Welcome!

About Amy Bao Photography

Hello hello! My name is Amy and I am a wedding photographer based in Los Angeles.

I specialize in capturing timeless images that perfectly balance photojournalism with fine art, classical with contemporary, and are full of energy and emotion. I want your most beautiful memories to look as stylish to you as they will to your grandchildren, because your wedding day, well, that is the stuff legacies are made of.

Contact me directly by emailing amy@amybaophoto.com . I would love to hear from you!

Karl | Santa Monica Pier Lifestyle Shoot

March 4th, 2013

The waves were crashing against the shore.  The shops and restaurants on the pier were opening and getting ready for the day.  A group of marathoners and some joggers were getting in other people’s way.  A few tourists were wandering around with their fanny packs.  The sun was shining and the seagulls were doing their seagull-y thing.  A winter morning in LA, not too shabby.

This was probably the most editorial shoot I’ve done to date, hope you enjoyed it!

Save Your Memories From Digital Purgatory!

January 28th, 2013

I love the instant gratification that comes with digital photography, but I also miss the film days when all the photos would get developed so there’s something physical to hold.  It seems that with the ease of sharing photos online, we often forget to bring them into the real world.  And that is unfortunate because there’s really something to be said about photos in printed form.  Whether they’re simply printed on photo paper and framed, or turned into beautiful leather-bound albums, or enlarged onto canvases, they will almost always look better than the pixels on your phone or laptop screen.

Katherine and Matt, Married! | A Boston Winter Wedding

January 3rd, 2013

Love was in the air, as were big fluffy snowflakes.  Mother nature created a winter wonderland especially for Katherine and Matt’s beautiful and intimate wedding.

The day started bright and early with Matt and his groomsmen getting an old-timey barbershop shave.  This has been on Matt’s to do list for awhile, and was decided a few years ago that his wedding day was when he would treat himself to it.

The smoothest shave you’ve ever had?

Impatient to get married!

A pretty good looking bunch.

The girls were getting ready at the church, and it was a dance party!

So gorgeous! Katherine, I can photograph you all day!

Married!!!

Because some photos are priceless.  A lovely reception display.

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Wyble!

Congratulations Katherine and Matt!

***

Ceremony Venue: Harvard Memorial Church

Reception Venue: Harvest

Wedding Planner: Tracy from Tangorra Wedding Planning

Videographer: Marcella from Heirloom Pictures

Florist: Lyndsey Loring Design

Hair Design: Lindsay Griffin Boston Hair Salon

Philip and Yaqin, Married! | A Wandsworth Town Hall Wedding, London

January 3rd, 2013

A love story that conquered long distance and demanding careers is certainly reason for celebration, and what better place to do that than in the great metropolis of London during the last few glowing days of fall?

And on a typical rainy British Saturday morning, they officially tied the knot.

Philip picked the hairstyle for Yaqin, a messy bun.  Impressed that he knew what that was? Me too.

Off to The Dorchester for the reception!

Congratulations Philip and Yaqin!

Take Me Back to Constantinople

November 27th, 2012

Istanbul is a city straight out of the fairy tales and a photographer’s dream.  I’ll admit it, I booked my flight to Istanbul pretty much based on seeing the scenes shot there in Taken 2 (the plot was meh, but the setting was gorgeous).  And then seeing more scenes of Istanbul in the new James Bond movie the week before the trip, I may or may not have spent a few hours online trying to figure out how to get to the rooftop of the Grand Bazaar for a few panoramic shots (I unfortunately don’t know the right people here…).  Suffice it to say, I arrived with high aesthetic expectations, and the city surpassed them all.

The riverfront is just dotted with mosques, with their elegant minarets reaching for the sky.

My first day in Istanbul, I decided to see all the further out sights.  Among which was the Kariye Museum (Church) known for its mosaics.  Armed with a just copy of Lonely Planet, I proceeded to completely miss my bus stop and then had to backtrack, and of course, ended up wandering and lost in a cemetery.   But it was a really beautiful cemetery, so I can’t say I really minded.  Part of the beauty of traveling, I’ve learned, is to just enjoy the unexpected.

On the way, I came across another mosque (they’re truly everywhere) and went in to take a peek.  The main tourist mosques, the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, are certainly must-sees, but visiting the lesser known ones is a good way to feel the space as a religious sanctuary, away from the crowds.

Eventually found my way to the Kariye Museum.

