Bridal Shoot: Nicola and Kayla

As promised here is part 2 of that studio shoot that was put up last week with Trish :D

And as mentioned before, this part of the shoot is completely different to the first part :) We got to play bridal and wedding this round, with an aim to achieve a very romantic rustic feel running across all the images.

This has been a long awaited collaboration with a team that I really respect! :D It is always a pleasure to do a shoot that features a gown from my amazing gown partners here in KL, Malaysia - the fabulous team from Pretty In White. Showcasing 2 pieces from their new Celestial Collection, their beautiful gowns really added a soft modern touch, to the romantic, vintage look I just adore and could shoot forever if I could! Seriously....Brides, if you are looking for something unique, with a soft feminine couture finish to your dresses, you have to check out this line!! I love it to bits, and when you see the whole collection, you will understand why we at Jenny Sun Photography love working with Pretty In White and why we love sending our brides to their door! :D

Anyhow, this session personally for myself was to experiment with styling and to show brides how important their decisions are when it comes to picking pieces for their photo session. How picking quality and fabulous designs from the flowers, to the shoes, to the hair and makeup, the dresses, and location choice and how they all FIT IN TOGETHER can make an amazing difference to your photos. I can't stress that enough. People often think that all they need is just an awesome location, and some nice attire and throw in everything else, but I want to show you that if you think hard about each an every visual aspect of your shoot, and envision how each will compliment each other in your session, I can guarantee you, your photos will have that extra touch of wow. For this session, every single styling choice and decision in this shoot was very deliberate and thought out according to my philosophy above.

For those raising an eyebrow, I can testify personally that all my favourite shoots I have ever done, have not just had a fantabulous and fun couple (that is a must! haha!), but a couple who really thought about every little thing they were bringing/wearing to their shoot (as well as what to exclude - this is just as important because overdoing it can kill your images too!). And I'm not just talking about getting any pretty thing you like, but to really consider how their final images wanted to look according to an idea or theme, and have everything else tie in with that - props, dresses/clothes, shoes, accessories, hair/makeup, and even the location. So do listen to your photographer and vendors when they are giving you advice! We just want the best for you :) So do ponder over that for your wedding and pre-wedding sessions with us! :D My motto is always quality over quantity and less is more :D

Anyhow, onto the fun part of this session! The photos!! :) We were supposed to play in the vineyards that afternoon, but it TORRENTIALLY rained out, so Trish and I decided to improvise :) Here is what we got instead at the gorgeous Cedar Creek Cottages :)

I want to start with the film shots I took - they were super fun because I didn't have to edit them! That is the great thing about film. Shoot, develop, and voila! Its all done :) Enjoy them, they are straight out of camera, except for the border :) I just adore how film has this glowy softness, and total organic nature to it without even trying :)

Fun fact: the film shots were all taken with a camera as basic and equivalent to the canon 350D ;)

Kayla's dress (the lovely brunette you see!): A sheer beaded top, ballerina style dress made with layers of soft tulle with floaty organza ruffles for detachable train.

Nicola's dress (the pretty blonde in this session!): is all about ruffles, ruffles, ruffles...it is a sweet romantic number with pressure fold pleating for a dramatic back and crumb-catcher bodice.

Huge thanks goes to Nicola Burdford who did the hair and makeup for this, and gave the girls a really amazing couture look that was soft and romantic, yet still retaining something unqiue and different for that fashion twist.

And now onto the digital set! :) Going along with a very soft, romantic, vintage feel, I've decided to process this set mostly in a certain way you see below :)

Big shoutout to the talented Yeng who did these gorgeous gorgeous floral designs to complement the session! :D

Seriously, how AMAZING is this train??! I love how its so detailed and embellished, yet still so elegant!













































Anyhow, don't think that is the last you will see of these types of shoots!!

