[ The Vine ]

It is officially wedding season and we are excited for all the weddings that are coming up within the next few months.  Julius and Luz recently celebrated their big day with a wedding theme of "The Vine."  Their theme was inspired by what Jesus says in John 15, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Such a great theme, and their ceremony truly glorified Christ.  They even had an invitation for those in their family and friends to accept Jesus during their wedding ceremony.
With the theme of The Vine in mind, we shot our formal portraits at a nearby winery.  Their wedding ceremony and reception were at Mosaic Church in Chino.  We had an amazing time as these two are such a fun couple to be around! Below are some photos from the day:

Their first look:

  GQ:

Ring shot:

Communion:

You may now kiss the bride!

 

[ Summer Drink Tour ]

One of the funnest shoots of this year was getting the opportunity to go to some of Orange County's best dining spots to shoot their Signature Drinks for Riviera Magazine.  The challenge of these shoots was to not only to accurately show how beautiful the drinks are, but to get each shot done in under 30 minutes!  We were pressed for time in getting the photos by the deadline so we had to schedule the 10 restaurants in a small time window over 2 days.  That left no time for elaborate lighting setups so we stuck to a basic lighting formula.  We used daylight as the primary light source, a white card to fill, and a battery powered light panel LED light to add the last bit of fill.  Here's what we came up with:

 

An example of the set ups that were used.

You can also view the photos at Riviera Magazine. Tech Details - Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III, Canon 100mm F/2.8 Macro, Adobe PhotoShop Lightroom 2, Adobe Photoshop CS3.

[ Charlie & Julie ]

We were so happy when our friend Charlie told us that he and his wonderful girlfriend Julie were engaged.  We were fortunate enough to get to know Charlie from serving at the Media Ministry at Faith Community Church in West Covina and we are honored that he and Julie asked us to photograph their upcoming wedding.
In the midst of a crazy week of commercial and editorial shoots (we'll post those soon), we were excited to head over to Newport Beach to shoot their engagement photos.  Most of the time it's a bit of a challenge getting the man to be comfortable and open in the photos.  Not with Charlie, all we had to do was put him and Julie in a situation and shoot.  It's wonderful to see two people so in love and not afraid to show it.  Their happiness and comfort in front of the camera made for some great pictures:

[ Ichiriu Family ]

Recently we had the chance to photograph our friends, the wonderful Ichiriu Family.  We had the privilege of photographing Stephan & Kim's Wedding in 2008 and we still get several compliments on their images.  Little Harmony was born only a few days before Pastor Stephan married Jennifer and I a year later in 2009. This was our first chance to shoot Harmony & her parents.  Here are some of the photos: