Happy Holidays!

Letting Luke wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season and a Happy New Year!






Mitch and I have been blessed with such a sweet little boy this Holiday season.

We both are looking forward to new and exciting things in 2010!


With Warm Wishes,

Meg, Mitch, and Luke

Fun Side Projects

Now that I've got all this free time while waiting for Mochi (The Moch) to make his entrance, I can finally sit down and go through the bazillion photos that I've taken just for fun or family photos (also known as my poor neglected Side Projects). Some are family events and others are just ideas or things that both Mitch and I wanted to experiment with. Mitch tends to get his side projects more than I get to mine (only because he uses his free time better than I use mine sometimes... (*cough*shoppingonlinereadingaboutbabystuff*cough*). It is hard sometimes though when you shoot 100+ photos at any event or function that's not job related (like my mom's church concert that still hasn't made it out of Lightroom yet).

I'm motivating myself to tackle these sooner than later especially with the Moch on the way (we all know he's going to need his own harddrive or two for his photos alone).

A couple of months ago (yes months I'm horrible -_-) my friends Mel and Mel ( Mel ²) were kind enough to come up to Sausalito and play models for me in their wedding clothes (they were married in January in Maui). I don't really shoot weddings but I thought it would be fun just to run around in formal wear. We had a lot of fun and they were showered with congratulations by strangers and tourists. Someone actually stopped Mel and wanted a photo of a design on her wedding dress for some art piece she was working on (this was Sausalito by the way, home to many Artsy folks).

I forgot how much fun both Mel ² are and only wished we lived closer so we could enjoy them more. Thank you both again so very much for your time and patience.




































Cheers!

Megs

Tracks

One of the many joys of shooting children is watching them grow through the lens and seeing personalities develop and shine through. Six months ago little Megan was just learning to pull herself up and do the wobble walk at our last photoshoot. Not only can she now run but she has become an expert (in my book) at posing and giving love to my camera.
Oh and she's not afraid of train tracks :).

Having fun with big brother Ethan.


My favorite shot of the family, standing in front of a dark train tunnel.

Drew

I truly feel blessed when I get the opportunity to shoot such wonderful kids and Drew was no exception. Behind those beautiful blue eyes lies such a smart and funny little boy. From watching a group of kids and adults practicing Karate in the park, to just watching the other kids on the playground I was fascinated of how observant he was. He had a great imagination and had lots of funny and interesting things to say.

As a photographer he was the ideal kid to shoot. Funny, full of energy, and was super at taking directions. He didn't mind sharing the playground with Mitch and even watched as Mitch demonstrate a couple of Kung Fu moves. We couldn't have ask for such a great client!

Drew demonstrating his great modeling skills.

Fall is starting to creep up on us which means soon it will be Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas! As everyone is getting ready for the Holiday season Mitch and I are getting ready for our little Mochi to arrive. We can't believe how fast these past six months have gone! In the next few months we are actually going to be real life parents!

When we got married two years ago we knew we wanted to be parents and have been looking forward to this. Mitch likes to tease me that I'll soon be an AMWAC (Another Mother With a Camera). If you say that fast enough it sounds like 'I'm wack' (which is so untrue!). I do tease him back and say that he too has a camera but AMFAC doesn't sound as cool as AMWAC.

Anyways.

I have just a few more shoots left and then will be taking some time off when the Moch gets here (looking forward to sleep dep, diapers, and unexplained odors).

For now I'll be shooting and trying to figure out what color to paint the nursery.


Cheers!


Meg

Birthdays and Babies!

Happy Birthday to my two favorite nephews! Josh just turned 6 and little Momo turned a big 1 year old! Both your Moms should be so proud to have such cuties for sons! We were so glad we were able to visit last month to spend time with you both!

Love,

Auntie Meg and Uncle Mitch.

Sugarplum

I remember when I took this photo of her. It was during a family wedding and she had decided to take the umbrella from her drink and put it her hair. She was having so much fun and it was such a joyous occasion. I remember Cousin Peter jokingly exclaiming “Uh oh, Grandmas got an umbrella in her hair we better cut her off!”

