after 3 weeks’  holiday, I resumed shooting last week. (in fact, just no shooting, but still lots of post processing works).

It was a wonderful holiday – shulin started her two-years old  class two weeks ago, and I could stay in the classroom on the first few days and this was really  a wonderful and joyful experience.  Shulin now have to stay in class on her own, and she gets used to it very soon, just cried on the 1st two days. It is very amazing that children can learn things so fast and she really brings lots of happiness to us.

Apart from the several pre-wedding shoots these two weeks, it is so busy this week – we are going to leave our home in new territories and move to kowloon by end of this week. We have been living in Tai Po for over 10 years, this was such a good place to live,  with lots of good memories and  beautiful scenes (sun rise, the tolo harbour and all the trees and birds outside). Having said that, we decided to move so that it spends less time for shulin travelling to and from the school. So you can imagine my home is full of boxes already … … busy packing.

I wish I  can still manage to squeeze some time updating the blog next few days … …. Here is the pre-wedding session of tushiyyah and benny, one of fav session I did before the holiday. hope you enjoy all the photos below.

BTW, we  just exceeded the mark of seven hundred thousand (700,000 ) visitors here, thanks for all your support !!!!

location: St. Stephen College, Shek O, Pottinger Street (Stone Slab Street)

this is my fav shot of tushiyyah. it was taken at a corner at Pottinger Street. It was very very dark, and I challenged myself using several lights in this shot. 3 lights ‘re used with a mix of flashes and LED light, all with different color gel and light modifier (softbox, grid, barn door … …). like this shot a lot, looks so beautiful and all the lightings give a very 3 dimenional look to it.

our first stop: St. Stephen College

we took lots of great shots inside the library !!!!

second stop: Shek O. Got a lot of new ideas to shoot this time

Oh Canly, how could you do that????

another fav of the day, so beautiful and peaceful !!! This was a new angle for shooting I found in shek O

thanks for lying on the sand for this shot !!!!!

last stop: Pottinger Street

It ’s a hot sunny day pre-wedding for charlotte and kelvin. walking on the main stanley market street, we ‘re all attracted by the mini bus selling ice-cream. Without much thought, I asked them if they like to have ice-cream for the photos.  That ’s how I got the photos below …. ….

“Dont’ limit yourself by the location, the limit is only your imagination”

locations: inspiration lake, stanley market, central

don’t miss this behind the scene video. BTW, I started using a new video player that enable html5 video playing on mobile devices. You can try watching using your iphone or iPad, let me know if you have any problem playing it.


1st locaton: inspiration lake

love this shot. this is a big challenge  as it was a sunny day and the sun is very high creating harsh shadow. This can be a nightmare shooting outdoor at this time of the day.  Thanks everyone helping me to prepare the shade, the reflector to modify the light to get this beautiful shot

so pretty !!!!

2nd location: stanley market

the white

and the black

the sleeping beauties

last location: central

thanks everyone !!!

My answer is always, “for my photo shooting style, location is not important at all. shooting wide in pre-wedding session is not my favorite, instead, I am always looking for light, abstract details and emotions before looking at the background”

when I posted on my facebook that HKU is under renovation last month, I got lots  of emails and messages from clients that expressing their worries that it ’s not good to take photo there. My answer to them, ” don’t worry, it ’s going to be OK”

trust me, the background of a location is the least factor for me to consider. With a happy couple (this is more important for me), good lighting  and imagination, everywhere is possible for  good photos.

again, there is no limit, the limit is only your imagination.

location: HKU, Central SoHo, Shek O, Central (night shoot)
makeup: polly of faces hk

big challenge. Can you believe that it was taken at a building renovation site at HKU????

one more

the behind the scene shot (more bebind the scene shots at my facebook page)

1st stop: HKU

funny couple !!!

I did a few special ring shots on the day

2nd stop: soho central, gettting changed at my studio

3rd stop: shek O

another special ring shot

beautiful sunset light !!!!

the yoga master !!!!

last stop: central

nice dress !!!

