One of the things I love about being a photographer is the fact that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people. This session was no less as I got to meet Anggie and her two boys ;) - her husband William and her adorable son, Jeremy. Anggie contacted me a couple of months back after stumbling upon my blog and we’ve been corresponding since then. 

She had selected the day of her 6th wedding anniversary for the maternity and family portrait session and it was coincidentally, exactly a month before her maternity due date. Our session was done around Taman Tun area and I had a ball throughout the session. Whilst the weather was overcast when we first started shooting, the clouds cleared up when we got to the park and we got some pretty sweet natural light then :) So yay for good weather!

Hey there cute family ;D





Anggie, you’ve got one gorgeous baby bump!


Lil Jeremy is such a happy child - he was smiling throughout the shoot. I like!





Jeremy has already started playing with his little brother :D

Somebody was getting a tad bit tired after a morning of running around ;)

Anggie, William and Jeremy - I had tons of fun during the session and you were an absolute delight to work with. I love how comfortable you all are in front of the camera and just how happy Jeremy is. It’s just great to see how much a child is being showered with love that he’s constantly smiling. And I found it really cute when you two started laughing when I said that we’re reenacting your wedding day poses. Nothing wrong with reliving some memories eh? ;) Have a great week ahead!

In May, I took a couple of days off and headed over to Manila for a short break with my friends Sherrie and Soon Wei. There, we were hosted by hostess extraordinaires - Francis, Stacey and Kristine. They showed us part of what Manila has to offer and the best of Pinoy hospitality. And when I say the best, I mean THE best!

Francis, Stace & Kristine, I know I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, thanks so much for the awesome five days and it was great to see Manila thru’ your eyes ;) I’ll definitely be back. Till then, take care and we’ll continue our ‘Philippines/Malaysia Friendship Channel’ soon. Heheheh…

Sherrie had some pesos from her Dad and it turned out that they were soooo old that many merchants didn’t accept them. We had a good laugh looking at people’s amazement ooh-ing and aah-ing whenever they saw the notes.

Cafe Breton! My new-favourite dessert place. That dessert you see below is called “Fantastic Pinay” - a concoction of crepe with mango slices, nutella and whipped cream is to die for! I call it “The Love of My Life” :p Nom nom.

With our wonderful hosts at Tagaytay :) L-R: Soon Wei, Francis, Stacey, Sherrie & I


Some shots from our hike up Taal Volcano Island. It was absolutely gorgeous!

With my travel buddies, Soon Wei & Sherrie - waiting for our ferry to Corregidor :D (yes, my wide angle lens was extremely dusty :p)




‘The Feet Series’ goes to Phillipines ;)

Chris and Chelle had their beach ceremony and wedding reception at Pacific Sutera Resort in Kota Kinabalu earlier this month. The day was overcast and the winds were strong but it all turned out to be perfect as the breeze kept everyone comfortable throughout the beach ceremony ;) I was mentally doing my ’sun dance’ and keeping my fingers crossed that the weather would hold up and it did! Lucky me!

You might remember Chris and Chelle from their portrait session a couple of weeks ago. Well, I had a pretty hard time choosing my favourite pictures then and I had the same problem (good problem to have!) choosing my faves from their wedding day :p Here’s some of them :)

Holla hot bride!

Yes, the bride arrived via heli. How cool is that eh?




Meet Yaya, Chelle’s sassy niece. She’s an absolute doll!

I think this particular moment was really cute :) The pastor had actually asked everyone to close their eyes during the prayer and Chelle took a peek at Chris in the middle of it. Shoo cuteee!


Mr & Mrs Quarrie. wOOt!

Portraits time! The boys donned their best, suave ‘Zoolander’ look. I think Chris has it down pat.

Hawt ladies in the house! I loveeee the combination of the bridesmaids’ sashes and the bouquets. The hint of colors was a superb touch, Chelle!

Oh and did I mention that Chelle made her own dress? For real, for real :)

Then, it was on to the ballroom for the reception. Check out the backdrop & the cake! I likeeeee :)

Chelle’s sister, Marianne, was tearing and laughing throughout her speech. 
You nearly made me cry along with you woman! ;p

And Mr & Mrs Quarrie gave a really sweet speech which…..

…got Chelle & Chris choked up. At the same time :p

The reception was fun, fun, fun! Everybody was living it up and partying like they had Saturday night fever! Or in this case, Sunday night fever.
Chelle’s Dad took the stage and sang a song for them and so did Chris’ sister & brother-in-law, who nearly stole the limelight that night! You all rock!



