Yes they do :)

This might be inappropriate for me to write but when friends are gone, lovers leave you or your job goes down the dumps, family will still be there. Some may say they’ll be there for they have no choice, but I truly believe that however dysfunctional you may think your family is, we’re all bound together by love. Seriously.

So it was with pleasure that I recently met up with a few families to shoot their family portrait session. As each family shared some of their time with me, my heart filled with gratitude that so many people have opened up their doors and welcomed me with open arms to capture a small part of their lives.

I recently said to my brother that I felt so lucky at this point of my life, to be doing what I am absolutely passionate about, that sometimes I’m afraid my luck will run out and one day I won’t be doing this anymore. For now, I’m embracing and enjoying this part of my life as much as I can and it is with utmost gratitude that I would like to personally thank each and every family whom I’ve shot not only recently, but since I’ve started my career.

Thank you :) Oh and please excuse the sappiness. I get a bit emo whenever I’m editing pictures like these and I start imagining what the kids will feel when they see these shots 15 years down the road ;p It’s either that or it’s the time of the month. Hur hur hur ;p

Much Love.

ZOMG.

My workouts have been SOOOO sporadic for the month of February that a gazillion (I KID YOU NOT!) friends and acquaintances have gone “Hey Anna, you look like you’ve lost weight”, “Hey your biceps are smaller”, “Ooo, you look more like a girl now”. Like WTF?!?

The first few times that happened, I ran home and (felt like :p) cried myself to sleep while doing bicep curls. It was THE ultimate insult - its like telling James Nachtwey that his emotional work in wartorn countries is childsplay, telling Anna Wintour that her magazine sucks balls, claiming that James Cameron’s Avatar is not epic. At all.

Then it occurred to me. I’ll claim this as my off season. When I’m too busy with work to workout, like bodybuilders who have months where they let their body rest, I’ll use this time to recuperate (from working out).

So for the next person who goes, “Anna, your muscles shrank??”, I’ll just say “Oh, its my off-season” (and inside my head I’ll be saying “WAIT TILL I MAKE A COMEBACK BUSTER!!”).

Now please excuse me while I go visit the crepe lady in Freo before continuing my editing work. Nom nommm. 

WOD022210
Angie
Pull 13:25 Push 21:00 Sit 25:42 Squat 29:04

Tuesday
Deadlift 1 - 1 - 1
85 - 90 - 95
Was supposed to do 3 sets of 3’s & 5’s thereafter but bailed as I wanted to continue on with Diane :p

Diane 21 - 15 - 9
Deadlift (60kgs)
HSPU
Results 8:45
A minute slower than previously. Sore back. EXCUSES!

WOD021810
13R+3 (HPC 20kg)

WOD200210 Saturday
Power Clean : 30 - 35 - 37.5
Three rounds for time of:
10 Push Press @ 40kg/30kg
20 Push Ups
30 Pull Ups
Results: 17:52 (20kg PP)

Feb 10
WOD020910
Weighted Pull Up 3 - 3 - 3
Results: 12kg
21 - 18 - 15 - 12 - 9 - 6 - 3 reps of
KB Swings 16kg
Results: 12:05

Chest to Floor, Thighs, Bar:
11:09

Deadlift 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3
60 - 65 - 70 - 75 - 80

DB Croc Row
35 : 35lbs (20 reps x 2 sets)
Strict Chin Up (3 reps x 10 sets)
DB Shrugs : 20lbs (20 reps x 2 sets)

February 2 (Tuesday)
WOD020110
10 minutes Handstand Push-ups
5 minutes Squats
2 minutes Pull-ups
1 minute Push-ups
Results: 100, 170, 20, 32 (322)
Towards the end had to break down my HSPU’s into 3s and 2s. Couldn’t touch my head to floor, but its improving in the sense that I’m more than halfway there now :D wOOt! Pull ups were CTB but after the first 10, my left wrist had a sharp pain. Its the same jarring pain that I got when I used to climb and FML, I think its gonna be a while before it heals 0.o Absolutely short on breath and felt a bit woozy after this workout. Must be the lack of sleep as I only had 4 hours the night before.

February 4 (Thursday)
Deadlift 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3
Results : 65 - 70 - 75 - 80 - 85

21 - 15 - 9
Ring Pull Up (Single ring, close grip)
DB Press
Results: 11:39 (20lbs)

100 Sit Ups
Results: 3:26

To say that these newlyweds are fun AND creative would be an understatement. Groom shot their own pre-wedding pictures - check. Bride sews her own wedding dresses (no less than 4 dresses, mind you ;p) - check. Bride & groom choreographed a first dance which could rival with a professional performance - check.

To say that I was flabbergasted would be an understatement. The love they show for each other left me touched, their radical dance moves left me speechless (and to have me quiet is quite a feat!) and I am forever in gratitude that they shared the day with me.

Liyen and Michael, thanks again for the day. Here’s wishing you two many memorable pictures, fun dances and great laughs ahead!

Chad contacted me just two days before the shoot. It was quite a last minute thing as he decided to surprise Ploy for Valentine’s Day. So after a round of emails and phone calls, I picked them up on the eve of Valentine’s Day and we headed off to Lake Gardens for our portrait session.

As individuals, Chad and Ploy are really nice people. But together, they were uber sweet. There were alot of laughter between the two of them and whilst initially, you could tell that Ploy is shy, after awhile she started warming up to the lens and boy oh boy, did I have fun shooting these two then!

Chad and Ploy, I had fun hanging out with you two! Hope you enjoyed your dinner at Luna Bar and your short whirlwind visit to KL!

