Although this portrait session was short and it was my first time meeting Leolani. It turned out to be such be an incredible, personal, and powerful experience. Leolani is a professional Tahitian Dancer who travels all over the world to teach what she knows best. She has a such a strong character and personality that I found interesting and I wanted to show that in these portraits. I love your swag Leolani!

About a week ago I went to Maui with a couple of really good friends to photograph an amazing wedding. During our offtime which is basically almost the entire trip minus the day of the wedding we would all just hang out, eat, and have a good time. And my good friend Erin and I decide to photograph each other. Why not? We have cameras and we have an awesome environment to work with, so we did it! But after about an hour we pretty much just stopped because we wanted to jump in the water.

I photographed this Tokyo on Wednesday night.

I edited the session Tuesday morning.

I brought the photos along with Xander to his agency Tuesday at noon.

After we gave his agency the photos we just sat there in suspense. The person I give the photos to leaves the room shortly after I give him the photos, and we’re both just sitting there wondering if that was a good thing or bad thing. I honestly was thinking bad thing.

But before I had time to react, he comes back in the room with two bottles of ice tea and then tells us how much he likes the photos. I’m then quickly presented with a free t-shirt and a whole catalog of all the other models. Suddenly the entire agency is present at the table, and I told I’m able to photograph any of their models that I wanted, and then asked when I was coming back to Tokyo to shoot again.

Flabbergasted. I never get to use that word, but it’s the perfect word to describe how Xander and I felt, because the reaction we got was not what we expected. So…

It looks like I’m going back to Tokyo Oh, and I’m naming the whole series “The traveler”

Such a beautiful day at the beach! Before I shot this and as I arrived to Newport Beach I realized how incredibly long it’s been since I’ve been to this beautiful and almost forgotten beach. Sadly, the last time I’ve been here might be when I was in highschool. I know, it’s so sad.

I’m really touched by this session because I can tell how much Philip and Flor are in love and how immensely precious this baby is to them. Both of them have so much positive energy, and are so endearing to each other. I can’t wait to meet Natalia!

Congratulations on your beautiful baby bump!