Apertura

Our experience with Apertura was first class. They are very thorough throughout the whole process. We can feel and see that they are very passionate and conscientious about the quality of the images that they produced. Our wedding was documented in a very honest and poignant fashion. We could not have been more satisfied with our experience.

As a wedding photographer myself, wedding photography was the most important part of our wedding day. After following Ray's working for many years, I was glad that he was able to photograph my wedding. We could not have asked for anything better! We wanted a photographer who could capture every special moment that happened on the wedding day without being intrusive. Ray delivered above and beyond what we expected. Every photograph that we received was worth every penny that we spent. The investment was totally worth it. We couldn't be happier with our wedding photos! Thank you, Ray!

BOOK ERWIN! This is the third family wedding Erwin has done for us! We are so amazed at his work that we couldn't imagine leaving the job of capturing such an intimate and special event as a wedding to anyone but Erwin. He is wonderfully charming, making him very easy to work with - seriously, he's like family! You will not find the standard group posed pics (unless of course you ask for them specifically!). Rather, his incredibly keen eye for the silly, the unique, the beauty, and the emotion will assure that the pics you get will be like no other. I find it so easy to recall the details of the day when I look back at his shots. He captures the moments, the looks, and the details that most photogs would not likely think to capture. Erwin does not dictate the day or take over your wedding day! He is very much in the background and lets the events flow naturally - yet another measure of his professionalism. If you want unique pics of a day you never want to forget, BOOK ERWIN!

There are plenty of things to worry about on your wedding day, but how your photos turn out should never be one of them. This will never be the case if you book Apertura. Truly Erwin is an artist in his own right. Luckily we had the privilege and honor of having him be a part of an experience you only get once in a lifetime. He has a knack for capturing those special moments, those quiet moments when you take it all in, thinking no one is watching. In looking back at my pictures, I can’t help but to continuously feel thankful that his ever-watchful eye caught many moments that most photographers would have missed; a slow dance to no music when everyone else is busy eating, the look on my husband’s face when he saw me for the first time, a sly glance here and there, a fork hitting a glass, requesting the couple kiss—which we always happily obliged. If there is one thing you should never skimp on, it should be your photos. Flowers die, dresses fade from their original pristine white, and food is forgotten, but these photos will help us relive our moment for the rest of our lives. We will forever be thankful for Erwin’s graceful touch and wonderful eye. Give yourself one less thing to worry about and book him as soon as possible.

I met Erwin Darmali over 3 years ago at our good friend's Joy + Brandon's wedding. Erwin also shot their amazing engagement photos, so that's how we got introduced to Apertura. Prior to meeting him at the wedding, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I scoured the internet to find every photo shot by Apertura in existence. Truth be told, we were quite obsessed. We made a quick introduction towards the end of their reception, and we told him we don't know when it is... but.... we want him to shoot our wedding. Without hesitation, his genuine smile appears, he takes a look at my red hair, and he says, "definitely." Fast forward 2 years, and here I am about to call Erwin... will he remember us? Not only did he remember us (and my red hair), he said he's been waiting to shoot our wedding. Him and I talked like old friends catching up. In 2 years, there was never a hesitation nor doubt that it was going to be Erwin shooting our wedding. It was always him. Over the months leading up to the wedding, there were countless emails/calls/texts with questions, plans, schedules, updates, and all were answered promptly. He couldn't have been more helpful and patient through the whole process. Game day is finally here. Erwin and his second shooter arrives on time and immediately go to work. He had instant chemistry with everyone. I have 100% trust in him and just want him to do his thing. He stayed with me through out the whole day (which I loved), and he blended in so well. Our guests couldn't stop talking about how talented and dedicated he was through the whole night. He was extremely thorough. No detail went unpictured. Needless to say, after getting our photos back, his talent and hard work were definitely show cased. I felt incredibly lucky and so thankful that these pictures were my own. Plain and simple, Erwin Darmali is an atrist. His ability to tell a story without words, and connect emotion with time is unparallel. His focus is unforgiving and his dedication to deliver is his motivation. His ever so flawless coordination, calculated lighting, and ability to see unconventional angles is always done to perfection. I am forever grateful to him because through his awesome images, I can re-live the best day of my life, anytime I want to.

