Our Engagement Photoshoot at UCLA & Malibu [Preview]

Hi Everyone!

My fiance and I had our engagement shoot last weekend in LA! Because it was on my actual birthday it was more meaningful. Our photographer, Iris and Light, was awesome and awesome and I couldn’t have asked for better photographers. Both John and Jonathan were filled with so much personality and so fun to work with. We felt like we were just hanging out the whole time with good friends! My friend Ara joined us with her cute Canon camera that she just bought and took snaps of picture for us throughout the session. 🙂

As I mentioned in my previous post, our photographers allowed us to choose up to many locations and clothes changes, from 3PM to sunset. We loved that they worked with us and were so flexible in terms of time and locations! We chose:

1. UCLA
(my undergrad and his grad)

2. Malibu Backbone Trail
for shots with beautiful trees/flowers/picnic travel theme

3. Malibu Point Dume State Beach
for shots at ocean, rocks, and sand at sunset

My mom and I went around shopping for the right outfit for weeks and I’m so glad everything ended up looking cute in the pictures. I can’t wait to see the final edited ones! Here are some of the pictures Ara took and she did a great job!

Behind the scenes (with our photographer John telling us how to pose^^)

and………

what our edited photos will look like!

This is a copy Iris and Light put up on their website! I loveee the lighting and the soft color touches. I can’t wait to see the rest! I’ll post them right away when I get them. 🙂

Choosing a Photographer: California Engagement/Reception Photography

Hi everyone!

In this post, I’ll talk about my favorite subject: PHOTOGRAPHY 😀 Prior to jumping in the wedding market, I had no idea how much I should expect for wedding photography. I’ve heard few thousands here and there from friends, but everyone has different style, priorities, and budget, and I definitely didn’t want an amateur. My first step was to look through numerous wedding blogs and magazines, with stylemepretty.com being my favorite (Here are the top 100 wedding blogs: http://www.weddingblogs100.com/), and after hours and hours of hard work I picked two photographers that fit the style and the level of quality I was looking for. I’m very picky with photography so I couldn’t find many that I liked (I would like the main chosen pictures, and upon visiting their website, the rest would be mediocre) but finally settled with few that I’ve thought was consistent.

But I guess I had picked out the most reputable ones in the beginning, because I was quoted from $5900~9000 on average for a full day event + engagement photos. (engagement photos alone: $600~2000 depending on the package). Naturally, I thought this was the norm and thought of photography as an investment.

But what ultimately had me to wander elsewhere was their inflexible policies. The engagement session would be an hour to two hours max. In the case of the first photographer, the location was usually limited to one. The second team can be multiple, but it was still not recommended and I almost felt bad asking for how many times we can change clothes, different locations, etc. They were both very friendly, but ultimately, I needed a flexible photographer that would make me feel comfortable in playing out my ideas, instead of my worrying about their time and extra costs that would incur as a result. After all, it was my wedding.

So thank God I’m such a research freak, because I’ve found a select few that’s reasonable in price & even better in terms of their captures and quality. These guys just started about two years ago and they are awesome. They are exact style I was looking for and VERY professional in quality. They do not charge for extra hours in weddings, and the engagement shoots are generally done from 3~4PM until the sun sets in as many locations and clothes change as you want. They work with your ideas and are overall very friendly people. Here are some of their photos:

So the lesson learned, DO YOUR RESEARCH, never settle, and hire ones that are flexible in terms of time. Although the ‘well known’ ones are great, hire ones that are just as great but less-well known. They are more affordable, flexible, and will really work hard for your special day.  Our American engagement shoot is set for June 24, 2012 which is my birthday. 🙂 I can’t wait to see how my engagement and reception photos will turn out!