Esther Ju*lee

It's official. We're moving!

2010-03-04T13:26:00.001-08:00

Okay. It's official. Everything has moved onto: http://www.estherjulee.com

There are some parts still needing to be worked on... esp the portfolio part of it, but the blog is up and running. Woohoo!!

Waiting on the new site...

2010-03-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of exciting things I want to share along with launching the new site... which is not quite up and running yet. I'm giving my entire portfolio and blog a facelift and combining them on my domain estherjulee.com, except I've been having some issues on the backend of it. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Some blog posts waiting to come:

Heading out to WPPI next week in Vegas, an international wedding photography conference.
Found my make-up artist for my wedding! My interview with her, and possibly collaborating with them for some future promotional offers.
Contest to win a stylized engagement session with us and other wedding vendors (details coming soon).

Valentines

2010-02-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

Jacob is gone to Toronto for the week and has been sad that he can't call me over the phone because of roaming charges. He's been emailing me how much he's missing me. This is only day one. Clearly, I am not the romantic in this relationship. I am very lucky to have someone who tries to express to me in many different ways that he loves me. And sometimes I still don't get it.

This is how I spent my Valentine's evening. I was excited to get my copy of the Sunday newspaper, so I was completely pre-occupied clipping away my coupons, while Jacob was busily working on his V-day project downstairs. When I was finally allowed to go down, I saw the dining room table candle lit and Wall-e holding onto my card and gift. (Wall-e's been part of a lot of our special moments, and I have a feeling he'll also have a part in the wedding.)

The meal consisted of a mixed greens salad in my favorite poppyseed dressing and then a marinated pork over corn & rice. The rice was was shaped like a heart... maybe because I dropped the hint one too many times about how one of my gf's fiance had put together this elaborate dinner with flower shaped salmon etc etc etc. haha I do know he put a lot of TLC into it... and the fact that he cooks every other day out of the week for me is what counts most. There's no longer so much emphasis on one day out of the year to be a romantic (which is what I least like about V-day)... but it's like that every day. Relationships are always hard work, but I'm grateful to know he's always trying to love me better each day.

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-02-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Roller skating is not what I remember from childhood. My memories were of the hockey pockey and the limbo, but when we went Friday, it was practically a club for little kids where they were skating and dancing to 'sexual seduction'. It was too funny when we requested an 80s songs and the dice game for nostalgia's sake, pretty much everyone else cleared the floor. The big kids' turns to take center stage!! It was a lot of fun. :) I don't remember the last time I went, but I definitely wouldn't mind going again.

Today, I officially enter my late 20s. I have to remind myself that the best days are not behind me, but are always ahead of me.

Thanks everyone who came out to celebrate with me (and also to those who weren't able to come but were there in spirit)! :) Will post more on facebook.

Slowing down for what matters & 365:32-40.

2010-02-18T00:32:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that these days with work and wedding planning, it's easy to get self-absorbed and be too busy for anything else. After going through the Purpose Driven Life with my small group (more about that on another blog), I feel the need to make some changes in my day-to-day.

I love the quote "it's all the tiny decisions you make daily that make up your character." Or "your life is the sum result of all the choices you make." I can't keep making excuses with my "busyness" and push certain things off until after the wedding. Changes never happen overnight, and if I keep waiting, I may never run out of excuses.

At the end of the day, it's not about finishing X amount of tasks that day. I want to be able to know that I've been a good friend, a good fiancee, a good daughter, and a good neighbor. I guess sometimes I need someone to tell me to slow down and just be available. :)

"Busyness is a great enemy of relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bils, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love - God and people." - Purpose Driven Life.

And speaking of 2010 resolutions and 30 before 30 goals, it's really embarrassing to see that I haven't maintained or achieved much out of my list (I'll have to have a separate blog post of my progress there).

At the very least, I started p90x all over again and we are keeping up with the 365 project for 2010 resolutions... but we do have to work on posting them up to date. Here are the next set for the 365 photo a day for 2010. Just 32-40 this time (see previous here). We decided for the month of February, we'd do something different and have vertical/portrait photos.

02.01.10 Snacks straight from Japan! CVS. I have no creative caption for you.

02.02.10 Organizing is not my nature, but I can stack! Dinosaurs are so much more fun to eat.

02.03.10 Yane's engagement ring and cute card from Ben. Late-night tennis... in freezing weather!

02.04.10 Fortune or advice. Still temporary business cards.

02.05.10 After and before. I made the alfredo sauce (for the recipe). It's great when recipes say quick and easy. Jacob cooked the rest.

02.06.10 Yane and Ben's e-session.

02.07.10 Brainstorming ideas with a florist. Superbowl Sunday.

02.08.10 My inspiration wall. Saegye: our inspiration to grow plants!

02.09.10 One of my girls trying on my bridesmaid dress. Praying for Haiti.

Purple is not an easy color!

2010-02-12T05:34:00.000-08:00

Here's an update on my wedding planning. If you're here to see my recent work, please use the links to the right to navigate through the site.

I first looked for bridesmaid dresses at David's Bridal since they have a fairly large collection in various styles and colors that you can try on the spot. I loved the Lapis color they had, but I didn't quite like any of the styles. I was so excited, though. I found the color that I wanted and I began building a complete color scheme with flowers and other details all around it. Then I browsed through all the department stores looking through at all the special occasions dresses hoping to find that color, but to no avail. I was bummed since I put so much effort into collecting ideas just to complement that color, but I learned in the end that it's good to stay flexible.

One day when I was casually browsing the Victoria's Secret website, I stumbled across the Ruched Convertible dress in purple shock and it was PERFECT... (well, almost perfect)!

I wanted each BM to wear the same color but in different styles. I know it's a trend that some people have grown tired of, but I love having some diversity. This was one dress that you can wear in many different ways. It was easy. I just had to purchase one dress and figure out what style looked best on each one of my girls. The second big plus was I knew it was something they'd love and wear again after the wedding.

I knew going this direction, I would have to bend a little on the color scheme since it was a complete different shade of purple. Lesson not yet learned, I began collecting ideas for the new shade of purple.

When the dresses finally did come in earlier this week, I realized the color from the photos online and the actual dress were WAY off. I guess whenever you're purchasing anything online you run the risk of not knowing exactly what you're going to get. The online photos were terribly deceiving though.

Still, I was pretty excited to have one of my girls try it on. Thankfully, the dress came with how-to-wear instructions. It's confusing at first. Here it's shown as: Double-strap one-shoulder, strapless, cross-back, and twist-front halter. We did a lot of experimentation with it, but these four were probably my favorites.

It's going to be harder to achieve the same look that I was originally going for, but I love the dress enough to keep it. Hopefully, my florist (whom we hope to find in the next couple weeks), will give us some wonderful ideas to work with this dress, because I'm done doing the research on my own! ha

I was talking to some other brides about where they are purchasing their dresses, and I'm finding that Dessy has a great selection. I'm also loving some of the BM dresses from Jim Hjelm Occasions, but I figured I should save my girls their money if I'm not paying for the dresses. If I were to do it all over again, I would have probably checked them out before I decided to make my purchase.

Now, onto the guys and the ties. I have a feeling it's going to be tough. I found an interesting article about a study showing certain tie colors and designs are associated with certain types of people. And purple ties scream arrogance and gaudiness and could rule someone out of a job before they've even sat down at the interview. Read more here.

To do list for this month:

~~Wedding Dress~~
~~BM dresses~~
Caterer
Florist
DJ
Tux/suits
Ties

Yane and Ben E-session (Teasers).

2010-02-08T06:51:00.000-08:00

Some people are just meant to be. It's rare that you hear a story that really feels like God bringing two individuals together, but that's Yane & Ben's story. I loved all the cute details of their story, but I'll just have to share what happened in a nutshell.

A few years back, Yane and Ben first met in passing at church while Ben was in town visiting his brother. At that time Yane noticed him thinking that he'd definitely be her type, but how unfortunate that he's not from around Atlanta. They said their hellos and parted ways. Fast forward a few years later and Ben and Yane were matched on eHarmony. It was at that time that Yane decided to close her account and while she's browsed her final matches, she stumbled across Ben's profile. They spent the next few days talking and discovered that their paths have crossed before.... and the rest is history!

Shooting an engagement session in below freezing weather is not recommended. We saw flakes of snow... one or two! Although, one day I would like to photograph a couple having a snow ball fight. Note to self.

We still had a great time and managed just fine reminding each other to think of tropical weather while we looked forward to the next indoor location. Ben laughed at us the entire time telling us this is nothing compared to Chicago. He's probably right, and I don't want to find out for myself. haha These are just a few teasers from the session.

We grabbed brunch at feast, where they had their engagement party right after he proposed. They have really yummy food and beautiful decor.

Ring shots. Bling shots.

2010-02-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

If I ask for your rings and sneak off with them during the reception or at any point before or after the ceremony, now you'll know what I'm up to. I'm just such a sucker for photographing details... especially rings & other shiny things, dresses, and can't forget shoes! Here's one of my favorite ring shots to date. Catholic school salt and pepper shakers at a catholic wedding.

Of course, I couldn't resist doing a "collection" of my own. I wasn't quite manicured and ready for hand modeling, but they'll have to do. :) So here you have it.. in case you were curious to see it. My bling:

These are just a few from the set I took. :) I'll be sure to set up a separate album for bling shots on flickr and facebook.

365: 11-20.

2010-01-29T12:20:00.000-08:00

Whoa, it's almost the 30th! Time sure flies. Guess we should catch up on the 365 posts where we take a photo a day for 365 days (first set here). Again, if you are here for wedding/portrait work, please navigate using the links to the right. Esther: left, Jacob: right.

11: Monday night bowling.

12: a) I love free Swiss Miss! b) Bristow.

13: a) Guess who's picture showed up in Atlanta Weddings? Mine. b) Save ussssss!

14: a) Ben's headshots. b) Maintenance needed.

15: a) Glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away. b) Hotel for the weekend.

16: a) Will you? b) Oh, nuts!

17: a) Carol's new bling. b) Which of these things is not like the other?

18: a) New studio sample guestbook. b) Home sweet home.

19: a) Mmm, charcoal.. tasty. b) Hulk smash!

20: a) Spring Hall. b) Visitor at pre-marital counseling.

Guestbook Ideas.

2010-01-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

I love the fact that you can pretty much personalize every aspect of your wedding. Guestbooks are probably one of the last details people worry about during the wedding planning process, but there are definitely creative ways to personalize it for your wedding. I've gone ahead and put together some ideas I've collected.

Here was a wedding I did spring 2009. Jean and Mike brought it when it came to putting personality into their wedding. You can see their style and personality was reflected in pretty much every aspect of their wedding (slideshow here). I thought their guestbook idea was toooo cute, where you could put individual messages into these small envelopes and seal them shut.

Another idea instead of having a standard guestbook is a photobooth where guests can use a chalkboard or a dry erase board to write messages for you. Here's a recent one I did for Tara and Jamie's wedding but sans the message. The next photo was from a photobooth Jacob did Spring 2009. I'm not a huge fan of the background, but you get the idea. These photos would then go into a custom photo book, so your guests can leave you a crazy photo from your wedding along with a message.

Lastly, this is probably what I will be putting together for my own wedding, but a custom photoart guestbook with engagement photos. These next few photos are from our studio sample. They come in a variety of covers, and you customize it with your name and date in silver or gold. The text also comes in cursive.

The hinged gutter allows for all the pages to lay flat so it's easier to sign.

This is one of my favorite spreads from the guestbook. We custom design all the spreads and have 1-2 design sessions with our clients to make sure it's perfect.

Here's another favorite!

You can definitely get creative with it. Scrapbooks are nice too (but do take a lot of time). I've also seen a large gallery print by the entrance that you can sign on, but I find them to be generally messy looking especially if you don't have a lot of blank space in the photo.

Something else I saw on theknot that could be helpful is to have fun pre-printed questions for your guests so that you won't get the congratulatory message over and over again and it will make each message more personal.

How did you first meet the bride and groom?
When did you know they were in love?
What's the secret to a great marriage?
Can you share a funny memory about the bride and/or the groom?

Also wanted to say a big thank you to those of you who have joined my fanpage on facebook. I've hit 1000 fans! :) If you haven't already joined, you can join here for updates on your fb.

Spring Hall - Doraville, GA

2010-01-25T10:37:00.000-08:00

Time to hit that reset button on the blog resolution.

Before I move on with the rest of the post, I also wanted to mention that I'm no longer taking any more July weddings this month. I am taking it easy in July.

---

Spring Hall is located off of Buford Hwy and is mainly a wedding venue where you can also host other events such as birthdays... particularly 100th day and 1st birthdays are huge celebrations in the Korean community. I had never seen the place in person, but kept hearing of it from different brides, so I decided I wanted to check it out... not knowing that I coincidentally already knew the owner.

After speaking to Young Mi, she asked me to come in and take some photos of a birthday event for their website. Let me tell you, it was probably the most elaborate and well designed birthday I have ever seen. I was thoroughly impressed. Here are the photos:

Ben's Headshots.

2010-01-15T03:48:00.001-08:00

My second post of the day! After my third day of P90X, I feel unstoppable!! haha Good for me on my attempts to catch up on blogging. As for the P90X, I should really take a video of myself doing it. It's ridiculously hard, and I've been struggling. All I can really do is laugh at myself at the moment... but I will bring it!! :)

Here's just a couple headshots of Ben. Ben's a neighbor who needed some photos for his website. How convenient that he lives just down the street.

Re-igniting that passion for photography.

2010-01-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

If you are on my blog to see wedding and portrait work, please use the links on the right hand side to navigate through the site. :)

---

As glamorous as it seems to be a photographer that travels the world and shoots weddings, and as much as I do love and appreciate my job and the people I work with, sometimes work can become just work. The majority of it really is sitting in front of a computer editing, which can become rather boring. Running the business, doing all the business related stuff - IMHO since I'm not business savvy is absolutely no fun for me (but thank God I have someone by my side who is!).

Sometimes you just get busy and personal projects get pushed to the back burner, but I find them absolutely vital in keeping the soul of a photographer alive. The more I am going through the 365 (it's only the end of the second week), the more I realize how important it is to take photos purely for yourself and your love of photography.

Of course it would be easy to take random photos. There are random objects all around me that are dying to be photographed. But for me, I wanted this project to have more purpose. To force me to lug around my heavy camera waiting for a perfect photo opportunity. To document the important details of my day to day. To inspire me. To remind me why I love what I do. :)

Although I would love to post a blog everyday, I realize it would be way too time consuming, and it would most likely interfere with my work-related photos and make the blog harder to navigate through. This is why I decided I'm just going to combine them into one post weekly or bi-weekly (ten at a time). If the site becomes too hard to navigate, I may set up a separate site just for these photos. Tell me what you think. Feedback would be much appreciated!

