Kevin Lubera Photographer | Blog » Weddings

Helena & Jun – West Hollywood, CA

Kevin Lubera — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:00:25 +0000

In the past couple of years, I’ve often joked about my bad memory. One of my friends even went so far as to buy me a bottle of Ginkgo Biloba, and I convinced myself that my memory improved within the first two days of taking it. Nearly a year later, I still see that full bottle — sans the two capsules I took — on my shelf on a daily basis.

At least I still remember the names of all my past clients.

One day, I got a call from my dear friend Claire. I hadn’t seen her in a while, and she mentioned that her friend was getting married. I said something like, “Send me her name and email, and I’ll get a proposal out to her right away.” She sent me the information and the proposal went out. And then I received this email response:

“Kevin, you big donut, do you not remember me?! I danced with you in Pebble Beach and Vegas!”

I won’t even go into the details of what my first thoughts were. And then I was convinced I really did have a bad memory. See, I never knew what Helena’s last name was until I sent her that proposal. And Claire didn’t mention anything about me knowing who Helena was, so I thought nothing of it.

Of course I remember Helena!

I don’t think Helena was in a relationship the last time I saw her, so it was bit of a surprise to learn that she was getting married. Granted, it had already been a couple of years since Vegas. And before anyone has any ideas, nothing ever happened between us; it really was just dancing!

To make a long story, well, less long, Helena & Jun’s wedding was a blast! This was my first time at Petit Ermitage, and what a cute place it was! Admittedly, it was a bit challenging to photograph due to the limited space, not to mention the fact that everyone else was jostling for position to get some shots, as you’ll see in the images below. Nevertheless, Helena & Jun made me feel so welcome, and their energy was so great that they didn’t need any entertainment for a fabulous time. I laughed and smiled all day and night.

Location: Petit Ermitage, West Hollywood, CA.

Florist: Larchmont Village Florist, Los Angeles, CA.

Elizabeth & Oliver – Corrales, New Mexico

Kevin Lubera — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:19:58 +0000

In the field … under a tree. That was the setting of Elizabeth & Oliver’s beautiful wedding in Corrales, New Mexico. It certainly was a beautiful day, and everyone was happy. The cake toppers were hand sewn by artist Dena Palser, and they even had a custom engraved sign mounted on a wall for them.

Location: Private Residence, Corrales, NM.
Caterer: Slate Street Cafe
Bouquets: Manning Florist
Centerpieces: Made by the bride herself!
Jewelry: Tiffany Kunz Design
Cake: Enchanted Cookies and Cakes
Hand made bird cake toppers: Dena Palser

Nana & Craig – Pasadena, CA

Kevin Lubera — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:04:55 +0000

Nana and Craig celebrated their wedding with two ceremonies — one in Pasadena, CA and another in Sendai, Japan. Nana’s immediate family came to California for the wedding in Pasadena, and Craig’s family went over to Japan for the 2nd ceremony a week later. Having never spoken to Nana or Craig before their wedding day, I was curious about what the day would be like. The Pasadena wedding was small and intimate, and I absolutely love those types of weddings from time to time. Spending the day with Nana and Craig’s family and friends was a great pleasure; even Pastor Allen was part of the family and joined them for their dinner reception at a friend’s home in Pasadena.

To top it off, event planner Wendy Rhodes amazed me with her cooking. I had no idea she had those skills.

I wish Nana, Craig and their family the very best!

Location: Trinity Lutheran Church, Pasadena, CA

Event Design, Catering and Cake: Wendy Rhodes Events

Want to Trash Your Dress?

Kevin Lubera — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:00:29 +0000

So you’ve spent — or you’re going to spend — a lot of money on your wedding dress. What do you have planned for it after your wedding day? Do you store it? Perhaps you want to save it for your daughter’s (or granddaughter’s) wedding? Does anyone even do that anymore?

My close friend Sandi had a beautiful wedding at the Halekulani earlier this year, and during my last visit to Hawaii she brought up the topic of trashing her dress. For those of you who are not familiar with this concept, “trash the dress” is a post-wedding photo session in which the dress is likely to be more exposed to the elements than on a wedding day. Sandi made it clear to me, however, that she didn’t *really* want to ruin her dress; she just wanted to do something creative with it before she placed it in storage indefinitely. Needless to say, any ideas having to do with fire and/or being submerged in water was out of the question.

