Yesterday I photographed a wedding–but it wasn’t one of "my" weddings. I was working as a second photographer for my good friend Cynthia Halverson. The ceremony was at Saint Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Wilmington, California with a reception that followed at Hotel Maya (formerly Coast Long Beach Hotel) in Long Beach, California.

The bride’s great grandmother moments after she was seated at the church.

Saint Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Wilmington, California

The groom liked my jokes.

Kissy Kissy

My version of American Gothic.

The groom’s brother, the bride’s three sisters, and the maid of honor.

These guys are madhotsexy™! I love photographing weddings in Palos Verdes and the one I photographed yesterday was no exception. Denise and Steve were married in the afternoon at Denise’s grandparent’s home in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

I wanted to give a shout out to Denise’s maid of honor (her sister). She did such an awesome job–from helping Denise get ready to making a heartfelt speech during the reception. Steve’s best man was his brother. Although he too gave a great speech, he did so with fewer tears. And we shouldn’t forget that he deserves a ton of credit for not losing the wedding rings.

As a busy Los Angeles wedding photographer, you might imagine that I meet lots of neat folks at weddings. And of course I do. But I wanted to mention that the family members and guests who attended Denise and Steve’s wedding were some of the most laid back, friendly, and fun people I’ve ever had the pleasure to photograph. Here are a few of my favorite photos.

[ To View All Photos from This Wedding Click Here ]
 

The can’s label states, "big sexy hair." You go girl!

Everybody loves a brick wall right?

Denise and Steve are a 10!

madhotsexy.com

I’m going to call this my "tower shot." I wonder
why Steve is holding the bouquet?

Steve moves fast …

Walk with me baby …

Travel to Palos Verdes. Meet beautiful people. And marry them.

Arches. Get your arches here.

Denise really wanted a photograph with bougainvillea. Did I deliver?

I love wedding cake!

I won’t tell you what I said to get this reaction.

Check out the reflection in the camera phone. In the full size
photograph you can see the guest’s reflection AND Steve and Denise.

The Girls

The Boys
[they didn't want to hug]

This is a clever idea!

Cut that cake girl!

The "real" first dance.

Twinkle twinkle little star …

[ To View All Photos from This Wedding Click Here ]

Courtney and Scott were married a few weeks ago at the Tuscan Garden area of the Westlake Village Inn (31943 Agoura Road, Westlake Village, California 91361). It was a perfect day for a wedding! The weather was mild and folks were excited about seeing a wedding and eating some great reception food! As their wedding photographer, I was stoked too! So what do you think? Which one is your favorite?

click here to view all the wedding photos

Coordinator: Kathy Recchia, Save the Date Events
Makeup: Monique Powers
Florist: Shirvan Designs
Videographer: Michael Shu
Cake: Nancy Kay Confections
Chairs, Lighting, & Decor: A Packaged Party
Dove Release: Jerry Garcia, Heavenly Doves

The ring bearer was one cool dude.

The Boys

The Girls

Scott really enjoyed carrying Courtney’s train.

One of the flower girls. She’s such a cutie!

This is Courtney’s mom, dad, and aunt. I think her aunt was backing me up!

Courtney’s uncle was one photogenic dude!

Step One: Hold camera high above head.
Step Two: Press the shutter.
Step Three: Act surprised when it’s a cool photo.

A bride, a groom, a cool wedding venue, and a ceremony to
bind two people together … forever … and ever.

The dove release went off a little early, but with a little
frantic effort I  was still able to catch a few birdie photos.

We’re married!

Can you say bubbles?

Everybody needs a little more flare.
(film joke – Office Space)

This dude is rocking his pin-stripe suit! And check out at his
form–portrait photographers everywhere, eat your heart out!

Yummy.

Walking down a sidewalk can be fun!

Courtney says: "I love you Scott!"

Scott says: "Let me kiss you on your neck!"

So I probably only needed two photos in the "rose tunnel"
but I liked all three. So here’s the third!

This is my favorite photo from the wedding day.
I asked Courtney to dance. And she did!

Hand holding is sweet!

Scott says: "Now why am I under this thing?"

Scott’s mom delivers a great speech!

I have tons of great dancing photos from the reception, but
I picked this one because this guest was REALLY getting his grove on!

click here to view all the wedding photos

Back in June I launched a wedding portrait contest. As you might expect, the prize was a free wedding portrait session. I didn’t publicize the contest on my blog or on any of my social media sites, so don’t be surprised if you missed the announcements. To make a long story short, I eventually selected Kiara and Clay as the winners. Their wedding is coming up in early September. They had been through some pretty hard times of late, so I was thrilled to be able to select them as the winners of my contest. Here are a few images from their one hour portrait session at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Which one do you like best?

Barbie and Ken recently selected me as their Los Angeles wedding photographer so I was thrilled to get the chance to photograph them this weekend. Although I’m usually really great at working with my wedding clients, I did have quite a bit of trouble getting different expressions out of them–they always had a plastic look on their faces. And don’t even get me started about how stiff they were (and impossible to pose). But I did my best and I think they’ll be really happy with these wedding photographs. I know that some of them will make my wedding photographer portfolio!

