Happy New Years!

My gosh... I can't believe we're saying goodbye to 2008 and welcoming in 2009 tonight!

2008 has been especially a good year for me. I've been very fortunate to be able to pursue my love for photography and I have to thank all of you for EVERYTHING!

THANK YOU to you, the new parents, who chose me to enter your home to take precious moments with your newborn baby (and allowing me to move your furniture around lol), to the parents who had me capture their baby's laughter and at milestones during the 1st year, to the families who I had so much fun with taking silly family portraits that it was hard for me to keep a straight face!

A HUGE thank you to the couples who had me document their big day, their wedding day! Wow, it was amazing to be part of each wedding and I found myself on more than a few occasions a little bit teary eyed from the emotions and the love that I was witnessing.

Also a BIG thanks to those who referred me to their friends! My photography services took off because of word of mouth referrals. Yes, my gazillions postings on facebook did help a bit but it was the REFERRALS that made 2008 a success. Thank you for believing in me.

To Vinster and my friends who put up with me with all my photography chatter - THANK YOU for being my soundboard and being my support system and pushing me to do better. You guys are my rock!

Wow... I started off this blog entry thinking that I was going to do something short but there are lots of people to thank and there are even more people that I would like to thank too for all their support in the present and the past.

I'm learning and growing everyday as a photographer and I feel as though I have just begun this journey because there's so much that I want to do. Thank you for sharing this journey with me so far. I am so THRILLED to see what 2009 brings!

Happy New Year to all of you!!!

Love,
mika

oh Vegas, here I come... (and an update from my post vacation)

I'll be in Vegas tomorrow after THREE legs of flight..

flight #1: Vancouver to Portland
flight #2: Portland to Seattle
flight #3: Seattle to Vegas

In my defense, these Alaska Airlines tickets were the cheapest and most convenient when we purchased it 4 months ago! Now, on Allegiant Air, they are 1/3 of the price and of course one flight will get you there! Hmphh!


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UPDATE! As of Jan 1 , 2009

Have you ever had that feeling after a vacation, you need a vacation from your vacation?? Don't know if that makes sense but I think I had the vacation blues after coming back from Vegas!

Vegas on a whole was great!!! The flight there was good - I don't remember most of the three legs of flight there which I guess is a good thing. Awesome shopping at the Fashion Mall and the outlets - an unfortunate sign of the recession times but for the shopper like me, not bad! I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show "Mystiere" at Treasure Island and I felt like I wanted to join them bouncing around!!! Gosh, does Cirque breed these super people? I imagine that they have some factory in the middle of nowhere where they manufacture these acrobats. Incredible!

It snowed while we were in Vegas - but it didn't stick to the ground so it was more like a sprinkle of snow but the locals were amazed. They said it only happens once every couple of years.

Anyway, back to the vacation blues. I guess that once you step away from what you're doing everyday and you go off on a vacation and you come back to your "regular routine", you feel an overwhelming sense of "holy moly, I can't believe I've been doing ALL of this this whole time!". Well, that's the feeling that I got when I returned so for about a week and a half I took it easy and let my brain take a vacation meaning I was still working my full time job but no endless hours of post processing or shoots. Just having oodles of quality time with the people around me and especially my baby nephew Kaden during Christmas.

This was my first time that I haven't blogged for more than 2 weeks! So I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and made memories that will keep you laughing for years to come.

MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS!!

:) mika

Newborn Baby Taye at almost 4 weeks old! Baby Photography Session

Okay, I admit it... I've been bad! This photo session was taken a couple of months ago and I got behind on my updates!

Newborn baby Taye is such a little sweetie...a beautiful little boy! We did this photo session when he was almost 4 weeks old so he still curled up at times. If a baby room can be described as "baller", his would be! Such a cozy room and he already has his jackets hung up for when he's older.

Thank you to mom Jenn & dad Kevin...it was a pleasure taking photos of your new family!

Mary & Cuong - Wedding Sneak Peek!

Mary and Cuong got married after 11 years together!!! Yes, that's ELEVEN years! Here's a sneak peek from their wedding on November 15th...I'm in the midst of post processing the photos :)

Congrats Mary & Cuong! Can't wait to show you all the photos!

TGIF!

Finally figured it out! Woohoo!

Just a note - on some computer screens the photos on this blog look pixelated (is that a word?) After scratching my head about this I finally figured it out so hopefully after this there will be no more pixelated photos here! If you find that the photos are dark or blurry or if the photos are uploading really slowly on your computer, email me and let me know :)

Thanks in advance for looking out for me!
mika

Baby Audrey at 3 months with her Sisters!

Last month I had the opportunity to photograph baby Audrey with her 2 very energetic sisters Claire and Emma :) The girls were a joy to photograph - I've taught Claire piano before so I'm sure it was a different experience for her to have her piano teacher come to her house to take photos instead.

This photo session is the first of 3 sessions that we will do throughout Audrey's first year - the next one will be when she is 6 months old and then when she is 1 years old. It's a great idea to take photographs at these stages as it'll document Audrey's first year and her growth! I can't wait!

Thank you to Tonya, Ray and Auntie Maria! We'll do this again at the end of January!

Here are some photos from our photo session - these girls are such a delight!



adorable Audrey!










