Daniel Chin Photography: Blog

Somewhere between Los Angeles and Berkeley along I-5.

Everybody has their own story. Something I truly believe in pursuing is to embrace the story which I am living. We share stories, because there is a shared humanity, but there is no need for any of to attempt to replicate anybody else’s story. When I stop comparing every aspect my life, both big and small, and become grateful for what I have, it is then that I can be free to live my life.

I love being enjoy such a storybook tale like Jodi and Brian when I photograph with freedom. They have an amazing magnetic energy: the first time they spoke was a 3+ hour phone conversation across time zones, which they now call their first date. Connections are such precious things, and I am blessed to be given the privilege to explore their connection. I had an wonderful time overlooking the world with them.

This is just a little story in photographs of Sarang and Nam, their affection and connection.

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.

I love to take pictures in the morning. Something about the light and the feel of the day waking up has a special fondness to me. This session with Terra and James started at 7:30am. Terra definitely gets points for braving the crisp air while James and I wore jackets. I also really appreciated James for training himself over several of weeks to wake up early for this shoot.

This is the way I saw them when I photographed them: Terra as earnest and passionate, James as caring and loyal. The chemistry of couples is so fascinating to me.

(Trailer for the event)

I’ve linked two of the more poignant and beautiful films from last night’s event below. The first is actually the full 36 minute movie on big mountain skiing/snowboarding. The second is 3 minute clip with really great climbing footage.

First Ascent: Alone on the Wall

I was really inspired after visiting the Brooklyn Museum back in Janaury for the “Who Shot Rock ‘n Roll” exhibition. I think it’s really incredible what can happen when artists trust other artists to use them for their own art. (Did that make any sense?!)

I feel like I get a glimpse of that whenever I photograph Josh. Josh and I have worked together a couple of times, and he’s always given me full access to everything he has. This time, we were together in this funky overflow room in an old church. After clearing out paper mache props and random construction items, he starts to plays like he’s playing for a room full of people when it’s just the two of us.

Meet Emily and Andrew. Emily is an incredible creative graphic designer and Andrew is a brilliant software developer… not to mention extremely musically inclined. This baby has some pretty amazing talented and loving parents, and at 8 months in the belly, she’s already bringing out something beautiful in these two profound people.