The Blog
Bay Area Photographer specializing in weddings and portraits.
I'm a Bay Area photographer specializing in portraits and weddings. I desire to showcase God's designs and use the creative skills that I've been given to bless others. When I have good pictures of myself with those that I love, I can look back and remember what we looked like and where we were, but also the emotions that we felt. The memories that come back with a good photo are irreplaceable, and I love being able to preserve them.
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July 23, 2021
Travis and Kimberly’s Napa Valley summer wedding – the perfect day to begin a marriage! They exchanged vows in front of their families and some friends at an intimate, private residence venue. Their chosen green and yellow colors went really well with the surrounding scenery…couldn’t have planned it better! As a photographer, this Napa Valley […]
July 18, 2021
I can’t believe it’s been a YEAR (well, over a year now!) since Chad and Farah’s wedding! They had their wedding day all planned out, and then changed everything up due to COVID. Their backyard wedding turned out beautifully despite the last minute alterations. And we still got to take photos at Ravenswood as well! […]
July 2, 2021
This was a special family photo shoot. My good friend (and one of my best returning clients!) is moving out of state. Khouanchy wanted some last photos done to remember their time in California, surrounded by golden hills and warm summertime weather. We went to the Top of the Hill at Del Valle to get […]
May 11, 2021
Remember the senior session I did last year at UC Davis? This year I got to go BACK to Davis and do another one! Ellena contacted me because she is friends with those girls from 2020, and now it’s her turn to be a UCD graduating senior, class of 2021. And of course…everything is more […]
April 14, 2021
Meet my good friend Kimberly and my new friend Travis! Their engagement photos at Dublin Heritage Park are quite possibly some of my favorite ones to date. Kimberly and Travis started dating at the beginning of the pandemic (not ideal, but they got to know each other really well with lots of Zoom calls!) and […]
April 9, 2021
On Monday evening I had my first session post-maternity leave. It was the perfect one to start off the year! Andrea and Jamie brought their toddler and baby out to Livermore to meet up with me for this session. Andrea contacted me about a month ago hoping to get some family photos done, including some […]
November 17, 2020
Khouanchy and Josh first hired me for photos about a year and a half ago…we went to the Arroyo Mocho Trail for some fun family photos playing in the creek with their (at the time!) two children. I just love their family, and Khouanchy has become a good friend over the years. Of course I […]
October 20, 2020
Lake Merritt this time of year is all beautiful and fall-y! While summer is my FAVORITE, I do like the changing of seasons. Something about just a difference in clothing, scents, colors. Anyway, I was really excited to take Jazze and Ken’s Lake Merritt engagement photos at the start of fall in Oakland. Their wedding […]
September 30, 2020
Another photo session for Rachel and Danny! This time including their newest addition, Hailey. 🙂 I won’t share too many details of what I know from her birth story – that’s for Rachel and Danny to do – but I will say it was a surprise to everyone when Hailey decided to make her debut […]
September 22, 2020
On Saturday evening I got to explore a new place for a family photo session: Holdener Park! This is not a completely new place to me…I ride my bike through here all the time. But I have never used it for photos before. I think I like it! Beautiful sunset overlooking the vineyards in the […]
August 29, 2020
I recently learned about a stationary company called Basic Invite. I’m not sure if they were around when I was creating my wedding invitations six years ago, but if they were, I’m so sad that I missed out! I’ve spent some time poking around their website in the last month and really enjoyed it. So […]
August 17, 2020
When Caroline contacted me about her and Kyle’s engagement session, she mentioned that they preferred an “industrial look mixed with nature.” I thought of a few different options for their location. We landed on a downtown Niles engagement photo session! It really ended up being the perfect spot. The day we set for their session […]
July 18, 2020
Ever since I started photographing weddings, I have wanted to take sunset photos at Park Winters. Leave it to Katie and Peter to fulfill my photography dreams! I always tell Alex that Katie is my most loyal client. She gets mad at me when I forget to tell her there’s a new blog post up! […]
June 25, 2020
Last weekend Chad and Farah got married in their backyard! (You might remember their golden hour engagement session from just last week!) It was the perfect day for a summer backyard wedding in Livermore…even if it wasn’t what they originally had in mind for their big day thanks to COVID-19, they were able to celebrate […]
June 18, 2020
Meet Chad and Farah – soon to be husband and wife (as in a few days from now!) but for now, the latest engaged couple on the blog. We took these Livermore golden hour engagement photos less than a week before the wedding due to special circumstances…namely COVID-19. When I first started talking with Farah […]
June 9, 2020
You might remember Rachel’s first photo session when I did her graduation photos last March (before the pandemic was ever a thought in our minds!). Fast forward to this year…when Rachel told me she was pregnant and she wanted to have maternity photos done, I was so excited for her and Danny! Unfortunately we had […]
