Archive for the ‘Sessions’ Category

Engagement Session in Monterey & Carmel CA: Jane & David

April 6th, 2010

Tags: California, Carmel, Engagement, Lifestyle, Monterey, Photoshoot, Scenic, Session
Posted in: Sessions, Travel

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Shortly after the fun engagement photoshoot session in Los Angeles with Emi & Motoki, I flew up to San Jose to meet with Jane & David, who will be tying their knot later this summer near San Francisco area. They both met at their church in Boston while attending Harvard grad school. They picked up from the airport and we drove down together to Monterey area. I have never been to this region before but heard so much about how beautiful it is down there. The anticipation made our time worth while as we drove about 1.5 hours to arrive at our destination and it did not disappoint! We spent the afternoon driving along the coast, stopping at various locations, having lunch at a pier while sampling clam chowder from restaurants, getting drenched by the waves and discovering all the eclectic backgrounds in Carmel. We also managed to take some photos here and there. In the end we captured some beautiful moments for David & Jane:

Engagement session: Seaside, CA

Engagement session: Fisherman's Wharf Monterey, CA

Engagement session: Carmel, CA - Reenacting the proposal at the same spot where he asked her and she said yes

Engagement session: Carmel, CA

Engagement session: Basilica of Mission San Carlos Borromeo De Rio Carmelo - Carmel, CA

Everyone talked about this tree so we had to go check it out: The Lone Cypress Tree along the 17 mile drive in Monterey, CA

The three of us together after the shoot

Engagement sessions are advantageous for both parties. It allows the couples to have really nice moments captured that they can cherish and to use for their wedding & other purposes as they see fit. For the photographer, it really helps us to practice our craft, get to know the couple and utilize the time to educate the clients on helping them pose for photos together. Another thing is that as I spend more time with them, a connection is made and trust is built. My anticipation to see them again on their wedding day grows more and the couple on their wedding no longer sees me as their photographer but as a trusted friend that can take great photos. So I am really appreciative of the couples that are willing to spend the extra time with me in advance to have this session together.

Thank you Jane & David. Looking forward to seeing you guys again on your wedding day soon!

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

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Lifestyle Engagement Session – Emi & Motoki

April 2nd, 2010

Tags: Beverly Hills, California Photographer, Engagement, Lifestyle, Los Angeles, Photography, Photoshoot, Session
Posted in: Sessions

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Last week I traveled westbound to photograph two engagement sessions out in California. I was able to schedule the shoot so that I can photograph both of these couples on the same weekend. First stop was Beverly Hills, California better known as 90210. Emi said he first contacted me few years ago before I became a wedding photographer during the days when I was dabbling with photography as a hobby and has been follow my work since then. She has also attended a wedding which I photographed back in Philadelphia so I knew we had many mutual friends in common. Motoki is a computer graphics expert working on Hollywood animation films. Some of his latest work you might recognize (Avatar, Star Trek, Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man 2, etc.) Even though I had not met this couple prior to our initial meeting for our engagement session, I knew the moment we met, that we were going to get along just fine.

They had selected some of their favorite locations to do their shoot and went to various places such as Lake Balboa (where the cherry blossoms were still blooming), The ever famous Grove mall, LA Contemporary Museum of Arts (better known as LACMA) and Playa Vista beach. We had so much fun during the shoot, as it gave us plenty of time get to know each other while we captured them in their natural poses. I think this session breaks my record for the number of security guards that stopped me from photographing the couple. I had 3 of them question what I was doing and gave us really hard time – I say only in LA, the land of hollywood stars, do they make this such a big deal. It was kind of fun though giving our session more of an adventure feel to it.

I know this blog post is titled the “Beverly Hills” engagement session, but we chose to save some of the more iconic locations in Beverly Hills for their wedding day. So you will see some more of that in the future. Here are some of my favorite photos from their day. You can also view them on my facebook page

We were fortunate to still find Cherry Blossom trees at this time of the year. This is very significant in Japanese culture!

The #19 is significant to them - it is their wedding date, when they first went on a date, when he first asked her out, etc...