We knew Apertura by accident from our friend’s blogs. We’ve searched photographers for our wedding for quite a long time. We didn’t get the feeling so we kept on searching until we found Apertura. The first impression when we looked at Ray’s photos was “wow.. these were so good”. We should hire him for our wedding. Then we started to contact Ray by e-mail. Our wedding was held in Jakarta, Indonesia so we had to check the availability of Ray. Surprisingly, Ray is such a nice person. We chatted for almost an hour. That’s the longest chat for me with someone I just knew. We’re so happy that Ray were willing to come to Jakarta to shoot our wedding on September 11,2011. Time flew so fast. We received an e-mail from Ray saying that he would be coming on August 31. We’re really excited. So on September 1 we met Ray for the first time. We had a nice chat with Ray and some of our friends. Then come the big day. Ray was a well-prepared man. He kept us relax and made us laugh with his jokes. He’s a professional photographer. He’s so serious but still relax while working. How he got the angle for shooting was amazing. He had a great stamina. Shooting for almost 15 hours and still looked so excited. Really beyond our expectation. We’re so satisfied with our photos. Amazing. Awesome. Excellent. Superb. We can see the feeling from his photos. The angle and technique was so unique and excellent. What a warm and excellent work. We’re extremely satisfied with his work and we will absolutely recommend Ray and Apertura to our family and friends. Bringing Ray from CA to Jakarta was the best decision we made. For you who are still looking for photographers for your big day, we can say that Apertura is the best. It’s really worth every penny you spend. You won’t regret it at all.

I would like to start off by writing that I usually never write reviews because I always expect service to be what you pay for. That being said, I am writing Ray from Apertura this review because my expectations were far surpassed. I did not know what I was looking for in a wedding photographer, so as suggested by a friend I looked at a bunch of recommended photographer's sites, and narrowed down a few to meet with based on my reactions to their photos. I knew I liked the photo journalistic style because I appreciate natural moments of the wedding day told in pictures. Ray from Apertura contacted me promptly after my inquiry and immediately sent me several examples of recent work. I loved his clean, elegant, and heart felt pictures and decided to meet with him when on my trip to Los Angeles the following week. After meeting Ray I decided to hire him because he had such a warm, but professional attitude and I immediately felt very comfortable with him. His work really did speak for itself but his level of dedication and passion was icing on the cake! My husband and I were thrilled to have our engagement pictures shot by Ray as this gave us an opportunity to get to know him and feel comfortable with him. My husband is very stiff when taking pictures and Ray coaxed him and directed him very well during the shooting process. Our engagement pictures turned out FABULOUS and I ended up buying the album that Ray put together beautifully! Day of the wedding Ray and his second shooter Maurice show up on time and are in great spirits, which was great to see because I was upset with a lot of last minute things that popped up the day of the wedding. Ray and Maurice blended in immediately and honestly I forgot that they were there taking pictures. Every guest at my wedding commented on how cool my photographers were because anytime there was an interesting or special moment that happened they were there to document it with a photo. My slideshow and gallery came about 2 months after my wedding and my family and I were blown away with the memories. I saw my wedding day through the pictures and was thrilled because I saw a lot of pictures that caught moments that I missed. Once my husband and I saw the portraits we were amazed at how unique they looked and how Ray really scoped great locations at the venue the day before to make sure our portrait time was used efficiently. Ray took portraits of us in locations that I've never seen other photographers shoot before at my venue (Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay)and it made me feel special. Communications with Ray are always prompt and cordial. I email him and always get a response back usually within a few hours. The quality of Ray's work is top notch and I am pleased to say that I was a very happy bride with lovely photos! :)