May 19, 2020
Last Saturday I finally got to shoot an outdoor session for the first time since the coronavirus shutdown happened! It has been a long three months of cancellations and staying home, but since things are slowly starting to open back up again I headed up north on Saturday evening to take some senior photos at […]
May 18, 2020
Today I want to feature another vendor who has some great thoughts on planning your wedding day. (Of course she does, she’s a wedding planner!) The goal is to give you some answers to questions you might have about the role of a wedding planner. I’ve teamed up today with Jenna from Heart and Arrow […]
May 4, 2020
I have been dreaming about doing a shoot at the Arizona Cactus Garden at Stanford University ever since I learned it existed! Also I would just like to put out a disclaimer: I’ve loved cactuses and yuccas and agaves since before they were cool and I can’t decide if I love the fact that everyone […]
April 27, 2020
Part of the purpose of this blog is not only to showcase your photography sessions, but also to include planning resources for your wedding day or photo shoot. The goal of this post is to give you some of the top bridal hairstyle tips. I’ve teamed up today with my favorite hair stylist in the […]
April 22, 2020
Something that potential clients ask me about a lot is delivery of RAW files. I don’t provide RAW files, nor do I sell them for a premium price. Let’s go through some of the basics about RAW files and why I handle this question the way I do. What are RAW files? Simply put, a […]
April 20, 2020
Around the House On the first official day of shelter in place, it hailed. It looked like snow and I took tons of photos because if you’re going to be stuck inside at least it’s hailing outside. Then these super fragrant flowers popped up in our wine barrels and we had NO idea what they […]
April 7, 2020
Last November I got to experience shooting a wedding at the Double Tree Hotel in Fremont, CA. I take lots of getting ready photos in hotel rooms and group photos in lobbies, but this was the first ceremony at a hotel event center! (Fun fact: my high school senior prom night was at a Double […]
March 30, 2020
I recently had the opportunity to second shoot a ceremony at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden and then head over to Oakland for a Terrace Room wedding reception just a few minutes down the road. As I mentioned in the Botanical Garden blog post, I was shooting with Victoria from Victoria Noelle Photography, based in […]
March 24, 2020
Last summer I had the opportunity to second shoot for Victoria of Victoria Noelle Photography at a UC Berkeley Botanical Garden wedding ceremony. She is such a kind person and I had a wonderful time working alongside her. If you’re looking for a photographer in the Mendocino area, do yourself a favor and check out […]
March 19, 2020
For those that are curious, here’s a breakdown of my favorite lenses and cameras! This is not an exhaustive list of all the equipment that is used during Amber Rivas Photography sessions, but it gives you an idea of the kind of gear I like to use. Please remember that by no means does “the […]
February 27, 2020
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to second shoot an Eagle Ridge Golf Course Wedgewood wedding. Luis and Kenna married at the golf course in early February, but it was a surprisingly warm day out. It was slightly overcast, except for a bit of sun during the ceremony, which is why you see […]
February 8, 2020
Winter Ravenswood Wedding Another wedding in Livermore – this time a beautiful peach and coral winter Ravenswood wedding. Ravenswood is a pretty simple venue – house for the reception, couple of places on the property for a ceremony. But it has a lot of hidden gems of pathways and walls and shrubbery for portrait sessions. […]
January 15, 2020
This Livermore library couples session is probably one of my favorites to date. Couple of reasons: 1. I LOVE the library! 2. Did you know the library has some really pretty wisteria blooms behind it, and a bunch of landscaped pathways? Kevin and Rachel had their second date at the library where they played Azul […]
January 7, 2020
When Jonathan and Amber contacted me a little over a week ago about shooting their wedding in May and said they wanted winter morning engagement photos done as soon as possible (as in THAT weekend!), I suggested Del Valle in Livermore as the perfect spot to meet up for their session. Del Valle engagement photos […]
December 20, 2019
I love Christmas trees and traditions at Christmas time. I’m all for creating new family traditions, doing them year after year, and I look forward to the day after Thanksgiving every November. On Black Friday we opted outside (like an REI ad!) and went to Four Winds Christmas Tree Farm in Los Gatos to get […]
December 11, 2019
Let me start off by saying that this isn’t my normal kind of photography session…I don’t usually do newborn hospital shoots! But Katie is one of my favorite people in the world, and I was not going to miss the opportunity to meet my new favorite baby (as of last August) when he was a […]
December 3, 2019
I love ALL of the photos from this beautiful Mt Diablo engagement photo shoot. We had such a fun time during this engagement session, and it really shows in these photos. Brian and Cheryl love the Mt Diablo area and chose it as the location for their engagement session…I had never been, so it was […]
