New York City baby portrait photographer | Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
San Francisco engagement session photographer | Legion of Honor | Baker Beach | Susan and Daniel
Los Angeles engagement session photographer | Chinatown | Olvera Street | Shirley and Carlos
Santa Cruz engagement session photographer | Natural Bridges bridal session | Jean and Du
I love this couple! We had a lot of fun running around for this pre-wedding shoot, climbing up on trees, parking illegally, ignoring signs that demanded we stay off the lifeguard tower, shivering in the wind ….
(Aside: It seems like every year, I’ve getting more and more clients who met their significant other online. Jean and Du are one wonderful example, and in a few weeks I have the privilege of shooting their wedding. From some recent statistics of nationwide weddings, the percentage of couples who met online is around 20%. I’m convinced that within the next 5 years, we’ll see that number rise to at least 40%. This thing works, folks!)
Makeup artist / hair stylist: Aimee Lam, Beauty UpClose
Check out their pre-wedding session slideshow!
Monterey engagement session photographer | Carmel Beach | Shuyin and Dave
Check out their engagement session slideshow!
San Francisco engagement session photographer | Flora and Kevin
Stories from Laos: part 1
Last year, I was sponsored by a clean water company to fly to Laos for a documentary project. For ten days, I journeyed up and down this country of dirt roads and jungles and rice fields, through quiet old villages and ever-growing cities and everything in between. It would be no exaggeration to say that this was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
My pictures from this project are currently being used by a couple organizations for their promotional and sponsorship material.
Over the next several Fridays, I will be sharing with you some of the stories I experienced in my travels to that beautiful country.
(If this is your first time here and you don’t want to miss a post, feel free to add yourself to the email subscription list up above, or subscribe to my RSS feed. Entries will also be posted on my facebook profile!)
San Jose lifestyle photographer | portrait session | Jessica
Check out her slideshow! There are so many more pictures I wasn’t able to include in this blog post.
San Francisco engagement session photographer | AT&T Park | Jack London Square | Denise and George
Kollaboration SF 2010
On Saturday, I had the privilege of shooting Kollaboration San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts. Kollaboration is an Asian and Pacific Islander movement that has been hosting shows all over the United States for the past 10 years. This is San Francisco’s first, and it was a sold out crowd of 1000, with musicians, comics, dancers, and performers from all over the United States. Here are some of the pictures from that amazing evening!
San Jose meetup, and travel plans for San Diego, SLO, NYC, LA
I’ll be having a casual meetup this Saturday afternoon in San Jose. Come hang out, get to know a few other local photographers and photo enthusiasts, ask me questions (my mentoring sessions normally are $75-140/hr), and enjoy some of Hannah’s delicious red velvet cupcakes. I’ve love to meet you!
Hannah, 2-4pm
754 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126
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Currently accepting lifestyle, fashion, and family portrait session bookings! Here are my travel plans for the next two months. If interested, drop me a line!
San Diego: April 21-25
San Luis Obispo: April 30 – May 4
New York City: May 19-23
Los Angeles: May 27-31
Stories from Laos: a teaser
Last year, I was sponsored by a clean water company to fly to Laos for a documentary project. For ten days, I journeyed up and down this country of dirt roads and jungles and rice fields, through quiet old villages and ever-growing cities and everything in between. It would be no exaggeration to say that this was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
My pictures from this project are currently being used by a couple organizations for their promotional and sponsorship material.
Over the next several Fridays, I will be sharing with you some of the stories I experienced in my travels to that beautiful country. For now, here are a few teasers!
(If this is your first time here and you don’t want to miss a post, feel free to add yourself to the email subscription list up above, or subscribe to my RSS feed. Entries will also be posted on my facebook profile!)
Sonoma engagement session photographer | Sonoma Town Square | Emily and Hodaka
Emily and Hodaka will be having their wedding at the beautiful Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in Sonoma. But first … engagement session pictures.
FAQ: How do you pronounce your name?
Answer
Phonetically, it’s along the lines of “june-shen” or “joon-shen”. Also, “Hey dude” works. But after a few times, I’ll know that you don’t know. And we don’t want that. Because guess what is going to happen when you know that I know that you don’t know? Yup, that’s right.*
No, I’m not Korean, but sometimes I wish I were, because then I’d be able to watch Korean music videos and dramas and not be sooo confused about why there’s always someone dying, running away from a lover, getting eye cancer, crying in the rain, and/or seeing the love of their life marry someone else. I keep reading the subtitles, but I figure there has to be something lost in the translation.
