Looking Back: A Village Wedding in China

I'm going to travel back in time to November 2006 when I bought my first DSLR. I remember being so excited and eager to use my brand new XTi on my trip to China a few weeks after I got the camera. At the time, I really didn't know how to use the manual functions. Randy's older brother and his wife had their wedding in Vancouver, and we were going to have another banquet in Zhong Shan, China a week after with his entire family, extended family and village friends.

This banquet was unlike any I've ever been to or experienced before. When I was looking at my (newbie) pictures, I thought this would be an interesting blog post for my readers, and a chance to see what china weddings are like in the village compared to westernized weddings that we're so used to. You will also get to see (and criticize) my work as a new photographer at the time! This should be fun!

Here is a rooftop picture showing part of the village where my parent-inlaws grew up. Parts of the village have modernized over the years, but there are still many areas that remain old and impoverished


This full day lunch and dinner banquet consisted of 800 guests - practically all of the residents from the village! The classic striped china bag (blue, white and red) was constructed into a canopy tent that was held up by strong pieces of bamboo. 80 round dinner tables were set up all around my parent in-law's newly constructed house. Their "vacation home" has 6 floors and 10 ensuite baths!


This is at the back of the tent showing the dishwashing area


All the porcelain and utensils are handwashed by the kitchen maids. With 800 guests to feed, that's a lot of dishes to wash!


Next to the cleaning area is the kitchen, where the chefs were cooking hard to prepare 10 course meals for lunch and dinner.


Smoking and gambling go hand-in-hand for the men in China


This is probably one of the most memorable pictures that I captured


The Chinese grandparents never stop working for their children and grandchildren. You see this all the time even in today's chinatown in San Francisco


My brother and sister in-law, Winnie and Terry. November 2008 will be their 2 year wedding anniversary!


Fat juicy pigs ready to get roasted


The equipment and methods of cooking seemed so primitive to me...everything I saw that day was such a humbling experience


The celebration ended with firecrackers that went on for about 15 minutes. All I remember was the deafening noise because it was so loud!


I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane, please feel free to leave me any comments! My next blog post will be a sequel to my trip in China...STAY TUNED!

Baby Charlize: 10 months

Charlize is not just another ordinary baby to me, and here's why:

I vividly remember the morning of September 5th, 2007, when my husband and I were sleeping and he received a phonecall at 6:30 AM from our friend Jason, "Hey man, the water broke". Randy was still in deep sleep and he was all confused. At first, he was wondering why Jason would call for a plumbing emergency when Jason has his own construction company -- he clearly would know what to do!

Nervously on the phone Jason says, "No, Nancy's water broke"

That's when Randy handed the phone over to me because he realized they weren't having a plumbing crisis and they wanted some advice from me!

After Nancy was admitted to the hospital, Randy and I decided to visit them in Labor & Delivery -- the unit where I work. When my charge nurse saw me, she asked if I had come in early to work. I told her it was my day off, and I was just there to see my friend who was in labor.

My charge nurse said to me, "Since you're here and we're short of nurses, would you like to pick up a shift? You can be your friend's labor & delivery nurse, that would be perfect!"

I thought about it for a moment, and then I agreed after having Nancy's approval. I wanted to make sure that my friend wouldn't feel akward with me being her nurse because my type of work is pretty intimate and personal.

At 1:17 AM on September 6th, 2007 baby Charlize was born into the loving hands of Jason and Nancy. The room was filled with tears and joy, and I was so honored to be a part of their birthing experience!

Here is a picture that I took of Charlize when she was only 5 days old. She looks so precious!


You might remember Charlize's red egg ginger party,
http://ckamphotography.blogspot.com/2007/11/blog-post.html

Before I go off on another tangent, I wanted to share some recent pictures that I took of Charlize over the weekend.




Playing peek-a-boo!

A Hot Summer's Day

WOW! I just checked the weather forcast for today, and it's going to be a HIGH of 93 degrees farenheit in San Francisco! That translates to 34 degrees celsius for all my Canadian friends :) Frisco is always known as the chilly and foggy city, so when there's a day like this, you just got to take advantage of the weather because it doesn't happen very often in SF! ...Since I'm working tonight, that means I'll be sleeping away the hot afternoon :( BoooOOOooo.....

Have a great day everyone! The picture above is a snapshot I took a couple months ago, it just looks so hot and summer-y and I wanted to share it with everyone :)

Happy Shoe Fetish

Last week, I made myself happy and bought 3 pairs of heels to add to my shoe collection :) My third one finally came in the mail today, so I HAD to take a picture to document their arrival!

Oh, how much I love my shoes...


When I saw my friend Robyn wearing these same Keds, I wanted to buy a pair too! I like it that they're casual and comfortable. I can walk in them all day with a little bit of height and I don't have to worry about tired feet!


I wanted a casual and fun pair of red-colored wedges...when I found this at Nordstrom I knew I had to buy it :)


I swear, Steve Madden must've used my feet to design the wonderful fit for all women's shoes. ALL my pumps by Steve Madden fit me like a glove and they feel SOOOO comfortable! I'm talking about heels too!



Happy shoe day everyone!

Happy (late) Canada Day and the 4th of July!

It's easy for me to remember the US holidays now that I've been living and breathing on american soil for the past 3 years, and even easier for me to forget the Canadian statutory days! I just realized today on 4th of July that it was Canada Day last weekend on July 1st!

To all the peeps up in Canada -- Happy Canada Day!


To all the Americans -- Happy 4th of July!!



I hope everyone has a safe and fun bbq weekend!

BBQ at Beresford Park, San Mateo

Yesterday we went to a BBQ in Beresford Park, hosted by my close friend Robyn. It was her fiance's 27th birthday last week, and it's an annual celebration that started 7 years ago. We had bbq wings, hotdogs, fat steaks, hamburgers and the usual works.

Jon, the birthday boy is firing up the grill


Robyn and I




Ginger shows us her tricks



I even volunteered to be chef KAM!

JOJO in Frisco

I've known Joanne since the old school days back in 1996 when we went to summer school going into the eleventh grade! Our friendship blossomed the moment we met when I saw her painting her nails in bright blue Hard Candy nail polish :) From high school to University at Simon Fraser, we were tied to the hips and spent every waking moment together (NO JOKE)!!!! Jojo has been with me to the moon and back, and I'll be forever grateful for the everlasting friendship this girl has given me!




Chillaxin at Pacific Catch Restaruant with Jenny and Yuan

Welcome to the Family!

This morning, I was anxiously awaiting for the newest addition to my arsenal of Canon Lenses! Meet Canon 16-35 f/2.8!! This is the wide angle lens that I've been debating to get while Canon was having their rebate sale! I finally decided to take the plunge before the sale was over and rewarded myself AGAIN with this beautiful glass :) This is my 3rd addition in the last 2 months and one of my final big purchases of the year! I think this will be my walk around lens when I go travelling...I'm excited to use this new baby!!

My Canon 16-35 debut......


Here's a wide angle view of my living room on the 5D full frame:


An irresistable beauty...

Baby Session: Raylynn + Jordan

I photographed the Do family recently, and I was asked to do another short session for baby Raylynn the past weekend :) This time, her little pal Jordan and his mom came along to take a few portraits as well! It's so cute how the two mommies are already planning their futures together as girlfriend and boyfriend! Unfortanely, the two kiddies wouldn't sit still for a romantic picture together!

On to the photoshoot! Enjoy :)







I just ADORE Jordan's stylish hair! He's such a little heartbreaker!