To celebrate our almost one year of wedding shananigans, here are some behind the scenes film images taken on my sisters disposable camera developed at our local CVS.
It may not be of the highest professional quality but I just love the authenticity and rawness of them so much!
My website is undergoing a much needed facelift and it’s been quite a challenging journey trying to do it on my own. I’ve probably wanted to cry bloody murder and quit 10 times now. No wonder web designers get paid the big bucks. They deserve every penny!
The good news? Lots of pretty coming your way!
There’s still a lot kinks I need to work out. And a big question I’ve been pondering is whether to keep this blog separate or integrate it. I wonder if this blog is too personal. I like personal. But unsure if it will take away from the more professional route I’d like my business to take. If you guys have any thoughts, I’d love to hear!
Because life gets weird at times, if not all the time.
Another friend of ours was married this past weekend and it was such a beautiful celebration. However, I wish I could have enjoyed it more. Because just hours before, I was at a funeral for my best friend’s father. It was also so beautiful in its own way. Heart-breakingly beautiful.
I’m okay with having less of these oxymoron weekends if possible please.
One of my favorite sessions to date was this boudoir shoot. This was also my first time using black and white film, Ilford Delta 3200, and I’m so in love with it; The grain is so gorgeous! Give me another boudoir session and endless film and I can shoot for hours on end. I love how much creativity boudoir allows me to have and I seriously milk every moment of it!
Here’s a preview below:
And if you’re interested in booking a session for yourself or as a gift for your partner, contact me! 🙂
Trying to wait patiently for my film scans to hit my inbox like:
Is it here yet? *refresh inbox 5 seconds later*
In other news, we recently attended the first wedding of the year (also the first wedding since we gotten married) and it felt nice being on the other side this time getting to relax and enjoy our meal and catch up with friends.
Another exciting news! I attended a styled shoot workshop a few days ago filled with dream-team vendors! I can’t wait to share the images! Film scans coming soon!
I was so excited about this maternity session that I literally shot it the day after we returned from Japan.
This gold dress came from my closet and was actually a contender as a bridesmaid dress in my wedding. The straps are convertible and the material is so soft and stretchy, and also comes in many colors. Pretty sure if you search “convertible dress,” you’d have no problem with finding it and its many color variations.
This session was taken on medium format film, Fuji 400h (rated at 200), and scanned at my favorite lab, photovision.
You can see more of Thuy and this beautiful maternity session here.
This is her second baby and I feel so honored to be documenting this special, yet fleeting moment in her motherhood. Sending her lots of love for the rest of her pregnancy. Can’t wait to meet the little babe!
This was our first morning in Japan. I took this right outside our airbnb in Tokyo at 4:30 in the morning. Yes, you saw that right. That means sun rises at 4:45am in Japan; the only time having jet lag came in handy.
More photos of our cute airbnb below:
Our host had a little 2 year old boy and he was so adorable. Our mornings were always filled with his sweet Japanese chatter, made being away from home and my pups a little more bearable.
Our first “meal” in Japan was these green tea scones filled with red bean paste. I know, so not what you expected, right? No worries, we made up for it with plenty of ramen, sushi, and udon during the rest of our trip.
Japan was filled with “best-thing-we ever-ate” and this was definitely one; the mille crepe. Yes, layers and layers of crepe. It was soft, light, airy, and… ugh…now I want one!
Animals will always have my heart, wherever I go.
Cat cafe, dog cafe, owl cafe, and hedgehog cafe, yes, we went to them all. And Nara’s Deer park? We visited it twice. The deers were cute and a bit aggressive if you have a biscuit. The trick to get them to bow to you? Bow to them first and reward them with a biscuit. You’re welcome. 🙂
So what do you do when you visit a country known for their beautiful shrines but you’re not really a shrine person? Well, if you’re anything like us, you’d just go to one shrine. So, no travel fatigue yet no FOMO (fear of missing out), it’s a win-win.
So, we chose the Fushimi Inari Shrine. The red gates are known as torii gates, donated by individuals and companies to bring them good fortune in their business endeavors. If you’re wondering if I thought about donating a gate in the name of my photography business, the answer is “yes, indeed.” But if you’re wondering if I had the $10k needed to purchase one, the answer is a resounding “nope.”
