100,000

I'm writing this post, as I sniffle and cough. It's no fun being sick :(

On the bright side, we recently shot through the 100,000th visitor mark! I was totally not expecting to have such an influx of visitors since I made the announcement over the weekend (I actually thought we werent going to get to 100,000 til sometime this week), but looks like alot of you pay attention to my facebook updates! :D

Anyhow, to celebrate and because I think happiness is better shared, I wanted to give away something fabulous! :) Actually a few things! Here is what is in store to be given away :)

(1) $20 itunes gift card to the 100,000th visitor (yes, I have already saved your IP address!)

(2) For photographers: 1 x TRA set of your choice (not both of them, 1 set, so either TRA1 or TRA2 depending on which one you like). I was going to give away a 1 hour mentoring session with myself, but that sounded SO vain (yuck!), and I'm not that cool anyway which means I KNOW none of you will want that so I'm sticking with the TRA prize haha :). If you are wondering what is TRA, these are some of the photoshop actions that constitute a large part of how my photos look. See here and here for how I've mixed them into my work!

(3) For brides: 1 x Pin Me Up Couture hairpiece (these are the FABULOUS hairpieces I was raving about in my last post! ). You get to choose between Stelle, or Carleigh :) Brides, alot of you have asked me where you can find beautiful vintage pieces for your hair, well Pin Me Up Couture is the place. And they deliver everywhere, so don't hesitate to order one for your big day :) Pictures below courtesy of Pin Me Up Couture:

(Stelle)

(carleigh)

Well, there's nothing much you can do to win the first prize, unless the winner doesn't claim it, so here's how you can nab the other two prizes! You can only enter for ONE prize so choose which one you want carefully!!

For the TRA set, either drop a comment into the comment box below, or send me an email to info@jennysunphotography.com (with the subject line: 100,000 TRA), telling me why you read our blog, and what about TRA actions that you love! :)

For the Pin Me Up Couture hairpiece, drop a comment into the comment box below or send me an email to info@jennysunphotography.com (with the subject line: 100,000 pinmeup) telling me what you love about the hairpieces :)

To the 100,000th visitor, your IP address is: 122.106.220.158 (so email me a printscreen to VERIFY your IP address and your postal address and once your IP verification check is genuine, I'll send it out to you now! :) ) To check your IP address click HERE.

Contest is open for a week. So get cracking! Note that the more genuine and creative your responses are, the better are your chances! :) And NO, you do NOT need to write an essay to get my attention :) Good luck!

And for those waiting for picture posts, here is a sneak peak to what I'll be posting up next :)

Have a glorious tuesday everyone! I'm back to bed to nurse this cold.

Birdcage Veils: Pin Me Up Couture

Now if you read yesterday's post of mine, you'll know I'm a HUGE lover of all things vintage. So when one of my FAVOURITE wedding blogs "Wedding Chicks"(if you are a bride, and are looking for FABULOUS ideas that are fresh, unique, and beautiful for your wedding, look no further than this blog. But trust me, you'll be hooked so make sure you have tonnes of time before sifting through this amazing site!) ran a competition with "Pin Me Up Couture" to give away one of their stunning couture head pieces, I was smitten. I knew I HAD to be part of it.

But looking at the sheer number of entries, I didn't think I'd have a chance in a blue moon in winning.

So when Wedding Chicks and Pin Me Up Couture wrote me an email saying I had WON, I was like ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! I never win anything!

You should have seen me, I looked like a small little girl getting her first ever Christmas Present and scoring like, a million barbie dolls. I was THAT happy. My family were looking at me as if I had been possessed or something! haha :)

Anyhow, I was only expecting one piece of my choice (below) to arrive in my mailbox:

But to my surprise, Pin Me Up Couture, being as FABULOUS as they are, sent me an extra one, in PINK! YUM!! :D


And brides, if you think these veils rock your socks off, wait til you see their AMAZING packaging. Get one for yourself now and blown out of the water by it :)


Thank you SO much to Wedding Chicks (BRIDES, check out this blog and REGULARLY from now! You have no excuse for no ideas for your wedding day now!) for running the competition, and a HUGE thanks to Pin Me Up Couture for making such stunning head pieces to wear on the big day. Thank you for picking lil ol' me. You have no idea how much it made my day :)

xoxo

Vintage is All the Rage!

