Alas. My new branding is ready for its debut. And my blogsite (my 4th baby for the past few months) is now up and running!
“Hello, World!!!” (That’s my blogsite and brand talking!)
I’d like to thank Kim from Madilu Designs for putting up with my self-professed Perfectionism disease, my husband for coding my beautiful blogsite… and I’d like to thank the Academy. heh heh.
Out with the OLD:
In with the NEW:
The reason why creating my new brand took so long was because I wanted something that was fresh, clean, modern and sophisticated. It had to be something that would match all aspects of my business — from lifestyle photography of children/families to commercial and event photography. That’s quite a tall order!
For my logo, I wanted an icon that represented my creative style — emotive and natural — yet also symbolized my reason for starting my photography business. (If you want to read about how I started, it’s in the first part of my feature in the September 2011 issue of Kodak Exposure.)
In the icon, there are 2 sets of leaves, one representing me and one representing my dad. Together, they form the shape of a blossomed flower.
It has been almost 11 years since my dad unexpectedly passed and I had to plan his funeral with my brother. He never met any of my 3 children or got to attend my wedding or even met my husband. He didn’t get to witness my career change into an Art field, something he encouraged me to pursue since I was a child.
I think about him every time I am sad and when something great happens to me… and a million moments in-between. Thing is, I also realize that it was because of his passing that pushed me to pursue my dreams. So I feel blessed to be able to take something positive away from something sad and tragic.
When I look at my logo icon, I see life and love. It reminds me that happiness is what I make of my life, not what happens to me. So I am proud to present my new blogsite and branding to you all.
Do something you love every day, my friends! It doesn’t have to be your career; the “small” things are just as important.
xo,
annie
After taking photos of my 3 monkeys in their jammies on New Year’s Day (that’s my new family tradition), I decided to shoot a couple minutes for fun. I say “for fun” because trying to get a shot of all 3 of my kids in the same frame where I can see everyone’s faces — and no one is crying, grimacing or leaking something icky from their face — is HARD WORK! Really. I need an entire crew to wipe drool, re-center Baby Ava, make sure no one gets injured, keep Ian focused and get Mia’s attention.
The benefit of this is it gives me big photography muscles for when I shoot other people’s kids! 
So after the tiring mini-shoot of my monkeys in jammies, I turned off the lights, launched a kids game on an iPad, placed the iPad in the middle of my bed, and let the big kids have at it! They didn’t even notice I was taking photos of them.
By shooting my kids in a dark room with one small light source, the focus was entirely on their faces. And the images are “moody” because the color of the light depends on what is presented on their screen at the time of the shot.
The First
I don’t know if this happens to you, but sometimes, my favorite is the first. My first bite, my first shot, my first time hearing a song.
This first shot is my favorite. It’s the softness of the light, the color of light, the kids’ hand positioning and their expressions.
[Specs: Nikon 24-70mm/2.8 lens, ISO 400, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, shot in manual, handheld.]
Room Size
Here’s the shot right afterwards. By panning out, you get a sense of the room size and the relative grandness to the kids.
[Photography Tip: When shooting lifestyle portraits or events, it's nice to get close-up shots of the people and the details, but it's also important to get a shot of the area to give perspective to the event or the lifestyle shoot. Do this no matter what the lighting situation is. Even in a very dark room with fast-moving subjects, like a dance floor, keep your camera steady, drag your shutter a bit and you can get a shot of people dancing with some cool motion blur.]
[Specs: Nikon 24-70/2.8 lens, ISO 400, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec, shot in Manual, handheld.]
Attention
I love their seriousness and attentiveness. Now, if only they’d pay attention like this when I talk to them! 
[Specs: Nikon 24-70/2.8 lens, ISO 400, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/20 sec, shot in Manual, handheld.]
Photography Notes & Challenge
My thought process: I knew I wanted to shoot at ISO 400, which allows for some motion and isn’t very grainy. I also knew I wanted to shoot it wide open, at f/2.8, so I’d get the full amount of light from the monitor and any details in the background would get blurred out. I only played with the focal length (though the 3 images I chose here happened to all be at 24mm) and the shutter speed.
Since I always shoot in natural light, I thought it would be a fun challenge to shoot with only artificial light that I could not control.
If you haven’t already, try this out! You can use anything: a flashlight, a cell phone, a candle, a desk lamp. It doesn’t have to be an iPad. Just find a willing participant and turn off the lights!
