Coco Gallery

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Wedding :. Kim + Chien

Michelle — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:13:12 +0000

We couldn’t wait for this one. Kim and Chien’s wedding at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion sounded spectacular when they first told us about their vision. Kim spent much of her youth attending events there so it was a natural choice. The historic venue didn’t disappoint. A perfect match for a wonderful couple.

See more images on their COCO Facebook album.

Kim and Chien,
As impressive as the venue was, you guys were the show. Kim, your Carolina Herrera dress was incredible! You looked amazing in it. And I was equally impressed by Chien’s XI Concords LOL. Being a shoehead myself I can appreciate those as well. Well done guys. Thanks for being so awesome to work with!

Cheers!
Jason, Thomas, Stephanie, and the COCO Team

Vendors

-Ceremony/Reception: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
-Videographer: James Ly
-Florist: Dandelion Ranch
-DJ/MC: DJ Smiles Davis of Flashdance
-Photobooth: Kick Mix Productions
-Caterer/Cake Artist: Patina Restaurant Group
-Hair: Shannon Kim
-Makeup: Kerry Malouf
-Chairs/Dancefloor/etc: Patina Restaurant Group
-Lighting: Invisible Touch
-Day-Of Wedding Coordinator: Michelle Buckley of Mint Julep Events
-Bridal Gown/Bridal Salon: Carolina Herrera
-Groom’s Apparel: Friar Tux
-Officiant: Reverend Clint Hufft
-Cupcakes: Lark Cake Shop
-Macarons: Lette Macarons
-Invitations/Printing: Printable Press and House of Printing – Pasadena

Goodbye CDs/DVDs :. Hello USB Drives

Jason Z — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:54:28 +0000

We get this question a lot, “Do we get our images on CD?”

We say, “Nope…. on USB.”

With the CD/DVD era quickly disappearing we’re staying ahead of the game and delivering client images on USB drives. Rumors of Apple not including DVD roms on their next Macbook Pros is more evidence that the change is needed. We’ve actually been using these since October 2011 and so far the client response has been amazing. Everyone loves them and the fancy smancy box they come in.

It’s VERY important to backup your images by keeping copies at multiple locations; home, work, parents’ house. Of course on your 10th wedding anniversary you’re not going to pull out your USB drive to look at your images. That’s why we’re still huge proponents of high quality wedding albums and prints. Nothing replaces the feeling of holding an actual album or print in your hand. But for sharing, archiving, and storing your precious digital files these USB drives are pretty sweet.

Letter Box Films

Thomas P — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:28:15 +0000

We are super proud to officially announce the launch of our film company, Letter Box Films. Yup that’s right, after going back and forth for several months we decided it was not only time, BUT it was actually necessary to start this new company. We were kind of fighting it at the beginning since we really wanted to keep photo and video under one roof, but then arose some challenges and of course different avenues for video.

What does this mean for our current clients? Rest assured absolutely nothing will change. We are the exact same staff except our name, logo and website are different. In fact, we have added a new member/partner to our team, more on Jack in our next post. We couldn’t be more excited to launch our new company today. We have been working diligently these past few weeks to get everything up and running. We have a brand new website that focuses solely on our wedding and business clients, it’s obviously in the early stages so there is little content, but please know it will be growing quickly.

For our future clients, please know we will be delivering some creative and dialogue based storytelling with each of our films. What does that mean? It means we are going to focus on telling your story through dialogue, not just sit there with a video camera and hope it comes out cool.

If you haven’t clicked on the link above then you can check us out HERE.

Hey everyone meet our newest partner on the Letter Box Film side, this is Jack Ratana. He has been been a friend of all of us here at Coco for several years now. He has a very creative eye not only with photography, but as a cinematographer as well. He has a great sense of humor and some kick butt storytelling skills. Here is a little more info on him.

JACK RATANA studied fine art, and theology. He came from 10 years of corporation background in the auto industry, and has photo/ video experience. He started his photo business in 2006 and came on-board with us this year. A father, a martial artist, married for 16 years and have one rambunctious beautiful daughter. Jack has an artistic mind, and a heart that pursuit light obstreperously. We’re glad to have him on our team.

Orange County SMUGMUG

Michelle — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:57:48 +0000

image from workisnotajob.com

i’ve been busy busy busy (michelle here). i’ve been working on getting the OC smugmug speakers lined up for the rest of the year. for those of you that don’t know, i’m one half of the OC smugmug leader team.

What’s a SMUG?

