I was having a serious debate with myself about even making this post since things have been so crazy lately, but I’m so glad that I did. Looking back at one of the most challenging years of my personal life has shown me that the challenges I’ve faced personally (mainly with our son Holden) have helped me to have a greater vision and love for moments of meaningfulness. I truly feel that my work has been bettered and that my vision is more clear. The things we’ve been through as a family, I would not wish on anyone, but those things are also the fires that have stoked me and inspired me.
What a wonderful year it has been. I’ve travelled all over the United States for weddings and outside of the country for destination weddings and documentary work. This past year has brought some of the most amazing people into my life, first as clients and now as friends. I’m truly thankful for the people I’ve been so honored to work with on their wedding day and now we have the chance to be friends. “That” is the ultimate compliment and tells me that I’ve done my job. In addition to the many wonderful clients, I’ve been introduced to so many awesome wedding professionals that inspire me week in and week out. I’ve learned that the wedding and photography industries are truly the place for me. There are so many kind-hearted, compassionate, creative, just ridiculously cool people in these collective industries that it blows my mind. Thank you for collaborating with me, putting up with my type-A personality on shoots, giving me creative freedom, inspiring the daylights out of me and just being YOU. My job is pretty hard to beat and I’m truly grateful for that.
So here are some photos from almost every wedding/engagement session I photographed in the past year mixed in with some personal work, some portraits, etc. Basically, whatever I found that made me happy made the cut. If I missed something, it is simply due to the fact of the crazy year-end schedule I’ve been on, so send me an email and I’ll fix it. I love all of my clients and hope this post helps to make up for my apparent lack of blogging. I hope everyone has the best year of their life and truly takes a moment to reflect on what they can do to make it their best year ever.
In this set, you’ll see photos from weddings in San Francisco, CA, Julia Morgan Ballroom, Carmel Valley, CA, The Holly Farm, Napa, CA, The Carneros Inn, Sonoma, CA, Kenwood, CA, Anderson Ranch, Pasadena, CA, The Westin and Congregational Church, Lodi, CA, Oak Farm Vineyards, Lathrop, CA, The River Mill, Sacramento, CA, The Crocker Art Museum and Greek Orthodox Church, Merced, CA, Red Rock Ranch, Lodi, CA Viaggio Winery, New York, NY, Angel Orensanz Building, New York, NY Central Park, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Standard Hotel, The Ace Hotel, Cooper Square Hotel, The Bowery Hotel, Pleasanton, CA, Ruby Hill Country Club, Truckee, CA, Ritz Carlton Highlands at Northstar at Lake Tahoe, Capella Pedregal, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, Santa Barbara, The Biltmore Hotel, The Four Seasons, Linden, CA, private estates, Carmel and Monterey, CA, Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, Asilomar, 17 mile drive, Livermore, CA, Casa Real Palm Event Center, Orinda, CA, Round Hill Country Club, San Francisco, CA, The Presidio and Fort Mason, Sonoma, CA, Scribe Winery, Clarksburg, CA, The Old Sugar Mill and Carvalho Winery, San Francisco, CA, The White House and Treasure Island, New York, NY, The Eventi Hotel, San Martin, CA, Clos La Chance WInery, Turlock, CA, Pageo Lavender Farms, Stockton, CA, Brookside Country Club, Calistoga, CA, Hans Fahden Winery, Modesto, CA, Orem, UT, FIND workshop by Jonathan Canlas.

***UPDATE#2****We’ve reached and now exceeded our goal! Most of you have already heard the news either via Facebook, Twitter or maybe even in person, but we are so ecstatic right now. This has been the most amazing Christmas for our family and we’re incredibly thankful and grateful for those of you who have shown your support. The story doesn’t end here though, we’re headed to Los Altos Feeding Clinic on January 9th to start Holden’s therapy. I’m hoping to keep things updated as much as possible and keep everyone up to speed on his progress.
Although we’re fully funded, we have setup a charity trust fund in Holden’s name to be able to share the blessing with the next family in need. We plan on using any of the funds that are not needed for Holden’s care to help someone else out, so please feel free to give in Holden’s name so we can share this gift with someone else.

