Kevin and Tina got married :)

Yes folks, it's official - Kevin and Tina got married this past Saturday to the throngs of their many admirers both family and friends alike. And what a terrific day it was to boot!

The day started early for these two (as all weddings do, REGARDLESS of start time). Despite getting only about 3 hours of sleep, Tina and her lovely bridesmaids were ready, getting dolled up for their big day (well, Tina's big day that is).

As for the groomsmen, well, they were nowhere to be found, but I was told that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing, what, I'm not sure. Thankfully though, they all showed up at the church on time, and Kevin was there ready for his big moment as well.

Needless to say, the ceremony, photos and reception were terrific! So much emotion, color, action, etc. more so than what you'll find in the Olympics! (okay, that was a big comparison, but hey, we're in the midst of Beijing 2008 right now, so why not?) Overall, as with all weddings, it was AWESOME!

Before you get down to some of the photos of the day, HUGE shouts out go to Kevin and Tina for allowing me to be part of their day - I am so honored to have been chosen by you guys to document your wedding - thank you thank you thank you!; to the bridal party, for going along with whatever we had in store for you guys- muchas gracias; To Keri, for helping me out all day - Thank you! To Amafel, Jen, and Connie of Signature Event Agency, for making the day go by so smoothly - you guys ROCK, no, seriously, you guys ROCK!!!

And now, on with the photos!

I'm pretty sure Tina is going to hate me for posting this photo, but I thought it was cute.

Tina and her mom, putting on the finishing touches.

One of my favorites from the day. On her way to the church.

"I do."



I love these guys. We went to the Griffith Park Observatory after the ceremony for some
photographs, and decided to get this funny, set up shot of the two "waiting" in line to see the telescope.

I want an iPhone just so I can do this with my photos!

What makes this photo great is the little niece towards the bottom right.
I LOVE her expression.

The Ocampo boys (L-R: Kevin, Keith, and Kiernan) doing their best
"Cheese-zu" pose!

Trust me, the cake looked this delicious!


See, told you so.


Women who ROCK! The wonderful ladies of the Signature Event Agency
(L-R) Connie, Amafel, and Jen.
(Brides, and brides-to-be, trust me, hire these guys, it'll make your big day
go so much smoother!)

Ah, Amore!

Congratulations guys! Thanks for letting me be a part of your day :)

A Baby Blog Post

It's an election year, so why not have a few photos of cute babies around?! Here's a post about our new friend Amelia :)

This past weekend, we were treated to a special meeting with one of the cutest girls you will ever meet! Our good friends John and Stefanie welcomed their daughter Amelia to the world last week, on July 31st, and boy is she a cutie! It's so amazing that all of us were her size at one time! Ah, memories...

The one thing I did notice was how much "daddy" time Amelia had with John, as he carried her most of the time. Then again, I don't blame him, since Stef had her for a whole 9 months! With all this fatherly affection, I definitely feel sorry for the would-be boyfriends who are going to show up at their door step some 18 years from now. Oh, did I mention that John is a master at using a knife since he's a certified chef? Hmmm...

Okay, now on with the photos!

I'm certain Amelia was sticking her tongue out at me cause
she knows I'll be photographing her every opportunity I get.

This is a third of what new borns do - EAT, sleep, and poo.



Amelia with her dad John.


Okay, now I thought this was funny, especially if you're a college football fan (Heisman).
However, I'm sure to hear it from the (female) non-college football fans.
Nice form there John, and way to go little football Amelia!


The happy family :) You ever notice how it's the moms who are usually the
most friendly looking when it comes to parents who have daughters? I guess the dads have to put
on the game face to ward off all the "Not good enough for my daughter!" would be suitors!


Everyone loves a newborn, especially when that somebody is your grandmother (holding Amelia)


Can you spell "S-P-O-I-L-E-D"?

Congrats to Stef and John and thank you for introducing us to your new bundle of joy! And welcome to the family Amelia!

Marquee today, billboards tomorrow?

