Phew...just finished the last of Ajeep & Maz's wedding functions. I'm thinking if I actually do this often enough i'm sure to lose some weight. Yesterday was Maz's reception at Dewan Perdana Felda but I wasn't the 'official' photographer. I was still paid to be there but I just wasn't the main photographer. The main shooter was Ikram Ismail. He's a well known wedding photographer and an all-round nice bloke. I haven't really seen his shots but I heard from a lot of people that he's one of the top dogs in this business. By looking at the way he works, I don't have any doubts about his photographic skills. I talked to him a bit and he was gracious enough to answer all my questions about gear and the business in general. He also allowed me time to shoot between his shots so it was all in all a pleasant working environment.

I think that I've progressed quite far in my wedding photography compared to when I first started shooting my friend's weddings a few years ago. At that time it was all film so I couldn't afford to shoot a lot and experiment. But now I am more daring in terms of composition and how I go about setting my camera up. I think after every single event I shoot, I gain more confidence in myself and I believe I'm now at the level where I am quite comfortable with all my gear and can go about moving in and out without worrying much about settings. It is slowly becoming second nature. I can sometimes guesstimate settings in certain conditions and this has helped me work a lot faster. I guess this only comes through experience and I'm hoping I get more experience so that I am at the level where I can just go in and shoot without having any worries at all. As of now I still have certain moments where I forget to change the ISO from indoors to outdoors and stuff like that. But hey, I'm only human and I've noticed that after each event I'm more aware of settings and I tend to make less mistakes.

So, here are just a few more teasers of what I shot at both Maz's & Ajeep's reception, which was held last night and today (Sunday 3rd November 2006). I took quite a lot of shots so it will take awhile to edit and upload their online gallery. So please be patient.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT... AJEEP...HAS GOTTEN MARRIED!!!

After 8 years of courting, Ajeep finally got married to his lovely long time girlfriend, Maz. Actually, they chose yesterday, 30th of November 2006 as the date to get married 'cos it was on this day 8 years ago they got together.

It is still kind of freaky thinking of Ajeep as a married man. Anyway, he went through it rather cool. Still got through the solemnisation in 1-take. Everything went well except for the few key people who got lost on the way to the bride's house. Although, that could have been prevented if more Malaysians would just buy a decent street map. But that is all history now. They are now Mr. & Mrs. Ajeep and hopefully will stay that way for a long time to come.

On Saturday (2/12/2006) will be the bride's reception and it is going to be held at Dewan Perdana Felda. I've been appointed as 2nd photographer so I'll be running around shooting the guests and all. The next day will be the groom's reception which will be held at Ajeep's house. That one is going to be a blast. I'm just gonna take lots of natural shots and I just hope it won't be too sunny. I've never been a fan of shooting in bright sun so it is going to be a challenge.

So, here are a few teaser shots from last night (I haven't edited anything yet other than these few).

To Ajeep & Maz, congrats again.

I haven't had a good night's sleep for over a week. Have been editing and also going for shoots and it is starting to take its toll on me. I just need 1 full day of rest and I should be alright. I don't think I'm going to get it though. Got a couple of wedding shoots this weekend and then off to Brunei Darussalam on Monday for a forensic job. Hopefully it won't be a stressful trip. Probably tiring but it's a peaceful place so I hope I get some rest there.

Through my secondary school reunion (see previous post), I met an old classmate of mine I hadn't met since school days and he has just started a Cocktail Bar called Evoke in Desa Sri Hartamas (directly behind True Fitness). This guy's a real entrepreneur, he's also opened up a Futsal place in Sri Petaling called The Cage. Lucky for me they were looking for a photographer to shoot some stuff for the bar's website and maybe other promo material. I jumped at the opportunity since it is actually a nice joint and I'm always game when it comes to helping friends out (OK...I still charged the dude...but I did give a huge discount).

Me, Shermen & Itzhar did the shoot and came up with some cool shots. Got to test my newly acquired Canon EF-S 10-22mm ultra wide lens. Man it is so freaky the way you can fit the whole bloody place with this lens. I think it will be a valuable piece of equipment for my wedding photography. I will try posting more shots made with this lens later.

One of the highlights of the shoot was the last day where there was actually a model in the bar willing to pose for us (she also happened to be really good looking). She is actually a model in real life but she just happened to be at the bar on that day, so, the owner basically got her to pose with the drinks. I can honestly say I have no experience in shooting models but fortunately my good friend Shermen has done lots of these type of shoots and he was comfortable with the job. Me on the other hand, I just took some fun shots and watched how he handled the shoot. Props to you, Sher. Learned a lot that day.

So, here are a couple of photos of Evoke. A nice place with good music (unlike other places which play too much RnB crap) and some cool cocktails. I don't drink but there are mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) there, which is good if you're a non-drinker like me.

It's a bit late I know, but I'm still gonna blog about it. We all had a great time at the SMTTDI Class of 1996 10th Year Reunion. It was held on the 18th of November 2006, so it's been almost 2 weeks since the reunion but I really haven't had much time for blogging with work and sorting the photos and all. It's hard having to edit hundreds of photos when the only free time you have are weekends and nights after work where you'd rather spend time with family. I still got the reunion slideshow done quite quickly though. Thanks again DJ & gang for the wonderful ShowIt line of software.

Anyway, the reunion was a blast. It's good to see so many old friends and get back in touch with 'em. Surprising that so many live nearby (practically just across the street), and I still haven't seen them for years. Highlight of the reunion for me was meeting up with the teachers. It's good to know they're all still around (some are even still teaching in SMTTDI). What I'm most amazed at was how Mr. Lim Kai Jin looked like at the reunion. He was my mathematics teacher when I was in Form 3 (that was like 12-13 years ago), but he still looks the same. He must be living a healthy lifestyle doing Qi Gong and stuff like that.

In all the fun and laughter, I was still shocked to find out that another one of our classmates passed away a few years back. I really didn't know about this. I guess the topic just never came up. Supposedly he fell in the bathroom, which is a sad way to die, but hey...everyone's gotta go...someday...someway. It'd be nice to die in the line of duty saving someone else's life but you don't really get to choose these sorta things.

Another thing I was quite surprised with at the reunion was how the girls from my batch turned out. I won't name names but I swear that some of these girls were geeks and nerds in school but now they're quite the 'hot stuff'. Unfortunately, it didn't go that way for me. But that's for another post. :)

However, I've only got one complaint about the reunion. What the hell....Qibla Cola???? Where's the Coke???? Everyone knows that Coke is the original stuff and the best stuff. It's even called Coke for god's sake. How much cooler can you get? Drinking other colas is like buying pirated software. Just Don't Do It.

Below are a few photos from the reunion. More can be seen HERE.
Azizi & Mr. Lim Kai Jin

From L-R: Megat, Kim Teck, Jeevan, Mohd. Noor & Shashi

The Whole Group