Alia and Johan: Just Because

Mark Twain once wrote: "Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century". It pointed my understanding that love should grow, deepen, and feel more as time soldiers past us. Sadly, in reality, what I have observed is quite the opposite. Alot of couples drift, they grow apart, they divorce, and in my opinion the saddest - they just fall out of love.

It is my most ardent belief that couples do not show they love one another enough. You know, in those special little ways. We often get so caught up with work, children, worries about money, worries about our careers, what we wear, how we look, how others see us, that we often forget or take for granted the person who stands by us through it all. That same person who watches us cry, who watches us pick up the pieces, who sees us when life is good, and also when life turns black. Because, well, they are always there.

And it's saddening because love is such a beautiful thing. It starts off with a million and one fireworks that explode in a cascade...a shower of colours, and a fire that would light the darkest corners. Sure, love matures, but does it necessarily have to fade into a routine of dry stagnancy? I sometimes wonder where that passion goes. The stubborn idealist inside of me refuses to believe that people become so lazy, or so selfishly caught up in themselves, that they forget the little ways they used to extend their heart out to their loved one. You know, surprise notes. Gifts for no reason. Calls just to say 'I miss you'... Then I meet couples like Alia and Johan and their love and adoration for each other seems so ardently apparent and visible, that it really warms your heart to be allowed witness of it. And I am reminded that the idealist inside of me isn't really stupid or naive after all.

I remember remarking to the couple during our "just because" session together (they were already married when I shot them!), saying that I just LOVED the fact that they were not shy or embarrased to show their affection towards each other. To which Johan confidently and proudly replied "It's the way of the French" :) I believe him. But really, I think it is just that they are THAT much in love :) You could see it in the way they looked at each other. The way they held each other's hand. The way that they just are.

Their session brought me back to my roots, and roped me back to why I fell in love with photography in the first place - being able to capture the essence of a couple's love for one another. As a photographer, we sometimes get so consumed by having to be (or pressured to be in my case) so perfectly and artistically creative (which is important) or getting the craziest most abstract angles that we often get lost and forget that the real soul of taking the kind of photos we take, is to bring out the spirit of who two people are together and what they mean to each other, to the frame. It is about capturing love. It is about capturing a soul. It is about bringing to surface what makes them, them. That, to me, is what a real photo is, in our kind of photography-line. To photographers out there reading this, remember that, in the crazy tidal waves of industry pressure to be this or that with your style :)

Thank you for an awesome time together Alia and Johan! I had a real blast. Thank you for being completely yourselves and showing how much you mean to each other. My camera loved you back for it :) I only hope I meet more couples like yourselves in the future, and that in a quarter of a century, you will be more crazily in love than you already are :)

Here are my favourite shots from their session!

*Edit* To those who have asked/emailed/messaged - the locations I shot in for this shoot were Sentul Park, and Carcosa :) And yes, Johan and Alia have great fashion sense! :)

Here's one of those very RARE wide shots I will take.




And here is their slideshow!! :) I put a different kind of melody to their photos because I thought it suited their fun personalities :) Enjoy!

Tomorrow

No, I haven't disappeared.

As usual, life gets the better of oneself and tends to overrun ALL your time. Before you know it, another whole week has passed you by! The good news is, I got to exercise this week :) And managed to hit a few rounds of balls on the tennis court! Ju said, I didn't totally suck at it, so that was really cool! woot! :D

Anyway, to keep this blog active (!!), here's what I am planning to put up tomorrow!

And for those whose ears have been itching to hear some great audio bites, I thought I'd share my 'faves' playlist of this week.
Enjoy! Catch you all tomorrow!

ps: To those who are still awaiting the video capture of my post production snippet, I'm really sorry! I haven't forgotten! But I've tried every possible means that I know of to upload the video - only to find out that the quality of the video is so bad that it makes the photo I work on look awful and not sharp! Help??

David and Dorothy: Engagement

WOW, what felt like just yesterday was last sunday.

As I peered over to my clock moments ago, I realized that it was already friday! How DID it get to this point of the week so fast? Where DOES all the time go?? Is there a black hole that time gets sucked into, that is oblivious to us humans?? :p If I am not careful, I'll be 50, old, fat (gosh, I hope not!) and won't even realize it! :p

Anyhow, I thought I'd better post some photos here, before this week officially bulldozes past me in sprint-like fashion :)

Meet David and Dorothy! Who came from Singapore for their pre-wedding/engagement and rocked a session with me in KL and Malaccca! This was all done in 1 day people! Yes, thats right, 2 states in a day :) We're craaaaazy, I tell ya! :p

Here were my fave shots from our time together! Thank you David and Dorothy for gracing your awesome faces and personalities for my camera :) You were both fabulous!

We struck gold, in the morning. There was some rock-a-licious light waiting for us! We all know what KL is like... polluted, grey, polluted, grey. You get the idea :p So, my eyes were doign the whole cheerleader dancing thing, when I saw this light :) It's rare I tell ya!




More of that delish light! Mmmmm :D


Yummo flare!!


Off to do something a little more urban :) I love ghetto spots!


There's that new post processing that is slowly making itself comfortable in some of my photos :)


Dorothy looks stunning, no? yes? That was a rhetorical question by the way :)


Something a little more fashion-y. I love fashion shots, and will always try to attempt it, if the stars alight for the shot! :D




























Travel out of KL a little, and you will find that the weather totally clears and you get some beautiful light like we did in Malacca :)


Now, I've said it time and time again on this blog, I rarely EVER take wide shots. This is mostly because I love shooting up close. Getting right in there with my clients :) Its a really good indication of how I like to interact with whom I shoot. But now and again, I'll pull out that good ol' wide lens, and play around a bit. Just a bit :)






We were lucky. The last spot of the day was a beach in Malacca (after the original beach had been taken over for a makeover!!) that we found, JUST as the light was disappearing. We managed to get some shots in the last 2 or 3 mins before the light went :)


Dusk. Just moments after that previous shot.




One more wide shot to end with :)


Happy Friday everyone! Have a fabulous weekend! And Happy valentines day to everyone!! Not just those with partners. I believe if valentines day is about love, we can share this day with anyone we love. Parents. Friends. Siblings. Anyone :)