We had our wedding in LA on June 18th 2011 and Ray from Apertura was our photographer. Ray is an absolutely talented photographer and you could tell from his work without us further stressing the point. The very first time we found Apertura was from the recommendation of a wedding website. The first impression of seeing their portfolio was simply "wow". Looking into their work, we love not just their amazing skills of interesting composition, lighting and unique point of view, but most importantly, the quality that really stood out for us was how they beautifully told the story with their unique ways of capturing moment and documenting the big day. It was an amazing art work that carefully crafted upon your most important day. They are extremely creative. For example, we had macaron as one of our wedding favor, Ray improvised on the day by placing our rings on three different color macarons and created really fun memories. We were really pleased when we saw pictures like that afterwards and glad that we had him as our photographer. Of course you could tell how amazing their work is already by seeing their portfolio, but another very important factor is how Ray was very customer oriented. The very first impression of meeting Ray was that Ray was extremely friendly. He was very responsive the entire time. Since we were out of town, my husband and I had a phone conference with him to sort out details and met with him in LA before the wedding. His understanding and professionalism made us very comfortable and confident that we could let him document our big day. On the day of, Ray text'd me that he was very excited shooting our wedding before he arrived, that certainly made me feel very good. Following us running around for the 12-hour day, Ray was all very professional, cheerful and he directed you very well during wedding portrait and you won't feel uneasy at all. Another important thing is, Ray delivered our online gallery within 2 months of our wedding which reminded us of all those sweet memories just in time. At the end, we feel like we made a really good friend on top of having a great memory of our big day. Thank you Ray! We're looking forward to our album.

Erwin Darmali shot my sister's wedding in '09. Before then, I had no idea what potential existed for wedding photos. The shots he was able to get, both in the portrait session and during the ceremony/reception (on the fly, mind you) were amazing. His work was so impressive that when I got engaged last fall, my (now) husband and I knew immediately we wanted to hire Erwin to shoot our wedding. Erwin made such an impression on my family that when I told my mom I was engaged, about the first thing out of her mouth was, "Are you going to hire Erwin?" This is also the woman who, upon seeing Erwin at my wedding, hugged him and said, "It's like you're family!" And it truly is. Erwin has a great disposition that allows him to fit right in. His enthusiasm for his job shows in his pictures. Half the time we didn't even realize we were being photographed. We have one shot from our reception where it looks as though Erwin told us to stand in the light just so. He didn't. His ability to capture moments as they happen is one of the things he does best. Our pre-wedding portraits also exceeded our expectations as Erwin was able to take what we are pretty confident are the best pictures of us ever. Understandably, wedding photography is not cheap, but Erwin is worth every penny. Over the years, I have heard horror stories of brides hating their wedding photos. But with Erwin, we knew what we were going to get back was going to be wonderful. So much so that I have friends who now, after seeing our photos and simmering with photo jealously have gone from happy for me, to jokingly less so.

Long before we got married or even engaged, I became enamored with Apertura's photos. The way they captured raw emotion in their photos set them apart from other wedding photographers I'd seen. We booked Ray for both an engagement shoot in NYC and our wedding in Maui. Ray happened to be flying out to NYC for another engagement shoot and was able to find time to squeeze us in as well (saved on travel expenses). It was a great way to get to know him and see his work with us prior to the actual wedding. From the start, Ray was personable, made us feel at ease despite extreme weather conditions (sweltering summer heat in NYC for the engagement and torrential rain in Maui for the wedding)and was truly a pleasure to work with. Vanessa was our second shooter. We're so grateful that she was there to capture the small details of our wedding day that we never would have even noticed without having those photos. She was also VERY instrumental in portrait photos, giving the right kind of direction to balance out the portraits. We would love to work with Ray and Vanessa again :)

