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

ceremony: St. Margaret ‘s Church

reception: four seasons hotel hong kong

video: tomoko of simon.the.photo

on arrival at the church. Karen was still in the limo, with the reflection of the bridesmaids on the window. My fav photo of the day

the whole day summary prepared by tomoko. A brief introduction of tomoko: she joined my team since last year. Prior to joining us, she has been working with NHK for years and with experience producing over hundred documentary films before. I really love her style – documenting a wedding, with lots emotions and details.

wanson in the morning

bridesmaids in the morning

karen and her mother

karen and her two brothers

still remember MO Chai (毛仔) in their engagement session ??

waiting for wanson

the tea ceremony

the departure time

wow !!!!

nice shoes

preparing for the ceremony

love this shot – it doesn’t work without happy bridesmaids

nice moment

the ceremony

happy karen

crying karen

the crying wanson

two thumbs up !!!

congratulations

love this backdrop, thanks for using the e-session photo on it

“媽咪，你唔好唔開心呀。”Karen said in the video

you can click this photo to see who is who

location: HKU and the U-hall, Stanley Market, Central
makeup artist: Man Chan of Miracle (her recent interview by esdlife)

the winding stair that she loves a lot

BTW, Canly helped me to take some behind the scene videos on the day, I have put them onto my facebook fans page, Don’t forget to become my fans if you haven’t joined yet.

the 1st location: HKU . And you can click here to see the original untouched version and see what I did on it

a corner at the student hall

love this shot !!!

2nd location: stanley market

the flying couple

the stanley military cemetery

beautiful weather and light

can you believe it is Hong Kong?

night shoot @ central, I love fiona ’s new hair style

I started to recruit this position for the peak season last year, and when I received Canly ‘s application, I already thought she ‘s the right person!!! when I met her at the coffee shop, she was such a cheerful and happy person that I think there is no another person better than her. And my decision ‘s right !!! Without her help, I couldn’t create so many beautiful photos in last few months. Not only she has a very pleasant character, but she is very dedicated to in all weddings as well.

How dedicated is she? Take a look at following pics at the e-session of susan and wilson. If you think Simon ‘s a crazy wedding photographer, then, Canly ‘s a crazy assistant !!!!

Do you like to be my assistant after seeing these pics ?

date: oct 2008
locations: Hong Kong railway museum, old district office north, , shek O
make-up artist: KK Chan (Tel: 90984434)

crazy wedding photographer lighting assistant – Canly

this is the final photo!!!! Hi Canly, thanks for helping me for this shot !!!!

our first stop: hong kong railway museum

beautiful window light

our 2nd stop: the old district office north

one of my fav of the day

last stop: Shek O

we stayed at the beach until it went completely dark

glowing hearts in the dark

click to see the behind the scene photo on my facebook fans page

And so happy to see joyce & wilson and ringo again

Also thanks for inviting me to the after party, lots of fun !!!!!

date: 25 oct 2008
ceremony and lunch reception: repulse bay
after party: shelter
video: ken of simon.the.photo

Congratulations !!! Mr. and Mrs. Lee !!!!!

We didn’t do much portrait on the day. Thanks for giving me “5 min” for bridal portrait before the lunch reception.

a detail shot at the after party – Leo and Janice. click here to see how Canly and Ken helped me to setup this shot (and other crazy photos of us)

Leo in the morning. did I tell you Leo is a comic book and kung fu lover ?

lovely

we had a windy day and this helped to create a lot of beautiful veil shots

Wow !!!! (from the bridesmaids)

janice and her parents

speech from janice ‘s Japanese friends

made them smile and

cry … …

but looked like the flower girl ‘s not interested

speech by best man wilson

kiss the bride

love this shot !!! When I was taking a wide angle shot, janice turned back and looked at me just at the right time

another shot from the 5 min portrait session

friends singing the song “ perhaps love”

the first dance

let’s dance, everyone

after party

everyone watching a funny video prepared by their friends

wow !!!

this is an very interesting session, why?

if you had followed my blog for a long time, you may know I am a bride (or woman) photographer, over 70% of my photos on a wedding day are focused on the bride, and I never put a groom “solo photo” as the 1st photo on my blog.

