I always hope to write about every weddings and pre-weddings photos here, but the fact is, it is getting more and more difficult for me. So, if you can’t see your photos here, don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with your photos, it is just because of my busy schedule.

Anyway, love to share the same day photo edit of the wedding of vicky and daniel here, which I did last week.

ceremony: bethanie chapel
reception: four seasons hotel hong kong
make up artist: polly of faces hk
celebrant: anthony lam
video: ken of simon.the.photo

here is the same day photo slideshow. slideshow is shortened for web display purpose.

HATE: it is so hot now and it ’s really very tough shooting pre-wedding outdoor, not to mention, the humidity and mosquito … … In addition, there is less wedding (that means less business) in the summer time because of the raining and typhoon weather .. … that ’s why so many photographers organizing oversea pre-wedding tour during this period … …

LOVE: it is the perfect time for me to take pre wedding photo at the beach. shooting photos with your feet in the cool sea water is just a joy. I feel so excited and get inspired if the client loves to have photos on the beach, and I really don’t care if my camera or lens get dirty or damaged with the salty water or the sand. Of course,  I don’t need you to take off the top and get into the water like christie and raymond did in their pre-wedding session, but as least, please take off your shoes and put your feet into the water.

Let’s feel the heat and get wet !!!!

make up artist: polly of faces hk
location: the chinese university of hong kong, Shek O, central

this is the christie at shek O, one of my fav of the day !!!!

this is raymond at shek O, OMG … … Who said I don’t take good photo of the groom?

our 1st stop: chinese university of hong kong

2nd location: shek O

they looked like enjoying it a lot, but in face, it ’s really difficult to stand at this location. thank you for doing it.

let ’s get wet !!!

last stop at central !!!!

location: old central police station, Sheung Wan, Stanley military cemetery, star ferry and Central
make up artist: polly of faces makeup studio

my fav of the day

1st location: old Central Police Station

2nd location: Sheung Wan

3rd location: stanley military cemetery

So you can imagine it  was really a joy taking photo of them!

locations: university of hong kong, Tai Tam, Shek O, Central
make up artist: polly of faces

1st location: HKU
a lot of people asked me if I feel bored always shooting at the same location. Let me tell you something first. Before I became a wedding photographer, I spent lots of time taking landscape photos. that ’s the period I learned the basic of photography and learned seeing light. One thing that I remembered from other masters was, in order to take good landscape photo, you have to understand the place, spend time to observe it, love it.

I think it is the same for location shooting in Hong Kong … …  if you start  to say that there is nothing to take good photo in Hong Kong, you better ask yourself if you ‘ve spent enough  time to understand the place,  to observe it. Even though I ‘ve been to HKU lots of time, the more I go there, the more new photo opportunities I find. Take the following photo as an example, this is my first time to see this natural light on this wooden door, it ’s so beautiful, but at the same time,  I could see that the light and shadow kept moving very fast, so I quickly get alison to get this shot. Within 15 min, the light moved out of the door. A lesson learned, isn’t it?
BTW, don’t miss seeing the mobile phone version of this photos by clicking here

we get beautiful sun light everywhere, all photos below (before sunset) are taken by available light only, no flash is used.

Oh … … beautiful bride !!!

2nd location: Tai Tam

third location: Shek O

too heavy ??????

Canly and Polly !!!!

last stop: central

thank you so much and look forward to your wedding day !!!!

locations: soho central, the peak, belair, stanley military cemetery
makeup artist: polly of faces hk

here are my two fav  of the day.

thanks polly for becoming another lighting assistant for me !!!!

by reading my blog, they love the photos at wetland park a lot. it is almost one year since I took photo there last time. I love this place a lot, but it can be tough for clients as it takes almost 20 min walk going to the wooden bridge and it can get very very hot during the summer times.

this photo session was done in sept when the weather was still very hot. I can still remember rene got completed exhausted after taking photos at the bridge. who says it is easy to get good photo ???

anyway, thanks for coming, and hope you did enjoy the photo session and the shopping in Hong Kong

locations: wetland park, inspiration lake, university of hong kong, central, tsim sha tsui
make up artist: polly of faces hk

we found lots of new shooting locations at wetland park this time. 

finally, we arrived at the bridge !!!!