If you like their pre-wedding photo, the wedding day same day photo edit, don’t miss this wedding day video prepared by Ken

ceremony + reception = island shangri la
make up artist = Zi Wan of violet
wedding planner = pink wedding
music and band = ME2 production
decoration = The Mozz
video = ken of simon.the.photo

just the day before the shooting, the weather forecast was bad, thunderstorm was expected. I thought the session would be postponed, but out of my expectation, queenie told me they would keep going no matter what.

So what happened? The very second we got on the 7-seater van, it started pouring, and it ’s so bad that we couldn’t even get off the van any more. six persons in car, we kept  discussing where we could go. They liked going to the peak, but I said there ’s no way I could take photo at the peak under the thunderstorm.  Then Gracy suggested the Central pier, at least, we could  hide under the pier ceiling … .. That ’s how we started the day …. ….

finally, I learned that the day  was their 8th anniversary of dating …. …. wow !!!! No wonder not going to postpone. And that ’s why I felt so romantic in the photos.

and this is real  special for simon — never shoot in rain for such a long long time, again, I like challenges and these push my focus, ability and creativity further. And also thanks Canly for hold the umbrella for my camera and lens and got wet outside.

and also special thanks for gracy for buying such a beautiful umbrella for them, it gave a very nice color touch to all photos.

locations: central pier, the peak, HKU, the elements shopping mall
make up artist: gracy of JustGracy

like this photo, showing something unique in Hong Kong, but doesn’t look cheesy.

the photos will not look good without their smile and happiness

wow!!!! Gracy ’s using her secret iPhone hair spray !!!!

seldom take such a wide angle shot, this is an exception for me

really love this one, a very special background

when the thunderstorm stopped, we went to the peak. know what?? It ’s so romantic there with all the mist and drizzle surrounding us.

finally, with the non-stop raining, we didn’t  have any other place to go but HKU. we didn’t apply a permission this time, but lucky that we didn’t get stopped.

finally stop: the elements shopping mall. never thought we can take night photos there. good experience for me.

all the following photos ‘re taken outside a very nice dining location.

love this shot so much. did something new this time. you can see the behind the scene below to find out how I got this shot

another dining place, I used a flash to throw light throught two windows and curtains at the corner.

ceremony and reception: Intercontinental Hotel Hong Kong
makeup artist: Man Chan of Miracle (tel:27391988)
music and band: unison production
video: ken of simon.the.photo

my fav bridal portrait of the day, taken at spoon of intercontinental

getting ready shots

the happy wedding party !!!

wow!!!

love all the games of the day, everyone was so involved

the poor groomsman

beautiful words from charles

and the happy tears from rachel

don’t miss to watch the summary video below prepared by ken

split second moment, just have to make sure 100% focus to take this shot !!!

rachel ’s father @ tea ceremony

charles ’s family @ tea ceremony

LOVE this shot – four layers in composition.

the happy charles  family

get ready before the ceremony

after learning that they got to know each other at a wine tasting gathering, then I thoughtwe should take some photos at the wine shelf at the spoon

the ceremony

nice decoration

“my love for you ….. …… ”

I feel so happy and relax now that I am going to have a break in next three weeks, no more photo shoot in next three weeks. finally, have time to relax, can spend more time with shulin (shulin is about to go to  school, and I ‘ll accompany her in the 1st two weeks ‘ school time, so exciting !!!! after that, she has to attend class on her own)

To my surprise, my schedule was fully packed in last three months, the number of weddings and pre-weddings reached a record high during that time. I never expect there ‘re so many bookings as it was a low season during this period of time because of the hot and rainy weather and oversea pre-wedding shoot is so popular nowadays.

I ‘d like to express my thanks to all the clients that love my photo style, love taking pre-wedding in hong kong, and their love of the summer heat !!!

