Ian's Green Journal

Firestone Winery Vineyard Mesa Wedding Photography – Jany and David

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:49:59 GMT

Originally published at Wedding Photography Blog by Los Angeles Photographer Ian Grant. Please leave any comments there.

We see a lot of wedding venues every year, and after everything is said and done Firestone Winery is still one of our favorite venues to travel to. Jany and David first saw our work from Joe and Kelly’s fantastic wedding last year, and like most people who discover Firestone, instantly knew it was their ideal destination wedding location [Joe and Kelly even wrote a huge Firestone review they were so pleased]. Jany and David flew in from Ohio and brought their closest family members along for a wonderful sunset ceremony under Firestone’s new Vineyard Mesa tree, right near their Crossroads Estate location.

Joy Proctor, who is a wonderful Santa Barbara wedding planner brought us along again and put together some wonderful details. One of the highlights of the new Firestone location is the ability to use their rustic barrel room, which was gorgeously lit by candle light.

To see more of our work please visit our wedding portfolio at distinctphoto.com.

Ian Grant Photography featured in Philadelphia Magazine!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:37:22 GMT

Originally published at Wedding Photography Blog by Los Angeles Photographer Ian Grant. Please leave any comments there.

How cool is this?! One of our favorites weddings this year of Katie and Mike was just listed as a ‘Featured Wedding‘ in Philadelphia Magazine’s real weddings section. Their wedding had a great unique quality to it with lots of saturated reds and vintage tones. You can see the article here and see more photos from their wedding in Philadelphia on our blog post.

Distinctphoto.com is Updated!

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:03:47 GMT

Originally published at Wedding Photography Blog by Los Angeles Photographer Ian Grant. Please leave any comments there.

It seems like every year or so I outgrow whatever portfolio site I have and then have to do this massive upgrade to a new system and it forces me to go through the multi tens of thousands of wedding photos I have compiled. I actually kind of like it though. So, if any of you haven’t seen my new Distinctphoto.com site, go check it out- it has all my favorite landscapes on there too which I’m pretty proud of. Once wedding season finally calms in the next few weeks I’ll finally be able to go back and start posting all the blog entries of the exciting weddings I’ve shot [see above]. I’ve got probably a good 25 entries in the works with some amazing brides to flaunt!

Pre-order Canon 1D Mark IV

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:08:42 GMT

Originally published at Wedding Photography Blog by Los Angeles Photographer Ian Grant. Please leave any comments there.

I like to drool over camera gear, and I’m lucky to be able to call my expensive hobby my job. With that said, whenever a new camera comes out I kind of get giddy even if they’re not practical at all for me. Such is the case with the new Canon 1D Mark IV. My main camera is currently the Canon 5D Mark II which is really almost overkill in a way for what I do, but it makes me happy. As much as I like them, the 1 series are what I call wrist busters. When you combine the heavy L lenses with an already heavy camera you come home from weddings with a busted wrist from lifting them around all the time. I already have a hard enough time with my 5DMII, I come home from weddings and slap Icy Hot all over my arms- adding another few pounds on top of my already heavy camera is straight out of my nightmares. So anyway, new Canon 1 series, very cool, drop $5k and go pre-order yourself a new camera!

Switzerland Photos are Up!

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:01:59 GMT

Sorry I've dropped off the face of the planet for the last month, actually it was kind of expected- it's been an insane wedding season and September was our busiest month. No fear- I have some really fantastic photos to share that are going to put last year's to shame. In between editing and delivering weddings [ie: 4AM] I was unable to control myself and whipped all my Switzerland photos together. I really think it's my best travel set I've ever done which is saying something because I still really love my Ireland photos from a couple years ago. Anyway, with that said- I have all my favorites up on our new magically new Distinctphoto.com. Click here to see and I hope you enjoy!

Thank you Jesse and Miranda!

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:07:58 GMT

Originally published at Wedding Photography Blog by Los Angeles Photographer Ian Grant. Please leave any comments there.

It was such a pleasure to shoot to shoot Jesse and Miranda a few weeks ago up in San Francisco. I won’t get into details just yet [I'll post their entry soon] but we just got one of the sweetest thank you notes in our email box.

Ian & Tanya,
Where do we begin?! The photos of our wedding are absolutely stunning! I truly can not thank you enough for what a spectacular job you & Tanya did. During the day you were so discrete. You never felt intrusive. And yet, when I look at the pictures, you seemed to have been up in every nook & cranny! Lol. How did you manage to be so inconspicuous but still catch every moment??

