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!

Summer weather has finally arrived! And I can’t wait for it to make its exit! As you may have guessed, I’m not a fan of the blazing heat and the scorching sun. It makes me quite miserable and constantly keeps me searching for an escape from its torture. It got particularly hot at home today, so instead of blasting the AC, I decided to grab the laptop and treat myself to some new scenery (and AC off of someone else’s dime). So here I am at one of my favorite watering holes in Temple City, sipping on lightly-sweetened green tea, ready to share another epic engagement session when a previous client bumps into me! What a pleasant surprise! Cindy, who’s wedding Doug and I shot together a few months ago, notices me hiding behind my laptop and says hello! How nice of her! Her wedding and engagement session were so much fun to shoot and be a part of. I totally remember how cute her and Jerome were on their wedding day and during their engagement session. After briefly catching up with her, I find myself hiding behind my laptop again, but this time, I’m even more inspired and motivated to share that epic engagement session because of the delightful conversation I had with Cindy.

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

Hola Amigos!

I’m excited about this post because it was the first time I got the opportunity to fly to San Francisco for an engagement session! It’s definitely not my first time out to the Bay area by any means though. My younger sister just finished up her 3rd year in optometry school at Berkeley and I have some other great friends who live out in the San Francisco area, so when ever I get the chance, I like to come out and visit them.

In this particular trip to San Francisco, I was fortunate enough to make 5 new friends – Nina, Ren, and their three puppies. Nina and Ren are an awesome couple who are totally in love with each other and their puppies. After being extremely close to missing our bright and early flight from Long Beach, Nina and Ren picked up Doug and me from SFO and we were on our way to Golden Gate Park for the engagement session. Check out some of the cool shots we pumped out from that gloomy/rainy engagement session!

We started off parking by Stow Lake, which is pretty much at the center of the impressive 1,000 acre park. We were immediately in awe when we saw a small group of cherry blossoms and started off there.

As we started to walk deeper into the park, two of the three puppies wanted a quick time-out to relax their paws for a minute. This shot was taken with the 135mm at f 2.0 on the Canon 5D Mark 2.  I love the background blur and how deep the photo looks with that lens/body combo.

When we first met the two, Nina was warning us that Ren was a little camera shy. If she didn’t say anything, I’m sure I would never have guessed.

We decided to hike over to the Japanese Tea Gardens nearby for a change in scenery

It wasn’t until about here when our luck was running out and we had to pull out the umbrella to protect ourselves from the rain that we were hoping would hold out until our engagement session at Golden Gate Park was over. (When I mean we, I mean Nina and Ren because Doug and I didn’t bring any umbrellas because we were in a rush to catch our flight.)

Our last stop was the historic Dutch Windmill, which was erected in 1903. The Tulips garden surrounding the windmill were really awesome.

The rain started to really come down and we decided to call it a day after this shot.

The Bay area has a different feel than the LA area I’ve been born and raised in. Things seem to move at a slower pace up there, and it seems like people there like to stop and smell the roses. Here in LA, it always feels like everyone is rushing from point A to point B, leaving no time soak in their surroundings. Both Berkeley and San Francisco have this sense of community to me. There are little neighborhoods everywhere and each seem to share that sense or feel of community. What I really love about the Bay area is the food! I’ve had many “Best ____ I ever ate” here, which include Chicago style deep dish pizza, hot chocolate, vanilla cream-filled churro (yes, a cream-filled churro), and strawberry shortcake. It’s a really awesome area, and sometimes, I wonder if it’s more right for me than LA. I wish I had an opportunity to spend a few months rather than a few days to hang out up there and really soak things up.

It was really fun chatting with those two about places they love to eat around San Francisco, and I will definitely try them out the next time I’m there. Doug and I were able to hang out with them again when we photographed their wedding at the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach recently. It was such a fun wedding and we took some stunning photos of their Indian wedding. I can’t wait until I catch up and blog about their wedding because it was one of most colorful weddings that I have ever photographed.

Congrats to you two, Nina and Ren, and I wish you two only the best in your future endeavors!

Cheers,

Danny

I am inspired.

This post is a very special one to me, so forgive me if I blabber on too much. This happy couple is very near and dear to me. Out of my small group of friends that I’ve known since middle school, Wilson is the first one out of us to get hitched. All of us are very excited and happy for him. He is one of the nicest and most considerate guy that I know, and his special lady, Caty, is equally kind to match.

They are quite the goofy and fun-loving couple and Doug and I really wanted take some great pictures for them. With some brainstorming by the four of us, we decided to go with a 500 Days of Summer themed engagement session and photograph at a few of the landmarks the movie was shot at in Los Angeles. We were all thrilled and were ready to rock!

Here we are at the Bradbury Building in the historic part of Downtown Los Angeles. It’s a beautiful building and photographing here was really cool. It was ashame we were only able to photograph on the floor level and the first stair landing but it was totally cool nonetheless.

Our next stop was a very short walk from the Bradbury Building through Grand Central Market to Angel’s Knoll in Los Angeles (right off the Pershing Square stop off of the Metro Red Line for those who like to travel on the light rails.) We were actually able to photograph Caty and Wilson on the same bench that was used in the movie, which was pretty awesome. That same day we were there was also the day that the Angel’s Flight Railway, the world’s shortest railway, resumed service since 2001.

Our next stop wasn’t in 500 Days of Summer, but the couple had seen some of the stuff that we have done before here at Union Station and wanted to get a few pictures here. We were definitely nearby, so what the heck. Why not? Union Station is always cool to shoot engagement pictures at. It’s such an interesting place to me, full of history and character that you don’t find every day.

This spot is just north of Chinatown and can be seen off of the Metro Gold Line just north of the Chinatown stop. I remember Doug telling me about this spot and I happened to pass by it with Wilson when we were on our way to the LA Street Food Fest several weeks ago. This place is a field of bright gold and purple flowers with the Downtown LA skyline in the back.

This is definitely one of my all-time favorite shots ever. Who would have their pants at their ankles right?? If you knew Wilson, you would not be surprised. I actually got inspired to do this shot after seeing a really cool wedding party picture when I was at WPPI in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. It’s frame worthy in my books.

After a quick dinner in J-Town, we headed to our final photographing destination. Here we are at LACMA, which wasn’t too far of a drive from Downtown LA. After waiting a short while for some other photographers to finish taking their pictures, we were able to snap a few cool pictures here.

These two are a couple of people that really inspire me. They’ve inspired me that such love and passion is possible. They’ve shown me that sacrifices are worth it when it’s for the One you love. They’ve demonstrated understanding and continue to demonstrate commitment. They are a success story that I’m fortunate to witness.

Their wedding is going to be an interesting one to photograph because I am actually in the wedding party. Doug will be doing most of the work with a fellow Furious Photographer while I’ll be geared up for candid shots and other shots from the view of a groomsman (without interfering with my role in the wedding party of course). We all can’t wait until their big day in May.

Congratulations, once again, to Caty and Wilson!

Cheers,

Danny