I'm convinced that the Korean American Circle is so small (in the entertainment industry) that we are all separated by 1 or 2 degrees at most! This is also the case w/ my new friend Arden Cho [model/actress/youtube star], and two weekends ago, I got to collaborate w/ her and do some really great work that I'm excited to share w/ y'all :)

The weekend was fast paced, and full of "adventure", that it's probably best to give you highlights via a checklist :)

- 17 hour work day on Friday, rehearsing and prepping music for her youtube vlog - CHECK

- lose half of our work and start all over again due to a power outage - CHECK

- ate ridiculous amounts of great food in between work - CHECK

- convinced Arden to make use of her instagram account she created a while back (you're welcome instagram users :)) - CHECK

- 11 hour work day shooting vlog w/ my new good friends - INFOCUS CINEMA on Saturday, rehearsing, and performing - CHECK

- did a quick photoshoot post vlog shooting - CHECK

- performed a killer set w/ Arden at Brandeis - CHECK

- messed up on 2 (or 3?) songs - SORRY AGAIN ARDEN - CHECK

- had a fire alarm go off during the middle of the show, having us evacuate the building for 20 minutes - CHECK

- ended the night at PEACH FARM (awesome chinese food in Boston) w/ Arden and INFOCUS - CHECK

Here's a quick recap through some photos:

she's got her gear, i got mine! (check out Mayes Guitars)

arden was struggling through a cold - but still sounded amazing!

nowadays, you can transform ANY room into a studio!

and THiS is how you transform a hotel room into a small stage :)

Dave Pak of INFOCUS standing in for me :)

arden staying in touch with her adoring fans

"A Thousand Years" Cover - Mission Accomplished!

Below are a few of my favorite images from the "mini shoot" - Click on Images to Enlarge

Wanted to end the blog by saying this:

For those who follow Arden's career, you'll celebrate w/ me that this was a great opportunity to work on some of my favorite things (music & photography) with someone so talented, and widely known [check out her youtube channel to see some of the amazing stuff she's worked on] - but my biggest takeaway from the weekend was catching a glimpse of how incredibly hard working she is, and how she handles her platform so well - making many tough choices in the industry that do not compromise her integrity and faith. I believe that at the end of the day, that's the stuff that counts. Check out all of her amazing work online, and I hope that you are as blessed by her as much as I was to have worked with her!

And w/o further ado, if you're not one of the 47,000 people that have already watched this, enjoy! Had so much fun working on this:

One of my favorite things about music is that a song can mean something different for each individual. When I first heard "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri I was reminded of the one love that is unending... "but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Here are some links for y'all to LIKE & FOLLOW:

Arden Cho: Website - YouTube Channel - IMDB - Twitter - Facebook & Instagram: @arden_cho

INFOCUS CINEMA [Dave Pak & Tedge Lee]: Website - Facebook (LOVE THESE GUYS!! - Thanks again for all your hard work, not only on this vlog, but also the "other" project we're gonna release soon :))

Tedge Lee: Photography & Blog

Tedge Instagram: @tedgelee

Dave Instagram: @ldavepakl (those are "L"s)

Katie Contini is a dear friend of mine, who graciously accepted my request to test model for me. She's an aspiring actress, and I got to take almost a full year of acting class with her, and discovered this: She's good. Me, not so much! Hope to see her in many great films one day!

Modeling is hard work. I've been learning that recently as i've asked many people to pose in front of my camera. It's really draining, and with Katie, we spent a good full day going from place to place and she gave it everything!

I originally set out to focus on mostly editorial type portraiture that day, but got to tackle some natural light photos as well. Lighting is such a brand new world to me, and I have a tremendous respect for those who do it well in photography. It makes all the difference.

My biggest inspiration these days is when I look at magazines and see stories on a celebrity and the photos capture the essence of what that person is all about. Love the details and the thought process that goes into props, outfits, location, etc. I'm taking baby steps in trying to learn how to do that well.

We started out early afternoon in the park, and took some photos that were pleasant and nice to look at, but not super interesting. Then it started raining. We quickly walked back to an area with scaffolding for shelter, and waited for a while, but it would not stop raining. Then I thought, why not make the most of this time? We started shooting there, and they were my favorite images from the "natural light" portion of the day. She was such a good sport, that she walked out into the rain and started jumping around in the small water puddles for the photos and it was so much fun! What a trooper!

Hope you enjoy these images as much as I did taking them. Thanks again, Katie!

Click on the images below to enlarge: