Frances at Eighteen

I love this session taken for Frances' eighteenth birthday.  So thankful for the opportunity to get creative with photos for this gorgeous girl 🌼 Special thanks for props and styling by The Purple Parasol by Veronica Valente-Vicuna.

The Chengs

The Chengs came home for the holidays so we got to take some fun moments with the kids RJ and Iya.

Plus-size wear designed by Nariz

Talented local fashion designer Nariz created a collection of minimalist casual wear for plus-size women. I love that they have simple lines with very comfortable fabric - comfort and style is important in clothes, at least for me.  I was happy to take photos of her gorgeous friends-slash-models who made the pieces look great and also wearable.  The ladies were a lot of fun in between shoots since they're friends with the designer, so it was easy to direct them and make them feel comfortable in our set.

It was a good experience to collaborate with her and especially happy with the creations we showcased since plus-size clothes are not always featured in local stores or created and carefully thought of like Nariz did.  Plus-size women deserve to have their spotlight in fashion design, too!

Likeness | Iya x Belle

I’ve always had a fascination with twins and it’s been a long-time goal to style, direct a shoot with them. Iya and Belle are identical twins and were very young when they first appeared in front of my camera. They were then about four or five years old and they have grown so much since then! But they remain as lovely, sweet and shy as before and I’m glad I got to see and take more pictures of them this time around.

It did occur to me I may be confused a lot seeing they look so much alike plus they'll be wearing identical clothes. I later on found a distinction betweent them and am glad to say I can tell them apart, or probably most of us can. But still, dressing them alike is expected. I wanted to show their similarity along with differences.

This is another one of those slow-themed sessions. Well, the shoot was a bit hurried because we had a little time left between the long drives and we were after the golden hour. Despite the bit of rush, I wanted the photos to look calm and not hurried, depicting an afternoon siesta in the fields, not caring about the world, waiting for the sun to go down. This is always a feeling I want to experience every single day and I want to keep seeing it as much as possible in my work. I wanted to show their friendship as sisters and their special bond as twins.

Of course, much should be acknowledged to the support group of this project, Auntie Roselle, Uncle Nabi and to the twins’ parents Beverly and Ian for allowing me to photograph the girls and giving me full creative control of this session. Some of these moments may not make sense but I hope they make you feel good inside, connect with them or simply appreciate Iya and Belle's beauty as they already are in real life. They're first time "models" but they did such a great job, don't you think?

San Jose, Neg Or

Photos by Kat Banay

Family | Gonzalez

It was Victoria, first time mom, who contacted me if I can pictures of their family.  I happily agreed since they were no strangers to me and have seen and heard of each other through common friends.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was just right and they were all ready to be in front of the camera. They were very easy to photograph, what with their natural goofyness and jokes, I just captured as many moments I could take.

One of best member of this family was baby Rhys. She is Ralph and Victoria's son. As you will see in the phtoos, he's such a handsome and sweet baby with bluish-gray eyes. We took so many moments of everyone cuddling him, carrying him and just making him laugh and make faces.

Some of my favorite moments were of Rhys being held by his dad and another one is a candid shot of her mom happily looking at him. Of course I have a lot of other photos Iove and I hope you get to pick your faves too!