There's more coming and I promise they are just as fun :D

Have a beautiful weekend ahead everyone!! :D

Cindy and Rob: Engagement

I love love love couples that are the epitome of fun, energy, and have an effervescent aura to their nature! When I first met Cindy all those months ago, her smile radiated. And I'm not just talking about the regular kind of beaming when someone is happy, but it really radiated all the way out and then back in - like, as if it was part of her very being. I can't imagine Cindy without it...she just wouldn't be 'Cindy'. Those that know her would agree... and you know what the best part of it is? This warm, bubbly, glow of positive loveliness is infectious. 100%. You can tell because Rob beams just the same way when he is around her.

I can't wait to shoot your wedding Cindy and Rob!! Thank you so much for a gorgeous afternoon in what I'll always deem the most beautiful city in the world. I'm so glad to call it my home - a sentiment that just anchored itself deeper and deeper as we rode into the warm harbour sunset that day :)

Enjoy my favourites from the session! :D

Rob is incredibly talented behind the guitar strings.

Something a little more low key and different for me.

Big helium balloons rock!! :D Thank you for bringing just the right number, and just the right size and color Cindy! :D

love :)

Double love. These shoes are H.A.W.T. Seriously some of the most unique heels anyone has brought onto a shoot for me. I love love love em! Cindy u have fabulous taste! Girls, to know how to mix uniqueness and class to equal HOT in a pair of shoes, is a gift in itself!!

Cindy is cute and quirky all around. This is just her through and through :)

The light was insanely gorgeous that afternoon. When the weather behaves, Sydney has some of the most gorgeous light I've seen in any city I've been to :)

This one cracks me up for many different reasons ;) hehe!

Love this one too :)

And my fave for the day :)

Happy wednesday people! Something special tomorrow! Check back then! :D

Fashion Stuff: In The Studio

It is always a refreshing change to be able to work outside the realms of wedding photography. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job :) However, as an artist, it becomes somewhat of a need, like a breath of fresh air, to take photos for creativity's sake. And also prove to ourselves that we aren't just a one trick pony :)

So when chatting to good friend, and photographer Trish, to just get together and rock it out and play in the studio with off camera lighting (instead of natural light which you mainly see on this blogspace), so that we'd be able to style the shoot from beginning to end in terms of lighting, attire, and hair/make up, I couldn't be more excited!!

Here are some of my favourites from the first half of our shoot! It has an edgy fashion flavour to it :D

Models: Nicola-Willow De leeuw, and Kayla Heathecote
Hair/makeup: Nicola Burford (who did an AMAZING job. Did she have a vision or what! She does bridal makeup too!)
Clothing: Sarah Phillips (who is an incredibly talented Aussie designer!!)

Thank you so much Trish for your time with this shoot! All the running around you did, so much of this wouldn't have been possible without your magic hands! :D

Stay tuned for part 2 which has a completely different look!! :D

Perth Pre-Wedding: Felicia + Crispin

Meet Felicia + Crispin. Two individuals who have a magic touch when it comes to delectable flavours that hit the tongue. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting them, and documenting their personalities and their love in the quaint city of Perth. I had never been to this corner of our beautiful land of Australia before this trip, so it was an amazing experience to be able to shoot somewhere completely different and refreshing :)

To Felicia and Crispin, thank you for such a beautiful time. You two are gorgeous on the inside and out, and I promise next time I hit your part of town, I'm going to rock up to your restaurant and dip my hands into more of your magical creations!! :D Have a fabulous wedding!! You two deserve nothing less :)

Here are the two of them, doing what they do best in the kitchen :)

Look what the end result was!! :D I had a taste and it was soooo yummy!!

And I got to take a whole box of these home with me!! So so yummy :D It was just delightful to have real whole blueberries inside these cupcakes, topped with chocolate!! :D

Then a change of attire and it was out to hit the scenes outside!

