The Favazza-Bastow Wedding – Michigan

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I just returned from Michigan where I spent the last weekend photographing Alex and Laura Bastow’s gorgeous wedding.

Firstly… it’s pronounced “bass-toe” like the fish and appendage on your foot.. How many people’s minds were just blown? Anyone? Cuz there were definitely friends at the wedding that didn’t know how to correctly pronounce Alex’s last name. Haha!
Anyway, I had a great weekend with these two who were kind enough to fly me out and host me for several days in the middle of all the normal craziness of a wedding. To add insult to an already-hectic time in anyone’s lives there were massive MASSIVE rains in the greater Detroit areas and their basement flooded a week before the wedding. These two handled it like a boss, though, and didn’t let it phase them or their plans for a great weekend with their relatives.

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The Maxwell-Barron Wedding. Monterey, Calif.

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The Maxwell-Barron wedding last weekend was absolutely gorgeous – and a ton of fun.
I’ve known Paul for 19 years now… wow… just did the math. That’s a long time. Hilary I met either in Jr. High or High School, I don’t really recall exactly when however I do remember back when we were all attending Cupertino High.
Over the last several years it’s been fun to watch the two of them together as they’ve dated since they’re ridiculously cute when they hang out with one and other. Paul and Hilary are one of those couples that just always seems to be having fun together. And having grown up since my early teens with Paul, knowing what a kind person he has always been, and knowing Hilary through my high school years, as the always-sweet-and-friendly friend of my younger sister, it was disgustingly cute to see them wind up together. Hahaha!

I have a lot writen out about their gorgeous wedding in Monterey. And I have various photos from all the weddings I’ve been lucky enough to attend with Paul and Hilary.
So click past the break and read on if you have some time! I hope you enjoy the images. I had a lot of fun with the Maxwell and Barron families and I hope all of you enjoy this glimpse of their wedding day!

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The Curry-Butner Wedding. Saratoga, Calif.

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The Curry-Butner Wedding at Saratoga Springs in Saratoga, Calif… a beautiful setting for a really gorgeous wedding.

Being able to be part of the Nicole’s and Rob’s weekend was awesome. I’ve known Nicole for 12 years… TWELVE.YEARS.
Crazy right? I met Nicole back when we worked at Paramount’s Great America. It’s a theme park and we both worked in the Entertainment department. She was a dancer and performer, and that particular season I was part of the Special Events technician crew. Nicole was part of the Nickelodeon show, a show that I was a performer in for two years prior to her joining the cast. And I’m really disappointed that I don’t currently have copies of my photos from those years with me. They’re all back home in SoCal on my storage and archive drives. So sadly I won’t be able to share those with you guys – though I’m sure Nicole is breathing a sigh of relief right now that there are no Nickelodeon or Scooby show photos posted up. Haha!

But they exist. ; )  ha!

I always had a lot of fun memories of working with Nicole those many years ago during that season. I also rode along with her down to Disney one time with another co-worker Nikki to join the rest of the Nick cast for a weekend at Disneyland in Anaheim. We even ended up in the parade as the guest-performers who danced along with the various characters.
..wait… WAIT!
OH MAN. I just found TWO photos from that trip on a folder on my server that I thought might have a couple images. Yesssss… hahaha!

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So the left photo is all of us at the Sword in the Stone anvil. I’m on the top left and Nicole over on the right obviously. And the other photo is Nicole and Max (Goofy’s son) in the parade. One of our friends at the time recorded the parade with my camera so that’s a video still, actually. Woo!

Anyway, over the years as we all grew up I’ve been bouncing all over the world, country, and state but we’ve both kept up on what the other was up to. When Rob proposed to Nicole she said that I was among the first people she wanted to get in touch with to see if I was available to come to the Bay Area and shoot her wedding! Always so very flattering.

I finally got to meet Rob a few months back when we all went out to dinner. Wait, that was the first time we met, right? I think so… Honestly seeing their posts about running, and my joking that they should be in SoCal so I can train with them, etc has made it seem like I already knew Rob.. And certainly made it feel like far less than five or six years (at least) since I had seen Nicole in person the last time.

