Barnsdall Fridays Wine Tasting begins again!

Last year, Ingrid and I got hooked on a series of  summer wine tastings at Barnsdall Park in the Los Feliz area of LA. Apparently we weren’t the only ones … this year’s first Friday wine tasting was another hit, as usual!

Right around 5:30pm on Fridays, a section of the park on the sunny side of the slope fills up very quickly. The west lawn becomes a tight speckling of blankets, friends, couples, and kids as the sun sets. It makes for a wonderfully unusual LA phenomenon … socialization with other friendly people! Ingrid and I went with friends, newly-married Heather + Brian (oh by the way, check out their wedding photos here), and had a great picnic on the lawn while listening to the nearby DJ’ed music.

Silverlake Wine does the generous pours, and always selects four boutique summery choices. This time, they offered a taste of their own blend, along with a story of  the bear art on the label that apparently also graces the walls of their bathroom (unconfirmed … I haven’t visited their bathroom yet).

Other attractions include an ice cream truck (Coolhaus) and a hot dog truck (Let’s Be Frank) that pull up to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House.

The tickets are available online, and seem to have increased by $5 this year to $20 + Eventbrite’s commission. Profits benefit the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation‘s projects and programs. We may not go as often because of the price increase, but it’s still such a very worthwhile summer activity when I’m not booked for an event or wedding!

Purchase tickets here: Barnsdall Friday Wine Tasting

Enjoy, and say hi at the next one!

Anchal+Lavinder Engagement Pictures – Laguna Beach, CA

Hey!

Here’s a few fun images from a playful engagement story session in Laguna Beach! Mixed a little sand, a little water, a little golden hour, a little yellow sun dress, and a little ooh-la-la, and this is what we got:

Angel+Lavinder will be gettin’ hitched at the Ritz Carlton in Newport Beach, and I am stoked to be there!

Anitra+Justin Engagement Portraits, part 2 – Lomo photos!

In anticipation of Anitra + Jusin’s Minneapolis wedding this weekend, I want to show off a couple more images. Justin is a cameraman himself, and he asked if I’d take a departure from my usual equipment to make some photos with a Holga camera.

For those uninitiated to a Holga, it’s essentially a toy camera that has gathered a following among a certain set of photographers both amateur and professional — those that enjoy unexpected results! Holgas are actual film cameras — “Wassat? Film?” –  known for their plastic elements and light leaks. To focus the lens is to choose a point somewhere between three settings: “one person,” “three people,” and “five people.” It’s photography guesswork, and the results rock!

Lomography is an unorthodox and freestyle way of making photos with an inexpensive camera such as a Holga. It’s  very hipster idea, and the cameras fill a table at any Urban Outfitters. To switch gears after wrangling a massive camera takes some getting used to, but is ultimately very freeing.

I used “redscale” film for these Lomo photos from their engagement session:

Nothing like a creamy, apocalyptic engagement session!

I’ll be experimenting some more with the Holga at their wedding … stay tuned.

Anitra + Justin Engagement Session preview!

Anitra + Justin, high school sweethearts from Minnesota, wandered the hills and streets of Silverlake for some engagement portraits on Monday. Here’s a little tease while they’re getting worked up!

Haram Iran Promo Photos

Take a look at the promos and setups I photographed for a very dramatic show called Haram Iran, which opens tomorrow in West Hollywood!

The show tells the story of two Iranian 15-year-olds accused and tried for homosexuality. It is based on actual events in Mashad, Iran in 2005. The show began in Chicago, and tomorrow evening is its west coast premiere.

We photographed the three leads (Andy Gala, Tamer Aziz, and Michael Tauzin) separately and together against a white seamless. I  lit to show plenty of definition and contrast, but it still was meant to make it easy for the graphic designer to alter the tones later for an implied hot desert environment.

The first image shows the three guys together:

The producers chose a different set of  images for the one sheet, and I really love how it came together! The final design actually reflects the relationships and story extraordinarily well (design by Noah Benjamin):

Surrounded by photo equipment after the shoot are produer Christopher Sepluveda (left), actors Andy Nala, Tamer Aziz, and Michael Tauzin, and producer Jeremy O’Keefe.

I went back to photograph setups this week. I was so impressed with the cohesiveness of the show, from the lighting to the costuming to the set design! And the actors really put their all into their parts, even though they were only performing their setups for my camera!

Tamer actually plays this scene (above and below, when he is put into prison) in silhouette, which is just right for what I think is one of the best-choreographed moments of the production. But a silhouette didn’t work as well for the photo — his lines and movement complete the visuals when he’s standing a few feet in front of you. So I took a little artistic license and added a kiss of light when he hit his mark (below), in hopes that it would play better as a still image. It turned out to be one of my favorites.

I urge you to make time to see this show! It is directed by Michael Matthews and produced by Jeremy O’Keefe and Christopher Sepulveda. For ticket info (it runs from March 5 to April 4 only), visit the Haram Iran Facebook event page or see the Celebration Theatre’s website.

