Sneak Peek: Engagement Monterey Bay Aquarium

A Sneak Peek of yesterday's shoot at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

(I was sweating bullets because of the low light situation but thankfully it was dark and you couldn't see my face melting:)

Family Reunion

Three generations

Hanging with Dad at Sunset

We headed up to South Lake Tahoe for a small family reunion. The weather was nice and warm (most of the time) and the lake was the pretty blue that you see in postcards. Luke got to spend some time with his grandparents, his twin cousins from San Diego, and some time sitting on the beach eating sand (or at least trying to).

It was a wonderful five days. I didn't want to come back. Well at least not so soon :)

Megs

Rock a Bye Baby

I always say I'm a Mom first and a Photographer second (err well maybe third since Wife comes before that). I love being a mom and have always loved babies. Long before I even thought of having a Luke I use to help put my baby sister and brother down for naps by sitting in our old wooden rocking chair and singing to them.

Like so many Moms nowadays I've been told rocking my baby to sleep was bad because it develops bad sleeping habits. Luke's been pretty good at falling asleep on his own at bedtime because of his nightly routine (bath, bottle, cuddles, and then bed). What he's not good at is naps. While my other mommy friends had babies that slept for hours at a time during the day, mine would nap for 20 minutes and wake up. Barely time for a shower or to shovel food down my throat.

Yesterday I watched on Luke's baby monitor as he sat quietly in his crib for half an hour. He stared off into the distance, crawled around, and then started checking out how sturdy the bars on his crib were (probably planning a future escape). After struggling to keep his head up he finally got frustrated and stared into the camera (oh he knows he's being watched) with his 'come get me' look. I finally decided he needed some love and snuggles. After scooping him up I sat quietly in our dark room rocking him back and forth while listening to an instrumental lullaby. He snuggled his little nose up against me and fell asleep instantly.

I thought to myself WHY didn't I do this earlier? I love rocking my baby to sleep. I love singing lullabies to him. I love the bonding, the closeness, and the way he smeyes* at me with half closed eyes before drifting into peaceful sleep.

I use to rock him as a small infant before this whole sleep training started. I thought to myself, "My baby will only be a baby for so long and I am missing out on this!".

Well not anymore! I think from now on (at least for naps) I'll take every opportunity I can to do what I've always wanted to do when I had my own baby.

Rock and sing him to sleep.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!

*Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!*

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveler in the dark,—
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

-wikipedia

*smeyes is smiling with your eyes

** So this post is probably plagued with tons of errors but I have a 9 1/2 month old crawling into everything so I'll just leave it the way it is. Making sure Luke doesn't chew on the iPhone cable is a bit high on the priority list at this time ;). k k!

Justin & Joane: Engagement China Camp

My baby sister is getting married! It felt like just the other day that she was a baby all dressed in pink and smiling at everyone with those huge eyes of hers. Now she's all grown up and getting married to a wonderful guy!

Justin will be leading as the new Youth Pastor at the Life Church in Stockton Ca. and Joane will be joining him. They've dedicated their lives to God and his ministry and will be changing the lives of youths.

Justin welcome to the family! Now you can join Mitch in the corner at family gatherings while my Mom shoves food into your mouth and not understanding a word we're saying when we break in to Laotian :)

Love,

Your soon to be sister in law!



























p.s. I'll be changing the blog site soon! Stay tuned! To see larger versions please visit my facebook.

I can be pretty crafty...

Sneak look at J & J's Engagement shoot at China Camp in Marin County. I was feeling very artsy fartsy for this shoot so I convinced Mitch to custom make some chalkboard signs for me. (Ok so I didn't really make make them. Mitch cut the wood and painted it but I did buy the chalkboard paint! It took me half an hour to hunt down the Home Depot.)

I think they turned out fabulous! Stay tuned for more photos of this cute couple!



(So glad they trusted me to put my chicken scratch on the sign for them!)


Cheers!

Megs

9 Months already?

The weeks and months are zooming by ever so fast. His face is changing by the day and his clothes are getting smaller and tighter on him.

These are just a few little reminders for me that he's not going to be my little baby for too long. But he will always be our little baby in pictures.

Happy 9 month birthday Mochi!

