You drive up and up into the hills, turning onto roads that narrow as you go. You finally reach a house, perched high in the center of Maui, with views of green fields in every direction, and far off in the distance, a peek of the sea. This is where Maggie and Mike were married, surrounded by only 25 of their closest family and friends, on the deck of this private home where they all stayed. They flew in form all over the world – California, China, Hong Kong, Japan – for one of the sweetest & most intimate weddings I’ve ever witnessed. Because their wedding was so intimate, Maggie and Mike were able to not only exchange vows with each other during the ceremony, but also give personal thanks to each of their guests there. Needless to say it was an emotion-filled and heartwarming moment.

After the ceremony everyone sat down at a long communal table for dinner (they even had kindly set aside a spot for myself and my second shooter Serena :), which was filled with many thoughtful toasts and accompanied by the prettiest sunset. It was beyond an honor to photograph their day!

Many destination weddings are small, a gathering of just your closest family and friends, who make the trek out to somewhere beautiful to celebrate you. On that note, I’d like to say that Rose and Lee had about 60 people who flew out for their destination wedding – which should give you a keen sense of just how awesome they are. That they are kind, funny, and warm-hearted, and therefore have so many who love them and wanted to share in their special day. It was set along the white sand coasts of Playa del Carmen, flanked by pretty gardens (with hammocks! can’t get enough of the hammocks!) It was breathtakingly beautiful in every direction you looked. With 60 people, you can have a bit of a party while still feeling intimate and cozy, which made this day just so fun to photograph!

Special thanks to Alice Hu for flying out & shooting with me, and being totally on board with ordering chicken nuggets and fries from room service post-wedding :) My kind of travel partner!

“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!