Do you live in the San Francisco Bay Area? Do you have an awesome love story? Are you making a difference in the world? Email your story and a photo of you and your other half to be considered for a complimentary Love Story shoot in the spring at shang[at]shangchenphoto.com. All kinds of couples (dating, engaged, married) are welcome!

Shang is a jetsetting wedding photographer for dynamic couples. She captures imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy.
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I was so happy to collaborate with them on this wintery outdoor shoot in Chicago. I picked out a beautiful, quiet, tranquil spot where we could really be ourselves. They are very comfortable with each other.

Also, the blanket? An excellent choice

I love all the texture we captured on this shoot

 I really like natural portraits where I just feel like everyone is at ease and having fun

Yeaaa profile picture :D

Isn’t this tall grass awesome? I really work hard to find stuff like this in the winter… but I can’t wait until the green comes in!

So. Cute.

And, since I had some new equipment come in, of course we had to test some night shots as well!

Thank you guys so much for braving the cold and having fun with me!

Do you live in the San Francisco Bay Area? Do you have an awesome love story? Are you making a difference in the world? Email your story and a photo of you and your other half to be considered for a complimentary Love Story shoot in the spring at shang[at]shangchenphoto.com. All kinds of couples (dating, engaged, married) are welcome!

Shang is a jetsetting wedding photographer for dynamic couples. She captures imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. Shang believes in taking the time to cultivate a trusting bond between her as a photographer and her clients.
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First off, though this was a winter wedding, we could not have asked for better weather during the day. I left Chicago during a snowstorm, and the week after this wedding, it snowed in Boston

Russell and Joel got ready together, just the two of them. It was so nice getting to observe them quietly and soak in the day

They both wore Hermes ties. Joel’s cufflinks were from Tiffany & Co (as are their wedding rings), and Russell’s were a graduation gift from his mother

This is one of my favorite moments of the day. Russell is better at tying ties than Joel is, so he got up on a chair behind him

How awesome is the light? They are so happy

So very dashing

Lawyers read. A lot

Even in the winter, the grounds of Turner Hill had some evergreens which I was happy to include in the portraits

I love this red door

We actually shot in some similar spots as Russell and Joel’s engagement session, which also took place at Turner Hill. With the engagement session down, they knew exactly what to expect from me on the day of the wedding. This is why unless there are mountains to move, I shoot engagement sessions for all my clients

Wintery elements were included in the bouquets and the flower girl basket

The ringbearer is Joel’s nephew. He is having a grand time with his mother and grandmother

Russell and Joel told me to look out for the flower girl and ringbearer as they came down aisle. I loved how the flower girl ended her entrance by sitting next to her little brother, who was also quite a well-dressed little man

The honorable Judge Hall officiated the ceremony. Russell clerked for Judge Hall early in his legal career

A very happy moment right after the first kiss

The guests enjoyed cocktail hour and milled about the mansion (which was featured in the Martin Scorsese film, Shutter Island). The staff at Turner Hill told me that some of the drapery and curtains were left behind as a gift

Everyone got a huge kick out of the cake topper – bobble heads made in the likeness of the grooms!

The toasts were very heartfelt and personal, you can really tell how much everyone cared for Russell and Joel

Russell’s father is unfortunately no longer with us. Russell’s younger brother mentioned in his speech how proud their father would have been of Joel. We all got a little teary-eyed

Grandma joins the dance floor!

Many thanks to my second shooter, Ze Liang Photography, for capturing some of these moments

There was a wonderful candy buffet. The talented Linda of Lemon Drop Team pulled it together late in the wedding planning phase and it features wonderful paper design by Yuling Designs!

I really like this ring shot

And a fun shot to end the night

Thank you Russell and Joel for the wonderful honor of having me, I am over the moon happy for you guys!

And a big hug and love goes to Linda, who I’m so happy to finally get to work with. She is awesome guys! If you need someone to manage your wedding day to perfection, drop what you’re doing and call her now!

The vendors:

Photography by Shang Chen Photography. Second shooter: Ze Liang Photography
Venue: Turner Hill Mansion and Golf Club, Ipswich, MA
Catering: Vinwood Caterers
Day of Coordination: Linda Lee, Lemon Drop Team, MA (Shang Chen Photography preferred)
Rings: Tiffany & Co., Nicole Vellucci at Forever Diamond, Boston, MA
Suits: Brooks Brothers
Ties: Hermes
Florist: Flowers by Darlene, Salem, MA
Invitations and menu design: Goosefish Press, Boston, MA
Candy buffet design: Yuling Designs (Shang Chen Photography preferred)
Cake: Jenny’s Wedding Cakes, Amesbury, MA
Officiant: Judge Hall
DJ: MCO Productions

Shang is a jetsetting wedding photographer for dynamic couples. She captures imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. Shang never gets tired of heartfelt and thoughtful wedding toasts and looks forward to capturing more in 2012!
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February 24 – 26 – Boston, MA

 March 17 – 27 – Spring break to Southeast Asia! I’ll be in Singapore, Bali, Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, and Brunei

~Second week of April and first or second week of May – San Francisco- Dates unconfirmed. Are you in SF’s tech scene? I’m looking to connect with you!

April 20 – 22 – Philadelphia, PA

May 25 – May 28 – Boston, MA for 2 weddings and my 5-year college reunion

June 1 – 3 – Boston, MA for a wedding

June 9 – in Chicago because that’s my graduation!

Mid-June – End of June – Boston, MA to wrap up my life there. Best chance for Boston people to book some shoots!

July 1 – Move to San Francisco? Move to _____?

Here’s a picture of me and my mother after having celebrated Lunar New Year in Chicago

Shang is a wedding photographer known for imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. Shang’s favorite hangout in NYC right now is the Whole Foods Market at the corner of Bowery and E Houston
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Allyson and Steve met while Allyson was attending law school in Atlanta in 2009. Steve was visiting his best undergrad friend. Steve accompanied his friend to Allyson’s house to pick up an item, and Allyson had just gotten a kitten and was showing him off. Allyson and Steve hung out, and Steve extended his stay by a week just to get to know her better. Allyson was trying to discern where to go for her summer internship – her offers came from LA and NYC. Steve lived in Massachusetts at the time. Allyson took the Manhattan offer, and that summer, they traveled by train to see each other. They continued long distance as Allyson had 2 more years of law school. They got engaged over Memorial Day weekend in 2010 in Cape Cod. Allyson was registered to take the bar in California in 2011, and had job offers in California and Chicago. In her words: “the Chicago job was pretty much my dream job (adjunct professor at Loyola Chicago and representing low-income clients through a law school clinic). Steve is incredibly supportive, and adventurous, so a month after we decided to make San Francisco our first home, we switched courses and decided to go for the position in Chicago. Three days after I graduated we drove up to Chicago (with the kitten in tow) and moved into an apartment in Lincoln Park.”

The main reason why I picked this couple to photograph was actually the fact that they had a super-intimate wedding: they got married in DC (where Allyson grew up) in a courthouse wedding with two friends as witnesses. They’d never been photographed professionally together before they met me.

I was super happy Allyson brought a bright yellow cardigan to add color to the photos, as winters in Chicago (and Boston) are notorious for being quite gray. I picked the historic Chicago Union Station building as a setting for their love shoot. It represents the trains they took in their relationship, and is absolutely gorgeous!

Allyson and Steve were so laid back and comfortable with each other. We laughed the entire afternoon

So. Romantic.

Allyson has a heart for representing the under-served low income people of this city. She speaks of her career with so much passion. And it was clear that Steve supported her – he had the great luck of being able to telecommute for his job which is still back in Massachusetts

We caught some beautiful light

Allyson was the more talkative of the two, and we had some fun showing off her style to Steve

Thank you Allyson and Steve for spending a great afternoon with me!

Shang is a wedding photographer known for imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. She is writing this post while it’s -2 degrees outside in Chicago. Though she doesn’t do many winter photo sessions because it’s a brutal time to photograph in Chicago and the colors are a bit dull, she recommends wearing bright colors and breaking for hot chocolate in between!
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Shang is a wedding photographer known for imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. Over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, Shang would like everyone to take a moment to pause and reflect on the civil liberties we’ve accomplished since the 1960s, but what more can be done
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The story behind why I came up with this idea was actually weather related. I’d seen all these gorgeous, lush weddings shot at Willowdale with towering trees and large grass fields… believe me, I wish I could have done those portraits too. However, this wedding was in late winter, it wasn’t possible, we went outside for portraits and they were beautiful, but a little gray. (I’m going to be blogging two more winter sessions on the blog in the next few weeks and you’ll see the grayness of the winter there as well.) I could only keep the bride and groom outside for about 15 minutes before all their skin turned pink. Due to the limitations that were imposed on me by the weather, I had to make as much use of the indoor locations as I could, and that’s when this bathtub inspired me.

Still, it was a little crazy, I mean, who puts a bride in a bathtub, right? Apparently, me, because while writing this blog I remembered that I did something similar in 2010 at Henderson House. Anyway, I’m really proud of this photo, I love the lighting and the color, and a lot of new clients point to it as well as a reason why they want to hire me.

Do I care that there are other versions? No. I welcome healthy competition, it keeps me on my toes. Art imitates, inspires, and is reinterpreted. You see it everywhere. In paintings, we see painters quoting other painters’ work or paying homage to certain poses. In movies, there are countless adaptations and remakes. In novels and poems… so many examples.

I recently tweeted that getting your ideas copied means that they are good ideas. You should be afraid if someone executes it better than you can. Facebook was not the first social network. Google was not the first search engine.

There are photographers out there – some who are my very own assistants – who are trying to be like me. To these assistants I have often said, “find your own voice, your own angle.” If your entire portfolio ends up being you trying to shoot like someone else, then the artist that is supposed to be you, will be lost. When I first began, there were many photographers I aspired to be like – and many of them were strangely based in California (which I later found out, it’s just because the weather is better). As my work grew, I realized I found the most joy being myself, and having clients who liked me just as I was – and not because my work reminded them of someone else’s (who was more expensive). Nowadays while I’m on personal leave (for the sake of love!), I still get an email maybe once, twice a week from brides who were devastated and really wished they could have hired me before I took this leave, and only me. If you are one of them, don’t despair, email me and I can help you out with some referrals.

When I used my own personality to influence how I worked and how I made my clients feel, we began having beautiful and exquisite experiences. And that, my friends, is really what wedding photography should be about.

Shang is a wedding photographer known for imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. Shang believes that the best wedding photographer for you is one who you feel comfortable having around all day – personality is key!
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One can’t be a “natural light” wedding photographer, that’s just not possible. What will happen when the natural light goes away behind a thunderstorm? Or when the sun sets and the reception is in full swing with fast-dancing guests? It is the role of wedding photographers to not only utilize and photograph with whatever light they’re given, but under certain circumstances, they’ll have to create light, and that’s where I truly believe one can stand out.

This post will introduce to you the variety of light I see. I’m really excited for this weekend as I’m going to be doing two challenge shoots – I occasionally put myself up to the challenge to shoot in less-than-ideal conditions to push my ability to see light.

First off, every photographer’s favorite: the golden hour. Happens on sunny days during certain hours, and you get sweet photographs like these – they literally look golden!

Another photographer’s favorite is broad lighting. The light is usually diffused. The subjects’ faces are clearly lit, bright, and smooth. You get this a lot on cloudy days

Then there is a type of light a lot of photographers are afraid of – direct light. It happens when the sun is high and harsh, and I too agree that it isn’t the most pleasing, but in creative ways, it can create high impact

Three-quarter lighting is one of the most pleasing ways to light a portrait

The onset of vintage weddings have brought us a trend in backlit, washed out photographs. I use backlighting because I do believe it is romantic. However, I have two rules when it comes to this: one, I want my subjects well-exposed – they can’t be dark. Two, I won’t take backlit photos just for backlighting’s sake. I often include sun flares or I do a rim light effect

Then we go inside! When you’re inside and it’s dark or lighting is mixed, well, you have to create light! Sometimes one speedlight, bounced off a wall or ceiling, with the shutter speed slow enough to bring in the ambient will do just fine

