In what was probably the coolest and best themed wedding (Pink Gothic!) that we've shot this year, Irnny & Af'fan, thanks for the honor and privilege to be part of your big day. We started off with a big dinner before the Akad Nikah ceremony at Irnny's home in Seremban. Af'fan showed his loving and gentle spirit when he shed some tears reciting his vows and responsibilities. This guy takes this very seriously and I'm sure they'll be a wonderful couple. I've never seen a pelamin covered with fresh roses before. The bersanding ceremony was held at 1388 Seremban Golf and Country club and the Pink Gothic theme was equally well executed.

Despite the heavy rain the that drenched Petaling Jaya, it was a genuinely warm and joyful inside SS2 Tai Thong Restaurant. It was also very dry! Choon Mei and Heng Loon don't even look troubled as guests trickled in slowly and running late. They took the time to warmly greet and catch up with many friends and family that arrived. Today was just a simple dinner to celebrate their marriage and the big day is to happen a week later in Penang where Heng Loon is from. From the enthusiasm of the couple and the guests, it looks like one super big party! Yes, everyone had a great time and so did we!

While the rest of Malaysia was Celebrating Independence day (or Merdeka), Wilayne and David were doing the opposite -- they were getting married! Although road closures in downtown Ipoh caused some delays, everything still went very well, from the action packed Bride pickup and negotiation at the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh, back to David's place and then back to Syuen for the dinner. During the afternoon, we took about an hour and dropped by the nearby Ling Sen Tong (Lime stone caves) for a fun shoot that resulted in a cool set of photos. Just to show you don't need a lot of time to get great shots. It was the first time I was there too so it doesn't mean that an unfamiliar place means poor photos!

What do you do when you just finished a late night wedding shoot the day before and you awake in a hotel in Ipoh? Go for dim sum breakfast that's what! And followed by sweet tau-foo-far dessert after that!

Good weather held for a fun-filled pool-side buffet to celebrate Wilayne & David coming together as a couple... but maybe, just a little too much good weather as in a scorching afternoon sun resulted in a little too much warmth. Nevertheless, it was a fun-filled event and there were lots of times where it became more than low-light, it was closer to no light.

Had a really long day covering this wedding but in the end, it was absolutely worth it! So much energy, fun and joy that it was impossible not to get some of it on you even though you're chasing people down to photograph them!

Had a jammed pack weekend starting at good friend's wedding and ending at my parents place doing re-potting and other stuff. A long sleepless week with a few problems didn't help things much and my wife's PC decided to expire peacefully at 7:04pm, Thursday, July 31st. Cause of death is two blown capacitors. Oh, well, time to upgrade. Anyways, after conducting a FlashWorks 101 lession on Friday night, I put all the batteries into chargers, packed my gear and slept at 1am.

05:38 : Woke up due to heat and couldn't get back to sleep
06:20 : Little dog barking (my iPhone alarm clock)
06:32 : Aromatic coffee (Starbucks Rwanda Blue Bourbon) to kickstart the system
06:45 : Shower and soon after, load-up and head-out of the house
07:10 : Arrive at Jalan Selangor House
12:40 : After two houses, arrive home for lunch. Down 500ml of water, 325ml of 100Plus
14:00 : Download photos and take shower. Batch convert from CR2 to JPEG, downsize.
14:45 : Finished shower, and hit the road again.
15:05 : Arrive at Bible College of Malaysia - Wowzers, it's 100 degress in the shade!
18:30 : Arrive at Bangsar Seafood Garden. Immediate download of photos
18:50 : Test run of first slideshow. Restaurant notebook crashes, Flash doesn't work on backup PC.
19:01 : Batch conversion from CR2 to JPEG. Test my notebook to Projector
19:20 : Finalize slideshow and re-arrange some (reviewing it yesterday made me realize a few more photo sorting/ordering slips)
00:30 : Arrive home. Take shower.
01:00 : Review my photos and my wife's photos (from another wedding)
02:30 : Crash into bed.

You can check out the some of photos on Anna-Rina's blog here. It's always fantastic to always meet another awesome photographer and how could anyone be more cool than Anna-Rina? Plus she managed to snag my big ass blocking the entire view at Church! Awesome!

© Anna-Rina

We had tremendous fun just doing this shoot and eating that it felt more like a holiday than a photo shoot. That said, I think we did get some really great shots, the super hot weather not withstanding. There's like so many things that Louis taught during his workshop that I had a tough time trying to remember. I think at least I got the location, lighting and skills bit. The story and the reaction needs work. All in all, this is definitely 5% better, and I can't wait for the next 5%...