What I've Been Up To Lately!

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone's Christmas and New Year's were off the chain! Mine was incredibly packed, but definitely excellent. It has been a loooong while since my last post, and a lot has occurred since then, so with no further ado, let's jump right in!

My plan for this post is to cover very briefly what I've been up to the past couple months. No, I have not been on photography hiatus; quite the contrary! I've actually been busier than ever and my shutter finger is buffer than ever before. It has been a set of months defined by variation, new toys, and new experiences behind the camera. I'll get into all of that shortly, but for a quick explanation, I'll be showing just a small snippet (awesome word!) of 7 different shoots or jobs I've done over the past little bit. There will be more to come, so depending on the responses through comments, e-mails, or facebook messages, we'll see which shoots I'll do a full post on!

Ok, so to get this show started, I've got a few photos from a wedding I helped shoot quite a few months ago. It was a super rad wedding in a full-blown, Western-themed plot of land. Jen and Nate were totally stunned by each other and I was stoked to be part of this incredible day. I could post a thousand photos from this wedding, but I'll stick with three.

*(note: to enlarge pictures, just click on them. To size them once clicked on, hold down ctrl button and press + or -)*

-Sweet, right!? That "saloon" behind her was incredible inside. This is right before they brought in the horses for a chance in front of the camera...no, I'm serious. :) -

-Totally diggin' the red and black.-

And now, for something completely different.
As most of you know, I work as the staff photographer for an incredible LA-based company
called Skyline Locations. Basically, I photograph high-end locations in Downtown Los Angeles for use in the Film and Television industry. I've been blessed to have this job and work with these awesome people for about the last 2 years. I typically do one to two shoots per week, depending on the week. It is excellent practice and a great way for me to hone my non-people/artistic/detail/composition skills. Steady jobs and photography rarely go together, which is one of the many reasons this job is so excellent...I get to increasingly hone a skill week in and week out, plus, I get to stand on the roofs of skyscrapers and stuff on a regular basis! Haha. It's a good life!

*Photo by Bethany Van Hofwegen*

Anyway, I recently photographed the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. It was one of my more exciting days in that I was surrounded by people taking pictures of the same, gorgeous building I was...the only difference is that I was getting paid to do it! Talk about doing what you enjoy! I remember years before taking photos of these buildings with the same passion as I do now, even though this is my job. Here are a few from that shoot and a couple others:







I hope you enjoyed just a very, very little taste of my location work. There's A LOT more where that came from! Check out the Skyline site for more of my work (SkylineLocations.com).

Now, I mentioned new toys in the first paragraph. As much as I enjoyed my old equipment, I needed something just a bit more professional. I could tell that I was reaching the capacity of the camera and lenses I was working with, so I decided to upgrade. And guys, I upgraded! Haha. In November, I purchased my new primary tool, a Canon 5D Mark II. This camera is incredible. It is a full-frame, 21 megapixel camera that takes pictures crisper that anything I could have imagined. I got a couple lenses also (24-70 2.8 'L' and 70-200 IS 2.8 'L', for you lens aficionados out there). I mention all this because, within one week of getting this camera, I had what was probably my most busy week of photography ever.
Friday: Engagement Session/ Saturday: Wedding/ Tuesday&Thursday: Skyline Shoot/ Saturday: Concert/ Sunday: A Musical.
Craziness!
I wont show all of the photos taken that week, not even all of the shoots, but we'll catch the highlights.

FRIDAY:
Amber and Aaron are about the most fashionable a couple can be. They are both super rad people and I was stoked to get the chance to do some engagement photos for them. It always is so fun and easy taking pictures of such a photogenic, good-looking couple...every photo seems to turn out excellently! It was a good experience to do a magazine fashion-type engagement session, it gave me a bit more control than I'm usually used to for this type of shoot, but Aaron and Amber were so laid back and had so many great ideas, it made for an excellent day. We did three different "vibes" (as I like to call them): The first being a vintage-y, bright colored vibe; the second being a hippie-ish/elf in Rivendell type of feel; and the third was a request from Amber to get inspired by the vibe from Vanity Fair's Twilight movie shoot. I didn't see the movie, but I think the shoot got pretty darn close to the feel! Here they are:

1) Vintage:
2)Elvin Forest...just think, Rivendell.

