I'm Eileen, so nice to meet you! I am a Los Angeles based photographer, passionate about people and a huge fan of love. I truly believe photography is God's gift to me; through it I am able to share life with some of the most amazing people. What a privilege and joy it has been!
Click on the next page for more on me or take a peek at my own wedding day here.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Blessings!
photo by Shelley Paulson Photography
I use way too many exclamation marks, but I'm really just that excited!!!! I want to know what moves your heart. I say "that's so funny" quite a bit, but it can mean a number of things. I am a lover of donuts and tea. I floss every night before bed! I love the idea of being spontaneous, but rarely do things unplanned. I am the youngest of four girls, but I'm taller than all my sisters. I would love to open a cafe someday. I am fascinated by the bridegroom God and his ravished heart for all of humanity
photo by Shelley Paulson Photography
THANK YOU!
Kyera just turned ONE! This little one was quite shy at first, but I love the way she came alive on the swings. Towards the end of our shoot Kyera let me hold her…twice! I feel quite lucky : ) Enjoy!
Love her bright dress- those yellow flowers go so well with her outfit : )
Earlier this year I took pictures for the Peng Family and was able to get a few shots with just Henry and Naomi with their baby bump! They are the sweetest people and I couldn’t be more excited for them!! A few months later their baby boy David Jeremiah Peng was born and I had the privilege of photographing him too! : )
And here, for the very first time, David Jeremiah Peng! : )Â I was told he sleeps most of the time (at least during the day!) so we were so excited when he opened up his eyes for us! Look at this handsome little dude.
I can’t wait to get to know you little guy! Until next time! : )
Anthony and Nina’s love story will show you that love will find a way, always. I remember asking for a very detailed version of their journey together and they both laughed and agreed that they just couldn’t get away from one another no matter how hard they tried (…and they did try!)! It all started (well, for Anthony at least) when a friend wanted to show Anthony a cute girl (yup, Nina!) from a different church. While Anthony did indeed think she was cute they didn’t officially meet until Anthony’s apartment invited Nina’s apartment over for dinner. They so happened to sit next to each other that night and were able to share about their majors, future, and dreams. Nina said they were so similar she felt like Anthony was her long-lost twin! haha
I knew Nina since the 7th grade and wow, it has been such a joy growing up with her and watching her mature into the beautiful woman that she is today! I am so so SO excited for the two of you- ahhh, just a little over a month until you guys get married! : )
I love when these two are together : )
Nina, you look AMAZINGGG!
The lovely couple with paintings by…me! : ) Nina had asked me to paint something for them as a mark and celebration for their 2 year anniversary. Love that they wanted to include these paintings in the shoot! : )
I drive by this building so much and knew I just had to have a session here someday. I came to check this location out the day before A+N’s session and was even able to meet the owner of this shop (I’m sure he thought I was creepy, because I had my iphone out and kept taking pictures around his building. Finally he came out to find out what I was up to! Good thing he was a nice man, haha). I love the way these turned out!
Love you two! : )
This was the first time in years that they were able all come together. Friends since middle school, these ladies grew even closer in high school and remained besties throughout college despite the distance. I definitely felt their strong bond during our shoot- there’s just something so great and safe about being known inside-out. Love that. Great friendships don’t come easy, ya know?! Loretta, Lisa Kwon, Pauline, Lisa Gomi, Annie, and Vivian- you girls are blessed.
What better place to have their shoot than at their high school?!
Beautiful, beautiful ladies! They all have such colorful personalities, so FULL of life!
Now, a few individual portraits. Here’s a little something something about each of them…
Loretta: adventurous and fun (but sometimes known as “grandma” for her funky sweaters and for going to bed at 7pm some days), Loretta is the social butterfly. She knows just about the whole world and dreams of traveling the world. With her camera. Yes, she’s also a fellow photographer (check out her website here!).
Lisa Kwon (aka Kwon):  this girl loves to bake and she loves kids! In fact, she is about to head off to Korea to each English for one whole year (perhaps she should open up a bakery there too! : )). Every once in a while she will bust out her model skills during hang-outs and photoshoots.
Pauline (aka Pau): the little one and the smallest one in the group. While she is little, she has a huge heart and is currently working with AmeriCorps in Boston. Always cute, sometimes clumsy, and super paranoid. She researches everything and thinks she carries every disease, haha.
Lisa Gomi (aka Gomi): this one is full of sarcasm. Predicted to to be the president of the world one day, it is no coincidence that she is currently living in DC! : ) (I actually met Lisa before I met any of these other girls. During our Sophomore year in high school Temple City (woot woot!) and Arcadia had an ASB exchange. We worked together, because we she was the class President and I was my class V.P. Little did I know that I would be taking her portraits years from then! : ))
Annie:Â super artistic, full of sarcasm, Annie is all things Korean (looks and everything)! Annie and I met in college and were a part of the same church group on campus. She is always so full of FUN and can get along with just about everyone. I am so proud of her for taking advantage of all her resources and really living life to the fullest. Be on the lookout for her art blog (ahem, Annie!). She will go far! : )
Vivian (aka Vee): this girl has such a fun and bubbly personality and laughs at EVERYTHING. She is miss fashionista and just opened up a store in Alhambra where she will be selling her own designs (check out her website here!). Vivian is in her last semester of undergrad and everyone is sure that she will be a big hit in the near future!
A few more portraits.
These girls are SO much fun! Thank you all for such a wonderful session : )
The beautiful Maas family (yes, beautiful is really part of their name…) were in town a few weeks ago and I had the privilege of taking their portraits during their stay. Joy, Desiree, Berea, and Perazim (and Jonathan, their oldest brother who couldn’t join us this time!) are from Kansas City where my oldest sister lives and together they joined our family in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving. I had so much fun getting to know them individually and as a family and wow, they were such a blessing have. SUCH a blessing!
