Emma and Brandon: Wedding in Palm Desert

The other weekend both Erin and I were honored when our good friend (and awesome photographer) Henry Chen invited us to join him for a hot wedding out in Palm Desert! Our wedding took place at the exclusive and gorgeous Ironwood Country Club. And when I say hot, I mean HOTTT, 105 degrees to be exact! Emma and Brandon we so great. I love it when LOVE overcomes obstacles that so many would use as an excuse to not be with someone! While Emma is latina, and Brandon is...well...the anti-latina! But what I thing is just absolutely beyond-awesome is that such a hurdle was never even given a second thought. The ceremony and toasts were conducted in English and Spanish so that all the guests in attendance could be a part of Emma and Brandon joining their lives and families together! Brandon and his mother gave speeches in broken Spanish to his new wives' parents, Emma's parents gave speeches in broken English to Brandon's family, and to top off what was a beautiful celebration...Brandon and Emma performed a Salsa dance they had been practicing for months ahead of time! It was such a great day, surrounded by great people!

We love our job! We get to be at a celebration every weekend amongst some of the greatest people :)


























**Just to clarify, Erin was not drinking and slacking on the job, but was merely assisting during the family formals! She was the coat rack/drink holder while the family was taking pictures! I just thought she was adorable, even in blistering heat ;) **

Dan and Genuine's Wedding in Chicago with Kenny Kim

"hey, just wondering if you were going to put up any of the blogs tonight... we're pretty behind and i think i have 2 ready to go for you :) "

This was the email I received from my fiancé (so awesome to finally say that!), and it is only reason # 938294 why I love her. She keeps me in line in the most loving way possible. Yes, my dear friends, we have multiple blog posts that are awaiting launch for your viewing pleasure, so great ready for the...HURRICANE! :)

My first day out in Chicago a couple weeks ago, I had the privilege and honor to shoot with the one and only Kenny Kim! Kenny and I have known one another way before I had even picked up a camera. Rather, I was in front of the lens modeling for one of Mike Colón's first workshops when Kenny was first starting out! Since then, as life would have it, our interests and paths have crossed and it was so much fun (and a little nerve-racking) to shoot with him on his home court (aka Illinois)! However, despite the rainy weather and soaked cameras, teamed up with Steve Goldhaber, the three of us had a great day with an awesome couple, Dan and Genuine!

Have you ever been to a wedding where you just sit there and say to yourself, "Now THAT'S what marriage and a wedding is supposed to look like!" Now before you draw all kinds of conclusions from that last sentence, what I mean by that is both Dan and Genuine (what an awesome name) were like Oak trees on their wedding day. I was there from start to finish during the whole day and was constantly just blown away by their quiet strength, unwavering dedication, and the unflappable resolve they had towards everything. Not to mention, their whole day went perfectly! I'm man enough to admit I got a little choked up during the ceremony as I was clicking away. The moment that hit me the most was when they each went to their parents and bowed humbly before them as their first act as man and wife. Watching the tears roll down their eyes as they bowed low before the people who raised them, I was ensnared by the symbolism of such an act and just couldn't get that lump in my throat to go away! Thankfully, I had my big ol' 70-200mm lens on my camera so it manned things up a bit for me and kept me from being reduced to a puddle in the corner, haha. ;)

While these photos have been long in coming, I hope that you will enjoy these moments I was fortunate enough to capture from their day. And to Dan and Genuine, may God bless you and may your humility know no bounds as you move forward with one another onto a new life!















Kenny! Those flowers are perfect, they really bring out the red in your camera strap! ;)

















Kenny really loves his clients :)

Blackmail Thursday: D.I.C.S. Day

In college my dorm was all about Braveheart. And sometimes fellas, and I know most of you can back me up on this, we just have the urge to bash, smash, shoot, blow up, or otherwise just wail on something! haha. Well back at Wheaton College we embraced these carnal urges and set aside a specific day for such a cause. We called it D.I.C.S. Day, or rather Day of International Class Skipping. It was glorious. Weeks of planning and preparation went into this every year and it was nothing short of epic. We marched around campus, yelled at the establishments that caged our free spirits (aka, the science building) ate with our bare hands (at the cafeteria) and fought legen...wait for it...dary battles to the death on the school's front lawn. Our swords and shields may have been made of cardboard and duct tape, but our hearts were made of cast-iron and our motives were pure. On D.I.C.S. Day we did what we wanted, we freed our spirits from the Grading Curves that enslaved us all....and nothing else mattered. Here I am pictured with my buddy DJ moments before our glorious battle. I was the candy-cane of death.

