AUCKLAND PRE-WEDDING TEASER ::: WILSON & NICOLE
It’s a thrilling feeling to get through your week knowing that something exciting and something I am extremely passionate about is just around the corner. Last Saturday we had an awesome time shooting pre-wedding photos for a stunning couple in and around Auckland area for a lengthy 8hrs! And here’s a teaser! One more great wedding coming this Sat and I am so excited…Rain or shine, it will be an awesome wedding held at an unique venue! Stay tuned. 
MATAKANA VINEYARD WEDDING ::: FRANKIE AND LISA
My previous blog entry I mentioned about going to their wedding. I did, and I was late. The wedding was held in Ascension Wine Estate in Matakana, about an hour drive away from Auckland City. Although ocassionally it rained, the weather was generally fine. I had an hour awesome music and driving time on a early Sunday morning and I was completely switched to my holiday mode. By the time I reached there ceremony has already started. Opps…I was so glad that I was just a guest! And later at the reception I found out a few of us at the same table had had the same fate – driven towards the wrong direction at some point. 
There’s nothing wrong being a guest with a camera I guess, especially the photographer and videographers are my peers and I have worked with some of them. I didn’t shoot much with my camera because I had more fun with my photo-video-editing-all-in-one gadget – the Apple Iphone4!! It’s a mighty little tool and I produced the simplest slideshow that contains both photo and video footage, then had it uploaded to Facebook within the shortest period of time.
Anyway, congratulations to Frankie and Lisa for this joyful occasion.
Lisa’s looked away moment. She’s smiling towards the main photographer, Richard.
A very spontenanous happy moment.
The flower girl and the page boy – I captured this just before the page boy got taken away by the parent to wipe the mouth
And some vineyard shots…
The hilly vinyard really “ascends” and form a nice romatic backdrop for wedding photos.
We also headed down to a nearby beach for photos and a sudden shower got us all wet. So the bride and groom ventured into the water despite the freezing water. I would have thought so because they survived the South Island pre-wedding photoshoot. 
After the clouds got cleared away the light became very photographer friendly.
A
A really fun shot to end the beach shots. Frankie unexpectedly threw Lisa into the air, and I just happened to be still holding a camera with the right setting at the right time.
A happy wedding!
THE DAYS AFTER TOMORROW
If you are a movie-holic like me, DON’T read it wrong. This blog entry has got nothing to do with that movie! If you have been following this blog from last year you would know that I spent two and a half days down in South Island with Frankie and Lisa. They were basically there to have their pre-wedding photos taken and I was fortunate enough to get tagged along the entire trip. It’s a trip that brought me a lot of happy memories. You can visit the previous blog entry “Remarkable, life as it ought to be” here. I wasn’t their photographer but being a photography enthusiast, I of course did manage to capture a few shots here… : )
and there… : D
Our relationship was interestingly more friends like rather than a purely business-client type. When I bummed into them on Korean Day about a month ago I was told that they were getting married in April, at a vineyard in Matakana! They invited me to come. So here I am, going for a wedding not as a photographer, but as a guest! It’s a strange feeling I tell you, because out of the many many weddings I went to, I’ve only been a guest for a few times. It’s good to do something different. Exciting!
Tomorrow begins their marriage life, and the days after tomorrow they will enjoy and spend the rest of their lives together. Hopefully I will upload some photos of their wedding day as soon as I loaded them into my computer.
SUMMER RECAP ::: BLACK AND WHITE
I have been sick for the past few days. I cough (and I still cough), I had fever, I had allergy (and I still have some) and I went to the doctor. So because of this I think it’s probably a good time to do a summer recap (there’s such a strong link between my sickness and the need for a recap). By recap what it means really is to post some photos I took in the last Summer. ha!
