Just 22 days...

I've photographed many, many newborns but each time I meet a newborn for the first time, I am still amazed by their tiny-ness, their freshness... and especially by the fact that they were JUST inside their mother's womb just a week or two ago... sometimes, even just days.

Each newborn is a brand new one to me and there are never 2 babies that are alike, not even twins. Every baby behaves their own way and have their own likes and dislikes.

I am very fortunate that many new mothers have given me so much of their trust ... allowing me to work with your tiny new baby. I'm a mother of two boys and I still remember how possessive I was with my first born baby. It's definitely a mother's instinct to feel the need to protect your baby in every way you can and be a little obsessed with them and that's okay, I understand.

I am thankful for each one of you who have chosen me as your newborn / baby photographer. I thank you for your trust... especially those who had no idea that I am a mother of two. I love what I do and I'm really blessed to know that I have made a difference in your life for you... and your new family.

Here is a beautiful one I had to share, she was just 22 days young. She slept so well for me majority of the time and we managed to get some really great shots of her both sleeping and awake.

Big toes, little toes...

There is just something about a baby's toes that I truly love and I'm not even much of a toe person myself. But I still love my 2 year old's chubby little toes and kisses them whenever I get the chance to see them hanging out with no socks. I wish they can stay so tiny and cute all the time.

But I love newborn's toes... and I've realized that I can't get enough toe shots of them either. I was just finishing up an order for a client tonight... and came across these cute toe shots from their session...

Have you kissed those tiny toes today?

Diablo Magazine

One of the most popular East Bay publication,"Diablo Magazine" is now accepting votes for "Best of the East Bay 2010". It would be an honor to be featured under their Family Photography category. But I can only win this title if all of you blog readers' help me out.

Please vote for our studio - Jenny Lee Photography (voting ends on April 1st)

3 simple steps to vote:

1. Go to site: http://www.diablomag.com/Diablo-Magazine/Best-of-the-East-Bay-Ballot/ and enter your info (Your name, address, phone #, etc)

2. Scroll to the bottom and you will see the KIDS section. Under FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER, please enter our studio name "Jenny Lee Photography"

3. Answer the verification question and click SUBMIT!

That's it. You're done.

Thank you SO much for all your love and support and for always spreading the JLP love around.

XOXO.

WPPI 2010 experience

A few weeks ago, I attended one of the biggest photography convention in Vegas (WPPI: Wedding & Portrait Photographers International in Association). There were over 12,000 attendees and over 350+ vendors offering all kinds of products for photographers. I spent 3 days there checking out fun new products, attended inspirational classes and network with many talented photographers. It was a wonderful trip and I'm looking forward to WPPI 2011.

Here are some pics from my trip...

I had the chance to lunch with Vero (Vero Suh Photography) and also got to meet Nancy (Bug & Bean Photography) face-to-face for the first time. She was a sweetheart.



I finally met Ingrid Kaslik (Ingrid Kaslik Photography) for the first time as well. We've been connected on Flickr and Facebook as friends for a while but never had the chance to meet until now.

And I finally met Carrie Sandoval & Brittany Woodall (Baby as Art), they are truly a dynamic duo when it comes to newborn photography.

And I even got to meet Amy Boring (A Boring Photo) too. She was definitely NOT a boring one. Awesome fun gal. I love her cute hair accessory.

There was this superhero dude who was wearing a blue cape... he was so proud of his outfit...walking around the convention, I had to snap a shot of him... and his blue speedo.

I also ran into other friends, Mauricio and Maria (Professional Makeup Artistry) there.

Besides the convention, I even got the chance to check out the Coca-Cola store in Las Vegas. If you didn't know already, I'm in LOVE with Coke.... Love, Love, Love. I can drink it everyday but I try not to....'cuz there's alot of sugar and I should really cut back on that since we have a history of diabetic in my family. Nothing beats the true taste of Classic Coke... no, not even Pepsi.

Inside this Coke store, they had a beverage stand where you can order drinks and also get a taste of 16 different Coke from around the world. My friend, Amy and I decided to give it a try and ordered a set. It arrived in 2 trays of 8 small cups. Drink them by number as they have instructed. Now I know why you had to drink them in order because it would start out as yummy, yummy, okay, okay, bad, bad, yucky, grooosss and then yummy again towards the very end. I just remembered the Coke from Italy (which was clear in color) tasted more like Vodka than Coke. Ha! It was a really fun experience overall. I highly recommend anyone who goes to Vegas to go visit the Coke store there and try this out for themselves.







I also came across this cool LED screen on a building... what a cute PSP idea, eh?

Fundraising Online Auction...

Last year, I donated my time and talent to create a classroom project for my son's kindergarten class. It was a book called "I Wonder..." and it consist of images of every student from his classroom plus their artwork and a special quote about what they wondered in life. They all began their sentence as "I Wonder...". The book was placed on an online auction and the book was auctioned off with overwhelming responds and sold for $330 with 27 bids. My heart melted to see how much everyone wanted to purchase this book.

Besides the classroom project itself, I also donated a full Portrait Session to the school which was up for bids beginning at $175 for a full portrait session. 100% of the donation went directly to Neil Armstrong Elementary School.



