Michelle Chiu Photography

Martha and Phil

Michelle — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:47:57 +0000

A bit of a rushed post, but I really wanted to share Martha and Phil’s sweet engagement in the Vineyards before their wedding tomorrow! We were so fortunate to be able to use this location before the wedding day! So lush, green and gorgeous!!! Can’t wait to see you two tomorrow!!! xoxo

Martha has the most amazing, inviting and beautiful smile!! Doesn’t she just feel like she could be your best friend?

We had some fun with the rakes we found!

Katie and Steve

Michelle — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:37:54 +0000

Katie and Steve both love the beach! So we just had to take photos here! We were blessed with gorgeous soft overcast lighting! AND a stunningly beautiful sunset! SO rare to have both! The first time we scheduled the engagement, our parade got rained on (literally) and we had to reschedule for a later date. So boy was I happy with the gorgeous weather we had for the shoot!

I had the pleasure of meeting Katie through my childhood friend Nathan and his lovely wife Michelle! (Katie being Michelle’s older sister) I still remember that night, Katie’s maid of honor speech made me tear up and cry. Being an older sister myself, I knew exactly how she felt, I remember wanting to go up and hug her and tell her that I TOTALLY knew how she felt.. but decided that might be creepy as she had no idea who I was at the time. haha

Katie and Steve- You both are so great and fun to be around, and just so darn photogenic wow! I hope you guys had fun running through the birds! (haha) Hope to see you guys soon! Enjoy!

Travel Spotlight: Harry Potter Studio Tour-London

Michelle — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:55:27 +0000

All I have to say is WOW. This is a MUST go for any Harry Potter fan. I was blown away by how amazing the entire experience was! This was absolutely the highlight of my entire trip to London. First off, for anyone going in the future, I would highly recommend buying your tickets at least a few months in advance. (http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/) I had decided I wanted to go to the tour last minute when I was already in London, and there were NO TICKETS.. at all! I called them, and they had mentioned on rare occasions people cancel and you MIGHT be able to get in. So I checked every day… every hour… every minute I was in London to see if any tickets would free up, and to no avail!! I was so close to giving up hope it wasn’t until the morning before my last day in London there was an opening! WOOHOO! I instantly snatched the ticket and off I went to the WB studios. Yes.. by lonesome myself. haha

So the WB brothers studio isn’t quite in the heart of London, you actually have to take a train out to Watford Junction, and then take another official “Harry Potter Tour Bus” to the actual studios! upon arriving, you are greeted by this rather impressive building.

Enter the building, and you are there is an area with all the actors head shots that gives off an atmosphere simliar to a really nice AMC theater

I felt like the thought of every moment you would walk through the tour, and showered us with goodies on the go! While you are waiting in line to get into the “official” tour area, here is the official “Harry Potter Closet” if you look closely you can even see Harry’s spectacles!

They show you a short behind the scene’s film, and then a giant curtain is raised and you are greeted with the doors to the great hall. Seriously WOW moment.
Details were stunning
They had all the different house robes on display

Moaning murtle’s robes as well
The Mirror of Erised. Its supposed to show you exactly what your heart longs the most. Guess I’m living my dream huh?

Yule Ball display! Stunningly beautiful

Yule Ball Dress Robes
Fleur Delacour

The invisibility cloak and the Fat Lady Painting haha

Gryffindor Common Room

Gryffindor fireplace

Gryffindor Stairwell
Gryffindor Boys Dormitory
Gate to Hogwarts
Potion’s class, again the attention to detail is amazing!
you totally can’t see it, but the pot and the stirrers were actually moving!
The Triwizard trophy, and golden egg!
Clocktower upclose
Chamber of Secrets door
Dumbledore’s Study

So many little hidden goodies you had to look for! Like Godric Gryffindor’s sword hidden up top!