Ahh!!! We Are Engaged!!!!

If Cloud 9 had a penthouse, I would be the happiest woman in the room!!!

Oh my gosh! Where do I begin? :)
It all started last August when Gavin and I knew we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. We decided in September to start our photography business together and when Gavin told his Dad the news about our new direction he said “Son, you can’t go asking Erin to start a business with her with no future plans. And Gavin’s quick response to his father was, “Dad, I can’t imagine my life with anyone else!”

And so months go by and we start talking about it more and more. And I started being a typical girl and hoping it would be any day we spent together. And because I am a big time analyzer... Gav had to pull a big surprise and try to catch me off guard.

In February, we went to go look at rings to just see what was out there...and I picked the ring i wanted within 10 minutes... nothing else compared to it. Any other ring the lady showed me I went straight back to the one my heart was set on. And so I got really anxious about the proposal from that point. I wanted that ring on my finger right after we picked it! ;)
  Months go by, and still no ring.... I wasn’t doing to well, Lol.  I know a lot of girls can relate to me with this one. I just kept on saying to myself, “What is taking this boy so long? We know we want to get married at the end of this year and the days are going by.” 

Well, Gavin at this point had been planning this proposal for a couple months and he wanted it to be amazing (which it was), so that means he had to do a few things,... He started thinking that I might catch onto his plan, so he wanted to make sure I had no idea. He knew that to get me to a place where that ring seemed months away he would need to get a bit devious. Gavin’s harsh (but totally necessary) idea was to make me so mad at him that it would throw me off guard. (Unbeknownst to him, I cried for several days leading up to his proposal). He started saying crazy things like “We don’t really have a lot of money right now, I just have a lot on my mind, and there is a lot of pressure surrounding this.” And I was so confused and frustrated with him (which was his plan ;) ). But then he realized that he needed to start making things better if he wanted to propose to me in the next couple of days (his plan worked a little too well, haha). So he pulled out all the stops; bought me flowers, apologized that his seemingly un-committal remarks were so blunt, and basically was kissing my butt at the start of this weekend; which I quietly allowed him to do. :)

So I slowly started to forgive him and woke up on Sunday and said to myself “Today is going to be a good day.” We had breakfast together and than went to church. Afterwards, we went to the mall and I was shopping for a dress that I found on a woman from a wedding we shot the night before. I found out where she got it and tried it on and fell in love with it. And Gavin casually said , “I want to buy you that dress.” And I thought that was so nice of him, but still didn’t think anything of it because I thought he was still trying to make up for all that he did the past week. And he asked me to put it on, because we were going to shot a engagement session later that afternoon (which was another lie) and he wanted me to wear it during the shoot. So than I told him i wanted to treat him to something since he was so thoughtful, so we found a nice 7 Diamond button-up shirt (Ironic, I know!) for him to wear for our shoot as well! Needless to say, both of us left the mall in style. :)

He then took me to one of my favorite Japanese sushi restaurants; I was in heaven! After stopping by and looking at a gorgeous apartment/studio, our next destination was Yogertland... and if you know me... you know that I make Gavin go there at least twice a week. This already was turning into one of the best days we’ve had together in a long while! All that was left was our engagement session, so we headed down to Salt Creek Beach and prepared to have a great time with our couple. However, Gavin got a phone call from our bride (it was really his dad) and supposedly she had to cancel the e-session because they were stuck in traffic. Needless to say, I was bummed we weren’t going to shoot! Yet still cool as a cucumber, Gavin said, “since we’re here why don’t we take advantage of it and walk along the beach? But first, I want to take you somewhere.” So he walked me into The Ritz Carlton and we made our way out onto this gorgeous balcony decorated with comfy couches overlooking a breath-taking view of the ocean. Champagne in hand, Gavin and I toasted to a wonderful day and gave thanks for everything in our lives! Later I came to find out that Gavin was a nervous wreck! He constantly had his hand on the ring in his pocket, while trying his best not to shake too visibly as to spill his champagne!

