It's Been a While

I know, I know.... It has been ages. Since my last post over a year ago, here are a few things big and small that have happened...

• We went to Kansas City to see friends and family.
• We went to Disneyland. About 20 times.
• Calliope started taking hip hop classes with her brother.
• Benjamin started doing martial arts. 
• Calliope appeared in print ads for Janie & Jack, Splendid Littles and Lands End. 
• I went on a Bar Method bender that lasted all of one month.
• Vince started playing paddle tennis again.
• I stood in line at 2:30 in the morning to register Benjamin for a spot in a reknowned Mandarin immersion elementary school. 
• Calliope started preschool. 
• Benjamin graduated from preschool.
• Benjamin started Kindergarten (in aforementioned Mandarin immersion school, thank you very much)
• Benjamin learned how to write his name in Chinese.
• Calliope learned how to write her name in English.
• I got walking pneumonia.
• Benjamin got one blood transfusion.
• Calliope got five blood transfusions.
• Vince's office moved from Malibu to Agoura Hills.
• We tortured the kids with swim lessons.
• I got my first ever really bad sunburn.
• I cut of all of my hair a la Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby and had enough to time to grow it all back.
• My parents visited from Asia twice.
• We ate at A-Frame three times.
• We ate at Humble Potato five times.
• We ate at Pitfire Pizza about three dozen times.
• I shot over a hundred photo sessions.
• Vince's work week averaged between 55 (a good week) to 85 (a bad one) hours a week.
• Vince's company went public.
• My father-in-law celebrated his 70th birthday. 
• I bought four new strollers.
• I sold three old strollers.
• I read "Freckleface Strawberry" at bedtime a dozen times.
• I sang "Over the Rainbow" at bedtime over four hundred times.
• My friend and sister Deb moved away.
• We went to two weddings.
• Five friends had babies.
• One friend passed away.
• We celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary.

As I type up this list, I realize how very blessed I am in this life. I promise to write more. 

Itty Bitty Bootylicious

Just now, after Benjamin went to the potty and was putting his underpants back on (backwards, I might add), he bent over to inspect his posterior and said to me, "Mama, I have a little butt." I chuckled affectionately and said yes, he did indeed have a little butt. He then came up to me, inspected MY posterior, looked me dead in the eye and said, "Mama, you have a big butt." Oh, Benjamin... I have ended relationships over words less cruel than those. Good thing I'm legally stuck with you for at least another 15.5 years. Besides, I don't put much stock in what other people think.
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Especially when the person in question has his underpants on backwards.

I realize it's been an age since my last post. Despite what my son would have you believe, it's not my lazy fat ass that has prevented me from updating this blog; it's the royal time suck I call Lily Chan Photography. But even aside from LCP stuff, a lot has happened recently, so I promise you I'll post again soon.

Stay tuned!

LCP'ed to the MAX

Remember that "new baby" I told you about in my last post? The one named Lily Chan Photography? Well, like a real newborn, it's been a needy little thing. I spend so much time tending to it that it might as well have colic.

Someone asked me recently how much time I spend each day on LCP, and I broke it down like this: on an average day, I spend about two hours working on my website/marketing/answering emails, two hours on post-production, and two to three hours on research and education (be it on gear, technical stuff, software, or whatever). At this rate, I'm not even making minimum wage. It's a good thing that I am truly enjoying what I'm doing. And I really thank God that I have a husband that is so understanding. You rock, Vince.

And none of that time includes time actually spent on a job shooting pictures! Because of the Dirty 30 special I'm running right now, I've been able to drum up a fair amount of buzz. This is great because as a new photog, I need all the buzz I can get. This is not so great because other areas of my life as suffering. Well, maybe "suffering" is a bit harsh. I mean, eating leftovers three days in a row is hardly "suffering," right?

So just to give you an idea of how my new baby is faring, I thought I'd give you a glimpse into some of my recent photo shoots.

Yes, all of these shoots happened at different times within the two weeks since my last blog post. No, this isn't all of them. No, I don't know where I'm finding the time to do all this. Yes, my home is a complete disaster.

You may be wondering who some of my new clients are. Most of them are people I am either friends with or friends of friends with. A few are total strangers. All are pretty awesome for taking a chance by giving a newbie family photographer a shot.

Get it? A "shot"? If this photography thing doesn't work out, maybe I should become a stand-up comic. NOT!

Like I said, every one of these families is wonderful. It's been truly incredible having the chance to meet them and see them through my lens. I feel as though each shutter click is an opportunity for me to capture something that is here and then gone in just a blink of an eye. Like the fuzz on a newborn's arms. Or the toothless grin of a baby. Or the acne on a teenagers face. Wait, scratch that - my acne lasted for-EVER.