I found Ray from Apertura after seeing his work from a family friend's wedding. I simply fell in love his style - he was able to capture authentic and intimate moments while keeping the photos really interesting with his use of light/shadow, juxtaposition, and foreground/background contrast for his compositions. I was planning my San Francisco wedding from NYC, and he was fortunately in my area for another wedding shoot, so I was able to sit down with him and found him to be very warm, really interested in my and my fiance's story and truly dedicated to his work. We booked him for both our engagement session in NYC and wedding day in SF. Ray was awesome to work with. He was laid back but incredibly prepared, scoping out areas ahead of time to get an idea of what and where to shoot. On the day of the wedding, he and his second Ari were practically invisible, but they had a way of capturing the moments beautifully - especially those private moments that you'd never think to capture. In portraits (both wedding and e-session), Ray could get you to pose in such a way that you'd think you were looking at a modeling ad (except its you!). I had been concerned about what to do during those sessions, but he provided a lot of direction until we felt comfortable - after learning what to do during the e-session, the wedding portraits were a breeze. During the days leading up to the wedding, I was incredibly stressed trying to tie up loose ends I'd been managing from across the country, and Ray stopped by the night before the wedding to let me know that everything was going to be fine - I was touched by his concern and felt better after talking to him, particularly since he'd seen so many weddings. Ray was prompt to respond to my questions and in processing the photos & albums. Contrary to some other photographers, his blog-posted pictures are not the only best ones. He took a lot of gorgeous pictures, and the composition of the albums he created for us truly recorded the progression of our wedding day. I know of a lot of couples who never get their album (even though it's included in their package) given all the work required to sift through hundreds of photos and pick out the ones they want - I didn't have this problem at all. His albums are simply gorgeous - not only do they tell the story of our day, they are laid out simply and elegantly. I did not feel the need to change many things in our album and when I did, the well-edited series of pictures from our gallery made the decision making process more manageable. Thinking back on my wedding, there are a number of things that I wish I could have changed, but not once did I ever think that about our photos. Ray was a real pleasure to work with, and I am completely 100% happy with the finished product he produced. I really feel as though I have tangible memories that will last me a lifetime. I'd definitely work with him again!!

We were so fortunate to have discovered Apertura. With thousands of wedding photographers out there, they stood out from the rest with their innovative approach to photography. Both Ray and Erwin are extremely talented, but we love Erwin's style and felt that it was more of a match to our style and booked him. Prior to booking him, we looked through all the images from their blog and the slideshows, and we felt like we were in attendance that those weddings even though they are complete strangers. That was how we knew that we wanted to book Erwin. He is able to capture the emotions and the important moments of that speical day through his images. We also appreciate the modern and unconventional way that he tells the story. His images are just beautiful and sweet wedding photos. They are very meaningful and creative. Erwin is not only a talented photographer, but a great person. He's very professional, easy to work with, punctual, reliable, and responsive. We also did an engagement shoot with him so we were able to get to know him prior to the wedding. We feel connected and very at ease with him so by the time the wedding came around, it was like we have a friend there with us to document our day, and that's a very important quality to have in your photographer. His job also does not end after the shoot. He invests his time into editing and compiling the images so that they have a beautiful story. Erwin - you are simply one of a kind. Words cannot describe how wonderful you are as a photographer, but more importantly, as a person. We look forward to having you capturing more important moments in our lives in the future. Thank you!

I've been cyber stalking apertura for a long time and already made up my mind about photographer way before i got engaged. I couldn't afford both Ray and Erwin so we ended up with Ray. Ray's really great at what he does. His team is really awesome to work with and they know a good shot when they see it. i love working with apertura and their artistic/talent is worth every penny.

We LOVE Apertura! I wish I could book both Ray and Erwin, but our budget only allowed for 1 main photographer and a second shooter. Erwin is the coolest, awesomest, and talented photographer. He captured beautiful moments and took the best photographs. Words cannot describe how great he is.

When planning our destination wedding, one of the only things that we were absolutely sure of and set on was booking both Ray and Erwin to capture our week. We booked them for 3 days, rehearsal, wedding and a day after shoot and they were not only worth every penny but worth even more than that! First of all, they are two of the nicest people we've ever come across. The entire wedding party of nearly 40 people who all stayed in one rental for a week, loved both Ray and Erwin. They fit right in. Their work is phenomenal! (but you don't need anyone to tell you that...you can see for yourself in every image they shoot). Our friends and family are astonished at the beauty of their images. And well, my husband and I just feel very lucky to have had them there with us. We have soooo many friends getting married right now, and those that didn't use Apertura wish to go back in time and those that haven't booked have all contacted them to schedule meetings. Two things are definitely for certain, if you go with them, you'll have no regrets and the most beautiful memories forever. And the second, you'll have definitely made yourselves friends for life!

