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Zoe Larkin Photography blog

Helping Bay Area marriers navigate the new world of wedding photography and & planning 

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Recent posts

If you want to learn about saving money on your wedding you’re in the right place. But also, I want to be very real with you in this article. It may be an unpopular opinion but I honestly think that the wedding industry has peddled a lot of garbage about what they really ‘need’ for […]

40 creative ways to save money on your wedding

how to save money on your wedding - creative wedding budget hacks

January 22, 2020

planning

wedding couple sharing a joke against Inner Richmond District mural behind them

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Are you wondering what actual steps you can take to look GOOD in your wedding photos? I mean natural, looking like you really feel – happy and in love and enjoying the best day of your life. Good as in not cheesy, not awkward, just totally happy, relaxed and IN LOVE. Well, friends, there is a […]

How to look good in your wedding photos

December 23, 2019

planning

In this post I’m sharing the 36 best engagement photography locations in San Francisco. The places on this list are San Francisco spots that are amazing for wedding or engagement photos. What makes spots for couples photos any different from general cool photo spots? Well, for one thing, they each have a wide variety of […]

36 best engagement photography locations in San Francisco

9 best San Francisco location ideas for engagement photos - The complete guide to San Francisco engagement locations by Zoe Larkin Photography

December 19, 2019

engagements, planning

wedding ceremony picture at Sequoyah Country Clubwedding with bride laughing | How to choose the wedding photographer that's right for you

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We know how hard it is when it comes to choosing your wedding photographer! Where do you even begin? There are so many out there, and it’s difficult to figure out what really differentiates them. It can be a tough decision, especially when you consider the role the wedding photographer will take on your day. […]

10 tips for choosing your wedding photographer

December 13, 2019

planning

For couples getting married in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the biggest-ticket items of their wedding celebration is their wedding photographer. After the venue and catering costs, the cost of wedding photography is often the next biggest item in most couple’s budgets.  As with most HCOL areas, the Bay Area average price of […]

How much does wedding photography cost in the San Francisco Bay Area?

how-much-does-a-wedding-photography-cost-in-sf-bay-area

December 10, 2019

planning

minimum number of hours for wedding photography

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Now and then in my wedding photography business, I’ll get questions about minimum coverage hours for wedding photography. It’s usually people looking for short wedding coverage below our minimum number of hours. During the popular wedding season months many established wedding photographers are sadly only able to entertain inquiries that are looking to book us […]

Why are there minimum photography hours for weddings?

November 29, 2019

planning

Receiving your final wedding photos is exciting, and it’s only the beginning! Your photos are the tangible record of one of the biggest days of your life, and how you handle them in the weeks after delivery will determine whether they become treasured family heirlooms or just another digital folder that gets forgotten. This guide […]

What to do with your wedding photos

how to look after your wedding photos

October 28, 2019

planning

just married couple recessing down the aisle with bubbles

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The no-fluff guide to deciding: ‘should I get a second photographer at my wedding?’  The 2023 edit is that while I used to have a very cut-and-dried answer to this question (it was ‘yes’, unequivocally), nowadays things are a bit more nuanced. As I’ve grown in my ability to capture weddings and to get different […]

Do I need a second photographer at my wedding?

September 16, 2019

planning

I’m often asked by my couples about what they should wear for engagement photos! So I wanted to take a deep dive here and give you some pointers, tips and advice on what to wear your engagement session. My specific tips in this post, as well as quick and easy recommendations for affordable choices, will […]

What to wear for engagement photos

August 7, 2019

engagements, planning

how to keep wedding photos off the internet

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If you’re looking for a wedding photographer, you want to make sure you understand all the extra charges that you may encounter, so you can decide that’s right for you. There is a fee that some wedding photographers charge called a non-usage fee, a privacy fee, a loss-of-opportunity fee, or an image restriction fee. It […]

Keeping Images Private: Why Some Wedding Photographers Charge a Non-Usage Fee

August 5, 2019

planning

What affects the look of your finished wedding images? I want to get down to brass tacks in this article, and what factors affect the finished result – your wedding photos. A big part of what I do is education and generally making sure I’m the right fit for you. So let’s dive in to figuring […]

What affects the look of my wedding photos?

