I will be flying to Japan in 24 hours and will be out of the office from April 5-12. I won’t have any phone access at this time, but will be checking email as regularly as possible. If anyone is around Tokyo and wants to meet up or is interested in a shoot, let me know! I leave you with a bit of background on my trip and if all goes well, will be updating with pictures and stories during our week there!

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Sumeba miyako | “Home is where you make it”

After graduating from college I moved to Japan to live for a year. I lived in Maebashi, a windy little valley city 30 minutes north of Tokyo by bullet train. I was on the JET program, and taught junior high and elementary school students English, which consisted of a lot of holding up flashcards, handing out stickers, and being SO SO thankful that English was my first language (since it is just the most IMPOSSIBLE language to learn ever!)

I had been to Japan to visit before but living there proved to be quite a different experience. I have so so many fond memories and experienced so many adventures (crazy nights in Tokyo, riding my bike along the river by my apartment, picnicking under falling cherry blossoms, climbing Mt. Fuji, the experience of which can definitely be summed up with the famous quote: “one who never climbs Mount Fuji is a fool, but one who climbs twice is twice the fool”!) But when my one year was up, I was definitely ready to come home. For one, winter was cold and long and this California girl was no match for weather that you can’t wear flip flops in. I wore two pairs of pants for 6 months and debated just turning off my fridge and keeping all my food in a box by my doorstep. The language barrier was difficult at times, making things like paying bills, setting up a bank account, having furniture delivered a little awkward (for some reason they don’t teach you vocabulary for setting up your cable in Japanese classes?). Everyone in Japan was so sweet, but I got a little bit tired of being a “foreigner” and always being asked if I knew how to use chopsticks and if I liked sushi. I missed burritos and In-N-Out hamburgers and greasy late night delivery. I missed my family and friends.

It’s been about 3 years since I’ve been back in the states and about 2 years since I started really missing things about Japan. I’m lucky that I live right smack dab in a sushi-munching, ramen-slurping, green-tea-chugging city or it might have happened a lot earlier. I started missing the frantic streets of Tokyo. The hum of trains, the smell of the subway, and all the sleeping bobbing heads inside. The 7-11s on every corner where you could actually buy a delicious lunch at any given hour of the day. I missed the seasons and how they were celebrated so intensely – the leaves in the fall, the cherry blossoms in the spring. And I started missing the people – my host family, the teachers at my school, the students who tried so hard and made me laugh in class everyday. The one student who NEVER paid attention in class, but who tugged on my arm during my last day at school and told me “you can always come back to visit us.” I missed oily ramen and Gusto hamburgers and greasy food at izakayas. I missed my family and friends.

So after 3 years I’m going back. My mom wants to take my sister and I to see our grandmother and it just so works out that Scott and my sister’s boyfriend will be coming as well. “Excited” is an understatement! I feel I can appreciate Japan in a way I never would have if I hadn’t spent the one year there and am so excited to show Scott around, see familiar faces, and load up on delicious food! Will hopefully be updating along the way!

I leave you with a montage of pics from my year there of the river that ran by my apartment…

When we were planning their engagement session, Clair & Paul sent me an amazing list of locations that had both the photographer and the LA-lover in me just bubbly with excitement. We had all the spots set, but a few days before the session I had a random Family-Guy-type flashback that took me to a beautiful field of wildflowers, with LA’s skyscrapers on the horizon, silhouetting the sky. I was first introduced to the lovely location by Serena Grace – we had shot together there earlier in the month along the park’s rolling hills and on the drive out, I had caught a glimpse of some bright yellow and purple blooms.

I mentally shuffled it away in my “I want to shoot THERE!!” list and when it popped back into my head, I knew the time had come :) I immediately emailed Clair & Paul and was so elated to hear that they were totally on board with throwing the location in the mix! I’m so happy we were able to spend some time there – they worked those wildflowers like no other!

Afterwards we headed back to their fantastic apartment to finish up the day…

Isn’t there just something terribly romantic about rooftops? Add a so-in-love couple and a fabulous cityscape in the background and you have the dreamiest of scenarios!

This last shot was 100% their idea and I can’t stress how much I LOVE it! They dubbed it the “Dolce & Gabbana” shot and it’s definitely ones of my favs from the session!

I first met with Clair and Paul in a cozy cafe below Clair’s loft apartment, nestled in a tall brick building in the heart of Downtown LA’s Arts District. We brainstormed engagement ideas, and they explained to me how they would love to do the session in the neighborhood right around the apartment, where they shared so many days and countless memories together. As we continued to plan the session through email they added in a few additional locations in downtown LA that were sentimental to them, including the very building itself. Worn wooden floors, an antique elevator, a rooftop that showcased LA’s brilliant skyline – the building was straight out of a classic movie and provided the perfect backdrop for Clair & Paul’s session (and had me nothing short of giddy with excitement!)

Clair and Paul – thank you for running around downtown with us and sharing your favorite spots in the city. There are so many moments to share, so please enjoy Part I for now!

I could have shot by these bougainvillea blossoms all day! And isn’t Clair’s headband just perfect?

After shooting some around their apartment, we headed to the 4th Street Bridge:

Scott grabbed this shot on the walk down:

We returned to their apartment to change outfits and hit up a couple more locations! Part II to come soon, including a fabulous wildflower field smack-dab in the middle of the city and a visit to the rooftop!