599 Blackhawk Club Drive
Danville, CA 94506-4522
(925) 736-6550
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Photographer’s Review

For the Bride/Groom: We really like Blackhawk as a wedding venue because it provides ample space to move and a good photographer shouldn’t be in anyones way at this place. Great service and the on-site coordinator is on every last detail. If you’d like a more techie review, please read on but don’t forget to check out our article on getting the most out of your wedding photographer.

Photographer’s review: This venue certainly is one of the more posh locals in the East Bay and works well for larger weddings. There is plenty of room to move around and the staff are very helpful and responsive to every need. The place is fancy and elegant, which is perfect if you like that sort of thing. It does not have the old, classic sort of feel. The ceremony area is usually set up so that the front is angled into a “V”, which makes it challenging for the photographer to get bride/groom faces. The angle that seems to work best is actually from behind and below the patio, near the shrubs. Then a telephoto can shoot up through the black iron railing to capture the bride reactions during the ceremony. The groom shot is tougher, since that same angle from the behind the patio would put you in the water. The ballroom is spacious but high ceilings won’t help much to bounce your flash. They have an in-house projector and screen but no digital video connectors for Mac (we bring our own).

One knows on the drive into the Blackhawk Country Club that they’re not in Kansas anymore. The treelined road approaching the club has by far the largest mansions we’ve ever seen and provide interesting possibilities for portraits. The entryways to any number of these homes could grace the cover of Sunset magazine.

Lighting notes: East Bay in the summer means there probably won’t be clouds. Prepare for harsh light and hot day during the summer. The reception ball room has high, wood/ white painted panelling.

Equipment
Body: Nikon D3, D200
Lenses: Nikon 12-24 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 16 2.8 fisheye, 85 1.4
Flash: Nikon SB900, 40″ umbrella
Pro-line projector & 60″ portable projection screen (not used since BH has in house projection)

Click here for pictures from our Blackhawk weddings. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer for your Blackhawk wedding, it’s Dan Johanson Weddings for any venue in the Danville or San Francisco Bay Area.

Casa Madrona Hotel
801 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 332-0502

For the Bride/Groom
The Casa Madrona is perhaps the most charming boutique hotel we’ve found in Sausalito. With sweeping views of the harbor and hills of Marin, the backdrop is stunning for any occasion. Provided the weather is warm enough, their outdoor Ceremony Deck is the obvious choice for the wedding, but can only accommodate about 75 . Like most of the hotel’s facilities, its only accessed by a set stairs and may prove difficult for the physically challenged. If you’d like a more techie review, please read on but don’t forget to check out our article on getting the most out of your wedding photographer.

Photographer’s Review
The Ceremony Deck itself is rather small and very difficult to move around on without causing a distraction to the guests. It’s especially important here to keep the photographer’s movement to a bare minimum. We suggest one photographer crouched down up front and another in the back or on the dining room level which overlooks the entire deck.

When the guests transition to the reception area, this requires going down stairs and going up another set to the adjacent dining room. Not too bad, but again might prove a challenge if the wedding party has a high number of elderly or otherwise challenged guests.  The reception/dining area is very cozy for groups of 60-80. We have a hard time here finding a good place to use our LCD projector here as there is no place which allows all the guests to see the slideshow. Nor is there really an adequate wall to project on, so we settle for using the corner near the entrance and bring our own projection screen.

Wedding Review for Dublin Ranch Golf Course
5900 Signal Hill Drive
Dublin, CA 94568-7795
(925) 556-7040

Yelp review for Dublin Ranch
Our Review

Character: Not much
Lighting: Good
Portrait locations: Great (The fountain, golf course (allowed in certain areas), the entrance area, small bridge)
Food: “Just Ok”  (guest plate)

Overall: 8/10

Our Review:  Dublin Ranch Golf Course offers an amazing number of portrait possibilities with great views over Dublin and Pleasanton. For weddings, they typically have outdoor seating looking west down the golf course, which can be a bit bright for guests in the mid to late afternoon sun. Once the sun is down however, the sunset is really something special — and a gorgeous backdrop while guests are enjoying the cocktails outside.

We liked how they allowed the wedding party use of the golf carts (not sure if there was a charge), which allowed us some really fun shots and a quick trip down to the fountain, which is a great place for pictures. The biggest benefit though was it totally de-stressed the bride having a go around in these carts before the wedding. The reception room has two large big screen televisions that in theory should connect to a laptop, though it will not connect to our Macbook Pro.  We bring out own LCD and projection screen and they work well near the bar area.

Contact Dan Johanson-Weddings for photography and cinematic video services for Dublin Ranch or any other wedding venue in Dublin, Pleasanton or Livermore.

Lighting notes:  East Bay in the summer means there probably won’t be clouds. Prepare for harsh light and hot day during the summer. The reception hall is functional and great for dancing pictures because of the ceiling is low and reflective, allowing the flash to bounce up and not always directly at people.

Our Equipment:

Body: Nikon D3, D200

Lenses: Nikon 12-24 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 16 2.8 fisheye, 85 1.4
Flash: Nikon SB900 – bouncing nicely off the low, white ceilings
Pro-line projector & 60″ portable projection screen

For the Bride/Groom: The Julia Morgan Ballroom is one of the swankiest, most character-filled venues in all of San Francisco. It’s regal, cozy and spacious– a real dream of a venue that has impecable service too. Great service and the on-site coordinators (we met Linda) is on every last detail. If you’d like a more techie review, please read on but don’t forget to check out our article on getting the most out of your wedding photographer.

Our review: Photographers will delight in the character of this place but they better bring fast prime lenses because the ceilings are high and the wood panels and dimmed lights make things quite challenging. Some couples bring in additional lighting to create even more terrific ambiance but still, only photographers with suburb ISO bodies and fast lenses need apply for this job. The Julia Morgan Ballroom has a fabulous fireplace in the middle, though for a summer wedding reception it obviously won’t be lit. If we get back here, we’ll set up some speedlights on stands and put them around the DJ area to create a rim light on the dance floor.

Our Equipment
Body: Nikon D3, D200
Lenses: Nikon 12-24 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 16 2.8 fisheye, 50 f1.4, 85 f1.4
Flash: Nikon SB600 (2), Nikon SB900, 40″ umbrella
Pro-line projector & 60″ portable projection screen