Layang-Layang Island has played a huge role in my life. (you can read them here) So, this trip meant a lot to me since my last time there in 2008. Hubby & I had our honeymoon there too. I even had it in my WILL that upon my death, I’d like my ashes to be scattered around the atoll. I was so looking forward to bringing my Little Haley to meet my dear friends & ex-colleagues at the resort.

I was ecstatic to find that the wildflowers & weeds were beautifully thriving on the man-made island. So how can mummy resist! Once again, Little Haley became mummy’s little star during this sunset photo session. Hope you love them as much as I love capturing them. Let me know what you think. Haley’s almost 14-month when these were captured.

Beautiful sun & wildflowers! That's the staff quarters I used to live in while working there as a dive instructor/dive-guide.

Our Little Haley!

Beautiful sun-ray peeping thru the trees.

My TWO DARLINGS!

*heart*

She loves playing with daddy!

... and playing with the "lalangs" or wild weeds too!

Hehehe...

My Baby!

She totally ignored us when we called out for her!

She loves daddy’s Rudy sunglasses!

Putting it on for daddy!

On second thought, she wants it for herself!

*dreaming*

This is the only "family" portrait we had on this trip.

And then we head over to the pool for some fun dipping! This is Haley’s first underwater portrait.

Splash!

Here’s a simple slideshow I’ve compiled for your viewing pleasures.

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18.02.2010

Wet is Hot!

Location: Kuala Lumpur

When: During Yiannis & Alison portrait session

Note: This couple just rocked my day by playing along with this concept!

19.02.2010

Sun-Shiny Couple!

Location: Lake Gardens

When: During Darragh & Kim portrait session

Note: We had such a beautiful sun-shiny morning that day! I was like “woo hoo!” all the way!

20.02.2010

Por-Por and Grand Kids!

Location: Bukit Jelutong

When: During the Sheh’s family portrait session

Note: This photo makes me all warm & fuzzy inside!

21.02.2010

Little Ryleigh

Location: Penang Island

When: Little Ryleigh just woke up & was waiting for my arrival from Kuala Lumpur.

Note: Her baby cot was next to a huge window that lets in such beautiful morning sunray!

22.02.2010

Chris!

Location: Layang-Layang Island, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

When: During a honeymoon dive trip.

Note: This is Chris Tan, a dear friend who’s working for ScubaZoo.

23.02.2010

Bubbles Time!

Location: Kota Damansara, Selangor

When: During Little Alexis’ portrait session

Note: Little Alexis & Mommy J enjoying some bubble time!

24.02.2010

Floria

Location: At home

When: Just another day.

Note: Bought a new bunch of flowers for the house.

25.02.2010

Hand Bouquet & Bridal Shoes

Location: Thien Hou Temple

When: During Jordan & Sharon’s registration of marriage (R.O.M) ceremony day.

Note: I love detail shots during R.O.M or weddings.

Wokay! Come tomorrow, I’ll be announcing a birthday specials for you, dearest friends, fans of ALP and readers of this blog. So do come back sometime after dinner time for the special news. (Cos I’ve got shoots both in the morning & late afternoon, hence, will only be posting the announcement after am home.)

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"The Living Over The Dead"

Location: U.S.S.R Liberty Wreck, Tulamben, Bali.

When: During our recent getaway dive + leisure trip to Bali.

Note: Various forms of life growing & thriving well on the skeletal body of this metal wreck.

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I’ve come up with a New Year Specials for YOU this 2010! Check it out!

Having a baby this 2010? These are for YOU!

♥

The First Year
[Portraiture Package for Infants below 1-yr old] = RM800

• Capturing baby’s growing moments from birth to first birthday
• FOUR (4) x 2-hrs portraiture sessions in an interval of 3 months each
• 1 location (within Klang Valley) for each session

♣

Bump to Pop!
[Portraiture Package for Pregnant Family] = RM888

• Capturing your beautiful glowing moments and your newborn’s new moments*
• 1 x 2-hr portraiture session for pregnancy moments and 1 x 2-hr portraiture session for newborn moments
• 1 location (within Klang Valley) for each session

* Newborn has to be within 2-week old from birth date.

Looking for something different or getting married this 2010?

♦

Underwater Dream
[Portraiture Package for Casual/Engagement/Pre-Wedding] = RM2010

• Capturing your underwater portraits the ALP style!
• 3-hr session
• Location: Petaling Jaya, Selangor or recommended island retreat *
• Make-up service inclusive
• Support divers inclusive (for safety purposes)

* island retreat logistic cost is not inclusive

STANDARD DELIVERABLES = High resolution digital files [post-processed with a mixture of special treatments (whenever I see fit) on DVD] at least 1 month after shoot date.