This family really is a beautiful one. Their joy and strength are such an encouragement to me and I feel so blessed to know them. A few years back they sold all they had and left their homes to work with the orphans in India. They were only there for four weeks when unexpectedly, Joy’s husband got sick and went to be with Jesus. How at that moment they chose to trust in God and worship when nothing made sense, moves my heart. I loved hearing their testimony- how God turned their mourning into dancing, bringing so much hope and peace when life was turned upside-down. Joy, Desiree, Berea, and Parazim, thank you so much for sharing your lives with us. I can’t wait to visit you all soon!
Olivia Mika Chen is the newest addition to our family! This little cutie was born on 11.11.11, at 11:06 am (I wondered why my sister didn’t just hold her in for another 5 minutes?! haha jk), weighing 7 lbs. 10 oz. I think she looks so much like her older sister Angelina and my sister thinks she kind of looks like me too…what do you guys think?!
A few shots with older sister Angelina. I know I’ve said this many times before, but I LOVE sisters! It’s so fun to watch Lina love on Livie- She just adores her! You can tell they are going to be such good friends. : )
Love this next outfit on Livie. My sister Liz made this super cute headband, by the way. Oh, I will definitely let you know when Liz starts up her own business so all you moms out there can get one of these for your little girls, too! : )
I can’t wait to get to know this little one. You will definitely be seeing more of Livie on this blog! : )
Mayumi and Susan are two women I totally admire. They are ambitious, strong, and my friendly neighbors! : ) We lived next door to each other for as long as I can remember and I have such fond memories of movie nights and tea parties over at their home. Susan is just one year older than I am and one year younger than my third sister Eunice so we all became very close during elementary school. I miss those days where we would come back from class, hang out at my house, eat yummy snacks, and play Chinese jump rope (Who else loves this game?! I was pretty good at it- went all the way up to waist-ees!). What a pleasure it was to take portraits for these two that I respect and love so much.
While I feel like I’m much closer to Susan, simply because we’re closer in age, I’ve been getting to know Mayumi more than just a “fun mom” recently and more as a person and as a business woman. I love that! Since she started her own skin care salon 17 years ago, she has much wisdom to share and I have much to learn from her. Mayumi first started Scent of Lavender in a little space she rented out from a hair salon. Now, she has her own place in San Marino. I know she has worked extremely hard to get to where she is now and I feel inspired just thinking about her journey. So everyone, if you need a facial (I’m going in for one tomorrow! : )), skin care products, or just inspiration, check out Scent of Lavender!
Now Susan! Oh, Susan. She is currently attending Med School at UCSD and I am so proud of her! She is not only a dreamer and a high achiever, but she also has the discipline and determination to make these dreams come true. Susan is bright, smart (She used to help me with all my calculus homework!), and totally tough (don’t mess with her!). I admire her for always keepin’ it real. You’re beautiful, Susanna (don’t call her that- it’s not her real name! I don’t know why I love to, though…).
I love it when these two are together. I wish I could record their conversations for you, because they’re just so fun! Btw, Susan and Mayumi are both really into Yoga. Check out Susan’s crazy pose a few pictures down!
I am lucky to have such wonderful neighbors. Thank you for such a wonderful session and for the delicious sushi you guys treated me out to afterwards! : ) Bless you!
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Do you all remember baby Daniel?! He has grown so much since the last time I saw him (that was back in May!). Daniel is now 4 months old and quite the charmer… He was smiling and laughing for most of our shoot and IÂ loved watching it all from behind my camera. What a handsome little man you are, Daniel! : )Â
And look, he learned how to talk on the phone! : ) hehe
I love how Cheryl and Dustan included this stuffed doggie in all of our sessions. It’s such a great way to see how much Daniel has grown/will grow this year! If you missed the past photoshoots, check out their maternity session and our first session with baby Daniel.
Thank you Durretts, for another great session. It’s always a pleasure : ) I’m totally looking forward to the next one!
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Where do I begin with this girl?! She’s intelligent, quirky, fun and completely beautiful. Janet and I have known each other for quite a while now. We went to the same elementary school, jr. high, high school, and also attended the same church throughout those years. Towards the end of  high school we became really good friends and I’m so thankful that our friendship is just growing stronger by the year! : ) This smarty is currently in Wisconsin for medical school and all our friends at home look forward to her visits during break. Oh, what a treat it was to have her for almost an entire month this summer. I so enjoyed hanging out with you while you were back, Jan!
You are a natural! If medical school doesn’t work out somehow (I’m not sure how, though, because you are on the way to becoming the best doctor in the world!), you should really consider modeling. Actually, why not do both?! : )
I loved photographing you, Janeto! Good luck on your exams this week and hurry home so we can play some more! : ) love you so much!
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It’s been a while since I’ve seen Isaac and Micah and my oh my, how they’ve grown!Â
I come from a family FULL of girls so hanging out with these two boys was quite different…they have so much energy! : ) A few photos down you’ll see Isaac and his crazy impressive jumps! He was so excited about them he jumped for about 10 minutes straight, no joke, haha.
I love the pictures of Isaac taking care of Micah- so sweet : ) They are going to grow up to be good friends!
Taking and editing these photos brought back so many memories of my sister Eunice and me. Actually, only memories of us from photographs- I can’t really remember anything below the age of 5 (which makes me SO sad, but I sure am thankful for all the photographs my parents collected of us). Just for fun, here’s one of me and Eunice. We’re about the same age as Isaac and Micah in this photo : )