My name, roughly translated, means this-one-will-shoot-first-FTW! So don’t mess.
*nothing much, really.
(Note: This is the fifth in a series of Frequently Asked Questions that I receive on a regular basis. Over time, I will be adding answers to more FAQs from brides and photographers. FAQs will also be accessible via a table of contents page, which I will put up … eventually. Hopefully this will be helpful for you guys!)
- FAQ: What should I do to become a full-time photographer? (or, “10 reasons NOT to become a professional photographer”)
- FAQ: What kind of camera should I buy?
- FAQ: What equipment/editing tools do you use?
- My wife will be the most beautiful woman in the world.
- My wife will be the most beautiful woman in the world.
International fashion photographer – Balloons and Reen
Check out the slideshow of this fashion shoot!
San Francisco wedding photography | San Francisco City Hall wedding photographer | Gold Mountain Restaurant | Eda and Kenneth
Eda and Ken were married in the San Francisco City Hall, hands down one of the most elegant wedding venues in the Bay Area.
Check out their wedding slideshow!
Bay Area wedding photographer | Villa Montalvo | Hotel Los Gatos | Los Altos United Methodist Church | Linh and Kevin
Makeup: Monina of Natural Images Studio
Floral: Laura, of Poppy Petal Works
Getting ready venue: Hotel Los Gatos
Photoshoot venue: Villa Montalvo in Saratoga
Ceremony venue: Los Altos United Methodist Church
Reception venue: Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Cupertino
DJ/MC: DJ Sugar Ray
Check out the SLIDESHOW for the fun!
My wife will be the most beautiful woman in the world.
A little more than two years ago, when I was standing in the company President’s office explaining why I was quitting my job, I told him: “I’m going to become one of the best wedding photographers in California!” Quite ridiculous, huh? But I genuinely believed it with all my heart. Somewhere along the way, I had picked up this silly conviction that if I set my mind on something, it will come to pass. Maybe it’s a positive can-do attitude, or maybe it’s just foolish naiveté, but there are very few aspirations I believe to be beyond my reach.
On my ever-growing dreams list: Go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, take part in the bull rush in Spain, see the Aurora Borealis in the far north. Can I do it? Why not! Study cooking under a gourmet chef? It’s just a matter of finding time. Book a $10k wedding package, be published in a national magazine, watch my inspiration Jingna do a photoshoot? Probably all within a few years. Spend 3 straight weeks every year living in a foreign country? I could probably start right now, if I really wanted to.
All these, I intuitively know will happen. Afraid to dream? Not me!
But then a couple weeks ago, something unexpected happened. I was working on some personal development homework, and the assignment was to imagine what my “perfect life” would be like. Section 1 started off with marriage and family, and so I wrote down the first thing that came to mind:
My wife will be the most beautiful woman in the world.
And then … I stopped writing. My fingers froze, and I had to push myself away from my desk. I literally couldn’t continue, because out of somewhere, I began to be afraid.
In the last several years, as I’ve started to see my dreams become reality, I’ve become more bold, and my dreams become bigger. Yet when it comes to relationships, a part of me had been unconsciously holding back, not daring to hope for much. It seems a little ironic, considering that my clients are couples who are so wonderfully in love. But I suppose the fear had slowly built up over time as I’ve witnessed example after example of failed relationships. There are so many couples out there who spend years together, only to break things off because they were going no where. I have friends who I once thought were a perfect couple, but suddenly out of the blue, announce they are getting divorced. One of my heroes in the wedding photography industry just separated from his wife of 15 years. It was so sad because barely a year ago, as I saw the playful banter between the two of them, I had thought, These two were meant for each other! Their personalities seem so well balanced, their complementary skills seemed to fit hand in glove. But all that came to an end.
All relationships start out full of hope and love, with that intense and inexplicable attraction binding two hearts together. But the vast majority never last long, and very few make it to the altar. Of those couples who do end up getting married, close to half result in divorce. And for the rest who decide to stick it out, love–the very thing that started it all–has long been lost. Precious few are able to fulfill their vows of “I promise … to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”
I have an intense aversion to the ordinary life, and for the most part, I have been able to get away with it. But when it comes to love … will I be able to buck the trend? Will I be able to have that coveted life-long companionship, where love and respect deepens as the years go by, and the flame–though it may waver at times–never flickers out? I had not allowed myself to hope.