Last Friday night, my pals the 18MMW opened up their new show entitled "Just Like White People!" here in L.A. to a sold out opening night crowd on theater row. The sketches were hilarious, the laughs horrendous, and the acting, superb. Those guys did a fantastic job, and should you be in the L.A. area, definitely check their website for details on their show.

If you're wondering what the title means, well, I ask that you go and watch the show. If you're unable to, let me tell you that the 18MMW are an Asian-American Sketch Comedy group. You can deduce from there.

Nonetheless, I was quite honored and surprised to see on of my photos of them on the marquee outside the theater! It's the largest photo I've ever had enlarged, and it kinda brought a tear to my eye. Photos are just like children, you create them, you nurture them (via photoshop), you let them go, and they go on to live large lives somewhere, whether on a mantle, shelf, or perhaps on the outside of a small theater for the world to see. Ah, sigh...

(My apologies to all my readers who have children, as I do not. Plus, I'm pretty sure most kids never end up living on a mantle or shelf)

So here it is, my "baby", all growns up.

Sniff, sniff...

In closing, do check out the Warriors' website, and go and see their show. They're funny.

Oh, and in one more month, Cold Tofu will be back to their regularly scheduled shows in Little Tokyo as well! Check us out too!!!

I GOT KISSED!!!

Ah yes, it was back in the 7th grade, spring. "Like" was in the air, and the lucky girl was... WHOA! Wait, wrong story! Sorry!

What I mean to say is that I received my first Kiss wedding book! Hooray!!! It's my first album, and I'm so impressed by the quality and build of it. Kudos go out to the gang at Kiss Wedding Albums for doing such a fantastic job. You guys ARE rock stars!

This album is for Michelle and Rene, and I am so eager to get it to them for them to keep and share with future generations, particularly since Michelle is due pretty soon! I am honored to have been that person who photographed their wedding for their offspring to experience and enjoy. Thanks again guys.

Okay, and now for the Kiss Album!!!

You can tell I'm a geek cause I actually photographed the entire box opening.
Here it is after the bubble wrap and foam pop-corn.


It has that new leather scent and is so elegantly made!



Nice thick pages make for heirloom quality!


Seamless center folds make for nice transitions from spread to spread.
Oh, and this spread of Rene and his best buddy Jake is one of my all time favorites
(Jake is the four legged guy in the photo)


Ah, sweet, luscious, Italian Leather. Awesome. It's... Incredible.

I am so happy with Kiss that I'm certain to be using them again for my future albums. What's cool is that they also come in different colors! Not just black! Red, lime, etc. I'll post my sample albums in the future.

Now go get kissed!

Man, I GREW UP in the 80's!!!

Yes, as the title of this post implies, I was a child of the 80's. The 1980's. It was a decade of the Los Angeles Olympic games, my first real girlfriend, graduating from high school, getting a scooter to get around L.A. with, and heck, even starting college happened in the 80's for me. It was an era of Michael Jackson, MTV's birth, and Reaganomics. Ah, what a decade... I do miss those days. Gas was under a dollar, and my family and I were driving around in this cool orange Toyota Corolla. Memories, like the corners of my mind.

Okay, enough reminiscing for now.

The reason I bring all this up is because I was asked to photograph for my friend Jenny these past two days for the company she works for - Eventworks. They do major event planning, and they needed coverage of their events happening at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. These guys are top notch and spare no expense when it comes to events. Plus, not having worked with Jenny before, it was great to see her "large and in charge" - seriously! She was awesome to work for/with! You rock Jenny! And thanks for inviting me to the events :)

Here are three photos from Sunday and Monday's events. You'll see why I reminisced about the 80's in the second photo:

Living in L.A., we always get to see Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin hanging around at events. Don't these guys ever age?!!!

It's not even funny how big of a Prince fan I am, but to have him stand next to Cyndi Lauper and Boy George in full 80's gear?!!! That's BITCHIN' DUDE!!!

And as for Eventworks? This is how they ROLL!!!

Oh, and if the decorations weren't enough for Monday's event (not pictured) they even had Hall & Oates perform for the guests! I should have stayed and got my Hall and Oates on! Sadly I had to leave though cause I was hungry :(

Alrightee then. That was my weekend. You gotta love L.A. Now the countdown begins to Kevin and Tina's wedding on the 16th of August - woo hoo!!! Can you believe it's almost August already?

Have a great day everyone!

There's Disney, Lego, and NOW YOGURTLAND!

Okay, so you're thinking, "What does Disneyland, and Legoland have to do with Yogurtland?" Well, it is now one of my favorite, all time (nutritional) amusement places to visit! Last week, my friend Denise introduced me to Yogurtland, which basically is a yogurt shop where YOU get to fill these tiny buckets up with different flavors of yogurt. Everything from Taro, peach, Cookies and Cream, Peanut Butter, Blueberry, Mango, etc.! Talk about sweet tooth overload! Then after filling your little bucket up, you head over to the condiment bar where you pile on the nuts, toppings, fruit, etc. to you heart's content! From there, they weigh your new found creation, and after damages (about 4 bucks), you sit down and enjoy your heavenly yogurt bliss. And OH YES, it IS heavenly! Dare I say, I'm an addict? Thank goodness I went for that two hour bike ride yesterday afternoon, whew!

This all came about because our good friend Pam (my cover girl on my wedding website splash page) was in town visiting from Las Vegas. It was so nice to see her again and her little bun in the oven (yes, she's half way through her gestation - that sounds weird to me). We had dinner at one of our favorite Little Tokyo haunts, Mr. Ramen (SUPERB food BTW, plus the owner is one cool guy who loves reggae, so he has it in the background while you enjoy your meal). Joining us was our friends Lane and Akiko, and later in the evening, Contrary Mary herself, gearing up for yet another night of Karaoke with Helen (Some things never change).

So here's a few photos from last night, sans moi cause I'm always taking the photographs:

The Yogurtland Gang - (L-R) Akiko, Lane, Helen, and Contrary Mary, Denise.
See the buckets?

Helen and Denise in front of yogurt utopia - Yogurtland!
I love Helen's "cheese" expression


This is our friend Lane. I know he'll hate me for this, BUT, ladies, he's single, he CAN dance (quite well), is a budding chef, and has a steady job. Did I mention he's single? Plus, despite being Japanese-American, he looks Filipino (like moi) which is another plus!
He gets the paparazzi in his face a lot, hence the "please, no photos" expression and hand gestures.

So that's it for last night's outing! Well, that and a few hundred more unneeded calories, but I'm working out today, so hopefully, it'll be gone (yeah right).

I'm shooting tons this weekend BTW, just got hired by Eventworks.com to do a two day stint at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A., along with a reception I'm shooting tomorrow! Good times!!!

Have a great weekend!

A Few More From Kevin and Tina's E-Session

Before you scroll down to see the photos, I have to say that I've been shooting like a madman lately! Had an E-session shoot with Liz & Ed my favorite Trojan Alumni couple, shot at no other than the universe's greatest college ever built by man kind, the University of Southern California. These guys came prepared with props and ideas! What a couple!!! Good times indeed!

This upcoming weekend I'm shooting a post wedding reception in the valley. Northridge. The HOT valley. Just ask Contrary Mary. She knows. Should be fun.

Lastly, is it just me or do people NOT adhere to laws? I'm still seeing a whole bunch of people holding their cell phones to their ears while driving! Sucks!

Okay, on with the photos:

Didn't I tell you before that I think my brides are hot?


And when you combine them with the groom, they get even hotter?

Lastly, I attended a wedding recently of some good friends of ours, and noticed their photographers working the ceremony. There were ONLY two of them. As a photographer myself, we make it a point to find new and interesting angles to shoot, preferably, DIFFERENT angles to shoot from. I thought that this photo was kinda funny considering that they are both standing in the SAME place.

Hmm...

Okay, that was cruel. These guys did have some great images though. For the sake of protecting the innocent, I'm not mentioning their names nor my friends who got married and photographed by them. Sorry!

Have a SWELL Thursday everyone, and shouts out to Liz & Ed, Kevin & Tina, and just for the heck of it, Contrary Mary.