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! 

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

Mother’s Day is just around the corner!

And to celebrate all the mama’s in the world, Elevyn (a fair trade online store which also provides an innovative platform to raise money for social causes) has organised a contest whereby one of the prizes is a family portrait session from Anna-Rina Photography (that’s me, d-uh). wOOt!

Head over to http://www.elevyn.com/mom for more details :) You can also check out KLue’s write-up on Elevyn’s efforts here, their article is waaaay more comprehensive than my errr…substandard writing.

The ironic thing is, I won’t be celebrating Mother’s Day with my Mum this year. Since I’ll be busy shooting this weekend, here’s an early “Happy Mothers Day” wish to her…

Mummy, ok fatty might have to translate this for you since you’re much more comfortable with reading Chinese, but I just wanted to say I love you. Sure, we were all terrified of you as kids, but I know beneath that Hokkien loud mouthed, tough demeanor, you’re just a big ol’ softie inside. We’re alike that way ;) Even though we don’t show it that often, remember that Daddy and us kids appreciate every single thing that you’ve done.

You always decline offers of help from others, choosing instead to help others even back when we didn’t have much money at home. You gave me your blessings when I was 18 and wanted to leave home and start working in KL. And when you were going through your chemo a couple of years ago, you didn’t complain one single bit and even though I couldn’t spend much time with you then, you never put me through a guilt trip. That, I could do myself. Sorry for not being there more :(

Now that you’ve recovered, you’re so independent it drives me nuts sometimes when you say you still wanna continue working at your friend’s shop even though I say you don’t need to and that you should be taking it easy at home. And even though you complain about Daddy sometimes, no wait, make that all the time, you are still around, taking care of him. So yeah, its quite obvious you still love him despite all the nagging you do ;) But cut down on the nagging k? It ain’t good for your blood pressure :p

Thank you for raising me up and constantly reminding me to be (I hope) independent, (somewhat) hardworking and (sometimes) humble. From you, I’ve got my gift of gab and like your younger days, I am quite the camwhore ;p However, there’s only one thing I didn’t get from you and that’s the art of cooking. Mummy, you’re too good of a cook and you spoilt me in that aspect by never letting me enter your kitchen! 

In the recent years, everytime I made a birthday wish or whenever I saw a shooting star (yes Mummy, I am very cheesy), my main wish is that you and Daddy are happy, truly happy. Take care of yourself, don’t stay out too late and don’t worry too much about me k? (don’t I sound like you? ;D)

With all my heart, I love you. See you in June! xoxo

I had totally forgotten about the interview as it was done quite awhile ago, so when Sherrie called up and told me her friend had seen some of my pictures in the magazine, I was ecstatic :D There’s so much stuff running through my mind now that if I were to blog it, y’all would think that I’m being ridonkulous.

*dramatic pause*

But I reckon its okay to be ridonkulous once in awhile. And have gibberish on your blog even though you’re already 30. Life’s too short to be too serious right?

*skips with joy* Yes, I had to do that before continuing *happy sigh*

If you had seen my twits from last night, you would’ve found out that Asian Photography Magazine featured me (Of all people! Imagine that! My first thought when they contacted me was “Are they high on drugs??”. KIDDIIIINGGG!) in their March 2010 edition recently. And I only bought a copy of the magazine earlier today just cause I didn’t know about it earlier on! What a wonderful belated birthday present this is :D

And yes, the happy family on the cover are my clients, the Sondazs! :D :D Didn’t know APM were gonna use any of the pictures for the cover, so when I saw that magazine with a picture I shot on the cover, I wanted to stand up on MPH’s cashier counter and exclaim to the crowd “ZOMG! THAT’S A PICTURE I SHOT PEOPLE!!”, while crazily waving the magazine around.

Unfortunately, I didn’t do so.

Instead, I waited till I got home, took snapshots of the 7-page feature (the scanner’s down. great timing!) and THEN stood on my living room couch and exclaimed to my imaginary friends, “THAT’S A PICTURE I SHOT PEOPLE!!”. My imaginary friends (5 of them to be precise) just continued on with their imaginary poker game. Bah!

Oh and yes, it’s a typo of my name on the cover. What the heck. They can even call me Anna Banana for all I care. I mean, they put my picture on the cover! How. Surreal.

Wheeeee!

On left, is a shot of my photoshopped self :p and on right is Trish & Ben who got engaged not long after their portrait session :) Congrats again you two!

Tiara & Aaron, Carrie & Risky and Terence & Nicole

Rowena and her “ji-mui’s” and Kenneth & Keeli

Svan & Ashley, Chuen Hau & Adeline and Elina & Hadi

Ok, promise I’ll wipe this silly smirk off my face within the next 12 hours. In the meantime, lemme go disturb my imaginary friends again and read the article aloud to them.

