jennifer ku photography

A dear friend. Prefers to be called Ulai. An avid marathon runner. One of them who inspired me to run my very first marathon this year (thank you!). It’s no wonder where she wanted her portrait session to take place and was a hundred and one percent sure of it despite my earlier suggestions. I like that. It translated into this energy that she’d about her upon entering the stadium. I could just feel her passion through her excitement. It got me pumped up for the shoot!

Six major accomplishments and more to come!The runner and the environmentalist.Girls just gotta have shoes! Always!

It didn’t help that the day started out overcast on the day of my first shoot and yes, I knew that a change in weather was inevitable. I was only praying for a few hours of decent light and dryness but the worst did happen. It rained on and off, undecided for the most part, which made the weather even hotter and more humid. We began by walking the grounds in search of a nice, as good as dry place to start. In that process we ducked in and out of trees and any form of possible shade, shielding ourselves from the abrupt rain.

Despite the gray cloudy sky above us, the constant battle with pesky bugs, we managed to get the shoot underway. It was a plus that we even got to try out a few places and experimented a fair bit before the last available light disappeared behind the horizon. The session became very candid at one point and Elaine kept saying that I was making her laugh. You see we were attempting a series of non-smiling shots with me wanting to capture the essence of her through her eyes and body language. It sounds straightforward but was much harder than I thought and hardest still in keeping our faces straight! What I do remember clearly was the many times we burst into uncontrollable laughter! Thanks for being such a beautiful sport Elaine! You made it oh so much easier for me!