3) Vanity Fair Twilight-Vibed



SATURDAY:
Saturday I took photos for this very sweet concert called "True Religion" that was held in Claremont. It raised money to build an orphanage in Kenya, and I was so excited to be able to volunteer my time to support such an incredible cause. There are few things better than using the gifts you've been given and thoroughly enjoy using, to help others who thoroughly need it (see my Belize post!). If anyone needs a photographer for a good cause, there is a large chance I'll make a serious discount or even volunteer for free to help the cause, just keep that in mind! There was some excellent music and excellent company, here are a few captures from that night:




-And one of my favorites from the night:-

SATURDAY (Previous):
If you guys look back one post, you'll see some engagement shots of an excellent couple named Andrea and Blake. All of the chemistry shown between these two in the engagement session just exploded at the wedding! It was an impactful wedding with some great moments, here are just a few!

*Look at that chemistry...and absolutely candid!*





-Blake closed out the party with some good ole' Rock N' Roll. He shredded!-

And for a final little bit, I went recently on a trip to the East Coast: Boston, New York, a stop in Baltimore, and Washington DC. There will for sure be a post on this trip coming up (once I get the photos all edited!), but for now, I figured I'd just touch on a few things.

We set up a stop in Baltimore so I could do a shoot of Rebecca, an incredibly sweet french horn player at Peabody Conservatory. Baltimore was gorgeous, and my favorite part was shooting in this ginormous library that the Beauty and the Beast library was actually inspired by. It was incredible to have free access to a room of such magnitude. Anyway, here are a few of Rebecca!




Awesome library, eh? Now, this post is already quite long, so I'm going to just whet your appetite for my East Coast photos with 1 photo from each location. Here we go:

WASHINGTON DC:
*US Capitol at night. Notice the Halo. Ironic?*

NEW YORK:
*Carving in front of famed Chrysler Building*

BOSTON:
*Taken from the North Bridge in Concord where the "Shot Heard 'Round The World" was fired*


I hope you all enjoyed this little snapshot into my life over the past couple months, and I hope you enjoyed the variation as much as I did! Like I said, I will be happy to post more of any of these shoots, just send me lots of facebook messages or e-mails or comments to let me know which one(s) I should get on next! Thanks again for viewing my work, your support means a lot!

Stay Classy Los Angeles!
Brandon

Portraits, Portraits, Portraits!

Hey guys and gals,
First of all, I want to start by thanking everyone who has so loyally been checking out my blog over the past few months. I'm always excited to put up a new post and get all the feedback from you guys, whether it is an e-mail, a facebook message, a call, or a comment on this blog. Thanks again, it definitely means a lot!

Now, as I said in the last post (Alaska!), I've been working like crazy this past month with portrait sessions to balance out all of the landscape work I've been doing this summer! The many different forms of photography intrigue me each in their own way, and portraits have been no different. So, I've decided to take a sampling of the three sessions I've done this past month and jam them all into this one post.

Each shoot is different, and you will (hopefully) see that through the way these photographs turned out. You'll see two individual portrait sessions and one set of an engagement session. I find that with the individual session, my goal is to find out who the subject is, and then work to get that genuine personality to shine through. I've gotten quite used to talking with the viewfinder over my eye ready to snap as soon as the subject responds to whatever it is I am saying or doing. Engagement photos are almost opposite. My goal here is to set myself as an observer, keeping my trigger finger ready to catch the natural chemistry that comes from the couple enjoying their day. Well, we'll get to that soon.

Starting out, we've got Katherine, an absolute genius and rad person all at the same time! She is, literally, a piano prodigy, getting a full-ride into college at age 14! Check out her website at www.katpiano.com (you may recognize the photographer!), and listen to some of the pieces, I recommend the Liszt, you'll be floored!
Anyway, I got the chance to photograph her and capture her intensity and humorous lightheartedness. We were mostly in Azusa area, taking the piano photos at Azusa Pacific University. It was sweet to get a full concert hall to myself for a shoot!