I also feel so lucky that all my clients are so unique, and have all the trust on me. here is the sneak preview of mr. and miss bunny ’s prewedding session.

locations: polytechnic university, Wan Yan College, shek O, central
makeup artist: amy ng from allure make up

my fav of the day !!!! I have this image in my mind for a long long time, I even drafted lighting diagram on paper. But I have to wait ….. wait for good timing, wait for great color of the sky, and  the sea cannot be too rough …. …. and most important, have to wait for a suitable couple, trust me, I would not ask clients to do something that are not suitable for them. thank bunnies for helping me in this shot. And also special thanks for canly, you can’t imagine how difficult to set the light in water !!!

our 1st stop – hong kong poly university. We didn’t stay long, just 30 min for a few photos.

our 2nd stop: Wan Yan College. we started in a very beautiful chapel

after photo taking in the chapel, bunnies changed into their high school look – it ’s such a good idea that they could get more relaxed and we got photos with very different style and showing funny  side of their characters

really impressed by miss bunny – lots of preparation for this style. even the hair style – she tried to make it a little messy !!!!

3nd stop: shek O, so many people there …. …

wow!!!!!! 2nd fav of the day. don’t miss to see the preparation video of this shot on my facebook page

what a beautiful sunset at Shek O !!!!

last stop: central

what a funny couple – 真係估你唔到 !!!

thank you so much for the happy time. bunnies, see you later !!!!

And it was even worse that the wedding started at park island — a place where we could only go by either bus or ferry, no taxi, no private car. Just imagine how bad it can be with thunderstorm when we are getting off the bus with all the equipments and bags we have.

just giving you an idea of the things we (Canly and I) bring on a wedding day

• my thinktank skin set for carrying lens around during shooting
• lowepro rolling bag for carrying all unused items from one place to other
• manfrotto bag for carrying all light stands
• Newswear chestvest for canly carrying all flashes and lighting accessories around
• a two steps ladder
• a 15″ laptop for doing same day photo slideshow

So what happened finally? The wedding was full of blessing !!!!! Yes, we did have thunderstorm, but only when we ‘re indoor, during the ceremony, inside hotel or on shuttle bus. Whenever we ‘re outdoor at park island, at bethanie chapel , at park view hotel, the weather was so good and sunny !!!!!

Even though I prepared umbrella, rain coat, rain cover for my bags, we didn’t need to open them at all !!!

ceremony: bethanie chapel
reception: parkview hotel
makeup artist: rainbow (tel: 92586602)

Here is the same day photo slideshow.  the song is changed for web display purpose.
(It takes around 2-3 min to buffer the video before it plays, be patient)

Nothing easier than having a gorgeous and pretty bride, cheerful personality, beautiful locations, all in one single engagement photo session.

locations: Hullett House Hotel @ 1881 Heritage, Shek O, Central
make up artist: elaw wong @ The Look studio

Our 1st stop: 1881 Heritage
it ’s easy taking photo of jasmine, isn’t it?
and the Qi Pao ’s very very pretty !!!

the beautiful location at 1881 Heritage

bathing together????

shots done inside the beautiful bathroom

our 2nd stop. Wow!!!! What a different look of jasmine and johnson !!!!

Oh … …. jasmine couldn’t stop laughing … … because of all the sweat and oil … … on johnson ’s  forehead

the beach was crowded that day, but we could try to include them to create interesting picture

a happy day!!!

last stop: central
wow!!!!!!!! so tall

beautiful picture. BTW, I think Johnson forgot to take out his mobile from his pocket, hahaha, need to work on it in the post-processing

last photo of the day. I was trying (and experimenting) something new. Still trying … …  More on that later … …

And so happy to see jojo and alfred again after their pre-wedding two months ago

alfred = a boy likes everything in green color, so you can see green tie, green laptop, green car, green dress in the following slideshow

jojo = a very cheerful girl, but always stops smiling whenever looking at my camera. My little trick: I always said, “Hey, JoJo, shots done!!!”  Then she laughed again, and I got the shot !!!

jojo + alfred = a beautiful love story
= a couple lived very close, but never knew each other until they met on a mini bus back to home.
= a very beautiful and happy wedding

ceremony + reception = island shangri la

make up artist = Zi Wan of violet

wedding planner = pink wedding

music and band = ME2 production

decoration = The Mozz

Here is the same day photo slideshow.  This is one of the most challenging same day edit I ever had – we had to show it before 9:45pm during the banquet, but they had the ceremony at 7:45pm, so it was really a rush to prepare it.

