Lauren & Ryan | Cincinnati Lifestyle Photographer
We grew up playing violin together, having named ourselves the two halves of "wubu," Anna Wu and Lauren Buchkajian. We played so much in so many various groups and combinations (youth symphony, chamber symphony, duets, quartets, etc.) that our high school orchestra conductor named an award after us, the wubu award, equivalent to the 3000 points club. Yes, we were really that cool.
Orchestra overachieving aside, Lauren is doubtlessly one of my longest running blogstalkers, as she has been a personal supporter of mine from the very beginning. Long before I ever knew I wanted to be "a photographer" she stood by me in my various little ventures. She is incredibly beautiful, smart, and talented, and is far more amazing than she ever gives herself credit for.
This summer we got together back in Cincinnati at the tail end of my Midwest tour, meeting at the Panera Bread right by my house. We sat in the shop chatting for a little while, until the sun started to disappear. We took the quick trip over to Weller Park, and in between mosquito bites, I snapped a couple photos. Lauren's boyfriend Ryan joined in for a little bit too, before we headed over to Dairy Queen to finish off the night. I may have frightened Lauren with the horrendous swelled up welts on my legs from the mosquito bites, but it was all worth it in the end.
Please tell her she's gorgeous. Sometimes she doesn't believe me.
Lauren and Ryan have the most adorable story about how they met-- commuting together on the same bus together for literalaly weeks and weeks, neither one having the courage to approach the other. Of course, one day Lauren finally said hello, and well, here they are. 
The Shay-Tang Family | Kirk in the Hills, Michigan | Lifestyle Photographer
When I arrived, the house was buzzing with preparations for Lily's big day. This was the day she would be introduced to solid food. But you have to think of solid as a flexible term. Solid like... soupy rice pudding. But food that's not in a bottle is a big deal! We were all making exaggerated OM NOM NOM motions with our mouths, and I stood by with flip cam as we eagerly awaited Lily's reaction to the spoon in her mouth and the food dribbling down her chin. She was a trooper, and later would be rewarded with bathtime (her favorite) and an actual bottle of milk.
The next morning, we did a spontaneous photoshoot with Lily in her adorable polka dot outfit, in which she later made a huge poop.
Later, we headed to Kirk in the Hills, an amazing home-turned-church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
While Lily is the star of her own show at home, and her 5-month birthday was something to celebrate, this was actually the main reason I drove over to Michigan for this shoot:
FOUR generations of Shay women.
In relation to Lily, we have Grandma, Great-Grandma (flew in from Taiwan), Aunt Patty (flew in from Arizona), Mommy Christine, and of course, baby Lily.
Mommy & Lily
With grandma and with daddy.
The whole family.
Then an outfit change, and we took it inside, out of the 95-degree weather. I loved the window lighting in this hallway and the arches in the background.
Love.
One more with the whole Shay-Tang family.
Patty and Lily.
And finally, I absolutely love this portrait of Christine & Patty's grandmother, age 87. Still young, I say.
Thank you so much, Christine, for inviting me to Michigan to stay with your family and to capture these portraits! I had a wonderful time and would love to come by again and again as Lily grows up! Hope your family enjoys these images for years to come.
Love Out Loud– tafLabs 2010
My favorite thing about our "tafLabs" room is not the ten computers or the impressive mass of wires and hard drives everywhere. It's not even the six Canon DSLRs with all their amazing lenses scattered on all the desks. (And you know how much I love my DSLRs!)
No, it has nothing to do with the gear.
At each of our stations, we are working on individual projects that contribute to the whole-- parody videos; marketing surveys; a retrospective documentary; the slideshow. Every so often, someone will stop what they're working on and lean over to check in on someone else. Andrew coaches Justin through video editing. I help Tiffany rename her files. Ho Chie and Eric look through photo albums from 1989 and laugh at their reminiscences. Karen stops by and we have the kind of late-night conversation about purpose and life decisions that makes me reminisce about life in college.
I love this space because it feels alive. People are connecting and doing amazing work-- completely unpaid-- out of love.
