Hi everyone!!!! I am taking a moment to breathe and blog. I can’t believe almost half the year has already passed and what a year it has been! (On another note, I also can’t believe I am turning 3-0 in 40 days!!! AHHHH!!!!) I am soooo grateful to be soooo busy! Kim Le Photography has grown tremendously in the past year and I must admit, it is quite an art to find the right balance between work and life itself. In fact, I feel like work has become my life and although I really enjoy every minute of it, I know I can’t spend all day in front of my computer and/or behind the camera or can I?! So as Kim Le Photography continues to grow, please be patient with some of the growing pains along the way. I am working on changes to better my business and provide me with the resources to take care of my clients and myself. New and improved things are coming soon and I can’t wait to share all of the news and photos. Thanks for your continuing patience and support!!!!

And did I mention how great of a year it has been?!!! I am so blessed and honored to have my work featured on various web publications. I really LOVE what I do and it makes me happy to share my work with so many people! Here are various Kim Le Photography features in the past few months. Be sure to click on the photos below to view the full blog post. Thank you to all of the amazing blogs and my incredible clients!

Today is of course Valentine’s Day and what better way to celebrate than with something (or someone) sweet?! And what better sweetness to have than red velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles! I think I especially liked them because they came with cute, lil’ hearts on top .

Hoping you are spending the day with the ones you love!!!!  XOXO

In keeping up with blogging more this year, I thought I’d keep all of y’all updated with lil’ tibits of lil’ me and my lil’ life . If you know me, you know I love to EAT.  Combine good food with good friends and that’s my idea of a perfect night.  A couple of friends with very talented culinary skills came over this past weekend and treated us to a truly gourmet dinner.  I felt so blessed and stuffed that night .  Yes life is pretty darn good.

Hmmmm….after working on this blog, I am suddenly hungry. I just ate 2 hours ago…sigh.

I know, I’ve been a bad blogger lately. There goes 2010 resolution #8,998. But, have no fear, the holiday food coma has worn off, all the suitcases have been unpacked, the skies are sunny again and life for KLP seems to finally be back to some kind of order, well at least the KLP kind.

Sadly this is the last of my photo posts from my amazing trip to Vietnam last December. I can’t believe it’s been a month since I returned. *Sigh*. I would definitely go again in a heartbeat.

The final part of my Vietnam trip included a visit to Vietnam’s central region where my friend Neha and I visited the central cities of Hue and Hoi An. We then traveled south and met up with my sister and her husband in the beautiful beach city of Nha Trang. I love how Vietnam has so many different regions, each unique in their own way. If you asked me which is my favorite city in Vietnam, I don’t think I would not be able to answer your question! You should just go visit them all .

I have received a lot of positive feedback on my photos from Part 1 and Part 2. I feel fortunate that I can share with everyone my wonderful experiences . Please keep in mind that if you are planning a big trip and want to spend less time taking pics, but want some pretty good pics at the same time, I am available and happy to take that load off for you . I am so lil’ you won’t even notice I’m there . In addition to my photography skills, I would also bring some of my other travel expertise to the table such as reading maps, finding good eats, updating my facebook status and working on my tan. Things I’m not quite as good at: saving your life in the ocean or other bodies of water, putting your luggage in the overhead compartment, making normal faces in jumping shots and not being tempted to eat everything I can.

Ok on with the photos!

Here are some pictures from the central city of Hue. Hue use to be an Imperial City so there were a lot of interesting sights to see. We got pretty lucky on our trip – it only rained 2 out of the 18 days on our trip. The only 2 days happen to be in Hue and Hoi An. Unfortunately though that meant I wasn’t able to take as many photos during these 2 days.

Amazing, isn’t it?!

Um no my camera was not upside down.

After Hue, we took a bus, yes a bus on a 4 hour trek to Hoi An. We got a little scared when the bus driver parked in the middle of the road, got out and started banging on the wheels. At that point, I wondered if I could make a living as a wedding photographer in Central Vietnam. When we finally got to Hoi An though, I was delighted by the charming streets of Hoi An and all of the shopping and tailor shops that made Hoi An so unique.

After two rainy days, we were ready to leave and then took a flight to the beach city of Nha Trang. I took a total of 9 flights during my entire Vietnam-Cambodia trip. Some of them were about an hour long so they weren’t too bad. We saved Nha Trang for the end of our trip so we could wind down and just do nothing (I’m very good at that by the way) . We also decided to splurge and stay at the Evason Ana Mandera Resort & Spa in Nha Trang. It was super luxurious and private. We loved it and probably could have spent the entire 18 days here, doing nothing . Sigh…just looking at these pics makes me want to take another vacation soon.

Our beach bungalow:

This is where I spent 90% of the 3 days in Nha Trang. The other 10% was spent at the spa .

