Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity ~ Carl Jung

When couples ask me to suggest a destination for pre-wedding sessions, Kota Kinabalu always comes to mind. With the beaches barely 10 minutes away from town and the mountain an hour plus away, it’s definitely a convenient location which offers diverse, gorgeous backdrops in the great outdoors.

So I was more than happy to oblige when Will and Natalie decided to have their pre-wedding in KK as it gave me the opportunity to share with them the beauty of my hometown :) We actually got rained out in the afternoon but were blessed with awesome weather for the morning part of the session.

Here are some of favourite images from the day.

Will and Natalie, thanks again for having me shoot your pre-wedding pictures. It was a pleasure hanging out with you two on the day. It ain’t easy posing for half a day in bridal attire but you two were absolute troopers! I do hope that you get an opportunity to head over to KK again for a proper holiday next time round. Perhaps for a mini-honeymoon after your reception? ;) Have a good one!

I think this was the first time that I received an enquiry, confirmed a session and shot it within a span of less than 24 hours. No kidding!

Thanks to Jan Calvin’s super last minute idea of wanting to surprise his girlfriend Roslyn, I had the utmost pleasure of hanging out with them on sunny Wednesday evening a couple of weeks ago :) The initial plan was for them to head downtown for a scrumptious dinner to celebrate their 8th year anniversary but it was a couple of minutes before turning into KTM’s parking lot that Jan Calvin told Roslyn about the portrait session. Imagine her surprise when she found out!

These two high school sweethearts were so much fun to shoot! As I was editing the images, I thought to myself how sweet young love is. Cheesy I am, but hey hey, that’s part and parcel of what I do ;)

Jan Calvin and Roslyn, thank you for being such great ‘models’ that day and I appreciate that fact that you two didn’t give me a “WTF?!” look whenever I suggested something silly ;p You two rocked the session big time with your hardcore kung-fu fighting skills and your impressive jumping height ;) Can’t wait to send you the rest of the images when I return to KL next week. Til then, here’s some of my fave shots of you two.

Here’s to a super duper awesome weekend ahead! x

If you drop by this blogsite regularly, you might remember this couple for their pre-wedding session was DA BOMB (if I may humbly state so ;p)! I had thought to myself that if that was an indication of how their wedding day would be, then it would be absolutely awesome. And luckily, I was right ;D

Haw and Melissa’s nuptials were held at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Kota Kinabalu with a tea ceremony at Haw’s home straightafter followed by a celebratory dinner reception at Magellan Sutera on that night. Though the day was packed to the brim, Haw and Melissa were absolute troopers and were totally chilled out the whole day!

There were many parts of the day which I enjoyed, but the most memorable ones for me were seeing the way Haw looked at Melissa throughout the ceremonies. You could tell that MAN! This guy’s in love! And seeing how Melissa would joke around with Haw, it was evident that they’ve married their best friend :) Fo’ real!

Prepping! Both Melissa’s wedding gown and dinner dress were tailor made by Pretty in White.

The anticipation! :D

*heart* :D

& like all newlyweds should, they danced in like DA BOMB!

The speeches made by their parents and Melissa’s brothers showed what a close knit family they come from

Loved their reactions thoughout the speeches :) And yes, they weren’t the only ones left crying during the speech *blush*

Haw & Melissa, oh what can I say about you two that I haven’t told you before? You two rocked it big time, yet you kept it real to who you are. You’re both so genuine, without any airs about you that it really was an honour to be part of something so personal for you. Mel, I loved it when you cheered heartily during Haw & his band’s performance and you know what I really, really liked as well? Your invitation card - “If God is the DJ, then Life the dance floor, Love is the rhythm and You are the music” :D Awesome possum! Thanks again for having me on that day itself! Rock on Mr & Mrs Lim and congratulations again ;) wOOt!
With Much Gratitude, A.