We love you! (Even when you're mad at us :)

Love,

Mom and Dad

Solomon - Anytime Funtime

When my baby brother ask me to do a shoot with him of course I said yes. I love my baby brother. He may be three times as tall as I am (and probably one of the tallest Asian guys you'll ever meet) but he's a sweetie. Just don't ask him if he plays basketball (because not ALL tall people play basketball).

We had a lot of fun on his shoot and a lot of fun chasing the sunlight. I hope you love this as much as I do Solo. Oh and don't forget to show Mom. And tell her yes I'll be printing her out some for her walls, wallet, and key chain.

Love,

Your Oldest, Shortest Sister.

Shoot/Black Out

It's been a while since I've had to chase the sunlight but it was was a lot of fun doing Solomon's shoot for his portfolio. Stay tuned for more photos. And the reason why was when we got back home there was a complete blackout! We were in the middle of uploading and doing photo back ups (and I was preheating the oven for dinner) when the power went out. Mitch went out to find dinner and he reported back that half the city was sitting in darkness. It was a bit creepy. We had all our flashlights out and hung a lantern outside our door. Of course with no electricty meant now post, no Internets, and no playing on the iPhone! So we all went to bed early haha.

Cheers!

Megs

Yo yo Yosemite!

We took Luke on his first camping trip to Yosemite last weekend and he loved it!

During the mornings he'd wake up in our tent and smile and stare at the blue ceiling of our very very old tent that Mitch inherited from his Dad who got it from some guy in Nantucket years ago. It's pretty old.

Because the nights were cold he'd snuggled between the both of us and slept in peace knowing that if a bear attacked his parents would be eaten first.

He did some hiking with Dad and some of his friends. This involved him falling asleep and being carried by Dad most of the time.

He even dipped his toes in Mirror lake but cried because the water was too cold. We dipped them twice just to be sure.

Between hikes he spent time laying at our Upper Pine's campsite staring at the trees that towered above him in amazement and daydreamed (probably about climbing them).

The only thing he didn't do was enjoy the campfires. He would fall asleep before it ever got dark enough to start one. He missed out on some really good s'mores. It's okay. I ate his share.

Over all it was a great camping trip and we can't wait to do it again next year! He should be walking by then so he can carry his own backpack ;) That is if we can get him to keep his shoes on and not eat them first.






Hiking with and on Dad to Mirror Lake.


Cheers!

Megs

Photo montage!

Mitch and Luke's photo montage!


Training for Yosemite!


Watching the Ferris Wheel at the Marin County Fair but not tall enough to ride.





Sometimes I can't tell which one of these two is the cute one :)

Just Keep Shooting

Sometimes I think I want this blog to be like all the other photographer's blog. Lots and lots of nice and amazing pictures but so far it's been about who I am, Luke, and more Luke.

I will have to admit it's been a struggle to get back into shooting more. I just love being a Mom.

These past six months have gone by so quickly but filled with life changing events and milestones. I am so grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to be a full time mommy. I love the rewards of it. I have a happy and healthy baby. One who is quiet, smiles with his eyes, and loves everyone he meets.

As equally as important is Mitch. He is an amazing husband and an amazing father. One who gets up at 3 am (even though he has to get up a few hours later to head into the office) just to give me a break or come home after a day of work and cook dinner when I've had a bad day. He is always there to support me and to also push me (when I need it) to challenge myself. He is the most amazing man ever. (Sorry ladies he's taken!)

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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the Showit Freedom Tour in San Francisco with my friend and fellow photographer Jihan to see Jasmine Star our favorite Wedding Photographer. It was a small gathering of 70 photographers (some local and some far). Last time I tried to see her both Jihan and I were pregnant (I more than her) and I had to cancel since it was too far (Sacramento) and too close to my due date. Being able to final see her was a quest fulfilled (ok so that sounds dorky I know).

It was great to meet and talk to fellow photographers (ha I used 'fellow' when most of them were very talented and well known as opposed to little old me). Everyone was very nice and excited to be there.

I've attended meetings (most via satellite/online) before but to actually be sitting there and listening to Jasmine and Jessica Claire speak about important aspects of our businesses it was very inspirational. I wish I had taken my nice camera. Over half of the people who showed up had their SLRs while I tried to get decent photos on my point and shoot. (Low lighting + no flash = no bueno.)