She was definitely full of spunk and character. Being an addition to the family I was always eager to spend time with her and listen to her stories, wither it was about her growing up and the life she had lead, or commenting on how long it took to put her makeup on. “I’m still working on putting my face on” she would say while laughing.

When she turned 90 two years ago Aunt Sally threw her a wonderful birthday party and she was even featured in a San Diego news segment. She had lived a long and interesting life. She felt blessed to have been able to live long enough to see her first great grandchildren this past spring and was hoping to make it until the end of this year to see our little one too.

Distance kept us from spending more time with her and although her health had declined she was always in good spirits when we spoke to her.

I’ve often spoken about how my love of photography comes from wanting time to stand still. When I shoot I live in the moment and treasure it but at the same time I find comfort in that I can keep it safely tucked way to look back upon fondly. These feelings couldn’t be truer for me than now.

For the past week it’s been hard for us to believe that she is gone. Although she had some health problems we did not expect for her to be gone from us so soon. Deep in my heart I was hoping she would be okay and that we would see her again for the holidays with our little Mochi in tow but it was selfish of me to think that. We are blessed to have so many of her photos that we've taken to enjoy and lovingly remember as well as the memories she's left for us.

Thank you Grandma Sugarplum for all the love and all the memories. Our hearts are heavy and we will miss you so very much.

With Love,

Meg (and Mitch)

Ruth and Dae

It was an overcast day in Canada on Sunday. It had been warm and humid and the sky had been threatening rain for days. Thankfully it held off for a while and even let some sun peek through for us.

Ruth and Dae had chosen the charming Milner Chapel in Langley B.C. for their wedding this October. Surrounded by daises (Ruth's wedding flowers) and a white picket fence, one can't help but sense the classic feel of it. Sadly because of my schedule I won't be able to shoot their special day but we were able to enjoy the cute little chapel and it's promise of things to come. No doubt it will be a happy and amazing day!

Garylene

I have heard so much about her from my sister Daina on how fabulous Garylene was but I never really knew how fabulous she was until I finally got to meet her. Up until our shoot we were only in contact via email and chat but already her bubbly personality shown through (you can't hide fab behind text and a screen).

I can see why she is my sister's BFF. Her laughter and wonderful personality can't help but make you smile and feel at ease. Gare brought along her friend (who was equally as enjoyable and who made a really good prop hehe). We couldn’t help but laugh and make fun of ourselves the entire time. The wind kept attacking her hair and I kept fussing with my odd clothing ensemble (don’t ask), thank God I don’t have photos of myself.

Afterwards I had invited them along to the Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk. (If you can find me I’m hiding behind Gare). After walking for a few hours in North Beach we decided to meet up with Daina at my place to rest our puppies and play a serious game of Settlers of Catan!

Like all things that are good they have to come to an end. Sadly Gare is leaving us for law school back east (my sister is already struggling to come to terms with it). She will be terribly missed and I’m seriously jealous of East Coasters now.

I’m so glad though that I got a chance to meet such a wonderful person. I think everyone needs a Garylene in their lives to make it just a bit brighter and full of laughter.

I Dream in color

If you ask Mitch he will tell you that my dreams are pretty vivid. I'll wake up and before I even throw off the covers I'll start yapping away about what I dreamt. And he (while half asleep) would mumble 'yes hon', 'oh really', 'wow', while not actually listening to me.

One of the reasons why I do this is so I can actually remember what I dreamt about (only because it was so cool)! Last night was one of them!

I’ll skip the super hero part and my special flying abilities and go right into the Nikon part of my dream.

So I'm walking (err flying)down a street to go home when I see a parade of little children (very cute kids too)on these tiny tiny miniature real life horses riding down the street. Follwing them closely was a troop of photographers and they ALL had Nikons (I’m a Canon girl). The back of their photographers vest (yes VEST) said “The Children’s Place” (which is real life store that sells kids clothing but in my dream it was a photography company).

