[destination love story] Miren & James, Sha Ha Beach, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

Ahhhhh….. THIS session has been a long time coming (in sharing it on my blog that is!)… It just makes me so happy every time I look at these pictures because THESE TWO.. they are great friends of Nek and I.

Let me pull back a bit and tell you some more.

I first met Miren (pronounced Mee-den) -one of the most gorgeous + beautiful people I know, inside and out- and James, who is friendly in the best way and you can just fall into conversation (about anything) with him so easily… more than 3.5 years ago when Nek first introduced them to me.  They used to live on Samui with us, teaching English (and Spanish) at Samui International School and we used to go Stand Up Paddleboarding (see my guide of things to do on Samui, featuring Miren in the photos and James behind the camera, he’s forever documenting their travels & adventures) together and enjoyed the island lifestyle together for a while..

August last year, they moved to Hong Kong. We were sad to see such good friends go but knew we would see them again. So when my yearly visa ran out this year in June, we contacted them to see if it was a good time to visit… and luckily it was!

They offered to let us stay with them in their gorgeous apartment in Sai Kung (one of the most beautiful areas in Hong Kong, Nek and I agreed) for the whole of our 6 day stay, so we are forever grateful to these two and I felt like some photographs of the two of them together might be a nice gift 🙂

After the boys had gone Stand Up Paddleboarding in the bay, James went to change into his ‘photo outfit’ that we had picked out earlier. Nek left us to go back and start cooking up a yummy Thai dinner for us all while I spent some time on the shores of Sha Ha Beach, Sai Kung with these two beautiful people….

nature, beach, sai kung beach, Hong Kong, love story photography session, couples love story
It was foggy and so beautiful at the time, the beach businesses were closing up for the day while families still played in the water.
 fun, sweet couple, couples love story, hong kong photography session, sai kung, sha ha beach

I was so excited to hear Miren & James’ happy news when she told me they will become three this year! It was amazing to see my friends so happy in a new way, Miren was so bubbly and joyful in everything we did together, you can really see how excited they both are to welcome their little boy into the world.

pregnant woman, fun, couples in sai kung, sha ha beach photography session, love story of couple
sweet, fun, couple looking at each other, sha ha beach sai kung, natural

The whole time we were taking photos, James was so nervous, haha… he kept saying ‘Ooooh, I’ve never been photographed by a professional photographer before!’ So I just told them to talk, be with each other & enjoy the moment 😉

It was a tough experience for me to go through too, you know… friends can tell it like it is, and when we got back after the session (all staying in the same apartment), James wanted a preview of the photos straight away!! I had to go all ‘HEY, this process is secret!! None of my clients get to see their photos like this!!’ on him ;D

baby bump, sweet couple, candid moment, love story photography session, couple in hong kong

Miren still has her Thai ‘sai sin’, to protect from bad spirits… You can get these at the temples in Thailand, monks bless them for you and women are to wear them on their left arms, men on the right, until they naturally fall off.

holding hands, sweet, couple, love story photography, sai sin

James started recalling all these memories from their travels together which made for some cute reactions!

sweet, cute couple, sai kung sha ha beach, forehead kiss, fun

Can you believe these two have been to 20 different countries together??! Yes. Twenty.

happy, fun, couple portrait, photography session, love story of a couple
baby bump, black and white, couples love story, fresh, sai kung
James is English, Miren Spanish, their little boy will be born in Hong Kong… how cool is that?
beach, holding hands, lifestyle, fun, nature
walking on sha ha beach, lifestyle, nature, couple in sai kung, Hong Kong couples photography
fun, lifestyle, portrait, sweet couple in sha ha beach, sai kung hong kong photography

They also have their own love language… Spanish, which James speaks fluently. They love whispering to each other in it <3 or maybe that’s just them trying to organise something in secret, like my brother and I did when we were kids and our parents couldn’t understand us speaking Thai. 😉

couple laughing on the beach in Sai Kung, fun and natural couple photographs, lifestyle photography , couple photos in Hong Kong
couple walking on the beach, fun, fresh, precious moment, sha ha beach hongkong photography session

I can’t wait to meet their little one, one day. I just know he will be a wonderful little person, just like his parents!

fun, nature, couple photo on the beach, baby bump, sai kung sha ha beach
couple walking on the beach, fun, nature, sweet couple, candid moment

Uhhh, I LOVE these two photos!

couple photo, photography session in sha ha beach hong kong, black and white, nature, candid
sweet, fun, smiling couple, nature, lovers in hong kong, beach photo session

While we stayed in Hong Kong with them, James and Miren took us out to dinner at some of the most delicious dim sum and market style restaurants… ohh, so GOOD! We went to see the Symphony of Lights together, and they took us hiking up in the Sai Kung Country Park which was so beautiful!  All in all, they made our trip.

back hug, sweet, lovely couple, fun, beach
forehead kiss, sweet couple, love story of a couple, sha ha beach photo session, natural

I can’t wait to watch my friends grow together, and hear about their travels (which are constant!) and see Jame’s photos… I know their adventure is just beginning 😉

sandals, fun, walking on the beach, sweet couple, couple on sha ha beach

We’d spent enough time on the beach, so we started heading back in the direction of their apartment…

fun, laughter, sweet, natural, hong kong couple

I love how rustic & local Sai Kung feels, it’s really such a nice area of Hong Kong.

sai kung, hong kong, view of sai kung hong kong, beach, photo session
kiss, kiss on the beach, natural, sweet, fresh
baby bump, pregnant, nature, fresh, natural, fun
lovely couple, fun, natural, kiss, beach, sha ha beach

Can’t even describe… I love these photos. It feels so good to capture your friends, and see them, and their personalities in something I’ve captured 🙂

captured moment, love story, photography session, smiles, hong kong
couple looking at each other, beach, candid, nature, sweet

I also wanted to print off a photo for them and this is what I chose in the end, we left it on their dining room table with a card summing up our gratitude & LOVE for them as we left on a weekday while they were both at work, teaching.

couple hug, sweet, fun, natural, view from sai kung, love

I hope you just love these photos, as much as I do. These guys mean a lot to me!

Happy Thursday!

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