balboa wedding

Mirror Mirror - Balboa Experimental Portrait

I've had this mirror idea in my head for a few months now.  Finally, I found a day and an awesome subject, my friend Amy, to go out to the beach and work with this new concept.  This was more of an experimental shoot to tinker around with lighting and composition a bit. 

Originally, I was inspired by a landscape photographer named Murray Fredericks.  I came across his work and really loved what he was doing with mirrors.  He would bring a giant mirror out into the desert salt flats and photograph the sunsets.  His images had an abstract look which I loved and thought about integrating it into my style of photography.

I love doing landscape photography (check out my other website here) but as I also love shooting portraiture.  So why not meld both of these together for this idea?  The cool thing is, I had this  vintage mirror just sitting in my garage which was perfect for the occasion. I polished it up and we lugged it down the beach to a quiet and more spacious part of Balboa Peninsula.  A few onlookers were quite perplexed with whatever we were doing.  Apparently, it looked like we were setting up a television out on the beach (hey another good idea!). The sky was really clear that evening so once the sun went down it was a nice blue which complemented Amy's pink dress quite well. The vintage frame also matched her elegant look.  We even had some mist roll in and fog up the mirror which gave us a cool painterly effect of Amy's reflection in the mirror.  Each photoshoot is almost certain to have some surprises which in most cases are often challenges at first, but often lead to some serendipity.

I also included a time lapse video at the end of this post where you can see all the behind the scenes action for our photoshoot. Enjoy!

Here's the first go at my Mirror Mirror concept.

Balboa Beach Wedding

The weather for our couples wedding day here on Balboa Island (Newport Beach) was pouring rain, and with the ceremony to be held outside I was ready for plan B.   I had my rain proof plastic camera sleeves ready to go and the groom's family had purchased a few dozen umbrellas for the guests just in case.  Miraculously, 30 minutes before the ceremony was going to take commence, the rain stopped and the sky cleared!  The sun light was perfect and beautiful which only complemented the intimate wedding and the lovely bride and groom, Ryan and Nadia.  It was such an honor to be a part of their wedding day.

A quick back story on Nadia and Ryan.  Nadia is originally from Chile where she met her husband Ryan while he was down there on a surf trip. Although he only was expecting to catch some good waves he ended up meeting his future wife who then moved back with him to California.  Imagine leaving your family, friends, country, and coming to a brand new place where you only know your future husband and where you are still learning the language. Yes love is wonderful but at the same time there are sacrifices that have to be made to keep it strong given all of life's surprises and challenges.  I'm no expert at love or with relationships but that's been a realization I've had by just getting to know Ryan and Nadia.  Both of them are now my friends.  We will hang out and do a beach day or just hang out and eat bomb homemade Chilean food at their place.  🇨🇱🌶💙

5000 miles from home to marry her husband.

Enjoy the pics!
Don't forget to share this post with those engaged couples who would love a candid and intimate style of photography for their wedding day.