Colin + Ann (Part 1)
Let’s start off with some fun facts I (Jon) thought about while putting together this blogpost:
1) About the Ceremony Location: Summit Adventure is a solid & unique outdoor wilderness ministry located in Bass Lake, CA. Participants and staff venture out into the backcountry for multi-day, life-transforming trips that include backpacking, rock climbing, rappelling, wilderness education and Jesus. International course destinations have included Ecuador, Mexico and Jerusalem.
2) I’ve only been in the women’s bathroom at Summit’s Base Camp three times in my life:
a. end-of-season cleaning in the summer of ’06
b. dying my hair RED in the summer of ’07
c. Ann & Colin’s wedding, March of ’10
3) All five groomsmen had THE EXACT SAME shoe size (and both sides of the bridal party wore TOMS shoes)
4) Don’t forget to check out the very last picture… The image screams “music album cover”, and for the record, it wasn’t my idea to pick up random tools & ice picks to pose, these guys were just that creative.
Colin + Ann Engagement
After one flight cancellation and 10 hours of traveling, Jon finally landed at the Fresno Airport in California. Upon getting picked up by some friends– you guessed it– we stopped by In-N-Out for one of their famously delicious Double-Double cheeseburgers (if you really knew Jon, you would’ve guessed correct).
Next, we headed straight to Hite Cove Trail in Mariposa County. Colin and Ann scheduled their engagement at just the right time of the year. The California poppies were blooming everywhere, and the hillsides were littered with more color than we’ve ever personally seen on the East Coast. Although the poppies weren’t fully opened (the sun wasn’t out that day), the overcast sky was just enough to grab some great color.
Included at the very end of this post are a few fun images from the wedding rehearsal. Overall, I really thought this photoset reflected the fun personalities that Colin & Ann are known for, and hope you all enjoy these.
(If you haven’t seen the teaser images, check ’em out here first.)
Spencer’s Baby Portrait Session
Since Spencer had recently turned six months young, his parents graciously invited one of us over for a portrait session.
Often, people think of family portrait sessions as the boring “sit-on-the-stool-and-say-cheese” moments buried deep down in their own childhood recollections. Thankfully, this is exactly how Dreamlite does NOT allow their sessions to be. Instead, we are all about having our families hanging out, feeling comfortable, and spending quality time with each other. As all of this is going, we simply sit back and capture those beautiful moments as they occur.
This entire portrait session felt more like a family play date than anything else. Spencer’s parents began the fun afternoon with the popular children’s book, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?” by Eric Carle. Though Spencer can be seen reading the book alongside his parents, what really gave him a good laugh was all of the animal sounds his parents had added along with the reading. Spencer also had a good time showing me all of the toys he could put in his mouth. Between his books, rattlers, and stuffed animals, his definite favorite were the sea creatures. Other awesome activities included blowing bubbles and and peek-a-boo with the couch pillows.
We hope you enjoy this set!
Steve + Tesh || The Surprise Proposal in Chicago, IL
Hi Everyone! This is Jon writing up a very special post for a very special couple.
the background: Steve is one of my closest and oldest friends. So when he called me a few weeks ago, I thought it was another random phone call to check up on me. Instead, he called to tell me he was planning on proposing to his girlfriend and I had to book a ticket to Chicago the next free weekend I had. Within a few days, Steve had purchased the ring and I had confirmed my ticket.
the cover: Just in case, we concocted a whole story as to why I was flying into Chicago. I was scheduled to meet clients there for an engagement session on Saturday, thus leaving the rest of my weekend free to hang out with Steve and his then-girlfriend Tesh.
the location: After much research, Steve decided he would propose to her at the Garfield Park Conservatory, right off of the Green Line. This conservatory exhibits an amazing array of plant life from all over the world– palm trees, ferns, cacti, banana trees, etc.. Steve had secretly scouted the conservatory the weekend before I arrived, all the while Tesh thought he was at a teaching workshop. He then chose the perfect location to propose (the ‘Fern Room’) and sent me the details via email.
the friday before: I arrived at O’Hare around 1pm on Friday and immediately headed to the conservatory. I scouted the place out and quickly found the spot Steve wanted me to stand. As you will see in the photos below, the magnificent view of the Fern Room hits you even before you step into the room itself. Then I met up with Steve and Tesh after they had gotten off work, and we all grabbed dinner at Joy Yee’s and spent the night hanging out.
