I knew Hanns because he used to live in Southern California and we went to the same church.  But after he met Winnie, he followed her all the way to San Fransisco, got a job there, and decided to spend a lifetime with her. This is the engagement session I shot for them last summer in San Fransisco.

What an ideal day we had for their wedding. It was the first time I went to San Fransisco with so much sunshine. The weather was perfect and could not have been any better. I think because God knows Hanns was a perfectionist. What also amazed me was the amount of efforts Hanns and Winnie’s friends put in to help organize and arrange every detail of their wedding. It’s like they’re willing to climb up the mountain and dive into the sea for this newlywed couple. That’s what friends are for.

Door opening game: Hanns was a kangaroo…

Click here for the slideshow.

I put together a chocolate box party favor for my father-in-law’s 70th birthday dinner. I ‘m so glad that he invited 20 guests, not 100. Or else my hands will paralyze from punching those corners for the label.

Winifred and Dave had asked me to photograph their wedding which took place in January of 2009. It was the first wedding I shot and I was thankful that they trusted me enough to even pay me, with REAL MONEY dude! Fifteen months later, Hanns, the garter catcher, fulfilled his responsibility and tied the knot. That was how I spent my last weekend with Ricky, traveling to San Fransisco to shoot his wedding. Good catch Hanns!

One day I came home and saw a bunch of underwear hanging in the laundry room. NO, THEY”RE NOT MINE! These are the first underwear of a little boy named Christian, who started potty training two weeks ago, the day when I felt I could have traded all those Size 5 diapers for another prime lens.

The lucky contestant who gets to take on this fear factor challenge is — my mom. “Do you dare?” I asked her. Of course she had no fear. She trained all three of her own children plus her granddaughter Annabelle. The scene on day 1 was shocking — Christian splish-splashing in his own puddle of pee. It was kind of funny when I saw him sitting there and looking at his reflection from the wet floor,  thinking — where did this fun stuff come from? Amazing!

One jockey is missing from this seven day series, and I found it on… I will be posting this on facebook. Be my friend and stay tuned.

I love photographing children because the smiles I get are never fake. Although this is only true if they are not already conditioned by mom and dad to say cheese to the camera. But then you may ask: how to make them smile?

The answer is: REAL PLAY. Not fake play. Don’t think they can’t tell if you’re not playing with them wholeheartedly. In their little minds, they know your true intent is to click that shutter, and will give you the what-on-earth-are-you-doing look in return. I know it so well because I’m just sharing my failure with you. So next time if you want to get a child’s true smile on your photograph, play with them sincerely, and then go do your thing quickly.

I got to enjoy some play time with the Yu family and took some snapshots of handsome little Dustin.

I met Emilie and Edwin when His Torch Music Ministry came to my church for an evangelistic music event. That night, they sang and shared their testimonies on stage but I did not know they were an engageed couple. Soon after I posted photos for the night on my blog, Emilie and Edwin contacted me and asked me to be their wedding photographer. Throughout the past year, we learned about each other on facebook and became friends.

Last week, Ricky and I had the chance to spent an afternoon with them in Santa Monica for an e-session. I was surrounded by nothing but — love. laugh. love. laugh, the entire afternoon.

Emilie and Edwin, I look forward to another round of – love. laugh. love. laugh, at your wedding next month.

See more photos on this slideshow.

If you’ve read my post a few weeks ago, you would know that I’m not a good sleeper. I often wake up in the middle of the night and my mind travels to the outer space. So last night, I woke up and I thought about photography. I suddenly saw a clearer picture of my photography style. It’s not like I decided on a style for myself at that moment, but it has been in me since the first day that I had a camera in my hand. It just became crystal clear last night.

I realized what my heart and my eyes are drawn to true emotions and natural expressions of people. From the very beginning when I started out as a child photographer, it was the genuine emotion of a child that attracts me. And I want to capture this piece of natural realness in my couple clients as well. These are the types of shots that make me smile and take pride in capturing.

Here is a teaser on a recent engagement shoot. It makes me wanna dance with them…

Yesterday, we celebrated Easter Sunday day at church, with egg hunt, barbecue, baptism, and joyful hearts.

When Annabelle saw me walking around with my camera after church, she immediately dropped down on the ground and made herself look cute. All I had to do was asking Christian to go next to her. Seeing their little faces together always makes me smile, except when they’re painting my walls with crayons!

Thanks to Joan of ES-Sense Photography, I received the sweetest message from Ricky. Ever. Something that every wife deserves to hear from her husband every day. I’m sad but happy to say that, after knowing him for 16 years, I heard (read) those words for the first time from my husband.

This is what happened. Yesterday, I emailed Ricky the link to Joan’s blog featuring the photos she took for me. And this is what he emailed back:

“Nice. You are so beautiful!!!”

Now pay attention to those three exclamation marks. To me, those are the ES-SENSE!

I find it funny to see myself in photos. And it sure feels different to be on the other side of the lens. Thank you Joan for making me look beautiful in my husband’s eyes.

To see more photos, visit this blog post from ES-Sense Photography.