Archive for August, 2007

John Lim and I have been good friends since college. Although we didn’t see each other much after he graduated, he was really good about keeping in touch while he travelled all over the country. I know John loves photography so when he asked me to be the photographer at his wedding, I was more than delighted to be there for him. I flew out to Philadelphia to shoot this wedding and got to spend a whole week out there getting to know the couple, doing an engagement session and catching up with some old friends. The event took place at the Merion Tribute House which reflects the beauty of the Arts and Crafts tradition of the early 20th century. Semi is such a sweet person and John is so lucky to have her as his wife. I wish you guys the best of everything in the future. They now reside in sunny coast of California just outside of San Francisco. Here are some of my favorite moments from that week (53 images by Kenny Kim & Wayne Yuan):

Congratulations!

Quick Update:
I just won Mike Colon’s “Best Collage Award.” Check out his blog. I love this man. Please visit his blog and show him some mad prop. Thanks Mike!

Here’s couple more photos from the trip that other photographers sent me:

Why are asians blessed with such tall genes? NOT!

Getting some serious business advice from Mike.

Gotta love the rolled up jeans. Bring back the 80′s baby!

I really should give modeling one more try…

END UPDATE

Just when I thought my trip to CA couldn’t get better after Mike Colon’s workshop, I had a chance to travel up to visit one of today’s hottest wedding photographer/entrepreneur. I prefer to just call him a great brother in Christ. I got to tour his soon-to-be pimp pad and spend the night. Santa Barbara is a hidden gem of California. Not many of us willl consider going out there for vacation but it is one of the most beautiful resort area I’ve visited in U.S. No wonder DJ decided to settle here after graduating from college.

From Trader Joe’s chocolate truffles to dining out at nation’s famous Arigato Sushi restaurant, DJ was a great host! I got to meet couple of his really cool friends Tim & Deyl and just spend the day just chilling and talking about wedding-related things. It was almost like getting another workshop in itself. DJ’s just a couple of years younger than me but he’s definitely inspirational and a brilliant kid. Ladies, he’s single – just like me – but DJ’s better looking. I am definitely going back there again in the near future.

It was also great to spend some time with other friends: Mimi, Joe Yoon, David Chung, Lillian, Matt Seville, etc.

All in all thanks to everyone that made this trip an unforgettable experience. Big shoutouts go to Blake “Future Seminarian” Schwendimann, Godfrey & Corinth Catanus, Joe “The Guamanian Adonis” Gevas, Mike “Poker King” Colon & David “The Ultimate Love Cat” Jay for all their great hospitality. Who needs 5-Star hotels when I can feel at home with guys like them?

Now it’s time to go home and focus on my work! I can’t wait to implement everything I have learned during this trip. As much as I love Cali, my heart belongs in Chicago.

Whew, it’s been a long week. The workshop ended couple days ago and I was so excited after everything that I didn’t realize how exhausted I was. Every night we ended our event around 10pm. Then the last night we finished the workshop with the traditional poker night – which went until 1am!

Workshop in itself was great but what made it even better was being able to network with other photographers from all over the country. Plus Mike & his family really opened themselves to us and made us feel like part of the gang. Icing on the cake was the poker night

Hey guys. This is just a quick update. I have a few minutes to kill before I head out to cruise around Santa Barbara. This morning on my way up there I had a chance to visit Kenny & Jenny Eliazer. I shot their wedding almost 2 years ago right when I was starting my photography business. I’ve been keeping in touch with them here and there but recently it was brought to my attention that Jenny had a major crisis that almost costed her life! I’ve been keeping in touch with their blog to find out what has been going on and to pray for them.

It was so good to see them in person and to see how they were doing. They were such blessing. I didn’t spend much time with them since I’m sure Jenny was tired but it was so great to see them and hear from them what has been going on in the past three weeks. I love these guys. Jenny is such a beautiful person. She’s strong and a fighter! Did you know that she fought through heart attacks, multiple strokes and some form of brain aneurism/vasculitis (Doctors are not even sure what exactly it is)? What a warrior! Kenny is such a great husband and stuck by her all through this. Getting to know couples like this is why I love what I do. Thanks guys – we’ll be praying for ya!

