MoAE Story Photography

My wife and I are from the Bay Area, but were looking for a photo studio to take first year birthday pictures for our son down in either LA or Orange County. We found MoAE Story through some blog posts and we liked their style. I would describe it as more light, realistic, and natural versus some of the prop centered and gimmicky pictures that we had seen from other studios. This is apparently a husband and wife team, and we spoke with the wife Young to coordinate our schedules and figure out the best plan since we were coming from out of town.
When we went to the studio, it is a very cute and chic space with great light and nice props. Young was great, she was flexible, understanding, responsive, and most importantly really good with our son. Being a mom herself, she knew how to get his attention and take the pictures at the right moment. Unfortunately our son had a cold that day, but she was so warm and caring that she even helped wipe his nose and give him snacks between shots. That really won me over.
Pictures came out great, and we are glad that we went with MoAE Story to capture this special time in our child’s life. Not to be too sappy, but the memories will last a lifetime!

We were so happy to find Moae Photography in Tustin for our baby’s one year portrait. Young was patient and warm. Her studio is lovely, filled with great light and personal touches. Having gone to other baby studios in Buena Park, Fullerton, etc for other occasions I appreciated her natural photography that is not too gimmicky. She was great at capturing special moments of our baby and even a few of our family of five. We will enjoy our pictures for many years!

My wife and I received services from MoAE Story for our engagement and wedding pictures. We first met at their studio for a consultation and were very easy to work with and explain our vision. Our first shoot was at San Juan Capistrano for Engagement Pictures. They were punctual, professional, extremely patient and courteous, and guided us throughout the entire day. The photos came out great, a few weeks before our wedding, so we were able to use them in a slideshow at our reception.
For the day of the wedding, again they showed up right when expected, with plenty of gear and energy for the long day ahead. They were never in the way throughout the ceremony and reception, but knew exactly when to step in and suggest certain shots and locations. Having shot at the Hacienda in Santa Ana a week or two before was to our benefit as they knew about some hidden spots to take great pics. Within a month we received a TON of pictures on a 16GB Flash Drive and it was great relieving the moments again. We would recommend MoAE Story to anyone looking for sweet yet professional, talented and hard-​working photographers in Orange County.

Moae Photography took pictures for my family reunion, which required both portrait and candid shots of multiple family groups of all ages. There were several toddlers at the reunion. Despite having to take shots of so many different family groups and kids, Young did an amazing job. I found Moae through Unilocal,and the great reviews of the studio were spot on.
Moae is a husband/​wife team. We worked with Young (the wife). She was really hardworking & energetic — didn’t miss a chance to get a good shot, and talented (got beautiful shots of even our toddlers who didn’t have the longest attention span). Young shot both candids and portrait poses in film and digital and the pictures from both came out great. We had a long list of shots that we wanted taken throughout the day, and she was able to capture all of them. The family members who saw the final pictures were really impressed by the photos.
I highly recommend Moae Photography to anyone wanting to do a family/​baby session.

i had photo session for my 2 year old daughter and 4month old son and it was amazing experience. i had few professional photo sessions in the past for my kids with others but moae studio is the only place that really knew what she was doing.
all the photos i received were truly amazing. plus she is so good with the kids !
i am a bit picky but there wasn’t really one thing i didn’t like about it.
i highly recommend this place.

My fiancée and I recently decided to take engagement pictures for our upcoming nuptials. I was so nervous about getting pictures taken since neither my fiancée or I admit to being the most photogenic people in the world. Never the less, I was determined to hallmark this special time in our lives.
I found moae story on a wedding blog that I encountered on line. The pictures were so beautifully shot and the style was so romantic that they immediately caught my eye. I noticed that the photographers were a husband/​wife team (which I thought was super cute) that also does baby pictures and weddings so I knew they would have alot of experience. They are located in tustin so it was pretty close to our house. We arranged a meeting with them at their studio to discuss the shoot and when we met up, they made us feel so comfortable and confident. They showed us previous engagement pics they had taken and I was even more impressed by some of these. They discussed different locations and themes that they thought would work for our price range and what we were looking for, which was good because I honestly didnt even know where to start planning anything since Im not exactly the creative type. We decided on a tentative date of photo shoot but since my job has such a hectic schedule and so does my fiancees, we left it open.
A couple weeks went by and it was becoming increasingly difficult to set a date that would work for all four of us. I was becoming discouraged when Young (wife) suggested that she would shoot the photos for us without her husband since weekends are nearly impossible for me and future hubbs to get off work. and wednesday worked for her. I thought it was so nice of her to change her schedule around to accomodate us like that.
We met up at a beautiful park near both of us and started the shoot right away since Young was really focused on the use of light and shadows. She worked so professionally and helped us set up every shot. We were so awkward at first but she really knew what to say to calm us down and get us loosened up. The couple hours flew by and before we knew it, we were finished. I felt like I had known her for years by the end of the day.
We recieved our photos about a week later on a CD and we were AMAZED at how beautiful they were. I cant stop staring at them and showing everyone. I am so happy that we went with moae story. We could not have gotten a better experience and the prices were so reasonable and the service was so good that I knew I had to write this review. You will not be dissapointed!

This review is way beyond past overdue. And normally I’d be too busy (lazy) to post a review about an overdue experience, but I must share how wonderful Moae Photography is.
Moae Photography took my son O’s 1^st Birthday photos last year. I wish I remembered his name (Moae’s husband)…but it’s a husband/​wife team of really friendly, talented photographers. To be honest, I don’t even recall how I found them in the first place. I blame momnesia. They both met us at Katie Wheeler Library in Irvine on a ridiculously hot day last September. O did not walk back then, so we had to hold that little sucker the entire shoot. And I’ll be the first one to admit — my firstborn was/​is not the calmest, gentlest, easiet baby. I think he cried 80% of the shoot. Mr. Moae was behind the camera that day. Moae was there to help out. Despite an uncooperative baby and weather, Mr. Moae was so x 100 friendly, patient, kind, and Moae tried anything and everything to make O smile (more like stop crying). They brought all the props necessary and albeit the library is tiny but they knew all the right places to go to for the best photos. Mr. Moae came to O’s birthday party a few weeks after this outdoor shoot and he did an amzaing job there, too. I think he stayed longer than he was contracted to and I remember him being professional and friendly the entire time.
Now this is where the real review begins…
Since O’s first birthday, I had a second baby. Don’t get me wrong. Mr. Moae was really good. Our outdoor and party photos came out great. But recently, Moae herself took my second son G’s 100 day photos. And I’m just being honest since this is an honest review, but I think she’s better than her hubs. (Gawd, I hope I don’t cause World War III in their household but being honest never hurt, right?) They are both unbelievably patient and friendly. But I think her photos are even better. So I truly think they (she) deserves a review now.
We didn’t plan on doing 100 day photos for G. But with G completing our family — our bare walls deserved a photo or two of us. I didn’t hesitate about which photographer I should contact. With a tight budget (a new house, another baby… we were getting robbed every month), I knew Moae Photography’s prices were reasonable, if not the best bang for our buck.
I didn’t know it was going to be Moae herself this time around until we showed up for the session. (And my choice to book them was soley based on her husband’s work last year, so I’m not lying… he’s really great too! **my guilty conscience.) Moae offered a complimentary outdoor shoot along with the studio session. Can I just say — their studio is just too cute! And the package was only for 40 photos but we recently received the file of all of the phtoos and she took waaay more! And the package was really for G, but it ended up being a family photo session, and I’m sure taking photos of four is much more difficult than taking photos of just one 3 month old. This day was stinkin’ hot, too! And did I mention, my firstborn O, is not the most cooperative child? As if he needed to prove he’s the same boy from last year’s photo session, this day, he was just as uncooperative. Not crying this time around but running off, not wanting to sit for pictures, wanting to get into and touch anything and everything in sight. But somehow, Moae was able to capture the most amazing shots. Watching my rambunctious toddler made me tired. I kept wanting to call it a day, but she kept coming up with a different location, different poses, different shots. I coudln’t believe how patient and professional she was. Her photos of O make him look like was an angel that day. God is fair, because my second son G, truly was an angel that day. Moae took the cutest photos of G and I couldn’t be more grateful.
I would highly recommend Moae to anyone out there looking to do a baby/​family photo shoot. Her prices are unbeatable. Her studio is to die for. She is so gentle and friendly with the little ones. Most importantly… her work is amazing! I know there are tons of photoraphy offers/​specials that pop up on livingsocial /​groupon /​yelp, but I didn’t want to fall for those deals only to get pressured to buy prints or get jipped on limited number of photos, time, and attention. There is none of that with Moae. Without a doubt, I will be contacting her again for G’s 1^st birthday early next year!