Vicky + Christian
Hey everybody! This is Jon Tan here, writing out our latest blog entry.
We’ve been so busy the last few weeks with editing, album building, signing with awesome new clients (hooray!) and replying to a boatload of emails that we’ve been neglecting our blog postings.
This mother and son session took place a few weeks before the winter frost set in. I arrived embarrassingly late (well over an hour) since my train ride back from NYC that afternoon was delayed. As soon as I hopped off the train, I ran to my car and sped all the way to the park. Thankfully we had enough evening sunlight to shoot a good hour of photos.
Having never met Vicky before in person, I looked around hoping for someone to approach me as I carried my camera bag on my shoulder. The next thing I knew, I felt someone wrapping their little arms around my legs in a bear-cub-style hug. Without saying a word, he ran off… and that’s how Christian introduced himself to me.
Normally during a family photo session, we as photographers bring along many of the activity and posing ideas. However, this time it was very different. Vicky had brought along all the awesome ideas to keep her son active and entertained. She brought along his bicycle, a football, a soccer ball and homemade chocolate-frosted cupcakes with sprinkles. This made my job a hundred times easier, allowing me to focus on creating some fun images.
Thank you Vicky and Christian for the fun session, and Mr. Daniel Liu for referring us to family!
Howie + Diana Engagement
Hey everyone, Jon here. This was a particularly awesome engagement session that took place in New York City. In fact, we spent an entire day in NYC photographing great locations such as Central Park, D.U.M.B.O. and SoHo. What made the day even more enjoyable was having the chance to photograph two good friends– Howie (my other photographic-half/co-founder of Dreamlite Studios, LLC) and his fiancee Diana.
We visited the city during the peak of the fall foliage, so the leaves were as a-m-a-z-i-n-g as one could imagine. Although we encountered the usual crowds in NYC, the crowds all but seemed to ‘disappear’ at the most opportune photographic moments (see #8, #10, #11, #20). That’s right, no persons were photoshopped out of those photos!
Enjoy!
Ming + Michelle Family Session
Had a wonderful time photographing this family of three at Johnson Park in Piscataway, NJ. The trees were beginning to show their autumn colors, making the scenery just right for our session. The soft afternoon light also added it’s own special touch to the setting… really, the perfect day in the park!
Jonathan (the cute kid in the photos below) had just woken up from his afternoon nap, but it didn’t take long before he was in full gear. It was really fun to watch him munch on rice cake after rice cake. It was also exciting to see him go down the slide and then climb back up to the top all by himself. Now, how many two years olds have YOU seen do that?
If you are perusing our site and like what you see, contact us for your next photo session! [ info AT dreamlitestudios DOT com ]
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Jonathan’s been entered in the Casting Call by GAP. A VOTE FOR HIM IS A VOTE FOR US!
http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/Jonathan%20Lloyd%20Ng/
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Bulldogs
We visited the city a few weeks back to attend a customer service seminar by Salesforce. Along the way, we stopped by our buddy Weber’s place in Greenwich Village and had lunch. Snagged this shot of their bulldog Zoe in all her beauty. (not posed~ she hopped on the bed and looked our way.)
The N Result Opening for Rutgersfest 2009
Our friends, The N Result, performed the opening set at Rutgersfest 2009, Rutgers University’s flagship event including a free concert, boardwalk games, and food vendors. Artists this year included The N Result, Ryan Leslie, N*E*R*D, and Motion City Soundtrack. (latter two unfortunately not pictured)
1. The N Result band’s setup
2. Eitan on the keyboard
3. Chimere on vocals + Ross on vocals/guitar
4. Dan on guitar + Bobby on bass
5. Nate on drums/percussion
6. The early afternoon crowd
7. Ryan Leslie
8. Flippenout showcasing their trampoline athleticism.