Sometimes it’ll be slightly more involved with an off-camera speedlight that I control with wireless transmitters (I’ve tried both radiopoppers and pocket wizards, I prefer radiopoppers).  Sometimes you’ll see them show up as a bare flash

Most of the time though, I prefer to leave it to the side for rim lighting

And then there are awesome opportunities in the dark for even more creative work

Let there be light! Yes, that is my bathroom mirror

Shang is a wedding photographer known for imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. While Shang loves shooting during golden hours, she believes that the best wedding photographers are prepared for all lighting conditions
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2011 was a year of seeing dreams come true. It did not start out happy. You know how you have to hit rock bottom before you can climb up again? Spring this year was when I hit rock bottom. I won’t go into details, but I had a wake up call and told God that I knew that for as long as He continued to be faithful to me, I would do whatever I can on my end to walk towards Him. It was so hard, the path wasn’t always clear, few people knew exactly what was going on and even fewer people could relate. My focus was on developing my inner strength, and not expecting external circumstances to pull me up.

Looking back, I can not believe how much happier I am. I had several very ambitious goals for Shang Chen Photography and all of them were met. Career-wise, I made a big choice to give up one passion (photography) to make room for another (technology), and I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t find my new direction fulfilling. Personally, I’m exploring a journey with someone so unexpected, but so wonderful, and this is only our beginning. I got to travel to Barcelona (and Jamaica, San Francisco, NYC, Los Angeles, and Boston). I’ve been investing in my body and soul, I started cooking more at home and working out consistently and got a personal trainer. School-wise… I just found out last night that I made dean’s list – during a quarter where I’d traveled more, and signed on to more projects and leadership opportunities than any other quarter! I could not have seen any of this on January 1, 2011. I am living my dream life – it’s in between, it’s unresolved, but it’s so beautiful.

2012 is going to be pretty life-changing. See you then!

Shang is a wedding photographer known for imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. Shang is super excited about moving to San Francisco in 2012
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Thank you to my 2011 brides and grooms for the absolute honor of letting me be your wedding photographer. I’ve learned so much from you guys. I’ll let the images below (mostly in random order) do the talking, but I’ve added tidbits here and there about what each couple’s story taught me about love.

Alyson and Allan showed me how love allows you to give freely to the community around you

Charlotte and James proved that love can survive long distances even at first sight

Pantila and Dan are two extremely generous and good people who deserve all the best the world can give them, because they give back so much

Dana pursued Melissa even though it almost seemed like a lost cause. Now they have their happily ever after

Marisa and Evan made everything work because they trusted each other. They also honored each of their family’s cultures and heritages

Jen and Joel proved that opposites do attract and work very, very well together. And that the best vows come from the heart

Blair and Josh showed me that much about being together is being able to make each other smile

Peter was Julia’s knight in shining armor

Nina and Ryan took their love global – and I’m talking Sydney, Australia to New York City. On their wedding day, I couldn’t help but notice them stealing glances at each other all the time and smiling

Apurva and Adam are an example of where best friends also make the best kind of life partners

Emma and Jason proved that even if you crash into each other in an intramural soccer game, you can still be together forever

For Tricia and Mike, love is about trying new things and new experiences together while also spending quality time with family

Lisa and Jeff hit it off from their very first date – their love is all about sharing and being involved in their common interests and exploring the world together

Love will conquer shyness, as shown by Nicole and Jonathan. Love is all about supporting one another

Joanne and Chris showed me that love is about understanding each other, inside and out

Amy and Malik love each other because they saw, very early on, how well they fit together – like puzzle pieces!

Jill and Than showed that love is all about mutual respect and humility, and enjoying life in a laid-back manner

Shreya and Anoop showed that love is being thankful for each other and supporting each other through crazy things – like a hurricane

Mengmeng and Shawn’s relationship showed me how much the right person can change your life

Kim and Evon are faithfully living out their vows, being there for each other through thick and thin

Unbelievable that this wraps it all up! I hope that these images brighten your lives as much as they do mine!

Shang is a wedding photographer known for imagery that pops with color, personality, and energy. Shang considers herself blessed to document beautiful people with beautiful love stories
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