寫呢篇文時， world cup 已產生最後兩強…西斑牙及荷蘭…兩隊都好好，真係唔知捧邊隊。

其實做 freelance 攝影師真係幾好，如果聽日冇 job，就幾夜開波都唔怕。不過我通常都一邊執相，一邊睇波（唔信你睇睇呢度）。

一路睇，就發覺強隊同弱隊真係可以好大分別… d弱隊好多時都錯失機會，比個空門你都射唔中，帶個波又帶唔好。一遇到逆境波，就踢到亂晒龍……

有時影相都好類似……個個攝影師都想靚人靚景，最好新娘靚到似 model。係網上看到有d行家批評客人唔合作，rundown 唔好，化妝師又唔合作，影相時間唔夠等等……  其實有無諗過真正考驗攝影師實力就在此刻！與其埋怨客人，不如克服自已的不足！

幫 elizabeth 同 kenneth 影相當日，環境都非常差。在大潭開始時還可以，去到赤柱美利樓，影左一陣就開始落雨，重要果日唔知點解咁鬼多遊客，全部人就迫晒入美利樓避雨。在小小的空間，又咁多人，一時間我都有d慌張，真係唔知點影好。壓力總是自已比自已，因為感覺客人對 Simon 的其望很高，又覺得 simon 乜野地方都影到靚相 (我都希望係)。當時心裡不停叫自已 focus focus ，think think … …. 最後終於都克服到心裡那種慌張的感覺，唔理身邊d其他人，繼續影影影……

所以有人說：要超越的，不是別人，要超越的，是昨天的自已。

下面幾張就是在那小小空間影的相，出來的效果……可以啦，談不上甚麼佳作，但最重要克服自已的不足！

當時我地係遊客的流動景點呢

雨終於停了，馬上出去影多幾張

第一站：大潭

軍人墳場，其實當時已經無落雨，不過都天黑黑，天陰陰，所以所有相都要落燈

最後一站：中環

With such beautiful weather, most of the photos ‘re shot using available light only this time.

location:  Stanley Market, Tai Tam reservoir, Shek O, Central

one of my fav of the day – taken at the Tai Tam reservoir

love this shot so much, very beautiful sunlight from the back

at the top of the world !!!

1st location: stanley market

2nd location: Tai Tam reservoir

3rd location: shek O

beautiful light !!!!

last stop: central

tired … … time to say good bye :-p

everything was in a rush this time, when jojo and afred confirmed their booking, it was only three months left before their wedding day in early July next month. And we just did the engagment shoot last month. As we didn’t have much time left, we couldn’t postpone the shooting even though the weather forecast was very very bad (with thunderstorm ).

It was good that it didn’t rain at all when we started soho central in the morning. Our original 2nd location was Shek O. When we arrived, the weather was still looking good. However, the very second we finished our lunch, jojo had her costum change and I pressed the camera shutter, it started pouring !!!!! And we had to wait and wait in car, yet it didn’t look like the weather ‘d get better.

Finally, we only got three photos in Shek O (YES, only three photos), and decided to continue the shooting in afred ’s home then. So lots of time was wasted on the travelling and waiting in the afternoon. When we arrived at alfred ’s home, it was already 5:00pm, time is running out, we didn’t have much available light left, location was new to me.

It was blessing that, I had an awesome couple and still got lots of great photos, even with so much limitation and constraint. I had to give big thank you to jojo and alfred for their trust.

With such a short time, we couldn’t get all photos edited to produce the album. But a few photos will be selected for canvas and montage production.

JoJo and alfred, see you again in July.

locations: soho central, alfred ’s home, club house of Leighton Hill
makeup artist: Zi Wan

nice photo at alfred ’s home

the rain didn’t stop, yet we finally decided got to the roof and stay under the rain for two minutes to get this shot. Thanks jojo and alfred for making this shot!!!

1st location: SoHo, central

2nd location: alfred ’s home

last location: club house of Leighton Hill

we love seeing surprises prepared by the wedding couple.

but we never expect to see so many big diamonds on a wedding day … …

After changing into a evening gown, venice walked into the ballroom from the changing room. To her surprise, “I have prepared a special desert for you” , said kenny. When the dish was uncovered, we saw shining light – it is a  set of diamond jewelry. Under the spot light, kenny helped her to put them on in front of all the guest.

