Travel | Chicago Destination Lifestyle Wedding Photographer

Posts Tagged ‘Travel’

Aruba Wedding Featured on Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Magazine

August 2, 2010

My first caribbean wedding in the Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas was featured in the Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazine about two years ago. Since then, I have been fortunate to travel around various exotic locations to photographs wonderful weddings. I am excited to announce that my work will be featured on this fabulous publication again – on back to back issues!

First issue, which will hit the newsstand in couple of weeks will feature an article about finding your location in the caribbean for your wedding. The staff at DWH chose my image from Aruba wedding of Peggy & Nate (shot earlier this year) as their opening spread to this resourceful 10-page article about finding the right location for your destination wedding in the caribbean:

Here is the image that they chose for their opening spread:

This will be in the Sept/Oct issue and will be out in just couple of weeks so be sure to check it out when you can. Second issue (Nov/Dec) will feature their full wedding in their “I Do, I Do” section. I cannot wait to see this and this will be available later on this year. I will be sure to post it when it becomes available. I just want to take this time to thank Diane Rice (Follow her on twitter: @DWH_Diane), the Photo Editor for Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazine and the other wonderful staff there for selecting my work to be a featured in their magazine. Also I would like to thank my clients Peggy & Nate Lao for giving me the opportunity to do what I love!

Please take time to visit my previous post about this wedding. I could be bias but I think it’s worth the look again.

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

NOW AVAILABLE: The Digital Wedding Photographer’s Planner by Kenny Kim

Tags: Aruba, Aruba Wedding, Caribbean, Destination Wedding & Honeymoon, Diane Rice, Radisson, Travel
Posted in Travel, Wedding | 3 Comments »

Announcing Portfolio + Workshop and KK PhotoVenture!

July 29, 2010

I’m very excited to announce my two upcoming events in September & October:

1) Portfolio + Workshop III at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami, FL
September 8th, 2010 with optional mixer on the 7th evening and Q&A on the morning of the 9th.

This workshop is co-teamed with Ray Santana & I along with special guests Dave Cross (Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals) & Yanni Tzoumas (Co-founder, Publisher and Executive Editorial Director of Grace Ormonde Wedding Style and Grace Ormonde Wedding Style New England magazine).

Ray Santana, with his extensive background in photography will help you with various technical camera-related topics such as settings (WB? Kelvin Temperature? Manual? P?), getting clean images straight out of the camera, the little things that we overlook while shooting, general lighting, working with vendors, workflow, plus much more.

Kenny Kim will share his unique path of how he started out in this industry and explain his branding, networking & marketing tips. He will also share tips about how to go about planning a perfect wedding day from a wedding photographer’s perspective.

For the first time ever, Yanni Tzoumas, the publisher & executive editor of highly acclaimed Grace Ormonde Wedding Style magazine will offer his perspective on the wedding industry, insight into the editorial review process and even spend some time doing a portfolio critique for what to submit to a magazine.

Dave Cross, Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals is one of the leading educator in Adobe Photoshop. He will be demonstrating how to take advantage of Smart Objects, Layer Comps and more to create re-useable templates that will save you time and inspire your creativity as well as some basic helpful tips & techniques about Photoshop.

Visit http://www.portfolioplusworkshop.com for more information.

2) Kenny Kim PhotoVenture III – Venice & Veneto Region
October 18-25, 2010
http://photoventure.kennykim.com

I am elated to announce this workshop again. We are visiting a whole new region that I have not fully explored. On this journey, we will see the gems of northern area surrounding the main city Venice known as the Veneto region. It is one of the overlooked corners of Italy. We will explore the beauty of Venice. But we will also visit the overlooked cities like Murano, Burano, Verona, Vicenza, Padova, & more. We will have two photoshoot sessions: one with model bride/groom & another an engagement session – giving us chance to add some great images for our portfolio and few classroom times to learn more about our business. Kenny Kim will go over his workflow, networking & marketing tips and share some of his insights on how he approaches the wedding day as well as other topics related to weddings.

So expect to see various treasures Italy has to offer. Our Italian tour guide Max Brunelli has planned a wonderful tour and excursions. Arrive with excitement and leave with memories that you will cherish for years to come. Improve your portfolio working with Italian models. Participate in teaching & learning times organized by Kenny as well as other attendees. Best of all, get ready to have some fun – besides, there is no better way to spend your tax write-off!

Visit http://photoventure.kennykim.com for more details. I can’t wait to see you there!

