Fever. Chills. Sore bones. Runny nose. Cough. This is how my family started our new year. We were attacked by the RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). All four of us.

When it comes to sickness, my family is very united. One gets sick, the rest of us follow. Here’s why. Whenever Ricky or I hold our kids, they cough right into our mouths as we talk, with 100% accuracy. As if they want to say, “Mom and dad, don’t go blah, blah, blah again next time or you will pay the prize.” They also exchange cups and sip on each others’ drink behind our backs. Help!!

I’m not sure where to begin. But ah, 2010…one of the hardest, best years. This is the year that I began the real adventure to my dream. The year that I realized I’m strong enough to stand if I first kneel on my knees. I have gained some incredible memories and friendships. I’ve grown from not so much of a people person, to one who truly enjoy making friends. These experiences have prepared me for bigger things that God has in store for me and in ways that I can serve Him. All in the past 12 months.

There are new and exciting things that I plan on doing next year. But I guess I won’t be so stubborn about meeting my goals. My mindset has changed. Now it’s all about following God’s lead and recalibrating if I start to get off track. I’m excited about 2011. Are you?

A big thank you to all my 2010 clients. Each one of you are so special to me. You made my year 2010 a remarkably thrilling year. Love you all!

Ricky asked me what I wanted for Christmas. So I compiled the following wish list:

1. Organize my garage -When we first moved into our house, we placed storage boxes and scattered items randomly in the garage TEMPORARILY. Three and a half years later today, those things are still in the same spot.

2. Watch a movie with Ricky from start to finish – If we watch a movie at night after the kids are asleep, I’m usually so tired that I will always fall asleep half way. I can name a number of movies that I don’t know the ending, not because they’re bad.

3. Teach Annabelle how to knit – I learned to knit and embroider at a young age. Even though I did not get really good at it, I think somehow it trained me to become a focused person. I strongly believe that the ability to stay focused is one of the key ingredients to success. A coach will tell athletes that in order to win,  they have to stay focused in every second. Perhaps I should think about teaching Christian how to knit as well.

4. Travel to Europe – Unless you already live in Europe, who doesn’t want to put this on their wish list?

5. Attend a couple’s treat – Ricky and I get so bogged down with our day to day tasks, managing our work and businesses, or just surviving our days, that we rarely have the time to set our eyes on each other and renew our love.

6. Take a Zumba class – I seriously need more exercises than moving my wrist and fingers on the keyboard and mouse.

After reading the above list over again, I feel like I’m doing a post on new year’s resolution. But I’ve decided to keep these on a wish list because new year resolution is not about setting unrealistic goals.

Merry Christmas!

In my last “Boys are from Mars” post, Christian was still a toddler who communicated with single words. Ten months later, he is talking in full sentences with a sense of humor that makes me laugh, for real.

Me: How come you didn’t finish your lunch today?
Christian: My tummy was full.
Me: Why was your tummy so full?
Christian: Now my tummy is not full…because I burped!

Conversations like this makes me think that Christian will grow up to be a comedian.

I have a weird reading habit. When I first pick up a book, it is my instinct to start reading from the back to the front. I just can’t wait. I recently picked up this like-new used book, 90 minutes in heaven, from Amazon for $0.01 + $3.99 shipping. This time, I faithfully read from the beginning and on. Even when I feel so tired at night, I still couldn’t put it down.

The experience of heaven by Don Piper gives me hope and comfort that there is a much better world than this to look forward to. However, he spends more time telling his hell-like rehabilitation life after he returned to earth. This is my biggest take away from the book. Most of the time I enjoy my life and my family on earth, but sometimes not as much. Piper’s rehabilitation experience reminds me to be grateful for every inch of my flesh and bone. It made me stop complaining that “my neck and back hurt!” and “I can’t fall back to sleep at 3am.” This book also reassures us that God still lives and does big miracles in ordinary people’s lives, not only in bible times.

If you’re looking for a book that talks about every detail of what heaven is like, this may disappoint you. But it reassures us that heaven is real and gives us encouragement and motivation to persevere through sufferings and hardships. I hope this is a book that can touch on your life as in mine.

I’ve been wanting to do photo-fusion for a while. In a simple way, it is the blending of still photos and motions in a single video. But what it can do goes far beyond it’s simple definition.  While still photos freeze precious moments, videos capture the in-betweens. The marriage of the two simply takes story-telling to the next level. It is a powerful way to document life and to showcase personalities and relationships. You may have seen my first attempt at photo-fusion when I put together a short and simple video for my family’s last Disneyland trip, but I am much more excited about this for I finally have the determination and opportunity to do it at a real session.

