The exciting thing about going out every day to take a photograph is that I get to learn something new. One of things I learned with Molly and Peter was to not lead clients down steep, loose dirt embankments that require clinging onto shrubs and roots to not fall. Along with that lesson was learning to see how much they trust me as their photographer: a humbling lesson that I am having to constantly learn again.

The final lesson I want to share here is how much I am learning to rely on instincts to find the picture. We had to work very quickly on this shoot to capture the beautiful fading light, so there was less time to think, which actually freed me to just react and receive pictures as they came.

What more can I say about my clients? They have been such amazing people who allow me to connect with them as they connect with each other. Molly and Peter are certainly no exception. Their session is a result of this really neat blend of playfulness and thoughtfulness between them.

We live our lives, and we interact with people all the time. But sometimes nothing really gets past the surface. We become static: capable of change and great things, but unwilling or just lazy. Then we meet that someone and it just reaches into the core of us and inspires us out of our potential and into kinetic realization.

That’s how I felt when I met Ro and Hyejin. When they talk together, when they interact, they constantly draw each other out to a more human and profound existence.

What an incredible gift you guys have given me.

It’s been awhile since I last posted (if only I had a dime for every time I’ve written that… ), but I would have to say with total bias that it’s worth the wait. :)

Kathy and Naka are an amazing pair I have had the privilege to photograph in San Gabriel. Kathy was the first person to opt to sit on the floor during our consult, which totally amused me and captured my curiosities. Then I met Naka for the first time on this shoot and was so honored to meet someone who could be honest with who he is with a complete stranger (me). My hope is that these pictures capture the beautiful presence together and the gift it was to be able to shoot this session.

The mind is an interesting place to dig sometimes. This is a session I did with Ryan and Marian up in Berkeley. I’m not sure anything I do is all that “standard” but I think I sort of pushed my own limits with the second half of this shoot.

I had an idea for a picture for several months. Sometimes these ideas take some time before they are actually realized in an actual photograph. When I booked Ryan and Marian, for some reason, I thought they’d be up for it. So I asked probably one of the strangest questions I have ever asked a client: “What does your bathtub look like?” It was imperative for the bathtub to have feet. I don’t know why. It just felt like it had to. Anyway, Ryan sent over some pictures of the tub, and I knew this could work. We did an afternoon session, had dinner together, and then we crammed four of us into Marian’s tiny little Berkeley apartment bathroom. Jeannie is actually standing on the toilet holding a light for me, and I’m curled up in the doorway to get underneath my softbox. Anyway, I’m really proud of making these pictures, and I’m totally excited for their August wedding. (The bathtub pictures are at the end of the slides.)

In keeping the theme of interesting connections, Vivian happens to be a friend of Jeannie’s from the time they were 5 or something like that. I’ve known Jeannie for over 10 years, which is about how long I’ve been hearing about this girl Vivian from her.

Well, I finally got to meet Vivian and Armand and shoot their engagement session just two days after Cindy and Andre’s. It was so much fun to finally get to know someone I’ve heard so much about. Vivian and Armand are such a well balanced partners in temperament and interests. It was a great experience to get to work with their energy and chemistry, and the light at the Griffith Observatory was pretty inspiring too.

(Yes, that pair of full length portraits (#14) is my homage to The Sartorialist.)

A treat for this blog: Vivian’s sister, Nancy, came along for the shoot and shot some pictures of her own. I don’t often get to see pictures of me taking pictures, so it’s a bit weird, but I thought I’d share them. They put an interesting context and perspective on my images above.

I’m not sure if I have ever met Cindy before this session at Manhattan Beach, but we have a strangely entwined history. My parents met Cindy’s parents many years ago, and my Reverend dad actually baptized and married them. Crazy, right? Okay, but it doesn’t even end there. Cindy was planning to vacation in LA from Seattle and wanted to do some engagement pictures while she was down here. Her mom mentions me since she heard about me from my parents. Cindy then goes on my website and realizes she knows one of my previous brides from participating in rowing together in Hong Kong almost 10 years ago. Just crazy.

Anyway, being really interested in mysteries of human connection, I knew I absolutely had to shoot the session, and it was amazing. Cindy and Andre have this really deep and beautiful bond, and I feel so privileged to be allowed participate through my photographs.

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One picture that stands out to me is one photograph that looks like a normal photograph of them standing next to each (#13 in the slideshow). I actually shot it as a photograph of only Andre, and then only Cindy, and then overlaid them in post-production. I had the concept in my mind when I shot it, but I had no idea the affect it would have on me when I saw it come together. It just looks like I shot it with them together in the same frame. It’s something I’d like to explore deeper in future sessions, but I’d love to hear what you guys think of it.

Alrighty folks. After much teasing (I don’t believe I’ve ever done two teaser blogs for an engagement session), here are some of the highlights from my session with Alex and Joanne. It’s always cool going through a session because it’s like getting an opportunity to relive the events. With those sentiments comes the feelings of what I want to express as I post-process the the images to their final presentation. This was really an amazing experience, and with the weather being the nicest it was all week in both Santa Barbara and Monterey, I got to work with some beautiful light as well as amazing clients. [Photo/Techy note: the Monterey session (with the plane) was taken in the morning. With the cold air, I love the morning light right now.]

Another teaser set from Alex and Joanne’s session.

I included the last picture (which Jeannie took) because it helps to remind me that sometimes a great picture is ALL about sentiment and not because it’s beautiful or technically brilliant. In this picture, I had told Alex and Joanne and jump on the count of 3, but Alex jumped early. I’m in the picture to the right shown by the arrow (on the ground to get my nice angle), there’s the Monterey Jet Center sign in the back, and with the trucks and planes set way into the background, it really brings back that entire experience for me. It’s not a picture that going to win any awards (sorry, baby!), but it’s a picture that I love. It’s all about falling in love with a picture for some weird reason that doesn’t really make any sense anyway, isn’t it?

Alex and Joanne booked me for their upcoming March 8th wedding. While brainstorming some ideas for where to have their engagement session, Alex offered to fly us somewhere for a weekend, while logging hours to get his commercial piloting license. (For those of you who think this sounds scary, I now find it much more frightening to be in a car in LA than in a Cessna with mild turbulence.) So this past weekend, we flew up to Santa Barbara Friday night, to Monterey the next evening, and returned Sunday night. While I am still working on processing their sessions, I thought I’d at least post some teaser pictures of our trip.