Vials of memories
Hagrids Hut

The Weasley’s Burrow
The dishes were washing themselves and food chopping themselves as well!
Scarf was knitting itself!
This was another very impressive display! All the different stationary, newspapers, invitation, candy, (anything you could possibly think of)–was all available on display!
Marauder’s Map
Diagon Alley

OllivandersEver wonder how the filmed the broom scenes?
This area lead into a line where you could ride a broom yourself and watch yourself fly through the realm of Harry Potter via green screen! (they also take photos of you during your ride) Couldn’t resist I bought mine! haha

Gringotts Wizarding Bank

Death eater costumes

Aragog

Another super cool collection of Harry Potter Gadgets! Including Neville’s remembrall, snitch, deluminator, philospher’s stone and a few items i didn’t recognize
Mad Eye Moody’s chest
Professor Umbridge’s very very pink office haha
After the first building, you are led in to an outdoors area
The knight bus! they actually combined three vintage busses to make it!
And of course Privet Drive!
The giant chest pieces from the 1st movie

And then perhaps the most stunning part of the entire tour was this impressive model of the Hogwarts castle, was HUMUGOUS!! I had seen photos of it previous to coming on the tour, but I simply had no idea the how massive it was! Along with playing the gorgeous Harry potter soundtrack in the background, I was nearly moved to tears.

Just to give you an idea of how huge it is, If i were to actually stand on the model, I would probably make up only 1/4 the height of one of the towers.
The lighting would change the castle from day to dusk to night to sunrise. Simply stunning!

Over-all it was such an amazing experience, I would highly recommend this tour if you are ever in London. The amount of detail and thought they put into the film was mind blowing. I would definitely go again if I were ever in London again! I felt like there was so much to see I couldn’t have caught it all the first time around! Make sure to buy your tickets in advance and plan extra time for travel

Yasmine and Hassan

Michelle — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 23:09:09 +0000

Yasmine and Hassan are so fun and so easy going! I had such a blast hanging out with them for the shoot, we went on an adventure through some local orange groves, and then down to the downtown Redlands. It was our first time meeting in person, but I definitely felt like I had made friends for life. We quickly bonded over our love for healthy, organic foods, and our love for the less healthy sweets as well! haha After our shoot, I didn’t want our time to end together, we ended up getting some AMAZING fresh ice cream at A La Minute as well as went grocery shopping together at all the cute local organic food stands! During this time Yasmin and I bonded even more over being “doctors” wives, and how lonely that can be sometimes. We decided we should form a “doctor’s wife” support group haha! Can’t wait for your wedding tomorrow!!

“Where’s Yasmin??”

They LOOOVE coffee and so do I!

Jaime and Alvin

Michelle — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:28:59 +0000

Jaime and Alvin compliment each other so perfectly! Its so clear how comfortable and happy they are with each other! While brainstorming for the shoot, both of them had mentioned they loved beautiful foresty locations as well as would love to include the dear doggies! We had so much fun with the two locations chosen. Alvin’s friend had an amazing studio where we could access the roof! (I have a serious fear of heights, but the view and photos taken was TOTALLY worth it!) I’m to excited to share these photos! Alvin and Jaime thank you so much for being so easy and fun to work with! I can’t wait to shoot your wedding!! Enjoy!

SOo in love with this rooftop photo at dusk. You can see the city lights just turned on

Heart Bokeh!! too cute right??

Their adorable cake toppers

Jaime and Alvin are huge laker’s fans! Its so amazing how they chose a wedding date that incorporated both of Kobe’s laker jersey numbers!!

Taken with me on the rooftop! Definitely one of my favorite photos of the set! :D

Grace and Patrick

Michelle — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:30:30 +0000

First off, Happy birthday Grace!! Next off, I’m so excited that Paperman won the Oscar for short films! Grace and Patricks Paperman themed engagement here! In celebration, I’m so excited to share their second set of Engagement photos! I loved so many of these, I had such an impossible time narrowing down which ones I wanted to post!

I’m so honored and grateful these two asked me to be their engagement photographer. These two are such amazing people and friends! Theres a word in Chinese (and Korean) that doesn’t exist in english: 感動 or 감동 in korean. Pronounced: Gum-dohng/kam dong. It means deeply moved. deeply touched and affected.

