Daniel Chin Photography: Blog

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the force of tension in my work. One of the things that has come from thinking about tension is how it plays out during a wedding day. I often describe the day as a roller coaster to my couples. As the day starts, I can feel the anticipation build watching the bride and groom get ready, just like a roller coaster winding up to its highest point. Emotions keep winding up and up as it gets closer to the top. Just when it seems like the tension is too much, the bride walks the aisle to be brought into unity with her groom and there is a beautiful resolution. This is kind of like that moment when the ride stops at the pinnacle. Then the party begins and your head starts spinning and there’s nothing more to do than enjoy the release of all that anticipation.

I think this wedding with Terra and James really shows this pulse of life. Beautiful tension. Beautiful resolution. Ride through the bumps along the way. Experience it all.

When Amy and Adam met with me to discuss their wedding, one of the first things they said was that it was going to be in New York, and that the weather has a tendency to be unpredictable around their wedding date. I found this to be an enticing proposition, which was strange to me. I am generally more of a controlling nature, and I spent many years of my life trying to plan out my next 20 years. For some reason though, I am finding that when I get to photograph, I love to throw myself into situations where I am not sure what to expect. For those moments I’m behind the camera, I enjoy reacting to events and emotions as they unfold.

It turned out to be a brisk, but dry day, with Amy braving the low 40′s without a jacket for some portraits. The intimate collection of friends and family from literally around the globe was rather incredible, with Adam’s family flying in from the UK, friends from all over the east coast, and many flying in from the west. Some girls even decided to participate in the British tradition of donning hats and fascinators. As I always tell my clients, I like flowers and cakes and pretty things, but the people are what make me excited about weddings. The friends and family that came to support Amy and Adam really made for a beautiful celebration of life and love.

I had the treat of having Eliesa Johnson fly out from Minneapolis to shoot this wedding with me, and I gave her the assignment to take portraits of anybody wearing a hat or a fascinator. She did an awesome job:

The rest of the story:

This is the beautiful story of two people being at a place and time when neither had plans to be there… and meeting. For YukLung and Clair, meeting was enough to completely change the trajectory of their lives through this relationship.

I often reflect on things that have changed the trajectory of my life in amazing ways, and I realize most of the time they are things that I do not plan for. Opportunities come, and we get to choose whether or not to interrupt our plans for something curious and fascinating. Isn’t this the way kids live and love with such reckless ambition? Photographing YukLung and Clair was a great reminder to live in a way in which interruptions are welcome.

Sometimes we take pictures. Other times we get to receive them.

I didn’t even get to meet Amy and Andy before their wedding day. If you read a lot of photographer blogs, you have probably read others mentioning if they haven’t met their couples before the wedding. It probably doesn’t seem to be a big deal, but photographers will tell you that it’s a HUGE deal. The chemistry between the couple and the photographer, between the couple themselves, the clarity of communication, issues of personal space and expectations, etc. – these all play into capturing the day.

I actually was booked by Amy’s mom Jeannie, who I adore and trusted that her daughter would be of the same fabric. The moment I met Amy and Andy, though, I knew I was about to witness something really special from them on their wedding day. The energy was absolutely electric before they even saw each other, and it just carried the day. It certainly helped that Jeannie had arranged for a full-on live swing orchestra at the reception and Andy’s brother spontaneously stepped up to the mic to sing “Take The A Train”. You can’t predict stuff like this!

I just looked through my lens to receive these amazing moments. Here are some of images from that day.

Ceremony: Church Of The Incarnation (Glendale, CA)
Reception: Oakmont Country Club (Glendale, CA)
Swing Orchestra: Blue Note Swing Orchestra

16 hours with an amazing couple, their radiant friends and family, celebrating their marriage. In Hong Kong. A great day to be a photographer.

It’s so interesting how you can go from strangers to friends in a couple of short hours.

I love the way they look at each other. I have shots where they are looking at me, but they just lit up when I told them to look over at each other. A beautiful moment to witness.

The final part of Zarina and Faisal’s wedding happened in Wichita, Kansas, where Faisal’s family received the new bride into the family. Because their two families are from different areas of Pakistan, there are some different customs, one being that Faisal’s tradition includes a lot of gold to be worn by the bride. The veil by itself was 10 pounds or so, with some rather weighty earrings. Even with all the inconvenience, or maybe because of it, it just made the day feel incredible to witness.

I am actually a little sad that this will be my last post of their wedding. I’ve really enjoyed this literal and figurative journey with them. The experiences and relationships shared through these events have been an incredible blessing.

The second part of a Pakistani wedding is the Shaadi. This is the formal ceremony where they sign the marriage certificate and they are married by the sheik. It is also the ceremony where the bride’s family formally gives away their daughter. Traditionally, the Shaadi is when the daughter literally gets sent away from the home she grew up in to go live with her new husband’s family. The ceremony and reception are is full of joy and the night ends with a bittersweet farewell: contradicting emotions that tradition seems to effortlessly reconcile.

I had the privilege of shooting with a fantastic photographer named Riz Adit (Adit Studio) while in Fresno. Riz has been shooting weddings all over the world for something like 15 years, and I learned so much just from watching him work and talking to him. Although this is mostly for photographers, I think there is something interesting for other folks to read. I just want to share 2 interesting things I remember him telling me:

“Wedding photography is much different than it used to be. These days, to be a wedding photographer you have to be a product photographer, a fashion photographer, a photo-journalistic photographer, and have a sense of style.”

“There is no small client. You still end up spending a lot of time and energy thinking about each client, planning for their shoot, taking the effort to communicate clearly, and doing a lot of things mentally to prepare for the shoot.”

It’s always fascinating to me when someone is able to articulate experiences in a clear and lucid manner. I’ve experienced these things he mentioned, but putting it into words has really helped me make sense of what it is I do and why some times I feel so discombobulated. :)

After much anticipation (most of it mine), I am ready to show Armand and Vivian’s wedding images. They got married at the beautiful First Congregational Church in Los Angeles and then had their reception at the California Club downtown. Of course, we had to take advantage of being in downtown by shooting some portraits at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. There are some parts of the building that still have the older, shinier finish, which I loved. Anyway, I’m a bit scatter-brained after spending many hours on these pictures, so I’m just going to share them instead of trying to say anything interesting or profound. =P

(If you want to hear about what I think about a certain picture and my thought processes behind taking that picture, leave me a comment and I’ll respond on the blog.)