Jak Lee Photography

Count Your Blessings...

2011-12-27T03:22:00.000-05:00

Man, what a crazy couple of weeks it has been. From school to work to church to sending off our winter missions team to Ecuador, the holidays, friends visiting, and finishing up some senior requirements, it has been a tough couple of weeks for me to get in my updates... So here we go!

Story of my life, it's been tough getting the chance to pick up my camera. Back in late November, I approached by a good friend of mine, Michelle Leonardo, to photograph her 18th birthday party. I figured this would be a good way for me to practice and start charging for my services. Charging services, for me, is more about building up the confidence necessary to successfully photograph a day such as her 18th birthday party, more so than getting a pay day or anything along those lines.

So while I do not have much time to write an extensive update, here are the pictures.... Enjoy!

The decorations were, phenomenal...

I'm not going to lie, Michi's court looked GORGEOUS!

I am constantly amazed at how ridiculously popular and loved Michi is....

Happy Birthday Michi....

1, 2, 3.... SMILE!

2011-12-10T17:40:00.001-05:00

I've been saying this time and time again but I cannot stress enough how difficult it is for me to practice my photography. With that in mind, what better way to do so by practicing my photography during a community service project?!

Part of being in the IB program is needing to carry out a community service project. My community service project piggy-backed off of another project known as Help-Portrait.

HELP-PORTRAIT IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHERS USING THEIR TIME, GEAR AND EXPERTISE TO GIVE BACK TO THOSE IN NEED

In order to kind of mimic their mission statement, I partnered with Mending Hearts to carry out a small scale version of Help-Portrait's mission. I, along with four other close friends of mine went into an under-priviledged neighborhood where we spent all day giving those who came makeover, and a small scaled photo shoot. However, I MUST give some shout-outs.

Pooja Patel: Thank you soooooo much. I was so surprised at how ridiculously talented you are with make-up and hair. I could not have asked for anything else to have been done differently. You are freaking amazing. Thank you so much.
Carla Mae Ramos: Thank you so much for everything with hair. You seriously are uber talented with hair. Likewise with Pooja, I could not have asked for anything different to have been done. Thank you so much!
Anna Nicole McGehee: What can I say? You may think you didn't do much, but you did. You were that one person who did a little of everything to help everything else go smoother. Thank you so much!
Berlimar Andreina Anez: Much like Anna, you did a little of everything that helped everything run. From taking preliminary shots, to helping with make-up, to hair, to clean up, to dealing with me all day, literally ALL DAY!!!!! Thank you so much. You're amazing...

My lovely, lovely helpers...

Did I say thank you yet???? No?

THANK YOU!!!!!

P.S

Be sure to stay tuned! Pictures from my good friend's, Michelle Leonardo, birthday party will be up shortly

Happy Birthday Austin!

2011-11-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

Man, it's been tough getting around to the whole photography thing but every time I get the chance, I never regret it. As 2012 is coming to an end, I'm looking back a my blog and realized that compared to 2011, I have about half the number of posts in 2012 than I did in 2011. Is this a lack of photography opportunities or a lack of dedication on my part? I must confess that it's a little of both. As I'm going through my senior year, I'm finding it tough to find opportunities to really stretch my photography career. Between school work, SATs, ACTs, college applications, and work itself, it's been pretty tough to just pick up camera and do what I love.

This past Saturday, November 5, 2011, I was able to do exactly that. This past Saturday, about 30-40 of my friends and I put together a surprise birthday party for our good friend Austin. To be completely honest, I was never SUPER close with Austin, but he has always been one of those close acquaintances who, when we hung out, we always interacted as close friends. With that in mind, me photographing his birthday party was of no burden what so ever. I'm constantly amazed to see how much an individual can be loved by his friends and family. I was so encouraged to see the love and care put into this party from both his parents and his friends. I am so blessed to have been given the opportunity to serve and photograph the birthday celebration of a good friend of mine.

As I have in the past, I must give a shout out to...

Mr. Spickard: I don't think I've ever seen a father more proud and loving towards his son. To see the desire in your heart to put together a surprise party for your son makes me kind of jealous honestly... haha.
Amanda: I am so proud of you. I have never been more proud and blessed to call you my friend. To see the love, effort, and stress that you went through to put together such an amazing birthday party for Austin reminds me of why I can call you one of my best friends. The party, decorations, presents, and everything else was P.E.R.F.E.C.T! I'm so proud of you and proud to call you my friend.

In case you guys are getting bored by now, here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Happy birthday Austin!

The decorations were phenomenal!

While there were not many photographs to take, but it looked amazing.

And we wait for Austin to come....

And we wait some more....

And finally, at around 7.20PM, SURPRISE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!

After a night of food, fun, and lots of dancing, I set up a nice photobooth where people could grab a bunch of friends, some props, and take some pictures for Austin.

Overall, the night was an awesome time of fellowship and bonding.

Happy birthday Austin!

Senior Homecoming

2011-10-19T17:36:00.000-04:00

Boy has it been a crazy couple of months. From school, to work to college applications, IB requirements, and other duties, it's been tough for me to pick up my camera and just take some photographs. This past Friday, October 14, 2011, was Cypress Creek's Homecoming Dance. Originally, I had refused to be on photographer duty, but due to the lack of photographers at school, ha-ha, I was forcefully put on photographer duty anyways.

All I can say is the night was awesome. It was great to be spending time with my friends of four years along with the best possible person I could ask for. It was definitely a night to remember and for once in my lifetime, I actually danced in public! Homecoming night made all the stress and nonsense of the past two months totally worth it. Class of 2012!!!!

While I do not have much to say, a more elaborate post is in fact to come but for now, enjoy the pictures!

Time to Professionalize... A Little

2011-09-30T19:23:00.000-04:00

So as I take steps closer and closer to professionalizing my photography, I'm now starting to offer services.

The first service that I'm beginning to offer is portrait work. There are different types of portrait "packages" available. Ones for senior portraits, individual portraits, and couple portraits as well.

Underneath the portrait information is my second service that I'm starting to offer. As a photographer, I find it important to be a versatile artist. Along with my portrait services, I am also offering video making services. The more important details are listed, but the basic gist of it is, any pictures/videos that you may need created into a movie and/or DVD can be done through the information listed.

If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to contact me.
Happy Friday!

How Sweet The Sound Indeed

2011-09-18T19:52:00.000-04:00

For many months, Harvest has been in persistent prayer for a revival that we hoped would move mountains in the hearts of those who would attend. All I can say is, God is good. Every prayer we ever prayed was answered.

We were expecting two guests to help make this revival possible. Guest speaker Rev. Dave Choi and an awesome band known as AMP. As we expected. Pastor Dave Choi was just an amazing speaker and really struck home to many hearts that we in attendance. Likewise with AMP, they were able to really get close with a lot of the attendees and we really able to share the gospel through their talents.

Some of you may have heard of AMP. They performed at this past JAMA and perhaps, some of you might know them individually as Sam Ock, James Han, and Chung Lee. Regardless, it was sweet listening to them and hearing their ways of communicating the gospel through a different means of "typical" evangelism.

I met Pastor Dave in the winter of 2008 I believe at our 2008 Harvest Youth Winter Retreat and immediately, I admired him to the highest degree. Despite his amazing sense of humor, Pastor Dave was able to really hit home in my heart. Besides his blessings over my life at the retreat, Pastor Dave was there with our dear brother Victor Paek, supporting him as much as he was able during Victor's fight over cancer. Pastor Dave is in many ways, a huge blessing in my life and a vital part of the man of God I am today. One more thing I admire about Pastor Dave is that he is not just another pastor, but he is also a church planter. Pastor Dave, along with Harvest's dear pastor, Pastor Chung, will be starting a new church in Chicago sometime this month that will be called the "Church of the Beloved." How great is that? Praise God for servants such as these.

I'm really excited for our next revival. It was such an encouragement and blessing to see so many individuals running back to the heart of worship, and to see so many individuals coming to know the gospel for the first time. Praise God amen? Stay tuned for our next revival!

I had the priviledge of serving these guys and man all I can say is

Praise God for the ways that they minister to His children with their talents.

Give it up for Chung Lee (top left), James Han (top middle), and Sam Ock (top right).

It's Not Goodbye But See You Later

2011-08-25T19:23:00.001-04:00

If you read my previous post, you will know and understand the circumstances that currently surround our church at the moment. On our 2011 Harvest Summer Mission Trip to Ecuador, a dear brother of ours was called home to be with the Lord. This post is to remember not what Tico did with his life, but what he has done and continues to do with his Life.

From a personal standpoint, Tico has encouraged me in numerous ways. From teaching me how to play bass to showing me what it meant to eccentrically worship the Lord, Tico was by far the epitome of a good and faithful servant. Tico taught me to love Christ and go into the mission field constantly wanting more. As a team, we learned the importance of living every aspect of our christian lives with a sense of urgency simply because we do not know when Christ wants us home! Through this happening, personally, Tico has taught me to love Ecuador for its people. I originally loved Ecuador simply because it was my first overseas mission trip, but Tico taught me to love Ecuador for the people that are precious in the sight of Jesus.

There was no way that all of the surrounding Amazonian villages were searching day in and day out, 5.30AM - sunset for just another missionary. The people who searched for Tico did so fervently because Tico was special to them. Tico loved them and they loved him back. Tico knew what he was called to do in Ecuador and he did exactly that. Tico taught the Ecuadorians the meaning of love and what life would be like had Christ not been in his. Tico showed the Ecuadorians what many missionaries work to do their whole life-time.

I can't thank you enough Tico for loving the church, for loving God's people, and for loving me. I'm encouraged and moved through your fervor for Christ and I realized that I was called to survive that day, so that I can come home, and tell your story.

For those of you who could not make it to the memorial service, this is what I had to say to and about my dear brother Tico.

Our lives will be marked by either a tombstone or a testimony. A tombstone signifies the end of an individual’s life whereas a testimony tells of what an individual did throughout their lifetime. As we come back from Ecuador with heavy hearts, we return with a testimony to tell. Joshua “Tico” Kim is the epitome of a good and faithful servant. With Joshua, we don’t have a tombstone to mark his life, but we have a grand testimony to tell. Tico devoted every action, every breath, and every decision to his faithfulness to Christ’s calling. For many of us, Tico was a beloved friend, brother, and mentor but I’m here to remind you that Tico wasn’t our beloved friend, brother, and mentor; he IS our beloved friend, brother, and mentor. From as far back as I can remember, Tico has consistently modeled and represented to me what it means to be a good and faithful servant. From teaching me bass to giving me rides to never complaining, Tico was always happy to help.
     As I think about Tico and look back at pictures of Tico, not once, was he depressed, sad, or anything but happy however; I’m not encouraged by his ability to remain happy all the time, but I’m encouraged by his childlike faith and devotion to Christ Jesus OUR Lord. From delaying his graduation to serve the church, to going on countless mission trips, Joshua Tico Kim obeyed God’s calling, and obeyed God well. Every Sunday, Tico would come to church with a smile on his face and he would sing louder and more joyously than anyone else, ever Pastor Albert, during praise. Tico was a clear representation of Acts 28:31 when the gospel states, “He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ – with boldness and without hindrance.”
            Joshua Tico Kim did NOT die in vain. As I stood there near the river, I thought to myself, what did Christ have planned with this? It was our last day in Lumbaqui, many had come to know the Lord during our duration there, Joseph was to go off to college in a matter of weeks, his mom was doing what she loved by studying music in Europe, and his dad was working to see both his sons go off to study what they loved. I wondered to myself, what did God have planned with all of this. I was reminded of the important of trusting in God once again. All in God’s timing, Christ managed to do things we never imagined. Christ used to Tico’s life to first of all, bring about transformation in his family.
            As I sat at home and prayed for Joseph, Mr. Kim, and Mrs. Kim, I saw Christ moving in their hearts, manifesting himself in their lives, eliciting a greater love, passion, and dedication for each other and the church. Christ also used Tico’s life to manifest a special relationship between us, the people of Harvest and Vision Church with the people of Lumbaqui, Sinangue, Cabeno, and other surrounding Amazonian villages. Christ used Tico’s life to open a door. Every year, we pray that God would open up the hearts of Ecuadorians so that we can plant seeds into their hearts; God is good. Christ used past teams, especially Joseph, to sow seeds of grace, love and mercy into the hearts of the Ecuadorians and this year, with Joshua Tico Kim, God used Tico to reap what Joseph and past missionaries sowed in the previous years.
            God is doing crazy things in Ecuador with Tico’s life both in Ecuador and in Orlando. I am so proud of Tico and the things he accomplished, and the things he is still accomplishing with his life. Pastor DL tells our seniors to end well. To devote their last days here in Orlando to the church, to invest in the youth, and to end well here at home, so that they can continue strong in college. This applies not only to our seniors but, to everyone. Tico went home to OUR father doing what he loved, serving the Lord and all I can say is that Tico did indeed end well. I cannot wait to see Tico again one day. Thank you Tico. Thank you for uniting the church, for showing us what it means to love, what it means to faithfully serve, what it means to trust in God, and what it means to fulfill the great commission. I am positive that right now, God is saying to Tico, “Well done my good and faithful servant. You may enter the gates of heaven and join me for eternity.” I promise to tell your testimony. I love you with you all my heart Joshua Tico Kim, you encourage me in ways that no one else can even begin to fathom and I can’t wait to see you again in heaven with our heavenly father.

Before I carry on, I would like to show you two snippets from Tico's journal to just show you Tico's heart for Christ and what he longed to do throughout his life.

Monday, August 1:
We only spent less than 24 hours, and yet, God has spoke to my heart dearly. I need to get out of my comfort zone... Would I do what God has called me to do? I think I will find out later, but I hope, and I am sure I will.

Wednesday, August 3:
I am glad God has given me an opportunity to be part of his ministry in Cabeno. Although I was tired, I gave my best....Our name and status on the earth do not matter, but heavenly award is what matters.

How awesome is that. Tico you truly inspire me, encourage me, and teach me what it means to love Christ and fulfill the great commission.

Words cannot express how much I miss you, how much I love you, and how much I thank you. I promise, with all my heart, to tell your story, to tell God's story; I promise to carry on the legacy that you left behind for us, the people of Harvest, to carry on.

2011 Harvest Summer Missions - Ecuador

2011-08-23T22:37:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much for your prayers for out mission trip. We were witnesses to God renewing churches and bringing salvation to individuals. We were blessed to see God moving in what previous teams had done for the past two years but this year was different because for Ecuadorians who are traditionally extremely introverted, private, and protective, this year was the first time that the Ecuador prepared and provided our meals while we were away from the hotel. For the Ecuadorians, for us to be invited in their homes means that they are calling us family. This was huge for us as we had been praying and working to build up these relationships for the past three years. God is definitely answering prayers and providing fruit with our ministry. At the same time, it is with a sad and heavy heart that I inform you that my mission trip did not go exactly as planned. Our schedule was planned to be,

Sunday: Arrive to Quito
Monday: Drive out to Lumbaqui
Tuesday - Thursday: Do ministry in Lumbaqui, Cabeno, and Sinangue; along with other surrounding villages
Friday: Head back to Quito, eat dinner as a team, go shopping, etc.
Saturday: Return to Orlando

Thursday, as we were finishing up our ministry and time in Cabeno, the villagers invited us to go swimming at a tourist destination in the Aguarico River. This was a huge step for us because for the past two years (2009 and 2010), that Harvest has sent mission teams to the Amazonian region in Ecuador, we have worked to build up a relationship with the Amazonian villagers, hoping to gain a sense of accountability and trust. Since we've been working to build up a relationship with the people of Lumbaqui, Cabeno, Sinangue, and other surrounding villages, it was a huge step for us to be invited to go swimming in a near by swimming spot with the village members.