Barbie’s dress, shoes, makeup, hair, and jewelry are by the fabulous designer Mattel. And did you check out her pink diamond ring; you’d never even know it was a fake! As a tip for future brides, they saved a ton of money on the reception because they didn’t serve food; Barbie and Ken’s friends don’t eat! The highlight of the day was when Ken delighted Barbie with a surprise wedding gift–a brand new car! And although Barbie was a little disappointed that the doors didn’t open, she always kept a smile painted on her face to spare Ken’s feelings. As their wedding photographer, they were truly a pleasure to photograph. Here are a few of my favorites.

If you select me as your wedding photographer, I promise …

1. to show up excited and early
2. that on your wedding day, you and your fiancé will be the center of my universe
3. that I will always act with your best interests in mind
4. to create photographs that will exceed your expectations
5. to be respectful to your friends and family
6. to provide an excellent value for your investment
7. to capture the candid, emotional photographs that make your wedding special
8. to photograph the hundreds of small moments that together tell the story of your day
9. to create images that will make you happy and amused
10. to create images that will evoke feelings of love, longing, companionship, and togetherness
11. to make you both look mad hot
12. that you’ll love what I’ll do for you

I met Ileana and John in downtown Los Angeles at Disney Hall for a short wedding portrait session. They had originally called me for in-studio portraits, but after a short consultation with Ileana about her needs, we decided that an outdoor session might work best. Ileana and John were great fun (and super easy) to photograph, so as a photographer it wasn’t hard to make them both look mad hot! At least that’s my opinion. But my word may not be the last! Before the session Ileana consulted her magic 8-ball and asked if I’d deliver them great photos. The magic 8-ball replied, “Definitely Not.” So what do you think? Was the 8-ball correct? Here are a few of my favorites from our session.

I’ve really been looking forward to Pam and Larry’s wedding day. After their engagement session in Santa Monica, I was convinced that their wedding and reception would be one in a million. And I was right! I began the day (last Saturday) at Pam’s parent’s home in Glendale. Vanessa, my second photographer, met Larry and the guys at the Courtyard in Pasadena. As you can see from these photos, Pam’s dress was super amazing; it was designed by students at the Fashion Institute! As wedding photographers, it made our photography easy–the dress details really popped! The first photo below shows the hanging dress and Pam’s grandfather’s paintings in the background–two for one!

After everyone was ready to go, we left for the Tournament House and Wrigley Gardens in Pasadena (also known as the headquarters for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association) where Pam and Larry saw each other for the first time. It was a fabulous backdrop for creative photos before Pam and Larry’s wedding ceremony held at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena (on Colorado Boulevard). During the ceremony, I heard one of the best deliveries by any Officiant. He told the whole really entertaining story of how Pam and Larry met, fell in love, and how Larry eventually proposed; there were lots of grins all around! After the ceremony, Pam and Larry had super cool bubble exit. As you can see below, the guests REALLY liked blowing bubbles!

After a few formal family portraits, we left First United Methodist Church and drove over to Altadena Country Club in Altadena, California for Pam and Larry’s wedding reception. Lots of great food and drink were had by all.

To view all the photos from this wedding, take a look at the full wedding photography gallery. And even if you don’t have access to the whole gallery, I’ve posted a few of my favorite photos here on my blog.

Angela and Howard were married last Saturday at Verandas in Manhattan Beach, California. But before that event came to pass, I met the happy couple in their suite at the Manhattan Beach Marriott for a traditional Chinese tea ceremony (with the bride’s parents). After the tea ceremony, we spent just a couple of minutes in the lobby of the Marriott for a few creative photos and then we were off to Verandas.

When we arrived, Angela and Howard arranged for an extended tea ceremony for the rest of their family in the upstairs area of Verandas. It was a beautiful ceremony and as you can see from a few of the photos below, you couldn’t have asked for a nicer setting. The garden wedding ceremony was officiated by a family friend and it was a packed house! It was a perfect setting on a perfect day and as I photographed their ceremony, I felt fortunate that they selected me as their wedding photographer.

After the ceremony, we took 187 family portraits (well — maybe not that many) and then it was time for the grand entrance. After the grand entrance and a few toasts (one of which was by Alice–one of last year’s brides), the New York Food Company served up a spectacular meal. The night was topped off by cake, bouquet tossing, and some dancing. Speaking of dancing, I wanted to give a shout out to Akira Funahashi of Zuno Productions–the DJ for the evening. As you might imagine I work with quite a few DJs but I was really impressed with these guys. If you’re looking for a DJ, I’d certainly give them a call! Anyway, here are a few favorite photos. And if you’re a friend of the bride and groom, here’s a link to their online wedding photography gallery.

Leslie and Jason were married in a beautiful ceremony at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic church in North Hollywood, California. This impressive house of worship is Leslie’s family church so she was really thrilled to be married there last Saturday. After the wedding, everyone drove over to the reception venue at Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank, California. Leslie’s grandfather was a member of the club so it was a natural location to celebrate their wedding reception. This wedding day was all about family so when I wasn’t photographing candid moments, I spent much of my time on family portraits. Many folks from Jason’s side of the family came out from Ohio so it was really great to get everyone together. And just in case you were wondering, Leslie’s getting ready photos were from her parent’s house in Toluca Lake. Also, you noticed that I included two shots featuring one of her brother’s tattoos–but can you blame me? For access to all of the wedding photos (assuming you know Leslie’s maiden name), check out Leslie and Jason’s gallery. Here are just a few photographs from their wedding day.