I remember when one of the clients asked me to show her some of my work I said to her “Have you visited my blog?” “Yes, but I don’t see many wedding photos”, She said. “But I am sure there are many!” After responding her I took a careful look of my entries and I found a lot of them are in fact non-wedding entries, which made me realise sometimes how distracted I was. LOL… Summer is such a popular season for weddings and photoshoots. In fact started from the beginning of Sep a lot of bookings and jobs started to stack up. It’s amazing how a photography job can be even more busier than a regular full-time job where you have to go out there shooting all seven days. The weather wasn’t all that great last summer so the occasional rainy days would mean there’s a break for us. Despite the amount of photoshoots I did, I hardly blog about them. So that’s why Summer Recap is actually useful for.
Denise used to partner with me as a stylist. She’s creative, very young, very quiet and very quiet. Yes, she’s quiet not because she’s day-dreaming in fact, she’s keeping her thoughts to herself, very much like what I like to do. So how does it work when two quiet people partner together in a photo shoot job? My answer would be: Quiet photographer + Quiet stylist = Not So Quiet Clients. It’s interesting how human chemistry interacts with one another! Click here to see one of our crazy client couple. They are just simply fun! So I am not here to discuss about the quiet nature of Denise, rather, I want to emphasise on how beautiful and elegant she looks, combined with that quite nature of her, in a wedding gown.
In stillness and elegance, there she is…
AUCKLAND ROSE GARDEN WEDDING ::: MICHAEL＋APRA
A great wedding inspires, so do great people. There’s nothing more encouraging than hearing your clients tell you how much they trust you even before your challenging day begins. There are times when I finish shooting a wedding I feel like I want to upload the photos and post them on my blog right away. And this is TOTALLY one of them. If not because I was caught up by so many other jobs this blog would have been posted a lot sooner. They are the couple who came for an appointment and for the shortest time expressed a strong interest in our photography service. Yet interestingly, they the couple who have had their deposit paid for the longest time ever and couldn’t decide on which package to choose, until a week before their actual wedding day. They are the couple who have a simple smile on their faces and give you a strong assurance that they trust you. They are a happy, lovely and the luckiest couple.
Here it is…introducing the luckiest man…
And the happiest bride…
Apra is such a polite and adorable girl who has a contagious personality and an amazing smile. And she takes it even further. When I arrived at her house that day Apra was already in her gown and everything looked almost ready. As I asked who’s the makeup artist and Apra told me she had a course at MAC cosmetics so she did her own makeup! What a fantastic job!
She’s gorgeous, and stunning.
The lovely bouquet fits perfectly in her hands.
After the church ceremony we arrived at the reception venue in advance to have some photos taken.
Cute…
A 10/10 natural, happy smile.
As part of the Indian culture, Apra’s family helped her to put on the wedding Saree, which was previously used in her mother’s wedding.
A different look brought her charm to new level.
Here they come, for their wedding celebration!
ANGEL’S TOUCH ::: EDISON + JANE
This isn’t the latest photoshoot. As I was doing album design in front of the computer this afternoon, I was so pleased to review through Edison and Jane’s pre-wedding photos. They two surely are photogenic people and I just had so much fun photographing them. Not only that, I feel so blessed to have clients like these two who really know what they want. I say this because our clients get to choose their favourite photos for digital retouch, not us. So I feel good EVERYTIME when my clients focus less on formal (full body facing the camera type) portraits and more on artistic shots. I know, i know people have different tastes but the artistic shots are ARTISTIC! I know, I know it takes education and training to discern the good ones from the bad. So thanks for being so awesome and chose my favourite photos. : )
When I was doing their album design I was so thrilled to see Edison and Jane chose this as their back cover page! As I was reviewing their photos I was quite surprised to see this shot. Doesn’t Jane look like an angel? Look, it’s angel’s touch! ^^
I AM LOVING IT ::: ANDREW + WINNIE
The photoshoot ended at 8pm.
We arrived back in studio at 8:40pm.
We finished servicing the last client at 9:15pm.
I then spent some time organizing photos.
I left the studio after 1am.
Above is my auckland FULL day!
By looking at my clients happy faces my heart is filled with joy. When people asked me how can I keep my passion at work, I feel I could steal McDonalds’ commercial line, beacuse “I am loving it.” I am glad that I have a job that I love, at least for now. : )
Below are some of the photos I selected from yesterday’s photoshoot, with some Lightroom adjustments.
