Above: The transition between spring and summer is always a wonderful time of the year. When the perfect location is found, wildflowers are abundant and fill up your frame beautifully. (More photos from this shoot to come!)

Below: The wedding of Grace and Kmong was heartfelt and beautiful. We were so fortunate to be able to share that special day with them.

Fall is undeniably the most striking season and we took full advantage of it. The cool autumn breeze was a bit nippy but I figured since Mai Zua played a mean game of flag football, a few goosebumps wouldn’t be able to take her down. Mai Zua is my nephew’s beautiful girlfriend.

Always take a walk around your neighborhood, you never know what you’re going to find. We hit the jackpot when we stumbled upon this enchanting weeping willow -the bonus? an apple tree right next door! Yes, we are easy to please and little Anabelle was the perfect addition to our secret garden!

We met up with Maikue and family over the summer and instantly fell in love with their kids; especially, the little guy… he was full of energy and laughter, the way all kids should be.

After a maternity session with the radiant Viola, we followed up 9 months later to photograph her darling baby girl. Felicity had the most beautiful lashes a baby girl could ever have. *sigh*

This set of photos of my wonderful cousin Nou and I were taken during the summer. I couldn’t ask for a better “sista from another mista!” We used to take studio pics together once a year (picture whoring is a family trait) so this photo shoot was long overdue.

Lizzy came to her shoot armed with her helpful sisters and lots of creative ideas. She owned the downtown Portland scene that afternoon. This particular photo stood out for us; it has a magazine editorial feel to it.

Our senior session with Lilly was set in a completely remote nursery. Rows and rows of natural texture lined our shoot. It was hauntingly beautiful. (More photos from this shoot to come!)

I don’t care what anyone says, Mai Yer is the Hmong Kelly Hu! We had so much fun with these two hotties, can’t wait to do more shoots with them in the future!

It could not have been any muggier on the day of Pa’s family photo shoot but it went fairly smooth because of how patient they were. Pa is a sweetheart, she gifted us her picnic basket after the shoot! Thanks again Pa. =)

I remember this day vividly because I almost fainted from trying to become the human bubble machine…I don’t recommend it. =/ We met Betty when we first moved to Oregon and let me tell you, she is just as beautiful in person -not fair right?! I know! =p

Susan is one of those people who make us love what we do. =) We found this spot scouting a few days beforehand and couldn’t wait to shoot Susan underneath this breathtaking canopy of trees. The photo below is one of our favorites because of its enchanted Cinderella feel.

This photo below is one of our all-time favorite bridal portraits. Susan was the perfect elegant bride to match the mood needed under this seclusion of trees.

The photo below is currently framed and enshrined on our personal wall of portraits. The magical Avenue of the Giants should be on every picture whore’s bucket list. ;p

A sunny day in the cold of winter bought us just enough time to capture this photo at the Grand Canyon; definitely another bucket list place to visit. The high noon sun provided the perfect rim light for this faux summery winter photo.

Miles and miles of vibrant California poppies made this day a special one. It was SO worth the 2hr drive!

Some spots take a good drive, others require you to look no further than around the corner. That was where we found this golden field of wild flowers. A mid-summer dream is what comes to mind when I think of this day.

Kristy is another ridiculously gorgeous woman! What I love about this photo is the detail that was captured: the sun-kissed shoulders, the wind blown hair… the textured goosebumps… the layers of waves touching the shore; they really set the mood of a breezy day at the beach.

It was the first time, after a decade of promises to visit, they finally made a trip out to California. YAY! I think that’s why this photo was so memorable for us. To be able to capture this moment in time for them was special.

One of my favorite photos of Sue is below. Her playful personality and perfect smile really shines through in this photo.

This photo is foam board mounted and blown up on our wall of portraits. It is one of my favorites because of the peaceful zen-like mood that’s portrayed within it.

We took this photo very early in the year… the seemingly suspended oak tree is what makes this photo unique.

Ty calls this one the “Ice Queen”. Truthfully, it should be called the “Frozen One” because it was buurrrr cold that day.

This shoot was memorable for the ethereal glow the setting sun provided. This remote rocky hillside paints a picture in my mind of what the rolling hills of Scotland would look like (except I imagine Scotland to be 100 times more breathtaking).

