SimplyTwo Photography Blog: People, Weddings, Life, Love, Laughter

Brian & Jessica’s Laguna Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Timing is so key.

For Brian and Jessica's engagement session, we wanted an open field look complete with wildflowers, a view, and lots of natural foliage. These elements only tend to exist during specific time windows throughout the year so I think we did a great job timing this one for maximum awesome.

Brian and Jessica, your session turned out extremely well. I give you mad props because the weather was a bit wild that day with intense sun one minute and dense cloud cover the next but you two managed to roll with the changing light like champions.

Even better was how you avoided traffic for those sweet middle of the street shots!

A Day at Disneyland with Chris & Tim–Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Its been forever since I’ve visited Disneyland so when Chris and Tim suggested it for their engagement session, I couldn’t resist. In my mind, nothing could be more fun and exciting than having to carefully craft fun, spontaneous, and timeless…yet polished photos while having thousands of rampant children, sticky hands and all, swarming around us the entire day; good times. =)

I’ve known Chris and Tim for about 1/3 of my life. We went to college together, shared plenty of adventures, fond memories, and at times braved life's toughest storms together. Nothing makes me happier than seeing great friends fall in love, court it up, and get married. Chris and Tim, your wedding is coming up soon and I’m humbled and honored to be your photographer.

Chris, you’re going to look crazy beautiful.

Tim, don’t forget to shave.

xoxo,

-John

(Above) “Honey stick with me and the future is bright”

Bridal Guide March 2012 – New Shots Published!

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Happy Chinese New Year!

Found some more images in the latest issue of Bridal Guide. Seeing these shots printed brings back lots of great memories from all the campaigns we’ve done together.

Good times,

-John

Source Images:

(Above) All that light shining through the English netting looks so gangster. I love it!

Photography Tip for Fashion & Weddings: Get rid of the shoes. Gotta feel the ground n’ space you’re workin

Kelly & Michael’s Tour of Orange County Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Kelly and Michael took me on a tour of Orange County for their engagement session, starting with the very spot he proposed to her at UCI’s Aldrich Park. I was pretty excited to explore the space and see what kinds of cool shots we could come up with since university campuses have a limitless number of good backgrounds. Maybe it’s the light quality, the architecture, or the consistently manicured landscapes…regardless, I’m very glad we started things off there!

Then we hit the beach, ran around for a bit, and managed to reach Downtown Disney right around sunset just in time for a few closing twilight shots (my favorite nowadays). Good times.

Kelly and Michael your wedding is fast approaching! See you in FOUR days – you ready?

Lulu & Kevin’s Snow Covered Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:33:00 +0000

Concept...it's where it all starts. Then it's followed by vision, careful planning, and lot’s of plain luck.

Weeks before the photo shoot we toyed with the idea of doing a winter themed session. It sounded easy at first until I was reminded we live in California where it tends to look like summer even during the harshest winter. What to do?

We basically crossed our fingers, set a date, and prayed for snow.

Something worked because around 11:00 am on the morning of the session Kevin calls with news of rain outside (keep in mind it hasn't rained in months). The session wasn't scheduled for another few hours but we pretty much had to go now. Rain the city meant the mountain equivalent of a snow fiesta! Stumbling out of the house with camera in hand and shoes reluctantly on feet, I had no idea of the rush shooting in the snow would turn out to be.

I think the pictures below tell the rest of the story better than I can.

Lulu and Kevin, here are your winter-themed engagement photos. =)

xoxo,

-John

Tips of shooting in the snow:

Wear gloves
Brings lots of batteries
Wear shoes
Don’t worry about your equipment; just shoot. The gear will probably make it. If not, at least you got some good shots?

Jason & Sophia’s Pasadena Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:24:00 +0000

Two of my favorite people: Jason and Sophia.

Your engagement session pretty much defines what it means to pull off an urban photo shoot blending on-the-fly inspiration with classically calculated swag.

The street crossing photo on Colorado Blvd has been one of my all time favorites because your expressions are awesome, the subtle texture-adding lens flare was welcome if not impossible to plan, and somehow one of the busiest streets in Pasadena suddenly emptied itself of crowds and traffic so we could get this shot. Thinking back…having the city of Pasadena close off the street for the two of you was definitely worth it! =)

One can only imagine how your wedding photos will turn out…what with your entourage, wedding gown, tux and all…

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:21:00 +0000

SimplyTwo Photography is taking a 1-week blog break to open presents and burn off holiday calories. See you in 2012!

