Ahmed & Balqish’s baby is blessed to have two good-looking parents, of Saudi Arabian and Malaysian heritage. Perhaps one day, she might follow in the footsteps of her mom who is a traveller, a public personality and a youtuber. When the family came to the studio for their mini session, the little one kept exercising her lungs (By the way, that’s normal in most photo sessions involving babies!). Eventually, she calmed down, enough for Jennifer to get the shots she needed. Congratulations on the birth of your baby, Ahmed and Balqish Maarif!
From the fun chip san leong games to the religious akad nikah ceremony, Zaha and Rachel’s fusion wedding was filled with laughter and tears. I love how the bride DIY-ed a tissue paper flower wall for her Chinese tea ceremony, which turned out gorgeous in the photos. The red contrasted so well with the white gown!
Micah is a really cheeky 2 year old. According to his mom, he has always been an active baby. So the moment he started walking, he was here, there and everywhere! His smile captivated my heart the day we had our photo session at the Majestic. He is so easy going, loves people and laughs easily. Am sure he is going to melt many girl’s hearts! The grounds of the Majestic is perfect for an active 2 year old to run around like mad, be thrown in the air, or just simply explore. It’s great that Victor and Adriena cherish their family portraits so much that they would take time away from their busy lives to do something different.
Love, love, love this set of images!
The shoot idea started out as a gift from Hui Teen, her husband (Njau) and brother (Jun Yong) to her parents so that they would have more recent formal family pictures. The last shoot they did as a family was almost 10 years ago! As the idea became more concrete they thought that it would be a good idea to do it on or close to Hui Teen’s son’s first birthday as it would be a lovely memory for all of them and they would actually have something to commemorate her son’s first birthday. And as it happens, the date they did the shoot was his first birthday.
As a photographer, I encounter many scenarios like these… I suppose the idea of bringing your family to a photography studio 10-20 years ago was really a luxury. In the past 10 years, the idea of photographing your family constantly and regularly became more of a norm, especially since the price of cameras have become more affordable and phone camera specs have improved by leaps and bounds! Personally, I think family photography should not be seen as a luxury that only a select few can afford. I believe every family should look at their family photos as an investment… an heirloom that they can give to their future generation. It’s a record of life!
It was April 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. The Overseas Christian Fellowship Easter Camp was starting soon, but Matthew was hesitant about going. But at the last minute, he changed his mind, and it was there that he met beautiful Wai San. Eventually, after the camp ended, they became friends and he plucked up enough courage to ask her out on an ice-cream date. It was a ‘hot’ date as they sat and chatted for more than 3 hours over ice-cream!
She thought, “He seems quite smart (something I like!). Maybe a little too skinny but overall, ok lah!”
Well, Matt couldn’t get pretty and cute Wai San out of his mind since that first date. Four months later, he decided to take things further and asked her to be his girlfriend before he took her to a musical and presented a nice necklace to her.
For 3 years and 11 months, they shared a lot of things in common, like their love for board games, traveling and food. In that first 12 months of dating, Matt changed from a skinny guy to a more chubby man as he put on 12kg that year! I guess love makes you ‘fuller’!
So in 2016, Matthew and Wai San are married! Their wedding was held at St Peter’s Parish, Bangsar and their dinner at Sheraton Imperial, KL. She had always dreamed of a fairytale wedding (as a princess to a dashing groom) surrounded with lots and lots of pretty flowers and bunny rabbits! (you’ll see what I mean later).
Unfortunately, due to an unexpected turn of events, Wai San’s father passed away before their wedding. I had the good fortune of getting to know him months earlier at Wai San’s sister’s wedding, which I also photographed. I felt really emotional at Wai San’s wedding, knowing that she would very much have loved to have him there, but honoured at the same time to have created beautiful images of their family at Wai Wai’s wedding earlier.
Wai San, seeing how your family held together through that difficult time with the support of your loved ones was truly inspirational for me. At your wedding, you were truly the princess your dad would have been proud to see. Matthew was indeed the most supportive and dashing prince who knew how to lift you off your feet, and into his arms. Have a beautiful marriage, you two.