LUCKY THREE

Several things are happening this month of September for our studio.
The first is that we are celebrating our 5th year anniversary. It all started five years ago at my brother in law's house. I met my wife while we worked for other people. I grew tired of working for someone else and was thinking of starting my own business. It was a coincidence that my wife ( friend back then ) was also tired of working for others and she called to ask if I had any work. We met at a restaurant and spoke about everything except business. That is pretty much how it all started.
The second thing is that we have updated our website to show more images and make it easy to navigate. Hopefully if you are reading this you have seen my portfolio and found the photos interesting. We will keep updating the images and adding more in the near future.

As for the last change for this month. We are moving! We found a great location about one block away from our current studio in the beautifull city of Lawndale. My brother and I are working on remodeling and will post photos on our progress. You may not know this but I am a do it yourself type of guy. What ever I can't do I will definately hire a pro to do.

Portrait of Ify

This is Ify. Sister of Amy and Cynthia who I photographed a few weeks ago. At first the session went a little slow because she was not relaxed but after a few clicks of the shutter she posed beautifully for these portraits.




































These portraits were taken with two strobe heads and one Sb80DX portable flash. The main light was positioned to my right and the rim light was postioned to left and slightly behind the client. The back light was on a honeycomb grid positioned to create a separation between the client and the background.

KARINA & MIKE

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Karina & Mike's engagement session at the beach.

























































I got this cool effect of shallow depth of field by using a medium format lens on my Nikon.

PORTRAIT

I had the pleasure of photographing sisters Amy & Cynthia who are from Nigeria and currently reside in the city of Lawndale. They called me and within an hour arrived to my studio for what was supposed to be a quick portrait. I like to take my time so we shot some photos of Cynthia for about ten minutes and then Amy another ten minutes while Cynthia changed clothing, the total session took over an hour. They weren't thinking of taking a picture together so I suggested they should, given that they were there. I really liked the touch of the flower in Cynthia's hair.

Mariela & Craig's Wedding

I started this post at about 2:35 am and it is now 4:20 am, sorry for any mispelled words but I am a bit tired. I will try to post more of my work with descriptions also known in the biz as captions, so all you readers can get a feel for how I approach my work/art and what goes on at some events.

So here is Mariela & Craig. A young happy couple who had a lot of fun at their wedding. Congratulations guys. These are some of their photos with a short description. Enjoy.



















A long distance call to wish her well.



















I thought it was weird to see the bride looking into a lid. It turned out to have a small mirror on the bottom so she could see herself. I went around behing the bride and was able to get the image of her looking at me.
































A videographer poses the bride and instructs her on what to do for the camera.














Family members who drove from San Francisco were treated to Guatemalan tamales.













I had the pleasure of eating a tamale made by the wonderful mother of the bride the following morning... hmmm... it was great. This by the way is a Guatemalan style tamale. The cooking method is wrapped in banana leaves and foil, boiled for hours. I know this because my mom cooks them the same way every year for the holidays. Now, my wife has expressed interest in learning how to cook tamales this way.













I like taking photos of people up close. I usually use a wide angle 17-35mm lens for this. I gives me the freedom to include as much or as little as I want in a frame.




































This is one of those rare instances where I ask a person to do something again so I can get a picture of it.




















Sometimes we all need a little help.
























When I was in college studying photography I had a hand written note hanging above my door frame in my room which I would read every day before leaving the house that had the following quote "chance happens to the prepared mind" This photo is just that. I love the contrast in this image.












This art is usually enjoyed by the couple but only for an instant. The bride told me she was unable to remember what the church looked like because of all the things she had to think about. She was very happy I was able to capture these photos that day.

























Here is a sequence of guests having a good conversation before the ceremony. I tend to shoot these from a distance of about 10 feet and very quickly. Most of them don't even know they were photographed.












































I thought this was a pretty picture and wanted to share it with you.















This is the only photo where the father and the bride did not look at the camera. I'm sure they were very nervous.













Take care of my daughter is what I imagine this father telling his future son in law.














I just love how kids can't sit straight at events like weddings. You can see the difference between her leaning and relaxed pose in contrast to her older brother who is standing straight.













I wanted to sorround the couple with art, so I decided to use the reflection from a black piano to enhance the image and make it more interesting.




















The vow exchange.














The following photo is one of those situations where you do your best and also hope for the best. I was told where to stand and not to move for this shot so I decided to use a long lens and get that ring. To my left I had a gigantic candle which was blocking me and to the right I had the priests assistants ( sorry I don't know what they are called ) who were also in the way. Although it is barely visible, you can see the priests hand reaching for the couples rings.




















I wasn't allowed to get close to the alter at this church so I decided to use my camera with a 200mm lens and capture the action from far. It's nice to be able to be close but it also means that I would have blocked the guests from enjoying the ceremony, so I guess it was ok.

I had to walk very fast from one side of the church to the other to get this moment when the couple take the bouquet and offer it to the virgin Guadalupe. Some guests kept staring at me as if I was crazy and one lady offered to help because she saw me carrying two camera bodies with heavy lenses and a camera bag. Although I could've used the help, I declined.
I feel lucky to have gotten the couple, her bouquet, the actual exchange, the parents of the bride and the onlookers in one shot. This to me is how a photo tells a story.

Sealed with a kiss.