“The best camera is the one that’s with you.”

– Chase Jarvis

This post is a bit belated, but I was going through old iPhone photos recently and got nostalgic for my trip to Japan last year. My family visits almost every summer, but last year was extra special as it was for my grandmother’s 88th birthday. I almost always bring my big ole SLR on trips, but there are times it gets tiring to carry it around, to make sure I’m traveling safely with it, to have it out and ready for those quiet or exciting or inspirational moments that I want to remember most. So this time around I left it at home, wanting to focus on spending time with my family and grandmother, to travel a bit lighter, to savor the moments in our home away from home.

All the images below were therefore shot (and edited) with my camera phone. It of course doesn’t have the capabilities and control of my fancier camera, but how that particular moment felt? That’s all still there. I took snapshots of things I have been seeing since I was 5 years old, but never photographed before – the bright kitchen in my grandmother’s home,
the tiny tatami room my sister and I always sleep in,
the cute houses along their street,
the yakitori stand we always visit.

My mom wanted to mix things up a bit this time, so we actually took a quick overnight trip to a cozy fishing town as well, and stayed at a family-owned bed and breakfast. They served us ridiculously fresh sashimi from fish they caught in the ocean basically outside their door, and vegetables they picked from the nearby hills, and we basically ate our weight in seafood.

Hope you enjoy this peek into our trip…

{ more iphone photos on my instagram here | see more travel photos here }

Our overnight trip to Shimoda…

This is going to sound ridiculous, but Denny’s is one of my MOST FAVORITE places to eat in Japan. Check out that menu! Those parfaits!

It’s a funny thing how the rain works on wedding days. It rained all day before, drizzled throughout that morning, but literally let up exactly as Cecile and Volt were exiting their car upon arrival at the yacht. We ran straight up to the deck and were able to get lots of sweet photos in that soft pretty light.

But! Even if the entire day had been wrought with downpour, even if it had been snowing and hailing, Cecile & Volt are the kinds of chill happy people who would make the best of it. They’d perhaps crack a fun joke, ask me where I wanted to shoot, and cuddle & smile for the camera like nobody’s business. They are a seriously cool couple, and I’m so so thankful and happy that Shirley of Fresh Events Company introduced us! And as always, her and her team did an impeccable job orchestrating this gorgeous wedding. A shoutout to Le Petite Gardenia as well, for the beautiful and always creative florals!

I was so excited when Jerry and Sam invited me along to Hawaii for their engagement session! They knew they wanted to do a destination session from the start, and were considering NYC {where they had lived for a few years & had many fond memories}, but after a bit of brainstorming, decided on someplace that would totally contrast that busy urban city vibe – Moloka’i! They had a friend (hi Boki!) who lives on the small island and had been encouraging them to visit, so it turned out to be a perfect collection of reasons to fly over (in the tiniest little plane you could think of)!

I would imagine most anywhere in Hawaii would be amazing for photos, but there was something extra special about the serene quiet and remoteness of Moloka’i. We drove from one end of the island to the other, just pulling over whenever we saw a pretty spot for photos – a coconut grove, a smattering of bougainvillea, a wide sandy beach – and at every location, we were essentially the only people there! It was so perfectly relaxing and wonderful, and this session fit Jerry and Sam and their relationship to a T – they are the type of amazing people who love to explore, who thoroughly enjoy life, who adore new experiences but find beauty in the simple and everyday.

I was so happy to document a piece of their continuous adventure together, in such a beautiful place :)