The One with Daniel's Family

In many ways, shooting for another photographer is more nerve wrecking than shooting for a client - especially when you have a ton of respect for that photographer as a person and a friend. My brother in Christ, Daniel Galang, asked me to do a family shoot for him while his parents and brothers were in town one weekend and it was such a blessing to be able to meet his family.

Liberty Station is where our church, The Rock Church, is located in Point Loma. It's a beautiful redevelopment with lots of grassy areas, fountains, and hallways lined with arches. In my mind, I've always wanted to do a shoot there, so this was a great opportunity to try it out. Luckily, the sun decided to peek out by noon and we got some nice, crystal clear blue skies. It truly was a typical San Diego day in all its glory.

Of course, Daniel's youngest brother, Jesse, stole the show. He was such a well-dressed little man of 6 years. They were on their way to Legoland that day, so I was pleasantly surprised that he stuck through the whole shoot because if I were him at that age, I think I would much rather be at Legoland pretending to be a pirate and shooting water at my parents than out in the middle of the day taking photos with some strange lady lying face down in the middle of the sidewalk with a camera.

No matter what kind of shoot I'm doing, I somehow (subconsciously really) find myself following the littler ones around. There's just something about kids that make them so much fun to shoot.











Such funny faces - esp from Daniel. :)




The three brothers.


The hallways of seemingly endless arches...



And then we had some fun throwing the football around on the HUGE grassy field. My fave shots are of Jesse in action. His hair flying the air and his little hands catching this huge football. Way too cute. And missing his two front teeth? I'm getting a tummyache from all this sweetness... :)




My fave shots of the day.


Mom and Dad even threw the football around a little bit. I love the look in her eyes.




A future football star in the making.



Daniel, thanks for asking me to shoot. I had a great time getting to know your family and I can see why you've become such a great man of God today. Vaness is one lucky lady because I just know in my heart that God has created you to be a great father someday after seeing you with Jesse. Praise God!


And special thanks for my lovely husband who did an excellent job as the bag/football/purse carrier. :)

The One with the Mommy and Me Playgroup :: 06:19:08

Mothers. Moms. Mommies.

I have total and complete admiration for mothers. There's just something different about the "job" of being a mother. I cannot even fathom a fraction of what it means or feels like to be a mother. Even being as career-driven and oriented as I am, I have a feeling that one day, God willing, when God blesses Adam and I with a baby that it will be something that nothing could prepare me for. And me, being the control freak, always wanting to be super prepared for everything. I just know I will probably have a hard time dealing with it all.

Just saying. :)

I had the honor of shooting a Mommy and Me playgroup today that Lisa (Elle G) referred to me. Anne invited me to their weekly playgroup to take photos of their babies that are all around a year old or so.

Omigosh, can you say PRECIOUS?! They were all so cute and energetic. I got all sweaty just chasing them around the backyard trying to capture a focused shot of them. Note to self: when you shoot babies and children... you gotta be FAST!

After spending some time with the moms, you could just feel the love in the room. It's so awesome that they have each other. To support one another and be able to understand EXACTLY what each other is going through as a new mother. I can't imagine trying to raise a baby just by myself and the fact that these moms have each other is such a blessing!


















One of the moms even brought a hanbok for the babies. It was so cute!





Anne, Min-wha, Joy, Misun, and Dawn... thank you for allowing me into your playgroup for a quick moment to get some shots of your beautiful babies and giving me a glimpse into your everyday lives. Know that I have a lot of admiration for you as mothers and hope that I can come back again when the babies are older to see how much they've grown!

The One with the Graduation Party :: 05:24:08

Walking into Jayne's home, I just knew right off the bat that she was a natural hostess. Normally, when one attends a party, the hostess is running around finishing up the last minute details. Jayne, on the other hand, was as cool as a cucumber.

Also, Jayne throws a good party. And I'd totally ask her to help me throw a party any day. She had beautiful flowers everywhere. Her dining room table is perfect for hosting. (I even looked up the same table on the Internet to see if I could purchase it for myself.) She had a filled wine bar. Music everywhere. A table full of photos of Sarah next to a wall of photographs too. Decorations all throughout her home. All these special touches... all for her sister

Jayne threw a graduation party for her sister, Sarah, on May 24, 2008. You could also tell right away that these two have an amazing connection as sisters. Having a sister of my own, there's just something special about sisters. She graduated earlier that day from USD and even received a special award!