The sun came out to play for like 2 minutes and we got these shots before it hid away for the rest of the day :)

Perth is known for their GORGEOUS wildflowers. Ive always wanted to shoot in fields of beautiful wildflowers, so when we stumbled upon this location, I was smitten!! :D

I love candid moments like this.... :)

Look at all the wildflowers!!! The next few frames were my favourite! :D










Happy wednesday everyone!! :D

Behind The Scenes: Pre-Wedding Video

For those of you that remember the amazingly fabulous Kevin and Valen, you will know that I had just the best... like THE BEST time doing their shoot :) Now, what you didn't know was that while I was busy snapping away to create these shots for the two, videography extraordinaire Eddie Lee was floating around us on the day to create a montage of how the whole day came to unfold.

You'll be able to see how uncool I look in the footage haha, so thank goodness for the photogenic fabulousness of Kevin and Valen! and the brilliant visual storytelling of Eddie to make this clip as awesome as it is! Thank you so much! :D

Enjoy the making of Kevin and Valen's pre-wedding. AKA, Behind The Scenes :) For those reading this post via RSS, you can view the video HERE.

For those who want to have this for your pre-wedding, please contact me or Eddie! We'd love to create something fabulous for you! Ok, Eddie will create something fabulous for you! haha, but I promise I'll do a sun dance so you get some nice light? :P

Alright, Ive had an insanely crazy (but really fruitful picture-wise) day and I have to head off to another city tomorrow so I hope to be back soon with alot of fun pretty piccies to share with all of you! :D Crashing to bed now!!! zzzz!

Sandy and Ronnie: Wedding

On a tingly warm day where the sky exploded in a deep vibrant blue display, the air ushered in cool spring breezes and a buzzing anticipation of the day that was about to unfold. An anticipation that was brimming to the edges with a steadfast joy knowing that they would soon be one. So there it was, under that incredible cobalt sky, the fabulous Sandy and Ronnie, made their union official for life in front of an energetic gathering of family and friends. Exchanging doting gazes, gazes that said "I am so excited to be yours", and fingers intertwining tightly in celebration of their new life together.

Sandy and Ronnie! Congratulations and I hope you are enjoying newly married life! Thank you so much for the opportunity to shoot your beautiful special day! It was truly an honor - not just to photograph such a milestone in your life, but to know you. You two are perfect :)

Here are my favourites from their day:

If you didn't believe that the sky that day was literally amazing, here is a photo to prove it. We had gorgeous weather!


Love this below shot that Bailie took of the church! :D










This little girl was making faces and posing for the camera all day. I kid not!








Then it was off to make some more pretty pictures for the newlyweds! :D






Totally candid! Love moments like this! :D


And then, hands down my favourite shots for the day.. the light was incredible and so was this little spot we stumbled upon! :D
















At the reception, this little girl didn't stop showing her pretty face for the camera! :D


And then the bridal waltz! :D






JSP ring shot to end the night ;)


Huge thanks also goes out to Bailie for helping me shoot this wedding! You are always awesome to work with and such a fabulous addition to the day! :D

Charge Up: The Workshop Conference!

I love workshops and conferences. I think there is a really buzzing spirit of hunger and passion when I go to one, and I always leave so deeply encouraged for my craft and the people I have met.

Next year, 2010, marks the start of a number of speaking engagements I'll be involved in, with the first being kicked off at the most awesome Charge Up Conference!

If you are a media user (video, photography, sound, etc), or a lover of media and want to grow in your knowledge and skillset for it, then you should totally pay attention! The Charge Up conference is a 4-day long event, filled to the brim with workshop talks on an enormous kaleidescope of topics to help nurture and challenge your understanding of your skill, as well as a 2-day practical involving hands-on work to tackle the challenge given, and applying what has been taught!

I'll be giving two talks:

(1) Understanding exposure - how to get the right exposure in differing circumstances, to create a different array of photos.

(2) How to engage and interact with your subject, as a photographer - I get this question ALOT. Ie. how do I work with my clients to produce the kind of images that are up on this blog? At Charge Up, during this session I'll be explaining techniques and tips on how to work with your clients to get the best images possible!