Finally, as I mentioned, I’m staying over at DJ’s tonight before I head back to Chicago tomorrow. I’m blogging this sitting on his desk. I’ve been here for couple of hours and it’s already been a blast. DJ’s such a cool genuine person – we started talking and just kept going on and on. He’s so funny – I gave him one of my shirt and he put it on right away. Gotta love the kid! I’ll blog about it more later. For now, I need to see all the beautiful spots of Santa Barbara. Wish You were here!

Day 3
Day three consisted of mainly shooting. I’ve learned quite a bit and i won’t say much today. I will just let the photos do the talk:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Day 2
Day two was even better than day one! We started the day with some rest and relaxation at the beach. My new friend Shane and I decided to take some surfing lessons from Mike as neither one of us tried surfing before. Let’s just say I never failed at anything so miserably in my life. I got owned by the 5ft waves coming at me. My goal was just to stay floated on the board and to not let go of the board when I got tossed and turned by the wave. My neck is killing me right now but I had so much fun drinking the salty ocean water. Here are some photos from the day:

Arriving at the beach…

Newport Beach pier

I am the biggest poser alive – but oh well. I’ll later on tell my grandkids that grandpa was a professional surfer with this photo.

Mike has the cutest two boys. Meet Aiden is first boy.

Dad and Aiden flying the kite together. It was Aiden’s first time but he was loving it.

More glamour shots of Rosanna

She was feeling lonely without her partner Gavin so I decided to fill in for few photos to help her out. I think I did a nice job. I don’t like this camera angle though. It makes me look chubby. Wait, I am chubby.

My friend Shane had to get in on the action. His wife might drool over this photo.

Meet Mike’s second son Logan. He sleeps by day…

And smiles by night What a cutie!

I ran into Tom Hanks at the beach. He wouldn’t let me take a photo with him but he did let me take on with his friend Wilson.

(J/K about Tom Hanks)

Mike is like my friend Chris Sotelo. He’s so fun to photograph even though he himself is the photographer because he looks good in any angle I shoot. Maybe it’s me.

We ended the night with BBQ & outdoor seminar by a fireplace. It was fun, relaxing and educational! Can’t wait to implement some things I learned that night.

That’s all folks. Day 3 coming later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Day 1
I’m out here attending Mike Colon’s 4-day intensive workshop here in Newport Beach, CA. I’ve been wanting to attend this workshop ever since I started my career path in photography. Many obstacles came my way that prevented me from attending in the past. But I am finally here and really excited. We just ended day one. It’s been fun meeting photographers from all over the states and learning from Master MC himself. We also got to do a quick engagement session with Rosanna & Britney. Is it just me or do photos come out better in California? There must be love in the air out here.

This photo is for old school folks who wish they can go Back to the Future or the Past. I spotted a guy driving this car by my house so I followed him all the way to Wal Mart gas station so I can get a picture of it. He was filling up something so I asked him if he was filling up his flux capacitor and he and I had a good laugh.

I’ll be spending some time with this greek adonis Joe later on this week. Took this cool view of Long Beach from the Penthouse of his pimped out condo.

We later took a 4 mile bike ride along the beach together and felt no shame about it. Beautiful view of the beach.

Only in CA will you see two Ferrari’s back to back. I spotted so many later on that it was no big deal after awhile.

Had a poached egg with toast. It looks skimpy but it was actually a very good hearty breakfast.

I wish Mike was a Canon user. I’ve been praying for him to convert since day one but God has yet to answer my prayers. I will be persistent and continue to pray…

Took a paparazzi-like shot of Mike getting his gear ready for the photoshoot. I’m just sneaky like that.

Here a picture of myself with Mike’s famous Nikon 200mm f2.0 lens. This is his favorite lens. He often just brings this to his engagement shoot. It looks like my camera with barry bonds added to it. The whole thing weighs about 10lbs. Not for average shooters.

Here are some images from today’s event. It was shot at the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach. Just like the title, it was a “fun” place to hang out (caption added):

That’s all folks. Tomorrow we get to take surfing lessons from Mike and possibly do some beach photoshoot. I’ll try to keep you posted if I can find some free time. Ciao.