I'm finally back from WPPI, woohoo! What an unbelievable week of learning more about the amazing industry of wedding photography and connecting with wonderful people (both new and old friends). My body is about to collapse and my mind is totally drained, but my heart is totally pumped! There's SOOOOO much I want to share with you all, both brides and photographers. Can't WAIT! It's nearly 5AM so I better catch some shut eyes.

I'll post a quick recap of my TTD Workshop in Vegas later this week. Thanks to all that made it out and invested their time and money, I hope you guys enjoyed the day shooting with me and picked up a tip or two :). In the mean time, I'm excited to see one of Melissa and Adam''s engagement session photos place 16th in the engagement portrait portion of the WPJA 2009 Q4 Contest. This site gives me so much inspiration and ideas when it comes to wedding photojournalism, definitely worth checking out if you're a photographer. Okay, I'm off to bed, long day of catch-up tomorrow...

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Wow what a FUN, FUN, FUN night! Just a few hours ago, Nancy and I threw Ace (the real love of her life :P) his first birthday party. We invited a few friends who also have their own dog(s). All the little ones were so adorable and got along with each other so well! We played a few dog games and had treats for them all, including a birthday cake for the birthday boy Ace!

Thanks to those that attended: Trini, Gary, and their dogs Bella and Rocky; Jenny, Joe, and their dogs Moochi (sp?) and Cotton; Sharlene, John, and their dog Bailey; as well as a few other friends who made it but without a four-legged friend: Will, Mark, Stephanie, Morgan, and even our parents!

Check these video clips of Ace and the gang having a good time. Warning, there might be a lot of awwwing and more awwwing after seeing these ooberly cute friends!

Ace's 1st Birthday Party - Part 1 from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

Ace's 1st Birthday Party - Part 2 from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

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Hey gang, the biggest event of the year for wedding and portrait photographers, WPPI, is next week...woohoo! I'm really looking forward to the various shoots, classes, trade show, but most of all, I can't wait to see some of you again and meet some new friends :).

Below is my (tentative) schedule for WPPI. I'll be there from Wednesday, March 3rd until (most likely) Tuesday, March 10th. If you'd like to meet up and hang out, or just need to reach me, please try any of the following:

Phone/text: 626-664-6735

E-mail: henrychenphotography[at]gmail[dot]com

Twitter: @henrychen

 

Wednesday, 3/3:

4:00PM: Arrive in Vegas and check into hotel.

5:00PM+: Free for the evening, anyone want to grab dinner or hang out? Is there anything happening this night?

 

Thursday, 3/4:

3:00PM-9:00PM: Trash The Dress Workshop/Photoshoot.

9:00PM+: Free for the evening, anyone want to grab dinner or hang out? Is there anything happening this night?

 

Friday, 3/5:

11:00AM-4:00PM: Hotel/restaurant product shoot with Nancy.

5:00-7:00PM: Anyone want to grab an early dinner?

7:00PM-9:00PM: (Business Institute) Mitche Graf and Sandy Puc'.

9:00PM+: Free for the evening, anyone want to grab dinner or hang out? Is there anything happening this night?

 

Saturday, 3/6: 

8:00AM-9:30AM: (Business Institute) Jennifer Gilman.

10:00AM-11:30AM: (Business Institute) Matt Hill.

1:30PM-3:00PM: (Business Institute) Michael Warshall.

3:30PM-5:00PM: (Business Institute) Michael Costa.

5:30PM-7:00PM: (Business Institute) Team Panel Discussion.

7:00PM+: Free for the evening, anyone want to grab dinner or hang out? Is there anything happening this night?

 

Sunday, 3/7:

12:00PM-2:00PM: (Platform) Joe Photo.

2:30PM-4:30PM: (Platform) Doug Gordon.

6:00PM-7:00PM: Keynote - Gregory Heisler.

7:30PM-9:00PM: Welcome Reception.

8:00-10:00PM: Finao Party.

 

Monday, 3/8:

8:00AM-10:00AM: (Platform) Jerry Ghionis.

8:00AM-10:00AM: (Platform) Jesh de Rox.

10:00AM-3:30PM: Trade show; will be around the West Coast Albums booth, stop by!

3:30PM-5:30PM: (Platform) John Mireles.

3:30PM-5:30PM: (Platform) Cliff Mautner.

3:30PM-5:30PM: (Platform) Jim Garner.

6:30PM-8:30PM: (Platform) Kevin Kubota.

6:30PM-8:30PM: (Platform) Jasmine Star.

8:00-10:00PM: Pool Party.

 

Tuesday, 3/9:

8:00AM-10:00AM: (Platform) John Michael Cooper.

10:00AM-3:30PM: Trade show; will be around the West Coast Albums booth, stop by!

3:30PM-5:30PM: (Platform) Dane Sanders.

3:30PM-5:30PM: (Platform) Yervant Zanazanian.

5:30PM+: Back to Los Angeles.

 

All of these things, except the workshop I'm hosting, are subject to change (in case any last minute hang outs come up or I'm just dead tired :P). I'll have most of my camera gear with me, so if there's other shoots taking place, please let me know :). And I'm always up for picking each other's brain so if you just want to talk photography, business, etc. let me know too. Once again, here's my contact info:

Phone/text: 626-664-6735

E-mail: henrychenphotography[at]gmail[dot]com

Twitter: @henrychen

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Ivis + Mike's Engagement Session - Just when you think things have cooled off, especially with the recent gloomy weather in Long Beach, the ever-so awesome Ivis and Mike come along and heat everything up again. These two met on a double decker red bus (wink wink to some of the photos below) a few years ago; one is from a small town up North and the other grew up in the city down here. Together Ivis and Mike make one perfect pair. One thing that isn't a secret...they loooove to have a good time together, especially when it involves a few drinks and lots of smooching ;).

It's not just their ooberly sweet attire (brownie points again!) and dashing/beautiful looks that I admire, but it's also how they look at one another and just how much fun it has been knowing them. And who do I have to thank? The one and only Trini Randazzo of NOZZA Studio, pretty much the mastermind behind Henry Chen Photography ;). Ivis is a childhood friend of Trini, and when she got engaged, it didn't take long for Trini to start helping her plan the big day.

I'm REALLY looking forward to their vintage-style wedding out in Redlands on 4/2. Here's a few of my favs hanging out with Ivis and Mike on The Queen Mary and at The Sky Room down the block, gotta love Downtown Long Beach! Special thanks to Jared Crawford for assisting/shadowing me on Sunday and the folks at The Sky Room for being so awesome and letting us shoot at their pad.

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