AUCKLAND DAY & NIGHT ::: VINCENT + SUMMER
Overcast with passing showers and occasional sunshine – this was basically how the weather looked like yesterday. It’s quite a once in a blue moon consider the weather in Auckland has been constantly so good in the past. I felt the weather understood me because Mr. Weather must have sensed the fatigue from my frequent photoshoots recently. In contemplating whether the shoot will proceed as planned I rang up the clients. After listening to them I gave them a few pieces of advice and it was sweet as – the photoshoot will go on!
I knew exactly what I could achieve under such weather condition and I was convinced that the red umbrella Hanson and Colleen left me would be a fantastic prop so I brought it along.
10hours, 5 locations…our Auckland Day & Night
First up, Westhaven…
I am not a fan of green grass and blue sky so I think we had a perfect weather for the style I like to achieve.
Raiway Campus…
the classy interior
Chancery – O’connell St
Muriwai Beach…
Aotea Square…
There‘s interesting story behind this couple and their ceremony will be held on 26th March next year.
What a wonderful day!
MURPHY + BARBARA
I am taking a break from updating my South Island trip for this moment and I have decided to post some pre-wedding photos I took from…guess what?…the South Island!
Okay. During my 2-week trip to South Island I bought a pair of this…
And in my subsequent photoshoot down South Island I finally wore this pair of new “Sandals” in the hope that it would do some good to me. And it totally rocked! Haha!
On this comfy Sunday morning in Central Christchurch, we had just everything we needed available for a perfect photoshoot – the right temperature, excellent light, relaxing atmosphere and a wonderful couple.
After we departed for Lake Tekapo we noticed the weather was beginning to change, rapidly. Back in my mind I was thinking if this bad weather remained unchanged then we would be in deep trouble! We were just about 20 minutes away from Lake Tekapo and the weather didn’t seem to have any improvement at all, if not getting worse. There wasn’t much hope as all we could see were endless dark clouds. There was shower, rain, heavy rain, and then snow! Wait, SNOW? Did you say snow?!
Why not have photoshoot in the snow? Yeah, why not! Not everyone could have such chance after all. So Anna helped Barbara change into another gown that fitted perfectly in this snow environment.
The snow made everything look so white, clean, pure…This is my first time photoshooting in actual snow. : )
Simply looking at this smile you couldn’t think of how cold it was to be standing there…
The new pair of shoes I bought was so handy when it comes to snow walking…XD
Church of The Good Shepherd in its white cloth…
the end… : )
ALEX & JENNY
I like photographying fun couples who really are not afraid of expressing who they truly are. Simply by observing how they interact with each other during the shoot makes the photo session so much more relaxed, fun and enjoyable. Yes it really motivates me as a photographer and creative ideas would just roll in my head! Alex and Jenny has just formed such a perfect example.
The lighting was adorable, and the beautiful pose by Jenny was what made this photo work.
Big tree…love it.
Jenny always has this natural smile in her.
And she’s also got some authority over Alex. ; )
To show their fun spirit they’ve also decided to buy Jerseys and a rugby ball to support the upcoming Ruby World Cup 2011.
Alex is trying to show how good he can kick…but from this angle it seems he’s not going to hit the ball but Jenny…hahaha!
NORTH ISLAND PHOTO ADVENTURE ::: ANDY AND CHERRY
Over the weekend Yiyu and I took off to Hamilton Garden, Whakapapa, Lake Taupo to photograph Andy and Cheery’s pre-wedding photos. At the start of the trip we had a nice clear blue sky with some beautiful white clouds but not long after we arrived at Hamilton Garden it disappointingly started to rain. Being Hamilton Garden it just doesn’t have that many areas providing shelters so we mainly spent out time shooting at Japanese and Indian Gardens.
Since it’s raining the lighting is very very soft and therefore the photos also turned out beautiful. Based on Yiyu’s suggestion we let the Cherry sit on the fence and even with the wedding gown she managed to balance herself yet smile gracefully.