On Thursday, as we were swimming, one of our team members, Joshua Tico Kim, was dragged into a bad current/rip tide and went missing. We were deeply troubled by this and were forced to find ourselves in a place of complete reliance upon Christ. We spent the night praying and hoping that Tico would be found and brought back to us. We then spent Friday morning walking up and down the river bank, searching for any sign of our dear brother Tico.

God's timing is INCREDIBLE! Despite the fact that our brother Tico went missing and is now celebrating with the Jesus Christ our Lord, we completely trusted in God and knew he would be sovereign over everything. To show God's sovereignty over this "tragedy," let me break it down in ways that we, the mission team, saw it.

Thursday: Tico goes missing, military personnel begin the search for Tico.
Friday: P. Inki, Tico's brother and father Joseph and Dr. Kim arrive in Quito.
Saturday: The mission team returns to Orlando, P. Inki, Dr. Kim, and Joseph head out to Lumbaqui to meet up with Chris, Pastor DL, Pastor Henry, Pastor Mejia, and others.
Saturday - Thursday: Dr. Kim, Joseph, Pastor DL, Henry, Mejia, Chris, and other Amazonian villagers continue to search for Tico.
Thursday: Pastor DL, Pastor Inki Kim, Dr. Kim, and Joseph return to Orlando
Friday: Word that Tico has been found, by the very villagers that he loved and ministered to, reaches the parents, pastors, and members of Harvest.

Now, one can question, if God's timing is just and sovereign, why would God have Dr. Kim, Joseph, and P. Inki spend a whole week in Lumbaqui without finding anything? Throughout the week that they were in Lumbaqui, Christ really grew a heart within Dr. Kim, Joseph, and P. Inki for the people of Lumbaqui. As Dr. Kim read the book of Joshua 1: 1-9, Dr. Kim was reminded of why he chose the name Joshua. Joshua 1: 1-9 states,

¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. ⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

A crucial verse from the passage comes from Joshua 1: 3. Dr. Kim realized that God wanted him there for that week so that Dr. Kim could search for his son while, "setting foot" all around Lumbaqui. Christ wanted Dr. Kim to set foot in the Amazonian regions of Sucumbios, Ecuador so that Chris could give him every place Dr. Kim set foot. Christ wanted Dr. Kim to see the people of Ecuador that his son loved so much and once he was able to see that, less that 16 hours after their arrival back home, Christ remained faithful and guided the Amazonian villagers to our dear brother Tico. God is good!

As I would love to talk more about Tico, the point of this post is to recap how our mission trip went as a whole. I promise you that there is a post dedicated to our dear brother Tico coming shortly!

From day 1, our mission trip was filled with fruit and blessings. We arrived in Quito and were reunited with some fellow missionaries that we had worked with in the past. The next day, we drove to Lumbaqui and as soon as we arrived their, I just felt this sense of God moving in Lumbaqui and the leaders of Lumbaqui. It was not until Tuesday, August 2, that we were able to start our ministry out there.

Our ministry began in Cabeno where we would begin setting the foundation for a more permanent, stable church building. From cutting down trees with machetes to making wooden stakes with machetes, it was awesome to see how much we were able to connect and build up a relationship with the people of Cabeno. Come Tuesday evening, I had gotten sick and unfortunately, while I was sick, the team was able to continue their ministry to one little boy in the park nearby the hotel with nothing but a guitar and a small flashlight. In the midst of my sickness and the lack of light and other necessities, Christ moved through our team to bring a friend of ours, David, into the family of God. Praise God!

Amongst all of this, we continued our time in Cabeno and Sinangue as we continued to work on our construction projects and God moved in mighty ways, giving us crazy opportunities to minister in ways we never imagines. While I would love to talk more about our trip, this post is long enough and I feel like many of you are really wanting to see pictures. With that in mind, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, and concerns. Enjoy!

House Church Shepherd Commissioning Part II

2011-08-18T22:58:00.000-04:00

Man, it has been a CRAZY couple of months.
I hate the fact that I have not been able to update my blog and practice photography as much I wish I could.
From enjoying my summer to going on my mission trip to Ecuador (more to come...), It has indeed been a C.R.A.Z.Y couple of months.

This post will be nice and curt. This post is just to acknowledge Harvest's newest house church shepherds. For those who may remember, back in June, a close friend and brother of mine, Hong Sin, was commissioned as a house church shepherd. This time around, a close older sister of mine, and her husband, Haley and Chris. have been commissioned as house church shepherds over the Hiroshima House Church. Both Haley and Chris have played an integral role in my life. I have know Haley (Haley Noona as I know her), for pretty much my life and while I've only known Chris for the past couple years, both of them have encouraged me, supported me, and prayed for me throughout my walk with Christ. I'm so blessed and proud to have such awesome mentors, and now, house church shepherds in my life.

P.S
Stay tuned for information and updates regarding my mission trip to Ecuador. There are some good things in store, and some crazy blessings that need to be told!

I Couldn't Ask For Anyone Better...

2011-07-19T08:23:00.001-04:00

Man, these past few weeks have been crazy. With my new job at Puma, I haven't had the time to update my blog and keep you guys posted so while my little update may be curt, please do enjoy what is here! :D

About a week ago, I had put a post stating that I was going to be moving websites. The process is still going as I work out some kinks and make sure the site is fully functional. So please STAY TUNED for the official switch. In other news...

Ryan Lee (top left), Joyce Kwak (top right),

Pastor Albert Young (bottom left), and Monica Lee (bottom right)

This past Monday, the 2011 Harvest Summer Missions - DR team. It's been about a week since they've been there and even from day #1, God has been moving in the DR and in the team. The team will be there until this Friday, July 22, and all I can say/ask is that we continue to pray for God's provision, safety, and abundant blessings over the teams' time there.

And last but not least, this past Sunday, July 10, Harvest threw a surprise appreciation party for our own Pastor DL. This year is Pastor DL's 10th year here with Harvest and all I can personally say is that I couldn't ask for anyone better. Throughout the past ten years, Pastor DL has been a VITAL part of my life. Pastor DL always stresses how statistics state that if a teenager has five significant adults in their life, the teenager's chances of being arrested, becoming addicted to drugs, falling away from the church, etc. significantly decreases. I can honestly, proudly, and thankfully say that Pastor DL is hands down, without a doubt, one of those five significant adults in my life.

Through my triumphs and my failures, dark times and happy times, and pretty much everything else in between, Pastor DL has been my pastor, teacher, mentor, and friend. Words cannot describe just how thankful I am for the awesome, faithful, and devoted pastor and man Pastor DL has been to me. With that said, here are some pictures from the party.

And to Pastor DL, once again, and this post cannot even begin describe 0.00000000000000000001% of just how much you mean to me and how thankful I am but, thank you. Thank you for loving me, for guiding me, for dealing with me, for mentoring me, for teaching me, and well, thank you for E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G!!!

Much like the 2011 Harvest Senior Banquet, we decided to have a photobooth from Pastor DL to take some pictures with his friends and family!

I'm Moving!!!!

2011-07-04T16:32:00.000-04:00

In order to take steps to professionalizing my photography business, I'll be moving websites.

Within the coming days/weeks, I'll be making a move from the Blogger server to Wordpress.

Be sure to stay tuned for the official change!!!!!

Congratulations Class of 2011!

2011-06-30T14:49:00.000-04:00

Back in June of 2010, I had put a post in regards to Harvest's 2010 Seniors and a banquet that the Student Leadership Team (SLT) put together. Well, it's that time again and this past Saturday, June 25, this years SLT put together a B-E-A-U-TIFUL senior banquet for the class of 2011.

The night could not have been more perfect. From delicious food to powerful times of sharing, personally, I feel like the seniors, underclassmen, and the older folks were equally blessed! Due to the time constraints, i did not have the chance to say something about all the seniors, but if I can, I would like to say it now. While I have A LOT to say about everyone, I will do my best to keep it short and concise.

Yeaseong Han: My man. What can I say? You're one of my best friends and I cannot imagine church, or life for that matter, without you. You are one of the most important parts of my life and I would not be 0.000000000000000001% of the "man" of God that I am today. You motivate me in ways that no one else can and push to me lengths that no one else can. Thank you for being the best possible brother and best friend that you could be. Love you man!
Joseph Kim: Despite our little quarrel back when you first moved here, I love you man. You always manage to understand everything that I'm going through. IB would have sucked without you and you helped make it.... bearable. You're one of my best friends and I couldn't have imagined the last six to seven years without you.
Josh Mark Kim: I don't know what to say man. It has been such a blessing growing up with you man. It's crazy to think that about five years ago, you were a fat, chubby kid... haha. I'm so blessed to the man of God that you've grown up to be and I'm glad to see that you stepped up to the plate with Yeaseong and Joseph to commit to coming out every Saturday in order to be there for the younger guys. Believe it or not, you'll be there for me too... haha.
Soo Ha: My flake/princess... haha did I ever apologize for being such a jerk years ago? No? WELL I AM! hahaha. I could not have gone through SLT without you. I'm so glad we were able to become good friends over the past year and I don't know how I'm supposed to survive SLT without you. You're such an amazing, funny person with so many admirable and respectable qualities. I don't EVER want you to doubt yourself, except for when you're being a flake! I love you with all my heart and will always be here for you.
Chris Lee: Chris!!!! I don't think I ever had the chance to become good friends with you and I'm sorry for that. However, your faith and optimism that is always manifested where ever you go is something I envy and respect so much. It's such a blessing to see a man of God who approaches everything he does with such urgency and excitement.
Janice Yoon: Much like Chris, I do apologize for not becoming good friends with you. Although we barely talked over the past years, it's awesome to see that you come to church faithfully, serve faithfully, and watch the younger sisters so faithfully. You're dreams of becoming a nurse/doctor could not fit you any better!
Peter Kim: Sad to say, despite the NUMBER of years that we've known each other, it sucks that we never became close friends. Despite our differences, I'm glad to see that you're always at church, early in the morning, just hanging out and talking with the younger brothers and sisters. While I'm not sure exactly where you are in your spiritual walk, know that I'm always praying for you man.
TO ALL OF THE SENIORS: Thank you guys so much for pushing me and encouraging me in the MULTIPLE ways that you have over the past years. Good luck to you and take care where ever you go and remember that I will always be praying for you guys and no matter what part of life you may find yourself in, you are ALWAYS welcome at Harvest for Harvest will ALWAYS be your family and will ALWAYS love you. The best of luck to you guys and take care!!! I love you all!!!

And now, for the moment you have been waiting for, some of the pictures from the night!!!!

P.S

For all your Facebook-ers, the photos will be up and available before this weekend! Enjoy the photos!

2011 Vacation Bible School

2011-06-27T17:24:00.000-04:00

Every year, my church, the Korean Presbyterian Church of Orlando hosts a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the younger kids. This year, the theme was Hometown Nazareth. All I can say is that it's such a blessing to see that 30-40 kids are taking time out of there Summer break, WILLINGLY, to be at church, learning more about what Christ did for us. While I have not much more to say, enjoy the photos!

2011 Harvest Youth Summer Retreat

2011-06-20T09:26:00.000-04:00

Back at the beginning of the year, I had put a recap post of 2010. That post contained information about our 2010 Harvest Youth Winter Retreat. Every year, Harvest holds two retreats for the youth, one in the summer and one in the winter. From June 14-17, we had out 2011 Harvest Youth Summer Retreat and all I can say is that it was such an amazing blessings. Praise God for His abundant blessings over our youth during our time there. Enjoy the pictures!

House Church Shepherd Commissioning

2011-06-20T09:07:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have been following me for quite some time, you might remember a post about the commissioning of a dear brother of mine, Paul Kim. We had commissioned Paul Kim as a house church shepherd for the Clara Kim House Church. Due to its size, the Clara Kim House Church (CKHC) had split into two house churches, one led by Paul Kim and the other by Seho Hong. Recently, Seho Hong has been relocated in Atlanta by yet another unanimous decision, Hong Sin has been called to led the house church that was one led by Seho Hong.

Hong is a dear brother of mine who has been through thick and thin and a lot times, I am often amazed at how faithful he is to God's calling. If it weren't for Hong, I would not be 0.00000000000000001% of the man I am today. I could not think of any other person more fit to lead this house church. While I have not much to say, some often say that pictures speak more than words, so without further ado, enjoy!

2011 Cypress Creek Prom!

2011-05-22T18:24:00.001-04:00

Man, it has been quite some time since I've ACTUALLY picked up my camera. Don't get me wrong, I've taken pictures here and there over the past month or so, but between school and other priorities, I haven't had the chance to REALLY pick up my camera and shoot. So before I go into what needs to be said, I just felt like I should give a small update on my life....

This past month has been both stressful and relaxing. At the beginning of May, I was swarmed with testing from AP Chemistry to IB Chemistry to AP English, I was "studying" for my exams. While all of my exams are done, this calls for movie marathons/ periods of doing nothing for the rest of the year in three of my classes. In other news, I'm proud to say that I'm getting ready to go back to Ecuador from August 1-6 and I am DEFINITELY excited (stay tuned for more info). To save you from the boredom, here we go!

If you remember, back in September of 2010, I took homecoming photographs for many of my senior friends. This time around, it was prom! I had the AWESOME opportunity of getting close with many of the seniors and I can honestly and proudly admit that I will miss many of them next year. NOT TO SINGLE ANYONE OUT, but if I can, give a small shout out to a couple of the seniors that helped make my junior year a little less hostile.

Tina Thomas: I don't even know what to say. I can't imagine walking past Hennigan's room without seeing you!!!!! I'm DEFINITELY going to miss you....
Narmeen Mandani: My jerkk.... who's going hug me everyday next year?! Enjoy FSU and come visit OFTEN!!!!!!!!
Nisha Desei: The over-achieiving, event planning, beast, I don't even know what to say except for the fact that you still owe me a plate of samosas!!!!
Rafael Mai: My man.. hahaha. Have fun up at UF and lets ball up there huh?
Elisabeth Longo: I've known you since my freshman year and while we've been close then far then close again, you made my freshman, sophomore, and junior year worth it. I'm going to miss you so much.
Joseph Kim: "My cousin," I love you man! Take care up in Illinois and come visit often man. Cypress would have definitely sucked without you!!!

Although I'm leaving out A LOT of people, since many people are looking for the pictures not the notes, I must stop there. Seniors, I may not have been super close with you or "cool" enough for you guys, but as corny as this is, I will miss many of you. Enjoy college, have fun, do your thing, and be sure to visit often!!!! Best of luck to you guys!!!!

P.S

I know I'll be seeing you guys at graduation and what not but I figured, why not give a shout out now when I have the chance. Hope I'm not sounding too.... "yearbook-ish."

