Kazu and Tomo

Brothers, Kazu, 7, and Tomo, 4, came out to warm and sunny San Gabriel Valley, to visit their father, an asteroid research professor, from Kanagawa, Japan. I shot portraits as these two played together with their parents and their friends' dog, Berkley, in Sandy's front yard with scarecrows, and in her vegetable garden in the backyard among the kale and greens. 

Women 2.0 Conference 2013 "The Next Billion"

I just returned from a week in San Francisco, where I shot the Women 2.0 Conference 2013 "The Next Billion" on Valentine's Day. The event featured an incredible speaker lineup of female founders, renowned Silicon Valley investors, and PITCH finalists and judges. Here's Rashmi Sinha, CEO and Founder of Slideshare, speaking about balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship. Check out the full recap with photos on my tech blog, Tech/Candid here.

Happy Holidays / Cleo + Inez

Happy holidays, everyone! Wishing you + your family a warm, joyful and peaceful holiday. I also want to thank you so much for reading and supporting the blog in our first 4 months! Finally, I want to share this fun holiday family shoot I just wrapped with our niece and her reindeered sister, Cleo...

The Fisher Family, Exposition Rose Garden

Stephanie and I met living on the same floor of the dorms our freshman year at CAL, and later lived together sophomore year at a funny Berkeley student co-op called Cloyne. I ran into her recently at Sarah and Anthony's wedding, where I had a chance to meet her husband Jesse and their adorable 8 month old son, Sullivan. I documented them this November at the Exposition Rose Garden, where Steph used to visit as a young girl with her family.

Hayashi / Saijo Collaboration

Artist Mike Saijo met textile master, Setsuko Hayashi, known to her students as Hayashi Sensei (林先生), a few years ago when he attended one of her classes. They have since started collaborating every week to create custom silk batik (ろうけつ染めの絹) drapes and silk tie dye scarves using a 400 year old Japanese method that dates back to the Edo Period.  I documented them during production of one of their custom silk drapes when they were applying a batik wax drawing on silk by hand. 

Yo Yo

I met Yo Yo by happenstance in November when she came by the studio. Yo Yo grew up in South Carolina, and lived internationally. She now works as a producer, and she's assisting with a documentary about life in South Central LA. A natural in front of the camera, it was no surprise Yo Yo grew up with a mother and sister who modelled professionally.

Sarah + Anthony, Morcom Rose Garden / Camino

Sarah + Anthony exchanged their vows under a chuppah at the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland near the Piedmont border. The ceremony culminated with the Jewish wedding custom of breaking the glass, and was followed by a gourmet reception prepared by chef Russell Moore and his team at Camino Restaurant just around the corner. I had the honor of documenting the day for the longtime couple, together about 11 years since the days they met living at Cloyne.

Say Amor | Roseli and Jacob, Ocean Song

This September, I had the honor of shooting the wedding of my friends, Roseli + Jacob. The two Libras exchanged vows in an intimate commitment ceremony, named Say Amor, on a sunny, serene hilltop at Ocean Song, a farm and wilderness center in Occidental, about an hour from San Francisco on the Sonoma coast.

Coming Soon! Roseli & Jacob's Wedding

I had the honor of shooting my friends, Roseli and Jacob, and their beautiful wedding in Ocean Song in Occidental recently. I'll share highlights from their wedding on the blog soon! Stay tuned...

Sisters

Our sister came up to visit us in Oakland just a few months leading up to our niece's birth. I remember feeling the little one kicking inside her belly creating sudden animated spurts of energy.

Big Belly

As many of you may know, my older sister gave birth to a very active, and powerful little one this past October.

Portraits: Ojiichama & Obaachama | 祖父と祖母

My grandmother, Obaachama, asked me to take portraits of her and my grandfather, Ojiichama, during our trip to Japan this summer. Mama stood behind me working hard to make them laugh, and Leslie helped Obaachama with her hair and makeup.