(Note: To view the pictures larger, click on them, hold CTRL, and scroll your mouse or press + or - )






*I was so stoked when I saw that the red felt in the piano matched the red she was wearing...yeah, I totally planned that...*





I know it was a portrait session, but I couldn't let an image like this go unsnapped:







Katherine's boyfriend is actually a piano tuner (perfect couple, yeah, I think so) and was able to remove the keyboard part from the grand piano. After some very scary maneuvering, this image popped into my mind. I think it makes for quite an intriguing image that I bet you've never seen before. :)


To change it up a bit, we'll jump to the engagement session I did for Andrea and Blake, an awesome couple stoked to start their lives together. I immediately knew that I was going to enjoy working with these two (I'm booked also for their wedding in November!) when I heard that Blake was an artist and enjoyed playing banjo, and when Andrea expressed excitement about photography that is genuine, mostly unposed in its nature, and definitely not manufactured at its core. I was sold! We concluded on two locations, both very important to the life of this couple: Disneyland and the Wayfarers Chapel. I knew both would present their beauties and their challenges, so I geared up and we made it happen.

What I so enjoyed about this session was that I did not feel like I had to make the couple seem like they were into each other. They just did their thing and I simply threw on my telephoto lens and captured the real and genuine chemistry that came from these two. Why take engagement pictures but to capture the character of the couple and show what they are really like in this exciting time of life?

See what I'm saying about chemistry!? Anyway, enough hype, here they are:

...yes, I was definitely in a spinning teacup across the way. No challenge=No fun. :)



Get it? Fireworks!







I though the tilted angle was a little too extreme for this next one while shooting, but i think it ended up reflecting the chaotic/cartoonish feeling perfectly. Oh yeah, that, and Andrea's face!






We then took a drive to a beautiful chapel on the cliffs above the ocean in Rancho Palos Verdes to finish off the session. Check it out!:










Let me know if you agree with me that this last one looks like a cologne or perfume ad.

Thanks Andrea and Blake, you guys are awesome and I'm stoked about November!

The last shoot I did was for Bethany, an amazing, laid back girl with a golden voice. Bethany is the type of girl that is absolutely gorgeous, but it seems like she doesn't quite realize it! Definitely a refreshing subject to work with. She is an amazing jazz singer with a voice that will melt you: check her out at www.myspace.com/bethanyvanhofwegen. We spent some time around the Claremont Colleges, and I took on the challenge to capture her in her genuine, natural beauty, again, something that couldn't be captured if it was manufactured. You'll see what I mean:












Nothing like dead leaves to accentuate a shallow depth of field!





I see a little bit of evidence of natural model here. Maybe another perfume ad? Actually feels more like a jean ad now that I look at it.




Last photo, Bethany had brought along a red dress partially because of a possible jazz gig that night that didn't end up happening. The light was fading, but the street lights gave just enough light to snap off this last one of the day:


So, there they are! I hope you enjoyed viewing these and I very much appreciate any thoughts you may have about them! If there are any questions for booking/pricing/my calendar, along with any other questions, throw me an e-mail at BrandonBPhotography@gmail.com and I'll get you any info you need.

Thanks again for viewing and have an excellent week!
-Brandon Bathauer

ALASKA!

Hey guys!

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted, I've been crazy busy with my location photography. Ever since the pending SAG strike ended, people are making movies and such like crazy, which means more work for me!

Thanks to a more efficient editing process (thank you Lightroom!) and a fever that has kept me indoors for the past couple days, I had time to finally go through the photos I took on a trip this summer to Alaska. Just a disclaimer, this post is for all of you landscape/nature photography lovers out there. For those of you who are more into wedding/portrait photography, please know that my next post will be exclusively that, as I have shot a few "people" sessions recently (which turned out incredibly!) and have a handful coming up soon.

Now, back to the story. This trip was special for me, because it was kind of a returning to a place in my history. A total of 9 years ago, I went on a cruise to the Caribbean, carrying with me the very first camera of my own. When I saw the first photo (which was an old Cathedral on Margarita island) of the 14 rolls I had developed (yeah, I was using film back then!), I was struck and had a sudden realization that photography was going to be something I was connected to for many years to come. As I boarded the cruise ship this time around to cruise Alaska, I was amazed at how far I had come. I never thought I would have been able to "make it" as a professional photographer, and yet, here I am! (I was also amazed at how much larger my camera bag is in comparison to what it was!)


Anyway, so enough of the trip down memory lane. Now to Alaska!

Alaska can be described in 1 word: BIG! Everything is massive, from the bodies of water, to the tides, to the grandiose mountains. To get a piece of this massive state, we took a 7 day cruise that started in Seward (A day trip south of Denali) and ended in Vancouver.

We started by flying into Anchorage. We got there at 1:30AM and it was sunset! I woke up the next morning with the sounds of float-planes buzzing over our small hotel and landing in a lake-pond right next to us. I knew immediately that this wasn't Southern CA anymore!


