November 5, 2016

currently exploring: Panama

Wondering why I'm not booking or blogging sessions these days? In July, I tied up loose ends and photographed my last few families of the year, and now it's been more than two months now since my family made our move to Panama. We're living, working, and schooling here for ten months, and we're loving it. We're located in Panama's interior, about four hours from the capital, in the perfect place for exploring the mountains, beaches, and towns off the beaten path. If you'd like to follow our adventures, we're posting over at our blog: Panama-ah! (like the Van Halen song).

















I CAN NOT WAIT for the weather to make up its mind, so that I can start shooting at the beach! So in the meantime, I'm thinking back to the end of beach weather last year when I photographed this sweet family for the second time. It was great to see little S as a one-year-old after photographing her as a newborn not so long ago. I have a feeling she's going to grow up to love the water. She was headed for it from the moment we stepped onto the sand!




 









Oh, this baby! I couldn't be more excited for these two! Shinji and Jenn have been close friends since before our kids were born. They took good care of us when we had newborns by bringing Chinese food from Jenn's family's restaurant or Japanese food that Shinji had made. They always bring souvenirs to the girls, green tea to me, and curry to my husband when they visit our beloved Japan. They are the reason why my kids can eat with chopsticks! So I was super excited for them to start their own family. In Chinese culture, mama and baby stay at home for the first forty days, so it was important for us to shoot sweet baby girl at their house. She one week new in these images! As meaningful as it is for me to see Jenn as a mother, loving on her little one, I'm not surprised at how naturally she has settled into the role. But it's been really cool to watch Shinji go from carefree college student (I was his English teacher years ago!) to being totally smitten with this tiny person. I think his love for Jenn and Baby M comes through in the images we captured!











The day we met up was actually moving day for this sweet family. A couple years ago, they moved up from St. John's County to be closer to downtown, which means they're closer to me, too! I'm always asking Leslie for restaurant recommendations in Riverside because there's always something new opening, and she stays on top of it. My kind of friend! :) So it was fitting that we chose to shoot in the hub of Riverside, Five Points. The girls explored for a while and we ended our time together with coffees and milks at Brew. My favorite images are the ones where somebody's sucking a thumb or playing with mama's hair. They'll grow out of those habits one day, but hopefully Leslie can still look back and remember those moments. I have way too many shots to share from this session!