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etc-

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you are beautiful...

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I like to people-watch. It's just what I do. I can sit somewhere, serenely sip my coffee, and make up stories about the people that pass me by.  (sidenote: it helps to wear dark sunglasses while doing this, so you don't get caught staring...) I like to watch how people carry themselves; see how they interact with others; see if they seem comfortable in their skin. And most of all, I enjoy the moment when I discover what I refer to as their "hidden beauty."

Let's face it... we're not all supermodels. We come in all shapes & sizes, and most of them aren't a size 0 and don't include washboard abs. (sigh.) But everyone seems to have something about them that just makes them beautiful. And I'm not just talking about INNER beauty, here... but something that radiates to the exterior and can be witnessed and enjoyed. Sometimes it's a laugh that bubbles up to the surface. Sometimes it's the way that someone grooves (ever so slightly) to the music that plays while they're waiting in a long line at the store. Sometimes it's the funny face a stranger makes at a kid to interact with them, or the way a grown man's face lights up like a child's as they spot a puppy.

These are all just random faces in the crowd... little moments that would pass most people by, and yet they are ones that I feel privileged to witness. Because in that one little moment, there is such beauty that radiates from each person...  that I can SEE that person as their loved ones do. Not just a stranger made up of lines and shapes and colors, but a beautiful person looked upon with love.

Because, as I always say... it's real life; it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

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I participated in a photography workshop over the weekend (lots more images of this to come soon). The shoot was "Rockabilly Glamour" themed, with plenty of props, makeup & hair artists and... of course... models. We had 5 models for the day, and most of them actually were professional models.  Not only were they super-skinny, but they knew how to work the angles of their bodies to achieve their best looks.

But there was this other girl...  Shyan. A hair & makeup artist by trade, she had offered her services to us to actually be a model for the day since her look fit what we were after. But this was her first time modeling like this.

And let me tell you... of all the beautiful girls that were there to model for us that day... Shyan was by far my favorite to work with! Why? Because she was genuine. She had confidence and poise and knew how to rock her curves. She wasn't striking all these model-y "poses," but instead, once she was able to relax in front of the camera, her body began to relax and find its natural groove, and her own style and personality shone through.

And it was awesome!

Let me show you why...

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*of love and thanks*

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I love that I get the chance to meet all different sorts of people. I love that I get to hear their stories and really get to KNOW them. I love that they are able to let their guard down and allow me to see their real emotions. And I love that they trust me to capture these special moments for them in imagery. I love that people gift me with this opportunity. And in return, I love gifting people with a glimpse into the beautiful love and lives that they possess.

 

As I'm still wrapping my head around the craziness of my recent trip to Las Vegas for the photography convention, I just wanted to take this moment to thank all of my fans and clients (past, present and future)... thank you for sharing the passion for what I do. Thank you for allowing me into your lives, if even for those brief moments, to capture a piece of your joy & beauty.

My life simply wouldn't be the same without all of you.

 

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a picture's worth

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I was inspired to write today in response to THIS blog post from a few days ago by photographer Jeanine Thurston.  (And a follow-up post of hers, here.) In her original post, Jeanine shares  a letter she received from a client, which was left on her doorstep. Here are the words of that letter:

Today I am writing for a couple of reasons.  I have some quiet time at the moment and need to get a couple of things off my mind.  I will leave this for my husband to deliver to you when he is ready.

You photographed my wedding, you photographed my first pregnancy and my first baby.  I contacted you awhile back to photograph my 2nd child and family.  After getting prices and realizing I would want all of the pictures as we love your work – I decided against spending $500+ – which is what I normally spend for portraits and prints with you..  Please know it is not because I don’t value your amazing eye, or how much we love the experience.

That week that I decided to NOT do a session with you, this is how I spent some money.

On Sunday I called and cancelled our session.  Monday I went out and got my hair cut ($39+tip), and colored ($65), Thursday I had my nails done ($24), my family went out to dinner at a somewhat expensive restaurant for no particular reason costing us $79 + tip.  This was just 4 days since canceling our session, already totaling over $200 for un necessary things.  My nails only lasted about 2 weeks, my hair is gone, and seven weeks passed when I got the phone call from our doctor.  It was not something I expected and the cancer has spread very quickly.  I will be leaving my husband, my 6 year old girl and my now 2 year old – not by choice.  It is very hard for me to talk about it which is why I need to write you.

I watch your Facebook page and your posts about the value of a photo and if I could give back all of those things that I purchased this few weeks after I cancelled my session with you, knowing what I know now, and have that session, well… I would do it in a heartbeat.

