Larisa & Alex

It’s a privilege when your good friends calls you and ask you to photograph a wedding of his best friends. The reason why it’s an honor is because they know you can do a good job. That also means they have very high expectations and I need to get all my creative juices going to get some amazing shots.

Luckily Larisa and Alex were fun and so easy going. I haven’t met them before but we kicked it off right away. We spent 2 hours in and around the City Hall taking variety of images. From group photos, to serious, to dancing to fun, to goofy at times. And then we ended up with some champagne shots outside of the City Hall.

I ran into them a month later after my friend’s party. Larisa came to me and gave me a big hug saying how much she loved the photos. To me that means everything. With the camera at hand, you’re allowed to enter people’s most important moments in their lives. It also allows you to be creative, photograph something that wasn’t done before but also to capture the magic of the day as is unfolds.

city hall wedding, sf weddings, sfportraitBoris PolisskyAugust 15, 2024SF City Hall Photosfcityhallweddingphotography, sfcityhallphoto, sfcityhallphotographer, sfcityhall, cityhallsf, sfphotographer, sfphotography, wedding, sfwedding, sfweddingphotography, sfweddinComment

Favorite Fall wedding moments

What a fun, busy and crazy this Fall has been. I can have a separate post for every single wedding I shot because each one was unique, exciting and emotional in its own way. And once I have a bit more time I would like to go back and cover some of them. The light on the 4th Floor North side was something you can’t just pass by. I was draw to it and wanted to take advantage of it. There were these pocket of lights that make the City Hall even more mysterious and unique.

I was lucky to have some of the funniest couples that chose me. Maybe it’s not a coincidence they picked me. I always say that my goal is to not only have great photos that capture their day, but to make sure they don’t forget to have fun and to enjoy the process of taking photos. Without that the most beautiful place will look dull because they aren’t enjoying themselves and instead are posing for cameras. While I will always direct and come up with ideas and images I want to see, I love capturing these moments in between and strive to orchestra these moments.

And then there’s the actual ceremony where the couples and their guests are fully into that little moment that binds them together. I’m there to observe, watch and catch these little details that matter the most - like a tear shed by one of the guests.. or a bride, the way the groom looks at his bride.. the first kiss.. all that is important and the job of the photographer to capture it but to capture it from our point of view.

And while I love a lot of grand wide photos of the City Hall, my goal is always the couple. Make them laugh, smile, feel emotions, go back in time to their first day, or just talk to me about what matters to them. And it between all that I keep taking photos… i talk.. i encourage them to show their love for each other.. and keep taking photos.

Here are some of my favorite images and it was really hard to chose these because each wedding has a good number of images I really liked.

city hall wedding, guide, sf weddings, sfcityhallvendorsBoris PolisskyDecember 21, 2021sfcityhallweddingphotography, sfwedding, sfcityhallstylist, sfcityhall, sfcityhallphotoraphy, sfcityhallphoto, sfcityhallphotographer, sfcityhallphotography, cityhallsf, cermony, sfcityhallceremonyComment

Elopement - what to do when San Francisco City Hall is closed for wedding

San Francisco City Hall has closed its doors on March 17 and hasn’t reopened since. Unfortunately there’s no sign of it reopening to host numerous weddings. On average 30-40 weddings were officiated in San Francisco City Hall. I was told around 90 weddings were held on popular dates like Valentines day or 7-7-2017, If we do the math a large number of weddings got cancelled this year.

In case you didn’t know all San Francisco City Hall officiants are volunteers. Even when City Hall reopens for wedding I imagine the number of these weddings per day will be a lot smaller.

So what do you do?! The beauty of the SF City Hall is that it provided an intimate, budget wedding in a one of a kind location. Add a photographer who knows the City Hall in and out, and you get memories and photos preserved for the rest of your life. But let’s not divert. This is in no way about me :)

It’s about couples that would like to get married, planned on getting married in San Francisco City Hall but got their wedding canceled or unable to book in the near time future. What do you do!?

While i love San Francisco City Hall, there are options.

While San Francisco County offers “deputy commissioner for the day” program where you can marry specific couple, it needs to be obtained in the City Hall which is currently closed. So unfortunately this is not an option at this time
You can hire a officiant. Formal officiant cost varies, but typically is around $300-$500
Anyone can be an officiant. The process is relatively simple and you can have your friend or family member officiate your wedding. It has to be someone you trust to take care of the paperwork and not lose it while celebrating your wedding. As a matter of fact i often recommend this option because it ends up being more personal. I have officiated several weddings for close friend. While it’s nerve wrecking (oh that pressure) it makes your wedding even more special in my opinion.

Here are few resources to consider to become an ordained minister:

https://www.ulc.org/
https://theamm.org/

There are several other institutions that provide these services but it’s basically the same concept. Make sure all your paperwork submitted in timely fashion after the wedding is officiated.

Now that you have an officiant, you need a place. That is the easy part if your wedding party is small. Remember San Francisco City Hall enforced rules of having 6 guests only at the Rotunda. If you were looking for Rotunda wedding, you probably had handful of guests. You can get married on the beach - San Francisco, beaches like Bakers beach, Half Moon Bay, Stinson Beach are all great places to tie the knot.

There are plenty of other locations to consider including doing it in your own back. The point that if you’d like to get married nothing should stop! No viruses or lockdowns. Of course you have be safe and smart when planning your wedding Make sue you stick with current restrictions and regulations.

And of course we would love to photograph your wedding. A few photos from non City Hall locations that we shot recently

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge Elopement Photo

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Editorial work

It’s not a ground breaking statement that Covid-19 has turned our plans inside out. Lot of weddings i had booked for the summer got either cancelled, postponed or are up in the air.

