TNK PHOTO photographs weddings and the moments around them, in Costa Mesa and across Southern California. Quiet direction, honest light, and a gallery you will actually want to open again.
Dates fill early for wedding season. Pick a date below and send an enquiry, or call and talk it through first.
4.94out of 5, from 82 Google reviews
Costa Mesabased in Costa Mesa, California
Book firstno online shop, dates by enquiry
Sessions
Photography for the days that matter
Every session is planned around you, not a fixed shot list. Session lengths, coverage and pricing are confirmed by the studio for each booking, so nothing below is a fixed price. Open any session below to see what actually happens in it, before you enquire.
Weddings
Full-day coverage from getting ready to the last dance, with a second photographer available on request. Coverage and delivery are agreed at booking.
Pricing on enquiry. Check a dateWhat happens in a wedding
The day is covered in its natural order: getting ready, ceremony, family groups, portraits, and the evening. During the ceremony the camera stays quiet and out of the way; the directed portraits are kept to short windows so you spend the day with your guests, not posing for it. The timeline is built with you in planning, around the light at your venue and the moments you care about most, and a second photographer can be added when two places need covering at once.
Engagements
A relaxed session at a place that means something to you, and a natural way to meet your photographer before the wedding day.
Pricing on enquiry. Check a dateWhat happens in an engagement session
You pick the place and the time of day, and the session follows what you actually do there: walking, talking, laughing, not holding a pose. It doubles as a rehearsal for the wedding: you learn how your photographer directs, they learn how you two are together, and by the wedding day the camera is already familiar. Many couples use the photographs for invitations and announcements.
Portraits
Individual and couple portraits, in the studio or outdoors. Bring the clothes you feel most like yourself in, and we handle the rest.
Pricing on enquiry. Check a dateWhat happens in a portrait session
Light comes first: window light in the studio, open shade or golden hour outdoors, never harsh midday sun on an unprepared face. Direction is gentle and specific, a small change of chin or shoulder at a time, so the photographs look like you on a good day rather than a stranger in your clothes. Bring two outfits if you like; a change halfway through gives the set a second mood without a second session.
Family
Unhurried family sessions, with room for grandparents, children and the dog. The aim is photographs that look like your family, not a pose.
Pricing on enquiry. Check a dateWhat happens in a family session
The groupings are agreed before the day, as a short list of the combinations that matter, and children are photographed first while their energy is high. Between the posed groups the camera keeps working: the laughing, the carrying, the dog stealing the scene. Grandparents are seated for their portraits, and nobody is asked to hold a smile longer than a few seconds at a time.
Events
Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and gatherings. Documentary coverage that lets you stay in the moment while the day is recorded.
Pricing on enquiry. Check a dateWhat happens at an event
The key moments are agreed beforehand, speeches, the cake, the toasts, the people who must appear together, and the rest is documentary: guests as they are, not lined up. Low light is handled with fast lenses and careful exposure rather than a flash that flattens the room, so the photographs keep the mood of the evening instead of bleaching it out.
Editorial and commercial
Portraits and imagery for brands, publications and portfolios. Brief, usage and delivery are agreed before the shoot, in writing.
Pricing on enquiry. Check a dateWhat happens on a commercial shoot
It starts with the brief, not the camera: what the images are for, where they will appear, and how they will be used. The shot list is agreed from that, lighting is controlled for the look the brief asks for, and delivery, format, retouching and usage are all set out in writing before the shoot, so the images arrive ready to publish and nobody renegotiates afterwards.
How we photograph
The day, kept the way it felt
The photographs that last are usually the unposed ones: the vows, the walk down the aisle, the people between the poses.
A wedding is not a photo shoot with a ceremony attached. It is a day that happens once, at speed, in front of people you love, and the photographs have to be made inside it, not instead of it. So the work is mostly documentary: watching, waiting for the real moment, and staying out of its way.
The direction is the other half. Left entirely alone, a group of people will stand in a line and smile at the lens. A few quiet words, a turn of the shoulder, a step into better light, and the same people look like themselves. That is the whole approach: documentary when the day is happening, direction when a photograph needs making, and never the other way round.
What makes one photographer’s work different from another’s is rarely the camera. It is what they notice, how they read light, and what they choose to keep. Open the three notes below: they say how the light is read, how a day is planned in photographs, and how a finished gallery is chosen.
