LOVE YOU MORE

photo above by Hendry @hendryyadhisna in Seoul, Korea July 8th, 2019

Hey there~

Last week was tough for me. There are all kinds of worries and disappointing news pouring in, my heart was filled up with anxiety. It almost felt like I was wandering around blindfolded in the woods. Trying to find a way out, but not sure which direction is right… What a scary nightmare it is if it was a dream!

And then, I found this picture on my laptop that brought me a big smile. My boys were embarrassed to give me a kiss when the photographer asked (Thank you Hendry!) them to pose for our annual family portrait session last summer. They probably thought that I had taken it away (as an out taker~) from our coffee table book selection. Ha! In fact, I thought it was a little silly that two high school boys would kiss their mom for a picture. But this little slice of a magic moment was exactly what I needed to see to remind myself that there is something to look forward to. Someday, even today will become a story to tell our grandchildren 😊!!

Sometimes, you need an extraordinary occasion to realize what really matters. Being able to stay at home with the (not so little) children until what feels eternity is the dream that you always secretly wanted to have. I mean there is no soccer practice to run to, no client meeting to prepare, and no other events that interfere with your well-deserved quality time with the family! Isn’t it what the modern busy life always lack?

On top of making three meals a day, watching an episode of “Reply 1988” per night with the boys, taking a walk outside… there are so many fun things I CAN do that I never had the time for before!

I started organizing my phone pictures. I have 500GB worth of pictures and videos on my phone - if you are like me, you must waste almost 40 hours a day scrolling up and down to find one picture that you want to show your mom. While doing that, I want to finish up our last vacation to Seoul Korea and Hawaii movies. And oh, I want to review all my previous session images (of my clients) and find some hidden treasures to surprise them - just like it did to me😊. Also, I want to try some new Indian recipes and update my home office and mudroom. How about the six-packs I always dreamed of? While I keep social distancing all along, I want to virtually connect many many face time with my parents, sister, brother, and all other friends! Can’t you tell my to-do list is getting way too long already without stepping one toe outside of my house? There is no time for disappointment. Let’s rock it!

Because it is the now that I don’t want to miss. I will stay at home gladly and love everything more!

“Life is made up of a collection of moments that are not ours to keep.
The pain we encounter throughout our days spent on this earth comes from the illusion that some moments can be held onto.
Clinging to people and experiences that were never ours in the first place is what causes us to miss out on the beauty of the miracle that is the now. All of this is yours, yet none of it is. How could it be? Look around you. Everything is fleeting. 

To love and let go, love and let go, love and let go...it's the single most important thing we can learn in this lifetime.”

- Rachel Brathen

Until next time, be well ~ friends ❤️

xoxo, Kyung

Making Memories

Hey there~ How is your summer treating you? It feels like the time is flying away (million times faster in Summer) and we are moving into August in few days.

Guess what~ I just received the family photos taken by our amazing photographer, Hendry, who incredibly captured our final day in Seoul, Korea. (THANK YOU Hendry~ this is exactly what I wanted!) Just few weeks ago, we had the best time making memories there. If you are like me, you would take tons of photos of what you see, eat, and do during the family vacation. I always think that the scenes and experiences would last forever or at least for a while if I record everything then and there.. Because I take pictures and record videos to enjoy later, my precious moments should not fade, right?

In real life though, after returning home totally relaxed and refreshed, the unforgettable memories we just made start to melt away immediately. By the time we unpacked eight suitcases filled with the souvenir and laundries, almost all fresh feelings and amazing memories are all forgotten. At least it does to me. There are so much at work to catch up, so much housework to do, and so much sleep to recover! The boys have their camps to go and we have business trips to leave waiting for us. All of these busy-ness around our lives force us to forget the special moments we thought we could cherish forever sooner than anticipated.

This year was no different. Especially there was a 14 hour time difference ( jet lag ), I forgot almost everything already! So sad~ I bet I would have lost all my memories if I did not record it to my instagram. The other day, all my boys were gone to their trips and camps, I was sitting in the kitchen table looking at my instagram pictures (because I miss my boys dearly) and got the email with this picture of us. It brought me tears instantly. THIS!!! is nothing compare to my instagram feed which I posted realtime to record every single moment of our vacation to remember! This picture of us running on the old street in Seoul brought the emotion and feeling I felt at the moment back to real life right away!!! It is absolutely amazing how a picture can open the door to connect the moments like this.

I appreciate it so much. I just kept staring at the picture of us for a long time and cried. The memories were alive again because of this amazing reminder.

Maybe it is because “I” was in the photo? Maybe it is because the photographer captured us in a great timing? Maybe it is because everyone was holing hands and smiling? Maybe it is all of the right reasons….

It was p.e.r.f.e.c.t~~~

This image will be printed and displayed in my family room soon to remind us of our togetherness everyday. I am convinced (AGAIN) to photograph my clients the same way every time. Just can not wait to let you all feel how amazing it will be~~

xoxo,
Kyung

Summer is near~

S U M M E R

is near…

Are you excited? I have been dreaming of slowing down and enjoying the moment with my boys for so long. As the boys grow tall and big, I feel that the whole school year passes like a week(?). Before you know the summer will be behind us!