***For those of you wanting the photos for Facebook, before you ask, they will be up Tuesday.***

80 lbs of Chicken

2011-04-27T16:19:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, April 24, 2011, members of Harvest witnessed a miracle. Two to three times a year, we at Harvest get to witness believers publicly professing their faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. For those who have been following for the past couple months, you may remember the day back in October when I publicly professed my faith in Christ Jesus my Lord and Savior. This past Sunday, we witnessed the baptism of Min "Mimi" Jang and the confirmation of Daniel J. Kim. Following the baptism and confirmation, adults of Harvest headed out to Dr. Philips Park to have an easter picnic. The kids had an easter egg hunt and the adults, well we managed to eat 80 lbs of chicken along with grilled vegetables, corn, and other delicious foods. Sunday was definitely a true day of blessings and fellowship. Enjoy the photographs!

At the bottom, we have, from left to right,

Pastor DL, Daniel J. Kim (Confirmation), Min "Mimi" Jang (Baptism), and Pastor Albert Young.

CCHS Baseball Senior Banquet

2011-04-19T22:28:00.000-04:00

Not so much a banquet, but a small ceremony meant to honor the baseball players on the CCHS baseball players. Much like the girl's lacrosse team's senior night, the seniors were to walk on the field with their parents, take a picture, and line up for some photos. Despite the rumors of CCHS's horrible athletic talent, our boy's baseball team is one sport that we can take pride in. The boy this year have done extremely, beating some of the top teams in Orange County. Props to the team and to the seniors! So without further ado, enjoy...

CCHS Lacrosse Senior Night

2011-04-18T22:51:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, April 15, 2011, was our girls' lacrosse team's last home game and senior night. While the meaning of "last home game" is pretty self explanatory, the point of senior night is to honor the seniors on the team who would be leaving for college in a matter of months. It was definitely fun watching our CCHS ladies playing the sport that they love along with honoring the teammates that they love. It truly was an awesome game for me to decide to go to. I had yet to go to a lacrosse game so after a couple of my friends consistently asked me to attend, I decided to skip my National Honor Society Induction Ceremony and go to their game; I made the right decision. While I don't have much more to say, before I bore you to death beyond the extent that I already have, enjoy!

Here are the seniors (left to right)

Top Row: Ana Stolic, Amanda Horne, Lauren Zuromski

Middle Row: Priscilla Londono, Murphy Donohue, Elisabeth Longo

Bottom Row: Leila Aoun, Lacrosse team w/coaches

Take Your Vitamins!!!

2011-04-17T19:31:00.001-04:00

A couple years back, members of Harvest decided to organize a youth rally called the Vitamin Jesus Rally (VJ Rally). VJ Rally was created to bring together youth students and adults from various churches around Orlando regardless of their ethnicity, religious background, church, etc. The last time we had a VJ Rally was back in 2007 I believe and after years of not having one, our Student Leadership Team decided to organize one for the year of 2011.

From a personal standpoint, I personally didn't know what to expect. It had been a while since we did something like this, I felt like I was incompetent in planning an event such as this, and planning the event itself was relatively easy. Being the OCD person that I tend to be in situations such as these, I felt that because it was so easy to plan, something vital was missing; God proved me wrong.

As the day got near, I urged our SLT to pray for the following things...

God's provision and manifestation throughout the rally
For God to humble our hearts and everyone else's hearts that we may realize how much we need Him
That we would focus not on how epic this year's VJ Rally is, but that we would focus on leading those who are attending into worship
That God would speak to Pastor Chung and really place in P. Chung's heart a message that we need to hear. If you remember, Pastor Sam from this past retreat believed that if his sermon wasn't for everyone in the room, his sermon was AT LEAST one person. The first night, I felt like I was one of those people that his sermon was for and Pastor Sam told me that that means God really loves me. To take up 40 min and to place a SPECIFIC sermon in P. Sam's heart that was meant JUST FOR ME... make sense? Good. So let's pray that P. Chung would be nothing else but a mouthpiece for what God has to say FOR US.
God's provision and use of the Drama Gators to minister to us and the other attendees
Open hearts in the attendees that they would let down their guard and really let God work in their lives.

And of course, just as He promises us, God was and is faithful. I was expecting around 80 attendees but by God's grace and provision, we had 120 attendees. The night was an amazing night of never-ending blessings and witnessing of God's unconditional love, grace, and mercy upon HIS children.

Thanks you to the mothers who helped prepare food, Drama Gators for acting out AWESOME skits and dances, Albert Kang for leading us in sweet, sweet times of praise, P. Chung for delivering an AWESOME message, SLT for planning and helping out in all the numerous ways that you did, and God, for being the God that You promised us. A God characterized by love, compassion, comfort, grace, mercy, awesomeness, patience, kindness, etc. I cannot wait for next years VJ Rally. Until then, enjoy the pictures and the slideshow at the end which includes some footage of the Drama Gators.

Sharks and Stingrays = Fun?!?!

2011-03-27T17:03:00.000-04:00

For those of you who know me, you will find that I need to do something to have fun. Some people simply have fun watching Youtube Videos or NBA highlights. Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy those; however, for me to have honest, sincere fun, I need to be doing something. This may include...

Fishing
Bowling
Basketball
Golf
Any sport really....
Eating with friends
Chillin' with friends

You may realize, me being living Florida, there are two crucial activities that I'm missing, theme parks and the beach. For me, I don't enjoy theme parks or beaches but, before you begin to judge me, let me explain. In my perspective, true, honest fun is something does not require a lot of effort for it to be fun. What do I mean? When it comes to theme parks/beaches, you have to drive all the way there (beaches in particular), spend A BUNCH of money on tickets, parking, food, etc., carry around extra clothes and other necessities, etc. My main point is to emphasize how I do not like the beach. The only time I enjoy the beach is to play sports, go surfing, or to take pictures. Despite my dislike for the beach, for the month of March, our SNF (Saturday Night Fellowship) meeting was at the beach.

I was extremely hesitant to enter the water because one of my biggest fears are sharks. For about the past week, the news has been reporting stories of sharks and sting rays in various beaches along the eastern coast of Florida. Even with my fear, I decided to suck it up and go. I can't lie, it was fun. The other kids were having an awesome time and when you're in an environment such as that, you just can't help but "catch" some of the joy and laughter. It truly was an awesome time....

The Front Lines of War Round #2

2011-03-14T17:35:00.000-04:00

For those of you who might remember, in November of 2010, our CCHS FCA (Cypress Creek High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes) held a rally to...
1) Get the word out about the gospel and who Christ is.
2) Get the word out about FCA and encourage people to come out.

This time around, one of the pastors of our FCA sponsors is friends with a christian rapper known as Curvine. Curvine smoked for the first time at the age of twelve, soon became addicted to ecstasy, alcohol, and cocaine, and was soon arrested for armed robbery and drug possession. It wasn't until soon, that God showed His grace and mercy, and made himself manifest in Curvine's life. To listen to his testimony, click here.

Overall, the rally was of course, an awesome blessing and an awesome sight to see. We prayed over the rally for many weeks and it's only with God's provision, grace, and blessings that our FCA was able to reach the students and youth of CCHS in the ways we did. Praise God! If you have any questions about the rally or FCA, feel free to contact me by clicking here or you can email me.

Bear Rock Live Take VI

2011-03-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

What a weekend. I'm finding myself in this cyclic lifestyle where I'm really relaxed and happy at one point, and then the next moment, I find myself TIRED, stressed, busy, and spread out way too thin. Luckily, despite the stress and hard work, I was able to get some photography in.

This past Friday, February 25, was CCHS's annual talent show AKA Bear Rock Live Take VI. For those of you who have been following me for at least the past year, you may remember a post from March in 2010 in regards to Bear Rock Live Take V. Much like last years, filled with numerous different talents, mainly bands, it's so surprising to see how many talented individuals we have at our school. From skilled guitarists, to ballin' drummers, to rockin DJs, it reminded me that there's more to CCHS than meets the eye (I know, it's cheesy).

Anyways, I was definitely glad that I got to bust out my camera and do what I love most. It definitely brought back some good feelings and memories. So to save you from any further boredom, without further ado, enjoy....

Some of the equipment backstage.

Some of the performers

During the award ceremony.

BBC came in first (bottom right)

Some of the performers (left to right)....

Stephan Rochet & Steven Villa (I forget their bands name, two members are missing)

Rainbow Unicorn

Insane Reaction

John & Betsy (I also forget their name)

Christian Barba & Kamil Fadel (Yield2Aircraft)

Some more bands.

BBC (bottom left) won first place...

That's it for now guys!

Hope you guys enjoyed the photos and hopefully, you guys will continue to support me in my photography! Happy Tuesday!

Are You a G?! No... She's a Ji..

2011-02-21T00:23:00.001-05:00

For many years, Harvest has had the opportunity to become an "extension" of Ji Lee's family. Ji Lee is a recording artist from Atlanta, Georgia. For the past three and a half years, Ji has been given the opportunity to study abroad at Hillsong College in Sydney, Australia. This past December, Ji moved back to states after finishing up her studies in Australia and even got the chance to lead worship at the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia this past January.

Harvest was blessed to have Ji Lee come to Orlando and give a short testimony/seminar. I don't want to go on too long so without further ado, enjoy the pictures.

P.S
To learn more about Ji Lee and her studies/music, click here to visit her website or click here for more information on what she does now, back in the states.

Kudos, Kudos, Kudos....

2011-02-14T23:29:00.000-05:00

Wow, I cannot get over the fact that I God has blessed me with such an awesome opportunity this past year to serve on one of the best, if not THE best SLT teams of Harvest. SLT is our Student Leadership Team. I am so freakin blessed to serve alongside other youth members, most of who are younger than me, who love to serve God, and in a lot of ways, love God in more ways than I ever have. To see the love and fervor that these fellow brothers and sisters have for our Father is such a huge encouragement and smack to face telling me, "Isaac! You need to REALLY get serious about your faith!" Right here and now, in our SLT, this is the PERFECT example of 1 Timothy 4:12

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. - 1 TImothy 4:12

How crucial is that verse right there? Is this not what we're called to do? Is this not how we are supposed to live our Christian lives? All I can say is that I am so proud to serve alongside these brothers and sisters who paint an awesome picture of what it means to be a church, and what it means to be the church.

This past Saturday, about 17 members of Harvest went on an outreach trip to place called Rachel's House. Rachel's House, to my understanding, works to house single mothers and their children along with other ladies who need help. Our SLT tries to go on at least one outreach trip a month. From previous projects such as X-Tending Hands to working with other organizations such as Mending Hearts, I truly believe that God is using our simple talents to shine His light in Central Florida. Major, MAJOR props to the Harvest SLT and any others who helped out this past Saturday. I truly believe that we made a huge impact on the workers and residents of Rachel's House and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for the rest of 2011.

I'm so proud of everyone that helped out and I could not have asked for a better group of believers to serve with! Love ya'll!

P.S
I did not take all of these pictures. I must give credit where it belongs! (I actually don't know EXACTLY who took what picture, but just know, it was not all me...)

Our main objectives were to clean up the fence (left column)

And take out a fence/trim what we could off of the huge tree (right column)

Here we see the taking out of one fence and the cleaning of another fence

Some models rockin' the sledge hammer and broom!

Peter Hong (left), Joean Cho (middle), and Yeari Han (Right)

We Meet Once Again

2011-01-25T19:34:00.000-05:00

I'm finding it extremely difficult keeping up with my blog, yet alone photography. School has definitely been tough, not giving me the chance to get out there and practice my photography. However, I do plan on getting back into my photography the second I get the chance.

Just a small recap, this past Sunday, we had a bunch of our youth participate in a "dodgeball" tournament with hopes to get more involved with the other churches around Winter Garden. Harvest has definitely been prospering and I have never been more proud to call Harvest my home church. Over the past couple months, our youth group meetings have grown, the relationships between each and every youth student has only strengthened, the praise team has found its "spunk" again, and even our Sunday worship services have become more, intimate with Christ.

Overall, everything is going quite swell for me. I'm slowly learning to fully trust in God, more than I ever have, and I cannot wait to see all of the blessings that God is planning to shower down upon Harvest, my friends, my family, and my life, throughout 2011. Take care!

A Recap of 2010 and New Look on 2011!

2011-01-08T20:09:00.001-05:00

What a stressful year it has been already. I'm rather ashamed to say that my first blog post of 2011 is not until January 8, 2011. It's been tough for me, trying to take pictures and enjoy photography as much as I used to. From a photography class both freshman and sophomore year that turned photography into an assignment, to the stress that junior year of IB has brought on, let's just say I haven't been as fervent about photography as I used to.

It occurred to me that my "fun" life is relatively over for the nest 6-10 years of my life. I realized that I now have to grow up and "evolve" from a boy, to a man of God. SATs, ACTs, Informal Assessments for IB, etc. etc. etc... It's time for me to be responsible. As I realized that I'm at that point where I have to start sacrificing fun for the things necessary, I find myself in this bitter place, yet a place where I am slowly learning to lean on Christ for the strength and responsibility necessary. God has been faithful throughout the past 16 years of my life and I know that as I grow older, He will continue to do so; I just hope I can do the same.

Many times already have I been asked, "What are your New Year's resolutions?"

I cannot honestly answer that question because truth be told, I didn't exactly come into the new year with new expectations and a chance to "start over." As I look at it now though, here are, I do not want to say "resolutions," but things I'm hoping to work at throughout 2011.

Love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I know this year is going to be tough and I know at times I will get mad with God, but the important thing that God is calling me to do, is to become a man of God and NOT complain, and to trust in His plan for me. I need to learn how to listen and be obedient to what God has already said and planned out for me.
Become a man to my parents, my family, and my friends. At the age of 16, I'm slowly becoming more and more responsible. It is important that I learn to treat my family and friends with the love and respect that a man of God does.
Set my priorities straight. From school work, church, to basketball, it is important for me to learn how to set my priorities and when to say "no" to fun in order to fulfill my calling as a student.
Love photography again. Apparently, I have a talent, but so many times, I find myself taking pictures because I have to or because someone has asked me to. It's time for me to find the fun in it again, and to take pictures FOR FUN!
Love my friends. I find myself, so many times, trying to be the cool one or the funny one yet I fail to build deep relationships with my friends. I feel like I have very superficial, surface-leveled relationships. One of my goals this year is to make TRUE friends and show them that I'm not this obnoxious, loud, guy who wants to be liked by everyone, but the guy who is willing to be tortured and ridiculed, yet has a deep, long-lasting relationship with some people who he can REALLY call friends.

So more or less, those are my "New Year's Resolutions." I am almost positive that I am forgetting many of them, but for now, those are the five that I can think of.

I'm extremely sad to say that this is my first post since November of 2010, so below, expect many photos, and maybe even some videos. Enjoy!

From December 19-25, my uncle, cousin, and my grandparents came to spend the holidays. As my cousin was in town, me, my uncle, my cousin, and my sisters went to Downtown Disney to take pictures along with pictures back at home. For those of you who have been following me for quite some time, you know my cousin is my little model. Enjoy the following!

I have yet to perfect silhouettes.... haha

Every Christmas, our church always has a Christmas service. After the worship/sermon portion, we had a time of presentations where three of our congregations, Kingdom Keepers, Harvest, and Vision Church, all prepare some sort of presentation, along with other groups such as our church hip-hop team, jazz band, etc. Enjoy the pictures!

