As you can see, we set out to have a good time, and we got to the good stuff (having fun) right away. I find photographing couples for engagement sessions to usually be really easy to do as there is almost always a certain amount of emotion that I can tap into.

Although the majority of the photography in all the engagement sessions I do primarily focuses on and features the two as a couple, I also spend some time working with each person individually. By working with each person on a one-to-one basis, I can get a sense of their strengths and weaknesses (speaking in photogenic terms only here), how serious or playful they can be, and what they may or may not respond to. This, of course, gives us a great advantage for doing their wedding photography on their wedding day.

Doing an engagement session in an urban setting can be every bit as aesthetically pleasing as working in a natural environment. It is especially rewarding when you have a great location such as this with pleasing architecture, a classic look, and a number of different settings to work with.

Watch for a future post on this couple which will feature photography from their wedding ceremony at the San Gabriel Mission and reception at the Castle Green Hotel in Old Town Pasadena.

To see more of my wedding, engagement session and  portrait photography, please visit www.deremus.com. I specialize in wedding, portrait and fine art. I am available for travel and do destination weddings to just about anywhere.

You might also enjoy seeing other engagement sessions or more of my work as a wedding photographer at DeRemus-Photography -In-Motion.

All images and text are copyright David DeRemus Photography and may not be used without prior express written consent.

And I’ll leave you with this final image featuring a very happy couple and our beautiful Southern California sunset afterglow…

]]> http://blog.deremus.com/2010/01/26/wedding-photographer-engagement-session-pasadena/feed/ 0 http://blog.deremus.com/2010/01/20/wedding-photographer-engagement-session-los-angeles/ http://blog.deremus.com/2010/01/20/wedding-photographer-engagement-session-los-angeles/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:47:23 +0000 DeRemus http://blog.deremus.com/?p=2083 A quick post from my most recent engagement session in a small wooded area in Los Angeles, only minutes away from Pasadena.

This was a fun session with a lively couple on a somewhat cold Southern California day. Yet we managed to have a good time, and we walked away with a lot of good images.

This image is an example of one of my favorite shooting styles, which is controlled candid. It is a great way to capture non-posed and candid moments, yet I have the advantage of selecting my background and predefining my composition. It is a style that the majority of my clients respond well to. This type of photography, blended together with inter-active posed and posed, are some of the elements of my style of photographing weddings, engagement sessions and even a family portrait session, and is referred to as photo-fusion.

Another item I like about this image is the background. It was early winter, so we have leaves both still in the trees and fallen on the ground adding additional depth, dimension and highlights.  And on a side note, I think it’s a good thing that the City of Los Angeles has at least some areas which have been left to nature, and I support efforts of groups such as Tree People Los Angeles to plant more.

To read more about my styles for wedding and engagement session photography, please visit my html website, www.deremus.com. And from that page, you can also connect to my flash website to see my much larger wedding, engagement session, and portrait photography galleries.

To see a slide-show video of a different engagement session click here.

David DeRemus is a Pasadena based wedding, portrait and fine art photographer offering service to the San Gabriel Valley, the City and County of Los Angeles, Orange County and Southern California and is available for destination weddings worldwide.

All images and text are copyright David DeRemus Photography and may not be used without prior express written consent.

The bride is often led in by a brother or uncle, where the groom waits with the bride’s parents. The bride’s parents offer their daughter in marriage in a ritual called kanyadan.

Indian marriages are known for their lavish and vibrant look, but in reality there is much more than just the gloss and glamour in an Indian wedding ceremony. In fact, the Indian wedding ceremonies are the most ritualistic and serious of affair than any other kind of marriage performed anywhere else in the world, and it is considered as a soulful affair of the merger of two souls.

Hindu wedding ceremonies are traditionally conducted at least partially in Sanskrit, the language in which most holy Hindu ceremonies are conducted. This Hindu Priest was also fluent in English and translated the complete ceremony and the meanings of each ritual he performed into English.

In most Hindu weddings, the ceremony is held on a small, usually covered stage, known as mandap. This couple decided against the covering so that the guests could see and enjoy the ceremony, and they also felt the backdrop of the Langham Hotel was sufficient enough. It also allowed me to get better unobstructed wedding photography coverage.

After the initial exchange of garlands by the bride and groom, the bride and groom are next seated in front of a holy fire, or agni, as a priest recites various mantras from the Holy Scriptures. In Hinduism, fire is regarded as a purifier and a sustainer of life. In a ritual called Mangal Fera, the couple offer prayers to the fire, which represents God serving as the couple’s witness as the two are joined in marriage. Prayers are offered by placing honey, rice, and flowers in the flame. In this ceremony the sashes worn by the bride and groom are tied together for the bride and groom walk around the fire seven times; each time around the fire, a symbol of the four ashrams of life, praying and exchanging vows of duty, love, fidelity, and respect.