Here is the exception, Roger ‘s such a cool guy that he gave me a lot of inspiration (and flexibility) in their e-session.

When we walked around in Central, we started to discussed what sports roger plays. “football and basketball,” answered Roger. When I saw this wall, I suddenly had a strange idea in my mind and I asked, “can you walk and run like Spiderman on this wall ?”
That’s how I got this stunning photo of Roger !!!!

Hey, wait !! Vivian could do something extraordinary as well !!!!!

our first stop: home.
vivian, roger, and the music box which Roger used to make the proposal to vivian

quiz again, who can guess where I got this shot. This is straight from camera without any Photoshop

2nd stop: Central — vivian

vivian always said roger dressed like “Morgan freeman”, what do you think?

windows shopping @ central

3rd stop @ shek O

they enjoyed the time very much that it ‘s so easy for me to take of them

love this location

cool !!!

my 5d got completely wet at the last shot, in fact, the camera died finally on the day … …

last stop: the peak

run, run, run —- car ‘s coming !!!!

Just a few updates:

1) because of the busy schedule, I can’t meet any new client before Dec, I am giving priority to my existing client first

2) Shulin is growing very fast, I even found that she can be looked and behaved a little different  if I didn’t see her much after having2-3 days’ shooting. I have already scheduled a photo session with Claudia (playground photography) end of Nov to take photo of Shulin and me. So looking forward to it.

3) there are so many interesting shootings in last few weeks, a lot of new concept ‘re tried. I also had a change to work with another award winning wedding photographer from US, it ‘was so inspiring to see him working in our local Chinese wedding. Stay tuned, more update on blog very soon.

OK, back to the wedding last Sunday – Irene and Alexis. They had a two-day wedding – and we only had the ceremony on day one, so we had plenty of time taking portrait of them. Irene is a piano teacher, in fact, I met her in some weddings before in which she played piano in the reception. Alexis is a very busy IT person, always flying around the world, I only had chance to meet him 1 week before the wedding.

look forward to their wedding (day two) on coming Friday.

date: 19 Oct 2008
ceremony: Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
makeup: Eva and Polly of faces HK
hair styling: Jan
video: Eric and Ringo of one shot

my fav of the day … … Irene really knows how to pose herself !!!

in the morning, photo taken at Irene ‘s piano at home

then we went to the Tai Tam reservoir

love the dress and love the jump !!!

we got very nice sunlight on Sunday

arrived at the church. beautiful sunlight from the window

Polly and Jan ‘re busy on the final touch up for Irene

Let’s start the ceremony

Congratulations !!

all the beautiful bridesmaids, see you again on Friday !!!

after the ceremony, we had around 30 min to take some photos inside the church

another fav of the day !!!!!

wow !!!

the hip-hop Alexis made everyone laugh !!!

We didn’t had any specific route that night, just walked around in the city … … Love to see that they ‘re having a lot of fun inside candy shops

and the ice-cream shop !!!!

 I had 3 photos ranked top 10 in the contest — 2nd and 3rd place in the "get ready" category and 10th place in "sense of place" category. Here are the winning photos

2nd place in the "get ready" category – you can click here to see the judges’ comment. this is from Winnie and Ivan ’s wedding on March 8 (sorry, I haven’t written up their wedding on the blog yet). I love the lighting of this photo so much — I had done a lot of modifications of the lights on site  – the windows light, the room lights, the bed side lamps, the table lamps and off-camera flash … … judges ‘ comment "Outstanding light!"

