Moving away from the place where you’ve spent virtually your entire life is never easy, especially when it’s 1,000 miles away and you hardly know anyone in the place you’re moving to. For us though, we’ve been very fortunate as we’ve had the opportunity to meet some really great people who’ve made our transition here much easier than it could have been. I know that it’s not just us when we say that people in Portland tend to be very nice.

One of those people is Brandon Perron.

Brandon’s a talented photographer in the Portland area whom I met through the [b] school, the online social networking community for photographers. He’s been a great resource in getting a feel for the industry landscape here and has been a great friend so far to someone who literally knew no one when he got here just over a month ago.

Many thanks to Brandon for inviting me to assist him on a recent fashion shoot at the Hotel Deluxe in downtown Portland (well, I guess I actually invited myself – haha). In between assisting with lighting I was able to take some photos of my own, a few of which are posted here. You can view some of Brandon’s images here.

Please enjoy. :)

Here’s to starting the next leg of our journey together…

(Downtown Portland from the west hills.
Image taken with my iPhone via Chase Jarvis‘ Best Camera app)

Yes, yes, it’s true: I’m back! :)

The last time I posted to this blog was almost exactly three months ago (two days shy, to be exact). Unbelievable. Those three months have been characterized by no less than one of the busiest, most stressful times that my family has gone through, and I’m glad to say that we’ve made it through to the other side, with only minimal scarring and oodles and oodles of hope for the future. A lot has happened in that very short, very dense period of time to say the least.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s been going on….

Relocation to the Pacific Northwest

To make the BIG announcement, I have relocated my business almost exactly 1,000 miles away from our home in southern California to the pacific northwest, to the beautiful city of Portland, OR. My wife is a pediatrician, who just finished her residency this past summer, and unfortunately California jobs were just few and far between; and the ones that were available were, to be perfectly honest, characterized by fairly poor compensation and scheduling packages or were in less than ideal locations (i.e., not great for relocating my business). And because of that, we decided to cast our net a bit wider and started to look outside of California. And here we are!

If you’ve been following me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that we actually almost ended up about an hour north of Seattle, on a little island called Camano in the northern end of Puget Sound. If you’ve never been to northwestern Washington, or even Seattle, you’ve missed out on one of the most beautiful places ever. Seriously! I can’t think of any other way to describe it than to say that it’s simply magical. But at the last minute my wife happened upon a Portland job listing and as a matter of due diligence applied, got an immediate interview, and went up for a weekend (with husband in tow, of course) to see the city. In the end my wife felt that the Portland job, as well as the location, was a better fit for us, and it turns out she was right. We love it here! We found a cute little house to rent in southwest Portland, just a couple blocks from Multnomah Village, and just about no more than 10 minutes from everything else: downtown, NW 23rd, the Pearl District, parks, the zoo, museums, etc. Oh, and the largest independent bookstore in the world, Powell’s City of Books (drool)! And everyone is so nice here, we almost can’t believe it (sad, I know).

On the business end I’m still taking clients for weddings located in California, though on a very limited basis, and I’m already scheduled to fly back throughout the year for weddings of existing clients. For now though, my primary focus is on clients located in the pacific northwest and, as to be expected, in particular the Portland metro area. As much as I love to travel, especially back home to California, taking a single wedding abroad requires me to be away from home for at least an entire weekend, as opposed to one day, and being away for entire weekends too often is just too big a burden on my family right now. So if you’d like to retain me to photograph your California wedding, please contact me soon as I am only taking another 2 or 3 California weddings this year. :)

New Look

You’ve likely already noticed that I’ve changed the look of my logo a bit: a little bit cleaner, a little bit classier, and just overall a bit better looking. I’ve gone through a few changes in the last couple years as I’ve started my business and have tried to solidify my brand identity (which is not an easy process, as any entrepreneur will tell you), but this one is here to stay for a while. And in case you don’t believe me, I’m committing the new look to some not inexpensive custom stationary. :)

Which of course brings me to this: custom letterpress business cards! They won’t be ready for another week or so, so I can’t show any pictures just yet, but I’ve contracted with Satsuma Press, a local design and letterpress studio to produce the cards for me. The cards will be 3″ x 1.5″ in size, printed on 100% cotton, 220 lb. (read: really thick for double-side printing) fluorescent white lettra paper. Lynn Russell of Satsuma does incredible work, so I know the cards will look amazing when they arrive. I’m so confident and impressed with her work, that I’ve already begun talking to her about printing some custom thank you cards for me as well.

New Website

And finally, with the new look comes a new website. In some ways it’s similar to what I’ve done in the past, but it’s a bit cleaner now with greater readability in mind. I’ve also added some wedding galleries that I’ve never blogged before (including one of a wedding in the Bahamas shot with my friend Dustin Francis). I may get around to blogging the previously “un-blogged” weddings, but for now you can enjoy the images I’ve included at the new website. :)

New Year

Though I’m a little late (considering that it’s already January 18th), here’s to wishing all of us an incredible year of joy and happiness, a year in which our goals and dreams get just a bit closer in reach, if not entirely within our grasp. I’m so thankful for this new beginning, in our wonderful new city, and look forward to meeting the amazing new clients that I’m sure to work with here, and am especially grateful for my existing clients who have exhibited so much patience with me as I’ve made this larger than life transition, so far away from home.

See you soon! :)

How gorgeous is that light?

I had a quick engagement session with my friend Blake the other day down in San Juan Capistrano. I’ve known Blake for – what – 12 years now, maybe? One of the great things about knowing someone for so long is that you get to see the various stages of life through which he travels – and I couldn’t be happier to see him end up here with his beautiful fiancée Chau.

The super talented (and film shooter!) Leah McCormick will be shooting their wedding in November. How sweet are those photos going to be??

