Henry Chan Photography

Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific

HenryC — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:27:12 +0000

Today was our 2nd attempt at going to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The Chan-Clan were all in bed together early Saturday morning and Sophia refused to give her daddy a kiss. So I did what did I do? I bribed her. I told her that we’ll go to the Aquarium and she more than happy to give daddy little kisses. Why was it our 2nd attempt? There were 3 conventions happening in Long Beach, in addition to the Red Bull Flugtag event yesterday. We sat in traffic and managed to go 2 blocks in one hour. Needless to say, Sophia and everyone else was restless so we headed back home.

Sophia was so excited to pet the rays.

Sophia kept saying “wow”.

My favorite photograph of the day.

Seal Beach: Diana & John Engagement

HenryC — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:52:16 +0000

“My sister (Diana) and John are real hams,” says Michelle. Michelle is a previous Bride of mine from last year and it was at her wedding that I met these two crazy cats, Diana and John. Click here to view Michelle’s wedding.

Well, they got engaged this year and will wed next month. We shot their engagement session at Seal Beach and along Main St. early this week. The week must have been real exciting, and I bet hectic, since they were leaving for a family trip to Hawaii the very next day after our session together.

Below are a few of my favorites from the session.

See more at Facebook

Union Station & Olvera St: Katherine & Alex Engagement

HenryC — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:56:12 +0000

Katherine and Alex flew in from Boston this past Independence weekend for an engagement session at the Union Station and Olvera St. Although we started the session early in the morning , Alex was all ready to go. He even suggested some Fred Astaire poses. We originally planned on having some coffee with our first in-person meeting ever before starting the engagement session. However, Katherine booked my services all the way from Boston based on a referral and our phone and email correspondences. I like to meet my couples first to build rapport and get a general sense of their personalities, but the Union Station was quiet in the early morning and we received clearance to enter the restricted grand room below.

How adorable is the photograph below? Before setting up for this photograph, Alex recalled how he met Katherine at Berkeley, Ca a few years back at a conference. Fast forward a few years and while walking in Boston, he serendipitously encounters Katherine again. It must have been kismet, I replied, so I wanted to seal their fate by having Katherine kiss Alex on the cheek. How cute…

Sophia: First Birthday

HenryC — Sat, 15 May 2010 07:37:37 +0000

Sophia turned one at 8:40 pm today. She’ll celebrate her first birthday tomorrow with a small group of family and friends. Below are the first photographs of my one year old daughter.

It’s difficult to believe how fast the days have passed. Just one year ago, I was anxiously standing in the hallway immediately outside the OR. The Doctor said he would call for me when Sophia is born. I heard a cry and then another and rushed in to see the nurses cleaning my daughter. I checked to make sure Cindy was okay then returned to take the very first photographs of Sophia barely minutes old. Sophia is now one. She can stand and take small steps. She has a small set of vocabulary and can say mamma, grandma, bird, flower, food, and a few others in Chinese. She comprehends a lot more than she can vocalize at the moment. She even clenches both her fists and throws a tantrum! My, how time flies.

Click here for Sophia’s birth.

Huntington Library Engagement: Catherine & James

HenryC — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:24:03 +0000

Catherine and James held their engagement session at the Huntington Library this past weekend. I arrived a bit early before our scheduled meeting time and sat around people watching. There was a group of young girl scouts posing in front of the Library. They were the cutest little girls I ever saw. I looked off into the distant and noticed a hot and well-dressed couple walking hand in hand towards the entrance. I was so hoping that this couple was Catherine and James. As the two approached, the gentlemen waved his hands toward me and I was elated to discover that the hot couple was them!

The weather was gorgeous that day and the temperature was in the mid-70s. Catherine and James were so easy to work with. The two need very little direction for poses. We ended the session with many hot photographs.

I can’t wait to photograph their wedding in September at the Mission 261

Sophia: Baby Hello Kitty sunglasses

HenryC — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:43:00 +0000

I spent the most of the day processing photographs and stumbled upon some images I captured of Sophia from 2 weeks ago. Grandma and Mommy had some fun with Sophia.

