Deciding the order in which to publish the various blog posts that I am planning to write about the different movie/filming location elements of my wedding has proved to be a bit of a challenge for me. Today’s entry was originally going to be about our invitations, but then I realized that I can’t very well write about them without first blogging about our wedding photographer, as he took the photograph that wound up serving as the inspiration for those invitations. So, while it may seem as if I am doing things a bit out of order, please bear with me, as I promise there is a method to my madness. Anyway, I have always been someone who has believed in the notion of fate, that things happen for a reason, that there are invisible strings in the universe that tie random people together for very significant, if sometimes unknown, purposes. And the way we found our wedding photographer definitely upheld that belief. Back in early 2009, I was doing some cyber-stalking of fave show CSI: Miami when I came across this blog post written by Rob Greer, a photographer who was lucky enough to have had the Season 7 episode of the show titled “Smoke Gets in Your CSI’s” film in his photography studio. Because that particular episode was one of my very favorites of the entire series, I just about had a heart attack upon reading his post and immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the studio where filming had taken place. Well, amazingly enough, Rob happened to find the post I that I ended up writing about his studio and must have enjoyed it, because he continued to check in and read my blog from time to time. So, a few months later, when I announced that the Grim Cheaper had finally proposed, Rob posted a comment on my site asking if we would consider him as our wedding photographer. Well, I was absolutely FLOORED over that comment and immediately called him up to make an appointment.
Our meeting with Rob took place inside the studio where CSI: Miami had been filmed, so, as you can imagine, I was in absolute heaven! And not only did he take us on a tour of the space and show us exactly where filming had taken place, but he also played parts of the episode for us on his television so that we could see exactly what had appeared on the show. So incredibly cool!! Well, right then and there I became convinced that he was the photographer for us. Not only were his wedding pictures phenomenal, but my parents and I ended up just really hitting it off with him. And incredibly enough, so did the Grim Cheaper! In typical GC fashion, he had originally been appalled at the idea of hiring a wedding photographer and had suggested that we just have my father take pictures that day. I’m not kidding! But once he met Rob and saw his work, his mind immediately changed. At that time, the GC had just become interested in photography and Rob was kind enough to show him all of his various high-end lenses, teach him some camera tricks, and even gift him with a certificate for a free photography class! Most importantly, though, for whatever reason, the GC just felt comfortable with Rob. He typically does not like to have his photograph taken, but when Rob was behind the camera he really loosened up. Rob’s rates were also reasonable, which only added to the GC’s appreciation of him. So, without so much as even perusing through another wedding photographer’s website, we hired Rob on the spot. And I am so glad we did! His photographs turned out phenomenal! And one of the engagement session pictures that he took wound up serving as the inspiration for our save-the-date cards, our invitations, and our programs. But more on that tomorrow!
In the “Smoke Gets in Your CSI’s” episode of CSI: Miami, Rob’s studio stood in for the loft/black-market organ transplant operating room belonging to Dr. Donald Phelps (aka Peter Lavin). Both the exterior . . .
. . . and the interior of the property were used in the filming, although the interior was dressed to appear very dark and dreary in the episode.
In reality, the 4,635-square foot loft is BEAUTIFUL, although my photographs don’t really do it justice. You can see some much better pictures that Rob took of his studio here. At the time of the filming, Rob actually lived in the loft, but has since moved to a house in Pasadena. Besides CSI: Miami, three AT&T commercials were also filmed in the space.
I will be posting many of Rob’s photographs throughout the next few weeks as I blog about the wedding, but for today I thought I’d publish one of my favorites from that day – the one in which we recreated the famous Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston wedding photograph. And while Rob wasn’t actually too keen on taking the above picture of us (he didn’t want people who saw it to think he was a copy-cat artist), he really worked hard to make sure it turned out exactly as I wanted, even going so far as to print out a copy of the Brad and Jen picture to bring with him on the day of the wedding and then tweaking my veil to make sure it went over my shoulder just like hers did in the photograph. Love it!
Our wedding was actually quite a bit frustrating for Rob because he typically prefers to take all of the bride and groom and wedding party photographs prior to the ceremony, but I was adamant about not seeing the GC on our wedding day until I walked down the aisle. Call me old-fashioned, but I think that moment of first seeing each other at opposite ends of the aisle is a magical one and I wasn’t going to give it up for anything. Because I wanted to wait, though, our “posed” photography time was limited to the cocktail hour (which in reality was only set to last 45 minutes) and Rob had concerns that, when all was said and done, I would be unhappy over the fact that there quite possibly would not be enough photographs taken of the event. He was also concerned that, due to the time constraint, he would not be able to produce the same caliber of pictures that he is typically known for. For me, though, it was far more important to have the memory of seeing my husband for the first time as I walked down that aisle than to have fabulous photographs of my wedding day, so Rob agreed to wait to take the posed pictures until after the ceremony. And, as it turned out, he really needn’t have worried. Not only do we now have more photographs of that day then we know what to do with, but they are literally ALL fabulous. Shortly after the wedding, Rob asked the GC and me to pick out our 60 favorite images to put in the album that was included in our photography package, but today, over three months later, we still cannot narrow down our favorites to a mere 60! I’m not kidding! The GC and I keep trying to go through the images, but we absolutely CANNOT decide. We love all 750 of them! But, trust me, that is a good problem to have! And I am SO incredibly glad that I waited and did not see the GC before the ceremony. The above photograph was taken of him just as I began my walk down the aisle and the look in his eyes is absolutely priceless. Not only is that look a memory that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, but Rob also magically managed to capture it on film, so I pretty much got the best of both worlds. Thank you, Rob! You can see the entire gallery of the photographs Rob took of our wedding on his website here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: You can visit Rob Greer’s wedding photography website here. His former studio is located at 678 South Avenue 21 in the Brewery Lofts complex in Los Angeles. The complex is a private, gated community, so please do not trespass. If you are interested in stalking the location, there are several public art walks held on the premises each year that are open to the public. You can find more information about the art walks here.