Easter and Spring Mini Shoots

March 27, 2016

Happy Easter and Spring my friends! It seems as though only a few weeks ago branches of my fruit trees were bare, and now there are giant green leaves. Spring brings me feelings of hope and excitement, along with the need to attack more projects!

Last week was the second set of mini shoots at the studio, and this time it was Easter/Spring theme.

Opening a studio had always been a dream of mine, and when the opportunity to do so came in December, I knew it was the right step.

And with various shoots I’ve been able to do there, it only solidifies that this was the right step I was to have taken. I will get into all that at a later blog post, but I wanted to share the mini shoots that happened last week!

I decided to make giant paper flowers because I am obsessed with paper and gigantic objects that are supposed to be small—think giant spoons hanging on the walls.

I envisioned the children sitting amongst giant flowers during the shoot and when it all came to life, it was so much fun!

Here are some shots from last week and I can’t handle how much cuteness this all was.

Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Easter and Spring.

Paula's Maternity Photos

June 18, 2015

What I love most about this job is that I get to meet really fantastic people. I photographed Paula and her family last year for her daughter Ava's first birthday portrait. During that time Paula was only a couple months pregnant.

I was really looking forward to photographing Paula and her family for her maternity shoot. We decided on a historical park in San Jose and the rustic backdrop was a perfect setting for their shoot.

It's always funny photographing with a toddler because really, they control the shoot, and we are just there to capture it. So, I've included some photos of Ava doing her thing as we are shooting and I think they're hilarious and super cute, because yep, that's reality.

I can't wait to share the newborn shoots with Paula. Stay tuned!

Andreia Chan's Family Photos

October 15, 2014

Today I'm sharing a family portrait I did a few weeks ago of Andreia and her beautiful family. Andreia and I went to high school together and recently reconnected over Facebook. She had seen other portraits I had done for families and the ballet series.

I felt so honored she wanted me to photograph her beautiful family and was really excited to catch up with her and meet her husband and daughter, McKenzie, who you will see is such a cutie!!

We decided to do the photos at a park nearby, and the lighting was perfect. It was also McKenzie's first time seeing tanbark and she immediately wanted to see what it tasted like, which made for some really funny photos.

They're such a sweet family and I can't wait to photograph them again in the future. Also, McKenzie recently turned one, so happy birthday to the little cupcake!

Family Photos

September 4, 2014

It was a great summer and I got to spend time with a lot of people and photograph some families as well! I will be posting them throughout the week. Wanted to share the shoot I had with my friend Ky and his beautiful wife and their adorable daughter. We took these in Santa Clara and I just really love the colors. You can tell she is the apple of their eyes!

Holidays are coming up, so let's do some family photos for those cards. Cheers!

San Jose Walkabout

July 16, 2014

I decided to take a quick walk around my city, San Jose and enjoy the beautiful day that we were experiencing. The clouds and blue sky made for a wonderful backdrop against the architecture. I've been trying to capture the Bank of America tower for a while now, but I never liked any photos I took, until today. Walking by and looking up I found the perfect alley that captured it just right. I really liked the reflection of the tower against the building.

I've been focused on enjoying and capturing the beauty that is around. Going to keep capturing the city that I call home.

San Jose SubZERO Festival

June 8, 2014

Friday was really warm, which was perfect for San Jose's 7th Annual SubZERO festival. SubZERO is part of South First Fridays (a monthly art walk that takes place on the first Friday that stretches about 3 blocks with various business and galleries opened to show art work from artists local and far) and it happens at the beginning of summer and at the end of summer.

It's really fun to attend because there are vendors who come and sell their art, share music and do live performance art. It's such a great addition to Downtown San Jose, which really makes the large city feel like a community. More info here.

Below are some photos of the fun activities that were happening.

Shot with FujiX100s

End of An Era: Good-Bye Domes

June 2, 2014

About two months ago San Jose said good-bye to the iconic movie theaters, lovingly called the Domes located on Winchester Blvd., across from the shiny and vibrant shopping center, Santana Row. The Century 21 Dome theater, which was the last dome to have a single screen was hosting one last viewing and it was showing Indiana Jones: Raiders of The Lost Ark. I had never seen the movie before (GASP: I KNOW!!!), so it was a double treat to see it on the big screen in a sold out theater and say good-bye to a place that housed so many memories.

My with the dome is from when I attended the midnight showing to see Star Wars III and I remember thinking that it was so special to see the last of Star Wars in such a historic place.

When we arrived, the line was wrapped around the building and everyone was in high spirits. Families were gathered and some people were dressed up like Indiana Jones. Parents were telling their children about the movie and sharing their story of when they first saw the movie.

Upon entering the theater, we were given colorful hats to look like Indian's famous brown hat and goodie bags filled with props that related to the movie such as, a date, rubber snack, a party popper and Twizzler straw.

Beach balls were being bounced around as people made their way to their seats. Over 1,000 people packed in and when we all settled in, the host came out. She was really funny and got the crowd engaged with trivia questions and contests.

The movie was so good! I became really wrapped up in it and although it's an older one, it was done so well, that nothing really stood out. I'm so glad I got to see it on a large screen. It was The fun was over, and I think it really sunk in that it was the last movie to ever be shown on the screen. People took photos with each other in front of the screen and you can hear people talking about their own memories of the theater.

I'm sad to see such a place go, and I've heard rumors of it developing into a commercial shopping area. It's on trend with the changes in the area and although I understand the monetary draw to opening another center, it's still sad to see a historic spot be taken away. For more info here's an article from The Mercury News.

Photos shot with iphone and fujix100s, slight edits in Lightroom.