Monday, September 28, 2009

David & Mayumi's Engagement Photos

1) I had the chance to do an engagement photo shoot for my cousin David and his fiance Mayumi. It was a first for me and I was quite excited to give it a try. This first shot is my favorite of the series. I like the framing and their beautiful smiles. The lighting was soft and even, which made for nice skin tones. You can also see some color highlights in her hair which is nice. I also like the sparkle from her earrings. The sun was setting fast on this location and we were basically in the deep shade. I used a bit of fill flash to give the colors more pop. Classy shot if I may say so.



2) It was a fun shoot and I think this shot captures the atmosphere the best. We just went to the local park and basically played around. We tried different poses and shooting locations. There was a lot of laughing and funny faces.



3) I tried to do the depth of field shot with Mayumi in sharp focus and David slightly out of focus in the background. I cropped it tight to exclude a lot of the distracting elements in the background.



4) At first when I was reviewing the pics from the shoot, I was not happy about this one. I thought that I should have shot it from the side so that we can see David kneeling down and his face. From this angle you can't really see that moment. However, there was a golden spot light on Mayumi's face which made her smile glow oh so beautifully. They are both looking down at the ring. I think that element adds nicely to the moment.



5)A quiet moment during their frenetic preparations for their upcoming wedding. Again shot in the deep shade, giving soft even lighting. I like the wispy textures of their hair.



6) Hold that pose just a little longer David. I bet you his legs and back were tired after that shot. I shot this one way back under the patio hoping to use the columns to frame the shot and the dirt path to give some depth of field. In hindsight, I think I should have stood a bit further back.



7) This late in the year, there are not a lot of flowers left at the park. I used the red out of focus flowers and different green color tones on the hill behind them to help create a color pastel background. The focus is on Mayumi's face. Unfortunately they were looking at another photographer and so David is positioned in front of her. His right eye is slightly out of the depth of field. Just a bit.



8)A simple nice kiss. I like the genuine expression on her face. Often times during photo shoots like this, it is hard to get past the corny posed look. This moment felt real.



9) For a photo shoot like this we needed to assemble a team. We had 4 photographers and 2 assistants. Hahahaha. Here we are marching through the parking lot at the park. The dressed up couple got a lot of smiles and congratulations from the other park goers. Even the little kids wanted to watch the photo shoot. I had to use my brother Richard, for crowd control to keep people out of the shot.



10 ) An intimate moment. I like the ruffles on her dress. I just wish I had a bit more light behind them to give more color to the shot.



11) I used the vines and columns to frame her. I should have had David pose with her too.



12) Close up shot of the ring. Not exactly macro but close enough. It would have been nice to get his ring in the shot too.



13) I shot up at them to use the big oak tree as the background. I had some better shot of them from this location, but the blown out sky just messed up the exposure too much to fix in post processing.



14)A simple shot. David needs to work on his smile. =)



15) Strolling through the green. We actually got yelled at by some of the softball players who did not like us walking through their field. Jeez. Nice radiance on the ruffles of her dress. I'm not digging the hands in the pockets though. It would have better if they were holding hands or had their elbows intertwined.



16) You get a good look at the veil on this shot. There is just a hint of sun highlights on the right side of her veil. I should have positioned myself better to catch that light.



17)Last shot. Nice pose. I like Mayumi's smile. Very natural. David's smile on the other hand looks too forced. All in all, I had a lot of fun at the shoot. It was nice meeting Ken and Herb. I look forward to our next photo shoot at the beach. More to come!


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