Again, mine are on the left. Jacob's are on the right. :) First one's a repeat.

E: My favorite two things to eat and sip on at Maum while I chat it up with my brides. :) J: Chloe's two front teeth.

E: Wall-e and our christmas tree that's still up. J: Juiceboxes at an indonesian restaurant.

E: Taking my shiny, new bowling ball for it's first spin. J: All the players.

E: My grandma = my favorite model. So precious. J: New sign? at bwb. Doesn't this look like an ad together?

We cheated and collaborated on this one. It was late, but we decided to play around and paint with light.

E: Catching snow in my mittens! J: Nachhhoooooooooooo....

E: Omgoodness, the snow stuck! J: friendly helper scouting locations for the proposal.

E: This is what the boys called a power hour after a long day of work. J: What's my future?

E: I'm engaged! J: Hanging out with the girls.

Thank you for your interest in our day-to-day. ^^

XOXO,
Esther & Jacob

My turn - I'm engaged!

2010-01-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for all the love on facebook and through calls and tweets. We just got engaged yesterday afternoon. I figure I would just blog the entire story with photos to give details of how it happened. It's been quite a week (long and short all at the same time).

This is Jacob's version, while I may have added a little bit of my own commentary... in pink! ;)

Since Esther and I are doing a photo a day project, I wanted to take her to a park. She wasn't really up for it since she was not feeling well and the temperature had dropped to freezing lately. So instead, I told her my brother and his girlfriend wanted photog practice and we would only have to be there for a short while to give some pointers. When she finally agreed, I picked her up to go to the park to meet with Josh and Vania. I had to bring Josh a lens he left in my car (A telephoto lens with an adapter that made it 300mm, which I rarely would use unless I was shooting.... i don't know, maybe birds? I was already getting suspicious at this point). Once we got there, we walked around to find them then walked a bit further. We got to the spot where it was all supposed to go down and Josh ran out into a field telling me to take a picture of him with the lens. Okay, so here's where you get the version of what was SUPPOSED to happen, and what ACTUALLY happened. So give me some credit here.

Scenario 1: What was supposed to happen.

I panned over and said, "Hey, is that Carol & Bonar?" then hand her the camera to see, while I miss call them to cue the first group to hold up their signs. She sees them, and once she gets the final one, it tells her to look over there --> so she pans over to find Andrew, Michael, and Liz holding more posters that pours out my heart. The last one tells her to look over there --> again. This then leads her to both of our parents holding up the final signs that read "Esther (Ju)Lee Will You... (turn around)" where I am then on one knee holding a sign that says "Marry Me? (cue the fireworks)" This is then followed by an gasp and a YES and everyone is running in circles around us with sparklers. Then we live happily ever after.

Scenario 2: What actually happened.

I said "What is that over there?" and handed her the camera. She thinks I'm looking at the tree so she tried to focus on the tree saying "I don't have my glasses/contacts. It's too far away, I can't see!" I then follow with grabbing the camera and taking a picture of the first bunch and then showing her the picture trying to zoom in to see if she can read the sign. Heavy lens - It's too blurry.

So we start moving closer and you can see the groups are confused at this point. Finally she's able to make out some of it and sees the 'look over there'. (The terrible vision worked to his advantage and disadvantage. I didn't spot people in hiding, but I also couldn't see them when I was supposed to. haha)

She follows up with a "look over where?" I point her in the right direction. Once again, she has a hard time seeing it and moves closer.

She finally gets to the last group of signs and is able to read it and I hear her mumbling "turn around?".

She slowly turns and sees me on my knee and says "are you serious??"

and I say "Yes, I am. Will you Marry Me?" She then softly says "Do I have to answer you now?" Everyone is slowly approaching and I get up to say "Yes, you do!" so she says "Uh... yea, sure!" Whoo! I got a 'Yea, Sure!' this is then followed by everyone scrambling to try to get their sparklers up. Josh is the first to get his on and is running around. You then hear Michael run by yelling "you can heaaaaar them!!!!" since you couldn't really see them in daylight. THEN Carol drops a handful of lit Sparklers which started catching a patch of grass on fire, and we all had to start stomping on it to put it out. Once the commotion dies down we all stand around looking at each other saying "Awwwkward. So what should we do now?" Yup! Success! At least I was able to give her a proposal that was easy to capture on camera herself, and we were able to get the photos in the end. And I know that's what counts the most to her. :)

Thank you all for helping put it together and waiting with signs even though it was freezing outside! You guys are amazzzzzzing.

Ring shots coming soon! I wanted to do something more creative with them.

Jaclyn and Charlie Wedding Teasers - Jakarta, Indonesia

2010-01-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some teasers from Jaclyn and Charlie's wedding. Jacob booked a wedding in Indonesia, and I had the opportunity to go with him to second shoot. We flew in and shot the ceremony on a Sunday, flew over to Bali to have some R&R, and then flew back to shoot the reception the following weekend.

What more can I say... it was incredible! When I do get the opportunity to, I love to second shoot. The main photographer has to take care of all the main responsibilities, while I roam around and shoot exactly what I want. Who doesn't love that? :)

Most of these were his shots, while I did all the post. I've been including in his work on my posts here and there. Can you tell the difference between his shots and mine?

Brrrrr!

2010-01-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

Brrrrr! It is cold in here. Atlanta has below freezing weather and nothing to show for it. At least if it snows, it'd be winter wonderland. I cannot wait till the weather warms up, or till I can have a nice weekend getaway somewhere warm. I'm pretty sure I was meant to live somewhere tropical (and be tanned).

I was looking at some photos I took during winter '08 while I was living in Germany. Snow does make for some fun photos. :) Good times.

But even though I can't get snow pictures, my photos can still be winter-esque. I failed my autumn foliage photo mission this year. I went at the tail end of the season when all the leaves were already falling off. :( Missed it again! I still managed a few photos, and now that I'm looking at them, they definitely look more appropriate for winter. I'm really happy with them, I might even do prints!

Didn't miss the fall colors entirely.

I know these are long overdue. I'm making it priority for this new year to post some more of my personal photo adventures. And I'm making it a goal to blog post at least twice a week. So there's two from the list of many, MANY resolutions. I was looking over my resolutions list, and it's too ridiculously long and detailed to post, so I'll share tidbits of them here and there throughout the year.

Oh! Also, we're not slacking on the 365. The photos are still being taken everyday, but just not being blogged. For the sake of keeping track of photos, making the numbers easy, and not interfering with work-related blogs, I'm planning on doing ten all at once.

Now, off to Maum, to get my favorite bread and sip on my iced coffee while I work behind my computer. Whoa, Can't believe I have client meetings every day of this week. Guess I will be living there this week. :)

Cheers to 2010!

2010-01-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

First of all, since it is a new year, I wanted to start up another 365 (a photo a day for one year)... not that any of my previous attempts were successful, but why not start off on a new slate and give it a go. I've done random photos and portraits, and the furthest I've probably gone was a month or two.

This year, I was thinking about doing something different, perhaps more of a collaboration (maybe that can be 2011?) or a photo pairing where two people take a photo a day not knowing what the other is shooting, and then posting them side by side.

Not only is it good practice, but every photographer needs to have personal projects to spur creativity... and a little teamwork may help motivate me to keep it going longer. So here's number 1! Mine will show on the left, while Jacob's will be on the right. Rest assured, no bunnies were killed to make the soup. Click the photo to view a larger version.

Looking back at 2009, I can honestly say I feel like I've accomplished more in this one year than my entire life. I hope I can say the same about 2010. I revisited my entry on 2009 resolutions, and I'm surprised to see that I've achieved quite a few of them. I visited two continents I've never been to: Europe and Africa. Made a new friend from a completely different culture, language, etc. Read more. All sorts of books. Even finished the bible twice. Pretty good for not being a book person, yeah? I've slowly learned to cook (easier dishes like green bean casserole, but cooking is still cooking). And I may have never learned conversational German while I was in Germany, but I guess it's not that useful anymore now that I would have no one to speak German to.

I have grown A LOT...

personally. with photography. with owning a business.
peeled off another layer and gone a little deeper with God.
mended a lot of broken relationships with friends and family.
learned more about grace and forgiveness.
learned more of what/who love is and through that learned to love just a teeny bit more.

but I also know there's so much more growing to do. (which is why it is taking me forever to put together my resolutions list or rather my S.M.A.R.T. goals which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-sensitive.) I'll have to post the resolutions later.

The growing sure is a lifelong journey.... but I'm looking forward to it. Cheers to 2010! :)

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-29T10:24:00.000-08:00

Hope y'all are enjoying the holidays. This one is a longer blog, because I had a lot to reflect upon over Christmas. Photos are at the bottom. :)

Christmas came and went really fast this year. I kept telling myself that this year I'm not going to focus on all the wrong things like gift swapping, holiday parties, etc. But I ended up being guilt tripped to do all this last minute shopping. The shopping frenzy was a bit overwhelming for me. I don't remember the traffic being so terrible until this year.

Although, giving gifts is probably my biggest love language, I'm not much of a fan of it during holidays like Christmas and V-day. I like giving gifts just because, not because I'm obligated to. I think the perfect gift comes to fruition when a lot of thought is put into it. You get really lucky when you come across something that reminds me of a certain person. If the greatest gift of all is love, I guess gifts can also look very different for different people.

Maybe for next Christmas, I may have to make it a year long process if I'm going to do this right. That way I'm not strapped for time and giving people stuff that they might or might not want and most definitely do not need.

At first, all I could talk about was how much I really wanted this ferragamo bag, which I knew I couldn't afford (WAY WAY out of my budget). I'm not even much of a bag person, and it's pretty rare when I find something that I absolutely must have. This one just happened to be that hot item! I really had to remind myself that I really really really did not need it.

I am more than blessed with what I already have, and it's quite probable that I'd find very little fulfillment in it after I actually own it. I was reminded of this past year during dts, where we were living more simply and relied on God for everything. He always did provide for what I needed, and sometimes surprised me with little things that He knew I wanted. The real joy came from knowing that in Him we live and move and have our being. Why's it so easy to forget all that He's done.

Also wanted to share some Christmas-related photos. Thought it would be very fitting. :) Meet Kira. She was full of energy and spunk.

She wanted to give us some sass. Just being her model self.

The outfit was too adorable!

Tara and Jamie Photobooth!

2009-12-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

We are very happy to announce that we are officially offering some new services and products: photobooths, custom photobooks, and flip books.

It seems like photobooths are getting more and more popular at weddings. And for good reason. They keep guests entertained. They leave the couple with a little something extra to remember of their wedding day. PLUS, they're a ton of fun to shoot! If you have an upcoming wedding, I would consider having one.

I debated going to party city to buy a handful of props (i.e. crazy wigs, etc), but then I felt like I've seen the same types of props overused in a lot of the photobooths. I talked it over with Jacob, knowing that I wanted them to be unique to each wedding, so we decided that we would bring only one prop and then get creative with what we could find on-site. It's amazing what you can find to use as props.

The guests at Tara and Jamie's wedding were definitely not camera shy. We told them to get wild and crazy for the photobooth, and that's what they gave us. It was even our first time getting mooned! I'm keeping the blog PG, but if you were a guest at the wedding and would like to view the rest or purchase any of the images from the photobooth, you can go to www.estherjulee.com and under the clients tab, type in the bride's maiden name as the password. If you have any trouble with ordering, please email us at jacob@estherjulee.com

Jacob did a fantastic job with all the photos and definitely knew how to work the crowd. Hope everyone is having an amazing start to their week! As for me, I had a pretty rough night of editing, so I'm gonna go catch some zzZz's.

Tara and Jamie Wedding (Teasers)

2009-12-16T06:05:00.000-08:00

These were a few things I loved about Tara and Jamie's wedding.

1. Catholic ceremonies are always beautiful to photograph. Christ the King Cathedral.

And guess what I found there for some sweet ring shots!

2. Al of 2000 AD Inc. did a wonderful job putting together the details at the wedding, and I had a ton of fun shooting them.

3. Photography was very important to Tara and Jamie, so they set plenty of time aside for photos in between the ceremony and reception. They even had a trolley take the wedding party around for a few hours to different locations. It made a world of a difference.

4. I love fall and all the beautiful colors that come with the season. These were taken at Piedmont Park.

5. Never hurts having a good looking wedding party. Loved this shot of them.

6. All the photobooth fun! They didn't even need to be liquored up to get crazy in front of the camera. This photo is just a preview for the next post.

Back from Indonesia!

2009-12-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

We're back from Indonesia! Unfortunately, I didn't have much internet access during the trip, so I wasn't able to blog update along the way. Now, it's time to play catch-up on here.

Yesterday was probably one of my most unpleasant ways to end an amazing trip with 22 hours of flight + 7 hours of layover + delays. Being sick, I had to run to the bathroom on the plane every ten minutes. Not fun. It's good to be back though and to get back to the grind. And at least I had wall-e to accompany me the entire time. ;)

Best seat on the plane. The loudest one, and you can't see a thing. haha

New updates coming in the next few weeks on the blog:

Tara and Jamie's photobooth
Tara and Jamie's wedding teasers
Thanksgiving in Boston
Places to eat around Boston
Charlie and Jacqueline's wedding (Jakarta)
Bali trip

Melissa and Paul Wedding Slideshow.

2009-11-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

There is so much going on that I want to share, but I'll have to break it down into separate posts. First of all, I'm blogging from Boston! I flew into NYC yesterday morning and then took the boltbus straight up to Boston. I'm really excited about the S.H.E reunion with Sophia and Hsiao, but before I can even think about exploring more of Boston with the girls, I need to finish a ton of work because this friday I am going to Indonesia!!

Finally, I finished editing and putting together the slideshow. :) I'm very excited to present Melissa and Paul's wedding slideshow. I am very glad to have been part of their wedding day. Melissa and Paul, all their friends and family, and even the vendors were a lot of fun to work with. I want to also thank Eugene for second shooting with me. :)

Here is the list of venues and vendors that contributed to the day:

Ceremony: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church
Reception venue: Villa Christina
Food & Bev: Villa Christina
Cake: Villa Christina
Videography: Wages Video
Florist: Anik Designs
DJ and Coordinator: Lethal Rhythms
Lighting: Party Over Here Productions
Vintage Car: Charisma Coach
Wedding Dress & Bridesmaids dresses: New Natalie's Bridals
Bridesmaids custom jewelry: Bosca Creative Jewelry
Custom handmade veil: Zoica Matei
Cake Topper: Ann Wood Handmade

Ignite 2009.

