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

How much time should I book with you?

Quite often I get asked “What package is best for us?", “How long should our photo session at the City Hall should be?”

My answer is “It depends”. And here is what I suggest to consider:

Do you have a larger wedding party?
Have you booked the civil ceremony at the City Hall Rotunda or booked 4th floor or Mayor’s balcony?
Is it just the 2 of you?
Do you have specific images in mind that you must have?

MY RECOMMENDATIONS

30 minutes is truly designed to cover the ceremony. If it’s just you or have a small group of guests will take group photos after the ceremony and will have 10 or so minutes for just the 2 of you.
1 hour - If you have a wedding party and/or would like various photo combinations with them and a few couple portraits this is a great option for you. We can do a lot in an hour (samples below)
2 hours - If you have a specific images you’d like, specific locations including outdoors and potentially have a larger wedding party (10 or more) I would suggest this package
4 hours - couples that would like cover their reception after their City Hall session

I understand not everyone wants long sessions around the City Hall and couples are also cost conscious for very good reasons.

Keep in mind no session is alike. They are all unique because of the couples, their families and mostly because of space availability at the City Hall at the time.

My general recommendations when selecting the right package for you:

Here are examples of full session:

30 minute session - ceremony, family/guest photo (if present) and few portrait photos in 2-3 locations at the City Hall

1 hour session - more couple’s photos around the City Hall

1 hour session example 2 - more couple’s photos around the City Hall

2 hour session - for larger wedding party and more photos around the City Hall (especially if you have specific requests)

Boris PolisskyFebruary 27, 2023sfcityhallwedding, sfcity, sfweddingphotography, sfphotography, sfcityhallpackages, sfcityhallsession, cityhallphoto, cityhallsf, cityhallwedding, sfcityhallweddingphotographerComment

Bella & Joseph

I love January. Not just because it’s when my birthday is but because it often feels like a fresh start. Maybe it’s because of the vacation and holidays and maybe because in our minds new year is a sort of reset when we start anew.

First wedding of January after holiday and a long deserved vacation and I loved being back at the City Hall. The light at the City Hall in winter time is one of a kind. It’s low and it hits the windows on the north side, bouncing off the walls, creating this ethereal feel.

I love backlighting my couple, often times using another light on them as I like to have more light on the faces. Other times I’ll just ask my couple to be directly in the sunlight and pose them in such a way that it works. With Bella and Joseph I was able to experiment and try what I don’t usually do. And that’s the best part of what I do and makes me excited. It’s never the same and it’s not going to be the same for my couples. It’s not this pose with this spot - a template shot. No it will always vary and will be adjusted to the couple, to the feel, the mood, the light. So many little components go into the shoot and it’s not something we think about in order. All those things go through our head at once. Often times it’s not even a thought, it’s a feel.

You can compare it to a jam band. A great jam band just go for it. They aren’t thinking of the guitar solo.. they are in the moment enjoying what they do. I feel wedding photography is similar to that. While I can plan some shots, more often there’s just no time to do so within 1 hour session. And within that time I try to get to know the couple, observe their behavior with each other, get them relaxed, get them feel comfortable and to not think of me as a photographer but as a friend who’s going to take their photos.

And at the end I feel i had a good session when I have a good mix of images - from candid moments to real emotions to a few artsy shots that make sense and aren’t done for the sake of doing it.

city hall wedding, sf weddingsBoris PolisskyJanuary 21, 2022weddingphotography, weddingphotos, sfphotography, sfcityhallwedding, sfweddingphotography, sfcityhallceremony, sfcityhallweddingphotography, cityhallsf, cityhall, cityhallphoto, cityhallwedding, sanfranciscocityhallphotographer, sanfranciscoComment

Bridal Studio Session

Who says you can’t do a bridal photoshoot in the studio, not on your actual wedding day. Eli didn’t think so. If you like photos and really want perfection without worrying about what’s next on your wedding day agenda, studio photos on a different day are a great option. It’s just all about you and capturing the best images without all the wedding day stress. As a result we I want to bring out the beauty Eli possesses and not make it about the wedding dress only. Let’s just say the wedding dress was extra.

