We can’t believe another year has passed already, wow! Time really does fly by fast when you’re having fun by golly! I know this post is a few weeks late, but better late than never no? Below are some of our favorite photos from 2012. Some of the photos were chosen because we just absolutely loved them, while others were chosen because of great and lasting memories made during the session. We are so darn grateful to have seen and captured so much love, laughter, and cute little ones! A very special thank you to all of our wonderful clients this past year who have made our job more rewarding and meaningful than we could have ever imagined.

Above: Kay and I both have a bucket list of “Places to Photograph”. And thanks to our family of friends in the midwest, we can now check off “sunflower field”. Yay!

Below: We’ve always wanted a session in a remote orchard. When our couple held their wedding at a chapel with a nearby hazelnut orchard, we were ecstatic! It was also a memorable moment because we took our bride and groom and their WHOLE bridal party, pulled up to the side of the orchard (did not see any signs), ran in.. snapped furiously, then drove off. We call that guerilla photography… you know? shoot and run. =/

These two photos were from a valentines engagement session. You do not always need your subjects to be fully lit to tell a story. A simple silhouette can go a long way. The story behind the second photo was that we had been envisioning something cool with lots of bokeh but nothing came to mind…so, we decided to take a stroll through Michaels and see if anything caught our eye. Kay’s eagle eyes with a love for all things glittery, caught sight of these glittery string of hearts and the rest as they say is history. =p

It’s extra special because these are my little nephews AND also because I love it when a family isn’t afraid to dress up!

Earlier last winter we had our first snowfall! It was a memorable for us because with Kay being away from home (Midwest) for so long, she kinda, sorta, possibly, missed the snow (as long as it’s only one day of it). There’s just something quite captivating about falling snow, even at 1AM in the morning.

One of our favorite photos because it’s so simple yet, captures so much between our couple.

Another of our personal projects. The year prior, we noticed the beautiful cherry(?) blossom at a small corner down the street but were not able to photograph it before it was gone. This year, we were ready and waiting! One of our “Shot list” locations is a cherry orchard. Anyone know of an accessible cherry orchard?

Kathy and Eric was such a sweet couple. We loved their Harry Potter themed session and these two photos in particular! The battle begins and the battle won. =)

Malay and David’s family was hands down one of the cutest family sessions we’ve done! We loved their bright smiles and positive energy! Four little ones and all so sweet natured… how do they do it? =)

Kay and Ty random fact of the day: Lori (pictured below) is Kay’s younger sister and we gauge the number of years we’ve been together off of how old her daughter is…cause we can’t remember things so well in our old age. Lori was pregnant when we first met each other and in other fun facts, Lori is expecting her second child due this February! How exciting!! That means we have to mark another milestone in our relationship now…hmmmm

Private beach in their backyard!! Enough said!! =D Actually, this was one of the last shots as it was getting dark quick but it pays to be shutter happy because it’s one of our favorites, look at the moon, the reflection! oh yeah!

Rebbecca and her family…oh, just one of the coolest ever! They splished, they splashed, they fished and they made it into our favorites because they weren’t afraid to get dirty and had a blast while doing it!

Gaohli is one of the most fashionable women we know and not to mention, a great mom to three sweet little ones (two at the time of this photo since she was still pregnant and glowing during this session). We absolutely adore this family! By the way, how cute is mom and her girls baking in the kitchen?!

Colleen and Andy are such a great couple and we wanted to come up with something extra fun for them since they were celebrating their anniversary. They enjoy traveling so we put this together for them!

The inspiration behind this session was all their love letters they had written to one another over the years. Big AWWWW for all the romantics out there!

We love when certain locations allow us the opportunity to capture widescape shots. It tells such a beautiful story when you find a fitting frame and ask your couples to simply walk into the frame…taking a quite moment to themselves. The second photo of all of their cutie patootie little flower girls was just too, well–CUTE not to include!

These two made a trip back to Portland where it all started for them. We couldn’t have been happier with getting to meet and spend time with them aside from their big day. We’re big on willow trees so that along with the gorgeous back-light and Rita’s equally gorgeous smile made these some of our quick favorites.

