she's a toddler

Before I left for Mexico, I did a session for Natalie's little friend. She was a sweet baby all the time, but suddenly turned into a toddler. How fast they grow!

One thing to complain about toddler age, yeah, they are not camera friendly. Every parent knows it. They move constantly, they talk a lot, they protest everything you want them to do.....

But they are the cutest, aren't they?

vacation thoughts

We have come back from Mexico. Warm weather there. In the 80's. Compared to Boston's single digit arctic cold....

The resort we stayed at is just gorgeous. It's ocean front, 5 swimming pools, luxury tropical settings all around. Natalie and I had great time when my husband was busy with his conference. We swimmed every day. At sunset time we walked on the beach. We saw swans, peacocks, flamingos in the garden. And we had exotic buffet every day.

But everything couldn't stop her from missing home. Funny when we left from Boston, as soon as we arrived at the airport, she started saying I wanted to go home. And every day she repeated "mom, can we go home? I want to play my trains, I want to eat .... "(something she misses a lot, I don't know what it is). She loves beach, loves swimming, but still her heart was in Boston.

Honestly I missed home too. The tropical weather is pleasant, certainly compares to Boston's single digit, but something is missing there. Surpisingly in the end I concluded living in a place like that is boring. No change of weather, no change of scenery, no change of clothes styles. No pom pom hats, no furry sweaters, no fall foliage, no colorful pumpkins, only T shirts and skirts and bikinis. I love hats, blankets, tights in my pictures. I love the difference of four seasons.

Fortunately, the second day we came back home, we got snow! Natalie loves playing in the snow. More than swimming in the pool. :)

new pictures

of Natalie. She's finally cooperative. And I got tons tons of her pictures this month. Mostly laughing. How? Before I click for any photo, let her hold my camera and take few shots. She aims at ceiling, wall, rug...and every time she clicks twice(consumes my battery like hell). She also knows I use back button(AF/L) to focus. So before she clicks the shutter button, she presses the back button! My heart stops beating every time she touches my expensive equipment, talking about thousands of dollars in a 2 year old's hands. In exchange, I got the pictures I want.

It's not difficult to get laughing pictures. A tip here for parents, let them run like crazy. Catch them in the middle and click click click. Those laughters are the best.

On the other hand, it's always difficult to capture "soul" pictures. Serious, tranquil look. Those are what I look for. And those are the classics last lifetime long.

out for vacation

I'll be out of town from Jan 15 to Jan 20th. I won't be able to answer phone during these days. I will check emails sparingly however.

We'll be on the beach in a week, how exciting. On the other hand, Boston is not cold either.

new camera

I got my new Nikon today. It totally blew my old one away. So easy to use, faster, crispier, smoother, bokeh is better. My old one feels like a toy compared to the new one.

I'll put my old camera to rest. These are the last few pictures of natalie out of it.

A true christmas gift

to a family is a newborn boy! I did the maternity session for the mom back in November and here the boy comes. Oh he's so cute. Big blue eyes. And at 9 days old, he could lift his head and change directions when lying on his tummy! Isn't it amazing?

This blanket I got is so "photogenic". I'm always hunting for cute furry blankets.
I have collected countless blankets so far. And hats. My obession with things look nice on photos. :)





Congrats to the mom & dad again!

first snow and fun

We had snow! Gosh, I was so excited when I saw the white snow flakes dancing outside of our window. But it was a bad day for my family. We were all sick from stomach flu. Yeah, sick on new year eve. Had to stay inside while outside was so so so gorgeous.

The next day, the first thing in the morning, we stepped out and played in the snow, and of course, tons of photos for miss Natalie.

She had so much fun. Me too. Probably the easiest photo session I had with her for a long long time. Until the next snow....