If you are anything like me, you will be in LOVE with what is happening around the wedding scene these days. Everything from wedding dresses, to hairpieces, to jewellery, to wedding venues, to shoes, props, and entire wedding themes are moving back to the good old days. The days where lace ruled. Where embroidery and feathers were considered stunning. Where dress cuts were simple in an understated romantic sexy way, and where all things country-esque, and rural were considered beautiful.

You see, I LOVE everything vintage. I can't even begin to verbalize how much I love it when my brides tell me that they are playing with the 'romantic vintage' theme in their wedding choices. I know that their wedding photos will turn out fabulously because this theme is timeless. Its a style that never seems to go out of fashion, and it merges today, with everything we considered beautiful in the old world.

So my brides, if you are using the vintage, romantic, country theme in your shoot with me, know that you will have a very very happy photographer that will end up snapping a billion frames! I am as much obsessed (and fussy! hehe) about fashion and styling in my shoots as I am about how the photos look like because I know that styling adds a huge important factor to how the end photos will look like. That right! Everything from your dress style/cut/material, shoes, accessories, flower design, props, and the like ALL add (or can subtract) to the final impact of your photos. So never hesitate to ask me for advice :) Its one of the benefits being a girl and a photographer - we love our love clothes and fashion and all things beautiful, as much as our photos :D

Here is a bride we shot very recently, who has fantastic taste, and added that vintage flair to her shoot by using a birdcage veil. LOVE it!! I recently got given some FABULOUS birdcage pieces from an amazing vendor in the states :) Tune in tomorrow to find out who it is, and what some of their work looks like! :D For now, enjoy the photo below! :D

Destination Pre-Weddings: USA

Yay! This is such big news for us :)

I'm so excited to announce this! It's been in the pipeline, then in the planning stage, then in the actual doing stage for the last 6 months.... and now, we can finally make it officially known that:

What more can I say? Email us if you are keen and interested, and we'll send you the inside scoop with all the juicy details!! :D

Just a note that our schedule in the USA is very packed as it is. So just to make sure each person(s) we are spending time with, gets a quality session with us as we love making our friends and clients feel special :), we only have a very limited number of spots available in each city.

I'll be publishing this promo piece once a week or fortnight until I feel like I want to take it down, so you'll see plenty of this in the near future! :)

OH! if you are a photographer based in one of these cities, PRETTY PLEASE write me an email! I'd love to meet you and hear all about the local low down on the best places to eat and hang, and hear live music (hehe, yes good music - I hear the states has lots of it! so I'm on a hunt!) in your amazing city!! :D

And if you think this is cool, just wait til you see where we might be going as our next pit stop! :D Its a secret until then :)

Have a wonderful day everyone! :)

xoxo

Same Day Edit Slideshows: #1

As promised, here one of the same day edit slideshows, that we've been doing recently. If you are new to this, and have no idea what a same day edit slideshow is, its basically a fast express edit of the key shots from your morning preparation and ceremony which we do before your reception starts - why? so you can play it for all your guests to see while they are comfy in their seats, celebrating the day with you at your dinner :)

While I'll make a full post about the wedding below eventually, enjoy the same day edit from this fusion wedding (Chinese + western ceremonies). This one is for all of you who complain I do not show enough love to the weddings we shoot overseas in Malaysia :) To those that do not press the play button, you cannot complain that I do not put up enough photos! There are 110 all up in this slide! Preview of the bride is below :)

Note: To those on slower connections, for smooth playing, please press the play button. Then when you see the progress bar load, press pause. Wait til the progress bar fully loads, then press play and voila! You'll have a perfect viewing experience! :)

And to those reading this via email/RSS feed, here is the link to view the slideshow: http://www.jennysunphotography.com/slideshows/serenakcsde/

2010 Booking Schedule

My favourite time to blog is often at night :) Late at night. It's when I think best, and I tend to write a whole number of posts at once (to be later published automatically at separate intervals). Tonight, I sit and write another string of scheduled posts while the Michael Jackson memorial is being held and it brings to surface a slight tinge of sadness as we say goodbye to a man who changed the face of pop music.

Anyhow, first things first :) THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the massive number of messages received on this blog about the recent WPPI winning. I never expected such an influx of support and encouragement, and I am only more humbled :)

Secondly, and this is what this post is mainly about, I'd like to clarify OFFICIALLY the state of our 2010 booking schedule. There has been a really strange rumour going around that we are 100% booked out for next year, and as a result, clients have been a little apprehensive to contact us because of the result of this rumour.

