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....

Difficult yet perfect model

That's my daughter. It's so so so so hard to persuade her sit still and let me shoot some pictures. She keeps talking, rolling, walking, jumping, asking for food, faking sleep, telling me she's leaving, even crying. Man, it's not easy. I have to hold my camera in one hand, and use another one to hold onto a doll to get her attention. I have to play games with her. Bribe her with lollipops. Promise to buy her toys afterwards. Photographing your own kids is THE most challenging job in the world. I always get tons of good pictures of my clients, but for my daughter, spent several hours with her, I only get a few ones I like!

One day we were having a photo session in the dark studio, and she kept looking down with fear in her eyes. I asked her why again and again and she refused to tell me. After a zillon years, she finally told me she's scared of the two orange color clamps on my backdrop. OMG!

When she's in good mood, she's a perfect model for me. She has the perfect asian face shape and almond eyes. I think she looks beautiful on pictures. Well, every child is an apple in mommy's eye, of course. :)

Cute 8 month old

When I first photographed him, he was only 3 months old. Those big deep dark eyes let me feel jealous. Last time, his mom spent more money on expensive frames than my prints! LOL. So for this session, his dad gave the doting mommy a spending limit.

This is first time I use studio lights on a client. I'm pretty pleased with the results. To my surprise, he's not a bit afraid of the flashes.



Look at those eyes, ah!

new studio

Yay, I have a studio of my own! We have this extra guest room that I turned into a studio. It's small but good enough for small babies. I will use it mainly for maternity and newborn pictures. Past week I've been ordering equipments online crazily. Got a large softbox, an Alienbee 800 and various backgrounds.

Here are my very first studio shots of Natalie. I had to bribe her with lollipops.

Five month old cutie

I photographed this five month old last weekend. She has huge blue eyes and wild long hair for an infant of her age. I really enjoy working with small babies. They have the most amazing eye expressions, tranquil, peaceful, pleasant. I can feel their little personalities through those two shining windows.

Where have you been?

Yeah, where have I been? Just've been so crazily busy with the new house. I got many calls recently for photo sessions. Have to squeeze them in between my busy schedules. After I move and settle down, I will have more time slots available.

Today in the chilly wind, I did this session with two beautiful blonde kids. They are in a way similar to my daughter. Very close to mommy. Cautious of strangers. But lots of personalities, with that kind of look great for portraits.

I wish I had more time to write my blog. There're so many wonderful children I worked with.

Drink Heavily

Before this session, my photographer friend told me, drink heavily! My mom said I need Jinseng afterwards to rejuvenate. Sounds like a difficult one, right? Six young kids, all ages. Well, no, I had fun. All I need was a pair of sneakers and a fast shutter. They are not difficult, just kids being kids.

The moms love b&w. So here are some b&w, sorry I posted so late. Your fame time.

Traffic!

Well, today, we went to New Hampshire for fall foliage. Lucky us, caught in heavy traffic as soon as we reached NH. It was so so so horrible! We were totally stuck on the two lane highway. In the end, we aborted the highway and drove backroads all the way to White mountain(another 2 hours), heavy traffic too. Just few miles to White mountain, traffic built up again! We had to abort our plan, drove back instead of waiting with an empty stomach moaning.

No foliage pictures this year. End up having late lunch at a country style smokehouse, baby back ribs, yummy!

My new lens has beautiful beautiful bokeh(creamy blurred background). Try to master it next week.

beautiful family

I did this photo session last weekend. This brookline family has two adorable kids, one adopted girl and a new baby. After the couple adopted the little girl from China, their own baby boy has arrived. Besides the happiness this little girl brought to the family, she definitely brought luck too! I'm really really happy for her, her life would be totally different in China. Now she has mom, dad, baby brother, a family to hug, to love, and cherish.

Crazy days...

I haven't touched my camera for more than a week. My daughter is sick, fever, running nose and extra extra clingy. I don't have any time of my own.

Besides, we made an offer on a house over the weekend and we're moving in November. From now on, I will be busy with my personal life. I will do photo sessions on a limited time basis.

Oh, almost forgot. I will have a 28'x16' home office in the new house. I can use part of the room as my home studio. I have gorgeous sun light throughout the house. My office/studio is bright with tons of windows. Can't wait to move there and start my business in the new neighborhood.

More newborns coming...

I got a call today from a local doula, Heidi Guiliano. She likes my work and is going to refer me to her newborn clients. Her website is here, http://www.inspiredbirth.com/ if you're interested in her service.

My daughter was brought to the world with assistance from my wonderful doula. I delivered her naturally without any medicine intervention. Yes, no epidural. I don't know how could I ever survive the enormous labor pain without the encouragement from my doula.

Sweet sweet little peas just out of their pods. I'm so excited to portrait them in a creative and elegant way. They always remind me the word - "Life". Simple. pure. beautiful lives.

Newborns, aren't they beautiful?

I had a 4 week old girl came to my house today for a photo session, her very first one. She's incredibly beautiful with gorgeous sparkling eyes. The little girl didn't want to sleep at all. I ended up with tons of eye contact pictures but none sleeping ones!!! That's why they say the first two weeks are the best to shoot newborns.

But I really really love the eye contact pictures I got, aren't her eyes amazing? I found her mom and myself reflected so clearly in her eyes. (Of course I always find myself in my subjects' eyes. :) )

Eyes are windows to the soul. In that part, I feel I was connected with her. Her little personality is showing in her eye expressions, even at 4 weeks old.

Monday I'll have a newborn boy at 3 weeks old. I'm waiting for a client to deliver her baby girl end of this month. Check my newborn gallery for more pictures.

Three girls - sisterhood is so sweet

This family has three girls that loves each other so much. The biggest one is 9 years old. She carries the 9 month old baby in her arms like a little "mother". The two bigger sisters like to dress in same kind of clothes, share toys, books, secrets and a doll like baby sister.

I'm the only child in my family. When I was young, I really craved for a sister or brother to share everything with. Sisterhood is the sweetest relationship one can embrace for a long time.

Meet this family

I photographed this family today. Three children, six, three and 10 months old.
we went to Beaver Brook. We all had great time there. Playing balls, wading in the brook(kids got wet shoes), rolling on grass. In the end, lots of fun at the water park.