2009-11-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

I guess all the while I've been itching to leave Atlanta, wishing that I'd be sent on a mission to some foreign country, God has been doing a lot here in Atlanta. The truth is, I've been missing a lot of it because I've been so stubborn and giving myself every excuse not to get plugged in more to the community here. I don't think I can blame the reverse culture shock anymore (Who knew that 6 months away can really mess a person up that much. :P).

I've been reading Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Such a great book. I read half of it the first day I opened it. And trust me it's good, because I am not a book person. It's been reminding me that there are ordinary radicals everywhere, and they don't just belong in Calcutta. Maybe one day I'll be sent off somewhere, but I can find my Calcutta right here in Atlanta.

Here are just a few photos from the Ignite Conference. Check out the stairs at the Georgia Dome. I've never been down to this part of town. Not even the CNN center.

I snatched this from behind the screen. I am always so fascinated with shadows and reflections.

Flare from the spotlights!

One of the speakers, Chris Kim from NPCC.

Rize Up band.

I love this photo. There's something so calming about it.

Find more photos from the conference here. And if you wanna check out photos from a previous Ignite, you can see them here.

My first youtube appearance!

2009-11-18T05:28:00.000-08:00

I've been finally testing out my video functions on my Mark II, and you'll get to see some of it. It's been a lot of fun - and adds a completely new dynamic to how I see the world. I remember one of my best friends in high school writing on her (film major) college app essay, 'if a picture is worth 1000 words, imagine how many a motion picture is worth.' Although, it's been fun exploring videography and it's something I will dabble in here and there, my passion will remain with photography. Plus, I'm not ready to spend a thousand dollars on video editing software.

Jacob (my studio manager and good friend) and his brother Josh are in a band called The Fu. I had the opportunity to be a guest in one their youtube videos... my debut on youtube! Check out the video and don't be mean. I'm used to being on the other side of the camera, so I was camera shy and felt super awkward and nervous.

Here are some other videos I took on their rooftop. You can check them out as well.

Below are some photos of them playing live at different events/venues. They play shows throughout the year (find their schedule at thefumusic.com), and I might even make a special guest appearance at some of the shows. Come by and hang out... to see a wedding photographer turned youtube sensation! haha jk

Tara and Jamie E-session Slideshow.

2009-11-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

Tara and Jamie's engagement slideshow:

Playgrounds and Engagements.

2009-11-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

I spent all morning trying to figure out what was wrong with the album software and photoshop. What a way to start the morning getting zero progress. After I hire another photographer and interns, I'm going to start working on my IT department. lol :P

At least I found myself a photo I can smile about and the day has not gone to complete waste yet. I don't know what it is about a playground that brings out the playfulness of people or just makes you want to be a kid again. ;)

I haven't seen one of these before, but how can you not get on it! I missed this photo while filtering through the session so I didn't get to post it earlier, but this definitely makes it as my favorite photo of the session.

Tara and Jamie E-session.

2009-11-04T05:45:00.000-08:00

When I asked Tara and Jamie what they liked to do. They told me they were homebodies. They loved cooking and hanging out at home, which is what we did for part of the session. I always love how people really become themselves in their most familiar settings.

After I took the photo above, I wanted to do some with feet and cute socks. Immediately, they were just as excited telling me that's what they do! (explained below)

Even their screensaver had a photo of their feet from their Cancun trip. This was the trip that Tara planned out for Jamie where she even packed his bags for him so it'd be a surprise. Jamie had other plans and managed to sneak THE ring into his bags so he could propose. She was telling me how she thought she'd have it all together when he proposed, but when he got down on one knee, it was game over. I wonder how I'd react. hehe

We also went and took some photos at Christ the King, the church they attend. Beautiful church. :)

Okay. Now, that was an acceptable teaser post versus just that one photo. I'm finishing up packing my bags for Charleston. I'll be there for three days working from up there. :) Hopefully, I'll be able to capture some beautiful photos. I've never been there, but I hear it's nice!

<3 Esther

Melissa and Paul Headshots.

2009-11-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

Just so it doesn't come as a total surprise, every now and then Jacob will be blog posting and sharing photos as well... so you can look forward to those. :)

Now, more from the session with Melissa and Paul. Here's the headshot Melissa ended up picking out, and wanted to repost to balance out the next photo of Paul. I've been playing around with new layouts.

After the headshots, we had some fun with family photos for the Christmas cards. After running around with Roxie, we tired her out enough to sit still. :) I loved the next set. Too cute!

Always love some golden light. :)

Always a pleasure doing photos with these two... ooh and Roxie! :)

<3 Esther

Halloween 2009.

2009-11-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

After all that running around to different targets, craft stores, and costume stores, I finally figured out what I wanted to be.

I was able to find a poofy enough top at the maternity section, and the leggings... that color was tough to track down, but after checking various targets and walmarts, I found it! Finding all the necessary tools was the hard part, but putting together the costume was fairly easy. I am now a proud owner of a sewing machine. Maybe, in the future I will be getting more crafty.

We ended up at two different halloween parties. One of which, I did a little event photography for. Minna hosted one of the best halloween parties where we met some great people, had some good food, and drank out of a skeleton shaped funnel. What more can you ask for from a party? haha Here's Brad Pitt and Catwoman. Catwoman, hands down, had the best costume. (Tip: if you ever want to have saggy boobs, birdseed in a stocking has the perfect consistency.)

The second place was q100's Big Wicked at compound. It was completely packed. We ended up heading there at 9:30, since parking goes up to $40 to $60 later on in the night. Clubbing can be fun with good company, but it does lose it's novelty fast. Even though we're all retired, we all had a blast since we hadn't been out in a while. Although, now, I probably prefer house parties over going out to a club, but even for old(er) folks, I think going once a year can be doable.

What do you think? When are you too old to go out to a club? I remember when I was 21-22, I looked at people in their late twenties and thought, 'mann.. when I'm their age, I will probably be way more responsible with my life.. perhaps have a family and do whatever adult's do'. lol Now that I'm becoming that age, I am not quite sure what to think of the whole thing. Next Feb, I officially enter into the late twenties box.

Look what makes an awesome studio-esque backdrop. The wall outside the bathrooms.

Bam-bam was already crafty enough to put together his own costume no problem... of course, with the help of my sewing machine.

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday, Riddick!

2009-10-30T04:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween (since I seldom update my blog on Saturdays), and Happy First Birthday Riddick! Goodness, I'm still up after a long night of editing. I figure it would be appropriate to update my blog with halloween themed photos before the weekend. Hope you enjoy them! :)

The birthday was a halloween-themed birthday and was decked out in killer decor. The cake was incredible! The knife handle has the shape of a One. Too cool! Will have to find out the place Kathy picked it up. You can't really see them as well, but the cupcakes had brain-shaped frosting.

Genius! They made the fingers with string cheese and bell peppers and the monster teeth with apples and almonds. Then the name labels for the drinks!

A brain carved out of a watermelon. They don't mess around.

This was the real cake that he got to dig his hands into. Babies + messy food = priceless!

Kisses with mom. He's making a kissy face. :) He practically imitated a lot of the mouth shapes we made throughout the day to entertain and keep his attention.

Cute moment with grandpa. Taken by Jacob.

The entire gang. Love all the different costumes.

The next photo is of Riddick's auntie and uncle, who helped make it all possible. :) I met Michelle and Adam as models on a photography workshop with Scott Robert. We even had to do the Scott Robert signature pose for the memories. They still got it! ;) Also, the photo in the back is Riddick's dad's. He's a photographer himself and had tons of awesome photography around his house.

It was so good seeing old friends and making new ones. Definitely a pleasure getting to shoot this birthday with them! Hope this gave you some creative halloween party ideas. If you need photography coverage for an event, let us know (jacob@estherjulee.com). :)

As for the update on the costume. Now I am even more confused. I'm an owner of a brand new sewing machine, and I have no idea how to operate it, starting with threading the thing. I have tons of fabric and all sorts of crazy miscellaneous items I've never owned, but not a clue what to do with any of it. :) The ideas are there... I assure you. I just can't quite execute them... well... yet. I have a backup, too, so we'll see how it all goes. I'll update with photos next week. Saturday, I'm hoping to go out and photograph the foliage before all the colors disappear. It's about time for another photo adventure!

Sidenote: Halloween-themed weddings don't look as cheesy as they sound. But I probably wouldn't do it for my own wedding. Cool to see though

Melinda and Ben E-session Slideshow.

2009-10-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Melinda and Ben's engagement slideshow.

The song set to the slideshow is falling in love at a coffee shop by Landon Pigg. I thought it fit the atmosphere of the photos being in Athens really well.

Probably one of the most random things I've ever done, but I was also a booth girl selling tee-shirts and CDs at Landon Pigg and Among the Oak and Ash last friday. A fine frenzy is also on tour with them for the next few weeks if you wanna catch them. They were all very sweet people and fun to hang out.

Wow. I look so happy here. Secret's out. And I thought I was too old to have crushes. lol And check out that scarf that someone made him with his name on it. Gosh, I want groupies!

Melissa Headshots.

2009-10-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple headshots I did for Melissa last week. It's just too easy when you've already done an engagement, bridal session, and wedding with them. They were pretty much striking their own poses. ;)

More from their session to come soon.

Halloween shopping this year is proving to be a lot more tiresome and stressful than I had imagined. I've been doing way too much brainstorming and browsing around than doing something constructive. Maybe it's overrated to be something creative and original. :P It's so much time and energy. Maybe if I can't go for something original and creative, I'll just pick out something "sexy" or "sassy" if you're shopping at wal-mart.

Hmmmm. It's $70 for something I'm going to wear once. Have you guys ever returned costumes the day after Halloween? lol

Writer's block.

2009-10-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

I used to love blogging… I swear. I used to blog semi-regularly just for fun before I felt obligated to have clever things to say for each of my entries showcasing my photography work. Oh, how obligations make things no fun.

I don't like the fact that I don't enjoy blogging anymore. I'm always excited to share more photos, but I most certainly do not get excited thinking I will be sitting here for at least an hour staring at a blank screen. I wish I could do a better job story-telling through words, but I am no writer… I'm a photographer. So until I improve my writing skills, I guess I will just have to tell them more with photos.

Another tidbit of my life. I forgot to take wall-e with me to Orlando, but I'm glad he came out to the airport to welcome me home.

Tara and Jamie E-session (Teaser).

2009-10-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

After two rain-checks on engagement sessions (literally got rained in on both times), last Friday happened to be a perfect day for these two. What do they say... about third time's the charm? I know it probably would have been more appropriate to post one of the outdoor photos after saying all that, but this one from the tail-end of the session is my favorite of the day. They look so good together. :)

Pauline Wedding Slideshow - Huntington Beach, CA

2009-10-18T18:18:00.001-07:00

Here's Angeline and Paul's wedding slideshow. Click here if the below image link doesn't work. :)

Just so happens, it's posted the same day as Angeline's bday... so happy birthday Angeline! :)

What happens after Germany?

2009-10-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

One year ago around this same time, I decided to go to a discipleship training school in a very small town in Germany to get a taste of what missions was about. I had never even been on a short-term mission trip abroad before, but I knew it was something I wanted to experience. In my mind, I was "open" to the idea of doing missions full-time, but I was pretty much convinced I would just go there and get a taste of what it was like and get confirmation that it simply wasn't my calling. Little did I know, I was in for a crazy ride where it would flip my world upside down.

It's really hard to describe everything that happened within the span of the six months I spent out of the country. It was nice meeting new people, learning to love beyond cultures, and getting a different perspective of life. People on the other side of the world think and live completely different from Americans. But more importantly, I got a taste of who God was and experienced Him in ways unimaginable to me. It shook me to the core and I knew that once I got back, I didn't want to go back to the same comfortable lifestyle I had always lived.

I wish it was so easy as making one simple decision, and it would be smooth sailing from then on, but I guess like most things that you value, you really have to work hard for it. The school may have given me the tools for change in my life, but honestly, the change happens when you wake up every morning and DAILY make a conscious effort not to slip into that comfortable lifestyle. And it sure hasn't been an easy task.

This past week, four of us from the DTS had a reunion in Orlando. It was really refreshing, and suddenly I don't feel so alone in this confusing mess YWAM has left me in. ha These girls first taught me what love and community was about. Of course living together sometimes made things messy and ugly, but through the ugliness and messiness, we were actually able to grow in love for one another. How crazy is that? :)

The week was packed with lots of catching up as well as interesting, new experiences. We went to the shark attack capital of the world, New Smyrna Beach, and only had the guts to go knee deep in the water. We got the rest of our tan on from swimming in the pool almost every day. There was also lots of endless walking around. We did the tourist thing and decided to do four disney parks in one day and wet n' wild water park another day. That was insane. I'm not sure I would recommend that to just anyone. I certainly am disneyed out from putting myself through 17.5 hours of it in one day. We ate a mountain of ice cream and saw whip it, which really made me want to bring out the skates! And, I'm sure I can list of twenty other things we did, but really I enjoyed just being able to be in good company. (For me, it's not so much what you do, but who you do it with).

I am incredibly blessed to have such amazing people in my life. :) Want to thank Nancy, Michelle, and Sarah Kate for a great time this past week. Wished the rest of the gang could be there. We miss you dearly. There's always next year, though. ;) Where shall the next reunion be? HAWAII??

Just a few photos from the week. Let me know if you want some wallpapers.

And the mountain of ice cream mentioned earlier is the kitchen sink at Beaches and Cream. Eight scoops of ice cream and every topping imaginable topped with an entire can of whipped cream. It was like a surprise in every bite. Wanna see the video on how they make it? I don't think I want to eat ice cream again for a while.

Little sad that it melted before we could finish it. We'll have to train for next time. Harder, better, faster, stronger.

Here's a video link of us riding a kiddie roller coaster. I can't stop laughing watching this because of how much we were screaming.

Next up: Angeline and Paul's wedding slideshow.

CRAZINESS!!!!

2009-10-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

CRAZINESS, I tell you!!

Sorry, I've been a little MIA. I've been a bad, bad blogger. I've been meaning to update at least twice a week!

I was in St. George Island over the weekend. It was beautiful weather where we got to lay out and get our tan on and swim a little. I'm not going to go into other parts of the weekend. I'll have to use pictures to tell the story later. ;) LOL.