I'd like to tell you all here, that we are NOT 100% booked out for next year. Next year is filling up fast, but we are definitely not fully booked. Readers, please do NOT listen to or believe any rumours you hear. Any news that I want to release to you, will be made HERE on this blog. So please refer to this blog space, for any official news or confirmation about anything JSP related :) Anything else you hear, is just chinese whispers until its mentioned here! :)

Thank you so much for your understanding!

And just so this post doesn't finish on a blue note, or without a photo, I am going to put up some same day edits we've been doing recently. Here is one of the brides in one of them ;)

WPPI 8x10 Print Competition 2009 Results

I was going to post something completely different today, but I have pushed the original entry to be scheduled + published next time. Why? Because I received a very surprising email through my phone's email inbox last night...

I don't normally do this... you know, enter competitions...nor do I let people know if I am part of any associations/organizations... and I feel even stranger sometimes letting everyone know I've won something, because it just seems to vibrate that slight tinge of 'vanity'. I love humility, and I love humble people, you see.

However, at a recent talk given by industry colleague and friend, Louis Pang, his words that were filled with such encouragement and passion, tugged at my heart and I caved. I finally swallowed my fear and I sent off some of my favourite images to WPPI. I have never entered before, its because I never felt like my work was good enough. I thought, oh my goodness, as if me of ALL people out of the thousands and thousands of entries submitted from all around tehe WORLD would even score a smidgent on the score board. So I just sat there in the shadows.

To those wondering what is WPPI, and why of ALL organizations I decided to plop my little bottom down and be part of this group, is because of its international influence, quality contribution to the industry, and the fact that most of the industry heavyweights are part of and back this organization. The top wedding photographers in the world like Marcus Bell, Jerry Ghionis, Susan Stripling, (and my personal fave) Cliff Mautner, etc just speak volumes of the calibre of work that circulates in this arena.

Anyhow, last night's email sent my hands and heart into a quivering state of unbearable joy, and disbelief. Because I was informed that one of my photos scored 3rd place in the bride and groom together category, and another 3 photos had scored an accolade of excellence. I literally shouted at Ju - omg!! omg!! and my fingers were shaking so badly because I thought it was unreal. It couldn't be true until I read it again and again and again to make sure I wasn't going crazy.

Here is the winning shot: The beautiful Matt and Mandy, from still one of my favourite ever weddings. Mandy/Matt if you are reading this, thank you for being part of something bigger than I ever thought I could imagine being part of.

Thank you so much to Louis for encouraging us that night to do just do it, and to my husband who puts up with my workaholic ways and supports me even though my love for my work drives him crazy at times, to my family who always encouraged me, and lastly and most importantly to God. I know I know... some of you out there are thinking, oh dear lord, here's another one of those crazy people doing the whole God speech. Please know I do mean it. I am so grateful and thankful to Him for everything. He gives all things, and makes all things possible. I am nothing personally and professionally without all the blessing He has given to me.

I say it again, I deserve none of this. And I will and always want to dedicate this back to our Lord and heavenly Father for being so so so so good and gracious. In the good, and even in the bad. I know Your hand of Wisdom works in ways we sometimes cannot understand but I continue to trust and be amazed at all of it.

Thank you again everyone for your love and support and the HUGE number of messages I've received on facebook, twitter, my phone, and my email inbox :)

So much love to you all!

xox

ps: For those that want to see the 3 photos that were given an accolade of excellence, do let me know! I didn't want to be OTT in this post, so holler! ;)

pps: And to my dear industry friends, I've already sent you messages personally, but congratulations on your achievement too. So well deserved and I'm so proud to see where you are all heading! :D

David and Kelly: Wedding

For those that have been waiting for a malaysian wedding to be posted, this one is for you ;)

I was talking with the husband last night, while were were out together for dinner, and the topic of weddings came up (as it often does when one is a wedding photographer :P), and we were in quick verbal banter with one another about the kind of weddings we would prefer if we could have it all our way without regard for anything or anyone else. For Ju, he quickly admitted that he liked the big feast. Grandeur. The large family gathering and the extravagant party, with everyone invited.

