Raining Insight Photography

Michelle and Nick's Wedding

2010-12-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

Michelle and Nick got married at the beautiful Adamson House in Malibu, CA. Here are just a few of my favorties from the wedding day.

Zoe's Bat Mitzvah

2010-09-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Zoe's Bat Mitzvah ceremony was wonderful and her lunch celebration afterward at the Surf And Sand in Laguna Beach was a lot of fun for her family and all the guests. The videographer - Scott @ familyflix.com - put together this awesome photo & video montage, check it out!

Amabel and Godfrey - Engagement Session

2010-05-30T00:59:00.000-07:00

Amabel and Godfrey had their engagement session at the Donald Trump National Gold Course in Rancho Palos Verdes. It had some great walking paths and a beautiful view of the ocean. I had a great time getting to know this fun and stylish couple!

All the best wishes to the beautiful couple!

Michelle and Nick - Engagement Session

2010-01-29T01:53:00.000-08:00

Michelle and Nick had their engagement session along the water of the beautiful Marina del Rey, close to where they live. It was a fun afternoon and turned out to be a gorgeous sunset! These two make a lovely couple and had a lot of great candid moments.

I love the shots under the pier! Michelle and Nick are looking forward to a beautiful July wedding in Malibu.

Arthur's 35th Birthday Party

2010-01-24T01:02:00.001-08:00

Arthur and Karina threw a fabulous 80's themed party in honor of Arthur's 35th birthday. They celebrated with friends and family at the beautiful Romanov Restaurant and Lounge in Studio City. The theme was a lot of fun and everyone came dressed to impress!

These are a few pages from their photo book... Each page is custom made to capture the story of the event.

Best wishes for another great year!

Opportune & Sam

2009-08-29T14:16:00.001-07:00

Opportune and Sam have an anniversary coming up and to take some fun photos in their honor we went to Kenneth Hahn Park in Culver City. They were a lot of fun, very stylish, and we got some great shots. We started out in the picnic area, made our way to the Japanese Tea Garden, and finally looped around the beautiful, blue lake and waterfalls.

Cheers to the fabulous couple!

Do good anyway.

2009-08-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Kent M Keith

I read these words of wisdom while waiting in line at a bagel shop in Brentwood. It was such an unexpected and cool place to see this clever piece of art.

1. People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them anyway.

2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

3. If you are successful you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.

7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

8. What you spend years building can be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.

10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

Lauren and John's Engagement Shoot

2009-07-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

For their engagement shoot, Lauren and John took me to the beautiful Santa Barbara Botanical Garden, where they were engaged. Unfortunately, the recent fires in Santa Barbara reached several parts of the botanical garden, so some of the paths were closed off. But what we did see was lush and vibrant wildlife. I got to know this very sweet couple a little bit better. As you'll see, they share a lot of smiles and laughter together.

(Here's the laugh I told you about!)

Wedding photos are soon to come!

Crenshaw High Prom

2009-06-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

Worthy wanted to capture some fun candid shots at home before heading off to the prom. They had a champagne party (Martinelli's style) to toast to their elegant evening, where friends and family came to see them off to the big night.

Here are a few shots before getting all dressed up. (Worthy is the gentleman on the top left.)

These two were friends of the group, and so photogenic!

Worthy's beautiful date got dolled up with a little help from friends and family. Her gorgeous dress was homemade!

I snuck in a few shots behind the scenes before the official grand entrance.

After much suspense, the two lovely couples made their entrance and the toasting began.

Then they were off to a magical night...

Kitties

2009-05-22T22:26:00.001-07:00

This is more of a real blog post, I took these on my little digital camera. These cute little kittens are new to my grandparents' family. (The photos were taken a while ago now, so they're much bigger now, I'm sure!) Gracey (the gray kitten) and Callie (the calico cutie) are so playful and so soft! My grandpa was always a dog person so he was surprised when he really liked having the kittens around.

