I found out a few weeks ago that an image I took at a Gym Class Heroes concert at Cornell in Ithaca, New York was recognized in Photo District News (PDN) and Billboard magazine’s Year in Music Moment contest. This image is in the June issue of PDN which can be found in any major bookstore. The guy crowd surfing in this image is Gym Class Heroes’ flag man Marc DeJesus. This picture might look familiar because I posted quite a few images from this day a while back: http://www.larissacleveland.com/gym-class-heroes-tyga

I’m so excited that these pictures have caught some attention because I had a blast shooting and hanging out with Gym Class Heroes and Tyga last year. I’d love to do more work in this direction – It was a breath of fresh air from my norm and totally fun!

Here’s a quote from PDN about the contest:

“It’s dark, it’s loud, and somewhere between jumping over cords and amps, being blinded by light shows and avoiding the elbows of chanting fans, you’re capturing musicians doing their thing. It’s no easy feat, which is why Billboard and PDN are proud to join forces to present the first SUMMER MUSIC MOMENT, featuring the winners of our unparalleled music photography contest. This contest celebrates the collaboration of music and visual artists and we hope you dig the winning results on the following pages as much as we do. Let’s face it: after the crowds go home and our ears stop ringing, these striking images remain—and that is worth dodging elbows for.”

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to photograph an absolutely GORGEOUS wedding in the hills of Tiburon, CA. The location was surrounded by acres of manicured gardens, grassy fields and breathtaking views. The bride and groom, Orlee and David were the most loving couple a photographer could ask for. Not only do they both have totally infectious personalities, they are so deeply in love, their energy was contagious which made for quite the party!

When they return from their honeymoon, we have an awesome portrait shoot planned at the Abandoned infirmary on Angle Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Judging from this past weekend I think we are going to have a blast!

When I think of this weekend all I can say is WOW…it was absolutely perfect. Thank you to both my assistants, Erik and JP, Lisa Feldman the amazing wedding coordinator and all of the other vendors – you all did an absolutely top notch job.

Check back soon to see the results of our portrait shoot on Angel Island!

This week I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of a couple named Amadu and Kelly. We met up at San Francisco’s majestic city hall building for the ceremony that was attended by family and close friends. These two were all smiles all day -  They easily let loose during portraits and we really had a blast (thank you Amadu for showing off your amazing cartwheel skills!) It was clear to me that Kelly and Amadu are very genuine and socially conscious individuals. They included a very unique gesture into their wedding day by wearing bracelets they had made that poetically apposed proposition eight. After their ceremony they unraveled the paper woven into the bracelets to reveal a statement of hope for equality in the future. I later found out that Kelly and Amadu had already been together for eleven years…they were as in love and excited about each other as any two people I’ve photographed. These two definitely gave me a warm-fuzzy feeling inside…Best of Luck to you both!

This past Saturday I flew from San Francisco to New York (my old stomping ground!) to photograph Amanda and Jason’s wedding. This wedding was particularly fun because I also photographed Amanda’s sister wedding two years ago, so I knew the family and many of the guests. To my delight, I was met with warm greetings and hugs – this family is one of the sweetest I’ve had the opportunity to work with! Myself and second photographer Chris Tack started off photographing Amanda and the ladies getting ready at Jason and Amanda’s new place, while Brandon Vick (friend and second photographer) was photographing the guys. Then to the church, and on to portraits – taking images both at a very cool old barn and at the Genesee Country Museum. The Jason and Amanda were absolutely adorable and obviously very in love. Everyone that day made all three of us feel very welcome – thank you to the bride and groom’s family, and Congratulations Amanda and Jason!!

This past weekend I flew to New York to photograph a wedding, and I also took Friday to do an engagement shoot with an awesome couple – Debbie and Damien. Accompanied by friend and assistant Chris Tack, the four of us met up at a coffee shop in downtown Ithaca, New York. This couple was open too all my crazy ideas, and comfortable to work with – we had a great time! I can’t wait for their wedding this September in Aurora, New York. These two have a truly amazing story – I’m so glad they’ve found each other…Congratulations guys!!

We then all hopped into Damien and Debbie’s car and drove over to the school where they first met – Ithaca College. We took some pictures by the student dorms where they both lived then roamed the commons for a bit, found an awesome winding staircase and a patch or gorgeous purple flowers.

We then hopped back in the car and went to one of Ithaca’s many gorges and waterfalls. The setting sun light was just perfect at the base of the falls and Debbie brought some beautiful flowers along too. Debbie and Damien were such good sports. Some of the areas we went to were a little wet – I even asked them to climb into a storm drain (first image in the post) and they were totally into it! Thank you both for a great shoot!

The wedding is only a few months away…See you in September!!