2nd location: inspiration lake

3rd location: university of hong kong. 

night shoot: central pier

tsim sha tsui

star ferry 

video: ken of simon.the.photo
makeup artist: polly of faceshk

ceremony: Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
lunch cocktails: Azure of Hotel LKF
reception: AMC

my fav shot of the day

a special ring shot

a few of my fav “getting ready” shot … …. very nice decoration at home 

mother and daughter

omg !!!!!

waiting inside during the game session

this is “when the groom meets the father-in-law”

heading to church

we didn’t have flower girl, but we had a flower dog !!!!!

Wow !!! what a beautiful shot !!!!

hillman, you may kiss the bride !!

love this very special moment !!!!

did I say we have a team of happy bridesmaids on the day? 

lunch cocktail at the Azure of Hotel LKF

a very nice location, isn’t it ?

awesome !!!! All handmade by one of the bridesmaid !!!!!!

touching moments !!!!

what a happy day for all of us !!!!! we really enjoyed it !!!!

heading to hillman ’s family for the tea ceremony

yeah !!!!

the decoration at AMC

head table set up

father daughter dance – so touching, kaleen prepared a childhood slideshow herselft and played it as the background, so touching !!!

it really took some time for kaleen to calm down after the dance !!!!

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 !!!

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 !!!!!!

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 !!!!

“natural” – to be natural, I tried to be as little intrusive as possible on the wedding day, just capture the moment (of course, in a beautiful way)

“happy” – that ‘s difficult, I can only capture the happiness but couldn’t create it for my client. I have seen so many clients that got upset by little details of wedding or pushed by the fully packed schedule. It is pity that they just couldn’t enjoy the “big day”

If you asked me to choose one of the happiest wedding in this season, janet and edmond  ‘s wedding is definitely one of them. Not only you could always see smiles from them, but truly beautiful smile !!!!!
BTW, Janet looks very very slim and fit. Guess why? ….. ….. She is a yoga instructor …. …. No wonder !!!!

ceremony: bethanie chapel
reception: Aberdeen Marina Club (AMC)
makeup: penny of faces hk
hair stylist: jennifer (worked with her a few times, love her hair styling)
video: ken of simon.the.photo
Civil Celebrant: michael Lai (highly recommend)

my fav bridal portrait of janet

the happy couple

getting ready shots – lots of cameras. From bottom left to right. Janet ‘s boss Nitai, penny from faces, Frances – friend of Janet, and Ken of simon.the.photo

all my team members agree that  Janet can also consider doing toothpastes commercial actress. Beautiful smile and teeth!!!

the “panda” groomsmen

the game

janet and father waiting for edmond and enjoying the game

ceremony at Bethanie Chapel

love this shot – good moment, framing and lighting

I do

I do

a very very beautiful moment

couldn’t hold the tears

a few portraits after the ceremony

at edmond ‘s family

rushing to AMC to catch the final sunset light at the pier

the long and tired tea ceremony time

same day video edit by ken of simon.the.photo
Thanks Janet and Edmond for enjoying the video so much !!!!!
love this sequence of shots

congratulations

I didn’t met tracey until a few days before the wedding. Thanks for her trust on me and changed the rundown, the time of the ceremony and the setup of the venue, so that we could have such a beautiful sunset wedding

ceremony and reception: Atrium, Island Shangri-La
makeup artist: polly of faces hk
video: ken of simon.the.photo

beautiful wedding, beautiful light.
At the same time, it was a challenge for photography with such a strong directional light

my fav bridal portrait of tracey. love the details of the veil very much

their wedding was very simple. Just simple game and tea ceremony in the morning and we ‘re free for the rest of the time before the ceremony

So lot of time for portrait

“behind the scene” – ken of simon.the.photo

before going to the peak, we did some portraits inside the hotel suite first

some of  my fav shots at the peak

the ceremony

some more free time after the ceremony

pianist of the night – Derek Pang. I met a lot of different musicians in different weddings, but I was really impressed by Derek ‘s performance, I could feel his heart and passion throughout the whole night. Highly recommended!!!!!

