Leki+Gina: LA Temple Sealing

LA Temple Sealing: Gina+Leki from alvin ahquin on Vimeo.

Pressing Forward: Lolohea Family

On the day of the shoot the weather decided that it was going to blow us away. Wind gusts we're close to the 30-40 mph range. The location for our shoot was at a marina close to the bay. I arrived early as usual and decided to walk around and gather my thoughts before the shoot. As I got out of the truck I was taken away by the power of the wind. Five minutes out and my hands started getting really cold. The wind was howling and there was a wind chill of about 45 degrees. I called up my client and we decided to switch the location to somewhere else. With the sun close to sunset I really didn't think we could make it in time. But we pressed forward to the new location. As we arrived, we rushed to get everyone in place for the shoot and luckily came away with a few good photos before the sun went to sleep and the children froze to death? I was so grateful for the opportunity to capture this wonderful family. We battled the wind and pressed forward. Thank you Lolohea family for allowing me to be a part of your photo session. Lessons learned from this shoot. First, the principle of pressing forward. The wind truly provided the resistance of the day. It was symbolic of our trials and challenges. In photography it does no good to be stagnant. IF we are then we lose our creativity and our passion for the art. We must press forward. That means no matter how many times clients cancel, reschedule, our gear breaks down or gets stolen, you name it...we must press forward and think on the fly. If we allow the wind to blow us away, we will "wish" that things could be different and live in regret. This business is tough but if we don't have a vision of where we want to go, we cannot press forward. My vision for the day was to photograph this family. No matter what obstacles we encountered, we still accomplished what we planned 2 weeks ago. Part of the family traveled in from Utah and other far places to get this done. Our vision is what motivated us to press forward. It was truly a blessing to see it all come together in the end. Ofa atu to the Lolohea family. Thank you Tilisa for being our point of contact for this shoot. Press forward everyone!

Trish+OJ=Tyson

Earlier this month I had an opportunity to spend quality time with my sister and her family. She was visiting from Bountiful, Utah. Her time here in the bay area was short but it rejuvenated our families in a way that we will always remember. My sister has a unique story to tell. As we visited throughout the week we laughed and we talked about life. One thing I noticed during a visit was how happy her baby was. Tyson just turned one and he was such a blessing to have in our home. To hear him laugh made me think about my own kids. You see, part of Trisha's unique story includes Tyson. For a long time my sister tried to have kids. And for a long time the result was always the same. But something changed a couple years ago. Something that she calls a miracle. She was able to bare her first son. Before she was pregnant with Tyson I remember long nights talking about why God wasn't blessing her with a child. Why was all her friends and family having no problems getting pregnant? Why the suffering? At the time I could not answer her questions. Only reassuring her that the Lord knows all and is aware of her struggles. As time went on she continued to press forward and as a result of her faith, she was blessed with Tyson. In recent study of a talk given by Elder Robert D. Hales, an apostle of the Lord, it made me think of my sister and her little family. Elder Hales says, "Any of us may experience a spouse, a child, a parent, or a member of our extended family suffering in one way or another—mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually—and we may experience these tribulations ourselves at times. In short, mortality is not easy. Each family has its own special circumstances. But the gospel of Jesus Christ addresses every challenge—which is why we must teach it to our children." That should of been my answer in the first place. The Gospel of Jesus Christ addresses every challenge. But then he also says, "which is why we must teach it to our children." As I sat there thinking about Tyson I thought about what my sister and her husband had to do. What I must do with my own kids. I must teach them about the Gospel. In the "The Family: A proclamation to the World" it says: “Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held ACCOUNTABLE before God for the discharge of these obligations.” This is how I can continue to see my kids laughing and being happy all the time. This is the way. We must teach our children. We must teach them to love God and to serve others. We must do all we can to make our homes a place of learning and a refuge from the outside world. This is the formula for happiness. We do not fear the wrath of darkness because we have been taught by goodly parents. That is my message for you, for my sister, and for myself. That we continue to teach our young ones truth and righteousness. For in it there is eternal happiness.

Marriage for Time&All Eternity: Seth+Sophronia Oakland Temple

One thing that keeps me going in the wedding industry is my love and passion for filming LDS weddings. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also known as "Mormons". Whether you know of us or not, we are first a God fearing people. But we know that God doesn't rule by fear. Just the opposite. He rules with love and love is a universal language. The kind of love expressed on a wedding day when a couple pledges their vows for one another. That love is a glimpse of the kind of "love" God has for each of us. Marriage is ordained of God, sanctioned by God, and blessed by God. His first priority is our happiness. So He set a plan in motion from the beginning of time to help us obtain that happiness. That plan included marriage between and man and a woman. He provided a way for us to procreate in partnership with Him to help parent other spirits waiting to receive a body. So they may have the same opportunities to be happy. We are promised that if we are faithful and endure to the end, we shall have eternal blessings. Part of those blessings is we can be "sealed" for time and all eternity to the ones we love. First and foremost to our spouse. There is no "death due us part". I cannot imagine Heaven without my beautiful wife. Heaven just wouldn't be heaven without her and my family. Those "sealings" can only be performed by those holding Priesthood authority in temples. Temples are holy edifices dedicated to the Lord and His work. God wants all of His children to be happy. He wants us to return to be with Him again. LDS couples preparing to enter the temple to be sealed must be willing to abide by His commandments. Worthiness shows our faith to the Lord and is a small price to pay for the eternal blessings that await. Promises or covenants are made in the temple. Promises to each other, and promises to the Lord. Part of those promises are that we will strive to serve each other by serving the Lord. It's like a three way triangle promise. The more we serve the Lord the closer we become to Him. That naturally brings a couple closer up the triangle and closer to each other. My "job" as a filmmaker is to capture the love and happiness of the wedding day so a couple has a record of all that took place. It's almost like giving the wedding day immortality? You can reunite with all the emotions, hard work, and the celebration of the day by a click of the mouse. My point is we have a natural tendency as children of God to hope and to want to be together. To carry on our relationships beyond this earthly life. We are children of our Heavenly Father who loves us. We naturally long to be with him and we want our families to be forever not just til death due us part. I know this to be true and because I know this I will be blessed in the eternities. For now, wedding films are my outlet to the eternities. With every wedding I film, I reflect and ponder on the blessings that are mine that I see through the eyes of the newly weds. I love it. I may not show it at times but that's what motivates me to continue to do this. For that I am grateful to the Lord in blessing me with awesome couples to film like Seth and Sophronia. I hope you enjoy this video. This post is dedicated to my BYU Idaho online class. Pathway 2015 baby!!

Seth+Sophronia=Save the Date: Oakland Temple WEDDING!

Jenny+Jerry Sneak Peek!!

Sneak Peek of Jenny+Jerry from alvin ahquin on Vimeo.

This was an awesome wedding to shoot!! Not to often you get a 2nd chance at love....Jenny and Jerry showed us that there is always hope! We should never ever give up our dreams! It motivated me...moved me to continue on my journey of BECOMING a wedding videographer! I was reminded of all the 2nd chances that God gives me to make right...I'm a little slowwwww....but I guess thats ok as long as I'm moving forward right!! I'm thankful for HIS patience with me. Hope you enjoy!

Cass+Dan