Apertura » Engagements

Evelyn + Will: Engaged!

Ray — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:13:16 +0000

Evelyn + Will came all the way from Singapore to have their engagement session! They’re so cute together! We walked around old town Claremont and the McKenna College to wait for the good light. The academic backdrop really suits them because they’re both assistant professor of Psychology in Singapore.

Location: Claremont Village, Claremont McKenna College

Pani + Ronnie: New York City, NY

Ray — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:00:01 +0000

I always love exploring new places with my clients during an engagement session. New York is vibrant, dynamic, and exciting. A perfect backdrop for Pani + Ronnie, who originally came from California and Texas but ultimately call this city home. I’ve never walked so much during a session before in my life. :)

Jen + Al: Engaged, San Francisco

Erwin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:17:33 +0000

I love photographing my clients in the city where they live – bringing me to a new place energizes my eye and thinking. Especially when my clients are adventurous enough to do any type of shots. For example, Jen takes the MUNI bus pretty much everywhere and they love karaoke. Naturally, these are some of the things that we incorporate to their engagement shoot. Creativity + Adventure = awesome.

At the MUNI bus depot..

And some karaoke and some lychee sake to close the night :)

Ann + Ted: Engaged!

Erwin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:39:28 +0000

Ann lives in LA and Ted in SF. Both fashionable, both love architecture, and both love food. I had a chance to photograph this young, fun couple in Pacific Palisades and then Abbot Kinney. Here are some of my favorites:

Then a quick refueling:

I love people with a great sense of style! Here are some detail shots:

and to close it all, some good ol’ ice cream :)

Saqi + Tejas

Erwin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:44:17 +0000

Saqi + Tejas had flown in from Boston to do their Engagement shoot in Tejas’ town of Palos Verdes, where he grew up in. We shot in his school and went all around nearby locations. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Location: Malaga Cove High School, Palos Verdes

Rachel + Joel: Engaged!

Vanessa — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:49:15 +0000

The first post for Vanessa!

We are so excited to be publishing her first, very kickass Engagement Session with Apertura! Rachel + Joel flew Vanessa out to San Francisco to shoot their engagement session in the locations that are close to their hearts. Check out her amazing shots below:

Location: Embarcadero, Ferry Building, San Francisco

Christine + Julien: Engaged!

Erwin — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:54:01 +0000

Christine and Julien are very much into art and design and since Julien is a furniture designer, they picked The Eames House to be their Engagement Session location. Upon seeing them and talking to them, you just know that they have beautiful souls.

Location: Eames House, Annenberg Community Pool, Pacific Palisades

Sandra + Bill: Engaged!

Apertura — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:26:21 +0000

We had the pleasure of shooting Sandra + Bill’s Engagement session with their favorite items in the world: their cars! They wanted a more edgy-look so we decided to go to a location in downtown Los Angeles that is a bit rustic and industrial. Here are some of our favorites:

Location: FarmLab, Los Angeles

Patty + Steve: San Francisco

Ray — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:39:38 +0000

Straight off from the San Jose Airport to Golden Gate Park for Patty & Steve engagement session. I love, love, love their chemistry together and they pretty much let me do anything I have in mind, even a little bit of trespassing. :)

Location: DeYoung Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Melissa + Josh: Engaged!

Erwin — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:59:52 +0000

I got to spend some time with Melissa + Josh and had an awesome time shooting in LACMA and LAX (they chose LAX because for the longest time, they had a long distance relationship and had to travel through it). I love it when my clients and I can joke around the whole time and it made it a very awesome experience!

Julie + Bert: San Francisco

Ray — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:52:34 +0000

I started with Julie + Bert at the Ferry Building and ended up at their home with to watch some baking action! Julie + Bert’s favorite pastime was baking together (Julie used to go to culinary school) and I got to sample some of her delicious cookies! See you guys in June!

Lisa + Arvin: San Francisco

Ray — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:47:53 +0000

Lisa + Arvin are really sweet together. We started in their favorite date spot, Ti Couz cafe in the Mission, then going up to Dolores park to stroll with their headstrong Pekingese, Bobbie. :) It’s apparent that they’re very comfortable in their own skin and it was just a fun session despite my fear of getting my car towed in the city. Can’t wait to hang out again in Bali soon!

Randa + Ethan: Engaged!