Beautiful couple, great location, and playful interaction means we had a hard time deciding which ones were our favorites from this session but we finally narrowed it down to these three. We love this session because it almost didn’t happen! Thanks Millie for finding the perfect beach.

Kay has an awesome family!! Hey, who’s writing this anyhow?! =p Kay: We were so honored to shoot their wedding! Beautiful couple inside and out as many will agree with me on. We love Kajua and John!

This cool kid was adorable beyond words! He was a little trooper during the session as well so we couldn’t help but just adore the heck out of him. =p

You can’t go wrong with a beautiful wall of ivy and a couple sharing a sweet kiss in-front of it…quite a natural thing I tell ya! And they have a ginormous bunny named Moose! How cool is that?!

Our favorite getting ready shot of the beautiful bride and her bridesmaids. The lighting could not have been any prettier in this room!

When the direction of light is right, magic happens! The tender moment is another reason we like this photo so much!

We love Penny and her sisters because although you can’t tell by looking at this photo…it sure was a rough hike for them/us to get to this spot. You know what though, that trail always hurts so good; it’s one of our favorite places to shoot but we get a mean workout out of it every time–especially lugging gear or props along, yikes! None of that translated into the photos and we were quite happy with how their photos turned out and this one in particular is one of our favorites.

I just loved how the setting sun lit up the waist high grass. Add to the photo two gorgeous people and it’s winning time! lol

When we were going through their post, the youthful energy and laughter of kids in this one made us both smile simultaneously so of course it had to be a part of our favorites.

Fahm was one of our favorite brides because although the sky rained down on her wedding, she didn’t let it ruin her special day. The beautiful rose garden (with the all-time most perfect rose) sealed it for us.

Although we don’t have children yet, when we shoot family sessions, there are just some kids that are so stinkin cute that it makes you start contemplating whether it’s time or not. That doesn’t happen often but during this session with Maria and her family…we felt the bond these three had and it kind of melted our hearts a little. =) And that second photo of little Alessandra with her panda friends? Frame it please Maria! lol

Of course you cannot forget a girl who wants to spend her birthday with us! Pauline has such a beautiful warm personality that you can’t help but get excited to photograph her! We loved this photo of the lovely Pauline with just a few cute and simple props to enhance her birthday themed session.

I just love the golden sunset in this photo of Cindy. There’s just no light that can replace natural light.

In the middle of a tall grove of evergreens there was a pop of orange. This made our list because of two things: 1. the bokehliciousness from our new lensbaby (do you see the raindrops too?) and 2. Of all places to photograph.. would you ever imagine a freeway rest stop to be this beautiful?

One of our favorite weddings (will blog this one soon!) for so many reasons: 1. We were able to celebrate with our family and friends! Will always cherish that. 2. Beautiful venue in a place you would never expect. 3. Rita and Kay falling in a decades worth of love, with a major part being long distance.. much like our own pretty geeky story. <3

Nita and her super lovable, super photogenic kids were fun to photograph because of all the behind the scenes action! As props go, we had our eyes on this little ladder, lol, it’s just too perfect for kids portraits and look how adorable Brooklyn looks posing on it!

Sometimes we can’t help but get wrapped up into the love story of our couples. Mao and Lee’s sweet and tender first look moment left us teary eyed. Their beautiful Midwestern church was the perfect backdrop for exchanging vows.

Edge of the world! Ok, this is another session we haven’t shared yet.. but even the sneak peek photos made our list! What an amazing afternoon spent with two amazing people at an amazing location. Yes I just said amazing 4 times!

Definitely one of our favorite photos of the year… how perfect was it that we ended Tou and Susie’s day under long shadows of the setting sun.

Sometimes you just let the moment speak for itself. Sans noisy light from a flash strobe… I love this captured moment, the tender intimacy of Lynne & Hai’s first dance.

Thank you.
It’s been such a rewarding year for us. We can’t thank God, our family, friends and clients enough for their love, support and encouragement. Kay and I both just cannot wait to experience what this year will introduce to us. We hope to meet many new people and develop many more friendships along the way.

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