Haram Iran on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=345262086252

Celebration Theatre – http://www.celebrationtheatre.com/

Happy anniversary, Stephanie + Ryan!

Oh, if I could shoot Stephanie + Ryan’s wedding every weekend! Now I know, it’s easy to say that every couple is my favorite. But these two have a style all their own, almost straight outta Middle Earth. Their wedding was so creative thru-and-thru that it’s impossible pick only a couple favorite photos! They were hitched on the secluded hilly grounds of the Center for Energetic Healing in Simi Valley, CA, which has no lack for forest-y nooks and crannies.

We were nearly done with the bride-and-groom session — and they were getting tired — when I spotted a tree trunk up a hill. It was a bit of a hike, so I gingerly suggested that I had one more crazy idea. I remember that Stephanie, though her feet were hurting, replied something to the effect of: if your wedding photographer has an idea, you should go with it. (Sound advice!) So we braved the hill, the ants, and the sticker bushes to make Ryan a Prince Valiant:

My other favorite image came at a very emotional moment during the ceremony. They had one of the most heartfelt ceremonies I’ve seen, and there was barely a dry eye in the crowd by the end. During a fantastic reading by her bridesmaid, Ann, Stephanie spontaneously reached for Ryan’s hand, then turned and looked at Ann. The moment gave me butterflies:

Happy one-year anniversary, you two! May you stay well!

Happy Anniversary: Shelly + Gary and Sylvina + Ken!

On Oct. 5 & 6, 2007, I photographed two weddings back-to-back at PJ’s Abbey, a church-turned-restaurant in Orange, CA. With killer stained glass windows and a homey interior, it’s such a great location, and I’ve been lucky enough to photograph a few brides and grooms there. While searching my archives, I came upon these two couples, and thought it’d be great to share a photo from each!

The first back-to-back couple was Shelly + Gary.  She’s such a gorgeous bride, and he’s a bit of a jokester and fun fellow; they remind me a lot of my own parents in how they relate to each other.  And they got enough country in ‘em to belong in the down-home stylings of PJ’s Abbey!

The very next day, Ken and Sylvina had a very beautiful wedding at the same restaurant.

Ken + Sylvina seem to have a wonderful sense of communication that’s all their own … one of my favorite photos from the night is a quiet one, with both of them at the bar late in the evening. I don’t think they knew I was there when he slid up to her. One thing that’s great about photographing people is being able to sense how they interact with each other … and then challenging myself to show it!

Happy 2nd to both of you couples!

Heather + Brian, Sept. 6, 2009

Ooh la la! Heather + Brian got married in the lush setting of Cambria Pines Lodge, 45 minutes north of San Luis Obispo. Heather and Brian are my wine-tasting buddies, so I have first-hand knowledge that they are a VERY CUTE couple (and putting it in ALL CAPS allows me, as a macho macho man, to declare such things in all seriousness).

These first photos are from the day before … Heather + Brian took family and friends to see the Hearst Castle, which will make any photographer drool. We snuck in a few portraits while touring one of the pools.

On the day, Heather got girlied up at the Bladerunner Salon & Day Spa in SLO, and they both got ready at the lodge.

Theirs was a very intimate wedding (only 60 guests!) in the gazebo garden. Their extra-furry ring bearer stole the show.

We made a mad dash through the gardens and then to the ocean for some portraits as the sun went down. The results turned out beautiful!

The party may have been intimate, but the festivities were fantastic!

Thank you, Heather + Brian, for the opportunity to photograph your celebration, and may you stay so darned, ahem, cute.

Heather + Brian, Sept. 6, 2009 … Preview!

Hey all … happy Labor Day! I want to show off my favorite image from Brian + Heather’s wedding yesterday. They had a very intimate celebration in Cambria, CA, among the gardens of the Cambria Pines Lodge. One of my favorite photos came from our quick jaunt to the ocean for portraits. When I scouted the area earlier that day, I saw an 80-year-old couple — he with a cigar and fedora, she with a floppy sun hat — on this log, and thought, “perfect!”  I’ll post more soon, when I’ve gone through all the images. But for now…

Don’t work too hard! It’s Labor Day!

- Russell

Tastes Like Burning: Station Fire

Next to traffic and taxes, flames are a rest-assured fact of life here in southern California. Friend and fantastic web designer Zoey said that from her house, it looked like Glendale’s Forest Lawn Mortuary was on fire (!!!) so I scarfed down my food and checked it out with Ingrid. Watching dusk fall away,  I wandered Atwater Village in my car, thinking “high ground high ground high ground.”

Turned out, high ground was the I-5 onramp. Braced my lens by wedging it into the corner of the open sunroof. Just barely squeaked an angle between massive power lines and messy foreground foliage.  And juuust enough light in the sky to balance the lit cross with the expanding Station Fire’s flames.

And then it was dark!