We spent the day there and left early the next morning for a 4 hour train ride south to Seward through absolutely beautiful savage/wild territory. I'm confident that if I fell off the train and walked 10 minutes away from the track, I'd probably never find civilization again.




I stood between the cars of the train and bore the chilly air to get those, whatever you gotta do to get the shot!

*Photo thanks to Dan Bathauer*

We arrived in Seward, a charming little fishing village.


At one of the small, local spots, I ordered a caribou burger with a side of reindeer sausage. The crazy thing is that that meat was probably far more fresh and bountiful than had I ordered beef! It was delicious...I also may have hummed the Rudolph song once or twice while eating the sausage. :)

As we boarded and headed out, I realized that this trip was going to get my shutter finger buff. I had a 360-degree view of gorgeous-ness non-stop, and it stays light out till 2AM at times, keeping me up snapping away far later that I normally can. I felt like a photo junkie! A taste of the first sunset I saw (mind you, this is about 1AM):

-I was stoked to put my new wide angle lens to work!-


Our next stop was the Hubbard Glacier, what was one the fastest growing glaciers 20 years ago, and one that is still growing in size. It was insane when I first saw an iceberg floating by, definitely something you don't see everyday! We navigated through the ice and got pretty darn close to the glacier, it was incredible.



-Navigating through the ice patch. It sounded like crushed ice getting stirred up in a glass, but these were very large chunks of ice! This is from 14 stories up.-

*Photo thanks to Dan Bathauer*

When the glacier calved, you could feel it in your chest. It sounded like a thunder storm on a bright, cloudless day!


After a day at sea, we landed in Juneau, the capitol of Alaska. Honestly, even knowing it was Alaska, I was expecting a larger city. Juneau is a quaint, little town at the feet of ginormous mountains. No roads in or out; the only way from the outside world is by plane or boat.

-Note the float plane landing.-



It was originally an old Alaskan Gold Rush town, and the feeling/character stuck around. Just up the road and behind the city, we found a trail that was on top of an old mining shaft. The surrounding area was gorgeous, almost jungle-like. From icebergs to dense forest in one day was quite a change.

-My first spotting of a bald eagle close-up. How rad is that!?-


With all the cool stuff in Juneau, I was also blown away by a glacier nearby. It was in the low 90s that day, which was totally strange by itself. I remember standing on a beach next to this massive waterfall (note the size of the people in comparison):

*Photo thanks to Dan Bathauer*
-I am on the bottom right. Definitely got my lenses soaked!-

I was standing where those people were standing, and around me were some people tanning, a few swimming in their bikinis and board shorts, and yet, right there in front of me was a massive glacier with a bunch of icebergs in the water. Too strange for my mind to fully comprehend, so here are pictures to show it.



Rad, anyway, the next stop was Skagway, another old Gold Rush town (this one kept in its original state) far north of Juneau...the graduating class was made up of 8 students! It served as the railroad hub and start for many of the miners that had the guts to head into the Yukon over the dreaded White Pass. Here's a brief view of the tiny town:




The next port was definitely my favorite. Icy Strait Point is an island inhabited by a native tribe, kept in its full Alaskan goodness! Well, almost. They allow one cruise ship in at a time (brought to shore on smaller boats because of the small size of the docks). Eventually, I know this beautiful land and people will be commercialized because of this practice, but I was stoked to get there when I did (they opened this port less than 2 years ago). Bald eagles like crazy, humpbacks spouting right off the shore, large unadulterated forests, bears that outnumber people 5 to 1, etc. Here is a taste of Icy Strait:







Besides all of this, they also had the longest zipline in the world that I got to ride on! Such a rad ride! Here is a video I took on a little point and shoot:

So stoke-worthy. Anyway, moving on, we reached our last Alaskan port, the town of Ketchican. Again, Ketchican is another old town that is accessible only by plane or boat...or jetpack, i guess, if you had one.


-The old Red-Light District...Looks different than you'd expect, huh? A bit too quaint perhaps? The river was used for fleeing bootleggers and rum-runners during prohibition, and it was called "Married Man's Route"-


We wandered out of town to get some more views of the coastline and found some very lush areas. We also came across a small Native American town that specializes in carving Totem poles.



Then came our last day at sea, a slow cruising through the inside passage (the area between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia). There were some beautiful sights, but it was the last sunset that did me in!