When we initially looked for our wedding photographer we wanted someone who could take gorgeous, contemporary photos. But, now that the big day is over with, we have a different perspective. You gave us SO much more than that. Not only did you meet our expectations in giving us amazing shots with great editing effects, but you caught memories & froze them in time. You caught little nuances & details that I didn’t even notice at the time (like the way my dad was hanging onto my arm and the expression on my mom’s face). And the emotions you caught. . . wow!!! That is the most meaningful to us.

I’m sorry to ramble on and on. But, we are just so grateful to you! We really feel so appreciative. Because, after the wedding we were trying to replay the day in our minds, then when we got your photos we saw that you had captured everything!!! Man, some of the photos look like they could be in a catalogue. Just BEAUTIFUL! And the colors! They were so vibrant; I don’t know what you did!!

I could go on forever. . . so I better end this somewhere, ha ha. We’ll refer you to others in a heartbeat & we wish you much success!! Give us a week or so to decide on which photos we want printed in the book. We’ll get back to you shortly.

-Miranda & Jesse

Thanks so much guys, and it was our pleasure!

Palos Verdes Engagement Photography: Nicole and Joel

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:02:45 GMT

Tanya and I both feel really blessed to have as many fun couples to photograph with this year as we do. Nicole and Joel are both very much part of that group! Not only are they great to be around, but their wedding is at one of our favorite venues Firestone Vineyards up by Santa Barbara! We also get to work again with our favorite planner, Joy Proctor of Joy de Vive Wedding Planning. If you remember from our previous Firestone post, the venue is simply tops, so there's going to be some amazing photos to come!

For their engagement session, we decided to shoot out on the Palos Verdes peninsula. As luck would have it, Southern California's June gloom had officially set in, but we decided to give it a go anyway and I really think the pictures speak for themselves. Nicole and Joel are a fantastic carefree couple, and we can't wait to shoot their wedding in a few months!

x See them larger at iangrantphotography.com

Day One: Mendocino Road Trip

Wed, 06 May 2009 03:08:43 GMT

As some of you may have followed, my friend Nick and I were able to escape for the weekend and go camping up in Mendocino County of California. On day one we drove overnight up to Fort Bragg from LA and stayed the night at Mackerricher State Park along the beach. During the day we explored Mackerricher and saw some baby seals and later on we headed down to Jug Handle State Reserve which I'd highly recommend. Just the peninsula area overlooking the water was worth it alone.
While it was coastal cloudy in the morning, the later in the day it got, the more rain started coming in which seriously hampered a lot of picture taking. By the end of the night it was downpouring and everything covering us got soaked. Thankfully after some serious time spent we were able to get a fire going which made everything better. The highlight without a doubt was seeing 6 Banana Slugs which are the largest slugs in the world!
I'll be posting day two's photos in the next couple days, hope you enjoy!

See them larger at IanGrantPhotography.com

This About Sums Up my Weekend...

Mon, 04 May 2009 22:32:55 GMT

It was a very cold and rainy camping adventure on the Mendocino coastline [this is me as I'm about to get pulled out to sea by a freak wave].

Death Trip 2009

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:50:15 GMT

This weekend my friend Nick and I are heading off on one of our absuredly long roadtrips again! This time we are traveling from Los Angeles to a little coastal town called Fort Bragg in Mendocino County [about 3/4 up the California coastline]. We're going to be camping at Mackericher State Park right next to the Pacific with potential wolves waiting for our tired bodies. From there we're taking Highway 1 down to Salt Point State Park and camping there as well. Bookmark this page as I'll be uploading camera phone photos from the road, I'll have to keep a running tally of how many miles we do. Till then you can look at a picture of Riley and see how much he already misses me.

For a small sampling of previous 'death-trips' as we call them please see:
• 2007: The Channel Island Deathtrip
• 2007: The Petrified Desert Deathtrip [camera-phone updates]
• 2008: The Oregone Deathtrip [also camera-phone updates]

We're probably going to be on the road and posting from roughly 2am'ish Thursday - 3pm Sunday.

Please visit IanGrantPhotography.com for awesome camera phone updates through the weekend!

Big Moves! Giant Prints!

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:59:12 GMT

So, if I didn't mention it already- Tanya and I packed up our pets, garden, and photo supplies and moved quite literally two doors down [approx. 20 feet north]. What this means is a] an OFFICE! b] a new home for Riley the dog [uh, the office] and c] more space than we know what to do with! We've been living in a pretty small space for the last few years and when a new place opened up, we decided to make the change. We're both kind of pack rats and this was revealed in the move, so now we're able to spread out a bit and really get rid of that overall claustrophobic feeling. With that, it's also gives us tons of space for beautiful landscapes on the wall! We fit one wall with some great images from my last Ireland trip and the other from Harris Beach State Park, and yet another with some vintage Salton Sea photos in white frames. What was left was the biggest wall right behind our couches. What better way to fill it then a giant 60x40 canvas of a blue Big Sur photograph! I'm pretty psyched as I don't think I've ever seen any of my photos this big, but I'll have to report back on how it looks. I'm a little scared/nervous though, this is going to be so cool!

Malibu Engagement Photography: Nayla and Matt

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:39:41 GMT

How cute are these guys? Hiking and general outdoorsy stuff are some of Matt and Nayla's favorite activities, so it only made sense for us to head off to Point Dume State Beach for their e-session. Point Dume [somewhat near El Matador, one of our special spots] is one of their favorite getaways, so it was nice to be able to see a new great location in LA. There are tons of little amazing hideaways in LA, Point Dume is definitely one of them...it's also home to the final scene in Planet of the Apes with the Statue of Liberty!

We caught some really amazing sunset light and found a very inquisitive lady-bug in our little adventure. Overall we got some of my favorite engagement photos yet this year, and I've been looking forward to sharing them with you!

See them larger at our Wedding Photography Blog
or see our full Wedding Photography portfolio

Los Angeles Headshots: Rhianna

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:20:36 GMT

Recently I've been shooting lots of headshots in the area, and it's always a fun exercise to try and get the best portraits out of the client. One of my more recent actresses was a girl named Rhianna who just moved out here to LA. I heard back from her within a week and turns out she's already booking gigs from her shots. Good luck!

For more of our images see our Los Angeles Headshots gallery

we're back live

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:55:21 GMT

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/i-make-videos
kittie + puppy cam: watch them try to break through the screen!
live as of 1pm pst

We're Moving in on the Internets

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:20:09 GMT

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/i-make-videos

...or at least our new apartment. Streaming all day today, maybe tomorrow.

UCLA Engagement Photography - Stephanie and Max

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:12:08 GMT

Stephanie and Max are such a great couple and a real treat to be around! I've been really excited about shooting their wedding as they booked us partly on the fact that I'm a landscape photographer and the landscape up where they're getting hitched [in Fillmore, CA] is fantastic. Very old west and rustic. I think the photos we're going to be able to get up there are going to be amazing, so we're setting aside a little chunk of time to get some really great portraits. With that said, we met the other day over at UCLA to get some engagement photos- they both met at the college and we thought we'd take advantage of its great architecture and spacious campus. Enjoy!

Los Angeles Engagement Session - Jesse and Miranda

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:34:56 GMT

Our clients Jesse and Miranda have their hearts set on doing a nice modern style wedding so when it came time for their engagement session what better place to shoot than the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles. If you haven't visited the concert hall yet, you can spend easily a good hour just walking around the place without even stepping foot inside. It's a piece of architectural amazement and I think we really took advantage. We're going to be shooting their wedding in August up by San Francisco and are really looking forward to it!

Thanks Katie and Mike!

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:24:24 GMT

Our wedding client Katie [you might remember our entry about their awesome wedding idea] just wrote a really sweet entry about working with us in her blog. All the pieces of their crazy 'around the world' wedding are coming together and they're gearing up for a very soon departure! We're going to be catching them at the end of their journey in Philadelphia and maybe if we can time it right up in San Francisco/Napa. Just the other day they secured the prime piece of the trip puzzle- a reservation at The French Laundry, one of the most famous restaurants in the world!

Check out their nice words about working with us.
Thanks Katie and Mike!

Los Angeles Wedding Photography - Molly and Bill

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:39:39 GMT

You might remember Molly and Bill from our amazing engagement session last December! A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of shooting Molly and Bill's wedding. Bill is the associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills, which you might recognize from the weddings of Karen and Dan and Rachelle and AJ. Molly and Bill had a huge turnout at their wedding - 400 or so guests! Every person we talked to had nothing but wonderful things to say about this couple.