Essenza Spa - Website Photos

2009-04-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Essenza is a day and med spa on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, newly under the ownership of Kataneh. Kataneh is an entrepreneur who has done a great job giving new life to this elegant spa. The photos below are a sample from the shoot we did for the new website, which is now up, here! A handful of models came to the shoot to demonstrate some of the many services that Essenza provides - massage, makeup and eyelashes, chiropractic treatment, group events, spa and personal training, just to name a few.

Be sure to check out the site if you haven't already!

Triplets Audition for America's Next Top Model

2009-04-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

These lovely triplets - Shauntea, Dashanea, and Jahquache - went to the open casting call in LA for America's Next Top Model last weekend and made it to the next audition in New York! They needed some great photos to take to the audition, so we went up into the hills at Mountaingate Road for their photo shoot. Their makeup looked gorgeous, done by the talented Nancy Lopez. And the beautiful lighting you'll see was aided by two fabulous ladies, Patience and Beatrice (thank you!). This shoot was a lot of fun and these are some of my favorites...

From left to right, this is Dashanea, Jahquache, and Shauntea. These beautiful triplets have very different personalities which really come through in their modeling and photos.

Shauntea's set.

Jahquache.

And Dashanae.

The group all together.

These girls were stunning and the shoot was a lot of fun. I think they have a great chance of making it!

David & Taly's Wedding

2009-03-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

You may recognize Taly and David from their earlier engagement shoot. They had a beautiful wedding that was very personalized to the two of them. They did not want a traditional wedding in any sense, and so, went for an oriental theme, having their wedding at a Japanese Tea Garden, with the ceremony inside the Tea House. They interwove the color red throughout the wedding decorations and other elements, including their shoes! The ceremony was led by the groom's brother and encorporated parts of various cultures to create a harmony that really reflected the couple and their relationship. A few photos were taken on the bridge in the beautiful tea garden.

The only sign of nervousness I saw from the couple was just in the brief moments before the wedding when they waited together for everyone to assemble. To ease their nerves, they joked about the embarrassment of standing in front of all their friends and family during the wedding.

Luckily, it only rained breifly as some of the guests were arriving and cleared up during the ceremony. The rain did add an element of excitement to the pre-wedding mood! It was a beautiful day when everyone came out afterwards.

The couple await their grand entrance in front of the Tea House.

After the ceremony, everyone got green tea in small porcelain Japanese tea cups (which the guests kept as favors!) and toasted the newlyweds as a group.

The couple leaves the Tea House, and on to the reception!

The oriental and red theme was carried over to a fantastic reception set up. Some of the lanterns got wet from the rain, but it came out great nonetheless.

Taly's neice, Maya, was adorable and very photogenic.

Everyone, including the newlyweds, had a great time dancing the night away!

Congratulations and all the best wishes to this fun and spirited couple!

Change 4 MS - A Charity Event by Jade Entertainment Group

2009-01-18T18:33:00.000-08:00

Change 4 MS was a classy event benefiting a wonderful cause, with all of the profits going to the National MS Society. The evening hosted at Aqua Lounge in Beverly Hills started with dinner and proceeded to a great night of live music. Jade Entertainment's founder Jana Evans bravely spoke of her own experience in being diagnosed with Multiple Schlerosis as well as the incredible medical advancements which have been developed, and continue to improve each day, that have enabled her to live a healthy and symptom-free life today. Research in the field is truly at an important and exciting point now since so many recent advances have been made to reverse the progress of MS as well as many similar autoimmune diseases, and there is still much more anticipated progress. More information about current research and how to donate can be found at National MS Society's site.

Jana, left below, and friends who contributed to the night posed for a few photos before the events of the evening began.

Newlyweds Mike Eddie (an up-and-coming singer songwriter who performed in the show) and his wife Shannon posed for some adorable photos.

A hip jazz band (including guitar and vocals by Greg K) set the mood as guests had dinner and mingled at the start of the evening.

The dj played hip hop and R&B between sets throughout the night.

Jana introduced herself and the cause before showing a short but powerful and hopeful documentary about living with MS.

Singer-songwriter Mike Eddie put on a great set. He is a fantastic performer, with a very cool sound.