Next, I tried to follow the old city wall all the way to the end.  Somehow I was under the impression that the wall was mostly intact and you can walk on top of the wall, clearly, I was wrong.  Most of it was crumbly, another good portion was under construction, so I had to take some detours and, of course, managed to get very turned around and very lost once again.

So, wandering around a sketchy neighborhood like this without a map and by myself was probably not one of the smarter things I’ve done recently, but I did get cool photos, so we’ll call it a wash.

Found the wall again!

In the afternoon, I took a ferry over to Asia (no big deal) for a late lunch and explored the local market.  The colors were incredible!

People feed the gulls so swarms of them follow behind the ferries.

Just after sunset.  Unreal.

Day two was truly a whirlwind of all the major sights.  Above is the tile work found in the Topkapi Palace harem.

The Blue Mosque.

The Hagia Sofia.  Photographers, if you visit Istanbul, bring a super wide-angle lens, if nothing else than to capture the inside of this architectural marvel.

Now we can’t really talk about Istanbul without talking about the food, which was in short, amazing.  My favorite country for food has been Singapore for a very long time now, and a part of me expected Turkey to take its place.  I have to say, Singapore keeps its crown (probably because I’m still a bit more partial to Asian food), but Turkey is a very close second.  The above is a traditional breakfast feast.

Fresh squeezed pomegranate juice.

I’m really not a coffee drinker, but even I found Turkish coffee to be quite tasty.  It comes in a very tiny cup and about a third of it is the finely ground coffee itself, forcing you to slow down and take tiny sips.  The grounds can then be used to reveal one’s fortune.  I think I see an angry owl in mine, not quite sure how to interpret that.

Another thing about this city is that it’s full of cats.  Seriously, the cat population density here rivals that of the squirrels on most American college campuses.  This one here was my favorite.

The world is a big, beautiful place, and for me, travel is the best way to experience that sense of awe and wonder.

Adrienne | Creative Portraits

November 27th, 2012

Adrienne is an actress and a friend of mine from when I lived in New York.  When we caught up over brunch, she told me that oftentimes in her photoshoots, the photographer over-directs and doesn’t fully allow her to convey the emotion or character she’s trying to create.  So we decided to do a mini-photoshoot that allowed her greater expressive freedom.  Although we had very limited time (she had a show in the afternoon and I had a plane to catch) and space (the corner of my living room), we still managed to get these:

The Boatengs | Venice Beach Family Photoshoot

November 6th, 2012

A perfect sunset at the beach.  An adorable family.  And a whole lot of love.  What else can you ask for?

High five, lil’ man!

Definitely an ‘awwww’ moment.

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Camera and Gear

October 31st, 2012

 A few friends have emailed me for advice about getting a camera over the past year, so I thought I’d share some of the advice I gave them here:

What kind of point-and-shoot should I get?

Don’t bother.  If you just want to be able to get snapshots of your life, get a phone with a high-quality camera.  When I got my iPhone 4, I gave my point-and-shoot to my mom (who has since upgraded to a fancy phone with a good camera as well).   I think the difference between a high-quality camera in those smart phones and the average point-and-shoot are becoming quite negligible, and the added convenience of the phone means you’ll actually end up taking more pictures.

I want a camera that can get DSLR-like quality photos but I don’t want to lug around a big camera.  What should I get?

You should probably consider investing in Micro 4/3 mirrorless ILC camera.  Both Panasonic and Olympus makes great cameras in this category.  They’re compact, portable, and allows you to change lenses, perfect for traveling.

Okay, I’m getting a DSLR, what kind should I get?  (We’re just talking camera bodies here…)

This is largely dependent on what your budget is and how serious you are about your photography.

If you don’t care that your camera is brand new, definitely check out craigslist.  Photographers upgrade their cameras all the time and you can find pretty good deals on second hand cameras.  One thing to be aware of, camera bodies (unlike lenses) do have a lifespan that can roughly be calculated by its shutter count or actuations (how many photos it has taken).  This obviously varies with model, but a very rough average for the life of a camera is about 100k actuations.

I think the biggest difference between a consumer/prosumer camera and a professional camera is the sensor size.  Consumer/prosumer cameras have a smaller sensor (cropped), while professional cameras will have a larger sensor (full-frame).  A full-frame sensor, across the board, will get you better image quality and better ISO performance, meaning you’ll get better photos when there’s very little light.

Just for fun and on a budget – go with something in the Canon Rebel series or Nikon D#### series.