The rituals performed at an Indian ceremony vary greatly depending on what area of Indian they originate from. This ceremony was predominately based on traditions of Northern India, and one of the most cherished and symbolic tradition is the placing of the toe ring on the bride by the groom.

Brides typically dress in colorful saris and are painted in elaborate mendhi or henna designs covering her hands and feet before the ceremonies begin. It is said that the darker and bolder that the Henna becomes shows the deep love that she will hold for her husband. The groom is dressed in a sherwani (long jacket) and ‘churidars’ (fitted trousers).

And one of the final rituals performed in this ceremony was the application of the ceremonial Tilaka on the bride’s forehead by the groom to indicate her marital status.

It is worth mentioning that according to Indian tradition, in a Hindu wedding, the bride and groom marry each other and the priest only assists with the Mantra.

Te santu jard—istayah sampriyau royisnu sumansyamanau
Pasyema sharadah shatam jivema sharadah shatam shrunuyam shardah shatam
“We should be able to live a graceful life that is full of mutual love and warmth. Our sentiments should be auspicious.
We should be able to see for a hundred years, live a healthy life of a hundred years and listen the music of spring for a hundred years.”

To view more of my wedding photography coverage of this event, including pre-ceremony work and the reception, please check out my slide-show video of this event on DeRemus-Photography-In-Motion.

Their reception was in The Georgian Ballroom.

The Langham Hotel in Pasadena is located at 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue and is set on 23 lush acres overlooking the immaculate suburbs of San Marino.

To see more of my work, please visit deremus.com.

DeRemus Photography is an award winning photographer who specializes in wedding, portrait and fine art and is available for travel throughout Southern CA and for destination weddings worldwide.

All images are copyright David DeRemus Photography and may not be used without prior express written consent.

]]> http://blog.deremus.com/2010/01/02/wedding-photography-langham-huntington-pasadena/feed/ 2 http://blog.deremus.com/2009/12/19/engagement-session-pasadena-wedding-photographer/ http://blog.deremus.com/2009/12/19/engagement-session-pasadena-wedding-photographer/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:30:48 +0000 DeRemus http://blog.deremus.com/?p=1896 Some days are truly blessed… For instance the day I photographed this couple’s engagement session in Monrovia*. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect or the location more ideal. And this couple, Jennifer and Dylan were both very upbeat and relaxed and they both took direction exceptionally well.

Photographing an engagement session is typically a lot different that doing the same couple’s wedding photography in the sense that, I have the couples undivided attention and we have more time devoted just to creating photographic images.

When I photograph an engagement session my preferred style is to combine a certain amount of posed work, with a usually much larger amount of inter-active posed, and also a lot of controlled candid or “faux-tojournalism.” You will see examples of each of the mentioned styles in these few images.  I use this same style of blending different types of photography when I am photographing weddings. Although when I doing wedding photography, I include at least two other styles as well. For more about my style of photographing weddings, please visit my html website: deremus.com. Or, if you haven’t been there already, check out My Style as a Wedding Photographer.

While most of the photography in an engagement session is devoted to the couple, I also work with each person individually. This not only gives them images which can be used in my totally unique, custom designed and fully retouched guest sign-in albums, it also gives us a chance to work with each other on a one-on-one basis.

And the more experience we have working together, both individually and as a couple prior to their wedding day, the easier it is to quickly create those beautiful images of the two of them on their wedding day.

Oh yeah… another thing I personally like to do and, I also encourage my clients to do, both at their engagement session and for their wedding photography, is to HAVE FUN!

To see more images for this engagement session, please check out my animated video slide-show: On-location engagement session in Monrovia, CA.

To see more of my engagement session photography, please visit my main photo galleries on my flash website: deremus.com.

Pasadena-based DeRemus Photography specializes in Wedding, Portrait and Fine Art and is available for destination weddings worldwide.

All images and text are copyright David DeRemus Photography and may not be used without prior express written consent.

*Monrovia is a small and beautiful foothill community in the Pasadena area. Monrovia is the fourth oldest general law city in Los Angeles County and the L.A. Basin (after Los Angeles,  Santa Monica, and Pasadena). Incorporated in 1887, Monrovia has grown from a sparse community of orange ranches to a residential community of 37,000. People traveling between Los Angeles and San Bernardino traveled “via Monroe’s Ranch,” hence the name.

To see more of my wedding photography coverage from this event (over 100 more pictures actually) in an animated video please check out this wedding video from photography stills at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, CA.

This first image shown was a quickly done photograph taken just minutes after the ceremony  on one of the several wooden bridges you find at the Calamigos Ranch.

Of course we began the photography much earlier in the day with ready shots of both the bride and the groom.

