BUCK & DESSY // Miami, Florida // Part Three {the end}

While Buck and Dessy were here; we took them to our home in Florida for a couple of days. Steven treated us to see an NBA game in Miami. My son Buck loves basketball game. So we were thrilled to spend time in Miami and watching the game. It was so much fun watching Miami Heat played against Washington Wizards. My son was so excited that I could see it on his face. He lives in Jakarta, Indonesia so he could not watch the game alive as often as he wanted to. So this is one of the highlights of his trip. As for me this is my first NBA game as well.  And I loved it. The energy was electrifying. I would want to watch another NBA game alive in the future.

The experiences with my son and Dessy at home was lovely. My son has grown in to a man. I do not get to see Buck often as he lives across the globe from us. Therefore when he is sitting next to me, I can not stop staring at him. He is a handsome man. His face features are so beautiful; his eye brows, lips, and nose are so unique and different in a handsome way. I almost could not believe that he is my son. Occasionally I hug him for no reason. And I love his voice saying I love you while kissing my shoulder when we were hugging. I think it is important to show love to your children. I don't care what others might think if they saw us; I just wanted my son to know that I love and miss him.

I never imagine the day is coming for me to see that my little boy is in love and another girl is in love with him. I can't describe the feeling; I am happy for him to see him glowing like this. I wish him a happiness in what ever decision he is making for himself.

 

I feel blessed to have Steven as my husband. His understanding is beyond my expectation. I must admit that because of him everything in my life seems to be happy and brighter. He is a kind, gentle man who always wanted to help and have a good advise to any one who knew him.

Very nice......!!

We were having drinks and snacks at Tropical Cafe in South Beach Miami when a Guy with two Parrots came to put the birds on Dessy's and Buck's shoulder. And took pictures. I can't help myself to snap some photos of them too.

Hey, I want to be photographed too!

Ahh....what a sweet pictures. It is a little out of focus.

On the way to American Airline Arena to watch the NBA game. Testing my camera to snap a picture of Miami skyline.

A mother and a son moment at the game.

The face only a mother could love.

On our last day in Florida, we were surprised by the gifts given by my son and Dessy as a thank you from them to us. They knew they did not have time to get us anything as that day we are flying back to New York and the next day early morning is their flight back to Jakarta, Indonesia.  Something that they do not have to do but we are happy for their kind gesture as a thank you to us.

In the plane on the way to New York, I held my son's arm for as long as I could knowing I might not seeing him in a long time.

This morning  I got a text message saying, mom we arrived safely and in the car on the way home.

Thank you God for protecting my son!

Thank you so much for reading! Have a nice Sunday evening Everyone?

BUCK & DESSY // Roslyn, New York // Part Two

This time we took Buck and Dessy just 5 minutes away from our home to the town of Roslyn, New York.

We walked around the small town of Roslyn just to show them where the all the restaurants and stores are. Then we stopped by at the Duck Pond.

Here are the pictures from that small trip.

It is such a joy to see Buck and Steven 'my husband' get a long  so well, laughing and joking a lot.

Mom is in action.

I don't know about you but  it is hard  for me to explain to people on how to use the camera on Manual Mode using a fixed 50 mm lens.  Often the result is out of focus like this one. Even when I took the picture (as above) when people are moving during a quick stop at a spot is hard and as a result is also out of focus. My son and Dessy do not want to pose as a couple at all. So I have to steal a shoot of them together.

Thank you so much for reading ?

BUCK & DESSY // West Hampton, New York // Part One

I can't even describe the feeling when my son Buck is telling me that he is going to visit us with his girl friend for two and half weeks. I was speechless. Mainly it was because this is going to be the first time Buck is going to introduce his girl friend to me officially. And staying with us for two weeks? At first I did not even know how to answer or respond to this. But overtime it made a lot of sense to me that my son has grown to a man and he is at the age where  he starting to feel the need of a lady companion. So we  are very excited to spend time with them. Isn't that every mother wish to see  their son is happy? And that is what I see every day in my son's face.

