Holding the titles of A Wife, A Full-Time Mother (to FOUR happy & brilliant kids), A Business Owner, A Dedicated Breastfeeding Advocate (she’s also a lactation consultant) as well as A Beautiful Friend (inside & out!). Life can be tough with so many things (and people) to manage, but she never let them bog her down. Instead, she takes them all in with an open heart and treats them as exciting challenges in her life. Every time I look into her eyes, I see a river flowing full of wisdom, patience and determination.

We’ve been talking about doing her family session for quite a long time. I think for more than a year! After several postponements (due to the kids’ schedule, or hubby’s work travel plans, or just plain busy life), we finally had it going. This was the first time I get to really know her family. Her kids kept me on my toes with so many fun ideas that day. And it was really nice to touch base with the man who is still madly in love with my dear friend after so many years together.

I managed to capture an amazing number of wonderful moments for them that day. Here are a few of the MANY favorites I got that day.

A truly blessed family

The boys in the family

And the girls!

In Daddy A's arms.

I did some fun stuff with some of the images too. Check this out!

Damian

Stephanie

Josephine

Jeremy

Hahahaha...

Fav!

One more fun animation!

Thank you Mummy G, for giving me the time to complete your photos. I hope everyone like them and let this session be a memorable one for the many years in the future. Thank you so much for your friendship and your love. I treasure them in my heart always.

Alrighty… it’s going to be a crazy month ahead with the Bloom Workshops coming into full swing, as well as a fully booked month of shoots in between. March is also my little girl’s birthday month, so I’m already going crazy with planning her birthday party. Here I pray that I’ll survive it all without a glitch. Wish me luck & pray for me, yah? Thank you so much for reading and I’ll try to keep this blogsite updated again soon.

Cheerios!
Asther

~ My very first post on ALP’s blog! Woot! Oh this is Su, Asther’s PA by the way and I have been handling email enquiries sent by you lovely clients. Can’t say I wasn’t nervous in the beginning – She does receive a lot of emails! Lol.. I was so worried I’d get clients mixed up or give them the wrong information but as days and weeks went by; I got the hang of it and what can I say? Gotta love having an awesome and understanding (not to mention very patient) boss.

I’m a mummy of 3 – two boys and a lil girl. I’m lucky to know Asther and trust her enough to let her shoot my baby girl at 6 days old. I know how important it is to capture our kids’ moments as they do grow up very fast.

Ok enough about me.. Let’s move on to our new post and I sure hope you readers enjoy reading it (and all our future posts ) Cheers to all! ~

Mummy A contacted Asther months ahead for her “Bump to Pop!” sessions. Both N and A are very soft spoken & good natured people and the maternity session was done with them totally relaxed & calm throughout.

Mummy A giggled a lot whenever Asther cracked up a joke resulting in this nice shot

Exuding warmth and love to their unborn child

Pretty mummy with her petite belly ^_^

Kisses for his lovely wife. Such a sweet couple

Their baby girl finally came into the world about a month later.

She carries the same calm serenity of her parents'

After a bath (she hates bathing for some reason) and a full feed, she went into a deep slumber and the entire newborn session was done with her sleeping soundly. Asther usually conducts her newborn sessions with the baby sleeping throughout the most part of the photo session. This is because posing a sleeping baby is much easier & more possible as compared to an awake baby. An awake newborn baby is usually very wriggly & tend to fuss for milk or to be held. Often than not, the newborns in Asther’s session will wake up some time so she’ll try to capture some “awake” shots as well. But this is usually without much/any posing done on the newborn.

In baby dreamland!

Don't ya wana "bite" her?

Sweet baby!

Comfortably hanging in there

Sweet Baby S with her warm and loving parents

Wishing Mummy A and Daddy N all the best with their little princess. Hope Baby S continues to carry that serenity and calmness in her. Perhaps we could see more of her in the future?

