Just a little over a week ago we had a bit of a family reunion in Southern California. My baby cousin got married at beautiful St. Denis Catholic Church in Diamond Bar, CA. This church has some meaning to our family as it was the location where our late grandmother was put to rest. Family arrived from far and near to attend and I’m sure glad most all the family was able to attend. So many faces I haven’t seen in many years and it felt great to see all my cousins, aunts and uncles. If you have Filipino friends, I’m sure that you may have experienced the utter chaos one of our functions can be! It has been quite some time since I have attended a wedding as a guest and had no photographic responsibilities. However, I do find it hard to completely shut off my photographic mind. Knowing that I was attending the celebration with my family as a guest, I had to turn off my photo brain. Well, I couldn’t completely turn it off as I just had to bring two rolls of film and my medium format camera. I enjoyed taking snapshots and portraits as the day allowed. Getting a few grab shots of family, my children and beautiful wife, I really enjoyed taking a back seat to photographic responsibility and being a sideline photographer. My cousin hired a very talented Southern California photographer Justin Element. I confirmed with him if it was alright if I grabbed the bride and groom for a few photographs and he obliged without hesitation. I didn’t want to infringe on his duties and made sure I was completely out of his way. I literally took only 5 minutes with my cousin Kristine and Alex. Always compelled to be working in some fashion, I gave myself the 5 minute time limit just to see what I could do with them. Once we were done, full guest obligations were in order as we went to enjoy the reception. Many drinks were had and we danced and laughed the night away! Congratulations Kristine and welcome to the family Alex!

All images shot on Traditional Film Medium Format.
Film: Kodak Portra 400 VC
Camera: Mamiya 645 2.8 80mm