They have left yesterday morning. And I am suffering a slight sadness and emptiness now that they are gone.

I can't hide the tears when I hugged my son Buck at the airport. This always happen each time I say good bye to him. It is getting harder to let him go. But I know he is a grown up and we both know as he always assure me that he can take care of himself. And so far he does a great job to do so. And I am very happy and proud of him about this.

Buck and Dessy has been very busy. Each day, they planned their schedule to visit Museums, famous restaurants, meeting their friends at a club or a lounge.

My son Buck loves the food in NYC; from Grimaldi Brick Oven Pizza, to the famous Kat's Delicatessen pastrami sandwich. Each day is a  culinary experience for him. His other favorite visited restaurants are  El Quijote the Spanish restaurant in Chelsea, our local Sushi Palace near by our home, the grilled chicken wings from Anthony's Pizza ,(which they bought and took it with them so they can snack on them on the long flight to HongKong), Balthazar in SoHo, The Gramercy Tavern, Park Side, Corona New York and Umami Burger. And the very last night they were in NYC we had dinner at Five Guys on the way home from the airport coming from  Florida trip. Buck had been craving for it so we took them there.  And oh, our last night in Florida, he was so thrilled when I suggested we should have dinner at a famous Cuban restaurant The Versailles in Little Havana, Miami. He immediately mentioned the restaurant is in the movie 'The Chef' and said that when watching the movie he dreamt eating at The Versailles. He said again that he could not believe that now he is eating in the restaurant for real. 
The Versailles is one of my favorite restaurant too. The food is so good and the price is very reasonable. The only one thing that he did not get to go to is Peter Luger's steak. They ran out of time and they already gained weight. He said jokingly he is saving it for the next trip.


It does not surprise me that he loves food because  Buck own a restaurant in Jakarta and some of his friends own a restaurant in Jakarta as well. He has been in some of these restaurants  from previous visits to NYC so he knew what restaurants he wanted to go to.

Buck and Dessy also enjoyed my cooking. They kept on bragging about how good is my Spinach Swiss Quiche and my Braised Beef Brisket to friends and families. Of course I love feeding my son. All Moms do that to their son right?

Like most young couple they spent time shopping as well. It is hard not to shop in Manhattan where the most current beautiful  fashion are  in your eyes when you walk around Manhattan. 

One day Steven and I took them to visit Steven's cousin who lives in West Hampton. They wanted to have lunch with us and show the home they are going to buy or make an offer. So we thought it would be a great idea to show Buck and Dessy the West Hampton area. The Hampton area is by the ocean and is where the luxury gorgeous homes located by the ocean and belongs to either  well to do families or celebrities.

I took some pictures of Buck and Dessy while we were touring the property. It is a breathtakingly beautiful home. Just look at pictures of landscape around the home; the canal in front of the home across the green garden, the swimming pool, the guest home tucked away amongst the foliage, the spa cottage separated from the main home, just beautiful and so serene looking.I wish I can show you the inside of the home. The interior decoration of the home is classic and elegant. It is clear to me that the owner has a great taste in decorating their home. To me it is a perfect home for a summer garden party. Or any party, really!

~~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~~~

These urns and the children sculptures are the most prettiest conversational  garden pieces I have ever seen. I love how the owner put them together. I kept thinking on the garden days after we left the properties.

How cute these love birds...

The front entrance.

I love this gate entering a part of the sprawling greenery field.

A stone bench by the canal in front of the house.

Can you picture a nice garden party being held on this beautiful garden?

The beautiful urn and the little boy bronze sculpture put there as a conversational pieces. So pretty.

The garden is huge. And everywhere you go is so pretty and so peaceful.

How pretty are these two big urns by the swimming pool.

Buck and Dessy always playful with each other taking pictures with their phones.

Thank you so much for stopping by. And have a great week end Everyone?