Following Christmas, from December 27-30, our youth ministry had our 2010 Harvest Youth Winter Retreat. We were blessed to have such an amazing speaker Pastor Sam Kim and guest praise team leader Kyle Lake. Retreats are always such an amazing time of blessings and a time for intimacy with God. Praise God for His abundant blessings. Following the pictures is a short slideshow to re-cap all four days.

Every year, our church has a service from 10.30PM Dec. 31-1.00AM Jan. 1. One of the first things we do is watch an end-of-the-year video produced by our church's Inservio team. This year, I was in charge of creating the end-of-the-year video from Harvest, which would be combined with the end-of-the-year video from our Vision Church Congregation. All I can say is, wow, how amazing is iPhoto and iMovie. While I still wish I could do multiple things with Final Cut Pro, iPhoto and iMovie has made it REALLY easy to make and publish amazing videos. The ORIGINAL, original was actually 37 minutes long, but due to time restraints, I had to cut it down to under 10 minutes. Enjoy!

The only problem that I have with iPhoto is that it tends to cut off pictures.

THAT would explain why many heads were cut off in many of the photos.

As I look back at 2010, it had its high moments, but it also had its low moments. Honestly speaking, I can admit that 2010 was not a good year for me. I look back and I don't remember any significantly bad moments, but I look back and I don't find any moments that make me extremely happy either. I don't say that to explain how bad of a year 2010 was, but I say that because now, I can look at 2011 and expect/want to make it a good year. I can come into 2011 with the determination to make the most out of 2011 both physically and spiritually. I hope to be able to update more often this year than I did last year.

I'm really excited to take on 2011 and I'm positive that God will continue to be faithful within my life and the life of others through 2011 and the years to come! Happy New Years!

The Front Lines of War!

2010-11-19T17:13:00.000-05:00

What can I say, I've recently been talking about how much my youth group has grown and how it has contributed so much to my spiritual growth over the past couple weeks. I have however, failed to mention something that has helped me out throughout the week when I'm not at church, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

FCA has grown so much and I can not even express how much of a blessing it is to see that other kids at Cypress Creek are bold and wanting to profess and proclaim their love for Christ. For years, I have been trying to get myself to be more bold in my classrooms, in my lunchroom, in my hallways, etc. God has answered my prayers by encouraging me with FCA!

This past Thursday, November 18, our FCA held a rally during lunch in order to tell other student about FCA and to tell other students about God's truth. Here are some pictures.

One of the pastors who has become a big influence and part of FCA is Pastor Alan Adorno (right). He gave this awesome sermon that consists of rhymes, almost like a rap. It was definitely awesome and a true blessing. When you get the chance, I highly recommend that you listen to the words that Pastor Alan says and to really meditate on them. The rhyme is called, "I got water in my gospel?!?!"

We had originally planned to give away free pizza to help lure in the students but at the last minute, we were informed that we could not do so. We knew this was Satan in the works, trying to suppress what we knew God would do. In the end, God proved to be faithful yet again! By the end of the day, 45% of the WHOLE ENTIRE student body at Cypress Creek attended the rally. No free food necessary, nothing. God is good. If you have any questions about FCA or any other questions in general, click here to contact me.

Samosas and Butter Chicken

2010-11-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

So before I actually write about what I want to, I just felt like I should give a quick update. Over the past weeks, I've begun to REALLY see how faithful and true God really is. His unconditional love and grace over my life has been, overwhelming. From the awesome car that I have, to the two best parents, to the best of friends, to the best two sisters, to the best mentors in my life, and to everything, God has made sure to make me feel loved and watched over! My faith has grown in ways that I never would have imagined and I'm glad to say that although I have my set backs, it's not trouble for me to come back!

Although spiritually I'm doing phenomenal, it is all starting to hit me, I'm growing up. I have my license now and within a couple months, I'll have to start SAT prep along with taking the SATs themselves. Not only that, but all the IMPORTANT assignment for being in the IB program are all coming within the next year. It's not doubt that my play time is relatively over! I have to get serious and start paying attention to life. I realized that it was time for me to grow up when I hated thinking about how when I get a job, I won't have a lot of "chill" time with my friends. Play time is over for me my friends. HOWEVER! It's a good thing photography isn't COMPLETELY play for me!

This past Friday, I had an excused absence to skip fifth, sixth, and seventh period to attend this years 2010 ISA Festival. For those of you who have been following me over the past year (at least), you may remember photographs from the 2009 ISA Festival last year. The ISA Festival is a festival put together by the Indian Student Association (ISA) to help educate the kids of Cypress Creek High School about Indian food, culture, dress, dance, etc.

While the ISA festival is usually held in the amphitheater, this year it was in the auditorium! For me, it was bitter sweet! As a part of the audience, I LOVED IT, no more suffering in the hot sun. However, as the photographer, I hated it! The auditorium has HORRIBLE lighting and unless you are a professional photographer, these low light situations = nightmare for amateur photographers such as myself. Despite the low light though, I must say, I captured some decent photographs. ENJOY!

So the festival started off outside where everyone could get a chance to eat some naan, samosas, butter chicken, and other delicious Indian food along with the chance to purchase from Indian jewelry and get some henna done!

Henna (right) and some of the Indian jewelry

Some of the Indian dances

And here is the fashion show that everyone usually always looks forward to.

*By the way, Ana Alexander and Ahnaf chowdhury(bottom left) are really not that orange. The extreme amount of orange pigmentation is due to the poor lighting/ orange stage lights....*

More of the fashion show.

At the end, the performers invited members of the audience

to come up on stage and learn some of the Indian dances.

Overall, it was AWESOME! It was hands down the best ISA festival that I have been to and I am so, SO proud of the person who was in charge, Nisha Desai! While there were other members of ISA also putting it together, I would personally like to give a HUGE shout out to Nisha! she was constantly stressing out and going over and beyond the expectations of ISA to ensure that this was the best one yet. HUGE SHOUT OUT to all of the performers and the backstage crew too! Awesome job everyone!

Slow It Down...

2010-11-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

So this past Tuesday, I got pulled over for going at a rather fast speed. Of course, my IMMEDIATE reaction was to start praying. Due to God's unconditional mercy and grace, I was let off the hook but the cop specifically told me, "Slow it down!"

I realized that a lot of times, we tend to go to God only when we need something. A good grade, a break, forgiveness, or a 'favor', many times, we tend to only go to God when we need something. I realized that I do this a lot and in fact, I needed to "slow it down." I got so caught up in serving in the church, doing photography as a 'business' that I do not exactly enjoy the things I am supposed to as a hormonal, 16 year-old teenager.

I realized that I do not get to play sports as much as 'normal' teenagers, I don't hang out or "party" as much as a normal teenager should, nor do I really ENJOY life as much as I should... at least, I didn't.

Just as a quick update, over the past couple months, our youth ministry, Harvest, has been growing LIKE CRAZY! The youth are responding and for many kids, church, on a Saturday night, is their favorite day of the week, PRAISE GOD! I can honestly testify that ever since our Saturday Night Fellowships have improved, my life itself has also improved. As a SLT member, it is such a blessing to see that the youth are responding to whatever the SLT plans. Whether it be joint services or outreach projects, THE YOUTH ARE RESPONDING! I realized that in general, ever since SNF has improved, and ever since I started to SOLELY trust in God, I actually enjoy life.

I have been enjoying life in ways that I never thought possible. I enjoy my friends much more and I honestly believe that I have created stronger friendships somehow. I enjoy God in ways that I never did before. I feel this sense of comfort and enjoyment in know that I LOVE God more these days.

Anyways, just a small update on how I've been. As you can see, I've been doing rather well. Here are just a couple pictures from a golf tournament that I photographed a couple weeks ago...

P.S
Golf-tournaments are officially the most boring sport to photograph. haha

Apparently, the top right picture is VERY PROPER form...

That's my dad! haha.

I just really like the contrast between the golfers and the background!

X-Tending Hands

2010-10-17T00:57:00.001-04:00

Pulling weeds

Trimming hedges

Cutting down trees

Pulling out tree stumps

Moving buckets and buckets and buckets of sand

Planting a flower garden

Using 12 bags of mulch

And after five hours of manual labor

We were able to minister to some people in Orlando

With the little talents we are blessed with.

At Harvest, our Student Leadership Team has been thriving and looking for MULTIPLE ways to get connected into our community. Whether it be Winter Garden, Windermere, Ocoee, Pine Hills, or even Orlando as a whole, one of our visions has a team is to minister in what little ways we can.

One major thing that we're trying to do these days is to somehow find some kind of ministry or outreach to do, twice a month. Whether that be feeding the homeless, volunteering at a shelter, painting an apartment, etc., our main objective is to show the people of Orlando the love that God has for His children. So for our first project, we partnered with an organization called X-Tending Hands.

Today's project was to go to a house over in Pine Hills and to do perform simple acts of kindness by cleaning up their yard. The house shelters women who are homeless, sick, etc. The house serves as a place of refuge and hopefully, hope for the residents there. Today's project included all that was stated above, along with many, many more.

So these are SOME of the tasks that we did.

I honestly can say that I am so proud to be a part of this team.

It was hot, it was hard, it was difficult,

And yet, not one complaint came from anybody.

Although it can't be seen too clearly,

we planted a small flower bed type thing to sort of, beautify the entrance.

Although it also cannot be seen too clearly here either,

overall, the whole land itself was much more clean and much more... 'presentable.'

AWESOME JOB SLT!

So here are two pictures of the whole crew that helped out (top row)

Along with a picture of our SLT (bottom row)

This is P. Chung and Jin from OCBC (left & middle),

Along with Carl who is Luis's wing man.

Luis is a member of the men's facility located about 5 min from this facility (women's)

Luis could have done everything on his own,

better than us in fact, but I think he enjoyed the help.

Carl was Luis's wing man for everything.

Carl is also like a mini-P.Chung (right)

Overall, the day was DEFINITELY a success. Lots of people showed up, a lot was done, and God definitely used us to minister to the people of this shelter. I cannot praise/recognize the SLT enough for ALL that they did. I am SOOOO proud to be a fellow SLT member with them. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me.

*** Many props to Pastor Albert Young for taking a majority of the photos***

Commissioning and Happy Birthday to Manny Kim!

2010-10-10T22:31:00.000-04:00

So within Harvest, our adults are made up of cell churches. One of our cell churches, the Clara Kim Cell Church (college), grew to be too big so they had to be split up. With a new cell church comes the need for a new cell shepherd and by unanimous decision, Paul Kim was selected. Today, after the sermon and worship time, we took some time to commission Paul as a cell church leader by washing his feet.

Some pictures of the leaders praying for Paul

After church, many of us moved over to the Stoneybrooke West Country Club to celebrate our very own head pastor's daughter's first birthday, Emmanuelle Kim. It was an awesome time of thanksgiving to God, fellowship, and celebration for a very beloved baby within Harvest.

Some detail shots

More detail shots

A Korean tradition when a baby turns 1

Some pictures of the guests [I have no idea why Yeari is in all of them]

And now, around 6 in the evening, my uncle and my cousin came down to Florida to visit and of course, my little cousin Audrey, being the model that she is, wanted to take some pictures. Here's two of my favorite.

Just A Small Update...

2010-10-09T02:50:00.000-04:00

So I'm in my junior year of the IB program and supposedly this is supposed to be the hardest year. While I haven't experienced massive amounts of work, school definitely has not changed one bit. I'm still trying to get back into the routine of getting 5 hours of sleep, doing homework for many hours, struggling over chemistry, etc. This has however taken away any time for photography....

I was cleaning my room yesterday and found these rocks that I had taken from Ecuador. For those who are now tuning in, I went on a mission trip to Ecuador back in late July. I had found the rocks that I had taken for memories, one from each city we ministered in (minus Quito). There are so many things that remind me of Ecuador...

The song "Worthy is the Lamb"
The Salvation bracelet I have in my backpack
Every pick-up truck I see
Anything with cilantro
Fresh juices
Hair cuts
Many, many more...

Despite all the stress that school causes (IB, SATs, etc), these memories are what keep me sane.

I definitely hope to get some photography in my schedule within the next couple months so be sure to stay tuned. ;-)

100th Post/Homecoming Dance 2010

2010-09-18T23:57:00.001-04:00

So about this time two years ago, I had created this blog with hopes to show some of my work. receive some constructive criticism, and to somewhat get myself out there. I honestly admit that I have indeed gotten somewhat better since I first started, but i'm still not nearly close to where I want to be, so hopefully that will happen soon. Thank you so much to those of you who have kept up with me and looked at my work on a consistent basis. Apparently I've gotten approximately 300 views over the past two years (is that good or bad???) but yea again, thank you guys so much for you support!

So my close friend, Joseph Kim goes to school with me and we tend to tell everybody that we're cousins. So, this being my "cousins" senior year, he and his friends went to the CCHS Homecoming Dance 2010. If you remember, I went last year with my sister and her friends and took some pictures for them. This year again, I was given the awesome opportunity to take pictures for my "cousin" and his friends.

For some reason, I tried to pay special attention to Nisha just because she was the homecoming princess AND because she took the liberty of setting up the whole night for many of her friends so...

MAD PROPS TO NISHA DESEI!

They definitely knew how to pose well too!

More so than the boys, I paid special attention to the girls. At events like these, (e.g. Homecoming, prom, Winter ball, etc.) I believe that the girls are still the most important and the main priority so, I made sure to make that a point even when it came time to pictures.

The Homecoming Princess and her boys

The boys....

The whole group, 33 people....

The whole group again.

So overall, it was definitely awesome that they would a trust an amateur like me to take their homecoming pictures. I am EXTREMELY thankful to them for letting me photograph their homecoming day. I was REALLY nervous because I didn't want to ruin their homecoming day; hopefully I didn't. Very beautiful ladies, and handsome men. I could not have asked for better people to take pictures of. Thank you guys for letting me capture your SENIOR homecoming day!!!

A Bittersweet Night

2010-09-18T01:39:00.000-04:00

So I wanted to start off with a small update. Since I've come back from the Ecuador Trip that I went on back in late July, I can honestly admit that my life isn't RADICALLY different, but I am constantly reminded of what I learned while I was down there. There are so many things around Orlando that remind of Ecuador... weird isn't it?!?! I haven't gotten the chance to do as much photography as I had hoped for and I can honestly say that I do miss it a lot.

- Do I miss all of the post-production? Not so much.
- Do I miss lugging around all of the equipment? Not so much.
- Do I miss standing on my feet all day, walking back and forth on a football field? Not so much.
- Then what do I miss?

I miss snapping away shots. The one thing that I love about photography is that I am in control. I don't have to listen to a teacher, do it a certain way, or even take CERTAIN pictures. I'm given a general subject, and I am my own instructor. The best is getting that PERFECT candid shot. You know, the shot of the dad giving his little girl a kiss, the photograph of the girl with "that look" in her eye as she watches her boyfriend play football (ha-ha), it's those perfect "kodak moments" that make it all worth it. Cliche??? YES!!! But the truth is, you will never understand it until YOU are behind the lense.