San Francisco City Hall is quiet these days with no brides rushing through the security check point to get to room 168. No numerous photographers waiting in line to take a must have Grand Stairwell photo. No quinceanera girls dressed up as some princess from Disney movie with her makeup/hair artist, photographer and a few assistants taking over some area in the City Hall.

I miss that craziness but it’s also good to use the break and time to work on other aspects of photography that i like.

I enjoy shooting weddings for many reasons. I get to meet couples with their families and friends on one of their most memorable days. I get to share it with them, capture these moments. And while there’s a lot of pressure to get it right the 1st time (there are no redos here), I enjoy that adrenaline rush and excitement. So it’s natural that I miss it, but it also opened up an opportunity for me to spend more time shooting something else. I enjoy working in the studio or on location focusing more on editorial kind of work. While there’s plenty of spontaneity it also gives more time to think through some of the shots, create concepts and gives more room to play during the session. There’s more time to think and something new to try that i wouldn’t normally do during the wedding.

A few samples from 2 of my most recent sessions.

Boris PolisskyJuly 3, 2020san francisco city hall, san francisco fashion photography, san francisco editorial photography, sffashion, sfeditorial, sfcityhallweddingphotography, sfweddingphotographer, sfwedding, sf, bayareaeditorialphotography, bayareafashion, sanfranciscobayarea, sfbayarea, sfbayareafashionComment

Personal favorites during non wedding days

Normally this is the wedding season with lots of wedding either taking place or being planned. You can ask any wedding photographer who’s been in this industry for a while and this is when we start getting creative in managing our time as more requests and bookings come in. San Francisco City Hall would typically be overrun with couples getting married and their guests, especially on Fridays.

Instead all wedding at the City Hall have been cancelled, couples either looked for other places to get married when quarantine lifted, rescheduled for next year or waiting for the City Hall to open up.

As photographer who has a camera always handy, sees lot of fun moments, has tons of ideas to shoot, what can be better than taking photos of my daughter who’s about to turn 18 months.

When i look back at her photos from before it serves me as a reminder how important it is to capture life’s moments on camera. Our memories are tricky. We remember bits and pieces, some specific images. When we are inside of these moments, we don’t always notice small details. It’s these small moments that make up the whole picture to me. Time moves so fast and while we can’t pause it, look around us, take in everything, we can capture some of these moments.

While i do miss shooting weddings at San Francisco City Hall and other locations, meeting awesome new couples, shooting engagement sessions, I’m glad i have time to spend with this little one and capture her small footsteps

Boris PolisskyJune 10, 2020sfcityhallweddingphotography, sfcityhallstylist, sfcityhallwedindg, sfwedding, kids, kidphotography, toddlerphotography, sfcityhall, sfphotographer, sfcityhallphotographer, sfcityhallphotographyComment

Pufan & Jessica by SF City Hall Photo

I am very grateful to my clients that have complete trust in me and go along with whatever ideas I have. In this case i really wanted to play around with more contrast and color as it seemed to be very fitting to Pufan & Jessica. Of course I always, always want to make sure I get more classic, traditional photos. Then I get different canvas and try something new. Pufan & Jessica simply went along with whatever i suggested and within an hour or so we had a great variety of photos.

sf weddingsBoris PolisskyJune 19, 2019SF City Hall Photosan francisco city hall, san francisco city hall wedding, sanfranciscocityhallweddingphotography, sfchphoto sf SF San Francisco weddingguide wedding photographer wedding photography weddings marriage photography professional photography photographer photojournalism city hall sf city hall san francisco city hall, sf city hall photo, sfchwedding, sfwedding, sfcityhall, sfcityhallphotoComment

Irem & Berti by SF City Hall Photo

When your family is not in the same country when you decide to get married, you bring your close friends and Skype.

I have photographed large wedding, very large weddings. I do enjoy that, but a smaller wedding is more relaxing for bride and groom as well as their guests. Everyone gets time to talk to them, joke around, take photos and it ends up being more personal and emotional to capture.

That’s how it turned out when Irem & Berti got married. Once we shot the ceremony, group photos and most of Irem & Berti photos that i wanted to do, I did a few portrait solo photos. As you talk to your couple while shooting and behind the scenes, you learn a lot more. Like the fact that Berti was studying to be a photographer and does some great aerial photos - i checked out his instagram later on.

The best part about my job is that I get to meet people i normally wouldn’t meet. I get to hear stories, learn about their lives, what they like, what they do and at the same time be part of one of their most memorable day.

Boris PolisskyApril 23, 2019sf city hall photo, sfchwedding, sfwedding, sfcityhallphoto, san francisco, san francisco wedding photographer, sanfranciscocityhall, city hall, city hall photo, weddingguide, weddingphoto, weddingphotography, photography, photographer, photoalbumComment

Badhia & Zack by SF City Hall Photo

People meet in different places, under different circumstances. They come from different countries, cities, cultures. And then one day a few months later, few or even 10 years later they feel that getting married is the next logical or emotional step. And if one lives in San Francisco why look for another place to get married. People come from all over the world to tie the knot in beautiful San Francisco City Hall.

Badhia and Zack like many of us get shy in front of the camera and were not sure how the whole experience will go. But 15 minutes into our session they felt at ease and even started chatting about life while I was posing them. We spent some time in the City Hall and then headed to Crissy Fields and Palace of Fine arts to complete our photo collection. At the end we got a great fun, serious, silly series of images that they felt represent them.