Senior: Henna

Meet Henna. She is an amazing, hilarious girl, who throws her head back when she laughs and dances while she drives. She likes to blast rap music and dance like there's no tomorrow. She's also amazingly smart and a great volleyball player, and I've been lucky enough to have her as a friend since 2nd grade.
I had so much fun shooting Henna for some senior portraits. It's crazy to think we'll be graduating this year! The light during our session was absolutely gorgeous, and I had a ton of fun trying new things and getting some great pictures. I hope you like these pictures Henna; you look beautiful in them all!

Henna has a gorgeous laugh!






We found this amazing weeping willow tree, and I just couldn't resist it...


So much fun! :)




And because this basically sums her up...

Cousins

I'm about to head out for a wedding in downtown San Jose, but before I do I wanted to post these adorable pictures of my cousins. I had a great time hanging out with them on my trip to Seattle last week! Love you guys!

Laughing.

Sometimes, life is tough. Sometimes we get overwhelmed, and we just don't feel like things are going to be okay.



But they will be. We just need to remember those moments where our eyes close and we through our heads back and laugh. We need to be thankful for the people who surround us and who make us do just that-- laugh.


Thank you, Gladys Jem. Both for making me laugh, and for capturing this.

Couples Session: Joerelle & Karl

I am sooo excited about this session. It was about mid-august, and it was an amazing session!
Here's the background: I met up with the sweetest photographer a while back, and she was so sweet and I learned so much just from talking with her. Gladys Jem is truly amazing! So when I got home, I friended Gladys on facebook and we kept talking some. She even, so nicely, kept up with reading my blog and left me a bunch of comments (which, of course made me sooo happy!) But Gladys went above and beyond-- she decided to set up a couple's session in San Francisco both for her and to help me learn. I was blown away when I found out-- she was going out of her way to allow me to take photographs and learn from her.
I met up with Gladys, Joerelle and Karl, in San Francisco. (Gladys even let me use her 40D instead of my Rebel... have I said yet how nice she is?!?!?!) Joerelle and Karl are soo nice, and she is absolutely gorgeous! Karl is also interested in photography, and he brought along his camera and took some shots.
Once again, I had an amazing time shooting with Gladys and I am sooo thankful for the help that she has given me. I'm taking a journey of a lifetime, learning, and falling in love with photography. Hopefully I captured some of what Joerelle and Karl are in these photos. I hope you enjoy!






Love, love, love this shot Gladys came up with! Just from this picture, you would have NO idea where they really are...





Look at that-- Joerelle knows how to work it!




Winddd!! :)










I think this might be my favorite image I've taken-- it's just sooo sweet.





I'm not sure what it is about this image, but I love it.



I'll leave you with this image...

High School Days are Coming to a Close

Phew, have been MIA lately!! I am almost done with the first week of my Senior year, and I am ecstatic. And scared.
I'm starting my national merit application, I'm opening a CommonApp account, I'm thinking about where I'm going to be next year! I want to have an amazing year with my friends-- they people who I've known since I was 7 years old, or 13 years old, or 15. The people I can rely on, laugh with, and love.


I have a ton of really exciting things going on that I haven't blogged about. I did a really really awesome couples session with the great photographer Gladys Jem but I haven't uploaded any pictures yet because I don't have them! But I promise, a really exciting post about that will come soon enough.
On another really really exciting note, I've had the opportunity to work with another great photographer recently named Thai Mai. He's been letting me assist him on engagements and a few weddings! I'm going to be assisting at about 4 more weddings for him before the end of the year, and I am sooo excited. I help carry bags, set up light stands, things like that.. but I get to shoot when he doesn't need help. It is an amazing experience to see the flow of the day, his posing style, and just experience what I truly do want to do. Unfortunately I won't be posting any images from the engagement or weddings on this blog. It's been an amazing experience and it will continue to be one!
I am so thankful and lucky for all the help I have gotten from within the photography community. Two photographers, Gladys and Thai, have reached out to me and helped to guide me in this process. I am so thankful because who am I? I'm just a 17 year old girl with a camera. There are thousands of girls just like me who want to do photography, but Gladys and Thai have believed in me-- just by meeting with me. I feel kind of like they're telling me it's okay to do this, to try to take this journey. I can be more than just a girl with a camera-- I could actually be that person I see myself as. That wedding photographer.
I am blessed enough to have time. Time to attend school, time to rely on my parents, time to not worry about money as much as I will have to eventually. So I don't see myself shooting a wedding by myself in the near future-- at all. I want to second shoot eventually, I liek assisting, I want to shoot my friends. But I don't feel confident enough in myself yet. I'm also really young! :) And not experienced enough. I am so grateful just to be getting the chance to gain experience.

Whew, a long post. Well.. I'm off to finish my AP Statistics homework and then, who knows, sneak in a little tv watching. :) Wish me luck in my last year of high school as I hope to establish more of who I am!

Excited for What is to Come.

I'm currently bidding on a Canon 5D on ebay. Eeeek! And if I don't get a good bidding price, I'm still planning on buying a different one. I'm excited, but scared!!
This is a huge step forward for me, a move closer to accomplishing this dream. It's obviously a huge investment, and it's so hard for me to part with what little money I've saved up, but it's worth it. I'm really excited to buy one and to finally have it in my hands. I'm really excited, but I feel like this will just make me want even more equipment :)


On another note, I've been really MIA lately. I've been swamped with work, getting ready for school, etc. I start back next week, but this is my last year! Yay!! I'll definitely be blogging more soon. Look forward to an awesome couples session I got to do thanks to the amazing Gladys Jem. I am so sosososo thankful for all the help she has given me! She's a great photographer and she is sooooo nice.