Aaron Dieppa

Hotel Se in San Diego epitomizes modern style.  And when Diane and Brandon asked me to do their engagement photography there, I wasn’t sure what to expect because I had never been there before.  But I soon found out that Hotel Se is great for engagement photography.  Around every corner was a different beautiful backdrop which per the words on their website were all “urban chic asian-inspired design.”  Say that 10 times fast!

After getting some amazing photos there we walked around downtown San Diego for a bit and then headed over to Hotel Del Coronado to wrap it up.  And on the way we took some really unique photos on an escalator.  This was definitely a highlight for me, since I’ve never seen engagement photos on an escalator, nor have I ever taken photos like this.  It was kind of difficult because we had to time it right to make sure Diane and Brandon would be across from each other in the right spot.  I love the way they turned out.  So cool!

Oh and I must thank my beautiful wife Barbara for joining us.  She is always a source of inspiration for me when I work. Diane and Brandon were so much fun to spend time with.  They were so relaxed and joyful it was an absolute pleasure to be around them and I cannot wait for their wedding this May!

A few weeks ago my good friend Brian Khang invited me to join him with a fashion photo shoot he was organizing.  Vivian Tran from All Made Up supplied the hair and makeup for the event.  We had three amazing models, Quynh Khang, Scott Jemison and Tina Khong.  Much of the photo shoot was done in the woods at a “secret location.”  ;)

Ok I’m gonna come clean…before I got married I was a little biased when it came to the discussion of photography versus videography.  And at first I didn’t even want to hire a videographer for my own wedding.  I thought, “Why do we need a videographer.  We’re just going to end up with a video that we’ll watch once and then forget about.  It’s not like a photo album that will be out on display on our coffee table.”  To me video was such an intangible media when compared to printed photos and albums.  But now that my wedding has passed I can whole-heartedly proclaim that video played an integral part of capturing the memories of our wedding day.  EVERYONE should hire a videographer.  The Motion Boutique did an amazing job with our video.  I’ve watched it SO many times now and every time I get all choked up. It isn’t about photography vs videography or which is the superior art-form.  It’s about creating more than one artistic representation of your wedding so that you can remember it in different ways, through the eyes of different people.  I will always love photography.  It is my chosen form of artistic expression and my passion.  However, now I see that video offers something uniquely beautiful and different than photography and together they compliment each other.

Video by: The Motion Boutique

Photos by: Gabriel Ryan Photographers

I was just recently interviewed on the Camera Dojo podcast by Kerry Garrison and David Esquire. One of the things we talked about was how you can post video straight to your blog with the new iPhone 3GS. So I promised I would upload a clip from the actual interview from my phone.

Gabriel and Carlie’s brand new client lounge. It’s super chic, and ultra hip check it out!!

Gabriel Ryan Photographers