Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

A. Graham and Graham is a Manhattan Beach based photo team, specializing in weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs. We began as a father/son duo working weekends to raise money to send the junior Graham to college in 2004, and have since expanded. We are now Jeff, Sam, Conor, Phil & Duncan. We do this on the weekends because we are obsessed with photography and taking pictures. We all have day jobs, an interesting mix that includes writing, graphic design, video editing, art education and notary public.

Q. How did you become a wedding photographer?
A. We ran an ad on Craigslist offering to do a wedding for free in 2004, and ran off to Palm Springs for a glorious October wedding shoot with a beautiful couple, Amy and Kristian. We couldn’t have been happier with the results, and the same went for the couple.
“WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!” wrote Kristian to us afterwards. “These pictures are fantastic! You did SUCH a great job! I'm really happy!”
And with that, we were off and running. We posted the images on our website, people found us via Google, and wedding bookings started coming in. We’ve since now done over 100 weddings.





Q. Tell us about your style.
A. Energy and enthusiasm. We go into every job with the goal of nabbing the best wedding photographs ever, and giving our clients more memories than they remember seeing themselves.
For instance, the bride and groom are looking at each other during the ceremony. We’re looking at them too—and also getting shots of the parents and wedding party gazing as well. We’re out there getting close-ups, wide-angle and medium shots of the room, from above and to the side. We like to pride ourselves on getting every conceivable angle.
Energy: We shoot lots of pictures. Memory is cheap, and the fact is—people blink, they look the other way in group photos, and if you take 6 shots, you’re more likely to get a keeper than if you took 3.

Q. If you were getting married, why should we book you? What makes you unique?
A. Whomever you hire will give you the basics:
He or she will get the bride putting on makeup at the beginning of the day, walking down the aisle with her dad and kissing the groom, round up the groups for family shots and nab all the action at the party.
We like to think we do all that, and more.
It’s our zeal for getting great shots and commitment to making the client happy. We don’t have a studio and full-time employees to support. We work from home and do this only because we love the art of wedding photography, and the freedom to run around with a camera taking hundreds of pictures.
We’re like little kids in Kindergarden who can’t wait to show their new artwork to the parents. We’re that way with wedding photographs—we shoot for the ultimate and are thrilled when we get to display the results to the bride and groom.
“You were above and beyond what we would have ever expected,” wrote Denise to us, after we delivered the images of her beach wedding on the sands of Manhattan Beach.
Mishel, who booked us for his Los Angeles Jewish wedding to the lovely Selena in Laguna Niguel said we were "Ttireless during our wedding, taking pictures from everyone and from different angles.” And he pointed out an attribute that no one had ever mentioned before. Our size! "Being tall provided a natural advantage to shoot over everyone."



(Denise and Mark at their Manhattan Beach wedding, by Graham & Graham Photography)

Q. So fine, you work hard. But what are you like to be around?
A. Most people think we're easy-going. “The wedding day photos were relaxed and fun to take,” said Marlen about working with us on her Los Angeles wedding to Williams at the Orcutt Ranch in Canoga Park.

Q. What kind of equipment do you use?

A. All Canon, all the way. High-end professional level Canon digital SLRs--the 5D, 40D, 30D and 20D. For lenses, we like the 24-70mm 2.8, 70mm-200 2.8, 85mm 1.8 and 50mm 1.8. If there's a lens we don't have and need it for a particular job, we'll rent it from Samy's or Bel-Air Camera.

Q. And backup equipment?

A. In a word, always. There was the time a flash dropped on the floor during a wedding and had loose wires coming out of it. We smiled, and casually slipped into our camera bag to put on the replacement. Or the time we pushed a lens into the camera a little too hard and the focus screen fell out. These things happen. Which is why we always have backup cameras, flashes and lenses with us at every job.

Q. Lighting?

A. Glad you asked. We always bring a second light with us to receptions, the Alien Bee B800. Remember the old-fashioned wedding pictures in the ballroom, which had the subjects lit, but the background was sooooo black? We like to spread the light around. If there's time, we like to use the Bee for formals on the church altar as well.

Q. Tell us about some of your favorite locations.

A. We’re Manhattan Beach based, so naturally we have to mention the beach. We do a lot of engagement sessions in and around the Manhattan Beach Pier, which is a terrific, magical place. We’ve loved weddings in Palos Verdes at La Venta Inn and the Wayfarers Chapel, for their woodsy, so non-urban settings. Palos Verdes, to us, is the Hawaii of Southern California. The most breathtaking scenery in the state.
The three most interesting churches were the gothic St. Vincent de Paul on Figeroa in downtown Los Angeles, the St. Nicholas Greek church in Northridge and Saint Garabed Armenian in Hollywood. Big, historic, beautiful structures that had we not had this job, never would have seen.
And we get to take pictures there! How lucky is that?

Q. And your all-time favorite location?
A. For romance, however, nothing beats couple shots at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. There’s not a bad angle in the place.

Q. Favorite wedding?

A. Every wedding is different. We've done classic church unions, Jewish, Latino, Persian, Greek, Indian and Asian weddings, ones held in a city park, hotel courtyards and ballrooms, on the beach and in grandma''s backyard, and all were quite memorable, and exhilerating photographically. So there's the political answer. When pushed, we can say that as spectators, we loved the home wedding of our pals Richard and Lisa. It was a small affair in the Manhattan Beach home of another friend, Issy, and perhaps it was because everyone was standing in a circle around the couple, but the love in the room was infectious.

All-time Favorites

Q. Care to share your favorite wedding photograph?

A. Can't do it. How about we choose five, and tell you why.




Let's start with three kisses. The first is the aforementioned Amy and Kristian, from our very first wedding in Palm Springs. It's an incredibly honest, passionate kiss, and the expression of the officiator (Kris's sister) is priceless.

Favorite no. 2

Adriana and Enoc got into the spirit of the old-time Hollywood feel of the Union Station for a vintage dip and smooch

Favorite no. 3

Next up, the adorable flower girl, with Ruth and her dad prepping to walk down the aisle at the Neighborhood Church in Palos Verdes. And we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The advantage of having two photographers, as Duncan was already inside the church, ready to get them coming down the aisle.

Favorite No. 4

Below: That's Kristina, moments before entering the Saint Garabed Armentian church in Hollywood, looking so regal and queen like--when we saw the shot later, we said, "We just shot Jackie O's wedding!"

Favorite No. 5

Lastly, another great father/daughter moment, Sendi at home, with her dad in Wilmington, before leaving for San Pedro's Mary, Star of the Sea church. We loved how comfortable dad is in his western hat.