The month of March is always the month where I run low on cash cause it’s the month where at least 4 of my friends celebrate their birthdays.

Dayum. It must be something about the moon and tides which gets people busy with making babies 9 months prior to that.

Just wanted to shout-out to Daniel, Sherrie, Nee On and Bang Qin. Happy Belated Birthday again young ones

I’m happy to have you all as my young friends (cause it makes people think I’m young too - by association maaa :p). Here’s to an awesome year ahead!

Oh and before I forget, here’s a belated birthday wish to my client Yvonne too. She just celebrated her birthday last month and her wedding will be this weekend in Langkawi. Woot! Double celebration Congrats again!

Muaks!

Marcella contacted me recently when she found out that her husband Philip was going to be posted in Spain by April. Having stayed in Kuala Lumpur for the past year, she wanted to get some shots of their baby, Adam at the KLCC park before they took off.

We had the shoot early last Saturday morning and I felt blessed to have been able to witness the love between the three of them. Marcella and Philip absolutely adores Adam and looking at him, I could understand why.

As with all my portrait sessions involving young children, I try to work within a short time frame so that the young ones don’t tire out too fast.

So far, Adam’s one of the most accommodating baby I’ve shot - his huge inquisitive eyes, his infectious smile, his curly locks. So many things to rave about this adorably wriggly baby

We took some shots at their apartment and then headed over to the KLCC park. I guess you could say it was for sentimental reasons as well since they took frequent walks at the park throughout their 1-year stay in Malaysia.

Philip, Marcella and Adam - here’s wishing you three a safe journey back to the UK and an exciting start to a new life in Spain Take care!

I always make it a point to meet up with my wedding clients cause their wedding day is meant to be one of the most memorable days of their lives, and I want them to be absolutely comfortable with me. You never know, in real life I might be some nutcase who jabbers on and on about nothing in particular :p

Hence, I was a tad bit nervous about shooting YH & Jenn’s garden reception since we didn’t get a chance to meet up prior to the event day. What if they didn’t like me? What if they thought I was crazy? What if, what if?

Luckily for me, they’re absolutely lovely It was my first garden reception for this year and I love intimate gatherings like these as it gives the bride and groom more time to catch up with their close friends and family. Woot!

YH and Jenn had two separate parties - Saturday night was the Retro Night for their close friends and Sunday was for their relatives. The party was held at YH’s parents home and they basically arranged for everything themselves.

Their guestbook was an interesting bit about the party. They bought a Fujifilm polaroid camera and took shots of their guests to be inserted into the guestbook.

I absolutely love that idea and would totally recommend it to other couples! Spices things up compared to the normal ol’ guestbook doesn’t it?

YH & Jenn, thanks for inviting me to cover your garden party. The food was absolutely scrumptious! Here’s wishing you two many love and happiness in the years to come.

For some shots from both nights, click on the slideshow below

If you’ve bought a copy of April’s Cleo magazine (which is already out in the newstand), I guess you would know about this.

I won the SKII & Cleo Young Achiever’s Award. Yayyyyyy! *skips with joy*

Heartfelt gratitude to all of you who took the time (and stamp money!) to send in a vote for me. I am absolutely flabbergasted.

I seriously didn’t think that anyone would bother voting, and you did! Wheee! Some of my clients even bought 2 copies of Cleo just to vote for me. When I heard that, I was touched.

Who wouldn’t be? You spent an extra RM5+ just for lil me! Woot!

As corny as this may sound, words can’t express how grateful I am for all the support I’ve received, not only for this Cleo thing, but also for my newfound career.

Ever since I started, I’ve wanted to receive your respect, your approval, your “hey that’s a nice picture”. Bagging this award gives me a glimmer of hope that I’m on the right path.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Steph of Cleo actually called me when I was back in KK to inform me that I had won.

My first reaction was, “Is this some kinda joke?”. When she said she wasn’t joking, I remember saying something along the lines of “Serious sh*t?!? No f*ckin way!”

My Dad was next to me the whole conversation and I thank God that he’s used to his lil girl swearing like a sailor otherwise I would’ve gotten a smack in the head :p

It was extra sweet that I had found out about the win when I was back in KK cos the first 2 people whom I shared the good news with were my parents

My Dad’s reaction? “Waa, my little girl’s a Young Achiever. Go tell your Mum, she’ll be very happy”.

I hustled upstairs and broke the news to my Mum.

The first thing she said was, “Huh? The rest are prettier than you, you can still win ah?” -_- Tiu. Potong stim. (FYI, sarcastic remarks run in the family. Its how we show our love to each other. Serious.)

Wait, wait. She wasn’t done yet.

She then said, “I don’t think you should use the SKII products since you’re already using some other skincare. You can pass them to me next time you come home” -_- Double tiu.

Hehe..trust Mum to keep me grounded whenever I’m on cloud 9 ;p

For those who are wondering what I’ll be doing with the prize money, it’ll be spent on self-development. Photography related workshops to be precise

Have just registered for Louis Pang’s upcoming workshops in April and June. And I also attended Ted Adnan’s lighting workshop last week. Will blog about that later.

As of now, I’m still in disbelief.

*pinches self* Ouch!

I’ll be visiting my older brothers (whom I haven’t seen in 5 years!) in Perth come April. I’ll be catching up with family and a few friends over there and I’ll also have time to shoot a few outdoor or on-location portraiture sessions.

Besides couple portraiture, I also shoot individuals, families, bands - as long as there’s people, I’m up for it!

So if you happen to be in Perth during the dates below or if you know of anyone who might be interested, feel free to contact me at info[at]anna-rina[dot]com.