It may seem silly, but that was exactly how i felt: 感动. They genuinely approached me as a client, didn’t ask for any special treatment, didn’t expect any discount. They simply trusted me to take their photos. Grace and Patrick, that means more to me than you’ll ever know! Thank you both of you! Xoxo

Super huge thank you to Kat for coming along and helping! She set up the tent, held the reflector, ran around all with a huge beautiful smile on her face. We couldn’t have done it without you! xoxo Enjoy!!

LOVE their yellow umbrella!!

2012 Bride’s Choice Awards! :D

Michelle — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:21:06 +0000

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading online wedding marketplace, is thrilled to announce that Michelle Chiu Photography has been selected as a winner of the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® 2013 for Photography in California!

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Michelle Chiu Photography’s selection as a Bride’s Choice Award 2013 winner was selected based on the positive experiences expressed by past clients on WeddingWire, the world’s largest wedding review site with over one million reviews. While many industry awards are given by the host organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® winners are determined solely based on reviews from real newlyweds and their experiences working with Michelle Chiu Photography.

The WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® 2013 are given to the top local wedding vendors in more than 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on professional achievements from the previous year. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients. As a Bride’s Choice Awards winner, Michelle Chiu Photography is highlighted within the WeddingWire Network, which is comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.

“Each year, WeddingWire looks forward to celebrating the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Network,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Now in its fifth year, the Bride’s Choice Awards® program continues to recognize the elite wedding professionals who exemplify a commitment to quality, service and professionalism. These businesses were chosen by our bridal community for their responsiveness and dedication to their clients over the past year. We are honored to recognize Michelle Chiu Photography for their impressive achievements within the wedding industry.”

To learn more about the Bride’s Choice Awards®, please visit www.WeddingWire.com/brides-choice-awards.

Happy Valentines Day

Michelle — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:07:29 +0000

Happy Valentines Day!

This is the first time I’ve taken photos of myself. I guess I can call it my first self-portrait! haha

When I was at UCSD I had a sweet roommate named Jenn. On valentines day, she would surprise people by sticking hearts all over their dorm room and give them a “heart attack” it was the most adorable and cute idea. Inspired by her idea, I would stock up on lots and lots of heart shape balloons, travel around on valentines day and “heart attack” my friends with balloons No matter the status, single or married, I noticed this was a gesture that never ceased to delight (or perhaps my friends just found me amusing) haha.
I’ll be out on the attack tonight. Wish me luck and Happy Valentines Day!

Janelle and Fred Destination Shoot in Paris

Michelle — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 23:53:28 +0000

After their fabulously sweet wedding in Paris, I had the pleasure of shooting a gorgeous day-after shot for Janelle and Fred in the rest of Paris! I am so thankful to them both for giving me this amazing opportunity! After this entire experience, the one thing is I definitely realized is my style is quite consistent, weather I’m in the states or an exotic location, my eye’s seem to be attracted to certain types of light and positioning. I feel confident that I can capture the same amount of warmth, joy and unique flare no matter where the wedding is.

For this shoot we started out in the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens, made our way over to the Pont-alexandre-iii bridge and finished it off with a few homey shots at Freds place. :D Huge thank you to Ryan for assisting me that day!

Enjoy this gorgeous couple and location!

This is definitely one of my favorite shots I’ve always wanted to try The Peony petals from Janelle’s bridal bouquet!

We totally weren’t planning to take photos on the metro, but I LOVE how they turned out!

Believe it or not I did Janelle’s hair and makeup for this shoot There are definitely some advantages of having a photographer do your make-up

i love that the old man was proudly clapping for them in the background!

Both Fred and Janelle expressed the importance of their Cat to them, so we made it a priority to make it back to their home and get a few cute shots with this sweet cat

The Daleys

Michelle — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:33:42 +0000

They Daley’s bring so much joy to not only me, but everyone they meet. This time I had the pleasure of meeting Grandma Daley as well! We picked our favorite Garden to go to and had a blast! This year I received my third holiday card in a row from the Daleys, all of them featuring the images I took. There is no greater joy for a photographer than knowing they are blessed with such awesome clients year after year. Enjoy this fun set of this wonderful family!

Best silly faces ever!