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Jackie just got married and asked Maria and I to give her a high fashion Couture Bridal Shoot! We were more than happy to fulfill her wish and Nicole Ha even made her a fabulous bouquet for the shoot. Jackie was an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G model, like incredible, she took absolutely no work at all! We started off doing hair and make-up at Maria's house, then headed around town for some fun shooting. We started off in between some vines for something pretty then found some old dug up trees that looked a little a little creepy and they worked perfectly for a little high fashion feel. Here's a taste of Jackie rockin' the shoot!
Hair + Make-up | Maria Chang PMA
Flowers | Nicole Ha |
To honor Maria and her husband's 20th wedding anniversary, Maria and I decided to give her a Couture Boudoir! This was a shoot where we wanted to try a few new things that we hadn't done too much of, specifically play with a flash I had dug up (quantum q flash) and shoot in a shower. Maria decided she wanted a lot of moody, dark and sultry images so she named her shoot theme {Noir} and wore black for each look. We had so much fun, the shoot lasted over 12 hours! To help out I brought my sister Lindsay, who actually assists Maria at weddings. Maria's neighbor and friend Camille came over to help out along with Maria's nephew, Mauricio for the last scene of the night.
BELOW IS A SLIDESHOW OF OUR SHOOT: Maria completely rocked this shoot, so much that I can't wait to shoot her again! Check out the slideshow if you dare... If you are a little shy, afraid of minor nudity or sexiness PLEASE DO NOT PRESS PLAY. You have been warned :)
Oh, and Happy 20th Anniversary to Maria and Roger Chang! I love you guys!
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Here is sweet little commentary from Maria about the shoot:
Never, never, never in a million years did I dream that… at 38 years old and 155 pounds, having had two kids, with less than a perfect body… would I have the courage to expose myself by having a boudoir photography session.
Being the oldest daughter of a huge family, I’ve always had to be a responsible and reliable person. I am also very caring and a people pleaser so I tend to put myself last. All these years I’ve taken myself for granted, mother & wife but forgot the woman.
Never in my life have I placed so much attention on myself, in preparation for this photo shoot, I’ve done things that I never had the motivation to do before: I started eating right, going to the gym, going shopping for sexy things, taking care of my skin and hair… And practice my sexy poses in the mirror for hours. I noticed the obvious physical changes but I also found that I was changing my lifestyle and how it positively affected all those around me. I’ve always been a confident assertive woman but now I also feel vibrant, alive, and sexy!
Why did I decide to do this?
First, August 5th will be my 20th wedding anniversary. It has been so much fun seeing my husband eyes light up when he takes a peak at my photos. The kind of spark I so long ago first saw when we started dating 20 years ago. It has definitely sparked a new found passion in us, my husband LOVES the sexy new me! He definitely doesn’t mind if I spend a day at the spa getting beautified or if I go on a big sexy clothing shopping spree. He’s also taking great care of himself now!
Secondly, I did it for ME… and for other women like ME. Simple every day women who day dream of what it would be like to be a model for a day or wonder if there is a sexy woman inside somewhere. I now understand the symbolism of women burning their bras in the 60’s; they paved the way for women to have choices in their lives. Who knew taking off your bra can be so liberating!
Third, I couldn’t pass the opportunity to be photographed by my friend, hero and mentor: Jennifer Skog.
I am in awe of Jen’s mad skills and the ability she has to make you feel empowered and sexy. I LOVE my photos and I will surely treasure them for life… it is a constant reminder that I am alive!
And Lastly, I wanted to show our clients that we strongly believe in what we do and we wouldn’t make them do anything we wouldn’t do ourselves. I am very proud of the work we do and it is so rewarding when we get countless emails from our clients telling us how the photos changed their lives and they definitely want to repeat the experience. We’re coming after YOU next! |
First and foremost, I was completely blown away when I received a call from makeup artist and thi cosmetics owner, Taylor Pham, to collaborate with several other professionals for a shoot. Then when she informed me that it was for a potential magazine, I was really nervous and excited all at the same time. As if it couldn't get any better, I received an email message letting us know that we got the cover of Audrey Magazine's Bridal Issue! Woo-Hoo! My first Cover Shot! We ran out to all of the stores until my mom finally found it at a Borders in San Francisco. My mom was so excited she bought about 7 copies. When she got up in line to pay the cashier asked what the big deal was about the magazine to have so many copies, my mom gushed, my daughter is on the cover! The lady was in awe of how beautiful my mom's daughter was until my mom corrected herself and said "No, my daughter SHOT the cover".
Audrey Magazine | The Asian American Women's Lifestyle Magazine
Makeup by Taylor Pham, Thi Cosmetics
Hair by Umbrella Salon
Wardrobe Styling by Mimi Tran Rickett
Gowns provided by Gabrielle's Bridal Atelier
Vintage Head Piece by Amy Kuschel
Jewelry by Janet Falkner
Shot at Saratoga Inn and Saratoga Mountain Winery
Floral Design by Nicole Ha
Model Lada Engchawadeshasilp
Photography by Jennifer Skog |
Last Thursday I got the opportunity to participate in a press event hosted by Thi Cosmetics. Taylor Pham od Thi Cosmetics is one if the best hair and make-up artists of our wedding industry and I absolutely love whenever I get to work with both her and her business partner, Mimi. The night was a huge success with the help from Gloria Wong Design {formerly Sash & Sugar}, Passiflora Designs, Enhanced Lighting, Jen's Cakes and Studio MSV. Guests were greeted with champagne, dessert and got to sit in the beauty seat to get Thi's Lush Lashes applied. Everyone was looking hot with their luscious lashes, even me!!!
Andrew of Studio MSV put together this AWESOME video of the event. In my opinion, Andrew is one of the best videographers we have in our industry! See for yourself!
I was so excited when I walked in the door and saw a shot from one of our recent shoots gracing the walls! |
| Gloria of Gloria Wong Design finishing up the dessert table. |
| A quick shot of Taylor and Mimi. |
| One of my favorite florists, Karen from Fresh Bloom, commissioned us to do a Couture Shoot for her soon to be released new website. As with all of our Couture Shoots, we never know what the creative direction is going to be, until we take into account the personality and outfits brought to the shoot. It's typically like a domino effect - first, we look at the outfits, then we determine the hair and make-up, and lastly we scout the location of the shoot. For obvious reasons, we loved Karen's cute little dress and as soon as we saw it we knew we had to have cherry blossoms. Of course, it was raining on and off and wasn't quite cherry blossom season yet, but we persevered until we miraculously stumbled across there perfect driveway lined with cherry blossoms! I just loved how everything turned out! |
| We also thought a field of flowers would be perfect since she's a florist, so we made a quick stop and put on her trench for a different look. It was muddy from raining all day, so we did musical chairs with our shoes - Karen took her sexy pumps off and put on my boots then Maria gave me her boots to go shoot while she stayed in the car barefooted. We trek out to the perfect sunny spot, get the shot perfectly set and suddenly rain just starts pouring on us! Absolutely pouring! We start laughing and wonder if it is going to stop, but it just comes flying at us so I made the call to bolt back to the car. All this was happening while Maria is nice and dry laughing her you know what off in the car. |
| Here are a few images from a recent wedding we worked together :) |
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