Sheryl & Yurik’s San Diego Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:45:00 +0000

Sheryl and Yurik when I think of your wedding a few fond highlights come to mind: Your dress was gorgeous (super detailed bodice, full train, and ruched skirt), a RAINBOW appeared during your ceremony (see photo), the entourage was real chill and fun to work with and the reception details/décor really stood out – I especially loved the evening lighting at Arbor Terrace, it made for some crazy vivid shots!

There are so few places in San Diego with so much greenery and manicured backgrounds. As a photographer, I LOVE these types of locations because depending on the time of year, hour, and how the light looks, each session with always be fresh and unique.

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Haines!

xoxo,

-John

David and Rowena’s Tour of Los Angeles Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:14:00 +0000

It’s all about getting the shot.

Which thankfully, is often too much fun in the process… =D

It all started with a hike deep into the mountains. It was pretty much the only way to get this quality of natural lighting and made our sore feet all the more worth it in the end. I loved how nobody else was around at the time so we had the entire canyon to ourselves. For the record, let’s just say we reserved the mountain…yeah I like the sound of that.

Being granted exclusive access to one of LA’s privately owned historic landmarks was pretty sweet too. We had a perfect view of the city skyline! Most of us living in LA have driven past this location without knowing it and even more of us have enjoyed their wine! Exposed construction elements, large floor to ceiling windows, and lots of random textures made these images pretty much galactic. I sooo wish I lived there…

And if you know me, you know I gotta’ get me some spiffy night time shots. David and Rowena, thank you for reading my mind…the night set turned out exactly as I had imagined. You fancy~

xoxo,

-John

(Above) Indoor SWING!

(Above) David being a great sport for following a Skyline-fanboy’s photo direction

(Above) Nothing will ever beat night time shots in my book. Great job you two!!!!

---

Special thanks to Tim Wut for on-location set design and access.

Adam & Nancy’s Orange County Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:11:00 +0000

Adam and Nancy, you are just too cool. It all started with your engagement session in Santa Monica - you brought some real fresh ideas to the table with the ferris wheel suggestion and stuck it out with me to get those super clean shots at night. Remember that last photo in the elevator?…classic

The weeks leading up to your wedding were also pretty exciting for me because I knew you’d be providing tons of inspiration in all your décor and creative decisions. I was not wrong =)

I found it quite rockstar how the guys suited-up (tux ‘n all) for some pre-wedding basketball while the girls were getting ready upstairs…ballin’

And let’s not forget the entire entourage; each of you contributed to make these shots what they are. If not for you they simply would not have been the same! thx

xoxo

-John

Jackie & Stan’s Tour of Los Angeles Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:02:00 +0000

In the scope of everything wedding related, I’m going to be a bit bold in saying that Engagement Sessions rank just as high as wedding photos. Not only do they creatively demonstrate a couples’ engaged-ness, but they are the first big official OMG piece of media released and people tend to stop whatever they’re doing to see how your engagement photos turned out. On blogs, in print, or blown up at churches and reception halls, Engagement Photos get a lot of face time and therefore must be, in simple terms…Perfect.

Back in college when I first started doing weddings, engagement sessions were pretty chill; spend an hour (maybe?) at a fancy location to knock out some quality frame-able shots and call it day. It was simple, relaxed, and a good measure of fun!

But as I look back on the breadth of work from SimplyTwo Photographys’ recent years, it’s become quite apparent that successful engagement sessions only start with what I’ve mentioned above. To create a truly epic, one-of-a-kind set of images, we must go deeper.

I created the “Tour of City” concept early in 2010, but back then we didn’t call it that. My adventurous couples and I both agreed; if we are going to shoot then let’s spend the time and effort to make it as perfect as possible.

