Welcome to VenturaPhoto
Thank you for visiting my blog.
I am John Park, a wedding photographer from VenturaPhoto.com.
I provide the best wedding photography services in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and beyond. My wedding packages are under $1,150.00.
This is my official blog website where I come to talk about photography.
You can take this website to understand my passion, humor, and personality.
Click Here for Photographer’s Main Website
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Courthouse, Santa Barbara California
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Rainy day Wedding at Santa Barbara Court House
September 21, 2007
It didn’t rain all Summer, California desperately needs rain.
This weekend a rare Storm was coming to Southern California.
Santa Barbara was getting some heavy rain.
We pulled a small miracle today and did all the photography without getting wet.
Wedding Ceremony took place on top of the clock tower at Santa Barbara County Courthouse.
Santa Barbara Courthouse is a popular tourist attraction. But it’s also a functioning government building. Santa Barbara Courthouse is always open to the public. A lot of people come by to take pictures, some people read books on the lawn, and I even saw a young couple taking a nap (on dry weather).
It rained yesterday at Santa Barbara Courthouse, the lawn was muddy.
It was Sunny this morning. But the sky was getting darker.
After the ceremony we hurried down to the lawn and moved super fast to get the formal photography done. We couldn’t take photographs on the lawn because ladies’ heals were sinking to the wet lawn.
There were only few places we can stage for formal photographs. Look at the picture below. We took most formal photographs at the steps in the middle of the lawn. (see picture below).
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Santa Barbara Courthouse, Lawn, red circle marks the -
spot where formal wedding photographs were taken
It started to rain as we started to wrap things up. I did take some pictures in the rain.
Bride and groom got a little wet, it wasn’t bad. It was a perfect timing.
We have managed to take care of all standard formal wedding photographs.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Before the wedding ceremony, Santa Barbara County Courthouse
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
After formal photo-shoot, Santa Barbara County Courthouse
It rained hard while we were driving to Ventura for Reception.
Santa Barbara County Courthouse
1100 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, California (805) 962-6464
vfw veterans of foreign wars, ventura
Available as a wedding reception hall
3801 Market St. Ventura ca 93003
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Santa Barbara - home away from home
Wedding date August 11, 2007
Today’s schedule
8:30AM Arrive at Santa Barbara, Hotel Mar Monte
9:30AM Wedding Ceremony, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church
11:00AM Formal photography - at wedding location
12:00PM Formal Photography - at Santa Barbara Courthouse
5:00PM Pre-reception Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center
6:00PM Grand entrance Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center
7:00PM Mariachi Stops playing
7:30PM DJ to lead activities
11:00PM end
Back to Hotel Mar Monte
I was at Hotel Mar Monte
I love Santa Barbara. I feel very comfortable being here.
Every time I visit Hotel Mar Monte, I get a different view of Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center.
Today, I arrived at Santa Barbara early in the morning.
The bride stayed in the East side of Hotel Mar Monte.
From the East wing, I got this shot of Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center. (below).
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center, looking out from window at Hotel Mar Monte
I have seen a lot of happy brides in my line of work. But today’s bride was perhaps the happiest bride I have ever seen. The bride was keep dancing as everyone was getting ready. She was singing and striking poses as her mother video taped her.
It was my first time being in “Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church” in Santa Barbara. It was a real nice Spanish catholic church. They had a semi-traditional catholic ceremony. I say semi-traditional because they allowed me to take all the flash photographs I want. This is rare in Catholic weddings as some churches would completely forbid you from taking any pictures (with or without flash).
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
The ceremony was over around 11am and we went to Santa Barbara Court-House. The bride and groom are familar with Santa Barbara, but they never knew about the Court House. They were happy with the location. They wanted some panoramic view of the building in the back. They brought umbrellas which worked out pretty cute.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
My favorite image from this wedding
It was an extremely tight space, very dark, and awkward place to take photograph
Things worked out fine. Bride and groom were never stressed out. It was all fun and blessing.
Speaking Spanish
I had multiple opportunities where I showcased my Spanish skill. I communicated with many people in Spanish today, I wrote a separate blog about speaking Spanish.
Wedding service providers at today’s wedding
Hotel Mar Monte - 1111 E. Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church - 1300 E Valley Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108
Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center - 1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Related Topics
Hotel Mar Monte
Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center
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Back to Hotel Mar Monte, Santa Barbara
July 14, 2007
Wedding Schedule
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Bride Getting ready: Hotel Mar Monte, Santa Barbara
Wedding Ceremony: Cabrillo Beach, across the Street.
Promal Photography: Right after wedding.
Reception & Dance: Hotel Mar Monte, Santa Maria Room.
The last time I was at Cabrillo Beach was June 2nd (last month).
I love Santa Barbara.
When it comes to Santa Barbara Wedding, I need to be extra careful with two things.
- Give plenty of traffic time
Normal driving time between Camarillo and Santa Barbara is about 50 minutes.