Practiced With Flower (Photography)

I don't know about you but I find it a little hard to get a sharp image using a fix lens in photography. There are several techniques to do this and I have read everything and followed it through during a shoot. Although I still get a good sharp image but still I find it a little hard to get that one sharp image; I mean really sharp! I bought a mono pod the other day and it helped a lot during the shoot. I recommend if you are like me, please go get a monopod. It comes in ranges of prices from USD 20.00 to USD 100.00. (here)

Yesterday I practiced shooting a vase of flowers at home. It is always  a good way to find on how to stabilize your hands during a shooting. But also it is a good way to find a good angle to get a pretty  unexpected image. When shooting an object at home like these flowers; I try to shoot in many angles. Sometimes from above, other times from below. And try shooting from many directions also. You will never know what light source can do to your images. And you will never know until you try it out. As shown on picture no. 4. Here part of the glass vase blend in with the cream color table cloth background. I remembered I was shooting  below from an eye level view but near a big door where a lot of natural light coming in. Of course it all depends on many things like the color of your object and background but more less it is always good to try to shoot in many angles especially with a small object like this. It is also good to do with a person outdoor because you will never know what the light can do. Because you never know what natural light can do to your photography.

Next time I am planning to shoot out door with studio lighting. I think after having some experiences shooting outdoor I am comfortable using studio lighting outdoor. I might need a pocket wizard in order for the light to work out door. I need more information about this.

Oh, I wanted to tell you that my son 'Buck' is arriving New York visiting us from Jakarta, Indonesia exactly a week from today. I can't tell you how happy I am to see him again. But this time he is coming with his girl friend. This will be the first time Buck  introduce his girl friend to us officially. And will be staying with us for 2-1/2 weeks. We, Steven and I both are super excited to see them. And back talking about photography, I wanted Buck and his girl friend Dessy to be my models shooting outdoor with studio lighting next time.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Happy Monday Everyone?

Astrid & Lila - Session no. 2

I lost for words how excited I was photographed Astrid and her little girl 'Lila' last Sunday. I photographed them before not long a go, last seen (here).  Here are top of the list of my favorite subjects to photograph; 1.  maternity, 2.  newborn, 3. senior, 4. children, 5. a couple, 6. a family.  But in general I love photograph people. What is your favorite subject to photograph? And why?

Thank you for stopping by!

Baby "Kyna"

I photographed Kyna's Mom when she was in her belly a month a go. So when Neena, Kyna's Mom contacted me telling that Kyna was already born and about 7 days old I was very excited especially she wants me to photograph baby Kyna.

To be honest this was my second time shooting a new born and I am still learning. So prior  the shooting day; I learned as much as I could through internet search and youtube about how to photograph a newborn; including how to wrap the baby, how to pose them, and how to calm them down when they get a little fussy.  On the D day I was super excited as I wanted to photograph a newborn so badly.   But then baby Kyna got very upset and never calm down, so as per her father's request I should just photograph her they way she was and not trying to wrap or pose her. I was a little disappointed but I would not try and force the baby to pose or position her in a certain way when each time we try to start to touch her she woke up kicking and starting to make a funny face. To my surprise the photos was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Then after two days I called Neena asked her if she could come with the baby to do another session again as I wanted to get some perfect poses and pictures of Kyna.  I thought may be I got lucky this time and Kyna is calming down but she has gotten worse than the first session even when the mother was holding her and trying to put her to sleep. I did not hold Kyna because if the mother could not calm her down I knew it won't work with me. 

Neena even hugged Kyna on the posing bed trying to put her to sleep. But when we tried to put the head band or fix the wrapper she started to cry as if she knew we were trying to do something that she did not like. I then started to take pictures of Kyna without the poses I wanted but I love these pictures. And she is so adorable.

This experience will not stop me taking pictures of a newborn. I love to style them, and I love the whole process of photography a newborn; from setting up the backdrop, choosing the right wrapper and head band  to to try to position them in a certain way to get some beautiful pictures. Although I have not there yet; I know one day I will. 

These are the techniques on how to wrap a newborn (here) and (here). I know these techniques just wont work with Kyna, during the session she just won't let you touch her, period! And here is a tip on photograph a fussy newborn (here)

Baby girl head band and flower crown DIY by Ellya last seen  (here), (here) and (here)

Thank you so much for reading!