We were referred to Apertura through a friend that got recently married and did his wedding photographer research. I also came across Apertura’s work from Junebug Weddings – World’s Best Wedding Photographers. After combing through their website and getting the feel of the type of work they do, we set up a meeting with Ray. Ray is organized and professional. He took the time to get to know us, our history and background, and the details of our San Francisco destination wedding. We had the opportunity to look through the albums they put together and through that found the value of their work. They really document your big day from beginning to end, telling the “story” of your wedding day. Our wedding day was the first time we worked with Ray (since our friend did our engagement shots) so some poses were at first awkward and did not feel natural or were somewhat difficult to do (i.e. sun in my eyes) but after seeing our proofs we saw and understood the artistic style Ray was trying to get. And as far as the photo journalism of our day, I barely even noticed Ray shooting away – he was like stealth but somehow got all these shots - which is good because you already are paparazzied with cameras from your guests and Ray is like a fly on the wall. Oh, and I must give credit to Vanessa, his second shooter. She is a sweetheart and also helped pose and take some fun, artsy shots.

My (now) husband and I were very fortunate to have Erwin of Apertura photograph our engagement pictures and both our private church ceremony as well as our outdoor ceremony. I was referred to Apertura through friends who were recent brides. After stalking the Apertura website for some time, we were drawn to Erwin's artistic and photojournalistic eye. We greatly admired his ability to capture the many emotion-filled, precious moments through his unique juxtaposition of what is beautiful and what is sometimes regarded as "unattractive". We found his work to be captivating, edgy, emotional, unexpected and simply awe-inspiring. His work stood out with a definite "WoW" factor. Since wedding photography was the most important thing to me for our recent wedding, I knew that Erwin had to shoot our wedding!!! Working with Erwin was truly a pleasure. He has a very fun and joking personality, and was really easy to get along with. It was almost like hanging out with a long-time friend! He made sure to make us feel at ease during our Engagement Shoot and gave us good direction, which was really key in making us feel more relaxed when he was shooting our wedding. On the business side of things, Erwin is extremely professional about his work and was very patient in helping us put together wedding packages that worked within a budget. He responds thoroughly and promptly to all inquiries, always making sure to answer all questions and ease our concerns. I really appreciated him following up with us from time to time just to ask if we had any additional questions he could answer for us. Erwin is a hard worker with great timing. He was able to send us our images so quickly. We were extremely pleased with the final Engagement Shoot, Church Wedding, and Outdoor Ceremony photos. He captured so many great moments and raw emotions. Looking at the photos and the awesome wedding slideshow he created for us felt like we were reliving our wedding. It truly brought a smile to my face. Hands down, Erwin's work is truly amazing, of great quality, and worth the price. If wedding pictures are the most important thing to you, then you have already found your photographer.

After I accidently stumbled upon Apertura’s work 6 years ago, I have been a cyber stalker and a loyal follower of Erwin/Ray’s work. I’ve also looked at many other wedding photographers’ work (no less than 70 photographers) for the past 6 years, but I can honestly say that no other photographer’s work touches my heart as Erwin/Ray’s photos do. I believe each wedding is unique in itself, and the photos should capture each wedding’s own story. Therefore when I got engaged, I have no doubt in my mind who I want as my photographer to capture my special day. Since I couldn’t afford both Erwin and Ray (even though I really would like to); after some careful considerations we decided to go with Erwin. I was super nervous when I met Erwin for our first consultation (after all, I have been “stalking” him for the past 6 years, who wouldn’t be nervous..). But Erwin was so easy to talk to, super nice, and it really truly felt like talking to a friend. He really puts me at ease and he was so patient to listen to the story of how my husband and I met (I couldn’t shut up..). He was also very professional, answering all my questions and concerns, and always replied to E-mails and calls in a timely manner. A co-worker of mine came and asked me for Erwin’s information and website after my wedding. I asked my co-worker how come he was so sure the pictures would come out great, even before seeing the photos. My co-worker said he had been to so many weddings, but he had never seen anyone worked the way Erwin and his team did. He could tell from the way Erwin took the shots and prepared for the lighting, that Erwin was not just a wedding photographer but also an artist, and he could tell the photos would come out great. And they were! When my husband and I got the photos, we couldn’t help but having big smiles on our faces. Erwin truly captured the raw emotions of our special day. Each photo tells its own story, and each photo is an art work by itself. It is timeless. He captured so many moments that lasted no more than a second. Also, my husband does not like to smile if there is a camera on him; however, Erwin was able to capture some of his best smiles, along with many other details. In short, you can’t go wrong with Erwin. He is worth every penny. And if the wedding photos are your top priority, then you definitely want to have Erwin and his team on your wedding day.