Let’s hit up multiple locations that are different from each other. – Variety in Setting
Why stop at one outfit when you can rock your swag in 50 different looks? – Variety in Composure
Take risks, explore the city, shoot where people haven't shot before. – Pure Originality
If others have shot at this location, how can we make it different? – Raising the Bar
Shall we blaze some trails and tackle concepts that others only dream of? – Epic

When done properly, no two engagement sessions should ever look identical. They may share similarities in overall quality and execution but when all is said and done, your photos should uniquely resonate with who you are as a couple. =)

Enter Jackie and Stan…

Their Tour of LA session couldn’t have turned out better, we went everywhere! We started late in the afternoon to take advantage of softer natural light and to ensure that we wouldn’t tire out before the finale shots at night. This is Los Angeles, so we mapped out all the locations we wanted to hit as well as driving times, best routes, and backups in case of traffic. Luckily the roads were kind to us so no trouble there. All in all, we carved out fresh bridge shots in Pasadena, lounged in an open field, spent some time with Charlie Chaplin in Downtown LA, almost hitched a ride on a train, and eventually found ourselves perched atop the observatory hours after sunset.

Jackie and Stan, thank you for being adventurous with me. You done good.

xoxo,

-John

(Above) See the chair? We brought it with us.

Nancy & Brian’s San Diego Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:33:00 +0000

Dear Nancy and Brian,

HAPPY ONE YEAR Anniversary! Five minutes into your engagement session I made two observations: 1. You two are extremely creative and 2. There was a very high likelihood for epic results – and both observations were correct. In fact, your light painting engagement photos still gets tons of hits on the blog and was featured on over a dozen other wedding blogs…good job!

As for the wedding, mad props for carrying that momentum and then some, into the day’s events. Much to the credit of you and your ninja entourage, the fun pretty much never stopped!

Forget the stormy weather that day; you made it rain.

xoxo,

-John

(Above) Nancy & Brian’s first look took place at her house. Since it was raining our entourage formed an umbrella canopy to walk under.

(Above) We made good use of the small stage in the church basement.

(Above) Nancy please show us how this photo turned out?!

Nancy & Brian’s thoughts via WeddingWire:

John is awesome. I met him while attending two of my friends weddings where he was their photographer. I loved the bold colors and how creative his pictures were when studying his blog. John is VERY VERY personable. He gives 110% the entire time he is your photographer. For our engagement shoot, he spent over 6 hours with us taking pictures of us and making us feel so comfortable. He made the mood super fun and allowed us to be who we were and that definitely showed in the pictures. He is ALWAYS aware of the lighting in a picture. He is able to capture the best light in any situation. He got the proofs back to us within a month. He was always available through email, phone and text. The day before our wedding, he came to our rehearsal to meet our wedding party so they would be familiar with who he was. On our wedding day, he was amazing! He was at my house way before the time on his contract. He captured moments with ease and everyone in my wedding party told me how comfortable they felt around him. John was so personable they all loved him! You won't be disappointed with John.

David & Caitlin’s Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:44:00 +0000

David and Caitlin…oh the fun we had!

First off, thanks for bringing me out to your wedding; I definitely had a great time spending the day shooting with you and your entourage - all super fun people. =) I think its pretty awesome a llama decided to show up to the creative session wearing practically the same colors as your bridesmaids dresses, pretty swagg if you ask me.

And Caitlin; the décor you made ~~was~~ is the most creative and hands-down ninja artwork I’ve ever seen at a wedding. I think every bride should call you to decorate their wedding…seriously.

Congrats on being married you two; cya around!

xoxo,

- John

just decor

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:27:00 +0000

beautiful décor. all home-made. by the bride. =)

nice work Caitlin! your wedding pics are coming up next…

Wendy & David’s San Francisco Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 06:07:00 +0000

Wendy and David, shooting in Downtown SF has become one of my favorite wedding destinations thanks to you! I super appreciate you for bringing me out to do my thang~

Not only was your wedding crazy beautiful (LOVED the church and Nob HIll at night was tops) but your entourage was pretty sweet too; we definitely pull off some fancy shots. =)

Congrats again and Happy 1 Year Anniversary!

xoxo,

-John

(Above) Henry you make that dress look gooood

(Above) Sneaking on to random farm = win

I Love Shooting at Night – Teasers

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:15:00 +0000

Taking pictures at night is cool. I think everyone should do it, especially today since its Halloween!