But I will share a pic of a new friend I took along with me to St. George. Wall-e found a shell. :) I think he's a cutie.

On the way back, one of our cars ran out of gas. Not a good idea to forget to fill up the tank when you're going through hours of backroads in the middle of nowhere where gas stations all close super early. Needless to say, we were set back a few hours and got back at 4AM Monday. Monday was filled with some napping, editing, a client meeting, and packing again to go back to Orlando, FL the next day.

The reunion with the dts girls is happening! This year in Orlando. It was weird getting used to seeing each other after six months apart. We had all roomed with each other in Germany for three months dormitory style, sharing bathrooms and listening to each other's sleep noises. Feels like old times. First few days have been just catching up, but we have a pretty packed week ahead of us. We're going to be tourists! Tomorrow we go to the number one shark attack capital of the world. Gonna catch us some sharks. :)

Sidenote: a friend let me know my photos were on weddingbee's gallery of the day! :) http://www.weddingbee.com/2009/10/05/gallery-of-the-day-63

Introducing... dun dun DUNNN...!

2009-09-30T05:51:00.000-07:00

The company has been going through quite a few changes this past month. I'm very excited about what's to come.

Esther Lee Photography, LLC has undergone a name change and is now Esther Julee Photography, LLC. Finally received the paperwork this week! If you've noticed, the logo has changed, too. The reason for this is that I wanted to keep the consistency between the website name, blog names, etc. If only I knew how to change the name on the facebook fan page...

Also, I wanted to introduce to you my new studio manager and assistant photographer, Jacob, who will be handling a lot of the business aspects of the company. I've realized over the years of running my business, I'm not quite business savvy enough to go at it on my own. I want to be able to focus more on the photography and creative side, while I let him focus more on the business side.

And of course a new camera totally deserves it's own post! He still needs a name. Something better and more original than Mark the Second. But welcome to the family!

Took him out bowling the first night after it arrived. Check out how he photographs at 3200 ISO. It's beautiful, I tell you. I have yet to use it at 6400!!

Melinda and Ben E-session (Teasers).

2009-09-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is Melinda and Ben. They met at UGA right before Ben graduated, so it was only appropriate to do the engagement session in Athens

This was a very special tree for them, because it was under this tree that Ben asked her to be his girlfriend.

Melinda was also a cheerleader at UGA. She was telling us how after every game that Georgia won, they would have to run up to the bell and ring it.

On the set of Honey, I shrunk the kids.

The stadium was where Ben carried her blindfolded to propose to her.

Taking a break from studying. ;)

Vanessa and Mark E-session Slideshow.

2009-09-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to present to you this slideshow of my very first vintage golf themed engagement session! It was definitely one of my most memorable engagement sessions. I learned a thing or two about golf, listened to Mark's guitar playing, and I got to go off-roading on a golf-cart. Couldn't possibly call it work, because it was too much fun! The song set to the slideshow is Dream a Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong. Vanessa's pick and very fitting. Hope you enjoy!

Happy 59th Birthday, Dad!

2009-09-25T01:02:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give a special shout-out to a special dad turning 59 today!

All the years of such sacrificial love... The way you live your life everyday inspires me to love God and love others. Could not have asked for a better dad. :)

These photos were taken last week from celebrating his birthday. Yes, he's a very happy dad as you can see from photo one. It wasn't that anyone was saying anything funny, but being the father of a photographer, he can pretty much make any expression on cue. I love it... And love you, dad! :)

Cake and card were courtesy of another special person.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully, we won't get rained in all weekend long. I have two engagement shoots scheduled for this weekend, and I'm really hoping the weather will be kind so I won't have to reschedule. Looks like the votes are in, and number 1 wins for the Great Gatsby photo. Stay tuned for Vanessa and Mark's engagement slideshow Monday.

Befores and Afters.

2009-09-24T04:51:00.001-07:00

I received a client inquiry earlier this week asking what the difference is between source files and artistically retouched images. After responding to her email, I wanted to share a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes when I'm not shooting. I would say 98% of the images that are posted on my website or blog have all been retouched to some extent.

I never consider source files straight out of the camera finished work. After the shoot, I spend in-studio time on each individual image to tweak and enhance the colors and character in them. When I'm in one of my pickier moods, sometimes it can even take up to a few hours on one photo to get the exact result I had envisioned. Isn't that insane?! Good Lawd, I need some helpers.

Some photographers are beginning to go in the route of outsourcing the post-processing part of their job. Maybe one day that will be an option for me, because I absolutely love shooting way more than editing. Right now I like having a lot more control over the entire process, beginning with shooting all the way to the end product.

Take a look!

Above is a set of images in various lighting situations (1. indoor, 2. sunset, 3. outdoor on cloudy day, 4. indoor reception lighting). :) The photos on the left are still technically sound, but even though it's necessary to understand lighting to optimize each photo in-camera, post-production/digital retouching is necessary to give the photos the estherjulee signature look and feel. ;)

We may start considering offering "shoot and burn" packages that consists of just photo coverage throughout the day with DVD of set number of source file images for folks who are not looking for artistic photos but just want the day documented. It may be a good alternative for brides on a budget, but will it bring the overall quality of our photography go down? Something to think about.

Are the prices of some wedding photographers too good to be true? Here's an interesting article that talks about shoot and burn weddings. Thoughts?

Which one is more "Great Gatsby"?

2009-09-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

I am double posting today! I'll make this first one short.

I need an opinion for a very vintage-themed slideshow. Which font do you think gives more of a Great Gatsby feel to the image? I was actually looking at the book I owned, but I'm not a fan of the cover. I can't decide. The first one makes it look more like a book cover, and the second one I just like for no particular reason!

One.

Two.

My gmail inbox is clean!

2009-09-17T03:13:00.000-07:00

This may quite possibly be the cleanest I have ever seen my inbox, and it only took 8 hours..... started out with 400 something and then I had to go back and reply to everyone that had ever messaged me on facebook/xanga/friendster/myspace/younameit just so i could delete the email. Feels good to be less cluttered. Let's hope it stays that way!

Just a brief update on my life:
* My dad's celebrating his 59th birthday tomorrow.
* My all-time high score in bowling is 139 as of 09.14.09!
* Listening to Cry in my heart (Starfield) has been my stress therapy during long hours of editing.
* I've been slowly but surely uploading photos onto flickr and facebook.
* I can finally strum my DOWN up down UP down UP DOWN UP. Soon I will be a youtube sensation. haha just kidding. I'm not even gonna go there.

I had a conversation with a colleague that had shot my very first wedding with me, which made me realize how far I've come since then. I want to thank all my wonderful friends and family who have continually supported me over the years and have been part of this incredible journey. XOXO.

A weekend getaway to... the boonies?!

2009-09-16T03:49:00.000-07:00

It was just four of us having a weekend getaway to the boonies of Georgia. Who knew this place existed in Dahlonega?! It was a little piece of heaven for me, since I missed Cali so much.

Here's Sadee who joined us for brunch at the winery.

Now a glimpse of our cabin that we stayed at. Wow. It looks like a fancy dinner. It's the wine that really makes the photo. haha We bought marinated beef and chicken from H-mart. They were life savers and oh-so-yummy.

And notice something in the back? It's a hot tub. Yes, a hot tub... smack dab in the middle of the living room!!! This meant we ditched the afternoon hike and spent nearly 6 hours straight in the tub, chatting, playing games, and watching tv. Can life get any better? hahah

I'm sad that I didn't get to travel much this month. I usually like to take at least one week and go somewhere outside of the A. Even though it was only maybe half an hour from home and practically our backyard, it was definitely a nice getaway. If you're itching to travel like me, but can't take extended vacations because you work, I would recommend a day trip out to Dahlonega. :)

The Kwons Lifestyle Session.

2009-09-11T05:16:00.000-07:00

Meet the Kwons! Last Friday, I had the great pleasure of shooting a lifestyle session with the Kwons to mark little Teddy's 100th day (Baek-il). In Korean culture, it's quite a big deal to celebrate the 100th day (even 100th day in dating). Here are just a few photos from the session.

So adorable! He's the same size as his dolls.. or even smaller! ;)

Already a brave's fan at such a young age.

New sheriff in town. We went through several wardrobe changes, but he was a good sport about it.

Time for a little stroll in the park.

Gloria and Frank Wedding (Teasers).

2009-09-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

Just a few teasers from this past Saturday's wedding with Gloria and Frank. One of my faves from the day.

Lookin' hot, ladies!

Remember Eunice and Wes? Wes was one of the groomsmen for this wedding. Seems like I'm getting a lot of the UF people! ;) Look! They open up like a flower.

Zoolander!

We got good use out of the sign. :)

Right outside of Millenium Gate.

Promotional Sale Fall 2009.

2009-09-09T05:41:00.001-07:00

It's 09.09.09!!! Repeating that reminds me of my wonderful German friends. Oh Nein.

Now that the busiest part of wedding season is over, I'm looking forward to doing more portraiture work, traveling, and spending time working on personal projects. :) The 50 states project inspired me to want to take on a similar project of my own that would involve both traveling and more personal photography. What they did was bring together 50 photographers across the US to take on a year long project where they capture photos that represent the state in six categories: people, habitat, landscape, industry, entertainment, and the last has yet to be announced. Sweden is also doing a similar project. Pretty sweet idea!

I suppose if I was take on such a project and it wouldn't be a collective effort, it would require me to go to all the States... even the boring ones! Although, photography-wise, I'm sure there are plenty of treasures to find anywhere I go. This may be a life-long project, unless anyone is willing to take a year or two off work and road-trip with me. ;) Should I add this to the 100 things to do before I die list? Yay/nay?!

Also, wanted to make this very important announcement:

Excited to hear from you! :)

Anik Designs - St. Regis Hotel.

2009-09-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! I spent the majority of the time doing what I do best... eating! Ribs, BBQ, hotdogs, salmon, shrimp, kabobs, chicken wings... you name it, I ate it. :) I had the chance to enjoy the beautiful weather and spend time with friends and family that were in town! Hopefully, in the next month or so I can get the chance to look at some of these personal photos. For now, I am piled high in work!

Meanwhile, I wanted to share some photos I took at the St. Regis hotel. I love shooting details, and sometimes I even joke around about being a wedding details only photographer. A couple weekends ago, however, I had the perfect opportunity to do just that for Anik Designs. The arrangements and the venue were absolutely incredible!

Next up... Frank and Gloria's wedding teasers. :)

Melissa Bridal Session Slideshow.

2009-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going to share a slideshow of Melissa's bridal session to start off the week. I tested the slideshow out with a few songs, but 'Sway' by Pussycat dolls fit so perfectly. The runner up was 'Labels or Love', which is also a fun song, but maybe not as appropriate for the newlywed. hehe Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful start to your week! ;)

If the above image link does not work, click here.

Again, the venue was the Georgian Terrace Hotel, and the flowers were done by Anik Designs.

Inspired to live with gratitude.

2009-08-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

My computer has been way to slow lately. Hopefully, the new Mac Snow Leopard (I <3 Macs) will make some difference, but meanwhile I've been trying to clean out some space on my hard-drive. As I was transferring photos onto my external, I found a batch I wanted to share. It was only a month ago, but why does it seem longer than that? Although, it doesn't happen every time, it's nice to get a chance to check out the venue to see what you're working with. This was at Huntington Beach, California. I don't even have to tell you the location, you can already tell by the looks of the place, it has a very socal feel to it with such gorgeous weather. I miss it.

A few gems I found while exploring the area. This photo makes me want to sunbathe.

When I saw this sign, I thought to myself, ' we are SO doing group shots here!' ;) Always tempted to break the rules, but we decided to play by them.

On a more personal note, I was being sneaky and eavesdropped on a phone conversation my mom had with one of her friends, and I was reminded of something very important. She mentioned how her commute is an hour and sometimes over an hour one way. She leaves at 5 in the morning to avoid traffic, and it's still an insane commute, but she continued on about how thankful she was even to have a job. That inspires me... To live life with more gratitude and not to lose sight of all that's amazing in my life already. :)

Gloria and Frank E-session Slideshow

2009-08-28T05:36:00.001-07:00

Frank and Gloria met through teaching Sunday school. Soon after, they began dating and were engaged! After hearing about their clever proposal story, I could not help but share it with one of my guy friends. My friend responded, "Yeah, this guy makes the rest of us guys look really bad." haha I think the more I hear these stories, the more I realize how much thought and effort is needed to orchestrate such a perfect proposal. It's hard to be original. Since I'm not as great of a writer/story teller as Frank is, I'll just give a shortened version his story below the slideshow. (Hope you don't mind me sharing. It's really *that brilliant. But, of course, God is *that brilliant.)

If you can't view this image link, click here.

*******

Frank's proposal story:

I tried thinking for many months, even soliciting the help of my good bros and sisses, but just couldn't come up with something I was excited to do. Then a few weeks before the actual proposal (on 2/23/09), I was joking around with Gloria. I told her how wonderful she was and how I had no clue how we ever came to be (or in her words, how I tricked her into dating me). In that same breath, she made a comment to the effect of 'You're going to have to trick me into marrying you by luring me to the altar with chocolates and ice cream'. (Gloria eats cookies, chocolates, and ice cream as often as I drink OJ. Okay, maybe not THAT much but she enjoys her sweets.) We both laughed and I warned her that it just may happen. Of course, she didn't think anything of this conversation but I knew right then and there that's how God wanted me to do it. (Quite ironic as I felt God was teaching me a lesson about futility in depending on self even in this piece of my life.)

If I recall, the moment she stepped inside the front door she saw a dimly lit hallway with strange footprint cutouts (made of construction paper) on the ground, beckoning her to walk ahead. On each footprint was an M&M cookie, some Lindt dark chocolate truffles, Ferrero Rocher chocolates (regular), and Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares (both Milk Chocolate with Caramel Filling and Dark Chocolate with Mint Filling). Strings of white christmas lights lined the sides of the hallway off in the distance. As she walked forward, she would see a poster displayed on an easel on her left, saying:

Want to travel to every continent on earth?

------------>

(Free ice cream!!)

(I was trying to include things we had discussed that she wanted us to do together before we died. A couple's "bucket list" if you will.)

As she continued ahead, still following the footsteps and chocolates on the ground, another sign became visible:

Want to learn how to play 'old people' sports?

------------>

(Also, free ice cream!)

As she came near the entrance to the sanctuary, she could see the christmas lights turning to direct her view to the front of the sanctuary. As she turned, she could see the footsteps (and still more chocolates and M&M cookies) leading her to the front of the sanctuary to the altar.

