I, Eugene Kim, believe in knowing where we are from. Our experiences along this journey shape who we are as people. (Hence, I love listening to your story before the wedding.) Anyway, here is what Eugene Kim Photography is.

Eugene Kim Photography is a Las Vegas based Destination Adventure Wedding Hybrid Photographer.

I’m sorry that’s a long description. Let me break them down for you. 

“Destination” means I travel worldwide to capture the most beautiful love stories. I have been to four continents: America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and almost 40 countries, mainly in Europe.

“Adventure” means anything different from the norm. Adventure Wedding doesn’t have to be at the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast ocean. Defining adventure on the spectrum of being on the couch at home to rock climbing 400 feet high, everyone is different. I’ll let you decide.

I like using the word “Wedding” more than the word Elopement. One, more people understand the word wedding than the word elopement. Two, the word elopement seems very niche. When you hear the word, a few things pop up in your head, such as the two of you tying the knot in bohemian style. Often, this restricts the creative side of the wedding you desire or the type of photos and video I create for you. I want the niche to be you. I want your wedding to be you. Bring everything you had in mind to life. Get inspired by Instagram posts and Pinterest boards, but at the end of the day, be you.

“Hybrid” means I do both photos and videos simultaneously, not as a team but by myself. There are benefits to having a team, and you can book a second photographer to add variations in angles and different perspectives. However, many couples love that I can do both because clients who book me are often somewhat similar to me; they prefer intimacy with one photographer rather than with multiple photographers.

“Photographer” to let you know that even though I do both photos and videos, I am primarily a photographer. You can hire me as a photographer, hybrid photographer, or videographer, but hopefully, having the title photographer will get me more photography jobs than videography jobs.

I have lived in Las Vegas for almost a decade after moving from San Francisco, where I went to school and worked for some time. We moved to Las Vegas because we were looking for somewhere quiet, where our newly born child could run around anytime he wanted without paying much money to live. At that time, one of my friends had moved to Vegas about a year prior and asked us to join him. We were running out of options and didn’t mind leaving California. We thought we would try it, and if we hated it, we could still find somewhere else. But we ended up falling in love with the city. All the amazing nature was so close, such as Death Valley National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Moab, and Antelope Canyon are all reachable in about four hours. If we were to go on to the famous Las Vegas strip, it felt very much like we were on holiday, just like everyone visiting from all over the world. We live on the west side of Las Vegas, in Summerlin. And it has been a good decision. It is a very easy place to travel from (Harry Reid International Airport is only 15 minutes away), so there are many parks for our son and dog to run around. You don’t have to drive far to get to good restaurants, and there are no issues with parking or so on.

I travel to California, especially San Francisco, to photograph weddings and engagement sessions. That is why I call myself a San Francisco and Las Vegas-based photographer. I go to SF three or four times every month, and I know the city so well, having been there for over a decade.

Here is a little about my life before living in the U.S.

My parents are Korean, and I was born in the U.S. but moved to the UK and grew up there. Growing up in Cambridge was such a blessing. I could be in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands when it would take me to travel from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on a plane. That is at least five different languages. I have always believed that language changes people’s lives and creates a unique culture. The same could be said about language. So, from early on, I learned about my love for travel, which has continued until now.

Travel has always been a big part of me, shaping Eugene Kim Photography as a business.
If I go to a city I have never been to or a country I have never been to, there is a fear factor. What could be normal in cultures and countries I am from could be offensive here or rude. And as someone who likes to interact with people there and listen to their stories, I don’t want to offend them. This process allows me to be more open-minded. I have ways of doing things, but that doesn’t always mean I am right. They say, “When in Rome, Do as Romans do.” This, alongside wanting to tell stories, makes me someone with eyes for details to capture. One thing I love doing when traveling is trying food that locals like to eat. There could be some challenging ones, depending on where you are. For example, I remember trying a live squid when I first visited Korea when I was younger. Honestly, I didn’t quite understand why they ate it, but once I grew older and could chew on them, it tasted good, especially with sesame oil. On a most recent trip to Venice, Italy (where seafood is well known), I went on a street food tour, and one person couldn’t and wouldn’t try Cicchetti with Herring on it. I personally love this, and I can see why some are not a big fan of it; for example, my wife isn’t a fan. But if it is something you don’t hate by giving it a try, you could see from its surroundings and what people drink or eat in that city or town can make sense. Trying to be more open-minded and understand the people in that region can be quite an adventure.

So, reading about where I am, what I do, and why and how I love to travel helped you learn a little about me. If you want to stay up to date with me, please follow my Instagram, which is where I am the most active.

Throughout Eugene Kim Photography website, the best way to utilize my blog posts is to follow the links in the text. The links in mid-text that take you to different articles can be quite annoying when you are not finished with your current blog. So, I have created all the links to open as a new page, so you can click on those links even while reading the current one and move on to the next one when you are done.