Jayne and Sarah are also so great with their younger cousins. They're amazing with kids and the young ones just naturally gravitated towards Jayne and Sarah... you could feel the love in the room.

What made this gathering even more special was that this was a get-together with family that hasn't seen each other in a long time. It was nice to see everyone be so proud of Sarah and also just happy to be in each other's presence. I felt incredibly blessed to be able to share in this with them and they made me feel like a part of their family from the first moment I stepped through the door.


The hostess: Jayne


(Sarah)


Sisterly love






Grandpa enjoying the photos. I love grandpas... even when they're not my own because they remind me of mine. And I always hope that when people encounter my grandpa, they treat him with love and respect because he's awesome. So I can't help but feel that way whenever I'm around other people's grandpas.


He was such a cutie with chubby cheeks to die for!




He even lost a tooth at the end of the party!




Mother & daughter


She was such a cutie!


Cousins


The whole gang


I loved these flowers and found myself trying to get them into all my photos


I can't help but be drawn to kids... they make such interesting subjects and they're just so darn cute!


This is my fave shot from the day... the red wall was perfect.




Jayne and Sarah, thank you for allowing me to share in your wonderful day!

The One with the Graduation Party Teasers

lHere are some of the teasers from Sarah's graduation party I shot on Saturday. I'm still working on the other ones.







Enjoy!

The One with Easter at The Rock :: 03:22:08

This past weekend, I had the privilege to help shoot for my church, The Rock Church, for our Easter services. This was my first event shooting for the The Rock and I have to admit that I was quite nervous beforehand. I mean, it's one thing to just shoot photos for fun and my own use. It's a whole other thing to capture images of God's presence. I honestly felt like what if I didn't know "what to see" while shooting that day? But, you know what? Like in all other cases, God always comes through and helped me to see things that I think I would have passed on had it not been for Him working through me that day.

The photo above I think captures the whole day. There was this little girl that was sitting on the floor and after a little while of watching her, I realized she was playing with a bug ON her pretty Easter dress. This poor little bug was being picked up and moved to different parts of her dress. However, despite all odds, the bug was still moving even after several location changes. How she managed to hold this little bug so delicately in her hands without killing it is beyond me.

It also reaffirmed the feeling in my heart that I would really love to do child portraits. There's something about children that make them so appealing to photograph. I would love to shoot weddings someday, but I think my true niche will be child portraits.



This cutie, ate a sugar donut and then a banana, and just had all this stuff all over his mouth. Way too cute.

In the Bible, it says that we need to approach God from a child-like perspective. Where He is our Father leading and guiding us, like our earthly fathers do. This little girl and boy just had an innocence about them that just reminded me of our Father's love that He pours upon His children. How blessed we truly are.



One of the most exciting things this past weekend was getting my badge on Good Friday. Sounds incredibly superficial, but I had been trying to get involved with the Photo Ministry at my church for over a year now. But, like in all other things, God's timing is always perfect. I wasn't ready to be a photographer for The Rock a year ago. For His reasons and His reasons alone, now was the right time. Needless to say, I've been waiting for this moment and finally receiving my badge and being an "official" Rock photographer super exciting for me.



Adam also served that day in the parking ministry with the Men of the Rock. I love how my Adam has a serving heart and it's definitely his spiritual gift, the gift of service. Plus, he looks so dapper in his super bright neon parking vest.

Since the church was expecting larger than usual numbers in attendance on Easter, they had an alternate venue close by for overflow. In the alternate venue, we had the blessing of having Trevor Davis and his band perform worship for us. I'm a huge fan of his and being able to photograph him and his band was a special treat for me.














I love this moment.






The service from the main sanctuary was telecast live in the alternate venue.

Adam and I stayed to serve for the 8am, 10am and the beginning of the 12pm service. There were six services in all on Easter; one more than the usual five. We were pretty pooped afterwards, but definitely filled with the Spirit and His love.

I hope you all had a great Easter too!

I'm looking forward to shooting more events for The Rock and hope that God will continue to give me His clarity in what He wants me to see, not only in my work with the church, but in all that I shoot.

And one more shot of us at the end of the day... (I was squinting from the bright sun.)