For a photographer who shoots a lot of weddings this was an opportunity to really take time, get perfect light, perfect poses, emotions without having people around, without time restrictions, location restrictions and all so many fun things weddings have. Within hour and half we were able to get lots of awesome shots. Here are some examples of what we were going for during our session.

Boris PolisskyDecember 1, 2020sfbayarea, san, sanfranciscowedding, sanfranscisco, studiophoto, studiophotography, bridalstudiophoto, bridalphotosanfrancisco, sanfranciscobridal, sfweddingphotography, sanfranciscoweddingphotograp, sanfranciscoweddingphotographyComment

Alyssa & Kevin

I’m always excited when i get booked for half a day. And it’s not because i’m greedy and here to make money. I enjoying spending time with people and getting to know them. It really is - ask my wife. She’s more of an introvert who has to deal with me always wanting to talk to people, ask questions and have random conversations.

So when i had an opportunity to spend 4 hours with an amazing couple like Alyssa and Kevin I’m beyond thrilled. First off we started off walking on the beach - the weather could not have been better. Then we headed to the City Hall and had time to do both serious and fun photos. It takes a little time for people to open up and be themselves in front of the camera. And I want to get the real, true them out.

Turns out Alyssa loves dancing - so of course i wanted to incorporate that. She has a lot of natural grace and i wanted to capture that as well… along with the silliness of course.

At the end i couldn’t have been happier with the collection of photos we got. There were lots of candid honest moments during the ceremony, very cool group photos and of course plenty of Alyssa and Kevin photos to chose from.

Xinwei & Minmeng - Valentine's day by SF City Hall Photo

Valentine’s day is a special kind of day at the San Francisco City Hall. It’s also one of the busiest day a year when it comes to weddings. On days like that we are always prepared to take advantage of the open areas as soon as we see them.

Now Xinwei & Minmeng got very lucky on that day in so many ways. They got one of my favorite City Hall officiant, their ceremony was moved up to the 4th floor. In addition to that we timed it right so they could get a clean shot of the Grand Stairwell. For those who have come to the City Hall on regular days, they would know that people are constantly going up and down the stairwell and standing on the 2nd floor. So the grand stairwell shots .. clean grand stairwell shots.. are not always possible. However it all was doable on February 14th for this awesome couple.

This is just a small sample of variety of photos the couple received . Both natural and flash light used.

Boris PolisskyFebruary 19, 2019sf city hall photo, sfweddingphotography, sfcityhallphoto, sf, san francisco city hall, san francisco, weddingguide, wedding photographer, weddingpgotogaphy, weddingphotography, weddingphoto, Weddings, weddingtipsComment

Andrea & Kevin by SF City Hall Photo

Andrea and Kevin are getting married in Aruba in 2019, but wanted to do a session at the City Hall as they were getting their license. They came in on Friday afternoon and although City Hall got filled up with occasional tour groups, it was relatively quiet as the last ceremonies were finished at 3.30. That allowed us room to maneuver around the City Hall and actually achieve a "clean", crowd-less shot of the Grand Stairwell. I have to admit it's quite a rare occasion and even then i had to polite ask a few people to move for just a split second.

It was a gorgeous day and i wanted to take advantage of the outdoors and the sun creating glares and fun shadows. The end result is quite a good collection of photos done within a very short period of time.

Boris PolisskyJuly 18, 2018sfweddingphotography, sf, sfcityhall, sfweddingphotographer, sfchphoto, sfcityhallphoto, wedding photographer, weddingpgotogaphy, weddingguide, photojournalism, photohrapher, professional photography, weddingphotoComment

Anh & Paul 1 year later

Anh and Paul married in June 2017 and one of the first weddings i did when i took over SF City Hall Photo. The was lots of natural chemistry and they were a fun and easy couple to work with for a few hours we had together. I approached them a few weeks ago and offered to go for a walk in San Antonio Rancho around the sunset and take some photos. They agreed and let me tell them what to do once again. As a result we got a nice collection of photos ourdoors.