HELLO + WELCOME!

I'm Eileen, so nice to meet you! I am a Los Angeles based photographer, passionate about people and a huge fan of love. I truly believe photography is God's gift to me; through it I am able to share life with some of the most amazing people. What a privilege and joy it has been!

Click on the next page for more on me or take a peek at my own wedding day here.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Blessings!

photo by Shelley Paulson Photography

RANDOM FACTS

I use way too many exclamation marks, but I'm really just that excited!!!! I want to know what moves your heart. I say "that's so funny" quite a bit, but it can mean a number of things. I am a lover of donuts and tea. I floss every night before bed! I love the idea of being spontaneous, but rarely do things unplanned. I am the youngest of four girls, but I'm taller than all my sisters. I would love to open a cafe someday. I am fascinated by the bridegroom God and his ravished heart for all of humanity

photo by Shelley Paulson Photography

eileenliu@eileenliuphotography.com

    THANK YOU!

    Author Archive

    The Westin, South Coast Plaza Wedding: Joe + Sherry MARRIED!

    Joe and Sherry’s wedding will forever mark the beginning of a special season in my life. Not only did I shoot this wedding on my 25th birthday, it was also the day Benny proposed! Can you imagine the rush of emotions that came over me as I celebrated with this lovely couple?! There was so much to love about this wedding- I felt like I was entering a dream, a Winter Wonderland. (With Sherry as the Queen of course!). There were such rich and elaborate details to their day, it was the perfect way to end my 2012 wedding season.

    Isn’t Sherry just breathtaking in these pictures?! I loved her gown…oh, the details! Congrats again Joe + Sherry! It was such an honor to celebrate with you on your wedding day!

    A HUGE shout-out to Jen Fujikawa for helping me shoot this wedding! As always, you are so very helpful Jen! : ) Thank you!!

    Venue: The Westin South Coast Plaza
    Wedding Coordinator: Alice Chung of Carpe Diem Events
    Wedding Designer: Slomique Hawrylo
    Bride’s Hair + Make-up: Grace Kim
    Bridesmaids’ Hair + Make-up: Rebecca Yang
    Florist: Blue Iris
    Cake: Simply Sweet Cakery
    Videography: Paul Chung
    Photobooth: Pink Shutter
    DJ + MC: Walter Hong of Big Guy Production

    Santa Monica Engagement Session: Armstrong + Holly!

    I am so in love with this session with Armstrong and Holly! They are some of the sweetest people you will ever meet : ) I remember talking to these two in the car and they were just expressing how lucky they were to have each other, that it was too good to be true. Oh yes, you two are blessed!

    We spent our afternoon at 3rd Street Promenade and Santa Monica Beach where Holly and Armstrong shared their first date. I love that we made a quick stop at the arcades too, because they played a game of foosball together on that date and now here they are, engaged!

    We took our time enjoying the beautiful light at the beach and then ended our session at LACMA. Oh, I could have shot these two forever! Aren’t they the cutest?! And Holly, you have the most beautiful smile! : ) Thank you two for such a FUN session! I’m so excited for you guys to be married soon! : )

    25

    Happy Birthday Daddy!

    Today my dad celebrates another year of life! Benny and I took a field trip out to Descanso Gardens with my parents this morning (they LOVE these kinds of places!) and we so enjoyed all the beautiful flowers in bloom! If you haven’t already been, check out these Tulips and Flowering Crabapples (The white flowers- I know, funky name!) before it’s too late! And tonight we will be celebrating with Thai food and some Marie Callender pies! Yay, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

    VENICE BEACH ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER, GRANT + KIM

    I can’t wait to share this engagement session with you! I had asked Kim to write a little something to explain her ideas behind this shoot- I love what she sent me and thought who else but Kim could tell her own love story best?! Here it is!

    —-

    Past, present, future.

    First, second, third.

    One, two, three.

    Him and me.

    Grant and I met in high school; in grade 10 to be exact (yes, that’s how we say it in Canada). Well, I guess we didn’t “meet” yet, but it was during my PE class, when Grant had a spare block. He came in to shoot around on the basketball hoops along the side of the gym. We were on the “wrestling unit,” and since our PE teacher was a full-grown man, and since he didn’t think it would be appropriate to demonstrate a wrestling move on a highschool girl, he called Grant over. He told us, “this is Grant. He’s Scottish. He says skewwwt instead of scoot.” He then proceeded to pin him awkwardly to the ground, face flattened into the sticky gym mat. I then proceeded to fall in love.

    The end. Kind of, not really. I would have to say that a few things happened before I get to say “the end.” First of all, after that gym encounter, I decided, in my high school mind, that in order to get his attention, I needed to join everything that had to do with basketball. So I did. I tried out for the basketball team, I joined intramural basketball, and I learned how to score-keep so that I could volunteer for his basketball games. I guess he thought I was cool enough because we started dating, and 8 years later…we’re getting married!

    So, why 8 years, you ask? Well, I went down to Los Angeles for college, and he stayed up in Canada. Afterwards, we decided to pursue graduate school, and in hopes of finally being in the same place, we applied to each other’s graduate schools. Nope. Well, at least we’re in the same country now. He’s in dental school in Boston, and I’m still in Los Angeles. Our upcoming wedding means so much to us because not only will be saying “yes” to forever, but we’ll finally be living in the same city since high school!

