I’m still thinking about this wedding. Julie and Ryan are one of those couples who exude togetherness. To anyone around, its quite obvious that they’re meant for each other. It’s hard to explain, but they just fit. It’s romantic and sappy perhaps, but I believe there is true love and I’ll go on the record as saying these two are going to be together forever.
Aint love grand?
We hit it off with this couple right away. Ryan is a space geek and we couldn’t stop talking about NASA and telescopes and planets, etc. Julie and I both go to the same college. We couldn’t have made a better connection with a couple in the short time we had before their wedding. When they said they wanted to shoot their engagement session at Griffith Observatory, I was beside myself. A 2 hour session turned into 5 and I was ready to stay. That night we looked through a few telescopes (one belonging to Tuvoc for you nerds out there) and saw a pass of the International Space Station.
If a great fit and an amazing e-session wasn’t enough, they got married at Le Chene. My wife has been telling me about Le Chene for 15 years, but for whatever reason, life probably, we never made it there for dinner. She’s told me over and over again how good the French cuisine is there. They say that its the best food in northern Los Angeles County and is the oldest building in the area. I don’t know about the history, but I can confirm that the food was phenomenal.
From the gorgeous ceremony outside in the garden, to the grapevines, to the accommodating staff, Le Chene really impresses. I’ve never been fed so well fed photographing a wedding or any other job. Though working a little and dining a little, I’ve seldom had a better meal in my lifetime when I was sitting down and I was on my feet. The staff there took special care of me, seeing to it that I was fed and hydrated throughout the night. I can’t see why more Antelope Valley brides choose this great location. While other venues might be more extravagant, Le Chene delivers a fine experience, even if you’re just the photographer.
This wedding had an amazing vitality that surrounded it. The day, the couple, the venue, were all amazing and I was fortunate to be along for the ride. Once again, I was allowed to live my dream and take photographs for a living. Not everyone can do what they love for a living and that’s a privilege I don’t take lightly. I wish Ryan & Julie happiness and contentment forever and Ill never in that time be able to thank them enough for having me.
They asked for cheestastic photos and came up with this idea.
I think its kinda awesome.
Over Los Angeles
Griffith Obsevatory.
Le Chene was beautiful.
The place settings were simple and elegant.
The food here was definitely the best wedding food I’ve ever had.
Julie & Ryan were high school sweethearts.
This is one good guy.
A lovely ceremony in the garden.
Aint love grand?
This couple has a great sense of humor and they know how to have some fun!
I was waiting for my wife Heather to get home from Dallas when I decided to run up to Griffith Observatory to take a few shots. As usual, the view was great, but not so usual, the view was very clear. Isn’t the universe awesome? Jupiter has been good to me this year. Canon 7D 10-22mm 30″ f20 ISO 800.
If you know me, you know I love music. I spent about 5 years as a concert promoter before I became a full-time photographer and have played many concerts in many bands. We threw hundreds of shows from the Vandals to Avenged Sevenfold and the Aquabats to the Horropops. Music makes great photography. I like shooting bands on stage almost as much as I like playing on stage. Bands make for good listening, good times and great photos. A few all-stars from the local L.A. music scene that I knew from those days came together to form Villains, a metal project. I’ve worked with a few of these guys in the past and if its any indication of what the new sound is, brace yourselves kids and get ready for the pit. Do yourselves a favor and keep your ears open for these guys, cause its gonna be good.
The idea behind this shoot was lean and mean. Get in, get the shots, get out, stay happy. The clients get what they want with little hassle and without all of the logisitics rigamarole and man-hours that can add up to big costs. We could have gone with the tying the damsel to the tracks, spare-no-expense scenario, but in this economy, everyone is looking to a save a dollar or two. No big strobes or elaborate setup here, just a 380EX II with an umbrella and parking lot after a storm. Its arguable that the background detracts from the subject, but in my world, this makes a much more interesting shot than the typical seamless background and it was free. The universe is much more interesting than a studio. This shoot was over in just over an hour, we got great captures and everyone went on with their evenings. Smooth, quick and 21st century. Thanks to Garrett, Kyle and Jake for standing around in the cold and thanks to Redman and Heather for their work and support. Let me know what you think, criticism welcome.
I’ve decided to merge two posts here. One is about a trip down Route 66, the other about a San Gabirel Mountain hike. It was an adventurous weekend that reminded me how fun and exciting being a phtographer can be. You don’t even need a camera really, all you need is a sense of curiousity and adventure. You’ve heard me wax poetic about being an observer before, but this is meant to be a wake up call.
Get off your ass and live a fun life. Find that interesting thing in your town that you never did. Do you know how many New Yorkers haven’t been to the Statue of Liberty? I don’t either but it’s a lot. Did you ever get that downer feeling when you return home after a long vacation? You’re returning to work, to the same streets you’ve become numb to and the thought of returning home becomes a drag. This is all mental. This is all in your head.
Having had enough, my hiking buddies and I decided during a trip home from the Sierras that we weren’t gonna put up with it anymore. We bought a book on our little Mojave desert city and became tourists in our own town. The trick is to not let your surroundings get by you. Its too easy for a callus to form; too easy to get used to the smell of your job that eventually you just don’t smell it anymore. Its way too easy to be underwhelmed by the ordinary.