So now I can’t hold it any longer…I’m most thrilled to unveil to you a photo-fusion movie that I created for the Fongs. Oh well…okaaay, I can’t take all the credits because Ricky took the video footage. Although I tried taking some clips in between photos, my main focus was still photography. The biggest credits actually go to all members of the Fong family because they JUST ROCK! They belong to the type of family that is labeled “loving, goofy, and fun”! I thank them for letting us capture their love and silliness. Watching this video a hundred times doesn’t stop me from smiling with tears.  Sit back and enjoy!

Music: Best Friends by Maria Lewis

The perfectest family photo is not one that has everybody smiling at the camera in front of a nice background. To me, THIS IS IT. The prayer moment of this three-generation family is the most beautiful scene in the world. It reminds me of the essence of a truly blessed family. A normal routine like this can now be remembered forever.  I’m so glad that we chose to start off the morning with a family breakfast at home.

You may remember these happy faces. I did a session for them last year and they want one every year. This makes much sense because kids grow up so fast. They sure look and act different in a year’s time. It was a cold morning but the weather couldn’t cover up their sunny side. Get close to them and you’ll feel the warmth.

Doing family session with kids requires a different approach than photographing couples session. While I normally shoot with my 50mm f/1.2 during an engagement shoot, I had to use my 70-200mm most of the time here. Knowing that one of the girls is extremely shy, the telephoto lens allows me to capture her from a distant.

Things go much smoother when you have a game plan. Literally. The little people hate it when you tell them what to do, unless they think it’s a game. So I planned some simple games for the family to play together.  Voila! Now they’re all having a great time.

The Fongs are a blast to follow around and to photograph. We had a genuinely good time together. I’m even more grateful for our growing connection and friendship. I love them. With all my heart.

The days when I have to think about what’s for dinner are back. After spending nine months with us, my mom and dad went back to their home in Hong Kong last night. This officially put an end to my spoiled days, at the same time,  marked the start of a whole new era in my household.

Since I no longer know where things are in my house, I spent half a day today looking for kitchen towels, mac and cheese, paper plates, and the cleaning lady’s phone number. And then I realized that cooking skill is not like riding a bike, you actually lose it if you don’t use it, consciously or subconciously. Doesn’t matter. So instead of cooking dinner tonight, I proudly showed Ricky my accomplishment when he came home. I covered my kitchen counter with a layer of kitchen towels, then with another layer of paper towels. Woohoo! Keeping my fingers crossed that the counter will stay clean until the cleaning lady comes, without me cleaning.

Mom and dad, have a nice “vacation”! Don’t miss us too much. Just kidding. Please miss us. A lot!

We were quite happy with this tripod picture…

It was my honor to be invited by Danny Smith, Director of Purple Ark Ministries, to document their annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner event. Purple Ark is a ministry that focuses on helping the poor and the homeless. This was my second year to participate, with a thankful heart. Despite the rain, many volunteers from different churches came together, to ensure that anyone who walked in could receive a free meal, free bag of food, free prayers, and best of all, free salvation.

The hardworking food crew…

Signing bibles to give out to kids…

When I first came to America and crossed the street alone for the first time, I was shocked and felt helpless.  In Hong Kong where I grew up, cars are to stop completely without exception if the pedestrian signal is on. So after I came here, I didn’t know what to do when I saw the cars kept turning and going in front of me even when the pedestrian traffic light signals that it’s my turn to go. I stopped in the middle of the crossing and almost ran back thinking that I will get run over by cars if I don’t. This was how I felt when we did a studio photo shoot last weekend.

We went to a home studio put up by Ricky’s cousin Bill, and did I say cultural shock? For the first few minutes, I was holding my camera and didn’t know what to do. Feeling a bit lost in space, but yet so excited like when you go to a different country for the first time. Everything is a new and mind-blowing experience.

Since I am an on-location photographer, it feels weird to be shooting in front of a piece of paper. My mind is already pre-programmed to finding light and finding background as I shoot. When I don’t have these two things to do, I felt lost like an ant who loses its buddy in front. So after circling around for a bit, Bill’s family and us managed to exchange a few family shots. Since no kids will stand in front of a piece of paper for too long, and the men will also run as fast as they could from the front of the camera, I was left there by myself with these faces.

Despite the cultural shocks, I had fun! Thanks to Bill and Ricky who didn’t run away completely to take these shots of me.

Ricky in action…