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
Last week Michelle and I had an edit-date (where we edit photos together, hehe) and she introduced me to à la minute during one of our breaks. This modern creamery is super cute and totally delicious! They use liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream and you even get to watch : ) I had the Salted Caramel (and loved it!) and Michelle ordered the Orange Honey, which was also really good. Yum, yum, yum…I’m definitely coming back again! Michelle and her Orange Honey! Here I am enjoying my ice cream! I was VERY happy! : )
If you’re ever in the Loma Linda/Redlands area, don’t forget to make a stop at à la minute! I promise you won’t regret it! : )
I am SO SO excited for this new site. Take a look around, hope you love it as much as I do!
You can now share my images on Facebook, Twitter, AND Pinterest (hover over any photo on the blog and pin away!)!
A huge THANK YOU to Tailwind Web for putting this site up for me. I designed it myself and they were able to make it happen on here! Thank you Tailwind Web for being so patient with me and all of my needs. I really appreciate all of your help. THANK YOU!
Hello everyone! : ) HAPPY FRIDAY! I can’t believe how fast the weeks are passing on by. What are you all up to this weekend? Hopefully something fun! : )
Lately I’ve been SO into snacking and just…eating. I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like a snack monster, constantly thinking of what I can eat/make/go out to buy. This past week was especially fun sneaking out with my sisters and grabbing yummy midnight meals (midnight meals, I like that!). We love fun drinks, nachos and tacos, Buffalo Wild Wings (they just opened up one in Pasadena, woot!), and just about anything else. Here are some other fun snacks I’ve been enjoying, taken on Instagram (add me @leener104!).
What else have I been up to? Yesterday I attended a workshop by Caroline Tran with a bunch of other talented photographers (one even flew in from HONG KONG!!). Space was limited, but I was so blessed to get the LAST spot! Caroline did some teaching on marketing, workflow, and establishing your style, and we were all so inspired by what she shared. We also had Jen from Green Wedding Shoes as a guest speaker- what a treat! : ) There were just so many wonderful vendors at the workshop (Ngoc from Skybox Events did an amazing job putting this workshop together!) and I loved meeting them all. I SO can’t wait to share some of the images I took from this workshop soon! For now, here’s a picture of me and Caroline!
Caroline was super sweet and so down-to-earth. So glad I got to meet her in person! : ) Her husband Jonathan was also at the workshop, helping out with all the details. Love their husband+wife team : )
Ok, off I go to review some notes from yesterday. Have a wonderful weekend + stay warm!
It happened in November of 2000- over 10 years ago, but I still remember everything so clearly. We had just finished dinner at the time and decided to take a stroll down the streets of New York to walk off what we just ate. It was a beautiful night, really. The streets were as empty as NY streets could be and we still had some time together before I needed to head back.
I was bundled up in my scarf and coat, trying to keep warm from the biting cold. Some girls like it when it’s a bit chilly outside because it gives them rosie cheeks, but Oh! I was extremely grateful when the the idea to grab hot chocolate came up. Â It wasn’t long before we came across a Dunkin’ Donuts shop and I quickly stepped in to let the warmth of that little store cover me. It felt so good.
We ordered one hot chocolate to share and I couldn’t wait to let that hot liquid-y goodness fill the inside of me. When it was my turn to drink, I embraced the cup like an old friend and started sipping away…sipping and slurping, sipping and- what was that? There was a chunk of something there and thinking it was a chunk of chocolate maybe? I tried to suck it up. When that didn’t work, I puckered up my lips and tried once more, this time with a little more force. But no, that piece of chocolate still wouldn’t let me have it…why?!
Confused, I looked down at the cup I was holding. More specifically, where I had been sipping. At the tip of that cup, at that very edge, was NOT a piece of chocolate, but a…are you ready for this?…a cockroach! A COCKROACH!