But, sometimes I get stuck on traffic for 2 hours. - Bring Sun protection
I will be toasted today on Cabrillo Beach, yikes.
My story on Sun Protection
I feel more comfortable everytime I come back to Santa Barbara. There were fair amount of people at the beach. But, I knew where I can get some free parking :). I arrived at Hotel Mar Monte 30 minutes earlier. I put thick coat of Sunblock lotion at the car and headed out to Mar Monte.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
I went to the bride’s room for getting ready shots. She was in the exact same room that my past customer used. (this wedding).
The Sun was very strong. But the wedding ceremony was over pretty fast.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Related Topics
Hotel Mar Monte
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Santa Barbara, Carpinteria Wedding Photo
June 2, 2007
Customer’s Testimonial is located here June 2, 2007 - Wedding Schedule: Getting Ready Shots - Mar Monte Hotel, Santa Barbara Ceremony - St. Joseph’s Church, Carpinteria Formal Photography - Court House, Santa Barbara Reception - Cabrillo Arts Center, Santa Barbara Beach Photography - Cabrillo Beach, Santa Barbara
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
I had a full 12 hours of working day today. (left home 10am and came back home 10pm). I brewed my usual coffeeand headed to Santa Barbara. At 10:00AM the traffic was very light. I arrived at Mar Monte Hotel by Cabrillo Beach. I’ve been in Mar Monte before. The day started out as a gloomy day at Cabrillo Beach, but we started to see the Sun right on time.
The bride’s makeup artist didn’t show up to the salon. So she was having her drama. At the hotel, one of bridesmaids was in desperate need for a safety pin. I provided one for her. I think she actually used the word “Hero”. I’m not so sure. 
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
All in all, these were all parts of fun memory. Everything turned out to be nice and fun. Then we headed out to Carpinteria. I followed the limo to the church.
As usual, I asked the father about my photography. He said “No photography during the ceremony, except for the ring exchange”. So, I kept myself low. I waited for noisy moments (people laughing, etc) and took some quick shots during the ceremony. I hope God would forgive me.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
After the ceremony, we went to Santa Barbara Courthouse for formal photography. There were a lot of tourists at the Courthouse. As we walked across the grassy area, I have noticed dozens of people taking pictures of us. I can understand how it can be an interesting scene for them. Wedding party was all dressed up for the occasion, and I was running around with three big cameras (no assistant here, I keep my price low).
There, we took all the standard formal shots and a few “cheesy” shots. As I tried some creative shots, I told the bride and groom. “This may seem cheesy, but we must try and see how they come out” The bride and groom were sitting in uncomfortable positions. But I thought I could create the illusion. I am extremely happy with the results. I hope they like them also.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Reception started as we planned. Everything went smooth. They had a real nice looking wedding cake. When the Sun set, we went out to the beach and took some more pictures.
God bless them.
Update: The bride wrote me a good testimonial. Thank you, thank you… They liked my “cheesy” shots. (I said “cheesy” because I was pushing the limit. Personally, I liked them a lot. I was worried that the bride and groom might not like my taste) Customer’s Testimonial is located here
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Wedding Vendors:
Hotel Mar Monte:1100 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, California 93101
St. Joseph’s Church:5048 El Carro Lane, Carpinteria, CA 93013
Cabrillo Arts Center:1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Related Topics
Hotel Mar Monte
Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center
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Wedding at Santa Barbara, California
July 22, 2006
Today’s Wedding schedule
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Wedding Date - Saturday July 22, 2006
Wedding location - Hotel Mar Monte, Santa Barbara, California 3
:00pm - Arrive at Santa Barbara, ca
5:00pm - Wedding Ceremony.
5:30pm - Formal pictures at Cabrillo Beach.
6:00pm - Grand entrance, wedding reception.
10:30pm - end
I put on a thick coat of sun screen and headed up to Santa Barbara. This was my third wedding at Santa Barbara this month. Santa Barbara’s been good to me and I love going to Santa Barbara. Hotel Mar Monte is yet another high class wedding/reception spot in Santa Barbara by Cabrillo Beach. The statistic shows that, at any given weekend, about 200 weddings take place in Santa Barbara area. As I drove up to Santa Barbara, I saw number of wedding photographers working already. I’m always paranoid when I go to Santa Barbara, because traffic is unpredictable. Today, I arrived to wedding site one hour earlier.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
The wedding ceremony took place on the sand at Cabrillo Beach. Everything went very smooth. It was a good beach wedding day. Pictures came out very nice. The only challenge was the clouds. We had small patches of cloud all over the sky. After the ceremony, we had the formal photography session on the same beach at Cabrillo. As usual, people were nice to me, so my job was easy. It’s hard not to take good pictures when people are happy and good looking. As you can see, pictures came out good. Little patches of cloud gave us a cool effects. But, I must confess that I was extra busy with constant changes of lighting situation. Because of the clouds, the lighting situation was keep changing. I had to measure the light every minute . I had to adjust shutter speed and flash output constantly to make pictures look natural. Every single picture was taken with a flash.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
After formal photography, we all crossed Cabrillo street, waved to people honking at us, and headed to Mar Monte Hotel. From there, everything went smooth. The reception was held at La Cantina Room. The bride sang “Could not ask for more” to the groom. She sang with a lot of feeling. She was a good singer. The entire bridesmaids cried. I swapped business cards with the DJ (Coastal Entertainment Group) and the videographer (You’re The Star Video Productions). I cracked a lot of jokes with the videographer because we were working side by side for 8 hours.