On the eve of our scheduled session, I came up with the idea of creating a story, vice just doing one creative shot. While it required a lot of driving and a lot of time, we agreed on the concept and committed to it right away. We started with her getting ready in Chinatown, where she would shop for her own bouquet and begin her journey in search for her love. Along her way, she would encounter mazes, trails and desolate landscapes, where her love is nowhere to be found. There’s really no definitive synopsis for this story; I’ll leave that up for the audience to interpret in their own way.

By the end of the day, Sandi had been in her wedding dress for nearly 9 hours — longer than on her own wedding day! If it wasn’t for her adventurous nature, this shoot wouldn’t have been nearly as successful.

For all the photographers out there … Every one of these images was captured completely in natural light (i.e., no flashes, strobes, reflectors or any other light modifying/shaping devices were used).

Congratulations and best wishes to Sandi and her new husband Taeho!

Now, what will you do with your dress?

How to Select Prints for Your Wall

Kevin Lubera — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:47:17 +0000

Have you ever wanted to hang a large print on your wall and just couldn’t figure out which one to use? When we have photographs taken of special events in our lives, there can be so many to choose from. That’s when a photo album comes in handy, as it is a great way to present a collection of related images. Once in a while, however, we come across images that are worthy of a display that has more impact, such as a large wall print.

Here’s an example of an image that I find works well:

Why does it work? Because it is just as much of a landscape image as it is of the couple, so it has the potential to appeal to a wider audience. Some people are just not comfortable seeing their large faces on a wall, so this image is a prime candidate because the subjects are relatively small in the frame. On top of that, they are barely recognizable. When a piece like this is displayed in the home, everyone knows who the subjects are (assuming guests are familiar with the residents of the home), so it’s not necessary for the subjects to be so large in the print.

How large should you go? Well, a good rule of thumb is to not make the subjects (i.e., people) in the print larger than life size. It’s okay to go larger than life for other subjects (e.g., a closeup of a plant or flower), and in special cases for artistic presentations of prominent people. The other factor is the viewing distance (the distance from which someone is likely to view the print). The farther the viewing distance, the larger you can go.

Next time you schedule a photography session, keep in mind that it’s good to know how you intend to display the images, because that can influence the way your photographer captures and prints them.

Nicole & Jason – Guest Book

Kevin Lubera — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:16:11 +0000

This past weekend was Nicole & Jason’s reception at a beach house in Waimanalo. I had the idea of creating a book in which their guests could write a few words on, and it was a big hit. The quality is impressive, and the pages open up nice and flat, making it easy to write on. I will definitely be doing more of these.

Here are a few shots of the product:

Rennie & Claudio

Kevin Lubera — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:55:48 +0000

Claudio is a good friend of mine from photography school. Actually, we never spent much time together in school, but I always had high respect for him as a person as well as his work. He moved to Key Biscayne, and we hung out for a bit when I was there to shoot a wedding at the Ritz-Carlton a few years ago. Earlier this year, Claudio announced his engagement and asked me to photograph his wedding. Naturally, I was flattered and honored that he would consider having me fly across country for this event.

This was the first time I met Rennie, and she is a wonderful gal. Both their families were extremely nice and I felt very welcome there. It’s always nice to make a few friends during a gig.

On the morning of the wedding, I went to the location to scout a few spots for portraits. The weather, however, was not cooperating very much. Although the rain stopped before the ceremony and the light was quite nice, it was still very muggy so we stayed indoors as much as we could. As you scroll through the images, you’ll see some of my commentary about the day’s events.

Be sure stop by at Claudio’s web site and check out his work!

Congratulations and best wishes to Claudio and his new wife (and my new friend) Rennie!

Location: Grand Bay Club, Key Biscayne, FL.

It’s always nice to see a card with my name on it.

The next two images are of Rennie’s father, sister and mother reacting to how brilliant she looked that day.

A couple of portraits.

We took a few minutes to get this one shot. And what I really mean is we took a few minutes to get to this location, and less than a minute to get a few frames. After this frame, we headed back as we were already starting to sweat. Three minutes later, a mosquito bite I got just before I took this shot was about the size of a nickel on my neck!