3rd place in the "get ready" category – (judges’ comment here)  – from mei-kee and söeren ’s wedding on Feb 8

10th place in the "sense of place/architecture" category (judges’ comment here)
- from nina and james ’s wedding on jan 4

Finally, I ‘d like say thank you to the following persons

• thanks Winnie and Ivan, Nina and James, Mei-Kee and Söeren for inviting me to take photos of your beautiful weddings
• thanks my partner Ken, my assistant Vickie, Siu B for all their help in these weddings
• thanks my wife Xandra for giving so much support to me

Hi Kat and Andy, you ‘re my 1st client in the year of rat and look forward to your wedding in Nov !!!

date: 10 Feb, 2007
locations: University of Hong Kong, Shek O and Central
Makeup artist: Polly of faces HK

I found that HKU is getting more and more popular for my clients. I had taken photos at this building several times, but I got a new idea this time. Instead of taking photo at the long staircase behind, I was attracted by the shadow and the texture of the ground. To make the shot even more interesting, I asked Kat to run towards Andy (or the light) to create a motion. This is one of my fav of the day.

I like the pattern of the ground, not easy to find in other locations

another interesting location with interesting light

when andy meets kat

with some lighting setup, we created a sunset window view in HKU

another fav of the day, simple photo with great visual impact

behind the scene of the above photo

the happy couple

I always tell my client that I can take great picture anywhere if the couple enjoys the day. I believe Kat and Andy just did a great example for us in this shot

the more I take photo in HKU, the more I love this location. there are so many photo potential everywhere

our 2nd location: Shek O

the dancing Andy — all of us couldn’t stop laughing

too hot that we need some more water … …

so much energy of them

a world with only kat and andy

night shooing at Central, here is the small park next to Cheung Kong Bldg

kat got a long long scarf which I loved to feature in this photo

thanks so much inviting me as your wedding photographer, you ‘re such a awesome couple and I had lots of fun with you. And thanks for keeping reading my blog, you ‘re always the the first few to leave comment here (even at 0300 or 0400 after mid night). I am already looking forward to your wedding day in Dec !!!!!

date: mid Jan, 2008
photo location: Sheung Wan, Central, University of Hong Kong, Shek O, Central (night shots)
make-up artist: kk Chan

love this pic. I was shooting through two layers of windows,
which added a lot of texture into the picture

our 1st location – we walked from their apartment in Sheung Wan to Central, and kept taking photos in all the small streets and roads, there ‘re so much fun this way

this was taken at the doors of a cafe

an ordinary street in Sheung Wan with the fabulous veron and thomas

they’re full of energy the whole day !!!

dancing on the street !!!

a beautiful smile from Veron

thomas did a great job!!!

2nd location – Hong Kong University — the more I take photos there, the more I love this location. There ‘re so many places with good available light

another location with good light

next location: Shek O. Veron looks so lovely in this dress !!!!

when we arrived at the beach, the weather was cloudy without any sunlight. However, it ’s still very “HOT” there

hold me tight !!!

we had two little guests on the beach — Spiderboy and invisible girl

click to see who is who

look so beautiful !!!! Guess where we took this shot, I ‘ll leave it to Veron to give the answer to you (if she likes to)

shopping time !!!

this was taken outside the IFC. There ‘re several spotlights on the ground, and I asked to Veron to dance over it.

congratulations.
BTW, thanks for celebrating with us at our 200,000th mark party

This was a big surprise, when we had the dinner in Central, Fiona told me that my face is very familiar to her. We found out that we met each other before when both of us worked in IT industry xxx (a secret)  years ago, and we had a lot of common friends in IT !!!!

date: Jan 13, 2008
ceremony and reception: pearl on the peak
location shooting: the peak & running around in central
wedding gown: Brides collections from Marriage Maestros, and thanks for Evelyn ’s referral

in the morning. they had a room at four seasons hotel for preparation. By looking at these few photos, you already know they are fun couple to work with

the wedding rings

raymond in preparation

nice dress

and beautiful bride !!

the dress has a lot of details

before leaving for the peak, we still got some time to have a portrait session inside hotel

simple but lovely decoration

the wedding cake

so happy to see longman again. He played a very special drum this time

the ceremony

a wide shot of the restaurant . It got lots of windows that overlooking the hong kong island

a moment at the reception

wow !!

fiona and her colleagues

this was taken at a corner of the restaurant I love the mood !!

fiona brought us to this staircase at the peak and she said her family took a lot of pictures there when she was a kid

night shots in Central. A new idea. thanks fiona and raymond ’s help for this shot.

they still got lots of energy after a full day.

