AXIOO

To my favorite couple Ray & Ria, thank you for totally trusting me to shoot for you both. No matter how many times we've changed the destination (from Japan to Korea), how the weather turned out (rained most of the time during our shoot) and how untimely the accident that happened to my foot (causing me to be limping during most of this photo session), you guys still cared so much & trusted me to capture your love story. Thank you guys for being such wonderful friends :)

As soon as we divert our plans shooting in Japan last spring, we set our sights on Korea and started researching frantically *note it's my first time there. I know more about Korean food than Korea itself ha ha...Packed with excitement, we head down to Seoul and Jeju Island. Wishing for everything to turn out great. As with shooting overseas, there's always room for unexpected things (sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not). In this case, a lot of things didn't go my way. First off, one the first day of our session, I slipped while shooting on the rocks, jamming my toes into the crevices and bled like mad. I thought the pain would go away soon, like my other little accidents. But it didn't. My toes looked horrible, blood all over. I was limping & dragging my way through out that day. Thank God Ria works in the pharmaceutical, so she came to the rescue. Every step needed an extra effort. Trying to hold off the pain, while concentrating to shoot, wasn't easy. But to my surprise we had our best shot on that day, which made to the cover of this blog.

I guess we can always find excuses of things not going our way, the weather, the gear, the clothes, or waking on the wrong side of the bed...i can come up with a long list. But none of that will make us better. Instead I believe in giving my best, no matter what the circumstance. Hey you can't control anything else other than yourself.

The day that it rained, made our shots look even more romantic. It's a matter of maintaining a positive attitude. Having the sun shine inside you will make your day sunny, no matter what. Well, it helps having a couple like Ray & Ria, who's always cheerful, happy go lucky, i felt like we were on holiday instead of shooting for their pre-wedding. Ria is a super sweet girl, who's contagious smile made me feel better even without painkillers. The lucky guy Ray is laid back and so totally caring towards her. As I was shooting for them, I smiled thinking that 'hey they look like the couple from Korean romantic movie', saying "I love you" or in this case "사랑해" for the happy ending.

ps: I'm writing this from L.A., keeping my fingers crossed to meet Angelina Jolie and J-Lo :p wish me luck