After spending a short time on the Campus of Cal State Long Beach, we headed off to our next location. We stopped by the Maya Hotel in Downtown Long Beach and picked up shooting where we left off.

And finally our last stop! You can’t like warm beach weather without liking the beach, so that’s where we ended up taking the last few shots. We raced to the beach to make sure we caught the setting sun and it was worth the brisk jog from the parking lot to the sandy beach.

Hope you’ve all enjoyed our little adventure out in Long Beach. If we had more time, Doug and I would have showed them around some more. Some of my favorite mom and pop restaurants were in the area and it would have been great if we were able to catch dinner together.

Congratulations, Melanie & Alan!

Cheers,

Danny

Doug and I made the short trip from Los Angeles to photograph their engagement session at Balboa Park in San Diego, a place we’ve been to a handful of times to shoot engagement sessions and weddings before. We were a little worried about the weather because the forecast said there was a high chances of rain, but we lucked out and avoided the showers. Check out some of the photos we pulled off in not-so-sunny San Diego.

After spending a couple of hours shooting inside Balboa Park, they wanted something a little more urban in San Diego. We remembered a few crazy hills in Downtown when we drove by earlier that morning and thought it would suit them just nicely.

So there we have Marissa and Dong and San Diego weather that didn’t rain on their parade. I hope you enjoyed and we’ll see you again soon!

Cheers,

Danny

Janie & Thomas are super down-to-Earth and so easy-going that you can’t help but to be very comfortable around them. They are also foodies who also live in the San Gabriel Valley, so we had plenty of restaurants to chat about and foodies stories to share with each other. But once it was time to get down to business and start taking photos, they were ready to rock.

It’s a good thing those two were pretty healthy and active people because we needed to hike down and back up a short trail to get from the bluffs to the beach area.

After we hiked back up the trail to get to the parking lot, we still managed to loiter and chit chat more about food trucks and some of Thomas’ stories at Disney in Burbank. We managed to not go through too many stories and called it a day. And what a fun day it was for all of us.

That’s all for today, but look forward to more blog posts in the near future! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers,

Danny

Sandra & Josh are two of the most endearing people I have the pleasure of being friends with and they were kind enough to invite me to the Big Island and to Oahu to photograph their engagement session. I’ve known Josh for about 10 years through a college organization we were in years ago. He’s a great guy with a huge sense of humor and I was thrilled that he had met someone who was able to capture his heart the way that she has by the way he was describing her to me. It’s a really cute story how they were friends at first and how they ran into each other again 10 years later to learn how great they are together. I was quite excited when they invited me to go with them because I had never been there before and thought what great company they’d be in on my first trip. They were totally cool with me bringing Doug along to join in on the fun, but unfortunately, Doug was busy and couldn’t make it.

I flew in a little late, so we had to start the engagement session the next day. We started our day on the Big Island at the Fairmont Orchid Resort, which wasn’t too far away from the Hilton Waikoloa Village where we were staying at.

What an amazing beach for visitors to the Fairmont Orchid Resort on the Big Island.

After a wardrobe change and a quick trip back to the Hilton Waikoloa Village, we continued the engagement shoot.

The next day we hopped islands and were in Waikiki on the island of Oahu! This place was very sentimental to the two because this was Josh proposed to Sandra.

Remember how I mentioned his sense of humor?

I owe those two big time for being such great tour guides! I felt like a local when I was with them because they took me to all the great spots to snorkel, sight see and especially to eat! I can’t wait to show Doug these places when we visit Oahu in November for a destination wedding. It was an amazing first-trip to the Big Island and Oahu with Sandra and Josh and nothing but love goes out to those two. I can’t thank them enough!

Many more blog posts to come, so we’ll see you soon!

Cheers,

Danny

Today’s entry introduces Tammy and Thomas, one of the most laid-back and casual couples I’ve had the pleasure of photographing. We started off the engagement session at UCLA in Los Angeles because Tammy completed her undergrad here and is very dear to her. Doug is also a graduate at UCLA and knows his way around the campus, which helped make the session very efficient.

Here are a few highlights from our afternoon at UCLA.

After getting some great outdoor shots, we decided to change things up a bit and headed into Powell Library.

It was off to Santa Monica Pier after wrapping things up at UCLA. We had a little lunch break there, took a few shots, and then headed to the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles to finish off the engagement session.

It’s really cool how the graffiti here is always changing. I don’t think these murals have ever been the same each time we come this way.

That concludes our fun day photographing in West Los Angeles and in Downtown. I wasn’t able to be there for their big day because I was photographing another wedding in Malibu, but Doug told me it was a huge party and that I missed out on a really fun day. Warm wishes to Tammy and Thomas! Best of luck to the two of you!

Until next time!

Cheers,

Danny

With day one of jury duty (haha..duty..) in the books, I thought I’d celebrate my very first day of serving my civil duty with another blog entry. Two entries in one day is quite epic for my standards, considering I can’t update regularly to save my own life.