(Above) Mimi & Thomas

(Above) Sally & Kenton

(Above) Jackie & Stan

(Above) Julia & Huma

(Above) Regina & Shawn

(Above) Sheryl & Yurik

(Above) Grace & Matt

(Above) Nancy & Brian

(Above) Wendy & David

_____________________________________

Thank you to all my couples who trusted me enough to go through with these photos even when they made little sense at the time. (Cuz you know, it was dark outside and probably cold)

xoxo,

-John

David & Caitlin’s Venice Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 22:19:00 +0000

David and Caitlin, kudos to an awesome job being adorable together! And thanks for recommending that we check out Abbot Kinney; that entire location was so alive with color and it seemed like every couple of minutes we walked there was something fresh for us to use in the photos.

Exploring a sweet venue like Venice is great because you know it’s one of those locations where you can visit a million times and shoot it differently every single time. Variety = win.

I can’t wait to show off your wedding pics soon!

xoxo,

-John

(Above) There’s something so right about shooting at night!

Hao & Christina’s Los Angeles Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Hao and Christina, you and your crew gotz some serious air!

Going through your photos and picking out my favs for this blog post brought back some really cool memories. I think my favorite part about being a wedding photographer is during the freestyle creative time when I get to work closely with you and your VIPs to create some epicly frameable shots and your idea to stop by Arcadia High for those Creatives was pure brilliance. Having never done a creative set on a high school campus, it was definitely a new experience and quite the challenge but also every bit as rewarding. You and your entourage were full of energy, nonstop with the fresh ideas, and just really cool people all round; I kinda miss you guys. If there was a rule against having too much fun taking photos; it’s broken.

Thanks for having me on board to shoot all the pictures and congrats on being married; I’ve heard good stuff about it. =)

xoxo,

-John

(Above) Nice work picking out the Louboutins Hao!

(Above) Shooting solo cuz who needs two photogs right? =)

In their words: John was absolutely amazing to work with! When we first met John he gave both of us big hugs and my husband awkwardly patted his back (he is not a hugger), but by the end of the wedding day they had a great big genuine hug and I knew John's job was done. John had initially done a friend's wedding and when I saw the pictures he took I knew I wanted him as my wedding photographer even before I was engaged. My husband and I both wanted natural, spontaneous pictures that just captured the moment and John's style fit our laid back personalities perfectly. Working with him was extremely easy and smooth. He even flew out of state for our engagement shoot and was really flexible in working with our busy schedules. On our wedding day he hung out with our wedding party and they all agreed that if he had gone to school with us we would of all been friends from the get go. Throughout the day he was furiously taking pictures and we were amazed at his energy level. He had great, creative ideas during our group shots and we just all had a lot of fun. The day after the wedding all I wanted to see was pictures and he actually sent us a little preview, it was like he had read my mind. We're still getting wedding pictures but so far are really pleased with the wonderful pictures we've seen so far and would highly recommend him to anyone:P. John was really professional, easy to work with and most importantly took amazing photographs that make us want to do the wedding day all over again.

Teriel & Steve’s Tour of Los Angeles Engagement Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000

One afternoon, a million locations, and nonstop mischief making = a SimplyTwo Engagement Session done right.

Teriel and Steve, our tour of LA couldn't have gone more smoothly. As I’m sure you both know by now, it’s pretty tough to plan out exactly how a photo-shoot will unfold. Are the spots we picked out still accessible? Will security boot us? What about traffic and parking…geez so much to think about! And it’s because of all this that I appreciate you two extra for being super chill and trusting me to do my thing as we shuffled through LA together. Your engagement session was so fun it felt like 90% hanging out and 10% photo shooting; although I think in that 10% we managed to pull some pretty epic shots =)

xoxo,

-John

Deb and Joe’s Wedding–San Diego, CA

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:26:00 +0000

Dearest Deb and Joe,

Let me first start off by saying what an honor it was to shoot your wedding; you two are like family.

Deb I remember way back during our UCSD days when you and Meta tried to calm me down as I was freaking out about which classes and major to focus on (this was the first time we ever met, and 1 week into frosh year of college fyi, yeah I was that guy). Since then you’ve always been like a big sis and I‘ve always appreciated you checking in on me and sharing all of your wisdom on life and stuff. You have no idea how encouraging you’ve been!

