Greetings!

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

Howdy, Folks!

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

Howdy, folks!

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

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