Tag Archives: julie chen photography

The Ivory Couch Photo Shoot {Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Western Springs Photography}

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Many of you know I used to gently carry my beloved red velvet couch out to fields & parks for some fun family photo shoots. Well, as described here, that beloved red couch has been retired & my friend GENEROUSLY GAVE ME a vintage ivory couch to replace it. {Total miracle! It is the exact shape of my red couch & I love it!}

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As you can see, the ivory couch provides such elegance, beauty, & snuggle time fun!Julie Chen Photography_0003

One great thing about the ivory couch is that wardrobe color is no longer limited {ie: when shooting the red couch, you obviously could not wear any shade of red or it would not look good.} Anything looks great against the ivory {well, maybe not white, but creams would look sweet.}

 

As I’ve said before, I do these couch shoots in limited doses. I will let you know the next time I am planning one, but for now, simply enjoy this beautiful family!

 

Grace & Peace,

JulieFreeSHIPPING

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Boy #3 {Downers Grove / Hinsdale Maternity & Family Photography}

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This beautiful mama may very well be in labor this very moment! A couple months ago we had a blast photographing her baby belly & other 3 boys {including her hubby!}.Julie Chen Photo_0002

What a fun family. And, soon enough Miss M there will be even more blue in your laundry basket! Can’t wait to meet him!

 

Grace & Peace,

JulieFreeSHIPPING

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National Park Portraits + Thoughts on Race from My Sunshine Girl {Chen Family Vacation 2014}

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Hopefully you are not sick of my vacation posts yet, but I just had to share with you all some of my favorite portraits of my kiddos. Above is Sunshine Girl strolling through the yellow fields of the Badlands. {Umm… there may or may not have been rattlesnakes in that field. *Gulp!*} There is nothing like South Dakota, where the land & sky go on forever & the wind was incredible.

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The above is our campground in Canyon Village, Yellowstone. Camping among the soft pines was dreamy. The kids loved playing in the forest. It was all I could do to have them stop for a photo. Love them so much.

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Out of my 3, Sunshine Girl is THE model for me. She loves it & I love her beauty. Those eyes, that smile, how she can pull off different looks… ahhh…

 

We had a very interesting conversation a couple weeks ago about race & self perception. I should back track & tell you 2 things first:

1. Last year when we went to the University of Michigan as one of our vacation stops, we went to an exhibit on race. It was fascinating. It discussed race, racial terms & how they’ve changed though the years, prejudice, perception, etc… One part of the exhibit was by a photographer who studied mixed Asians {ie: my kids.} The photos were amazing. They stated the mix of 2 races {ie: Japanese + Swedish} & then at the end of the exhibit, you were to fill out a card & state {or declare} what race you are & my 2 big kids declared they are Chinese. Now, what about ME?! In their eyes, they are Chinese because Daddy is Chinese. Interesting.

 

2. On the way home from Yellowstone, Sam & I listened to Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book David & Goliath {I highly suggest you either read or listen to this book} … another gem of wisdom & insight from Malcolm. In the book, there is an entire section on the Civil Rights Movement, which I know the kids gleaned from.

 

OK, so back to our conversation.

 

One day after volleyball camp, Sunshine Girl looked at me & said, “Mommy, I wish I had skin like you.” {the irony here is she actually DOES have skin exactly like me. Skin, hair & ears are all she’s got of my features.}

I asked, “Why? What do you mean?”

She replied {sadly}, “At volleyball camp, no one picked me to be their partner because I am dark skinned & it was me & the other 2 REALLY dark skinned girls that were never chosen.”

 

This made me heartbroken. As a 9 year old, does she really think she’s not chosen because of the color of her skin? Was it true? Are we here in white suburbia perpetuating racism?

 

I would like to think that she was not chosen often because many of the girls she was at camp with were already friends with each other from school {& she does not go to their schools}, so Sunshine Girl was the outsider & I explained to her that people tend to stick with their own friends & not reach out to the new kid, as it’s easier & more comfortable to stick with what you know. {& by the way, on the last day of camp, a couple girls did ask her to join in!}

 

The entire conversation was fascinating to me & made me think about how my kids perceive themselves. Sam & I do our best to communicate to them how they are fearfully and wonderfully made, chosen by God, & our beloved treasures. Sunshine Girl is so tender hearted. Compassion is a big aspect of her personality. She is always looking out for the under-dog. And, now she felt she was the under-dog. I hope this feeling teaches her to continue to step out of comfort zones & embrace those who are not like herself. I also hope she continues to grow in confidence in who she is & how God has created her. {She is my one who carries an Avengers lunchbox for crying out loud & several 3rd grade girls were horrified & made fun of her a bit for it, but she said, “I don’t care. I like the Avengers!” ha!}

 

Grace & Peace,

Julie

 

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Yellowstone Thermal Activity {Chen Family Vacation 2014}

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Geysers, hotpools, & mud pots … OH MY! The above is of course, “Old Faithful”, which did you know is not the biggest nor most impressive geyser in the park? It is simply the most predictable geyser in Yellowstone & thus the heart of tourism, as it’s an easy view. My Favorite Little Mister’s favorite though was the Anemone Geyser which he nicknamed “the toilet geyser”. It is the top right photo {with Old Faithful going off in the background…away from the crowds!}. There are 3 small holes in the earth which alternately fill every 7-10 minutes, then burst into spouts of steaming water about 6 feet into the air for a couple minutes, then (& HERE IS THE BEST PART!) drains back into the earth making a toilet flushing gurgling noise! AWESOME! We stayed for about an hour is all. Ha!

