Jordan and Alex both graduated from San Jose State University, sharing a love for drama. Naturally, they wanted to reenact one of their happiest moments—when Alex proposed—in the SJSU theater where they had spent so much of their college lives.

But fun-loving Jordan and Alex have more than just a theatrical flair; they also have superhero alter-egos!

Many, actually, as in their engagement photo session, we played up Alex’s love for comic books by bringing to life some of DC’s and Marvel’s most beloved icons. Like the Gotham bat signal projected against a dreary sky and Green Lantern’s power ring, Jordan and Alex are each others’ light through dark times, their mutual symbols of hope and strength.

The fun does not stop with a mere studio shoot, however. Since Alex grew up around the redwood trees and beaches of Santa Cruz, we also photographed them spending a day out in nature and enjoying each others’ company (this is what superheroes do on their days off).

We all can relate to the appeal of superheroes, those larger-than-life legends who live in a fantasy world not too different from our own reality. At some point, we have felt like cast-out freaks, different from the rest, harboring a dark side no one else could possibly understand. Like Venom, this side of us threatens to take over, drown and incapacitate us.

It takes a pure and true force of nature to allow us to see the “freakish” as “unique,” to accept us for who we are, to help us conquer our dark sides. Believing in superheroes is a way for us to cope with the mundane and to bring out the best in ourselves through impossible and trying times. Not much different from the power of love.

As we say goodbye to 2011, we also say goodbye to the headache of renovating our photography
studio. We spent 3 months dealing with the fine white dust from the drywall, the teeth-shattering jackhammering, and the noise from dawn till dusk. Renovation is super stressful, especially if, like me, you’re someone who is meticulous about the tiniest details: light, color, the shape of the tiles, design, ambiance, and on and on.

But the good news is that our studio renovation is finally complete! Champagne all around, please! Happy New Year!!!

We decided to go through the remodeling process because we wanted to be able use the studio as an elegant backdrop in photos. Renovation of this proportion usually takes 6 months, but we
completed a majority of it in just under 3 months because we are utilizing the space as a studio and can’t have such a long downtime. We had to be extremely creative in making the renovations in sections.

We did all the interior design ourselves, and we’re so please with how it turned out! The studio used to be really dark, but now light pours in from skylights and windows. Glass doors open onto the yard, creating a flow between indoor/outdoor living space.

We created more light by adding 7 new skylights, and a bunch of new windows. We also installed at least 60+ new light fixtures into the studio, most of which are LED (energy efficient and non-toxic).

The interior has a wedding theme with a glamorous, contemporary, warm and extremely sexy feel. The furniture is modern and cozy, the perfect place for couples who are getting married to get comfortable, have some wine and cheese, and chat with us about their plans.

The fireplace is elongated, see-through and set into beautifully curved tiles, bordered by wood. The other side has a large black granite surround, sitting on a sensual red wall. The see-through fireplace is fun because it’s essentially 2 fireplaces in one.

The salon also received a facelift with new light fixtures, glass French doors and new flooring.

With its beautiful lighting, flowing design, comfortable furnishings and elegant touches throughout the space, visitors tell us the new studio has the feel of a high-end lounge.

So exhilarating is the experience of getting to know two people in love. We felt very blessed photographing Jed & Becca’s engagement session in San Francisco and San Jose. The photos are possibly one of our best so far. We strive for unique photos every time and it makes us super delighted.

Oh, about the best shot, here it is. Thoughts?

And here are the others shot in San Jose’s HIstorical Park, beach, Palace of Fine Art, etc. So MUCH fun! At the end of it all, Jed, Becca and I had a blast. They also decided that they also wanted us to be their wedding videographer. It’ll be fun doing photography and videography / cinematography in the Stanford Memorial Church in Palo Alto and the San Mateo County History Museum. Can’t wait!!!

Angela, a social worker from Department of Family & Children’s Services called a mere 4 days ago. “Will you be willing to donate your family & children photography services to two foster care children who are separating? The sister who turned 18 and her little brother. The sister’s parting gift are photographs of she and her brother together”, she explained somberly.

I was left speechless for a few seconds and replied, “God, yes, of course!!!”

You see, most of my unsolicited calls are from so-called SEO-experts who wants my money to “put my website on the front page of Google” and ones that tells me I’ll receive a big fat check from Nigeria. So, this came in an unexpected (but pleasant) manner.

