Beverly Hills Bat Mitzvah | Temple Emanuel

After several appearances on this blog, Ally's turn at the bima was last weekend, at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills. Here she is pictured with her pre-Bat Mitzvah portrait in the morning before the service, and having a whale of a time with the cantor and rabbi post-Haftorah, when all the kids threw candy at her.

Beverly Hills family portraits by Graham and Graham

Beverly Hills, and a little patch of green on little Santa Monica Blvd. was the locale of choice for our family shoot here, and what a nice patch of green it is! The family isn't too bad either.
They got comfortable for us in the mini-park for our Beverly Hills family portrait session, and had lots of fun with each other. It was a pleasure being there for them. We look forward to daughter Ally's Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanuel this weekend.

Los Angeles Bar Mitzvah | Congregation Kol Ami | Adam

We've been a little backed up with blog updates, what with the trip to British Columbia, but here's where we last left off, with Adam's trip to the bima at Congregation Kol Ami of Los Angeles.


Here's one good looking kid--or should we say, man?
We used David Honl's new Traveller8 softbox for these shots, on a lightstand, with a Canon 580 EXII flash. Love the look! Thanks David.

Sinai Temple Los Angeles Bat Mitzvah | Carly

We returned to Sinai Temple recently for Carly's portrait session at the busy, beautiful Los Angeles temple, on the corner of Beverly Glen and Wilshire.

We love Sinai's big stained glass of the temple (great for portraits and family shots) and the wonderful garden outside.

Top two photos by Jeff, bottom by Sam Graham.

Rancho Palos Verdes Bar Mitzvah | Congregation Ner Tamid | Zachary

We've spent a lot of time at Congregation Ner Tamid in Rancho Palos Verdes over the last year, and it was a thrill to return again recently for Zachary's Bar Mitzvah. Both the service and party were held at the big temple on the hill, in P.V.
Photography is not allowed during the Saturday services, so we have to work extra hard at making the Friday afternoon "rehearsal" shots come to life, as if they were taken during the ceremony.

We'll let you be the judge at how well the Jeff/Sam tag team pulls that off.
For example, here's two different takes of Rabbi Issac going over Zachary's torah portion, with him, taken at the same time.


And here's Zachary and family marching with the Torah--on Friday afternoon!

Mazel Tov, Zach!

Bar Mitzvah Photography in Downtown Los Angeles | Part 2 | Julian and Danielle in the City

As promised, here's part two of our recent visit with Bar Mitzvah boy Julian and sister Danielle in downtown Los Angeles, before the big party at the Millennium Biltmore. A little video montage, courtesy of our friends at Animoto.

Whittier Bat Mitzvah | Temple Beth Shalom

We enjoyed meeting Isabella at Temple Beth Shalom of Whittier recently for her Bat Mitzvah. It was our first time at the temple, and we look forward to returning again in the future.
Mazel tov, Bella!


Bella, photographed by Sam Graham of Graham & Graham Photography

Beverly Hills Temple Emanuel Bar Mitzvah | Beverly Hills Hotel Party

It was a pleasure last weekend to return to Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills for Simon's Bar Mitzvah. Later that night, Simon and his family hosted a rockin' party at the swanky Beverly Hills Hotel, with DJ services from the Party Zone.







Pictured below, you'll find Simon in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel, posing with his lovely mom by the Crystal area, and having an amazing Hora in the Beverly Hills Hotel ballroom.

William Z's Temple Isaiah Los Angeles Bar Mitzvah

Three years ago we had the good fortune of meeting up with the Liebenson family for Justine's Bat Mitzvah at Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles.
Fast forward to 2009, and it was time for brother Will to step to the Isaiah bima--and for us to reunite with the family again. We (along with hot LA DJ Randy Lehrman and his Real GeniusDJ outfit)also got to participate in a high-energy celebration at the Olympic Collection in Los Angeles.




Here's Will wooping it up with his pals at the simcha!

Temple Beth Am Los Angeles Bat Mitzvah | Alexa

Alexa had her Bat Mitzvah Saturday at the big Temple Beth Am, the beautiful conservative shul on La Cienga Blvd., near Olympic. The conservative synagouge is one of the largest in Los Angeles--Alexa's service was in the main sanctuary--a godsend for a photographer.
We lit Alexa with our video lights, which we feel adds a more "movie" like look than just traditional flash. Fitting, we feel, for a temple in the heart of Hollywood--and a young girl who is destined for stardom! (Alexa is shown here rehearsing with Temple Beth Am cantor Robert Pflug.)







We also produced Alexa's video montage for the reception at the W Hotel in Westwood, and partially set it to the classic song, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Boy does she! Here's Alexa having a ball at our photo shoot, being cute for the camera. You go girl!

Temple Israel of Hollywood Bar Mitzvah

A few weeks ago, while documenting Ben's Bar Mitzvah at Temple Israel of Hollywood, we met the fun Rosner family, and got some amazing shots of the group during Ben's party at the Los Angeles Japanese American National Museum.


The family called a few days later and asked us to join them back at TIOH for Miles' August simcha.

With this gang, we were thrilled to be there for them--we love these fun shots outside the temple, along with the portraits inside TIOH as well.
During the shoot, we kept thinking of the old Miles Davis album, saying to the Bar Mitzvah boy, "Miles Smiles!"--Turns out he was named after the late, great jazz legend--birth of the cool, indeed!