Other speakers include Louis Pang, and Grace from Wedding Story, amongst many others touching on subjects such as composition, using available light, posing, workflow, and so on! It's going to be an AMAZING 4-days so do register if you are interested! The details can be found here: http://www.livewiremedia.org/ws/chargeup.html

Register before the slots are filled up! There is a special early bird registration deal which ends this coming monday (30th November) so take advantage of that! Go to the website, download the form, and register now! :D

I really look forward to seeing some of you there! it would be sad if I were talking to the 3 walls facing me! Please save me the embarrassment! :D

Have a lovely weekend ahead everyone! I'm off to tackle and amazing week of the most delightful shoots - HUGE visual surprises coming when I get back in front of the computer!

xx

Jenny

Joe and Vivian: Engagement

This set was supposed to go up a LOOOOOONG time ago, but October was a nasty kind of month and as a result, alot of my planned blog posts had to be put on hold. Anyhow, I'm back in November with a vengeance, and in full spirits! So I can't wait to share with you the other half ( or should i say 3/4 hehe!) of Joe and Vivian's engagement session with me.

These two are incredible. I always talk about couples that just embody everything that I hope for in a client - fun, vivacious, creative, and trust me openly - these two are seriously no exception. We had never met before their engagement session, nor had a single phone conversation, only having communicated through the written word via email (talk about trust!) - but I knew from the messages I received from them that I would not have a thing to worry about because when emails are filled with smiley-faced emoticons, and exclamation marks, and overflowing creative ideas, I know that they speak my kind of language. A language of nodding excitement, of enthusiasm, and of joy.

So when the day rolled into view, in the context of rolling green hills, summery fields, and a cheeky sun that was playing a constant game of hide and seek, joe and vivian stepped in front of the camera and showed me each delightful facade of their love. Some part shy, some part cheeky, but always speaking the same language spoken through email months before - a love language of nodding excitement, of enthusiasm, and of joy.

Here are some gems they gave me :) I guess you can't expect anything less from a couple who is made up of one part photographer (Joe) and one part makeup artist (Viv) ! :D Thank you SO much for an incredible afternoon Joe and Viv! Your impeccable style and choice for props, attire and the like were perfect, and you ushered in the new wedding season down under for me with the biggest bang and I can't wait for your big day really soon!!

There were so many gorgeous wildflowers growing we couldn't help ourselves!

Joe, being a photographer, brought along the most FABULOUS vintage polaroid camera for the shoot!! i LOOOOOOOOVE old cameras, toy cameras, you name it. And did I mention that i love grooms wearing quirky funky socks?? Who needs black socks these days when you can go all out creative with something out of the box! :D

Viv was trying to use the flowers as a pair of chopsticks. just kidding!! hehe... I can't remember what they were laughing at (probably me!) but i love moments like this :)

Vivian, everyone is thinking it, so I'm just going to say it - you are truly beautiful. It radiates :)

The sun stepped out for like 2 minutes for us to get the following 2 shots :)

And then a quick change of clothes and scenery!

The light started to get pretty amazing around this point, and stayed long enough for us to play with the rest of the afternoon :D

And these last few frames are some of my favourite.

And for a TONNE of more photos from their session, check out their slideshow here (and a new fave song I found recently!!! ) :

Have a beautiful week ahead everyone!!

xx

Christine and Des: Engagement

Oh, my oh my... as a lover of the written word, it is always a painful decision when I have to choose between my love for long delicately written posts, and those snap of the finger, lightning fast posts that are a little underweight in the vocabulary department. But I'm about to enter into a flurry of a travel period, with Christmas following, so I wanted to make sure there was something new here before I took off. It's always hard to tell when I'll be back to feed this hungry little corner of the web! :D

So.... meet Christine and Des :) They are going to be married really soon so I thought I'd post up their gorgeous little engagement session we did on a gloriously sunny and beautiful Sydney afternoon by the sandy waters. There is just something delightful about feeling the sand trickle in between your toes, and watching the sun slowly set past the watery horizon. And to be able to photograph a fantabulous couple on top of that is just a cherry on top of an already perfect cake :)

Enjoy my favourites from their session!

hands up if you think Christine is going to make a stunning bride? :D








this is what you're supposed to do at beaches. Get your feet wet! :D












I know we're spoiled. we have some of the prettiest beaches :)










Then the sun started to set and we had some really pretty colors in the light!