Hello friends! It has been awhile hasn’t it? You must’ve thought I’m aiming to grow gargantuos cobwebs on this blogsite of mine. Well, I’m back. With somewhat of a vengeance ;) Having shot quite a number of weddings and portrait sessions recently, I’m rather spoilt for choice on what to share first! Which is actually a good thing no? Okay okay. Enough bantering from me, its time to meet my new friends Shireen and Hugo!

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Time and again, when I meet couples like Shireen and Hugo, I think to myself “Sh*t Anna, you’re one lucky bugger. You get to shoot people in love”. Cheesy I know, but that’s how I roll.

Shireen and Hugo met through her brother and whilst her first impression of him wasn’t exactly the best ;p they started dating not long after the first meet up. And to celebrate their recent second anniversary of dating, they decided to have a portrait session with me! Lucky, lucky me :D

It was on an absolutely gorgeous Saturday morning that I met up with these two lovebirds at a park in KL and from the beginning of the session, it was an absolute breeze! Even though it was the first time I met them, it was evident that they adore each other to pieces. With nicknames for each other, Shireen’s one is Skippy for she skips when she’s happy ;p and Hugo’s one HP for his initials, they laughed, kissed, cuddled and playfully made fun of each other throughout the session.

And that’s what made their session absolutely fun. They were just comfortable with each other, joking around, unconscious about sharing their love with that weird photographer and just purely themselves. And like I tell all my clients, there’s absolutely nothing to be self-conscious about, just let go and be yourself. That’s when you get the money shots ;p

Shireen and Hugo, thank you for spending that lovely Saturday morning with me. It was an absolute pleasure and do keep in touch!

Much love.

Yes, I must admit.

It HAS been awhile since I last blogged *sheepish* Not that I don’t want to, but the month of June was packed with shoots! Which of course, is an immense blessing :D With the month long shooting fiesta, it is with guilt that I must also admit that the backlog of images to post-process, unreplied emails to clear amongst other daily business work also increased 0.o 

BUT once I clear up everything by end of this week, life will be back in balance :) A balance which will include time to blog about recent sessions! Can’t wait to share some of my fave images then :D

In the meantime, check out Chiq Clicks, a photography blog especially for female photographers, where yours truly is featured in a short Q&A about being a cry baby ;p Thanks for the feature Sze Ning! 

Since its Father’s Day weekend, Daddy here’s a quick note to remind you that we love youuuuuuu :D

It was nice staying back a few days after my clients’ wedding last week to be there for your 71st birthday and I wasn’t joking when I said you are going to be around until the day I get married…which means you’ll be around for quite awhile. So you better take care of yourself, stay healthy, drink loadsa water, keep up your fitness regime at the gym cause I want you to give me away when the day comes :) Now you just need to give me some time to find a man. Heeheehee…

I meant it when I said that what you have done for us, all the hard work that you put in last time is immeasurable and in my lifetime, I would never be able to repay you back. You always say that you wish you could’ve done more for us, but Daddy, what you and Mum have done for us is enough for me. Parents don’t get manuals when they have kids and I reckon parenting is something you learn along the way. You and Mum have done the best you can and I totally appreciate that, and way more.

You gave me the love of reading and funnily enough, the older I am, the more I eat like you. I used to find half boiled eggs, tomato juice and dragonfruits disgusting. But now I love them :D And not forgetting, being active and travelling! I still remember when you used to lift weights and now I’m doing it. Yay! And Daddy, I plan on going to all the places you’ve travelled to and take pictures of the exact same spots where you were standing. I just need a few more years to cover all the countries! Frankly speaking, though I love being like you, I sure am glad I didn’t get those Mickey Mouse ears! Kidding Daddy, juuuuust kidding ;p

I’ll see you again next month, then we’ll go have sashimi and eat ‘ngiu chap’ together k? You have a good weekend with fatty and Adam koko :D Love you!

Oh and before I forget, here’s one of my favourite shots of you and your ‘girlfriend’ ;D

xoxo
Lil One

I met up with Neen about a year ago during her brief trip back to Kuala Lumpur and back then, her wedding plans weren’t finalised yet. So imagine my bewilderment when a couple of weeks before THE day, I doublechecked the dates and realised that it was already a year past since our first meeting! OMGeeee! A year just flew by in the blink of an eye!

