Greetings all!

It’s about time that I finally get to say a little something about this fashionable couple. Allow me to introduce Nanae and Jonathan, one of the coolest and most artistic couples I know. Nanae is currently an accountant in the corporate world while Jonathan is a concept artist who has worked for big names like Lucasfilm. One of his latest projects was his works in the Iron Man 2 movie. Creativeness between the two doesn’t just lie in Jonathan though because Nanae is currently following her aspirations in becoming a make-up artist, training with an established make-up artist. When we all first met, the two were quite detailed about what they wanted in their engagement pictures. They even brought over an old-school Chinese movie to show Doug and I the look and feel of what they envisioned!

Our first stop was the Huntington Library, but that didn’t go very well because we only made it passed the gift shop before a guard noticed a Trader Joe’s paper bag with a couple of head pieces the two made for the occasion. Because we had a “Wardrobe change” with the headpieces, we needed a permit to shoot there, and decided to go with Plan B instead. Following a tip we got from a colleague, we went to another location with a cool bridge to work with underneath. The back lighting was perfect and we went nuts with it.

One might think this was a second location, but in fact it was just across the trail.

This was the bread and butter of our shoot. This was inspired by that old-school Chinese movie that they brought over the day they met us. We shot this over in Chinatown near Downtown Los Angeles after we were done with the first portion of the engagement session. Since it was getting dark really fast, and for dramatic effects, we set up two remote strobes to get these pictures the way we wanted.

Since it was close by, and just to top things off, we decided to go to Hotel Figueroa for a few last shots. Trying something new, we decided to zoom in the flash to give us a narrow pop of light to give it this dramatic effect.

There you have it, folks, a more vintage kind of engagement session. They asked for it, we delivered it. The two were recently married at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills and I will post those pictures as soon as I get more caught up with my blog posts. It was a pleasure working with those two during both the engagement session and their wedding. If anyone is interested, http://jbachdesign.blogspot.com/ is where you can find Jonathan’s work. Once Nanae has her make-up website up and running, I’ll have a link to that as well. Congrats again, Nanae and Jonathan!

Cheers,

Danny

Howdy, Friends!

Here we are in Sunny San Diego to celebrate the special union between Kristina and Grant, a unique military couple that Doug and I had the pleasure of working with again. The last time we all worked together, we were running around Balboa Park and the US Grant Hotel taking their engagement pictures.

Our morning started with a old-fashioned close razor shave at Vince’s. Boris, the barber, definitely took care of this goofy group of groomsman’s and was a great guy to chat with.

Playboy magazines in an old-fashioned barbershop is always a classy touch. It’s even more funny that it’s Grant’s younger brother checking out the center fold standing next to their dad.

Not too far down the street from Vince’s Barbershop, the girls were getting ready at Salon Tonic in the Little Italy neighborhood of San Diego.

How awesome is this saber arch in front of the St. Joseph’s Cathedral?

What a grand dip after Kristina was “welcomed” to the Navy family at the end of the saber arch.

Just down the street from the St. Joseph’s Cathedral was the US Grant Hotel, where the reception was. Since we were short on time, so we decided to do the portrait session on the street right next to the hotel.

These were some of the most epic, moist, and flavorful cupcakes I have ever eaten in my life! And I know good cupcakes too! I’ve been to many bakeries in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Orange County, Long Beach, and New York City, and these are among the top 3 cupcakes I have ever eaten! I still need to ask those two where they got them from so I can bring some back home to share.

It was really refreshing seeing so many people crowd the dance floor to dance to The Macarena.

Excited, Kristina?

So that was Kristina and Grants’ magical day. What a pleasure and honor it was to be a part of it, running around San Diego and capturing the moments that made that day so memorable. They were an awesome couple to work with and are such a positive couple that it was contagious. Best wishes to the two of them on a happy and long-lasting life together!

More to come soon, everyone!

Cheers,

Danny

Howdy everyone!

This utterly adorable couple today is another one of those love-inspiring stories that really hits the heart. Jenny and An are the the kind of couple that are sweet enough to give you cavities, and Doug and I had the privilege of photographing them at the San Juan Capistrano Mission in Orange County.

We weren’t sure how friendly the weather was going to be because of the high chance of rain that day, but that never stops us from getting the job done. We got pretty lucky and it only rained on and off for short periods of time.

That big smile that Jenny had on her face was very common throughout the engagement session. An definitely knows how to make her laugh and we were ready with the camera to capture it.

I forgot what we said to An, but you can tell by his reaction what he thought about it.

The jokes just kept coming from him.

One of my favorite shots from our fun day.

The rain started to come down so this was the last picture we took at the San Juan Capistrano Mission.

After a quick break at Starbuck’s to grab something warm to drink and to escape the rain, we walked over to the historic train depot when the weather started to cooperate with us again. Something about the way that he looks at her, and the way that she smiles, just shows how much in love they are. It oozes out of each other.

It always fun playing with live train tracks and with a Canon 135mm 2.0 lens.

This may seem like a very romantic, heroic shot, but it was really a goofy shot, which is exactly how these two are when they’re together.

It was an awesome day and it was a lot of fun hanging out with those two. I can’t wait for their big day next month in November! What these two see share and have together is nothing short of a fairytale, something that people dream about having. I’m just so happy for these two that I can easily go on and on, but I’ll just leave it at that. All I’ll say is that these two have a very special and inspiring story, and I’m an extremely honored that they shared it with me.

Congratulations, Jenny and An!