At the front of the sanctuary on the table usually used for communion, I placed one last sign that read,

"Want to start a family? (Try the ice cream)."

(Photo courtesy of Joshua Fu.)

Beside the sign were the same chocolates and cookies, but also three ice cream cartons - one of which being her favorite, Haagen-Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle, which I introduced to her to early on in our dating relationship. By this point, she was out of sorts, both because she knew what was going to happen, but also because it all felt so surreal. She moved slowly towards the raspberry truffle carton, carefully opened it, and found inside it a ring box. She took it out, placed it in her hand, and studied it for what seemed like an eternity to me (I was standing in a nearby room in the dark, peering out at her throughout the process). Eventually, she opened it and upon finding no ring inside the box, I walked out in a suit - having changed from my casual clothes - with the ring in hand, told her how much she meant to me, knelt on one knee, and asked her to marry me.

*******

Reading the story over to write my blog just put a smile on my face. So very cool to see how God is always faithful. :) I'm excited to be shooting their wedding, which is in EIGHT days! Hope ya'll are excited!!

Jean and Mike Slideshow.

2009-08-26T05:02:00.000-07:00

Below is Jean and Mike's slideshow to finish off the set. You can view all of Jean and Mike related blog posts here. I loved how they added a bit of their own twist into every aspect of their wedding, from all the smaller details in having a picnic-style wedding to their first dance. The first dance was mos def one of my favorite parts of the day. :)

I have a couple girlfriends of mine in the wedding planning process, and it's has been a hot topic of conversation over the past month. You can really take it anywhere.... granted that your man will be willing to take dance lessons. ;) I have to admit that I've done plenty of research of my own. hehe I can't help it. I love dancing!

After this surprise first dance video blew up on youtube, I can see that a lot of couples have chosen to go the unconventional route. There are literally tons floating around on youtube. You can get lost on there, and I wouldn't recommend it. lol I still must say that Jean and Mike did a very good job executing their first dance and keeping it very fresh. What was even more impressive was the fact that they involved their parents. Too cute! Here's a link to the youtube clip: Fresh Prince of Bellaire First dance - Jump on it. This one is definitely worth a watch. ;)

Enjoy!

If the above image link doesn't work, click here.

Flowers - Anik Designs

2009-08-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

I had the great pleasure of meeting Anik of Anik Designs right before Melissa's bridal session. While we chatted, we discovered that we both came from very similar backgrounds. She has a background in biology and is now does wedding planning and flower arrangements, while I had a background in Chemistry and am now doing wedding photography. I suppose you have to really know the flowers to arrange them so beautifully! ;) As for me? Maybe Chemistry gives me good people chemistry. lol I sure am not mixing chemicals to develop my photos. That's for sure.

I just wanted to show off a few photos of how beautiful the bouquet and centerpieces turned out. Love all the bright, vibrant colors.

Check out her website for more of her work. :)

Vanessa and Mark E-session (Teasers).

2009-08-19T08:25:00.001-07:00

I had too much fun over the weekend learning a thing or two about golf... riding around in golf carts doing some off roading... this all through shooting an e-session. The first photo is me practicing a pose. ;) Sometimes you gotta learn how to model to direct a good photoshoot.

Now for the real deal. Here are a few teasers from Vanessa and Mark's e-session this past Sunday. :) Even before the shoot, I was very excited that they had picked a vintage golf theme. It was going to be too cute!

This is what serenading a lady looks like. ;)

Hopefully, those will do for now. :)

Happy Hump Day!

Hair and Makeup - Spencer Malay

2009-08-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

Like I said in the previous post, I want to highlight a couple of the vendors that also contributed to Melissa's wedding day. The ladies at Spencer Malay did a fabulous job on the hair and makeup and were so fun to work with! I must admit that lately I've gotten into a bit of a make-up craze, watching hours of tutorials on youtube and spending a good amount of money on all these brushes, etc. lol This is all thanks to one of my gfs who really should go into cosmetology.

It's definitely a skill to get the make-up to look just right. Heather of Spencer Malay did a flawless job.

The finishing touches. What a beautiful color.

A little time to relax with nice reading selection. I guess every salon has to have a variety of magazines for the variety of tastes. ;)

I've always wanted to do a photo like this. Here Melissa is with her maid of honor, Sophia. :) This is my personal fave of all the getting ready shots!

Melissa and Paul Wedding (Teasers).

2009-08-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

Melissa and Paul were truly a joy to work with. Even from the get go, when we first met up over some yummy Suno dessert, we really hit it off. I enjoyed hearing about their very unique engagement story that all started off with running a 10k. It has definitely motivated me to run more often... and at least nail a 5k. haha They run the Peachtree road race every year, so maybe next year I can join them! :)

Melissa happens to be a designer. I will have to post photos of the guestbook she designed. It came out beautifully!! She will also be designing her own album, which I am very excited to see how it comes together. Once things slow down a little, I'm also hoping on getting some business cards designed from her as well. ;) You can check out her work here for any of your design needs.

Now for a few teasers from Melissa and Paul's wedding.

A little fun with the girls.

Paul and his groomsmen. His best man was his father and other groomsmen were his brothers. :) It's so sweet to see such a close-knit family.

Their only request. Paul's dad and brothers had taken a photo like at their weddings... looking at the time anxiously waiting, so of course we had to continue passing on the tradition.

This pretty little lady was feeling under the weather, but she was a good sport and still made it through the wedding. :) So adorable.

Beautiful church: Immaculate Heart of Mary

They had a big surprise for all the guests at the wedding... a bagpiper! :)

How cute! They even had a vintage car (Charisma Coach) pull up to take them away to the reception.

Found a quiet spot in the garden of Villa Christina right before the reception to get a few quick shots.

I had such a great time shooting the wedding. The family, bridal party, guests, AND vendors were all such a pleasure to work with! Congratulations Paul and Melissa. Enjoy Hawaii! :)

This week, I think I may do something a little different and highlight a few of the vendors with a set of photos.

Melissa Bridal Session - Georgian Terrace Hotel, Atlanta.

2009-08-10T05:17:00.000-07:00

I was having a hard time waiting to post these up! :) I did a bridal shoot with Melissa at the Georgian Terrace Hotel a few weeks back, but I wanted to wait until after the wedding to actually post up the photos. They requested to use some of the photos from this session on their website, so you might be seeing it on there in the near future.

Beautiful bride + beautiful venue is a killer combo. Here are just a few teasers.

Check out the view from the rooftop! I never considered the Atlanta skyline to be that nice, but it looks gorgeous from here!

Love long veils. As you can see from this set I posted... we had a lot of fun with it! :)

More to come this week!

30 Before 30.. the (slow) progress.

2009-08-04T14:26:00.001-07:00

Goals are always good to have. What's up with the slow progress on my 30 before 30?! With all this traveling, I've begun to lose my grasp on good time management. In efforts to clean up and rid my life of the things that waste my time and sort out my life in ways that make it more productive for personal growth, I need to remind myself of my short-term and long-term goals. Some are going to be modified once in a while. Still working on my 50 before 50 and 100 before I die.

The only goal I made some solid progress on was probably bowling. lol Consistently going on Mondays has been pretty helpful. This is my all-time high. Not sure if I even care to bump it up higher. I'm content with just getting over 100 once in a while. haha

Oooh. And finally today I'm supposed to sign up at a gym. It's too hot to be running outdoors. Maybe we can start taking spin classes?! Also, I need to find a dance partner!! Maybe even a good group of people who want to do all these dance classes. ;) Let me know!

30 before 30

1. ~~Learn to do an oil change and change out a tire.~~
2. ~~Second shoot a wedding for someone I admire.~~
3. ~~Buy a guy flowers (edible creations).~~
4. ~~Do a photog mission trip.~~
5. ~~Go to Italy and eat real Italian food.~~
6. ~~Break 100 in bowling!~~
7. Run a (half) marathon (after a 5k then 10k lol).
8. Finish the last piano piece I was playing before I quit six-seven years ago.
9. Take a cooking course: http://www.foodnetworkclasses.com
10. Cook a 5 course meal for someone (special).
11. Commit to financially supporting a good cause.
12. Learn to play 5 songs on guitar (at 2.5/5).
13. Learn to throw a football.
14. Be decent enough to hit some balls back and forth in tennis.
15. Take salsa classes (~~beginner~~, intermediate).
16. Take swing classes.
17. Take a beginner improv comedy class.
18. Perform at an open mic.
19. Go to Death Valley.
20. Go to Antelope Canyon.
21. Kill a spider (a very small one... maybe more like on a microscopic scale).
22. Get my wedding photography published somewhere awesome.
23. Plant a tree.
24. Take tango classes.
25. Be the best friend, girlfriend, (wife) ever! Better than going on a husband search. :P
26. Skydive.
27. Learn conversational Spanish.
28. Do a photoshoot for a rising actress/singer/group.
29. Go to New Zealand, Australia.
30. Go to Southern Africa (S Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe).

Destin Trip 09 - The importance of girlfriends.

2009-07-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

Holy Moly~~~ I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in a while! There's been so much I've wanted to share, but for some reason it is a discipline to regularly update. For non-work related updates like trips, I'll be updating backwards. From now on, I hope to be a more avid blogger! Here's some photos from my most recent trip to Destin.

Live passionately. Love completely. Learn humbly. Leave a legacy. If you had one month to live, what would you change about your life? I don't want to live with any regrets.

These girls are two of my girlfriends I've known for almost 8 years???? We've definitely been through our share of ups and downs with each other. We've all had many moments that we've hurt each other and sometimes we've carried those scars with us. Making mistakes is just all a part of being human and being in relationship with one another. That is why it's so important that we are transparent and we communicate with each other and admit our mistakes, clear up any misunderstandings, and begin to really love one another. I guess that's what you call growing. It's nice to have people that understand who you are, but I'm beginning to think what's even more important than that is the patience and persistence in walking alongside you as they continue to try to understand and love you. Real love is sticking by your side.

I'm really thankful that during that past few weeks, we've been able to open up in ways we have never been able to before... and now we move forward. :) Love you, ladies!

Crazy. Sexy. Cool. In the wrong order.

With our powers combined...

Huge bird we saw on the Pier. Intimidating creature, actually.

Bruce loves sharks.

Harborwalk

I miss all the smells and the view from this balcony.

What am I doing in Destin?!!

2009-07-08T11:17:00.001-07:00

I've been asking myself this question a little too much throughout today, but I think I will just let it rest. I've had my share of crazy and spontaneous moments, but this sure tops it. Monday, a friend told me he was extending his stay in Destin after the holiday weekend and invited me and other friends to come down and join. Of course, out of everyone else (who worked normal jobs), I was the only one who had the flexibility to actually pack up my things and go the next night. I ended up leaving at 2 something in the morning and showing up in Destin at 9:30.

Sometimes, I surprise myself. I proved to myself I could survive a six hour drive by myself despite the fact that I absolutely hate driving. I think I like surprising myself. I know that artists are supposed to be overflowing with creativity, originality, spontaneity, and whatever other -ity you can think of. I've been hearing a lot, that it's all part of being an artist. But sometimes I do wonder when it can become excessive. There is always a delicate balance for everything. A time and place to relax, have fun, laugh and share great moments with people you love and take it all day by day as it comes, and there is also a time to be *serious* about life and map out what you want to do. Maybe for me, I'm just built differently and the planning may have to be more for the bigger picture and not so much the daily activities. haha PAs can come in handy too! Anyone want an internship?! hehe It's under control for now, but as my photography is getting much busier, I may just need one!

Here are some fun photos taken yesterday! ;)

This place is so beautiful!! I love the smell of the ocean, and the breeze, and this goes without saying, the beautiful view! The condo, the beach. I love it all. What more can you ask for? Other than a quick swim in the ocean, we pretty much ate brunch and dinner, worked, chatted, hung out, etc on this balcony overlooking the water. It was relaxing.

Besides client meetings and photo coverage the day of a wedding or a session, most of my work is editing and behind the scenes. Sometimes, these are the not so fun details. A pro, however, is that they can be taken with you wherever you go... even to the beach! ;) Here's a photo Bruce took of me working on the balcony. It's nice to have a change in scenery when you're editing.

Here's Bruce!

Can't wait for the rest of the gang to come join us tonight! ;)

Wedding Albums.

2009-07-06T05:25:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! I missed out on fireworks this year, but definitely enjoyed my time with good company! One day I'm going to take all my gear, find myself the perfect location, and try dabbling in fireworks photos. hehe You can find some good tips and creative ideas for fireworks photography here.

I know I changed album companies a while back, but I just wanted to share some photos with you. I am so happy with the way the album turned out. I think I may stick with them foreva eva... or at least for a long while! It's so much more beautiful in person, but these photos will just have to do for now. :)

This is probably my favorite spread. Nice, simple layout + I love the getting ready part of the day. ;)

In the next photo you can see that it has the tightest gutter seam!

If you want to check out this particular album design, it's here. Another sample album is here.

What I'm thankful for.

2009-07-03T02:16:00.000-07:00

Just doing some reflection. What I'm thankful for... in no particular order:

1) My supportive family.
2) True friends... the ones that love you and stick by your side no matter how ugly you can get.
3) Being able to do what I love as a career.
4) The beautiful summer skies. I'm in awe every time. Sometimes it's distracting enough to be dangerous while driving.
5) New experiences.. like getting to go kayaking for the first time! :)
6) Music. Period.
7) Yesss!! AC in this swampy weather~!
8) Those past tough times that in hindsight you can see reeeeally stretched your character.
9) Holiday weekends where we can all get together, grill-out, and relax! (BBQ Season!)
10) People that inspire me to LIVE... (more abundantly). :)

"Without gratitude you can’t live meaningfully" - Ravi Zacharias

Pauline Wedding (Details) - Huntington Beach, CA

2009-06-30T00:58:00.000-07:00

Hair and make-up was done at Andre Hair Studio (LA, CA):

I love shoes <3.

Newland Barn (Huntington Beach, CA). It was a beautiful outdoor venue.

I like the idea of having unity sand instead of the unity candle.

And a nice customized bowl for one of their honorary guests! :)

These all came in handy for an outdoor, sunny-day wedding. Sunblock and after-sun aloe.

The programs were fans...

that could also be used to shield the sun. hehe

Gerbera daisies!