Listen to Mike Eddie here. I highly recommend it!

Thanks to Jade Entertainment for the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful event. I am excited and hopeful for the current and upcoming leaps in medical treatments for the hundreds of thousands of people living with Multiple Sclerosis.

The Pimsaguans - Family Portrait

2009-01-12T19:31:00.001-08:00

As a Christmas girft, my mom wanted to give our very good family friends the gift of a family portrait, so we took some pictures at a great park in Mission Viejo, Florence Joyner Olympiad Park. My mom debuted her talents as a photography assistant - she kept them smiling the whole shoot!

Shawn Anderson - Website Photos

2009-01-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

Shawn Anderson is a highly positive, driven, motivational author and person! He has published a new book, Amicus 101: A Story About the Pursuit of Purpose and Overcoming Life's Chaos, and is building his new website: www.shawnanderson.com (where you can see many of the photos below!).

Shawn is truly enthusiastic and excited about helping others to reach their potential and gain direction in life. His mission is, "to empower 1,000,000 people to lead a more passionate and purposeful existence." He sends out a free weekly empowerment newsletter, about which you can find more information here! One quote from a recent newsletter I especially like says, "give everything you do an extra dose of your best YOU." I love that simple reminder!

It was great getting to know Shawn through a series of photoshoots, each aiming to capture one of three meaningful concepts: Possibility, Purpose, and Passion.

Shawn Anderson: The Author.

Purpose.
(These were taken at beautiful Marina Del Rey. It was a wonderfully calm, peaceful afternoon.)

Passion.
(This set was done along (and under!) the Santa Monica Pier just around sunset. Shawn is an avid runner: he has run a 100 mile race over 5 days and biked across the US, ocean to ocean, in 48 days.)

Possibility.
(These were taken in the hills at Mountaingate Road, Los Angeles. We wanted to capture the wide open space that conveys a feeling of fresh opportunity and possibility. The view was incredible and the fog rolled in to give it a magical quality. You'd never know we were in LA!)

I think this is an awesome post to start off the new year. As Shawn says, create a great day!

Soulfege - Band Portrait

2008-12-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

Soulfege (pronounced 'sOl-fezh) describes themselves as an Afropolitan fusion band, blending sounds of Hip Hop, Reggae, Funk & West African Highlife. They have an awesome, up-tempo, unique sound (which you can listen to on their website).

This shoot took place on the rooftop of an apartment in North Hollywood (with only minor complaints from one of the top floor residents!). Many thanks to my friend and fellow photographer, Derek Liu, who helped out with the lighting, which came out stunningly.

Taly and David - Engagement Photos

2008-12-29T22:19:00.000-08:00

It was great getting to know Taly and David a little better during their engagement session. We walked down Abbot Kinney, a cool street in Venice lined with uniquely colored and textured storefronts. Taly and David didn't want cheesy posed photos of themselves, so we created some great candid images where you can really see the connection between them. (You'll notice that they're not looking into the camera in any of these!)

Taly and David are also into photography and wanted to incorporate interesting angles and effects into the photos, which was a lot of fun. I edited these in a vintage style, which went with the tone of the photos and also complemented the cool, layed back personalities of this couple. I think it also really gives these photos a great finishing touch!

I love the way this shoot came out! Best of wishes to the wonderful couple. Wedding photos are soon to come!

Nana's Portrait

2008-12-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

This is my grandma, Nana. We had fun doing this shoot before going out to see Wicked (which I highly recommend, it was fantastic!) to celebrate her 80th birthday. (She is very young for her age!) This was on the patio of my apartment, I love the way the diffused sun light gives her face a glow and lights up the Boganvelia in the background.

Jenn's Headshots

2008-12-14T22:32:00.001-08:00

These are a few of my favorites from Jenn's latest shoot (you may recognize her from the headshots page of my site!). These were taken in beautiful Santa Monica, not too far from the beach.

Nkechi's Vogue Shoot

2008-12-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

Nkechi had a pool party for her 21st birthday, and while everyone was getting there, we had a mini fashion shoot and the pictures came out beautifully! I love this first set, the natural lighting was just gorgeous and Nkechi looked radiant!