Oh and have you noticed the head bands worn on Baby S? (I know I have! Lol) These beautiful hand-made headbands used in this photo shoot was bought from Sew Whimsey by Asther. Go check it out!

Before signing off, we would like to send out a special thank you to Irene Lim who became our props assistant for the day Until our next post, remember to hug your loved ones today, tomorrow and every other day! Toodles!

xoxo, Su.

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The pretty Shi Ning!

Shi Ning with her lovely mommy

Daddy's little girl!

Mommy I took months to prepare for this session. She went on a shopping spree, buying all these beautiful attires & headbands for her precious little girl!

Sweet!

Love those funky socks!

Rocking it out infron of my camera!

Tu-tu girl!

We managed to capture some awesome family portraits that day. Seeing their happy faces always makes my heart sings!

LOVE!

FAV!

I brought along my little girl for the shoot so she can spend some time with us and her friend, Shi Ning. Here’s a shot of the two girls together.

Besties in the making?

That is all for now. It’s been a crazy few weeks for me with travels, family & work. Just a little note to inform that my shooting schedule is currently full up to February 2012. I feel so sorry that I’ve to turn down many enquiries for shoots lately but I try my best to refer my good photography friends over whenever I can. So, do book early to avoid disappointment and I look forward to spending some wonderful time with you & family!

Till then, take care & God Bless.

xoxo

Asther

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A match made in heaven.

Beautiful pregnancy curves!

Pure happiness!

Daddy C sure knows how to goof around which is just perfect for my camera.

And their pretty little princess Baby G finally came into their loving arms.

So much LOVE!

Sweet baby details

*sigh*

I think Baby G's most favorite part of her newborn shoot was being carried in this swing.

At times like this, I’m just very thankful for being able to do what I do. And that God keeps sending me beautiful beautiful clients such as Baby G & her lovely parents. Don’t you agree?

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Tiny fingers, tiny toes

Little itty bitty clothes.

Teddy bears and smiles of joy

Oh! my gosh its a little boy!

Mummy N welcome me with warm smiles when I visited them for Little Z’s newborn session. Such a trooper even only after giving birth just 13 days earlier. Well, why wouldn’t she when she just delivered such a precious little thing! This little guy will melt anyone’s heart, I tell ya!

Love his little feet!

And that lips! *muacks*

*sigh*

Totally love the bedsheet from their guestroom bed. I love intimate personalized props!

Too cute!

Another personal fav! Love that piece of furniture in the master bedroom!

Little Z decided he’s had enough of his sleeping shots taken and since we still have time, we continued with some intimate moments with mummy & daddy.

Daddy J is such a baby whisperer himself!

Little Z starting getting cranky so we quickly had a few more shots before he continued his long milky snack. Love how Daddy J & Mummy N just enjoyed their moments together even tho Lil' Z was screaming away. They just love his little feisty spirit!

Thank you once again Mummy N. For trusting me with your little handsome & for giving me a precious friendship with you. Thank you so so much for the constant sms-es to keep in touch & for all the cheering & supports for me when I’m down. I’m so so sorry I’ve yet made time for a meet-up and yes it’s been months. Will call you soon to set one up!

Love & hugs,

Asther

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A baby portrait is never complete without some delicious drool!

Precious!

So much LOVE!

Oblivious to what daddy & mommy were doing. Hahaha...

So much JOY!

What did I say about that hair?

We then headed back to his house for some indoor shots.

Yum Yum Yum!

"Okay, I'm beat!"

Thank you once again, Mommy J, for your warm hospitality & friendship. Have a blast with Baby Ian and hopefully one day we get to do this again.

As of this week, our booking calendar is FULL up to November, therefore we are no longer accepting new bookings for shoots in KL/Selangor. However, we’re now opening our 2012 calendar for bookings! So if you have a plan to have a beautiful session with me, be it for your pregnancy or your baby’s little moments, or just simple day-to-day family moments, do write in now to secure a date with us.

We are also opening our 2012 calendar for intimate couple portraits such as for engagement or simply just to celebrate your relationship together.

We are revising our package rates and will be releasing them in September 2011. However, if you want to grab our current rate, it is still possible by confirming your booking by end August 2011. So hurry now!

I’m in the midst of caring for my sick little girl so business management will be a little bit slow for the next few days until I’m sure my baby’s back to her normal self. We’re all very sleep deprived in the household so we’re kinda taking things a little bit slower for now. Appreciate your understanding & prayers.

Till then, hope everything is on a brighter side on your end.

xoxo

Asther

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I love her smile!

This is the ONLY "naked" shot we managed to capture that day.

Here we used Mommy V's wedding saree as the backdrop.

And then we head outside at their beautiful garden for some outdoor background.

I think she loves sleeping there.

Here's a little moment with daddy dear.

And here's with her beautiful mommy.

And here's with handsome big brother! We had a photo session with him a few months back too.

Thank you again, Mommy V, for being so patience with me during the session. And for trusting me once again to capture your precious moments. I’m even more thankful for the friendship we’ve built and pray that we get to see each others’ kids grow up happy & successful.

I hope to be sharing more of the newborn sessions I’ve done from the past few months. *fingers crossed* In the meantime, my 2011 calendar is almost filled up, so here’s an update of my booking schedule:

• August: FULL
• September: FULL
• October: 2 more weekdays & 1 more weekend available
• November: FULL
• December: Open only for sessions in Kuching (Sarawak). Limited slots available

I am in the midst of revising my packages & rates as well as other products to compliment your sessions and will be launching them in September onwards. Any bookings done in August will still be of the current old rates. So if you plan to have a photo session with me in 2012, you might want to consider booking it now to get the current rates.

Wokay… hope to share another post here soon. Take care & see you soon.

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So anyway, I started to search about the web for a photography workshop which is related to what I’m specializing. I realized there was no workshop in Malaysia which fits my requirement list or able to offer more than what I already know when it comes to baby/children related photography. I started looking outside of Malaysia. This was initially a tough decision for me. Cos outside of Malaysia means two things. It’ll cost me a LOT of money for the travel, as well as the exchange rates in countries like U.S or Australia which are not really in favor to our Malaysia Ringgit. This also means I’ve to travel away from my family, from my little girl. I’ve never left my girl for more than 24 hours in her entire life. She sleeps next to me 98% of our nights together. So oh yeah… it was really tough for me to decide.

But in the end, I took up the courage and signed up for a Baby Posing Workshop by Lana Bell in Australia. Well, I’ve heard of several famous baby related photography workshops based in the U.S but after going through Lana’s website, I decided to give it a try since it’s nearer & cheaper for me than if I were to go to U.S. And I’m glad I did, cos I learn quite a bit from the workshop.

Although there are several differences in terms of culture & business applications between Australia & Malaysia, I’m glad I get to see these differences. It opens my eyes to a lot of perspectives. I get too see the pros & cons from each differences & hope to make something positive out of each for my business application. Some major differences I realized are:

1. Weather

Well… I went to Australia during the start of their winter time, so it’s colder there than it is in Malaysia. So when it comes to photographing babies, more preparations are needed to ensure baby’s comfort & warmth.

2. Culture

Most mothers in Australia are either fulltime mothers (with no helper or maids as commonly found in Malaysia) or if working fulltime, then they depend a lot on schools & childcare centres which are very professionally set-up throughout the country. So when it comes to after delivering a new baby, a mother there usually gets help from the husband, occasionally from family members but the term “confinement period” is not a norm. Mother & baby starts their new life together just like any other normal people. They eat whatever healthy food they can get, they go out whenever they want, no restrictions whatsoever unless it’s medically decided by doctors in cases of some post-delivery complications.

3. Photography Studio

Most baby photographers have a home-based studio, and newborn photography sessions are conducted here. Clients go to the photographers, bringing their new little bubs for their photographs to be taken. And this is pretty normal for them, bringing they days old baby out (we’re talking about less than 10 days old) without a fuss on “getting wind into the body” or “baby’s too young to be out in public” kinda thing. Unlike here in Malaysia, where photographers like me had to do on-location sessions cos it’s a common thing for mothers & babies to be in confinement period, hence, generally they’re not allowed to leave the house in the first month period.

Since it’s the photographer’s studio, the photographer has more control in terms of lighting, setup & location. So consistency is a lot easier to achieve here.

4. Photography Charges

Clients are charged a “booking” fee for the studio space as well as the photographer’s time. After the session is done, photos will be chosen & edited by the photographer and then clients will be invited into their studio again to view them & make orders for digital files or prints. Sometimes they do it online, but generally face-to-face interaction is much more preferred. Bulk digital purchases are available but they cost a lot lot more usually. Common practice will be for clients to order images for prints such as canvas prints or albums or photo quality prints. Here in Malaysia, generally clients get digital files (high resolution files) in a disc, sometimes with additional offers of prints. I must say, clients in Malaysia are getting a lot more for what they pay for as compared to Australians.

Anyway… this is going to be another looooooong post with lots of photos to share. So hope you enjoy some of the behind-the-scene shots as well as images of baby Asher who came with her lovely mother into Lana’s nautral light studio for us to photograph. All poses & setup were done by Lana herself and I’m very thankful for her mentoring us that day. She opens up so much of her trade secrets for us, from how to conduct a session, to how to edit the photos and lastly on discussing about the business part of things with us. We even had a lovely full-course dinner at one of Lana’s favorite restaurant. Good food, good wine, great company. It was indeed an experience. I’m thankful for the new friends I’ve made during the workshop, especially Jessica & Beck. They made me feel a lot more comfortable & welcome with all the things they’ve shared with me.

Lana undressing & preparing baby Asher.

Lana, a mother of two herself, is really great with babies.

Lana doing her magic for us.

My first shot of baby Asher. She was 8 days old. Lucky to have caught that smile! Good thing she was a very "smiley" baby.

Love that headband!

Oh sweet sweet Asher...

So comfy & happy

Another lucky shot with her sticking out her tongue! Hahaha...

In mommy's loving hands.

We “ran out” of good lights as the day went by so Lana decided to bring baby Asher outside for some more portraits. Being that it’s winter, she had baby Asher wrapped up nicely before we headed outside to her lawn area.

Nice & warm in the wrap.

Loving that old wooden crate!

And here are a few with Asher’s beautiful mommy. You wouldn’t have guessed that she just delivered a baby 8 days ago!

LOVE

That little smile from Asher = PRICELESS!

And my all time favorite from the workshop…

*sigh*

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Come July, it’ll be 4 years since daddy left. He’s played a major part in my photography journey. He’s the one who gave me my very first DSLR in 2004 for my birthday. He’s the one who kept advising me to start my own business. “Don’t work for people if you can.” he always said. And so when I got pregnant, I realized I can no longer continue my freelance job as a scuba instructress. I was in a crossroad. I wasn’t sure what I should do in terms of my future career choice. I looked at what resources I had at that time. His advice kept ringing in my head. Every time I look at my camera, I remember my happy & important times with him. And every time that happens, a tiny tinge of regret will come along. I am still regretting that we do not have many photos taken together. Especially the years after I returned from Hawaii. Dad & I had a huge fight right before I left for my studies, and we were not in talking term for quite a long time. However, I’m thankful that we managed to re-kindle our father-daughter bond. We started spending a lot of time together whenever I went home for a visit, or whenever he comes to West Malaysia to visit me. We talked a lot more over the phone, and every time before we hang up, he’ll say “Take Charge, girl. Daddy loves you.”

And finally, I took the courage to start building my photography business with what he had provided me. I decided to Take Charge. It wasn’t an easy journey for me. Cos I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t have a business plan. I didn’t know the industry at all. It took me a lot of trials & error to find my way. But I love every minute of it. Cos of the challenges that taught me so much. Cos of the exhilarating achievement whenever I reached a goal. In most ways, I am like my father. He’s the one who taught me never to give up. He’s the one who told me that life is a journey to many roads. Travel well, travel with a heart, travel with determination and gain as much wisdom along the way.

So today, I’d like to thank my father. For without him, I won’t be who I am. For without him, I won’t be where I am. Thank you, Daddy………

I would also like to thank my darling husband, for being such a great daddy to our little Haley. For making her the happiest little girl in the world with his hugs & kisses and precious times spent. She is growing up so fast and taking after you in a lot of ways. The way she loves anything related to cars, the way she likes snacking on nuts like you, the way she’s beginning to sit/lounge like you on the sofa (OH NO!). You can see how much she needs you and enjoys playing with you, learning from you. It’s tiring to keep up with her, but it’s all worth it right?

Here are a few precious photos I took of our little girl for you on this Father’s Day.

Love that tie!

Daddy's shoes are so big!

In daddy's work uniform.

To ALL FATHERS out there,

Big and Tall
Large and small
Fathers everywhere
Who love and care.

On Father’s Day
Remember to say,
“I love you so”
I hope you know
You pass the test
You are the best.

~ Mrs Alphabet ~

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I’ve been struggling with time management, especially for my work these past few weeks. The amount of backlog is piling up beyond controllable state, and I’m drowning. Clients are waiting for their images to be edited & delivered, whilst I had to peel myself away from my working hours to deal with the said unexpected situations. I had to pull extra hours after midnight so I can get some work done which pretty much made me a zombie after a few days.

Well… things are starting to settle again, although not everything yet. As I’m typing this, my girl’s in the bedroom sleeping with a mild fever AGAIN. Just few days after she recovered from her cough & flu. I’m dumbfounded. What have I done wrong? She’s been sick 1 week, well 1 week, then sick another week, well just few days, then sick again???

Then I realized this IS the life of a mother who loves her child so much so that she’d do anything for her child. As I also realized I’ve not updated this blog for such a long time, I thought to myself, it’s time to just post something which is close to heart. Motherhood.

In the midst of all that had happened, I’ve forgotten my plan to post a Mother’s Day post! Then I told myself, Motherhood should be celebrated on a daily basis. Cos a mother’s job does not have a schedule. So here’s wishing all mothers (and mothers-to-be) a Blessed Mother’s Day 2011. Everyday…

We as mothers will continue to be strong, tirelessly juggling between everything that is important in our lives, in our child’s life, in our family’s life. I’m lucky I have a strong network of mommy friends who are always there to support me, mostly emotionally. Even a short message of “Be Strong” or “You can do it!” or “Hugs” does an amazing effect of bringing back all the determination, strength & strong will to continue our battle in mommy-land. So I thank you, my friends. You know who you are… without you, I would probably have gone insane.

Here are two photos I’ve taken during our recent Mother’s Day Mini Session. Both families belong to two of my dear supportive friends. The designs of these Mother’s Day e-card were complimentary from The Coffee Shop Blog.

I’ll be on a solo trip to Australia next week, attending a baby posing workshop, as well as take some time off for my personal time. This will be my first, being away from my girl for more than a day. Not too sure how I’d fare, but I pray God will guide the way. Please please keep my baby safe, from any illness, any danger, both physical & mental. Oh I know I’m going to miss her like crazy. But I guess this is what I need to do for myself.

I may not be able to check my emails or do much work while I’m away, but am hoping to finish up a huge amount of work before I leave. Please pray that my Haley’s fever will be gone by morning, so I can continue my concentration on carrying on this work task.

Will try to update this blog again as soon I can. Maybe with some travel pics. I’ve got so many baby & pregnancy & family sessions to share here but I doubt I’d be able to do all, so if you’d like to see my latest work, check out my galleries or head on over to my Facebook Page for more frequent updates.

Till then, take good care & have a blessed May month!

xoxo

Asther