So what are you waiting for?!?!?! Go ahead and Contact Me NOW!

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… 2009…

This is the year I became a mother. And my life started to change beyond what I could have imagined or anticipated. It was God’s grace for giving us our little girl. She’s such a joy to me when I’m down, albeit sometimes a little annoying when she throws her tantrum. Our Little Haley has been a handful and I’m really thankful that my own mother is still young & capable enough to help care for my little girl when I had to return to work. Darling Francis has been a wonderful daddy and husband, ever supportive & patience when it comes to dealing with the various situations in our little chaotic life. I am ever so thankful cos I just wouldn’t know how I’d manage without him!

These are just a few of the changes (ones I’ve felt the impact most) since Haley’s arrival into our life.

• The house is a lot merrier (and did I mention chaotic too? ) with her coos & aahs, her laughter & screams, and very recently her endless baby chatters.
• In contrast, our social life has gotten a lot quieter. Darling & I are very sociable people, especially amongst our scuba diving society. Not that we do not like to socialize anymore. It’s just that our priorities have changed. We used to host various get-together with our friends and family but not anymore. We also seem to turn down friends’ invitations to hang-out pretty often nowadays.
  • First is SLEEP. As most parents will agree with me, having a new baby in the house means less sleep for everyone else. So, we find ourselves pretty tired by midnight and the bed seems all too inviting all the time!
  • Second is WORK. Family time is really rare considering that darling leaves the house early in the morning & only comes back after 8pm generally 5 days a week, where as my working schedule often falls on weekends and public holidays.
  • Third is FAMILY. We try to spend as much time together as a family when we’re not working. Which means, the whole evening will be spent in the bedroom with Haley for her bedtime. We also try to have at least 3 to 4 times family holiday a year, away from home.
• Darling & I go on a date (mostly on movie dates) a lot more often nowadays. Once again, we’re lucky to have my mum around to babysit at nites when we are going on a date. Initially, it was hard for me to concentrate during our dates as my mind & heart will be back at home with Haley, but eventually I got used to it. I now look forward to our future dates all the time!
• We’ve been getting home-cooked meals almost everyday. Bless my mother for that! She’s been staying with us more often nowadays (due to me having more photography bookings lately) to help out with Haley, hence, she also does the cooking and laundry for us! Yes! I am indeed lucky!

I started losing weight immediately after delivery and an annual full-body check-up revealed a hyperthyroidism in me. I find myself having  rapid heart palpitation constantly, resulting in insomnia & a constant rise in body temperature. I also had a massive increase of appetite  altho I kept losing weight. Due to the possible unwanted effect on my heart, I was put on a series of medications which resulted in a sudden (unwanted) weight gain! Oh those terrible fats!!! It is sooo demoralizing so I gotta do something bout that soon!

This is also the year when I decided to re-brand my photography business. I would like to thank my friend & mentor, Jenny Sun, for opening my mind & heart when it comes to building my new photography business. I was struggling really hard to find my own identity and to gain clientele but she was always there (albeit her super busy schedule), always willing to share her thoughts and advice, always lending an ear to my never ending rantings. Thank you, girl, for your friendship & trust in me! I owe you one! And I’m looking forward to more shooting & sharing moments with you.

Here are some of the photos I shot when I was assisting Jenny during her wedding assignments. Thank you for the opportunities, Jen!

Ju Liang & Mui Kit's Wedding Day

Ju Liang & his mother

The pretty Mui Kit

Ju Liang & Mui Kit

Tjin & Christine's Wedding Day

Tjin & buddies with their cars

Christine's wedding dress

Tjin & Christine, the happy newlyweds

Hanther & Christine Wedding Day

Hanther & Christine - Blissfully married

… 2010…

So another new year is coming! Only God knows what is planned out for me and all I can do is plan, execute, hope and pray for a smooth sailing journey throughout this new year.