* * * * * * *
We all have dreams, you and me. Most dreams are the ones we entertain for fun, with no serious chance of them coming to pass, and no serious plans to attempt anyway. A few dreams are the ones where, if fueled with enough passion, good ol’ fashion hard work, and a big dose of luck, will cross that boundary between dream and reality.
Then there are those quiet dreams we are afraid of voicing, those hopes we don’t dare express aloud, because once we do, it becomes real, becomes something solid enough to be smacked down. These dreams often seem so insurmountable we might as well be trying to climb Mount Everest. “Don’t be silly,” we’ve been told enough times growing up that it’s been ingrained into our psyche. “That’ll never happen.” And so we’ve been conditioned to lower our expectations to what seems realistic, and tell ourselves to be content with that. Why set our hopes so high that we’ll be disappointed again? But often times, these are the very dreams that are closest to our hearts, and in some ways, to deny them would be to deny an integral part of who we really are.
Why dream for the impossible? My personal philosophy: life is too short to settle for the mediocre and the easy. Take a look at the lives of those who have made it beyond all odds and listen to their stories–they were reaching for the stars while everybody around them was trying to play it safe. There is a part of us that hungers for what they have done. And if you were watching the winter Olympics several weeks back, you would have heard story after story of Olympians who rose out of poverty and extenuating circumstances to overcome the odds. No, we are not all meant to be Olympians or live epic lives worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. But we all have our own personal Everest to climb. Will anything bad happen if we don’t attempt the mountain? Not at all. In fact, most will spend their lives passing off the mountain as a fancy. But very few will take a deep breath, acknowledge the very real possibility of failure, and at the end realize, “I have to climb this. I’m going to do this.”
* * * * * * *
Several days later, I finally finished the assignment:
I will be married to the most beautiful woman in the world. I will be her biggest fan, and she will be mine. We will fight occasionally, but our love and respect for each other will be far deeper than any pride that keeps us apart. The sex will be mind-blowing; our connection will occasionally reach psychic levels; and our adventures will be numerous and crazy enough that we’ll have to write a book for our grandkids. We will bring out the very best in each other, and together, we’ll be UNSTOPPABLE! We will count ourselves to be one of the luckiest couples alive …
Your turn: Spend some time this week to quiet your heart. What are your dreams? Not the obvious ones. Not the ones that bubble close to the surface. Look deeper: what are those quiet hopes you have hidden deep within? I’d love to hear. Feel free to share in the comments section down below, or in the facebook re-post.
Lifestyle photography | Annabelle
Had a great time kicking it with Annabelle. Superfun personality, and incredibly photogenic.
Check out the slideshow! Many more pictures.
San Jose baby portrait photographer
{ empty. } | editorial photography | Seoul, South Korea | Chloe
Something different? Always. Something dark? Now and then.
Here are a few spreads from an editorial shoot I did with Chloe. (It’s great to be able to meet IRL friends you’ve known for years on Xanga, Facebook, email, etc.)
Los Gatos engagement session photographer | Nestldown | downtown Palo Alto | Jessica and Alex
Here is an engagement session from a while back. You may recognize Jessica and Alex from their amazing wedding pictures, or her Trash the Dress session!
Dominican Republic wedding photographer | Altos de Chavón, La Romana | Day after session | Amy and John
Several days before Amy and John’s wedding, a few friends and I hired a local to take us exploring around the Dominican Republic. Chilling at an all-inclusive resort is great and all, but why stay in one place, when there’s a whole island out there, you know? One of the places we stopped at was Altos de Chavón, and the moment I saw it, I KNEW I had to return and do a shoot there.
Check out the slideshow of this session!
Destination wedding photographer | Riu Bambu | Dominican Republic | Amy and John
I first met Amy and John at Winnie and Jing’s wedding in Mexico about a year ago. So when John asked me to shoot their wedding in the Caribbean, I had to think long and hard about it. Haha jk. I told him he didn’t need to ask twice!
Check out their slideshow.
San Jose wedding photographer | Westin Palo Alto | First United Methodist Church | Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant | Karen and Joe
This wedding was shot by my associate photographer, friend, and mentor extraordinaire Scott Robert and me.
Check out their slideshow!
cosplay photography | Vocaloid – Magnet | Singapore
Slideshow! With the song this storyline was based on.
