john's blog

Notice: I will book budget photography jobs per request. I am retired from photography. Please ignore my package/pricing. I will only take budget customers per request. I served Ventura County for over a decade. I have photographed hundreds of weddings. Email me: (home at venturaphoto dot com).

* If you have a normal budget, I am not a photographer for you. And PLEASE, I will not work for free. Expect to pay something. It takes me 5 hours just to get ready.

Project: Coffee Cup - Old Town Camarillo

Camarillo Photgrapher, Church
Wedding Site: Evangelical Free Curch of Camarillo, Old Town Camarillo.  What you see on background is the famous St. Mary Magdalen Church.

Evangelical Free Curch, is located in Old Town Camarillo.  The wedding customer opened their web album to public.  Click here for a Camarillo Wedding Album.


Project: Coffee Cup - Ventura College

Ventura College Wedding Photographers
Wedding Site: Ventura College

Yes, you can rent Ventura College to have a wedding and reception.


Project: Coffee Cup - Simi Valley (Lost Canyon Golf Club)

Simi Valley Photographer
Wedding Location: Lost Canyon Golf Club, Simi Valley

You may not notice, but it was very windy.  They originally planned an outdoor wedding.   But they had to move to indoor because it was so windy.  It was a tricky day.  I had to strategize on how we can work with this windy situation.

Blog entry with more pictures of Lost Canyon Golf Club is here I took some cool night pictures 

Also you can read 2 customer testimonials from this wedding below


Project: Coffee Cup - Carpinteria

Carpinteria Wedding Photographer
Carpinteria Wedding Site: Best Western Carpinteria Inn

I remember having hard time locating this hotel.  The location was tricky.  I arrived there plenty early.  But I was really lost along the way.  I use GPS now, that I no longer worry about getting lost.  I don't have a blog (story) about this wedding.  As much as I would like to share stories and pictures, I just don't have enough time to cover everything.


Coffee Cup: Buena Park - Looking at Medieval Times

Buena Park Photographer
Wedding Site: Buena Park

Blog entry on this wedding:


Project: Coffee Cup - Heritage Square, Oxnard

Heritage Square Wedding Photographer
Wedding Site: Oxnard Heritage Square

I come to Heritage Square often.

Blog entries and pictures on weddings at Heritage Square listed below:


Project: Coffee Cup - Oxnard,

Oxnard Photographer
Wedding site: Oxnard


Project: Coffee Cup - Long Beach

Long Beach Photographer
Wedding site at Long Beach:
Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden - CSU - Long Beach

I went to Long Beach three times.  All three time, the wedding venue was Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden in Cal State University Long Beach.

Blog Entries and pictures on Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, CSU Long Beach


Coffee Cup - Santa Barbara Courthouse

Santa Barbara Coffee Cup
Wedding Site: Santa Barbara Courthouse

I came to Santa Barbara Courthouse a few times.  You can see some of the pictures in my past blog entries.


Coffee Cup - How it Started

This is a little part of my life that was not been told before. From this, I hope you will get to know me better.

Coffee heritage Square
Wedding Site at Oxnard, Heritage Square

Whenever I arrive at the wedding site, I take pictures of my coffee cup. 

How it all started

  1. I am a coffee drinker  Also, I religiously drink coffee whenever I do anything that's related to photography. 
    • For example: If a customer schedule a meeting, I will come to the meeting with a cup of coffee in my hand.
  2. I always brew fresh coffee right before I leave home for a wedding.  I drink coffee as I drive to the wedding site.
  3. When I arrive at the wedding site:
    • I get out of the car with the last sip of the coffee in my hand.
    • I place my coffee cup on top of my car to stretch.
    • Then I get my cameras out.  Take the lens caps off. etc..
    • I snap a few test pictures to make sure my camera is in working order
    • When I take test pictures, the closest object I see is my coffee cup.  So I take pictures of the coffee cup.
  4. The cup is about 18 years old (maybe older). I bought this cup through mail-order.  There was no Internet back then.  I bought it along with a Canon & a Nikon cup.  The other cups were broken a long time ago.
  5. I am a Canon user.  I never liked Minolta.  I don't remember why I decided to buy a Minolta cup.  Anyway, this is my favorite cup.

Before I knew it, this practice became one of my wedding photography rituals.

Each photograph of my coffee cup marks the moment I was getting ready for a full day of work ahead.  These are my personal moments.  I usually have a little butterfly in my stomach because I am about to work with hundreds of strangers.

Then I say to myself "Let's do this"


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