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The Cute Little Dinosaur: Baby J

Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting. – Richard Paul Evans –

In 2016, I photographed Justin and Nicole’s wedding at the Westin in Langkawi. I am honoured that they contacted me again to photograph their little dinosaur munchkin end of last year. It’s just so wonderful seeing families grow through the years. The quote above resonates with me and reminds me that life needs to be cherished daily. In a blink of an eye, our child is no longer a baby but a toddler, then they become a teenager…

So I love what I do because I get to capture this fleeting moment in time through my lenses. Memories are forever immortalised in that one frame.

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Wedding Video Highlight: Kingston & Delia

This was our first wedding for 2018, shot on the 1st of Jan! We were glad to have met Kingston and Delia, both very personable and friendly towards us as a team. The both of them live in Melbourne but came back to Malaysia for their wedding. We filmed their Chinese tea ceremony and banquet at the Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa. The games were pretty hilarious, with lots of great moves from the guys!

Here’s the story of how they met:

Delia: Kingston and I met in high school but it wasn’t until the last 2 years of high school that we finally got to know each other. This was probably because our paths finally crossed when he was appointed a prefect in the last 2 years. It was at a prefect’s camp at the beginning of the year that we started talking to each other as we were put in the same group. I remember thinking what a nice and funny person he was, always joking and making me laugh. Conversations were pretty superficial at that stage, but the unusual thing about it was the way he made me smile all the time and made me feel exceptionally comfortable around him. One day after camp, we were both put on prefect duty at the back of our school canteen.  I remember that being the first time we got to talk to each other- just the 2 of us. I felt as if we had known each other for years. I think I told him my life story that day! Clearly we were not very good prefects.. we weren’t even paying attention to our duties the whole time! Since then, we would talk almost every single day.

Kingston: We became best friends. We would hang out every morning on roll call, see each other on breaks and the funny thing is, I always know that she’s looking at me when we happened to be nearby on our prefect duties. She laughs at most of my jokes (which doesn’t happen with a lot of people) and I always (and still do) get that warm fuzzy feeling when we are together.

Delia: Towards the end of college, it was time to decide what we wanted to study in University and where. Many of our friends had either already gone or were preparing to go overseas to complete tertiary studies. This was the time when I started to think about my future seriously and who the most important people in my life were. It was during this time in 2006 when I realised just how much I cannot imagine not having Kingston in my life. It really put things in perspective for me and I guess Kingston felt the same way too. So August 1st 2006, that’s when we decided to take our relationship further.

It was also the time I started Medical School in IMU and Kingston started studying Chemical Engineering at Monash. We spent the first 2 and half years together in this relationship and it was bliss. Beginning 2009, Kingston moved to Melbourne to continue his studies there and our long-distance relationship began. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through and 6 months later, I then moved to Southampton, UK to continue my medical degree. The hardest part about being apart was, to me, meeting him once a year for no longer than 2 weeks and having to count down the days before we had to part again.

Kingston: Spending time together in that short stint was amazing. We appreciated every single ticking second in each other’s company and we would go on dates like how we used to when we were younger. Of course beautiful moments like those were never enough- and the reality of the situation would always set in towards the end of our holidays together. The hardest part is having to say goodbye every single time, and knowing that by sunrise the next day one of us would be leaving for another full year. These were extremely difficult moments for us, but we both know that they made us stronger individually. Although this phase of the relationship is the most difficult and challenging one, it made us grew not only as a person, but together as a couple.

Finally, Delia completed her stint in the UK in 2014 and made her move to Melbourne. I still remember waiting for her at the airport, full of excitement and happiness, knowing that we won’t have to endure the hardships of long distance relationship anymore. Fast forward to today, it still amazes me that we are still together in this 10+ years of relationship and have persisted so much in life. I always knew that I wanted to marry Delia and with us finally being together, I decided to propose at the end of 2016.

