The day after their gorgeous beach ceremony at the Andaman, Langkawi, Joe and Oanh took some time off to just relax by the beach and enjoy each other’s company. Day after portraits are really relaxing, as the stress of the whole wedding planning is over! The only downside is waking up early after partying hard the night before! But Joe and Oanh made it look so easy, they were there the next morning at 8.30am for our photo session!
It’s official! We’ve moved into our new studio at SStwo Mall, Petaling Jaya! Even though it’ll take a while to completely beautify it, we’re already pleased about how things look (complete with a spiral staircase as well!). Since we’re in this loving, sharing mood, we’re announcing a special promotional rate for all our lifestyle portraits packages for April and May 2012. Read on to find out more!
I’ve always believed in using your skills for a cause. Photography has always been a tool for me, something to express how I feel about a particular topic. When I travel, I use photography to show how awesome and diverse this world is. In weddings, my work becomes a record of someone’s life journey, and hopefully to remind them of that beautiful moment they said “I do”; years later when the eye bags and wrinkles appear. When I photograph families, I want them to cherish the most important people in their lives.
In conjunction with International Women’s Day (IWD), I collaborated with Capri Communications Sdn Bhd to bring forward yet another cause and purpose – to show how important it is that mentoring relationships are formed in every part of our life. The Women: girls campaign was created in line with IWD’s theme Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures. The campaign aims to begin a connection to inspire and encourage a new network of exchanges between young girls and women. I think it’s really pertinent to life. I can remember many women I looked up to when I was young, women who inspired me to believe in myself and reach higher heights in life. My sister is definitely one of them.
The following series of images were created specifically for the Women: girls campaign. It features 10 local celebrities and 10 girls from underprivileged backgrounds. The photos were exhibited in Fahrenheit 88, KL for the past week. The celebrities share their thoughts on inspiration and what it means to them.
Some of the awesome thoughts that resonated with me:
“It’s a strong feeling and drive that I get from someone else that makes me believe I could do anything.” – Julie Woon –
“Inspiration is that wonderful moment that makes you go wow and say, if she can do it I can do it too!” – Kartini Kamalul Ariffin –
What are your thoughts on inspiration and who inspires you?
Julie Woon, Actress & TV Presenter with Gokila, 16 years
Datin Paduka Umie Aida, Actress with Valawanda, 17 years
“Fireproof doesn’t mean that a fire will never come, but that when it comes, you’ll be able to withstand it.” – from the film Fireproof –
It’s definitely one of my favourite films about love and relationships. If you have never heard of this Christian film before, it’s a story about a firefighter, Caleb, who tries to save his marriage from burning to the ground. Everything seems to be going from bad to worse, which eventually leads him to consider divorce. At the lowest point of his life, Caleb’s dad gave him a Love Dare challenge – to perform a simple act of love for his spouse every day for 40 days. It could be something as simple as resolving not to say anything negative to your spouse the entire day.
“The sad part about it is, when most people promise for better or for worse, they really only mean for the better.”
The film spoke to me in many ways. Just like the quote above, it made me think about life and relationships. How often we go into marriage thinking everything will be rosy every single day of our lives. I often think of love as a choice and commitment. It’s not just a feeling or emotion, because when tough times come (as they surely will), we may not feel like we want to carry through with that commitment. It’s at times like these that you remember your vow to your spouse – for better or for worse. Choice to me does not mean that I have the option to leave anytime I want. It means that I choose to love that person even when I don’t feel like it.
And when tough times come into my marriage, I can say that it’s fireproof.
I was really excited when Chih Wei and Diana took out their Love Dare book from their bag during our pre-wedding session. I think it’s really awesome that couples desire to make their marriage fireproof by going through books like these together.
I was happy to hear that Diana also attends the same church I used to attend when I was studying in Australia years ago. It’s great that we have common friends and similar values in life. Once I got to know Chih Wei and Diana, I knew that we could instantly connect. Diana lives in Brisbane whereas Chih Wei works in Malaysia. I definitely respect any couple who goes through a long distance relationship and survives it! So much patience, understanding and effort needs to be sown into that relationship daily.
Since they are getting married this weekend, I thought I’d share some images from their pre-wedding session here. Congratulations Chih Wei & Diana, and may your marriage be filled with lots of exciting moments!
Since most of our clients live overseas, it’s common for us to only meet the day before the wedding or on the wedding day itself. Sometimes, you don’t really know if you can jive with a client until you actually speak to them face to face. With Stephen (also known as Steve) and Andrea, we clicked the moment Mark and I met them for the first time that morning in E&O Hotel, Penang. They had dedicated the whole morning for portraits around Penang island which was an awesome idea to me! It was a pretty relaxing day as they had already said their vows in Australia before the Penang wedding.
Stephen and Andrea met in very exciting circumstances, at an accounting course in the University of Melbourne! After getting to know each other as friends, they took the plunge and started dating, and the rest as they say, is history. Having been together for 9 years before getting married, they took their time…but probably also because they were distracted with everything else.
Their love of food connected them together and the joy of trying new places and cooking delicious meals in the kitchen became a passion for the both of them. (seems like a typically Malaysian thing to do to me!) They also love traveling and make it a point to have a holiday at least once a year. So far, they have made their way through Spain, Morocco, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, Hawaii, France, Thailand, with more to come. They are proud parents of a not-so-little cat called Chester who rules their house and often thinks he’s a dog child. He shows them affection by cuddling on their laps and curling up around their heads when they sleep. Anyone who loves food, traveling, and cats is definitely a friend of mine! :)