I have to give props to several peeps in particular - my good friends Julie, Lisa, Deb, and Clara. They've been so enthusiastic and supportive of my new endeavor and have helped in so many ways. Julie and Lisa with their expertise in the business side of things, Clara with her financial savvy (and her mass-mailing of friends), and Deb by sending me crazy hyper emails and texts filled with ENDLESS SMILEY FACES :):) AND CAPITAL LETTERS AND OUT-OF-PLACE PUNCTUATION THAT JUST SHOUTS HOW EXCITED AND PROUD SHE IS OF ME???!?!??! :):):) God, Deb, do your emails ever give me a headache, but I still love 'em. Keep 'em coming!!!! :):):)

And again, I must thank my wonderful husband Vince. He's been a veritable single dad these past few weekends, schlepping the kids around by himself while I've been off on shoots or mired in editing. I am so, so grateful for how supportive he is and how much he's encouraged me. Little does he know, all of this exposure to adorable little babies has been scratching my itch for a third little Chan to round out the brood.

Vince you're gonna get lucky tonight!

Lily Chan Photography

You may have noticed that it's been a while since my last post. Did I fall off the face of the earth? Contract gangrene of the fingertips? Get really, really lazy? No, no, and maybe a little. The truth is that I've taken on a new project, one that has eaten up what precious little free time I have. I've decided to start my own business: Lily Chan Photography.

I've always loved taking pictures. I got my first camera when I was 11. It was a blue plastic point-and-click from K-Mart that used 110 film. Remember those? These days, I shoot with the humble but perfectly serviceable Canon Rebel XS outfitted with a 50mm 1.4 lens. One day, I hope to graduate to the Canon 5D Mark II (or even III). I say "one day" and not "next week" because the 5DM2 doesn't come cheap. It costs the same amount as several pairs of Loubotins. Or a large Louis bag. Or 850 Coffee Bean chai tea lattes (note to self: stop buying chai tea lattes from Coffee Bean). Vince, if you're reading this, don't freak out - I promise I won't dip into the kids' college fund to pay for it. Instead, I'm hoping that my new business will take off enough for me to finance the new toy. Or, if that doesn't work, I'll sell myself on the corner of Hollywood and Vince. There's gotta be a market for aging moms of two, right? KIDDING.

So, like I was saying, I have always loved photography. I loved it so much that I chose it as an area of concentration in my studies as an art student at UCLA. I lived, breathed, slept, and ate photography until the day I received my diploma. And once I got it, guess what happened? I'd become so sick of it that I tossed my enlarger into a dumpster the week after graduation. But then, Benjamin was born, and with him, so was a renewed love of photography. Sure, I'd take snapshots between college and kids, but it felt different now. There is something so special about shooting children. I think it has to do with the fact that they change so damn fast. Those chubby cheeks and gummy smiles are there so briefly, soon to be replaced by skinned knees and gangly limbs, which then metamorphose into broken curfews, cheap Wet 'n' Wild kohl eyeliner, and a bad attitude.

Until recently, my portfolio consisted largely of shots of my own kids. As adorable as I think they are, I realized that in order to successfully market a family photography business, I would need pictures of families. Other people's families. Luckily, my good friends Clara and Eddie agreed to be my first Lily Chan Photography clients. We met at a local park, and I snapped away for about an hour.

My first official LCP session was so much fun! Still, it was not without its challenges. For one thing, it was as hot as hell and the light happened to be super harsh that afternoon. What happened to June Gloom? And then there were environmental concerns, mainly phantom puddles of peed-on grass to skirt like squishy landmines. At one point, I flopped my whole body down in the grass only to realize that I was in a giant puddle of-- I don't even want to think about it. Luckily, the resulting shot was pretty durned cute (above, top left).

All in all, I would say the shoot was a grand kickoff to the start of Lily Chan Photography. Many thanks to Clara, Eddie, and baby Brady for being such a pleasure to work with! I have a few more gigs coming up, so keep an eye out for those pics soon. I'm also in the process of getting a website up, but until then, I'll have to harangue my blog readers with LCP crap here. Right now, I'm running a grand opening special that I'm calling the Dirty 30. Why "dirty"? Because it's rhymes with "thirty" - DUH! Anyway, here's the Dirty 30 in a nutshell: you get a 30-minute session, an online gallery for proofing, and 5 digital negatives to keep for $50. Steal!! See the fine print below* for more details. If you have more questions or want to book me for a shoot, then contact me. Thanks, and stay tuned! Viva LCP!

*The fine print: The Dirty 30 is a limited time offer. To take advantage of it, your session must be scheduled before the end of July. I have a limited number of spaces available. Once all slots are filled, the offer will end. The Dirty 30 includes one 30-minute session at an outdoor location of your choice within 5 miles of Playa Vista (90094). If you are interested in setting up a slightly different package (such as a longer session, an indoor shoot, or a location outside of the 5 mile radius), let me know and we'll work something out. Email lily@lilychanphotography.com for details and booking. Thanks!