Lena & Donovan's wedding~ San Francisco

One word to describe Lena and Donovan... super. Lena- super organized & talented (how often do you see a bride sing at her wedding?). Donovan- super relaxed & presentable (how often do you see a groom do a power-point presentation at his wedding?). What's more, they had a super massive wedding party, super tight schedule on a super gorgeous day in San Francisco. Even Daly City was sunny & bright that day, for those who know what it's usually like :)

Lena's first sight with Donovan

A moment of Donovan being amused by his best man's speech.

Donovan put together a powerpoint presentation, sharing the data he collected about the demographics of their peers, the RSVP... all that worked to my benefit of capturing lovely candid moments of everyone.

Garrick is 1!

Garrick is the first child of two of my favorite friends. Little Garrick went through an emotional NICU experience in his first couple of weeks of life, which made his first brithday celebration a really memorable one for the family.

This picture was taken when Garrick was held in his mom's arms.. he taking a peek out the window to watch for daddy's return in the rain. An utterly precious moment when I almost felt like I had stopped breathing while taking this shot.

I was so in love with the look I decided to make it as a christmas postcard, to remind others how precious life is and what the real meaning of Christmas is all about.

Toastmasters International

For the past two years, I've had the honor to help Toastmasters International in photo shooting at their local conferences and contests. This is an organization where you can find the most motivated individuals from all across different professions. Among those faces you see their utmost desire to bring themselves to the next level. Well, giving speeches is definitely the last thing I want to do in my lifetime. I’m happy enough to sit and listen to all the empowering speeches with my camera in hand… and sometimes I get so taken away by the messages I simply forget to press my button…

The tricky thing about shooting for TM is that I can’t be distracting and I can’t shoot when the contestants are giving speeches. But what I can do is to capture the moments of the audience when they're utterly drawn by their learning experiences…

Don was one of the featured speakers this year. At the age of 92, he’s been a TM for 51 years… imagine that. My jaw kept dropping as I listened to his stories and triumph…

Some nice quotes I've learned this year:

"We're only limited by our imagination."

"Leaders always anticipate the needs they serve."

"Today's success is the result of good judgment.
Good judgement is the result of experience.
Experience is the result of bad judgement. "

Crystal & Tremon's wedding~ Rocklin

It was a day that Crystal & Tremon had waited for years.

How sweet it was when their daughter could dress up as a flower girl and watch her mama get ready on her wedding day.

There came the stunning moment when Crystal walked down the aisle, escorted by her dear brother who was escorted by his wheelchair.

Behind the scene...

The first dance. Crystal was singing along throughout.

Gondica & Ruben's wedding~ El Cerrito

There’s something magical about Gondica & Ruben… they having the most wonderful personalities one would ever want: fun, expressive, easygoing, appreciative, thoughtful, sweet. On their big day, they were busy making sure their buddies were well taken care of… and there were 300 of them :)

Leaving home...





Oh, they could make any ordinary move look hilarious… who would do a hand shake before the first kiss?

The wedding party in full spirit.

A moment of Ruben captured while his bestman read a letter written by Ruben when he was 11.

A feative scene like this happened 30 times that evening.

A little surprise turning into something a little messy.... in a good way.


Thanks to those 10 sweet folks (including G&R) who asked me whether I was fed or not that evening. I couldn't be happier!