Anyways, this engagement session is a perfect one to write about, especially since it took place just a block away from where the criminal court house was, where I was for jury duty. Doug and I were able to shoot some engagement pictures at the LA Times Building because Manu was a marketing associate for them. It was quite epic being able to get access to shoot there and get a tour of the building. There was so much history there and such a privilege to be roaming through the halls the way we were. Nita and Manu definitely had a blast as well. Check out some of the shots we took at the LA Times building before we moved onto the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Santa Monica Pier.

I can’t remember exactly what Manu said, but this was a very important executive room where there would be huge meetings around this large round desk where everyone can see each other. It’s always fun working with hair light to give that nice silhouette around them.

On to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, another icon of Downtown Los Angeles.

Here we are in the middle of the street in front of the Wells Fargo Building. Right after we were finished with this spot, we saw a couple of other photographers use the exact same location with almost the same pose after they saw us. It’s a compliment!

Nita and Manu really wanted to some beach pictures at sunset, so we raced to the Santa Monica Pier just in time to get the shots they really wanted.

It was quite unfortunate that we weren’t able to be there for their big day due to other obligations we had, but we wish them the very best! That tour through the LA Times building really felt once in a lifetime and we are definitely humbled. Walking through those halls really felt like stepping back in time and reliving some of the epic events that happened while the LA Times were around for.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and stay tuned for more!

Cheers,

Danny

May I introduce Cynthia and Joel, a totally cute and down-to-Earth couple who have been able to overcome the obstacles that come with long-distance relationships. These two have been able to make their 400 mile relationship grow and work and are an example for those who don’t believe that long-distance relationships can survive.  After a few years of flying from San Jose to Los Angeles and from Los Angeles to San Jose to see each other, they were ready to make the final commitment to each other.

We started our day off at LAX. I know what you’re thinking, “That’s not a typical location to take engagement pictures, is it?” It’s not, but Doug and I were able to work with it and came out with some really cool shots. Since they were in a long-distance relationship the whole time they were dating, the airport was the place they would hug each other hello and hug each other bye-bye for now, so it was a sentimental place to them. We like it when couples pick memorable locations like that.

After several shots at LAX, we headed to Maxwell’s Cafe in Venice, where they liked to come for epic pancakes. They treated us to brunch and before we left, we asked if we could take a few pictures of the two. It happened to work out because they were about to close and didn’t have any other customers at the time.

We headed to the Getty Museum in hopes of wrapping up the engagement session there, but once we got there, we got the bad news that they were closed that day. So with Doug’s quick thinking, we decided to head to UCLA. Here are a few shots that we got inside the Powell Library at UCLA. It’s such a beautiful library and I still get amazed every time I shoot there.

It’s safe to say that we all had a great time working together and running around the west side of Los Angeles. Even though we weren’t able to take engagement pictures at the Getty Museum, I think we got the look and feel that they wanted there at UCLA. Their wedding was at Calimigos Ranch in Malibu and I was humbled to be their photographer for their big day. I’ll blog about their wedding day and their Day After pictures soon! You guys are awesome and congrats, Cynthia & Joel!

I have plenty more to come! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Danny

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

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!

So here comes Andrea & Troy! Inspired by Troy’s family’s legacy of serving in the military and his active status in the air force, this charming couple picked the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs. Andrea and Troy were properly dressed in stunning attire for the occasion and were fresh off of a flight from Florida to make the engagement session possible. And we thought we had dedication for driving out at 5 in the morning to get there an hour before the museum opened! Please enjoy a few of the engagement photos that we captured in Palms Springs that morning.

As we were going from airplane to airplane, Troy was telling us stories about each plane. We learned that most of the planes in the museum were still operational and he pointed out which ones flew during World War II. It was so cool how he knew all these things! He was our tour guide the whole time we were in the museum and it was awesome!

Andrea was telling us about the journey she went through to get her outfit for the engagement shoot. She told us that after scouring the internet and local boutiques in the Florida area, she finally found a unique boutique on Melrose Avenue, which has been considered a hip shopping district in Los Angeles since the ’80s, that had exactly what she was looking for. It was definitely spot on,and it matched Troy and the theme that they were going for.

After our little photo adventure at the air museum, we headed back to their hotel at the Riviera Palm Springs. This resort and spa was full of bright colors and had this really cool bar area by the valet. I really love the white and orange color combination. The white piano and the orange lighting at the bar were particularly eye-catching.

It was a pleasure photographing their awesome engagement photos in Palm Springs. We all had a great time working together and the two were so happy with our work that they had to have us for their wedding in Lake Tahoe. It was our first time up there and it was gorgeous up there. I can’t wait to post up pictures from it as soon as I’m current with my events. These two are beautiful together and were enchanting to be around. They’re great people who were definitely fortunate to have found each other.

Troy will leave for a tour in Afghanistan later this July. We wish them nothing but the best and for his safe return. You two rock!

Signing off,

Danny