I also snuck in a few great candid shots and a fun shot of the girls...

An Evening of Independence - A Koffeehouse Benefit Event

2008-09-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

This fantastic concert put on by Koffeehouse hosted nine artists that performed in support of the Guitar Center Music Foundation and MS Friends at the Ford Ampitheater in East Hollywood.

My inspration to check out the show was a friend from high school who performed at the event. Kina Grannis is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter, who recently won the Doritos Crash the Superbowl Contest. Her song Message From Your Heart (which so so good!) was played at half time at the superbowl, and she is now recording an album with Interscope Records. To hear more about her, visit her website and definitely check out her youtube blog, which is really fun and creative, and updated with a new song every week!

These are a few shots of Kina from the patio area of the Ford Ampitheatre, where the concert openers performed. This was such a nice summer venue with a beautiful view, you'd never know we were in LA!

Kina's voice resonated through the ampitheater; even walking up the steps to the theatre her harmonic voice and guitar melodies filled the air. To see a moving picture of Kina (with sound!) check her out on youtube.

Another of my favorites from the evening, Keaton Simons is a soulful singer/songwriter with an awesome voice and great stage presence. Listen to his music here.

A Fine Frenzy (Alison Sudo) put on a fabulous set with really unique, energetic, harmonic piano and vocal arrangements. See and hear more here.

Matt Scannell is the lead singer and guitarist of Vertical Horizon, well know for "Everything You Want." He performed a solo version of this song, where he started the guitar chorus and jokingly asked the audience to imagine that it continued while he sang the following verses.

Trevor Hall is awesome! His sound is so unique, and pairs up phenomenally with his steel drummer. His performance got the crowd up on their feet dancing and singing along. You really need to listen for yourself! Seriously!

Tyrone Wells is a native Los Angeles artist with a great voice and beautiful songwriting. His set was great and included the story of his backup career: performing live for marriage proposals. It started when a young man contacted Tyrone requesting that he play "their song" while he proposed to his girlfriend. Tyrone got so caught up in the sentiment of the proposal that he almost forgot to "pop out" and start singing. It was, however, a success, and Tyrone has made two more proposal appearances since! Listen and you, too, will likely consider this joyous service.

The surprise finale was an exciting and uplifting rendition of "I get by with a little help from my friends." All the artists let loose, singing, dancing, hugging, swinging guitars (well, one guitar), and jumping. What a great way to end a wonderful evening!

To see more photos from the night, go here.

Jason's Headshots

2008-09-17T22:39:00.001-07:00

Jason is an up and coming comedic actor, based in Hollywood. He was great to work with, and I foresee great success for him both as an actor and writer. His photo shoot took place along Main Street in Santa Monica. The unique building fronts and hidden alcoves served as wonderful backgrounds, and the open shade made for beautiful natural light.

Keep an eye out for this face!

LA's Big Apple Party - A Christa Hastie Event

2008-09-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

This was a wonderful Hollywood event hosted by event planner Christa Hastie. Many great event vendors sponsored the mixer, and many representatives attended the event as well. The big apple theme was beautifully integrated into the decor with hundreds of apples places throughout the three-floor Roosevelt Hotel penthouse suite. Just in the entryway of the suite was a beautiful ice sculpture apple fountain, created by Aqua Reign. The event hosted two bars, lovely catering in addition to a beautiful dessert spread, two harpists, and a fantastic magician (Lou Serrano).

Welcome to the Official Blog!

2008-08-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Official Raining Insight Photography Blog! This will be the place to check out all of the latest news and, of course, photos as they happen... enjoy!

I am so happy to have Chelsea and Rick's wedding as my first post! Chelsea and Rick were excited to be married on 8.8.08. When turned on its side, 8 becomes the infinity sign... signifying the time that they will spend together as one. It was a small wedding in La Jolla, CA with a bride and groom truly beaming with love and happiness.

Warmest wishes to the beautiful couple!