We then hung out at The Grove mall - people thought they were celebrities because I was shooting them like a paparazzi

I have always wanted to photograph at this location. It was little crowded that day but through different angles, i was able to crop them out of the background

These guys are perfect for each other and I cannot wait to spend the day with them again for their wedding this summer. Thanks Emi & Motoki for a fun-filled afternoon.

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

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Peggy & Nate’s New York Engagement Session

March 27th, 2010

Tags: Aruba, Destination, Engagement, New York, Photo shoot
Posted in: Sessions, Travel

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Now that WPPI is over, I have been anxiously waiting for this year’s weddings to start. Shortly after the convention, I flew out to the east coast to start my shooting season. Peggy & Nate are a cute couple from Boston area and I have been fortunate to photograph their wedding in Aruba next month. They wanted to do their engagement session in NYC so I gladly flew out to do so. New York is one of my favorite locations to shoot. We started out meeting by having lunch together and got to know each other little bit better. I had met Nate already before at a previous wedding in Chicago (David & Yeena) but this was my first time meeting Peggy. From the first hug I could tell that Peggy is a sweet girl and that it was going to be fun photographing them together. My good friend and great photographer Ahmet Ze from New Jersey came to give me a hand that day. Peggy brought one of her bridesmaid Sharon give her a hand. Together we made a great team and it was a fun day of shooting in New York City. Here are some images from the shoot:

Peggy & Nate New York City Engagement Photos

Peggy & Nate New York City Enagement Photos

Peggy & Nate New York City Engagements

Peggy & Nate New York City Engagement Session

Peggy & Nate New York City Engagement Shoot

Peggy & Nate New York City Engagement Session

Peggy & Nate New York City Engagemtent Session

Thanks to Ahmet Ze for this photo of all three of us:

Peggy & Nate New York City Engagemtent Session

I am really looking forward to Aruba and spending time with Peggy & Nate down there as they celebrate their wedding under the warm sun!

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

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Wedding in Labro, Italy? Yes Please.

February 1st, 2010

Tags: Destination, Italian Wedding, Italy, Photoshoot, Tuscany, Umbria, Wedding
Posted in: Personal, Sessions, Wedding, Workshop

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Well not really. It was not an actual wedding. But it was a vision. A vision to create a scenario to be able to capture some wedding images from Italy – which is what a group of us did when we went on our first PhotoVenture trip to Italy this past September of 2009. With the help by our tour coordinator Max Brunelli, we organized a photoshoot with Italian models and for few hours where we photographed them in their wedding attires and came up with some really cool wedding images. My goal was that all of us will walk away with some beautiful images for their portfolio. But not only that, I wanted them to challenge themselves to work in any kind of environment despite the language barrier to come up with shots that they needed. My personal goal was to photograph more weddings here in Italy so I wanted to build a portfolio to showcase more of my work in a unique backdrop only Italy can offer. Last year I had the privilege of photographing a beautiful wedding for Bob Davis and I fell in love there and told myself that I will make a goal and my vision to photograph more weddings here.

For this reason, the mock wedding photoshoot took place in a small acquaint hilltop medieval town of Labro tucked away between the mountains. Labro is in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Latium, located about 70 km northeast of Rome. The town's population is about 350 and is so small that you cannot find it in most tour guide books. They also still have a prince that still lives and governs there.

When we started our shoot, we had couple of obstacle to overcome: 1) Rain. Which meant that we had to pose them in places where they were under the cover and/or the umbrella. Fortunately the rain stopped after about an half hour into the shoot. We learned the lesson of quickly adapting to things we cannot change (such as weather) and rather than letting that discourage us, think of more creative ways to capture the subject.

Despite the rain in the beginning, we came up with some really cool images

Despite the rain, we came up with some really cool images

Trying to explain to the them 'almost kiss but not all the way' was little tricky

2) Language barrier: Another challenge we had to face was that none of the models spoke any English. And we didn’t speak Italian so many times we had to use our body language, eye contact and just repeating things slowly and audibly so that they can somewhat understand what we were saying. And because many words were used in repetition, they eventually picked up some of our instruction and we also picked up a few phrases of their own. Lesson learned: that communication is very important during a photoshoot even with our clients. Often times I see workshop attendees just silent while they shoot away at their subject. It is important to keep the conversation flowing during our shoot.