Gloria and Frank E-session (Teasers)

2009-06-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

When I first discussed ideas for the engagement shoot with Frank and Gloria, they made it very clear that they didn't just want those typical lovey-dovey poses. They said they didn't need to look at photos of themselves looking at each other all googly eyed, because they do enough of that as it is. I assured them that we would do something that would suit their personalities perfectly. :)

Who knew Calvin and Hobbes could be so inspiring! :)

On such a scorching hot day, we couldn't pass up an opportunity to go indoors... plus, these stairs looked amazing!

Now, ready for some bball action?

Frank's about to get schooled! ...

...But he was a good sport about it. :)

I absolutely loved being able to incorporate Calvin and Hobbes and bball into the session. I've realized as I've been shooting more and more that I don't want my couples to fit a certain mold or style. I think photos really come to life when the subjects are in their element. Rather than picking typical locations or certain poses, I really enjoy incorporating more of who they are... whether it be with hobbies, favorite locations, or certain items that have sentimental value. That way my photos can tell better stories. :)

LA Flayva

2009-06-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Finally back from my trip! I have some serious running to do. haha I forgot what it felt like to be hungry after all the binge-eating I did in LA. I'm such a foodie. The food was just too good... and with all these fads and trendy food places, I had to try them all! hahaha I was eating like there was no tomorrow. Now, time to maybe even fast and detox!!!

Here's just a few places I would like to highlight. There's more on flickr and facebook. :) If you would like to just see the food, it's all on the bottom. YUM.

This was the last morning in LA right before my flight back to Atlanta. After I checked in my bags, there was a two hour gap, so a friend picked me up for lunch, and we ended up heading to the beach. I was worried I would miss my flight, but he kept reassuring me I would make it and to just chill out. haha I thought people in the South were super laid back... but Victor took 'laid back' to a new level. Great first experiences I will not forget. Not many people can say, "hey, I'm at the beach.. and my flight boards in half an hour!" :)

True artists will use any medium. lol Sand Art.

I love how on third street promenade, people are just dancing in the middle of the street. My kind of life.

This guy even had his own dancer with a sombrero. lol

Cuuuute! I want one!

Didn't know that there are multiple fox theaters that existed!

Look! Park benches for one person........ = chair! ;)

Porto's cheese rolls + potato balls + mariquitas + pan con lechon = way too much food for one person. lol

Ice cream cookie sandwiches at Diddy Riese. My favorite was strawberry cheesecake ice cream sandwiched between cinnamon sugar cookies.

Chosun Galbee has the best Korean bbq in LA... or so they say! Let me know if I'm wrong. It was really good, but I haven't tried any other places to compare. :)

The escolar at Hot Stuff Cafe.

Places people recommended that I didn't get a chance to try (Oh, well.. it gives me a reason to come back to LA):

*Pink's hotdogs
*The Stand
*Kogi taco trucks
*Sprinkles/Crumbs cupcakes
*Olympic Kalgooksoo
*Papa Christo
*Guppy Teahouse
*Sushi in J-town

Jean and Mike Wedding - The Details.

2009-06-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be me to leave out the Details of a wedding. Plus, these two have had so many compliments on their unique style... very unconventional, yet pulled off very well. As small as the details may seem, a lot of thought and care is put into them. Since I love shooting them, I'm going to do a back-to-back post on details. Hopefully, you brides-to-be can get some great ideas for your own weddings.

Love these birdcage style veils. Oooh and this one with the feather! Absolutely loved it! You can get these from Twigs and Honey. They have a lot of other cute hairpieces as well.

... which means I couldn't stop taking photos of it.

I really like incorporating pianos into my details shots as you can tell. :)

The hair up-do was amazing! Beautifully done. I liked the colors of the robes in the salon as well.

Getting made-up. Huge windows with the long hanging curtains = great light.

Mike needed a little touching up as well. ;)

The dress was beautiful! Guess who it was made by?

The bling. Maybe I will post a better pic of the bling itself. She just looked so gorgeous in this one.

Jean went to UGA. Showing it loud and proud.

The colors palette: green, yellow, fresh.

Jean opted, instead of traditional bridesmaid dresses, for these Ralph Lauren dresses that are more versatile and can be worn again after the wedding. :) This was just supposed to be a shoe shot. A better pic of the dresses is on this post here.

Cute ideas. Instead of having an ordinary guest book, they had their guests write on little cards and insert them into these mini envelopes. The guest sign-in table matched the picnic-style wedding they were going for.

Wedding cupcakes are a good dessert alternative to cakes. There were some cute cupcake ideas I saw on theknot. This one was very full of their personality. The glasses were a cute touch!

These were handed out at the end as part of their picnic-style wedding. :) Ice pops or lightsabers? Nice way to end the day.

Pauline's details are up next. :) I'm off to norcal today! I'll be back in LA area from the 19-23.

Pauline Wedding - Huntington Beach, CA.

2009-06-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Congrats Pauline! I had the pleasure to shoot Angeline and Paul's wedding this past Saturday in beautiful California. Both of them currently live in Seoul, Korea, and flew in a week before the wedding to pull everything together... and thankfully everything came together beautifully! Here's the happy couple.

And just a few more teasers throughout the day. I loved the beach shots!

Lovin' the flipflops. ;)

I wasn't planning on having any group shots in this post, but I just couldn't resist this one. It was just too cute! The bride, bridesmaids, and bridesman. ;) (Sorry, Andrew!)

Check back during the week. I'm going to post a couple entries on wedding details this week, then more images from Pauline's wedding next week.

New Business Cards.

2009-06-02T23:21:00.000-07:00

I've been looking through cardobserver to find inspiration for new business cards. So many fun and original ones out there. I'm still brainstorming through ideas to see what I really want to get designed... something very ME. In the meantime, I decided I still needed newer business cards with my correct phone number and website info. lol So these are the temporary ones (minicards) I got from moo.com. Cute, huh?

Now, I'm finally done packing for Cali. Here's the schedule: Jun 3-8 LA, 9-11 San Jose/Yosemite, 12-14 SF, 15-17 Big Sur, 18-19 SF, LA 20-23. Who's down for meeting up?! Let me know! :)

New hair, Geetar lessons, Cloud watching.

2009-05-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

New hair, Geetar lessons, Cloud watching. All part of a typical Thursday... that is on top of the crazy amounts of editing. :)

This is Mr. Park from Scissorhands. I decided to let him cut my hair for the first time. He really enjoys his work.

While waiting at Scissorhands.

Love the decor with these mannequins.

The result? Not too different from the older look, but blunt cut.. no layers.

Knocking out both photography lessons and guitar lessons at the park.

I thought this sign was too funny, I really could not resist myself taking this photo! hehe But just to clarify, Walter plays beautiful music. There's Walter giving Alice a lesson. He is an amazing teacher, and you can get lessons for $40/hr! I would seriously recommend him. I'm already on my third song (Put your records on - Corinne Bailey Rae). ^^

Lastly, cloud watching. I could do this forever. Those were some interesting shapes.

Jean and Mike Wedding.

2009-05-28T08:34:00.001-07:00

An unconventional wedding for the unconventional bride and groom. It was very cute, fun, casual, original, and very Jean and Mike, which is what counts the most!

Mike, waiting for the first meeting with his bride.

Check out that hurrr.

The bridesmaids. They look gangsta.

I just loved all the shoes, Jean's especially. ;)

Groomsmen.

What a beautiful moment. :) As soon as Mike was tearing up, I was snapping away. It's typical for the bride to cry, but I start getting really emotional when the groom cries.

Talk about lucky... with a rainbow in the sky?! Indeed, it's going to be a beautiful marriage.

Is this what a happiness looks like?

Air force ones. Exiting with style.

Noticed the reflection last minute while I was posing them. Glad I didn't miss it!

A big thank you to Jiyoung and Jinny for coordinating the day and making everything run so smoothly. And thank you, Jean and Mike, for being an amazing couple to work with! Even though it looked as if it was going to rain on their outdoor wedding, they were super laid back saying, "If it rains, it rains. What can you do? We're still getting married!' :) Of course, instead, they were rewarded with the most perfect weather - overcast with the sun peeking out and a rainbow promise in the sky. I am so excited about putting together the slideshow, because I absolutely loved all the images from their day.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Sohn!

Jean and Mike Paebaek.

2009-05-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

This was my first time shooting a Paebaek, a Korean ceremony, where the couple will bow to the parents and honorees present and pour tea. It's very similar to the Chinese tea ceremony, but they have their own variation. It's so interesting how in Korean tradition, the marriage between a man and a woman represents the joining of two families, rather than the joining of two individuals. I've attended several of these, but didn't learn what everything symbolized until last Saturday. It's good to learn new things!

Mike is all ready and waiting on his beautiful bride. For preparation for weddings, the men usually only take five to ten minutes to put themselves together whereas the ladies have to have an entire morning. I guess that's pretty typical even day-to-day. lol

And the bowing begins.

After they bow and pour tea, the honorees impart some wisdom or advice to the couple.

This is the part where the honorees throw dates for girls and chestnuts for boys which the bride catches in her skirt. It is supposed to symbolizes how many kids they'll have and what gender. I wonder why there are always more chestnuts than dates. A daunting number. If these numbers are correct, it looks like they can expect over 20 kids. hehe

Mike needed to good stretch before having her on piggy back. Anyone know what carrying her around the room means?

Good choice, Mike, with the anti-glare feature on the glasses. You can't even tell there's anything in the frames! :)

Paebaek is serious business. No smiling.

A little more old school look. I really like it. Reminds me of my grandparents photos.

Busy week, but I need to do a lot of work before I head out to LA next Wednesday. I'm going to try my best to blog every weekday before LA. Jean and Mike's wedding ceremony pics are scheduled to be up tomorrow. :)

Krystal and Michael E-session.

2009-05-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Shot an engagement session with Krystal and Michael this past Saturday. They met at a NAAAP networking event, which I checked out for the first time the Thursday before their session. ;)

It was probably the earliest I have ever shot an e-session. I woke up at 6:30 to drive down to Centennial Park by 8 with maybe less than an hour of sleep. I really needed my coffee that morning. Again, I am so not a coffee person, but sometimes you need an extra kick to get the creative juices flowing. Between the rain holding off until after the session and the early time to avoid the crowds, we managed to have a great shoot! I love when you can walk away completely satisfied with the day. :)

Looking good! I think garages are always so much fun to shoot in.

The yellow worked perfectly.

Love me some legs. :)

Yes, a heart shaped chair to frame the couple. :) Kinda reminds me of Europe. Just a tad.

Day trip to Portland.

2009-05-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

We took a day trip up to Portland, Maine last week to hang out, see lighthouses, and eat lobster. Portland was soooooo beautiful. There were many jaw dropping moments at the coastline. And with two beautiful ladies at my side, I really can't ask for more. Well, maybe.... if it was 20 degrees warmer, we would have stayed outside for longer than 10 minutes at a time! hahaha All three of us are true southern girls spoiled by warm weather, Hsiao and I from Atlanta and Sophia from Houston.

Maine... the way LIFE should BE. Breathtaking, isn't it?

Sometimes it's easy to overlook beautiful things that come in small packages. Maybe I like to give credit to small things, because it's easier for me to relate. ;) These cute little flowers were hidden in a huge field of grass... but it's not only in Portland that you can make these kinds of discoveries. When you're willing to stop yourself from the day-to-day agendas, and take a look around, you might discover that some pretty awesome things surround you... which brings me of the thought of the day from my new journal: Don't hurry, don't worry. You're only here for a short visit so be sure to smell the flowers along the way. Okay, back to Portland.

Thanks to yelp we found ourselves a place where the locals go for lobster.

Whole lobsters kind of remind me of giant bugs with all their creepy legs, so I settled for a lobster roll instead. lol

I don't care if that bar in the middle distracts and ruins the photo, and I refuse to photoshop it out today. I will just love you the way you are, flaws and all. :)

Trying to master the self taken photos. This was try 3948235. Or maybe it was just 3.

New profile pic taken by Sophia. Talk about awesome job!

Sister love.

More on flickr and facebook.

A Peek into Boston.

2009-05-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

I think this is the fourth time I've visited Boston, and each time I visited I've photographed different pieces of the city. I probably have several hundred photos of this city. I will always love capturing details whether it's the details of a wedding or details on a stroll through the city. I've never been much of a landscape or cityscape photographer, but I could see myself venturing into it in the future. Maybe the near future since I'll be going to Yosemite and Big Sur this June.

This is a peek into Boston from my walk on the freedom trail. lol It wasn't because it was the touristy thing to do, mind you. I've done this tour before. We really just wanted the exercise. Why not follow those red bricks and make a lot of stops at tourist traps? :)

I was sure I'd fit right in with this hat I found.

I've been in the mood to start planting my own herbs so I could have fresh ones to cook with, but I keep forgetting to buy seeds.

Interesting napkin holder.

I keep missing the Cherry Blossom festival in DC. Sophia and I were hoping to track down the last bits of cherry blossoms in Boston, but we missed our window of opportunity. Next time.

The remnants.

These remind me of balloons. :)

The view from below at MFA.

For more pics of Boston, you can view them through facebook, or I just joined flickr!

Sam Headshots.

2009-05-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Did a few headshots for Sam's work, but I couldn't resist doing some fun casual shots on the side... especially when there's such great light. :)

The perfect Mother's Day gift?

2009-05-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

I feel extremely blessed to have the mom that I do. She is the most amazing person, and has taught me so much about life and love. You think the Proverbs 31 woman is too good to be true? Well, I'm going to tell you that my mom is the epitome of that woman: hardworking, compassionate, selfless, strong, kind, etcetera etcetera etcetera. What a rich inheritance. One day I may grow to have all these same qualities. :)

Oh, the wonderful journey we travel. Mom, you truly are an inspiration. <3 I love you.

And oh, yes! I must update you on my 5k that I ran-walked yesterday. I should have worn my incredibles shirt, because I was dashing through the crowd at the beginning. Being small really comes in handy sometimes! I was filled with energy from the crowd, so I was even sprinting for some of the time keeping a pretty steady pace. It felt really good.... well, until we looped back around to the starting point, and I thought we were finished. My mind completely checked me out by then, and it was only at 4k. Tricky tricky. I guess it really is a matter of mind. I ended up walking the rest. lol It's okay, though, there is next time for this couch potato. The P'tree Road Race is the 10k in July and the Buckhead Sizzler is another 10k in September? I need other people to join in to motivate me. C'mon people, let's do this! Yeah, yeah??!

Few pics from yesterday. Thanks Fuze for the capes to help facilitate the dorkiness. :D

Thanks, Stephen, for taking such an awesome group pic of us! :)

Stephanie Scarlet Live.