Erwin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:43:41 +0000

I LOVE couples that are willing to do everything for an awesome shoot! I met Randa and Ethan not too long ago and we had tons of fun during their E-Session despite the super windy conditions :)

Here are some of my favorites:

ISPWP

Erwin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:50:46 +0000

This post is one day late, but better late than never! I am very pleased that the following images placed on the recent ISPWP (International Society of Professional Wedding Photographer) Quarterly contest. I just recently joined this society, so this comes as a great surprise – a pleasant one, especially because the votes come from a panel of judges that I truly respect.
Getting Ready – 11th Place (Angela + Angel’s wedding)

Bride and Groom Portrait – 7th

Engagement Portrait – 9th (Nina + Sam’s Engagement)

and last but not least: Reception – 1st Place (Pang + Scott’s Wedding)

And Ray took one spot: First Dance – 16th (Whitney + Alex)

Tak + Steven: Coney Island, NY Engagement

Apertura — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:49:37 +0000

It was day 2 of our 3-day stay in New York and it was cold, and raining! Cold and rain do not go together well for sure, especially for us who is not accustomed to having both at the same time… uhm.. yep, that’s us.

However, the talented photographers Tak + Steven were the super trooper of the day as we shoot around for their engagement session (with the wedding to follow the next day). We strolled around in the famous Coney Island and several adjacent places. 4 Umbrellas, 4 wet shoes, 4 pairs of partially wet legs, and 4 wet cameras later, we still had a lot of fun! So here we go:

PS: watch for their wedding images coming up soon!

Krys + Ben: NYC Engagement

Apertura — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:40:16 +0000

While in New York City, we visited Krys’ old neighborhood and had tons of fun running around with them in Central Park and the Grand Central terminal.
Krys + Ben have great chemistry together and they definitely made our job easier. :)

Salila + Edgar: Engaged!

Erwin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:25:09 +0000

I had the pleasure of hanging out and shooting Salila + Edgar’s Engagement Session in Las Vegas. They are one of the awesomest and nicest people, and they are united through food, to say the least :) Edgar is an excellent chef and Salila is a foodie, so it’s a match made in heaven. I got my share of food 101 everytime I dine with these two. Not to mention the late night Facebook food photo uploads that always makes me hungry :P Life’s good when you have a chef living with you I guess.

This is the first time I shot at this awesome location, The Neon Museum where they store all the vintage signs from the strip. We had a lot of fun and afterwards, ate, and partied! It’s always awesome to be friends with my clients and to have that connection, it’s simply priceless.

Can’t wait to shoot your wedding next year! You guys are truly rockstars in my book! :)

Nancy + Ed: Los Angeles, CA Engagement

Apertura — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:16:01 +0000

We met this couple a while back and we connected immediately. Hanging out with them is super fun and more fun shooting them! We also learned the Korean word “Daehji” that means pork during our dinner at a nearby korean tofu house in LA :) Fun and learning. How cool is that? See you guys soon in December!

Here are some of our favorite shots!

By Erwin:

The following 2 shots are by Ray:

Ed is very into his car, so we took some shots with it – shot by Erwin

Eileen + Derrick: Engaged!

Ray — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:07:33 +0000

Although the sun disappeared faster than you can blink an eye, I love the moodier images I got of Eileen + Derrick.

Tribute to Derrick’s love for basketball

Love in public bathroom :-)

Sherry + Larry: Engaged!

Erwin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:24:13 +0000

Some of my favorite images from a recent Engagement photos, taken at the awesome Condor’s Nest Ranch in Pala, CA. Congratulations Sherry + Larry, and thank you for Lisa & Bob for lending me their ranch for the day!

Nina + Sam: Engaged!

Apertura — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:56:03 +0000

Things got pretty hot during this engagement session. Nina + Sam has that special something for sure.
Thanks for being such troopers & making our jobs easy, guys. See you soon!

Lili + Scott: Engaged!

Erwin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:28:19 +0000

Strolling around Downtown Orange was awesome with this couple!

And some multiplicity :)

Jenn + Thomas: Engaged!

Erwin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:51:28 +0000

This couple is so nice and loveable! See ya guys at the wedding soon!

Alice + Daniel: Engaged!

Ray — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:38:59 +0000

Alice + Daniel drove all the way from San Francisco for their engagement shoot in So Cal and they brought the awesome. Their crazy antics made me wanna jump with joy! I’m going to have a blast shooting their wedding in the bay area in October.

Joy + Brandon: Engaged!

Erwin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:32:15 +0000

Had a blast shooting these awesomely cool + stylish people!

I Want To Shoot You: The Results!

Erwin — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:24:22 +0000

Here are the 2 clients that I shot 3 weekends ago in San Francisco:

Cindy + David:

Jenn + Scott:

Jackie + Wei: Engaged!

Ray — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:29:49 +0000

We had fun traveling around San Francisco, sight-unseen, to find spots to shoot. Thank you for welcoming me into your home, Jackie + Wei! I’ll see you in September and we’re going to rock it!

Meet Shiloh

My favorite engagement image so far!!!

Pearl + Yousef: Engaged!

Apertura — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:56:19 +0000

Pearl + Yousef rocked our world! See you guys in June!

Diana + Shawn: Engaged!