Yes, that’s right. My first kiss went to a dead cockroach…
My sisters and I screamed..and screamed! I spit out all the spit in my mouth and put a bunch of gum in its place, hoping it could and would erase everything…how it felt, what it tasted like, even the memories! Oh, but to this day the memories are very much alive. But now I am thankful for these memories, because I get to share them with you! : )
(…come to think of it, since when did they have chocolate chunks in hot chocolate?! I should have known better…)
Happy Friday! And Happy early Valentine’s Day! : )
For this week’s Fun Friday I’m sharing with you my family portraits. Yes, we are a big group..but a fun one too! : ) Family get-togethers are always exciting. and loud. When it used to be just the six of us (my parents and us four girls!) we were already loud, but now- very loud. With five girls in the family it was hard to talk because EVERYONE wanted to talk. Wish you could be there for our dinners- the girls had to take turns talking, raising our hands if we had something to say. We really trained Daddy to be a good listener! : )
Anyway! Here we are, all 16 of us.
We actually squeezed in our family portraits before another session I had that day. We were a bit rushed and I SO wish I had more time to take individual portraits of each person, but that will have to wait for another time. These next few pictures are the few I snuck in as we were waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.Â
Ok, so I know I talk about my sisters a lot. Well now you get to meet each one of them and their families! : ) This is my oldest sister Emily, her husband Jonathan, and their four kids. They currently live in Kansas City, Missouri so we only get to see them a few times a year (totally not enough!), but it’s always so much fun when we do.
This next picture is of my second sister Elizabeth, her husband Leonard, and their two girls.Â
And here is my third sister Eunice, her husband Ben, and their baby girl.Â
Just Mommy & Daddy! : )
And as we’d like to call it, this is the OG group : )
Ok, so I thought it would be fun to show you a behind-the-scenes photo. A huge shout-out to James for letting me borrow your tripod. While it wouldn’t have been possible without the tripod, it was also SUPER hard to get the kiddies to focus on the camera without someone behind it. Ah-well, good enough! : )
For this Fun Friday post I thought it’d be ‘fun’ to share a few facts about my birthday and show you some pictures that I dug up from the past. Enjoy! : )
1. When my two oldest sisters found out my mom was having my 3rd sister they were super excited, but when my mom told them they were having one more a year and a half later they responded with “againnn?” Yes, raising a little one is a lot of work!
2. My birth date was supposed to be in January, but I came out early! Surprise!!
3. And because I came out so early my dad was about to head off to work the morning of my birthday when my 2nd sister Liz ran after him to tell him to stay. Thanks Liz!
4. When my parents arrived at the hospital, my dad went downstairs to buy film for the camera only to find that I was already born when he returned..yup, I came out super duper fast!
5. I was born around 9am in the morning in Montebello, CA.
6. My older two sisters used to throw all my birthday parties growing up. They were the best parties with crafts and games!
7. I used to hate having my birthday so close to Christmas because it meant I only got one present for both my birthday AND Christmas sometimes. I feel a bit embarrassed thinking about it now and I am so glad I don’t feel the same anymore!
8. I didn’t really get to celebrate my 6th birthday, because my grandma passed just days before and her funeral was on my birthday. I wasn’t really happy at the time (picture below).
9. I don’t usually feel any different on birthdays, but I remember feeling older and way more mature when I turned 21!
10. My sisters and I grew up giving flowers to my mom on our own birthdays, because 1) she makes us! haha jk. and 2) to thank her for carrying us for 9 months in the tummy and for raising us with so much love!
11. I’m not really sure what God has in store for me this year, but I’m pretty excited! : )
Now here are some photos I dug up from my 1st-10th birthday. I love seeing how big I’ve grown and also how my sisters’ styles have changed since way back then : ) haha so kidding Em+Liz! : )
Ok, this next picture is from my 6th birthday…the one where I didn’t get to celebrate. At least someone got this picture of me..this is really how I felt at the time, haha!
See how fun these parties are?! Yes, big contrast from my 6th birthday. For my 9th birthday my sisters prepared materials for all my friends to make sunflower barrettes (I used to LOVE all things sunflower!!). My girlfriends and I still talk about those barrettes to this day! : )
Good times! : ) And if you want to know more about what I got out of my GOLDEN YEAR, I wrote a reflection post here.
Can you believe it’s already December?! This last year definitely passed by FAST! My birthday is quickly approaching and with it, the end to my GOLDEN YEAR. Oh, what a year (more on my golden year later..)!
