The New Year’s didn’t start out too well as Illini got demolished by USC. But I tip my hat off to USC because they are a great team. In the words of Dennis Green: “They were who I thought they were.” I was hoping it wouldn’t be that bad of a loss but still, on the positive note, they made it to the Rose Bowl.

Moving on, Brian & Karyn’s wedding will go down as one of the unforgettable weddings in 2007 – not only because it was a great wedding but on that day my beloved Illini upset the #1 ranked OSU. Okay I need to get my mind off of football.

I had a great time with Brian & Karyn. They adore each other and I love the way they interact. This couple made me & Kenny Nakai (my second shooter) laugh the entire day. I’m so happy for you guys and look forward to seeing you guys again and again! Here are some shots from their wedding:

UPDATE:

{ Happy New Year Everyone!!! }
Thank you everyone for supporting me on xanga and for following up with everything. See you guys in 2008. Happy New Year!!!
:END UPDATE

Joe & Jina wanted to make their wedding an unforgettable one. They put lot of time & effort in planning this event and it couldn’t have been more perfect. From the moment we stepped on the island until the end of reception, it really was a paradise (no pun intended). For this special occasion, I had to call on the assistance of another well known destination photographer in Tomas Flint from New York. Tag-teaming this event made it so much fun. We made this into a little vacation for ourselves and had a blast getting to know each other & making new friends out there. Here are some memories we captured from that day. I’ll try to provide some comments next to the photos (60 total). Hopefully some of these photos will keep you warm in this cold winter weather.

If you have time, there’s a slideshow at the end that will better highlight the day.

Even the book makes you feel welcomed…

Cloisters garden – part of the One & Only Oceans Club where the wedding took place.

They filmed the lastest James Bond movie – Casino Royale here…

View from the bride’s room…

I met Grace at Carol & Eric’s wedding in Feb… find out she’s the sister of the groom! Small world…

The runaway ring bearer…

It was a little bit warm that day…

Jina’s college friends…

She’s all mine…

The reception begins…

Pastor Choi was quite the EmCee that night…

You did not just kiss him on the lips…

Roberto Monastero is one of the finest DJ’s in Chicago. I love working with him. He not only mixes well, but will woo you with his voice!

The boys getting crazy…

Get away you paparazzi!

The reception was so much fun that even the Atlantis staff guys had to join in on the fun…

I think Jina just realized she got married…

Atlantis at night…

Some eSession & post wedding photos…

SLIDESHOW
Here’s a slideshow with about 160 photos. Please be patient. It takes a few minutes to download…

Thank you Joe & Jina for the unforgettable event that you prepared for – not just you guys but everyone else that was there as well. We look forward to seeing you guys grow together!

UPDATE:
Every year my family & our aunt’s family get together for food & gift exchange. I cherish these times because we don’t get to see each other too often. We did our 2nd annual gift change game where we get to steal other’s gift that’s been revealed instead of picking one out that’s still wrapped. Fun times..

My cousin Young decorating the tree…

Our distant cousin Zach – he has to wait at few more years until he can participate in our game. But he got some good gifts of his own.

My cousin David being indecisive…

My cousin Diane picked out her favorite game… Blokus… oh yeah…

David still trying to decide…

He still can’t decided….

I think Yan likes her gift…

I think my sister Meg is a little surprised…

Oh David. I hope you finally got what you wanted…

My cousin in law Wade and his son Zach!

My coz and his GF Anita!

Santa knew I was a good boy this year… Oh yeah… time to watch heroes again…

Can you tell who was happy with their gifts and who was not so happy?

All in all it was a great gathering! I’ll try to update more on my weekend soon. Ho ho ho!!!

END UPDATE

My friend/photo mentor Dane Sanders emailed me the other day and made me want to blog about it. (Dane is the founder of CutFrameTV.com – youtube for photographers). I respect Dane because he’s a great father, husband, pastor, innovator and a photographer (Talk about juggling many responsibilities!) Any ways, he asked me these three questions in his email and I wanted to share them with you:

1. Give me an honest take on your experience with photography.
2. Give me an honest take on what you dream of doing with your photo career if you had no limits.
3. Give me an honest take on what you envision as getting in the way of those dreams.