Delia: I waited for a long time! It was an amazing, romantic and well-planned proposal with the help of all our family and our friends. Kingston decided to put me on a treasure hunt for a whole day. My two best friends and one of his best friends drove me all around KL to pick up clues to the next stop from his friends who were all stationed at our most memorable ‘spots’ in the last 10 years. It was very nostalgic for me going back to these spots where memories were created and that meant so much to us like our high school, our favourite place to eat, my old house before my parents moved away… I was in tears most of the time. We ended up in Tamarind Springs where we spent our first 3 years celebrating our anniversaries, and he finally got down on one knee in front of our family and friends. That was truly one of the best days of my life.

Credits:
Videographers: Chi Yin, Choo Cherk & Delvin
Dinner reception location: Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa
Groom’s Attire: Adriano Carbone/ Tom Ford
Wedding Gown: Maggie Sottero/ Celest Thoi
Evening Gown: Andrea and Leo
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik/ Oscar De La Renta
Hair & Makeup: Agnes Yip
Decorations (Ceremony): Wishing Tree
Decorations (Dinner Banquet): Willow Events
Stationery: Akitiara Designs
Dinner Banquet Entertainment: Rhumbaa
Photography: MunKeat Photography

Church Wedding at Luther Centre: Jeremy & Melissa

Jeremy and Melissa’s wedding had all the elements that made it special for us as a team. It included a cool couple who really cared about us as individuals (not just as vendors), lots of interesting moments like when Jeremy took out his wedding vow ‘scroll’, Melissa’s vows that was sung emotionally, and a rather unconventional dinner reception with friends at an industrial area in USJ. I loved how there were lots of personalised touches to the wedding, like how Jeremy’s father officiated the wedding ceremony itself, all the DIY decor and flowers and the bride’s gown that included lace from her mother’s wedding dress. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously at their wedding! We wish you years of adventure as you put God first in your marriage!

Do watch their wedding slideshow for more photos and to hear Melissa’s beautiful voice as she sings her vows.


The #jeremelized story

I (Jeremy) first met Mel on a trip to Penang in 2008. She was the choir master of the carolling team and my first impression (in my defence, she was in work clothes) was that she was this older lady because she was so capable and talented. The next day, I wound up sitting next to her at breakfast and telling bad jokes and puns. I have no recollection of her next to me but she’ll tell you that she was wondering who this scrawny noisy boy was.

We properly met in university in 2009 when she came down from Penang to do her degree and we were group mates (and became good friends) for 3.5 whole years! We were dating other people at the time and Mel thought I was immature. I obviously thought differently. We saw each other (along with 3 other friends who are our groomsmen and bridesmaids respectively) through ups and downs, tough time and happy times, we celebrated and we cried, we worked together in various committees and on various projects and assignments.

Fast forward to 2014, we were both single and I was interested in Mel. We had stayed good friends after graduation and so I decided to tell her I was interested in her. I did, and she rejected me. Boo. But we decided to remain friends and continued spending time together until one day.. I’ll let her tell this part..


I (Melissa) always thought of Jeremy as a really great friend. In fact, he was my first friend in university! A mutual friend had introduced us and tasked Jeremy with looking out for me and getting me settled into uni. As time went on in uni, we worked well together but I’d always found him rather overprotective and annoying. Having said that, we did have lots of fun together but mostly in a group context.

Fast forward to 2014, we were both working in the university itself. We started spending more time together doing projects, mostly helping other people with whatever was needed. We did some music gigs with friends, and photography gigs together. Later in the year, I did my honours year in uni, and needed help with stats. Guess who came to the rescue!

The first time he told me he was interested in me, it wasn’t a surprise. Many people had forewarned me, but I was totally uninterested. Partly because I didn’t want to spoil the relationship we already had, and partly because I felt our personalities were too different (he’s way too emotional) and there was no way we’d get through a romantic relationship because it would be too hard to sort out those differences (for me).

One day after he’d dropped me home, as I was walking into the house, I felt a strange warm, prodding feeling and a voice at the back of my head that whispered “give him a chance!”. It took me 2 whole months to think about it but finally I thought perhaps I should put aside my pride and give this boy a chance :)

And so, I did! But how to tell him? To be honest, in the last 2 months, we’d actually been growing closer as well – he acted very differently after expressing interest the first time. It was as if he’d let go of trying to impress me and he really started being himself more. I enjoyed that. To cut the long story short I sneakily made him take me out for dinner, and told him we needed to talk about “the future”. I thought he’d gotten the hint! But trust me, boys often DO NOT get the hint. He took me to a fancy restaurant, dressed up all nice for that, even made a song request for me (that the pianist never played), and we talked about all our plans…. but NEVER got to talking about US! When we reached the car after a lovely evening, he offered me his hand and I held it back.. thinking it was time to talk about us! Still nothing.

