Kellie and Jack

I haven’t been around this blog lately! But I have some images that I shot a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share. A mother and a son. I feel pretty good about capturing their tight relationship.

Little Cowboy Champion – Editorial

I shot this boy who won the junior championship in the bull category at the county fair in Longview, WA for a kid’s magazine about a month ago. I love it when I get to shoot something like this to tell stories of kids chasing their wildest dreams. And he really was like a champion in many ways. Congrats, Gage!

Prints Showing at Fresh Flowers Cafe in Ballard

My prints are now up at Fresh Flours in Ballard, right in front of the Sunday Farmer’s Market!

Back from Caroline and Andy’s Wedding

I spent the weekend photographing Caroline and Andy’s wedding in Waldron Island, WA. This is by far the most unusual wedding I’ve photographed and for sure one of the most delightful and exciting events I’ve photographed.

Caroline and Andy live in this remote island called Waldron, one of the San Juan Islands in Washington State. I thought I had very little information before we arrived at the location, but then I realized afterwords that Caroline gave me all the info I needed. They kept the wedding very simple and yet very thoughtful.  The whole event was well done and well coordinated.  They wanted me to photograph their wedding as well as the May Day celebration on the island. I’m still feeling the whole experience in my vanes. I’ll be posting the images very shortly. It’ll be hard to edit…

Bella Bonito

It’s been a while since I posted anything here. It’s not that I haven’t been shooting anything, but I’ve been shooting quite bit of food photography and started another blog site that’s more casual. It’s called “Balla Bonito.“ It’s mostly about food, kids, travel and of course, photography.

Having said that, I’ll be shooting weddings and more editorial stuff coming up. The next wedding will be a very unique one. Very exciting and photos to come right after the wedding in a month. I also grabbed and started shooting with my medium format camera again, which I’m also very excited about. These photos definitely will be posted here in the future.

Images from Portugal

Lately I’ve been busy trying to redesign my websites. I’ve been going through an enormous number of images,  editing and retouching. These pictures are from my adventures back in 2004, when without much planning, I took a trip to Portugal which lasted almost a year. It was my attempt to search for a kind of path as a photographer by putting myself in an interesting place with which I had no previous connection. Somehow, Portugal had always felt familiar to me, although it had little connection to the world I knew. While I was there I met many Portuguese people just going about their daily business. I asked them if I could stick around and take some photos, and I ended up making these images, which are very special to me and remind me many amazing events – good and bad – which I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

Voila and La cote Creperie – Restaurants in Seattle

I’ve been shooting at quite a few restaurants around Seattle lately again for DiningOut magazine. Here are a couple of the restaurants that I want to share. They are actually run by the same owner and the first is Voila. It’s a lovely and very traditional looking French bistro. I really liked the authentic feeling that it’s not over the top or too modern. It’s a comfortable, cozy and sophisticated space. It’s located in the Madison area in Seattle.

The second restaurant is La Cote Creperie, located two doors away from Voila. As you can see in the photos, the place is very simple and I love the huge menu in the middle of it. The variety on the menu is impressively large. I was especially intrigued by this Britany style galette with the real apple cider from Britany, with the real cup! Just as I had in Britany a few years back. I was feeling pretty sentimental, remembering my trip there while shooting at the restaurant. I highly recommend trying this dish. I can’t wait to take my family here for a little treat soon.

Becky and Lucas – Engagement

Lisa and Mike – 08/29/09

This wedding was definitely one of my favorite weddings to shoot. One of the reasons why I enjoy photographing weddings is that it reflects intense humanity among personal relationships. I try not to get all teared up when I’m working, but  there were a few times I felt tears in my eyes during the toasts. Lisa and Mike are great people who have great families and friends.

The location was also gorgeous. As a photographer who travels around the world to search fishing villages, Lummi Island was just a great place for me to work and I only had to drive for a couple of hours to get there.

Congratulations to Lisa and Mike. It was such a great experience to have met you and photographed your wedding!

Sara and Sergio – 8/14/09

Sara and Sergio / Woodinville, WA / 8.14.09. This wedding was at lovely Willows Lodge in Woodinville, WA. The best time of the year to enjoy their amazing flower garden. It also happened to be another Iranian wedding this summer. I do love photographing cultural weddings and learned a few extra things about the Iranian wedding. Sara and Sergio are yet another fabulous couple I met. Wish them all the happiness in the world! Congratulations!!