Backlit shots are usually my favourites
The rain was just getting heavier…
Photo of the day! We didn’t foresee the weather would get any better so we’ve decided hit the road. This was my last shot just before leaving Hamilton Garden. Usually this place is full of tourists during weekends but because of the rain we had a nice undisrupted photoshoot. I really like the effect of the rain and it made everything so soft and reflective.
Our original plan was to do some photoshoot in the hotel after we got there but there were way too many guests at the ground floor because they were holding a private function that evening. After a long day of driving and taking photos I was really exhausted so we decided to call it a day.
The next morning (Sunday)…Praise God, the ground floor was clear so again we had an undisrupted session. The interior of the hotel is so glamorous so we had to pose our clients according.
There were so many plan changes but we are flexible people! We drove up the mountain but discovered the visibility was way too low for photos, not to mention how cold it was up there so we headed to another location. On the way to the waterfall Andy and Cherry were praised to be a very photo adventurous couple.
We had our second attempt going up the mountain and this time the weather condition had improved with improved visibility etc. I quickly got the couple climb up the hill and they did! Standing on top of the hill in a foggy kind of the mood just gave me nothing but stunning photos! Andy and Cherry resisted the cold, the wind, and conquered the valley and the hill.
As visibility continued to improve we could see more scenery at the back.
The rain never stopped trying to get us. As we reached Lake Taupo the place was like expecting a storm. So we changed our plan again and went for food instead. All that waiting was worth it because finally we received a wonderful reward – a huge rainbow appeared in the sky after the rain. What could be more sweeter than kissing your loved one at the rainbow’s end?
The sun finally had its appearance and I simply adore taking pictures under such soft warm sunlight.
It’s autumn. Yes the red leaves made the photo colour look so vivid.
A nice gorgeous smile from Cherry to conclude this 2 day photo trip.
Photographing at a dozen of locations like this is quite tiring, but looking at the beautiful images made me think it was all worth it.
ON THE SUNNY WAIHEKE ::: LEI + KARIN
It’s cold and wet outside. Although I am now tying on a comfy sofa inside the studio my feet are complaining about my wet shoes. As I was rushing to lecture this afternoon the rain…the rain was pouring down from the sky and I stepped into a pond of water!!! The ordinary sunlight, dry ground, warm temperature suddenly became so desirable under such weather condition. I wish I could forget about my test tomorrow and my assignment. I wish I was sitting at the beach on the sunny Waikerie island!
Lei & Karin had their photoshoot on the sunny Waiheke island and I was pleased that the photos turned out to be absolutely beautiful. While the weather condition and the surrounding environments are crucial to the photoshoot, I could not emphasize enough how important it is to have two people who truly know each other and are truly in love with one another. Lei and Karin are just one perfect example. Here are just a few of my favourites from that day.
CELEBRATION FOR EMILY & OLIVER
As soon as I woke up this morning I rushed to church. And as soon as the service ended I rushed to back to studio for photoshoot. And as soon as the photoshoot ended (not really entirely ended) I rushed to Emily & Oliver’s celebration dinner. Now after a long day like this I just want to do my OWN stuff. Test and assignment are just 2 days away this coming week will be another tough week. God bless.
Emily & Oliver had their wedding in the US on 2 April and tonight they invited a whole lot of people to celebrate with them. I admit there are fewer and fewer occasion like this where I am actually sitting at the table as a guest and I am supposed to enjoy just being a guest, but when I saw other people taking photos for the couple I just couldn’t resist not doing it. So I snapped a few at tonight’s dinner also.
This cake is yummy, so yummy!
There’s something amazing being a parent and from the face we could tell how happy and proud Emily’s mum is.
Bonus point goes to Oliver. He is looking at my camera from a distance!
Why did Emily toss with orange juice instead of WINE remained the biggest mystery for tonight.
I love my 85mm 1.2L. It rocks at any reception! Emily just happen to appear in all the rest of the photos.
Tonight they will be staying at…[top secrete location!]