As their wedding weekend approached it was fun to see/hear Nicole’s excitement escalate in her messages/emails as we went over just a few last details as things got closer. Sometimes people get stressed out.. but that certainly wasn’t the case with Nicole. And I honestly think her excitement made me that much more excited as well.

The entire weekend was a blast. The ceremony was beautiful. Nicole looked amazing in her dress and Rob was super sharp in his new suit.
As always I’m going to share more in the captions below. So, click the break. Read on! And check out nearly 400 images from Nicole and Rob’s wedding at Saratoga Springs!!
It’s a lot. I know. But, I know that there are those who will look at every photo, and those who don’t want to can scroll to the moments they want to see ;)

Enjoy everyone!

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Ninja Turtles: A Re-Imagining. TMNT as humans

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It’s been a long time in the making, but I’ve finished my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Re-Imagined poster!
And here it is.

From the first photoshoot (Raphael) to the last shoot (Splinter) it officially took me 27 months to photograph everyone. But there is a long explanation behind why it took me so long to complete this project.
So go grab yourself something to drink, maybe a slice of pizza, and get ready for my extremely detailed story behind this project, why I created it, and what went into putting something like this together.

Anyway, click past the break to read on!!

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Damn, Earth… you one sexy Motha’ // #earthporn

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That was my exact thought process when it came to #EarthPorn photos.

For those not familiar with the somewhat graphic sounding phrase, EarthPorn is used when referring to nature photography that makes you step back and say “Damn.. Earth/Nature/etc is beautiful”. Do a quick Google Image Search or search the hashtag on Instagram or Tumblr and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

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Zhang Wedding – San Ramon, Calif.

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Last weekend the crazy rainy weather in the Bay Area broke for just one day for Gee Lyn and Evan’s wedding – and it turned out to be gorgeous that afternoon for a few outdoor images of them and their wedding party.
Evan and Gee Lyn were referred me by several friends of theirs when they had started looking for a wedding photographer for their San Ramon wedding. Evan said I was very highly recommended – which is always a great thing to hear at the end of a wedding day as things are winding down and we finally had a chance to chat a bit after a very long day.
Both Evan and Gee Lyn are car enthusiasts, which is how they eventually met me… through the car community. We had spoke entirely through emails leading up to the wedding figuring out several different details and getting plans in place for their wedding day. I did my absolute best to keep things laid back and chill for them when it came to photos, letting them know I didn’t need many more details beyond the “absolutely must have” photos unique to them or their family, as well as keeping me updated with the rehearsal times, etc.

Evan and Gee Lyn got married at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. The rehearsal evening was rainy and blustery out – but the weather the next day called for clear skies. I even got to see and catch up with Eryn and Ryan King, other old friends whose wedding I shot, because they live nearby St. Mary’s so it was a great opportunity to visit the Kings and catch up on life.
The wedding day started just like any other for me. I met up with the girls in the morning while they were getting ready. Gee Lyn and her five girls made up a bridal party of six, so that’s a lot of hair and makeup to get through between them and the moms, as well. Gee Lyn and Evan had a full catholic mass wedding with several family members involved in many part of the ceremony. It was definitely very sweet to have so much close friends and family involved in their day. And when it came time for their reception that night there were some 200 or so people if I remember correctly that attended – plenty of friends and family to celebrate the night with.

I’ll leave the rest of my comments about the day in the captions below. Click the break for just over 250 photos from Evan and Gee Lyn’s wedding day! It was a gorgeous wedding and everyone was a blast to hang out with. I had told Gee Lyn and Evan as we left that night that “I don’t advertise myself as a wedding photographer, and because of that everyone I shoot for is some sort of referral… which means that I end up with wonderful couples and great people at all my weddings.” Gee Lyn and Evan are no different. I had an amazing time and felt as though they were just like any other friends I shot for that I had known for years. I hope you guys enjoy my images from the their wedding day as much as I enjoyed creating them.

And to Gee Lyn and Evan, Thank you for having me be part such an important occasion. If you manage to get to a computer with broadband during your honeymoon in Europe right now I hope you enjoy the photos!

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The John Remus Photography 2013 Christmas Card

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Cookies and Milk.

This was definitely the most difficult Christmas card I’ve shot in the last four years.
Milk splash is something I’ve been wanting to do for over two years since I first saw the guys at Aurum Light Studios in the UK posting their splash photography work with models online and it making the rounds in the photo community. I’ve owned all the same lighting equipment for several years. And, honestly, it’s something I thought would not be very difficult with a bit of practice.

Finding models. That was the tricky part.
You’d be amazed at the flakiness of models. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that a test shoot where you’re getting splashed may not sound all too fun. But the results are far better than the same’ol “go to the beach and test in a bikini” type photos.

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So the original plan for this card involved four models – even if it was a lofty goal, I thought “fourth card. four models.” sounded like a great plan. But it didn’t work out that way.
Amber and Elizabeth returned to my card this year again after posing for last year’s Christmas card, which some of you will remember.
And lucky for me both Amber and Liz are incredibly attractive AND keep themselves in shape year ’round. So, mixing two gorgeous women was a fun contrast to my planned Ugly-sweater-vest idea as the Tacky Christmas Party Host.

Hair was done Tammy Nguyen and Make Up by Tina Luong. We shot at our apartment which was converted a bit to be able to handle the mess that milk splash would make.
I probably spent about 30-45 minutes with each model for the splash portion. Post work took me a while because I didn’t want to rush anything and I knew I had plenty of time. The plan of adding two more girls was dropped because as I started to hit up models and ask if they were interested, no one was in bikini-ready shape because it’s winter and they all said they’d been eating too much. Haha! Oh well.

The funniest part of this entire experience this year wasn’t even with the girls and the milk, though. It had to do with the cookies…

I used three bags of Chips Ahoy! cookies for this project, to create the cookie tower you see me holding. So, I posted on twitter apologizing to Chips Ahoy! for wasting three bags for my project. They promptly responded and it was all laughs from there. You can read below:

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Not only were they great sports about the whole thing, but they contacted me and said they’d love to see a copy of this card when it’s done! So, I sent one out to their offices in New York! haha! Can’t wait to see if hear anything back from them about it! LOL

Unfortunately just yesterday my phone had some sort of file error and I lost all the data on my memory card – I’m pretty annoyed. I lost several months of photos from my camera phone that I hadn’t yet backed up. Funny part is that the day before I told myself “Oh, I need to back up my phone this week… it’s been a while…”
The reason I mention this is that I use my phone for Behind the Scenes photos when I’m working on projects, and this means that I’ve lost those images that I was planning on sharing here. Bummer.

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We did take this photo right at the end purely to have one fun Behind the Scenes shot. This doesn’t exactly represent how the shot was created, but you get a bit of the idea. haha!

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Silly shot with Amber when she was done. And no, the irony wasn’t lost on her. She looked down, laughed, and just said “…haa…. jugs.”

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And of course a shot with Liz when she was done, too.

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Love her, she’s always down for any crazy idea I want to try with photos.

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After picking up my massive order of cards when I was in the Bay Area, Stephanie came out over to help me stuff envelopes and fill out addresses.

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The following day TJ came over to help me apply nearly 100 more stamps to the pile and seal nearly 200 envelopes

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Once at the post office I took my usual “here’s the stack of cards THIS year” photo… damnnnnn!!!

So, again, we’ll see if I hear anything from Chips Ahoy! about what they thought.. but so far everyone else seems to like the card.

This year I sent out 225… That’s a 50 card increase over last year’s total. That’s nuts. Next year will be the fifth year of my annual card, and I’m looking forward to coming up with something awesome. I’ve also been keeping tabs on who signed up for which years so I might try and do something special for those who have all four. And this year’s milk splash is going to be very difficult to top.

But I already have one girl who has said she’ll shoot with me again for next year’s card… my other friend friend Amber, who you guys will likely remember:

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So, keep your fingers crossed that it works out that I’ll be shooting with Amber for next year, because she’s ridiculously gorgeous as well.

