Every once in a while I meet an engaged couple who don’t want to have engagement photos taken. I make it my mission to convince those couples that it’s something they MUST do. I especially recommend it if a couple books me as their wedding photographer. A lot of the times I find couples who don’t want to do it at first are self-proclaimed not “picture people” but I believe that’s exactly why they must do engagement photos before their wedding. I’ll save my reasons for a separate blog post, but whether they’re “picture people” or not I promise that engagement sessions are actually super fun. Well, with me anyway haha ;). I guess the convincing worked on Tracy and Nick because a couple days after they booked me for their wedding I heard back and the engagement session was on. They chose Golden Gardens Park in Seattle for the shoot location. It couldn’t have been a more perfect evening to start the Seattle summer with. I can’t express enough how glad I am we were able to do this and I can’t wait for their wedding in less than a month.
I want to share some pictures I took of this beautiful family way back in March. The Yoshikawa’s invited me into their home one Sunday morning. When Kashi and Annabelle wanted to have pictures taken of their new family I thought it would be fun to try something different, to go into their home and have a relaxed and casual session capturing a day (or more like a morning) in the life of the Yoshikawa’s. I started off capturing dad and baby Ren spending time together while mom got prettied up. By the time Annabelle was ready to join the fun baby Ren decided he wanted to eat and nap. Mom, dad and I took this opportunity to chat. When baby Ren was ready again we resumed. Unfortunately, the session got cut short right after because I had a camera malfunction. I was very embarrassed but mainly bummed because the one time I decided to NOT bring my spare camera with me this happened!! To anyone reading this, I ALWAYS have a back-up camera available at all my shoots. I didn’t this time because I had just taken the camera I was using in for a cleaning and check-up. It was a lesson learned. Anything can go wrong and I know now to always carry that spare camera. Luckily, the Yoshikawa’s and I are good friends and they were understanding. The good news is that there will be a Part II!
Baby Ren is such a handsome little fella. It’s pretty obvious he got his good looks from his parents!
And a happy baby.
Such a gorgeous family. I’m looking forward to photographing them again.
If you’re interested in booking a similar “a day in the life” session please contact me. I love capturing moments like these!
Back in April I had the pleasure of photographing two sisters. Two sisters who are about 15 years apart. Baby Lillian isn’t going to stay small forever and she’s been a true blessing to her family. Their mother wanted to me to capture the love and bond between big sister Taylor and baby sister Lillian. I thought it was so adorable when I found out that Taylor picked out the outfits for her little sis. There’s no denying that there is a deep and special bond between the two sisters and I hope that it’s everlasting like these captured images.
BTW, I made sure mom made it into a few shots :).
After the 2012 WPPI convention in Vegas two weeks ago, I made a detour to southern California before heading back to Seattle. I caught up with old friends, met up with new ones and also visited relatives, but the main purpose of my trip was to attend my good friends’ baby shower. Thyda and Sam visited WA back in December. We had originally scheduled a maternity session then, but the good old northwest only had wet and rainy weather to offer. Of course I could not pass up on the chance of shooting in the California sun. This shoot was a long time in the planning (well, ever since I found out about the news) and I’m so glad I got to do it in California instead. Thanks to our friend Mikal of Lok In the Moment (also my wedding photographer!) for suggesting the Jeffrey Open Space Trail in Irvine, CA as one of our shoot locations. All the sun made me crave for ice cream so we headed over to Laguna Beach. It was a special place for Thyda and Sam because it was where Sam proposed to Thyda almost four years ago. Well, we ended up having such a great time that we forgot about getting ice cream. I’m extremely happy for Thyda and Sam and how far they’ve come and grown in their relationship. I’m also very proud of Thyda. She’s such a gorgeous preggo! I can’t believe in just a couple weeks, someone who I consider more than a good friend but like my little sister, is going to be a mommy! Baby Brayden… you lucky boy… see you soon!
Our first engagement session of the year and we got blessed with a rare sunny February day. Chakrya and Rob chose a small park in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood to start the day. When we arrived we discovered that the neighborhood kids were also out enjoying the bright light that was beaming from the sky. Yes, we had to wait our turns to get on the swings! There was an amazing view of downtown Seattle from the park, but we wanted to get closer so later on we made our way to Queen Anne to one of my favorite little places to shoot. I couldn’t ask for a more fun and adventurous pair to work with to start off the year. I’m so excited and can’t wait for their farm wedding this summer!