Whatever you shoot, always have fun!
xo,
annie
With Mia growing older, I am no longer limited to the kind of shoots where I’m chasing after her til I’m panting and my throat hurts from making all the funny voices to make her laugh! Heh heh.
So for this shoot, she wore a chi-pao (a traditional Chinese dress). Here’s the funny part…
I didn’t know how to do her hair, sooooooo obviously, I resorted to the cartoon, Ni Hao Kai-Lan! It’s like Dora The Explorer where there’s a mix of 2 languages, there’s a lesson in each episode, and the main character has a phenomenally large-sized head. (In case you’re wondering… I have watched it.)
Towards the end of the shoot, I put her hair down because I just couldn’t do an entire shoot — though it was only about 30 minutes — with her hair in 2 side buns. And you know what happened???
She instantly aged 10 years!
Mia’s hair became wavy from the Kai-Lan ‘do, and it ended up looking like I gave her a Brazilian Blow-Out!
(I don’t really know what a Brazilian Blow-Out is, by the way. I’m a keep-it-simple hair girl.)
On this Thanksgiving day, I think about all the things I am thankful for…
I am thankful for having four healthy and happy — and oftentimes LOUD and SILLY — children this Thanksgiving! (My stepdaughter, Kaitlyn, is here this week! YAAAAY!!!)
I am thankful for having a thriving business that I have 100% passion for, even when it keeps me up late into the night. In fact, I think it’s the passion and love for photography, the business, and my clients that keep me from cutting corners or calling it quits when I’m tired.
I am thankful for all my friends and family who provide me with encouragement and love, no matter how I’m feeling (happy or blue) or what mistakes I’ve made. Unconditional love and support. How blessed am I?!!!
I am thankful for my husband who finds my dreams just as important as his, so he gives up most of his weekends to watch our kooky monkeys, so I can run my business. He even views my client galleries and reads my blog posts, even after a couple hundred of them, and still makes comments and tells me what he liked best!
But most of all, I’m thankful for not being a butternut squash.
These four characters will NOT be having a good Thanksgiving. (I’m making butternut squash soup with fontina cheese and sage crostini today.)
For all of you who are NOT turkeys, potatoes and butternut squashes, I wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings!
xo,
annie
With so many large zoom lenses and powerful macro lenses out there, I thought I’d give examples of when shooting up close and personal can be a bad idea… just to shake things up a bit!
I’ll even take images from my recent trip to Washington as an example. They say it’s good to make fun of yourself once in awhile, don’t they?!!
Serious photographers, please note: I am sure macro photography of just about anything, even spit, can be artistic and beautiful. This post is more in the spirit of fun.
**When Close-Ups are a Bad Idea**
I am Long, I am Strong, I am Unbreakable
(That’s the drool talking!)
Apparently, Animals Drool Too
Holy Cow!
Now I see why.
**When Close-Ups are a Good Idea**
For comparison’s sake, here are a few images from my trip to show when close-up shots are a good idea….
Alice In Wonderland Mushrooms
Rain Puddle
It may seem odd that I photographed a puddle in the driveway, but I find this shot to be eerily mesmerizing.
There is just enough detail in this image to know what the weather is like that day and get a sense of the environment.
Antique Buddha
Like a portrait of an older individual, this Buddha statue has wisdom and history in every distinctive crack.
Self-Portrait
Oh, c’mon. That’s funny, right?!!
I can find something interesting to photograph in just about any reflective material!
Photography Tip: Macro photography, or just shooting up close, is a great idea because it gives you an interesting perspective and incredible detail. Just make sure you actually want to see the details of your subject matter!
I know I learned my lesson: no more close-up shots of cows eating apples. I am still trying to erase that memory from my mind.
I attended and photographed a very special event this past weekend. It was a birthday party of my very own little monkey who turned 4!
It was a challenge to come up with the perfect theme because Ian wasn’t in love with any particular activities or sports — unless doing things-you’re-not-supposed-to is an activity!
So one day while showering (is that TMI?!!), I remembered how Ian and I play Ice Cream Stand and Lemonade Stand at home. Sometimes with real food items and sometimes with plastic toys or cut out drawings. (When they are real food items, we actually give him money! He comes up with the price, sales tactic and marketing, aka a beautiful sign, so I figure a quarter is worth rewarding his entrepreneurial spirit.)