Apertura was the first vendor we contacted and first vendor we booked. We did not take choosing a wedding photographer lightly because the images captured will be the only elements from the wedding that will live on. (Besides the ever-burning flame that exists between my husband and I.) All good photographers have a discernible style and Apertura's drama and storytelling are epic. Luckily, photography is something we know a little about and were able to choose a photographer to match our own sensibilities. From the first meeting to the final presentation, everything was world class professional. Even their branding rocked. All this really helps you feel at ease since this is a significant investment. We are not accustomed to being photographed but Ray made us feel comfortable and gave us the right amount of direction and encouragement. The portraits went by swiftly because he was so easy going and personable. And confident. That's something you really need to feel from your photographer. When it came time to document the day, he blended in amongst the revelers. Like a ninja, but in a good way. We did not feel any obtrusion, yet everything was expertly documented. I swear there was some dark arts going on because we didn't notice the photographers until we needed them. Even our bulldog, Flash, sat still for him - see, magic. Apertura's work speaks for itself and if their style fits yours, there is absolutely no alternative. Aside from the talent, you also pay for their professionalism and service. They do not disappoint in that regard either. All issues are taken care of swiftly. Awesomeness has it's cost and it does not come cheap. It's hard to put a price on memories and something so subjective can't be quantified. I'd absolutely recommend Apertura to anybody looking for photos to be envious of.

For the past few years, I've been a big fan of Apertura's work. When it was my turn to become engaged, I did my due diligence and researched other photographers along with Apertura, just to be sure my decision was an educated one, and not just on impulse. As I suspected, no other photographers matched their level of quality of work. I can give you a million reasons why Apertura's/Erwin's work is incredible, but to give you a few examples. 1. As a Human Resources exec, I'm constantly evaluating service and talent. Erwin was truly exceptional: prompt, professional, meticulous, really A++ service. We really felt like he was family. 2. My husband and I are pretty camera shy. Erwin's quiet encouragement, direction and ability to make us feel at ease very quickly, were key to establishing amazing portraits. 3. My husband is a designer, so he has a very critical eye. We can't believe Erwin can see things the way he does- it's really ingenious. One of our engagement shoot locations was at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica, CA. We frequent this location often, and there wasn't one shot that Erwin took that we weren't amazed with. Erwin has the ability to take very ordinary locations (sometimes just plain concrete, in our case), and make them look extraordinary, geometrically and aesthetically pleasing. We love that his work is so artistic, and we are not always the focal point of every photo. 4. His clever use of light, reflections, shadow, and color only serve to enhance his already amazing photos. Genius! 5. Erwin has impeccible timing. He was able to catch shots at our wedding that truly were there for only an instant. These photos made all the difference in our wedding album. 6. Our wedding ceremony was in a strict Catholic Church that didn't allow flash or a lot of movement. Somehow, Erwin was able to covertly document our ceremony and capture really artistic shots of the Church and ceremony. Erwin’s photojournalistic style is really key. Each photo is a cohesive artistic piece that anyone can enjoy, regardless of the subject or subject matter. From first contact to end result, Erwin exceeded all of our expectations. Bottom line, Erwin's work speaks for itself. Trust him and his team to run free creatively, and the end result will be amazing - guaranteed.