I would have welcomed more of these torches to ward off the mosquitoes.

The thing I like about thunderstorms is the dramatic skies that they bring. This is what it looked like as it was clearing and the sun was setting.

Can you see the steam on the windows? That’s how humid it was, and also the reason why most of the portraits were done inside.

Instead of reading their vows out loud, Rennie and Claudio whispered them to each other while everyone enjoyed the sunset.

Claudio had a heck of a time repeating lines during the ceremony. I think this was after his 3rd try.

Mojitos were served right after the ceremony.

My seat!

I think I was the only one who actually saw this happening.

This is Claudio’s dad sharing some funny moments caught on camera the night before. Yeah, the guys had an ad hoc bachelor party for Claudio!

What I loved about their dance was that they were simply dancing to their song — their way, not choreographed.

It wasn’t long before shoes were off and everyone was on the dance floor.

Nicole & Jason

Kevin Lubera — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:56:12 +0000

I was introduced to Nicole and Jason by a mutual friend and former portrait client. This beautiful newlywed couple never hired a photographer for their wedding, and they were looking for someone to do some portraits of them. While I never met either of them prior to our shoot day, I was very excited about this session. It was a pleasure speaking with Nicole over the phone, and when we finally met in person it was like we were old friends.

We took a drive out to North Shore and found a few cool spots. Of course, we had to stop for some shave ice. Yes, in Hawaii it’s called shave ice — not shaved ice or snow cones. At one point, I got mauled by mosquitoes (seems like this has been happening to me a lot lately), and I was itching for the rest of the day. We ended our session back in Waikiki, and then had a fabulous dinner together at Ninniku Ya.

Here’s a sampling of what we got that day:

Joan & Stephen – Pacific Palisades

Kevin Lubera — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:54:21 +0000

Late last year, I had a couple of wedding gigs come up at the last minute — both of which were only a few weeks apart. For the first wedding, my good friend Reid called me on a Tuesday to shoot his wedding that Friday. Then just a few weeks later, I received a call on Saturday for a Sunday (yes, the next day!) wedding.

This latter wedding of Stephen and Joan took place in Pacific Palisades at one of the first homes that was built in that district. It also happens to be the home of Emmy Award winning screenwriter Bob Schiller, who wrote for several comedies including I Love Lucy, Maude and All in the Family. Bob had most of his work leather-bound and archived in his library, and it was quite a site to see such history on the shelves.

Stephen and Joan are such sweet and generous people. I never quite understood why they called me at the last minute; I got a couple of different versions of the story, but I’m not sure which one to believe. In any case, I was happy that they called me and honored to be able to capture this event.

The ceremony took place in the living room, which served as an intimate setting for an audience comprised mostly of their family and closest friends. I especially love photographing in new and challenging environments, and this was definitely new and challenging. As you can see, there was barely any room down the aisle, and being unobtrusive in this environment was practically impossible. But my first priority is to get the shots, and I’m not one to be too shy to be in the midst of everyone to get them.

This was definitely a memorable experience for me, as quick as it was. It’s also proof that it’s never too late to search for a wedding photographer. But if you’re searching for a photographer now, and I’m one that you’re considering, don’t forget about my current promotion.

Location: Private Residence, Pacific Palisades, CA

Event Planner: Kim Koral

Marina & Sina – Beverly Hills

Kevin Lubera — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:55:11 +0000

I can’t stress how much of an impact a client’s trust in my work can be. When I first met with Marina and Sina, it was such a pleasure talking to them. They knew what they wanted, and I was excited to work with them. A freeway incident and my traveling schedule postponed an engagement session we had planned in San Diego, and I ended up photographing the rehearsal dinner instead.

While I had spent little time with them prior to their wedding day, I realized soon enough that the time I missed wasn’t necessary. Their love for each other was so genuine that I didn’t even have to direct them. It is an absolute joy to work with a client who expresses their trust in me to photograph one of the most important days in their lives.

Thank you Marina and Sina for trusting me, and for just being you!

Location: Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills

Entertainment: Transglobal Entertainment

Floral Design: Beverly Blossoms