If you know me, you know I get really attached to people, things, seasons. I used to hate summer break because I missed my friends and teachers during those (long!) three months. It’s kind of silly thinking about it now, but I was really depressed the summer going into 9th grade because I had to start a new school (which was literally right across the street), leaving the old one behind. And even though everyone I went to 7th and 8th grade with was moving up to the new school with me, I cried so much that summer missing people and the way things were. Oh, you can only imagine how hard the transition into college was for me!
Ok. So I have two weeks until the end of my golden year, but I already miss it so much. I’m a bit nervous for my birthday to come because I’m super attached to this GOLDEN YEAR and I’m pretty sure I’ll be sad to leave it. Oh, but thankfully I was able to get my portraits taken by the amazing Shelley Paulson in September so I’ll ALWAYS be able to look back and remember the blessings, love, and growth that came with this golden year…yes, sort of like my personal yearbook! : ) Would you look at that golden field?! So perfect!
So now you all know I get super attached to seasons in my life. Well, I also get really into these seasons. During college I went through a tough “desert” season so I bought tons of black clothes (sometimes not on purpose, it just happens!!). I was taking a few art classes at the time and these are the kinds of pieces I created…
Then a season of “spring” came after and I was so excited to add brighter colors and florals to my wardrobe… and paintings-
Now for this year, my GOLDEN year, I bought lots of golden things…heels, clothes, mascara (only the outside is gold, but I will definitely be on  the lookout for GOLD mascara! haha), nail polish, jewelry…
earrings, necklace, rings…
don’t they all look so good together?! Ahh, GOLD!
2 more weeks to soak all this golden goodness in! Your prayers are much appreciated as I transition out of this year and into the next, btw. Happy Fun Friday! : )
Carpe Diem. That’s what she taught us, to embrace life, to fully live. I always looked forward to 6th period. Sometimes we’d lie out in the baseball field to write poems, sit in the rain to feel the water droplets fall on our faces, or bite into tangerines to describe what it did to our senses. I miss it so much! This class changed my view of life and so I wanted to do the same for other people. That was when I decided I wanted to become an English teacher, just like the one I had my freshman year of high school.
I know I’m not the best writer, but I truly enjoy doing it. Only not under pressure. Unfortunately, that was 90% of what was required of me in all the English classes I took at UCLA. I remember those miserable nights when I just COULD NOT write. I started papers weeks before they were due but could never get anything out until the night before! Oh, those long dreadful nights! My entire family and pretty much everyone I talked to knew when my papers were due because I was not fun to be around with. My mom made it a rule that none of my sisters could talk to me during those stressful nights and my parents even encouraged me to turn those papers in late so I wouldn’t be as stressed. Yes, and that’s when my dream of becoming an English teacher faded. It just wasn’t me. My dreams changed, but my passion to inspire and to really live, didn’t.
Around the same time, the little house church I was attending at UCLA decided to set apart two weeks of our quarter to ask God why he created us. During those two weeks lots of random things happened and the theme of art came up multiple times. I thought this was so interesting because I grew up loving to draw as a little girl. I even took private lessons with a few teachers throughout elementary school and junior high. It was only in high school that I stopped pursuing art, mostly because I was afraid I wouldn’t have the inspiration and creative ability to come up with something new for each piece. But because I believed God was encouraging me to pursue the arts again through the signs I received those two weeks, I decided to take a step of faith.
That following summer I enrolled in a drawing class at a nearby community college. And loved it! When junior year fall quarter came around I miraculously got into two art classes on campus (The chances of a non-art major getting into one of those classes were slim, but I was picked at random and got in!). I applied for the art major a few months later and was one of the two students who got accepted! I felt like God was giving me one green light after another, opening doors for me, and leading me to where I was supposed to be.
Because I got into the art major my family bought me my first dslr for my 21st birthday. I was so excited and started documenting everything I did (I have 100+ photo albums on facebook!). While I used to document my life with my point and shoot camera, it was just not the same with my new Canon Rebel XS- it allowed me access and experiment with a whole new level of creativity. Â I am lucky to have so many nieces and one nephew to photograph and I started documenting their lives as well. Eventually more and more people suggested I turn my love for photography into a business. About a year later I did! : )
And right now, photography is my way of embracing life, of seizing the day, of fully living. I’m so excited for where it will take me this coming year! : )
Michelle and her Orange Honey!
Here I am enjoying my ice cream! I was VERY happy! : )