My wedding photography coverage always includes a fusion (or mixture) of  photojournalism, editorial and posed. And whenever I mention the word “posed”, I feel I must add that we can do as little or as much as you like.  And although this couple had a lot of requests for posed work of both their rather large wedding party and their families, they were such a fun couple that when it was all said and done, I still had many more candid, photojournalistic images than posed.

The image below on the right, might be on of my favorites of the day. It is the bride’s father and brother as they see her for the first time in her gown. It just goes to show its not only the women who can get a little choked up…

The first look…

A small sampling of portrait work…

Their wedding ceremony was at the very picturesque Garden Patio which features waterfalls at each end and at night the trees and redwood arbor illuminate with strings of lights.

To see more photography of this event (over 100 more pictures actually) in a slide-show format, please click here.

Their reception was in the Calamigos Ranch Main Dining Room which is just a few steps away. One of the room’s most memorable features is the romantic “waterfall”, a curtain of water that descends like a light rain just outside the glass widows of the south wall. To see more room shots from Calamigos Ranch and also the Calamigos Equestrian please go to my wedding reception room shots post.

This was a fun couple and it was a very high energy night with most of the guests on the dance floor for most of the night.

My congratulations to Melissa and Michael. My your life together be blessed with good health and good fortune.

Please visit my DeRemus-Photography-In-Motion blog to see more images from this event.

The Wedding Coordinator for this event was Karin Detweiller of Artistic Weddings.

The florist was Susanne Lawrence of Jardin del Sol Flowers.

The Calamigos Ranch is located on Latigo Caynon Road in Malibu, and is a Los Angeles wedding location and reception site.

To see more of my work and for more information please visit www.deremus.com.

Pasadena-based photographer David DeRemus is available for travel worldwide and specializes in wedding, portrait and fine art photography

This tall and attractive couple with the disarming smiles were both very comfortable in front of the camera, and we very easily got into a photogenic groove.

When doing engagement sessions and portraiture, one of my main objectives is to help whoever is in front of the lens to relax and feel comfortable. With couples this is typically easy as they have each other to play off of and the excitement of their wedding day is beginning to build. The engagement sessions can also be a nice break from their wedding planning and a chance to relax and to have a little fun.

Images from engagement sessions are used for save-the-date-cards, guest sign-in albums, invitations, signature portraits and of course wall portraits and prints. And my fully retouched and custom designed guest sign-in albums are a “you can only get them here” type of item.

To see more pictures from this engagement session, please visit DeRemus-Photography-In-Motion

To read more about my style and see more of my work please visit www.deremus.com.

To go directly to my main galleries (flash required) please visit: www.deremus.com/index.

Pasadena based wedding, portrait and fine art photographer David DeRemus is available for travel worldwide.

Watch for an upcoming post for their wedding in San Marino and their reception at the Altadena Country Club.

All images and text are copyright David DeRemus Photography and may not be used without prior express written consent.

]]> http://blog.deremus.com/2009/12/01/engagement-session-on-location-in-los-angeles/feed/ 0 http://blog.deremus.com/2009/09/17/wedding-photography-calamigos-equestrian/ http://blog.deremus.com/2009/09/17/wedding-photography-calamigos-equestrian/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:02:07 +0000 DeRemus http://blog.deremus.com/?p=1279 The wedding of Mandy and Salvatore at the Calamigos Equestrian Center in Burbank, CA.

The floral arrangements were the perfect shade of blue… which as you can see in the photographs, made both the bride and her mother very happy.

The ceremony was held at the Little White House, with the reception in the Polo Room and patio.

I find my wedding photography to be much more enjoyable when I am photographing people whose hearts are so obviously filled with joy and their emotions so flowing…

The wedding ceremony begins and the groom, with his family from Italy looking on, is presented with his bride from his soon to be father-in-law.

To see more of the photographs from their wedding ceremony and reception at the Calamigos Equestrian Center, please visit: DeRemus Photography-In-Motion.

Congratulations to Mandy and Salvatore! May your journey together be filled with happiness and blessed with good health. l’amore è un viaggio, non una meta.

To see the complete set of previews (edited wedding photographs), please visit deremus.com/online_viewing.

To contact DeRemus Photography regarding your upcoming wedding, please go to my flash gallery: deremus.com/your wedding, then select “your wedding”.

Floral arrangements by Shirvan Design in Burbank, CA.

Cake by Porto’s Bakery in Glendale, CA

Music by VIP DJ Entertainment.

Wedding coordinator: Tana Ingels of Ingels and Co.

To see more of my wedding photography at the Calamigos Equestrian Center, please visit another Calamigos wedding.

To see room shots of all three ballrooms at the Calamigos Equestrian Center, please visit my post: room shots.

The Calamigos Equestrian is located at 480 Riverside Drive in Burbank, CA. They are located in the northeast corner of Griffith Park. You have views of both Griffith Park the San Gabriel Mountains.

