Last Blog Post for 2008!

This year whizzed by amazingly fast! As most of my blog followers know, I started my journey in photography exactly 2 years ago when I picked up my first dslr. I can't thank my friends/clients enough for trusting me and giving me the opportunity to document such a special moment in your life. What touches me the most is that YOU believed in me, and have allowed me to grow as a professional photographer in such little time. 2008 marked the beginning of my photography business, and I can't wait to see what 2009 will hold!

I wish everyone has a safe and Happy New Year, and enjoy your last day in 2008!

Love,
Cathy

White Winter

Here are a couple photos that I snapped while we were in Vancouver for Christmas. Talk about snow! It's probably been more than 10+ years since we had so much white goodness in the 604!

This is my parent's house, aaaahh it's so good to be home :)


A car parked in my neighbor's driveway...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This year is a very special Christmas because Randy and I are in Vancouver right now to celebrate with our family and friends :) What makes it even more special is that we have a white Christmas with about one feet of snow! We'll be back in San Francisco on December 29th!

Have a happy and safe holiday everyone!

Italy Trip: Venice, Florence, Rome

EARLY this morning, Randy and I arrived safely back to SF. It took nearly 11.5 hours for us to travel from Rome with a 6 hour lay over in Atlanta, Georgia. And then another 6 hour flight from Atlanta back to SFO. Do the math, and that was a LONG day of travelling! Here are some tidbits of our trip, I'm not very good at landscape photography, so here's my shot at it---I hope you enjoy them!

Our first stop was in Venice. It rained heavily there for the past weeks, with major flooding in the city. Randy and I even purchased authentic Italian gum boots to fit in with the Venetian style :)





Venice was exactly what I imagined it to be, a very old city with a lot of history behind it. Many of the buildings looked run down and abandoned like the picture here.








The next city we went to was Florence, I just fell in love with this city because it felt so romantic there. Here is a picture at Piazza Del Duomo, it is such a magnificent sight because of its pure size and grandness.


Here is another picture of the Duomo


I love creating those starburst flares :)






At the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge


Next, we took a short train ride to see the leaning tower of Pisa.




It was funny to see all the tourists doing this, so we had to come up with something funny ourselves :)




The last city we visited was Rome. We did soooo much walking throughout the entire trip that I was in tears on the last day because my feet were hurting so bad!



Can you take a guess where this is? Yep, the Colliseum








Randy and I stayed until it was dark so I could take a night picture of the Colliseum. It was worth the wait!


Rome is a large and major city, so I was happy when we were able to take the train to the different areas :)


The next day, we went to the Vatican City and also saw the Sistine Chapel. The buildings and artwork were simply breathtaking and amazing.



Here I am feeding the pigeons :)

Off for Vacay!

In just a few more hours, Randy and I will be departing to Italy to visit Venice, Florence and Rome! This will be one of our last "big" trips for awhile and we'll be in each city for 2 nights. I won't be checking my emails religiously like I always do, so please be patient if you email me :)

Landscape photography isn't my forte, but I plan to document every historic building we visit and every minute of our trip! You can bet on that :)

Hard at work

Just the other day, Randy thought it was amusing when he caught me working on my three computers and he snapped a picture while I was editing some photos and working on some slide shows. Although I don't have all the programs that I need on my iMac yet, it's connected to the internet so I can surf and chat online. Since I'm waiting for photoshop CS3 and Lightroom I'm still running these programs on my PC, and I'm also using Proshow Producer on my laptop! Until I can install all my vital programs on my iMac, I guess I'll have to continue working like a computer geek....and there's nothing wrong with that!

***ADD*** On another note, my blog has reached 0ver 10,000 hits! I want to thank all my blog readers who come to visit often!! Please don't be shy and leave a comment even if it's to say "hi" so I know you've been here! It would make my day :)

Mac for Dummies

It's been less than a week since I've had my iMac, and here's a little update :) I had a couple issues during my first 2 days, which left me frustrated and made me want to switch back to my PC! But since then, each day has been a little easier to use after I watched a few demos online and just tried to navigate the OS on my own. Switching from 2 completely different systems will take a little while to learn, and I'm confident that I'll get the hang of it soon.

Mommy-to Be

Some of you might remember a photo session I did for the Burger Family back in February. Before it was a family of 3, and in the next few days or weeks, they will soon be expecting a family of 4! When Brandi contacted me for a "belly" session, I was excited! Here's a little sneak preview, I can't wait to meet Eliza!

Click Here if you want to see their family session!

Early Xmas Present..

Over the last several months, I've been debating whether or not I should switch from PC to Mac. My decision was a difficult one because it meant that I needed to purchase all new programs, and the thought of re-learning a whole different operating system made me cringe. But of course, it didn't stop me from ordering my first Mac because I've heard countless good things about it, especially how it will make my post processing work flow THAT much easier. I hope it is true....

I was so delightfully surprised when I received a FedEx delivery this morning with my new baby inside! I couldn't wait to get my hands on it!



iMac, I promise to love you, cherish you, and devote myself entirely to you :)

Baby Aaron: 5 months Young

Wow, this year is speeding away fast with December already here. Just another 23 days until Christmas!

Over the weekend, I had the priviledge to do a baby session with Aaron Van Nguyen :) He's such an adorable baby with a contagious smile! His mom contacted me through a good friend, and decided to set up a "secret" photosession with me because she plans to surprise her husband with photos of their baby and a music slideshow that I'll be creating for them. Here are just a few of my favorites from the session :)