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  • Portfolio
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San Francisco | Los Angeles | Hawaii
ENGAGEMENT
WEDDING
FAMILY
I found this dreamy image in my archives and decid I found this dreamy image in my archives and decided it needed to be printed and framed. Garrick wouldn’t let me ride a gondola at the time, so we need a constant reminder to go back. 🤪 Just for fun, I ordered two extra 11x14 prints to give away! You too can daydream of riding a gondola. 😆 Here’s how to enter: + follow @fernleephoto + like this photo + comment and tag a friend you’d bring to Italy! ✈️🇮🇹 Each comment counts as an entry. Giveaway ends Thursday 7/22 at 11:59 pm PST. The winner will be chosen at random and the friend tagged in the randomly chosen comment will receive the second print. Giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with Instagram. Winners will be notified via DM on Friday 7/23. Good luck! 💫
Too many precious photos to share from this sessio Too many precious photos to share from this session - I couldn’t choose just one. 🥰 It was so fun to catch up with my friend and fellow small business owner Katie. In her emails and texts leading up to the session she kept saying how excited she was for the session… which was flattering but also amped up the pressure to make sure I delivered! 😅 Photographing people I know always makes me nervous, even to this day. I don’t want to disappoint anyone! Thankfully Katie was the opposite of disappointed. 😅😘 p.s. I have a growing collection of photos of kids holding sticks during their family sessions. Sticks are just irresistible to them 😆
(3/3) On the morning of her wedding day, Caroline (3/3) On the morning of her wedding day, Caroline gave me a gift. ME! A gift. On HER wedding day. She brushed it off as “a little tchotchke” (what a fun word, haha) and I put it away for safekeeping in my car. It was a beautiful and emotional day. I cry easily even when not pregnant, so being pregnant probably unleashed the waterworks in full force. Every aspect of the wedding centered around the marriage of their families and blending of cultures. My favorite part of the day was during their Vietnamese tea ceremony, when Minh’s mother welcomed Caroline into the family with open arms (and lots of happy tears). With the help of my team, I was able to make it through my first day back on the job since becoming pregnant. At the end of the night, I went up to Minh and Caroline to say goodbye. They hugged me and expressed their appreciation for my team’s hard work... then pressed a wad of cash into my hand. “Diaper money,” Minh said with a smile. I lost it. Straight up ugly cried in the middle of the dance floor. All the worry and anxiety leading up to the day was washed away with relief and overwhelming gratitude for this incredible couple. My second shooter @saphoto snapped a photo of us in that moment and I’m so glad he did. Even if it is the most unflattering photo of me in existence (I wasn’t kidding about the ugly crying!! 😂😭). Later on when I got home, I opened the gift Caroline had given me that morning. Every time I use it I feel a tinge of guilt, knowing it’s a title I don’t deserve. But it also fills me up with love to think that even one client deemed me worthy of it. ☕️❤️
(2/3) Three days prior to that shoot, I had walked (2/3) Three days prior to that shoot, I had walked out of my first prenatal appointment in tears. The doctor told me I was carrying an empty yolk sac. It was still too early to tell if this was a viable pregnancy, so I was instructed to wait a week before going in for another check up. Seven agonizing days of being pregnant, yet not knowing whether or not I would have a baby. Work was a great way to distract me from the emotional turmoil, especially when my job involved meeting such warm and kind-hearted people. The day after Caroline & Minh’s engagement shoot, I ended up going to the ER for abdominal pains. More ultrasounds (and tears) followed... along with a heartbeat. 😳 In that single week between appointments, an embryo had formed. I was indeed having a baby. 💓 The first trimester of pregnancy knocked. me. OUT. The nausea was unbearable; I could hardly walk or breathe without gagging. How could I possibly shoot a wedding? 😰 While preparing to shoot C & M’s upcoming special day, I hired a third shooter for extra support and prayed I would make it through the 12 hour day without fainting or throwing up. (to be continued)
(1/3) Two years ago (thanks to my friend and fello (1/3) Two years ago (thanks to my friend and fellow wedding vendor @tickled_events), I met this incredible couple. We had been in touch via email/phone for just over a week; 10 days after Minh’s initial email, they were on a flight from Louisiana to California and ready for their engagement session. I remember Caroline rolling her suitcase along for part of the shoot! 😂✈️ The usual fog surrounding the bay was nowhere to be seen - just lots and lots of warm, glorious sunshine. ☀️ It was a perfect day for Minh and I to introduce his Southern bride-to-be to some of the best scenery the Bay Area has to offer! We explored Crissy Field, hiked along the coast, captured the Golden Gate Bridge from two different viewpoints, and laughed from beginning to end. ☺️ Spending the evening with this sweet, goofy couple brought me joy during an extremely difficult week. Unbeknownst to them, I had just begun my pregnancy journey... and it was off to a rough start. (to be continued)

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