Hope your week’s gonna be awesome too! x

It was on a bright and sunny afternoon that I met up with Cam and Kat in South Perth for their engagement session. They had recently gotten engaged and wanted to mark this point of their lives with an engagement portrait session and the weather on the day of their shoot was absolutely lovely! There were many people just chilling out at the foreshore and basking in the sun. Love love shooting in conditions like this. Especially with couples like Cam and Kat who were absolutely accommodating!

Cam and Kat, you two worked it that day! Yes, while it may be true that Cam took awhile to get used to the camera, you were working it after the first few shots. And Kat, you are an absolute natural in front of the lens. No wonder some of your friends tease you about looking like Penelope Cruz! Hope you two had fun during your engagement party and all the best with the preparations for the big day :D wOOt!

Anna-Rina Photography (that’s me!) will be in Perth, WA for 5 weeks come 2010!

I’ll be down under for wedding photography and a couple of portrait sessions between February 24 - March 30, 2010. Seeing that I’ll be there for quite some time, I’m opening up bookings for additional portrait sessions.

If you’re interested in getting a fun-filled, relaxed portrait session with your significant other, family, friends or even a solo session, gimme a holler at info(at)anna-rina.com for more details. You can also check out some images from recent portrait sessions here.

Spread the love and have an awesome week ahead! x

Thanks to Enrick for the image & Chak of Foldees for designing the below ;)

The past week has been absolutely great! I didn’t have any shoots during the weekend so I took the opportunity to take some time off editing to have a bit of personal life ;) Spent Saturday afternoon on a photo outing with my friends Sherrie and Bang Qin. It has been aaaaaages since I last went on a photo outing just for fun. 

There was no set plan and we just wandered around town and finally ended up at the National Museum which I love, love, love! Didn’t have much time to check out the whole place as we were in a rush but I’ll definitely head back there again :) Here’s some images from our aimless wanderings ;p

It ain’t over til the fat lady sings! - shot on right by Sherrie

The museums guard kitten. Shoooo cuteeee! I want a kitty cat but my housemates all voted against it. Meh -_____-”

Psychedelic tiles at the entrance of the National Museum. Feels like its moving huh? 

There’s currently an exhibition on traditional children’s games. 

There are a lot of school kids at the museum during weekends….

…and when I say a lot, I mean ALOT! So don’t go on weekends if you’re planning to visit ;p

More artifacts - Isn’t it amazing how simple life used to be? Everything seems so complicated thesedays, as we try to make our life more convenient with more and more so-called-helpful contraptions. 

Not only was Saturday great but Sunday was awesome as I reconnected with my first love - bouldering. Headed over to MadMonkeyz Bouldering Gym in Wangsa Maju and realised just how much I miss bouldering :) Bouldering used to be my first love and I sorta forgot about it when photography came into the picture. Hoping to balance things out a bit by taking some time off on a weekly basis to get reacquainted with it.

Anyway, the fantabulous weekend was topped up with 3 icings on the cake come Monday as I found out the following features had been released.

Ashley & Svan’s gorgeous garden wedding was featured on The Wedding Guide.


Chris & Chelle’s beautiful beach ceremony is featured in the latest issue of Bridal Guide magazine!

And yours truly is featured in this week’s Life & Style’s People section.

When the editors for both Bridal Guide and The Wedding Guide contacted me recently about featuring my recent couples in their respective media, I was absolutely ecstatic! I mean who wouldn’t be? It’s not everyday that one gets their work and their couples featured in bridal guides so this was definitely something that I got really excited about.

A huge thanks to Habeebah of Bridal Guide and Stephanie of The Wedding Guide for the features :) And much thanks to Shan of Life & Style as well for featuring me in the current ‘People’ section. Much much appreciated!

Oh, before I forget, am organising ANOTHER sharing session this Saturday. But its for working out :p Hehe…do come join if you’re free! Details here.

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Edit on Oct 30: I’ve reverted to everyone who wrote to me about the sharing session two days ago. To those who wrote in, thanks for your email! Though I would love to, I’m sorry to say I can’t accommodate everyone but I’ve sent you details of some of my fellow photographers workshops which might be of interest to you. To those whose slots are confirmed for this Sunday’s session, can’t wait to meet up and talk shop! See you this Sunday! Cheers :)

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I recently reactivated my old blog* and looking back through my old posts of shooting my first ever wedding (assisting Tom Hayton), having my pictures published in a magazine for the first time, being a gear head (where there’s a shot of me with my external flash pointing straight ahead, which is apparently what noobs who don’t know anything about flash do *shy*), etc, made me smile as barely three years ago, I didn’t even think I would be doing this for real. Along the way, I’ve met many awesome people, individuals who shared their knowledge with me and in one way or another, moulded me into who I am today. Ok, before I get too emo about this, let me get straight to the point.