Happy marriage forever : )
MICHAEL + AMY
When you are exposed to something that is trying kill you and you have nothing to protect yourself you need to run. You need cover, you need shelter. It was the case when I was photographying Michael and Amy. After the ceremony we headed to North Shore for photo shoot and we were under direct harsh sunlight and it almost kill all of us. It was so hot that it made your head literally want to explode. We are talking about physics here. It was so COOL that we walked all the way down the hill and we found a perfect open shade, where we picked up our momentum again and took some sweet photos. I was also using Andy’s mighty beast lens Canon 200L F2 IS. Hmm…it made me want an 85L. Honestly, I want this effect. After we finished the shoot I headed back to the studio and spent about 20mins in front of the computer and I was able to deliver over 50 images to the clients right away. So they were about to display them at tonight’s reception. I haven’t done this same day editing for so long. I now feel very efficient. : )
Amy is amazing. I really like the how she could naturally pose in front of the camera and give the exact result that I want.
A FUN SOUTH ISLAND PHOTO TRIP ::: DANNY & NANCY
This is a long forgotten entry that I was supposed to publish a while back…in early December? Yes it’s been a while already. I remembered it when I reviewed the photos I took in the past two days and it just brought back a lot of memories.
When I met Nancy for the first time she said it jokingly that her life-time happiness was handed over to me. And I of course took it seriously and gave my best effort eating, laughing, sleeping and…snapping pictures. Nancy used to model in a commercial for the Warehouse and she was so determined to pose for good photos, that means walking extra miles (meters in fact), resisting the wind-chill effect (it was close to Summer in fact), surviving the rain (drizzle in fact) etc. Under Danny and Nancy’s exceptional performance, it was hard not to get great shots because weather and lighting wise it was so perfect and there was nothing else to blame. Not at all. : )
Although it was only 3 days, the 5 of us spent incredible moments together at Queenstown, Arrowtown, Mt Cook, Lake Tekapo, and finally Christchurch. We climbed hills, travelled through valleys, went across rivers, walked by the lakes, watched amazing sunset, sneaked into Cathedral and Art Gallery to take photos. We did all that together. We became friends.
GIVING BACK
As a photographer how can we bless others with the professional skills and equipments we have? Besides being doing documentary for local churches, meaningful events what are the other options out there we can do? As I was browsing Rich Legg‘s blog I came across Dale Welcome‘s video GIVING BACK AS A PHOTOGRAPHER (click to watch), which inspired me to get involved in the community and offer our services to the underprivileged for free. So those who can’t afford having professional portrait taken will have something nice to keep for a life time.
Here’s a photo taken at the Waihiki Island 2 weeks ago. Less is more. : )
MATTHEW & ANNIE
I have been wondering what to write for this blog entry last night, so I fell asleep right in front of my laptop and have to continue working on it this morning. I had an awesome shoot with this couple yesterday afternoon and the lighting was working in our favour. In the past weeks the weather has been a bit unpredictable. Today you get strong wind under harsh sunlight and tomorrow you get this moody clouds all over you. But yesterday we had perfect lighting. I mean, what else could be better when you are on a shoot? But I guess that’s life right? Life is unpredictable despite how you want life to be, and often you just need to live with what you’ve got. The lighting, the subject, the environment etc.
CLASS, CLASS, IN ITS OWN CLASS
For a long time I have been wanting…wanting and waint to hangout with local photographers in Auckland. I started of by googling on the internet for NZ photography forums but to my disappointment I hardly found any good ones. There’s hardly any in existence and even there are they are not so popular and relatively small. Maybe I am missing out something? So here was I continually searching for photography related community and I was suddenly reminded to join local photography clubs. So I googled again and there were plenty and top of the list there was this Auckland Photography Society (APS) located in Remuera. WoW! WOW!!
So I went ahead by myself and attended the first night of their meeting and it was their last formal session in 2009. I was so blessed because tonight’s workshop topic was about FASHION. 5 of the members previously had an opportunity to go through a series of short fashion classes and had opportunities to shoot about 20-30 models, a few among them were even professionals. So basically they shared the challenges and stress they were put under even though there was one professional fashion photographer at present to guide them. It was quite fun learning from their trails and errors and they even put together a slideshow of their work. Fun! After the workshop I had chance viewing some of the photos took by the Michael the fashion photographer and we had time asking questions etc it was really rewarding. Their final gathering will be their End of Year Award Evening and I think I am definitely more than interested, if time allows after a full day photoshoot that day.