The sun reflecting off of the glassy water made me point my lens downward to capture the wake of the boat. Gorgeous thing water is, isn't it?

And that was the last night. We hung out in Vancouver for a bit to see some Canadian beauty...
...and then took the flight home. When I looked out the window on the approach, I knew that we were far, far away from the rugged, unprocessed, and beautifully wild world of Alaska.

Thanks for reading/viewing, I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know if you did by commenting or e-mailing me!
And like I said, be watching for a portrait post, it'll be going up very soon.

Thanks again for your support,
Brandon Bathauer

Welcome to Belize.

Hey all!

My friend recently brought up to me the fact that, in a previous post, I promised a full story about my (not-so-entirely recent) trip to Belize. So here it goes:


* To Expand or Decrease Photo size after it has been clicked on, simply hold CTRL and scroll with mouse wheel*

Around October or November last year, I was starting to get a lot of photography jobs doing all sorts of different things, from locations to gallery work to engagements. With all of the great opportunities I had been offered to use this passion of mine, I wanted to balance it by doing something with my photography that could actually help people who desperately needed help. It was then that I came across an awesome non-profit organization based out of Belize called PathLight International (http://www.pathlight.org). I knew nothing about Belize, except that was was in Latin America somewhere. As I looked into it further, I realized I was heading with my camera into a legit jungle environment with a hodge-podge of cultures, heritages, and lifestyles. From British occupation to Creole/Carribean influences to Mexican leanings and a rich Mayan history, I was amped to get immersed in something completely different than me.

A little visual overview of the country of Belize:







I got in contact with the organization and was stoked to hear that there was some need for photography for advertisements, brochures, etc. I grabbed my ticket and, in January, headed down with a crew of college students from William Jessup University (a small Christian college near Sacramento). The purpose of the trip was to teach in the mostly forgotten, underfunded, and under-resourced primary/elementary schools that were outside of the reach/awareness of the larger cities, but mostly, largely outside the reach/awareness/support of the Belizian government. Many people who lived in the small villages that fed into these schools lived on less that $2 a day.

Seeing as how I was down there anyway, I figured I'd take part and teach a photography class on top of taking photos. Belize's largest industry is tourism, and with tourism comes the need for photography. With some training, I figured some sort of photography could likely be a trade for some of these children as they grow up. Believe it or not, Wal-Mart donated 30 simple, little digital cameras for my classes. I taught at three different schools, showing 5th and 6th graders the joy of photography. Most of these kids had never used a camera before in their lives, so I taught the basics; the best I could do while speaking to classes that understood English like I understand Spanish....not muy bien.



photo thanks to Alyssa Gluck
photo thanks to Jennifer Marple


After a lesson on what buttons to push to turn the camera on, how to frame things, the difference between action and portrait and landscape, etc., I sent them out to shoot around their school grounds, trying out the five different genres I taught them about: Portrait, Nature, Action, Landscape, and Abstract (PS- trying to explain "Abstract" to 5th graders who fluently speak English is hard enough!). Here are a few photos showing what went on. Imagine, most of these kids had never used or even held a camera before.




-What I think was one of the best attempts at an action shot! :



-Mr. Eco, a 5th grade teacher seemingly in his early 40s, taking the first photo of his life.-

And my personal favorite:
After a couple photo shoots for each student, we took the digital photos back with us, got them developed and printed in the States, and had them sent back to each of the remote schools. Each child received 10 printed photos they had personally taken: tangible objects that would be among the most valuable treasures in their households. Furthermore, seeing as how the cameras were donated to us, and to help support some frame of sustainability, we decided to donate the cameras to the individual schools to continue this photography program. (*Batteries and upload capabilities for the program are being handled by PathLight, in case you were wondering*)


Throughout our stay in Belize, we stayed at PathLight's headquarters: a place called Jaguar Creek. This place was friggin awesome! Surrounded by miles of dense equatorial jungle (Bear Gryllis did a special on these Belizian jungles the week I got back...Yeah, its that hardcore) and accessible only by a long, narrow, rocky road covered by the jungle canopy, Jaguar Creek was easily one of the coolest and most savage places I've ever stayed. This place came with all of the fun things that makes a legit jungle actually legit: jaguars that could pounce out of the dense bush at any moment, a good-sized local population of fer-de-lances (one of the most deadly snakes in the world), and mosquitoes that lay their larvae under your skin. My camera bag was packed with newspaper to soak up the moisture from the incredibly thick humidity, yet long sleeves were very welcome to ward off those mosquitoes.