So I slowly walk up to one of the photographers and with my back turned to him (all stealth like and through my teeth) I mumbled “do all of your photographers only shoot with Nikons?”.

He then replies, without turning around, “No Meg we don’t all just shoot with Nikons”.

I was shocked and cried “How did you know my name!”. He said I had been standing there for so long he figured it out (as if I had a 'Meg' written in huge letters on my back or something). He then handed me a card and asked me if I wanted to work for them. I said I’d think about it and continued on my way home which happened to be at the end of the next street (somehow in my dream I knew this). Now here is where it gets bizarre.

So the Nikon guy asks in amazement “Do you live down this street? Are you sure?”. I was puzzled why he’d ask me until I turned the corner. It was like walking into a fairyland. All the houses were mansions with gigantic gardens and fountains in their front lawn. I could have sworn I saw fairies flying too while I walked down the street.I was amazed that I lived on such a beautiful street until I came to the end of the road and turn left where I supposedly lived.

The house was hidden by over grown trees and shrubs and when I finally got to the end of the driveway what stood before me was a rundown looking old shack. The minute I saw the house I looked down at myself and saw I was wearing tattered old clothes (a potato sack would have looked better).

It turned out that I belong to a Caucasian family (I’m Asian) that looked like the family from Pete’s Dragon! The mom was all dirty with ratty hair and broken teeth and my siblings all had overalls on and dirty dirty hair. The mom was screaming at me “Where have you BEEN!? You have chores to do!”. I had no idea who these people were but I quickly ran and started to do the laundry out of a wooden bucket. I felt like I was erally Pete except for the fact I was a girl and didn’t have a handsome couple fighting for me and singing in the middle of the bay on a boat.I also lacked a magic Dragon :(. It was a good thing I woke up after that.

I then rolled over to recounted everthing to a still sleeping Mitch.

Cupid :Dog Extraordinaire

He had booked me in advanced months ago and was finally able to squeeze me into his crazy schedule.

We started the morning off with a portrait session at his home in beautiful Sausalito.

Then it was off to Baker Beach in S.F. to do his duty as a Life Dog with his assistant. It was a very hot day yesterday and the beach was crowded.

He insisted we got him with the iconic Golden Gate bridge.

He spent most of the day assisting fellow canines (such as this one) away from the water for their safety. The waves were crashing pretty hard.

His lovely girlfriend came along for the shoot (Miss Coco). She was soo sweet she bought donuts with her (Cupid loves donuts).

We later caught him rescuing a ball that was getting dangerously close to the water.


He demonstrated the right way to remove a shell from the beach.

Resting after a long hot day.

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Thank you Cupid and Zsofia for such a fun day in the (very hot) sun!

Aurora and Noah

We spent a lovely day at the park in Walnut Creek with the cool Miss Aurora and her little brother Noah along with their equally cool parents. There were lollipops and lots and lots of bubbles! ( The only thing missing was a teeter-totter that I am still trying to find! I think there is one at the park on Belvedere Island here in Marin. )

One of the many things that I love about kids and babies is how they express themselves. Some you can tell by just looking at them or playing with them. I say the photos speak for themselves here.

Thank you John and Roslynd for sharing your cool kids with us!

The Beach

As a little girl I never got to go to the beach enough. I know living in the central valley and being miles and miles from the beach (actually 100 miles or so, go google maps!) it was kind of hard to go as a kid. But that didn't stop me from loving the beach.

I would imagine listening to the waves crash and the smell of the sea salt in the air. At home we had this huge conch shell that my parents kept in their bedroom (a gift from someone). Sometimes I'd go into their room and press the shell up against my ear and listen to the sound of the ocean. I would always tell myself that if I ever got the chance I would live near a beach somewhere so I could listen to it every night.

Since moving to the Bay Area (Marin especially) I've lost count of the many times I've been to the beach. When we were dating it seemed like Mitch and I were at the beach almost every weekend. He lived only a few minutes away from Ocean Beach in San Francisco so we would load up the car with his surfboard and spend a Saturday morning or afternoon there. He would be out in the freezing cold water fighting for crappy waves (yay for Northern California) while I sat reading my book and occasionally checking on him to make sure he wasn't fighting with JabberJaw. Yes how I love the beach.