Ray — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Diana + Shawn, thank you for letting me witness your connection. Can’t wait ’til May!! ~Ray

Nishi + Dustin: Engaged!

Ray — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I had an awesome time with you guys, despite the cloudy day. See you soon in Pala!

Pang + Scott: Engaged!

Apertura — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Cold day, Cold Frappuccinos, Cool & Fun Couple!

Melissa + Timmie: Engaged!

Apertura — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Los Angeles, CA: Melissa + Timmie are so cool that they chose the rustic areas of downtown LA as the location of their E-Session. We efficiently moved from site to site with the help of the speed racer Drew (Timmie’s brother) :) Melissa + Timmie, See ya at your wedding in 3 weeks! Woohoo!

Louisa + Robert: Engaged!

Erwin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Los Angeles, CA: I went to shoot Louisa + Robert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and luckily we have the whole place to ourselves :) Louisa was gorgeous and Robert was stylin’ despite the hot weather :) They will have a cool wedding at the Ritz later on this month…. See ya guys soon!

Dian + Stephen: Engaged!

Erwin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Los Angeles, CA: I had known Stephen from church and met Dian when she came over to LA a couple of times. These guys are such cool people – I was flattered and excited about taking their pictures. We had so much fun getting kicked out of the Grand Central Market, the LA Financial District, but managed to shoot at The Historic Bradbury Building and Pershing Square. Fun times indeed! Congrats Dian + Stephen! Did I mention that I really like incorporating the environment during portrait sessions? Well, here are some of them! :)

Julie + Roozbeh: Engaged!

Apertura — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Hanging out with Julie & Roozbeh in Venice Beach was a blast. They are CRAZY fun & we can’t wait to be part of their wedding in September! We got soooo many gigantic-canvas-print-worthy-images from this session. Guys, have lots of wall space prepared for these. Seriously. :-) The world’s feeblest shadow puppet :-) And we close with a nice moment… Photographers: Most of these images were custom-tweaked with TRA2. Get yours here —-> Totally Rad Actions

Michelle + Ian: Engaged

Erwin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Despite the record-breaking heat, we managed to have an awesome time shooting at the Union Station, Los Angeles. Michelle + Ian dressed in outfits (and props) with a 1940′s theme. See ya guys soon in November!

Kelly + Robert: Engaged!

Apertura — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We met up with Kelly + Robert at the newly renovated Griffith Observatory and took some cool shots as well as super duper fun! To be honest, it was so difficult to get a serious shot :) See ya guys soon!

Erika + Anthony: Engaged!

Apertura — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Erika + Anthony enjoyed a chocolate covered frozen banana and took a ride on the ferris wheel. They even wore matching striped polos. How cute is that? All part of a days work in the So Cal sunshine. See you guys in July!

Sara + Mani: Engaged!

Apertura — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We met Sara + Mani last Sunday and we were a bit concerned that the super-secret location that we picked may be too difficult to access, but the two were just too much of a trooper and they didn’t let it get in our way. We climbed and climbed and it was totally worth it. It’s always a pleasure to take pictures for such a great couple that are really into each other and endured long distance relationships. The water was really, really cold (ask Erwin) but their warmth really is infectious! Sara + Mani, we had such a blast photographing you two and we can’t wait till May for your wedding!

Kim + Son: Bridal + 1!

Apertura — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

In the south, it’s tradition to have a bridal session prior to the wedding. It is not very common in So Cal but we’re very excited to have the opportunity to hang out with Kim & Son on Saturday, wedding dress, tux and all! It was awesome to witness their amazing connection. Can’t wait til your wedding in May!

Diane + Michael: Engaged!

Apertura — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Diane & Michael: Lawyer & Doctor. Match made in heaven! We had so much fun despite getting kicked out from the UCLA Botanical Garden. The weather was not very nice but we really worked it. It was great hanging out with you guys!

Jenn + Eric: Engaged!

Apertura — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Jenn + Eric are really cool to hang around with. They drove from San Francisco for the e-session and a little R&R. Jenn is so sweet and Eric is super knowledgeable, he’s practically a walking encyclopedia! He’s the co-founder of the cool site: Recommendr (Check it out!) and knows a lot about Facebook too (which totally earns major points for Erwin). Plus they’re a foodie and a coffee junkie (our type of people!) We ended the fun day with some good food and deep conversations. Guys, can’t wait for April in Vegas! Enjoy! :)

Blogstalkers Unite! Free Engagement Session Contest!

Apertura — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!