couple kissing at the highlands country club in oakland with the foggy skyline behind them | Zoe Larkin Photography

August 2, 2019

planning

can i get all the raw files from wedding

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One of the most common questions photographers get is: Can we have the RAW files? (Or the unedited jpegs)? It’s a fair question, especially in an age where digital files feel synonymous with ownership. But when it comes to wedding photography, RAW files aren’t part of the product – and there are really good reasons […]

Why wedding photographers don’t offer RAW files

July 20, 2019

planning

Shooting a wedding is a big undertaking and something that a professional wedding photographer doesn’t take lightly. Managing your expectations goes a long way to ensuring that there are no nasty surprises down the pike. Since the years I wrote this blog post, I decided to take a different tack in answering this question. Please […]

Why does it take so long to get my wedding pictures?

touching moment as mother of groom watches gift exchange at wedding

July 16, 2019

planning

how wedding photographers edit wedding pics

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How do wedding photographers edit photos? Diving into the process that your wedding photographer goes through from culling through delivery

How do wedding photographers edit photos?

July 5, 2019

planning

Wedding family photos are an essential part of every wedding day. They are so important to your finished wedding gallery, documenting your family members in a formal, intentional and lasting way. Their significance is only increased with time. To define our terms, group formals are when everyone looks at the camera and smiles. They are […]

How to create your family wedding photos shot list – the easy way

san francisco palace of fine arts wedding family photos

April 30, 2019

planning

crop ratios for print - understanding when you order different print sizes and need to crop to different aspect ratio | Zoe Larkin Photography

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This short intro to crop ratios for print is intended my wedding photography clients who are considering purchasing wall art or albums, whether through me or a third-party supplier. What is a Crop Ratio? Crop ratio means the ratio of one side of the image vs. the other side. The photos I take and deliver […]

Understanding crop ratios when printing your wedding photos

April 2, 2019

planning

Hello and thank you for considering Zoe Larkin Photography as your wedding photographer for your Bay Area wedding! I love to get to know my couples and explain hopefully in person a little about what the process of working together involves. However, there is more info than you can possibly take in – and I […]

What to expect from your wedding photography experience

pelican inn couple getting married

February 4, 2019

planning

couple posing against a blank wall on their bay area engagement sho| the process of preparing for your engagement shoot with Zoe Larkin Photography

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How does this whole engagement photography thing work? Knowing how to prepare for your engagement session is vital in getting the most out of your engagement photography experience. There are going to be so many questions you have as this is no doubt your first time being photographed professionally as a couple. You may now […]

How to prepare for your engagement session!

April 11, 2018

engagements, planning

We are so lucky to live in a part of the world that loves to do good and give back. The ethical wedding movement is growing. I’m delighted to bring you these ethical wedding ideas. Check out what my friend and fellow photographer Praise Santos is doing with Ethical Weddings. San Francisco has a huge […]

Ethical wedding ideas for your SF Bay Area wedding

elegant white wedding place setting

November 9, 2017

planning

Should I have a small wedding?

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What’s up friends! If you’re planning a small intimate wedding or considering it as an option, this guide is for you! Probably most people are aware of the most common advantages of having a small wedding, namely saving money and cutting down on stress. With current world events, it’s clear that intimate weddings are a […]

18 reasons you SHOULD have a small intimate wedding

March 30, 2017

planning

I lead a team of Bay Area wedding photographers 👋🏾 I personally help you plan your wedding timeline so you can relax and savor your wedding day.

We blend an unobtrusive approach to capturing images with a directive way of capturing the posed shots of you and your guests.

With over 400 weddings personally photographed by Zoe, hundreds of reviews on Yelp and Google, and over

San Francisco wedding photographers

MOMENT CATCHERS, LIGHT CHASERS, photojournalists

As a seasoned professional and true artist, I transform wedding moments into timeless memories, captured photojournalistically. 

In short, our images make memories last forever.

Looking for a wedding photographer that will honor your unique, beautiful story?

420,000 words of inspiration and and advice on the blog, we're the leading wedding photographers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Since 2017, I've poured my heart into Bay Area weddings, specializing in San Francisco City Hall ceremonies and shooting all love. Our goal is to create personal images with an intimate feel - images that evoke emotion and transport you back to the moment. 

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