Nathan + Lisa

This is a recent wedding I did just a little before the new year that I have been meaning to share. Nathan and Lisa got married at Yamashiro Restaurant in West Hollywood. There was such an amazing view from the top of the mountain where the restaurant was seated above the Hollywood hustle!

To quote the Yamashiro website: "Yamashiro means “Mountain Palace” in Japanese. It was the dream of the Bernheimer brothers in 1911 to build a hilltop mansion 250 feet above Hollywood Boulevard to house their priceless collection of Asian treasures. Hundreds of skilled craftsmen were brought from the Orient to recreate an exact replica of a palace located in the “Yamashiro” mountains near Kyoto, Japan. This dream became a reality in 1914.

When they finished Yamashiro in Hollywood, 300 steps led up the hillside through superbly landscaped Japanese gardens to the 10-room teak and cedar mansion, where carved rafters were lacquered in gold and tipped with bronze dragons. A Sacred Inner Court formed a lovely garden in the center of the building and was filled with sculptured plants, stone hewn pools and rare fish. This Inner Court provided light and air to the surrounding rooms where the walls were covered with lustrous silks and hung with antique tapestries."

Today Yamashiro serves an award-winning Japanese menu and Cal-Asian cuisine. It was the perfect location for Nathan and Lisa's intimate wedding of about only 70 guests. There were only a handful in the wedding party standing at the backside of the garden with a few family members sitting close by. The rest of the guests surrounded the garden sitting in tables spread over the wooden deck.

Before:
After:





My friend Malik came all the way down from San Luis Obispo to DJ the event. He is a great guy and an awesome DJ! He has such a vast wealth of music knowledge because I well, I kinda think he is obsessed. It also helps that he works a Boo-Boo Records. If anyone needs a DJ that knows good music and steers away from the Top-40 Malik is your man.


I almost forgot to mention my assistant Simon and his beautiful wife Brook Jones who were my weekend travel buddies. Brook actually does Lisa's hair and was the one who sent Lisa my way. Brook's salon is called Reveal Salon and it's located in San Luis Obispo. It was cool having Brook come along this time and actually do the brides hair beforehand. Simon and I hung out and shopped down the boulevard while we waited. Here is Brook in action and also a shot of her and Simon at the end of the night.



Nathan, Lisa and their son Ezra were a whole lot of fun. Thanks so much for having me all the way to Hollywood to be a part of your wedding. You guys are awesome!

15 days and counting...

I can't believe I am about to get married! Planning a wedding is crazy...can I get an ‘amen’?! We had to change our venue at the 11th hour and these amazing people out in Huasna are allowing us to get married in 'God's Country'. I am so blessed by how much friends and family are coming together to support us out through this whole wedding day experience. Kinda reminds me of the old days when families threw weddings down the road at the park and moved it to the folks backyard for bbq and beans. I think the industry has spoiled a bit of opportunity for community to pull together for the big day. But I digress. It's late. I should be sleeping...but I'm getting married in less than 2 weeks! Who can sleep?!

Here are my favorite engagement pictures ever that I didn't take. The ever-amazing Jeff Newsom is the man behind the lens once again. He astounds me always. We are close friends and fellow photo-nerds. A lot of people mix us up occasionally thinking the amazing wedding photos they saw somewhere were mine and I end up having to tell them they are Newsom's. I don't get offended when I am mistaken for the greatness of Jeff's work. Just challenged a bit to continue pushing the limits and capturing people in new and more creative ways. This was a really fun photo shoot (couple of photo shoots) where we set up his gnarly lighting rig for the sweet scooter shot. Check out his work. He's the best!

New York Slideshow

I just made a slideshow for this beautiful New York wedding I shot back in November. The colors were simply incredible! If you haven't seen any of the pictures, you must check out this slideshow! To get the details of Scott and Esther's story go here.

The Happiest Couple on Earth

Aaron & Sam are the happiest couple on earth... well, almost. Disneyland is Sam's happy place (enough to merit 'his & hers' season passes) and as far as Aaron is concerned he could probably go less than once a month and still feel like a real boy.

We started out in Fullerton at their wedding venue, an old mansion turned museum. They wanted a couple of shots in the museum, but there was already a splattering of photographs on the walls, which didn't make for the best backdrop. Sam confessed her obsession for Disneyland and I liked the idea. After a little coaxing, we convinced Aaron to agree to moving the session to Sam's most happy place. We headed straight for Toon-Town, shot some pictures in front of a few toon buildings and caught a couple roller coaster rides.




We took a lot of goofy pictures (pardon the pun) and then I called for a band shot. Aaron locked in and gave me his best rocker face. Up until that moment he complained that he didn't like getting his picture taken. However, growing up playing in bands he has had plenty of experience pulling the rock-star look; which he did fantastically! I have found when shooting guys, you have to find a way in... a way to make the romantic engagement session 'cool' or 'chill'. This was Aaron's in.






I couldn't help but steal a couple pictures of this cute kid totally enjoying his lollie sitting atop a train. It's amazing at that age the power a simple sucker has to make life full of meaning and purpose. I got caught, as his parents were standing right there watching. I appologized for photographing their kid without permission and then offered to email them the images. They were happy enough. Lucky me!




I had so much fun hanging out and becoming friends with Aaron and Sam! I am excited to shoot their wedding later this fall. Thanks Sam for sharing D-land and it's secret facts with me and thanks Aaron for humoring your wife to be. You are going to be a great husband and I am sure you will keep Sam smiling well into the age of wrinkles and laugh lines.