The other day I noticed that Christine Meintjes (my favorite wedding photographer) had re-tweeted Henry Chen’s request for an assistant at an engagement session in LA. I totally freaked out because not two months ago I told Matt that I really wanted to start shadowing/assisting some professional photographers but I really didn’t know how to go about doing it. Rather than just reading about the photography biz, I wanted to experience it and learn from someone. I quickly sent a reply and was pumped when I heard back. We were to meet at Union Station in LA and then come back out to Pasadena (where I live). Sa-weet!
I took the afternoon off work (if you know me, you’ll understand how badly I wanted to do this!) and met Henry downtown. He is such a cool guy… very laid back and encouraging! My task for the afternoon was simple, carry his bag ‘o lenses and help swap them out when he needed a different one. He said I could take as many pictures as I wanted as long as I stayed in the background. I’m so glad I grabbed my camera at the last second!
Here’s Henry working his magic. I’ve got to say, the couple was a good looking couple! They are getting married in a couple of months and it was fun watching them giggle with each other in front of the camera.
I love this shot… sexy, sexy!
This shot was off to the side but it works for me. I never think to get silhouette’s (that’s Matt’s department) but thought it fun trying it out.
The couple teased each other a lot…
This one was taken on Suicide Bridge in Pasadena… I’m enamored with sunsets. I can’t get enough of them… it’s kind of ridiculous really.
Another favorite of mine… I love couples who love each other. It makes me all warm and fuzzy!
Working with Henry was great. It gave me a lot to think about and also highlighted areas where I’m lacking (um, hello, I still don’t shoot manually). I can’t wait to work on a few things, assist again, work on a few more things and keep on assisting.
Let me know which photographs you like… and why… and, please, I welcome constructive criticism!
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These are awesome shots Steph! What a cool opportunity. I’d love to learn more about shooting myself. I still do all my shots on the auto setting as well. No criticism from me. Just keep going for it!
Thanks, Sarah!
Love the silhouette photo! The lighting and depth of the tunnel is awesome…almost representative on the journey they are about to take…only thing I think to question is some of the sunlight makes it look kinda foggy, but maybe it’s supposed to look like that…otherwise, totally cool. Good Job!
Thanks for your comments, Stacie. So you are saying marriage is foggy? I was thinking the whole time we were at Suicide Bridge that someone should make a joke about how that correlates to marriage. Haha!
These are beautiful! My absolute favorites are the second and fifth one but they’re all really lovely
And they seriously are one good looking couple. That’s pretty awesome that he let you shoot too…some people are really weird about that.
I had so much fun and it’s great to hear some feedback. Thank you!
What a great opportunity! I like the silhouette and I actually like that it’s off centered. I also like the one of them walking on the bridge arm in arm. I like the vintage-esque colors and they look so comfortable with each other. And I like the way the bridge diminishes and creates a cool curved path for your eyes to follow. Good job. I don’t shoot in manual yet, but my goal is to learn how to do it by Christmas.
Thanks for the comments, Joy! That’s definitely what I was looking for.
Good luck shooting manually!