Tokyo Tourist Photographer: The Ogawa Family explores Meiji Shrine and Harajuku
Taking photos for the Ogawas was a great experience. Meiji Shrine is one of the top sites in Tokyo, and their energetic daughter enjoyed running around everywhere, exploring the area! I enjoyed chasing after her, capturing her playful attitude and different expressions. It started to rain, so we headed toward Harajuku. We ended up getting caught in the middle of a dance festival! As hectic as it was, it was amazing to see so many people dressed in bright, traditional clothing while the Ogawas enjoyed some mango shaved ice! I love capturing families enjoying a day out in Tokyo. I can’t wait to take more photos in this city!
The Doerings
I love it when families are ready to have a fun afternoon taking photos!
I had a great time with the Doerings – they enjoyed jumping and running around and doing some dance moves at the Colonial Zone. If the photos of them dancing doesn’t make you smile, then I don’t know what will, cuz they are pretty dang funny.
The Doerings have been missionaries in this country for over 10 years now, so I’m glad to have the opportunity to photography them in this country that they call their home!
The Caslers
The Casler Family is a big family. A fun family. A sweet family.
I had the wonderful opportunity to take some portrait and lifestyle photos for them. Their backyard has a tree swing. And a see-saw. The kids all have their own skateboards. They love board games. So of course we had some fun!!!
The Simplicianos
Our friends, the Simplicianos,were about to leave Santo Domingo and wanted some family photos before they left. Their daughter, Sachiko, is a sweet spunky girl with lots of energy! We had a great time in the Colonial Zone. One of my favorite moments was when the monks and nuns were walking outside one of the churches and made it into the shots. Best wishes, Jeff, Traci, and Sachiko on your future adventures in Europe!
The Abrahams
It was a beautiful afternoon in Zona Colonial. I had the opportunity to photograph the Abraham family. The 2 girls had tons of energy, and it shows! There was an ice cream man walking around in Plaza Espana and near the end of our time together the girls were able to eat a little treat. Those were some of my favorite shots from our time together- who doesn’t love watching a happy kid eat some ice cream?
Gabi's 4th Peppa Pig Party!
Happy Birthday to Gabi!
I had the opportunity to take photos for this little girl’s “Frozen” birthday party last year and it was great to shoot her party this year as well!
I LOVE taking photos of little kids and their birthday parties. There is so much going on, so many expressions, so much excitement, so much JOY on their faces! And you can also see the LOVE between the parents and their little girl 🙂
One cool thing about children’s parties in the Dominican Republic is that there are often “emcees” that are in charge of children’s games. I think that is pretty neat. So at this party the “emcees” got the kids to dance and compete in games.. you can tell that the kids had A BLAST!
This year’s theme was PEPPA PIG, and little Gabi was surprised to see Peppa Pig show up at her party!
I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!
The Richards
The Richards
The Armstrongs
The Armstrongs are missionaries who have lived in the Dominican Republic for a few years now. They have to be one of the most fun families I have ever taken photos of! They were so relaxed, easy to talk to, constantly making jokes and silly faces with one another… a photographer’s dream! I hope through my photos you can see how warm and loving this family is with one another.
The Bernotavicius Family
It was amazing to shoot a family session at this 500 year old Fort.
Indoors with the Woonacotts
I believe there is something special to be found in the routine of “everyday life.” That’s why I enjoy taking lifestyle photos so much. It may seem like “routine” photos now, but in a few years it will show how that it really was just for a season… a very special season. I’m so glad that this family invited me into their home to photograph this special season of toddlerhood for their son! I enjoyed taking photos of anything that they were doing… nothing staged, and basically just whatever little W wanted to do!
(Note: There are a lot of black & white photos in this blog post. I often give clients the same photos in both b&w and color as well.)
Outdoors w/ the Woonacotts
A year ago I had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful family. Little “Baby W” is not so little anymore! He is so much taller, and runs around everywhere now! But he still has those beautiful blue eyes and sweet smile 🙂 ! I enjoyed taking photos at the rooftop this year— the clouds were AMAZING!
J+S+M+A
Silje wanted to do an afternoon session in Zona Colonial since they are leaving Santo Domingo soon. I love taking photos there, and so we took some photos in the Plaza Duarte area. The little ones had so much energy, so it was fun taking photos of them jumping and running around! Pretty soon, a storm came in and it started raining. But I didn’t mind. I loved taking photos of the kids enjoying the rain. Luckily, we had a tiny little umbrella for the family to squeeze under!
The Corrals
Meet the Corral Family!
We had a lovely afternoon in the Zona Colonial area of Santo Domingo. The sunlight was perfect. They wanted a portrait session, so I took photos of the whole family, but also took a few candids. Some of my favorite photos were the ones where they were dancing- they looked like they were having tons of fun! The youngest son was so silly during the shoot, making faces and dancing around— I loved it! Hope you enjoy these photos of this beautiful family!
The Dilles
It was a lot of fun taking pictures of this lovely family and their little furry friend Louie. It was a pretty hot day, so we managed to find some shade around walls as well as the ruins of an old hospital. Some of my favorite photos were when everyone was just relaxing and enjoying playing with Louie!
Gabi's Frozen 3rd!
I love taking birthday party photos for children. I love capturing the wonder and excitement of the children, and especially the birthday boy or girl. As a parent, I want to be able to participate and enjoy the party too. I really value my child’s birthday, as it resembles another milestone reached- it is a happy as well as bittersweet time. I think this really motivates me when I take photos for other parents- I imagine what kind of photos I would want on my child’s birthday… and then I snap away!
I had the privilege of taking photos for Gabi’s 3rd birthday. The theme was “Frozen” and not only were the decorations adorable, but the expression on little Gabi’s face as she came into her birthday party and was surprised with the decor and being greeted by Queen Elsa. I hope you get a feel for the party through these photos!
The Vauters
I had the opportunity to photograph this beautiful family at Palacio Engombe, an old sugar plantation in Santo Domingo. They are such a warm family, and baby Z was such a good sport. She was thoroughly entertained during our time together, playing with her soccer ball (“mamba”), watching mommy and daddy blow bubbles, and being tossed in the air. She already looks older from the last time I photographed her 3 months ago (and she moves faster too!)
Life with Baby W
I loved taking photos for this family. They wanted to have some photos done in their home, and they were so warm and welcoming. Their son had the brightest blue eyes, and he loved the camera- He even kept crawling up to me to play with it! Their home was beautiful, and had so much natural light seeping in through the windows. Besides these great things, what I loved most about taking these pictures is seeing how these parents interacted with Baby W- they were so playful with him and showered him with countless kisses.
The Hopes
The Hopes wanted to take some family photos in the Colonial Zone since they were going to leave the Dominican Republic soon. I love the architecture of the “Zona Colonial” – it was the first European colony and city of the Americas, so it has old cobblestone streets and buildings that are hundreds of years old. It served as a perfect backdrop for this session. I’ll make note of a few of the sights that are in these photos!
Alcazar de Colon
The Mizells
What a happy family! I had a great time shooting the Mizells! We were originally supposed to take photos in the late afternoon, but since the forecast said rain, we decided to do the shoot a few hours earlier. Despite the heat at noon, we were so glad that we changed the time because it did end up raining in the afternoon! We had the photo session at the Parque Iberoamericano, which had a nice grassy area as well as playground area for the kids to enjoy the playground and ride their scooters around.
