Archive for November, 2009

Travel Mishap That Turned Into a Blessing

November 30th, 2009

“Travel snafus can throw upside down the most thought-out of vacation plans. But what the mishaps lead to, and how people deal with them, can be blessings in globe-trotting disguise.” – Anonymous One thing I like to share about myself is that I can get rigid when it comes to planning and scheduling things. I [...]

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“Travel snafus can throw upside down the most thought-out of vacation plans. But what the mishaps lead to, and how people deal with them, can be blessings in globe-trotting disguise.” – Anonymous

One thing I like to share about myself is that I can get rigid when it comes to planning and scheduling things. I tend to be open minded about many things but when it comes to schedule planning, I like things to be precise and accurate. And when something like that happens to me, I tend to get narrow-minded, stubborn and easily irritated. But a quote like the one above reminded me that we need to learn to relax and see the positive things in all situation. Let me share an example of how this came true to me on my recent trip to Italy.

On one of my recent trip back from Italy, I had a connecting flight that took me from Rome to Madrid to Chicago via Iberia Airlines. In Madrid, I would have to wait 3 hrs before connecting to my next flight out to Chicago. I arrived at the Rome airport around midnight and spent the night at there since my flight was departing around 7am. 6am rolled around and all of sudden the power went out at the airport (at least the terminal I was waiting at). There were bunch of people waiting at the check in counter waiting to get our boarding passes but because there was no power, the attendants could not issue us any tickets. So we waited patiently for next 2 hours until the power came back on. I get my boarding pass and sprint towards my gate. By then since the flight was already two hours late so I knew the plane had to fly faster to arrive in Madrid Spain on time. They arrived with about 30 mins left before my next connecting flight. But I also knew I had to switch terminals to get to my next flight (because I came the same way when I flew into Italy) so I knew it was going to take me about 45 mins to actually get to the next gate. Using my gazelle-like running skills, I sped to my connecting gate with 6 minutes left before departure. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack from running so fast with my camera gear on my back and rolling case.

Once I arrived with 6 minutes to spare, the personal at that boarding gate looked at my pass and told me that my flight took off 5 minutes ago. How can this be? I thought airlines don’t actually leave earlier than their scheduled time. Are you serious? They felt bad because they thought there was no way I was going to make the flight also since they knew I was coming from a flight that was delayed in Rome. Ok fine. So I asked them if they could put me a the next flight. Unfortunately there was only one flight daily that went from Madrid to Chicago – which meant that I had to wait 24 hours. I so wish I was back in the States because I would demand some kind of a monetary refund for this mistake. But because of my language barrier I couldn’t express my frustration. Instead the service center looked at me and told me that because they felt bad about what happened, they offered to put me up at a hotel over night with all expenses paid. At first I was still upset because I was already on the road for two weeks so I was itching to get back home. i had no more clean clothes and was on my last pair of underwear and socks. I just wanted to go home. But this was a moment where I could have made the situation worse and demanded more or another solution to get me back home on time. Instead, I accepted what they gave me graciously and decided to use that opportunity to visit Madrid.

I have never visited Madrid before and was not sure what to expect. Using the little Spanish that I knew from studying it in high school, I wandered around aimlessly throughout the city and was delighted to find a wonderful city full of its own treasures and unique culture. In about 5 hours, I was able to cover most of the city on foot and took some fun photos. Even the hotel and the meal that they provided was actually pretty nice and it was good to get a quick tour of Madrid – for FREE!

Any ways, I learned a lesson there which I mentioned briefly in the quote above. Life can bring unexpected things. I have the tendency to react a certain way to it and miss out on the opportunity that it brings. This was another lesson that I learned on my trip to Italy and I look forward to applying it to my life & my business. Here are just a few shots I captured while I was in Madrid. I hope you guys enjoy it as you ponder about what opportunities wait around the corner for you. Make most out of your circumstances. Carpe Diem! :)

Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain


Photos from Madrid Spain

Photos from Madrid Spain

For more, visit: My Portfolio | Resources For Photographers | Twitter: KennyKim | Facebook Page
contact@kennykim.com | 800-539-1294

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A Story from the PhotoVenture to Italy…

November 27th, 2009

As many of you know I led a group of photographer across the sea (see my previous post) to Italy this past September on a trip called PhotoVenture w/ Kenny Kim. One of the cool things about the PhotoVenture Trip was that we had a planned schedule which allowed us to visit over 28 different [...]
 

As many of you know I led a group of photographer across the sea (see my previous post) to Italy this past September on a trip called PhotoVenture w/ Kenny Kim. One of the cool things about the PhotoVenture Trip was that we had a planned schedule which allowed us to visit over 28 different locations through out Umbria and Tuscany in 8 days! What was even better was that within that planned schedule, our tour guide Max Brunelli gave us room to be flexible so that we can wander off spontaneously. I want to share with you guys one of these “wandering moments.”

We were in Assisi, Umbria – home of the famous religious patron St. Francis. He is the founding father of the Etruscan religious movement and millions of his followers (to this date) have made a pilgrimage to visit this city. Each day thousands of people flock from all over the world to get a glimpse of this grand cathedral built in his honor (where he is still buried inside). As expected, all of us were in awe by the size and beauty of this church. The walls were decorated with breath-taking fresco art that depicted the life of St. Francis and you couldn’t help but to be mesmerized the sheer size of the place. We were not allowed to take photos inside but I managed to grab a couple so I can share how big this church is with you guys.

San Francis of Assisi Cathedral Umbria, Italy

Outside the building of San Francis of Assisi Cathedral Umbria, Italy

San Francis of Assisi Cathedral Umbria, Italy

Inside the building of San Francis of Assisi Cathedral Umbria, Italy

After our visit, Max had another “surprise” (one of many) for us. We walked through small offbeat pathways in the town of Assisi and were led to a small simple-looking stone building surrounded by fig trees. Max told us that this is one of the oldest church in Assisi (circa 1150-1200 A.D.) called Santo Stefano (St. Stephen – the first martyr in Christian history). This church was a drastic contrast to the previous cathedral we had just visited. Simple walls with very little decoration and small in size. Max told us that this is where St. Francis probably used to attend mass while he lived here (the cathedral was built after his death to honor him) and most likely got baptized here as well. Legend also tells us that Santo Stefano’s bells miraculously rang on October 3, 1226, the day St. Francis died. (How neat is that?!) – Also I believe my friend Simon Anderson (Pictage CMO) got married here as well!

Santo Stefano Umbria, Italy

Inside the building of Santo Stefano - one of the oldest church in Assisi - Umbria, Italy

San Francis of Assisi Cathedral Umbria, Italy

Here are the bells of Santo Stefano that rang miraculous on the day he died on Oct. 3, 1226

Santo Stefano Cathedral Umbria, Italy

Inside the building of Santo Stefano - one of the oldest church in Assisi - Umbria, Italy

Santo

Inside the building of Santo Stefano - one of the oldest church in Assisi - Umbria, Italy

While we were standing outside, we couldn’t help but to hear this beautiful chorus/celtic-like music coming from inside the church. Our immediate thought was: 1) it was a recording that they played constantly or 2) there were group of dedicated nuns/monks having service inside. The sound was so beautiful that we decided to satisfy our curiosity and take a peak inside. To our surprise, we found a group of student choir practicing (Found out later that they were group from Germany). We stood there and watched them in amazement. The acoustic in the room made them sound even more angelic and I thought to myself that this is what choir in heaven must sound like!

Santo

German student choir practicing Inside the building of Santo Stefano - Umbria, Italy

Fortunately I had my Canon Mark 5D II (which Canon graciously loaned me for this trip) with me so I immediately flipped on the video so that I could capture their audio and share it with others. I have posted the video of this on Vimeo. Please excuse my video skills (lack of) – you might even want to close your eyes and just listen to them. The video doesn’t do justice to how awesome this experience was but hopefully you will get the idea (1 minute video clip – the clicks you hear are from me trying to adjust the settings):

San Stefano Church in Assisi from Kenny Kim on Vimeo.

I hope you enjoyed this story. Our PhotoVenture Trip to Italy was filled with numerous moments like this. I hope to share more of them with you in person. Delightful surprises waiting around the corner. Good food & conversation. Learning and being inspired by one another and from our surrounding. Rekindling our passion for photography and falling in love again with what we do…and on and on.

I cannot wait for our next PhotoVenture Trip. This time we are going to a different region in the south called Campania Felix (region which includes cities like: Amalfi, Capri, Napoli, Pompeii, Sorrento, plus many more) from Feb 15-22, 2010. I am delighted that my friend & successful wedding photographer & businessmen Kevin Swan is joining us on this trip. We have 2 seats out of 15 available left. We’d love to have you join us. For more information, checkout: http://photoventure.kennykim.com. So what are you waiting for? Andiamo! (Let’s go!)

