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Sonialena Photography Blog bio picture

Welcome to the Sonialena Photography Blog!

Thanks for taking a moment to visit my blog!

This blog chronicles my adventures as a wedding and portrait photographer. I'm based in Southern California but will happily and gladly travel to other parts of the universe.

My blog is also a place for me to share some of the personal photography that I do, as well as sound off on various topics that are tangentially related to photography.

If you're inspired to write a comment or send an e-mail my way, I would love to hear from you!

Category Archives: portrait

Portraits: Blended #15

I took photos of Andrea and Linh while I was in the bay area. Linh and I went to UCLA together many years ago – more than I care to say! Linh was born in Vietnam and grew up in Orange county. Andrea is of Japanese descent; she grew up in Richmond California. Her father’s...

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Portraits: Robert and Neil

I took a few pictures of Robert and Neil together. These were taken at the Presidio in San Francisco.

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Portraits: Blended #14

Neil is the third person in my bay area trifecta: as with Regine and Robert, I met him through my aunt Pamela. They all went to Stanford together.
Neil is of Barbadian and Polish descent. His grandparents on his father’s side are from Barbados, and his mother’s grandparents are from Poland. He currently lives in Vallejo,...

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Photo on Parents.com

A big thank you to Kelly, who submitted this photo to Parents.com. The photo is from the maternity session I did with Kelly and Scott over the summer. It is now part of an article on how to take pregnant belly photos.
P.S. Kelly and Scott had a healthy baby girl in September.

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Portraits: Blended #13

Robert is another subject that I met through Pamela – he’s her husband! And my uncle. Pamela and Robert live in Ohio with their three wonderful children. Robert gew up in Dayton and is half black and half white. We took these pictures at the Presidio in San Francisco, CA.

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Portraits: Blended #12

I met Regine through my aunt, who also introduced me to Alan, an earlier participant in my mixed race portrait project. Regine is of Haitian and Irish ancestry, and her first language is French. She currently lives in Berkeley, CA. We took these pictures at Dimond Park in Oakland, CA.

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Portraits: All Together Now

My couples for Blended #10 and #11, in Barstow, CA.

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Portraits: Blended #11

I met Jamie at Cal Poly and have known her for nearly three years. In addition to taking classes together, we also taught English in China during the summer of 2006. Her boyfriend Ryohei is from Japan and has been in the US for two years now. We took these pictures in Barstow, CA.

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Portraits: Blended #10

My portrait project is in double digits now! I got a twofer with this portrait session. I initially drove out to Barstow to meet my friend Jamie, who I know from Cal Poly. As it turns out, her brother Kalan and his girlfriend, Sylvia, were in town as well.
Kalan and Sylvia are in and of...

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Portraits: Blended #9

I met Alyssa and Jonathan through Nancy, another participant in Project Blended. Alyssa is of mixed heritage; her mother is from Hong Kong and her father is American. Jonathan, her fiancé, is of German descent. We took these pictures at Orange Terrace Park in Riverside, CA.

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