What is your vacation plan for this summer? Beach and mountain sound amazing. My boys just turned 16 and 14 and I have had enough experience of planning our family summer, but every year, there is always a new set of challenges rising. One thing I have learned from trial and error full of summers is to GO when you are in doubt to go or not to go. Going means making memories and it is always associated with your TIME. I learned that spending time to experience something is always better than not. It is such a simple rule (with few exceptions) to have when planning any vacation for the family.

We loved visiting Big Island, Hawaii last summer (picture above, by Wilde Sparrow photography). After a busy school year, we thought the boys needed some time relaxing and recenter themselves kind of down time. It was so perfect! Literally, we stayed at the beach except when we hiked on the mountain.

Looking back all those years, one of my favorite memories was to visit Korea with the boys six years ago. You know Korea is where I was born and grew up all my childhood. It is not like going to a brand new city, but it means so much to show my kids where their root had begun. They stayed with the grandparents and cousins, visited many historical places, learned so much about themselves. They barely spoke Korean, but they could certainly understand the language and culture - especially they loved the food the most. Boys have been wanting to visit Korea again for many years and it was not hard to decide where to go this summer. So here we go~ we will be visiting Seoul again in June!!!

This time, we will be able to walk longer and farther (they are taller than me!). I hope we can experience living in Seoul for few weeks. Riding subways or taxi, eating local fruits and street food, visiting where I went to schools, and so much more. Just thinking of it makes me so excited. I can not wait to make unforgettable memories there!

Where are you planning to go? Do you know somewhat close locations where you take your kids just for a quick weekend getaway? Can not wait to hear all about your favorite vacation stories~

With all excitement of thinking of summer, I must say that there will be some time crunch during the summer at the studio. I will continue to photograph until early half of June and will have a few weeks break until mid July. So if you are planning to get your summer sessions done at the studio, please contact me right away. I will be happy to arrange your session dates into the schedule so that you won’t be missing out wondering where I am!!!

Hope you enjoy the beautiful spring weather. And have a great summer!

xoxo,
Kyung

Best Wishes to You and Yours!

Another year is coming to an end.

Personally and professionally, 2018 was the busiest year of all for us. I am so grateful profoundly to new and old families - and to make wonderful friends at the studio and to have healthy and happy teen boys ( both are taller than me now ~ surprise!) at home.

There are so many reasons to be thankful, but most of all, I want to thank you all for your trust and support. Thank you so much. It became such a sweet ritual to make my yearly holiday ornaments for all our clients this time of the year. When I decorate my Christmas tree with those familiar happy faces, it just remind me of how much love and happiness that there was to capture.

Thank you so much for sharing your life with me. I can not wait to catch up with you in the new year! Wishing you the very special holidays and the most exciting new year!

photo by Wilde Sparrow Photography, Hawaii

Here is my holiday family picture of the year. The picture was taken when we went to Big Island last summer. Like Dr. Seuss said once, "you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory," it is so true every moment counts... and when I look at this picture of us, there are fireworks bursting in my heart with joy and thanks. With all said, I want all YWP family and friends to have the most value of memories to treasure.

Much love from my family to yours.

Kyung & YELLOWHALE

A Very Special Wedding

Today, I want to share a very special wedding with you. As I am watching the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan on TV, it was so beautiful to see the overflowing love and joy of the couple and the blessings pouring over them. I wish them the best on this wonderful journey, as you build their new lives together. What a special wedding it is! It is almost like a fairy tale - it is just so lovely to see them in love and surrounded by the whole world watching and blessing them...

As you all know, I am not a wedding photographer, but I had done a handful weddings so far for my family friend, siblings of my current client, and my own family members'. And today, I wanted to share my most recent and the most special wedding that I photographed last year. Just because the H + M's Royal Wedding brought me the whole memory of the most amazing day of my brother and his wife.

I know I am biased, my brother and my sister-in-law are the cutest couple to my eyes. Anderson House location was truly amazing to photograph my special couple in. More over, when we arrived there, the fascinating Solar Eclipse just started to happen and I was so lucky to capture the astonishing scene with this couple.

At first,  I could not tell what is happening with my bare eyes. It just felt extremely quiet, I mean there was no bird or any little critters movement at the time. When I start to look through the camera lens, I started to notice the shape of the shadow was different, and the color of the light was definitely cooler. I did not have a chance to discuss it with other photographers, but the shape and the color temperature of the light were dramatically unusual to photograph. I could say - it was almost like in mid day full sun, yet had a in shade temperature? The most amazing thing is that we did not plan this out at all. We had no idea the solar eclipse will happen at the time and date of his wedding when we schedule the wedding day and location a year before.

You can definitely tell the shape of the light that came through the the window is quite interesting. There are so many little croissant shape lights scattered all of the dance floor. I was asking myself, "How many couples in the whole world got the solar eclipse in their wedding pictures?" Indeed, it was a very special wedding because it was my loving brother's, but also it was the most unforgettable event I ever photographed with the Solar Eclipse.

Congratulations again to my brother and his beautiful wife! And of course to the prince Harry and Meghan for their wedding today!