Manhattan Beach Photographer | Family Photos by the sea

Another beautiful sunset evening in Manhattan Beach with the Brandmeyer family and Graham & Graham Photography. We were thrilled to take part in the beach photo session on a recent Sunday evening for family portrait time.
What an honor it is to be a Manhattan Beach photographer!

Manhattan Beach Photographer | Headshots

We love being the Manhattan Beach photographer for corporate headshots. Need help for your Facebook or LinkedIn profile pic, job application photo, business card image or speaking engagement JPG?
Give us a call at 310-594-8074

Manhattan Beach Engagement Photography | Gina and Eric

Gina and Eric stopped in beautiful Manhattan Beach for a quick Labor Day visit before returning home to Chicago, and met us at the beach for a classic Manhattan Beach engagement photography session.
It was another evening of amazing sunsets--it doesn't look like this in the Windy City, does it?

Manhattan Beach Bat Mitzvah | Congregation Tikvat Jacob

This image of Jake here is THE iconic portrait for a Congregation Tikvat Jacob Bar Mitzvah. Proud boy or girl holding the torah. We've done this shot many, many times over the years at CTJ, but never like this. CTJ members might wonder--that doesn't look like CTJ!

That's because CTJ just underwent a 3 month construction project that puts a total new sheen to the venerable institution. "It's not a remodel," says Rabbi Mark Hyman. "It's a brand new sanctuary."
Same Rabbi and Cantors, same torah, same chairs--but everything else is new. A beautiful new wooden adornment to the torah, new lighting--words don't do it justice. Go take a look.
Jake had the honor of being the first Bar Mitzvah at the new CTJ--we met with him and the family two days later for his official portraits.

Manhattan Beach Photographer | Manhattan Beach Family Photos

The Jones family headed west from Texas to bring their kids to Disneyland--and stopped by idyllic Manhattan Beach by the sea to meet with us for Manhattan Beach family photos at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

It was another amazing sunset evening, and the Jones gang was a whole lot of fun to spend time with. Call us local chauvinists, but we're betting they don't have summer nights like this back in Texas.

Manhattan Beach Photographer

As Manhattan Beach Photographers, We live, breathe and love every moment of our beloved hometown, Manhattan Beach, California. On a sunny Wednesday, we decided to snap some iconic images of downtown in the summer. Enjoy!

Manhattan Beach Engagement Photo Session | Behind the Scenes Video

Behind the scenes video at a Manhattan Beach Engagement session for Cecile and Brian, our August 20th San Pedro bride and groom. It was an amazing, glorious summer sunset by the Manhattan Beach Pier, which photographer Sam Graham documented along with the happy couple.

Redondo Beach Bar Mitzvah | Temple Menorah | By Sam Graham

Sam Graham met up with Jonathan and his family this weekend at Temple Menorah of Redondo Beach to help document the Redondo Beach Bar Mitzvah. Afterwards, they headed to the Torrance Marriott for a big Bar Mitzvah celebration. This was Sam's second visit to Menorah is two weeks--it was Max's turn at the torah last week. (Photo highlights will be posted here shortly.) We look forward to returning shortly in June for another big simcha!




>

New Zealand part 4--Kiwi sights and sounds

The latest from Kiwiland--a video montage of photos from the North Island, produced on the iPad 2 and Apple's iMovie app.

Manhattan Beach Neptunian Women's Club Bat Mitzvah party

We last saw Debra when she was at the Congregation Tikvat Jacob bima for her Manhattan Beach Bat Mitzvah. Later on, we met her at the Neptunian Women's Club of Manhattan Beach for her dance-filled Bat Mitzvah party. Before the reception got under way, we escorted her two blocks down the street to the Manhattan Beach Strand, for this sunset shot by the Pier. Photographs by Sam Graham.

Manhattan Beach Corporate Headshots | MIB Insurance

The folks at Media Insurance Services in Manhattan Beach had us over the other morning to do Manhattan Beach corporate headshots of all the staffers, hauling over our blue backdrop paper, Alien Bees and light and backdrop stands. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Headshots of Media Insurance Services"][/caption]
We love the results, and so did they. Jemelia, from MIB, called us "awesome" on Citysearch!