That’s Chris’ parents in front and Chelle’s Mum in red - they sure can partay!

Party peopleeeee!

Awwwwww…..

The rings, the rings!

Big thanks to Chris & Chelle’s bro-in-law for this shot of me together with Chelle, her sisters & bridesmaids. You ladies are absolutely awesome and thanks for making my day an absolute blast! x Btw, did you notice their sashes matches my new Shootsac cover? ;p 

Chris and Chelle, words can’t express how much fun I had shooting your wedding day. It took me quite awhile to pick my faves for this post. There were so many shots which I wanted to share, not cause they ‘look good’ or cause the ‘composition was awesome’ but because the moments captured were real - the glances that you gave each other, the smiles and laughters throughout the whole day.

Having been behind the lens and being able to capture these moments when it happened, well it made the pictures extra special for me. It was evident that you both enjoyed yourself thoroughly and that you were marrying your best friend that day. And your family members? They are the bomb!

I am stoked that you two enjoyed your honeymoon at the Kapalai Islands. The pictures on FB looks absolutely wicked! Here’s wishing you two many more happy days and exciting travels together in the years to come! See you soon :D

G’day everyone :D

Just a quick update that last night my Twitter account was hacked into and data of all those who have subscribed to my Twits has been ‘hijacked’ and spammed endlessly (with offerings of online *cough*cough* services. Eeeks!). You would need to click onto the spammer’s Twitter account and block it to prevent the spam from appearing on your Twitter page.

I’ve managed to get back my Twitter account at www.twitter.com/annarina. So feel free to follow my constant short updates there instead. And to friends who have been joking that I have a part-time job offering *cough*cough* services -________-” it wasn’t meeee! 

On another note, I’ve just updated my calendar of booked dates for the second half of 2009. It’s slowly but surely filling up so I would like to say a hearty thank you to the couples and families who have booked me for your respective portrait sessions and wedding day! Yay! I’m really looking forward to hanging out with you on that day itself and feel free to email or call me if you have any questions before our shoot :)

And just cause I don’t like having blogposts without any pictures, here’s a straight out of camera, unedited shot of a bee-yoo-ti-fool sunset on the first evening of my trip back to Kota Kinabalu recently. I like to think of it as a ‘welcome home’ sunset. wOOt! Lucky me!

Have an awesome day ahead! x

I met Oli and Nina a couple of years ago. Back in the days when I used to climb regularly, I would see them at the indoor climbing gym and it was evident that climbing was a shared love for the both of them.

So it was no surprise to me to hear that Oli had proposed to Nina on a trip last year to the climbing mecca, Krabi. It was on a multi-pitch route at Thaiwand wall that Oli surprised Nina with a ring. Of course, Oli was worried about dropping the ring but thankfully, he managed to keep the rock safe from the rocks.

Geddit, geddit? Rock on rock? :p

After six months of preparation, Oli and Nina will be married with a solemnisation ceremony at her parents home tomorrow. And yours truly will have the pleasure of capturing shots from this meaningful day. wOOt :)

As a preview to their wedding pictures which will come in the next couple of weeks, here are some of my favourite shots of Oli and Nina done during a portrait session a couple of weeks ago at Cyberview Lodge.

They were laughing so much throughout the whole session that I was tempted to call this whole set
“The Laughing Couple” ;)


Yowza! Hot couple alert!

But they can get pretty silly as well ;)

Oli & Nina, thanks again for the honour :) You two were an absolute blast to shoot and I so can’t wait for tomorrow’s ceremony! See you soon!

You know how it is when you have a crush on someone?

You think about them day and night, you hang on to every word they say, when you see them, you can’t seem to tear your eyes away from them.
Alas, when you have a crush on someone you never do a thing. Nada.

Perhaps its a fear of rejection, or just lack of self-confidence. Whatever it is, I’ve seen too many people go through crushes and not do anything about it.

So after more than a year of pining for you (yes, I’ve been thinking about you more than a year!), I said to myself, “Dammit Anna, it’s now or never!”

And so I did it.

I made my intentions known about how manly I thought you were, how much more exciting you would make my life be and just how much fun we would have together!

And ever since having you by my side two weeks ago, I’ve been smiling like a giddy teenager.