The photoshoot was quick but the energy in the room was boundless and fun. Jack & Jaylyn were shy but not for long. Jumps, screams and laughter filled the room. It felt like a normal photoshoot but significantly better. The very fact that I know these photos will be great memories for these kids now and forever. Not much different than a worn old photograph that was kept in the wallet of my 70 year old uncle, that reminds him of his lost brother…

Gave the kids a super big hug after the session. I felt sad, but very contented.

We are very blessed to be one of Yelp’s highest ranked photographer in the bay area. Yup, with approx. 50 FIVE STARS reviews, we feel loved. However, today came an email stating that we now have a negative FAT ONE STAR review in Yelp! A one-star what?!!

We’re breaking the mold ! Making history and causing chaos in the industry. People officially now hate us on Yelp!

- Michael Soo
Sad Photographer of the Year

Why do I say this is the Best Engagement Session in San Francisco? Perhaps this is one of the times when I am most relaxed, blessed to be a friend to my clients. That is also the time when we get the best images.

You see, this couple are not just any clients, they are now close friends of ours. We met them during our wedding consultation for their 2011 wedding. Jenny is an architect and Josh is an engineer. When we found out that Jenny is a meticulous architect, she soon became the architect who drew our photography studio addition! Check out a page (out of 17 pages) of her drawings for our permit submission toward our upcoming photography studio remodel!

Not only that, she wrote me a super sweet Yelp review after the session. I went all red when I read it. When it comes to photographing people who are so special, we go doubly above and beyond for them. Their wedding will be held in Hotel Valencia, Santana Row, San Jose. I’m looking forward to photographing their wedding!

We ended our shoot in a sea cave. A supremely exciting and fun-filled day. Here are a few of the images.

Josh, now he’s a cool looking guy. Look closely and you’ll realize that he resembles Edward, the main character in The Twilight Saga…

18 year old Reilly is leaving Atherton, California for college in Texas. Everyone is excited for him, but at the same time, sad. As fine art photographers and cinematographers, our imagery and video/cinema speaks about the family we photograph. Even more so when each family members have so much love and fun with each other.

We almost felt like close relatives, being there, absorbing the love and resonating and reflecting the TLC back into our photographs and cinema. This was photographed in the backyard of their home during our family portraiture session in Atherton, CA (next to Menlo Park and Palo Alto). Enjoy Texas, Reilly!

(Notice Georgia whispering “I love you” to Reilly when she was leaning on his shoulder? )

Behind the scenes in the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers photoshoot by Soo Photography.

Who do photographers go to when they need a photographer themselves?  Do you know that 50% of our clients are photographers?!  We get doubly excited when our clients are photographers since their expectations for quality is significantly higher than everybody else’s.  That gives us wonderful challenges that we can work towards!

We get our share of camaraderie with fellow photographers since we teach photography & photoshop workshops, we have a forum with over 1,500 local photographers and we are setup to be the smug leader for Smugmug Pro in the Silicon Valley fairly soon.

Aaron, a good photographer in his own rights and a member of our forum (I say “our” because I see the forum as a property of the community) and Lani have been together for 9 years! I really enjoy the fact that they are shy at times but do finish each others sentences. Lani loves Mexican and Aaron loves sushi. I did suggest them to live near a Jap-Mex combo restaurant (we did pass a Chinese-Mex restaurant on our way to the engagement shoot. So these things do exist). Engagement photos below,

…all shot within the confines of a water temple, golden gate park, japanese garden, golden gate’s baker’s beach. It was a really fun day where the sunlight was kind to me, allowing me to craft such portraits for them to enjoy for a long time to come!!

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The past two months has been nothing but a truly humbling experience for us. We have been blogged, reviewed, voted and published. Here are some of our recent delightful encounters that made us blush to no end…

• As of today, we’ve been voted to TOP THREE of the BEST Wedding Photographer in the entire San Francisco Bay Area by San Francisco Chronicle. Help us Capture The Love become #1 !!!

• Queensberry saw our work and they love what they saw!

• Profoto, a high end international professional lighting company interviewed and blogged about us

• James Robinson, a fellow photographer found us via the Profoto Blog and went ahead to interview us

• Our work was published by both Gizmodo AND Engadget at the same time!

• We got into the front cover and numerous pages of the highly successful Nesting Newbies magazine!

• We’ve taught in several highly successful workshops in Santana Row and were requested by Smugmug to be the South Bay’s Smug Leader, proceed to give talks and organize activities for hundreds of local photographers!

We feel really blessed and we’re definitely counting our blessings and appreciate all the support and love we have gotten over the years from everyone!