Molly and Bill's love for one another is a tangible thing; you can feel it in the way they look at each other and hold each other. Bill got teary-eyed when Molly walked down the aisle, and their first kiss was met with a standing ovation. During a memorable toast, Molly's friend and old roommate talked about their courtship. Bill wooed Molly in the way every woman should be wooed, her friend said. She made everyone laugh by saying that Molly had a type of tourette's during the first stages of their relationship - randomly shouting out, "I love Bill!"

After the toasts and a sweet first dance, the party continued. The DJ had the girls voguing to Madonna and the guys strutting their stuff. The community showed their support with each family bringing a wedding cake for the couple. They cut into a three tiered cake made by a church member and her granddaughter. To show their respect for the community that had supported them through their relationship, the garter and toss bouquet were presented to the pastor and his wife. The whole wedding was filled with personal touches and you could feel what a close knit community Molly and Bill bring together.

Photography by Ian Grant Photography / Distinctphoto.com

LA > IRE

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:18:08 GMT

have you noticed how cheap airfare is lately? anyone want to go to ireland with me for $388?

Lame Entry

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:12:31 GMT

2005 no more! I have an updated livejournal profile! [not really worth your time looking]

update// oh god it's so awesome.

Salvation Mountain and my Friend Leonard

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:36:30 GMT

This last weekend my friend Valeri and I went down to the Salton Sea for the third edition of the yearly trip. It's been one of my favorite places in California to go visit because it's in a way a photographer's paradise. There's tons of junk, abandoned houses, interesting and crazy people, and migratory birds. One of my favorite places to visit [I'll post the rest of the trip photos later] is Salvation Mountain. I love to take people because in a way you can't really describe the place to people- it's just something to be experienced. Granted, I really love eccentric old people so that has something to do with it, but the fact that this guy named Leonard decided to set up camp and paint a hillside for 20 years is just so awesome to me. By hillside, I mean anything in the area including his cars, motorcycle, mailbox, etc. Last time I went I was so bummed out he wasn't there, but this year he was so we got the full out tour and the whole bit. If you ever want a really awesome inspiring day tour, go check this place out before it gets too hot out there. Slab City is also right near there which is a crazy place in its own right.

x-posted larger on iangrantphotography.com

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:13:42 GMT

I know I haven't posted Jesse and Miranda's amazing e-session yet, but I thought I'd share with you the awesome postcard design we made for them. They wanted a great modern style postcard to share with their family and announce their engagement to the world! We pulled out our favorite images and designed this up for them, a ton of fun for us as designing postcards is probably one of my favorite things in the world to do. One of the benefits to being our clients is you also get our world famous holiday postcards every year. More e-session photos to come!

x-posted larger to iangrantphotography.com

Figure Study - Fields in Calabasas

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:02:35 GMT

Every once in awhile it's nice to go out and try something new and challenging, and this last week was a great opportunity to do this. I have a great friend who I love shooting with and once a year we go do a set of figure studies in and around the outlying LA area. I like the challenge of it as it's a good test for me in keeping the person I'm working with comfortable as well as well as incorporating the environment, lighting, etc. Also, since I'm a lifelong student of photography, I've been seeing people like Edward Weston's work for many years now and realize the amount of time and patience that goes into it. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks they're some of his best work.

Anyway enough blabbing. I have a few of my favorites from the session behind the cut- if you're not comfortable with the human form then don't click below.

x-posted to iangrantphotography.com

Torrey Pines Engagement Photography - Kristin and Dimitri

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:04:53 GMT

On Saturday, Tanya and I headed down to San Diego to shoot an engagement for a really cute couple Kristin and Dimitri. We were really excited to work with them, as apart from them being really awesome and full of energy, they invited us to come shoot at one of our favorite spots- Torrey Pines State Reserve. Last time I was down there was around this time of year and I got some really great stock images of the area. If you ever want to get away from the city life, this is the place to do it as you get great foggy ocean waves and fantastic sea cliffs. Kristin and Dimitri put us to the test on slippery rocks and we bonded over love of the Salton Sea. I seriously need to stop my sales pitch for going there to everyone. Here are some of the pics, hope you enjoy!

See larger versions at the Wedding Photography Blog

Photography by Los Angeles Wedding Photographer Ian Grant