Flash::toki lee photography

Check out my new flash page! Do you like it? Or should I keep it the way it was? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think (i love comments!) FYI, a flash page is the very first thing you see when you visit my website. My website has been sorely neglected since I started blogging at the beginning of the year... I think that it's time to spruce it up a bit so be sure to keep an eye out for my new and improved website to come soon!!

Before and After

It's been a while since I posted a "before and after" so here's one that I thought would be fun to share. This image of Tristan was taken back in January at one of my favorite spots around town. I skipped right past this image initially and didn't give it a second thought; however, I was recently going through my older files and this same one stopped me in my tracks. I was able to look past the underexposure and the annoying line behind his head, and just focus (hee hee, no pun intended) on Tristan's cute little expression. I can't believe I almost "lost" this one...

Here's the image SOOC (straight out of camera):
And here's the final image with my personal touches added. I plan to get a black and apple green whimsical frame for this image. I think it's a keeper.

Mini Sessions Over For Now

Hello there! I just wanted to make you aware that the Spring Mini Sessions are coming to a close. If you are still interested, please email/call me and I will hold a spot for you. The last day to book your mini session is May 4th; however you have until the end of May to conduct the actual session.

And now, here's a photo of my Tristan.

{the "R" family} southern california family photographer

As you know, I specialize in lifestyle portraiture of babies, kids and family. Occasionally, I get asked to cover an event such as the one I attended yesterday.

This super lovely family invited me to document a very special event. Both children were surrounded by loved ones from near and afar as they were baptized together. They took advantage of having everyone already gathered together to also celebrate Miss "M"'s 1st birthday!! Thank you all for your graciousness and for allowing me to share this wonderful day with you. More images to come later but here's a quick peek.

What a darling, handsome little man he is! I was quite impressed by his complete knowledge of Star Wars. By the way, his favorite Star Wars character is Obi-Wan Kenobi :-)
Such a beautiful, sweet and darling girl!

Some More Girls & Butterflies

Here are a few more images of these cutie girls!

Beautiful Baby Blues

I have a thing for blue eyes.... my Mom reminded me not too long ago that when I was a little girl, I proclaimed that I would marry a blue-eyed boy so that I can have blue-eyed babies. Alas, I did marry a blue-eyed boy but with the way genes work and all, my two boys ended up with gorgeous golden brown eyes. So today, this beautiful little girl came for her 1 year old photos. Let me tell you, baby "E" has the MOST amazing blue eyes I've ever seen!! They seriously put me in a trance! Here are a few sneak peeks for her beautiful Mommy. Thank you for the scrumptious scones Amber!!

Blessed

Here is a proud Grandma with all 6 of her precious grandchildren!

Butterflies and Girls... Oh My!

You might recognize Laura from a previous post. She brought along her two precious girls for a visit and a mini photo session. Aren't the girls just gorgeous? I'm loving the butterflies on my new backdrop... it's so girly and springy!

Beautiful Mommies and Babies

I love to observe the bond between a mommy and her baby.... it's pure magic!

Sibling Love

Such darling siblings... can you tell that they absolutely adore each other?

{The "R" Family} southern california family photographer

Here is a quick sneak peek for the "R" Family. These super adorable twin boys "E" and "M" just celebrated their 4th birthday!! These boys are super sweet and so much fun to be around! Thank you for letting me spend the afternoon with you and the rest of the family who are out visiting from Virginia. More to come soon....!

Dancing Makes Me Happy

I love the way little kids dance without inhibition... and look so darn cute while they're at it too!

Boys, boys, boys!

I always saw myself as a girly girl who loved to dress up and do girly things with my sisters and girlfriends. As kids, we spent hours dressing up and putting on fashion shows. I just knew that I would have a daughter someday.

Of course Life never goes according to plan and it figures that I would end up with not one but two boys but I gotta tell you, Chase & Tristan are my world! They have morphed into such amazing little guys. They love to do artwork, ride their bikes and skateboards, help Daddy with gardening, play, read, bake cookies... they even think it's fun to do the laundry and vacuuming... They are both so smart, sweet, talented and pretty hilarious. C&T regularly call me "my princess" and kiss my hand as a gentleman would upon meeting a lady. How cute is that? As all proud parents tend to do, I could go on and on about my kids. But hey! I'm getting away from the reason for my post, sorry!

So today, I had the pleasure of photographing not one but two adorable 16 month old twin boys! These little boys were too cute for words and lots of fun to shoot. It reminded me of my boys and how yummy they were at this age. It seems like it was just yesterday and now here they are at 5 years old, getting ready for kindergarten. To anyone who's reading this, enjoy your little ones and don't forget to take pictures to document all of their sweet littleness (is that a word?) They grow up in the blink of an eye.

Enjoy your sneek peek Jennifer and Bob!!

GQ Session

I'm just not good at coming up with clever titles or subject lines when sending emails but I thought 'GQ Session' was appropriate for this post. The boys look like they're posing for GQ don't they? So we were playing around with some studio lights and backdrops yesterday and it was a nice change of pace from how I normally shoot. Let me know if you are interested in doing a session in my "studio"!

Storyboards

Have you seen a Storyboard up close? It is a gorgeous way to display two, three or four of your favorite images from a session. We custom design a 10x20 layout with your choice of a favorite quote, verse or personal message, as well as selecting the perfect background to tell a stunning visual story. The storyboard comes mounted and ready for framing or you may opt to turn it into a canvas. These are just a couple of examples. You can see more on my website.

Spring Mini Sessions

spring (sprĭng) n. A time of growth and renewal.

In honor of the arrival of spring, I am offering children's mini sessions for a limited time. These sessions are for up to two children under the age of 12 only. If you are interested in a full portrait session, please visit my website for more information. Spring mini sessions include:

30 minute session on location
10-15 finished proofs
8×10 Portrait
8 Wallets
20% off additional purchase
Price: $95

And since no post is complete without a photo....

Urban Boy Session

Joshua is extremely bright, full of enthusiasm and quite charming! As you can see, he's quite comfortable in front of the camera and he had all kinds of GQ poses that he wanted to try out. These are just a few fun images from the session. Thank you for a fun session and sorry it took me so long to post these!

Pondering Life

Today, we found another fantastic location!! I'm so excited that my list of recommended locations is growing! I guess we just need to slow down every once ina while to see the hidden treasures all around us. Anyways, I am quite certain that everyone is getting sick of seeing images of Chase and Tristan but quite frankly, my boys are such good sports and hardly ever say no when I bring out my camera. Hmmm, we must be doing something right for them to be so polite at 5 years old. Naaaah, I think they enjoy it.

Shooting in the Backyard

We were just hanging out in the backyard the other day when I was inspired to grab my camera and shoot Tristan. Shoot as in to take a picture. What got me off the comfy hammock to hunt down my camera? Well for starters, there was good light. And good mood (that's always a bonus when you're trying to take pictures of your own kids :-) Oh and I also liked the messy hair too. I also noticed that the fence looked kind of cool in the light so I had to check that out. You may notice from some of my other images posted here on this blog and on my website that I love to blur out the background as much as I can. Creates more interest in the image and also puts the focus (no pun intended) on the subject.

Enjoy your weekend!

Little Green Dress

Little Miss "L" wore her pretty green dress with white polka dots for an impromptu session. I managed to get just 3 shots in about 10 seconds before she ran off to play. Can you tell she's so done with me in the last photo? Funny girl!