Here’s a list of my new year resolution:

1. Lose 8kg by May 2010 by eating healthier (less carbo, less ice cream, less cakes), plan & follow an exercise regime and drink more water daily!
2. Be a better mother, wife & daughter. Being more patience with Haley & teach her new things as day passes by, spend more time listening & doing things for darling, and give my mother more time of her own.
3. Be a better photographer. Continue learning to improve my skills, as well as increase my editing capabilities in order to deliver my clients’ photos as early possible!
4. Keep in touch more with our dearest friends whom we’ve somehow been neglecting lately.
5. Go to church more often with Haley & mum (and hopefully darling will join us one day ). I’m not too sure how I can do this as most of my weekends have been booked up by clients unless I make it a point to not accept too many bookings on Sundays. God will somehow show me the way soon.
6. Travel and/or dive more. Well… if $ and time permits, of course!
7. Attend a photography workshop or two locally. Definitely looking forward to ShootFest (if any for 2010).
8. Contribute more towards environment conservation. Plant more greens, promote underwater awareness through my underwater photos, etc.

Alrite… that’s all that I can think of at the moment. Let’s see how much of my new year resolution comes true but I hope majority will. Here’s wishing you, my clients, my friends and family a promising New Year 2010! My heartfelt gratitude for the wonderful journey we’ve done together this 2009!

Little Aidan & Family

Little Tiffany & Family

Little Kiera & Family

Little Ethan & Family

Little Aden & Family

Little Gabrielle & Family

Little Shuen & Family

Little Mikhail & Family

Little Hayden & Family

Little Tanveer & Family

Little Venus & Family

Little Sophia & Family

Sherlyn Koh & her dance academy

Jeremy & Jane

Albert & Faye

Amin & Shareen + Family

Pauline & Furry Friends

Mark + Azween

The Nichols

Little Azura & Family

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.”  ~ Hal Borland

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]]> http://astherlau.com/2009/12/31/one-for-the-road-before-2010/feed/ 0 http://astherlau.com/2009/10/09/behind-the-scene-underwater-pre-wedding-with-albert-faye/ http://astherlau.com/2009/10/09/behind-the-scene-underwater-pre-wedding-with-albert-faye/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:15:15 +0000 Asther http://astherlau.com/?p=1412 I’ve been meaning to share with you my “behind-the-scene” photos and videos but did not do it until today. This is because I was waiting for the new blog to be launched which will enable my posting videos and slideshows without anymore restrictions. So the wonderful day finally came! Hahaha…

Let me share with you a video which was done by a fellow friend, Joey, during my shoot for Albert & Faye’s underwater pre-wedding portraits. The first 2 1/2 mins of the video were in fast-forward mode, so please bear with me and continue watching till the end, ya!

Since this shoot involves the element of water and requiring my couple to swim & hold their breaths underwater, I have to keep in mind the aspect of safety for everyone. I’ve gotten two safety support divers to assist us throughout the shoot. Everything was done in 3 hours, initially we had cloudy sky, then it rained for a while. We had bright sunny sky at the final hour of the shoot. We had so much fun that day!

I would like to thank Joey and Nick for helping us out that day. Without you guys, it wouldn’t be as easy and as fun as it did that dat. CHEERS!

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Today’s post is going to be a little different. Once a while, I get the chance to capture some romantic portraits for those love-birds out there. The typical go-to-the-park or romantic settings of a restaurant, etc.

I’ve been searching inside & outside for a new approach for engagement and wedding portraits, praying constantly for guidance from HIM. Finally! This couple was brought to me with an interesting & amazing idea. An underwater pre-wedding style portrait session! I mean… WOW! Alas this has got to do with an element which I am oh so familiar with for sooo many years!

Due to budget and time constraint, we decided to have this session done in a swimming pool. Preparation was done with a check-list, having in mind both technical and safety issues during the photo session. I had some friends over to help me during the session and it all went soooo well! I’m stoked!

Meet Albert and Faye from Hong Kong!

Lucky guy caught a mermaid!

Initially, Faye was all jittery and nervous about holding her breath and being underwater. I took my time, re-assuring her that she’ll do very fine. Half and hour later, she forgot all her nervousness and all smiles throughout the day!

Dream Love

Sensous

It drizzled for the first hour but hey… we’re wet already anyway! Hahaha…

Fly with Me

Then the sun re-appeared! Below is a little different kind of feel.

Ivory

The wrap-up shot.

Embrace

We also had the typical garden session few days later. The sun was soooo yummy-licious!

I so love these happy faces!

Albert adores Faye like candy sweetness!

My ALL time Favorite!

Albert and Faye. Words cannot describe how much I appreciate your willingness to be infront of my lenses. You have become friends to me which I’ll treasure forever in my heart. Thank you! And YES we will discover Malaysia again when you next come visit!

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Portfolio

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