To pay it forward, I’ll be organising a pro bono sharing session next weekend for photography enthusiasts who want to learn more about shooting portraits.

Who? Photography enthusiasts who want to learn more about shooting portraits (yes, I like repeating myself). 

What? This will be a small sharing session whereby participants can ask whatever questions they may have regarding portrait photography, not so much on the technical side, but more on the practical side such as interaction with people, poses, locations. Session will be done over a period of 2 hours and if time permits, we’ll have a short portrait session.

When? Tentatively next Sunday afternoon cause by then, I should be done with all my editing & layout work! Hopefully >.< 

Where? PJ, exact location will be emailed to confirmed participants

Why? Well, when I was out of town recently, I spent a day with a photography enthusiast who picked up portrait photography and while sharing tips with her, I realised that I enjoyed it and that I was learning while sharing as well. The questions that she asked me made me think why I shoot the way I do and how one can improve in terms of photography. Having received quite a number of photography related questions from photography enthusiasts, I reckon that having a sharing session would be more conducive than just emailing back and forth (which I haven’t had the time to do consistently!). Please note that I am NOT AN EXPERT on all things photography, but I’m just gonna share whatever it is that I’ve learnt along the way. After all, photography is a never ending learning process and it helps a lot when people are open to sharing.

How? For the session to be more conducive, this sharing session is only open to maximum 10 photography enthusiasts. For those who are keen on participating (only the ones who are sure they can make it), drop me an email at info(at)anna-rina(dot)com and please title your email ‘Sharing Session’ with;
- your contact details
- a link to your blog or wherever it is that you store your pictures online
- questions that you might want to ask during the session

As mentioned, this session would be more suited for photography enthusiasts who have just embarked on their newfound interest and who are keen on learning more about shooting people (not literally of course).

So if you’re keen, just drop me an email with the above details and I’ll revert to everyone by middle of next week on the location and exact timing (it’s gonna be next Sunday afternoon). Have a good weekend ahead :)

Back when I first started shooting, I shot myself aaall the time.
Yes, vainpot I am :p

*for those who happen to read through my old blog, yes, there’s a lot of rubbish there. Don’t be judging me on what I wrote yo for my mouth (or in this case my fingers) moves faster than my brain does :p

Edit: I think most of you would have heard of Louis Pang, who’s one of Malaysia’s top wedding photographers and educator. His constant passion about his work and willingness on sharing his knowledge with others has been an inspiration to myself and I believe to many of my peers as well.

Besides sharing through his regular workshops, he has just launched an online education portal which offers videos on all things wedding and portrait photography related at www.wedshooter.tv. Do check it out if you’re keen on learning more about wedding and portrait photography. Congrats on the launch of the site Louis and thanks for sharing :D

Another local photographer who constantly organises workshops is none other than Ted Adnan, who’s like the lighting guru of KL ;D He’s organised numerous workshops on basic as well as advanced lighting and information on his latest workshop can be seen here.

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

Yup *pinches self again to make sure I’m not dreaming*

That’s me together with fellow wedding photographers Zach, Kenneth and Jon. Like for real! We’re on the cover of a magazine dudeeee! 

To be asked to shoot a fashion spread together with three of my peers whose work I admire is already a huuuge thing for me. But to be on the cover of that magazine? Whoaaaaaa! Absolutely unbelievable!

Utmost gratitude to the Hote team for featuring us in the magazine and much thanks to Malaysia’s three rising photographers (yes, you three!) for putting up with my endless chatter and tokkok throughout the cover and fashion spread shoot. I learnt a lot from our time together and I hope we can work together again soon!

Below’s a shot of the four of us (took this from Kenneth’s Facebook! Hehe…thanks Kenneth!) after our cover shoot at Show Up Pictures’ studio.
And yes, the guys are as silly and fun as they look ;p

Besides being featured on the cover and collaborating on a fashion spread for the magazine, we each had a double page-spread interview about, what else?, our involvement in wedding photography. As I can’t possible have a large picture of the spread online, I’ve included the Q&A’s from the article below.

