Hello from France!  Last September, I went to Chicago to shoot Anna and Eric’s engagement photos.   Coincidentally, Eileen had inquired about my photography services and happen to live in Chicago.  After my shoot, Eileen came over to my hotel and we had some martinis at the bar together.  We ended up chatting for hours!  We hung out way into the night and didn’t realize how much time had flown by.  They didn’t have their wedding planned yet when we met, so it has been a fun journey for me to see their whole wedding day develop.

They’re getting married in LA next month!  Huge kudos to them for planning a LA wedding from Chicago!  They flew here for a weekend to take care of everything – engagement session, meet vendors, food tasting, etc.  What I love most is how much fun they’re both having with the whole process.  We took their engagement photos in between their meetings with potential caterers… and they still looked so relaxed and just had a ball!

Roland got called in to work at the last minute while I was in Chicago, so I never got to meet him.  It was so cool to finally meet him on this shoot!  I totally fell in love with Eileen at first meeting, so I was so happy for her when I finally got to meet Roland and see what a good guy he is.  Gorgeous couple, aren’t they?  They’re really just as beautiful inside as they are outside too.

I loved Roland even more when I got a glimpse of his cute socks when he sat down!

One of my favorite photos from this session:

This totally shows how cute they are:

I also love this next photo:

And I love this last photo:

Can’t wait for their wedding next month!!

Julie and I used to work together.  She’s an amazing person and one of the people who I am so grateful to have in my life.  I remember when I first met her, she was single.  Then suddenly one day, she starts talking about this guy that she met and starts asking me about weddings.  All of us were so excited that she had met someone, but was also surprised to hear the wedding plans take off.  They weren’t engaged yet or anything, but they instantly knew that they had met the one.  I knew exactly where she was coming from through because Jonathan and I were the same way – it was love at first sight.  A year or so later, he surprised her at LACMA with rose petals scattered in the shape of a heart, right in the middle of the lampposts and had a barbershop quartet there singing.  He got down on one knee and popped the question.  The photo above pretty much sums up her answer.

For their engagement session, we went to the historic Bradbury building in downtown LA.  Unfortunately, you do need a permit to shoot there and I think it’s $500/day.  We just ran in the lobby and snapped a few shots and left.  It’s so beautiful in there!  I wish we could explore the rest of the building!

Aren’t they just so cute & happy?  This was taken before the holidays, so I love the subtle holiday feel to this entire shoot.  It doesn’t look like Christmas, but I can feel the holiday spirit every time I look at these.

We then went to their friend’s house down the street to change.  We jumped up on their rooftop for a few shots.  I love the view of the city!

Above is one of my favorite shot of them.  A candid moment as she held on to him for balance as they walked around the rooftop.  They were about to walk up some stairs and I got their attention.  I love the colors.

I could just sit and enjoy the view all day.  I also love this next photo:

I want a garden on the rooftop!

We then headed to LACMA where Andrew popped the question.  It was so cute to see how giddy she was to be back at the spot!

And of course the lampposts is really cool too.  I love the below right one with all the bokeh.

And something I haven’t done for awhile, but so glad I did again:

Julie & Andrew, I love you two.  Never stop having fun together and continue to support each other.  I look forward to seeing little munchkins from you two!

Connie and Auny met in 10th grade… in 6th period Chemistry.   She called him for help, only to realize that he was just as lost.  Neither of them knew at the time, but this was really just the beginning of their Chemistry.  They grew up only a block away from each other, but when she went to UCLA and he went to UCSD, they went from a block apart to 100 miles apart.  It’s true when they say distance makes the heart grow fonder because it wasn’t until they were seperated that they realized how perfect they truely are for each other.  And 9 years later, here we are!

They’ve spent the last few years working/in school in downtown LA, so it was only appropriate to shoot there.  We started at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and then ran off to DWP, where Auny currently works.

We even had some fun with lights after dark.

One last photo taken by Jonathan with a 24TS lens.

Congrats you two on this next journey together!  Can’t wait for your big day!!

I love their little hop!

Aren’t her jeans and shoes just the cutest?  Love the color and cuffs!

I love how goofy Matthew is.  He loves to laugh and is so animated.  I especially love how he makes Jennifer laugh.

I love this next moment!

They brought their baby along because he goes everywhere with them.  I love how he just sat there watching them.

Jennifer and Matthew, I had so much fun running around town with you two!  I can’t wait for your beautiful wedding day!!

And before I leave, I’ll leave you with the rest of Cindy & Andy’s engagement teasers.  Our last stop was in Chinatown.  This is actually the same location I took my wedding photos, so it was really fun to be back there, but on the other side of the camera!

Andy and Cindy were initially nervous about being photographed.  They had never been professional photographed before!  As you can see from the next photos, they relaxed and totally had fun.  Engagement sessions are a  great way to ease the jitters.  Better to deal with the jitters now and not the big day!

I just love their laughter.  This was a candid moment.  They were laughing about something and I snapped this right when Andy looked over at me.

I like this next photo.  Quick snapshot while they were hanging out.

I love how they laugh together.

I told Andy to whisper something in Cindy’s ear.  I wonder what he said…

I love this next photo because it reminds me of Taiwan.  Cindy & Andy actually just vacationed there.  They just came home a few weeks ago, so I thought it was fun to capture the Taipei feel for them.  I went to Taipei 10 years ago and totally miss the night life there!

Then we ended the night in this dark street with lots of graffiti.

I think it’s funny how this picture looks so “pretty”, a total contrast to the graffiti.

Again, have a happy happy new years!  See you in 2009!