Every year, 200+ youth gather in the Midwest for this summer camp, the Taiwanese American Foundation (TAF). Unlike the rest of the programs (elementary through high school), tafLabs is a space dedicated to developing all sorts of projects, small to huge, that contribute to the TAF mission or serve the larger community beyond TAF.
Within the week, I created a photography mentorship group, started an online video project, produced a mini documentary, and helped with our epic 3D slideshow.
The tafLabs crew this year:
The amazing thing about TAF is that I've been attending since I was 10, and yet I still walk away every year feeling like I've pushed myself to grow. We intentionally create this space for people to be open and vulnerable with each other, and it's awesome to look around and see lightbulbs going off everywhere and people clicking into gear. I'm constantly inspired, amazed, and thankful to be a part of it all.
Here are just a few more images from the week:
The Juniors (elementary) campers crowd around a laptop for a special message from the future.
The annual Thursday afternoon water fight is preceded by a variety of stations, one of which resulted in dumping water on unsuspecting counselors.
Full blown water fight!
This is a fairly good representation of what it's like to be a Juniors counselor.
We walked into the gym already lit like this, so we had to take advantage. And if you think the shot looks pretty decent now, just go check out what happens when it goes 3D in our slideshow.
Tearin up the dance floor. He's inexhaustible.
The wonders of off camera flash. Thanks to Jon Lee for running around the dance floor with me.
The 2010 theme-- Love Out Loud (LOL)
That's all for now. See you at TAF 2011!
Learn more about TAF/tafLabs and see our work at blog.tafworld.org.
Jenny & Kevin | LACMA | Los Angeles Engagement Photographer
They met through Craigslist!
When Kevin was looking for housing for a summer internship in San Francisco, he came across Jenny's apartment, which was being sublet for a summer. He didn't end up living there; he didn't even really get to know Jenny that well right away, but the connection was made.
A couple years later, Kevin was living in San Francisco, and Jenny back in her home town Los Angeles, when Kev started traveling to LA for work. He called up Jenny, and they got to know each other over greasy Chinese food. Kevin ended up traveling to LA a lot, and he ended up seeing Jenny a lot. And well, the rest is history!
We met at the absolutely delightful Los Angeles County Museum of Art, better known as LACMA, for an evening engagement shoot. It was such a wonderful place to explore; I could've stayed all day and still found new interesting nooks and crannies to photograph.
Love this awesome neverending escalator. Love the reflections on the glass-- three Kevins and three Jennys!
And at the top of the escalator? This amazing view over LA. Love.
The iconic lampposts in front of LACMA. It's such a wonderful installation, with such pretty, soft lighting too.
Like a forest of lights. I just love how blue that sky stayed, long after the sun had gone.
Jenny & Kev, I am so happy to be a part of this with you. It's really an honor to photograph a friend's wedding, and you've both been so wonderful to work with through this whole process. Can't wait to see everything come together in October!
Henry M. Chu, Actor | Los Angeles Headshots Photographer
If you've been following along with my blog in the past couple years, you might remember Henry krumping on the streets of San Francisco. I've worked with Henry a number of times here and there, and he's always been a great person to work with and a wonderful friend. He's on the up and up in the acting world, and it's only a matter of time before he lands a leading role and escalates.
For this shoot, we just went for a couple quick looks on the streets of Manhattan Beach down here in Los Angeles.
Cop:
Happy smiley:
Check out Henry's official website at henrymchu.com.
Laura & Phil | Oakland Lifestyle Photographer
Laura is a stunning natural beauty in every way. No self-conscious preening or layers of makeup. It's just her that shines through. And yes, Phil is handsome too. Handsome, warm, and funny. The two make a lovely couple, and in the past year they've frequently hosted gatherings that feel more like family celebrations than 20-somethings' house parties.
Laura is about to move to Beijing, China, to work with an organization called Teach for All, while Phil needs to stay in Oakland another year for school before he can try to join her there. Long distance is never fun, but not even the Pacific Ocean can keep these two apart. We picked some good Oakland locations to get these two some portraits before she embarks.
We started the session at the Morcom Rose Garden, tucked away off Grand Ave. right here in Oakland.
If I haven't mentioned it lately, I love magic hour sunshine. It only hangs around in the 45 minutes before sunset, but it's truly magical.
