The Price Wedding, San Jose

in weddings on

Last week I returned from San Jose where I photographed Drew and Jana’s lovely afternoon wedding at Freedom Hall and Gardens.
Many of you probably already know that Drew and I went to high school together – quite a few years ago now, but we’ll not talk about that. haha! Like most of our generation we stayed in touch loosely online over the years between school, moving around (mostly me in that case), and other various things in life.
Last year when Drew decided he was going to propose to his girlfriend Jana, he reached out to me beforehand.

You guys might remember when I shared with everyone the engagement photos of Drew and Jana. Drew’s plan of a surprise proposal worked incredibly well. He talked to Jana and explained that he was going to have me come do some “couples photos” of the two of them so they had some nice photos of themselves. She liked the idea and no reason to suspect a thing.

IMG_9161

But when Drew signaled to me that this photo was going to be the proposal, and stepped back and got down on one knee, Jana was so surprised she took a step or two back in shock when she realized what he was doing.
It was really sweet.

But anyway, you guys are supposed to already know all that… cuz now they’re married and I’m posting about their wedding day!

My weekend at the Smoot-Price wedding started with the rehearsal at Freedom Hall and Gardens. I have shot several other weddings here (one of only two places I’ve photographed more than once). So I know how they do everything and have an idea of how lighting/etc will work – which makes things quicker and easier for me.
Rehearsal was a breeze as everyone walked through the order of events for the wedding day and we all caught up on life between rehearsing and then later at dinner.

The wedding day started as normal for me – hanging out with all the girls as they started their hair and makeup. Drew later told me he was surprised when I texted him that morning for the girl’s contact info when he realized how early I was heading to the hotel.
The morning was hilarious as all the girls spent the majority of the time talking about stories and laughing. I’m going to save a lot of comments for the photos below, as usual, too.
That evening’s wedding ceremony was beautiful. The day started out a bit cold and windy compared to the hotter weather just two days before. At one point we were a little concerned that we’d all be out in the cold for the ceremony. Fortunately we were wrong.

Anyway, click past the break for just over 350 photos from Drew and Jana’s wedding rehearsal and wedding day!
I’ll talk a bit more about the day in the captions.

Read More

The runDisney 2015 Princess Half as the #PrincessMen

in personal on

The impact we had on others during this race was an unexpected, flattering, and emotional surprise for all of us. What started as a silly joke to laugh at ourselves ended up encouraging others around us through our humor and energy.
It was never about getting a medal for our group. It was about the laughs. And I’m glad we were able to bring that to so many others.
The kind words from everyone, the many posts online of and about us, and the overwhelmingly positive response made our decision to continue this idea next year and beyond an easy one.

So I just recently returned from Orlando where I competed in the DisneyWorld Princess Half Marathon. I know a lot of people laughed when I said I would be doing a race that was such a short distance, and also a Disney race.
For those who don’t know me, I’ve never been big on the idea of “Pay to Run” (by myself). And the races I have started to compete in recently are 140 mile Ironman triathlons – I have three Iron races I’m doing later this year, actually.

The reason I’ve never been keen on paying to run is because I don’t feel like going and running a race by myself just to get a medal, and my newer hobby of triathlons is ridiculously expensive. But as an ex-cast-member the appeal of doing a Disney race with my old lifeguard buddies was still there.

Click the break to read more about our experience as #PrincessMen at runDisney’s Princess Half Marathon!

Read More

THE JOHN REMUS PHOTOGRAPHY 2014 CHRISTMAS CARD

in models personal on

“Have you checked our shitters, honey?”

My fifth annual Christmas Card.. Wow. Five years. That’s pretty damn cool.
Originally I had a very different idea in mind for this year. I was planning to go a bit crazier and take my cards to a different level for such a milestone card. However things don’t always go as planned, and I had to switch things up a bit.

“It’s not going in our yard Russ, it’s going in our living room.”

Read More

Tara and Gary’s San Francisco Wedding

in weddings on

I recently returned from the San Francisco Bay Area where I was shooting Tara and Gary’s wedding at City Hall! Tara and Gary had a 20’s style theme to their wedding weekend and reception, which was a lot of fun. They kept their dress/tux combo more toward the modern side as you see above, but the rest of the wedding party and guests were all dressed and encouraged to keep their styles closer to what you’d expect in the Great Gatsby or similar. My favorite part were all the youngest kids/cousins/etc running around in their outfits!

For those who don’t know, I met Tara about four years ago at Tom and Roxanne’s wedding in Monterey for Roxanne’s beach wedding. Tara and Roxanne are childhood friends and Tara was one of the many bridesmaids running around that weekend.

