Author: Ari Simphoukham

Tanya x Maternity || San Diego, CA

About seven months ago, my phone starts to ring. I let it play for a little bit longer as I start jam’n to my ring tone. It was one of my past brides, Tanya, calling to tell me the good news. She was having a baby! I remember my eyes widening up and jaw dropping before saying my congrats. This was nearly the same reaction I got when I first found out that Tanya was going to marry Ivan, one of my best friends from college. Man, was I excited for them.
I remember being there when these two met for the very first time at UC Davis in front of Shield’s Library. Nodding towards Tanya, I whispered to Ivan, “Aye buey, handle it.” And “handle it” he sure did. They spent the next five years together and now they are expecting a baby girl next month! I’m a little taken in by all of this because it still feels like just yesterday that they got married. Their wedding was held in Tijuana, Mexico where all their closest friends and relatives were able to celebrate their special day. I could not have been more grateful to Tanya and Ivan for flying me down to photograph and be a part of their wedding. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
Yesterday, I drove to San Diego to photograph Tanya’s tummy. We went to one of the beaches in San Diego. I was expecting her to move like a turtle with her big belly in the sand, but wow did she prove me wrong! Tanya, you’re a soldier!
One of these will hopefully be put on a huge gallery wrap:
Tanya’s beautiful dress was actually made by her mom.
Cheers!
-Ari

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Vegas Adventures With Ed Pingol

On Labor Day weekend, my friend, Ed Pingol flew me down to Las Vegas to help him shoot two engagements and a wedding. How cool is that?!? When Ed called me to ask if I was available, I looked at my calendar and quickly cleared whatever I had planned for that weekend. I gave up going to the Mos Def x Erykah Badu concert to hang out with the amazing Ed Pingol. It was so worth it. I had a blast spending the whole weekend cracking jokes and talking photography with Mr. Lightstick himself. We found ourselves spending as much time searching Vegas for places to eat as taking pictures. This is why I love being a photographer–we eat the best food. I swear we could have our own show on the Food Network Channel. We’ll call it… “Food Adventures with the World’s Best Wedding Photographers.” I can be the judge tasting all the food. 😀

Aside from our food adventures, we had a great time photographing Ed’s awesome clients. Las Vegas is great for engagement sessions and weddings because the resorts there provided plenty of beautiful landscapes and architecture to use as backdrops. Combined with Ari’s 😛 and Ed’s artistic eye, the possibilities for amazing photographs are endless! Be sure to visit Ed Pingol’s Blog to see his unique and incredible work.

Through out the weekend, I had my iPhone in hand to shoot some really random videos. Here’s a video I quickly threw together from the clips I filmed:

“Pretty eyes”

Because random pictures are always fun, here’s a few iPhone snaps:
Doing the craziest wedding dress photo ever-
Breakfast before the wedding @ Board House
Filipino Food @ Salo Sala Grill.
Lunch – fried seafood
Gearing up @ the airport.
Get in my belly!!!

I had a great time hanging out with you Ed. I learned a lot from you and I think I became a better photographer after that weekend. Thank you for being such a great mentor and friend. Congratulations to you and Monica on your beautiful baby girl!

-Ari

Thank you for visiting Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco Wedding Pictures | Wedding website | Contact Ari. 209.981.9820

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MARECEL x JP: Engagement Session

It’s always fun to have clients who are enthusiastic about you and your work. A couple of months ago, Marecel and JP met with me for a consultation for their 2010 wedding. They were one of the first couples I booked for 2010, so I was pretty excited. I got even more excited to see how thrilled they were to have me as their photorapher. Makes me feel all special and mushy inside. 😀
I recently did their engagement session at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA. I can’t wait to photograph their wedding!

Bingo! This on is my favorite.

Cheers!
-Ari

Location: Golden Gate Park- San Francisco

Greg Bumatay- Master Photographer

I forgot to mention that I’ve temporarily moved to So Cal! Don’t worry, I’ll be back in the Yay area soon. Since most of my clients are in Nor Cal, my car has been putting on some crazy millage. I’ve been driving back and forth to Nor Cal to get to my shoots. Despite all the driving, I totally don’t mind because I love what I do. I wake up every morning looking forward to going to work. How cool is that?!?

If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been hanging out with some amazing photographers in the L.A area. I am so blessed to be in a field where my colleagues are all so freakin awesome!

Greg Bumatay was one of the first photographers I’ve had the opportunity to become friends with in So Cal. Greg, an established and very talented wedding photographer in Orange County, has grown to become one my mentors. You know a person is great at what they do when they have the ability to teach it. Greg teaches the popular wedding photography course at Cypress College where even pros enroll in his class. I truly appreciate all that you do Greg. Make sure to check out his website: http://bumataystudio.com/

Here’s a few from me as the 2nd shooter for Greg: