Mother's Day = Happy Valentine's Day

Mother's Day was last weekend and hope that all moms had a happy and relaxing one. Mine's peaceful, at least the monkies behaved okay and I didn't have to yell or shout at them :P And on Saturday, we went over to Brampton in the afternoon and had lots of fun at the Peel Police Community Day.

 

What did I receive from the little monkies? Crafts. I enjoy the ones from Little Monkie #1. His school emphasizes a lot on creativity (see below). He picked his colors, glued the feather and painted the rock himself. The other one is a little booklet about what they think only mommy can do. One cute quote is: "my mommy can carry baby in her tummy"; and the other says "mommy cooks the best rice" and he drew on the pages too. Very cute and sweet.

 

 

This is the rest of what I've got from them. Some were nicely written and presented. I personally prefer something that shows their true talents.

 

One thing to share... when Little Monkie #2 gave me his work to me, he said Happy Valentine's Day... lol...

To all moms, Happy Mother's Day Happy Valentine's Day to you :)

My 1st French Play - Les Miserables

 

 

Today, Little Monkie #1's school has a special event, called the French Café. Parents were invited to attend. I was a bit hesitated at the beginning because it's in the middle of the day. Finally, I've decided to take a day off and show support (as it's near to my mat leave anyway... why not take a little break from work :))

 

I'm glad that I had today off. 'coz my Little Monkie #1 asked if daddy and mommy would be going. He was excited when I said 'yes'.

 

When I arrived today, I swung by his classroom to let him know that mommy's here (and he still asked me how come I was late... I was in fact half an hour early... @@).

 

Soon after I've settled down, the performance has commenced. The little one was one of the many peasants in one of the scenes. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, he looked around to look for mommy. This is the look when he spotted me.

 

 

Smile...

This is the scene they're in. His whole class is little peasants.

 



 

A close up... glad to have this one in focus.

 

The play's done... back to the class. Look at this peasant - dirty and tired. Grandma (my mom) thought that he played in the mud and didn't clean up... lol...

 

Little Monkie #1 was actually right... that mommy should have arrived early. When you're sitting at the back, you set yourself in a difficult situation to capture good shots. And mommy wishes that she could pick up more French 'coz the whole play was in French and she didn't understand much other than "monsieur", "je m'appelle", etc.

 

Anyway, have a nice weekend everyone :)

It's fun time!

Recently, I've joined the Mompreneur group. One day, one of the ladies was asking if anyone could donate prizes for her daughter's school. It's intended for a fundraising event for their new playground. After learning more about this, I said 'yes'. Photo session is something that I could contribute and here is what I've come up with.

  

I feel honored to be part of it. If there's enough money raised for this, students could have timeless fun time at school. As a photographer, I would also have some fun time doing things I love - photo shooting.

Cheers :)

Maternity Session

One of the assignments in my most recent course was to take a self-portrait, which has become my profile picture :) Since I'm expecting the mini-one, I was thinking about taking my own maternity shoot. Of course, it's always easier to say then execute...

 

Not only you need to have the right lighting, but also right moment, right background, right composition, right settings... and the list can go on and on. I'd tried it once with Little Monkey #2 in one morning, which was a quick shot. He's a bit out of focus and the composition wasn't ideal.

 

 

When I tried it again, he faked his smile already. After that, we had no chance of doing it 'coz we got plans over the weekends.

 

My friend Evelyn, the photographer of Veedo Photography proposed to me that she could take the maternity shoot for me. I turned her down a few times 'coz I really wanna try it out myself. In the end, I know I'm running out of time (as you can see the size of the mini-) and it would be a nice experience to see how the others set up their home studio. So we went last Sunday. Howard, the photographer of ToU Photography was the main photographer of the day (they needed models for their new line of business). Evelyn was the 2nd shooter who took candids.

 

It's kinda a unique experience with the photographers in different styles being in the same photo session, in different roles. To me, being a model can see things from a different angle. Photographers always want to stretch themselves to take from different angles/lighting/posing for the best ideal shots. As a model, you'll be exhausted very easily, particularly when you were asked to pose and hold it.

 

On the contrary, being a photographer, it's easier to share my ideas and communicate with the shooters. Let them execute what it is in your mind and see the result below...

 

(Photo Credit: Evelyn Chan of VeedoPhotography)

 

This is 100% more natural and better positioned. Although we were all exhausted afterwards, however, we were happy to see the nice pix. It'd be a nice memory for us to keep it for years. Click on the above link of Veedo Photography to view more pictures. Once again, thanks to Evelyn and Howard.

 

You know what... I haven't given up my idea of taking self-portrait. My next plan is to have do my own birth photo session, provided that the nurses and OB let me do it... haha... Anyhow, I will get my gear ready in the labour and delivery room. Will keep you posted :)

Their big day is upcoming!

After Vidya & Bala having their first new born recently, Connie & Dave... another couple who modelled for my Wedding I assignment is having great news. Their big day is upcoming next month!! One day, Connie asked if I could sponsor a mini-photo session as one of the prizes for their stag and doe party. Of course! Here's the poster I've created... my first time. The background color fushcia and text color apple green go with the theme colors of their wedding. What do you think?

 

 

 At the time they're helping out, they were not even engaged. They were really nice... woke up early in the morning, dressed up, posed for me for a few hours. It's, honestly, quite an exhausting job. They got great smile tho'. Take a look!

(This is not their official wedding pic)

 

Here I would like to wish this lovely couple all the best in the next stage of their life together. Congratulations!!!

 

PS - umm... I guess I can describe myself as the lucky lady... bringing some luck to those who I had shot. Wanna book a session now? Simply contact me :)

Baby BalaJunior

It's been the longest time that I last put up a new post on my blog. My personal life has been busy... work, the 2 monkies, plus the little monkey #3 is expecting in a few weeks plus course... I would love to have more hours to accomplish different tasks daily. Anyhow, here I am... I will try to update more frequently. First, it comes to the most recent baby session I did for the new addition of Vidya and Bala.


Last year, when I was taking the wedding photography course, this pair of newly weds was really nice and helped out being my models for the assignment. A few months later, I heard the great news from the bride's dad that she's expecting.

 

 

A few days ago, in early April, Baby Bala Junior has arrived. I still remember that grandpa was anxious and nervous and excited at work :)

 

 

I went over to their place and visited this little cutie over the weekend. What a handsome boy!

 

 

See this little one, how comfortable he's in mommy's arms...

 

Last but not least, these are my favs - the tiny little fingers and toes.

 

All the best to this little one... wishing you be a healthy and happy boy!

 

Ginger Vinegar from Little Wellsley

 

 

Just realized that I haven't blogged for long... it's been busy couple of months celebrating the festive season and spending some quality time with  my little monkies. My Little Monkie #1's sports class on Sundays had ended last week. This gives me a bit extra time to pick up my camera and have some fun.

 

 

This morning, I had some shots of the "ginger vinegar". For those who're wondering what the weird things are in the jar. As the literal transaltion, there are ginger and black vinegar in there, as well as some eggs and fungi. In Chinese saying, these are all good for moms after labour and delivery. This is also a traditional gift to friends and relatives when there's a new born. Wait... my mini one is still hanging in there... still have a few months before it's due. This is from my good friends Catherine and Sammy who has delivered a little boy recently.

 

 

Time flies and it's been a full month after the little boy's birth. Daddy Sammy has been trying to catch every sec of sleep. I'm sure we'll be back to the same routine shortly. It's all worth it, particularly when I look at my two little monkies. My heart melts when they have their thumbs up and say "mommy, you are the best" or "good job, mommy". All the sleepless nights got forgotten.

 

 

Little Wellsley, although auntie Gigi hasn't met you in person yet, here I wish you be a healthy and good boy. Will give you hugs and kisses when we meet :)