Yesterday, Friday, September 17, 2010 was Cypress Creek's homecoming football game where the homecoming parade would take place, and where the homecoming queen and king would be announced. How is this bittersweet? Unfortunately, our football team did not exactly play to the best of their ability and ended the night with another loss, however, last night was the night where the homecoming queen and king would be announced along with homecoming floats and other fun stuff. While I don't have much more to say, here are some of the pictures that I got.

The CCHS stadium has horrible lighting and due to the fact that I, as a teenage, amateur photographer with no steady income, NO income for that matter, I do not exactly have the correct equipment for low lighting situations such as a football game at night. That would explain the blurriness.

Some of the CCHS bear pride. More so senior pride than bear pride. ha ha

More pride.

Katarina Rodriguez and Stephany Duenas were two homecoming queen runner-ups (top right)

And without further or due, THE CCHS HOMECOMING QUEEN AND KING, AMANDA HORNE AND STEPHEN ROCHET LOPEZ! Two friends, very good friends if I am able to add (at least from my perspective.... ha ha) that I am very proud of. Congratulations you guys!

Afterwards, we had a small photo shoot. Both Amanda and Stephen are two very photogenic people = AWESOME models, haha. Congratulations again you guys.

In case some of you are wondering, I took most of these photographs with the Canon 15mm fish eye. It was the widest lense that I had. The next in line would have been my 28-135 which is a tad bit too close. I do however LOVE the fish eye so in regards to my personal preference, it all worked about... but honestly speaking at the same time, I think the photos came out great even with the fish eye.

**** PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!****

If you see a photograph that you like/appreciate, not to sound like a grinch (if that makes sense), but PLEASE do not copy the photograph straight from my blog (right-click, save image as) and claim it your own. I do own copyrights to my photographs so if you want them, just talk to me. This isn't a way for me to get all the credit or to make others know that I took it, not you, but it's a reminder that out of respect for any artist, whether they be a painter, photographer, videographer, poet, author, music artist, etc. this is THEIR work! So again, if you see something that you like, just talk to me about it. To find out contact information, click here.

Why not?!

2010-08-20T14:28:00.000-04:00

So I was on Facebook and saw the opportunity to win a free Macbook Pro, iMac, iPad, iPod, and other awesome prizes. There are 9 ways to enter the contest and this is one of them. While a lot of them are way via Twitter, they had the chance to enter through my blog.

Logos Bible Software is giving away thousands of dollars of prizes

to celebrate the launch of Logos Bible Software 4 Mac on October 1.

Prizes include an iMac, a MacBook Pro, an iPad, an iPod Touch, and more than 100 other prizes!

They’re also having a special limited-time sale on their Mac and PC

base packages and upgrades. Check it out!

So yes, this is my way of enterring the contest but also gives you a chance to enter as well. Click here and enter in any ways you can and have the opportunity to win some prizes!

2010 Harvest Summer Missions - Ecuador

2010-08-16T00:57:00.001-04:00

About 3 weeks ago, I posted an informational update in regards to a mission trip that I would be going on from July 25-31. Here we are, 3 weeks later, back at home. I cannot even begin to explain how amazing the trip was. The trip went perfectly and for someone like me [one who complains a lot] I have no regrets, no disappointments, and no complaints about the trip. The pictures that I took cannot even begin to express how beautiful the land there is, it cannot express the love I saw in the eyes of my own team members and the people of Ecuador, and cannot even begin to demonstrate or show how effectively God used us to do His will.

Without a doubt, this mission trip was THE highlight on my summer and hands down one of the best experiences of my life. With months of prayer and preparation, we went into Ecuador ready to do whatever it was that God called us to do. For many of you, you may just be interested in the photos but for those of you interested in how my trip REALLY was, feel free to contact me and ask me questions, ask for my testimony, etc. Here are a couple pictures and a video with which I hope to try and provide just a mere visual and small explanation of how blessing this trip was for my team and me.

Some pictures prior to our departure.

The bottom, right picture is a picture of Quito, Ecuador at night from the air plane.

Some of the B-E-A-U-TIFUL scenery in Ecuador

Our first FULL day in Lumbaqui, we made a quick stop in a town called "Cabeno" to make some of our own sugar cane juice.

Not too long before our arrival in Ecuador, local church in Lumbaqui was broken in to and the kitchen sink was stolen. So, to help increase security and safety, we helped build a wall around the church after we made our sugar cane juice.

Later that day, around 3 or 4 PM, we headed back to Cabeno to tell the town's people that our mission team would be giving our free hair cuts at the local church while leading a nighttime service.

Some of the neighbors

Our time in Synangue was to be spent helping this unreached village known as the "Cofan Village."

Our time in Synangue was supposed to be spent putting up the walls for the church that our team last year spent time laying down the foundation for. Our plans were changed, and instead, we spent our time in Synangue (2 days) moving the bricks for the walls in a series of 5-6 different "transfers." We moved 1,000 cinderblocks, each weighing about 5lbs, from...

Where they were to a river bank
Across one river
Across a small island
Across another river
To a river bank on the other side
From the river bank up a 60 degree hill (more or less)
Finally, from the top of that hill up another hill, finally to the church.

You can pretty much sum it up as us transferring 2.5 tons of cinderblocks 7 times or as us transferring a whole church 7 times. haha

Some of us were able to carry 6 cinderblocks, others carried 2.

While we were training in Orlando, we had practiced three skits.

We decided to perform all three of skits on our last day in Lumbaqui at the local church.

We also taught the kids about Jonah and acted our the story.

The top two photos (left & middle) were from a skit that we call "Bus Stop."

The top right and bottom left are from a heart skit that we created,

and the bottom right is the start of Jonah.

The top left picture here is also from the story about Jonah while the remaining three photos are from a skit that we call "Sin Chair."

On our trip back to Quito, we stopped by a beautiful waterfall (above) and a natural cold & hot spring known as "Papallacta."

Intimacy...

2010-08-13T21:16:00.000-04:00

From August 3-6, Harvest had their 2010 Youth Summer Retreat. The theme this year was Intimacy. Not intimacy as the world defines it but intimacy with Christ. Our guest speaker was Rev. Q Kim. He was truly an anointed speaker who is a man of prayer. Overall, the four days and three nights were FULL of multiple blessings and honestly one of the best retreats that I have been to, if not THE best.

On August 5, we did an activity called "Pilgrim's Progress." For those of you who like to read [this isn't me], you'll know that this is actually a book written by a man known as John Bunyan. Pilgrim's Progress is about

"A "Christian" and his journey to "Celestial City;" Part II tells of the journey of Christian's wife Christiana and their children to Celestial City. The two parts work together as a unified whole, which describes and depicts the believer's life and struggles" - CCEL.org

As an attempt to help our youth understand more about their Christian walk [including mine] and how important it is, our retreat planning committee decided to simulate this book by cause the youth to go through a series of stations that would help clarify how each individuals' struggles affect everyone around then. Some stations simulated perseverance, temptation, and some simulated the reality of one's downfall causing everyone else to pay a price.

Much like our Christian walk today, when one of us falls away from Christ, falls to temptation, etc., the people around us are effected most. I truly believe that beyond to soreness, the complaints, and the lassitude, every single person who particitpated, from the age of 12 to the age of 20+, came out of Pilgrim's Progress with a stronger understanding of how crucial their faith and loyalty to Christ effects their life and the lives around them.

Some ice-breakers....

Team games....

Skits....

Pastor Goose and Julee left this past Tuesday to start their new life in San Diego, California. A couple months ago, Pastor Goose had accepted a calling at Jesus Community church to start an english congregation there. On the last night of the retreat, we spent a short time praying for them, praying for provision and God's faithfulness over their time in San Diego.

And here we have, cute Emmanuelle "Manny" Kim, daughter of Rev. David L Kim and Olivia Kim. :D

As The Day Comes....

2010-07-21T23:16:00.003-04:00

For those of you who have followed me for at least the past year, you should be able to recall a post that I put up in regards to our church's first ever mission trip to Ecuador. Our church was sending out a mission team to Lumbaqui/Synangue to minister to an unreached tribe in the Amazon region known as the Cofan People. One of the biggest risks was the possibility of our missionaries being kidnapped along the Columbian border. Although it was a risk, God's calling is so much more important.

After spending 5 days in Ecuador and returning back home, the church decided that Ecuador was a risk worth taking every year. Here we are, one year later, ready to send off yet another team. Within in our team, there are 10 members going on the trip.

1st Row: Rev. David L. Kim, Pastor Martin "Goose" Chang, Julee Chang

2nd Row: Mr. James Ye, Bill Lee, Isaac "Jak"(me) Lee

3rd Row: Joseph Kim, Andrew Im, John "Punchy" Kim

AND....

Mrs. Myong Lee. She is not included in the above picture because she was not able to be there on picture day so her picture had to be taken on a separate day.

We will be in Ecuador from July 25-31. Here is the tentative schedule of what we plan on doing.

Sunday, July 25: Leave after service, spend the night at Casa Sueca.

Monday, July 24

7:00AM - Breakfast

8:00AM - Leave for Lumbaqui

Lunch on Road (Merge*)

Arrive in Lumbaqui - Check into hotel

Opening Briefing

Culto Especial

7:00PM - Dinner (Hotel)

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, July 27-29

7:00AM - Breakfast (Hotel)

8:00AM - Leave for Sinangue

9:00AM-12PM - Work project in Sinangue

12:00PM - Lunch (Merge*)

1:00PM - Prep for evangelism program

2:00PM-5PM - Evangelism program in different communities

5:00PM - Leave for Lumbaqui

7:00PM - Dinner (Hotel)

Friday, July 30

7:00AM - Breakfast (Hotel)

8:00AM - Leave for Quito

Stop at Papallacta/ Lunch (Merge)

Closing Spiel

Night at Casa Sueca

Saturday, July 31: Leave early in the morning

Merge*: The missions agency that we're partnering with on this trip.

On July 25, at 2.30 PM, we will leave Orlando via American Airlines, headed towards Miami. We will have a hour layover in Miami and then off to Quito, Ecuador! If you would and are able, I would really appreciate it if you came out and sent me off (I hope that doesn't sound conceded...) I will be at the airport by 12.45 AT THE LATEST and probably will be saying goodbye to others until 2-ish if not a little later. Please do not feel obligated to come out, only if you would like to. If you cannot make it to my departure but would like to be there when I arrive, my flight should be landing in Orlando (MCO) at 3.20PM on July 31. Please do not hesitate to come out if you want to.

I am so excited for this trip and I can't wait to get onto the missions field. I believe that this will be an amazing trip filled with both blessings we pour out to the people in Ecuador, but also blessings we receive. As you can see, from the previous post, there were prayer requests and as I looked over them, I do not see much change in the requests we ask for this time around.

~~~~Please pray for...~~~~~

1. SAFETY! (from crime, disease, dangers, and for good health)- lots of small crime in Quito – theft, pickpockets, etc.
- in Lumbaqui, we're staying at a HOSTEL. We are “targets” because we are American and we look different so please pray for safety here.
- the road from Lumbaqui to Sinangue is similar to the road from Jericho...kinda dangerous. The roads are secluded and go through the jungle where lots of guerillas from Colombia hide out. Shouldn’t be a huge deal, but please pray for safety.
- after traveling this road, we have to CROSS A RIVER to get to the Cofan people. We have to walk thru the river for 5 minutes, then take a canoe the rest of the way in prety deep water. We will have to wear boots because of SNAKES.
- at the construction site in Sinangue, there are lots of INSECTS! We got all our recommended shots and pills (yellow fever, typhoid, malaria, tetanus, hepatitus A & B) and will have to wear long sleeve shirts and long pants.

2. Lumbaqui and Cofan peopleplease pray for the church in Lumbaqui, to be encouraged, and for the salvations of the children and non-believers we envangelize to.

Please pray for the Cofan people group...that the church building will be a place of God's presence, discipleship, growth, to reach the Cofan with the gospel!

3. our team's ministrypray for unity, compassion, power, boldness, courage, miracles, strength, that our light will shine, to be led by the Holy Spirit, and other things you pray for missionaries about

I hope to come back with many stories, blessings, and photos that I can share with you. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me by clicking here.

Growing Up In a Small Family...

2010-07-21T23:12:00.001-04:00

Growing up, I've always wondered what it was like to live in a big family. I've always wanted to know what it was like to have a bunch of uncles/aunts, NUMEROUS cousins, so on and so forth. As I grew up, I had only 2 uncles, 2 aunts, and 3 cousins. Looking beyond my immediate relatives, I noticed that my family is actually bigger than I thought.

One of my grandmothers grew up with 11 other siblings, and one of my grandfathers grew up with 7 other siblings; this means very distant uncles and aunts for me. From an Uncle Danny in Hawaii to an Uncle Steve in Arizona, today, I met up with my Uncle Tai-Chi and my Aunt Christine and their three kids Jessica, Isabel, and Matthew. I have met them before but I had a very vague memory of who they were and yet, here we are only a couple years later, catching up while they were in town. For me, it was a fun time and I forgot how cool uncles and aunts can be.

Top photo: Adults - Uncle Tai-Chi, Aunt Christine, mom, Lindsey, Lisa

Kids - Matthew, Jessica, Isabel

Bottom Left photo: Back row - Lindsey, me, Lisa

Front row - Matthew Jessica, Isabel,

Bottom Right photo: Back row - Uncle Tai-Chi and Aunt Christine

Front row - Matthew, Jessica, Isabel

VBS 2010: High Seas Exploration

2010-07-12T00:20:00.007-04:00

This past month has been amazing! I haven't had the opportunity to take pictures and update lately but I have had the opportunity to really relax and prepare physically, mentally, spiritually, etc. for my mission trip to Ecuador that will take place from July 25-31 (more updates to come). I did however, get the chance to photograph our Kingdom Keeper's Vacation Bible School this year.

This year's theme was "High Seas Exploration." There were about 35 kids and I can honestly say that they really enjoyed themselves. From mouth watering sloppy joes for dinner to awesome skits to cool arts & crafts, the kids did not stop smiling for even one second; it truly was an awesome time for me, almost like deja vu. Here are a couple pictures and a slideshow at the end.

P.S
This is my first slideshow that I've made with my new software so please bare with me due the fact that it is FAR from professional.

A compass that symbolizes the bible and how the bible us God's compass for us to guide us to Him.

The next David Blaine

4-6 Grade students (1st column)

K-3 Grade students (2nd column)

All the kids (3rd column)

All the kids + Teachers (4th column)

Congratulations KPCO Seniors!

2010-06-20T20:22:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday, June 19, we had a senior banquet to congratulate our graduate seniors at Harvest. We had a night of food, fellowship, and words of remembrance and encouragement. Other than for that, I don't have much to say so enjoy the photos.

P.S
The photo containing all of the seniors is currently not uploading so check back in a couple days and let's hope that it works

In the middle of Pastor Goose's talk, these two sand hill cranes decided to show up to the banquet.

There are six seniors, however, two were not able to make it (Matthew Lim and Nasya Lee)

Thank You Dr. Josephine Kim

2010-06-19T13:13:00.002-04:00

Fluent in both English and Korean, professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education, has a PHD in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Virginia, and known to be an expert in mental-health and family issues, Dr. Josephine Kim is widely known as USA Today's national expert on school violence and was the chief liaison in the Virginia Tech Incident.

This past weekend, June 12-13, we (KPCO) were blessed to have Dr. Josephine come and "lead us in a weekend of discussion and dialogue uniquely geared towards Asians and Asian-Americans." I believe that Dr. Josephine's talks were truly convicting and inspiring and brought many families to place of comfort and understanding in each other.

Thank you Dr. Josephine!

P.S
Sorry for the delay/late post! My version of Adobe Photoshop decided to get a runtime error (whatever that means) and crashed on me. I didn't get to edit any pictures up until today! Thank you for your patience.

Due to the nature and privacy of the topics discussed, audio recorded sessions are NOT available but if you are interested in the text of her powerpoint slides, feel free to email me and I will direct you/answer your questions as I am able to.

Another CTI Missionary!

2010-06-07T16:57:00.000-04:00

   If you refer to a previous post from early February, a music missions team, CTI Team 14:22, came to my church to have a small concert where all who attend could come and praise God. I mentioned that on that team was a close brother of mine, Jon Lee, who had joined that team for one year where he would continue to practice, learn, and grow in his faith by doing what he loves; praising God and playing guitar. Today, I am proud to say that we, Harvest, is sending off another missionary.

   When the team came in late January, they had on site auditions where anybody could audition for a spot on the summer mission team. Josh "Tico" Kim had auditioned to become a member of CTI as a bassist. A couple weeks later, he was informed that he "made the cut."

   Josh is now a part of CTI Taiwan 2010, led by Lesley Denford (click here for her blog) and Matt Adams. Josh will be leaving tomorrow, June 8, 2010, for CTI's headquarters in Minnesota. From June 8 -21, he will be in training and plans to be in Taiwan from June 22 - July 15. Within Josh's team, there are 13 members, including him, all of which are talented in their own ways with instruments and other ways of serving.

   According to Josh "Tico,", his team will be....

"Reaching youth with the gospel can take many years in Taiwanese culture. YWAM builds long-term relationships with students here through a coffee shop ministry known as "The Rock." Our teams connect kids with YWAM through evening coffeehouse concerts and conversational evangelism with students who are eager to practice their English on Americans. During the days, teams minister in hospitals, schools, and through open-air concerts on the bustling streets and wharfs of Taipei"

While no specific prayer requests were mentioned, Tico asks that we pray for him and the team. He will be leaving tomorrow at 7:10 AM. Good Luck Tico!

At Harvest, we really believe in preparing and raising up missionaries that can go forth and be the salt/light of the earth. If you remember from August of last year, we sent out a team, for the first time, to Ecuador. In Ecuador, they did a great number of things including construction projects, door-to-door evangelism, etc. This year, we're sending out another team and I'm on it!

For me, this is huge. I had been on a fair number of mission trips, but never overseas; this will be my first overseas mission trip. Our team consists of about 10-11 members, all who can't wait to see God work through us.

Top Row (Left -> right): Pastor DL, Pastor Martin "Goose", Julee Chang*

Middle Row (left -> right): Mr. James Ye, Bill Lee*, Isaac "Jak" Lee* (me)

Bottom Row (left -> right): Joseph Kim, Andrew Im*, John Kim*