I never take any wedding photo with IFC building as background before, I just don’t like the idea. But fiona told me that her office is now in IFC, so this is a special request. I tried to do something different in lighting, and it worked out very well

congratulations!!!

thanks for your trust on me in your wedding. there is a little story. About 1 month before the wedding, we arranged a pre-meeting to discuss the rundown. However, I forgot to mark it in my personal calendar and made them wait for me in the coffee shop whole night. At that time, I guessed they must be very worry about me … …

On the contrary, they ‘re very nice on their wedding day and showed a lot of trust on me. Big big thanks to you !!!!!

date: 12 jan 2008
ceremony: Eden Marriage Registry, TST
reception: Langham Place Hotel

this is the fav of the day. location: the swimming pool at 42/F of the Langham Place Hotel. I decided to go there at around 5:30pm as the weather of the day was very good and we expected that there would be very good light at sunset, and I was right. The cool color reflection from the pool (lucky that we didn’t have other swimmer, the water was very quiet) made the photo even more interesting and gave more contrast.

the beautiful sunset. Not many hotel ballroom in Hong Kong have a sunset view.

agnes waiting for jim in the morning

amazing details

the happy bridesmaids preparing the game

amazing!!! they paid a lot of efforts in preparation

jim in the morning

the handsome jim

at jim ’s apartment, changed into wedding gown

did you see the veil above? I got a new idea suddenly and asked my assistant to hold the veil between agnes and my camera, this created a soft lens effect without using a soft lens or Photoshop

some portraits under jim ’s apartment

poor crying boy

kids always got a lot of attention in wedding

agnes waiting for the ceremony at the bridal room.
This is a high key image with cross process effect

ceremony at the Eden marriage registry. this is my second time taking photo there. I found it challenging as the area was always very crowed, the ceremony was very fast, and the worse was the quality of light (with a mix of purple curtain, yellow light and windows light). This ’s a situation that you can’t rely on the available light. To cope with it, I removed most of the ambient light this time (make it 1.5 stops dimmer) and used 3 lights to light up different parts of the area.

kissing the bride

everyone, let’ s have some fun together !!!

a bridal portrait at the Langham hotel

this pic was taken 15 min after the pool photo above, soon after the sunset, the color of the sky changed to blue very very fast. That ’s why all the photographers call this period of time — the magic hour

look at their friends ‘ expression, their wedding photo in Taiwan must be very gorgeous

jim was singing to agnes

(updated: 11 june) thanks for agnes and jim ’s comment, here are their two fav photos that I ‘d like to share with you

the is agnes ’s fav.

this is jim ’s fav — another version of the 1st photo above

The shooting this time was very challenging — as the wedding started after 4:30pm, the church was very dark inside as expected for a winter wedding. What made it more difficult, it was not allowed to use any flash inside !!!!! So I had to used a high ISO (800 or 1,000  — I seldom used such a high ISO) and had to make sure hand holding steadily for every shots.

date: 14 nov, 2007
ceremony: St. John’s cathedral
reception: Peak LookOut

the beautiful Zoe

arrival of the bride and the father

the processional

what a beautiful church !!! — lots of really beautiful old touches … …

the stained glass windows behind ‘re so beautiful

I do … …

Zoe and the bridesmaids

blessing upon the bride and groom

congratulations !!!!

after the ceremony, they have a reception at the garden outside the church

naughty Zoe

speech by Zoe ’s father

… … must be a very entertaining speech

speech by Mawgan

Mawgan and the groomsmen

Having fun in the Peak Tram. We went to the Peak for dinner.

hold tight !!!!

the dinner was at the Peak LookOut

the last photo of the day. I was lucky to be able to capture this beautiful moment of Zoe and Mawgan at the dinner

Ceremony: Bethanie Chapel
Reception: Aberdeen Marina Club (AMC)

My fav of the day. I love taking picture of putting on the veil. Not only it looks beautiful, it also marks the change of a lady into a bride

Gwen ’s sister and the bridesmaids ‘re helping her

Looks gorgeous, doesn’t she?