2009-05-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

It was such a pleasure getting to watch the beautiful and talented Steph play. :) Look familiar? I did a photoshoot with her back in August of 08. You should check out her music @ www.stephaniescarlet.com. I believe you can find more details about getting her CDs there. :)

Jean and Mike E-session Slideshow

2009-05-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

I think this was the most fun I've had on a photoshoot so far this year. Everywhere I took Jean and Mike, it was a playground full of photo ops! Especially running rampant in target in the toy section. I love how they were completely down for anything. Even hanging upside down on monkey bars, even though it's probably been over 20 years since any of us have had monkey bar experience. :) For purposes of fitting into the song, I had to narrow down the photos, but there were so many I really liked. But without further ado, here's the slideshow.

http://www.estherjulee.com/showit/jeanandmikeesession/

30 before 30.

2009-05-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

Lately, there has been so much I've wanted to do and so little time to do it, I've decided to prioritize my list. I started a list of 100 things to do in my lifetime (sounds more positive than 100 things to do before I die lol), and stopped maybe a quarter of the way back when I started it. It's always good, though, to re-evaluate where you are and set new goals and remind yourself of old ones, so I've decided to pick it back up where I left off. The first thirty on the list I'm hoping will be reached by age 30. So here we have it.

30 before 30

1. ~~Learn to do an oil change and change out a tire.~~
2. ~~Second shoot a wedding for someone I admire.~~
3. ~~Buy a guy flowers (edible creations works).~~
4. ~~Do a photog mission trip.~~
5. ~~Go to Italy and eat real Italian food.~~
6. Break 100 in bowling!
7. Run a (half) marathon (maybe after a 5k and 10k lol).
8. Finish the last piano piece I was playing before I quit six-seven years ago.
9. Take a cooking course: http://www.foodnetworkclasses.com
10. Cook a 5 course meal for someone (special).
11. Commit to fully financially support an orphanage.
12. Learn guitar so that I can at least play 5 of my favorite songs.
13. Learn to throw a football.
14. Be decent enough to hit some balls back and forth in tennis.
15. Take salsa classes.
16. Take swing classes.
17. Take a beginner improv comedy class.
18. Perform at an open mic.
19. Go to Death Valley.
20. Go to Antelope Canyon.
21. Kill a spider (a very small one... maybe more like on a microscopic scale).
22. Get my wedding photography published somewhere awesome.
23. Plant a tree.
24. Take tango classes.
25. Be the best friend, girlfriend, (wife) ever! hehe How this will look... I have no idea.
26. Skydive.
27. Learn conversational Spanish.
28. Do a photoshoot for a rising actress/singer/group.
29. Go to New Zealand, Australia.
30. Go to Southern Africa (S Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe).

Hopefully, this will encourage or inspire some of you to start your own list of big yet realistic goals. AND... of course, it wouldn't be a photoblog without the photos.

First, I needed an opinion. There seems to be a grain-phase, and I'm not sure if I want to hop onto the bandwagon just yet. Which is better?

Less:

More:

And then all the activities! Yes these are velcro bowling shoes. How awesome is that on the scale of awesomeness. I actually miss velcro!

Tennis, too! I've been inspired to be more active lately. So for all you active people out in California, thanks for being my inspiration! ;)

Guitar lessons at the park right before our run... before I looked all sweaty and icky:

Reaching Out in the Local Community.

2009-04-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy. And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. (Thanks, Frank, for that email.)

I had the great pleasure to photograph an event for RRISA last week where they invited different organizations, churches, companies, and politicians to learn more about their work in resettling refugees here in Atlanta. Check out their website to learn more about what you can do! I was first introduced to this organization through our church in hopes to reach out to our local Atlanta community. It's so crazy how much you can do to serve right in our own backyards if you only allow yourself to be available to do it.

Working with the community, RRISA strives to improve the plight of displaced and uprooted people. RRISA answers the humanitarian call to serve those fleeing from persecution, war, famine and extreme poverty. Their mission is to help refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, and Cuban/Haitian entrants resettle in the U.S. and regain self-sufficiency. (Taken off their website)

What's so cool about these types of organizations is that you can work with them right here in the community that you live. You don't have to go overseas to help out. You can give monetary donations as well as furniture and clothes. You can also get more personal and help out with assisting the families in adjusting to the U.S. or in tutoring English. Not only will it be a blessing to them, but I can assure that it will be a huge blessing to you too.

It's all about thinking globally, acting locally. Here were a few photos from the night. The first one I shot right before the event of the church right next door.

Relationships. Friends. Friendquaintances.

2009-04-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been having all sorts of conversations about relationships (platonic ones included). I guess it's just a part of life that's very important to us. Thought I should jott down some of my thoughts. Sometimes we have this idea or dream of how we think life and the future ought to look like. Sometimes we can get very carried away by our day dreams and miss out on the here and now. So here's a very fine example of that in my own life. At one point in my life I had this idea that I would marry this really talented photographer with a huge heart who (seemingly) had a similar vision to mine (ie, loved God, loved people, and enjoyed a lot of the same things I did, etc). We would not only build a wonderful life together, but with our powers combined... take over the world (maybe just the photography world heh)! Talk about being carried away. lol Even if the relationship would have continued this far, the reality might look very different from how I envisioned it. Life is sometimes very different from the way you dream it out to be, does that mean we stop dreaming? No way, jose. Let the old ones fade out, and you build new ones. But it's always good to keep in mind to be flexible. At this point, do I feel like I've missed the very best? No. The new ones won't be like settling for less. They may look different, but I think they'll always be better. :) I heard an older, wiser woman tell me that the best is always ahead of us. Don't expect any less.

(Side note: Basically, don't live in the past or be too focused on the future. Live in the present. Some older people have been saying that only when you're younger can you afford to live with this kind of mentality and afford to have risks. When you're older you need an insurance policy for the future. Maybe I just want to live more dangerously. I sure hope it doesn't change for me, and I can live more by faith.)

That being said... why is it that we always mostly think the grass is greener on the other side? For example if you're single, it's better to be in a relationship or vice versa. The present is a wonderful place to be. So many opportunities to pursue. There's too many things I want to do all at once. Swing dancing, salsa, guitar lessons, cooking classes, tennis, running, bowling, hiking, rock climbing. Yep. This is all on top of my photography work and traveling. I think I might have to prioritize this list. My 30 before 30 list is coming soon. :)

And even more important than those activities, what about growing your current relationships with family and friends. I mean how much time do we really have to spend time with our family and girlfriends after we're married? With all the activities I want to be involved in and people I want to build relationships with, I'm coming to realize how much more precious time is. I read/heard somewhere that you can only develop strong, intimate relationships with 12 people (including family) in your life? Any more and you begin to spread yourself out thin. Makes you want to be more intentional with all your relationships. Here's an interesting article a friend posted on Contacts vs. Friends: Bridging & Bonding and Person-Centered Planning. Something to think about.

If that's really the case, can you easily identify who your 12 close friends/family members?

Just wanted to leave you with a few photos of some special people in my life over the years. :) I love all my guy friends too... but as my photog mentor once said, 'girls are nicer to look at, and they get way more hits'. haha ;) XOXO.

Al-Azhar Park - Cairo, Egypt

2009-04-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

I miss Middle Eastern culture. The people in Egypt have taught me so much about hospitality and love for family and community. I was so impressed, in fact, that I've been wanting to incorporate some of this good stuff into my own lifestyle. Wouldn't it be awesome if you can combine all the good qualities about each culture and make some sort of super culture?! I don't know how they manage to do it. Nothing ever runs on time there, which was really frustrating to get used to. Well, to be honest, I don't even think I could ever get used to it. BUT I love how their time revolves around their relationships rather than the opposite, relationships revolving around time.

I dislike having to tell people for example, I'm too busy for them Monday, but I can fit them into my 5-7 slot on Wednesday. I want to be as open and available whenever I'm needed. I do realize after a couple schedule conflicts that this doesn't quite work in a culture when everyone else is that busy and sometimes you do need to schedule a few weeks in advance to get things done. I'm still trying to work it all out. Other than work, I want to still remain open. We'll see how things work out.

I really like the 'I'm Yours' song by Jason Mraz. Especially these lyrics:
'Well open up your mind and see like me, open up your plans and damn you're free, look into your heart and you'll find love love love.'

I know my job allows me to be a lot more flexible with my time, and I am very grateful for it, but even when I had a 9-5, I knew it was still possible to have a more free and flexible schedule. Sometimes when I'm running in circles trying to get things done, I have to stop myself and ask what is really that important about what I'm doing. I've come to find that in the end, people are always more important than most of what I think I need to get done.

With that said, I wanted to update with a few photos from Egypt. One of the last days we were there, we went to Al-Azhar park. This woman kinda walked into my photo, but that's okay!

This is an area overlooking the city where you can see a mosque at almost every corner. Supposedly there are so many mosques that there is one mosque per family.

We randomly met a group of six girls at the park and ended up sitting and chatting with them. They taught us so much about their culture and identity. It's cool to learn how different they see the world in being part of an honor-shame culture. It really makes you wonder how much of how you perceive the world is from your upbringing. After chatting some, we were suddenly being fed by them and celebrated one of the girl's birthday with them. :) Seriously, southern hospitality has nothing on Egyptian hospitality. Of course, I couldn't help but ask to get a few portraits of these beautiful girls.

Angel.

2009-04-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

I was never much of a pet photography person, so I never took a gazillion photos of my dog. That's why nobody really knows I own a dog. I suppose he does deserve some space on my photography blog though. hehe Maybe I expand a little and will branch out!

No one really knows I have a dog except for the friends that have visited and he scared away. I wish he was more of a people person so I can take him out to parks, but he's very anti-social. Plus, some folks have been asking to see what my dog looks like. haha So here you go! This is my Angel and I after our short run together yesterday. :) I was trying to show my dad how to 'operate' my camera. After many trials and tons of cropping, not so bad, huh? Focus on him, not me! lol I haven't been in the mood to doll myself up lately.

These two are dug out of the archives (Isn't he cute?):

What I was excited for when getting back into the States, and I've managed to accomplish (refer back to earlier post):
1) Hanging out more with family. - I watch movies with my dad now. Can you believe that?
2) Sleeping in my own bed.
3) Having southern sweet tea.
4) Eating at all my favorite places. - Maybe not ALL, but we've hit up some good places like Fat Matt's. :)
5) Walking my dog.
6) Reorganizing my room and cleaning out my closet.
7) West Coast trip planned and flights booked.

hahaha I realize now all the easier ones are done. :P Now for the Top ten things currently in the works (what I didn't complete from the Germany list is added onto this list.. and then some):
1) Catching up with friends.
2) Editing all my work-related photos and all the backed up travel photos.
3) Catching up on the Office. - Where are the missing episodes in Season 5? There must be an order! :(
4) Planning a weekend away with friends. - This needs to happen!!
5) Teaching myself guitar... but I guess the order of it would mean I have to buy one first? hmm.
6) Finish reading Princess Bride + all 20 of my unread books on my bookshelf before I purchase more.
7) Inviting people for dinner. I learned a few things about cooking while traveling. :P
8) Finish the last piano piece I was playing before I quit six-seven years ago. I've been inspired to pick piano back up just for fun. It is a bit frustrating realizing how much I forgot, but still kinda like riding a bike... some things you never forget.
9) Planning an East Coast (road)trip up to DC-Boston-NYC
10) Learning to cook Korean food (well). Maybe Sarah can help me out! :)

I could go on forever.... since I'm naturally a very curious person who loves to learn new things, but I will stop there. Ten is good for now. I'm going to update this list every now and then to see my progress.

California Dreaming.

2009-04-15T00:01:00.001-07:00

LOL how appropriate. We just ate there for dinner.

I'm caught with the travel bug. I don't feel like sitting still! hehe So looks like I'm already on the road again, but it's going to be a mix of work and play. :) I have a wedding in LA early June, and I wanted to take some time and do some traveling on the West Coast. The weekend of the 6th will be busy due to the wedding, but here's my itinerary as of now:

June 3 Arrive in Los Angeles
June 9 Fly into SF (Actually it's SJC --> SF --> Big Sur?!)
June 19 Fly back to LA
June 23 Back home to Atlanta!

So for the ten days in SF, I'm not really planning on staying there too long. I want to be able to see everyone and then travel up the coast. I'm pretty open to going anywhere.. ie Napa Valley, etc... but I especially want to go to Big Sur! I've never been before, AND it's supposed to be super gorgeous there! If anyone would like to meet up in LA or SF during that time, let me know! And if you want to join along on the roadtrip, you should do it!!! :) Fly in the same time as I do! hehe

These are some old photos that I dug out from the archives from when I visited SF.

Chase and Charissa Baptism

2009-04-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday, I went to go photograph my cousin's twins getting a baptism. Of course, I couldn't help but photograph other parts of the day. :)

Chase loves being thrown in the air. Over and over again. lol He's an active one.

Here he is with daddy.

The baptism:

Mini photoshoot up in the baby's room. haha It went from "Chase, lean back so you don't fall over. Keep your hands down! Look at me!" to "Okay, I'll let you do your thing and if you laugh at me once in a while -- Score!" :)

Charissa is a shy one. It's so cool to watch their personalities develop at such a young age.

Okay, Auntie's gonna feed you. Good thing they taught us how to do this at the orphanage. lol

And make a mess on your face just to take a photo of you. lol

Chase loves talking on the phone. He laughs and smiles whenever he hears a voice on the other end. Who is it? Is it daddy?

Last but not least, Chase and her Auntie. :) He kept trying to pull of my glasses, but finally I managed a good photo with him.

Baby photography is different from photographing adults and kids. No matter what they are always so comfortable in front of the camera and always have natural expressions. But there are a lot of similarities as well, because you have to get these expressions out of them. Cooperating with your vision is a whole different story. haha

Sometime during the process of starting my photography business, I started to lose sight of my love for photography. I always had a fear that when you something you love into a career, you could quite possibly lose your love for it. It did happen as I started focusing more on the networking and business aspect of it. I stopped taking my camera out for anything other than photoshoots and weddings, and began to think what's wrong with this picture?

I am so glad that it's days like this, spending time with loved ones and capturing the day that make me realize how much I love what I do. Even my six month trip overseas made me rediscover my passion for photography and my absolute love for people. Photography is my medium to love and serve people. Getting paid for it is just frosting on the cake. :) This is always important to be reminded of.

Jean and Mike E-session 2.

