Sydney, Wedding - Preview to Irene and Ryan's pre-wedding shoot

I like to take pictures when it rains. All the inconveniences and the risks of ruining my equipment aside (weather-sealed pro bodies no matter when it’s raining down buckets!), rain totally changes the mood of the pictures.
Here’s a preview of Irene and Ryan’s pre-wedding shoot. Can’t wait to show you the rest of it!



Street, Sydney - The very magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Mangnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

Straight out of camera JPEG. 

Have you moved cities before? How immensely troublesome it is hey? I know, I've moved quite a few times. KL, Melbourne and most recently, Sydney.

Seems strange when you've been in a city for your whole life and have formed deep relationships with people and then having to uproot to a completely new place.

Troublesome. Lonesome. Scary even.

But out of it, I actually find it really refreshing.

It reminds you to never be too attached to something, somewhere, or even someone. Trust me, when you have to pack everything you've ever owned in your life into a 25kg suitcase, you learn to let go. History's taught me that smiling however sweetly at the ground crew will not increase your chances of exceeding the limit by any more than 5 kilos. As for relationships, of course one should always try to keep them. It's much easier nowadays anyway with free VOIP and whatnot.

The thing is, stay enough in a place, or if you're expecting to live there for a bit, (by that, I mean permanently), you somehow appreciate it less. If you're in KL, the KLCC Towers are always there. You'd be caught dead taking pictures in front of it. Ditto, the Harbour Bridge / Sydney Opera House for Sydneysiders. It's "there". But the tourists flock hundreds of miles just to see it. 

New cities, on the other hand, gives you a whole new world to explore. Your senses are sharper. You're more aware. Laneways, people, culture, and even big ticket touristy sights (like the picture below). Visual feasts if you open your eyes and know to look.

Let's hope I keep appreciating this city more (touristy sights included) as I stay here longer. Here's to Sydney! 

Street, Sydney - Hello Geoff

Meet Geoff.

He's the guy who greets us every Sunday morning at the church, always with a quick quip or two. I wish I'm as jolly when I'm his age!

Shot taken in the church (during the Palm Sunday service actually) as we were learning how to make crosses out of palm leaves!

Sydney, Wedding - Geo and Dan

I'm so excited to share with you a 'post wedding' photo shoot I did late last year with Geo and Dan, who are both Malaysians but are now residing in Singapore. I brought them around all the iconic Sydney locations including the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and also a ferry ride to convict / industrial island, Cuckatoo Island!  At the end of the day, they said it felt like having a really fun one-day tour of Sydney! Glad they had as much fun as I did.

Enjoy the photos. I'm sure you'll feel the love, joy and warmth coming through. 

I think this shoot heralds a slight change in my style of photography. Or maybe it was just my focus that has changed. 

You see, previously I always think about making dramatic and epic shots. Extreme compositions. Instagram-esque colour treatment. More, more, more of everything. 

Now as my photography evolves (or I'd like to think, 'mature'), I find myself striving for restraint. Instead of making my photos look great, I now focus on making my clients look beautiful. Instead of depending on amazing locations, I now focus on capturing real, genuine moments of love and joy. 

Sounds cliche, I know. But you'll be surprised how difficult it was for me to find a good photographer who capture the right moments (i.e. photos that don't make you wonder what the subjects are feeling) now that I'm looking for one for my own wedding!

And I think capturing these moments are easier on wedding days, and more difficult to achieve on portrait sessions when almost everyone usually stiffen up in front of the camera lens. That's why I'm quite proud of this session's outcome, with Geo and Dan. 

I'm not giving up entirely on epic shots though. Like my favourite shot of the day...

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:13