Hi!  First off, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, New Year’s, Lunar New Year, and Valentine’s Day.  My sincerest apologies for the lack of posts on my blog!  I am still alive - albeit very busy with work and personal life.  I will be catching everyone up on my sessions and life soon!  Thank you for your continued support! - Mieng

Last fall I met Barbara, Eugene, and their daughter Riley at a BBQ gathering in their beautiful Irvine neighborhood.  They are were a family of three who have never had any professional photos done of them and when they found out I was a photographer, we quickly struck up a conversation and exchanged contact info.  I had the distinct honor of photographing the Choe’s at a special time in their lives.  Barbara was 8 months pregnant with their second child, and they wanted a combination of family, maternity, and infant portraits…we joked about the need to “catch up” with photos since this was their first session.  A few weeks later we met for the family & maternity session, which was just in time for Christmas, and recently I got a chance to meet their newest family member, Jonathan, for his own special portrait shoot.  Here’s a selection of my favorite images from the two sessions.  Please click the image for a slideshow!

A while back, I was approached by Mignonne to do some portraits. Her and her husband James are expecting a baby boy in April and wanted to capture this special time in their lives with photos. I am always up to do “belly sessions” because to me, it’s the natural “next step” after getting married. Plus, how could I turn down participating in (and capturing) this important part of their family history?

So, this past Saturday they were in town attending their baby shower (hosted by their awesome friend, Jean) and the three-and-a-half of us got together a few hours before it began to shoot around. We met at noon on a very sunny and otherwise beautiful day which, though great for picnics and outdoor fun-in-the-sun, is not the best time to take photos. (It’s a good thing to keep in mind when planning any photo sessions or wedding ceremony start times: full sun during early afternoon equals harsh lighting conditions, which equals not-so-great photos.)

Nevertheless, knowing this beforehand I took some time a few days before and drove around the area we were going to be in so that I could find the best spots to photograph my expectant couple. Because we only had a couple of hours before the baby shower, I didn’t want to waste time finding locations the day of.

It definitely paid off. Please kindly enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them :o)