Santa Monica Pier: Ricky & Nikki Engagement

HenryC — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:45:03 +0000

This cute and wacky couple held their engagement session yesterday at the Santa Monica Pier. Anyone that I’ve photographed can tell you that I have this hand gesture for getting people to kiss. I shoot with a long lens and it is sometimes difficult to hear from far away. Ricky and Nikki kept imitating my gesture throughout the session. Don’t mock the hand signs! I told them that I would give them both large moles on their faces if they kept it up.

I just love how Nikki’s flowing dress adds energy and complements the leading curves of the wooden fence in the photograph below. We actually had to walk a bit just to find the perfect fence with the roller coaster in the background and no litter on the sand.

The next three photographs beneath the pier are nothing less than HOT!

All natural light in the photograph below in 1/20 sec, f1.6 at ISO 3200!. That’s camera talk for freaking dark. I braced myself on one of the horizontal crossbars and the couple had to keep completely still for the image.

Pink shirt, pink wall. Blue shirt, blue wall.

The engagement session had ended, my gear was packed and tucked away, and Nikki and Ricky were on a separate path down the pier when I spotted the balloon clown.

Civil Ceremony: Ty & Duy Los Altos Hills

HenryC — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:53:41 +0000

The second highlight of the Chan-Clan’s Easter weekend was attending Ty and Duy’s civil ceremony in beautiful Los Altos Hills in Northern California. It was a small and intimate ceremony with some family and friends. Ty and Duy are real down to earth people and wanted a casual and environmentally friendly event. They even had a compost bin for left over food. I love the green and sylvan ambiance of the location. I could have spent hours hiking the trails and river, and photographing the many flora and fauna of the region.

I’ve known Ty for as long as I known my wife. In fact, I met my wife through one of Ty’s social endeavors. Duy is a good guy and has been great for Ty. The Chan-Clan drove up specifically to partake in their joyous union. The couple didn’t have a budget for an official photographer and since I had also scheduled an engagement session for later that night in SF, I already had all my equipment so the photographer in me could not resist the opportunity to capture these beautiful memories for my friends.

Can you spot the Chan-Clan in the photograph below? You can even see the wet stain on my knee from kneeling down on the grass.

Serena & Parker Engagement: Pier 7, Embarcadero

HenryC — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:57:37 +0000

It was a busy and fun-filled Easter weekend for the Chan-Clan. We drove up to Northern California Thursday night and returned back home late Monday evening. We didn’t want to fly with Sophia still very young. The drive wasn’t bad at all and we made record time with about a 6 hr trip each way. We periodically stopped to stretch Sophia’s foot long legs.

Serena and Parker’s engagement session was one of the highlights over the weekend. Serena and I go way back to our college days at UCLA. I remember regularly watching the X-Files together with Serena and some other friends. I was very honored when asked to photograph my dear friend’s wedding in Nov.

Serena and Parker are real troopers for posing in the cold weather. I had three layers on and was still cold at times.

Serena and Parker on Pier 7 making out on a bench

I’ll blog about the other two events over the weekend on subsequent posts. Stay tuned!.

Marathon for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

HenryC — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:17:15 +0000

Hello Folks,

I was contacted by a fan asking for help with her cause for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Christina is running a half marathon to raise money for the cause. I applaud Christina’s passion and efforts for helping cancer patients. I haven’t had much time between family and work obligations to actively participate in any causes. This is just my way of helping out.

Not everyone can run for a good cause so please help Christina attain her goals! She’s already at 82% at the time of this post.

Click {here} for the fundraising page.

Thanks and best of luck, Christina!

-HenryC

Hi Henry,

I stumbled across your fan page on Facebook and really love your work. Unfortunately right now I don’t have any events that could utilize your services, but I wanted to let you know I think your work is great.

I am also contacting you on a different note. I am training to participate in a half marathon with Team in Training and am trying to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I have roughly $600 left to reach my fundraising minimum and I really need your help to accomplish this goal.

Please, please consider donating to my site http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/rnr10/cyuenx
it really means a lot to me and especially patients suffering from cancer. Whatever you can spare ($10, $20, … $100) will be so much appreciated. If you decide to donate, please donate by April 3rd (around the time we must decide to recommit). Every dollar you donate really does make a difference in cancer research and treatment. For example, with the money raised for the LLS, the survival rate of leukemia patients has increased to ~50% (from 14% in 1960). …

I know this is asking for a lot, but I really hope you will support me in this endeavor.

Best Regards,
Christina