Hotel Mar Monte
1111 East Cabrillo Blvd Santa Barbara, California 93103
805-963-0744 Resv. 800-643-1994 www.hotelmarmonte.com
You’re The Star Video Productions
P.O. Box 60703 Santa Barbara, California 93160
866-STAR-959 www.see-your-memories.com
Coastal Entertainment Group
805.896.2777 www.conejovalleydj.com
Related Topics
Hotel Mar Monte
Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center
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Wedding at Santa Barbara, California
July 1, 2006
Wedding Schedule
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Wedding Location - Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort Hotel, Santa Barbara, California Wedding date - Saturday July 1, 2006 3:30pm - Arrive at Santa Barbara 5:30pm - Wedding Ceremony 6:00pm - Formal Photography 7:00pm - Reception 10:00pm - End I have three weddings on 4th of July weekend. Today’s wedding was the second one. We are in the middle of a major heat wave. I left for wedding 2 hours before the scheduled ceremony. But, the traffic was bad. From Camarillo, it took me over 1 hour to get to Santa Barbara County line. This is a wedding photographer’s worst fear. Anyway, I managed to arrive at the wedding site early for photography. Perfect record Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort Hotel is located near Cabrillo Beach ca. I think this is the biggest Hotel/resort in the entire Santa Barbara area.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
I went to the bride’s room and took some candid (photo journalistic) pictures. Some of the relatives came to the hotel room to say hello to the bride. One lady gave the bride such a big hug that she unintentionally broke off the veil from the bride’s head. We all ran down stairs, where the hair saloon is located, and got her veil fixed. Meanwhile, at the wedding site, when we were getting ready for the wedding, the guitar player finally showed up. He came from Thousand Oaks area. He was complaining about how horrible the traffic was. He almost couldn’t make it to the wedding.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
My biggest task was the strong Santa Barbara beach Sunlight. Strong Sunlight will cast strong shadows. So, I had to use flash as much as possible. Also, I had to come close to the subjects so my flash can reach the subjects. There were a few palm trees blocking the Sun. I had to constantly move people so they would stand in that small patches of shadow.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
The beach was right across the street from the hotel. We went to the beach and took some pictures on the sand. After a few posed pictures, we took a short break. “Just relax for awhile”, I said. That’s when the groom talked to the bride and kissed her on her chick. I had time for a quick candid shot. When people are beautiful and in love, pictures usually come out beautiful as well. We photographed flowers and rings on the beach as well. It was hot, but we had a beautiful day in Santa Barbara today.
They had a good reception. The dinner was well planned. Music was provided by All Occasions Entertainment, locally from Santa Barbara. All Occasions Entertainment provided mariachi for dinner time and DJ for the dance.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
The DJ knew exactly what kind of music to play, and he didn’t talk much, as if he was shy. He just kept the party going. When the night was about to end, the DJ sang one song (Karaoke style). He sang very good… everyone was saying “Wow~~!!. One more~!!” The dude was amazing.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
This (above) is my new buddy Juan. When he first saw me at the hotel, he was a little shy. He didn’t seem comfortable in front of my camera. So, I tried to break the ice. I said “I’m John, too. My friends call me Juan. If we play basketball, it will be Juan-on-Juan”. He really liked that joke. After a little introduction, Juan became my buddy. At the reception, he came to me a few times and said “I would like to play Juan-on-Juan with you”. And the whole table at the wedding reception would laugh. Throughout the night, I gave him hand gestures saying “You & me, Juan-on-Juan”. We laughed a lot. good time.
Photographer: VenturaPhoto.com
Wedding album was mailed to the bride and groom in about 3 weeks. They loved the pictures. They wrote me a nice Customer’s Testimonial on my web site. It was memorable even to me, and I was just a photographer. I can only imagine how much fun the bride and groom must have had. This wedding was a fun one, a well planned one. All Occation Entertainmentset the mood from very beginning. I could have gone home earlier, but I stayed until the very end.
Oh, there was a bartender who was a typical Santa Barbara “surfer dude”. He was very popular. Young ladies came by to touch his muscles.
God bless everyone.. God bless my Juan-on-Juan buddy. Thank you.
Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort633 East Cabrillo Boulevard Santa Barbara, California 93103 (805)-564-4333
All Occasions Entertainment Heather Levin PO Box 445 Santa Barbara California 93102 (805) 687-5225
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