Yohei and Fumiko have been living in Malaysia for the past 2 years ever since they moved here from Japan. In 2014, we photographed their family for the first time, and now, it’s really lovely to see their children all grown up!
Their son Shotaro is going to be 5 years old in May and the main purpose of the shoot is to celebrate his anniversary. According to Fumiko, Shichi-go-san, which means seven, five and three, is a Japanese annual event to celebrate healthy growth and the hope of longevity for three and seven-year-old daughters, and three and five-year-old sons. So Shotaro turning 5 is a special occasion for their family and they wish to remember this moment by having nice photos taken.
This morning, I woke up in bed, 73km away from home at a town called Port Dickson, body still sore from last night’s wedding shoot. I thought of my kids at home, being cared for by my Indonesian helper the night before as my husband is away in New Zealand, setting up the Integricity NZ office. I drove home, packed my kids to church single handedly and was reminded about how much Alex is missed this Father’s day.
I cannot imagine life as a working single parent, and I take my hats off to those moms who had to fill the role of a mother and father to their kids because of various circumstances, or vice versa. Having a father figure is so important to every child. I am so glad that Alex is the kind of man who takes time to do simple things with our children, whether it is baking a cake, painting some eggshells, reading books to my son so that he can potty train him at the same time or carrying them on his shoulders when they are tired.
He is the kind of man who would gladly step up and help a friend in need, one who is generous and a person who truly cares. I hope our children will catch these traits from their dad as they grow up. We miss you, dad this Father’s day. Come home soon.
Our pre-wedding packages just got more interesting – our Classic and Luxe package now includes hair & make up for both packages, giving you more value for every ringgit spent. So what’s included in our packages? Here’s just one of the options available for you:
Classic Package B (RM3,200) 1 photographer from the Stories team and 1 assistant
4 hours of photography coverage
1-2 shoot locations within Kuala Lumpur
Approximately 200 soft copy medium resolution images on USB
Slideshow montage
16″ x 11″ art print
10″ x 10″ chic album (20 pages)
Online password-protected gallery
One look for hair & make up
Contact us for our full rate card to see more options! Book anytime before 15th July 2016 and shoot by 30th September 2016.
Was her name Jaavaani, or Pravani, or something like that? John didn’t quite remember, after meeting Praveena at workk for the first time in Singapore. She was annoyed because he could not pronounce her name properly, plus the extroverted John was a little too loud for her liking. Finally, after a few weeks of calling the wrong name, he got it right.
Getting to know each other
Praveena: We worked really long hours and found common friends with those who had as little work-life balance as us. Our clique was called “Macarena Madness”, named after some incident where John had to do the Macarena for losing a challenge. Over the years, we’ve had many challenges (e.g. weight loss challenge, 6 pack challenge, KFC double down challenge). We trained for a marathon, had various drinking sessions and even dressed as corpse bride and groom for Halloween.
While I was getting fond of him, I realized that John might have feelings for me only after thinking about all the nice things he had done for me (e.g. making breakfast on my birthday, bringing me home when I’m drunk, defending me when other teased me, protected me from questionable strangers). I guess John slowly grew on me.
John: Working long hours, we got to talk a lot. We worked through nights and went for breakfast together. Not realizing it myself, I started doing things that favor her and sharing secrets with her, so much so that the colleague behind me asked me if there was something on between us. Not good at lying and taken by surprise, I didn’t have an answer and that was when I realized that there was probably something going on. I realized I enjoyed making her smile!
Dating phase
Praveena: John asked me to be his girlfriend in true Love Actually style – with the cue cards – because he knew I liked that movie. After the initial anxiety of telling our friends and family (who thankfully were supportive), it was pretty much the same usual things we did after. It was just nice to know that John was always there to have my back.
John: There was a phase when I thought she liked another guy and she thought I liked another girl. But once I realized we were actually talking about each other (Praveena kinda gave me a big hint when she was drunk), I was overjoyed and went on to text her about it the next day. She was feeling embarrassed for a moment cause she was still thinking the girl I liked was someone else. But I told her all was well and hinted her that she was the one I was talking about. Playful me wanted to let her feel embarrassed a while longer and so hinted her to let her realize it herself. xD
Then we had our first date and we got together. Since we already got to know each other in office and spent maybe one or two months thinking that each other liked someone else, we didn’t really have a dating phase of knowing each other more to ascertain if we like each other, but more of went on to the dating phase of knowing each other more.
Being in the same line and having similar mindset about how things should and should not be done at work, we quickly realized we are a great match! =p We were excited to move on to the next phase of the relationship!
It’s 2am and I lie awake in bed, one of those nights where my thoughts lead me to my work, life and my general state of happiness as a person. It’s been 10 years since I started this journey as a photographer, and in these past 10 years, I’ve explored many areas of photography – from travel to documentary, posed portraits vs candid photography, learnt about studio and natural light, thought about diversifying my work to get various sources of income, and then thought about finding my niche so that I can get the type of clients that I really like.. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to grow my team, spending more time with my family yet running this business that I love and thinking about my retirement plan when my body is too weak to shoot.
These past 10 years, I’ve also felt insecurities as a photographer – not knowing if I am on the right path, feeling envy when others are successful, worried about how to move forward in this business.
How I wish there was a blueprint in running a successful photography business.
Many of the lessons I learnt while running this business was built on trial and error. I have swayed to the left and to the right over the years, and now, I think it’s time to go back to the start.
What drew me to photography in the first place?
I just love capturing life.
People intrigue me. Everyone is so different and yet, the human emotions of love, joy or sadness connect us. I love photographing human connections – that moment when a child looks trustingly at his mother, when the father of the bride cries as his little daughter is finally getting married, that laughter shared between life-long friends.
This thought comes through again and again – keep doing what you love and you’ll excel in it. But it also takes a lot of work. On days when I am not shooting, I am trying to learn something new – reading about ways to improve my business, looking at Pinterest to find new inspiration, signing up for workshops and trying out different genres of photography just to upskill myself.
So 10 years on, I am still learning and doing what I love. It’s what keeps me going.
Baking a cake
Creating a mural on the wall for Krysta’s room
Enjoying father-son time in Port Dickson
Planning the Kyoto itinerary with Kyle
Getting to know each other
Dating phase