For probably the first time ever, my favourite photographer Jasmine Star will be hosting a workshop in January 2010. What’s more? She’s put up a contest on her blog and THE winner will win a seat to her fabulous workshop. How fabulous (not my fav vocab but that’s the word she uses often) is that? I will need to put some thoughts in planning my shot and try my best not to forget about this contest! Thanks to Justin I now have some ideas to work with and hope it will work. The funniest thing is that over here in New Zealand we are actually living in their future (compared to US). That’s what I call an absolute (time) advantage! It feels like I am getting an extension. But only feels like it. Haha!!
Since the very first day photography was introduced to this world, photos were presented in black-and-white or in the form of sepia only. Till today, B&W never loses its charm. It’s still the most favourite colour theme especially to people who desire to achieve artistic and classic effects. While there are millions of colours available nowadays B&W stands in its own class. It’s just like when you are meeting a line of people from left to right, the ones that have the most characters in its colour and interesting features may stand out. However, B&W is like that person who’s standing at the 2nd place to the right who remains cool, quiet and calm. This is a person who doesn’t give you much “popping effect”, but the more you talk to him the more you want to know this person, and interestingly the more you get to know this person there are more left to be discovered. That’s the magic of B&W.
B&W doesn’t always work. There are times it just won’t work in photography. But when it does work, it’s magical. While some of the clients in our demography welcome B&W, there are still a huge amount of people who prefer the popping colours. Personally, I really like B&W or even the low saturated, muted colours which bring in a sense of depth and substance to the image. Rebekah Elena, a young photographer in US told me how much she adores B&W and she said “if you shoot in colour you are shooting their clothes, but if you shoot in black and white you capture their souls”. Well said Beki!
NOTHING SPECIAL
Just an attempt to play with some colour effect on Photoshop. So nothing special. This photo was taken by my D300, probably the last shooting before I switched to a 5DMk2. And I am sure, the dynamic range would be greater if 5DMk2 was used here. Most of my Nikon gears have been sold so I am quite excited for what’s coming.
A CRUISE WEDDING ::: ALLEN & CATHY
If you have read my earlier blog about Andy & Yiyu’s wedding you would probably be familar with this boat. Yes, it’s THE ULTIMATE ESCAPE! This boat is getting more and more popular as a wedding venue. It’s the-place-to-be if you would like to have a fun photoshoot and keeping your guests entertained after the ceremony (no, I am a photographer and I don’t work for this boat…LOL). However, Allen and Cathy’s wedding ceremony was held ON THIS BOAT! So far I have been to a wedding on an island, and multiple weddings in the church, one semi-outdoor and yet this is my FIRST TIME EVER attending and shooting a wedding on the boat. But warn you, if you would like to do the same you’d better prepare heaps of pills just in case your guests or yourself have seasick. You’ll never know.
Back in September I had a pre-wedding photoshoot session with Allen & Cathy and I had already known how capable the bride was when she’s required to smile in front of the camera. And Cathy certainly did it again, with the natural happy smile on her face throughout the entire wedding. : D
Cathy would be an excellent basketball shooter. Check out the perfect curve and landing point when she threw the flower. It almost touch the ceiling but it didn’t. It was perfect!
Look at the cool boys. Allen certainly pulled it off.
It was a perfect fine day – blue sky and some nice cloud with beautiful patterns.
MY DREAM CANNON L PRIMES
My blog is due for an update! It’s been an interesting few week and finally…I’ve made the move, jumped the boat, switch to the Cannon camp. Finally. So now basically I could grab either Canon or Nikon gears and shoot. What a lovely feeling. I am still getting used to the camera and there’s a lot more to learn about still. Once again this proves we could never learnt enough. Just like how I love to use Nikon prime lens, I do the same with Cannon. It’s just that with the full frame 5DMarkII these primes have become easier to get used to. I tested out these 3 primes and I love each of them. Their construction, their look and the beautiful images they are capable of producing. To be fair though they do have their weaknesses but I do believe if photos don’t turn out nice it’s definitely my fault, not the lens.