Now my time is done and there are no more chances for me.  The next time someone cancels a session – my wish is that you forward this letter to them.  Time is fragile, it is gone before you know you had it.  If you charged $200 for one print it wouldn’t be enough for what it is actually worth.  I cringe to think that my priorities were a manicure over a memory to pass onto my babies and husband.

My love and thanks for what you have given us from past photos.  I am so sorry that I did not see it as more than paper until now.

The original blog post of hers has been spreading through various social media outlets like wildfire. It's become controversial, with some people applauding her for sharing her message, and others (a scant few) condemning her for this "obvious marketing ploy."

In any case (and whatever your own views might be), seeing her words inspired me to write a few of my own...

I am a photographer. But more than that, I am a memory-keeper. Because time is cruel when it comes to remembering the details, but sometimes seeing an image can *spark* a memory that was just about extinguished. I have my own story to share. I originally posted this last year, but am inspired to post this again, since it is a BIG reason behind why I do what I do.

To remember...

That’s ME in the middle of the picture below. The one with bright maroon haircut in the shape of a bowl.  The one who hadn’t yet discovered the art of eyebrow waxing. The one who still suffered heavily from acne. I cringe when I look at myself in this image. But I wanted to share it, along with a few others, for a very important reason. Please read on…

These images were taken in March of 1999, during my trip with the Fullerton College Choir to China. It was a very interesting trip, complicated by the fact that I had gotten sick with bronchitis on the plane trip over there. And for 10 days, I lived off of NyQuil and DayQuil. But I DID it. I visited places I never thought I would see in my lifetime. I got a chance to perform a song, sung in a Chinese language (Mandarin), to the Chinese people. I even climbed the Great Wall, bronchitis and all. Because I could either embrace this opportunity for all it was worth, or give in, give up, and go back home. So I stayed, and gave it all I got.

And so, I have an album filled with grainy images from my trip to China. Bad haircut, bad skin and all. But these images are even more precious to me than you might think…

Please take just a second to notice the other person featured in all of these pictures I have posted here. This was my good friend, David Lam. Unfortunately, I have to say “was,” because about one month after returning back home from our trip, David was killed in a car accident. This happened 12 years ago, today… April 26, 1999. And as I get older, and my memories fade with each passing year, I look to these photos to help me remember him. Seeing these images triggers my memory to dig a little deeper, to draw to the surface what might have otherwise been lost. And suddenly I can see us both in the moments when the photos were actually taken… I can hear the sound of his voice, see the way he moved and facial expressions he wore… things that made up who he was. And I can remember.

My bad haircut is forgotten. It’s not important here; I don’t even notice it anymore. Instead, I will forever be grateful that I stopped for just one moment to have these photos taken. So, the next time you find yourself thinking, “I don’t want to have my picture taken because I don’t look good today,” or “I want to lose 10 pounds first,” or “I simply HATE having my picture taken,” please stop and think of this. It doesn’t matter if you don’t look perfect. This is your life, and you, or somebody you love, might want to look back on this very moment and remember it.

So, whether you get professional pictures taken by me, or you simply pick up your point-and-shoot or even your iPhone to capture your days, please do it. I can promise you that your bad hair day won’t even be an issue.

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One last thing to show you just how much pictures really matter… here is an image of Dave while we were in China. He had actually brought a framed picture of Catherine Zeta-Jones along with him so he would have something pretty to look at. I’m totally serious.  : )  And it still makes me smile.

Amelia Lyon Workshop

I have been a fan of photographer Amelia Lyon for a few years now, and attending one of her workshops has been on my wish-list for just as long. I told myself that THIS would finally be the year to make that wish a reality. And I DID it. On March 19th I was one of 20 attendees of her latest "Lyon-Shop." The all-day workshop was held at Hotel Laguna, and I was flooded with memories the moment I set sight on the building. It will always hold a special place in my heart, as it was where Tony and I were married 3 years ago.

But it was also a day for making new memories. The day started with a nice breakfast together at 9:00, and ended with a fabulous group dinner around 7:30. And in-between, we rocked the Lyon-Shop!

I wish all my schooling could have been like this... sitting in a room overlooking the ocean, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and feeling the salty breeze waft through the open door. But there wasn't much time to sit back and enjoy the scenery. There was a lot of information to cover in a short amount of time. Topics of the day included Amelia's (and 2nd shooter/husband Justin's) background and preferred equipment, shooting style and techniques, workflow, customer service, marketing and branding, products and pricing, and a LOT of other stuff. Whew! My head is still spinning from all of the good information. Good thing I scribbled a LOT of notes as I went along... now I just need to go back and make sense of everything I had written down.