~~~ Team members with stars are first time missionaries to Ecuador~~~

Here is most of the team. A couple members are missing.

We will be having multiple fundraisers so if you would like to get involved and/or help out in anyway, feel free to email me. We leave on July 25 and return July 31. Please pray for us, the people of Ecuador, and for Christ to do His works through us.

As We Go On, We Remember....

2010-06-04T22:53:00.000-04:00

At Amway Arena today, June 4, 2010, Cypress Creek High School celebrated the graduation of the CCHS Class of 2010. While I have MANY friends within the senior class, there are two students that are and will remain VERY important in my life, now and throughout the years to come. Lisa Lee (sister) and Matthew Lim (very close friend), both graduated today from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at CCHS.

Growing up at KPCO, I, along with many others, are very close and support each other in all that we do. Whether it be graduations, sports events, etc. we are known for being very supportive of whatever we do. Today, about 15 of us... KPCO'ers, attended the graduation to express our love and support for both Lisa and Matthew.

I would also like to give a special congratulations to a very close friend of mine, Vicky Lorenzana. We met at the beginning of this year, but over the past year, I feel like I've known her for years. Thankfully, she'll be attending St. Leo University which isn't too far away. Ha-ha.

Congratulations Lisa Lee (Lisa noona to me), Matthew Lim, and Vicky Lorenzana!

2010 IB Freshman Talent Show

2010-05-29T00:08:00.001-04:00

So one of the requirements for the IB freshman is to participate in a talent show at the end of the year. The English teacher, Dr. Weaver, believes that it's good for everybody to show off a talent; I too participated in this talent show last year. Today, May 28, 2010, the freshman had their talent show and in second/third period, I was able to take some pictures. I'm very proud of you freshman, who I'm close friends with (you know who you are), you guys were awesome.

P.S
I AM NOT at all happy with my pictures. I forgot how hard it was to take pictures in the auditorium and didn't prepare for it. While there is no mistake, this proves that I'm not a "pro" and that I still have much learning to do! Please try to enjoy the photos.

Melissa Joseph (group; left), Firdaus Rajani (group; center),

And Sophia Juarez (group; right) singing Cheetah Girls.

Vivian (top left) is the only one in this photo that I know so, awesome job Vivian.

You were awesome!

Mary Finnegan and Ana Alexander (left) were actually the emcees in this photo.

So were Elisabeth Tran and Sean Chew (right)

RTS Graduation

2010-05-22T14:29:00.000-04:00

Growing up at KPCO, there are many people who have indeed played a significant role in my life. I can proudly and thankfully say that the pastors/seminarians at KPCO, Harvest in particular, have done so much within my life to mold me and shape me into the boy that I am today, and the man that I hope to become.

The Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) is a seminary school with six different locations, one of which is here, in Orlando, FL. Yesterday, May 21, 2010, I was able to attend the graduation of RTS's class of 2010. Two of their graduates, Pastor Martin "Goose" Chang and Onew Kim, have both been a huge aspect of my life, and the life of Harvest.

Pastor Goose, Harvest's youth pastor, has been such a huge mentor in my life. Ever since middle school, he has been on of the few people that I look to for advice when it comes to my personal and spiritual life. He's taken me fishing, out to eat, bowling, etc. Ever since he's come to Orlando, I've constantly witnessed his love and sacrifice for the youth and how much he longs to serve the youth and better yet, serve Christ.

About 2.5-3 years ago, I was introduced to Onew Kim (Onew Lee at the time). Immediately, we got along. Onew has been such a huge encouragement to my life in the fact that she too has been one to give me advice, pray for me, and even help me. If you remember, back in January of 2009, I was given the opportunity to shadow Sublime Studios at a friend's wedding. On January 10, 2009, Onew Lee married Howard Kim and she, along with Howard, allowed me to shadow THEIR big day in hopes that I would benefit and grow in my photography.

And so, with this post, I hope to express at least a fraction of how much I thank them for all that they've done in my life. They are such amazing examples of what a Christ-centered leader should look like and it is with that motivation that I hope to reflect God's love with their urgency and fervency for Christ.

P.S.
Although this would be no excuse for a professional photographer, please do disregard the grain in the photos. Without the correct gear and skill as a professional photographer, shooting in low light conditions without a flash is still rather difficult for me.

Both Pastor Goose and Julee have already played a huge role my life. Starting with the many opportunities that they've given me to practice my photography. haha

Pastor Goose (top row) receiving his Masters of Divinity and

Onew (bottom row) receiving her Masters of Arts.

The night was indeed an amazing way to start my weekend! Thank you Pastor Goose and Onew for all that you do. You are such an immense blessing to everyone at Harvest.

So It's Been A While.....

2010-05-17T18:05:00.000-04:00

So it's been a while since I last published a post. With AP testing and a bunch of huge assignments from school, photography was put on hold for a little :'(. So, although I haven't had any cool opportunities to photograph events and all, I thought that I would just show you guys a couple pictures that I took over the past couple weeks.

I only got to shoot 3 or 4 times since then so I only have about 2-3 photographs. HOWEVER! I was published in my school's yearbook. I gave them a bunch of photos and let them choose which ones they wanted to use and to my surprise, they actually used a lot of them. So despite my lack of opportunities to shoot, I was somewhat published. Enjoy the pictures!

Just some fun....

On Mother's Day, a couple of our youth made up these small flower arrangements just as a small, tangible way of expressing how much the moms in Harvest and the moms at our church mean to us and how greatful we are for them.

Just a couple photographs of a typical worship service here at Harvest.

Now that school is calming down and almost over (17 more days!), I'm hoping to get a lot more opportunities to get out and shoot. I'm hoping to get some photographs at a graduation this Friday and maybe a couple photographs at my sister's graduation along with some other opportunities; there might even be the possibility me offering my services for family portraits (stay tuned for more info).

Pie Someone for $2

2010-04-26T18:33:00.001-04:00

For those of you who have been following me for the past couple months, you will know that I had recently participated in something called The 30-Hour Famine. The 30-Hour Famine is an international youth movement to fight hunger and poverty. As our church's last time to try and collect donations, we had two groups come up with their own fundraiser.

Group #1 - Pay for Hong to Grow His Beard.

Basically, there are 4 different areas, mustache, chin, cheeks, and neck. For every dollar donated, Hong is required to grow his beard out in the selected region for one day. So far, they raised over $110, around $70 of which is dedicated to his mustache.

Group #2 - Pie Someone for $2

This was my group. We decided that student/adults could pay $2 and pie one of the contestants. For 50 cents extra, they could add on a topping i.e. chocolate syrup, caramel, etc. We raised $102. The kids really enjoyed it, the contestants loved the whipped cream and syrups, and it was just an awesome way to raise some funds for a good cause and have some fun. Thank you to Seho Hong, Albert Kang, Kenny Kuk, Pastor Albert Young, Pastor Martin "Goose" Chang, and David "Biggie" Kim.

If you would still like to help fight hunger and poverty, please click here for more information (below the photographs) or feel free to contact me.

2010 Relay for Life

2010-04-24T17:54:00.001-04:00

For those of you who have been following me for about the past 9-10 months, you will know about my friend Victor who had passed away back in July of 2009. Victor was a warrior who had fought cancer for 10 months when doctors only gave him 3. Victor was diagnosed in September of 2008, fought cancer for the next 10 months, and went home to be with the Lord in July of 2009. This year, I helped remember Victor by participating in the 2010 Relay for Life.

At first, I was planning on participating in the Relay for Life just to take pictures but when I got there, I changed my mind and went from a mindset of "this is for your photography," to "this is for Victor and others out there suffering from cancer."

Relay for Life "is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length." This year, Relay for Life was held at Dr. Phillips High School.

Unfortunately, I was not able to take many pictures but I was however reminded of how much Victor trusted Christ with his life, what Victor did with those last 10 months of his life, and how I should reflect the love Victor had for Christ. For more information on how you can get involved, click here.

Just a couple of the signs posted around the track field.

At my school, Cypress Creek High School, we were represented by our "Alleviate International Distress (AID)" club

Bag were set up on the bleachers with candles lit inside to spell out "cure" and "hope".

Along the floor of the track field were commemorating bags for those who are fighting/fought cancer.

A friend of mine and some of her friends who participated in Relay for Life.

***30-Hour Famine***

I would also to take this time to remind some people that cancer is not the only disease that continues to prevail in every society. Hunger is a disease that claims the life of one child every 7 seconds somewhere around the world. Hunger is not just a problem after earthquakes, storms, etc. but hunger is a something that continues to claim the lives of thousands of people every day.

If you would like to help out, please click here (Please read after the photos).
*$1 = food for a child for ONE day.

The 30-Hour Famine

2010-04-14T20:40:00.000-04:00

The 30-Hour Famine is an international youth movement to fight hunger and poverty. This past weekend, our Harvest Congregation was able to partake in this movement and help raise awareness and donations to help fight this cause.

From April 9-10, over 30 youth participated in 30 hours of fasting, supplying their needs with only water and juices. Within those 30 hours, the youth played multiple games that helped simulate a mild version of what life is like for those who suffer poverty and hunger in Ethiopia. When the youth were not playing games, they spent about 2 hours around the neighborhood raising awareness and collecting monetary donations and/or non-perishable canned goods.

Hunger and poverty does not only occur after natural disasters such as those in Haiti, Chile, Japan, China, etc. but these injustices continue to prevail all throughout the world; even in local cities such as Orlando and Tampa.

Overall, the event was an extreme blessing to everybody who helped out. Eyes were opened and hearts were touched. Let us not go back to our normal lifestyles but may our hearts be changed so that we can shine Christ's light among the nations. Like Brooke Fraser states in the song Hosanna, may we be a "generation rising up to take our place."

Of the 30+ plus youth/helpers, there were 5 groups all named after a real tribe in Ethipoia.

A game meant to simulate the difficulties that tribes would experience when harvesting food.

And yet another simulation.

In Ethiopia and other third-world countries, tribes/ people who suffer from injustices also suffer from major diseases such as cholera, vitamin A deficiency, etc. As you can see here, a big obstacle is retrieving clean water. As a way to help simulate MORE difficulties, everybody has some sort of disability whether it be the loss of one arm, not able to speak, etc.

Some things from the donations/ some objects that relate to The 30-Hour Famine

Praise and worship

Some fun during some down time.

***So How Can YOU Help?!?!?***

If you've read my previous posts, you will know that I am selling photographs in attempts to help raise funds for WorldVision. $1 is enough to feed a person for ONE WHOLE DAY! While one chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A can barely suffice for our needs, it can be enough to feed a person for 5 days in areas of need such as Niger, Ethiopia, etc.

If you would like to help out, please feel free to contact me or email me. For more information as to how you can purchase photographs to help support this cause, please click here (information begins below photograph).

Shuttle Launch and Change in Plans

2010-04-05T18:03:00.001-04:00

So this morning, I woke up and looked out my window when I saw a rather strange arrangement of clouds and realized, "IT'S FROM THE SHUTTLE LAUNCH!!!" Being the photographer that I am, even many of my friends predicted that I would be outside taking pictures of the clouds (if that's what you'll call them) and very well, I did. Enjoy the pictures and please read the information below due to a change in ways that YOU can get involved with fighting world hunger. You benefit from it to, not just in a moral sense.

In my previous post, I briefly explained my change in plans as to how I was planning on raising support for the 30-Hour Famine. A couple posts ago, I initially introduced and explained what I hoped to do in regards to using my photography to help benefit this cause. For more information regarding what I am raising donations for, please visit the introductory post for this "project."

Initially, I planned on selling prints of pictures that people could order/purchase and cherish. As I reviewed this plan, I realized that many people who would like to purchase photographs are more interested in digital copies rather than actual photographic prints. And so, here is new plan! A lot of the information is a repeat of what was said in the first post.

Instead of selling individual prints of variable sizes, I am now selling digital copies. This will be the process as to how you can access that Photobucket account and purchase any digital copies you desire.

If you are interested in viewing/purchasing photographs, email me and ask for the account information.
Browse around the MANY albums (click "View all albums" under recent albums) and if you find a photo you would like to purchase, email me back with the following information.
Name, email address, and then the album name/picture #/image description.
I will then email you back confirming your "order" with the total number of digital copies/price and from there, once I receive the "payment," I will then send the digital copy via email.