Tags: Announcing Portfolio + Workshop and KK PhotoVenture!, Four Seasons, Italy, Max Brunelli, Miami, PhotoVenture, Portfolio Plus, Travel, Workshop
Posted in Events, Travel, Workshop | 3 Comments »

Lessons From the Road – Landscape Photography & Traveling

May 18, 2010

Hey everyone! I am back in Italy again. This time I am here to photograph a fabulous wedding of Meghan & Justin next week. I’m also here to plan out the details for my next PhotoVenture in the fall as well as a small private tour that I will conducting for some of my close friends & family in the summer. I arrived here few days early to get adjusted to the time zone here and to do some “PhotoVenture”ing on my own. After a long flight to Rome & an hour train ride to Terni, my friend Max Brunelli picked me from the station and we went back to his home. As I was resting there, I could feel my body wanting to shut down. One of the best way to fight jet lag is to get adjusted to their time zone immediately. So rather than sleeping, I forced myself to stay awake by going for a long drive with Max to the countryside of Umbria. We drove through various parts of Umbria passing by Narni, Amelia & Todi. Along the way we stopped at numerous locations to take some landscape photos. Speaking of which, I am making an effort to capture more landscape photos this year in hopes that somewhere down the road, I will be able to make my own travel book.

Here is some of my quick attempt at landscape photography. I was falling half asleep as I was editing them so please be kind. I’ll have plenty more after my trip/wedding shoot is done:

Finally, I want to leave you with a quote from Rick Steves, a prominent expert on world traveling: “Thoughtful travel engages us with the world… it reminds us what is truly important. By broadening perspectives, travel teaches new ways to measure quality of life. Globetrotting destroys ethnocentricity, helping us understand and appreciate other cultures. Rather than fear the diversity, celebrate it. Among your most prized souvenirs will be the strands of different cultures you choose to knit into your own character. The world is a culture yarn shop, and travelers are weaving the ultimate tapestry.”

Buon Viaggio!

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

NOW AVAILABLE: The Digital Wedding Photographer’s Planner by Kenny Kim

Tags: destination wedding, Italy, Max Brunelli, montepulciano, PhotoVenture, Travel, Tuscany
Posted in Personal, Travel, Wedding, Workshop | 7 Comments »

Destination Wedding in Palm Beach, Aruba: Nate & Peggy

April 26, 2010

The wedding season officially started for 2010. And not a bad way to start at all. It started way down south – as close as you can get down to South America without actually getting there. When I got the final confirmation last year from Nate & Peggy that I was going to be their wedding photographer in Palm Beach, Aruba, the first thing I did was get up from my chair and started singing the song by the Beach Boys: “Aruba, Jamaica, Oooh I wanna take ya…” I knew this wedding was going to be a fun one because I got to spend some time with Nate & Peggy last month photographing their engagement session in New York City. I loved their personality, energy and their love for photography. And they also loved eating good food (Started our session by eating Japanese ramun noodle for lunch)!! So I knew right there and than that we were going to get along just fine.

You could not ask for a better wedding. Five days under the Aruba sky. Friendly Arubans greeted you with their warmth and hospitality. Amazing seafood. Breath-taking snorkeling sites. Driving around the island during our photoshoot. Getting to know Nate & Peggy along with their close family & friends – everything was a delightful. Thank you so much for allowing us to capture your wedding day and spend the weekend with you guys. Weddings like this reminds us how blessed we are as wedding photographers to call this our vocation (or was it vacation)?!?!

The ceremony & the reception took place at the beautiful Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa in Palm Beach Aruba. Here are some images that highlight the weekend. I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I had fun editing and putting them together. Big thanks to Kenny Nakai for being my wingman for this wedding.

Palm Beach Aruba Destination Wedding images of Nate & Peggy by Kenny Kim Photography

Palm Beach Aruba Destination Wedding images of Nate & Peggy by Kenny Kim Photography - Groomsmen images courtesy of Kenny Nakai

Palm Beach Aruba Destination Wedding images of Nate & Peggy by Kenny Kim Photography

Yes, skies like this do exist! I still cannot get over how pretty the sunset was down there! - Palm Beach Aruba Destination Wedding images of Nate & Peggy by Kenny Kim Photography

Thank you Nate & Peggy again for being such amazing clients. I am blessed to know you guys and now call you friends! For more photos from the wedding, visit: Facebook Page Gallery. For complete view, visit the Pictage Gallery & pre-register.

NOW AVAILABLE: The Digital Wedding Photographer’s Planner by Kenny Kim

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

Tags: Aruba, Boston, Carribean, Destination, Hotel, New York, Palm Beach, Photoshoot, Radisson, Travel, Tropical, Wedding
Posted in Sessions, Travel, Wedding | 16 Comments »

Travel Mishap That Turned Into a Blessing

November 30, 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 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!