Despite our language differences, I was still able to communicate to them on the reactions that I wanted

Often times we can use the photoshoot time to get to know things around us. We spent some time w/ the old man in the background and found out that he is 95 years old and has been the pastor of the church we were photographing for over 70 years old. Wow!

I love the breath-taking backdrops that only Italy can provide. Rainy weather meant bright blue sky to follow shortly after!

As we were driving away at night, we were mesmerized by how clear the sky was and how the bright stars were illuminating the city. Then we asked ourselves: "Did we really just shoot there?"

I am thankful for the experience that we had together as a group. I am putting it on my vision board to photograph more Italian weddings in 2010 so hopefully it will happen soon. In the mean time, I am taking a group of photographers again in less than 13 days on another PhotoVenture with Kenny & Friends. We have people from all over the States & Canada coming to this one. Kevin Swan from KISS Wedding books will also be joining us on this journey and I cannot wait to explore the region of Campania Felix (Amalfi, Napoli, Sorrento, Rovello, Positano, Pompeii, plus more.) It is not too late to sign up! If you are interested in joining us on this adventure, contact me. Until next time, happy traveling!

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

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Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas Wedding – Monica & Brent

January 16th, 2010

Tags: Atlantis, Bahamas, Corporate Event, Destination, Engagement, Honeymoon, Nassau, Paradise Island, Photo, Photographer, Photographers, Photography, Photos, Renewal Vow, Wedding
Posted in: Sessions, Travel, Wedding

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Few months ago I had the pleasure of traveling down to The Atlantis Paradise Island, a dreamy vacation getaway location located near Nassau Bahamas. This was my 4th time going down there so the natives consider me a Bahamian now. During the cold season, nothing beats spending a few days in paradise so I always look forward to their warm climate and friendly staff at the Atlantis resort. This is my third wedding that I got to photograph here. Joe & Jina got married here in October 2007 (their wedding was featured in the Destination Weddings & Honeymoon publication) and Jason & Riley had their beautiful wedding in December 2008.

Brent is a law enforcement officer & Monica is a lawyer so they have the whole legal system in check! They are from Atlanta, Georgia and both love coming down to the Atlantis for their vacation so they thought it only makes sense to get married there too. They wanted to their engagement session back at home around the streets of their familiar hometown. So I went down early that year to photograph their engagement session. We went all over Atlanta. Starting out at the Georgian Terrace, we explored locations like Centennial Olympic Park, Piedmont Park, Fernbank Museum of Natural History (before we got kicked out) and the Little Five Points. We had so much fun that day I knew they were going to an awesome couple to spend time with down in the Bahamas for their wedding. Here are few shots from their engagement session:

Photos from Monica & Brent's engagement session in Atlanta Georgia

Monica & Brent decided to get married at the Atlantis in October of 2009 and I was excited and honored to be chosen as their wedding photographer. Hopefully I can make this an annual tradition and go back there in 2010 for another amazing wedding. I feel like Atlantis is like my vacation resort spot now. This time I had the pleasure of bringing my good friend & mentor Bob Davis to assist me with the wedding. Bringing him is always an honor because he himself is a big name in the industry and to be able to shoot for another is a big privilege and I’m thankful for the opportunity.

Going back to the wedding, Monica & Brent invited close group of their family and friends and had a long weekend filled with fun and activities. We were fortunate to be down there for everything. We started out having an informal gathering at the Plato’s Lounge and Patio in the Royal Tower so that all the guests could mingle and get to know one another. We then had the rehearsal at the Cloisters located near the One & Only Ocean Club (where the James Bond Movie Casino Royale was filmed. Also many celebrities have their own weddings & events here). This was where the ceremony was going to take place. It was then followed by a cocktail hour at outside the Dig Deck overlooking the sunset and a sweeping lagoon views as the guests enjoyed some drinks before the big party. The reception was held at the Fathom’s private dining area where they had their dinner while enjoying the underwater view of ocean life and ruins. All in all, this was a special event for me to photograph. (I even got the garter from the bride since I was the only single guy there!). I hope you enjoy these 20+ collection of images that were taken by Bob Davis & myself. Please be patient as it downloads: