A good photographer friend of mine (Danny Villanueva) called me to say that his parents would be celebrating their Golden Anniversary and if I was available to for this special occasion for them. I love  great opportunities and this was certainly one of them. I had never photographed a 50th anniversary before and this turned out to be a great one to be a part of. And so as you can imagine I thank my friend for calling me and trusting me with this big day in their lives.  You can see Danny in the picture below styling his dad’s golden bow tie.  he was busy throughout the day with his two young boys while being a part of the wedding party.  The wedding ceremony was held at the Church of Christ (Iglesia Ni Christo) in Long beach which turned out to be beautiful church with exceptional soft lighting, really liked the big choir at the altar.  The reception was held at the Marriott Long Beach Airport which has some excellent grounds for pictures. The staff was attentive and accommodating because I can see this as I’m interacting with them and as I see them interacting with the guests. I also received some exceptional help from them when at the end of the the night when all was was over I had left one of my flashes which I set up on a light stand with a radio trigger. This simple little light is basically a $700 light on a stick, wouldn’t think much of it, as  you can imagine I was pretty anxious when I called them asking if it was still there, but when I spoke to the Catering Manager he totally  put me at ease telling me they had already arranged for them to contact me and to look for me to come get it, I was so relieved and thankful for such wonderful gesture.  I can’t say enough about this, in my industry there’s always horrific stories of lost equipment due to something as simple as this, but thank the good Lord He had me covered for sure!!  I love the overall pictures that we captured in the day, I think the couple, the families, the friends and everyone are going to be delighted to see these special moments that myself and my team are delivering to them.   A very special thanks to my good friend Tracy Kumono for coming to 2nd for me and for helping me capture these beautiful photos . I included a photo of the paparazzi in action, that’s me in the center of the frame.   I’m a happy man!!