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The hotpools are beautiful. BUT SMELLY. Sunshine Girl gagged & almost threw up several times. It became quite funny actually. Think of the hot air around you smelling like rotten eggs & that is what the sulpher smell of the earth is like. YUCK.
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O.K., Yellowstone is just plain weird. We talked to some “locals” & they gave us a few golden tips: 1. Hike to Fairy Falls, but go beyond it to Imperial Geyser {the above left photo} in which there are no more boardwalks to keep visitors away from delicate thermal areas & random GEYSERS going off next to a mountain! Crazy! 2. On your way back from that hike, once you near the Grand Prismatic Hot Pool {the most famous in Yellowstone}, take the “paths” up a gravelly hill for an upper view of the Grand Prismatic. It was SO cool, but SO slippery & dangerous. {This was not true trails, just “paths” hikers had made & the park ranger highly discouraged us from climbing it as there many broken bones there every year…} We did it anyways & this is Sunshine Girl overlooking the Grand.

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Here is some trick photography {which the kids were SUPER into this trip} of My Favorite Little Mister puffing smoke & the bottom photo is Mammoth Hot Springs.

 

Enjoy!

Grace & Peace,

JulieFreeSHIPPING

National Park Portraits + Thoughts on Race from My Sunshine Girl {Chen Family Vacation 2014} | Life Verse Design Blog - […] you are not sick of my vacation posts yet, but I just had to share with you all some of my favorite portraits of my kiddos. Above […]

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Yellowstone Wildlife {Chen Family Vacation 2014}

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We just returned from a 16 day road trip out west to the Badlands, the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Yellowstone & the Tetons. Here are some wildlife highlights:

 

The above image is essentially the epitome of Yellowstone: bison next to geysers next to creeks in the middle of forests!Yellowstone Photo_0002

This was our home for 13 nights straight. Camping is THE WAY to experience Yellowstone at it’s finest.

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Bison. Road blocks. Calves nursing. The above bison decided to walk along side our car for a bit.

 

We even got to watch 2 bison swim across a river!

 

And, you know you’ve been in Yellowstone too long when you are animal hunting & say, “OH, it’s JUST ANOTHER bison!”Yellowstone Photo_0004

White tailed deer. Moose eating the “river grass” & elk! {Elk are another one of those, “OH, it’s JUST ANOTHER elk!” sightings.} So amazing to see so close!

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Now, here’s some action: we are driving along & you learn to park when you see a crowd & there was a huge heard of elk feeding at dusk, but Sam said NO ONE is looking at the elk… so, we happen upon an area where a grizzly bear {actually 3 different ones} fed off of this bison carcass for 5 days straight. We saw days 2, 4, & 5. It was amazing to see the size of the carcass diminish before our eyes. This other photo is on day 4 when you could see the grizzly ripping the pink meat off the bison! At one point, she was aware of another bear in the area & tried dragging the carcass off! {It did not get far} {Oh, & this all happened in the Canyon area about 2 miles from our camp site… a little weird knowing you are in bear country.}

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And, the grand finale of Yellowstone was our last night there & Pumpkin-Poos just wanted to see a wolf the entire time {she would ask every park ranger “where the wolves are?”} … This is Hayden Valley & we spotted the onlookers {I am talking scopes, biggest camera lenses I’ve ever seen, etc…} so we pulled over to see a 5 pack WAY off in the distance. The alpha & another were frolicking around & quite playful, but it was far it was hard to see. So, I said let’s go look for more “action”… as we drove to the next outlook, I watched the pack as best I could & notice they were QUICKLY moving closer to the road, so we parked it. We got out to watch the above alpha wolf cross the road with another & learned there was another bison carcass behind a hill {out of view}. We waited for a while, watching the remaining 3 wolves playing, and low & behold, the alpha wolf trots back across the road with a hunk of bison meat in it’s mouth for the pack!

 

All of this meat action reminded me of a funny sign in a gift shop that said, “VEGETARIAN: a Native American word for bad hunter.” So funny.

 

Come back again to see the thermal feature of Yellowstone & some sweet portraits I took of my kiddos!

 

Grace & Peace,

Julie

 

 

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National Park Portraits + Thoughts on Race from My Sunshine Girl {Chen Family Vacation 2014} | Life Verse Design Blog - […] you are not sick of my vacation posts yet, but I just had to share with you all some of my favorite portraits of my kiddos. Above is […]

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