Honestly, I personally feel that tsui kit has a “hyperactive” problem , he just never stop, full of energy anytime, anywhere !!!

But, on the wedding day, I learn the other side of him, and it is very touching to me.

In the middle of the day, charis took me into a room and asked me to take some photos of a present that she received the day before – this is the last present she received from tsui kit as his girl friend.

What is it? This is a box full of notes, paper, letter … … Since the 1st day they met eight years ago, tsui kit believed that he ‘s going to spend the rest of his life with charis. Day by day, he wrote down what he felt about charis onto this little notes, paper, he never showed them to charis for eight years, and never told her about this. He kept this box of papers to himself, until the day before their wedding, it became the last present to his girl friend.

what a man, very impressive !!!!

ceremony and reception: four seasons hotel
makeup artist: Eva of faces hk
video: ken of simon.the.photo

a box full of love and memories

charis ‘s reading one of the letter

the same day video edit by ken

the flower girl – very adorable

I felt happy to meet a group of happy bridesmaids on the day

“papa, more smile please,” said Charis

the crazy team

love this photo, it is expression of everyone that makes this photo work !!!

a big hug from mama

I love you two !!!!

a getting ready shot – wedding ceremony at four seasons hotel

everyone of tsui kit ‘s family was busy at this moment

when I was taking picture of charis walking down the aisle. I heard someone was sniffing next to me. OMG, tsui kit was non-stop crying already.

the beauty

and the handsome !!!!

when a crazy couple met the crazy photographer
can you guess where I took this shot, feel free to put your answer at the comment below, I ‘ll put the answer a few days later.
[hint: somewhere inside four seasons hotel]

a scene setting shot

are you ready???

tsui kit singing a song – very impressive when he talked about the details of why he choose this song

Even it could be very tired sometimes, I feel blessed as we had lots of beautiful weddings and people in last few weeks.

The beautiful wedding of Christy and Plato in early Oct.

ceremony: the bethanie chapel
makeup artist: Eva of faces hk
reception: Langham Hotel

the two photos below are my fav of the day – both taken at University of Hong Kong (after the ceremony)

Beautiful light and perfect timing of the flying veil !!!

Really love this photo – A corner at HKU that I never thought we could take good photo before.

father and daughter

the bride pick up game session

yes, I make it !!!

happy moment

I love shooing tea ceremony, always lots of touching moments

nice available light

gorgeous !!!!

ceremony at Bethanie

happy bridesmaids

a long long match – in line

who’ s the lucky bridesmaid ??

congratulations !!!

I love this pic !!!

another pic at HKU

reception: Langham Hotel -  love this backdrop

happy parents

touching moment

I knew lina when she was a secondary school student and I was her bible teacher in church at that time. How time flies and she is going to marry next year !!!!

Hi Lina, hope you like this set of photos – a special gift for your wedding.

makeup artist: polly of faces hk
photo location: HKU, Shek O, Central (night)

one of my fav. Look at the dress, can you believe that we had a natural wind in the pic ??

our 1st location: HKU

so cute !!!

day time: lina looks elegant

2nd location: Shek O. Look at them !!! very very different style at Shek O …

we love sunshine

so colorful !!!

Raymond ‘s cool, isn’t he?

last location: Central

another fav of the day

this was taken at the entrance of a bar on Wyndham Street

Here is the sneak peek of the e-session we did last week.

locations: University of Hong Kong (HKU), Bel-Air Club House, Cyberport
makeup artist: polly of faces

there are some many nice locations at the Bel-Air club house.
my fav photo of the day

love the pattern of the hand rail very much. Thanks for giving me the time to create this shot ( I had to move around a lot to find the best pattern)

1st location: HKU

love the (tree) shadow pattern behind

what a happy day !!!

2nd location: Bel Air Club house

another fav of the day

gorgeous !!!

beautiful face, beautiful make up !!!

sylvia loves this dress a lot

last location: cyberport

a touch of love

sunset shots

thank you, thank you !!!

