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

Searching for air

For some strange reason, God has dealt me some rather challenging cards to ride this season. I have to admit, they haven’t been easy. These last few weeks, work has been on my schedule every day. No, really. When I wasn’t shooting, I was meeting people. When I wasn’t doing that, I would be editing. When I wasn’t editing, I would be replying emails. And when I wasn’t doing that, I was trying to play out the other roles that I embodied in life – wife, friend, family member. And being sick in between it all. There were moments while I was sitting in front of my computer, doing so many things at once, that I realized I had stopped breathing for a few seconds. Literally. I had to consciously tell myself in those moments - stop, breathe. And breathe again.

A few nights ago, Ju and I were doing grocery shopping (he was wanting to find some german beer to appease his nostalgic love for what he discovered in Frankfurt recently, and I was on the hunt for organic food that I could eat for lunch - no more takeout!!), and he picked up a tiny little potplant that had black seeds sitting on its leaves, saying to me "Jen, I think you should get this for your office room".

In protest, I said "no way! that thing has disgusting black things on it and it looks like they will hatch into gross little insects that will infest my workspace!" (okay, so they were seeds, not eggs :P)

"No it won't!"

This banter happened several times before he remarked "look!", pointing to the tag that came with the little green shrub. It said something along the lines of:

This plant helps to purify the air around you. Add a few teaspoons of water each day.

I thought that's cool! A plant that helps me breathe better. And in that instant, I took the tiny little thing home with me. It adds a little life to this manic corner of my world.

I think we as photographers, especially in peak season when everything runs around you like a wild tornado, when you love your work and the people you work for, we run the risk of sometimes letting work becoming our life. And the line defining and dividing the two become very blur. And well, life just sits there on a lonely shelf wondering when it can come out to play again. I see alot of my industry friends saying to me how busy they are, how tired they are, how much they have to do, the constant and persistent late nights they have to put in, and sometimes it makes me sad because of how much of their life revolves around their work. I am sometimes tempted to tell them to stop, breathe and to live life a little. We're only young once. Every day we don't spend with our loved ones, is one day less. What if it is the last? What if our kids grow up, or our friends have grown into life, and we realize we have missed most of it? I'm a firm firm believer that a balanced photographer, makes a better one. No one thinks their best when they are tired and burnt out, right? ;) And I believe if you are living and loving life, and nurturing the relationships around you, it will show in the pictures you take :) Passion and love can't be hidden :)

So now, the green little shrub doesn't just help to clean the air in my always stuffy office (I don't like opening the windows - its a habit I've taken across with me into adulthood from young when my mum would keep the windows closed to prevent dust from coming in. Nowadays, I'm just lazy :P), but it is there to remind me to breathe every now and again. To take time out, PLAN TIME OFF, spend time living life every now and again, and remember that there are more important things than the work we do and the pictures we take. From the very small to the very big.

To end with, I want to share with you an incredibly beautiful song I found recently by Kyler England: You Wait For Rain It made my heart and ears very happy :)

ps: to anyone who knows what this plant is called, please tell me! I'd love to know!! :D

Adeline and Chuen Hau: Engagement

This engagement session has a funny story behind it. Ok, not really, but there were quite a number of things about this shoot that left the oh-so-memorable mark on my heart. You see, the day was raining. And not just your average, lets sprinkle and spit a little onto the land kind of rain. It was lets see if we can flood the country kind of rain - from the start of the morning, right up until about 5 minutes before the shoot began, it was POURING. POURING until visibility was so poor, I could barely see while driving to our first location.

We were just about to reach the first place, and had to drive through a tunnel to get there. It was still BUCKETING down like crazy, and I was so nervous. Thinking "how am I going to shoot in this kind of condition??" all the way through, while anxiously tapping my fingers along the weathered black steering wheel. Then as we exited the tunnel, something amazing happened.

There was sun. In all its gloriousness, flickering its rays down on us. It was clear! I was amazed that in the span of 2 minutes, between one end of the tunnel to the next, the weather was completely different! And what greeted me after were gorgeous smiles, perfect laughs, and an exuberance of fun with these two. I loved their spirit and I am SO glad they braved and risked with the weather, despite everything. Adeline and Chuen Hau, you two are amazing :)

Anyhow, here are my favourites from their session. Mind you, when I walked into the door of their place, I saw lying there a slew of Nikon cameras and lenses. These two are serious photographers! I do mean that! Especially when they were showing me photos they loved by the ever fabulous Ben Chrisman (who is one of my favourite photographers)! talk about pressure! haha :)

I seriously LOVE how these two so uninhibitedly laugh with one another.




No wonder we got such good weather that day. I truly believe you can never have a bad day if you are wearing fabulous shoes. And BRIGHTLY COLORED at that!


Something different.






These next two are some of my favourite frames :) Give me emotion over art anyday *winks* :)








These two introduced to me what is called a Banoffee Pie - YUMMNESS!




Off to do something urban.














These two can rock out a pose and a look!


Especially Adeline :)


Chuen Hau, you're not too bad yourself! haha :)






And then, here is the bonus of working straight after the rain - you get clear beautiful skies. And amazing light :) Who said shooting next to a barbed wire fence would be boring!!?!




I love the following two frames of the two.




I don't know why, but Chuen Hau picked up Adeline at this point and just started goofing around!! haha






Isn't this light incredible? This is practically straight out of the camera. Promise! I swear! :D




Then when it got too dark to play, Chuen Hau suggested the most fun idea! we got to play with his car! I love it when clients bring their fabulous ideas to the table!! It set up a very big challenge as I don't normally shoot night shots, but this was a really pleasant surprise. Thank you for pushing me and letting me play with something new!!




This last frame is probably my fave. Its so subtle.


And here is their slideshow to a new song I love, and a tonne of other pis!

Have a gorgeous wednesday everyone! :D