Here are a few photos of Jaguar Creek:

Main Headquarters:


So much growth and life, a plant sprouted out of a broken piece of wood 3 ft off the ground. It was actually and literally growing out of it!

Being so far in the middle of nowhere, along PathLight's sweet perspective on God's creation and how we should treat it as the beautiful-special thing it is, Jaguar Creek was fully self-sustained with a constantly running river that was purified and lights-fans-outlets (all electricity on the grounds) fully powered by solar panels. Awesomely sweet.
-Kinda looks like a LOST set, huh?-

Where I stayed. The windows were open screens, so the night was filled with noises of rain, jungle birds, and howler monkeys. It sounded like the jungle-book-sleep-soundtrack.

What decided to stay with me...
I was told by a local Belizian, "No, no. They don't bite much." That's refreshing when all you have to protect you while sleeping is a thin strip of mesh!


Besides teaching photography to 5th and 6th graders and fighting off jaguars, we also stopped by The King's Children Home, an orphanage in Belmopan (the capitol), to give some love to the orphans there. I was sent to get some photos to support a fund-raising campaign for this specific orphanage. One woman cared for over twenty kids here, it was incredible to see such supernatural love coming from one person... I found God to be very evident in her and her home. The children had lost their parents and possibly family, but had developed a new family that was hard to ignore. It was strange for me to balance being an observer (the role of the photojournalist) and being an active person, involved in the childrens' lives. It gave me a struggle, but the photos seemed to turn out showing a certain connection that I hadn't quite gotten before. I still play with that balance as a photographer in different contexts, but I definitely learned something from this experience.





Laundry for 20+ kids.

It wasn't all heart-grappling though, I got a couple days to enjoy some of the sights of Belize. Of note, I first got to travel to Xunantunich, an ancient Mayan ruin. After crossing an old hand-cranked ferry, a loud rumble came from a bush and this came running at me:


I almost lost it, but I held myself together enough to switch lenses and snap this one off.
Besides the ancient ruins, I also got to spend a day out at the South Water Caye, a tiny island off the coast of Belize. Check out this gorgeousness:




And, of course, the pelican Narcissus:

Thank you all for reading/viewing my story. Let me know what you think, and if there are any questions about any of the organizations I worked with, any of my photos, or anything that has to do with what I'm all about, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. (BrandonBPhotography.gmail.com) Thanks again for viewing, I hope you enjoyed it, and there will be plenty more to come (I'm going to Alaska in T-minus 7 days!).

And now for a last few images of Belize that have stuck with me.





Have a sweet weekend,
-Brandon Bathauer-

Wedding Photographs!

Hey all!
I hope life is treating you all excellently! I've been busy shooting in LA and all other things, but I shot a wedding last Saturday and wedding photography has really been on my mind, so for my second post, I figured I'd get together a selection of wedding photos I've taken. Recently, I've been getting a lot of requests to show these, so the following photos represent a few of the weddings I've shot; most of them are recent (a few from last Saturday!), with a handful from a year or two ago. Thanks to a few photographer friends, especially Brienne Shepard (www.brienne.net), I have really been getting deep into this genre!

Starting as a landscape-detail photographer, I always thought people-centered photography was a bit rough. I'd compose what I thought was a gorgeous photo, only to notice in post-processing that the person was blinking or sneezing or making a weird face, thus rendering the photo useless (besides the occasional awesome blackmail). All my attention was placed only in the composition, not the focal point of the photo: the person. Over these past two years, though, I have begun to realize the beauty of people-oriented photography, especially at a life-changing event like one's wedding.

The challenges and rewards of wedding photography are very different to nature-landscape or location photography, but I usually find myself leaving a wedding shoot far more uplifted and energized that any other type of shoot. I think it is because I really thrive while working with people. I could be at a reception with hundreds of people partying and celebrating or on an emptied 40-something floor executive suite of a high-rise building in LA. While the latter is still awesome, the only company I have then is either good ole' Amadeus (Mozart, that is), Joe Cocker, or the late, great Rev. Gary Davis.