I found this is an very interesting place – a lot of stone caves and tunnels, so lots of opportunity to play with the light.

locations: Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, stanley military cemetery, Stanley Market
Makeup Artist: penny of faces HK

my fav of the day. you can see the original version (without retouch) at here

gigi, thanks for helping me to get this shot. Love it.

1st location: Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence

lots of different kind of stone tunnel

another fav of the day

2nd location: the stanley military cemetery. Both Victor and I love this shot so much ….. …. but it is difficult to put it into the final album … … so put it here to share

nice good sunset light

victor got a new roadster just before the photo session, sure, couldn’t stop take some nice shots with it

love this shot so much. When we finished shooting at the cemetery  and drove back to the stanley market  for changing dress. I found the color of the sky so beautiful, but it ’s getting dark very very quick. Thanks Canly ’s help putting up the off-camera flashes so quickly (one with CTO gel inside the car, and another one with CTB gel far at camera right)

two night shots at stanley market

thanks gigi and victor. See you again in your wedding in 2010

ceremony and reception: Aberdeen Marina Club (AMC)
makeup artist: polly of faces hk
video: ken of simon.the.photo

shot the wedding of yann and alex almost three weeks ago. You already learned in part one that they met each other when yann was in the student society, so they invited a lot of their “So” friend  to their wedding.
Just after having a group photo taken, they suddenly played, what they called it “dem cheer” – which is usually played in O Camp. Sorry, I think I graduated too long ago and I have never heard this “dem cheer” before But it really looks very interesting

just after the wedding ceremony in the afternoon, we had 30 min free time for a portrait session. However, the weather was so hot outside, we finally decided to stay inside the marquee.
really love the following two shots — don’t miss to see the “behind the scene video” at my facebook fans page
thanks yann for giving ken and me totally freedom in this 30 min. and we had a blast !!!

getting ready

we had a very happy morning session

it is ready

alex was very excited on the whole day

Hey, alex don’t do that, please … …

but we can also see a sentimental moment from alex

which also made her mother cry

pretty bride !!!

bye bye. see you at AMC

the ceremony at AMC

happy family !!!

and happy wedding party !!!

yann always told me that her parents are very shy in front of the camera.
Not really, look at that. so cute

a gift from friends

alex had a lot to say on the stage

… ….

congratulations !!!

sorry, so funny that I can’t stop myself posting this

HI Yann and Alex, see you again on your wedding day tmr !!!!

locations: University of Hong Kong (HKU), Stanley Market, Central
makeup artists: polly of faceshk

never thought that we could have such a good light at this location inside HKU

university student union – this is where yann and alex met each other.
we had a chance to go back to the office to meet some friends

another beautiful location @ HKU

another location: Stanley market

shake it !!!

yeah !!!

at the Stanley market public library

you jump, I jump !!

the Stanley Military Cemetery became a very popular location for all my clients in last few months

last location: the central

I love this shot,

night shooting @ central. Remember the Chanel’s large light pattern I shown in previous blog post. I really love the patterns, it kept changing in last few months (I saw snow, fireworks, perfume, flowers before). Apart from wide angel shot, we can also use it as a background for half length portrait. very nice effect.

see you tomorrow !!

I did venena and benedict ‘s session on last Thu and the weather was so nice that we all could get into the water finally (the water was still too cold in April). And the beach was so beautiful on the day – blue sky, sun set light, very smooth sand … …

nice couple – already look forward to their wedding in Nov.

locations: University of Hong Kong (HKU), Shek O, and Central (night shoot)
makeup artists: polly of faces hk

we all got wet from head to toe, so I asked verena to wave her hair in the air to get rid of the water and sand – that ‘s how I got this shot. My fav of the day !!!

1st location: HKU

nice dress

2nd location: Shek O
When I was taking this shot, polly kept saying next to me, “靚到殺死人啦！”

beautiful beach, isn’t it?

getting wet from head to toe

this is a very popular location recently, I found so many photographers taking photos with this nice background in Central

BTW, you can see my horrible  “sun burn” at my facebook fans page. And make sure you become my fans !!!