Happy Valentine’s Day! So….. we just had our 100,000th blog hits in January! To celebrate this, we want to thank our incredible blogstalkers who cared enough to visit & leave your wonderful input & comments. We’d also like to invite all of you to participate in our very first blog contest: “Blog Stalkers Unite!” WHAT? One lucky couple would win a E-Session Package valued at $3650! 1. Up to two hours of FREE engagement/day-after session with both Ray + Erwin 2. A 10×10/9×12, 30-page Fine Art Engagement Book 3. DVD of images with the album delivery Blogstalkers, please send us a picture of a you and your significant other (in JPG format no larger than 800px at the widest, 72 dpi) and write us a short story about why you deserve this engagement/day-after session. The top finalists with the most interesting story and photo would be posted in this blog. We will pick the winner by April 8, 2008. Email your entries to: info@aperturaphoto.com. Please put “blogstalker” in the subject line. WHEN?

All entries must be received by March 25, 2008 Midnight Pacific Standard Time

DETAILS? We’d love to shoot around the world, so couples outside of Los Angeles, Orange, & Riverside county are welcome to enter too as long as they are responsible for travel and accommodation for two nice dudes. :-) The date of the shoot for sure this year (2008) when we’re not already booked for other shoot, so flexibility is a must! There you go. Spread the words. You can nominate your neighbors, friends, family, and of course YOURSELF. We’re going to have a lot of fun with this!

Ana + Brent: Engaged!

Apertura — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Ana + Brent picked the coldest day of the year to do their engagement shoot. :-) We were pretty much Popsicles with a shutter finger but they were such troopers, even after we got rudely ushered out of the Mission Inn. We ended up walking around downtown Riverside and had a great time. Can’t wait to see you again in March, guys! Love the ladies with red hats! And of course, another sahweet parking garage portrait!

Kristina + Royce: Engaged!

Apertura — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

These cool peeps spent some time with us at the Aquarium of the Pacific for their engagement session. We had some fun despite the huge crowd inside the aquarium. Some of our favorite shots were actually taken in the parking structure across the street. We’re just weird that way. Can’t wait for your wedding in April, guys!! Royce really, really loves his Air Jordans. He’s got 70-something pairs stocked up in a vault somewhere. ;-) Some sweeeet parking structure portrait!

Julie + Mike: Engaged!

Apertura — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0000

09.16.07: We went to San Juan Capistrano old town to do the E-Session for Julie + Mike, whose wedding is weeks away. We had so much fun shooting them and between shots we talked about something that is our favorite: Video Games! :) Yep, Julie + Mike are serious gamers and we totally dig that! Coolness. Here are some of the images: Really cool jail cell – we shot so many different shots there :) Nothing like a beautifully lit parking garage! Yeaah! Can’t help to think that this looked like some sci-fi shot :)

Gazelle + Farhad: Engaged!

Apertura — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0000

We strolled around downtown LA for Gazelle & Farhad’s engagement session on Saturday. Farhad is an architect and he pretty much knows all the projects around downtown. It was great fun jumping from one place to another in a getaway car driven by Gazelle’s sister. :-) It all started at the Disney Concert Hall, then the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and we ended up at the Union Station. Thanks for the fun time and can’t wait for Napa in two weeks!

Kelly & Andrew: Engaged!

Apertura — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000

We’re back from the Bay area with tired bodies but good stuff to share! First, we shot a special e-session for Kelly & Andrew at the Embarcadero, San Francisco. Kelly is one of Wedding Bee bloggers, the fabulous Miss Eggplant. So the pressure’s on! We hunt around for good light and had a jolly good time with this hot couple. Afterwards, we talked about their wedding and pop culture over dinner. Can’t wait to come back here in October! Kelly, thank you so much for the wonderful bags of coffee & Andrew, please keep an eye on a Wii for me. See you guys soon!

Judi + Chris: Engaged!

Apertura — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000

The second of our back-to-back engagement session! Apertura had fun exploring the funky part of Costa Mesa with Judi & Chris last Sunday. They wanted a deluxe, extended e-session with 3 outfit changes and we’re happy to oblige! There’s going to be A LOT of awesome photos to choose from for their engagement album!

Lynn + Hoyt: Engaged!

Apertura — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s our first post in the new blog format! Lynn & Hoyt are not only easy on the eyes, but they’re also an awesome people. We wandered around in Laguna Beach for their engagement portrait and got some killer shots despite the bad weather.

Eileen + Patrick: Engaged!

Apertura — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Apertura frolicked with Eileen and Patrick in Los Angeles on Saturday for their engagement session. They are the nicest people ever. They brought us delicious cookies and other yummy baked goods to start off the session! We had fun inside the Union Station and the surrounding areas and ended the evening with a great conversation at a Mexican restaurant nearby. We’ll see you in a couple of months, guys!

Lauren + Mike: Engaged!

Apertura — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Lauren and Mike wanted to hire us for their October 20 wedding but we are already booked. So we settled on shooting their e-session instead. They are so warm and full of laughter throughout the entire session, we felt like hanging out with a couple of old friends! Like all of our e-session couples, Lauren and Mike were willing to do whatever it takes to get awesome photos!