Jamie and Tony were brainstorming for engagement session ideas and stumbled into Scripps College in Claremont through a magazine.  We later found out that Scripps College is rated as one of the top 20 most beautiful colleges in the nation!!  And  indeed it was… even in the rain!!  I’ve been wanting to photograph in the rain; so when Jamie and Tony said they were up for playing in the rain for their engagement pictures, I was super excited!!  Thank you guys for being such troopers!!

Speaking of the rain… it’s raining cats and dogs as I am sitting here writing this blog entry and sipping on some delicious wine.  It’s been raining ALOT lately… and I am not used to all this rain!  It drives me crazy because one day it’ll be nice and sunny and next it’s pouring outside.  Sadly… most of the time it’s on weekends!  I have this love-hate relationship with the rain!  I love it because it cools things down and there’s something about the rain that makes it oh-so romantic.  Imagine… it’s raining and you’re inside next to the fire-place snuggled next to your significant other (or loved ones) watching a movie or drinking hot coco while playing video games!  On the other hand, I’m not so fond of it because well… I don’t want to be inside all the time!  Can’t do much when it’s raining! I’m an outdoors kinda person so being indoor for days will make me mad!!  And I don’t like driving in the rain…

I woke up at 6:00am on the day of because the rain was coming down so hard.  I thought we’d have to call off the shoot but it started to die down a bit as it got closer to noon.  I talked to Jamie in the morning and we’re on.  As soon as we got off the phone, it started to pour again, but that didn’t change the plans.  When we got to the location, it stopped raining completely, in fact there were some blue in the sky!  Crazy…

Puddle???  No problem, I’ll take advantage of it and use it for pictures!!

And finally… it started to rain in the middle of our shoot!

So romantic.  The idea of just the two of us…  just you and me… (and um… our wedding photographer) in the rain!

The campus had a little orange orchard!  Cool huh???

cute…

It’s really not an everyday thing where Tony attacks Jamie with the umbrella!!

I love the following two pictures!!

After Scripps College, we headed over to Claremont’s Village District.

This picture makes me think of stamps!  heehee… do you see stamps too or am I just weird???

You can see their entire engagement session here.

Thanks guys!!

Leah and Hakan had a very intimate Long Beach Wedding this past Friday; and it was my pleasure to be their wedding photographer.  They had requested for me to photography their couple’s session in Long Beach the day after their actual wedding ceremony.  We started off at Hotel Maya (formerly known as The Coast Hotel).  I remember photographing a wedding there in July of 2007 when it was still The Coast Hotel!!  Hotel Maya, Long Beach is completely different from what it use to look like before.  It is now beautifully decorated and there are lots of photo opps all around!!

The weather forecast predicted that it was gonna rain that day and all through the weekend; making Leah and Hakan a bit nervous, but what do you know… beautiful blue skies and sunshine when we did their wedding photography session in Long Beach!

Hotel Maya everyone… in case I didn’t mention it already!  =)  I’m just kidding… there’s something about this picture that I really like so I figure I’d add it to my blog!

Shoes, dress and rings!  What’s a Judy Tran Blog with these items??  If you know me.. all my blog entries will have pictures of these three things (especially the rings)!  =D

I shot this picture using a fish-eye 15mm lens.  I love the symmetry and reflection in this picture!!

I love shooting into the sun!!  I love the “glow”…

Yup… beautiful So-Cal weather!!  I’m beginning to doubt weather forecasts now…

I like how the pink window pane created the cool pink colors on them!

Leah, you probably get this a lot but… did anyone ever tell you that you kinda look like Jessica Simpson???  Especially with your sunglasses on!!

One of my favorite pictures from the day!!  So hot and so intimate!!  Can you tell which one is real and which one is the reflection???

From the Maya Hotel we headed over for some quick pictures at Shoreline Village, Long Beach!

Shoreline Village in Long Beach is known of the Light House…

Leah and Hakan… thank you for the opportunity to hang out with you both!  It was a pleasure being your wedding photographer!  Congratulations on your marriage and your new house!!  Have fun and good luck with all your future plans!!

As you may have remember, it was raining last week and the forecast said the chances of it raining on Sunday (Super Bowl Sunday) was pretty high as well!  Nina and I were soooo looking forward to doing their engagement session in the rain.  I even had planned for them to bring  umbrellas as prop for the shoot.  Bummer we didn’t get a chance to play in the rain, but we still had an awesome engagement photography session at the Getty Center.  From the Getty Center, we ended the engagement session in Santa Monica (with some beautiful sunset pictures).

Nina is an English teacher in Beijing, China.  She and Nathan met a few years ago when she came home (to the states) for summer vacation.  March 8th (Monday) will be their big day, and I am happy to be their wedding photographer in Orange County.  Nina and Nathan are having an Orange County wedding at Tivoli Terrace.  After they get married, Nina and Nathan have decided to move to China to begin their adventures together.