Laura Headshots

Laura called me looking for headshots for her new career as a Political Science Professor at Cal State Pomona and Azusa Pacific in the new upcoming 2017 year. For someone who has never been professionally photographed, she did wonderful taking instructions. She wanted something professional, yet something that wasn't too uptight so we decided to go with an outdoor portrait. Here are some of the ones she picked.

It was such a pleasure getting to know you and taking your photos for your new job. I wish you all the best in your pursuit!

Andrew Manley
Headshot Portrait Photographer
Los Angeles Photographer

Nar and Danny Engagements at Mt Baldy, CA

Have you ever had a friend that met someone and you knew that it was gonna be happily ever after? For me, this is one of those rare cases where I knew after I had met Nar, that Danny was gonna marry this girl. I actually called it the first time I met her.... and so now here we are prepping for their lives together. 

Photographing these two lovebirds during an extremely breezy Sunday morning was challenging because getting hair to cooperate is impossible. However these two were down for the ride and we had a blast up in the mountains. 

Getting two people who feel uncomfortable in front of the camera is always fun because they never know what to expect but it only takes a short while to find their groove and get natural moments. 

We kept things fun by allowing the two to be naturally who they are... playful and flirty kept the two interacting with one another.... of course kisses on the neck and naughty speak bring out the real big smiles as you can see... lol

One of my favorites was the shot above where I creeped on these two enjoying a moment of patty cakes.... because when you are in love and your photographer tells you to do it, you do it! 

I can't wait for the wedding guys.... as crazy as you two are, its gonna be a blast. 

Andrew Manley
Wedding Photographer

Family Portraits at Mt Baldy Mountains

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing three different families at Mt Baldy Mountains. It was such a lovely day to take photos as it was brisk yet warm when the sun started to break through the trees. 

I had the pleasure of documenting the lives of these 3 families all at different stages of their growth. A new family with a 5 month old, a family of 5 five with 3 pre-teens and a larger family where the kids were already grown and had their own child. 

About 8 years ago, I shot children lifestyle full time for 3 years so it has been some time since I have been hired to shoot a family. However old skills kicked right back in when I met these families and jumped right in to capture the essence of their lives. Since having a family of my own since then, I can understand even more deeply how important it is to capture children. Their lives change so fast and it's the only way to really remember them in all of their glory. 

Thank you to the Arevalo, Nguyen and Muon family for allowing me to capture your family.

Happy Thanksgiving all and spread love everyday. 

Andrew Manley

Olan Mills Styled Family Portrait... taking it way back

#tbt
So for the guys that know me well, know that I am not a "middle of the road" type of guy. Matter of fact, I usually like to do things way over board and I have little regard for other people's opinion. So hence why I created an image like this lol....

Every holiday season, my wife and I get holiday cards from friends and family but I wanted to do something different back in Christmas of 2013. I wanted to give people a good chuckle. 

One day as I was browsing for posing ideas, I saw this creepy ass family portrait. All of us who grew up in the 80's know exactly what I am talking about. I don't know how it became a trend but the entire 80's and early 90's was a big trip. So with this as my inspiration to replicate, I set forth in my conquest of an awesome but creepy family portrait. 

Had to get wardrobe down so I had my wife look for wardrobe at a thrift store. She found me a vanilla colored turtle neck that would be perfect. I was trying to find a wig to go with my 80's sweater but to no avail so I kept it OG. My wife found a velvet like sweater and we put my son in a vest with a turtle neck to match his old pops. 

When I was young, I hated taking photos... I would make stupid faces all the time. I had no care for photos so how does life repay me for all my bad deeds? My son does the same lol... but I had to bully him to cooperating. I guess it worked out since he wanted to make silly faces. Totally worked out in the last frame. (we did take more than 3 frames).

I used a black backdrop and board so that I can blend and hide myself into the tobacco texture. Used a simple two light setup with the key light being about 5 stops brighter than the fill. Just wanted subtle details on the right side of my face. Damn it was getting hot in that sweater, at least that's what I remembered... lol

Chimping... making sure it's all gravy.

Sat down for a quick edit to make sure that the composite is good and boom goes the dynamite. 

and just like that folks, I created magic. Sent it to all our friends and family where most of them died to mass hysteria. I have to give mad props to my beautiful wife for being down for the ride and thank you to my son for being who he is. This is my family, we are different and that's just normal to us. LOL.

Oh I totally forgot about these other two I did until Alec reminded me. I did a set with Lloyd on his scooter. He was so in love with her and that helmet. That hair doe... and then Alec and Mona were committed to the portrait. Look at all the fun these create! Life is all about being a G!

Hope you all enjoyed this one. 

Andrew Manley

Engagement: Martha + Frank - A moment in Mt Baldy Mountains

I believe that every relationship should be mutual. There should be a natural flow of things and when all the elements come together, magic will happen. Kind of like the photo above, the water flows down river. 

Martha and Frank are a great example of a natural love cause it is so easy for them to be who they are without any hesitation. That in turn makes it easy for me to capture them because the chemistry is good for everyone! 

You can see their engagement photos by clicking here: Martha + Frank

I like to try and show what went down behind the scenes as it gives you a glimpse of what it is like to work with me. I am a free spirit and I am a pretty RAW individual. So it is natural for me to have fun with my clients because I think when you guys are relaxed and having a good time, your photos will be relaxed and engaging as well. 

Martha + Frank were naturals in front of the camera. It was almost like we weren't there, I had to keep reminding them that we were so they knew what was up. 

Jokes... you got jokes? These two got jokes for days. 

I don't mind posing for my clients... sometimes people can tell that I have modeled in my past life or something so I give them what they want. It's apart of the service I provide

Sometimes while finding the right light, we like to throw in extra bodies into the frame to make sure that it looks good from multiple angles. Light check

While we had a moment, I snapped this profile shot of her with a cool mountain breeze that swept through. 

Had to close off the shoot with a Boys Only photo. Nothing like boys chillin' on a rock for no good reason. 

Thanks for stopping by to check out the blog. Still working on getting you guys a more comprehensive blog post so bare with me in the meantime!

Thank you
Andrew Manley

Southern California Wedding/Portrait Photographer 
Serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino County + Destination.
http://www.andrewmanley.com