IMG_0213
Roxanne and Tara during Roxanne & Tom’s wedding reception 4 years ago.

Tara and I have stayed in touch on Facebook over the last couple years and now mostly comment back and forth about triathlons and training – I’m bugging her to do the Tahoe Half Ironman next year when I go to do the full. Roxanne, sign up for the Half Iron and go too! haha!

Well, when Tara started planning her wedding a while back she reached out to me about shooting for her and Gary as I had done years ago for Roxanne. Dates were selected, details worked out, and after many more months the wedding date rolled around.
The rehearsal and wedding were both in Downtown San Francisco – an area I don’t usually get a chance to shoot. The rehearsal evening was pretty quick and was at the hotel everyone was staying at. The ceremony the next day though was at City Hall – which is gorgeous. I thought it was going to be a bigger hassle dealing with camera gear/etc, but it was surprisingly easy. After the ceremony we went down to the water for a few photos before heading to the Athletic Club for the reception where we were be all night with the rest of the guests.

As usual I’ll leave the rest for captions. So click past the break for just nearly 300 images from Tara and Gary’s wedding weekend!

Read More

The Mykytyn Wedding – Mill Valley, Calif.

in weddings on

Last weekend I had the pleasure of shooting my friend Ewa’s wedding – an event in her life that, at one point, she would joke with me she never wanted to happen.
But it turns out she was wrong, and not only was it a great day, but she looked absolutely incredible.
I’ve known Ewa for 4 1/2 years now. We met at Amy and Michael’s wedding – she was one of the bridesmaids. Over the years we stayed in touch online and would catch up on life over coffee when I was in the Bay Area. The funny part of the whole thing is that when we met, Ewa was working in a divorce lawyers office. So her and I saw the complete opposite sides of marriage. I got to be part of the best day in a marriage, and she was constantly witnessing the ugly endings of them. So, needless to say, her opinion was (usually) “Nope. Never going to deal with THAT!”

Until she met Thomas.

Read More

The Sit-Yun Wedding – Morgan Hill, Calif.

in weddings on

It’s already October 1st and that means that I just photographed Chris and Rene Yun’s beautiful end-of-September wedding here in the South Bay Area!

You couldn’t have hoped for a better weekend, too! The SF Bay Area got a couple days of rain in the week leading up to their wedding which meant clear and clean blue skies for their afternoon ceremony! And what a fun time we all had, too!
I met Chris and Rene several years ago through the automotive community here in the Bay Area. And like most people these days we’ve stayed in touch primarily through social media. Rene had kept up with my photography work on Facebook, and later instagram, as I got busier traveling around the US shooting all manner of weddings.
So, when Chris proposed to her she reached out to me about shooting for the two of them. Chris later told me they were both thrilled that I was going to shoot for them and all he needed to know from Rene was “Just tell me where to send the check!” Haha! It sounds silly, I know. But honestly it’s very flattering to hear that the only concern from your bride and groom is your mailing address because they know you’ve moved recently. Chris and Rene both had full faith in me that I would be able to capture all they photos they were hoping for.

And we had a blast.

Both of them were perfect examples of “Don’t take your wedding too seriously” as the weekend flew by. They were laughing, joking around, and doing everything the way they wanted it to be done. Chris high-fived friends as he walked down the aisle, they took jumping-high-five photos during the portraits we shot, they pre-planned their first dance ahead of time, and made sure to say hello to every person that attended whether it was to thank them, take photos with those who traveled far to be there, or simply catch up on life for a few minutes. I don’t think Chris stopped smiling that whole evening.

So, onto the photos!
I’ve made a large selection of just over 360 images to tell the story of Chris and Rene’s wedding weekend. As always I will caption various moments here and there so those who couldn’t be there will know what’s going on.

Enjoy!

Read More

The Favazza-Bastow Wedding – Michigan

in weddings on

I just returned from Michigan where I spent the last weekend photographing Alex and Laura Bastow’s gorgeous wedding.

Firstly… it’s pronounced “bass-toe” like the fish and appendage on your foot.. How many people’s minds were just blown? Anyone? Cuz there were definitely friends at the wedding that didn’t know how to correctly pronounce Alex’s last name. Haha!
Anyway, I had a great weekend with these two who were kind enough to fly me out and host me for several days in the middle of all the normal craziness of a wedding. To add insult to an already-hectic time in anyone’s lives there were massive MASSIVE rains in the greater Detroit areas and their basement flooded a week before the wedding. These two handled it like a boss, though, and didn’t let it phase them or their plans for a great weekend with their relatives.

