Brian was so good at making our 7 month old son (who was super grumpy) smile! He was very flexible and accommodating. Made it easy to have a photo shoot for people like my family who are not really into that type of thing. The photos turned out incredible! To top it off Brian was super friendly and got our photos back to us really fast! We can’t wait until we book our next photo session with Brian!
We wanted photo shoot in black and white in the typical little streets of old Hong Kong as souvenirs of the three years we lived in Hong Kong. Brian understood that perfectly and really captured our emotions that Sunday morning as we walked about Pottinger street, Hollywood road and Soho. Brian was exceptionally good with our three kids especially cheeky Noah who loved the attention and shy Chloe who was less receptive. Brian had some genius inspirations such as get the kids to run, jump or even when we had a coffee pause he left the cafe and turned around to snap shots of us at the window! A most wonderful experience, thank you so much Brian and would wholeheartedly recommend Brian to all families.
We were very happy with the photos Brian made. We chose him because he clearly has a great eye for capturing the moment, and an impressive portfolio. What we didn’t also count on is how friendly and professional Brian was. The shoot was really fun, and us having a great time came out in the photos, which we are delighted with. We absolutely recommend Brian without reservation, and will definitely go back to him next year for a bigger shoot with more family members!
– The Vernon family
We want to take this opportunity to thank Brian for his amazing family photography session. Simply professional and loads of fun!
Brian was able to shoot beautiful pictures of our family and especially capturing happy faces of our children. Every picture had a moment of joy! kids loved it and we did too!
i can say that Brian is exceptionally talented and i highly recommend for those who haven’t had professional photography to give it a shot and you will know why! “just smile about it”…
– The Tong family
I am sooooo happy. You are super fast! The pictures are beautiful and amazing. I love them so much! Thank you and I’m totally booking you in 2 years when you come back to Seattle!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
– Jeanice
Brian is an ideal photographer to work with if you are after family pictures showing natural smiles… and big grins! Brian surprised us with what we could achieve within an hour’s photo shooting time. With two active boys aged 6 and 3, we could not have imagined that the pictures could be taken in such a relaxed manner and all of us did enjoy the session a lot. Brian was so professional and good at capturing the natural and happy smiles. He was equally good with kids, so much so that our boys thought that it was a play session rather than one for taking pictures. Equally impressive was the finished products – a big album containing more than a hundred pictures with creative designs and a photo disc in a nice package. No doubt we will call up Brian again and recommend him to our friends for family events and pictures!
– The Luk Family
We don’t know how long we will be in Hong Kong, so when we moved here, we decided that every year we must take family pictures capturing our time here. The photo gallery on justsmileaboutit.com really caught our eye as the shots were exactly what we were looking for – fun and natural. I was doubly excited to find that photographer Brian’s rates are much more reasonable than other HK photographers. So we booked right away and could not be happier since doing so.
Despite just having a new born baby, Brian was very responsive to my questions before and after the photo session. During our 2 hour shoot, Brian was relaxed and very professional. He was great with our active 2 year old and never god flustered when she didn’t want to sit still, which is not something I can say for other photographers we’ve used. He sent us a teaser image that very same afternoon as the shoot and about 5 more shots to share with friends and family a few days later. We got two, beautifully packaged DVDs in the mail with all our wonderful pictures within a couple of weeks.
We were thrilled to see so many great pictures of our little family in our final set. We love the way he frames each shot and how he really knows how to play off natural lightning so we look our very best in the most precious moments. We have received so many compliments already with just a few pictures we posted online. We cannot wait to share the rest of them with our family and friends. Needless to say, we definitely plan to use Brian again for our future shoots!
– The Tan Family
My son Brendan is going to turn 1 year old in Sep, I planned to take family outdoor photos during my trip in Hong Kong (we are living in Singapore) and display those photos on his first birthday party.
SassyMama recommended a list of Hong Kong’s best family photographers; it took me quite some time to decide which photographer I should choose. The simple and delicately designed website of “Justsmileaboutit” caught my eye and I like all those family pictures taken by Brian. I immediately decided to contact Brian after viewing those family photos. In those pictures, Brian demonstrates high skill and creativity in capturing the best smile and interaction among the family members, I can feel the love and happiness from those pictures.
The email conversation between Brian and I went very smooth, he promptly and patiently answered all my questions (very good customer service!). On the actual photo shooting day, Brian connected with Brendan instantly, he made Brendan very happy and co-operative through the whole photo session.
Brian sent us 5 photos after a few days, we loved them very much! I shared those photos with my family and friends, they all liked them and asked me about who is the photographer. =) I feel very lucky to find Brian to take our first family photos. Very impressed by his professionalism, good customer service and great personality. I will choose Brian again as the photographer in my future life events and will definitely recommend him to my friends!