For more, visit: My Portfolio | Resources For Photographers | Twitter: KennyKim | Facebook Page
contact@kennykim.com | 800-539-1294

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St. Francis Xavier & Westin Lombard Wedding – Karyn & Carmen

November 22nd, 2009

When Karyn was an intern at the ESPN Radio Station in Chicago, she met Carmen. It took awhile before they met but the first thing she said was, “hello you are my soul mate.” That threw Carmen off a bit but they began getting to know each other. When her internship ended at ESPN, their [...]

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When Karyn was an intern at the ESPN Radio Station in Chicago, she met Carmen. It took awhile before they met but the first thing she said was, “hello you are my soul mate.” That threw Carmen off a bit but they began getting to know each other. When her internship ended at ESPN, their relationship started to slowly begin. Fast forward 5 years and this past weekend they found themselves fulfilling that prophesy made by Karyn. This beautiful couple tied the knot in front of 300 friends and family members at the beautiful St. Francis Xavier Church in La Grange, IL. The wedding ceremony was a traditional and beautiful Catholic mass. Then they celebrated their reception at the Westin Hotel in Lombard, IL. It was a rather warm and sunny November afternoon. Mother nature must have known about their wedding and graced them with a pleasant weather.

One of the challenge that we had to overcome was that the sun set at 4:20pm which meant that we only had 20 minutes to do the photoshoot w/ the bride & groom. No fear, once the day light went down, we created light using off camera flash & video light to create some fun/creative portraits and poses.

Big thanks to Matt Savage from Avery House Creative that came to second shoot with me that day. It was a challenge for me to have a better looking photographer than myself at the wedding. But we got along just fine and had a blast.

Here’s a sneak peak at their day. For complete photos, please visit: http://www.pictage.com/699439 and pre-register for their event.

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

DeFalco_De_Luca-Wedding

Thanks for viewing. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this week. I’m going to get ready to do some major Black Friday Sale shopping – perhaps my favorite holiday event of the year.

On a different note. I reached another milestone in my career. I have reached 5000 friends limit on facebook which means I cannot add any more friends. To make room for friends that I actually get to meet in person, I am going to randomly go down the list time to time and remove the ones that I have not met yet. Please do not take offense to this. You can join my Kenny Kim Lifestyle Weddings Page and you won’t miss a beat as I will update that one regularly as well.

The Knot Photographer of the Year
I was also recently awarded the honor of being The Knot’s Best of Wedding Photographer for 2009. Every year, brides on TheKnot.com vote for their favorite local wedding professionals, and this year, I was voted one of the Best of Weddings in Photography! Thank you to all the brides that have voted for me in the Chicagoland area. You guys are the reasons why I love my job!

For more, visit: My Portfolio | Resources For Photographers | Twitter: KennyKim | Facebook Page
contact@kennykim.com | 800-539-1294

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PhotoVenture with Kenny Kim & Friends

November 18th, 2009

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller I have always entertained the idea of hosting my own workshop someday and I did not want my very first one [...]
 

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine


“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

I have always entertained the idea of hosting my own workshop someday and I did not want my very first one to be here in the States. I wanted something different – something where people can put them outside their everyday life and experience the world from a different perspective. One of the reasons that I loved about and chose photography as my profession is that it allows me to pull all of my life experiences together and put them into one bowl – a bowl which can then be used to offer and to share with others. There are many wonderful workshops out there for photographers that want to better themselves technically but I felt that there was a need for something that will allow them to discover themselves as a photographer WITHIN them. And sometimes you don’t have the opportunity to do this unless you step out of your ordinary life and do something extra ordinary.

For this reason, two months ago, I organized a workshop (calling it PhotoVenture) where a group of photographers traveled across the pond to Europe with one mssion: To discover and explore the best secret part of Italy in Umbria & Tuscany region. Guided by a local tour expert Max Brunelli, we arrived with sponge-life open minds, ready to soak in everything that this trip had to offer to us. Boy, what a trip it was! In a span of one week, we traveled to over 28 different locations all throughout Tuscany & Umbria. Some parts were filled with tourists and adventurers like us and other parts were tucked away hidden from outside visitors. But we left each place changed and inspired as a person and as a photographer. My words will not do justice to what we experienced there, so I will share what others have said about this workshop as well as share the images that I have captured there.

“I am so thankful to have been a part of the first launch of this one-of-a-kind workshop.  My life has been enriched by new lasting friendships, and through embracing life’s lessons and partaking in Italian culture, I have truly been changed. I cannot wait until the next PhotoVenture!”Jenn Gaudreau (http://www.jenniferkathryn.com/)

“Memories of my trip to Italy in September will always be a part of me and I hope to only add more in the future. It has been a little over a month since I returned and I am realizing this was so much more than a photographic experience, it was an experience that was life changing…” Lisa Carpenter (Check out Lisa’s blog post about her experience here: http://www.lisacarpenterblog.com/?p=1367)

“As a new photographer I was somewhat nervous about going on my first workshop until I was met at the airport by Kenny and everything fell into place. The way PhotoVenture immersed me into their culture and location immediately & is a wonderful and stress-free way to learn new techniques and gain life long friendships.”
Trace Johnson (http://extremefocusphoto.com/)

If you have 6 minutes to spare, let me take you on a journey to Italy with me. Sit back and enjoy. Let the photos pull you in. There are two ways to experience the show. You can 1) click to play the sideshow or 2) click on each image one at a time – there are 103 total. I recommend you doing option 1. (Big thanks to Triple Scoop Music for this amazing instrumental song & David Jay’s ShowIt ShowItFast and BlogStomp for the making this slideshow possible) Be patient and let the slideshow download all the way before playing.

I hope you enjoyed the slideshow. We are going on another PhotoVenture in February 15-22, 2010. This time we will be explore the region called Campania Felix (affectionately named by the natives). Some of the cities will include: Amalfi Coast, Positano, Rovello, Capri, Pompeii, Sorrento, Napoli and more. We have model engagement shoots and various surprise tours lined up for our attendees. If you are interested, please visit: http://photoventure.kennykim.com
Hurry, there is only 1 seat left (out of 15)!
PhotoVenture

For more, visit: My Portfolio | Resources For Photographers | Twitter: KennyKim | Facebook Page
contact@kennykim.com | 800-539-1294

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Portfolio+Workshop II at The Biltmore Hotel in Miami FL

November 13th, 2009

Back in September Ray Santana & I hosted a workshop called Portfolio + Workshop with the one and only [b]ecker as our guest speaker. We even had the pleasure of the SEO guru Lawrence Chan (tofurious.com) make a special guest appearance. Attendees from all over the US, Canada & Panama congregated to the historical Biltmore [...]
 

Back in September Ray Santana & I hosted a workshop called Portfolio + Workshop with the one and only [b]ecker as our guest speaker. We even had the pleasure of the SEO guru Lawrence Chan (tofurious.com) make a special guest appearance. Attendees from all over the US, Canada & Panama congregated to the historical Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables – Miami, FL. The atmosphere was amazing, people/attendees we met were eager and great folks that wanted to step up in their wedding photography, gorgeous models and just overall a great time together. By the way, visit Kenny Nakai’s blog for more indepth coverage of this workshop.



Here is Ray & I giving our talks to the attendees. Ray is a fun guy but when it comes to giving sound advice about photography, he gets serious!
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop

As an instructor, I didn’t get too much time to shoot the gorgeous models that we had provided but here are few shots I managed to capture. Please continue to scroll down to read more about the announcement of our next workshop!

The historical Biltmore Hotel is one of the Leading Hotels Around The World. It is over 100 years old and many famous people have graced their stay here. This is an ideal place for a wedding or other special events.
Portfolio + Workshop

Big thanks to our awesome models Mike & Gisela, Desi & Herly and Yessi! They helped us capture some amazing images for the attendee’s portfolio.
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop
Portfolio + Workshop



We could not have asked for better attendees. They were all there with good attitudes, eager to learn and share with one another. I had so much fun getting to know them and look forward to seeing their success! I saw that many of them have already starting applying what they learned into their business. So cool!
Portfolio + Workshop

Introducing: Portfolio+Workshop II – JANUARY 27, 2010 – Miami, FL
Portfolio + Workshop
We had so many requests to do something like this again. So Ray and I have put together a program that will hopefully continue on the energy of what we started out originally. This time we have the pleasure of having Jim Garner from Seattle, WA and Dave Cross from NAPP Jim was recently recognized by American Photo Magazine as “One of the Top Ten Wedding Photographers in the World.” Jim Garner has a unique style that consistently wins accolades and awards Nationally and Internationally. Dave Cross is Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and is involved in all aspects of the training that is provided to NAPP members, including the content of seminars, conferences and workbooks. We are excited about partnering with them for this workshop. Please visit the website: http://portfolioplusworkshop.com or follow us on Twitter: PP_Workshop for more information.

For more, visit: My Portfolio | Resources For Photographers | Twitter: KennyKim | Facebook Page
contact@kennykim.com | 800-539-1294

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