I love this picture — a nice curtain at the back and nice windows light from the left

a happy moments between Gwen and the bridesmaids

Before the ceremony, we had 15 min portrait time at the Bethanie.

A long waited moment

A top shot by my assistant "Siu B"

the father ’s giving away the bride

a very nice chapel

the paper signing. I shot this pic at the back of the chapel

another nice shot by "Siu B"

Hi Hi !!!

They kept talking and laughing all the time, it ’s not difficult to take picture of them

We got 30 min to take some portrait before we went to AMC. I really love this location, we got a lot of colored window light and look at the window pattern at the top right corner, it is just beautiful

Another nice location with beautiful light from the door outside. and there are lots of details on the door — something we can’t fine in other locations.

dancing with the bride

Thanks Gwen and Ian waiting for this moment. Instead of going to AMC, we waited for the sunset and went to the top floor of the Bethanie to take this shot

Another sunset shot

Congratulations. I believe we broke the record again, can you count how many of us in the pic?

Thanks for inviting me as your wedding photographer – from the engagement shooting to the wedding day, you ‘re wonderful, and I feel so blessed to be part of your wedding. Both Xandra and I ‘re so happy to witness your marriage and your happiness.

with love,

Simon

My fav of the day. Sylvia was changing into another dress and I was waiting outside the bridal room. Never see the beauty of this mirror until this time even though I have taken photos in Ritz Carlton several times, . The beautiful bride, the lamp, the mirror, the frame, the reflection, the pattern on the wall — there are so many elements in one picture – but they all worked very well together.

Jimmy in the morning

A beautiful moment – mother and daughter

Hi Jimmy, Look at your beautiful bride !!!

A simple picture — but I love the expressions of the bestman and MOH (Chris and Amy)

A moment at Jimmy ’s family.

Beautiful bride

Let’s welcome Mr and Mrs Leung !!!!!!!

The ceremony was at the chapel of the Chinese University of Hong Kong – one of my favorite church. Their ceremony was so warm and filled with laughters and ….

tears …. ….

After the ceremony, we took a few pics at CUHK, only a few minutes as Jimmy was really exhausted after the ceremony. This was my first time to try infrared camera in wedding. Still learning … …

The reception was at Ritz Carlton. This would be my last time to shoot wedding there as it will be moved to a new place next year.

Jimmy was singing and playing guitar for Sylvia

We had a blast on their wedding day, everything was perfect.

Their love story is amazing, don’t miss and take a time to read this. I learned one more thing on their wedding day — the reason they choose Hotel Conrad for their reception — it is the place at where the first time Gordon dated Joanna to attend a seminar. Wonderful !!!

date: 23 sept 2007
ceremony: St. Margaret ’s Church
reception: Conrad Hotel

My fav photo of the day. This was taken just after the ceremony. There was a shower and we had to stop taking the group photo outside church. Just after Joanna got on the car, I noticed the raindrops on the windows, the reflection of Gordon, and the way Joanna looking at Gordon — all worked together very well

the wedding shoes

Getting ready shot

Gordon had a final check on the decoration of the car

Gordon and the groomsmen ’re having a small "meeting" before having the bridal pickup games

Amazing details of Joanna ’s dress. The bridesmaids are helping to fix the train

Stunning !!!

We had lunch at the LRC, there was a staircase with wonderful light

reception at Hotel Conrad Hong Kong

the toast

first dance

Congratulations !!!

Before the ceremony, We took some pic.  While they ’re staying inside the coffee shop, I shot outside the window and used the reflection on the windows to see the marquee. I had to move around until I could get a nice reflection. I could feel that they are having a lot of fun even though I couldn’t hear them through the windows.

An interesting shot during the get ready

A beautiful shot

Groomsmen

Happy moment

A moment after the tea ceremony at Michael ’s family. I love the light from the windows

The wedding cake

the same place of 1st photo above, but at a different angle

the bouquet

I love this shot, especially the motion of the dress. We ‘re almost finish shooting inside the hotel, when we walked through a corridor back to the marquee, I found the overhead light may work beautifully, so I ask Rita to dance (yes !! to dance) under it. And it works !!!!

