Lan & Dean’s wedding was at Korakia Pensione bed and breakfast in Palm Springs, California. As a Los Angeles wedding photographer, I’m not always presented with lovely locations like the ones found around these restored historic Moroccan and Mediterranean-style villas. This wedding was a small affair with fewer than 12 guests, but that didn’t stop Lan from pulling out all the stops to make a day to remember! Here are a few of my favorite photos from their wedding event.

I always photograph a bride’s wedding dress hanging somewhere neat, but I think this is my favorite
dress photo of all time. I’m thinking that this image may even be worthy of being entered in next year’s WPPI
wedding photography competition (in the “Details” category)!

Lan and Dean got ready together in their suite at the Korakia. In my work as a wedding photographer, it’s kind of
unusual to have it happen this way. In fact, I don’t think I have any other images of a groom with his bride’s dress in the background.

And continuing with “getting ready together on the wedding day” theme …

Dean’s dad arrives.

Lan & Dean’s dog dons his bow tie. Well, it’s done for him, but that’s just a technicality.

Lan & Dean branded their own wine bottles.

Dean’s last name is _________. Insert your best guess here.

Yippee! I love jumping on beds in hotel rooms!

Dean appears to be pretty happy about those earrings!

Dean’s mom adjusting Dean’s dad’s tie.

And since they were so cute, I also took another one when she was putting on his boutonniere.

Lan is quite tall.

Awwww.

Hear no evil. Speak no evil. See no evil.

Don’t look now, but somebody’s coming. Damn, the neighbors here are noisy! Ooops, I didn’t mean to say he dresses kind of funny!

My famous 1, 2, 3, 4. With the “4” missing.

Stop telling me dirty jokes honey!

The Moroccan styled pillows were just sitting there so what else is any self-respecting wedding photographer supposed to do?

Dean was getting kind of crazy with the veil.

Apparently this jumping shot is a tradition with Lan, Dean, and the couple in the photo.

Look at how the wind gently lifted her veil to create this special portrait!
(or did it?)

Bench. Wall. Succulents. Mountains.

Bougainvillea + Laughter

Bocce Ball! Just so you know, it was kind of scary squatting there at the end of the court while they threw heavy balls at me!
(and believe it or not, the fact that the chairs matched the groom’s wedding colors was purely coincidental)

Fire!

Tuere and Danny were referred to me by one of my past wedding couples, Genevieve and Jose. Tuere and Danny’s wedding day started off at the InterContinental hotel on the Avenue of Stars in Los Angeles and ended at The Mark for Events on Pico Boulevard. Tuere is a physician at the Los Angeles jail and Danny is a Sherriff in East LA. As their wedding photographer, I was thrilled to find out they met on the job and it was love at first sight. Well, it wasn’t really love at first sight but lots of people think that makes for a cool story when you write about it in a wedding-related blog post. Here’s a small sampling of photos from their wedding.

This was the moment that Tuere’s father saw her for the first time on her wedding day. It was an emotional
moment for both of them. Tuere has told me that this is her favorite photo from the wedding day.

We were a bit limited in terms of time and location availability but I was able to put together this
stylized photo by simply using furniture sitting outside the front of the InterContinental hotel.

My second photographer captured this photo of me showing one my photos to Danny And Tuere.
I wanted to make sure that they knew how awesome they were looking in their photos!

The now famous Number 3. One of my signature photographs.

The lobby of the InterContinental hotel was crazy busy, but I was able to capture this
image in the split second when nobody was standing behind them.

Kissy, kissy!

Tuere wanted to honor her grandmother and grandfather, so her bouquet
features her grandmother’s ring and her grandfather’s dog tag. He
was a distinguished veteran of World War II.

Tuere and Danny taking a moment alone in front of the InterContinental hotel.

The bride and groom during the recessional after their wedding at The Mark for Events in Los Angeles.

Tuere’s mother and father share a moment in the midst of the family portraits. Her mom doesn’t like this photo very much but
everyone else loves it and says it really shows off the spirit of their relationship. I go with “everyone else” on this one.

Tuere’s Girls

Danny’s Boys

Tuere’s dad delivers his toast. He’s a funny guy!

The father / daughter wedding dance. Notice Tuere’s mother and bridesmaid in the background?

As a wedding photographer, I’d like to thank the bridesmaid in the back for the supplemental flash!

Elona and Paul were married at the La Quinta Resort & Club (near Palm Springs) on the cusp of summer. I say it was the cusp of summer because it was only Africa hot instead of unbearably hot! But even with the heat, a good time was had by all. The wedding party was a great group of folks and I really enjoyed spending a few hours with all of them. Elona was a gracious bride and Paul was ready to get married! Here are a few select images from their wedding.

I don’t often include “details” in my blog posts, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t take detail
photos. Details like these help create a sense of place. In fact, these photos become particularly
important as the years pass and the landscape / locations change their shape and / or character.

Here are the girls walking from Elona’s room over to the “first look” where Paul will see Elona for the first time. I took this
photo while walking backwards quickly. I’m just super lucky I didn’t stumble and fall. Not that I’m a klutz or anything.

The Traditional Wedding Portrait

The Non-Traditional Wedding Portrait
[and Paul’s pants are too long]

It’s really difficult to find “good light” in Palm Springs. At least the kind of light that
I prefer in my wedding photography. But I’m super pleased with this photo
even though it was taken in super harsh direct sunlight near noon.

These stairs led up to the rooms held by Greta Garbo when she used to folic here with the other stars of her day.

This is my favorite image from their wedding. Colorfully casual showcasing their happiness.

This was a technically difficult photograph to capture because of the challenging, spotty light peeking through the leaves of the tree.
But given the conditions, I’m super happy with this result. I also find this photo interesting because there are TEN people
with phones and camera photos in this photo (not counting mine). I guess they didn’t trust that I’ll get the shot! ;)

Yeaaah! We’re married!