Laura and I went to Duke together, and even before I really knew her, I knew of her and was often there photographing events where she'd perform with Chinese Folk Dance and Sabrosura.
Stunningly Beautiful.
Then we headed over to Lake Merritt for some classic Oakland backdrops.
Sunset over downtown Oakland.
So here's to wishing them all the best with these life changes coming up. And Laura, I hope to see you when you visit!
Kristen & Matt | Stanford Engagement Photographer
Their love is sugary sweet, a simple syrup poured out to melt your heart. Kristen is gentle, supportive, loving, reserved. And Matt is open and earnestly romantic, passionate about everything he loves. They have an unbounded excitement for each other, constantly finding reassurance in each other's arms.
We all went to Duke University together, where we were all part of a selective house called Brownstone. Matt is a talented photographer in his own right, and we'd connect over talk of galleries and darkroom and the photo group. He simply adores Kristen, and she him.
On a Sunday evening, we met for their engagement session at Stanford since Matt is now a Ph.D. student in engineering there. Kristen had just moved from the East Coast to California just a few days before. I love the California sunshine, but I can't wait for their Connecticut wedding in August!
He's a natural.
Stunning!
Finally, a shout-out to Ed and Bart who tagged along as assistants. Thanks for your help!
Luna’s Birthday Party | Redwood City Lifestyle Photographer
It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Redwood City, a perfect day for a two-year-old's birthday party. I walked over to Luna, and she surveyed me skeptically, entertaining the possible outcomes that might result from smiling my camera. In an instant, she decided nah, and ran back to daddy's arms to hide. It's ok, Luna, I think, the giant camera lens really isn't all that friendly looking. So I just step back and let her do her thing. She's cautious but curious, playing on the playground, working up the courage to go down the slide, and wandering around with food in her hands. And when she does finally let those smiles out, well, there's no stopping her then.
Just look at those adorable pigtails with the cow and the pig barrettes!
Kids love cake. Really. They could hardly contain themselves.
Dimple!
Happy Birthday, Luna!
Mount Tamalpais
I am not exactly an outdoorsy person. I am quite the opposite of the athletic, adventure-sports type, and I prefer to have internet and running water around as much as possible. But somehow, I rather like the idea of camping. It speaks to the quiet explorer side of me-- being able to break routine, go out to a new place, and live in it and experience it in a whole different way.
Last weekend, Ernie and I went to Mt. Tam just north of the Golden Gate Bridge for some easy camping. Lucky for me, Ernie is much more of the outdoorsy athletic type, so he did all of the hard work while I just got to tag along and breathe in nature. He even cooked a ridiculous gourmet meal over an open fire (ratatouille, potatoes, burgers, and oysters!). But then again, our second day was spent on a five-hour hike going up and down 1500 feet in elevation, which was not nearly as luxurious as I would have hoped. But I'll admit, I got some nice photographs and a lot of exercise out of the experience.
Here we are, fresh after the morning rains, embarking on the hike.
There really is something refreshing and magical about a forest covered in a thick layer of mist.
These next few photos were all shot with my LX3 point-and-shoot, since I didn't want to lug around my SLR on the hike. More proof that the camera isn't as important as the photographer. Plus, the LX3 is really extraordinary for shooting macro shots, as seen with these dew-covered plants.
And below, two photos from San Francisco (taken while at a Giants' game) a couple days later. Not part of the camping trip, but they fit the look nicely.
I'll admit I probably say this too often, but the Bay Area never ceases to amaze me. Beautiful mountains, giant grassy fields, misty trees, ocean views, mild weather, and a surprising lack of insects. Ahh, life.
Living Life- Chez Panisse
I haven't updated my blog at all this week, but it's a great thing, since I've just been too busy living life to report back about it. My boyfriend Ernie is in town for just one week for his birthday before he sets off on his army training for the reserves. I also have big plans for my photography business in the works for the next couple months. But just to tide you over, here's a glimpse of Chez Panisse for Ernie's birthday this past week. I'll be out camping this weekend, but rest assured I'll be back next week with more photos and plenty to blog.
Clam pizzetta and fancy water bottles. Photos taken by my handy LX3 point & shoot.