LOS ANGELES WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER - RUSTIN MICHAEL BLOG » Rustin Michael is a Los Angeles based wedding and portrait photographer

This past Saturday I had the joy of photographing Thomas and Julia’s wedding at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach.  You may remember Thomas and Julia’s engagement session I posted on this blog about two months ago. You can find that session here. Julia and Thomas are finally together after dating long distance between Canada and Orange County. I am so happy for them and wish them the best.

With the beautiful weather, the coast experiencing the best surf in nearly a decade, and the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, you had the perfect storm for horrific traffic. I gave myself twice as much time to get to the Hyatt as it would normally take, even with that I arrived about 2 minutes late as a large Indian wedding party was departing. Julia and and the girls arrived at the Hyatt almost 1 hour late. Good thing we planned 3.5 hours of shooting before the ceremony. Other than the delay from traffic the day went off without any other major problems.

My friend Claire Barrett, and an amazing photographer, joined me on Saturday as a second shooter. I need to thank Claire for all her help and inspiration throughout the day. I love working with other photographers!  I also need to thank my good friend Brian Hamilton at Suite M for hooking me up with this amazing couple and wedding.  Brian is the owner and main photographer at Suite M Photography.  Among being an awesome photographer, he also is an all around great guy.  He is the first person I recommend if I am already booked.

Since Julia and many of the girls were stuck in traffic, we started off with Thomas and the guys. There are so many amazing images from the day. Here are some of my favorites.

Some great advice from the guys!

Julia getting ready

The ceremony - Julia’s dad walking her down the aisle

I love catch the look on a groom’s face as they see their bride approaching.

I love this shot of the flower girl.

Just married

Thomas made a handsome groom

Julia was stunning as a bride.

The girls

The Guys

Julia and Thomas

A couple from the first dance

The toasts

Some details from the day

Back on Sunday July 12th I attended the Tilt-n-Shift workshop in downtown LA hosted by my friends Doug Mcnamee and Henry Wang. Everyone met up at Union Station. Doug and Henry lined up the models, hair/make-up, and outfits. There were photographers of all levels there but best of all Doug and Henry showed off many tricks from their many years of experience in wedding photography.

Many times on a wedding day I may only get 10-15 minutes with a couple alone. Sometimes it is even less if other events during their wedding day run long. My favorite weddings have been ones where I get at least 20 to 30 minutes alone with the bride and groom. With time like that I am given the freedom to take chances and really push myself creatively and create something amazing for those couples. So it was nice to have several hours at the workshop to share with other photographers.

Although we had several hours, I didn’t shoot as much as I thought I would. I just had fun connecting with new friends and sharing some of the things I have learned from my experience. Here are some of my favorite images from the workshop. Hopefully Doug & Henry will invite me along sometime in the future to help teach at one of the workshops.

First some of Jules & Nick

A couple of Sarah

a few more of Jules & Nick

Last Sunday I had a chance to capture Dan and Brandey’s small intimate wedding on the beach in Malibu in front of The Sunset Restaurant.  The day started off with Brandey getting ready in Santa Monica at the Sheraton Delfina.  Once the girls were ready we headed up to Malibu for the beach wedding.  Traffic was really bad on the PCH on the way up to Malibu.  It took over an hour to make the short drive up the coast.  Luckily Brandey and the girls were stuck in traffic behind me so I knew I didn’t need to worry about the traffic too much.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the day.

The girls watching a video trying to remember how the back of the dress should be tied.

The ceremony

You can see Grandpa in the background with his Flip Mino HD. He spent a good amount of the day trying to film everything possible.

Just Married!

Brandy made a beautiful bride.

Dan cleaned up pretty well also.

Some portraits.

The first dance.

Some Details

Dan and Brandey wanted cupcakes instead of a cake. You can’t really make a better choice than Yummy Cupcakes. I was able to grab one of the Peanut Butter ones and it was awesome.

A nice little gift for each guest.

The reception at The Sunset Restaurant.