*our blog has moved. please visit us at eight20photography.com for all the latest from eight20 :).

natalie + jeremiah | the westin pasadena

amanda + brian | mission inn, riverside

erin + adam | USC, the city club

ilona + patrick | santa monica pier, 3rd street promenade

jess, sam, theresa, katie | hollywood roosevelt hotel, thompson hotel beverly hills

sangini + vik | glendale hilton

yenny + rosendo | manhattan beach

reata + george | cal state long beach botanical garden

jennifer + rick | hartley botanica, somis

kristine + rick | santa barbara rockwood women’s club

shandi + rich | the castaway, burbank

monica + jesus | spanish hills country club, camarillo

marilyn + marc | loyola marymount university, sacred heart chapel, marina del rey marriott

candace + skyler | spanish hills country club, camarillo

angel + sean | newport beach pier

hiroko + michael | altadena town and country club

margo + alex | strathearn historical park, simi valley

michelle + kevin | terranea resort rancho palos verdes, south coast botanical gardens

emilie + ross | greystone mansion, beverly hills

cyndi + deo | ntc promenade, san diego

charlene + andy | westlake village inn, sherwood country club

greenamyer family + nelson family | san antonio, texas

*our blog has moved. please visit us at eight20photography.com for all the latest from eight20 :).

kristine is a wedding photographer so we felt super special when she picked us to capture her own wedding day! kristine and rick tied the knot on july 4th, and there’s not a better group of people with whom we could spend america’s birthday.  i’m a sucker for “how we met” stories and i definitely think kristine and rick’s story is up there on the list. kristine met rick while photographing the wedding of rick’s brother. talk about finding love in the workplace! wedding days are already naturally filled with love, so it’s even sweeter to find your own love at a wedding.

fast forward to our photography consult about their wedding: i spent a day with kristine up in santa barbara a few weeks before the wedding to go over photo location ideas and i could not contain my excitement. kristine and i came up with fun and endless ideas from places like downtown sb to an old airplane hanger. the options and styles would provide fresh photos filled with joy. wedding photographers see so many wonderful details while out on the job that it can be overwhelming to sort through options and ideas when it comes to photographers planning their own weddings. kristine did a beautiful job and covered all her bases. kristine and rick’s wedding didn’t miss a beat and included deliciously beautiful juices at the beginning of the ceremony, personalized escort cards, devilishly yummy cupcakes, and a full candy bar that definitely symbolized the sweetness the couple shares in their relationship. perfectly planned and beautifully executed!

kristine and rick were so lucky to start their lives together in this way, surrounded by an amazing group of friends and wonderful family whose love just spilled out from every corner. we had such an amazing time celebrating with them and of course had to end the night with a little bit of 4th of july spirit. we grabbed kristine and rick, 2 cupcakes, and some sparklers for one of my favorite images from the whole day!!

congratulations kristine and rick! you are a true example of love sneaking in, even when you’re not expecting it!

location: rockwood women’s club, santa barbara
cupcakes: crushcakes
catering: pure joy
dj: ams entertainment
cadillac: classic motoring car rentals

In the last four years that we’ve been shooting weddings, one thing that’s always been consistent is the question about cost, and who can blame them? Clients always ask about the breakdown of costs and I found a great article that really delves into the expenses of hiring a wedding photographer, “Why is wedding photography so expensive?” Wedding photography and their prices can vary; what clients get and what they pay for it really depends on the photographers’ equipment, services, and deliverables so it’s important for brides and grooms to do research to understand exactly what they want and what they’ll get. When anyone comes into our studio, I always highly recommend they interview a few photographers to get a feel for the style of photography and photographer’s personalities. Our first priority is happy clients.

Bottomline: Higher quality is a better value for you! Think of shopping for a wedding photographer like shopping at your local shopping mall. You can buy a knock-off purse or invest in the Chanel one, though one of those — and you know which one! — might fall apart and leave you carrying all your stuff in a plastic bag. You can get a bite of sushi at your local gas station’s quick mart or you could get a reservation at Nobu. Both will leave you full, but one might give you food poisoning. Ouch. If you met someone special and you want it to be your last first date, you have the option to buy unreliable and uncomfortable shoes or you could feel safe in a delicious pair of Manolo Blahniks. But if your heel breaks on that hot date and you have to hobble around, well… anyways you get the point. Shopping for wedding photography for your special day comes with the same options. Some photographers are very low price, and some are extremely expensive. But the same way you look at handbags, shoes, and good food should also be how you think about your wedding photography: quality and value go hand in hand. Your wedding photos are the tangible memories of your wedding day and since your album can be handed down through generations, the quality, the moments captured, and the sturdy album are very important elements of a valuable piece.

Looking at wedding photographers’ sites can be daunting and overwhelming. There are so many different styles out there and after a while they can all start looking the same, but the expertise and the quality within might differ. A brand new photographer’s blog images might resemble those of a seasoned photographer’s but you have to look deeper down than just what you see on the outside. Blog images usually represent the best photos from that series; they’re the Photoshopped, hand selected images, but what about the rest that you don’t see? The same way a knock-off purse might look real on the outside, the inside is where it counts. The seams, the craftsmanship, the durability, and the longevity of its purpose should all be taken into consideration before plopping it on the check-out counter. When it comes to narrowing down a photographer, look at the album samples, and there should be a variety for you to see (are these albums something you would want to display in your home?) and click through the online gallery (is it user-friendly and easy for you and your guests to view, order, pick photos). These practices will showcase the photographer’s value.

Here are the questions I always hope people ask us, and if they don’t I tell them the answers anyway!:
Can we look at complete weddings, and not just one? (Really look for skin tones, exposure and framing).

Do you have insurance, for yourselves, your equipment and your business?

What type of cameras and lenses do you carry?

Do you have back-up equipment and are they the same high quality as the rest of your gear?

Do you always have a second shooter and are they random photographers or experienced wedding photographers?

What happens if you get sick and can’t be there?

Eric and I strive to keep our package costs within a couple’s reasonable budget, which is why our packages start under $3000 and album packages just under $4000. We have worked incredibly hard to give undivided customer service and run a boutique studio, taking on at most 30 weddings per year. I run our home studio and am always here for our clients, so they can always expect an email back from me within 24 hours! Shooting hundreds of weddings has allowed us the opportunity to be familiar with all cultures, venues, themes, and other vendors. Although no 2 weddings are alike, you can be assured that no special moment will be missed. Eric can bustle, I can fix flowers, and if your planner fails to show up, we can most likely run the whole show :). At the end of the day, we are there for our clients and only hope to give them the lasting memories and the high quality and value you would expect from Chanel, Nobu, and Manolo Blahnik!

It’s nice to know that excellent quality and great value don’t have to be painfully expensive for brides and grooms.

And because no post should be without a photo, here is one of my all time favorite detail shots from andrea and david’s wedding!