Reading the light
Light is the material, not the camera. Window light flatters a face the way no lamp does; open shade is soft and even; golden hour, the last hour before sunset, warms everything it touches; an overcast sky is a giant softbox that makes skin look its best. Harsh midday sun is handled by moving into shade or turning the sun behind the subject, and flash is used sparingly, as fill to lift shadows, never as the look itself. A photographer who reads light first will make a good photograph in a plain room; one who does not will struggle in a beautiful one.
Planning the day in photographs
Before the day, the photographer and the couple agree three things: the timeline, the places, and the short list of photographs that must exist. The timeline is built around the light at the venue, not the other way round; the venue is scouted at the same hour the photographs will be taken, so there are no surprises; and the family-group list is short, named, and agreed in advance, so the groups take minutes instead of half an hour. Rain gets a plan too: covered spots, clear umbrellas, and the honest fact that some of the best wedding photographs ever made were made in rain.
Choosing and finishing the gallery
A finished gallery is a story, not a dump of everything shot. The edit keeps the moments that move the story forward and removes the near-duplicates, the blink, the half-finished gesture, so the set reads cleanly from beginning to end. Colour is kept consistent across the whole set, so the photographs sit together as one day. Retouching keeps people looking like themselves: skin is evened, not erased, and nobody is reshaped. A few photographs are finished in black and white where the moment earns it, because colour sometimes gets in the way of a face. Delivery is a private online gallery, ready to view, share, and print, with timing confirmed at booking.
When the sparklers come out, the day ends in light.
The send-off is one of the most photographed moments of the day: everyone together, the light in their hands, the couple walking through it. Like everything else, it is planned in advance, the sparklers, the timing, the place to stand, so the photograph happens instead of being chased. Venues differ on sparklers, so permission is checked while planning, and the exit is timed for when the light has fully gone.
No thumbnails, no grid. One detail per scroll beat, cropped so tight the detail is the design. Each frame names itself only when you arrive.
Experiment: Chenault oversized detail crops
Detail 01 / 04The ring, macroA diamond eternity band, close enough to see the setting.
Detail 02 / 04The bouquet, petal by petalPeach roses, layered and soft, with nothing else in frame.
Detail 03 / 04The table, setOne rosebud beside the plate. The whole reception, in a single place setting.
Detail 04 / 04The dress, laceFloral lace and a beaded belt, close enough to count the stitches.
Four details, one day. Check a date and start with the gallery you would receive.
Detail photographs: Leah Newhouse, Liana Horodetska, Alina Skazka and Ashley Esakin, via Pexels (free to use, no attribution required).
How it works
From first message to finished gallery
01
Enquire
Pick a date on the calendar below and send the form, or call +1 323-207-9025. Tell us the occasion, the place, and who will be there. An enquiry is a question, not a commitment: the reply covers whether the date is free and what happens next.
02
Plan together
We talk through the day, the light, the locations, and the photographs you care about most, then confirm the plan and the price in writing. This is where the short must-have list is agreed, the family groups are named, and the venue is scouted at the hour your photographs will be taken.
03
The day itself
Quiet direction, no staging that feels forced. The ceremony is covered documentarily, the portraits take short windows, and the family groups run from the list agreed in planning. You enjoy the day, and the photographs are made around it, not instead of it.
04
Your gallery
Your finished photographs arrive in a private online gallery to view, share, and print. The set is edited for story and colour, retouched to keep people looking like themselves, and delivery timing is confirmed at booking. Albums and prints are agreed separately, in writing.
Good to know
Before you ask, honestly
A wedding photographer is trusted with a day that cannot be repeated, so the questions below deserve straight answers, not sales copy. Every answer below is confirmed in writing at booking.
If your question is not here, ask it in the enquiry form. A photographer who cannot answer plainly before the booking will not answer plainly after it.
Can we trust you with a day that cannot be repeated?
Trust is earned before the day, not on it. It comes from planning: the timeline agreed, the venue scouted, the must-have list written down, backup equipment carried, and a cover arrangement for illness set out in writing at booking. Ask any photographer to describe those four things. The answer tells you more than a portfolio does, because a portfolio shows the best days and says nothing about the bad ones.
Will you understand our vision?
Bring reference photographs, a mood, a colour, a place, anything that shows what the day should feel like. The planning conversation exists for exactly that: your photographer should be able to say back to you, in their own words, what matters to you, and show you how the plan serves it. An engagement session is the surest test, a short, relaxed shoot where you learn how they direct and they learn how you two are together, before the wedding day.