*****EXAMPLE EMAIL WILL BE SHOWN BELOW*****

The view the picture number, simply click on the photo and near the top left hand corner of the photobucket.com website there state, "viewing __ of __." Please use THAT number for your order. Many of the albums coincide with the albums on my Facebook. If you are tagged in a photo via Facebook, look for the album/album creating date and look at the albums around that date and/or albums with photos from the same folder. If you are not sure what folder it is in, email me the description of the photo with your name and I will try and locate the folder for you.

Now how come you can't just go into my Photobucket and right-click, save image as??? All of my photos have either my banner or my name across the photograph so unless you want a photograph with my name across the whole thing, you might not want to "steal" the photograph.

I don't do this to be mean or picky but I do this to ensure the respect of my photography along with others. There's no point for you to want to help these kids and then go and steal my images or anybody else's for that matter. Same reason as to why it is illegal to download/pirate movies and music. I hope you guys understand.

The prices are now one price.

1 digital copy - $2

According to The 30-Hour Famine, $1 is enough to feed a person for a whole day; so why not help out and make one photo enough to feed a person for two whole days. All though these are the prices, you DO NOT have to purchase a photo to help out. Donations are always welcome. To donate, email me for more information.

Also, PLEASE do not have one person purchase one photo and forward that photo to everybody else. Obviously there's no way for me to monitor that, but please just be honest and purchase digital prints for yourself and do not pass them along unless another copy is paid for. For most of us, $2 isn't much so why don't we help implement hope into others through a simple, generous act of kindness and purchase another print to give to a friend of family member. Honesty is what will help make this work.

Also, if you know that I have a photograph of you but don't see it in any of the albums, please email me and inform me and I will try and allow that photo available for purchase. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or contact me through any other means of communication.

*****PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO ANYBODY YOU KNOW. REFER THEM TO THIS BLOG POST OR GIVE THEM MY EMAIL OR SOMEHOW REFER THEM TO ME. THIS IS ONLY A SMALL WAY THAT BOTH YOU AND I CAN HELP THOSE SUFFERING FROM HUNGER. SO PLEASE, SPREAD TO WORD TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS.*****

All orders should be sent to jakleephotography@gmail.com. For more information/direction please visit my previous post. Feel free to email me with any questions.

This is what your email should roughly look like.

This is where you can find the photo number.

Egg Hunts, Peeps, and Christ's Amazing Grace

2010-04-04T22:06:00.001-04:00

2000 years ago, as I mentioned in my last post, Christ sacrificed His own life, that we may come to know of Christ, who He is, be His disciples, and so that we may understand what it means to be loved. It's been taught for many years that on Good Friday, Christ hung up on the cross and sacrificed His own life to wipe clean OUR sins that we may be free from the chains of Hell. It's also been taught that Christ promised to his disciples that He would resurrect from the dead three days later and ascend into heaven, this day known as Easter Sunday.

This past weekend, we have indeed experienced renewal and witnessed something beautiful. For Good Friday, both the English speaking congregation, Harvest, and the Korean speaking congregation, Vision Church, held a joint service to praise and thank Christ for His great sacrifice. Today, Easter Sunday, as a church, we had a church wide picnic where both young and old could gather and fellowship, dine on amazing food, and play a variety of sports as a way of bonding and fellowship; but that's not all.

In Harvest, on the first Sunday of every month, we partake in communion as a sign/reminder of what Christ did for us. Along with communion this Sunday, we were also able to experience something more beautiful. Today, April 4, 2010, four of our members of Harvest, Jiyoung Ko, Kyoko Masuda, Evelyn Kwak, and Emmanuelle Kim, were baptized. It was indeed a beautiful thing.

Even as Easter comes to an end, I ask that we not forget how much we are loved. It is through Christ that we are able to worship freely. Our chains are gone, we've been set free, Satan has no grip us, so let us worship Christ with all that we are, day in and day out, even after Easter.

Evelyn Kwak (left; baby), Kyoko Masuda (center left),

Jiyoung Ko (center right) and Emmanuelle Kim (right; baby)

At Harvest, we are extremely blessed to have three pastors, two of whom are married, who love us with all their heart and constantly want to invest in our lives that we may know what it means to truly be loved. Both the pastors and their wives are a true blessing to Harvest and to KPCO.

Pastor David Larry Kim (DL), Olivia Kim, and Emmanuelle Kim (left)

Pastor Albert Young (center)

Pastor Martin "Goose" Chang and Julee Chang (right)

************* 30 Hour Famine*************

A couple posts ago, I mentioned that I would be selling photographs as a way to raise funds for a youth organization known as The 30-Hour Famine. After not getting any orders at all, I decided to make some changes.

Instead of purchasing prints, im now selling digital copies. Each copy is $7 and once the order has been placed, it will be sent via email. According to The 30-Hour Famine, $1 is enough to feed a person for one day. So, with your purchase on ONE photo, you can feed a person for one whole week. Please view the photos below for changes in directions as to how you can order.

PLEASE do not have one person purchase one photo and forward that photo to everybody else. Obivously there's no way for me to monitor that, but please just be honest and purchase digital prints for yourself and do not pass them along unless another copy is paid for. For many of us, $7 isn't much so why don't we help implement hope into others through a simple, generous act of kindness and purchase another print to give to a friend of family member. Honesty is what will help make this work.

All orders should be sent to jakleephotography@gmail.com. For more information/direction please visit my previous post. Feel free to email me with any questions.

This is what your email should roughly look like.

This is where you can find the photo number.

50 Years of Love

2010-03-31T11:36:00.003-04:00

Within Harvest, there are numerous people who have played such a big role in the growing up and maturing stage of my life. One family that continues to bless me is the Lee Family. The parents (Mr. Charlie and Mrs. Janet Lee) constantly love on the youth and do whatever they can to help the youth and ensure the most blessings possible. The kids, Monica, Chris, and Ryan Lee, always come to church excited, happy, and ready to have a fun and blessed time worshiping Christ. And the grandparents, I was never very close with the grandparents, but it was on March 20, 2010 that I was able to truly experience the blessings that they bring to our church.

50 Years ago, March 20, 1960, the grandparents of Monica, Ryan, and Chris Lee celebrated their 50th anniversary of their marriage. Held at the Windermere Country Club, Mr. and Mrs. Lee invited friends and family to help celebrate their 50 years of unconditional love that they vowed to 50 years ago. On March 20, 2010, they once again restated their vows, promising to love each other forever & ever.

Mr. and Mrs. Lee portray the true meaning of love in life. Love, by the biblical definition, is defined as a love that is unconditional, sacrificial, and obviously loving. Their version of love isn't what the world defines as love but what the bible defines as love. The world simple defines love as, "a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend." If you look at love the way Christ intended it to be, love is so much more. It's not just that fuzzy, tingly feeling but it's the feeling where, defined by 1 Corinthians 13, love is, " patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things." This here is love... A perfect example is what Christ did for us 2000 years ago on the cross, where He sacrificed His life for us, and that our sins would be wiped clean with His blood.

So, as I was blessed to see what the real, biblical definition of love is, I was also blessed to be given the opportunity to photograph this event. The Lee family is indeed a very fun, spontaneous, joyful family to be around.

Little bit out of focus, but here we have Harvest's lead pastor,

Rev. David Larry Kim, his wife Olivia Kim, and their beautiful daughter Emmanuelle "Manny" Kim.

One second too early...

A couple family portraits.

Like I said, their family was just so fun, spontaneous, and joyful that taking portraits of them was really a simple task. A lot of them knew how to pose on their own so their wasn't much difficulty at all....

I had to add this in. I always see photographers get photographs of the amazing treats at these kinds of celebrations and well, I couldn't help but to attempt at copying them.... It doesn't look as good as professional photographers' but for me, it suffices.

ASA Festival

2010-03-25T21:57:00.004-04:00

Back in November of 2009, the Indian Student Association(ISA) organized and had what they called the "ISA Festival" at school where different presentations about India were presented.; things like Indian fashion, dance, etc. Well today, March 25, 2010, our Asian Student Association(ASA) did the same except for different countries around Asia. Hope you enjoy the photographs!

P.S

If there are any photographs of you in this post or recent posts, or if you would even just like to browse around all of my past work, please contact me AND/OR read for more information on how to purchase those photographs. Information is given as to where the money will go, what the money will do, and how to order. The money is all for a good cause, and I make no profit at all. Please keep in mind that the photographs I show here on my blog, are only a small fraction(20-40%) of the photographs I actually produce. So feel free to read for more info and view more of my photographic work. Click here to read for more information.

At my school, it's funny because there is this group of girls/good friends of mine and it's really weird for me personally when I walk down the hall and I have one of my friends say something to me in Korean or when I hear Korean pop songs. Why is this weird??? None of them are Korean! I guess it's kind of cool at the same time though. Here are four of the girls doing a dance to a Korean pop song.

Angela Sy(left) and Angel Chung(right) both officers of the Asian Student Association

I would tell you what country this was for, but I honestly do not remember. Talented dancers though.

This is the teacher/sponsor of ASA that helped make the ASA festival possible.

As you can see, she did a dance herself.

And you all know how much I love candids.... This one's just for kicks.

A friend of mine, Ana, asked me,

"Hey Isaac, what do you do with all those photos you took of your friends during lunch?"

And well Ana, here's the answer. Haha.

Does Jak Lee Have Photographs That YOU Want?!?!

2010-03-19T22:56:00.004-04:00

Everyday, more than 25,000 children under the age of 5 die from preventable causes such as disease, poverty and hunger. If you do the math, that means that one child is dying every 7 seconds from causes that WE can help prevent. Hunger knows no bounds, it exists everywhere, and most hunger victims are women and children. Within many countries, 1 out of every 13 children die before the age of 5 due to hunger. World Vision is an organization that strives to fight and prevent worldly injustices that prevail all around the world and hunger is only one of them. The 30-Hour Famine is an international youth movement to fight hunger and poverty.

So what can we do? At Harvest, we as a congregation will do 3 things to help out.

Raise funds to help support and feed a child or children who need it.
On Saturday, March 27, we will sponsor a free showing of the award-winning movie, “Blind Side.” It’s an amazing movie of an even more amazing story that will inspire all who watch it. Popcorn will be served and donations will be collected for the Famine.
On April 9-10, our youth ministry will be having a lock-in at church. Participants will fast for 30 hours to feel the hunger that these women and children feel. There will be times of worship and games and engage in activities to increase awareness of the needs in our world. The lock-in will end with a meal on Saturday

So now, what can YOU do? Besides the following above, you can help me, help the children. Up until April 16, 2010, I will be selling photographs to anyone who would like to buy. some Over the past 2 weeks, I have uploaded my whole entire portfolio to my Photobucket and created a visiter's password for viewers. This will be the process as to how you can access that Photobucket account and purchase any prints.

If you are interested in viewing/purchasing photographs, email me and ask for the account information.
Browse around the MANY albums (click "View all albums" under recent albums) and if you find a photo you would like to purchase, email me back with the following information.
Name, email address, and then the album name/picture #/image description/ size and number of pictures.
I will then email you back confirming your "order" with the total number of pictures/price and from there, we will talk about paying for and receiving the photographs.

*****EXAMPLE EMAIL WILL BE SHOWN BELOW*****

As for the paying process, once your "order" has been confirmed, we will somehow meet up, you will pay for the pictures, I will write you a receipt, and within the next couple weeks, you will receive your photo(s).

Now how come you can't just go into my Photobucket and right-click, save image as??? All of my photos have either my banner or my name across the photograph so unless you want a photograph with my name across the whole thing, you might not want to "steal" the photograph.

***I don't do this to be mean or picky but I do this to ensure the respect of my photography along with others. There's no point for you to want to help these kids and then go and steal my images or anybody elses for that matter. Same reason as to why it is illegal to download/pirate movies and music. I hope you guys understand.***

The prices are as follows.

4x6 - $ 5
5x7 - $8
8x12 - $11
Anything bigger - $15
***Sizes may vary depending on the cropping of the actual photograph in comparison to the print size.***

The prices are set so that even the smallest picture and feed a child for 3 days AT LEAST! Once the photographs have been purchased, all purchases are made final. Refunds and returns will not be accepted. All though these are the prices, you DO NOT have to purchase a photo to help out. Donations are always welcome. To donate, email me for more information.

This is what your email should roughly look like.

This is where you can find the photo number.

CCHS Sports and Bear Rock Live Take V

2010-03-06T22:45:00.004-05:00

So Friday, March 5, 2010, was a pretty miserable day for me. The previous night, I only got 3 hours of sleep and woke up with just a complete feeling of weakness and sickness. As soon as I reached school, the headache kicked in, fever, uncontrollable coughing, and shivering all hit me at once and by the end of the day, I had been feeling this way for the WHOLE day. Only to make it worse, I had to take pictures at our school talent show which we called "Bear Rock Live Take V." In between the time school ended (2:11 PM) and the time Bear Rock Live began (7:00 PM), I stayed at school and hung out with some friends and took some pictures of the school sports going on. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

P.S

For those of you who really really like the pictures, please please please! do not copy the pictures from my blog and put them on your facebook, myspace, etc. It is an extreme violation of copyrights. If you would like the picture(s), please email me and we can work something out. But please, for the respect of my photography and future reference/respect for anybody else's artwork, do not copy these photos from my blog. Thank You! I don't mean to sound like a grinch but it's only right to me and to others. And so, without further or due, here they are!

Sophomore tennis player, Karolina Vanegas

Ha-ha! This picture made me smile. This is Vicky Lorenzana A.K.A the coolest person in the world. We met in photo class and became really close friends. She's absolutely amazing. This here ladies and gentlemen, is the next Woman's Wimbledon Champion,

She's already practicing her victory move. hehe.

Senior tennis player Mariana Alvarez

Three of the girl's varsity lacrosse team at CCHS.

Murphy Donohue (left), Amanda Tan (center), and Lauren Zuromski (right)

JV Lacrosse player Haewon Lee (#71;left) and Apopka player #8......

Faceoff. Apopka player #11 (left) and JV Lacrosse player Sarah Horne (right)

Bear Rock Live is a school-wide talent show and has been for the past five years. This year was the 5th year and I can definitely say that we have some talented youth here at CCHS.

One of the best talents and friend to me, Karla Guevara

Also some very talented dancers/friend of mine, Alex Koo (left) and Nisha Desei (right)

Band Name: Eagle Sent

So besides my miserable condition, the day was fun. I got a project out of the way, got to spend some time watching my friends do what they do best through their sports/music, and I got to see a variety of music. Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures!

Congratulations Kayla Chung

2010-03-01T17:30:00.001-05:00

Born on October 1, 2009 to Sean and Jinny Chung, on February 28, 2010, Kayla was baptized. The Sean (Myung), Jinny and Kayla is moving to Korea in a couple weeks and Sean and Jinny wanted to have Kayla baptized at Harvest.

The baptism was indeed a blessing and it was wonderful to see Harvest welcome yet another baby into the church. May she continue to grow loving Christ as He first loved us.

Harvest Olympics 2010

2010-03-01T17:21:00.001-05:00

On the last Saturday of every month, we have what we call "Game Night" at our Saturday Night Fellowship. This past Saturday, February 27, 2010, we had our first Winter Olympics. Enjoy the pictures.

Our version of luging

Bobsledding

Taken by Pastor Albert Young A.K.A the person who got me into photography!