DeRemus Photography specializes in wedding, portrait and fine art photography and is Pasadena-based,  serving Los Angeles, Orange County, and Southern CA and offering destination wedding photography worldwide.

All images and text are copyright David DeRemus Photography and may not be used without prior express written consent.

Couples have different reasons for doing destination weddings these days, not the least of which is destination weddings are usually more cost-effective than traditional weddings. And in recent years destination weddings have become accessible to more couples looking to add an exotic twist to their special ceremony.  In the past, marrying away from home usually meant eloping. The couple would steal away into the night to flee and tie the knot on their own terms. Today, the idea has shed its stigma, and a growing number of couples are hightailing it away from the traditional formal affair to a casual, intimate occasion in their dream honeymoon spot.

For whatever reasons you have and regardless of where it takes place, it is still your wedding day, and the photographer you hire will only have this one chance to capture those moments, so why not fly in your own talent…B.Y.O.P. (Bring Your Own Photographer).  Don’t leave the critical aspect of photography to chance.

Here are a few images from a couple of destination weddings I have done.

This first couple is Thalia and Rob, the couple I photographed in Sarteano, Tuscany*, Italy.  In the early days of their wedding planning they came to the realization that they just didn’t want the big party with 150 of “their closest friends”. They just weren’t into it. They wanted something different…something that spoke to their hearts.

The bride had traveled to this part of Tuscany in her college years and had fallen in love with the area and the people. She was also taken in by the beauty of the area, which is totally understandable. And the groom had also been to Italy but never to Tuscany and was very anxious to go. So the two of them and twenty of their closest friends and family members set off to the Tuscan hills, to the small town of Sarteano.

We took the medieval center of the city by storm and a good time was had by all…

It might interest you to know that the images you are viewing of this wedding are from my uniquely custom Designer Storybook wedding albums.

This next series of images are from the destination wedding of Erin and Scott and it couldn’t have been more different than the previously mentioned couple. Erin and Scott’s destination was the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort** which is a 5 star luxury resort nestled in the mountains at Farmington, PA.  Both the bride and groom are originally from the East coast and this resort was the bride’s “fantasy wedding location” growing up. And instead of 20 guests, they had about 350. In this regard, I would really have to call this a destination/traditional wedding. Whatever I call it, it was a great day.

This would be an appropriate time for me to mention, the equipment I take to a destination wedding is based on what is needed. For the wedding in Tuscany, all of my gear was in one large carry-on bag. For this event at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, in a grand ballroom with 350 guests, requests for a lot of portrait work and featuring a large and extremely lively reception, I found it necessary to take considerably more.

Erin and Scott originally hired me to do their engagement session only, thinking they would use a photographer referred by the resort. However, after seeing my work and  the fact that we worked so well together, they decided to fly me in instead. A decision they have never regretted.

This first image is one I created for the opening, two-page-spread of their album.

Erin was determined to not cry before the ceremony and she was doing an exceptional job at it, at least until I mentioned that Scott was…

An unexpected thunderstorm blew in. The outdoor ceremony had to be moved indoors which certainly didn’t dampen anyone’s mood. And fortunately, it stopped during the ceremony which gave me access to the sculpture garden for photography.

It was an emotional and lively affair. Here is a small sampling of their events.

The grand finale of the reception was a traditional Lithuanian bridal dance. Everyone who danced with the bride was given a shot of vodka. I don’t know how she did it, but the bride was dancing non-stop for just over 45 minutes…then the groom enters the circle, sweeps his bride up into his arms and carries her off into the night.

To see more of my work, please visit www.deremus.com.

Pasadena based David DeRemus is a full time professional wedding, portrait and fine art photographer and offers destination wedding service to just about anywhere.

(All images are copyright David DeRemus Photography and may not be used without prior express written consent.)

*Tuscany (Italian: Toscana) is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22,990 square kilometres (8,880 sq mi) and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.

Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy. Six Tuscan localities have been UNESCO protected sites: the historical center of Florence (1982), the historical center of Siena (1995), the square of the Cathedral of Pisa (1987), the historical center of San Gimignano (1990), the historical center of Pienza (1996) and the Val d’Orcia (2004).

(I will feature some fine art photography from this region in a future post.)

**The Nemacolin Woodlands Resort is a resort in Farmington, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The resort is currently owned by Maggie Hardy Magerko, president of the 84 Lumber Company, and was founded by Joseph Hardy.

The resort is named for Chief Nemacolin, a native Delaware Indian who in 1740 trailblazed a route through the rugged Laurel Highlands Mountains between what is now Cumberland, Maryland and Brownsville, Pennsylvania.

In November 2006, Falling Rock hotel at Nemacolin received AAA Five Diamond status. Falling Rock is the only hotel in Western Pennsylvania to receive AAA’s highest honor, and retained five diamond status for 2008 in November 2007.