What exactly is included in a booking?
Coverage on the day, an edited private online gallery, and personal printing and sharing rights. What is not automatically included, and is agreed separately in writing, is a second photographer, albums and prints, travel outside the area, and commercial use. The price is quoted per booking, in writing, before you commit, and the quote lists what it covers so there is nothing to discover later.
What happens if plans change at the last minute?
Timelines shift on the day and a good photographer bends with them: a late ceremony, a moved portrait window, a venue change. That flexibility is part of the job. Changes to the date itself, or to the coverage, are different: the studio’s date-change and cancellation terms are set out in writing at booking, before any payment, so both sides know where they stand. Tell the studio as early as you can, and the options are always better.
What should we prepare before we contact you?
Five things are enough to start: the date, the venue, the occasion, roughly how many people will be there, and the one or two photographs that matter most to you. Everything else, clothes, timing, locations, the must-have list, is worked out together in planning. You do not need a shot list, a mood board, or any photography knowledge to send the first enquiry.
Questions
Good questions, answered plainly
What kinds of sessions do you photograph?
Weddings, engagements, portraits, family sessions, events, and editorial or commercial work. If your occasion is not listed, ask. If it is not something we do, we will say so plainly.
How much does a session cost?
Pricing depends on the session, the coverage, and the location, so it is quoted per booking. Send an enquiry with your date and occasion and you will get a written quote before you commit to anything.
How do we book a date?
Pick a date on the calendar below and send the enquiry form, or call +1 323-207-9025. A date is held once the booking is confirmed with you, not by the enquiry alone.
Do you travel outside Costa Mesa?
Yes, sessions take place across Southern California. Travel arrangements and any travel cost are agreed in writing before booking, so there are no surprises.
How many photographs will we receive, and when?
The number depends on the session length and coverage, and the delivery timing is confirmed at booking. Your photographs arrive in a private online gallery, edited and ready to share and print.
Can we print and share our photographs?
Yes, personal printing and sharing are part of every gallery. Commercial use is agreed separately, in writing, before the shoot.
What should we wear or bring?
Wear what you feel most like yourself in, and bring anything that matters to the day. We talk through clothes, locations and timing together while planning, so nothing is left to guesswork.
What happens if we need to change or cancel?
Life happens. Tell us as early as you can and we will work out a new date or the next step together. Deposit and cancellation terms are set out in writing at booking, before any payment is made.
What happens if the weather turns or the light changes?
Overcast light is some of the most flattering light there is, and rain has a plan: covered spots at the venue, clear umbrellas, and photographs that use the weather instead of fighting it. The decision is made with you on the day, not imposed on you, and the venue is scouted with a wet-weather option in mind.
What if you are ill on the day?
It is the question every couple should ask, and the answer belongs in writing at booking: who covers the day if the photographer cannot attend, and how early you would be told. Ask for that arrangement by name before you book, and do not accept a vague answer. No photographer can promise never to be ill; an honest one can promise a plan.
How do you handle last-minute changes to the schedule?
On the day, the schedule bends: a late ceremony or a moved portrait window is handled as it comes, within the coverage agreed. A change to the date itself is different and follows the studio’s date-change terms, set out in writing at booking. The earlier you tell us, the more options there are.
What is included in a booking?
Coverage on the day, an edited private online gallery, and personal printing and sharing rights. A second photographer, albums, prints, travel, and commercial use are agreed separately, in writing. Your written quote lists exactly what it covers before you commit.
Can we give you a list of photographs we want?
Yes, and a short list is welcome: the combinations that must exist, the people who must appear together, the one detail you would regret missing. Keep it short. A list of fifty photographs stops being a guide and starts being a schedule, and the day is poorer for it. The rest is documentary, the photographs you did not know to ask for.
How do we prepare children and family groups?
Children are photographed first, while their energy is high, and nobody is asked to hold a pose for long. Agree the group list in advance, name one person who knows every face and can gather them, and keep the groups short. Between the posed photographs the camera keeps working, and those in-between frames are often the ones families keep longest.
Book
Check a date
Pick a date on the calendar. It fills the enquiry form for you. Sending the form opens your own mail app with the enquiry ready to send. Nothing is stored or sent by this page.
Month
Dates in the past cannot be picked. The calendar shows this month and the next 11 months. A picked date is a request, not a confirmed booking. The studio confirms whether the date is free.
