Andrena Photography Blog » Press & Television

Some Cool Buzz

Dina — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:35:19 +0000

I haven’t had a chance to blog any of my recent published work, so here are a few you might enjoy.

Grace Ormonde, Fall 2011 (On Newsstands Now)

Ceremony Magazine, 2011 (On Newsstands Now)

Professional Photographer

Art of Celebration Southern California (Book, Available on Amazon)

Images featured in the chapter showcasing work by designer and coordinator Nikki Khan at Exquisite Events.

More when I get back from Istanbul.

Andrena Photography Named One of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers by American Photo Magazine

Dina — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:18:17 +0000

I’m beyond thrilled to be have just been named one of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World by American Photo Magazine. It is truly humbling to have my work recognized in this way, since like many photographers, I often work alone, late into the night, with the pursuit of image excellence taking priority over almost everything else. I am so proud to be honored alongside so many photographers whose work (and good hearts) I admire. This year’s list features (in alphabetical order by first name) the following amazing artists. I’ve included web site links and their locations, and I encourage you to take a spin around their respective sites and blogs, as you’ll no doubt be dazzled.

American Photo Magazine’s Top 10 Wedding Photographers for 2011

Camille & Chadwick Bensler / Jonetsu Photography, Vancouver
Dina Douglass / Andrena Photography, Los Angeles, California
Greg Gibson / Greg Gibson Photography, Washington, D.C.
Jesse & Whitney Chamberlin / Our Labor of Love, Atlanta, Georgia
Jonas Peterson / Jonas Peterson, Brisbane, Australia
Marcus Bell / Studio Impressions, Brisbane, Australia
Nate & Jaclyn Kaiser / The Image is Found, San Diego, California
Parker Pfister / Parker Pfister, Asheville, North Carolina
Rocco Ancora / Rocco Ancora, Melbourne, Australia
Yervant / Yervant, Melbourne, Australia

Here’s the cover (on newsstands May 10th, but on Zinio now), the letter from the editor (explaining the selection process) along with a list of the advisory panel members, and my feature in the magazine. Congratulations to my clients Kristen and Tara, whose images were chosen for this piece. The editors asked me to provide 30 images for them to choose from, and they ended up choosing two images taken in India (in Udaipur and Samode, respectively), four years apart.

Congratulations to all my colleagues who are included on this list, and a huge thank you to all my wonderful clients, whose fabulous weddings and “photography first” mindsets have helped me create so many beautiful images. Also, a heartfelt thank you to Yoshi Morimoto, owner of YM Images, who seconds for me most of the time and is one of the best people I know.

Hi From Deep in the Heart of India

Dina — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 06:17:57 +0000

I’m posting from beautiful Samode Palace, where I just had the pleasure of shooting Kristen and Vikrant’s mendhi, sangeet and late-night wedding ceremony. Upon arrival, I had to quickly take a photo of the couple and get it to New York, as they had just been accepted to the New York Times wedding announcements page. Connection speeds in India are not always very cooperative, but we got it done, and the announcement was just released. Most of the photo was cropped out, but you can at least see how happy Kristen and Vikrant look.

Today, we’ll be doing a day-after session in the rural village of Samode, which is located very close to the palace. I spent three hours walking the village a few days ago, and at one point, I had more than 100 children lined up to get candy (while screaming, “Pens! Chocolate! Pens!”). Lovely people with lots of smiles for me and Yoshi Morimoto, who traveled all this way to shoot the events with me. We head back home late tomorrow (Sunday), and land Monday. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Andrena Featured in Istanbul’s Photo World Magazine

Dina — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:02:23 +0000

I couldn’t be more delighted to be featured in this month’s Photo World Magazine, which is based out of Istanbul, Turkey. I was absolutely thrilled when the editors contacted me and asked to profile my work with Indian brides, as they thought their readership would really enjoy seeing this type of imagery. To encourage me to contribute, they noted that they had recently featured the great Steve McCurry, who you might know as the photographer who took the Afghan Girl image featured on the cover of National Geographic. His incredible body of work goes way beyond that one image, but I mentioned it since it would prompt instant recognition. I would have been happy to have been featured even without this encouragement, but I’m of course honored to be in such good company. Congratulations to my beautiful brides who were featured: Simrit, Tara, Jasmeen & Sunny (well, OK, he’s not a bride), Madhavi, Dimple and Sagar (OK, yet another guy), Sai, Sheila, Yasna and Geeta. The editors chose the images off my web site, and sent me a list of around 40, then narrowed it down from what I sent them. The images are featured in a six-page spread. Congratulations one and all.