If you’re pretty serious but not ready to splurge on professional gear – go with either the Nikon D90 or Canon 50D.

You want professional quality gear – go full-frame.  Full-frame cameras start a little north of $2,000.  For Nikon, D600, D700 (which I have), and D800 are all fantastic options.  For Canon, the 5D Mark II and 5D Mark III would be a good place to start.

Nikon or Canon?

Don’t we all love a good rivalry?  Honestly, both make excellent cameras (though it seems like Nikon might be winning in the pro market).  When I was shopping for my first DSLR, I was deciding between the Nikon D90 and the equivalent Canon 50D.  I ended up going with a Nikon because the reviews suggested that the body was sturdier and less prone to breaking.  Nikon cameras felt a little bit more solid, while Canon cameras I tried felt a bit more “plasticy” (but really, the difference was small).

However, if you want to get into video, I would go with Canon at this point.  For the longest time, the Canon 5D Mark II was the industry standard for videography.  The new Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon D800 that came out earlier this year both have fantastic video capability, but reviews suggest that Canon still beats Nikon on this front.

Both Ken Rockwell and Laurence Kim do great reviews of specific cameras and gears on their sites.

Lenses?

If you’re serious about photography, this is where you’re likely to make the bulk of your investment.

First off, don’t bother with the kit lens, it’s usually a poor quality zoom lens with a small aperture that they try to bundle with the camera body.  It’s just a waste of money in my opinion.

Also, while Nikon and Canon both make phenomenal lenses for their cameras, if you want to save a little money and don’t care about brands, Sigma and Tamron make very good lenses for both Nikon or Canon bodies.

Lens 101

1.  Prime (fixed) lens v. zoom lens: A fixed lens has only one focal length, meaning if you want to zoom in or out, you have to use these nifty things attached to your body called feet.  A zoom lens, as the name suggests, allows you to zoom.  Prime lenses tend to be much less expensive than zoom lenses for similar, or even wider, aperture and they’re usually much smaller and lighter, which is why I shoot predominately with primes, but this means I also have to switch lenses more often.

The above are the prime lenses I use the most.  85mm f/1.8 is my favorite and gets me gorgeous portraits.  The 50mm f/1.8 is the first lens I had and is probably the most versatile.  The 28mm f/2.8 and 35mm f/1.8 I use for the occasional landscape and large group photos.  (Note that the 35mm is a DX lens, that means it’s made for the cropped sensor so I only use it on my D90).

2.  Aperture (f-stop):  This is probably the biggest determinant of lens price.  The larger the aperture (the smaller the f-stop number), the wider the lens can open up, the more expensive the lens.  The main benefits of having a wide aperture are 1) it allows in more light so you can shoot in lower light conditions, and 2) you can get a shallower depth of field (which I’ll discuss more in a later post about basic photography).

3.  Focal length:  This is how wide or zoomed in a lens is (##mm), the smaller the number the wider the lens, and in turn, the larger the number, the more zoomed in the lens.  In general, 35mm and below is considered wide-angle, which is great for street photography, architecture, and landscapes, and if you get below 17mm, that’s considered ultra-wide or fisheye, and you’ll get a good amount of warping effect around the edges.  50mm is considered a standard lens, meaning what you see through the lens is what your naked eye will see, a fairly all purpose lens and a great lens to start with.  70-200mm is a good range for portraits.  Anything above 200mm, you’re getting into telephoto territory (these tend to be big and heavy, and are great for sports, nature, and spying).  One thing to be aware of here, if you are using a camera with a cropped sensor, the focal length you will effectively get will be about ~1.6x what it says on the lens.  For example, my 50mm lens on my D90 body actually acts like a 80mm lens.

4.  Macro: If you want to take close-up photos of very small things (insects, dew drops) you’ll need a macro lens (which is usually denoted on the lens as “micro”, don’t ask me why).  It allows you to get very close to the object and focus on it.  Normal lenses tend to require you to be a certain distance away from the whatever you’re photographing in order for it to be able to focus.  You can also get macro filters to achieve similar results.  I only need to take macro photos for ring shots, which comprises all of maybe 1% of the photos I take, and I don’t want to have to carry around an extra lens just for that purpose, so I use the filters.

What did you start with?