At the end of the night I had a fuzzy iPhone photo of Jasmine and myself making funny faces and I had a small collection of business cards.

Now I didn't collect cards just so I could network and go have coffee with everyone (although that would be nice) but instead I collected them as momentos. I don't expect anyone to remember me but I remembered everyone. To me they all had a face and a story. The funny Tom Vo from San Jose (who sat next to me and got elbow jabbed every time I moved), the quiet teacher from Modesto (talk about a long drive), and Henry Sun who was warm and polite and took amazing photos from that night. I wanted to have slips of them to be remembered by.

I learned a lot that night and I learned a lot about myself. I love doing what I love. I love being a part of someone's history; an active a part of it. I may not be super famous or have hundreds of facebook and twitter fans but as long as I'm happy doing what I love and making others happy that's all I really want.


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From Luke's 7 month shoot. He's working on being a champion sitter and hat model!

Weddings, Birthdays, Graduations oh my!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. That shall be my excuse for not blogging.

There's been Weddings, birthdays, Graduations, and Father's day (more on that later) with limited amount of web access. ( I should really consider taking my laptop everywhere I go. That way I can blog on the spot! )

Anyways I just wanted to give a quick holler so people know I'm still alive and that I haven't been trapped some where in my house under a pile of diapers and toys.

Oh and I wanted to post a photo of the awesome wedding cake at Jay and Jennie's Wedding! The cake told their love story through little framed photos. I LOVED IT! (And it was yummy! I had two pieces ... I sort of dropped the first one).

I wanted to say congratulations again you two! Such a beautiful wedding!

Cheers!

Megs




(The middle photo was one I took right after Jay had proposed to her. I love seeing things come full circle.)

Art , Wind, and History

One day many years ago Mitch and I decided to go to the San Ramon Art and Wind Festival. This was way before we were even dating. It was a festival that celebrated art and wind (kite flying). They had booths of arts and crafts and there was a kite flying competition.

I had a huge crush on Mitch back then and walking among the hordes of family and kids I wondered if one day we would ever be one of "those people" (also known as a "family") (hey I was in my late 20's and time was a'tickin).

I remember sneaking looks at him and thinking he would make a great dad someday. During the kite flying competition we sat on this grassy hill overlooking dozens of kites on the ground and the kite flying area. I don't remember much of that afternoon but I do remember watching a group called Too Much Fun, a husband and wife team do a routine to the song "From This Moment" by Shania Twain. I can still close my eyes and picture it.

Two quad line kites standing up on the grass next to each other. The music starts and one flies slowly in to the air. Then the second slowly rises to join the other and they embrace. Throughout the song they encircle each other, embracing, touching, and following. At the end the kites slowly fall landing on each other and leaning on each other for support.

That routine just moved me so much that I ended up crying afterwards. I turned to look at Mitch and his eyes were as wet as mine. That was when I knew he was the one for me. A few years later at our wedding we danced our first dance to this song. Even to this day whenever this song is played we look at each other and smile.

(After writing this I ran to the internet to see if I can find any video of them doing this routine and I actually found one on their website! See here! I just busted out crying because I remembered it just like it was yesterday and had to show Mitch who got teary eyed too).

Last weekend, exactly six years after we had first went, we were once again back at the San Ramon Art and Wind festival. This time with Luke. We had become 'those people'.

Pushing Luke in his BOB stroller we made our way through the hordes of family and kids to the kite flying area.

And on his Dad's lap Luke watched in amazement as the kites took to the skies, sitting on the very same grassy hill that Mitch and I once sat on so many years ago.

Carrie and Kermit's Sonora Wedding

We had the honor of capturing Carrie and Kermit's wedding at the beautiful Knopf Estate located in the Sierra Foothills. The weather was gorgeous and the wedding itself was so sweet and original. Both Carrie and Kermit had planned this wedding from across the continent. Paper cranes were hand folded, favors hand selected, even the groom's tie was special made for this day. Their vows were equally as unique. Both coming from the heart and also included zombies.

Thank you both so very much for letting Mitch and I be a part of your day. Congratulations to the both of you and may love always conquer everything. Even zombies.