First day of the Chinese New Year and this year, it coincides with Valentine’s Day as well :)

Truth to be told, I was feeling a tad bit lonely when I woke up on the eve of CNY, thinking to myself what a pity it was that I wasn’t back in KK for the reunion dinner with my family and not having someone to share Valentine’s Day with (not that I’ve ever celebrated it :p). As the day went on, I realised that I was looking at it  the wrong way.

It occurred to me that I am so so blessed to have all that I have - time to go for a workout in the morning, an awesome shoot with a sweet couple in the afternoon (the light was bee-yoo-ti-fool!) and my dear ‘Monkey’ friends who had reunion dinner with me. And today, I celebrated the first day of CNY by having Bodega’s (overpriced!) big breakfast AND a slice of Alexis’ tiramisu to myself *burp* and for Valentine’s treated myself to some photography related purchases online :p 

So what’s the point of this post? Just a(nother) reminder to myself that I should always, always be thankful for what I currently have and whatever else comes along, it’s a HUGE bonus :D Of course, like others I have moments where I’ll wallow in self-pity but who am I kidding? Life is as good as how you view it! 

My Monkeys & I :D Shot recently by Rudy.

Here’s wishing y’all a Happy Chinese New Year!

My wish for you (and me!) is that the year of the tiger be a roaring success in terms of career, health and love. And may you be blessed with friendship which fill your heart with gratitude, like the one I have with my Monkeys :p For those who celebrate Valentine’s Day, enjoy the day with your loved ones. Nom nom more chocs on my behalf k? K :D

Much Love

Elina and I actually met each other late 2005 when we were in the same episode for Malaysia’s (only season of :p) Fear Factor. It was then that I got to know her better and we clicked immediately since we’re both opinionated and love love to laugh as well as crack stupid jokes. So it was a great honour when she called me up middle of last year and told me that she was getting married. My (and everyone else’s!) initial reaction was to go, “Serious??”. And she was ;)

I met up with her and Hadi over drinks to discuss their wedding and it was evident that he was the perfect fit for her, for he was the sugar and creamer to her Nescafe (inside joke :p). In the blink of an eye, the day of their wedding came along and the day was perfect! The ceremony was held without a glitch at Elina’s parents home in Subang Jaya and the newlyweds allocated plenty of time for some fun portraits around their housing area.

To have a look at more of their wedding photos, hop on to Anna-Rina Photography Facebook page here.

The bridal party is too cool for school yo! (shot in front of SM Seafield)

Elina & Hadi, thanks so so much for having me shoot your solemnisation ceremony. I had tons of fun hanging out with you two and the day was just an absolute blast. You two totally rocked ma world big time by being the not-so-typical newlyweds! Here’s to many years of love, laughter and Nescafe’s ahead ;) Hugs

When I was (muuuuuch) younger, I used to buy the past issues of National Geographic and linger over the marvelous pictures they had in each edition. This was way before I ever thought about being a photographer, it was just the pull of the pictures that had me ooh-ing and ahh-ing over each copy repeatedly.

Back then, I didn’t even know who it was who shot some of my favourite images in the NG. It was only when I started to dabble in photography in 2005 that I started to find out more about the photographers behind some of my favourite images. One of them was Joe McNally.

So imagine my excitement when Louis Pang announced over Wedshooter.TV that they were organising an edition of Joe McNally’s Hot Shoe Diaries workshop in Kuala Lumpur. I was thinking to myself, “ARE YOU FO REAAAAALLL???”. Within a couple of days, I signed up for it.

Frankly speaking, nearer to the date, I had second thoughts - what could I absorb in a day, could I really afford this, I need the money for something else, I’ve got a mountain of editing to catch up with, I don’t have a day to spare for the workshop, I’ve got some crazy deadlines to meet, yadda yadda yadda.

Am glad to say that after much thought, stuck to the plan and attended the one-day lighting workshop.

It was quite a thrill to watch Joe in action and also to hear him speak about different lighting options, etc. And I know this sounds kinda like a teeny bopper, but I was starstruck. Like whoaaaa 0.o This was McNally - he who has not only been shooting for National Geographic for yonks, but for LIFE as well as multitude other magazines and corporations, he who is not only highly awarded but highly respected in his field.

Dayum! I was attending the workshop of a living legend!

McNally’s a great speaker (after a gazillion workshops I reckon it comes naturally to him), articulate and willing to share his knowledge. And I’ll let you in on a not so secret secret. He is absolutely down-to-earth! Like sincerely! Even though you could sorta tell he was jet-lagged, he just answered everyone’s questions and taught with gusto throughout the session. Together with his assistant, Drew Gurian (gaffer tapes rule!) as well as Louis Pang and the rest of the Wedshooter.TV team, the one-day workshop proved to be a great learning experience.

Do hope that more workshops by internationally acclaimed photographers are organised in Malaysia! Kudos to Louis, Jasmine and the Wedshooter.TV team for organising this. And thanks again Joe for being such a great teacher :D From one your ‘vertically challenged’ students :p

Was teamed up together with Naqib, David and Khairul (nice meeting y’all at the workshop :D) during the shooting session in the afternoon and thanks to their suggestions (and also McNally’s session in the morning. d-uh!), managed to get 2 shots which I’m not shy of posting here. Yes, I know they’re nothing to shout about, but these 2 shots are TOTALLY outta my comfort zone, and I’m kinda happy about nudging that zone :)

And y’know something, this may sound sacrilegious, but I think I might be starting to like external lighting. Gasp. The horror :p

Though Joe McNally’s one-day workshops are sold out already, I’ve heard that there’s still a few seats left for his lighting seminar this coming Saturday. Check out Wedshooter.TV here for more info :)