{ Takeo Uesugi | Portraits… and Published! }
Although I mostly photograph weddings, I always get excited when I am contacted for a portrait session. Discussing and planning the session is like taking a peek into their backgrounds and experiences – a dancer, a business woman, a new addition to the family; each session celebrates who they are and this moment in their life.
In this case it was Takeo Uesugi, the father/father-in-law of Keiji & Becca (the first couple I ever photographed!). Takeo is an amazing landscape architect. The Japanese Garden at Cal Poly Pomona, the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, the garden by the JACCC in Little Tokyo – he’s designed countless beautiful landscapes across California and beyond. As we walked through the garden at Cal Poly Pomona, he pointed out the koi, described the different sounds of the water trickling under the bridge, and explained the varieties of plants that filled the garden. His serene knowledge and absolute love for what he did shined through his every word and it was an honor photographing him in the midst of his beautiful work.
The cherry on top was when Keiji informed me that an article featuring Takeo and some images from the session would be featured in the Nichi Bei Times, northern California’s leading Japanese-American newspaper. The article is a wonderful recognition of all of his work and a great overview of Japanese gardens in the US. The online version of the article can be viewed here.
And a few more shots from the session…
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P.S. Thanks to everyone who played along in the little giveaway in my last post! The winner of a wonderful little package of tea bags is Nelly! Nelly, I’ll be in touch with you soon and everyone else stay tuned for the next “Fave Finds” installment :)
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Tags: cal poly pomona japanese garden, japanese garden, japanese garden photography, japanese wedding photographer, los angeles portraits, nichi bei times, portrait photography, takeo uesugi
May 15th, 2009 at
Congratulations Adrienne! Beautiful photos! I like spending time with people who can share a bit of their knowledge to all of us!
May 15th, 2009 at
Sweet! :) And oh how I LOVE Japanese gardens!
May 15th, 2009 at
Wow! Great stuff! How exciting for both you and Mr. Uesugi! Congratulations!
May 15th, 2009 at
congrats- again!!!
May 15th, 2009 at
The second photo with the sun slightly behind him is awesome shot!
May 15th, 2009 at
Congrats Adrienne! What an amazing garden! I’m in love!
May 16th, 2009 at
I love this post! I am so happy you got to photograph Takeo because he was my professor at Cal Poly!!!! I too am a landscape architect and miss seeing Takeo. It has been a very long time. These pictures of him are great! I was also surprised to see I was the winner of your giveaway! Thanks for making me smile this morning!
May 16th, 2009 at
High fives on this! And super images — lots of love for that image with the golden tree especially!
May 17th, 2009 at
woo yoo adrienne!!! congrats!! love the first and second pics!
May 19th, 2009 at
Nice post, Adrienne! Thank you so much for taking such amazing photos of my dad! The sensitivity he approaches his designs with was keenly captured within the portraits you took at the garden. That’s a good eye and skillful hand. Keep up the great work!
May 25th, 2009 at
woo hoo! great portraits!
June 2nd, 2009 at
really nice portrait!!!!