Hi, all the other groom, if you are still thinking of what surprises you ‘d like to give to your bride on the wedding day, you may consider kenny ’s idea !!!!

reception: four seasons hotel hong kong
ceremony: no wedding ceremony on the day
video: ken of simon.the.photo
wedding planner: the plan

love.surprise.diamond

diamond of love

whole day summary prepared by ken of simon.the.photo

get ready shots in the morning

kenny in the morning

the game. kenny was asked to do the proposal again

happy tea ceremony

a beautiful moment at home

changed into wedding gown. As they already had the wedding ceremony before, the rundown of the day ‘re very relaxing, we got an one-hour portrait session inside hotel in the afternoon.

a very very nice veil shot

another surprise prepared by venice. she asked her friends to perform a dance for kenny. Cool !!!

lot of nice nice details of the dress

After posting  her pre-wedding photos here, I got lots of good feedback from readers and couldn’t imagine how many people appreciated cordelia ’s character.

time flies … … so happy to see her again on her wedding day. this time not only did we see a bride wearing glasses again, but we could see a wedding with lots of beautiful details as well. We did see very different bouquet, wedding shoes, hair style, decoration … …

love this wedding very much

ceremony: the helena may

cordelia and her hand made DIY bouquet

getting ready in the morning

so happy. cordelia prepared some gifts for her bridesmaids

it is a diy hand bag

all the girls

and the boys

the tea ceremony

what made them so happy ??

nice decoration at home

the dress

love her dress, her hair style, her bouquet !!!!!

and the wedding shoes

and the head piece

the ceremony at the helena may, love this moment just before the ceremony – cordelia and her father

beautiful wedding ceremony

small detail … … great moment. so happy I found this

the wedding cake, noticed those  birds with glasses ???

fred played a song for cordelia !!!

fred ’s sister helped them for the reception decoration, lots of beautiful stuff

congratulations !!!!!

things I love:

• nothing happier than shooting in a well decorated club house, with lots of window light and  air conditioned (especially during the current hot season)
• no interruption, once you booked the location, the staff there are very friendly, and we ‘re free to walk around to shoot (of course, don’t interrupt others at the same time)
• very nice restaurant !!!! thanks for the food !!!!

something new, dorothy arranged to shoot inside the pawn in wan chai. Honestly, since I have my daughter born, I seldom went out for dinner any more, so haven’t been to lots of new dining places in last few years. I have been to the pawn once, but it was very crowded, and I got no time to walk around to explore this location. Dorothy booked the place from 3:00pm to 5:00pm this time, so the location was very quiet and relaxing this time.

things I love:

• lots and lots of interesting place: we got balcony, dining location, beautiful stair case, and the roof  (at where we could view the busy wai chai below)
• again, staff  very friendly

thing I don’t like : No time to really enjoy the food :-p, may try to go there again.

locations: club house of bel-air, the pawn wanchai, central (night)
make up artist: polly of faces hk

1st location: bel-air club house.
The staircase is one of the feature of the club house. one of my fav photo of the day – lots of elements in one photo – very strong architecture lines, beautiful pose, and a surprising flower girl which give life to the whole pic.

2nd location: the pawn, wan chai. there is a open roof at where we can view the whole busy wanchai,  very nice.

other nice photos at the staircase

an interesting corner at the roof of the pawn

love this shot a lot !!!!

the balcony.

change back to wedding gown at night. always love my client wearing wedding gown at night.

this post is going to tell you the works involved in this photo. It took me  a total of  10 min to shoot it and lots of processing works are required.

this is the photo that was shoot without lighting and post processing. very nice decoration, but it looks very flat and boring in terms of lighting in the photo. 

Go ahead to see what works are involved to make it look more interesting

to make the photo look more dramatic, I did add some lighting to the flower poles. But how could I add lighting to all 10 flower poles at the same time??? No, I didn’t add light to them all at the same time, instead,  I set the camera on tripod and have my assistant Canly to hold the “off camera flash” to illuminate different parts at different exposures.  During the post processing works, I overlap all 21 photos , “extract” different parts of each photo and “combine” them into one photo. Some buring, dodging and sharpening are done in post processing.