We didn’t have much opportunity to meet as she and Fakhrur are based in Dubai so I was a bit nervous about heading over to Kota Bharu for their solemnisation ceremony, wondering whether or not their family would like me. And y’know what? They were absolutely wonderful! Their gracious hospitality reminded why I’m insanely lucky to be doing what I’m doing.

Fakhrur and Neen, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you for inviting me to capture the ceremonies, thank you for your kind words, for giving me the honour of witnessing the beginning of a new phase of your lives. Most importantly, thank you for being so good at ‘tokkok, singsong’ ;)

On days when I feel down and think that my photo taking skills suck big time, it is thanks to clients like you who remind me why, instead of giving up, I’m going to strive to be better and to capture the moments as well as I possibly can. Whilst it would be impossible to capture 100% of the essence of the day, I do hope that I’ve managed to capture at least part of the memories for you. Here are some of my favourite images from the day, which will be in your hands soon! 

Much Love.

Neen’s ‘khatam Quran’ ceremony the day prior to the solemnisation in Kota Bharu.

The intimate solemnisation ceremony was held at a mosque behind her parents home. Talk about convenience!



<3 :)

After their solemnisation ceremony and lunch reception, we took a drive out and had some time for portraits. I like! More of the ceremony pics in Kota Bharu are up on Facebook

A week later, Fakhrur & Neen had their KL reception at KL Tower. 

Congratulations again you two :) 

The family portrait session was organised by Magdalen recently as a gift to the ladies (and 1 guy ;p) in her life. Partly as a birthday gift to herself, mainly in conjunction with Mother’s Day. And let me tell you, it was a heluva shoot!

We were supposed to have the session at Taman Rimba Kiara - which turned out to be closed for a private function (it was some kinda ‘Bola-thon’. Aaaargghh!). We then headed over to the TTDI Park which on a Saturday morning was filled to the brim! Finally, we decided on the park and poolside area of an apartment nearby and it turned out to be absolutely perfect for the session!

The light that morning was absolutely awesome, it has been awhile since good ol’ KL had such gorgeous light. And Magdalen’s family? An absolute breeze to shoot. Their camaraderie, their bubbly-ness (is there such a word ;p?), the fact that they were all so easy on the eyes made it all perfect!

Mags, you were all sizzling in front of the camera! Totally natural and if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said you’ve all been practising in front of the mirror ;) Here are some of my favourite shots from the day and I hope y’all enjoyed the session as much as I did! Thank you again for being so fun! Have a great weekend ahead and see you soon :) xo

From July onwards, in collaboration with Canon, Malaysia’s edition of Digital Camera Magazine will have a new column called “Photo Tutor” where “two appointed photographers will give their views on submitted photos from readers on how to improve their shots“.

Guess what? One of the “appointed photographers” is yours truly. I kid you not. Isn’t that crazy?!? I remember back in December 2006 when my photos got featured in the readers submission section of ‘Out There’ and ‘Hot Shots’ I was over the moon! Like fo’ real!

And now come July 2010, I’m a “photo tutor” in DCM. Like whoaaaaa! Yes, its only for a couple of issues, but still! This is way surreal for me! To top it off the other “photo tutor” is one of the photographers I used to bug endlessly for tips when I first started out - Glenn Guan of The Star. Hah! Are you kidding me??

Anyway, do check out June’s issue of DCM for more info on how to submit your photos for, I quote, “valuable nuggets of wisdom“. Do hope that some people DO send in some photos otherwise I would feel like an absolute loser if there were no photos to check out at all! OMGEE. Lets hope THAT doesn’t happen 0.o

And yes, I’ll update the blogsite very very soon with a proper photo post :) In the meantime, for lil previews of recent shoots, do swing by my Facebook photography page here.

Have an awesome week ahead friends :D