The Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention is the largest and most diverse convention of its kind for photographers. This year in Las Vegas, with almost 20,000 photographers in attendance from over 50 countries, I was awarded First Place in the 2012 WPPI Awards of Excellence Album Competition (Engagement category).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this competition, judges base album scores on a combination of creativity, impact, storytelling, technical excellence, lighting, posing, expression, and composition. The score for my album entry this year was 90.4 which is described as “exhibiting exceptional skills in all areas.” For those folks who have been following my work for several years, you might remember that this is my third entry into WPPI competition; I also submitted two albums in the 2010 WPPI Awards of Excellence Album Competition (Non-Event Informal category) where one was awarded Second Place while the other received an Accolade of Excellence.

The photos in this album entry were captured at a real engagement session at Pasadena City Hall in Pasadena, California. Kirstin (the bride) selected the wardrobe and per my request also brought several props that they felt helped express their personalities. The album itself was created in Adobe InDesign and was formatted to be presented in a lay-flat 12″ x 12″ magazine-style album.

As a final note, and as I mentioned in my acceptance speech, I’d like to thank my dear friend and mentor Jerry Ghionis who has provided me with immeasurable guidance and support over the years. Without him, my successes would have not been possible. Thank you so much Jerry. I love you man! I’d also like to give a nod to Melissa Ghionis, Justine Ungaro, and Sally Sargood who have all been incredibly supportive of my competition efforts.

Katie and Evan came into town from Chicago a few weeks ago just in time for our Monsoon-like weather. Rather than reschedule their one hour engagement session (because of the rain), I suggested that we hide from the weather under the beautiful covered arches around the courtyard of Pasadena City Hall in Pasadena, California. I’m really looking forward to being their wedding photographer later this year!

Katie and Evan deserve mad props for bringing props.

Katie’s informal flower bouquet was just awesome.

They brought flip flops from Chicago thinking  it would be warm and sunny. Woops!

Those of you who know me know that I’m not terribly fond of tilted photos. And
although that’s still true 99.9% of the time, I liked this image quite a bit.

He happened to tell her something naughty. Of course I didn’t ask for details.

Although I’ve photographed folks dozens of times at Pasadena
City Hall, this particular location at City Hall is a new one for me.

And as you can see here, I kinda liked it.

One jump. And she nailed it.

Evan braved the rain to grab some props and while she waited,
I took this super cute photo of Katie. I can’t wait work as their
wedding photographer in Malibu later this year!

When a client selects me as their wedding photographer, the process typically starts with the bride finding me through a search engine, a wedding directory, or through a referral. For this couple, it was the other way around! Back in November 2008 I was approached by CBS. They wanted to film an episode of CSI: Miami in my studio. And that filming eventually lead me to Lindsay. You see, Lindsay has a blog called iamnotastalker.com. On that blog she shares adventure stories about film and TV locations in and around Los Angeles (including Pasadena). Anyway, after my CSI episode aired, my studio was featured on one of her blog posts. A few months later, I was surfing the Internet and came across her blog again. This time I noticed she was looking at wedding venues. After reading about her search, I sent her an e-mail offering my services as a wedding photographer–and the rest is history!

For this engagement session Lindsay and Bret met me in Old Town Pasadena. We were hoping to take advantage of the billboard in front of the old movie theater (we were going to Photoshop in some save the date message) but that didn’t work out because of holiday decorations in the square. So we moved on to other locations around Old Town Pasadena. Finally, near the end of our time together, we took a quick drive over to Pasadena City Hall to finish off the morning. Here are a few of my favorite engagement photos from our session.

 

This is the second time I’ve used animation
sequences on my blog. I think I’m kind of liking it!

Lindsay and Bret were super fun. They REALLY got into their jumping at Pasadena City Hall.

The traditional (obligatory) portrait.

They were benched.

 

Smoochy smoochy!

Alleyways in Pasadena are fun!

Look at Bret! He’s so big and strong!

I’d make another bench joke here, but the first one was so lame …

Hey! Watch those hands!

Vicky and Mike’s wedding day was kind of hot (as in temperature) for a fall wedding, but that didn’t stop anyone from having a great time. They both got ready at the Westin Pasadena; Vicky had a huge suite for the girls (the Rose Suite) while Mike got ready with the groomsmen down the hall. After everyone was ready, they met at Pasadena City Hall for their creative session. And that was just super as it’s one of my favorite photo locations in all of Los Angeles. After we finished making a few cool photos, we went across the street to the Pacific Asia Museum for Vicky and Mike’s wedding ceremony and reception. If you’d like to see all of the photos from this wedding (and you know Vicky’s maiden name), please click here to view the full gallery!

Catering: Eco Caters
DJ: Brian Adriano (aka Dj BSTANG)
Flowers: The Enchanted Florist (Burbank)
Rentals: Town and Country
Hair: Glendale Salon Spa
Dress: Mary Linn’s Bridal
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik

From Mary Linn’s Fall 2008 Lux Line

Manolo Blahnik — there is no substitute.

You’ve gotta love sparklies like these!

The girls help Vicky don her dress.

For some reason, none of the groomsmen could tie a tie. So Mike became the man of the hour — in more ways than one!

Vicky’s groom’s gift was a Leica digital camera! She wrapped it in a Rob Greer Photography proof box that was
a leftover from their engagement session printed photos. I thought that the wrapping choice was kind of funny!

 

Vicky and Mike wanted to see each other before the ceremony. Here’s what happened.

I loved that Vicky’s flowers mirrored the decoration on her wedding dress.

Here are the girls walking near the courtyard at Pasadena City Hall — dishing gossip no doubt!

And the boys weren’t to be left out; they were probably telling dirty jokes.

Mike’s "must have" shot was my stylized tribute American Gothic.

And that led me to this short animation. I’ve never posted this kind of animation on my blog. What do you think?

If you’re more of a "still photography" kind of person, here are the four photos that made up the animation.

Mike sure does walk fast!

I can’t say why, but I love, love, love this photo.

I wanted to post a cool quote here — but I seem to have forgotten it.

madhotsexy™

The Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California

These flowers were used as wedding ceremony decorations and were later transitioned to table centerpieces at the reception!

Pretty wedding altar flowers.

These paper lanterns were everywhere!

These seating place cards were arranged in a bed of brown rice! Very clever!

Flower petals and natural rice for the recessional throws!

Instead of a guestbook, guests were presented with these postcards. One of
their friends planned on mailing Vicky and Mike the cards periodically.

Smack, smack, kissy, kissy.

Life imitates art …

Dad at the top of the stairs waiting for Vicky to emerge from the bridal room.
He mentioned me during his reception speech. That totally freaked me out.

The Ceremony

Vibrant colors rock!

Paper lanterns at twilight at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena.

Vicky and Mike served pie instead of cake. It was super yummy!

These guys were dancing like crazy. You wouldn’t know that she had just dealt with two flat tires! But that’s another story.

I’ll give a cool prize to the person who posts the best caption for this photo in
the Comments section of this blog post. The photos in this photo are part of the "Fashioning
Domesticity, Weaving Desire: Visions of the Filipina" exhibit at the Pacific Asia Museum.

Graffiti Art at the Pacific Asia Museum. Part of the "Calligraffiti: Writing in Contemporary Chinese and Latino Art" exhibit.