We did a shoot with some friends of ours and their daughter Corry. It was a nice overcast day at Muir Beach for some fun in the sand. There were holes dugged, sand fishes created and smashed, sand angels formed, and a seaweed mom-ster. By the end of the shoot we were all covered in sand but the important part was that we all had fun!

Sand sand everywhere, in your teeth and in your hair!

Summertime and the Magic of Reading

As a child summertime meant something different to me. While other kids looked forward to no school, no books, no homework, and vacation fun, I dreaded it. While others went off on camping trips or some place fun I was stuck at home during the summer.

Growing up in a large family meant that we didn't get to do much of anything outside of bike riding in our cul-de-sac, playing marbles in the front yard, or my Dad's fishing trips. Because my parents were strict we didn't go to slumber parties or go to other kids houses to play (unless it was on our block).

It all changed for me though one summer when I discovered the magic of the Library.

It was a gigantic building with large white pillars that reached to the sky. The walkway around it was accented with glass mosaic patterns which was slippery and I was always afraid to step on them. It had white tables around the outside of the building which was usually taken by the homeless men in the area. Most of them sat there quietly leaning against their large backpacks reading with much intensity in their eyes as though they were trying to solve a problem.

The parking lot was in the back so we would have to walk all the way around to get to the entrance of the building (and for me meant many many squares of glass patterns that I had to avoid and to not stare at the homeless men). It was a workout getting to the front (Modesto gets VERY hot in the summer) but I was well rewarded when the automatic doors open and I would be hit with a blast of nice cold air on my face. After that it was like paradise to me.

I had an unlimited supply of adventure just waiting for me to find. And the best thing of all it was free.

I checked out as many books as I could and that would fit in my book bag. I would hunt under adventure, mystery, and all the bound comic books that they had (Peanuts, Garfield, Family Circle, and Heathcliff).

I traveled to other lands and other countries, through time and space. I read the classics that I didn't read in school and I wondered if Sally would ever leave poor Linus alone (her sweet Baboo).

My library card was something I treasured so much and was so proud to have. That blue piece of plastic with my name written on it gave me a passport to anywhere I wanted to go.

I was no longer this poor Asian girl who couldn't go anywhere but a girl who went everywhere.

The Little Empress

Although she is tiny for her age (hence the "little" in her title) she is big when it comes to personality. Full of spunk and character she really gives her mom a reason for the title "full time Mommy". You can follow her on her many adventures over at Mommy Misadventures.

Cheers!

Megs

Beginnings

Olympus OM10 with a 75/205 MM

The love of photography for me started from my father. I remember growing up and watching my father pull out his camera (an Olympus OM10) every time we were on a trip or just to take pictures of us kids (all six of us). He kept it and a couple of lenses in this old leather boxy camera bag (see picture). I think I was around 10 or 11 when he first let me use it. I remember getting so frustrated when loading film into it that Dad had to eventually do it for me. For the longest time when I shot depended on if Dad felt like loading film for me or not (loading film was hard as a kid!).

And it was heavy! God was that thing heavy. I couldn't use it without having to put it down every couple of shots. I was constantly told to shoot people only and not to waste film on inanimate objects (but I always managed to sneak in a tree or a fence into a roll). Another obstacle that I had to hurdle was the manual focus, there was no such thing as auto focus (such a luxury!).

I developed a passion for wanting to document everything; events, people, and places. I wanted time to stand still and never wanted things to end. I wanted my parents to stay young, my siblings to always be cute, and life to always be simple.

I still think that way to this day. My hard drive is filled with photos of family (how can it not be with over 10 birthdays a year and every holiday on the calendar to celebrate). The fact that I’ve managed to get some of those photos printed and in frames and gifted to people surprises even me.

Although I haven't master freezing time yet I have figured out how to grab a piece of it and carefully tuck it away for safe keeping. Thanks Dad!