Biathlon (also taken by Pastor Albert Young)

Relay race

Duck walk

Tie breaker

Overall, it was a fun night for fellowship and relaxation. Props to Kenny (our announcer/ game maker) and Pastor Goose and Julee Noona (judges/game makers).

The Road Not Taken

2010-02-27T12:05:00.001-05:00

February 26, 2010 was my sister's, Lisa, 18th birthday AND her last birthday in Orlando before she goes to college. In between school and dinner, Lisa and I decided to go to the Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve and take some pictures. Overall, I'm not very satisfied with the quality of the pictures but I guess that's how I learn right? There aren't many but enjoy the pictures.

With a little bit of photoshop.....

Congraulations Pastor Goose and Julee Chang!!!!

2010-02-17T18:19:00.001-05:00

A couple years back, a seminary student moved to Florida to join our staff at Harvest and become known as our Youth Pastor. This is Pastor Martin "Goose" Chang. Pastor Goose has played such an extreme roll in my life and has mentored me and helped me through numerous struggles in my life both socially and religiously. Pastor Goose is someone that I highly look up to and I will forever remember him as one of my role models in my life.

For the past couple years, we (Harvest) have teased Pastor Goose for being single and not finding a wife but lo and behold, PASTOR GOOSE IS MARRIED to a wonderful woman by the name of Julee An (now Julee Chang). She is the perfect match for Pastor Goose and I could not be happier for the both of them. Julee was born and raised in Houston, Texas but spent the last 4-5 years in Seoul, Korea as the Director of Communications at Jubilee Church.

On January 2, 2010 (01-02-2010 <--palindrome), Pastor Goose and Miss Julee Chang tied the knot in Seoul, Korea. Although the wedding and reception was in Seoul, Korea, Pastor Goose and Julee held another reception in Orlando and planned to have yet another in Virginia, but had to cancel due to the harsh weather conditions.

I was given the wonderful opportunity to photograph their reception here in Orlando which was held at the Orlando Central Baptist Church (OCBC) on January 30, 2010. It was indeed a beautiful sight and celebration. To visit their wedding sight, click here!

The reception consisted of a small worship service, time of prayer for Pastor Goose and Julee, and dinner with some dancing at the end.

Our two lovely ushers. (Lisa Lee(left) and Yeari Han (right)

The wedding cake!

So the reception was January 30, 2010 BUT! Pastor Goose's birthday was the following day, January 31, 2010. So we decided to have two cakes.

Pastor Goose sang "Everytime I Close My Eyes" - Babyface, trio style (Pastor Albert and Albert Kang - Acoustic), just for Julee

And the dancing begins!

Our two awesome DJ's, Albert Kang (left & middle) and Kennth Kuk a.k.a DJ K. Kuk (right)

Danny Chen

Stephan Seho Hong

Joseph Park

Seho yet again

Pastor Daniel Chung with Pastor DL's baby girl, Emmanuelle "Manny" Kim

A couple of the daddies with their baby girls!

Jason w/ Emmaline (left), Sean (Myung) w/ Kayla (middle), and Eugene w/ Evelyn (right)

Their reception was definitely a fun time and just an awesome time for us to witness yet another loving couple brought together by their love for each other and their love for Christ. Congratulations Pastor Goose and Julee and thank you for giving me the opportunity to photograph your reception.

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

2010-02-16T18:35:00.001-05:00

So I have an older sister who attends Emory University for college up in Atlanta and this past weekend, with no school on Monday (Presidents' Day), my family (dad, mom, sister (Lisa), and myself) decided to drive up to ATL for the weekend. We left Orlando early Saturday morning and arrive around 2 P.M in Atlanta. Unfortunately, we did not get to see fresh snow but we did however see some snow from the previous night. The last time I saw snow was about 3 years ago up in New York and I just forgot how cool it looked. Here are some photos of snow from the car on the way up.

Overall, it was a pretty fun time. It was good seeing my sister Lindsey and it was definitely good getting the chance to eat UNIMAGINABLE amounts of food. Now that the weekend is over, it's back to reality, back to school, back to work....

AWANA International

2010-02-03T19:22:00.005-05:00

From January 12-February 2, 40 elementary/high-school students came from Korea as members of AWANA International, a Christian Discipleship program. February 2 was their last day in America and as a sign of gratitude, the children cooked dinner for the helpers. They made snow crab, some sushi, and some other stuff.

The snow crabs were cooked to perfection! You can see the kids asking for more.

Here's the whole group+helpers/teachers

Supposed to be a funny, goofy picture...

Here are some of the kids and some of the kitchen crew that helped out the kids.

Overall, I can say that the kids were extremely blessed. Their purpose was to learn English and to learn more about Christ. The kids were open and very interactive with the teachers/helpers. They were easily attached and loving towards the teachers and I can say that their departure was quite touching to many.

P.S

I can not say that I am pleased with the quality of my photographs because well, they are not of the best quality I have produced in the past. Any tips or suggestions are extremely accepted and appreciated.

CTI Visits!

2010-02-01T16:41:00.001-05:00

CTI Ministries is "a community of young people who combine their common passion for music with their mutual desire to share the love of Christ." Jon Lee, a dear brother to myself and many others at Harvest, joined one of the CTI teams as an electric/acoustic guitarist. Jon Lee truly loves music. When he was buying guitars or playing Shane & Shane or leading worship, Jon was doing whatever he could to praise Christ. In August 2009, Jon Lee was.... "deployed" to join the CTI team, 14:22.

Within the CTI Team 14:22, they have 3 main purposes...

To encourage the church
Challenge christians to loving action
To share the love of Christ to those who don't know

In CTI 14:22, there are 8 members.

Lead male vocalist/ acoustic guitarist: Eric Mok
Lead female vocalist: Lesley Denford
Keyboardist/ female vocalist: Rachelle Poppema
Electric guitarist/ male vocalist: Matt Adams
Electric/ acoustic guitarist: Jon Lee
Bass guitarist: Dan Mumbert
Drummer/ percussionist: Denny Nestibo
Sound tech/ team leader: Jeff Hau

Here is a quick word from the team:

"there are 3 ways to partner with supporting us.
Through prayer: we definitely can't do what we're doing without prayer. Pray for safety as we travel around the country and do what we do. Pray for health. Pray for the team, that we would have a unified vision to lead people into a time of worship and pray for those we'll be ministering to.
Through finances: There are many ways of supporting us financially. If you feel led to support us in this way, contact one of us and we'll point you in the right direction.
The most exciting way to partner with us, is by actually joining a team and coming along with us: If you are between the ages of 16-30ish, and you play any of the instruments we play or mix sound, and want to use your passion for music to spread the gospel throughout the world, consider joining either a 6-week summer tour overseas or a year-long domestic tour. If you have any questions, again, feel free to contact one of us and we'll point you in the right direction."

The team visited this past Saturday on January 29, 2010 and they were indeed a blessing to us all. They are living life and doing what they love. Through small acts of playing instruments and leading other in worship, they are indeed being the salt and light of the earth. Here are some pictures...

Lead female vocalist, Lesley Denford

Female vocalist Rachelle Poppema

Lead vocalist Eric Mok

Electric guitarist Matt Adams

Bassist Dan Mumbert

Part of a skit they showed

After the "concert"/worship service, we originally wanted to go to Twisty Treat but they closed so instead we went to McDonalds. You can just see how close they are.

Here's the team

Jeff Hau (left, black shirt), Lesley Denford (left, next to Jeff), Jon Lee (center left, green jacket), Rachelle Poppema (center back), Dan Mumbert (center w/ hat), Eric Mok (center right, red jacket), Matt Adams (right) and Denny (not included) who was resting up in the van.

Joshua "Tico" Kim (center, grey/ purple jacket) and Hannah "Goonie" Kim (right in between Eric and Matt) both auditioned (Josh = bass, Hannah = female vocals)

And should be hearing from CTI ministries shortly.

Overall, the team is an extreme blessing and the love of Christ just overflows from their heart. If you are interested in supporting the team in any of the above way, contact me and I will direct you to the right person.

Kim Edwards Visits

2010-01-23T22:54:00.003-05:00

I had the awesome opportunity along with my brothers and sisters in Christ to hear Kim Edwards sing a couple songs with us tonight, January 23, 2010. Kim Edwards is a talented, 22 years old artist from Pennsylvania who has a love and passion for music and Christ. Feel free to visit Kim Edwards's website at http://www.kimedwardsonline.com. She is indeed a very talented and blessed young artist.

I've Been Published!

2010-01-17T08:51:00.001-05:00

So I always wondered what it would be like to get published at this young of an age and lo and behold, I was published. Unfortunately it was in some big shot magazine or newspaper but in the monthly newsletter of a local church. To others it may not seem like a big deal but for me, I am extremely proud. I just had to share my excitement. To see the WHOLE newsletter, please visit the Avalon Presbyterian Church's Website and look at their December Issue of their newsletter.

Here's the whole page...

First two pictures + my acknowledgements.

Bottom 5 pictures.

Friends Visit From Overseas

2010-01-05T20:39:00.000-05:00

For the past couple years, God has given Harvest the opportunity to send an outreach missions team to the DR (Dominican Republic) to help spread the gospel and to do the work that God has called us for. This past Sunday, instead of us going to them, they came to us. Three members of the church that we partner with in the DR, Victor Cerda, Pedro Colon, and Patricia Cerda, came to visit Orlando after they attended the 2009-2010 Urbana in St. Louis. They led the congregation in a couple songs....

Pastor Victor Cerda

Pedro Colon

*Unfortunately, I was not able to capture a photograph of Patricia. She too was a blessing to us all along with Pastor Victor and Pedro. *

At Harvest, we offer membership classes that allow congregation members to really invest in the Harvest Congregation. One can become a member if they are 16, confirmed in their faith, have completed Harvest 101, and have been approved by Rev. David L. Kim himself. Once someone has become a member of Harvest, they are given the opportunity to further advance their role in the congregation by take another class, Harvest 201. All members of Harvest 201 are required to pass an exam at the end of the "semester" and then they are asked to share their testimony and experience of Harvest 201. Here is Joshua "Tico" Kim.

Overall, Sunday was an extreme blessing to us all. Both Josh's testimony and the songs led by our DR friends both showed us God's glory and what He has in store for us. Thanks guys for your un-ending encouragement to pursue Christ with our lives.

Let The New Year Begin!

2010-01-01T16:13:00.002-05:00

Every year, at 10:30 PM on December 31, 2009, our church has a "New Years Service" that runs from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1. From 10:30 PM to 11:55 PM, we watch a 30 min. video to look in retrospect at the past year, pray for prayer requests of what we expect to see the upcoming year, eat a small meal, etc. etc. etc. We gather back around 11:55 PM and spend some time in silence and prayer until 12:00 AM Jan. 1. Here are some pictures.

Through the eyes of the video camera....

Communion.

It truly was a blessed worship service indeed. I can't wait to see what blessings got will bring this year.

Christmas Day Service

2009-12-27T22:29:00.000-05:00

So the service on Christmas Day, December 25, 2009, started off pretty bad for me. Shortly after praise, my camera fell and the base of my camera flash (Canon Speedlite 580 ex ii) broke off so from the start, I was pretty upset. Overall, it was an extremely blessing worship service. Pastor DL's message was awesome, the praise was awesome, and the presentations were all entertaining. Here are some pictures.

Sermon time

Prayer

Baptism

One of the presentations

And another....

And another...

And announcements.

Again, it was an extremely blessed time and I'm really looking forward to the end of the year worship service. For those who want to come out, service starts at 10:30. If you would like more information, feel free to contact me.

Harvest 2009 Youth Winter Retreat

2009-12-27T22:15:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, sorry for not updating in a long time. I've just been pretty swamped and haven't had time to sit down and update which is surprising because we're on winter break but..... yea. So without further a due.....

Two times a year, Harvest is blessed enough to have their annual summer and winter retreat. From December 21-24, Harvest went on their 2009 Youth Winter Retreat at the Lakewood Retreat Center. It was truly a time of un-ending blessings and praise to God. We had an amazing speaker, Pastor Byung Ham (Pastor B) from Baltimore and our praise was led by our very own Pastor Albert. This retreat was filled with overflowing blessing and a constant example of how much Christ loves us.

This was one of our ice breakers and as you can see, some of us really got into the game.

At our retreats, we have 12 small groups and 6 teams. Within each team, they compete against other teams in games, skits, and other activities. One activity was to create a team name and create a skit based on certain criteria of one type of animal and a movie (i.e. monkeys & The Titanic). This skit was based off of the criteria of "Sloths and The Grudge."

Another game was to try and build the tallest/strongest structure with paper, tape and a balloon... obviously this team failed.

So this game required a lot of physical work. Basically, you have one balloon tied to one leg and you have to go around and try and pop other peoples' balloons BUT keep yours from getting popped.

Team preparation for some outside games.

The point of this game was to direct your team mates, while they're blindfolded, to find your team's designated object for your team.

This game is called magic shoes. You basically have to get your team across the field BUT each person can only go across once ON THEIR FEET but they can also only be carried across twice. Kind of confusing....

This game required you to put panty hose over your head and eat apple sauce through the panty hose.

Every year, each team has to come up with a skit based on a certain criteria and within a certain time limit.

Another skit

Our pastors during our Q&A session. Pastor B (left), Pastor DL (middle), and Pastor Albert (right)

Group picture

Overall, it was an amazing time. People were blessed beyond measure and lives were extremely changed through the power of Christ. As we've come back from the retreat, please pray that our hearts would not be on a spiritual roller coaster but that our love for Christ and the immensity of our passion to worship him would be made permanent. Too many times do we come back from the retreat replenished and refueled but that fire for Christ soon dies after about a week or two so let's really pray that our passion for Christ would burn strong that we may live in Christ everyday. May we make Christ a person in our lives, not a product.

In the song "Hosanna" written by Hillsong United, there is a portion of verse 2 and a part of the bridge that just speaks so clearly and I pray everyday that this would come true in my life and the life of Harvest.

Verse 2:

I see a generation

Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

Bridge:
Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I walk from earth into
Eternity

Let's really pray that this would come true in our lives today.

ISA Festival 2009

2009-11-20T17:49:00.000-05:00

So every year for the past four years, the Indian Student Association (ISA) at CCHS puts on an ISA Festival around Thanksgiving. This festival usually includes some dancing, fashion shows, samosas, henna tattoos, etc. This year was pretty cool. I was looking back at last years and not only was the festival better this time around, I noticed that in the past year, I've grown so much BUT I still have much to learn. Check out the post from last year and compare the pictures to the ones from this year hehe. Here are some pictures from the festival. Enjoy!

Like always, the festival was held at the school amphitheater.

This was one of the most popular/impressive performances.

Just to show some of the beauty in Indian Saris (Indian dress)

Another performance

The purpose of the fashion show was to show off the different clothing styles from all parts of India

At the end, a couple people were able to get up on stage and learn parts of the typical Indian dance.

Not exactly the typical Indian dance but....

Henna tattoos.

Some of the models/performers.

So there you go. Overall, it was a great way to spend the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break. Now with a week off, I'm hoping to get some impressive photographs (we'll have to see how well that'll work out). In the meantime, feel free to look around my blog, check out previous posts, etc. Have a great Thanksgiving!