

1 comment

Mark Hargon - June 15, 2011 - 6:26 am

Amazing job. I am Jon’s brother in law. My wife, Jon’s sister, passed away 2 years ago and my daughters were the flower girls/bubble blowers. I may be interested in any pics of my daughters that are in the album, and others that may not be. Thanks.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Senior portraits: Alex

Had some fun shooting Alex’s senior portraits out at her aunt’s house east of Clovis where she keeps horses on her 2-acre lot. Love that Clovis way of life! We had fun using the rural surroundings with plenty of late afternoon sun. Congratulations to Alex who graduates from Bullard High this year!
Click here for more pics of Alex

Posted in Portraits

2 comments

Dan Martin - June 5, 2011 - 10:45 pm

The goal of every photo is to capture the spirit of the moment. You have a gift of capturing the moment. Thanks for sharing you wonderful images.

Dan - Pure Portraits - June 1, 2011 - 3:38 pm

Fantastic lighting in these photos!! Beautiful.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Crimson Stain Project

crimson stain project photo shoot
Did a photo shoot of Janice Stain and her group of gospel musicians, “Crimson Stain Project” a couple of weeks ago. The shoot was part of a marketing campaign being put together by Fresno’s Paprika Studios – So a big thanks to the great team over there for the work. Janice is really cool and her music is amazing. She’s actually a doctor in Fresno – an OB/GYN who delivers babies when she’s not making music. Pretty awesome story. I’m not really a gospel guy, but I was really loving the backyard concert they put on as part of my shoot as well as for a music video being filmed. I can’t wait to see her career really take off!
Click here to see more of the shoot

Posted in Commerical

1 comment

Raychel Wade - June 23, 2011 - 3:32 am

Hi Guys! Great pictures all the way!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Sikh wedding

I followed groom Jas around as a second with Steve Skibbie who hired me to cover the big day for Jas and Rippy. This is the first Sikh wedding I have shot in years. In fact, the first one I did as a photo essay for the Appeal-Democrat newspaper where I worked. I’ve been to Sikh temples plenty of times since then as I often cover stories and events for The Fresno Bee. But this was extra special because I was able to get really close to the traditions of a real Sikh wedding. I love getting up close looks at all the interesting cultures we have here in the Central Valley. I started out by going to Jas’ home where I watched him tediously wrap his turban and then as his family fed him in a traditional ceremony. Very interesting stuff! I wanted to thank Steve for inviting me to come along and Jas and Rippy for allowing me to be a part of their day. It really meant a lot to me to capture the color and holiness. And Steve, I’m looking forward to doing it again next month!
Click here to see more images from the shoot

Posted in Second Shooter, Weddings

5 comments

Guru - May 12, 2011 - 1:27 pm

Good Work ….

Craig Kohlruss - May 10, 2011 - 2:09 pm

You bet Steve! Thanks for having me along.

Steve - May 10, 2011 - 1:33 pm

You, of course, ROCKED it. Thank you, SO much!

Craig Kohlruss - May 10, 2011 - 1:23 pm

Thanks Sherry!!!

Sherry - May 10, 2011 - 12:48 pm

Beautiful work Craig! Such great colors!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Fresno Photo Booth is live!

Fresno Photo Booth
The new photo booth project I have been working on for the last month is now live. The official unveiling came at the Kingsburg Relay for Life event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I think people really dug it. I want to thank Amanda for contacting me about it and supplying the cool props. I hope to start using the booth a lot more as I book weddings.

For those wondering, I am including the photo booth free with select wedding packages. For more information or to check on availability, fill out a contact form. There is also a separate blog where I will be posting images from events in addition to my facebook page.

To see more from the Kingsburg Relay for Life, go to http://photoboothfresno.com

Posted in Announcements

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Friday, March 18, 2011

Fierce Creatures

I did this conceptual shoot of the Fresno band Fierce Creatures for the Fresno Bee’s entertainment section, “7,” a couple of weeks ago. I was pretty happy with it and got a lot of feedback on it so I thought I’d post it here on my blog. It’s stories like this that keep me wanting to go back and do all the mundane assignments I get each week at the paper. I just love having a new challenge and something that will allow me to really find my creative voice, so to speak. Anyway, I hope Fierce Creatures did well at South by Southwest and I look forward to seeing their careers take off.

Oh yeah, here’s a video I did during that same shoot.

More pictures after the break. Click the link below if you’re on the home page.
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Posted in Editorial, Fresno Bee Tags: concept, Editorial, Fresno Bee, music

4 comments