Well, a year have gone by already and its auction time again. The theme this year is the Tiki Lounge. And our studio have once again, donated another Portrait Session to this fundraising auction this year. The online auction just started this week, please feel free to join in on the auction and bid on this portrait package for yourself or as a gift. (And don't forget to check out other items they have too) Bidding begins at only $175. The package includes a Portrait Session & (1) 8x10 (Package valued at $350).

Anyone can bid on this site, and anyone can have the chance to win too.

CLICK HERE to check out online Auction Page here

**Don't forget, this online auction ends Mar 29, 2010 @ 7:00 PM PDT**

Modern Keepsake Album

I love designing the pages for my albums. After all, my creative background started in Design, and then I found my 2nd career in Photography. Now Design & Photography have become my deepest passion. I feel so lucky to be able to do what I truly love with my career and I'm able to work with so many wonderful people who have given me so much trust each and everyday.

Here's an example of a 30 page layout for our Modern Keepsake album that I just completed. These albums comes in a variety of colors and materials, and also in 2 different sizes - 8x8 or 10x10. They are perfect for you and your baby to flip through together as they grow older. It's just like a storybook..but about them. One of the cutest things about babies is that, almost all babies love to look at other babies and finds it really fascinating, especially themselves. Just give them a mirror or show them a photo album, its really true.

Now I can't wait to deliver this to this one to my client soon.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

It's been a crazy week. I just got back from Vegas (WPPI convention) earlier this week and is still recovering from that over this weekend. Needless to say, the photography convention was just information overload and I was completely overstimulated from the entire place... people were everywhere, booths everywhere, lots and lots of walking, classes to attend, night time events, people to meet... and many more.

Somehow I knew I would need time to get back on schedule and I did not schedule any photo shoots for this weekend. I knew I needed to rest and I'm glad I did, especially when we had to lose an hour for daylight savings. Whew! So I got to spend time with the boys on Saturday and then even got a haircut today (although my hairstylist took 4.5 hours to finish, yes, I said 4.5, that's right, crazy, eh?)

So I spent the sunny Saturday afternoon down in Monterey Bay Aquarium with the kiddies and had a wonderful time. Aidan loved every minute of it and asked to come back when we were leaving the place. Cooper was busy touching all the starfish and seaweed at the touch pool area.

Of course, I brought my camera ...couldn't miss taking shots of those oh-so-amazing jellyfish there. They're just too beautiful. Watching them swim in that blue tank is just SO amazing. Watching all these sea life creatures makes me wonder how life would be if I could actually live under the sea.... what a beautiful world they live in. I still wonder if there is such thing as a Mermaid....no one really knows. But I still like to think there is though.

I have quite a few to share this time... I must've gone picture happy.

Watching these jellyfish swim was completely mesmerizing....


Can't you tell Aidan was completely mesmerized as well....


Without the light inside the tank...these tiny jellyfish was completely transparent.


Cooper liked the jellyfish too...but was ready to see other stuff after 2 mins of this.




Waiting for Cooper to use the bathroom as we studied the map in the lobby area....


Thinking about something... (or was he just posing for me?)....no I didn't ask him to pose either.




He's trying to catch a fish in that tank....




Watching sharks swim by us was amazing....


That's Dory, the fish from Nemo, you know, the forgetful one....yes, my nickname is also Dory.


This is my favorite shot...just simple as it is. My curious little boy.


We ended our journey with some yummy snack at the cafe -Jello with whip cream on top. (it was all about the whip cream)

{ Remember } the Outtakes

From every photo session, there will be some shots that I would end up having to throw away... shots like blinking eyes, baby cries, baby grabbing his own face, 'oh-I'm-not-ready' expression shots or just sibling poking at baby's eyeball, etc. Usually, I would just throw those out and it'll never see the light of day... but this year, I've decided to keep them in a separate folder, which I would sometimes look back to and just laugh. Well, I figured it might actually be entertaining to let a few of those shots out to see some light.

Here are my Top 3 favorite outtakes from this year.

This gorgeous mama gets a feel of what a true spit-up looks like on her nice black top.


This baby sleeps comfortably with his binky and reminds us to always give PEACE a chance.


And this shot here, was taken towards the very end of our session. I truly believe that a baby can speak through body language. I mean, tell me that's not true here. My dear sweet little one, thanks for letting me know that you are SO done with me ... 'cause I didn't realize that you've sent me a special message until I came home to edit this shot.

WPPI 2010: Las Vegas

Just 4 more days to go, I will be in Vegas sipping cocktails ... mingling and meeting many talented photographers from around the world... touching and feeling brand new products.... attending photography classes.... and just being inspired... at the yearly WPPI event in beautiful
Las Vegas.

WPPI is one of the largest and most popular photography convention for wedding and portrait photographers. This year, there will be 12,000 photographers there from all around the world to share stories, share knowledge and just be creatively inspired.

I can't wait to be there again this year to learn new things, meet new faces and find new and fun products to offer for all my clients.

The countdown is on... Viva La Vegas Baby!