Just before the ceremony.

when Michael meets Rita … …., the story begins … ….

kissing the bride. I love the way they ‘re kissing

the reception venue

Behind the scene. To take the picture above, I climbed on a ladder to get a special angle.
Question: Where can you find a ladder?
Answer: You can always find a ladder behind the backdrop in most of the reception

A very special moment. Before we started to take the formal family shots at the banquet, Irene liked to have a rest with her sister and bridesmaid. They stayed in the bridal room and relaxed on the floor. Thank you for allowing me to stay with them and I had fun listening to their talk as well

details of the wedding gown

another details shot

It ’s so nice of Kenneth helping Irene to fix the dress

we ‘re waiting for the car to go to the Peak.

shooting at the Peak

Guess what they ‘re doing. I love this kind of action shot a lot

Ceremony at St. Andrew Church. It ’s a very nice church. The color of the window and wall are wonderful here.

They ‘re singing.

kissing the bride

a moment after the ceremony. The flower girl ’s sharing some snacks with Irene

Catching the bouquet

A special portrait

After the ceremony, they had a party at café. Congratulations !!!!

This is NOT the wedding gown. This was the flower girl dress, one of the most beautiful one I ‘ve ever seen

Four flower girls, four different sizes of dresses. Say it loud " So LOVELY" !!!!

Fine details of the wedding gown

The bridesmaids also looked amazing, didn’t they? These are the masks they ‘d prepared for the game.

When Ivan and the groomsmen walked across the street, I suddenly noticed this adv board and it became an very very interesting background. So cool !!!!

Hi Ivan, you looked the wrong way !!!

A happy moment between all bridesmaids

An intimate moment

I have to say again … … The flower girls are very very lovely … …

This was an amazing picture.
Sharon changed into the wedding gown, and prepared to go to the Peak for location shooting. A moment when they are chatting next to the windows. The whole picture was an image from mirror. The 2nd blurred image is from the edge of the mirror.

Location shooting at the Peak. It was a pity that, after this shot, it started to rain, & we couldn’t take too many pictures there.

MY FAV PIC OF THE DAY.
Nice color, nice dress, nice depth of view, perfect framing, a very candid moment. Sharon changed into another dress for the reception, and all flower girls got dressed as well.

the reception at Ritz Carlton

After the signing ceremony and walking out the ballroom, everyone welcomed them back again. Sharon & Ivan were so excited that they ran around inside the ballroom, this gave me a lot of challenges !!!!

Jacqueline & Vincent ’s wedding surpassed everything I had expected. The weather was perfect, the bride and groom were relaxed, and every guest was excited with them.

wedding shoes. Jacqueline ’s shoes ‘re perfect for this kind of reflection shot. To prepare this picture, we need to have a clean glass surface (the tea bench was perfect for this case). Then, we need to move the bench next to the windows. Metered the exposure correctly for the shoes and tried to over exposed & washed out the background

amazing dress details

I am always happy to have beautiful bride for this kind of close up shot. And Jacqueline was so relax in front of the camera

the groomsmen

the bridesmaids

chinese tradition. the bridesmaid had to throw rice to the couple after the "bride pickup" in the morning

a shot at Vincent ’s family

we had a chance to visit Jacqueline and Vincent ’s new apartment in the afternoon. A relax moment between bridesmaids and Jacqueline in the kitchen

When I was in Yervant ’s Santorini workshop last month, everyone was very surprised that a typical chinese wedding can last more than 12 hours and we had to get up very very early. It can be very tired after the lunch time. Lovely bridesmaid, sorry for taking this shot of you, but I believe Jacqueline ’s going to love it.

Getting ready before the ceremony

exchange of rings. ceremony was held at Four Seasons. the light was beautiful for this moment, it was coming from the big windows on the right.

Vincent ’s sister and mother. Everyone was so involved at this moment
 

After the ceremony, we had a private shooting time at the sky floor

the gorgeous ballroom at four seasons

Congratulations !!!