» Personal Work

Dancers and Waterfalls

admin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:06:24 +0000

Once in a while I enjoy working on personal projects and collaborations. It keeps my creative juices flowing, gives me new inspiration, and helps me become a better photographer all around. As a wedding photographer and artist, I’m continually honing my skills.
Last year I had a great opportunity to shoot with the world’s top ten wedding photographers Ray & Erwin of Apertura. We wanted to do something creative and extraordinary by shooting gorgeous belly dancers performing next to a spectacular backdrop. It was exciting to do something different besides wedding photography!
It was a challenge at first getting to where we wanted to go. We were stuck in traffic, then had to hike a couple of hours to get to Sturtevant Falls. By the time we got there we realized we didn’t have much time (and good light) left. The hair/makeup still had to be done – it’s sounding a lot like a wedding day! But thanks to everyone we pulled together and got a lot done in a short time. Here are just a few of my favorites pictures:
Featuring the Zahira Dancers and Ray & Erwin from Apertura
Amazing Makeup Artistry by my friend Paulina Bustos – thank you thank you thank you!
THANK YOU Nancy, Rosalba, Loree for performing in the harshest environment and braving the freezing temperatures!

Nature’s Textures

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:29:47 +0000

I just found these images on my Mac – almost forgot about these so I was thrilled to see them. Last December I went on a scouting/hike with Ray and Erwin of Apertura. We ended up walking a couple of hours to find Sturtevant Falls in Arcadia. It was not an easy “walk” because of the treacherous terrain – steep inclines, jagged rocks, slippery trails, wild bears, you name it. Well.. ok, it wasn’t really like that, we were probably just out of shape. But on the way, I manage to snap a few images, nature’s textures that I wanted to hopefully be able to use later on. It’s different from my wedding photography work and it helps me stay creative.

Behind the Scenes from the Kauai Wedding

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:59:33 +0000

Wanna see me shoot a wedding? I finally had the chance to edit behind the scenes footage from Joy and Ryan’s destination wedding in Kauai. It was an experiment using my GoPro camera to document my adventures in shooting their wedding and trash the dress session. My original idea was to show my photography style and reveal how I interact with people while shooting a wedding. I’m not sure this type of footage (time lapse stills) did exactly that, but it really showed how much fun I as a photographer can have while “working”. I also decided to add a few pictures of edited photos from my ‘professional’ cameras in order to display what I was actually shooting, since most of the footage just shows me scurrying around like an over caffeinated ant! So here it is, enjoy:

One problem I had with it was that it didn’t have a viewfinder so I only had a guess as to what was included in the footage. Luckily the lens on the GoPro was super wide so it pretty much covered everything that was in front of it. Here a shot of the GoPro camera sitting in one corner of the room. I love how small and portable it is, and surprised at how good the pictures came out. The quality of its HD video output is amazing.

Self documentary, having a blast, Kauai wedding photographer, hahahahaha!

Other notes: Destination Wedding in Kauai, Hawaii Wedding Photographer, GoPro HD Helmet Hero, the cool videographers are from Image Creations LLC from Oahu, music used with permission from MobyGratis.com

Heavenly Light in Kauai

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:52:06 +0000

Part 1

Aloha! I’m here in the beautiful island of Kauai for Ryan and Joy’s destination wedding. I’m excited to share a few shots from around the island – there are so many places to get good pictures. First stop, Kilauea Lighthouse on the north shore of Kauai. I guess I got here too early because the gates were still closed and both hiking trails that lead down (one of them to Secret Beach) were locked. Maybe I’ll come to this spot during an afternoon.

This scenic overlook is along the Kuhio Hwy with a panoramic view of the taro farms, Hanalei, and Mt. Waialeale. Everything is so green and lush!

Hanalei Bay on the pier looking back toward Princeville

On the pier were dozens of kids jumping into the water while their parents watched the sun go down. It made me wish I was able to bring my kids too – a wonderful reason to come back to Kauai! Hopefully I’ll be able to do more destination weddings here.

Note: Joy & Ryan’s destination wedding in Kauai, Hawaii Wedding Photography, Kauai wedding pictures, Kauai landscapes, photos of Sunrise at Kilauea Lighthouse and Sunset at Hanalei Bay

Dancing Under the Waterfall – Sneak Peek

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:32:30 +0000

Here’s a sneak peek of what I’m editing right now…

Dancing Under the Waterfall

I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot along side the guys from Apertura Photo: Ray Soemarsono and Erwin Darmali with models Nancy Crouch, Rosalba Jasso, & Loree Rapp, plus fabulous makeup artist Paulina Bustos

Stay tuned for more pics! *** update: click here to view the new/complete post ***

Photo Shoot: Los Angeles

Greg Bumatay — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:01:45 +0000

Once in a while I like to take part in informal photo shootouts. It’s a collaboration of multiple photographers and models getting together for some creative fun. Thanks to Ari Simphoukam for organizing this shootout in Downtown Los Angeles! It’s always great to get out and shoot with a group of other photographers.

Kristine

Elizabeth

Here’s our little shooting group!

Tags: Los Angeles photographers, urban shootout, pictures in Downtown LA

The Belly Dancer

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:56:00 +0000

I had the honor of witnessing the Belly Dancer Farah in action last week for her photo shoot. This is part of my Dancers in Motion series, continued. Here are a few of my favs:

Tags: Belly Dance, Dancers in Motion, Farah, strobist, cultural portraiture, Turkish Belly Dance, artistic photography

Belly Dance Disney Concert Hall

admin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:42:00 +0000

As if I didn’t get enough of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, I had to go back for another photo shoot. This time it’s with Belly Dancing duo Nancy and Margallet. I figured their dancing motion would look gorgeous against the spectacular architecture since the design of the entire building accentuated movement.

There were security cameras everywhere and I’m sure all the guys, err… security were watching the show.

And then the swords came out…

I’m guessing that’s what made security a little nervous! They sent four different guards to talk to us before we were asked to leave.

This is one of the last shots I got before we were forced to leave the property…

Tags: Belly Dance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, dancers in motion, cultural portraiture, artistic photography

Destination: Polynesia

Greg Bumatay — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:16:00 +0000

As part of my personal project (I’ll announce more information in the near future) I’m creating artistic images with dancers in motion. A couple of weeks ago I was graced by Nancy who came to perform Egyptian Belly Dance. And today’s photo shoot involved a few awesome Polynesian dancers from Orange County’s Island Inspirations. A big thanks to Alewa for organizing this! It’s just so amazing to see the Polynesian culture expressed through dance and Shayna performed so beautifully. Here’s just a few of my favorites images:

Alewa’s sons

Thank you Shayna!

Photography: cultural portraiture, studio portraits, Polynesian dance, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Island Inspirations from Orange County, performers, strobist

Orange County Wedding Photography

Greg Bumatay — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 14:40:00 +0000

Welcome to my blog! I’m a professional wedding photographer in Southern California. I mainly shoot weddings in Orange County and Los Angeles, but I’m also available to cover destination weddings worldwide. In here you’ll find the latest news, happenings and pics. I promise I’ll try hard to keep up with everything that happens, but I gotta let you know that I suck as a writer. I’ll try NOT to write too much borring stuff and keep you updated with new life portraits and wedding pictures.

Anyways, I hope you’re having a spectacular day. Please feel free to leave your comments/suggestions/feedback! ; )

If ya have any questions, feel free to email me: greg@bumataystudio.com
or call the toll free number: 1-877-837-5898