Got it! Thanks!

FAIL. Try again?

Luminaire Images Blog • by Molly Ann bio picture

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

Luminaire Images are photography couple Molly and Matt, who have been creatively documenting love and life as fine art photojournalists since 2005.  Since its inception, Luminaire Images has been commissioned for its award-winning artistry throughout California, as well as Colorado, Greece, and the Dominican Republic.

Summer's here and so is wedding weather! We're still accepting wedding commissions for limited dates in late 2010 and all of 2011. For a free consultation or information regarding your wedding, portrait session, and more, drop us a line at info@luminaireimages.com, or call (714) 809-1626; and don't forget to visit our official website!

LINKS
Facebook • Twitter • Website

Monthly Archives: August 2007

Gloria & John

August 29, 2007 at 8:37pm Posted in Weddings

Earlier this month Xuong and I shot Gloria and John’s wedding out at Los Coyotes Country Club in Fullerton. It was in August, but long before it got as hot as it is now…whew, it’s supposed to be 85 tomorrow!


Gloria’s neice, the flower girl…what an impish grin!


Man, I wish my curves look as good as Gloria’s! That showstopper of a dress is a San Patrick.


The girls had to get a shot with the famous Walter Payton!


It was a gorgeous August day out in Fullterton, and you could even hear the coyotes in the nearby hills…


I’d never been to Los Coyotes before, but I have to admit they’re a wedding venue to be reckoned with!


This elegant delicacy was the creation of Rockwell Bakeries.


Apparently Gloria and John are both gaga for all things Asian. They’d recently taken a trip to China, and the party favors were awesome glass coasters with the Chinese character for “Love” on them.


Hellooooooo, Los Coyotes Country Club!


I love this shot of Gloria and John’s first dance :D

This little guy started playing a game with me while we were waiting for the next festivity—every time my flash would fire he’d topple over like he’d just been shot…wiseguy.


Father/daughter dance


The bridal party (especially the groomsmen) were all close friends and made sure that once the party started, it wouldn’t stop! The two guys in the center that look alike really reminded me of the Weasley twins in Harry Potter—always goofing off!

View full post »

Lunar Eclipse

August 28, 2007 at 1:01pm Posted in Life is Illustrated, Real Life

I’m sure lots of people saw the lunar eclipse last night. Or maybe I just like to think I wasn’t the only one out on my roof with my camera at two in the morning. The eclipse peaked here in Southern California around 3am, but I was up anyway because I’d gone out with some friends to see the movie Stardust and didn’t get home till 1am. I enjoyed the film, by the way :)
Anyway, while I’ve seen lunar eclipses before, I’ve never tried photographing one. In fact, I’ve never really tried photographing the moon before, period. I guess I always figured it’s so beautiful and symbolic and mysterious that hundreds of thousands of photographers have already captured it in far more creative ways than I could dream of, so I never really tried.

But I’m glad I did. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, really.

Here’s a composite of the first half:


(I was too tired to stay up for the second half, which probably would have ended close to dawn.)

I was using a tripod (of course), and a simple 70-300mm zoom set all the way at 300mm. It was kind of like a low-powered telescope, and worked pretty well, especially with my D200’s crop ratio!



The copper color during the total eclipse phase comes from sunlight scattering through the Earth’s atmosphere before being reflected off the moon. The same effect happens during sunsets and sunrises, which is why they appear so red and orange.

Find out more about lunar eclipses, and view more (and better) sights of the universe at Google Earth.

You can also find out when the next lunar eclipse visible from your area will be at NASA’s lunar eclipse page!

View full post »

Nikon D3

August 23, 2007 at 10:13am Posted in Real Life

Wow! Three days after Canon announced the release of its latest-and-greatest, the EOS-1Ds Mark III DSLR, Nikon swooped in with a timely announcement of its own…for close to half the price!

Nikon Strikes Back: The Highly-Anticipated D3 and D300

I had to collect my jaw from the floor when I saw this. Capable of ISO 25,600?!?!?! Man, talk about blowing my concept of what’s possible out of the water. And two CF memory card slots?? Nikon strikes back, indeed.

View the two cameras side-by-side (Mark III and D3).

View full post »

Shannon & Jazz

August 19, 2007 at 7:34pm Posted in Weddings

A few weeks ago Shannon and Jazz got hitched at Tortilla Flats Restaurant right on Lake Mission Viejo in Mission Viejo, CA. This turned out to be a great venue with lots of atmosphere and Shannon and Jazz sure knew how to host a really unique party!



“Is it time to get ready?” Shannon asked. She stepped into her dress, pulled it on, and zipped it up with virtually no help from anyone but her mother; it took all of forty seconds. This wedding is one of the rare few that I’ve ever worked that ran on time, if not ahead of schedule!


Shannon


Her bracelet belonged to her grandmother…she used it as “something old,” but it was pretty elegant, too!


“Yeah, I gave myself a pedicure. And I didn’t really think about matching the color to the dresses or anything,” Shannon said. That kind of low-maintenance attitude is what makes her so awesome!


Ze rings!


Jazz, the groom. If you’re wondering how he scored such a darn cool name, it’s because his father is a jazz musician!


Shannon and Jazz meeting each other before the ceremony…and seeing each other in all their finery for the first time!


Sami’s Flowers did an eye-popping job with the florals!!