I have come to find the challenge in capturing the character of the person through their expression (facial or otherwise), but the reward when that is found. If you talk to anyone I've shot a wedding for, they'll tell you that I really enjoy getting to know the people I photograph, because capturing their personality is only possible when you know what that personality is. I really cringe at majorly posed, prom-like photos at weddings, when the event seems like a photo shoot where a wedding broke out! The photos turn out best when the enchanted couple just does their thing and I simply capture that organic connection. Nothing manufactured, nothing fake.

So enough of my wedding photography philosophies, how about the photos themselves!

*(note: to enlarge pictures, just click on them. To size them once clicked on, hold down ctrl button and scroll with mouse wheel)*


Jeremy and Melanie had an awesome destination wedding up in Crestline, CA (near Lake Gregory) just a few months ago. I seriously dug the top hat and parasol: Classy. You'll see quite a few of their photos throughout this post, I ended shooting 24 gigs worth of photos at this one wedding! Ridiculous.



With all I said about people-centered photography, I still have the detail bug and always strive to get the entire feeling of a wedding by including the objects involved.




I've noticed that usually, the longest, hardest part of being in a wedding is the session of wedding party photos. Everyone stands in a line with a plastered smile and holds their bouquets, hoping the photog will hurry and get the photo so you can go grab food. I've found that is possible to capture everyone involved in a more exciting, fun, personality-based way that is actually enjoyable, and actually looks good! You'll see what I'm talking about.



Jeremy, the groom, walked up in the middle of the reception and muttered, "Dude, Last Supper-Wedding Party." I was totally into it, grabbed a copy of DaVinci's work off the web, and began placing. I think Leo would be proud.


A few more bride and groom photos...




One thing I enjoy capturing most is the bride's expressions. With so much thought going into this one day, I really delight in catching all the different emotions that go on within her throughout the course of the wedding.















And as all weddings end, so I end my post with my representation of the reception.







Sometimes so much partying can be hard on a kid...



And the final shot:


Thanks so much for checking out my post, I hope you enjoyed viewing it as much as I enjoyed putting it together! If you have any questions, comments, or job-queries, feel free to e-mail me at brandonbphotography@gmail.com.Thanks again!

Thanks for reading and viewing,
-Brandon-

20 Random Photos...my first post!

Hey guys! I've been getting a lot of requests for a place to see my photos. I figured I'd start with a blog, posting my most recent shoots/some throwbacks to past trips, portrait sessions, weddings, themed landscapes, etc./and whatever random collection of photos I feel like I ought to share. I'll try to keep up posting, at least once or twice a month, so if you like the look of these and would like a little extra something to look at while surfing the web, feel free to subscribe (just an e-mail alert that tells you I've put up something new).

This first post is just a jumble of photos I randomly put together over the past few hours. It'll hopefully show you the broad scope of genres I enjoy focusing on (no pun intended!). You'll see some landscapes, a few shots from weddings I've done, portrait/engagement photos, a shot or two from my recent photographic/mission trip to Belize, and a few location shots I've taken for the LA-based movie/TV production company I photograph for. So without further ado, here we go!

An oldie, but a goodie.
Prague, Czech Republic

From my Most Recent, Awesome Wedding...nice top hat!:
Crestline, CA

Hermosa Beach, CA

A recent portrait shoot, thanks James!:
Azusa, California

Pennsylvania in October...highly recommend it!
Bradford, Pennsylvania

Engagement Photos of Some Gorgeous People.
Laguna, CA

Personality Shot!:
Alta Loma, California

Perfect Timing for a reflection
Newport Beach, CA

An HDR of the LA skyline at night. Oh California, even the cities are beautiful (especially 20 stories above the traffic).
Los Angeles, CA

Bradford, Pennsylvania

"The Alley"
Prague, Czech Republic

Is it just me, or is this photo just refreshing?
South Water Caye, Caribbean Sea

A Gorgeous Wedding in Pasadena.
Pasadena, CA

A Swanky Club in the Heart of Downtown LA. Nice touch on the tiger striped carpet...
Los Angeles, CA

A Belizean boy on the playground of his run-down, jungle-encircled school. This guy was too young to take part in my photography classes. What a trip that was.(Full post soon to come!)
Cayo District, Belize

I hope you guys enjoyed my post! Let me know what you all think, feel free to comment on individual photos, the post in general, etc. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. And keep an eye out for more posts...there's ALOT more where this came from! Thanks!
-Brandon Bathauer

This is a Test...This is Only a Test

This is a Test....