Here’s my response to them:
1. My experience with photography has been mind-blowing. Couple of years ago, I was standing at the pool edge of photography wondering if I can swim in it or even survive. It wasn’t until some of my close friend, seeing my potential, pushed me into the water that I realized I could swim right away. It’s been such a fun ride and haven’t looked back since. I can’t believe time flew by so fast since then but I’ve enjoyed the ride so far.

2. I don’t have a specific dream or goal. I want to have an open mind to see where this road will take me. While I am on this journey, I want to prepare myself for what’s ahead by becoming the best that I can be, meet the best people that are in the same path, and make an impact in this world through this gift God has given me.

3. I think the possibilities are endless. But one thing that gets in the way of getting those dreams is fear. So many of us make decisions or don’t make decisions because of fear of the unknown.

I want to touch on the last point about fear. I think it’s something that we all possess. Many of us don’t admit it and often times it cripples us from becoming what we can be. So many of us, including myself, base our decision on fear. And fear manifests in many forms. Fear of… the unknown, rejection, failure, change, being uncomfortable, just to name a few. When was the last time you made a decision based on your passion instead of fear? In no way am I a big “thinker” type of person. I am what you see pretty much. But I wanted to throw this challenge out there to see what others think about it.

So here’s to 2007. Thank you for all the memories, friendships, and the growth it has brought because I chose to think & live outside of fear. Looking ahead, 2008 looks even more promising. Regardless of whether I will survive or not, I will throw myself out there, follow my passion, trust in God and see where this journey will take me. I’m diving in. Dreaming Big.

This is just a random photo I took in NYC. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

I am starting to add some lifestyle (relaxed family photo) sessions to my photography suite. It’s been great meeting families and getting to know them in their homes. They are so welcoming, friendly and warm people. You can see it in their family members and in their smiles. I will offer limited about of sessions next year. Please contact me for rates and descriptions.

Thank you to those that have referred me to my clients. I love getting clients through referrals because we both rely on people that trust myself as well as the people that I will be working with. I’m thankful for the networking opportunities that they provide. These days networking is huge!

Without further due, here are some photos from two families I got to have a lifestyle session with. Thank you Koo & Rhee family for the opportunity to have a moment of your lives to capture!

{ The Koo Family: Just For Fun Session — Chicago, IL }

{ The Rhee Family: First Birthday Celebration — Glencoe, IL }

This is a quick post before my next one coming up soon – just wanted to give couple of shout outs! I feel really blessed to have gotten to know and befriend so many people in my life. For this post I want to thank my friend Hamin, Al & Elbert. I got to have a boy’s night out at a Bulls game (courtesy of Mr. Elbert Choi). I had hard time breathing in the 300 section but all in all it was a great time. Eating 2 polish dogs from Maxwells, paying extra $ for close parking, and watching Kobe & Odom dismantling us – now that my friend, is livin’ the high life.

Speaking of which, I miss the Ben Wallace of the Piston days. What happened to this man?! Bulls seriously needs some help.

Today I got to spend an entire day with two of the most generous and giving people in the photography industry. Not only do I look up to them as a photographer, I am privileged to call them friends! I showed up to their house and they both had my shirts on! We talked and talked and talked! I know these guys are super busy but they opened up the entire day for me. Befriending guys like these makes this job so much fun. Thanks for being such a great example to us all. Right before I left, I grabbed a shot of them. Don’t they look hot in my shirts?

I took the information about his seminar from my previous post and moved it here. If you guys are seriously thinking about getting into wedding photography, this is it. Please read ahead:

Just when you thought the Mitchell Report was a big deal, I was informed of another big news! (At least if you are a photographer or aspiring to be). Bob Davis & Mike Col