It’s certainly not uncommon these days, that people meet through cyberspace. With the widespread of the Internet and how it’s played a major for most of our teenage to adult life, it’s not uncommon to hear of people meeting people online. Keith & Leeza’s history is one of such and in fact, the second FIFOTO couple to have met their other halves through online gaming! They met 7 years ago through playing MMORPG (don’t ask me what that meant, I only know RPG), Dragonraja. Who would have known, the Cyber Gods were working their magic and they found themselves having much more than just Dragonraja in common and 7 years later, they are sealing the deal!

I looked forward to their shoot as they were open to back alleys and abandoned fields, right in our area of expertise! Despite the usual humid heat and blood-sucking mosquitoes, the photos we took at an empty grassland turned out great! The early morning sun was warm and soft and reflected the connection they have for each other…

Later on, we headed to the studio for a change of clothes and they both put on 2 really cute outfits! Thankfully for sporting and adventurous couples like Keith & Leeza, they didn’t mind the smelly back lanes we brought them to! And in fact, they even brought with them the coolest attitude, those you find in Chinese gangsta movies starring Andy Lau and the entire crew of Hong Kong veteran stars… Yes, they brought on the look once the aviators came on, and it made the perfect “Yao Yeng” (got style, aka ban cool) photos! It was so much fun shooting the bubbly couple and I just can’t wait to see what Steve & Jason come up with for their wedding photos in June!

Happy Friday y’all!!!!

Out with the old and in with the new! If you’ve been to the old Dunhill store at KLCC, you’d know how tiny and cramped the space was. So when I found out that they had renovated and expanded into what was previously Franc Muller lot, I was stoked! Well, I don’t exactly shop at Dunhil but am just glad they are out of that little space!

The new Dunhil store is spacious and cozy, with a sofa area for the better halves to sit and relax their feet, or browse through some books on the brand’s history. It’s got a corner for leather bags, briefcases and the latest mens fashion trend, man-bags.(ahem, you know who you are!)

So check out the new Dunhill store if you’re at KLCC!

It’s hard to believe that a few years back, I had met David at a wedding I was shooting and he was the amateur hobbyist photographer shooting at his relative’s wedding. A fresh grad out of college working as an SAP consultant and the youngest to join the FIFOTO team then, he’s all grown up now and getting married to his college sweetheart, Jin Jin!

They opted to shoot at the quaint lot in Bangsa, Sekeping Tenggiri and what a good choice! Having shot there for Brenda & Jason’s Pre-wedding, I was thrilled to see a different perspective I could take on this time! And David being a seasoned shooter, he knew exactly what to prepare for, the props and the outfits…. But not the hot humid heat… Drenched under his jacket (which ultimately seeped though his suit), he was certainly not envious of all the poor grooms he had shot before. This is what you call… Empathy!

Jin Jin looked fabulous in her gown which was designed by her younger sister who’s currently in fashion design school! I especially loved the pink umbrella they brought with them which made for the perfect prop as they stood at the edge of the water and kissed!

We headed to Palate-Palette afterwards and spent the last hour goofing around upstairs, making full use of the props, furniture and art that filled the space. Even Scrabble made an appearance! (they had played online scrabble during the courtship)

After a quick and yummy lunch at Palate, I rushed off for my meeting with Absolut Vodka! (more on that in June!)

Congrats to David & Jin Jin on their upcoming wedding where they’ll be bringing out their canes and making me & Steve work like a dog!

It was my third trip to Kuching and I was stoked to be able to hangout with the big guns Alvin Leong, Patrick Low, Saiful Nang, Jim & Ning Liaw at the WPPM conference! Kuching felt a lot like Penang – the place, the people, the food. Being the Penangite foodie that I am, I totally enjoyed the local Sarawakian hawker and cuisine! And Alvin was the perfect candidate to bring us around!

I got to try the Sarawakian laksa (very yummy!), which is prepared in a completely different style from the Penang laksa (which I don’t eat), the famous wildly grown midin veggie, char koay kak, popia and even some local fusion food! We also went to the coolest bar in town, and one of te coziest, I might add, the Junk! sandwiched in between a row of old shop houses, the Junk is a somewhat a cryptic maze comprised of a bar/restaurant/private lounge. There were rooms that led to other rooms and then more rooms!

My talk on “creative photography” fell in the last slot on Saturday and I was somewhat relieved not having found anyone dozing off (perhaps Patrick’s threat to call on anyone sleeping up on stage to pose nude DID work afterall)! After a live demo on light-painting, I had two teams give it a go! (check out the images below!)

We found ourselves back at The Junk (for the third time this trip! Yes, it seems like THE PLACE to be!) a few hours later for the Photographer’s chillout session, a panel discussion comprised of Jim, Patrick, Alvin, Saiful and I, followed by a lucky draw and a mini-auction! (I won a bid for speedlight Pro Kit by Joe Chan! SOLD to Fiona (me!) in the red dress for RM270! What a deal for something that retails at RM420!) Later in night was a casual meet & greet session with fellow photographers & enthusiasts. I was stoked to see Lance (who had attended my WPPM talk in KL last year) come in our WTF t-shirt!!!

Big THANKS to Alvin for taking such great care of us during our stay in Kuching and it was so nice to meet his family Christina, Ethan and Shannon and his team, Angeline & Kelvin & Annie! Am looking forward to our next trip back and to seeing everyone else at WPPM Penang in June!!!

Last but not least, big THANKS to Nic who came along and helped me out for the weekend. I absolutely love his shots!

Alvin, goofing around…

Patrick was the first to speak that day. He talked on Wedding Photography Do’s & Dont’s

Saiful talked about becoming an International Photographer…

I was the last to go for the day and had to move everyone to the big auditorium for the light painting live demo!

I was privileged to have Patrick assist me in the live demo (an assistant I definitely can’t afford, so grateful for his kind heart!)

The following 3 photos are courtesy of Patrick and his “baby”, The Hasselblad H3D

Here’s the live demo I did. Model: Nic

Group 1′s shot

Group 2′s shot

And here are a few more photos taken by Kelvin

Meet Kelvin, Official photographer that weekend!

At the Photographer’s Chill out Session @ The Junk

Yay! for winning the bid for the Speedlight Pro Kit by Joe Chan!