Myself, on the other hand, since I grew up in Australia and embrace my australian culture, I hug tight onto idea of the small and intimate wedding scene. The kind of wedding where you walk around and know everyone and anyone there personally, deeply. You know, the kind where your guests whose absence on the day would just make the wedding day seem utterly wrong. I've found (in most cases), the smaller the wedding, the more relaxed the bride and groom are. And the more real the emotions are that come out because everyone who is there, means something special and very important to the couple. The day evidently displays that the occasion is at the root..at the heart... and at the very core, a celebration of the couple's love. There's nothing pretentious about it, nothing staged. Its 110% real, and that my friends, makes the best photos. Each and every time. Yes, I do mean that...each and every time. And to an australian girl like myself who is a romantic at heart, that means everything.

So when David and Kelly rang me up about their wedding day, my heart skipped a beat and smiled with warm anticipation when they said they were having a very small wedding at Carcosa Seri Negara, in a simple garden wedding, followed by a simple tea ceremony, with a mere handful of people that were their nearest and dearest. You couldn't ask for anything more, for a girl like myself.

The bonus is, I did get more. I got the most fabulous couple. David and Kelly are the sweetest and nicest people you can ever meet. Really. They are warm, caring, and just down right two people with beautiful souls. I know I say this alot about the couples I shoot, but I realized as I was walking away with my bags packed after shooting their wedding, that I undeservedly get some of the nicest and kindest people to work with. People who make you smile deep down, who make work not seem like work, and who make you just want to go that extra mile for no reason but just because. Thank you David and Kelly, for shining a reminder light to why I love shooting weddings. It's hard work, but people like yourselves make it so worth it, and more.

Here are my favourite shots from their beautiful wedding:

Kelly's bouquet was stunning. I love bright colours and added bits of styling like pearls... or feathers, or ribbons, or other accessories like brooches and crystals :D Think about it brides! ;)



I thought it would be cool to try shooting shoes in a totally different kind of light... direct, harsh sunlight :)

The cute little details there that day :)

And then a 'first look' session. We spent some time first thing in the morning before the ceremony to get some shots of David and Kelly while the light was still nice. I highly recommend this to all brides who are having a late ceremony or don't have time after the ceremony to have shots taken. You get to do it in nice light, and its a really quiet and private time between the two of you before everything else happens. You aren't alone ever again the rest of the wedding day, so this is always a really special time to just savour seeing and being with each other before the day unfolds :)

I love how much David and Kelly laugh. They really are a couple after my own heart :)

And a burst of beautiful light that day! :)

Then the ceremony which was full of emotion :)

Celebrating after! :D

And a quick tea ceremony to follow :)

I think this was the moment where Kelly's mother realized her daughter was all grown up and officially 'moving out of the nest'. It was an emotional moment.

And to end, a ring shot :)

Have a beautiful wednesday everyone!

I am attempting to blog (scheduled posts, that is), every day this week. I'm not sure if it can be done, but we'll see :)

ps: I havent forgotten about the crazybooth photos I said I was going to post :)

Who are you?

I was talking to a few fellow photographers over lunch today, and the topic of a past poll came up. I ran it when I first launched my blog and my business just to appease my curiosity and see who you lovely people were.

It has probably been just about two years now since I ran the poll, and so many things have changed about my blog, my work, my readership and the like. So I'm publishing this dear little poll up again! :) Please leave your mark here and tell me who you are below!! And don't be shy! :) All results are private :)Lastly, one vote only... so choose carefully! :)

Oh and before I forget, for those choosing 'other', I am getting your answers emailed to me, so thank you!! I love reading them :D



Alright peeps, I'm off now, but I promise to be back with a post tomorrow with photos for all of you to have a look at :D

I Heart Faces

( button above is clickable! :D )

I don't normally enter competitions, but when one is about faces and people and their expressions, AND on top of that Jasmine Star is the judge - I held no hesitation :)

So here is my submission to the iHeartFaces contest this week. The theme is Wedding Bells :) I love this photo to death. Really I do. It was from Loren and Josh's wedding and its just full of emotion, happiness, and joy... which is what weddings are all about :)

Big thanks to iHeartFaces for running such a neat little contest, and to Jasmine Star for taking the time to go through the sheer number of entries I know you will get for this one :) And also for the time to look at mine for a brief few seconds :)

xox

Have a gorgeous day everyone!

ps: I love scheduled posts like this one. It means it publishes on its own, even while I am asleep or travelling, or busy with other stuff like now! :D

ps: Post with photos will be up tomorrow sometime! :D