Canly, thanks for your great help !!! Without your great works, I ‘ll never get so many great photos for my clients.

IF YOU LIKE THIS PHOTO, DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE COMMENT BELOW AND SAY HI TO CANLY. THANK YOU.

ceremony: kau yan church
reception: island shangri la
makeup artist: polly of facehk
video: ken of simon.the.photo

havn’t been uploading video here for a long time. I ‘d like to upload more video, but it really takes time for video conversion and uploading. Let me upload more videos from Ken in next two weeks.

did you notice that I posted less and less portrait photos on wedding day posts? I found that most of my clients love my photojournalist style on wedding day. Yes, we still do some portraits, but it usually doesn’t take more than  10-15 min. The followings are some of my fav portraits of Jo – which we did under 5 min (just before we left the church and still able to catch the last few min. of sunset light from windows)
as time is very short.  we only used available light and NO flash or video light was used. But the result was still stunning !!!

desmond in the morning

the bridesmaids

the beautiful bride – jo

the game

meeting the bride

meeting desmond ’s family

big family

the wedding gown

wow !!!!!!

arrived at  kau yan church

praying before ceremony

a big chaos for managing 4 pairs of flower boy and girls

ceremony at  kau yan church

something interesting at the back

congratulations !!!!

jo and desmond sang a song after the ceremony

reception at island shangri la. You can not imagine how much works involved in the photo, will be shared in later blog post

friends of jo. preparing hand made cake for the reception !!!!

gift for guests

reception about to start

desmond prepared a song for jo

see how much jo enjoyed this moment !!!!

same day video edit by ken of simon.the.photo

thank you jo for your big thumb up !!!!!!

shooting in school is getting more and more popular in recent months’ pre-wedding sessions. I have already been to different schools 4-5 times just in last two months.

But I never have a couple dressed in their school uniform. Kimmie and Leo are the first this time.

I never suggest wearing school uniform to my clients before, as I think it is not suitable for every client and the photos can look cheesy sometimes. I have seen lots of “school uniform pre-wedding photos” on internet that look awful, with wrong setup, wrong makeup, wrong pose … ….

So when I started the photo session of kimmie and leo, I have a little bit of worry, but that feeling was gone once I pressed the shutter. Why? look at the photos below, they just look like real students, and look so cute !!!!!! A big thumb up to them, not only they have prepared the school uniform, they also got school handbook, “perfect” badge as well. Also have to give a big thumb up to make up artist gracy, very very natural make up!!!!

makeup artist: gracy of JustGracy

they told me that they had lots of happy memories in this little corridor

e … .. 乜咁轎呀

thank you for all the supporting actresses !!!! haha, we met a few “real” students and got them to have photos with us

wow!!!!

we couldn’t stop laughing when we started to do this kind of “standard” pre-wedding pose … .. look so funny when dressed in school uniform :-p

our 2nd stop – after shooting in school, they didn’t have any idea where to go, so I suggested them going to my new stuido and this is my 1st time shooting on the elign street. And guess what? we spent more than 1 hour there finally.

night shooting at IFC – love this head piece prepared by gracy

tried something new and funny this time. Cool !!!

However, I couldn’t wait to write up the wedding on last sat – vickie and joseph.

if you are a long time reader of this blog, you may already know vickie is my assistant during the period of 07-08. Since I knew her wedding day, I was so looking forward to this date.

vickie, you ‘re super gorgeous on the day !!!! Here is a sneak preview of the day.

ceremony: st. teresa church

reception: mandarin oriental Hong Kong

makeup artist: polly of faces hk

one of the fav bridal portrait at st. teresa church

the happy getting ready shots in the morning

becoming a hair stylist ????

joseph in the morning

the game – bridesmaids vs groomsmen

“baby 抱抱”

tea or champagne ceremony ???

all the happy girls

vickie and her beautiful wedding gown

behind the scene – busy steaming of the veil during the tea ceremony

ready to go !!!

details of the dress

ceremony at st. teresa church

so cute !!

congratulations !!!!

one of my fav bridal portrait at mandarin oriental

a happy party

yeah !!!!