Blue eyes is what pretty much anyone will say they remember when they meet Theresa. She has bright, bright blue eyes that everyone notices immediately. They were the focus of this photo… well, actually Theresa made her goofy expressions the main part of this image. But when I heard that she was engaged, among the first things I thought was “Perfect, I know exactly what bridal portrait I was to create with her”.
Cuz that’s what all creative photographers do, right? We use our gorgeous friends for creating beautiful photos, hahaha.

Theresa is a friend of mine from when I was a lifeguard and lifeguard trainer in Florida, at Disneyworld. We are part of a core group of friends, mostly lifeguards, that all spent a good portion of 2003 living and working together. Her wedding was a small reunion for some of us who hadn’t seen each other in years.

This posting will include a number of personal shots since these are my old friends. Typically I keep personal things off this blog, but this is different and I’m even in some of the group shots, too. Overall we had a great time hanging out in Downtown Portland and catching up on life. It was a crazy and hectic week – did I mention I flew to Portland for this wedding less than 24 hours after landing back in California from spending the week shooting in Michigan at the D’Orazio wedding? Yeah, didn’t sleep much at all.

Anyway, enjoy the photos. I’ll put more info in the captions!

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What a crazy two weeks! The amount of work and travel was ridiculous – but a lot of fun.

I recently returned from a whirlwind trip that spanned THREE different states (not including California, where I live). My travels started off heading back out to Michigan. I was in Detroit-area again, this time to shoot the D’Orazio wedding.
For those who don’t remember, Mike booked me for his wedding nearly a year and a half ago. I was also able to shoot their engagement photos while out in Michigan last July shooting the DeLand wedding. Check out the last image on this page.
Mike and Christina make such a wonderful couple. They were a pleasure to photograph during their engagement session, and their wedding weekend was just as exciting. I have so many great photos from the day and a half I spent with their families. But rather than make everyone wait I wanted to upload a single preview for now to hold you over.

Also, Mike and Christina had this to say after my return home:

“John, we can’t thank you enough for everything! We know the photos are amazing! You are a true professional and we are proud to say you were part of the best day of our lives! Thank you again.”
-Mike D’Orazio

“I couldn’t of said it better myself!
I cannot wait to see the photos! I know how wonderful your work is, and it makes me so excited to see the final product :) You were very professional and did 110%. Thanks again!!!”
-Christina D’Orazio

After returning from Michigan I was home in California for about 15 hours before boarding a plane to Portland for my friend Theresa’s wedding. I was attending purely as a guest – however when a friend with gorgeous blue eyes gets married, I’m going to take some pictures regardless…

This is why you throw down a couple grand and buy an 85mm f/1.2
Yep, you read that correctly… couple grand… f/1.2 – this lens will be worth every penny.

I’ve known Theresa for seven years, we used to work together in Florida where I trained lifeguards and lifeguarded for the Disney Water Parks in 2003. So, when I heard she was engaged, I knew the exact photo I wanted to take on her wedding day… this image above.

I have a lot of photos from my trip north to attend the wedding; most of my photos are actually shots of me and our friends all hanging out laughing catching up on the last five years since we some of us last saw each other. But I also have some shots I took at the ceremony. Those will be coming in later weeks after finishing work for other clients.

Check back soon for an update on D’Orazio wedding!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending a (surprisingly) sunny weekend in Portland, Oregon for the wedding of Tara Matthews and Michael Niles!
I have indirectly known Tara for a number of years. Seven years ago I lived in Orlando, Florida while doing an internship with Walt Disney World. Tara’s brother Ryan was one of my roommates while I was out there. I actually also shot images at Ryan’s wedding four years ago. So, this is now the second brother-then-sister wedding client family! It’s such a compliment to be able to do photography twice for a family.. especially when those people are in completely different states!

Well, Tara has apparently followed my work for quite a while. And as I heard this weekend, it wasn’t a question in her mind about getting me to shoot her wedding. What an amazing compliment to hear from anyone!
Michael, like many grooms, wasn’t too familiar with my work, but took his fiance’s word about me. Haha! Thanks Michael! Hope I don’t disappoint!

After knowing the Matthew’s for such a long period of time, I’m considered family and was treated as such while in Oregon. I crashed at their home, hung out with everyone, and laughed and joked about old stories and new.
Don’t get me wrong, I had my camera with me pretty much at all times. I won’t be including photos from all the prep, the nails, the hair, and everything else I attended though. I have plenty from the wedding day that I’d like to share.

So, ahead are 70 images or so from the Niles’ wedding. I hope you guys spend the time and check them all out. I really had an amazing time with these families last weekend. I even got to see the Grant family from Ryan and Jenna’s wedding four years ago. I was shocked they remembered me that well!

Enjoy! And please feel free to post or send me a message if you have any thoughts!

I LOVE this shot. How cute is this, seriously?
This is easily one of my new favorite portfolio images. I hope both of these two love it as much as I do(in about 15 years when they can appreciate it).

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