I’ve been so busy lately and over the summer that I had completely neglected to keep the updates on our lil’ guy going.  So here it is.

Jonas is now 10 months old. He’s not quite walking on his own yet, though don’t let that lead you to believe that he isn’t everywhere yet. HE IS. Yup. Anywhere and everywhere: that’s where you’ll find Jonas these days. Not quite mobile, yet all the while completely and destructively mobile.

And he is sooooo smart, too. He picks up things quickly either through imitation or self-discovery. It’s really amazing to watch.

Now we’re starting to let him feed himself with a spoon. Well, he hasn’t quite gotten to the feeding himself part, as you can see in the above picture. But isn’t he cute all the same?

Oh, and did you notice those little white things sticking out of his mouth? TEETH!!

Stay tuned for some big announcements and updates!

The day after my brother’s fantabulous wedding at the Pasadena City Hall, I met Tina and Tim in Laguna Beach for their engagement session.

When I photograph a couple I’m very much hands off in my approach. I do give some direction here and there to put you in the best light or to be positioned in a certain way, but for the most part I much prefer that you focus on yourselves and on enjoying each other’s company. Much of the time I put my couples off in the distance, tell them to just hang out and enjoy themselves, and photograph around them while they act cute and giggly. :)

All this to say that Tina and Tim have this really great connection with each other that makes them sooooooo easy and fun to photograph.  They are such a cute couple, and as I told them during their engagement session, I can tell that they have a TON of fun together.

Can’t wait for their Palm Springs wedding!

We finished the night off with a little masculine touch, to which I could not complain: BEER. :)

I’ve been dying to post pictures from this wedding. This definitely tops the charts as the largest sneak peak I’ve ever done. Totally worth it though.

On Saturday, August 15th, my brother Brian married Maryn, the love of his life. It was an intimate wedding, shared only by their immediate family and closest of friends. To deepen the intimacy, Maryn and Brian were married by Maryn’s father.

This was very much a do-it-yourself wedding, and the details were impeccable. Minus the bouquets and boutonnieres, Maryn did all the floral arrangements herself. Maryn’s mother made ONE THOUSAND little origami cranes to compliment the decor of the day, and Maryn and Brian did a tremendous job planning the day to perfection.

And for me, it was an honor to be the one to capture and document the day.

Hair: Crowned Studio Salon
Makeup: Aimee Jakes of Puff Beauty Studio
Flowers (bouquets and boutonnieres): Jacob Maarse
Getting Ready: The Westin Pasadena
Ceremony: Pasadena City Hall
Reception: Vertical Wine Bistro

Brian is affectionately known as “Mos” by his closest friends, a shortend monicker of his last name,  so Maryn appropriately became known as “Mrs. Mos”. You can guess what is inscribed on the other shoe.

Maryn’s sister, Ashlyn, putting the final touches on her reception speech:

The frame on the right is quite possibly my favorite image I’ve captured of a bride being walked down the aisle by her father. Ever. The way Maryn’s dad is just glowing as he walks her down the aisle, and the way Maryn is beaming off to the right, eyes deadlocked on Brian with her face lit up as she approaches – priceless!

Just a quick word about the Vertical Wine Bistro:

First, if you’ve never eaten there or stopped by for an evening drink, you should. Don’t live near Pasadena? Keep it on your list for when you visit.

Second, this was the first time they had hosted a wedding reception. If you’re planning a wedding in the area with a smaller number of guests (less than maybe 80 for sure, probably less), definitely consider this as your reception venue. I had never been there before, but, yes, I was that impressed (and no, I’m not getting anything in return for saying this). Great food, incredible service, and the ambiance is fantastic. Being in the heart of downtown Pasadena doesn’t hurt either. Ask for Scott Teruya when you call.

Okay, back to the pictures!

The ceiling above the dining area at the Vertical Wine Bistro.

Just some fun dancing pictures. Brian and Maryn’s friends really know how to get down and have a good time. Here is one of Matt, my brother-in-law. :)

And someone else, whose name I don’t know. :)

Lorie and Damon booked me over the phone, without meeting me in person, so it was nice to finally meet them this past Sunday for their engagement session. We roamed around the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, then the super posh Viceroy hotel, with a nice finish at the Santa Monica pier to catch the last rays of light of a beautiful and energetic day.  Being in the military Lorie and Damon are getting married at the historic Fort Macarthur next month, and I’m really looking forward to hanging out with them again. :)

Remember Ting and David? Here’s a quick story that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Back in March I had the honor of photographing Ting and David’s wedding up in Three Rivers, CA – but that was only the first of two weddings they would have. Ting’s family is from China and wasn’t able to make the trip out to California for the wedding, so Ting and David traveled to southern China to have a second wedding with Ting’s family in traditional Chinese fashion. From there they’ve now settled in Sydney, Australia and have literally taken a trip around the world to get there.

Well a few weeks ago I sent Ting and David an email just to say hi and check in on them, and in return they sent me these pictures of their Chinese wedding. Not only did they want to show me the incredible details of the wedding, but they also wanted to show me how they were able to use one of the photos I took of them in the wedding, which you can see in the ginormous, almost billboard sized backdrop above.

“What? Really? You used one of my photos in a wedding halfway around the world?” – that was the first string of words to run through my mind reading David’s email. And then to see the image in the photos they sent – WOW.  Honestly, to know that something I created was used in such a way, so far away, is just an incredible feeling – one that no number of dollar signs or any number of booked weddings could give. As I’ve said elsewhere, it’s these sort of intangible things that really make the job of a wedding photographer worthwhile. It’s really, really hard to beat.

Thanks again to Ting and David for sending these, and for letting me play even just a small sliver of a part of not only your wedding here in the States but in China – a place where I’ve never set foot – as well.