Read More

The Maxwell-Barron Wedding. Monterey, Calif.

in weddings on

The Maxwell-Barron wedding last weekend was absolutely gorgeous – and a ton of fun.
I’ve known Paul for 19 years now… wow… just did the math. That’s a long time. Hilary I met either in Jr. High or High School, I don’t really recall exactly when however I do remember back when we were all attending Cupertino High.
Over the last several years it’s been fun to watch the two of them together as they’ve dated since they’re ridiculously cute when they hang out with one and other. Paul and Hilary are one of those couples that just always seems to be having fun together. And having grown up since my early teens with Paul, knowing what a kind person he has always been, and knowing Hilary through my high school years, as the always-sweet-and-friendly friend of my younger sister, it was disgustingly cute to see them wind up together. Hahaha!

I have a lot writen out about their gorgeous wedding in Monterey. And I have various photos from all the weddings I’ve been lucky enough to attend with Paul and Hilary.
So click past the break and read on if you have some time! I hope you enjoy the images. I had a lot of fun with the Maxwell and Barron families and I hope all of you enjoy this glimpse of their wedding day!

Read More

The Curry-Butner Wedding. Saratoga, Calif.

in weddings on

The Curry-Butner Wedding at Saratoga Springs in Saratoga, Calif… a beautiful setting for a really gorgeous wedding.

Being able to be part of the Nicole’s and Rob’s weekend was awesome. I’ve known Nicole for 12 years… TWELVE.YEARS.
Crazy right? I met Nicole back when we worked at Paramount’s Great America. It’s a theme park and we both worked in the Entertainment department. She was a dancer and performer, and that particular season I was part of the Special Events technician crew. Nicole was part of the Nickelodeon show, a show that I was a performer in for two years prior to her joining the cast. And I’m really disappointed that I don’t currently have copies of my photos from those years with me. They’re all back home in SoCal on my storage and archive drives. So sadly I won’t be able to share those with you guys – though I’m sure Nicole is breathing a sigh of relief right now that there are no Nickelodeon or Scooby show photos posted up. Haha!

But they exist. ; )  ha!

I always had a lot of fun memories of working with Nicole those many years ago during that season. I also rode along with her down to Disney one time with another co-worker Nikki to join the rest of the Nick cast for a weekend at Disneyland in Anaheim. We even ended up in the parade as the guest-performers who danced along with the various characters.
..wait… WAIT!
OH MAN. I just found TWO photos from that trip on a folder on my server that I thought might have a couple images. Yesssss… hahaha!

disnick02      ncprde

So the left photo is all of us at the Sword in the Stone anvil. I’m on the top left and Nicole over on the right obviously. And the other photo is Nicole and Max (Goofy’s son) in the parade. One of our friends at the time recorded the parade with my camera so that’s a video still, actually. Woo!

Anyway, over the years as we all grew up I’ve been bouncing all over the world, country, and state but we’ve both kept up on what the other was up to. When Rob proposed to Nicole she said that I was among the first people she wanted to get in touch with to see if I was available to come to the Bay Area and shoot her wedding! Always so very flattering.

I finally got to meet Rob a few months back when we all went out to dinner. Wait, that was the first time we met, right? I think so… Honestly seeing their posts about running, and my joking that they should be in SoCal so I can train with them, etc has made it seem like I already knew Rob.. And certainly made it feel like far less than five or six years (at least) since I had seen Nicole in person the last time.

As their wedding weekend approached it was fun to see/hear Nicole’s excitement escalate in her messages/emails as we went over just a few last details as things got closer. Sometimes people get stressed out.. but that certainly wasn’t the case with Nicole. And I honestly think her excitement made me that much more excited as well.

The entire weekend was a blast. The ceremony was beautiful. Nicole looked amazing in her dress and Rob was super sharp in his new suit.
As always I’m going to share more in the captions below. So, click the break. Read on! And check out nearly 400 images from Nicole and Rob’s wedding at Saratoga Springs!!
It’s a lot. I know. But, I know that there are those who will look at every photo, and those who don’t want to can scroll to the moments they want to see ;)

Enjoy everyone!

Read More

Ninja Turtles: A Re-Imagining. TMNT as humans

in personal studio work on

It’s been a long time in the making, but I’ve finished my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Re-Imagined poster!
And here it is.

From the first photoshoot (Raphael) to the last shoot (Splinter) it officially took me 27 months to photograph everyone. But there is a long explanation behind why it took me so long to complete this project.
So go grab yourself something to drink, maybe a slice of pizza, and get ready for my extremely detailed story behind this project, why I created it, and what went into putting something like this together.

Anyway, click past the break to read on!!

Read More