Btw, the picture for the below poster was shot during Chris & Melissa’s wedding in December ‘07.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Jenny Sun a couple of days ago and it was really refreshing to meet up with a fellow female wedding photographer in this male dominated industry (not that I have anything against men la) :D.

After having an extended lunch with Jenny where we chatted about wedding photography in Malaysia and what we’ve been shooting recently, I left Pyramid feeling happy that there are like-minded photographers who don’t mind sharing experience and knowledge with others.

It got me thinking that it’ll be interesting to have a quarterly meet-up just for female wedding photographers in Klang Valley.

I don’t know how many full-time female wedding photographers there are out there, but it’ll be cool to touch base and meet up over coffee

It won’t be too formal of course, just an opportunity for us to share experience and to learn from one another.

If you’re interested, do leave a comment and and depending on the level of interest, I’ll try to arrange a meet up for female wedding photographers sometime in May or June.

Of course, this meet up won’t be exclusively for ladies who are already in the wedding photography industry. I’m sure there are ladies out there who are interested, but might still be on the fence about venturing into it. Joining the meet-up would mean an opportunity to find out more

So even if you’re not a full-time wedding photographer, feel free to leave a comment and your email add so that I can keep you in the loop about a possible meet-up for female wedding photographers.

Hope to hear from you ladies out there & have a great week ahead!

Emy called me up recently to arrange for a portraiture session. Initially, it was gonna be a session for herself and her sister Mala only as her husband Zanil was supposed to be flying on the day of the shoot.

Thanks to our lucky stars, Zanil’s flight got rescheduled and he managed (or was dragged? hehe…just kidding) to join us for the shoot in Genting. Woot!

I think it’s absolutely sweet that they had their pictures taken despite having been married for a year already. Something like an annual celebration of their love eh?

Emy’s a joy to shoot as she’s absolutely bubbly and she’s got no qualms about hamming it up for the camera. Love it! As for Zanil, he’s like the polar opposite as he’s soooooo shy. Haha! It took a while for him to warm up to the camera but once he did, boy oh boy, they both rocked the pictures!

I have soooo many fave shots from the session that I decided to do up a short slideshow. Zanil, Emy and Mala - thanks for inviting me along with you all to Genting. I had loads of fun hanging out with the three of you!

And Emy, thanks so, so much for the pashmina! I really didn’t expect it and I’ll definitely think of you everytime I use it

The above pic was shot in the ‘revolving tunnel’. Though that bridge doesn’t move at all, the green lights which went round and round made it seem like the bridge was turning round and round as well. I got reaaally dizzy going through it. Hehe..the red and green blur that you see in the middle of the pic is Emy and Zanil walking towards me ;p

The above picture was shot from the hip in absolute darkness and I love it cause Zanil and Emy looks soo cute here wearing the 3D glasses, screaming. When I shot this, the guide said”Miss, miss. No flash photography ah”:p LOL!

And here’s a shot of Zanil and Emy together with their lil furball. The cat is soooo cute (but damn furry wei! Hehe..)

Click on the slideshow below to see more of my fave shots from this session Have a great weekend ahead!

Anrie and I’ve been in touch since September 2007 and we’ve been meaning to do this shoot like forever! Due to our erratic schedules, we’ve been unable to meet up till early this month.

I met up with Anrie and Michael the weekend after I got back from KK and we had an absolutely fun session. Anrie and I met up in the morning for a quick photo session at the TTDI Park before meeting up with Michael at their friends’ apartment.

It was at the park that Anrie sacrificed herself to the mosquitoes. Hah! The mozzies were absolutely vicious! At one point in time, Anrie managed to hit 3 with one smack. That’s how many there were. Siao.

Anyway, below are some of my fave shots from this session. Enjoy!

Michael and Anrie cracking up! Heheh..I had fun during the shoot. Hope you both enjoyed yourselves too! See ya soon

Terence recently contacted me through Facebook, telling me about his recent engagement to Nicole. I was thrilled for the both of them when I heard the good news

A day before I left KK, we managed to meet up for a short photo session at Pan Pacific. The weather was a bit dreary as it had been raining so most of the shoot had to be done indoor.

Nevertheless, Terence and Nicole were complete sports! Thanks again you two for being so open to suggestions. It was an absolute pleasure to meet up with the both of you as well.

Wish we had more time (and better weather!) for the session. Perhaps during my next trip back ya? Hehe…have fun with the preparations for the big day!

I was thrilled when Niney contacted me to shoot her younger sister Nirwana’s solemnisation ceremony. To be able to shoot not only one, but two weddings for a family is an absolute honour for me

Nirwana and Ibraheem met while they were both working at Fitness First, and when I saw the both of them together during Niney’s wedding, I could tell that they’re both head over heels in love.

The weather was beautiful during the day of their solemnisation. I was pleasantly surprised by that as it had been raining all week long prior to that.

While getting ready, Neyna was absolutely composed and she looked absolutely radiant. Check out her dimples! When I went to shoot some pictures of David, it was immediately evident that he was nervous! Hehe..I find it absolutely sweet whenever the grooms get more nervous than the brides

The solemnisation ceremony was a simple yet tasteful event held at Neyna’s parents home and they invited family and close friends for the celebration.

As Neyna’s father is Chinese, they also had a tea ceremony. Tears of joy were shed throughout that ceremony (including by yours truly. Man, I gotta learn how to compose myself during emotional moments!).

There were a lot of laughter amongst family and friends as well whenever David greeted their relatives in Chinese during the tea ceremony. It was a good attempt by David as most of the time, he managed to get the greetings correct on the first try. Some of the shots can be seen in the slideshow below.

Neyna and David, thank you again for sharing your big day with me. I wish you two many happiness in your new life together as husband and wife Have fun with the preparations for the reception too!