In light of that, I would like to show you a quick way to make a simple photo album. They are great as little gifts for your loved ones or simply for keeps. For this simple tutorial, I will be making a pocket-sized photo album, featuring some of my favourite Instagram photos.

Oh, by the way, did you know that Instagram is now available on Android phones as well? :)

You will need:

- A4 sized craft paper. Any colour you might like!
*Tip: If you are going to use cardboard, please note that it is slightly more challenging to fold as they are thick.

- 6 of your favourite photos.

- A blade, cutting board and a ruler.

- Double-sided tape for the insides. (optional)

Step 1:  Go through your photos and identify 6 of your favourites. Digitally resize them to 6cm x 6cm and print them out on photo paper in that size.

Step 2. Fold your art paper in half horizontally, like this.

And then fold it in half again.

And again.

Press the folds and that will create a crease. Unfold your paper.

Step 3:  Identify the middle line between the second and forth frame (see picture below), like this:

You need to cut a line between these 2 parts. You may use a pencil to lightly draw a line to ensure you do not cut beyond what is needed. Use the cutter and carefully create the slit on the paper.

Step 4: Fold the paper into half according to the folded line and open the slit. It should open up like a diamond shape, like this:

Step 5: Close the diamond hole in the opposite direction, so it closes into an “X”.

Then fold the creases together to make it into a book, like this:

Step 6: Cut small diagonal slits into the four edges where your photo is going to rest. Slip your photo in.

Step 7: Design the cover! You can also use your pretty Sharpie pens and draw on them. It’s entirely up to your creativity.

And there you have it- your little instant photo album is ready! You may also make bigger albums by using a larger art paper and larger photo prints.

Enjoy! :)

Diane

I am not a pro at this, but here’s some tips for pet photography, which I’ve gathered from this experience.

#1. Sedate your pets before the shoot so they will stay still.

I’m kidding! :D

#1. Photograph your pets in their comfort zone. 

I am sure your pets have their regular “hang out” spots. In my case, my kittens love to play around in my living room, which is where I photographed them. I tried bringing them out to my car porch, thinking there would be more light and space for them to play around but they were just awkward out there. We stayed indoors, but I opened the windows to allow lots of natural light in so I get equally good lighting.

#2. Be quick!

Photographing pets is very different from photographing humans. Pets won’t know how to pose or be still. Therefore it is very important that you are quick in capturing the moments. It helps if you have prime lenses with large apertures and shoot in slightly higher ISO. All my images here were shot using the 50mm f1.8 lens, my ISO kept at 800 and exposure time no longer than 1/60. With that you will be able to freeze the moment. I also set my focus point in the middle so I aim for more central shots.

#3. Go down to their level. 

Angle is important. You won’t be able to capture their faces if you photograph them while standing. I took these shots lying down on my belly, with my camera on the floor. That way, you see from their point of view, which would be more interesting.

#4. Interact with your subjects.

Do the things that your pets love – bring out their favourite toy to play with them or pet them they way they like. Interaction will give your pictures a story to tell.

#5. It’s all about trial and error.

Your shots might be blurry, over or under-exposed. Considering that Rome was not built in one day, don’t get frustrated if your pictures don’t turn out the way you want it. Instead, try again. Out of my 168 shots that morning, I only managed 26 shots that I thought were satisfactory. The key here is practice and knowing what works best for you.

I hope these tips will give you an idea how to get those precious moments of your pets. Speaking of pets, Grace did write a short post about the pets in her family and all their quirky characters some time ago. Have a look at the post here if you are interested!

Have fun!

Diane

That’s the key word to describe Danny and Jennifer’s first year together as a couple. It’s also a running theme for their wedding day, as we had to travel many kilometres to go from one location to another. Danny started the day at his home in KL, while Jennifer got ready in Seremban. Together with his heng dais, they traveled the distance to pick Jennifer up, and then headed back to KL for the tea ceremony. Immediately after, everyone departed KL and headed south again, this time to Port Dickson for their beach ceremony.

But that distance doesn’t compare to the one year they spent traveling back and forth from Malacca to KL. They were physically apart, with Jenn working in KL and him in Malacca, completing his final year as a student. It was a tough journey, as they each led separate lives (one working, the other studying), finding it difficult to spend time or even meet up with each other but they never gave up.

Back track 8 years ago… to when their story first began in 2003. They met on the very first day of uni in MMU, placed in the same orientation group. It was not a typical ‘love at first sight’ story.