– Brendan’s Family
I contacted Brian from the US so I could have some engagement pictures taken while visiting Hong Kong in April. He was so patient and helpful with all my millions of questions in the booking process. Of course, his pictures posted online are amazing, so we chose him to be our photographer. We had to keep the date a bit loose, as the forecast called for rain every day of our time in HK, and he was so flexible with that. Upon our arrival to Hong Kong, the one day that would be sunny was the day we arrived, so we decided to make that our shooting day. We had a four-hour photo session all over Central / Sheung Wan and the Peak and were amazed by the resulting photos! Brian had one preview picture ready for us on that very same evening, which was so exciting. And then we received about 10 more pictures a few days after! We loved looking through our DVDs once they arrived at home and were so happy with all the beautiful pictures Brian took. We are struggling to choose only two to hang on our wall… we each have about 10 favorites (and several of them are different)! I would highly recommend Brian as a wedding or engagement photographer. He has beautiful style and takes very interesting shots – I just wish we could afford to fly him back to the US for our wedding photos! Thanks again, Brian!
– Heather & Matt
After searching online, we found Brian’s website and loved his pictures right away. The photos were exactly the style of photography we were looking for: fun, creative, candid, relaxed, etc. Later on, we were even more delighted to find out that he works with our friend Gabbie Lee, a professional make-up artist based in HK. After our initial email exchanges, we met with him to discuss what kind of photos we wanted. Brian was professional, yet very approachable. We felt confident that we had picked the right person.
On the day of the shoot, we had a blast! In the morning, Gabbie did an excellent job with Monica’s make-up and hair. During the shoot, Brian was great at keeping us relaxed while giving us clear directions on how to make the photos look beautiful. We are absolutely happy with our photos and excited to share them with our family and friends.
– Monica & Nate
感激攝影師Brian, Leslie及化妝師Gabrielle 為我們拍攝婚紗照，讓我們有一個輕鬆愉快的攝影經驗!
那天天氣晴朗清涼，拍攝由中午開始，有趣的體驗也同時展開⋯準新郞「古靈精怪」，準新娘「驚青怕醜」，在Brian的鏡頭下，記載了我倆甜蜜、幸福的表情!Brian 的風格，讓我們很安心地表現最自然的一面；而化妝師Gabrielle更不得不讚，她不斷替準新娘補妝，實在比準新娘更為著緊!
十分多謝Brian和Leslie ，你們不怕攀高躺地，更走進幽暗的梯間，為我們記下最甜蜜、最自然、最美的一頁!!
在我們結婚的大日子，我們沒有跟隨傳統做接新娘的儀式，而選擇了影結婚照。我很高興做了這個選擇，因為我很喜歡我們當日的禮服，很想留下更多當天的回憶。很多謝Brian幫我們拍照，照片很自然。他清楚怎樣才能在相片中說出我們的故事。在照片裏我看到的不只是美麗的構圖，還有留露著我們獨一無二的關係。再一次多謝攝影師為我倆留下美好的回憶。
– Mavis & Edmond
On our wedding day, instead of following the Hong Kong tradition to pick me up from my home to my husband’s, we chose to do wedding day photoshoot with Brian instead. We are glad that we have made the right choice to capture all our wonderful moments on our wedding day. He is very friendly and knows exactly how to compose our pictures to bring our relationship up in our photos. Not only do we see beautiful composition, but also our own relationship. Thanks Brian for giving us a great time and documenting our precious memory.
– Zoe & Tat
Our experience with Brian was great! My kids warmed up to him instantly, and we had a lot of fun, and it felt very relaxed. We are so happy with the pictures and the variety of shots that he got. We know the grandparents will be happy for them as well!
Kids grow up so fast- I think that having professional photos taken is an investment that you will never regret. We definitely recommend Brian Jala as a family photographer!
– The Janzen Family
We just happened to stumble upon Brian’s website while looking for a photographer to take our wedding pictures in HK. The decision to pick him over other photographers is an easy one. Not only does he take beautiful pictures, he is also very prompt in response, easy to work with and very accommodating. Coincidentally, he and his wife also planned a trip to the west coast during summer so we’ve decided to have our engagement shoot with him too.
Come the day of the shoot, we weren’t sure what to expect, but those few hours turned out to be a very fun experience! Brian showed us how to pose, where to stand and all those stuff in a very professional way. We are already very satisfied with the preview pictures and can’t wait to see the rest! We also look forward to working with you again on our wedding day! Thank you Brian and Leslie!
– Phoebe & Tyler
What a fun day!! Must say, we wondered where Allan was taking us for the photo shoot, but we were pleasantly surprised with a park-like farm setting, pond, bridge, tire swing, old tractor. It was better than we could have hoped for. Just Smile About It Photography made our family photo day great!!
