Gupta Family Portrait Session – There’s only one thing that is more beautiful, pristine, and genuine than the Autumn leave colors on the Virginia trees, and that is the heart of Atul, Reena, and little Aashna. Without getting into too much details (as it’s currently 2:30AM), Atul is a long time friend of Amit (and his fiance Sonya), whom I had the pleasure of working with this past May. He contacted me via e-mail a few months ago for a portrait session in So Cal, but due to a conflict of schedule, we had to postpone it to now, in his home state of Virginia :).

After arriving to my hotel and getting a good night sleep yesterday, we all ventured to the grounds of University of Virginia bright and early this past morning. That’s actually where Reena and Atul met each and fell in love :). After a break in the middle of the day (mainly so both Aashna and I could take a nap :P), we headed over to an absolutely gorgeous location, filled with a river, trees, and fields (stuff that simply don’t exist in Los Angeles). Already getting to meet a WONDERFUL family in the Guptas made the trip worthwhile, but seeing some of these places in Richmond and the drive to Charlottesville was just gravy :). Also, Reena’s sister Appy and her two super cute kids Sarina and Nikhil joined us towards the end of the shoot, making the day even that much more fun.

I can’t thank Atul and Reena for everything, and I do mean everything! They’ve set up the entire trip for me, including half-a-dozen family portrait sessions with their family and friends, and all the logistics like hotel, transportation, and even suggestions on where to eat. You guys have given me a gift that I will cherish for the rest of my life, and that is letting me into your lives and photographing the love you have for each other and your daughter; it’s absolutely beautiful.

I hope you enjoy this sneak peek; I don’t have much of my photo editing tools on my laptop (including my logo!) but I wanted you to see a few before the week gets even more busy ;). See you again on Sunday! I’m off to bed and heading to Virginia Beach tomorrow to photograph one of Atul’s good colleague/friend and his family, goodbye for now!

Gamie’s Portrait Session – I totally heart Gamie! Seriously (and I do mean SERIOUSLY), she’s one of the most upbeat, kind-hearted, and silly person I’ve ever met. Not only that, but Gamie is a ridiculously talented designer. Just check out all her yummy (no pun-intended) work on her company’s website called Peach Mailbox.

We did a really fun photoshoot last week at her awesome new place in Downtown LA. Look for Gamie to play a huge part in many of my upcoming services and products. And if you ever need of a radtastic designer (logo, print, graphics, website, etc.), please don’t hesitate to contact Gamie. Her info can be found here.

Sun + Paul’s Anniversary Session – Last week, I flew out to Seattle to photograph several events, including one of my favorite and long-time couples Ann and Vince‘s wedding. I’ll have a sneak peek of their photos soon enough but thanks to Ann, I met her cousin Sun and her now husband Paul. Sun and Paul actually got married the weekend BEFORE Ann and Vince! I got a phone call from Sun a few days before heading out to Seattle with a request to do an anniversary portrait/trash-the-dress session.

Having never met her and Paul, I was both excited and a bit nervous. However, all butterflies in my stomach went away the second I met Sun and Paul at Ann and Vince’s wedding last Friday and Saturday. The great thing was they had everythng all planned out for me as far as shooting location and time. Sun and Paul dressed up in some really gorgeous traditional Vietnamese attire for the first part of the shoot at Kubota Garden. They then changed into their white and black wedding outfits for the second part at Alki Beach, where we all had a chance to witness the beautiful Seattle skyline at night!

What was so awesome about Sun and Paul’s shoot was their wedding party actually came out for it. Both the bridesmaids and groomsmen were such troopers for taking time out of their Sunday and spending it with Sun and Paul, simply showing how much the couple means to them. Part of the wedding party was Sun’s maid of honor Mong, who brought her fiance Eric! So what’s better than one portrait session? Two! We actually had a mini pre-engagement session for Mong and Eric during Sun and Paul’s anniversary session :). Special thanks to Eric for being my light man for the night shots and a big congrats to Sun and Paul. Thank you all for spending last Sunday with me :). Now onto working on Ann and Vince’s wedding sneak peak!

And here’s Mong and Eric’s mini-engagement session; thanks guys for helping out and congrats :). I hope to come back up to Seattle and photograph your actual e-session soon!

Mikolayciks + Kurtzs’ Family Portrait Session – Meet The Mikolayciks and Kurtzs (as well as the Moons :P). By now, you probably know they are the families of Alicia and Austin, whom by the way, are kinda like the poster-child couple of my whacky photography business :). Last Thursday, I had a blast – no wait – a funtacular time meeting and working with A + A’s siblings, parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins! Everyone was in town in the Marina Del Rey-ish area for their wedding on Saturday. Since Alicia and Austin had family coming to LA from Connecticut, Wisconsin, Texas, and San Diego for their big day, they thought it would be a splendid opportunity to also have a family portrait session. Yay!

We went out to a nearby park and beach for the late afternoon shoot. Although the sun never came out (darn you June gloom!), that didn’t keep the Mikolayciks and Kurtzs from being their funny, silly, and loving selves. Honestly, I’ve never met two families with so much love for each other like the Ms and Ks. They welcomed me with open arms and made my “job” as their photographer unbelievably fun and personal. Alicia, Austin, and their family climbed trees, wrestled each other, built a human pyramid, and hugged/kissed each other like there was no tomorrow. To the Mikolayciks and Kurtzs: you guys totally rock!