Blast from the Past

Rummaging through old photos is a really good form of therapy. It helps relive precious moments from the past and amazingly jogs one's memory of stories/incidences relating to that particular photo.

For me, it brought a perpetual silly grin to my face and I couldn't stop giggling for most part of the night spent digging through our baby and childhood photos. Our video editor has limited us to only about 30 odd photos to include into one of our video montages, but as we looked through all our albums, it was hard to filter out just the 'good' ones. Up to date, we have scanned like 100 photos -- thus requiring ANOTHER round of filtering before submitting our final 30.

As we continue our wedding preparation journey -- counting down the last 100 days; preparations can get a little bit intense at times... there are days when we find ourselves at each others' necks :P ... So there!!! We found a good form of therapy! :)

Oops! We did it again... Capturing the Moment (Part VI)

Hafiz and Amru are two passionate photographers whom we met at the Extraordinary Louis Pang workshop back in February. Wanting to show us a Malay perspective of wedding portraiture, they generously offered to bring us on our 2nd pre-wedding photography shoot just recently in Tanjung Karang -- a serene li'l town just North of the famous Kuala Selangor. One Word to describe the location. Beautiful.

It was my dream come true! Although raised in the city all my life, I have always been fascinated with the beauty of the kampung. Vast paddy fields. Chickens running wild. Little bridges over streams... I didn't realize that our shoot lasted 10-hours under the baking hot Malaysian sun. I even came back with a sun burn! :D

Overall, we had so much fun! The duo's lively, happy-go-lucky nature truly takes the frustration out of the feeling of ETERNITY and immense HEAT of typical pre-wedding photography shoots. They were quick to spot good locations and come up with amazing shots. Can't wait to see all the photos in a couple of weeks time. But for now... another sneak peek!!!

Through the lens of Hafiz Ismail...


Through the lens of Amru The Storyteller...


Read Part I , Part II , Part III , Part IV , Part V here.

Capturing the Moment (Part V)

Our photography & videography team from EXES Studio; preparing the set for one of our many shoots.

When we decided on taking our pre-wedding pictures on the 2nd of February 2009 some time in August last year, it seemed so far awayyyyy. But before we realized, 6 months flew by -- and we; or at least I; am now finding myself in the most nerve wrecking period as we'll have to wait another month before we can see the results of our 10-hour shoot.

Did I tell you how God's been so good to us? :) Just a week before the shoot, we finally managed to get a letter of authorization from the owners of the beautiful park where we intended to have our shoot!!! It was truly God-given because there was no way we could have had such favor from the people that had authority to issue that letter, if it wasn't for His grace!

We also decided (last minute) to include an additional indoor location, and by the advice of Patrick Low (our photographer), we found ourselves going to Carcosa Seri Negara. We've previously heard high praises for this place, but have never visited it personally. So it was a first for the both of us.

We had quite a large photography and videography team -- a total of 6 of them; including May Lim from Wedding Isle; my personal makeup artist who was on the set throughout. She was perpetually powdering me and adjusting my hair because the Malaysian weather just didn't permit me to not sweat. It was really quite a challenge to be all decked up in my wedding gown... trudging through the heat and posing for the camera!

Here are some "behind the scenes" pictures that Irwin managed to take in between shoots.

May Lim -- touching up my makeup during our afternoon session


Our photography & videography team in action


Enjoying a good cup of Espresso at Carcosa the morning after :)

Read Part I ; Part II ; Part III ; Part IV here.

Capturing the Moment (part III)

Photo taken by Patrick Low; Exes Studio. www.exes-studio.com
Another struck off our wedding prep to-do list; 8390492043 more to go...

After many weeks of looking through a gazillion photographers' portfolio and quotations, we have finally decided to appoint Exes Studio to play (what I think is) one of the most important role at our wedding!!! -- to take our pre-wedding and actual day photography and videography. Patrick Low; the main creative photographer which we have engaged is an award winning photographer who specializes in taking wedding portraiture and capturing the events as it unfolds on the actual day. The above picture is actually his latest winning shot which he recently bagged at the WPJA 2008 awards for Most Creative Portrait. Check out his website to see his entire portfolio :)

Overall, we're very pleased with what he has offered us (although it comes with a really large price tag) and included in the contract which we signed over the weekend. We'll be taking our pre-wedding photographs in February next year... *EXCITED!* :P

Praying for the best! :-D

Read Part I & Part II here.

Capturing the moment (part II)

Picture taken from http://www.signaturephotographers.com.my/

Today was rather exciting :) We attended the Signature Photographers event -- an event bringing together 7 of (I dare say) Malaysia's more outstanding wedding photographers. It was held at the Sheraton Imperial hotel and for RM100 per couple, we got lots of vouchers from different types of wedding vendors and sponsors of the event (ie: flowers, car rental, decor, etc), a wide buffet range from the hotel's wedding menu and most importantly, first-handed tips from all 7 photographers. I thought it was quite a bang for our buck :) We even won a lucky draw! :D (and was called up onto the stage to be 'models' for Louis Pang) That was quite an embarassing bit though :P

Anyways, after weeks of research -- comparing portfolios and quotations; I sort of had a shortlist of photographers/videographers that I thought would be able to capture the styles that Irwin and I like. So this event put alot of things for us into perspective, making things a little clearer. We're quite close to appointing one of the most important 'players' for our big day! :P I just need to bring out my negotiating skills to carve out a good deal now!

Read Part I here.

Capturing the moment (Part I)

I think one of the more challenging tasks throughout wedding planning would be appointing a photographer and videographer who'll be able to capture all the priceless moments on your big day. A friend of mine who recently got married adviced me that the importance of securing a photographer comes right after you've set the date and venue.

From what I've gathered so far, getting a photographer/videographer is easy. Klang Valley will never run short of them. But getting the RIGHT one -- in terms of service offerings, photography styles, and of course price lah; seems challenging. Plus, its not a cheap affair either. YIKES. Anyhow, time is still on our side :) And we still have lots of opportunities to scout around. But I must say that I'm surprised to also find out that some of the top photographers are already booked out on the 11th of July. Hence we won't be able to appoint them, even if we wanted to. OMG! This is craziness!

Maybe I should have gone to photography school instead.