Have a lovely friday and weekend ahead peeps!!

Kind words go a long way :)

Today was just one of those days. You know, the kind where no matter how much fuel you are pumping into the system to run full throttle ahead, the wheels tend to stumble across some nail or stone to set you back a few steps. A few steps forward, a couple of steps back. A few steps forward, another couple of steps back. It felt like an eon and a century went by before I even felt I was in the 'drive' mode instead of reverse gear. You see, I'm a meticulously organized person. I love checklists, plans, tables, charts, and I like seeing ticks on all of them.... quick ticks at that. So when plans get stalled or I have my 2 hands dipped in 8 pots at once, my brain runs crying into its la-la-land, and I end up feeling like I am literally running in circles. I promise I don't exaggerate.

Anyhow, in the midst of all that insanity, and in my manic inbox world, in comes this delightful email :) I love emails these days that are completely about hellos, how are yous, and here is something nice for you. This email was exactly like that. A past bride of mine wrote to me telling me she had decided to write a feature about little old me! I was like - really? serious? That is SO NICE! :D nobody does things these days just because, so I was really touched by the gesture. If you are ever reading this, THANK YOU for bringing a smile to my day :)

You guys should check out her site - its great for brides to be. FULL of fantastic tips, ideas, and the like. The link is here: http://myweddingplanningtips.com/

Anyhow, you can read the full feature by clicking the picture below :) For those who are lazy to press that mouse button, you can just read the copy and pasted feature below it.

Some people have the amazing way of lighting up every room they walk into with their smile and personality. Jenny Sun is one such person and in her case, her light and sunny nature shines from each and every one of her gorgeous photos. I first saw her photographs when I was looking for my own wedding photographer and was completely bowled over by the intensity and colour I could see in every photo she had. It just radiated with such love and happiness I couldn’t wait to snap her up for my own wedding!

Brides who have found her would surely be tempted to keep her a secret as her calendar gets booked up so quickly! However, as all good things should be shared, read below to learn more about this young but incredibly talented wedding photographer and see some of her fabulous work.

The first thing that struck me when I first saw Jenny Sun’s photos was the way her photos were filled with happy light, laughter and colour. It was a wonderful and refreshing contrast from the photojournalistic style of photography some wedding photographers were starting to adopt. Jenny’s photos are casual and off-beat but beautifully capture the tender moments between a couple, the evocative look of love shining in their eyes, the mischievous glint as they are silly in front of her camera and the no-holds-barred laughter at the joy they share. It was from her that I first learnt how beautifully light can be captured in a photograph and the beauty of her famous flare shots I fell in love from the start. Her flare shots have become her signature item and it never ceases to amaze me how this talented lady sees and portrays light in her photos.

Jenny’s bubbly personality puts almost anyone at ease and brings out the best in them. Photography sessions with her are always fun and almost too short as she jokes to encourage laughter from even the most serious clients! She absolutely loves clients who treat their photography sessions as a fun rather than a state affair and be warned as you will be constantly laughing and smiling throughout your shoot with her! With Jenny, be prepared to do something different during your shoot – climb a tree, climb a rickety staircase or be simply goofy and with her magical touch, you can be sure she will turn those moments into unique photographs you will cherish forever! I know we will always look back on our own photoshoot with lots of fond memories!

This petite lady shoots mainly in both Australia and Malaysia and her eye for detail and love for colour is what made J and I fall in love with her photographs and what sets her apart from other photographers. In true JSP style, her photographs are always full of vibrance, the tiny little details that makes every wedding perfect and most of all, the tender love and emotion shining in the couple’s eyes. All the little things that make up every perfect wedding!

Have a gorgeous day ahead people! :D