So after our drinks, we made our way down to the ocean and walked along the beach. After a minute or two, Gav stopped me on the lawn where we had our first date 15 months ago! (Little did i know Mike Colon was hiding in a tree a hundred feet away and Ray Santana was in between a couple sitting in lounge chairs further up the hill!). We relaxed on the hill at first, laying down for a few minutes to enjoy the scenery....then he oddly just asked me to stand up as if we were preparing to leave. But first, he took me into his arms, looked deep into my eyes and began to say all these amazing things about me; telling me how much he loved me and how he never wanted to go another day without knowing I won’t be there. Having secretly taken the ring already out of his pocket, he looked into my eyes, and slowly dropped down onto one knee....“Erin Michelle Kline...will you marry me?”

In such utter shock and elation, I instantly fell down on my knees, my eyes filling with tears...I started crying....and as he put the ring on my finger I said yes!!!!!! The ring is amazing!! Gavin majorly upgraded the ring I originally fell in love with, having it custom made with over 23 diamonds...so beautiful!! Gavin couldn’t stop smiling and telling me how much he loved me as he brushed away my tears of joy. I’ve never been so happy and no moment has ever been so perfect as this :)

At this point, our camouflaged photogs emerged from their hiding places, documenting every second of my realization that we had pictures of everything that just happened!!! (Something I had ALWAYS wanted from day one) I look up and see Ray standing up, a huge smile on his face as he’s firing away, I couldn’t believe it! THEN, Gavin pointed me to another direction and I could not believe it, Mike Colon was there too!! He came out from behind the trees, grinning from ear to ear; I couldn’t believe they were there and got everything! I was so overwhelmed and indescribably overjoyed :)

But we weren’t done yet! Mike and Ray were kind enough to give more of their time so we went down to the sand and did an hour long post-engagement session!!! Talk about having a dream team of photographers; a girl couldn't ask for a better E-session!!!

After having a the most amazingly-awesome engagement session ever, all four of us walked back up the hill to our cars and headed to Gavin’s house, where I thought both his and my parents were waiting for us to have dinner. But Gavin wasn’t done yet people! The moment we pulled in, he and I rushed into the family room where our parents were sitting and announced we were engaged!! We hugged, we laughed, and I probably talked a million miles an hour! But before I could tell the whole story, Gavin’s dad said we needed to properly celebrate with more champagne and we all walked around the corner into the family room.... and standing there were a ton of my and Gavin’s closest friends and family!! Gavin surprised me with a party!!!

“CONGRATULATIONS!!!!” everyone yelled!!

I could not believe it!! I squealed and cheered as my eyes wandered around the room of 35 people to see the faces of those who I love most in this world; some of whom came from as far as Arizona just to be there! (No wonder none of my friends answered their phones when I called them on our way home from the beach....they were standing in the family room waiting for me to get home!!!!) Gavin had secretly been planning this for weeks and made sure it was a surprise until the very end!

We went and hugged everyone around the room and proceeded to have an amazing night with some of our dearest friends! It was a night filled with eloquent toasts, tearful blessings, heart-felt prayers, and even a little California earthquake shook things up too!

I couldn’t have asked for more! These are memories that Gavin and I will hold on to forever! Having him get down on one knee and asking me to spend the rest my life with him was indescribable, nothing like I could ever imagine.  I love him so much and God has blessed me with an amazing man! :)
Thank you to everyone who was able to make it there on our special day! It meant more to us than you will every know!

Now on to the pictures!! Again, an enormous “Thank you” to our dear friends and mentors Mike Colon and Ray Santana for being there to help us capture moments we will never want to forget. We love you guys!!