Yesterday I drove down to The Montage in Laguna Beach to shoot the adorable Demkiw Family. They were a lot of fun!
I will post images from Saturday's wedding soon, so check back!
Labels: family portraits
We had a GREAT Pictage User Group this month. Thank you to Rudy Arpia for being our Studio Spotlight. I was so impressed by the Spanish Wedding Photography Forum he created, Foro De Fotografia.
Our speakers, Michael & Anna Costa gave a lot of great information! Thanks for coming down from Santa Barbara to speak to our group, guys.
Anna was getting ready to sing for the American Idol auditions, so we asked her to sing for us, and she did!! She has such an amazing voice. Best of luck, Anna!
Labels: networking, photography
Nick & Robyn spent a lot of time in Malibu when they first started dating, so we decided to shoot their engagement session there. I was really happy when Brutus, their cute dog, joined us for the second half of the session. I'm looking forward to your wedding this September, guys!
Labels: engagement portraits
darlene & jeff
july 12, 2008
Its really hard to blog. I love so many images from all of my weddings, and this one is no exception. The wedding was really striking because Darlene & Jeff's colors were hot pink and navy blue! I loved how at the end of the night, Jeff surprised his new wife by singing a song that he had written for her.
Here are a few of the elements that made it fantastic:
Wedding Coordination: Stephanie Lairson
Flowers: Gilly Flowers
Hair & Make-Up: Joyce Luck
Photo Booth: Red Cheese
Cinematography: Living Cinema
Labels: wedding2008
I have been running around all day today - Tea for Two in Long Beach and then to Malibu for an engagement shoot. I'm going to spend the next few days editing to get more here on the blog, but for now... here is a favorite from today!
Labels: engagement portraits
Today's wedding was so so lovely! Here is one image for you for now... I have a lot to do this week, so I will do my best to get more up for you soon!
Labels: wedding2008
Last September, I shot the gorgeous wedding of Nikoo & Hossein in Bel Air. I'm so excited to announce that it is going to be featured on the July 13 episode of "Platinum Weddings," a Women's Entertainment Television (WE) program. "Platinum Weddings" follows the design, planning and execution of elaborate weddings. Set your Tivos!!
Congratulations to Nikoo & Hossein!
Labels: kudos, news, wedding2007
I have known Wanda for a long time. She is the founder and owner of the amazing paperie, Soolip. Wanda and I are working together on a book that she has written. I will be shooting all the images for it next week. Yesterday we went out to get a great shot of her for the dust jacket! Isn't she beautlful?
Labels: portraits
After checking out my blog last night, my sister asked what I did to the following image. For all you photographers who follow my blog, I thought I would go ahead and share with you as well.
My thought process:
When I first saw Julie's colors (red tones) I was excited because I knew there was a red wall in the parking lot level of the Walt Disney Concert Hall where she was getting married. For this image, I asked them to hold hands and look at me. I wanted them to simply stand quietly together because I was trying to capture something that might evoke feelings of a vintage wedding image like this one:
How I shot it:
I was shooting in RAW with my Canon 5D and my new 50mm 1.2 lens. This image was shot in manual mode at 1/80, f 1.6, ISO 500.
Because it was rather dark down there, I used my Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 and had Shannon hold my 580 EX flash to light them. She was off to my side on a short staircase at about a 45 degree angle to the couple, and she held the light above her head pointed down at them.
My post-processing:
I used my own custom preset, "jb bluesy", to process the RAW file in Bridge and then applied Kevin Kubota's action, "The Look" to the jpg. I used The Boutwell's Totally Rad Action, "Yin/Yang" to get some of the detail back in Julie's dress and to pop a tiny bit of light back into their eyes. I then applied Jesh De Rox's Fine Art Texture, "He Loved Her Italian Accent" to create the velvet wallpaper look in the background. The last thing I did was add an 85 warming filter set at 25% and remove the shadow behind Yas in Photoshop.
Wah lah!!
before (straight out of camera)
after
Labels: photography, wedding2008
julie & yas
july 5, 2008
Saturday's ceremony took place at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The weather was a little hot, but Julie & Yas had the most amazing, on-time bridal party I could hope for. We had allotted a lot of time for photographs, and I'll tell you, Shannon & I got a lot of fantastic shots. The reception was in San Gabriel at the adorable Mission 261.
I just bought myself the 50mm 1.2, so most of the day was shot with that. I LOVE it.
Julie had the cutest details. I loved the tiny flower that adorned everything.
Everyone got ready down the street at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel.
Then we headed over to the Walt Disney Concert Hall for portraits.
I love this pose that Shannon suggested for Julie & Yas. 
I was crazy about her red shoes. So gorgeous.
I was excited to take them down to the red wall at the parking lot level of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It matched their day!!
Julie's grandmother released butterflies at the start of their ceremony. I flipped out when I saw this shot that Shannon captured.
Mr. & Mrs. - My favorite moment!
Beautiful details at Mission 261
Julie & Yas did a choreographed first dance that was just perfect.
After breaking an enormous sake barrel, Julie & Yas were toasted with personalized sake cups.
This was a traditional Japanese dance that was performed as a surprise for the couple. Julie & Yas throw a great party, and Shannon and I had a lot of fun.
Labels: wedding2008