Below are the questions from the magazine and my replies to them were returned via email. The answers were actually edited slightly by the editorial team but below’s the original replies. And before I forget, Hote is “an off-rack magazine and it is mailed free directly to the carefully selected Genting WorldCard member. You may contact vida.lim@pmgasia.com.my if you are interested for a copy” ;)

Even though it’s a member’s only magazine and not widely circulated, I’m still very excited about this :D After all, this give me a chance to tell my future grandkids “Don’t play-play arrr! Your grandma was once a covergirl!”. Heheheheh…yes, I should be crowned with the award for being the most narcissistic photographer ;)

Thanks again Hote magazine. It was great fun and we’re glad you like the pics in the spread! Here’s to an awesome week ahead! Cheerio~

How did you start off with photography?
I purchased my first dSLR with winnings from an episode of Fear Factor Malaysia back in August 2005 and was just shooting casually for a year as an enthusiast and posted up my pictures on a personal blog. My first wedding shoot was in early December 2006 when I assisted photographer Tom Hayton on a Malay wedding and my first solo wedding was end December 2006 when a good friend of mine got married. I basically shot 6 weddings while I was still working in the corporate line and after months of contemplation, decided to take the leap into full time photography.

What inspired you to become a professional wedding photographer?
I still remember the exact moment I thought to myself that I wanted to pursue this on a full-time basis. It was right after shooting an engagement session in Malacca. It was night by the time I hit the road and while driving back to KL and I had plenty of time to think. I realised that no matter how tired I was at the end of a long day of shooting, I was happy. I was happy to be part of my client’s special day, I was happy to be given the responsibility of capturing their memories, I was happy to be given the opportunity to meet so many people from different walks of life and to have friendships grow from there. Was happy and still am :) I know this sounds morbid, but I also thought to myself that if I were to have one year left to live, I would rather do something I am passionate about and earn less than be somewhere I am not happy and earn more. I didn’t want to look back on my life with regrets or thoughts of ‘what-if’. The following day, I tendered my resignation and started pursuing my dream, which has become reality (yes, I know I sound really corny, but thats how I felt ;p). It has been one of the best things I’ve done in my life thus far.

What is your photography style that differentiates yourself from the rest?
It varies as I constantly evolve and learn new things as a photographer. If I really need to define it, I would say that my style is a mixture of photojournalism and fun, posed shots. As cliché as it may sound, my main objective is to record the moment for my clients and also to capture them at their best so that they can look back on some of the most important and special days of their life and relive sweet memories through the pictures.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Life in general – friends, family, love. I could be watching a beautiful sunset or sharing a joke with my girlfriends and be inspired. I believe that life’s too short for us not to be inspired by all these simple things. Inspiration comes easier to me especially when I’m shooting newlyweds. What could be more inspiring than witnessing the love and commitment of 2 individuals starting a new journey together?

Would you say Malaysia has good outdoor sceneries for a wedding photoshoot?
Indeed! Being on the equator line gives us awesome weather for outdoor shoots all year long and having travelled quite a fair bit around the region, I must say that Malaysia has a wide variety of great outdoor sceneries for wedding photoshoots. Within the city centre itself you get urban landscapes with a variety of great architecture. On the outskirts, you have green lungs such as Kiara Park and Lake Gardens. Besides that, we’ve got beaches and islands accessible at other states as well.

What was the best wedding theme you ever experienced in your career? Please describe.
All the weddings and portrait sessions which I’ve shot has been absolutely fun. They each have their own funny anecdotes which I can’t really explain in words, its moments which you have to be there to appreciate. Having the opportunity to record down someone’s most memorable day like their wedding or even just a couple or family portrait session means a lot to me. It’s not everyday that someone opens up their door for you to capture their most intimate moments so for me each shoot that I have is an experience in itself.

What do you think of Malaysian newlyweds?
They’re getting savvier on what they want for their wedding. With the online research dominating most bridal researches, I think newlyweds are spoilt for choice when it comes to what they can get for their wedding day. And that, I believe is excellent as this means that getting the dream wedding is a possibility. And one thing I love about more and more couples is the fact that they’re going for ‘meaningful’ and intimate weddings where they invite family members and close friends instead of having a circus wedding where hundreds of guests are invited and they hardly know any of them.

What would you say is lacking from the Malaysian photography culture?
The fact that at the end of the day it’s the photo which matters and what others interpret when they see it. Having the latest camera bodies or the best lenses in the market wouldn’t matter if you can’t capture a moment which will be forever treasured by a couple or family.

What do you wish to achieve in your career?
Besides wanting to continue improving in photography, I would also like to inspire others through my photographs.

What are your words to those aspiring making photography a career?
While having passion is really important when it comes to photography (especially when you’re working with people :D), I believe that its important for photographers to be business savvy as well. I learnt it the hard way as I started out with only passion and almost zero knowledge on how to run the business. I quickly learnt by reading up on how to start small business and it has helped me with my workflow as well. Besides that, having a website showcasing your best work will also help a lot as thesedays, most couples would actually surf online for information.