Two photoshoots with models were held. But, as this was not a "portfolio building workshop,"  (and we were asked to stay behind Amelia and Justin if we did take any pictures), most of the images I captured that day were actually in order for me to remember certain details of the techniques being taught at the moment. (But I did manage to capture a few "keepers" while shooting around and between other people, and actually found myself using my iPhone for most of the day.)

Overall, it was a good experience filled with a lot of good information. Not only did I learn a lot, but I also met a lot of fantastic people that day.

And perhaps best of all...  I can now cross something BIG off my to-do list.

Here is a photographic collection of my experience that day:

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Happy Birthday, Mister Carter!

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Local photographer Stephy G's littlest monkey (Carter) was turning ONE YEAR OLD! So of course she and her husband decided to celebrate with a fabulous sock-monkey themed party! They even hired a caricaturist and a clown to entertain the other kiddos (though I think the adults were even more amused). Stephy knew it would be difficult to keep the camera out of her hands for the day, but she really wanted to be able to enjoy her son's birthday...  so she asked ME to take pictures in her stead. It was an honor, and a lot of fun, too.

Here are some favorites of the day:

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to remember.

,

That's ME in the middle of the picture below. The one with bright maroon haircut in the shape of a bowl.  The one who hadn't yet discovered the art of eyebrow waxing. The one who still suffered heavily from acne. I cringe when I look at myself in this image. But I wanted to share it, along with a few others, for a very important reason. Please read on...

These images were taken in March of 1999, during my trip with the Fullerton College Choir to China. It was a very interesting trip, complicated by the fact that I had gotten sick with bronchitis on the plane trip over there. And for 10 days, I lived off of NyQuil and DayQuil. But I DID it. I visited places I never thought I would see in my lifetime. I got a chance to perform a song, sung in the Chinese language, to actual Chinese people. I even climbed the Great Wall, bronchitis and all. Because I could either embrace this opportunity for all it was worth, or give in, give up, and go back home. So I stayed, and gave it all I got.

And so, I have an album filled with grainy images from my trip to China. Bad haircut, bad skin and all. But these images are even more precious to me than you might think...

Please take just a second to notice the other person featured in all of these pictures I have posted here. This was my good friend, David Lam. Unfortunately, I have to say "was," because about one month after returning back home from our trip, David was killed in a car accident. This happened 12 years ago, today... April 26, 1999. And as I get older, and my memories fade with each passing year, I look to these photos to help me remember him. Seeing these images triggers my memory to dig a little deeper, to draw to the surface what might have otherwise been lost. And suddenly I can see us both in the moments when the photos were actually taken... I can hear the sound of his voice, see the way he moved and facial expressions he wore... things that made up who he was. And I can remember.

My bad haircut is forgotten. It's not important here; I don't even notice it anymore. Instead, I will forever be grateful that I stopped for just one moment to have these photos taken. So, the next time you find yourself thinking, "I don't want to have my picture taken because I don't look good today," or "I want to lose 10 pounds first," or "I simply HATE having my picture taken," please stop and think of this. It doesn't matter if you don't look perfect. This is your life, and you, or somebody you love, might want to look back on this very moment and remember it.

So, whether you get professional pictures taken by me, or you simply pick up your point-and-shoot or even your iPhone to capture your days, please do it. I can promise you that your bad hair day won't even be an issue.

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One last thing to show you just how much pictures really matter... here is an image of Dave while we were in China. He had actually brought a framed picture of Catherine Zeta-Jones along with him so he would have something pretty to look at. I'm totally serious.  : )  And it still makes me smile.

a pirate's life for me {wolfe's first birthday party}

Remember this little guy? It's hard to believe that he's already one year old. Wolfe's parents decided to throw him a pirate-themed party to celebrate. It was a LOT of fun for all involved. As he gets older, Wolfe probably won't actually remember this day, but at least he'll be able to look back at these images and see how much fun he really had... and see all the wonderful people that surrounded him with love!

Wolfe was super-mellow and uber-cuddly...

But when he was on the move... LOOK OUT! It was a group effort to keep watch over him, especially since he's at that stage where EVERYTHING goes into his mouth. (Note the blurred arms & legs as they're in motion to stop him. Yeah... that was what it was like all day, when following him around. And sometimes just a moment too late.)

Time for CAKE! It took him a while to get the hang of it...

But I think he LIKED it!

All in all, it was a fabulous day...

Bye-bye! See you NEXT year!

Want to see more? Click here to view a slideshow of Wolfe's first birthday celebration!