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Thank you for viewing the photos :)
location: Vancouver
Baby & Children's Portraitures

I love FALL Weddings... Kim & Eugene

This November has been busy busy busy! Which means that I've been falling WAY behind on posting up photos from recent photo sessions and the 2 weddings that I've done over the past 3 weeks! So here's a teaser from Kim & Eugene's magical wedding day on November 2... :)

TGIF!

Another sneak preview of adorable baby Audrey who is all smiles! Couldn't resist posting this one up now!

Kayoko and Phil 's Wedding Reception at Hotel Vancouver

At the tail end of summer I was hired to take reception photos for Kayoko and Phil's wedding at the beautiful Hotel Vancouver. Their wedding reception was grand yet it was one of the most intimate weddings that I have experienced. The reception decor could be described as "classic girlie" since everything was pink! Endless pink lush flowers, pink bows on the seat covers and the second dress that Kayoko wore was pink and so was Phil's tie at one point!

Their daytime photographer was their friend Taka Kuwata of Kuwata Photography (www.KuwataPhotography.com) who's an awesome fashion and wedding photographer in Vancouver and on top of that a VERY nice guy!

Congratulations to Kayoko and Phil! Thank you for having me photograph your big night!
Here are some photos from the night... enjoy!







I love the mother/daughter shots

On this Remembrance Day...

On this Canadian Remembrance Day....I remember an American WWII veteran which I called "grandpa".

Grandpa Nouchi was Japanese-American, born in Hawaii and was in his early 20's when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He quickly enlisted in the army to fight as an American. He joined the 442nd Infantry Regiment, an all Japanese-American combat team who had enlisted to show their loyalty to the U.S. at a time when anyone Japanese was the enemy in the States and in Canada.

Grandpa sailed away and didn't come back to Hawaii or to his wife for the next 3 years. He fought in the front lines in Italy and then in France in the Bruyeres region near Germany.

I was lucky to spend a whole summer with him a few years back. We often shared a papaya, watched Price is Right together and then watched the same war documentary video on the 442nd Infantry Regiment. He would reminisce about the battles his infantry was successful in and would proudly talk about the time he went to one of Hitler's summer houses after the Germans were defeated - he took some pebbles from the fireplace, slipped it in his pocket and has kept it ever since for show. Grandpa would also tell me about the ways him and the other soldiers kept their socks dry as they were fighting in the trenches and would go for weeks without changing or taking a shower. It was simple - they kept their extra socks by putting it on their head under their helmet~! He told me that because he was quite tall for an Asian, they put him in Company M, which was the heavy guns and artillery which would be more back of the combat line. The shorter soldiers would be on the very front line and it was not uncommon for them to be killed in action. The 442nd Infantry Regiment had a high casualty rate and was often referred to as the "Purple Heart Batallion" because of the unusually high casualty rate.

Grandpa didn't talk about the tragedies he experienced on and off the battleground. As we would watch the war documentaries, I would glance over at him and try to wrap my head around even a sliver of what this man had experienced physically and psychologically during his years as a front line soldier.

So today I think about and remember Grandpa Nouchi. Thank you Grandpa for teaching me and touching my life.




Grandpa looking suave at the Pukalani Obon festival in Maui.



Grandpa and me - both my real grandfathers passed away before I was born so I was more than happy to call Grandpa Nouchi, "grandpa"

Here's how I'm feeling today...

The Yensons - One year later, one more baby!

Last year I was delighted when my friend Nana asked me to take family photos for her Christmas cards. They had 20 month old Adam and a new baby on the way!

Fast forward to this year and once again it's fall time and photos for Christmas cards with 2.5 year old big brother Adam and their newest addition, 6 month old Abby who is just a laid back cutie.

Here's some photos from our photo session at Rocky Point in Port Moody. Thanks Nana and Paul, can't wait till you guys move back to Vancouver and for spring time family photos!

More photos from this session are on the photostory / slideshow below :)












location: Rocky Point, Port Moody

**NEW** Photostory aka Slideshow

Since a couple of years ago I've been hooked on creating slideshows or "photostories" as I like to call them. I've worked on personal projects as well as photostories / slideshows for weddings of friends and although it encompasses many hours to create, there's something special about moving photographs that flow to the music and it evokes emotion.

I'm now offering mini photostories to any of the photo sessions as an add-on. It's like a moving photo album which is great to keep and share with friends.

Here's a photostory of the Yensons from our photo session last month.

Enjoy!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Ooo... it's that time of year!

This is the first year that there's a baby in our family to dress up! Here's Kaden at 4 months old as Mr. Pumpkin and the Pillsbury Doughboy although I think he pulls off a rather distinguished chef Gordon Ramsay of Hell's Kitchen.

This year I think I'm going watch my first horror movie in years....I'm such a chicken when it comes to horror flicks. The movie? Amityville which my co-worker lent me...

Have a happy and safe Hallowe'en!

Custom Baby Announcements!

With all the newborn baby photos I've been taking in the last couple of months, I've started to make custom baby announcements! Here's a sample for baby Madison who I took photos of last month. I can customize to include the full name, birthdate, birthweight and parents name.

Do ask me for more details :)

Baby Colin at 3 Months Old! Family Photo Session

How time goes oh so fast! Back in July I took photos of tiny newborn Colin at 1 week old and now he's 3 months old! He smiles and laughs and he's very charismatic! With baby Bob Marley tunes playing in the background we did an indoor and then a quick outdoor photo session at a park nearby.

Thanks again to parents Alex & Candace (hope you guys use the photos for your Christmas cards :)









location: Richmond