Welcoming The 2017 Season

2016 was full of news of celebrities passing away, and therefore many people cannot wait for 2017. While all these news did affect me as well (David Bowie is probably the one that affected me most, not to diminish the others), it was also the year where many couples started new lives as husband and wife or added a new life (literally) to their households, or they were just happy to see us make a visual note of their growing kids. As the partners behind Kerem Hanci Photography and Shoot The Head Headshot Photography, my wife and I were thrilled to be with these families to document their journey. We had hundreds of inspiring shoots this year. I wanted to take the time and recognize some of my favorite people and shoots from the past year while celebrating the return of Friday Photography Blog and the upcoming new year, new weddings, new family portraits and more. 2016 Wedding Season started early for me, with Amanda & Jeff's dreamy wedding at the gorgeous Carondelet House in Los Angeles. This lovely couple were going to spend their honeymoon in Tuscany, so it was great to connect with them over their upcoming trip as I talked about our recent trip to the Chianti region. My wife had a two-part article in her Outdoor Families Magazine. If you care to read it, here they are: Part I & Part II

The year continued with one of my favorite families. When I decided to enrich the coverage of Kerem Hanci Photography brand, without compromising our style and unique approach to weddings and family shoots, my wife came in as a partner and the first full wedding she has ever shot was Burçin and Shai's wedding. I had the pleasure to work with them for their ridiculously adorable (Part I) and ambitious (Part II) engagement project (that they ended up using as their intro on their wedding night) and following their wedding, they easily became our favorite couple and our friendship grew from there. Well, this year, Burçin and Shai welcomed their son Berlin and we were there to capture the milestones. First it was the baby shower...

Then came the epic maternity shoot....

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Following that we had the opportunity to get together to see Berlin grow into a handsome young man.

Oh, sorry, wrong picture... Here are a few more from Berlin's newborn shoot and 7-month shoot.

In February, I had the pleasure of shooting the very intimate wedding of Michele and Jack at the peaceful and lovely Mountain Mermaid.

The wedding season got busy for KHP in April, with three back to back weddings, the first one being Yvette and Giovanni's on a rare rainy day in downtown Los Angeles.

Off to Temple City to document Jessica and Alvarado saying their I-dos in their colorful wedding.

And the last wedding of April was Gabriela and Charles' ceremony in Diamond Bar.

Another couple we have the pleasure to work with for a while now who had an addition to their family is Kristy & Göker... I had the pleasure to shoot their engagement session and Jennifer and I shot their wedding. We did have a peaceful maternity session and a fun newborn session with them. We were thrilled to meet Ender on his 11th day!

In May, I've had the tremendous pleasure of working with Shawna and Mark, with whom I met again in August, for an additional reception and portrait session. The wedding took place in the gorgeous Portofino Hotel & Marina in Redondo Beach, CA, famous for its beautiful lobby.

The second May wedding was in Cherry Valley, CA. Serena and Nerces tied the knot in a rustic setting at the Highland Springs Resort.

Have I mentioned how much fun we had?

The last wedding I shot in May was of Bianca & Hector's in Long Beach. They both have a contagious smile, and their choice of colors were impeccable.

I took Charlene and Jon to Griffith Park for their engagement session in December of 2015. Jon is a UCLA alumnus and their wedding ceremony took place in his old campus in June 2016.

Jen and I took a little break from wedding and engagement shoots to go meet the adorable Aria. A few years back, I shot the beach ceremony of Parla & Hürrem and they called me when they have their daughter.

Where is Aria?!

I had the fortune to be able to help two couples in dire need of photographer for their events. The first one is an out-of-town couple who were having their ring-exchange ceremony in the presence of their family and they needed someone within a day or two. They were lucky (so was I) that it was one of the few free weekends I had and I was able to accommodate their needs. I look forward to see them again for their wedding next December!

The other couple put everything together incredibly quickly and when they called me for both photography and video coverage, I put the awesome team together and we shot this incredibly intimate wedding right in the heart of Hollywood at Beso.

July was a busy month. I shot Emily and Kyle's wedding in the elegant Belmond El Canto in Santa Barbara,

Then I headed to Solvang with Jennifer to shoot Irem and Enrique's wedding at the Whispering Rose Ranch.

Sometimes couples would like to take engagement photos way in advance and they use the pictures on the save-the-date cards or in albums they use as guest books on their wedding day. And sometimes, as Adi and David did, they book an engagement session only a couple of weeks before their wedding date. This couple was incredibly fun and witty. It was a blast to work with them.

Hurely and Zuoting got married in one of California's landmarks, Wayfarers Chapel and the ceremony took place on one of the boats of Electra Cruises in Newport Beach.

I had a great engagement session with Martha and Bryan back in May at San Gabriel Mission. And I shot their wedding in Santa Fe Springs in September.

The last wedding of the month of September was at Bella Collina Towne & Golf Club in San Clemente where Melissa and Michael tied the knot in a rustic and fun setting.

October was busy! I started the month with a gorgeous wedding at The Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. In December of 2015, I had an engagement session with Kristen and Alex in Fullerton, where they met.

Then came one of the most fun times I had while working! I shot the wedding of the keyboard player of a local band called Grampas Grass and they are a "blend of southern rock, soulful blues,Americana, and 70's psychedelic". Kristen & Eric are surrounded by musicians, so there was a trio playing live music before the ceremony, as well as the processional and recessional. There was a duo for the cocktail hour. There was another duo for the dinner and d there was a whole band for the reception party and dancing. No DJs, no prerecorded stuff, all live and the production value was top notch. These guys knew what they were doing!

Then Jennifer and I shot the wedding of Alexis and Jeremy. I knew Jeremy for a long time, and I always liked his sense of humor and personality; and when he hired us to shoot their wedding, I was thrilled. We had a nice engagement session in August and then came the wedding festivities!

And a couple of days after Alexis and Jeremy's wedding, I literally shot my neighbor's wedding! Christina lives only a couple of blocks away from us and she joined her life with Nick at the beautiful Hummingbird Nest Ranch in Santa Susana, CA.

For a while it looked like Desirae and Phillip's wedding was going to be the last one of the year... I met them in the beginning of the year for their engagement session at Venice Canals. They had the ceremony at the San Gabriel Mission and the reception was at the Redondo Beach Historic Library.

Before I get to the last wedding of the year, let me share a few pictures from the family portrait sessions of our regular clients who come to us occasionally. There are the Wexlers... We have been photographing them since 2012.

There are The Bayraks, whom we've been photographing since 2010.

​Another family we photograph regularly is the O'Connors.

And as promised, the last wedding of the year. In December, I was fortunate enough to shoot the wedding of 2 beautiful souls: Sara & Daniel.

Et voilà! This was Kerem Hanci Photography's Year in Review. While we are leaving the 2016 behind, Jennifer and I wish you all a healthy, happy and successful year in 2017. We look forward to immortalize your memories! Don't forget to check our promotions page often to see if you can catch a deal you might like! PS: There might be some KHP's regulars wondering why they are not on this blog entry. Becuase of the volume of the work, I only included the ones I shot with this year. Next year, you'll be here too!

#wedding #engagement #familyportrait #newbornportrait #firstlook