November 18, 2019
Another session on the Arroyo Mocho! I love it there! Eric and Veronica are two of our favorite people to hang out with here in Livermore. Our friendship started at a 9pm post-worship-practice round of video games. Eric invited Alex over by saying, “Hey, you want to come over and play a game?” Alex said […]
October 11, 2019
Let me be the first to admit that I may have overdone it (just a little!) with the photos in this post. I just couldn’t choose…there are so many good ones! Especially the second set of portraits in the apple orchard – beautiful sunset lighting, beautiful apples, beautiful people. This fall wedding at The Orchard […]
October 2, 2019
Jesse and Nicole had a simple laid-back church wedding celebration, and it actually felt a lot like my own wedding day. For example: lawn ceremony, simple reception, and even a Hispanic buffet for dinner! I loved being able to reminisce because of all the similarities. They had their ceremony in the back courtyard of the […]
September 23, 2019
I had the opportunity on September 7 to photograph an Indian wedding at the Napa Silverado Resort in Napa Valley, CA. This was my first experience with an Indian wedding, shooting with Claire Barrett of Claire Barrett Photo. Her photography is amazing, and she puts a lot of thought and detail into her photos. It […]
September 9, 2019
Finally putting the parks pass to use again! This time I went to Brushy Peak in Livermore with Rachel. We left a little after dinner so that we’d have plenty of time for hiking around, but we got a little lost on the drive there, ended up in some rush hour traffic on a divided […]
June 29, 2019
Back at the Palm Event Center in Pleasanton! I have to say, aside from its beautiful location and the fact that it’s five minutes away from home, I love shooting here because the staff is SO helpful. I walked into the “vendor area” to find it stocked with water bottles, Cliff bars, printed timelines of […]
May 22, 2019
Monica and Kevin’s Ravenswood summer wedding day in May reminded me a lot of my own wedding day. It was a laid back, relaxed park setting, and just a fun time of being with your favorite people. My favorite part of weddings like this is that the celebration doesn’t have to be super fancy to […]
May 11, 2019
In case you missed it:Rummikub to Rivas Part OneRummikub to Rivas Part Two Finally at Part Three! After our first date, Alex didn’t waste any time. Probably partially because we didn’t HAVE much time. As I mentioned at the end of Part Two, we had approximately eight weeks until graduation, at which point neither of […]
April 30, 2019
As a Livermore photographer, I love doing sessions that are right here in town. I love finding new beautiful places even just 10 minutes away from home. The Arroyo Mocho Trail has become one of my favorite spots to take photos. Alex and I used to walk this trail when we were dating, and we […]
April 23, 2019
All week long leading up to this session I was hoping for some wildflowers down at Niles Canyon. If you have never heard of Niles, it’s a little historic suburb near Fremont, CA. I highly recommend taking the Niles Canyon Railway train through! Anyway, back to the photo session – we started off the evening […]
April 19, 2019
Last we left off (Part One here!), Alex and I had just hung out for the first time together with just the two of us. We played three rounds of Rummikub. I won twice and let him win once. He maintains that he won without me letting him. Between April 4th and April 19th, we […]
April 12, 2019
As a creative small business owner, there are a lot of ways to connect with other local entrepreneurs in your town and get to know some other creative people. Rising Tide is a nationally known organization that promotes community over competition, because “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Meaning we are better off learning together […]
April 4, 2019
The very first time I met Alex…I don’t remember it. Apparently I was wearing yellow flip flops, talking about how I couldn’t decide what to major in, and declaring that I would not be an engineer because I didn’t want to have to take chemistry. Our mutual friend was telling me I shouldn’t base my […]
March 18, 2019
Last week I met up with Rachel and we went for a drive in Pleasanton, CA to take some Ruby Hill graduation photos in her graduation gown! We drove around the loop of the neighborhood as we waited for the skies to clear (let’s be real, they never really did…) and scoped out some spots […]
March 11, 2019
Installment #2 of our East Bay Regional Parks adventures! This one was less of a hike, more of a stroll…there aren’t really any hills at the section of Tilden Park that we visited. Alex’s love for the Berkeley Botanical Gardens is no secret, so we stopped over there first. We have annual passes for the […]
March 2, 2019
On February 24, Stephanie and Romeo finally married each other after years of dating long distance. They held their beautiful winter ceremony at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Pleasanton, CA. I have had the pleasure of photographing many Catholic weddings, and I love the significance of each element of the service. This wedding was no […]
February 22, 2019
When Monica and Kevin said that they wanted a beach engagement shoot, I suggested that we meet up in San Francisco. More specifically Baker Beach near the presidio. I was hoping for some fun views of the bridge and photos with the waves. Baker Beach is one of my favorite places to view the Golden […]
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