Danny & Jenn’s story as written by Danny

In 2007, after Jenn graduated, we began writing our love story. How did we go on a first date? We both loved spaghetti carbonara, that’s why we had our first date to try out the delicious carbonara at The Noodle Bar, Melaka. That first year was a really tough year but once I graduated, I worked in KL which allowed us to grow our love and bring our relationship even further.

After 3 years together, we decided to take a big step in our life – to buy a house together. We wanted to spend the rest of our life together, build a beautiful home, and to have our own family. When she least expected it, I proposed. Jenn always wondered if I would ever propose because I was never a romantic person, and always say there’s no need to propose.

Buy house = no proposal = get married straight.

On 01/01/11, I surprised her with 99 red roses and a diamond ring. I got down on my knees to propose and of course, she agreed.

Moving into a new home (not to mention the cost of renovating & furnishing) and getting married in the same year ain’t easy. We made the decision to get married in May 2011, moved to a new home in June, and planned for a November wedding. It was really tough, especially on the pocket but we took the huge risk. We only started planning our wedding after we moved in.

5 short months to plan our big day was a real big challenge. Two biggest challenges: 1) Venue, and 2) Photographer. With such a short notice, it was difficult to get a dinner venue and a good photographer. It was a ‘hot’ year, so many weddings, especially on nice date, 20/11/2011. I really thank God for blessing us as we managed to get our dream wedding venue – a beautiful beach at Avillion PD, and noted photographers – Stories (and Grace was available for it) within a short period of time.

Despite it all, both of us really did enjoy the process of planning. Our wedding theme, ‘Sweet Serendipity’ was inspired the song title, ‘Sweet Serendipity’ by Lee DeWyze. The lyrics of the song somehow reflected us and the situation we were in, especially the chorus part…

I ain’t gonna stress
Cause the worst ain’t happened yet
Something’s watching over me
Like Sweet Serendipity

We took the risk, we pulled through the rough road, and on top of it all we were blessed as we got what we wanted for our dream wedding.

Danny and Jennifer decided to go for a traditional Chinese theme for the morning part of the ceremony. I was really amused when I saw the customized t-shirts for the heng dais and ji muis. In fact, quite a number of items were customized based on their wedding theme and logo, which you’ll see more of soon.

Look at their customized ang pow packets! I salute Jenn for folding so many of these packets!

Danny:

We always dreamt of having a beach wedding. It was raining before we had our ceremony.  We had to make a decision if we wanted to move our wedding event to the ballroom. We were a real risk taker and still opted for the beach wedding. We were so stressed looking at the rain, especially when our ceremony should have already started. Everything was delayed for almost an hour due to the rain. Thankfully, it was cleared by then. The rest of the night (both ROM and dinner) was perfect and memorable for both of us.

After being together 1,549 days, we said ‘I do’ to each other in a small ceremony, witnessed by close family and friends. It was a dream wedding for both of us, as we started our love journey at a beach. =)

Thank you to Grace, Diane, and Mark of the Stories team for being a part of our wedding, doing their magic, capturing the most wonderful moments of our big day, despite of being tired from all the traveling they had to do throughout the day. The photographs were wonderful and we love them so much. Expressions and moments were beautifully captured and the effects were very natural. We definitely would love to have Stories to photograph the next stages of our life – maternity to family portraits. Bravo, you guys!

Remember what I mentioned about customization? They customized their guest book, welcome board, serviettes, wedding invites, program fans, seating number badges and even sticky candy stickers, down to the candy itself! I absolutely love the design of their logo! Look closely at the candy and you’ll see their names!

Purple and white’s a great theme… hey, great minds think alike cause I had a purple and white wedding too, 6 years ago!

Their evening was made even more perfect with this gorgeous sunset!

Oh and I so love the cake that I have to show you how it looks from 2 different angles. I do wonder about the ship’s anchor though… does it mean that they love going on cruises, or does it mean that each keeps the other anchored? :)

Danny and Jennifer, the day couldn’t have been better. I am so glad that everything went well despite the rain. Thank you for choosing us, and we look forward to photographing your maternity and family portraits! :)

It’s been a long post, but I’d like to leave you with some tips on how to plan for a beach wedding, as shared by Danny and Jennifer:

8 TIPS FOR A BEACH WEDDING

1)     Size of Beach: Ensure the size of the beach is able to cater for the number of guests invited. It’s more comfortable when there’s ample space to move around.

2)     Settings (Layout Plan): If you’re going to have both the ROM and dinner on the same night, ensure the setting and spacing is sufficient for guests to mingle. Oh, you’ll need space to toss the bouquet too!

