Press Release — Accepted into the WPJA
I’m happy to announce today that I was accepted into the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA), an International, membership-based organization representing professional photographers skilled in the documentation of weddings and events in a candid, unobtrusive style. Less than 5% of wedding photographers qualify for admission into the WPJA.
The WPJA has strict membership standards regarding image quality and content, technical and creative technique, website and marketing professionalism, business ethics and communication.
For more information about the WPJA, please visit their website here.
Pacific Palms Resort Wedding — Leslie & Ricardo
Leslie & Ricardo were married last Saturday at the Pacific Palms Resort in the City of Industry. We broke away from the festivities for a bit to grab these shots around the Hotel.
Jennifer & Jack
What a wonderful day! Such great people, so much fun. This wedding was a little different from what I’m used to, and that’s one of the reasons I really wanted to photograph it. I mean how many wedding ceremony shots have you seen with graffiti art as a backdrop? I guess you could say it was a blend of the traditional with the non-traditional. So it was a little different, but I can honestly say, there was nothing missing. Except posssibly their other family and friends who weren’t able to attend—hopefully the images we made will allow them to feel like they were there in some way.
Wedding Photobooth!
These shots are from one of the early prototypes that Tuan, of Two1Studio created. I simply took the shots against a white backdrop which we set up. The new version that he offers is a fully self contained unit—an actual photobooth. It can be rented from instabooths.com.
I loved the way these two worked it for the camera—think they must have been mother and daughter.
Black & White Wedding Photography
I haven’t posted many black & white images on my blog, which is somewhat odd, because black & white just really does it for me. This is another great aspect of digital, one frame has so many options.
Shutters on the Beach Wedding – Lysa & Frankie
Lysa & Frankie were married the day after Valentines Day at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. Just before the shots of Lysa getting out of the limo, I looked over and saw Paula Abdul, who looked over at me, and seemed to say with her eyes, “no you are definitely not going to take my picture”. Of course I wasn’t about to do that, this was Lysa’s day, and I’m no paparazzi anyway.
The wedding was an amazing affair which started early in the morning with traditional Chinese ceremonies, then continued all day, ending some 14 hours later. Had a great time at this one as there were a lot of other enthusiast photographers attending the wedding to “talk shop” with.
I was shooting for Two 1 Studio. Thanks Tuan! We were also fortunate to have another talented photographer, Alyson Cohen, along for this one. Thanks Alyson for running the photobooth!
Coco Palms Wedding Reception – Jeanette & Matthew
Jeanette and Mathew were married at St. Dominic’s Church in Pasadena. From there it was off to the Museum of History for photos. The Reception was at the super cool Coco Palms in Pomona. They pulled out all the stops for this one with a great band for the pre-dinner festivities, a Mariachi band for dinner, and finally a DJ to party the night away. What a blast! We were invited to eat with the guests, (steak & lobster), and pretty much treated like friends & family.
Aimee & Casey
Aimee & Casey were married at the beautiful St. Mary’s Armenian Church in Glendale. The Reception followed at the Porter Ranch Country Club. One of my favorite things about photographing weddings is getting to see the different traditions associated with different cultures. At the grooms house before the wedding they kept offering my all of this wonderful food which I gladly accepted. Bring on the Lahmajunes!
Universal Hilton Wedding Reception – Teresa & Senh
What a day! It started at 8:30 am in Corona with traditional Chinese wedding ceremonies, and lots of fun. It’s never too early for chow mein and egg rolls if you ask me. From there it was back to my neck of the woods for the wedding ceremony at the San Fernando Mission. Then it was back in the car and across town to the Universal Hilton for one heck of a reception. 41 tables with 10 guests at each and almost as many courses of food makes for quite a celebration. Great dancing, and not so great singing rounded things out—still much better than I could do though. So many beautiful people, and so many great moments to capture.