The father of the bride offers his congratulations to the bride and groom in a air-conditioned
(thank goodness) reception hall at La Quinta Resort & Club.

The mother of the groom whispers something naughty into the ear of the groom’s father.
[I didn’t ask what she told him]

Fritz and Sebastian chose July 3rd as the date for their lifetime commitment ceremony. Other folks might call this a gay wedding, a same sex union, or a celebration. I call it two people in love who are determined to spend their lives to together and who want to share their joy with friends and family. The ceremony was held at Hotel Maya on Queensway Drive in Long Beach (within sight of the Queen Mary). Here are a few of my favorites from the event.

The happy couple rarely gets ready in the same room on their
wedding day, but it sure seemed to work out great this time!

These bow ties were really cool!

In case you didn’t guess, their wedding colors were black, white, and yellow.
They had these cool striped dividers set up in the reception area so
I used them as convenient backgrounds for a few of these wedding-day images.

Their wedding theme was “Paris” so I grabbed a few of the table centerpieces and had them hold them
to better tell the story though photographs. Sebastian proposed to Fritz in Paris so this made a bunch of sense!

Two Guys Sitting on a Couch
[I really need to work on my descriptions here]

If you’ve followed my blog over the years, you know I love the use of
negative space and bright colors in my photography. This wall was just perfect!

Check out the reflection at the bottom of this photograph. It’s kind of difficult to come up with an original “from above” shot
and I’m pretty happy about how this image turned out given that I took it with one hand leaning far out over a railing!

I kind of wish that the Queen Mary was alone in this shot and that the cruise ship wasn’t there, but when I called Captain
Stubing, asking him to move his boat, that didn’t go over too well. Perhaps I should have asked to speak to Julie instead!
[ok, I’ll admit that humor was kind of lame]

GQ

I got the idea for this photo after watching the film Sucker Punch earlier in the week. Although the film was panned by
many critics, I thought the cinematography was simply amazing. I often look to creative films for new ideas.

It was terribly hot and this nice guy (a stranger by the pool) offered to buy Fritz and Sebastian a bottle of water.

The guys originally wanted an urban feel to their related directed portraiture prior to the ceremony. When it became apparent
that our options in the area were extremely limited, they settled on staying at the Long Beach hotel for their photos. Not
to be discouraged, I did locate this nice little piece of urban landscape near Hotel Maya.

You wouldn’t know it by this photo, but Fritz and Sebastian were both very startled
by a three-way kitty cat fight under those vines that started when they went to stand on
those steps. From the racket they made, it sounded like a dozen cats!

Here we are with the traditional wedding day groom and groom portrait.

This image started as a way to showcase their nifty cufflinks but I quickly realized that with a little
direction and creative cropping, this photo could have much greater significance.

Hey look! It’s a big leather chair sitting on the grass!

[this space intentionally left blank]

Hotel Maya

Here we have, from left to right, a photojournalist’s look at Sebastian’s aunt, Sebastian & Fritz’s best friend, two flower girls
being directed by the planner, Fritz in the far background, the ring bearer, and a bunch of their friends. And of course two
people with tiny cameras who are photographing the back of the ring bearer’s head.

It’s a little known fact, but Sebastian tends to cry a whole bunch!
[inside joke]

Ewwwwww! Licking frosting off his nose!
[even though I’m the one who suggested that Fritz to do it]

Jaime and Amy were married at Robinson Ranch Golf Club in Canyon Country in early June. This was the first gay wedding I’ve photographed and I had an absolute blast. It was a pretty easy gig too since Jaime and Amy were so easy to work with on the day of the wedding. Some photographers struggle with how to best photograph same sex weddings in Los Angeles, but I’ve determined that my job as the wedding photographer is simply to photograph two people in love. And I’ve determined that my style of coverage is the same, regardless of the gender of my subjects. Anyway, here are a few of my favorite photos from the event!

It was a bluebird day at Robinson Ranch Golf Club!
[except for the clouds that came later]

Even though I’m a quirky contemporary wedding photographer,
I feel that everyone needs a traditional portrait on their wedding day!

Two brides walking over a wooden bridge at Robinson Ranch Golf Club.
[ok, I admit that was a pretty lame description]

Look at those calves! If I had calves like those, I’m convinced
that I’d be a much better wedding photographer!
(at least compared to other Los Angeles wedding photographers)

Sweet!

Sexy!

The Mountain is thataway!

I forgot to ask why Amy’s bouquet is larger than Jaime’s.

This is a new take on one of my signature photos!

Here we go with another calf enhancing shot!

Now I’m not sure this photograph “works” but I saw the reflection in the
window and wanted to try something new. What do you think?

As I was taking Amy and Jaime’s portrait by the waterfall, the florist stepped
onto the balcony and gave them a big thumbs up.

Mountains. Trees. Kissing. Wedding.

This was one of my favorite casually posed portraits of the day. Even though the landscape is relatively
neutral in terms of color, the blue sky really pops (which is something that I love in my wedding photographs).

Amy appears to be having a really good time riding in that cart!

Now this photo turned out even nicer than I had hoped!

There were actually six flower girls but the other two (younger by a few years) had a complete meltdown
and so they weren’t included in this photo. Can we just pretend that there were only four flower girls?

Is it ok for me to say that I really like it when participants cry at a wedding?

I’ve decided that this is my favorite photo from the wedding. I’m going to call it “The Shoe Shot.”

Jaime’s Mom: Come here!
Amy’s Dad: Go there!
Flower Girl: I don’t wanna!

Parent Love

“She said what?”

My take on the “Family Portrait”

Here’s to you Jaime! Congratulations!