on a mission • marco, age 6 • palos verdes estates, ca

beach, little ones, outdoors

One of my greatest pleasures is catching up with families at regular intervals, seeing how the kids have grown & changed. For the last three years, I’ve gotten to do annual portraits of Marco, an energetic, imaginative, precocious boy whose mom is a creative, magical, ultra-feminine force of nature. Marco loves costumes, & each year, I feel honored that he tolerates my shooting away, while I follow him around, catching him being a kid. He clambers up rocky beaches & climbs trees with the ease of a monkey–it’s so inspiring to watch, & an exciting challenge to keep up with him! This year, we ventured to the coast, & he was on a mission of the imagination…

love the name “katie” • hsin-kuo family portraits • palos verdes estates, ca

little ones, studio, we are family

I love how being a photographer has connected me with people; in this case, the game of “six degrees” of separation has led me to my sister’s high school classmate, Amy.  And, it’s very fun that Amy’s little girl is named “Katie Kuo,” which is my sister’s name. It was such a treat to be able to meet Amy & her husband Michael, & to do their first official family portraits with baby! Katie was so energetic, so ready to play, & her parents were quick on their feet! And Amy & Michael both have these mega-watt smiles that are so expressive. We had a lot of fun–& Katie was a rockstar–not a meltdown in sight the whole session! She was very patient with these three adults mugging for her & fussing over her. What a great time we had!