I'm an Auntie!

I went to go visit my cousin's two little babies. I guess she is practically my older sister since she lived with us since she moved to the States for high school.

These two are really precious. They both went through a lot being born as preemies at 24 weeks (3 months earlier than normal). They are still learning to breathe and eat and just have their bodies function normally. Hopefully, their health will stabilize within the next few weeks so that they can finally go home to mom and dad.

This is Chase. The older brother. He was born one minute earlier than Charissa.



It's so funny how any small gesture or movement can be so cute for babies.



Charismatic pentecostal preacher in training? haha



His little fingers on my finger. And I thought I had pretty small hands.



Chase got all the attention today, because Charissa was a bit sick after the eye exam.. but I was able to get a few of her, too. She looks like she's sticking out her tongue, but it's because she's refluxing. I'm learning so much about preemies, and getting tons of experience on motherhood this week! :)



Anywhooo. Just wanted to post these few photos of the kids before I pack and head off to DC today!

Ignite!

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to help out with an Asian American Christian conference held in Atlanta called Ignite. It was really a blessing just to be there. I'm only posting up a few photos from the event. I have TONS of editing to do from previous photoshoots, and I need to pack because I'm helping homegirl move to Boston. We are going on a roadtrip this week starting Wednesday morning making pitstops in DC and NYC. It's a shame we don't get to do these more often. Hello, 18 hour drive. :)

Anyone want to meet up? We are on a pretty tight schedule, but we will try to make this work!

So now... presenting the lovely registration booth girls (me included, haha).



Mia Fieldes of Hillsong United (Starfield lead the first night)





Loved the energy in the room.





Last but not least, ignite partnered with soles for souls in their cause and collected... (I forget how many, but I'm going to say approximately) 7 boxes of shoes off their feet! :) Anyone can get on board with this one though if you visit. www.soles4souls.org.

More Tram!

A little update about the J-O-B? To my surprise, an HR person called me yesterday morning and left me a voicemail. I was thinking surely this is the call where they let me know I get the job.... BUT it wasn't! I called back and found that all she wanted was to confirm that I didn't have any further questions. What? Do people really do that? I was a little bummed out, but I got a call back later in the evening (after normal business hours) letting me know they wanted ME! :) So we are good to go!

I am getting shots this morning. Eeeek! It hurts more when you tense up, but how can you relax, really? :(

Just wanted to post the rest of the photos of Tram's beautiful self. :) This one is probably by far my fav from the set.



I was trying to get her to move around to avoid the shadows that the window was making on her face, but I love how it's going across her bottom lip.





A little closer crop.











I liked these series.





The more serious version of the headshot.





After the sun went down, we went inside to relax, but then I saw this little area and wanted to try a few quick shots.

Interviews.

Recently, I've been looking for part time work that would get me some extra income and wouldn't interfere with my weddings, photoshoots, and editing schedule. I answered this craigslist ad looking for a preschool photographer and actually landed me an interview. Yesterday, was that interview. I went in there thinking this is gonna be cake and that I'm seriously overqualified for the job, so all I have to do is dumb it down a little and make it all work. I got there and found myself sitting in a room with six other people and found out only one person would be hired after the rounds. The tension in the room thickened. It was like we entered into the elimination rounds of a reality show and they were secretly taping us. But soon enough, I decided to break the awkward silence and we all began exchanging business cards and wishing each other the best of luck (haha secretly inside.. not better luck than me! So the competitive side of me comes out.) :)

We will or will not hear back by Friday, and from the looks of it, there is a 50% chance I will get the job! They asked me to go grab lunch and come back after all the other interviews are through so they can ask me more questions. So far so good.... only there was another girl that got asked back as well. The other girl previously worked for the company in a different area, so it's going to be some tough competition. A truly humbling experience.

So meanwhile, I went and grabbed lunch at this super cute mom and pop sandwich shop/pharmacy. haha I guess it can make a great combo. Then, I walked around the area, which was the downtown/olde town of this small city/suburb of greater Atlanta, and I made some really interesting discoveries. I like the historic parts of these smaller cities. They have so much character. Thanks to having my mom's point and shoot camera on me, I had a mini photo adventure. I think I will definitely have to do a photoshoot there... this place was practically MADE for that purpose.. And had I not decided to wander around, I would have never discovered it. :) They even had this little japanese garden area there, so you could mix it up a little. Here are a few snaps of the day.

I've never been to Europe, but I imagine it would look a little like this?





This is such a cool door. I love the wood that's all splintering and chipping away.



Bright colors!



When I saw this I could imagine two people sitting there eating sandwiches. :)



I had to throw this one in here because the food was sooo yummy on Sunday. Thanks, Brian, for doing all the prepping!!

Eunice and Wes Get Hitched!

I had a lot of fun shooting this wedding. There was so much emotion captured. I almost got sucked into all the emotion. I tend to cry at most weddings, and the funny thing is I don't even have to know them all that well and I will still cry. haha But it really is an honor to witness and be a part of this beginning.... of a beautiful future together. Absolutely amazing how God brings two individuals together and shows His faithfulness... and how sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised with His timing.



Press play! I love this Jason Mraz song. You will not believe how long it took me to merge these two songs using Garageband. I am a complete newbie. haha I felt like the first song, though, is so fitting for these two. :)

Oh, YES! And I must say this. Remember that slideshow I put together of our church taking our adopted refugee family to the Coke museum? It's here, if you didn't see it. So the director of RRISA (the organization that helps resettle refugees in the Atlanta area) saw the slideshow and completely loved it and proposed the idea of working professionally with me to do future projects with them. This could be an amazing opportunity to be to combine the gifts I have been given and be able to reach out to the community here. I am super excited!

Tim

Here's a quickie update from my photoshoot with Tim yesterday. It was great discovering all the fun places you can shoot around a high-rise condo. Beautiful big windows makes great studio spaces. I need to get myself one of those! Even though window lighting is pretty awesome, the best ones came from the bathtub. Here's just a sneak-preview. Now back to the rest of the workload.

Tram

These are just a couple teasers from yesterday's photoshoot. Meet Tram.

Gorgeous girl with such an awesome personality. What more can you ask for? Too bad fellas... she is taken. The entire shoot was under an hour in a cute residential area of Decatur. We snuck into a condo with a cute pool area. Who knew you could get in so many outfit changes in an hour.

This one is from inside the clubhouse. :) I was never much of a lens-flare kinda gal, but I love it here.



We tried to do a lot more of those high fashion poses, but I have to say... her personality really comes out when she smiles and laughs. :) We got in few headshots before the sun completely went down.



And the best part is that we got to grab some grub at Brickstore afterward! I always have to get some Brickstore if I'm in the area. I recommend the brunswick stew and fish and chips. :)

I've been making some serious discoveries just by spending some more time with the post processing. I used to always want to source out the editing, because it's my least favorite part of this whole process, but I think I can get used to this. I really struggled with Yervant's post processing style with his black and whites, but after much trial and error, check this out!

Featured on Weddingbee!

My photos were featured on weddingbee by Mrs Daffodil. :)




P.S. I ran/walked 5 miles yesterday (for the first time in my LIFE?). To better health. :) That is all.