Once I had a theme, everything else just fell into place!
Ian and Mia helped paint and decorate the stand.
The entire stand is DIY a la my husband! I drew a picture of what I envisioned and he did the rest! My only requirement was that it can be disassembled. I was, and still am, utterly impressed with how it turned out!
Most of the pieces are from Lowes and things we already had in our house, like the antique white paint and the wooden crates.
I have always wanted to put lanterns up in a tree for photos, but I decided on these colorful flowers from Oriental Trading Company, which were more unique and cost only $6 for a dozen!
My chalkboard from Holly McCaig Designs was the perfect finishing touch!
It was a sunny and hot day… perfect for a pool party with an ice cream theme!
Ian took his role seriously. He took everyone’s order, instructed his patrons where the toppings were and was very polite.
There were toppings to suit everyone: fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries), crumbled cookies (Vanilla, Oreos), traditional toppings (sprinkles, chocolate syrup), and cereal.
Not all toppings are shown here. I was busy enjoying the party. It’s tough to be the mom of the birthday boy, the host of the party AND the event photographer!
I bought retro bendy striped straws with accordian flamingos for ice cream floats. Who knew straws could be so festive and fun?!!
You know you’ve enjoyed your ice cream cone when there is evidence on your chin, in your hair and on your shirt! Tee hee.
Happy 4th birthday to my sweet boy and funny monkey, Ian!!!
I know I can’t stop you from growing up, but I can take lots and LOTS of photos to capture all your stages. I love you!!!
~Mom
Did you miss me?!! I was on vacation with my family!
I missed blogging, doing client shoots, and my pillow.
While I am glad to be back and will miss Hawaii, I wanted to share a few photos from my trip. Enjoy!
View of a sunset from our backyard…
At the beach club…
My niece goofing around with me…
Playing on the golf course…
My nephew playing — uh, I mean bathing — in the outdoor tub…
Beautiful skies, palm trees everywhere…
My sister-in-law made cranberry drop scones…
Funnies
My kids are my most challenging subjects to photograph! Here they are with their grandpop…
The funniest editorial shot from my trip: grandpa feeding Ava a bite of his special birthday dessert while my nephew Luke steals a bite from the other side!
Back in grade school, I remember this saying: When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Something like that. I was only 10 years old, but I remember referring to it all the time. I know what you’re thinking…. those “lemons” probably weren’t too awful if I were that young, right?
Sure.
But that’s the lesson learned! At the time — even at 10 — the problems seemed pretty big, and it was only afterwards that I viewed them differently. After I had conquered them!
So my latest “lemons” is this physical injury to my back, but I’ll spare you the details. Here is the gist…. pain, pain, pain, sometimes I can’t move at all, rescheduled several client photoshoots, and can’t do one of my favorite activities in the World, which is dance around the house with my baby girl.
In my slow recovery, I carefully and slowly moved around with my eldest a couple days ago to do some model shots. She isn’t a model, by any means, but all of these shots were styled, as it would be if she were an actual child model. This isn’t the run-around kind of Lifestyle shots I usually do with kids her age.
So I took my time and we spent an hour talking while I shot a few here and there. It was my way of making some lemonade.
Some of my Beautiful Lemonade
March is the birth month of my two girls and also the middle of the rainy season, which means indoor birthday parties!
It started with a tea party for Mia and her best friends.
There was jewelry-making, manicures, and a whole lotta girlie fun!
Mia must have said, “Mommy! I feel so special!” about 5 times that day.
Next, my sweet baby Ava turned one!
During her party, she enjoyed squishing the cake between her fingers, and she loved eating cake — but with a spoon! My baby is refined!
In preparation for the imbalance of attention, I had gifts for Ian when the girls opened their presents. He also got to have dates with Mommy!
Even with all that effort on my part, something tells me that my little monkey will need extra attention for a little while longer. Awwwww…
I love capturing images of people, especially children, because they change so much, so quickly. Not only their physical features, but also their personalities, their interests, how they laugh, how they interact with each other, everything.
So to start this new year right, I took photos of my own little monkeys in their jammies… to capture just how they are right now. This will be a wonderful family tradition to do every new year.
Smiles At Bedtime
Dreaming
Nothin’ but a Hat
I hope all of you will think of new year traditions for yourself, especially if you have little monkeys in your life — whether they are your own, your nieces, your nephews, or your grandchildren.
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