Christina and Gregory - Downtown Los Angeles Engagement

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by my friends, Christina and Greg, to shoot their engagement photos. I’m always honored when asked to shoot special moments like these. There are hundreds of photographers out there and for them to ask me, well it’s humbling to say the least. Of course I jumped at the opportunity because, honestly, it’s been a long time since I shot an an event like this. Covid really slowed a lot of things down, including my photo sessions.

I reached out to my good friend and fellow shooter Quian to see if he was ready to get back on our Q & R Wedding photography game (website coming soon). I felt like this would be a good session for us to get back into the swing of things. When talking to Christina and Greg about their session, we decided on Downtown Los Angeles as the destination. Greg was able to get access to a room at the Hope and Flower apartment complex. I’d never been there myself so I googled the place. It looked like a nice place to shoot but I noticed not too many engagement photos in the feed. It made me curious as to how the lighting would be, the look of the interior or if a permit would be required.

Once we looked around the complex we found a game room that was open that had a nice overlook of the city. Q and I knew for sure we could make some magic happen here (haha). We set up a off camera flash and started the session. No more than 5 minutes into shooting, we got a visit from the security. He stated that our lighting wasn’t allowed and we would have to stop shooting, so we packed it up. Once he left, we rushed out to the patio area to shoot some remaining shots. I told Greg it would probably be better to use the room he had access to instead of dodging security guards (haha). Greg took us to the room that had a balcony with an amazing view of Staples Center and L.A.. I knew the balcony was going to be the place to shoot. It was a little smaller area to work with but we made it happen just in time for golden hour. Overall I just love these experiences. Not only the shooting itself - but the communication and collaboration between the couple and I to help the vision come to life. This shoot exceeded my expectations and I hope it exceeded Christina and Greg’s as well.