Jules Bianchi Photography

Family portraits at The Montage

2008-07-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

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!

Monthly PUG

2008-07-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

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!

Adamson House Engagement Shoot

2008-07-16T14:12:00.001-07:00

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!

Shutters on the Beach, Santa Monica

2008-07-15T01:55:00.000-07:00

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

Adamson House

2008-07-13T22:31:00.001-07:00

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!

Shutters on the Beach, Santa Monica

2008-07-13T02:15:00.001-07:00

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!

JBP featured on Platinum Weddings!

2008-07-09T22:54:00.001-07:00

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!

Wanda Wen

2008-07-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

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?

Before & After

2008-07-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

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

Walt Disney Concert Hall & Mission 261

2008-07-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

2008-07-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

Shannon and I shot an eleven hour wedding today! It was SO beautiful, but there is a lot to edit through. For now, here is one of my favorites!

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Marty & I ran into Dina Douglass on our way to the 99 cent store to find a holiday outfit for Ms. Olive's new "Olive A Day" blog. Thank you, Dina, for this cute pic of me, Marty & Olive all dolled up for the Fourth of July.

Olive wasn't exactly thrilled with her new outfit... but be sure to check out her new site anyway!

Abigail loves to sleep on stuff.

2008-07-02T10:10:00.001-07:00

Looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't want Joy and the girls to leave today. Or maybe Abigail just wants to be packed in the suitcase and go on an adventure?

Fun ways to procrastinate

2008-07-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

I love having my sister and her girls in town!!!

A New Blog!

2008-07-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

I'm going to figure out how to incorporate everything into my new blog that is pending, but for now, I'm starting "An Olive a Day" to keep me shooting at least ONE image every day of my favorite subject... Olive! (I will customize it soon... I just wanted to start July 1st!) Click here or on the image below to check it out.

The Disney Cruise

2008-07-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

This past Christmas, my mother surprised everyone with tickets to the Disney Cruise in June. Well, after a super fun week, I'm finally back. What an amazing time!

I didn't really take too many photographs since it was more about spending time with family and less about going on Photo Safaris, but here are a few just to give you an idea of the kinds of adventures we had.

Millie was so excited to meet Mickey Mouse.

Millie and her dad, Brett.

Penelope loved the Mickey and Minnie she got as a cruise gift from her Grandma!

The top deck was pretty windy...

We discovered a lot of Snow Whites on board (Millie is in the middle!)

Miss Mille (aka Snow White).

Mom and I went shopping in Cabo San Lucas.

The girls were able to pet and hold a REAL lion in Cabo!

Playing with their new animal flutes (that were being sold at every corner...)

Jules & Joy

Jules & Joy getting ready to ride off-road buggies in Mazatlan!

I DID do a tiny bit of swimming...

The girls got their hair braided by a young girl in Puerto Vallarta in the middle of the street.

Penelope at the Character Breakfast.

Millie at the Character Breakfast.

The whole family along with the waiters who tended to us throughout the whole trip. THANK YOU, Mom, for this wonderful trip!

An Olive a Day

2008-06-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

I will be getting a brand new blog very soon, and "An Olive a Day" is one of the categories I plan to incorporate!

Its too hot today to do much more than this:

June Pictage User Group

2008-06-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

June's Pictage User Group was very informative with Justin Kifer of Gigbooks as our speaker. If you are looking for very comprehensive ONLINE business organizational software, you should definitely check them out!

Thank you to Jennifer Disney for being our Studio Spotlight for June. She is so talented and it was great getting to hear her story and learning a little about her.

As usual, our host, Ann Kelley made an amazing spread (including rootbeer floats!) for us to snack on.

If you are a photographer in the LA area, you are welcome to join us! Email me for info!

Jennifer Disney

Justin Kifer

Ladera Oaks Wedding Slideshow

2008-06-19T03:33:00.000-07:00

I've finished the highlights from Rebecca & Marc's 06-07-08 wedding at Ladera Oaks in Portola Valley. If you would like to see them, please click here or on the image below to check out their slideshow!

JBP featured in The Knot Magazine

2008-06-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Robyn & Jeff whose beautiful wedding was featured in the latest issue of The Knot wedding magazine! I shot Robyn & Jeff's wedding last November at Estancia La Jolla.

Light & Fast Two

2008-06-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

The second Light and Fast Seminar took place yesterday, and it was a great success! This time the group was much smaller, so John Mireles and I were able to give a lot more personal attention to our attendees. Check out this super nice email that Jeanette Sanchez sent to me today! You can check out more about her experience here on her blog.

"Hi Jules,

I want to thank you again for all the info. you shared with us yesterday regarding weddings. I was really confused before I came to your seminar and now I feel confident that I CAN do off camera lighting in a dark church or dim reception, THANK YOU. I love how you sat on the floor and let us peek into your bag, ask a ton of questions, and laugh with you like we were old friends. It was worth every penny I spent and time I had to put aside to attend. I am going to recommend this seminar to any photographer who desires to see the LIGHT!

Warmly,
Jeanette"

Well thank YOU, Jeanette, (and everyone who came) for attending our seminar!

John, the Lighting Master, giving a demo.

I loved how John's images came up on the screen for everyone to see what he was doing.

Here I am giving my portion of the Seminar.

Thank you to Youkeun Oh for taking this snap of me showing my lighting set-up.

A little outdoor hands-on demonstration.

Everyone chimping over John's shoulder!

The whole gang!

JBP featured in Beverly Hills 90210 Magazine

2008-06-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my clients Julie & Alex! Their lovely Greystone Mansion wedding is being featured in the Society section of Westside Today's Beverly Hills 90210 Magazine. I photographed their wedding last May, and if you'd like to see more images, you can see the blog entry here.

Ladera Oaks, Portola Valley

2008-06-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

rebecca & marc
June 6, 2008

I thought Saturday was the coolest date to get married, and I was excited to see it inscribed on the inside of Marc's wedding band. I was in love with this couple...Rebecca and Marc had their dog, Karma, in the wedding, and they had just about the cutest details you could ever hope to find at a wedding!

Flawlessly executed by Marisa's team at Spoiled Rotten Events.

Pacific Palisade Portraits

2008-06-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

I first started photographing the Rowen family when it was Ashley was the only child, and she was very tiny. Its very cool watching the family grow! This time, they decided to get shots of the kids as a surprise for Dad!!

Ashley, Teddy & Lauren.

An intimate wedding, Downtown Los Angeles

2008-06-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

josh & heidi
may 31, 2008

Saturday's intimate wedding took place in Josh & Heidi's downtown loft in a 100 yr. old bank building, 5 floors up, in front of the wall of windows and the fire escape where Josh proposed. He is a used book-dealer, so there are tens of thousands of books shelved and stacked everywhere around the apartment. Of course I was thrilled to discover that their dog, Hero, was the ring bearer!

I thought Heidi's make-up was beautifully done by Lenore Todd. Also, I would like to thank Shannon Leith who referred Heidi & Josh to me.

Everyone threw streamers at the new Mr. & Mrs.

Their wedding cake was the funkiest thing I'd ever seen - it was a castle with a tower of books on top and graffiti to reflect their downtown urban home below.