We didn’t enter this particular shrine, but I just simply wanted something on film in Kurama where we had a pretty relaxing time staying at a Ryokan and experiencing our first Onsen (hot spring.)
There’s still so much more that were taken on digital but I would say these were the highlight of our trip plus a few missing food photos. Pretty sure I came back with a 10 lb food baby. 😉
Something exciting happened!
I had the opportunity to assist Bea from Luna de Mare Photography with two of her engagement sessions in SF last week and now I think I’m in love with her!
Also, in true SF fashion, my car got towed. I can never seem to enter and exit SF without a mishap. The last time I was there, I received a ticket for turning my wheels the wrong way on a slope. SF sure knows how to passive aggressively tell me I’m not welcomed there. Anyway, I’m just going to make like a persistent friend dying to get out of the friend zone and keep coming back for more because we all know SF is just trying to play hard-to-get, right? 🙂
Here are some behind the scenes of Bea in her element:
Then on Saturday, I was invited to take photos of some gorgeous florals from a wedding in Sausalito:
This floral chandelier can’t be anymore gorgeous! Vofloral at their best.
Can’t wait for these film scans to come back. I’m a little nervous though because the center of the hall was darker than I expected. I’m asking the lab to push the films a few stops, hopefully I made the right choice, but we’ll see!
What I’m even more excited about though is this pretty bride-to-be boudoir shoot! Gosh, if you ever have the opportunity to shoot boudoir, I can almost guarantee it will be one of your favorite kinds of sessions.
iPhone preview below. You bet I’ll be updating you with the film scans once they’re in!
Our 2nd day back from Japan and I have to get up for work in about 5 hours and I can’t fall asleep despite laying here with my eyes closed for the past 3 hours. Help?
In brief, I’m really glad to be back home. Nothing bad happened on the trip. But 3 days in, I became terribly homesick and started missing my pups at every hour. We’re highly reconsidering shortening our Iceland trip in September to avoid feeling this way a second time. Gosh, when did I become such a homebody?
Also, it felt nice to be back in the groove shooting sessions again! Below is a digital shot of the location of this past weekend’s maternity session off the coast of California at Halfmoon Bay. Isn’t it lovely? Surely missed this while in Japan too. Film scans to come!
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to re-live a part of my wedding day, but on a much better scale! Not only did I have my face and hair professionally made up (thanks Emily!), but man, I got to hold the most beautiful bouquet!
Photo by Esmeralda Franco
Flowers by Vo Floral
Makeup and hair by Emily
Truth be told, I’ve been trying to suppress my regret for DIY-ing my own wedding florals. I don’t like dwelling on the past I can’t control. But in all honesty, I cringe a little whenever I see photos of my bouquet and centerpeices. I don’t think they turned out bad under the circumstances I was given to create them. But a part of me wishes they were more spectacular. A part of me wishes they added more elegance to the wedding, especially when looking back at photos.
I took on this misleadingly simple task of doing my own florals to help cut down costs. There were a lot that I thought I did in order to prepare the best I could. I did trial runs. I made several trips to the flower market to scout the flowers. I watched Youtube videos and read blogs. I researched and did a bunch of calculations. Did I mention the only experience I had was one time when I assembled four bouquets for my cousin’s wedding? I didn’t know it at the time but that definitely didn’t qualify me enough to think I could assemble 18 centerpieces and 6 bouquets, and execute them well.
Yes, I thought I was well prepared leading up to the big day. I’m not normally easily stressed, but it was completely silly of me to think I would be immune to the stress-storm that’s naturally associated with planning a wedding. Now add the additional stress of taking care of your own flowers. Are you hyperventilating yet? I am just thinking about it all over again. So I guess you can say I miscalculated, by a lot.
I’ve listed below five mishaps I’m sure wouldn’t have happened if I had hired a professional wedding florist.
When photos came back, I had moments of regret, a few “should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.” Fortunately, with the help of some good friends, I had a mini do-over. This time, I didn’t need to stress nor think about anything. I just showed up and was given a beautifully arranged bouquet to hold. Equally important, they photographed exquisitely. But what are the chances brides are given the same chance? Very small I’d say. But I think most brides are more clever than I am and already planned to prioritize professional florists into their wedding budget. But for future brides in the process of planning your own wedding, I hope my experience helps you decide or validate your decision to hire a professional florist.
Cheers and happy planning!
