One of my favorite aspects of being a wedding photographer in 2011 is that I had so many opportunities to shoot intimate wedding with 10 or less guests. For many professionals in the wedding industry, it might seem strange that I have such a passion for small intimate events, but one of the beautiful things about photographing small weddings is that I get quality time with the bride and groom to create images. Time without distractions, without the need to run off to the reception. A time where chasing the light and creating the nest images of just both of them is all that matters because the wedding is simple. Uncomplicated. Stress free.

Here are some images from a recent wedding I photographed in Laguna beach where the only other attendees besides the couple were the bride’s father and sister and the groom’s parents. It was small and beautiful.

Several months ago, I had the privilege of photographing William and Leah’s engagement session. I had learned a little about them over email, and I knew the shoot was going to be fun. And I was not disappointed. It’s always so much fun to photograph couples who just spontaneously play (see the photo of the shadow puppets), makes my job of creating emotion, fun filled images so much easier. Hee are a few images from their e-session.

About a month ago, my wife and I decided to take the plunge. I’d gone dogless for years and was missing the wet licks on the face, long walks in the park, and all the other joys of having a dog. After a brief search, we chanced upon Pongo, a Dalmatian-Pointer mix. We’ve since fallen head over heels in love with this energetic, naughty, over sized puppy, and here are some favorite pictures of Pongo taken over the last month.

To get a better idea of what they do, here are a few pics from a recent adoption event at PetCo in Newport Beach.

After shooting a ton of outdoor weddings over summer, the arrival of winter and mostly indoor weddings makes for a fun change. For Nick and Sara’s wedding at the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, I wanted to challenge myself to create something different, and after some thought, I decided to whip out the good old Kodak Tmax 3200 film.

For those who aren’t familiar with film, back in the day when film was still king, Tmax 3200, a black and white film, was the fastest film one could get in the consumer market for those days when the light was low. I’ve always loved TMAx 3200 for the soft, grainy look, but because it’s look was so specific, it was only really used in a few situations. I love it especially during the reception when there is just candlelight, and there is this because, shadowy look to the images. Here are some of my favorites shot on the 3200 film.

With today’s deluge of facebook, flickr, and other online methods of image viewing and distribution, it’s really nice when we do get a bride who appreciates an old school wedding album printed on photographic paper and lovingly hand bound by artisans in New York. When the UPS guy dropped off Martha and Brian’s wedding album today, I was thrilled to check out the craftsmanship of their album. I thought it was a fantastic choice for Martha and Brian to choose a bright happy canary yellow leather cover for their album to mimicked the light and the tones from their wedding at Beltane Ranch. Here are some images of their album as well as a sneak peek at some of their page spreads.

It was a nice surprise to wake up and see John and Mary’s wedding published in Style Me Pretty, one of my favorite wedding blogs. I’m really glad that SMP ran their wedding because John and Mary had invested so much time and effort into creating beautiful handmade details in their wedding and it’s nice to see the couple recognized for their effort. Here’s the screen shot from the post. Click on the image to link to the full article.

The Berkeley Marina has been a big part of my life the last 2 years. From my days of sailing at Cal sailing, to bringing friends down to the Marina Park for a photo shoot, or just to a place to take a walk, I’ve always headed down to the Berkeley Marina. I love it there because on a clear day, you can see the city and the Bay bridge. The strong sea breeze keeps the air clean and the light angular and warm. So when Sheri and John said said they were going to have their wedding reception and the ensuing bridal shot at the Berkeley Marina area, I was thrilled because it gave me a chance to express my vision of the area. Here are a few favorites from the bridal shoot. The full wedding to come soon.

When I first found out that Anna and Raymond were getting married in Shakespeare Garden at the Golden Gate park, I was really curious because I’ve walked around the Golden Gate park many times, but had never come across this garden. As expected, the Shakespeare Garden was a beautiful little secret garden tucked away in a little corner and photographing a wedding there was just magical. The beautiful details in this wedding was all thanks to Alice Vu, the wedding co-ordinator from  Allez Vous Wedding and Events, for putting together the beautiful details and getting the ceremony moving along smoothly despite the traffic on a Saturday afternoon. If you’re planning a wedding in the bay area, you might want to send her an email at alice@allezvous.com. Here are some of my favorite images from the ceremony.

A week after I returned from Cambodia, I had the great honor to photograph Claire and Tim’s wedding at the Victorian in Santa Monica. The venue is a beautiful old Victorian house set in the trendy area of Santa Monica. Given the architecture and surroundings, I knew I wanted to shoot a whole bunch of old school black and white film because the venue just seemed to demand it.

One of the favorites things about this wedding as a photographer was all the small quirky details, like the bouquet and cake topper, and the subtle elegance of a book of love poems as a wedding favor, which was so thoughtful and unique. I loved that the wedding was smaller, meaning lots of intimate moments. Here just a few of my favorite images from the wedding.

The motor chugged loudly as the boat swayed its way up river towards Tonle Sap, the biggest lake in Southeast Asia. It was hard to imagine that a week ago, I was surfing in the Pacific ocean and now I’m now a 24 hour flight away from home in the middle of Cambodia. We had originally arrived in Cambodia to visit the spectacular temples of Angkor Wat, but interestingly, the part of the trip that I found most fascinating was a boat ride up the river towards Cambodia’s largest lake.

It was fascinating for me to see the village on stilts on the banks of the river, where there were no roads and people went about their daily lives on boats. Kid’s jumped off their front porch into the river and villagers took their produce to market on boats. Here are some of my favorite images from the boat ride. Check out the rudimentary boat controls in the first image.