Freimut, I can’t wait to get to know your full frame sweetness better *bats eyelashes coyly* and here’s to many, many awesome wedding and portrait sessions together :D

Oh and if you’re thinking I’ve dumped my other boyfriends - Paco (400D) and Onni (40D), no way jose!! We’re one big happy family and we’re gonna rock your world with many more yummy-licious shots!

wOOt!

I recently had the pleasure of second shooting for Edmund Tham during Lennard and Karyn’s wedding day. Much thanks to Edmund for asking for it’s been aaaages since I last second shot and it was really fun to look at the whole event through a second shooters lens :)

The day of this young couple’s church ceremony started off with the Chinese tradition of ‘picking up the bride’ where Lennard and his ‘team’ of bestmen had to go through a series of ‘tasks’ before they could get to Karyn. After successfully ‘overcoming’ the tasks, we all headed over to St Andrews Church in town for the beautiful church ceremony. Lennard and Karyn’s dinner reception was held at the Palace of the Golden Horses and boy, did they have a lot of fun or what!

Here are some of my favourite shots from Lennard and Karyn’s wonderful wedding :)

Lennard & his ‘entourage’

And the negotiations begin…

…while the bride waits in anticipation ;)

Errrr….a healthy breakfast?

A quick prayer before the ceremony begins





Seeing this shot again made me go “Awwwwwwww…..” :)




This toddler was shooooo cuteeeeeee!! Look how he’s concentrating on the slideshow, I was soooo tempted to pinch his cheeks but was afraid his Mum might label me as the crazy photographer :p

Lennard and Karyn, though our meeting was brief (only on that day!), it was an absolute pleasure for me to have been a small part of your big day :) Hope you two enjoyed your honeymoon in Europe and here’s wishing you many blissful years of happiness ahead.

Thanks to Sherrie, I had the pleasure of meeting Lareina recently when she and Sidi came back from Indiana for a visit. First impression was that they’re both quiet and reserved but as we continued with the shoot, it was apparent that Lareina and Sidi have a wacky side to them as well! But of course, those wacky pictures will not be revealed on this humble blog of mine ;p

Lareina and Sidi, it was a pleasure to meet you two and thanks for being so perky despite having to wake up sooooooo early. And thank you too for helping me get that Shootsac cover. Yay! Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in KL and have fun catching up with the family :)

And here’s a shout-out to Lareina’s parents whom I met briefly before we started Lareina and Sidi’s portrait session. When I was introduced to Mrs Tan, I extended my hand and was about to shake her hand when she pulled me in for one of the warmest, biggest hugs I’ve received in a long time. And you know what? That big hug made my day! So Lareina, do thank your Mama for the best hug I’ve receive in awhile. wOOt!

Lareina’s parents, Mr & Mrs Tan

I met Marina and Faz on the day of the shoot and despite never having met them before, we got along like fire in a bush! Marina had found me online and coincidentally we’re both from KK. Ya, orang Sabah bah! wOOt!

I had an absolute blast shooting you two and thank you so much for being sooo open to all sorts of suggestions despite it getting reaaaaaally hot towards end of the shoot :p And Faz, thank you for jumping so many times. Yes, I’m keeping all those shots for you two. Hahahaha!

Here are some of my favourite from our session :) Have an awesome weekend ahead!

It was a beeeee-yooo-ti-fool day when Adi and Shaliza got married. The KL skies were clear and blue, not a drop of rain nor a whiff of haze was visible. I arrived at Shaliza’s as she was about to finish up her preparations and boy was she gorgeous or what!

We headed off to the Federal Mosque after where Adi and his family members had already arrived and the solemnisation was held there. I love shooting at the Federal Mosque as the architecture is awesome! Top that up with a loving and sporting couple and you get pictures which make you go ‘Awwwwww…’ Well, for me anyway ;)

Adi and Sha’s dinner reception was held on the same day at the Concorde Kuala Lumpur and it was attended by their family members and close friends. Besides the merenjis and liveband, I think the highlight of the night was when Sha’s Dad was up on-stage singing. His speech was absolutely hilarious and it sure got everyone cracking up!

Adi and Sha, thank you for having me document your special day for you. It was an absolute pleasure for me and I hope you two are doing fine Down Under :) Sha, here’s wishing you all the best with your photography endeavor and Adi, don’t forget what uncle said in his speech about jogging 5 km’s every morning ;p Ngeheheheee…take care!