Andrena Featured in South Asian Bride Magazine – And the Magazine is Fabulous!

Dina — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:30:46 +0000

I’ve been so excited for the arrival of the premiere issue of South Asian Bride Magazine. This gorgeous magazine is just stunning, and I would expect nothing less from Sadaf Kherani, publisher of this magazine and the lifestyle publication Rivaaj. This publication fills the huge void of US wedding magazines catering to the South Asian community, and it is both elegant and beautifully put together. Subscriptions are totally reasonable, so be sure to check out the web site to subscribe to and support this great new magazine. I’m thrilled that Reshma & Harsheel’s six-day wedding (private home and the Langham Hotel in Pasadena) got a four-page feature in the very first issue. You can see a full vendor list from this wedding in the original blog posting here.

Congratulations, Sadaf! The magazine is gorgeous, and I’m so happy to be a part of it.

Andrena Featured in Life & Style Magazine

Dina — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:17:20 +0000

Well, I have to say that I’ve never been featured in a magazine with one of the Kardashian sisters on the cover, but there’s always a first for everything. (And yes, I’ll admit that Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a guilty pleasure.) Life & Style Magazine ran two of my photos (they’re the ones on the left, both from Naomi & George’s wedding) in one of its recent issues. It was fun to learn that there are 680,000+ issues of Life & Style printed per week. I love knowing that my work was at a grocery checkout next to US Magazine and all of those fun mags. My two photo credits are in three-point type, but that’s OK.

Andrena Featured in the Ukraine’s Fleur d’Orange Magazine

Dina — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:00:30 +0000

I’m delighted to have been featured in a recent issue of the Ukraine’s Fleur d’Orange Magazine. This particular issue focused on weddings of the world, and included two-page features on a number of photographers from across the globe. The magazine asked us all to provide one funny story, so the translation basically says that one of my grooms opened up his tux on his wedding day . . . and found that there were no pants. He had to run back to the tux shop (which was closed for rennovations), and then find another tux shop. He made it down the aisle just in time. Congrats to my beautiful brides Yasna and Simrit, and to my great couples Bhakti & Ronil and Gwen & Mark for being featured in this gorgeous Ukranian wedding magazine.

A Black Eyed Peas Wedding – Naomi & George on Platinum Weddings – 01.03.10

Dina — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:49:33 +0000

It’s a Black Eyed Peas wedding! The first episode of the new season of WETV’s Platinum Weddings will feature my great couple Naomi and George, whose wedding took place in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in February 2009. George is the guitarist for the Black Eyed Peas, and is also a Grammy-award-winning songwriter for the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, will.i.am and Poet. Naomi is one of the best hair stylists and colorists you could ever want to meet. She left her salon in Denver behind for love, and now lives here in Los Angeles with her husband. But she’s still doing hair, and is great at it. She’s hoping her new salon space will open in the coming year. Click here to see the episode’s air dates. Click here to see my original blog entry on this wedding. You can also check out many more photos from this wedding in the Destination Weddings section of my web site (just choose Playa del Carmen from the pull-down list). Hope you all get a chance to see the Platinum Weddings episode.

Andrena’s Destination Wedding Work Featured in Bride & Bloom Magazine

Dina — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:15:52 +0000

I was floored when the new issue of The Bride & Bloom Magazine arrived, and I opened it to find that they had featured 12 pages of my Destination Wedding work along with an interview. The article is called “A Sense of Place,” and it focuses on the joys and challenges of doing destination weddings. The article features interviews with my clients Tara & Raj (Udaipur, India), Andrea & Andres (Cartagena, Colombia), and Melina & Christian (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico), as well as images that I took at each of their respective weddings. It also features an interview with me entitled “Through the Lens: A Photographer’s Perspective,” which focuses on how brides can get the most out of their destination wedding photography. A big thank you to Liese Gardner at Mecca Communications for writing the article and doing all the interviews, and to editor-in-chief Carol Poon, who just astonished me with her generosity in this feature. The new issue is out now, so I hope you’ll pick up a copy next time you’re near a bookstore or newsstand.

My Work to be Featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Dina — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:33:00 +0000

As you may have read a few weeks back, I was thrilled to donate my time and photography to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s total redo of the Almquist Family’s animal sanctuary and home. The episode is slated to air this Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC, so I hope you’ll tune in. My work — all in B&W — will be inside the home when they do the big reveal. Since I’ll be shooting a day-after session in Mexico on Sunday, I’ll have to watch it on my DVR when I get home. To read about this family’s wonderful work with abused and abandoned tigers (and other exotic animals), be sure to visit the new Forever Wild Animal Sanctuary web site.