    We wanted to try to capture aspects of our journey for our engagement shoot with Eileen (who was such a joy to work with, by the way!), so we decided on the theme of “past, present future.” In order to capture our “past,” we decided to go back to that gym in grade 10 and incorporate our times playing basketball together. Since he’s currently studying in Boston, and I’m currently studying in Los Angeles, we thought it would be a fun idea to play on the long-time rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers. We were so fortunate to be able to get a whole half court to ourselves on the day of our shoot, considering the fact that we were at Venice Beach! I guess that brings us to the “present,” which we decided to capture with, yes, the Celtics and Lakers basketball jersey’s, as well as with our “pillow fight scene.” Grant and I spent hours looking for the perfect little place to rent for the night on airbnb.com, which we eventually found in Venice. We loved how this little apartment was styled and thought it would be a perfect location to use for a pillow fight because of the interesting white, cushioned walls. We’ve done a lot of flying to visit each other over these past 8 years, so incorporating feathers was our way to symbolize that. We made sure to head to Ikea the day before in order to pick up some feather pillows. During the shoot, we were all surprised at how many feathers came out of the pillows! Through choking coughs and giggles, we all commented on how not even half of the feathers in the pillow had come out, and already we knew we would be spending the entire night cleaning feathers. We also wanted to incorporate some photos with each of us on either side of a wall in the apartment to also symbolize our current separation. Since Boston is in a different time zone, oftentimes when Grant is waking up, I’m still sleeping, and when he’s getting ready for bed, I’m still wide awake. Even with only a 3 hour difference, at times we have felt world’s apart.
    Finally the future. To capture the “future,” we decided to go to the beach. Grant and I both love the outdoors. We love exploring new places together and soaking up the sunshine wherever we are. We’re up for adventure and travel, and hope that our marriage is only the beginning of that exciting journey. We were initially hoping to get to the beach in order to capture some of the glowing sunset shots that Los Angeles is famous for. Unfortunately, it was a cold and gloomy day, so there wasn’t that vibrant “glow” to shoot. I’m so thankful that Eileen was so flexible and creative as a photographer because she would always just roll with punches, and I’m thrilled with how the photos came out. In fact, I think the soft, grey glow of that day matched our outfits better now that I look at the pictures! While the other 2 locations captured the playfulness that we cherish in our relationship, I feel that the photos at the beach location in a way captured the formality of the adventure that we were agreeing to step into in this marriage, and romance that would help carry us through. I’m so thankful that I got to spend that weekend with Grant by my side, and I’m even more thankful that Eileen was there to capture it all for us to cherish and be reminded of our journey together.

    Past, present, future.

    First, second, third.

    One, two, three.

    Him and me.

    Finally.

    Thank you for such a wonderful session Grant and Kim! Blessings upon blessings as you finish up the wedding planning and start your lives together this year! : )

    Make-up + Hair: Frankie Inattendu

    Shiloh’s 2 Years! + a sneak peek of baby Zara

    My sister Eunice’s beautiful family of three (now four!). These were taken around Shiloh’s 2nd birthday, December of last year. How things have changed for this family since then! Here Shiloh is about to be a big sister and she doesn’t even know it! : )
    and a few months later, we welcomed this baby girl into the world. Here’s a sneak-peek of Zara’s first photoshoot! : )

    Langham Pasadena Wedding Photographer

    Finally, my third and last post from Caroline Tran’s Propel workshop! If you missed it, here’s part one (afternoon tea at the Langham!) and part two (a maternity session). For the last part of our day we had a beautiful couple to work with and such lovely details to a travel themed wedding banquet. You’re going to love all the rich colors! Enjoy! : )

    Hair and Make-up: Chiali Meng

    Ollie’s 3 Months!

    I am so excited to introduce you to my cousin’s family! Charles and Angela’s baby boy Oliver was just 3 months old when we had our session and he is just adorable!! His facial expressions and cute little outfits just melt my heart.

    My cousin Charles has always been the jokester in our family and I love how it shows in these pictures. Thanks for having me, I really enjoyed spending time with you three. Charles and Angela, you two are so much fun and already SUCH great parents! Can’t wait to see you guys again next week! I love this last shot of Angela, her mom, and baby Ollie.

    Stephen + Julia MARRIED!

    I love this couple so much! Stephen and Julia are dear friends from UCLA and I feel honored to have captured different seasons of their relationship. It was such a joy to witness their proposal in Santa Cruz, their season of engagement, and finally now, their wedding day! Stephen and Julia were wedded at the Rancho Guajome Adobe in San Diego where family and friends gathered for a beautiful outdoors ceremony and reception. There were so many fun details to the day and I loved all the energy! These two are such a beautiful pair (inside + out!) and I couldn’t be more excited to share their big day with you! Enjoy!

    Thank you Michelle for 2nd shooting for me yet again!

    Location: Rancho Guajome Adobe
    Make-up and hair: Susie Chhuor Hair | Makeup Studio
    Wedding Coordinator: Evangeline Lyu
    Pies: Diane Sohn

    Happy 1 Year Andrew + Shana!

    Today is a special day! : ) February 1st marks Andrew and Shana’s 5 years of being together! Woohoo, congrats you two! This post, however, is celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary. I assisted Crystal Jean at their wedding back in 2011 and I love that they wanted to have their anniversary session at the exact location where they were married! Shana teamed up with her friend Emily Kim to style this shoot and I absolutely love all the details that went into the planning. Our time together was broken up into three sections: past, present, and future.

    First, the past. Here Andrew and Shana are cuddling up in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel looking through a photo album from their wedding day… These origami cranes were saved from the wedding day! The present. Andrew and Shana celebrating their 1 year anniversary with a beautiful cake from the very place they had their wedding cake made. So cute! And finally, the future. These two writing promises to each other for the next year to come. Love what they wrote, hehe! Happy 1 year and Happy 5 years Andrew and Shana! So blessed to know you two!