The bridesmaid on the far right is Lindsey, whose wedding was back in April. Man, when you’re getting married you want to be sure to have a girl like her in the bridal party…apparently Jazz’s ring didn’t make it to the alter somehow, so quick as lightning, Lindsey slipped off her own ring and handed it over for them to use so the ceremony didn’t have to stop.


A groomsman boutenniere.


More loveliness from Sami’s!


Good-looking must run in the family…check out this little ring-bearer!


Lake Mission Viejo


Tortilla Flats sure had some great location options :)

My favorite of Shannon.


Some kayakers on the lake caught the kids’ attention…


Hmmm…maybe THIS is my favorite of Shannon?


Flower girl feet…


Shannon’s feet! (and flowy dress)


Shannon got a bit choked up walking to the altar, awww!


Shannon’s parents didn’t fare much better during the ceremony, hee!


This was yet another sand ceremony wedding, I tend to see a lot more of this than unity candles, given that I live near the beach and all…


Instead of a wedding cake, Shannon and served several tiers of cupcakes for their guests. It was a great idea because no one had to wait for the staff to cut up pieces, you could just take what you wanted right then and there!


The top tier was a either what can be considered a BIG cupcake, or a little mini-cake for Shannon and Jazz to actually cut into.


The grand entrance…talk about psyched for their reception!


Shannon and her father on the dance floor…


All the ladies were clamoring over Jazz during the money dance…too bad his bachelor days are over!


Lol…I think he’s doing an elephant dance!

View full post »

Vianca and Jason

August 9, 2007 at 8:22pm Posted in Weddings

A couple weeks ago I was at the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club, second-shooting for Vianca and Jason’s wedding.



Vianca had some sexy shoe action going on…!


This turned out pretty nice.


I mentioned sexy shoe action, didn’t I? What about bright maroon bouquet?


The flower girl had pretty cute shoes, too!


Vianca


Still trying to perfect this shot. This one comes pretty close to exactly what I want, and it seemed effortless for Vianca, who managed the pose while she was on the phone!


Vianca. I am experimenting with a lil’ Jesh De Rox technique here. I love the look, but for wedding photos I’m not brave enough to go as far as he does with it…yet. I don’t feel my style is avant garde enough. However I am always down to work a little texture love into my fine-art photos.


A *SWEET* hallway in the Portofino hotel. Vianca and Jason were preparing in rooms on opposite ends of this hallway. Every time I go to this venue I imagine zombies popping out at the end of the hall, or Jack Nicholson appearing with an ax a la The Shining. Talk about atmosphere!


Sand ceremony instead of unity candle.


This little cutie got bored qucikly—she was ducking behind Vianca during the ceremony in order to smell the flowers from the planter.


Instead of placecards, Vianca and Jason opted for sea-smoothed stones with guests’ names hand-painted onto them.
…And I do believe Matthew Fox plays Jack Shephard on the television series Lost. I think this was a different Matthew Fox though, because I didn’t see anyone I recognized, and I would have DEFINITELY recognized an actor from my favorite TV show!


Mmmm…


The special “bouquet toss” bouquet, so Vianca doesn’t have to immediately give up her pretty big one!


Cheers!

View full post »

Sabiha & Yousuf

August 8, 2007 at 12:34am Posted in Weddings

A while back I had the opportunity to accompany Xuong of Happy Photos to an Indian wedding reception at Anaheim Hills Golf Club. And I mean a WHILE back, as in…June. This post is beyond belated!

Anyway, I’ve never seen anything so bright and colorful as Sabiha and Yousuf’s wedding party. An Indian wedding is usually a three-day affair, or longer; Xuong and I were only there on Sunday for the big party!



I am always enchanted by foreign cultures and customs, and I was enraptured by the elaborate gestures used to greet guests, particularly elders. The attendance was enormous, with distant relatives and friends flying in from all over the world just to be there.


Sabiha


There were so many little details to photograph, by the end of the night it felt like my eyes were crossed. Look at her amazing hairdo! Sabiha told me she’d had it done up like that for three days…who knows how she slept so it stayed that way!!


Sabiha’s hands with henna markings, and her HOT PINK sari with matching bouquet!


This wedding was filled with things I’d never seen before, including Sabiha’s hot pink and bright blue bouquet…did I mention this wedding was colorful?


This picture is blurred beyond recognition, but for some reason I find its abstraction terribly captivating (it’s actually a serving tray of candies).


Yousuf


Yousuf’s younger brother.


Favorite shot!


Wowza! What a cake! I can’t imagine trying to move that thing…!


At one point during the afternoon, Yousuf was to ride a white horse up to the door of the reception venue.


While Yousuf rode in on a horse, Sabiha was to be carried in a litter born by male relatives.


The whole procession was quite a spectacle.


When they arrived at the door, their parents performed a ceremony with a coconut…


The reception was like nothing I’d ever photographed at a wedding before, it even included some of Sabiha and Yousuf’s friends getting up and peforming to a Bollywood musical score!


I also didn’t recognize a single thing in the buffet (I don’t eat a lot of Indian food because I’m not big on spicy tastes). I decided to be brave and try a little of everything, partly because I was hungry, partly because what would I do if I found myself in India one day? Luckily a very nice woman who spoke English was in line behind me and told me what everything was and whether it was mild or wild!


Man, they could party! EVERYONE got a go on the dance floor, and it went late, late LATE!

View full post »