As I alluded to throughout this post, I started with a Nikon D90 and a 50mm f/1.8 lens.  I still use both piece of equipment quite often (and can probably wax poetic about the 50mm for about a good half hour).  The 50mm f/1.8 is about $100 and you will NEVER find a better bang for your buck in the rest of your photography career.  If you’re brand new to photography, I would recommend putting the 50mm f/1.8 on your camera, set it to aperture priority, open the aperture to its widest (1.8), and go take some photos.  This is the fastest way to appreciate the power of DSLRs and see the difference between this and a snapshot you get from a regular point-and-shoot.

My D90 plus the 50mm.

This is one of the first photos I ever took with a DSLR.

For wedding photography, I also have a full-frame Nikon D700 and use the D90 as my backup.

What about flash?

That’s a great question!  Your camera will come with a flash unit attached.  DON’T USE IT!  Seriously.  (Okay, maybe there are exceptions, but those are very rare occasions).  I hate how the built-in flash unit is attached to the camera because it’s pointed straight at your subject, so if you’re taking a photo of a person, the flash will cause them to look completely washed out and create strong ugly shadows.  It’s just not a good thing.  Generally speaking, if you have a good camera with high ISO capability and a good lens that can open pretty wide, you won’t need a flash in most lighting conditions.

For those times when it really is too dark and you need some more light (especially indoors), get a separate flash unit.  I have a Nikon SB-900 Speedlight.  Most of the time, I attach it to my camera and point the flash up allowing the light to reflect off the ceiling, so it’s like I’m creating a light source from above, providing much more natural lighting.  I also use the small bounce card attached to the flash so it pushes some light forward onto the subject.  For wedding receptions, I have a second flash unit (SB-600) that I put on a light stand and sync it to the SB-900 with Radiopoppers.

There’s a lot you can do with flash and various off-camera lighting set-ups.  The Strobist is a great resource if you want to learn more about the topic.

At the end of the day, your camera and gear can only carry you so far.  Put an average quality camera into the hands of a great photographer and you’ll still get great images.  High quality camera and gear will certainly give your greater control and flexibility in creating your images, so get the best your budget will allow, but then focus on the technique and the art.  Good luck.

 

Julie and Jay, Married! – A Saucon Valley Country Club Wedding

October 1st, 2012

After Julie and Jay’s first date, she called her mom to say that she had found the boy she was going to marry.  Here we are now, a few years later, celebrating the beginning of their married life at the beautiful Saucon Valley Country Club.  Their friends and family came from all over to join them for three days of festivities.  Not even the thunderstorm that forced the ceremony indoors could dampen the happiness that radiated from this lovely couple and all their guests.

To fully take advantage of the lovely location that was SVCC, we did a short and casual pre-wedding photo-session around the guesthouse.

Julie’s sisters planned an adorable pink-themed and candy-filled bridal shower party for Julie.

They had little take-home candy bags with Julie & Jay’s logo.

There was so much love in the room, and some got a little choked up during the heartfelt speeches.

We released some balloons into the wild at the end.  Julie has the coolest mom (bottom left), that’s her there demonstrating how to inhale helium to talk in a squeaky voice.

Their country barbeque rehearsal dinner was absolutely charming, with blue checkered table cloth and sunflowers in large glass mason jars.

Wedding day!

Julie’s “something borrowed” was a pair of hoop earrings that she attached to her bouquet.

Stunning!

A sweet moment between Julie and her dad.

Tess, bridesmaid and wedding planner extraordinaire, helping the groomsmen with their bow ties.

Jay, the dashing groom himself.

Julie’s super creative sisters made a little tree for guests to hang messages.

Liveliest dance floor EVER.

Congratulations Julie and Jay!

***

Second shooter – Joy Dai

Wedding planner – Tess Crompton (tess@tesscromptonevents.com)

Venue – Saucon Valley Country Club

Band – DejaGroove

Florist – Sarah Petryk at Allium Floral Design

Cake – Sprinkles

***

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Katherine and Matt, Engaged! – Harvard Engagement Photography

September 24th, 2012

When talking to Katherine and Matt about their engagement, I can’t help but be reminded of the quote from When Harry Met Sally – “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible”.  They met last year at Harvard Business School.  Both were enrolled in a class that assigned all the students to write out where they saw themselves in 10 years, then they traded and read each others plans, and saw each other in them.  These two are proof that when you meet the right person, you just know.

Matt was one of my closest friends from college and throughout the years that I’ve known him, I can honestly say, I have never seen him as happy as he is here, with Katherine in his arms.

They’re a pair made in goofball heaven.

Congratulations Katherine and Matt!  Can’t wait to see you two in December!

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