– Gary & Marg Fleishauer
For a long time we’ve been waiting for our first child to come and since he will be born in Hong Kong, we wanted to document part of our history in this city. We met Brian and Leslie at the wedding of our very good friends and they were the photographers. We saw the great job they did and this is why there was no doubt we wanted Brian to help us out.
Why Brian and Leslie? Because we knew it will be easy and fun. He immediately picked up how we wanted our photos to look like and documented our emotions and feelings just as natural as we are. He also had great ideas for locations in the city.
Beyond the images, that afternoon will let us remember our happiness, captured magnificently by Brian…
Thank you Brian and Leslie!
Durante mucho tiempo hemos esperado la llegada de nuestro primer hijo y dado que nacerá en Hong Kong, quisimos retratar parte de nuestra historia en esta ciudad. Conocimos a Brian y Leslie en la boda de unos muy buenos amigos, sabíamos del maravilloso trabajo que hicieron y por ello no dudamos en elegirlos.
Porqué Brian y Leslie? Porque sabíamos que sería sencillo y divertido, no fue necesario explicarles que es lo que queríamos hacer, pareciera que adivinaron de inmediato: retratar nuestras emociones y sentimientos ligados a lugares especiales para nosotros en HK de la manera más natural posible, tal y cual somos.
Más allá de estas fotografías, esa tarde nos permitirá recordar nuestra felicidad, capturada de forma magnífica por Brian…
Muchas gracias Brian y Leslie!!
– Edgar, Elda and Vicente
We were so lucky to find Just Smile About It photography in HK – Brian Jala instinctively understood the natural look we wanted and had great suggestions for shots. He and his wife Leslie are lovely and fun to work with – would highly recommend them for wedding/engagement/family/fun photo shoots!
– Deborah & Robert
There are so many “photographers” out there who can take photographs, but there are only a precious few who you can truly say captured the feelings and soul of your children and family members on film. Brian has the patience and serenity needed to keep everything together on set, and yet is fun-loving and energetic and it helps get everyone excited. We all had an amazing time with Brian, and the pictures prove it! His beautiful wife Leslie is a dream with the kids and was able to give us a lot of guidance in getting things just right. It isn’t easy getting a moody kindergartener to smile or pose, or a toddler to stay on set when she rather walk away and do her own thing! They’re a team that we trust, and we know that when looking at the photos (and videos) that they will always bring joyful years to our eyes. You won’t regret spending time with them and in the process, will receive beautiful photos to look back on for a lifetime.
– Therese and David Tee
We were so happy when we found justsmileaboutit and found they were based in HK, where our wedding was. First of all, we felt like we were able to become friends in an instant with them. With few words spoken, they were able to understand what was in our hearts and capture it into beautiful images.The photos speak for themselves. Their attention to detail, artistic vision and professionalism continued to surprise us.
They even put together a slideshow of our wedding ceremony for our guests to enjoy on the second day of our wedding. I think what blessed us the most by having them a part of our wedding was to see Brian and Leslie work together as a team. You guys work as a fantastic team! We can’t wait to see more of your creations!
– Jen & Jakin
Brian and Leslie were really great at making us feel comfortable and relaxed while taking the photos. It was great fun to have them photograph us in Paris, the city of love while we were holidaying there. They took really fun photographs that others would not have done. We were also really happy with the photos in the end. They came in a beautifully packaged box too! We will definitely be in contact with them again for other celebrations we want photographed in the future.
– Kellie & Dan
“We were planning our small wedding from the other side of the world when we found www.justsmileaboutit.com online and fell in love with the photos. Then after getting into contact with Brian and Leslie, we found out that the people behind the camera were just as amazing. They immediately picked up on our vision for the photo shoot, figured out the best locations for great shots and even came with homemade props to really add extra elements of fun into our day.”
At first, we were not sure if we even needed a professional photographer for such a small event, but the pictures truly captured all the emotions of the day, which was so special to us given that not all of our loved ones could be in Hong Kong to celebrate our marriage. The attention to detail, artistic creativity and ability to make us both feel extremely comfortable were outstanding- it was like having a friend shoot the wedding, but with professional results. These wonderful photos proved that Just Smile About It Photography was the best decision we made– well, other than deciding to marry each other!! Thank you Brian and Leslie!
– Kerri & Sergio
Brian Jala’s photography is awesome! We were surprised at his handling with the children. Having to take photos with 2 young kids running around and not able to sit still for too long, Brian was able to capture a ton of useable photos. He [and his wife] were great with the kids in keeping them happy in front of the camera, which produced lots of smiles and kept the family feeling very natural. What was great about the finished product, was the care and patience Brian took in touching up the final photos and sending the photo discs in a beautiful package. Brian Jala, you Rock!
– The Henzie family