It was a little cloudy while we were in Nha Trang (the best time to go is during the summer months), but I did not mind waking up to this everyday:

You know no KLP beach vacation would not be complete without a leg shot:

If you are thinking the words “must be nice” in your head, it was .

And of course we had to do a final jumping shot on our vaca. Neha is gonna kill me for posting this one, but what are friends for?! It’s actually my fault, I jumped early of course .

A sorta normal one? Well at least Neha looks normal. My Michael Jordan impression didn’t work so well. And there’s that hat from Cambodia…

The other side of our resort…which we didn’t really venture to. It was hard to leave our beach chair when they are serving you fresh fruit and yogurt .

No that is not the Hollywood sign in the distance. It is Vin Pearl Resort. I contemplated photoshopping the sign out of this photo.

Yes silliness runs in the Phams:

My brother-in-law Chris aka the Birdman. He’s gonna kill me for posting this hahaha. He learned well from KLP – anything to get the shot!!!

And that is all folks. Don’t be sad. I have a lot of more exciting trips planned for this year and I’ll be sure to share them all!

On this last day of 2009, I just wanted to take the time to say a great big THANK YOU to all of my incredible family, friends & clients who have supported me this year and every year. It has been a huge year of change for me and I am SO grateful for all of your love & support. I really can’t imagine being who and where I am today without you.

As each year ends and a new one begins, I always take some time to reflect on the year that has passed and prepare for the year that awaits. I was trying to come up with some words of cheesiness and inspiration like I usually do , but instead I found this quote that I think perfectly represents my outlook on life. I see each day as an opportunity to live a lil’ better and love a whole lot more . I hope that this too will provide some inspiration in your new year.

Dream what you want to dream;
go where you want to go;
be what you want to be,
because you have only one life and one
chance to do all the things you want to do.

And so I leave you will a Poladroid collage of some of the most memorable moments of 2009 with some of the people and places that made this year extra special. Most of these photos were actually taken by others or simply through my iPhone (I apologize if they are not up to par with typical Kim Le Photography ). I think these photos really reflect what a crazy and wonderful year it has been for me and that despite whatever challenges might have come my way, I have been blessed to be surrounded by so many fabulous people and experienced so many amazing moments. And I’m sorry if you didn’t make the cut – there’s always next year! I have to say my favorite of all the photos below is my super fly mommy rockin’ the yellow stunna shades below – see last row, 2nd photo to the right. Now you know where I get my swagger from! LOL.

Thank you and I look forward to you joining me in 2010!!!! I am super excited about the endless opportunities that await! I have a feeling – actually I KNOW it’s going to be a great year!!!

Here is part 2 of my amazing trip to the motherland. After Cambodia, we flew to the Northern part of Vietnam to visit the country’s capital of Hanoi and the scenic beauty of Halong Bay. I feel very, very blessed to have the opportunity to see and experience so many places.

Hanoi is Vietnam’s second largest city and is just as bustling at Saigon. However, Hanoi has its own unique charm about it. At the center of the city is a beautiful lake called Hoan Kiem Lake. We stayed near here and spent most of our time wandering around and taking in the beautiful sights of the city.

The famous red bridge on the lake:

One of the big tourist attracts in Hanoi is the Temple of Literature, which is the sight of the oldest university in Vietnam.

A popular form of entertainment in Hanoi is catching a show at the Water Puppet Theater. Here are some of the water puppets:

Hanoi had a lot of great places to eat, but one of my favorites was a charming restaurant called KOTO which stands for “Know One, Teach One”. Not only is it a place with delicious food, but I just love the message behind it. KOTO is a not-for-profit restaurant and vocational training program that is changing the lives of street and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam.

Yes I was thirsty.

After a couple of nice days in Hanoi, we took a 4 hour bus ride to Halong City. From there, we boarded our junk boat to set sail overnight to Halong Bay:

This is our cute lil’ room.

Ok let me just say Halong Bay is one of the most BREATHTAKING places I have every been to in my life. Halong Bay is UNESCO World Heritage site and features thousands of limestone isles in various sizes and shapes. As good as a photographer as I am , I don’t think my photos even did this place justice. The bay was simply beautiful, with an incredible calmness and peacefulness about it. I spent most of my time sitting a top of the junk boat, wondering how I became so fortunate to experience such a magnificent place. It’s times like these that I feel so blessed and so in love with life. I hope one day you will experience this sensation as well.

Halong Bay has various caves and one of the caves was visited was the amazing “Surprise Cave”:

It was so unbelievably large and grand inside:

Stunning, isn’t it?!

Now this is why I came to Halong Bay. This scene I witnessed and captured here makes the 16 hour flight and 4 hour bus ride to Halong Bay all worth it and more. We caught the beauty of the bay right before sunset and it was so moving to me. This is probably my most favorite photo of the entire trip:

Sigh…how I wish I was still there!

Halong Bay at night…no flash here folks.

And before you know it, PART 3 of my amazing adventures will be here!!! Stay tuned!!!