Finally I said, “are we going to talk about this?”
“What?” he asked.
“THIS!” I said, holding his hand up and shaking it in his face.

So we talked.

And the rest as they love to say, is history.


We gave each other a month to “try” what being in a romantic relationship would be like for us. It was strange, but comfortable. The long time we had together as group mates, friends, committee leaders etc. was very good in providing us situations (often stressful) to really get to know one another and learn how to work with each other, and thus being in a relationship was just like another day in the life of Mel and Jem (what I call Jeremy).

All this has led us to today; we’ve been dating since 20 Nov 2014, and he asked me to marry him on his birthday, 8 May 2016. We’re getting registered on my birthday, 21 Dec 2017! No excuses for forgetting celebrations! While we do have our ups and downs, I think over the years we have learned to communicate better, fight better and are continually improving on working together as a team. He’s my favourite partner, the person I would always pick first to be on my team as I can see that together, we accomplish so much more. We’re so thankful for all that God has done in our lives and can’t wait to see what’s in store!

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Our Little Nook: The Stories Studio


If you are looking for a cosy environment for your family or maternity portrait sessions, our studio is the perfect space for it. We are based at Oval Damansara, Jalan Damansara, which is just along the Sprint highway next to Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Another landmark would be Glo Damansara mall, which is a stone’s throw away. If you are coming from KL city centre, it takes about 20-30minutes by car.

Here’s a few reasons why we love our little nook so much:

1. There’s just so much natural light!
While we have the backdrop and lighting for a more formal corporate shoot, we tend to use a lot of the beautiful natural light streaming through our ceiling to floor panels. It is perfect for family sessions with babies and young children. We can use our black out curtains and sheers to control the quality and quantity of light that comes into our studio. Our natural light studio looks best between 9am-4.30pm on a sunny / cloudy day.

2. It feels like home
We have arm chairs, sofas, bean bags and mattresses to make the space feel so cosy, almost like home. We even offer snacks, water, coffee or tea to ensure you have a comfortable session with us. While we do not require you to remove your shoes, our studio is cleaned regularly so that hygiene is maintained. If you need a steam iron, a hair dryer, gel, facial blotting paper or wet wipes, we have it all. We even have toys and bubbles to entertain your little ones when they get antsy!

3. We have various background options available
Our walls are painted white, brown and we have a white brick wall available as backdrop options. If required, we can set up seamless white or grey backgrounds for shoots that need it. While it might seem ‘plain’ to some, our style is to keep everything minimal and classic.


4. Need to make it more colourful with props? Yes, you can!
If you would prefer a more ‘set up’ look for the session, you can bring your own props or utilise some of the items we already have. For example, we have a child size tent, rocking horse, paper flowers in various shapes and colours, chalk boards, vintage luggage bags, Scrabble letters and more. Just share with us some thoughts about the theme or look you want to achieve, and we can contribute ideas to make it happen. Alternatively, we can recommend decorators that you can hire to style your shoot!


5. We can accommodate a large group

Our little nook is approximately 400 sq ft, so it can accommodate large groups as well. We have photographed up to 26 adults and children in our studio before! It just takes a bit of coordination and lots of patience from everyone as we work through the groupings. We also have a separate overflow space where family members can relax while the session is ongoing.

6. Easy access
We have 2 entrances to our studio, one through the lift from the main lobby if you need wheelchair access and the other directly from the carpark at zone F. We can reserve a parking lot for you at our carpark so it makes it convenient for you. The entrance from the carpark is our main entrance and it leads you through our shared office space with our other colleagues from Integricity.

We invite you to make an appointment and visit our studio if you would like to have a look at our space, or book it for your next family, maternity, couple, newborn or corporate headshot session! Have a look at some sample photo sessions taken at our studio.