***UPDATE***$14,415.47***-We are completely in awe of the kindness, beauty, and generosity flowing from everyone towards our little boy Holden. The last two days have showed me so many things and the greatest of these is that “miracles DO happen!” As of noon (PST) Holden’s clinic is almost 75% funded!!! UNBELIEVABLE!
We thoroughly believe that he’ll be fully funded in no time and we are already taking steps to set up a charity in his honor to appropriate any funds that go over his expense to the next family wanting to attend a feeding clinic. I never dreamed that this would turn into something so beautiful, but I guess I was just dreaming to small. Thank you is not even adequate at this point, our hearts are touched.

Many of you have been following Holden’s story and all that he’s been through so far. I’m reaching out through my blog to gain support so that he can go to a feeding clinic. Please take a few minutes to watch the following video.

Our goal is to raise $20,000 by the end of January 9th. This is also the day that Holden is scheduled to start the feeding clinic. My thought is that if I could find 200 friends and family that would be willing to sacrifice $100, our goal would be reached in no time. We have all the faith in the world that we can make it happen, together. Thank you so much for your support.
If you’re interested in making a donation, you may do so through the Paypal account we have set up. Please make sure that it is marked as a gift and sent to (scottshoemake@sbcglobal.net). All funds will be channeled through our local church in a non-profit trust. If you’d like to mail a donation or a word of encouragement, please do so and send them to “Loving Holden” c/o Scott A. Shoemake PO Box 5894 Stockton, CA 95205. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you.

It is with great honor that I would like to announce to everyone that I’ve completed the certification process by Here Comes the Guide, California’s top resource for brides who are looking for top-tier wedding professionals. They do an extensive interview process and extend invites to only a select few. After submitting over 30 references for them to contact and ask questions about my studio and completing interviews myself, it looks as if I passed with flying colors.
I have never been one to do much advertising but to be a part of HCTG was such an honor as they truly provide a great service for so many San Francisco Bay Area brides. You can read some of the great reviews (I have the best clients ever and have worked with the most amazing people in this industry) and check out my profile if you’d like.
In other news, if you’d like to keep up on my travels and catch a glimpse of a wedding before it hits the blog (yes I plan on blogging much more this off-season) you should head over to the Scott Andrew Studio Facebook page and click the little “Like” button. Take care and check back often. Enjoy.

Where do I even begin with these two? It all started with a phone call after Tracy saw some photos that I made and started to think she liked my work. A few more phone calls and I was on my way to Manhattan to photograph her and Matt’s engagement session (I was so happy that Cheryl was able to make it on that trip with me). Fast forward a bit to today where Tracy and Matt have become the dearest of friends and highly respected industry colleagues. If you would have told me that it would have all worked out this way from the beginning I would have laughed and said, “ha, that would be miraculous!” But needless to say, I have two awesome friends in Manhattan and I was there to capture their gorgeous wedding at Capitale (a beautiful historic bank building). You can check out one of the most recent projects that I worked on with Tracy and Matt in their new capacity at Tracy Taylor Ward Weddings and Design on Style Me Pretty. I’m super excited about some upcoming weddings we have together.
Tracy and Matt put together so many incredible details themselves and I can’t wait for their wedding to be published in the Knot wedding magazine so everyone can enjoy the full story. New York City wedding planner Adrienne Colossimo of Bespoke Affairs was amazing with planning the event. The cake from Ron Ben Israel was phenomenal. Special thanks to my friend Wayne Yuan for second shooting with me.

I’m at a loss for words when trying to describe the beautiful wedding day of Juli and Conor, there is just no way of describing what I felt while I was documenting their special day. All I can truly say is that I fell in love with love all over again.
I had never met these two in person before their wedding day (which is actually pretty common since I do my fiar share of destination weddings where the couple is traveling from out of state/town) and didn’t quite know what to expect. I knew that the celebration was to be an intimate one with immediate family only and that Juli and Conor seemed like they loved my work. That was a good start.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the closeness, the emotion, the pure love that was displayed by both families before, during and after the ceremony. It was simply a breath of fresh air. Every word had meaning and every person was seemingly so thrilled for Juli and Conor. It was inspiring to say the least. Having worked a wedding at Anderson Ranch in Kenwood, CA before I knew that the light would be gorgeous to photograph in after the ceremony. It didn’t disappoint and I’m so happy we had a chance to make some photos together. I’m looking forward to more small, intimate weddings this year and next. It was a pleasure once again to work beside Lovespun Films who did an incredible job with the cinema from this wedding. Of course, the cuisine from Ramekins Sonoma was superb.
If you haven’t had a chance to and you like to see sneak-peaks before they ever make it to the blog, make sure to check out my Facebook page and like it (I wish there was a love button). Enjoy.