The ordinary is amazing. If it isn’t, you’re not looking hard enough. You don’t have to lower your standards, you just have to see better. Take a walk. Go to a museum. Open your eyes wider and drink a milkshake. Make love on the kitchen counter this time. Offend someone and don’t be sorry about it. You can start by commenting below.
Visit Emer Long’s Blog about Bottle Trees here. Or on YouTube.
We were thrilled when Amber called us in to capture her sister Nicole’s baby shower because we knew there were good lookin’ babies in the family. We had the pleasure of spending a day at the Sheets’ house with Caleb, who you might remember from our first post. This time it was a baby shower with relatives coming in from miles away, just to support Nicole, a young mother who was very easy to photograph and exhibited that “glow” that we talk about. Again, these people make our jobs easy(and our portfolios look better, too). For a slideshow of images please click here. Here’s a few of my favorites:
(For a slideshow of these images, please click here) Heather and I headed down to the Arbor Lofts to check out the Expansion show. Before we took two steps towards the door, we saw giant fireballs in the courtyard courtesy Rex Campbell. Here’s what we found….
My wife Heather dragged me along to Red bull’s Flugtag a few years back for lots of wacky fun, so when we heard about the Soap Box Derby, we were an easy sell. Accordingly, last Saturday, Heather and I dragged another few cohorts down the hill to Los Angeles to take it all in. Fellow photogs Jackie Jordan and Jonathon Redman were navigator and bombardier to our pilot and co-pilot. None of us are Red bull drinkers, in spite of it being handed out like water to many a thirsty hipster.
The event was at 5th and Grand, a diabolical choice of venue, where gravity and one nasty turn served to foil contestants and entertain the masses. One might have chosen a more gentle grade or a lesser turn, but what fun is there in creating a course where the majority of contestants actually complete it unharmed? Skyscrapers of the jewelry district stood watching over the silly festivities laughing quietly to themselves. Inside were many curious executive types welcoming the distraction. They reminded me of Caesar but gave no thumbs up or down. Residents of the local Hilton looked down from what seemed like a hundred stories, leaning on glass balconies, clutching drinks.
They even brought in a few celebrities to “spice” things up. On hand were : Paul Rodriguez, Jillian Barberie and even Erik Estrada was there signing CHPs shirts and casting judgement on the bruised and beaten teams of soap-boxers with cards reading 1 – 10. There were cameramen on scaffoldings and emcees choking on the mic. Almost as if planted at every crowded event, there were teenagers and twenty-somethings and even drunk thirty-somethings climbing into the sky on whatever they could find. Perched in trees and traffic signals and street signs, they kept the cops busy and gave them something to do. There were jumbo-tron type screens displaying the games for the short or poorly placed and not too far from the free Red Bull, they were selling Red Bull and water for $3. Yeah…theres a certain ugliness to an event like this. It sort of turns us all into stock animals, sharing fluids and bacteria. I looked to the pro photogs and thought, “how do I get press credentials?” They were in there own little zone that had the best views, a crowd-free space in which to work and of course free Red Bull.
Among the wheeled death machines were every manner of rolling nightmare: a fire truck from the FD, a giant PacMan, Lonestar’s RV from Spaceballs, a piano and even a giant brain from my current schoolmates at C.S.U.N., which did very well I might add. Nothing quite measured up to the almost flawless replica of the Mach 5, complete with Speed Racer. The seasoned driver took the Red Bull branded berm like it was 2nd nature. I mean it WAS Speed Racer after all. Actually I hated the cartoon. How strange is it that the greatest incarnation of this awful Japanese cartoon was in a soap box derby years after the fact and not in a multi-million dollar feature film?
The event was so crowded that it wasn’t too easy to find a decent view of the course. This was frustrating me for a little bit and we all sort of split up and found what vantage points we could. We all ended up pretty close to each other struggling for line of sight as best we could. Heather is far better with crowds than I and her set of photos shows it. Jonathon got some great video. All in all, we had quite a good time. We are seriously considering building a soap box derby car for the next event. Anyone want to lend a hand?
The crowd dispersed faster than you can say tear gas. We were out of there in a hurry and due to a few wrong turns, we found ourselves chasing food and architecture in Chinatown. Every time I visit L.A., I am forced to concede that my outdated, all negative, Jack-Kerohuac-On-the-Road view of Los Angeles is more than likely unfair. I find something fine and something sad every time I come to the City of Angels. We happened upon a Chinese temple of some kind just before sunset and closing time, just soon enough to snap a few shots of the amazing structure. Art and creativity were everywhere on the property and it made me wonder why we so seldom build for beauty’s sake here in the West. Our Churches pale in comparison to the temples of the Middle East or even South America. We have so much ability and so many resources, why don’t we put it to better use? Our pyramids land on Mars and create nuclear energy which is great, but I want a real pyramid-type monument for my age. Any thoughts?
In other news, a few people are starting to get their hands on the much-coveted Canon EOS 7D. The results look good so far and it looks like I’m on track to have one in the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, I’ve found a few nice links with some info on this machine. Visit Rob Galbraith’s site for a great write and up and preview. I’ve been finding quite a bit of results from new owners at DPReview, which is one of my go-to sites for all things digital photography. Also, I found the video below from Digital Rev which outlines some of the great new features I hope to be enjoying in the near future.