3)     Wedding Gown: Light weight and comfortable as it allows you to move and walk around easily. You wouldn’t want to look as if you are carrying a heavy weight while walking.

4)     Grooms’ Attire: Comfortable and nothing too thick as it’s gonna be very hot and sweaty.

5)     Shoes: Comfortable! You’ll have to walk on the beach in it the whole night. Either you have it on or take it off.

6)     Guests’ Attire: Do inform your guests in advance on their dressing. As a beach wedding is an outdoor event, you wouldn’t want them to dress as though they’re going for a party in a ballroom, especially ladies in heels. It’s semi-casual after all.

7)     Make-up & Hair do: A good make-up artist and make-up products are crucial, and ampoules are essential. You are sure to sweat and you wouldn’t want your make-up to smudge. An up hair-do gives you a ‘non-sweaty-with-wet-hair-sticking-to-your-neck-&-shoulder-look’.

8)     Back-up Plan: Very important, just in case it rains!!!

Credits:
Photographers:  Grace, Mark, assisted by Diane
Location: Avillion, Port Dickson
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White, & DressMe
Groom’s Attire: Armani Exchange, Topman & Mohan’s Executives
Shoes: Aldo, Pedro
Make up & hair: Michelle Touche
Decorations: Avillion & Javen Florist
Stationery: Paper & Colour
Cake: Sugar Boutique
Flowers: Pure Seed & Javen Florist

Since we’re all still in Chinese New Year mood, I thought I’d share some tips (from a photographer’s perspective) regarding the tea ceremony that happens at every Chinese wedding. Hope it helps you plan for your tea ceremony!

1. Please prepare  a list so you are well organized during the ceremony. You don’t want to accidentally miss that aunt who travelled all the way from Ipoh to attend your wedding. It also enables the ceremony to run smoothly as the next person can prepare their gifts and ang pow before it is their turn.

2. In the past, we’ve photographed a tea ceremony with a large group of about 100 people. And that was only one side of the family! Instead of taking 2 hours for the session, you could speed things up by preparing additional seats – while one couple is being served tea, the next couple is already seated on the 2nd set of chairs, waiting for their turn! One couple we photographed actually created a semi-circle of about 10 seats. Everyone was seated, and the couple made their rounds in an orderly manner.

3. Find a spacious area for the tea ceremony where we can move around easily for multiple angles. Try not to place the seats against a wall. Give at least a 3 feet gap so the photographer can roam behind the seats for a different perspective.

4. As for the arrangement of the chairs… it’s quite normal for the 2 chairs to be placed side by side in a straight row. But when we take a side angle shot, the person in front usually blocks the person at the back. So we do sometimes request permission to adjust the position of the chairs a little, if the elders are ok with it. Do prompt them about this so they won’t feel upset that the chairs may be arranged for better photography.

5. Ask the person collecting ang pows or preparing tea to stand across on the other side, away from the photographers. That way, they would not be blocking the bride & groom and also, they would appear more often in the images!

6. Lastly, when you serve the tea, try to hold the cup in a way that your hand doesn’t cover it completely.

Hope these tips help! Enjoy the moment and remember to laugh a lot!

Chairs were positioned one slightly behind the other so that everyone is visible from the photographer’s perspective. Unfortunately we can’t really see the tea cup in this shot. 

 Having space behind the chairs is great because it enables us to move around easily!

Lots of space to move around! And of course, if your home has lots of big windows with natural light, that’s an even bigger bonus for us!

You will need:

1. A camera. (Any kind of camera will work, really! Doesn’t have to be an expensive and bulky DSLR. Your point-and-shoot will work well!)
2. Your group of happy relatives.

Tip #1:

Leave no gaps, unless it’s intentional.

As you can see the picture above, the gap has created a kind of awkwardness. As if Weiming (right) does not want to have anything to do with the group. So remember to ask your subjects to go closer.

Tip #2

Handbags, lose ‘em!

Ladies, I know it’s pretty hard to get your hands off your new Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton bag that you’ve just purchased for the New Year.  Holding them while taking a group photo looks like you’re about to head off somewhere.

There. Much better. :)

Tip #3

Connection

Show the world you love each other! Ask your loved ones to put their arms over each other’s shoulders. Cuddle, if they like. If there are young children, tickle them and make them laugh. Tell a joke, make your loved ones laugh and smile. Your pictures will turn out more natural that way.

