Joel Arellano | Photographer

Ohh, the joys of modern medicine. Thanks to the internet and social networking I came across one of the most important pieces of advice for surviving a wedding all day with heavy equipment strapped to me.  Usually by the time the wedding ceremonies are done, and formal portraits are being arranged with the wedding party, my back starts to get nice and tense.  Which then turns into cramps, which then turns into slow movements towards the emotional toasts during the reception.  Only 3 hours to go, I tell myself. Sometimes getting out of my car after driving home can require oiling the joints so I can move again.  So whats the advice you say!  Well, it’s a remedy the runners use before starting a marathon. Take a couple of Motrin before the whole shindig, and you’re set. That’s it!and I feel like a million all the way to the garter toss! Here’s the best part, no crazy cramps or soreness the next morning!  Magic?  No my friends, modern medicine! Yes, Motrin is news to me, gimme a break I just found out what “deets” means last month too.

So when I recently second shot with that totally cool guy named Joel Llacar I decided to put the fountain of youth cocktail to the test and it worked like.  a.  charm!  Beverly and Josh’s ceremony took place at the gorgeous Saint Andrews Roman Catholic Church in Pasadena, it’s definitely a sight to see.

The fellas. The good, fellas.

The very beautiful Beverly, she simply glowed this day.

I love it when it turns out the the entire wedding party is as silly as me, in fact, I think I was egging them on.  You couldn’t hear it through picture but the best man had ‘Like a G6‘ playin from his phone on a loop as we shot the portraits.  Official soundtrack to the wedding coming soon…

Tea time laugh.  Lean back and belly laugh.  Makes for realistic good times!

Gooood times at the reception!  Everyone was dancing up a storm, well done!  I love this stuff…

Big thanks to Joel Llacar for having me out to second shoot, and to Beverly, Josh and crew for being such good sports and being the best subjects!  Super fun wedding and thanks to Motrin for making it an easy shoot too!  Check out Joel’s perspective on his blog, he’s got it down yo!

I’m playing catch up with all of my shoots, this explains the big gap between posts and the coffee stains on my shirt. Editing pictures is like my own personal time machine, flux capacitor in all! I get to go back and relive the moments, I laugh, I smile, I even cringe when I see over-exposed images. Hey, it happens. But then I realize that an hour and a half has swept by and I haven’t even sorted the pictures. Heh, family outtakes and wedding receptions are usually the most entertaining. Best of all, the pictures are gonna make my clients happy. I hope. Anyway, I’ve been catching up with loads of shoots and weddings so in the coming weeks expect to see a barrage of fun posts.

Doc, backup, we won’t have enough road to hit 88.

Roads? Where we’re goin we don’t need, ‘roads.’

So I flip down my mirror shades and continue editing, make funnies with word play and weird analogies all while sippin on a Coke Zero. Yup, that’s how I roll, no calories all the same great taste!

On with the show… Once again I had the awesome opportunity to second shoot with whom I consider my mentor, Henry Chen. This time the groom (Nathan Nowack) is also wedding photographer, and good friend of Henry’s. Not to mention that he picked the best photographer around to capture their big day. So I was honored to be apart of the celebration.

My first impression of Nathan, he was just chillin; all smiles and ready for the big day.

Nathan’s bride Allison was quite crafty and creative with the gift she sent down to Nathan before the ceremony.  She carved his logo into a pumpkin and wrote a lil sweet somthin.

One of the groomsmen was wearing cowboy boots instead of the traditional patent leather shoes, a move not many can pull off. But he did, very successfully I might add…

Nathan and Allison were married and had their reception at the Ayres Hotel in Hawthorne, awesome place throughout and beautifully decorated.  By the time we headed down to the lobby for the couple’s first look, Nathan started to show a little anticipation.  Anticipation makes for good character.

Allison waiting for Nathan at the bottom of the stairs to see her groom for the first time this day.  They both could not wait any longer, I felt bad telling Nathan not to come down the stairs yet.

I gotta say the Allison had the cutest and most contagious laugh ever!  You couldn’t help but laugh with her even if you didn’t know what it was all about.

Gorgeous deets at every turn.

Taiko drummers, yeah, like, awesome!

Chinese lion dancers. I was blown away at all of the culture exploding all around me, I’m still smiling!  Really, I am honored.  Big time!