Joe I think my first memory of you involved either a 20 person dog pile, a super soaker, or a prank too inappropriate for our blog readers. Or was it all of that combined? Anyway…you are a solid guy man. You set a pretty good example for the rest of us young’ns at CEC (as far as what we could get away with and not get in trouble) and I learned a lot about leadership, organization, and patience from serving with you on worship team. In fact, patience was probably the biggest one since you had to put up with a lot of, well….me. lol thanks Joe!

I thought it was way cool when you two first started dating and now that you’re married that cool index has been raised permanently! I hope you’re loving your time in London and please do holla back when you visit!

xoxo,

-John

thi

(Above) Anna is the master of hair. Everything you see from here on in is Anna’s mastery.

(Above) Jim is a groomsman. He also enjoys painting vehicles in his spare time.

(Above) Emily is very proud. She helped with Joe’s boutonniere because they are impossible to attach.

(Above) Boys to men… or other way around?

(Above) Can we get another drink up here? (Guests enjoyed smoothies after the ceremony)

(Above) This is how proper groomsmen photos should be done all the time. =)

(Above) Ladies, nice work

(Above) This happened a lot that day!

Charlie & Franny’s Santa Barbara Wedding Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:18:00 +0000

Dear Charlie and Franny,

Shooting your wedding was seriously too much fun! I don’t even know where to begin: the fact that it was in Santa Barbara, the awesome cabins we stayed in, the care package full of snacks upon our arrival, the games, all the cool people, painting your Chuppah, the food, the hoedown, more food, perfect weather, more food, nature, the two of you getting married? I’m sure it was a bit of all the above. =)

Thanks for having me around for your wedding, hope you like the pictures!

xoxo,

-John

the day before…checking into our cabins, playing games, painting the Chuppah where Charlie and Franny would be getting married under, and putting together all the flowers and décor before feasting on ribs at the hoedown

(Above) Many of you have seen the “Don’t Steal This” sticker on my camera. This wedding was where it came from! Each of the guests had a food filled care package waiting for them upon check-in. This was one of the many decorative stickers. The personalized name badges were pretty cool too!

Hao & Christina’s Engagement Session–Richmond, VA

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:03:00 +0000

A few months ago I got the chance to fly out to Virginia for Hao and Christina’s Engagement Session. Growing up in LA, I’ve never really gone anywhere with so much history (as I recall from school, Virginia was around way back in the day, like before I was born) so the weekend was as much a tour of the city as it was a engagement themed hang-out. We grabbed some Cuban food with Mel and Jeff, got ice cream, visited an old movie theater, checked out a Jazz festival, went to the hospital after a brief hike, and saw the interior of a historic mansion.

Hao and Christina, thanks for graciously bringing me out to your part of town!

Meta & Clariss–The Home Depot Remix Session

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:11:00 +0000

Let’s start things off with a quick vocab seminar:

To demonstrate ones engaged-ness, we have Engagement Sessions.

To demonstrate the I-Do’s, we have Wedding Photography.

…pretty easy, you’re following me so far right?

So how do we demonstrate ones married status? … (drumroll for me thx) … With the SimplyTwo Photography REMIX Session! =)

__________________

Meta and Clariss,

You two are such a huge part of SimplyTwo Photography history. From your engagement session, to your wedding, and all the times you’ve been a bridesmaid and groomsman – you’ve been a part of some of the best work I’ve ever done. Congrats on the soon-to-arrive addition to your family and THANKS for being a part of this crazy ninja concept shoot; you made Home Depot look good!

xoxo,

-John

Linna & Eric’s San Francisco Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:33:00 +0000

Dear Linna and Eric,

You two put together an amazing wedding on what may have been one of San Francisco’s sunniest days ever. Touring the city with your entourage was tops; and the locations we found?…epic

Thanks for bringing me out to shoot your wedding!

xoxo,

-John

Marc & Jocelyn’s Windmill Wedding – San Diego, CA

noreply@blogger.com (John Yao!) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:09:00 +0000

Dear Marc and Jocelyn,

Thanks for bringing me back to San Diego to photograph your wedding!! It’s quite the privilege to shoot the wedding of my college small group leader and a rare bonus to actually know nearly every member of the wedding entourage…makes for some real chill photos. =)

Check yourselves out. You look good!

xoxo,

-John

(Above) Meta from A Lil Wedding Planner!