2009-04-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Wow. I am so stoked with these photos from their session, I need to do a second post in a row. This has been unprecedented in my blog history. I stayed in Friday night working on photos, and it looks like tonight is looking very much the same. I have been toying around with different post-processing, but so far I'm really liking the new look. Btw, what happened to textures? I came back six months later, and it doesn't seem like photographers are using them as much.

Here are just a few more photos from the session. I just couldn't resist! The next time post about them, it will be their slideshow.

They wanted to incorporate their smart car into the photo, and I told them I'll see what I can do. Lucky for them AND me, I may have found myself a new favorite photo of all time!! :)

The reflection off the car. We tried to use a dirty old sock to wipe off the pollen, but it never goes away. Let's just pretend that they're reflections of stars, or even better, a texture! :)

So peaceful.

I'm finally able to unleash all this creativity inside me now that I am... what's the word? Shameless. And this is in the most positive way you can think. haha Also, it usually helps when the couple is willing to do just about anything for a good photo opportunity. :)

I think I have always had some amount of insecurity with whether the couple would be comfortable with me during the photoshoot, whether they would cooperate with my ideas, or would I even have good ideas?! There's a lot to think about. Lighting. Location. Posing. etc. etc. etc. It can be overwhelming if you're not confident in what you're doing. You always have to expect the unexpected and know how to make lemonade out of lemons.

What changed? Two things. The first is practice. I do believe with more practice, we are able to be more at ease with ourselves in our giftings and abilities, and we're able to explore new territory. Second, I feel a lot more free in the way I interact with people. I'd like to think that God has given me this gift and career for some greater purpose. I want to be able to pour my heart out into my work and into the people I work with.

And of course at the very least, I want us to just have a good time. Having fun on the photoshoot is just as important as nailing the shots. Usually they go hand in hand as well. :)

Jean and Mike E-session.

2009-04-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast was rainy, but luckily for our few hours of shooting, the rain stopped and the sun peeked out. Finally the weather cooperates with me! Then the storms of life rolled in afterward. My car battery died TWICE. Once in the parking lot, and the second time while I was driving. Good thing I was too paranoid to drive on the highway. I was stranded for three hours, and then had an emotional breakdown because I really needed to go to the bathroom, but my key was stuck in the ignition. lol Then I asked if it could get any worse. haha Never ask that question. It started raining, then hailing, then a tornado. Yes, I said tornado. I saw a tornado on the way home and huge chunks of hail hit my car. Yesterday was probably the longest and craziest day of my life. Now, I can sit here and laugh about it. Hey, it's not so bad. I had a great engagement session where the weather cooperated with me, then got a new car battery, and I survived a tornado. I think it was overall... a great day. :)

Now the e-session. I was only going to post up two or three teasers, but I could not stop myself from finishing more photos. First stop, Jean and Mike's favorite date spot. I can see why. They're creme brulee french toast was amaaazing! :)

They were telling me how they took a roadtrip to NYC to buy these shirts. That's exciting. "Hey, I want to buy a shirt. Let's drive to NYC." hehe :)

Dave and Busters. Game time!

The guy was nice enough to let us only pay for two people to get on the ride. ;)

End. Btw, I needed to add this one last pic in here. This would be hail that I found on my lawn when I got back. Crazy day.

More will be posted on facebook. ;)

Meet Tian.

2009-04-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

Meet Tian. She's made some appearances in different music videos, but I have a feeling something much bigger is around the corner! ;) For those of you who haven't seen the music video Kiss Me Thru The Phone by Soulja Boy, check it out!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhwQay4QiOw. Very cute song! Especially for you long distance couples. ;)

Here are a few teasers from the session yesterday (the two on the left are from the music vid):

There are flowery fields everywhere. It may have just been a small one, but I'm definitely glad we stumbled upon it. :) I was threatening to move to Cali, but Atlanta does have them afterall. haha

On the way back to go grab some food:

Needless to say, after rolling around on the grass all day, we deserved a big meal an Donqui's.

More pictures from her session to come soon (I may post a few more here and there on facebook before I write my next post about her).

Now, off to an e-session today. It's rainy weather, so wish me luck!

One of those mornings.

2009-04-08T17:37:00.001-07:00

What a tiring night. I stayed up all night trying to clean my room. My project to clean out my entire room and sell my stuff turned into a disaster. I can't believe I destroyed my room. But nothing a few all nighters cannot fix.

Yeah. It was just one of those mornings. I slept at 9AM and woke up at 1PM. lol I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.

So it went from this...

to this:

Quite a huge improvement. This is what is left of my clothes. I think I tossed 80% of my clothes!! Did I mention that I love scarves? :)

I like how with these kinds of projects, you always dig up interesting gems! ie my Care Bears record player that actually works!! lol

And allows for creative ways to decorate the room. I used to have bare walls. It was time to do something about them? I'm starting with the wall above my desk and filling it with postcards of places I've visited. Hoping to add to it soon. :)

I'm also selling lots of books and DVDs. I started putting them up on Amazon yesterday, and they are already selling. Craziness! I wrapped them in calendar pages to add a nice touch to them. lol Beautiful, huh? It just saves me shipping when I don't put them in boxes. :P

Camels and Pyramids!

2009-04-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

Awesome day to ride camels and see pyramids. Horrible day for skirts.

My view. These guys are a lot harder to ride than you would think.

Buddy would not get in line. He kept bumping his head into my leg and threatening to spit on me. :(

My fav pic of the day. It takes skills to ride a camel and take photos. LOL In all seriousness, though, I almost fell off several times!

Das ist Julia.

That's me!

Breath mint, anyone?

Group pictures!

Hmm not so happy ending for this fella. We saw him on the way back.

Think I may have a few more photos up on facebook. If you're interested in checking them out, feel free to add me! :) Link on the right (navigation bar).

Days like these.

2009-04-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

I went to have lunch with a dongseng (younger "brother"), because I had promised to buy him lunch for almost an entire year and never got around to it. When I began heading to midtown (which is maybe 45-50 mins away from where I live), I realized that I never put the number in my cellphone. The only place that the number was saved was in my facebook inbox. Problem.

I called several people to see if they could help me out. For some reason, they happened to ALL be busy (coincidence?). Then, I called my dad at home and tried to talk him through facebook to get the number. This was for about thirty to forty minutes with no avail. He had no idea to navigate through facebook. We were so close... yet so far! God bless him for his efforts, though. I was so stressed out and frustrated. I know I took it out on him, and we hung up knowing that the conversation was not going anywhere.

Good thing that this was not the end of the story. I came home and folded my pride and apologized for being a jerk and for being impatient with him. It was completely my fault for leaving the number, and he was trying to help me the best way he knew how, but he just couldn't. As I was driving back and preparing myself to talk to him, I was so thankful to realize how gracious God has been to me. How patient He has been with me. I have SO much more to grow... especially in this special area of patience, but God gently pushes me to grow through these types of challenges. I can actually say that I am thankful for times like these. Even though it shows me that I have a lot more to grow, I know the direction I'm walking, and I know that God is faithful. Therefore, I can boast all the more in my weaknesses! haha So thankfully my crazy morning just pointed me back to Him and now I can be more hopeful. I love days like these.

This is an old pic of my dad. Maybe from 3 years ago? Seriously! I cannot believe I had such a hard time finding a photo of him. I need to reorganize my photo library. It is a mess!

Just wanted to say: Dad, you are still very awesome! Thanks for always being there. :)

I still need to update my Egypt photos! I promise at least ONE update this week. :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-04-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

This was my very first time making a cake. The results? Partial success. lol I'm sure it tastes better than it looks.

So basically, it was a 9x13inch cake that broke apart while I was trying to move it from the pan to a tray. Somehow, I managed to salvage a square portion of it, and with enough frosting, you can cover up most of the mistakes! ;)

Thankfully, Mom is not that picky, and she much appreciated the efforts.

The artist and her cake. This chic is probably not going to be pursuing a career as a baker.

I think I'm realizing more and more that I actually enjoy expressing my love for people in ways like this. Putting time and TLC into it, when before I would just buy nice/expensive things and call it a day. lol It was just way easier that way and required much less thinking and creativity. Hoping to let the creative juices flow!

I'm still learning how to love people in their love language, but I think I'm off to decent start. lol Happy birthday and may you have a blessed year! Love you, Mom!

What's your love language?

Mine would be... Words of affirmation (especially written in letter/note-form) > Acts of service (like cooking! hehe) > Receiving gifts > Quality time > Physical touch (I have to mention that I've made a lot of progress in this area. lol My friends really broke me and taught me how to hug.)

Making a difference.

2009-03-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling so heavy after watching slum dog millionaire. I really don't know what to think. I couldn't sleep well last night just trying to process it all. The movie was well-made. There was a happy ending between the two main characters. Too bad the rest of the people were not as fortunate. That is just the reality of it.

I know that six months is not nearly long enough to see the world in all the beauty it contains, as well as all the poverty and suffering. It's not long enough to experience what others experience. But for me, it was long enough to realize that I can't go back and live the same way I did in this bubble of security while the rest of the world might be wasting away. There are bigger issues than the ones I carry in my day-to-day life.

I have big dreams. Dreams that go beyond a photography career. Who knows where God will carry me? Finally I am completely open for Him to move and direct my life wherever. I met some people throughout the past six months who have powerfully impacted my life. Being among them and seeing them give, not just money or material things, but give of themselves like none of it was their own. It really challenged me in the way I live and made me want to re-evaluate everything in my own life. I don't want to live for myself anymore. There has to be more to life than a nice house, a nice car... and, of course, nice shoes and bags! lol

I know that even in America we are facing an economic crisis. People are losing jobs. It's just not a pretty place to enter into. Still, I'm so grateful for the abundance we do have even through an economic crisis. Maybe this is just an opportunity for us to learn and relate and see the need that is outside of our own selves. And in our need, instead of drawing into ourselves, maybe we can begin to extend our hand out to others in need.

I know I can't be a part of everything because there is a need everywhere. I can't save everyone's life... I suppose. But I don't want to let that stop me from doing anything about it. It might all sound pretty crazy, but I want to live radically. I want to live counter-culturally. How God will use my photography to make a difference in the world? I don't know. Can one life like mine even make a difference? I sure hope so.

First things first! I started a house-cleaning project to sell, donate, or throw out all the things I don't need. This junk has got to go!! lol How ever did I accumulate so much of it? I am looking forward to a clean, non-cluttered room! Before and after pics to come. :)

Dina and Sameh Wedding - Cairo, Egypt

2009-03-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

Thought it was about time for a wedding update! :) I got so carried away with my travels the past six months. I got to experience so much and got to capture a lot of my experiences. I just had so much I wanted to share. Still do.

But now that I'm back, a part of me knows I need to get back to business. hehe Weddings and engagement shoots will be back into the mix! :)

Here are some teasers from Dina and Sameh's wedding. I had the great pleasure of shooting their wedding when I was in Cairo. How I stumbled upon this opportunity, only God knows.

THE Village

2009-03-19T13:52:00.001-07:00

This would be one of my most unforgettable experiences. lol I would say we all were very stretched. We were able to do a children's program with over a hundred kids. It was insane. As soon as we arrived, they saw my camera, and all the kids ran up to me and brought their babies and would start kissing them just to get their photo taken. hehe It was a great time.

Really afraid to use the bathroom. hahaha :)

This was one of the biggest donkeys I've seen.

Garbage City - Cairo, Egypt

2009-03-17T10:33:00.001-07:00

There are slums of Cairo and then a notch lower is Garbage City. Staying in this area meant you were eating and breathing garbage. They say living a day in Cairo is the equivalent of smoking 20 cigarettes a day, but this area was definitely more than 20 when they were burning the garbage right next to you. :(

However, if you can see beyond the garbage and discomfort of being around it, there lies so many beautiful people and treasures. I thank God that He doesn't see people on the same level that we do. I thank God that we were able to experience His heart for the people there... something that might not have come right at the beginning. God sees treasures, and we are the treasure hunters. :)

This is me at the orphanage in the area where I met the most precious baby! I really wish I could have taken her with me. :( I miss her!

The Dead Sea, Israel

2009-03-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

So chronologically, it's backwards, but I had to share it first because it was so much fun swimming in the Dead Sea! :) The part that we went to was Kalia Beach.

So much salt everywhere.

Obviously, we would not waste the trip by not doing mud masks.

The strangest feeling floating, because it was hard not to float. Not really sure why salt keeps people afloat. Maybe my Chemistry buddies can refresh my memory?

This is me when I hit jackpot with the mud. hahaha I was excited.

This is the number of bottles we took home. I was afraid it wouldn't go through customs, but they did. We've been doing mud masks ever since! lol

Back from Israel!

2009-03-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

I have so many stories to tell from the past few months of being in five different countries: Israel, Egypt, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany. It was such a beautiful mix of people, language, cultures. Now that I have internet on a consistent basis, where do I even start? I'll be home in a couple weeks to start off wedding season! I can't believe I'll be back so soon. These six months really flew by. I may have to work my way backwards from my last day swimming in the Dead Sea, which will be my next post. :)

Top ten things I'm excited for back in Germany:

1) Taking a long, hot shower.
2) Updating my blog.
3) Catching up on emails for the past two months.
4) Doing my laundry.
5) Using clean, German toilets.
6) Eating German chocolate.
7) Editing pictures! So much backed up stuff! (slowly)
8) Learning a few more songs on guitar.
9) Reading my two books that came in too late to take with me.
10) Going to Doner for dinner!

Things I'm excited for back home in the ATL (Still can't believe I'll be back in a couple weeks!):
1) Hanging out with family.
2) Planning a weekend away with friends.
3) Inviting people for dinner. I learned a few things about cooking while traveling. :P
4) Sleeping in my own bed.
5) Catching up on the Office.
6) Eating at all my favorite places.
7) Having southern sweet tea.
8) Walking my dog.
9) Reorganizing my room and cleaning out my closet.
10) Going dancing!

Hello! I'm alive and well!

2009-02-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to drop in and say hello from an internet cafe on the other side of the world. :) I have so many photos that I want to update!! All coming mid-march (hopefully).

Hmm some quick updates:

Something I have checked off my list of things to do: Go see the pyramids riding camels! It was not nearly as amazing of an experience as I had hoped... but I can say I did it!
Happy Valentines Day - yesterday! My parents invited an older man they met at the grocery store for V-day dinner because he had no one else to celebrate with. I wonder how many times I have passed an opportunity to really reach out and make a difference in another person's life. I really hope to be more sensitive to the needs of others. My parents really do inspire me to love, and I am so grateful to have them.