Too much? No. Way!  This one’s going up there on my top 10 weddings list, and a big thanks to Henry for bringing me on for Nathan and Allison’s wedding!  Oooh, by the way, check out Henry’s post on his blog, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

When Carla and Christian announced that they were engaged and getting married it was no surprise to me or any of our friends.  Christian is my best friend, and I knew that Carla was the girl for him (especially after my first impression of Carla was colorful to say the least).  These kids are inseparable, kinda like when you pull too much tape out off the roll and it sticks to its self and if you try to separate the two sides it just ruins it. Yeah, like that.  They’re perfect together.  So, naturally, when they told me they were getting married I winked my eye at them and they insisted I was to be a guest and enjoy myself.  Uhh, no.  It was too important a day for my good friends to leave my camera at home.  Photographing their wedding was more of an honor to me than being the best man(I’ll explain later).  We had loads of fun shooting their engagement session, and the wedding was a blast.  Perfect weather, perfect lighting and a perfectly in-love couple!

I walked into the Carla’s suite and boom! Dress hanging nicely in front of a well lit window!  It was like walking into a 7 Eleven and the clerk directing you to the winning scratchers behind the counter.  Wow, that was a stretch…

A couple tricks I learned from Henry Chen.

Sophia has the most beautiful blue eyes, she is a looker…

…and her cute lil flower dress to go with.

Aaannd a lil somethin I picked up from Joel Llacar.

Christian and his brother awaiting his beautiful bride.

Ok, confession time.  When Carla and Chris were exchanging vows, Chris started to get all choked up and it hits me.  My best good friend is getting married, and I kept my camera plastered up against my face to hide the fact that I was gettin all teary-eyed.  So I kept shooting until Carla made funny faces and then I was coo.  

So, Chris earned the nickname “The Politician.”.  He can speak to large crowds, he can effectively send the message across and be articulate.  But as soon as I point my camera at him, I can’t get him to give me a real smile.  However, he was all smiles this day.  I couldn’t find the right word to describe Chris in this next picture, so I’m just calling him HOT!

Ladies, ladies, ladies.  Lovely.

Confession #2.  The Politician delivered a warm speech thanking everyone for being apart of their special day, it was good.  Then Carla uttered a few heartfelt words accompanied with tears, and soooooo once again my camera never left my face.  I’ve never gotten so many pictures of their feet…

The dancing gets underway and the first slow song came on and so did the dipping.

Quickly followed by the fist-pumping…

…and straight up dancing like no one’s looking. Good times!

I had to make a cameo in this one, hope I don’t ruin the picture.  Carla and Christian, thank you for the honor of be your photographer for your wedding. I don’t do well in a tux, and I hate getting fitted.  I can’t tell you guys enough how happy I am for you guys, and thank you for the tear-jerking moments because I will never forget them!  I look forward to many more comedy nights and even some board games.  I’m the luckiest tuxedo-challenged photographer on earth.  Goodnight!

Who’s the man? Joel! I get to say that because it has a double meaning to the magnificent  duo of Joel & Joel!  Yes, fans of the photogs, the awesome two-some strikes again.  This time, saving the day of newly weds Cecilia and Erick!  Not that they were in trouble or anything, well, you see.  Ok, we did take some awesome pictures a couple weeks ago of their lovely day in quaint lil Pasadena.  Gotta check Joel Llacar’s blog post for this wedding! It’s always good times shooting with Joel (insert double meaning here).

I was lovin this couple, Cecilia was reserved and all smiles, Erick confident and full of laughter.  I had the privelage of shooting the fellas getting ready, so it gives me a chance to chat it up a bit.  I’m quite the conversationalist when the Food Network comes up.  Yeah, I can cook and I can eat.  And me and the boys, well, we had some common interests…

Here’s Erick helping Jimmy fix his “vest” and it actually turned out to be quite the task.

The fellas looking sharp on this fine Saturday afternoon.

I’m pretty bad on remembering names, but there was no way I was forgetting Jimmy’s name after hearing what his email address is.  You go with your bad self Jimmy.

Erick and Cecilia opted to have a “first look,” this is when the bride and groom see each other all done up before the ceremony.  It’s always exciting to see their reactions because there’s so much anticipation leading up to this moment.

The lovely bride’s maids peekin around the corner at the happy couple’s first look, with oohh’s and aahh’s.

Joel Llacar working the wedding party shots. 

Buh-buh-buh-buh-bayuhd….

The waiting room before the ceremony. It was so, Godfather-esque.

The First United Methodist Church of Pasadena is a beautiful, beautiful church.  I caught myself staring at the architecture and stained glass art.  Simply gorgeous setting for a wedding.

The party’s in the Rococo Room!

So, Joel does a slide show of the images he captured for the first half of the day and it’s always a crowd pleaser!

Congratulations to Cecilia and Erick! It was such a privilege to be apart of such an important day in your lives together, and of course to Joel, always a pleasure working with you dude!