A SMUG is a place where you can learn, teach and meet up with other photographers who share the passion for photography. The best part is that it’s free!!!!

are you someone that has a passion for photography and are itching to learn? come hang out with me and the OC group (in costa mesa). check out our lineup for the year. it’s going to be FUN!

may 5.24.12 – gabriel ryan PRICING FOR YOUR MARKET
june 6.28.12 – andy biggs CALIBRATION, PRINT QUALITY AND COMMERCIAL SHOOTING
july 7.26.12 – scott kublin – HDR
aug 8.23.12 – joe barnet – WHAT’S IN YOUR BAG AND WHAT SHOULD YOU BUY NEXT?
sept 9.27.12 – gavin wade – HOW TO START A LEGITIMATE PHOTOG BIZ, THE CHECK LIST
oct 10.25.12 – cean orrett – PRICING YOUR PORTRAITS PROPERLY

Featured Vendor :. Claire de Leon

Michelle — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:20:16 +0000

Today we’re putting the spotlight on super special COCO friend Claire de Leon. She’s a new mommy, an amazing artist (she designed our logos and biz cards), a passionate paper addict and the woman behind Kalea Invitations. All that and her bag of tricks makes her a high ranking preferred COCO vendor. See her video HERE.

Recently, she mentioned wanting family photos featuring her grandparents. Everybody take note… this is one of those WONDERFUL ideas. We don’t always take the time to gather the family and document the moment. Coordinating calendars in larger families can be a pain but once it’s done it’s memorable. Claire made it even more memorable by arranging a stylist to come in and do up grandma! Super sweet gesture! The family also seemed to make a party of it. Lunch was served, stylists were around to give all the girls a little help with hair and makeup. It was a celebratory atmosphere … actually it was also Claire’s birthday

Belated Happy Birthday Claire! Cherish these sweet photos of four generations of love forever.

Foodie Wednesdays :: Two Saucy Broads

Thomas P — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:11:16 +0000

Love the name, kind of catchy for a pizza joint, wouldn’t you agree?? Two Saucy Broads Pizza is located in Fullerton on Commonwealth, their claim is “New York Pizza with a California twist.” We really like this place, good food, fresh and more importantly very inexpensive, lunch specials starting at 6 bucks with a drink. The food in my opinion is really good, I love the Pinwheels, they offer a pepperoni and a Spinach Broccoli version, today I had both, yum so good! Add a fresh salad and BINGO! I think the rest of the crew had a variety of personal pizzas to other Pinwheel lunch specials, but I think we all agree, good food and good value.

I’m sure we will be back!

SPRING PROMOTION :. Canvas Sale

Michelle — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:14:49 +0000

Are you ready for mother’s day, father’s day and the graduations coming up? We’ve got a gift idea that will keep on giving. We’re selling 16×24 gallery wrap canvases for $150! that’s $100 off regular price!

For our past clients we are opening our COCO vault to you. You can order any photos shot by COCO and they are eligible for this special. All shoots for current and new clients through June 30th are also eligible.

Featured Vendor :. French Buckets

Michelle — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:58:11 +0000

We don’t normally do newborn photos but when our good friends have a baby we’re all in to help with the celebration. Congratulations to our good friend Sussanna of French Buckets on the arrival of her son liam!!

Sussanna’s floral artistry is featured in a shoot below done at the McCharles House.

flowers by French Buckets

venue – McCharles House

Foodie Wednesdays :: Ziings Bistro

Thomas P — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:13:17 +0000

Today starts our new series here on the blog, we’re calling it “Foodie Wednesdays” For those that don’t know, here at Coco we are all foodies, well, I am the newbie of the group, but the other 3 are pros. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE TO EAT! But to be honest, I’ve kind of been living under a rock so lately I am getting exposed to some really good food now that I’m hanging with my peeps. So how this came about is that every Wednesday we have a dedicated work day here at the studio and come lunch time we draw a name of a local restaurant out of an old Altoids can (see below). Sometimes we revisit some previous places and sometimes we check out some new places. I absolutely love it!

Today we visited Ziing’s Bistro in downtown Fullerton. It’s “Asian Fare – Western Flair” Yum, seriously for the money it’s a great place to eat, cooked fresh, great service and walking distance from our studio. Their lunch specials range from about $6-$8, not bad considering the good quality of food you get. So, today was actually a revisit, so I kind of knew what I wanted, I went with the Pan Fried Chicken noodles myself, it’s one of my favs. Jason and Michelle went with the Lettuce Wraps, Alfred the Shimp and KChow the Dragon noodles. So if you are looking for fresh Asian type food on a budget I would recommend checking out Ziing’s Bistro in Fullerton.

Fullerton Portraits :. Erin’s Family

Michelle — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:30:42 +0000

It doesn’t matter what kids do … or DON”T do .. they ALWAYS come out cute in pictures lol. Two year olds have their own agenda which makes it tough to shoot them sometimes but with a little patience, some bribery and a fast reflex we’re bound to get some great stuff!

Thanks erin and family for letting the little guy be himself and show up some great photos!

michelle