I have at least one more blog I’ll put together before the year is over next week. So stay tuned for that post if you’re interested. But above all, I hope you guys enjoyed my card for 2013 for those of you who signed up for it. And those who didn’t, there’s always 2014 just around the corner

Formula Drift, Round 7, Irwindale Speedway 2013

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Last weekend was the 2013 Formula Drift Finals in Irwindale.
I was out shooting for Falken Tire unexpectedly, which is always a great thing. They’re a fun to team to shoot for and work around. Unfortunately though we didn’t have a strong weekend. All three drivers qualified Top 32, however both Justin and Dai were knocked out before top 16.

Saturday was my only actual day there to shoot. However I showed up on Friday to get my media vest early. The biggest problem with the Drift Finals is that there are a TON of people that apply for media passes. And I’ll be completely honest, most of them have no business being there. They’re un-experienced and represent no major company, no team, nor driver. There are people that I’ve met at these events that simply have their own auto blog and were able to get credentialed in.
To be clear, I’m all for people learning and working hard to advance in a competitive industry. However these inexperienced people tend to be rude, don’t follow rules, and have no common curtesy nor professional respect I find when I shoot a series like American Le Mans.

So rather than deal with a ton of people in the media meeting on Saturday, I showed up on Friday to check in early and then spent most of the afternoon seeing a few friends on other teams and with various vendors.

Race day was busy, as is every Irwindale race.
So, read on, check out a bunch of the shots I’ve selected to upload, and maybe I’ll see you guys out during the 2014 season!

Click the break to read on:

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The Joe-Fischbach Wedding – Napa Valley, Calif.

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Stephanie FINALLY let me photograph her. But, really, she didn’t have much of a choice..

I’ve known Stephanie for 11 years. She’s one of my best friends and probably my closest female friend. And I’ve been bugging her for yearsss to let me photograph her and she pretty admittedly refuses. Hahaha. Clearly she loves me.
I’ve known Adam for nearly 7 years now, he’s been exceptionally kind to me during our friendship and has become someone I look forward to seeing with Steph on my trips back to the Bay Area. I mention this because it’s very rare that female-friend’s boyfriends get along with me. Adam and I get along great and he understands my friendship with Stephanie goes back many years. And in reality, he “wins” that game anyway. Stephanie and Adam have been friends since childhood… like 5 and 6 six Steph and Adam have pictures together. It’s one of those disgustingly cute things. Even though they’ll laugh and tell you there was never any sort of childhood crush or anything, it’s still cute that they have those kind of pictures from their past.

Also, Adam (unlike Steph, yep, calling you out again Stephanie) has let me photograph him! Hahaha. Adam owns several motorcycles and a couple years ago I wanted to test a new camera rig and remotes I had just bought. So Adam was happy to go out and let me practice with him.

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Stephanie will of course just say “Well Adam got to wear full gear so you couldn’t even see him!”

Either way, Stephanie and Adam got married just over a week ago in Napa Valley – and I was fortunate enough to be their photographer. While they were picking out dates for the ceremony a year ago they kept checking with me and my availability. I told them I would understand if, because of my busy Fall, they chose someone else if I couldn’t make it. Steph basically “John. We’re choosing a date you’re free. We want you there to shoot for us.”

Their wedding day in Napa Valley was gorgeous, too.
I think I was just as excited for them to be married as they were.

The ceremony was at a location in the hills called Aburge de Soleil, a restaurant and small vineyard in the hills. But, a lot of stuff there has a small vineyard, right? haha.
We started bright and early that morning since it would be a mid-morning ceremony. So that meant that I was up at 4 am to be ready and meet the girls at 5 am in Steph’s room as they did hair and makeup. Rebecca and I started the day at Starbucks – where she quickly pointed out that I was way too happy and awake for that time of day. In my defense I was stoked for Adam and Stephanie.

The wedding morning, ceremony went really smooth and very quickly. It seemed to be exactly what Steph kept telling me she wanted… something small with family and a few friends. And even though their small wedding was still bigger than they wanted, it was beautiful, and people had a great time.

I’m not going to write a bunch more because I’ll leave all that for captions.

Be warned, though, as there are a ton of photos to follow.
I love Stephanie and Adam and it was just too hard for me to narrow the photos down. So there are nearly 300 shots of their wedding weekend after the break.

Read on! …if you have time, and enjoy the shots!

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