Cover of Pacific Weddings!
Aloha world! I wanted to say thank you to Robyn Laea and the rest of the wonderful team at Pacific Weddings Magazine for picking my photo to kick off their 2011 year issue. It was such a surprise because all they told me was that I would be happy with how the photos came out. I am so grateful and blessed to have the chance to work with people like you. Robyn, on my my next trip to Hawaii, I would love to meet you and the rest of team that made this all happen! Thank you again!
What made this even more special was that my now good friends, Justine and Chad got to be featured! Please check out their gallery by clicking here!
I really love the whole storyline we got with those two. I feel like it embodies the essence of not only them, but Hawaii as well. There is a special energy that comes out of all the islands in HI, and I am so happy to be part of the culture.
Have a great rest of the day everyone! Shoots!
The Culture of Love: Ja Tecson Weddings
Welcome to my new and improved jatecsonweddings.com site! Shooting couples has been an interesting ride. While all my clients share the same bond of bliss, marriage and the idea of love mean different things to different people. Everyone has their own traditions, personal style, and culture. What I love as an artist is celebrating those little things that make you different.
I love capturing the spark of a couple. When I’m doing that, I know my clients are having fun and in their most natural element. That idea of free expression is what I think it’s all about. I shoot lots of couples. Many are engaged, and are on that crazy, exciting journey to planning the wedding of their dreams. I also shoot couples that aren’t engaged, that just want to shoot and celebrate the present, which I think is pretty awesome too. Life is short, so I think it’s a great idea to shoot for the love of it.
The new site has all the new upgrades of my commercial/editorial website. Thank you to Zero Style for designing an amazing site and being so easy to work with.
I would like to think that the collection of photos on my site represents a free spirited and energetic kind of style. I think its very personal, and I encourage all the couples I shoot to be free, and just have fun with it. When it comes to your wedding day, I’m there to document the celebration, and all the little and big moments in between. Please stay tuned for many updates, and to see where my work is headed.
To my beautiful wife, crazy family, genuine friends, and perfect clients…thank you for all your love and positivity. I’ve grown so much, and I’m excited to take my photography to new places. Have a great weekend!
Enjoy the Process.
A lot of friends are getting married this year, and it just takes me back to 2008 when Bev and I tied the knot. Amidst all the chaos that planning a wedding can bring, my best advice is to enjoy the process, and if you can, document it. Whether through words, or images, it is a journey between you and your future partner. The wedding day is the celebration, but we all know there is so much more going on before the big day. The engagement parties, the people we meet or reconnect with, the food tastings, and all the details. We all can take these things for granted throughout the process. So, lets try and enjoy every minute of it and look at the bigger picture at the same time.
DJ Vice & Angela: Sneak Peek
Stay tuned for pics from our adventures. Check out Angela’s awesome blog, Im With the DEEJAY, and check out Vice’s new website.
Justine & Chad: Making it Count
Hawaii is heaven. The sunrise & sunset is another kind of magic out there. My good friends out in Oahu got married this past August, and together we created some amazing imagery to celebrate their love and the paradise of the island. After figuring out that we had no time to go off to a remote location on the actual day of their wedding, I had decided it was best to shoot a few days beforehand to ensure we got the memories that I was envisioning. So that’s what we did. We got up at 5am to make it out to the South Shore of Hawaii Kai, and we caught one of the most beautiful sunrises ever created in the history of sunrises. Haha. It was pretty sweet though.
Shooting before the wedding? Letting him see you in your dress? Ja, are you nuts man?!?! I have nothing but the best intentions in mind, and in this case, I think it was okay to break the rules. The fact of the matter is that there is never enough time. Your wedding day will go by…..just like that. A blink of an eye, and what is left besides the click of every shutter of my camera. My goal is simply to get the most memories out of your WEDDING. So these are one of the things that I do in pre-shoots or post-shoots. It’s essentially MORE time for us to be creative and go nuts with it. Lets head out to an amazing cliffside or romantic field in the middle of nowhere. Why not?
If you look at magazines whether fashion or bridal fashion, there is a good chance that you see photographs that you love and want to incorporate into your own wedding story. If you are that person, I encourage you to step out of the box and go for it. I promise you’ll have no regrets in the end. You only live once.
Thank you to Pacific Weddings for featuring my photos and for giving me the cover! I’ll post the cover shot soon! Mahalo!
Catching Moments: Getting the Best Possible Shot
I was talking to a photographer friend of mine the other day, and she was asking me about position and placement, and my thought process behind it when it comes to the wedding arena.
I thought it was a really great question because sometimes we all make the mistake of going through the motions, and shooting in the same places we always shoot at. It goes the same way for the style in which we direct people. You have to ask yourself certain questions.
• Am I doing the same poses all the time?
• Am I thinking outside of the box?
• Does this pose reflect the couple?
• Am I setting a good energy for the shoot?
Tons of questions can go on in your head to enforce that you’re being as creative as you can be. Back to position and placement. Lets use this picture of one of my brides walking down the aisle as an example. As we all know, this moment is all about execution. So many emotions to capture! The movement, the expressions, the tears, his reaction, the back and forth looks, laughs, and of course… The Giveaway.
With all of this happy chaos taking place, you have to make sure you check a couple of things before those doors open.
Are you in the best possible spot at the venue to get an amazing memory? Every location is different and presents creative opportunities, as well as challenges. In the shot above, we got an amazing back shot of the bride as the door opened. Love it! Now the reality is that back shot isn’t always there for the next wedding. Lack of space or light may not allow me to get the artsy shot im envisioning.
If that’s the case, MOVE ON, and look for another shot that is worth capturing. What you don’t what happening as a photographer is to force the shot out of habit. What you end up with is a shot that you won’t even use, and lots of shoulda, coulda, wouldas.
I always encourage myself and others to LOOK and VISUALIZE the best possible shot for that particular moment. Sometimes you may have time to scout out a location, or you may have to make a split second decision to what will look best. You may be shooting solo, or have assistants to cover other angles. Whatever the case may be, get CREATIVE!