Manhattan Beach Bat Mitzvah | Congregation Tikvat Jacob

Debra was called to the torah at Manhattan Beach's Congregation Tikvat Jacob Saturday. CTJ is our local temple, and in the small world department, Debra's cousin Sarah was our second Bat Mitzvah shoot as Graham & Graham Photography, back in 2004. CTJ is where her mom works as a teacher, and where Sam Graham, the photographer here, was a 1999 Bar Mitzvah. The party was held at Manhattan Beach's Neptunian Women's Club downtown.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600" ][/caption]

Manhattan Beach Family Portraits

We'll never forget Ruth and Shane. They were (are) one of our favorite couples of all time, and we had a ball and lots of laughs photographing their wedding in 2007.
So it was a huge thrill when Ruth called and asked us to shoot some family and pregnancy shots of her and the gang, as they prepare for baby #2.


We started the Manhattan Beach family portrait session at their home in the South Bay, before heading down to the Manhattan Beach Pier on a glorious, sunny Saturday morning.


We kept asking Max to give us a big smile--these aren't funny faces he was making at us, but the poor kid trying to do his best and give us a smile.

Finally--success!

Manhattan Beach Beach Portraits | Manhattan Beach Photographer

It was cool to meet Katie on Sunday, for a weekend portrait session at that most iconic of settings, the Manhattan Beach Pier. Sam Graham and Katie did a variety of poses at "magic hour," until sunset, as Katie sought new headshots for blogs and newsletters.

Manhattan Beach Quinceanera--Veranadas

It was our pleasure to document our first Quinceanera recently for the lovely Victoria, held nearby at the beautiful Verandas on Rosecrans. Here's a fun video clip from the Manhattan Beach Quinceanera for Victoria, by David Medill.
Before the event, we went down to the Manhattan Beach Pier with Victoria for some lovely Manhattan Beach portraits.

Las Vegas Wedding | Mandalay Bay | Carrie & Tommy

Carrie and Tommy tied the knot over the weekend at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas--and we were there. We first met the couple in Manhattan Beach when we photographed their Manhattan Beach engagement session by the Pier. They enjoyed the pictures so much, they invited us to their Las Vegas wedding as well. A cool way to kick off the new year with wedding #1!

Top 10 Manhattan Beach Family Portraits of 2010

We opened up this year beyond weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs with headshots and Manhattan Beach family portraits. We're having a ball, and wanted to share ten of our favorite portrait images (in no particular order) from 2010.

Paul and Lynne had us over in July, and wanted to capture the entire family on their beautiful deck, which overlooks the Pacific ocean and the Manhattan Beach Pier. We pulled out our big Alien Bees lights to make sure we'd also bring in the blue skies in the background.

We left Manhattan Beach for the park in Beverly Hills for this great family shot of the Weisfeld family. Luckily, they were real troupers and agreed to get on the ground for us.

Victoria met us under the Manhattan Beach Pier right before sunset for a shoot for her sign-in board at the Manhattan Beach Quinceanera. The timing turned out perfectly, with that amazing glow behind her.

We photographed Scott and Yanna during their son's Long Beach Bar Mitzvah, while Blake was inside, practicing with the cantor. We pulled the newlyweds into an alley, which is where we were able to make use of the little green tree.

It was year 3 for our annual visit with the Krantz family, and their Christmas card photo. We met in Pacific Palisades at the amazing Temescal Canyon hiking facility.

Another Xmas card in Manhattan Beach with the Pola family.

After our holiday card session with the Stewart family in Manhattan Beach, we asked Maddy and Brett to run with the birds--and everything worded out just as we had hoped. Love this shot!

The Harris family of Hermosa Beach wanted a non-traditional family portrait--and so we put together the Harris family band--complete with our stand-up bass, Fender Telecaster and microphone. (They supplied the piano and acoustic guitar.)


The Harris family of Hermosa Beach did want a traditional family photo, for the grandparents. We met on a rainy Sunday afternoon, hauled in our lights and backdrop, and got amazing results.