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)

On Sunday, we packed our gear into the car and headed over the hills of the Santa Ana Mountains (I think that’s what they’re called) towards Irvine to meet up with Charlene and Chris. I was so honored when they approached me to do these photos. Pregnancy is such a special time in any couple’s lives and I was especially humbled, being that this is Charlene and Chris’s first child. They’re expecting a baby boy in a little over a month and he’s going to be one lucky kid to be coming into the world to this amazing family.

Charlene is an awesome wedding coordinator with Picture Perfect Events. You can find more information about her fabulous work here at MyFoxLA’s HotList. We’ve worked together in the past and she was so helpful in making my job easier at Melissa and Dave’s renewal that I knew it was going to be a fun and relaxed day of great picture making. Chris is your typical, man’s man. He’s a great person with an always-relaxed, always-cool attitude and he’s going to make a great father!

We had an awesome time on Sunday with Charlene, Chris, Maddie, Sandy, and myself. We started off in their beautiful Irvine home (while it was still raining outside.) When the clouds parted, we grabbed lunch, then headed down to Laguna Beach and grabbed a few more images. The weather was perfect and there were plenty of people out and about. Maddie, their 2 year old Golden Retriever came along with us and kept Sandy quite busy, dragging her around trying to get near the water while I snapped away. (Thanks babe!)

Please click and enjoy the images in the slideshow! The song is “Baby, Now that I’ve Found You” by The Foundations.

(Don’t forget to come back here and show me some love by dropping some comments :) )

Florence and I have been friends for quite a long time. I photographed her and her then-fiancé, Nelson, last year in a small engagement session a few weeks before they were to be married. Unfortunately, Sandy & I weren’t able to attend their gorgeous ceremony and reception at the St. Regis Hotel because we were moving that week. But soon after their wedding, I got an Instant Message from Florence and she told me that they were expecting!

Fast forward to today, where she is currently about 37 weeks pregnant (yup, expecting any day now!!) We’ve been planning on doing her maternity photosession for the past two months…but things kept coming up. Last weekend, we were finally able to meet up and grab a few shots of the lucky couple. Fortunately, she was still pregnant but very, very expecting.

We started at their home in Rowland Heights, in the nursery room that Flo and Nelson had lovingly put together in anticipation of their baby daughter. From there, we rushed over to Newport Pier to finish up. During their engagement session last year, we re-located to the beach but were a little too late and missed the sunset. Not wanting to repeat that mistake, we left the house with plenty of time to spare.

I had a great time hanging out with Flo and Nel. Thank you guys for sharing this part of your lives with me! I can’t wait to meet Isabella!