And last but not least.. one of our most recent photos. It is special because we have very few “nice” photos of the both of us. We definitely plan to use our tripod more often, so look forward to more photos of us this coming year. Yays! (More photos from this shoot to come)

We’d like to sincerely thank all of you for visiting our site; especially those of you who take the time to leave your kind words. It really motivates us to share more of our work. 2010 was full of cherished memories and we met so many wonderful new friends. We can’t wait to see what 2011 brings! This year we hope to share with you many more photo-ventures, photography tutorials and NEW video tutorials!

With lots of love… Kay and Ty

These wedding photos we took of Kristy and Sue were long overdue ladies! ahaha, you both looked breathtakingly beautiful…and also, thanks, I looked like a mess next to the two of you! =d Of course, all my happy visions of white and tulle couldn’t have been possible without the help of our dear friends and newlyweds, Doan and Alice. These were Alice’s wedding gowns from their June wedding (>click here< for pics!) and she has been kind enough to lend them to me and also to give one away for an upcoming contest we will be having here on our blog! The details of the contest will be given out soon so check back!

Here’s a BTS shot of the street corner session we did.

BTS shot of the street corner shoot

The key thing for this shoot was to wait until the sun was setting away for the nice golden light. This gave us about an 1hr to shoot before the “good light” was gone. We used a Photoflex medium softbox powered by two remote SB600 speedlights rigged wirelessly like how i showed in my previous Radio Popper splitter post.

Using the sun as an edge light

Free edge light: The SUN! With the picture above, we used the setting sunlight as an edge light… another reason to shoot during sunset. In hindsight, I should’ve asked Kay to turn her body towards me just a little bit more so that the edge light was not so strong.

Sun’s gone

With the shot above, the direct sunlight was gone.. you can see the overall cooler color tone and a faint edge lighting from the side. Below is a blah shot of yours truly. Kay wouldn’t let me post w/o putting one of me up. Sorry to end this post in such a sour note lol. Thanks for stopping by.

oh no!

I’ll post a few more pics later on but I just wanted to share a few of the headshots since I thought the ladies looked so pretty. I absolutely LOVED the colorful eye make-up and the make-up artist -my sis. =) She did this look on me when I visited last and I liked it so much I made a post about it, Make-up Magic by May.

So it’s finally Friday, yes! We have Jonathan’s 2nd birthday to go to and where there’s a birthday boy, there is a birthday cake to be found -which is where I will be found. =p Anyways, have a great weekend everyone!!

AND she is so good in front of the camera! The auntie proud-o-meter just went clear off the charts! <3

She was showing me her wand, like in Harry Potter. Too cute!

The weather was perfect (but still no clouds! darn!), she looked gorgeous in the dress… and I learned a valuable lesson: Never wear shorts in a photo shoot in itchy, weedy dry grass fields. I forgot to take a Behind The Scenes shot because it started to get dark, and we started hearing strange noises that spooked us. Here are some pictures below, doesn’t she look most magnanimous? lol (bonus points if you can guess that movie reference)

Did you know I had no idea how to hula hoop until my niece, Katalina, decided to take it upon herself to reconcile the matter. “Come on, it’s easy” she assured me. And let me tell you, I hadn’t felt that kind of pressure in a long time…but I should have known better than to doubt the abilities of one determined little cutie patootie. She really is something special and the best darn hula hoop teacher ever!

**I miss you a whole lot Kitty!

Thank goodness I don’t need to look too far for people to put in front of the camera when I go home for visits, bless their picha-loving souls. Pahnia being one of them. And we made her Mr. Dimples join in on the fun too. I really wanted to put these two outdoors on picture day but the weather wouldn’t cooperate (shame on you!) and rained on my hopeful little parade. I definitely felt more comfortable shooting inside with the speedlights but I would have much preferred taking the pictures outdoors; there’s no better setting than the great outdoors.

**Thanks Pahnia and Mr. Dimples for being patient during times when this photography thingamajigger left me dazed and confused. You should have seen me when I was new to being a noob; it would have scarred you for life, take my word for it.

The next on-location shoot I’m looking forward to is a shoot on a dry desert lake bed. I can picture it already… the sunset, clouds, and the GF in a flowy dress standing on the cracked desert lake bed. I told her the next weekend we see clouds in the sky, we’re taking a road trip out to the desert!!

Anyways, here are a few more pics… just b’cuz they were staring at me on my desktop.

Thanks for reading, and as always.. feel free to leave comments, suggestions or any questions. Even though this stuff is still relatively new to me, I’m more than willing to share anything that might be helpful for anyone interested.

- tyger