Allison and Randy - Waterfront Wedding

I have always been drawn to water. It's been quite common for me to end up in any nearby water during photoshoots, even to the point of treading water in a river while holding my camera overhead and (hopefully) dry just to get the shot. One of the things that has been on my shortlist for quite a while has been a waterproof housing for my camera to give me a bit of safety in this situation and open new doors.

Last weekend took me to Los Angeles for a variety of reasons, some business meetings and some personal fun. The week before I had purchased an underwater housing for my older camera and wanted to test in a pool that isn't frozen over. I packed the housing, one camera (with a battery that may or may not have been charged), one memory card, and the two lenses that fit in the housing (50mm & 35mm). Given the size of the underwater housing (this thing is huge), I didn't even bother to bring my camera bag.

Shortly after we got the family in car for the drive south, I remarked to Katie that I guess I wasn't going to do any real shooting because I didn't even bring my camera bag with me. None of my favorite lenses and no lights whatsoever.

Unbeknownst to me, Allison and Randy were planning to get married on Saturday, but suddenly were without a photographer. A dear friend of mine who was officiating the ceremony knew that I was in town for the weekend and told them to give me a call on Saturday morning. They were looking for someone to get some amazing photos of them before the ceremony to remember their day. About four hours before the ceremony, we talked and worked out the details - an hour long photo session to before the ceremony.

I've always believed in helping people out, especially when they find themselves in a bind, but I was honestly a bit anxious. Sure, I've shot a lot of weddings and know what to expect, but I also know what to bring (like backup equipment). I had one camera with an unknown battery status (died just after the shoot) and two lenses that would be far from my top choice (they were chosen only because they are physically my smallest lenses). Could I quickly think outside of my box in a challenging environment? Thankfully, I enjoy a good challenge and had a lot of fun with it.

I arrived at Ports O'Call in San Pedro a little after 3pm and met up with Allison and Randy. They were just finishing with their final details for their wedding when we introduced ourselves. That area is incredibly inspiring, I felt as if I could have shot with them for the next few weeks there and never come close to exhausting the possibilities. Allison and Randy walked around Ports O'Call for the next hour as we shot in various locations; they had a style all to their own. Suddenly my lack of camera equipment took a back seat to the couple. Check out some of my favorites below!




Randy doing his James Bond.






Just near the end of our time together, Allison and Randy told me how happy they were that I didn't force them to smile in every shot. So that naturally meant that I had to make them smile right?






I've always enjoyed working with a limited set of tools once in a while to help me better understand the tools I have, but normally I do this on my own time, not at a wedding. This day I had no choice. Despite my thoughts before the wedding about not having my favorite tools, I quickly realized I had the only things that mattered - a couple in madly in love.

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Angela Porter Band and what I've been up to

It's been almost two months since I have been at a wedding, which is a long time for me. Normally I shoot a wedding almost every other week, if not more frequently. Soon enough I will be right back in the middle of weddings, but not now. Now I am busy working on personal projects of inspiration and planning growth.

As a professional photographer, I'm a huge fan of personal projects as a source of inspiriation. I get to play on my own dime and not be forced into results that others are looking for - it's my show. That's why I constantly hire models for shoots that inspire weddings. So way back in December (do you remember December?) I traveled to LA and photographed the indie Angela Porter Band. Do yourself a favor and check out their sound, I'll wait.

I had spoken with members of the band beforehand and exchanged ideas about the direction for the shoot to develop game plan for the shoot. The plan was to travel into the city at night and work the moody and street lit urban landscape into submission. In my head, I began to work through ideas, looks, complete photographs and I knew this was going to be awesome.

It was only the day before the schedule shoot that we learned we could not go ahead as planned due to a scheduling conflict. Suddenly the only time we had available for the shoot as midmorning in Compton. Alright not what I previously had in mind, but I'm a wedding photographer at heart and I pride myself on my ability to see differently and think on my feet.

We arrived on the day of the shoot to have strong winds greet us, probably a consistent 30mph breeze (read: no lights to be used). Still schedules being what they are, we move forward and find the images. The album was finished but the artwork wasn't. Time to create. Here is what we found:












For you photographers out there, here is the setup shot for the previous image. The band was on the roof of a five story parking structure while I was on a walkway underneath them. I pushed my bare flash as high up and close to them as possible for the coverage and power I needed to get the shot. Remember the wind I mentioned? It came very close to carrying the light to the ground four stories below. Like I caught the light stand as it was blowing over the edge close.


So after the near destruction of a light, the band chooses their favorite photo. You know, the one without the light. Its all about options.

In the end, not one of these photos looked anything like what I had planned on shoot for the band. At the same time, I am proud of my work. New opportunities and new ways to create came up and I took advantage of it.

To come full circle, I am incredibly excited for the future. Never before have I spent so much time behind the scenes planning and creating. Big changes are coming (soon) and new opportunities remain to be explored. Now let's rock the boat.

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