Since I am heading off for a newborn portrait shoot soon, I thought I’d share a few from another session I did some time back. I met Joanne and Anderson at our Stories booth in a Pitter Patter event and within a few minutes of chatting with them, they booked our services. I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with their son Joshua too… he’s super adorable (and talented too… he can play the guitar and drums at such a young age!).
Here are some of my favourites from their session.
If you are a female photographer serious about learning the craft and needing some new inspiration, do come and join us for a weekend of fun and learning! Four professional photographers (Anna-Rina, Asther Lau, Fiona Lim and myself) will be sharing our experiences, tips and tricks of the trade with you from a female perspective. We hope to inspire photographers to dream big and aim high!
Do view our little promo video, and visit our website www.bloomworkshops.my to find out more AND register for the workshop!
Video edited by: Weiming
Music credit: Akvalung
[Javascript required to view Flash movie, please turn it on and refresh this page]
One fine day when Alex and I were talking about life and business, an idea suddenly came to his head… he suggested that we get a Stories-mobile; the Volkswagen Kombi. Frankly, I was a little hesitant at first… I mean, that thing is huge, OLD and might be really hard to drive. Good thing I can actually drive a manual car! I was concerned that I might not reach my wedding shoot destination if I had a vehicle like this. I shrugged the idea off until Alex brought it up again a week or so later.
He started showing me photos of really beautifully done up kombis online. I was smitten. Slowly but surely, I became hooked to the idea. And that was how our search for the VW kombi started. We contacted some friends who were VW enthusiasts and they put us in touch with other enthusiasts.
And then one day, we found this:
And so, unintentionally, the date 11.11.11 became significant to us. It was the day we bought our new bus!
By the way, this photo was taken in front of SS2 Mall, our new office space! But that’s a completely different blog post altogether. Take note that I went the hippy route and dressed for the occasion.
The kombi is in really good shape (considering it’s like a few years older than me… did I mention that I am over 30 now?) The colour is perfect cause it’s what we wanted in the first place (our Stories theme colour is light blue and dark brown). Some even pointed out that the number plate is perfect for a photographer (CF, as in, compact flash cards). I felt as if God was giving us the green light to get this bus.
Our little kombi will be used for shoots, and will also be rented to bride and grooms who are interested in using it as a wedding car. So far, 2 brides have already contacted me about the kombi. Our aim is to get it spruced up even more, but good thing is that it already comes with air-conditioning!
I am truly excited whenever I receive an email, card or call from a client telling us how much they appreciate our work. I’d like to share with you an email that we received from our client Allen and Stephy after their wedding day. It makes me especially proud because they are complimenting our entire team, and not just one individual. Their wedding was photographed by Mark, Johan and assisted by Diane.
Thanks to Stories!
Everything was great on our big day!
Mark, Johan and Diane are really heart-warming. We thought we got to know 3 more friends during our big day!
From the initial arrangement of meeting, Diane has done a really good job in liaising between us and Mark/Johan, rounds and rounds of emails, without complaining. She has done a really really great job too, on the actual day. Especially during the toasting from table to table, She took the initiative and helped us to coordinate.
Johan, he was funny, but serious. The first time we met up with him, it was the discussion on actual day run down. Though it was just a 15-minute discussion, I had strong impression on him, as he took out a pen with angry bird design. Too funny! It doesn’t match with his serious look (He did look serious when we ran through the rundown with both him and Mark).
During the dinner, he told me “Stephy, I am sitting at table … (I couldn’t remember), if you need me, you just hand up and I’ll be right here for you”.. He was simply too thoughtful!! and I wanted to make fun with him by handing up again and again, but i thought i shouldn’t.. LOL
Needless to say. Mark is way too professional! He gave us a lot of suggestion, I wanted to have the original version of “just the way you are” for morning SDE, he recommended me acoustic version which many of my friends told me they fall in love with the it. Mark offerred to take some portraits in the Hilton. But too bad that we did not make it as our schedule was just too tight. But He followed us, to make sure he got the chance to take even just one portrait, be it in the bridal suite, or any single corner.
With all these, they move us.
We were very worried and nervous for the actual day. Allen told me, somehow, he felt a lot more relax after the discussion with Stories, that i had the same feeling too. We are blessed to have Stories with us on our big day.
So, Thank you for your dedication, passion to our day!
Best Regards,
Stephy
Photographers: Mark & Ben
Location: Danna Hotel, Langkawi
Wedding Gown: Noel Chu (HK)
Make Up: Pick-a-brush
Decorations: Darling Florist
Wedding Planner / Wedding Table Stationery: Sheau Hanng Ngui / Hanngevent
Howard & Seok Poh have been dating for almost 10 years ever since they got to know each other through the Malaysian Society in Imperial College, London where they were studying. A long distance relationship was inevitable but eventually, the both of them ended up working in Hong Kong.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of city life in a huge metropolitan area where the human density per square kilometer is one of the highest in the world, both Howard and Seok Poh decided to come back to Malaysia and have a wonderful wedding ceremony and dinner amongst close friends and family. Not only that, it was held on the beautiful island of Langkawi.
What more can you ask for? Beautiful white sand for a beach wedding, a huge tent by the seaside for the dinner and great friends and family to celebrate with. That is definitely a dream wedding come true. The atmosphere was perfect, the wind was blowing and both the couple were so relaxed that they decided to have fun and games before the ceremony. So much so a group of them decided to have a water polo match!
Housed at the beautiful and new Danna Hotel in Langkawi, it was great fun shooting and capturing their moments. Even through the weather and rain, both Howard and Seok Poh continued on with the events and everything turned out beautifully including the after party party!
Have a great marriage!
- Mark -