Tip #4

Working it for the Camera

If you are taking group pictures of a group of ladies, always tell them to stand sideways and rest their weight on one side of their hips and bend their knees a little. This will accentuate on their curves and will make them look slimmer.  Alternately, they can cross their legs and rest their hands on their hips. Your aunties, female cousins and their spouses will appreciate you for that. You’re welcome.

Guys, standing straight will make you look like you’re about to sing the national anthem. So look cool- put your hands in your pocket or cross your arms. Remember to smile. 

*Extra: You may also want to tell your relatives not to lift their hands as this may cover other people’s faces. Here is a very good example not to do that:

(Picture source: Huffington Post)

Follow these steps and you will be on your way to feel like this kid:

Have fun!

xoxo,
Diane

What matters most is that I get to know the brides and grooms that I photograph. I want to know what kind of people they are. I want to know what they like and what they dislike. Do they like to pose or do they prefer candids? Out the many many weddings I’ve photographed, in my entire wedding photography career, I’ve only been asked twice “Do you shoot with Nikon or Canon?”. And both conversations ended up being a fun conversation anyway. Hehe.

I love Nikon and I love Canon in different ways. But when the tyres hit the road, my aim is to have a great time capturing your wedding no matter what the camera tool you put in my hand. It’s my job to figure out which tool works better in which situation and it’s my bride and groom’s job to have fun and have an amazing wedding day. That’s really all there is to it.

Here is a list of things that will help us get to know you better:-

1) We’d like to meet you over a quick coffee a week or two before your wedding day

2) Do tell us what are the important details that you want photographed eg you’ve stuck “I Do” stickers under both your shoes, etc

3) Keep us updated if there are any last minute changes to the flow of events

(and if a longer checklist makes you more comfortable, just ask us and we’d only be too glad to furnish you with one) Hehe.

Explore and Enjoy!

Johan Sopiee

A great moment captured by Johan! PS: Without looking at the exif data, can you tell which image was taken with a Nikon or Canon?

I had the privilege of witnessing and recording the marriage proposal of my friends Ivan and Mi Ghent a few days ago. I’ve known the both of them for years – individually and then together as a couple. I am so glad they’ve taken the plunge into this whole realm of trusting each other’s hearts with full commitment to one another.

Ivan had this ingenious idea of creating ‘additional’ Monopoly Deal cards for the proposal. It’s one of Mi Ghent’s favourite game and the idea was so apt! After a few rounds, Ivan played his “Marry Me” card, followed by the “Just Say Yes” card, specially designed by our friend Monica.

She was stunned for a while, and then asked, “Are you on your knees?”

Needless to say, she said YES!

It was especially meaningful too that the engagement ring was a family heirloom handed down by Ivan’s mum. I am so happy for the both of you! Thank you for inviting Alex and I to be part of this beautiful occasion. And of course, thanks for the yummy Ipoh food too! Now, on to wedding planning!

A week ago, I posted some photos from Aaron & Chrystin’s pre-wedding shoot. It was such an elaborate set up that I knew we had to document it with a video. What you don’t really see in this image below is the many piles of cow dung that we had to avoid stepping on in that field. The shoot was done at UPM, where cows graze freely at certain times of the day. Thankfully, I managed to find a cow-dung-less spot to set up our little picnic mat. So hope you enjoy the video and do leave a comment behind!

So I am glad that we managed to complete this edit, thanks to the ever hardworking Weiming. He shot and edited this video entirely on his own. Amazing work! Thanks Weiming for making me look good in video (though I cringe when I hear my own laughter).

To view the photos from Alvin & Melissa’s shoot at Carcosa, click on this link!

Do let me know what you think of our little video!

1. Make sure your child has enough rest the night before / afternoon before the shoot. If I don’t get enough sleep, I’d be grumpy too.

2. If your child has never been to the park before and you want to do a shoot in the park, I really don’t know how he/she’ll react once he sees grass. Might be a good idea to visit the park as a family a few weeks before the shoot so that you can introduce the little one to grass. (and possibly bugs too!)

3. Bring some snacks in case your child gets hungry. (or if the parents get hungry!)

4. Expect to sweat. Malaysian weather can be unforgiving at times… so dress comfortably!

5. Just play with your child during the photo session. Don’t get upset if things don’t go the way you expect it to. You can never force kids to look into the camera when they don’t feel like it, or haven’t warmed up to the photographer. The more flustered you get, the more likely you won’t get the type of photos you’ve been hoping for.

Have a great mid-week!