This photo is captured with the 17-40L and I was amazed at how close I could focus with it and how stunning sharp the photo is when I view it at 100%. I begin to adore the out of camera photos taken with 5DMark2 which renders excellent skin tone. Is it because of the colour profile setting or did I miss something with my Nikon D300? Anyway, not bad Cannon.
SOUTH ISLAND PREWEDDING SHOOT ::: MIA & PAUL
Over the weekend we had a huge blast shooting at Queenstown and it’s surrounding locations. Mia & Paul is probably by far the cutest couple I’ve ever photographed so far. Before the shoot we had a discussion of what kind of style they prefer and Mia told me they don’t like hard posing but instead would like some natural moments. I figured out what natural to them truly means in less just within 5 minutes after we began our session. The interaction between Mia and Paul was super entertaining, spontaneous and simply amazing. I am sure my photos are able to tell you how fun and happy they are. I admire their humor and the way they express their love for each other in a relationship.
The photo shoot was extremely successful and now I had a hard time in deciding which photo to edit and post etc. In the end I’ve decided to post photos that shows the localities. Therefore, I’ll start with this steamboat shot. It’s kinda one of the icons of Queenstown.
Matrix? Transporter? James Bond?…When Paul saw this shot he said he’s gonna show them to everyone.
They certainly can pose!
Mia couldn’t stop laughing again…again…and again…
To conclude this entry, I think this photo really sums up who they are…
WEDDING DAY ::: LINDA + THOMAS
On Sat, Sep 12th, it surely wasn’t a perfect weather for wedding, but nothing seem to be able to dampen this wonderfully planned occasion. Thomas & Linda held their wedding in Rotorura so Denise and I left Auckland at 7am just to avoid any unexpected traffic. We arrived a bit early so we just chillax in the house. I had plenty of time capturing the details during their preparation time. It was one of the most stress-free wedding day I’ve ever been to because everything was already so well groomed. I was really thankful that God hold the rain for as long as we were out door and the beautifully diffused lighting made the shooting a lot easier.
There wasn’t much time allowance for photo shoot after the ceremony so Linda & Thomas drove back to Auckland in the following week, and we had a great time taking some amazing photos (haven’t posted any photos yet). This morning Andy and I dropped in the edited photo to them in the airport. The are now on their flight to China, ready for another wedding banquet. : )
I am so happy for this couple.
The adorable flower boy and girls. Who’s your favourite? The boy reminded me of Samuel, whom I spent a lot of time with when I was in Homestay.
Let this last moment LAST…
999 HAPPY EVER AFTER ::: COLLINS & CALLA
It was a typical beach full of typical people doing typical activities under a typical weather. Hot is probably the right word to describe it. On 31 December, the last day of 2008, a seemingly typical summer afternoon was full of surprises. They were like two characters placed in a story, waiting for the narrator to tell their story. She, came with no expectation, had no idea that she was about to see in any moment. He, busy getting changed despite heat and sweat, was excited but also nervous for what he was about to do. Minutes later, the huge SNOOPY caught her attention. She was excited and thrilled, totally didn’t expect to meet her favourite cartoon character in such a way at Mission Bay. If fact the story just got better. Yes, exponentially. She had no idea that inside this favourite fictional character was this real man, her most adorable man who holds this ring and gives his every thought to make her happy.
If you have heard about this Snoopy, that’s Collins. And the girl who he proposed to, she’s Calla. And that’s their proposal story (CLICK HERE to watch their DIY “Save The Day” video).
Collins and Calla’s dramatic stories happen one after another. On 9th of September 2009, probably the most popular wedding day ever for Chinese, Calla and Collins not only had their wedding held at St Matthew Church, but were also interviewed by TV One and had their wedding ceremony appeared on air in the same evening. What a publicity!
Let’s wish them HAPPY EVER AFTER.
Calla’s huge gown which required 2 hands to hold.
Everybody loves their newly registered car plate.
