Love is the answer - Nathan & Betty Pre-Wedding in Bali

Finally our last assignment in Bali, been spending more than a week in Bali, the last assignment is always the most exciting and tiring, everyday we have to wake up around 3am for the make up and finishes at sunset due to the long travelling distance, we finishes off our session with Nathan and Betty in a new found land hehe, this place is simply awesome. When I first met up with Nathan and Betty, Nathan was the one who always does the talking and Betty was the one who only tells Nathan what she wanted and let Nathan does all the talking. I always admire the result of the chemistry of both person, making every couple a different one. Both of them live in Miri and had also engage us to cover their wedding in Miri. Thanks for giving me all the trust for this session, both of them just thrilled with the scenes have to offer here. I remember our session in Potatoe head where we not allowed to take any pictures in this premises, I shot most of the casual session with my GX1 micro four third camera and they were no problem with it, eventually it did turned our pretty well for the album, thanks to photoshop. I did went to the same place for the sunset session after a few months but this place has been closed for renovation now. Love it so much.

Give it all to you - Chin Wuu & Rachel Pre-Wedding in Bali

Both Chin Wuu and Rachel are working in Singapore and Rachel originated from China. I can see that Chin Wuu love Rachel very much though she is one of the demanding bride hehe. The different things I did on this session, unlike usually I would engage a beloved session for the couple but I believe Rachel had a different expectations on the pictures which is something similar to my early styles with elegant poses, something expresses the inner soul of Rachel, making her like an angel of Chin Wuu so that Chin Wuu would give everything to her, thats the theme is all about. Rachel might look fierce and demanding from the outside but inside of her is very emotional with many sentimental feelings, maybe because the story she written to us was in mandarin so everything is filled with emotions, in mandarin we call it "small little lady". 

More than Friends - Kevin & Samantha Pre-Wedding in Bali

Tired of all the serious pictures? Here are a batch of unusual ones we did with Kevin & Samantha. Everyone is unique, when Kevin asked if he can do a shot to show him jumping off the cliff, I laughed but we forgo the idea in the end. So much for funny ideas. So I took them to an unusual place in Bali market for some shots with all the local people, to metaphore Kevin doing his house chores where Samantha is in control of everything, not every couple willing to have fun in a session like that, it takes courage because in the end it is the pictures that will go into the album, love all the funny ones we did here so I show some that relates to it, in the end with Kevin smoking beside Samantha and having a good time. Well in the end they did not select the smoking ones into the album hehe, yea it is fine for their own collection.

For our memory - Choong Yi & Pei Shan Pre-Wedding in Bali

Here we go, our first couple on this trip to Bali, Indonesia, we met up in our studio for a short discussion and decided to head to this few places that I'm familiar with, of course Choong Yi also have asked what will be the place I most wanted to shoot and I answer Lovina Bay which is far up north with all the penguins and looking at the destination they gave up haha, yea I am still looking forward to go there some day but we ended up in places like the water blow and kintamani volcano, this time the water blow isn't blowing so we took some landscape shots with the lava rocks, did a little of beloved session with them. I still remember there was one nice shot we took in Kintamani with a fly on the veil which we strive to remove it lol, photoshop does the trick. Both of them are really tall, they are one of the tallest couple I have shot so far hehe, with all the natural candids, I remember Choong Yi was concern about his slight baldness which I let photoshop does the trick, boom and its gone lol. Talking about baldness, Bali is one of the hottest place and one of the toughest place for me, simply because I have to start avoiding the sun to stop my hair from falling lol, and every angle gotta be standing in some dangerous spot, therefore overtime I am here I am injured in some ways, not sure where I am going to be injured this time. hmmm..... for this day, I am fine.

Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan Wedding Fair

Thanks to Kris from That Special Occasion and the team, we were invited to join this wedding fair. When we hear about the place Sandakan, it does raise a lot of questions, the first question would be, why Sandakan, LOL. Flew all the way to Sandakan just to open a few hours of wedding fair is indeed something we had never done before. But the main reason we join is because we love this place. The people are just great. From a couple of previous weddings we had assigned in Sandakan before, we had lots of good memories here. One of the thing we love is the very old St. Micheal Church in Sandakan, the church was simply amazing. And another thing we love is the English Tea House and Restaurant up on the hill of Sandakan city, a beautiful british colonial architecture which is very good for a wedding reception. So in turn, Sandakan is filled with potential for many nice memories and awesome pictures. Lets pray for more to come in Sandakan! ^_^

Michael & Cheryl Maternity Portrait at PJ Trade Centre, KL

Ah another session in PJ trade centre, this time we did a maternity with Michael and Cheryl, I guess I've expose myself too much here until we were chased by the guards. It was a fun session, though the guard kept looking at us until we have to move to the back yard of PJ trade hehe. Thanks to Michael and Cheryl!

Daddy, Mommy & Anna at PJ Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur

Joanne wanted a family portrait with some lifestyle approach so we also did the session in PJ Trade Centre, they did their wedding shot with Sunny Sun in Penang, she's one of the beautiful mom in the lift, Anna was a little quiet but we kept trying to play with them and had some beloved session throughout the shoot, loving the bricks around here, they brought a bubble machine so we keep Anna busy for a while hehe. Well I wish I could try up some styling and deco set ups for the next round of family portrait, or some activities for the family, something like a family moment, will see which family is willing to do that, not everyone prefer as different family have their own preferences. :)

Be there for you - Yuen & Sylvia Family Portrait

It was not an easy task to cover 2 children but this two are the good ones, Sylvia had her make up done in our studio and we headed to PJ Trade Centre for the shoot, going to cover 3 rounds in the same spot in a week, well this area is difficult because of the security guards around but we managed anyways hehe. Brought over some of my goodies for the kids to play, awesome morning!

A letter of the Unspoken - Jonathan & Micaela Pre-Wedding in Hokkaido, Japan

Finally, yes finally I've made it to Hokkaido, this location by far is one of my personal favourite to date and have been to this beautiful place couple of times after this. In every ladies dream there are things that we dreamed of since we were young, these we the cause of some influences from those literatures that we used to read in books, and this time it became real, and one of the most fruitful experience was the sunflower farm.

Just to elaborate a little on Jonathan and Micaela, their relationship was one of the most funny and unique one, when we first met up in Hokkaido, both of them love to talk with one another debating whats good and bad, whats real and whats not, etc. It recall me on one of the movie "Before Sunrise" that I've watched earlier, where both person kept on talking debating with each other none stop, but there is a hidden message within where both person would not bring it out because scare of loosing intellectually, that is love and care. That is why I created a theme for them called "A letter of the Unspoken", with images, we recreate something that are suppose to be hidden on both hearts, where both person knew from the inside but seldom address on the outside. To me, it is quite fun to have a soul mate like this, although Micaela said that she always wanted a rich guy and only reason she love Jonathan because he has a family in Perth, but I know deep within it is something laughable and joy, it will be very boring if they were not together. Micaela is a blessing, she is not like the typical Singaporeans but she also talk many bad things about Singapore haha, she has her own attitude of truthful and real. We had a wonderful 1.5 day session. Jonathan is such a funny guy, he love to laugh and making jokes around, he is very easy going and this makes them a good match, but it doesn't mean that he will give in to Micaela's certain ideas hehe. 

There is this mystical experience that I would love to share here, we were so desperate looking for a sunflower field and I was the most desperate one for sure, we went to ask the train station about where to find a wild sunflower field and the person pointed to this place and we took a cab there, for the moment we reached that place, it was so divine! The place its like a fantasy world, we all just stood there for a while to experience that moment without taking any pictures, and so we waited for the sunset to come on us, there goes my favourite shot. Finally I have fulfilled a few of my dreams, the lavender farm, the sunflower farm, going Otaru, one of many girls dream place and it was well known in many Japanese literatures. We just fell in love with every single thing. 

Oh yea about the mystical experience, as soon as we finished our session in the sunflower field, we noticed that there is no transportation around, we did not plan for it at the first place, only discovered when we decided to go home LOL. But surprisingly, suddenly an old lady with a dog appeared behind the bushes further away and walked towards us, we asked her which way to the train station, he said there is no transport around and need to walk about 1 hour or so to the train station, but there is a main road a distance away, should be able to reach there in 30 mins. And so she said that she will guide us there, we were surprised how much she was and furthermore she was able to communicate in english. She is the only person we met in this trip that can speak fluently. When we reached the main road there wasn't any taxi and she said she will help us call one and as soon we hop on the taxi, she was gone when we look back. That remains as mystery in our trip.

The sunflower farm has remain a good memory, as the second time I went to visit, the sunflower farm was gone and we can never find another place like this anymore.

An Unforgettable Wedding - Philip & Deniece Wedding Day in DoubleTree Hotel KL

Before this people had asked me which was the best wedding I have ever shot and I was unable to give an answer because they were all unique and special, but this one is by far the most memorable, most unforgetable and the sweetest and heartwarming wedding I have ever shot, as a photographer I do not look at how nice the decorations and fancy stuffs but often times it is the people that meant the most to me. In order to collect those memories that I still remember, I am going to write a long story to share with you the experience I had with them. Before this Philip and Deniece had gone through a pre-wedding session with me in beautiful Hoi Ann, Vietnam. Both of them studies together back in college and now they are both Dentist, and in my previous blog I am sure you know why dentist and doctors are the best couple haha. One of the reason why the wedding was great because both Philip and Deniece are those rare couples that doesn't hesitate to share with one another, they are both humble and always give thanks to one another, because of the work of giving one another, it creates a flow of love that constantly feeding each other, allow one another to feel fulfilling and rich at heart. Because of its richness I've gave them a unique beloved session back in Hoi Ann, allowing them to experience one another, those experience of continue discovering one another allow them to found something precious in their lives and the meaning they should be together for a long long time. 

There are many good things to learn from this couple, starting with exchanging presents and planned to open it during the wedding day, and those presents are not fancy watches or physical things but something meaningful like a letter or things that lighten their heart, something that tells something greater in their lives, and so Deniece fall in tears.

The second meaningful thing was Philip planned to wash the feet of Deniece before he receives her in her room, the reason Philip wanted to clean her feet because Jesus had cleaned the feet for people, and he wanted to be her servant of love forever, Deniece mother couldn't help that moment and fall in tears.

The third meaningful things I have witness was both of this couple had really enjoyed the wedding day, nothing seemed to be tiring for them, and I remember that Philip had said a month after the wedding that he hope that he can't get married again with the same woman.

The fourth meaningful things are the crowd that this couple had, they are the result of the high charisma that able to built such a good friendship with anyone. All of bridesmaids were crying like mad during the vows exchange session. 

The fifth meaningful things is the relationship of Deniece with her dad, in the picture you can see how Deniece lean her head on daddy's shoulder, and during the dinner Deniece had the honour to have Deniece for the first dance, for that moment Deniece's head was still leaning on daddy's shoulder, with many unspoken words, and for that moment I felt it, I almost cried myself because I believe for a dad, it is such an important moment, where someone had the honour to hold the daughter for a first dance, I really did admire her dad, there are many first dance that I have shot but this one is indeed a different one because I can really relate and felt that emotions.

The sixth meaningful thing was during Philip's speech, this had almost made me cry again as I had never expected that from a couple, in between Philip's speech he mentioned my name and shared about his pre-wedding experience, he said something like "I couldn't really share how that wonderful experience was during the pre-wedding because it is a very personal experience, I guess only through pictures can tell how it was, thanks to Dennis....." I was like oh my God... and later I received a message from Deniece that my slideshows deserves a standing ovation, I am thrilled.

I couldn't really tell all my experience in this wedding, I can only come up with 6 of them, but there are many more to share with everyone, like how Philip had said, it is very personal and almost like an existentialistic one. Thanks for having me to cover everything you have needed to get your wedding done, I can't thank much because of all the experience you have given me either. I really wish all the couples are like you both that able to be happy in everything, exchanging the energy with one another, I will continue to wait for another one just like both of you.