Ari Simphoukham Wedding Photography Blog » Ari: My Life in Action

Nicole+Logan | Behind the Scene Engagement | San Francisco, CA

Ari — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:30:06 +0000

Here’s a behind the scene video of Nicole and Logan’s engagement session in San Francisco. Pete Alexander from Mellange Studio was the talented videographer behind the creation of this video.

Thank you for coming out Pete. I’m looking forward to working with you at Nicole and Logan’s wedding.

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Pocket Wizard Blog Feature

Ari — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:29:40 +0000

Thank you Pocket Wizard for taking notice of my story and sharing it with the world. I am completely honored.

You can check out the article on the Pocket Wizard Blog.

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Jai Lao Foundation Laotian Food Calendar || San Ramon, Ca

Ari — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:24:37 +0000

To raise some funds for the deprived school kids in Laos, I teamed up with Jai Lao Foundation to put together a Lao Cuisine calendar. The calendar will showcase some of the tastiest Laotian food. We’re hoping to raise enough money to get some school supplies for the students in Laos or perhaps even be able to build a playground. (Man it feels good to be doing something positive like this).

Here’s a preview of some of my favorite dishes from the calendar. I will provide more info on how you can order these calendars once we have them ready.

Kaow Poont- Coconut soup in chicken or fish with vermicelli
Mango with sweet sticky rice dessert.
Lao stew. (ok, I don’t know the name of this one)

bamboo soup- eat this with sticky rice and you’ll become authentically Lao.
Papaya salad- probably one of my all time favorite. It can get pretty spicy depending on how you like it.

These ladies worked extremely hard to cook and prepare these food, so shout out to them.

`Ari

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Ari: My Life in Action || Jai Lao Foundation | San Francisco, Ca

Ari — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:06:53 +0000

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, spent with your loved ones and filled with tasty food. It amazes me that even under today’s hard economic times many families are experiencing, people still have the heart to help others who are less fortunate. If you are one of these people, give your self a pat on the back and HIGH FIVE from me.

Last week I was invited to Jai Lao Foundation‘s “ThanksGiving From the Heart” charity event in San Francisco. The event was organized to help raise funds to donate necessities for the school kids in Laos and the people who were hit by the typhoon in Southern Laos. I am in absolute admiration for the members of Jai Lao. They’ve given so much of their time and energy to help others who are less fortunate. I am truly blessed to be apart of this effort and to have met the Jai Lao family. The members of Jai Lao recently left for Laos to deliver the necessities in person, so please wish for them to have a safe trip.

I donated a portrait session in their silent auction. Congrats to La for winning the bid! I can’t wait to photograph you!

To read more about Jai Lao’s cause, please visit their website (http://www.jailao.org) and add them to your facebook.

~Ari

Ms. Asian American, Amy Chanthaphavong performing a traditional Laotian dance.

A master khan player who rocked it despite being blind. The khan is a traditional Laotian instrument.

The girls getting ready to perform a traditional Laotion dance.

`Ari

*Thank you for visiting Ari Simphoukham Wedding photography blog.
*Feel Free to visit my portfolio website.
*Contact me. 209.981.9820

Ari: My Life in Action || Apertura at Cypress College

Ari — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:55 +0000

A few weeks ago, I had the honor to second shoot for Ray Soemarsono at a wedding in San Diego. I had blast and learned a lot from shooting with Ray. However, Erwin Darmali wasn’t there, so I didn’t get a chance to meet him. Today, I got to see both of them at Greg Bumatay’s class. Yay! If you don’t already know, this dynamic duo who call themselves Apertura are one of the top ten wedding photographers in the country by PopPhoto magazine. That’s a pretty awesome title to have and these two totally deserve it.

In their presentation, Ray and Erwin gave us a few valuable pieces of advice and walked us through their process when photographing a wedding. I walked out of there pretty inspired.

Thank you Greg Bumatay for hosting them and thank you Ray and Erwin for sharing your knowledge with us!

Erwin cheezin it up.

Ray explaining why he’s so awesome.

Greg told everyone to jump, so I jumped. Fail! Ray and I were the only ones who moved, so we’re blurry.

It’s ok, I made up for it.

`Ari

*Thank you for visiting Ari Simphoukham Wedding photography blog.
*Feel Free to visit my portfolio website.
*Contact me. 209.981.9820

Ari: My Life in Action || Los Angeles, Ca Shoot-out

Ari — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:27:05 +0000

Watch out. Photographers coming through! I organized a shootout in downtown L.A. Two words: hella fun!

When you get a group of awesome photographers together in one place, there’s bound to be creative-fun of ginormous proportion. These shoot-outs are great because it allows us wedding photographers a break from our normal wedding work to experiment with new ideals and styles. We also get the chance to meet other photographers and make more friends along the way. It’s a win-win for everybody.

If you missed this shoot-out, don’t worry, there will be more. I will anounce it on my facebook, so keep your eyes peeled.

I also wanted to give a special thank you to: The leaders- Jason Q Tran, Greg Bumatay, and Conrad Lim. The awesome makeup artist- Christina Chen (She does weddings as well!) The models: Kristine Rae Payongayong, Michelle Honey and Elizabeth Rodreguez

Here’s a short video of the shootout:

Enjoy-

`Ari

*Thank you for visiting Ari Simphoukham Wedding photography blog.
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*Contact me. 209.981.9820

Mother’s Day – Everyday.

Ari — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:31:15 +0000

It doesn’t have to be mother’s day or your birthday for me to say “Hey Mama, I love you!”

Hey Mama, you’re so beautiful to meeee!!!

“Hey Mama, I wanna scream so loud for you, cuz I’m so proud of you!
Let me tell you what I’m about to do, Hey Mama
I know I act a fool but, I promise you I’m goin back to school
I appreciate what you allowed for me
I just want you to be proud of me.

I said mommy Imma love you till you don’t hurt no more
And when I’m older, you aint gotta work no more
And Imma get you that mansion that we couldn’t afford
See you’re, unbreakable, unmistakable
Highly capable, lady that’s makin loot
A livin legend too, just look at what heaven do
Send us an angel, and I thank you. Hey Mama!”

-Kanye West (Hey Mama- College Dropout)

…because everyday should be Mother’s day.

`Ari

*Thank you for visiting Ari Simphoukham Wedding photography blog.
*Feel Free to visit my portfolio website.
*Contact me. 209.981.9820

Ari: My Life in Action || Shooting with Apertura

Ari — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:04:54 +0000

I am constantly striving for ways to improve and grow with photography. I think the best way to do this is to learn from someone who is far more wise and experienced than I am. Ray Soemarsona from Apertura was chosen by PopPhoto Magazine to be one of the top ten photographers in the country for 2009. Apertura’s pure photojournalistic style and knack for capturing the perfect moment filled with emotions is what sets them apart from the rest. I had the great privilege to tag along with Ray to help him 2nd shoot a wedding in San Diego. It was a great experience as I tried to match Ray’s photographic style the whole day. I think we both rocked that wedding!

Of course I had my iPhone handy to do a little video. Sorry if you get a little dizzy- I need a stabilizer!

Oh gosh, why is the video thumbnail always catching me at my most unflattering expression?!?

Make sure you stop by Apertura’s website: http://www.aperturaphoto.com/blog/

~Ari

*Thank you for visiting Ari Simphoukham Wedding photography blog.

*Feel Free to visit my portfolio website.

*Contact me. 209.981.9820

SoCal Shootout: Trash The Dress

Ari — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:37:52 +0000

It’s amazing how much talent is out there. A bunch of very talented photographers gathered in San Clemente for a shootout through a group called SoCal Photog Shootout. I had a great time meeting some of the faces that help make up southern California’s wedding photographers. What a refreshing group of people!

In additon to networking, we all got to shoot models in wedding dresses! The theme was Trashing the Dress–my favorite! Big ups to the models for doing crazy stuff like climbing on trees and getting into the fountain! Check out my photos from the day:

Organizers: Hanssie Trainor
Hair and makeup: Kacee Geoffrey and Kimberly Bragalone
Vendors:
www.photogshootout.com
www.jaycatering.com
www.venueconcierge.com
www.bellacollinagolf.com
www.kaceegeoffroy.com
www.bowsnberries.com
www.averyjproductions.com

~Ari

*Thank you for visiting Ari Simphoukham Wedding photography blog.
*Feel Free to visit my portfolio website.
*Contact me. 209.981.9820

Jason >Q< Tran | Bridal Shoot | Los Angeles, CA

Ari — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:00:58 +0000

There is no doubt in my mind that Jason Q Tran is one of the top wedding photographers out there right now. If not top ten in the country, then for sure top ten in Southern California. What I like about Jason is his pure skills. He doesn’t resort to marketing schemes to be sucessful, just raw talent and hard work. In addition to being such a brilliant photographer, Jason is one of the realest/down to earth dudes I know. I am proud to be able to call him a friend. This guy is going to be my photographer when I get married. Yes, he’s THAT good.

One day, he called me randomly to ask if I would like to help him out on a project he was doing for a bridal catalog. Of course, being that he IS my hero after all, I excitedly said yes. Throughout the day, I had my iPhone handy to record some video. We had two models to showcase the various wedding dresses that we had. We took up our equipment to set up shop on top of a random rooftop where we started to collect a few spectators from the streets. Pretty awesome.

Here’s the video that I quickly threw together:

Please visit Jason Q Tran’s blog for the photos taken that day.

It was great hanging out with you Jason. Thanks for having me around!

~Ari

*Thank you for visiting Ari Simphoukham Wedding photography blog.
*Feel Free to visit my portfolio website.
*Contact me. 209.981.9820