Tuesday, October 05, 2010

30 Sep 2010, from the PP

“Historical Gaze” of Our Engagement Photoshoot

Disclaimer: It is my first time posting anything on a blog, and how fitting it that it is on fitw and in such a manner:)

This journey of the photoshoot began way back in Jan 2009, when we first signed our wedding package. At that time, we did not think much about the significance of a photoshoot, nor what it would fully entail…

After listening to godly counsel and advice, we were convicted not to take wedding photos that would depict us as if we were already married. So that begged the question – what are we going to shoot? (in fact the bridal coordinator was really very puzzled when we told her that we did not want to shoot wedding photos. It is like going to a chicken rice stall and not order chicken rice, haha) in any case, we decided to take the approach of an “Engagement Shoot” – after dd saw many lovely ones on her favourite blogs.

As we got closer to the date of the shoot, we agreed that the end product would be a mini-story of our journey thus far, and how the Lord has led us through it all. The creation of the storyboard took place over many days and at different locations (in the car, in our new room, on our new table). Through it we are reminded about the goodness of the Lord and also learnt more about how each other worked. We even went on a pre-photoshoot practice session! It was a great experience, even though we were ‘scolded’ by a little German boy!:) it was during the shoot that we realise that smiling at the camera isn’t as easy as it looks! The storyboard included the creation of props as well, I shan’t reveal what they are now, so just have to wait for the photos to be out yeh (we can’t wait to see them!).

That was a brief summary of the events prior to the photoshoot. As we got real close to the shoot itself, things started to get a little rocky as I got too focused on getting all the things done and feared that the shoot would be a mess. Basically I did not walk by faith but relied on self. So there were some tensions a few days before the shoot. But very graciously, all these were removed by the Lord on the day of the photoshoot.

God also provided a friend who has “a car”, which had a lovely number plate that went along with it. And more importantly he, and his wonderful family, were so kind to lend the vehicle to us, even taking the trouble to make it gleaming before lending it to us. This was one real experience we had of the goodness of God. It was a great ride to drive in, haha!

The Lord also gave us a most fantastic ‘aunty’. She has been a great friend. aunty has not only helped in this photoshoot, but was one of the key players in the surprise birthday celebration this Feb. I can imagine that without such a person, we would have fallen flat on our faces for the shoot. (one small advise, if you’re having a photoshoot, please ask along your close friend to help, you will need it. But make sure he/she will not blackmail you with any of the silly pictures taken on that day. Esp if you don’t really wear make up. hint hint: aunty, please don’t release those pictures heh)

Our photographer was also a very cool guy to work with. He was professional, flexible and open to our ideas and able to use his experience to guide us to the right shots. Furthermore, he was a rather funny and happy guy, which made the whole experience even more pleasant. (do contact us if you want recommendations).

For the details of the photoshoot itself, I think my other half has provided a most comprehensive picture. In any case, the main lesson learnt is that of faith. To trust in the Lord to provide all that we need. And the photoshoot has been used by the Lord to show us that He will see us through it all. We have seen how the process and the end can be so wonderfully planned out by the Lord. And indeed it was an experience worth going through and all praise be given to God Almighty.

Monday, October 04, 2010

children's day, again!

children's day 2010! there was quite a debate in my heart whether i should do or not do anything. sometime in the process, i turned to PP and asked him and his response was (pardon the singlish): you can don't do anything meh?

that's right. after all the love showered on me during teacher's day, it's hard to stay aloof and give something half-heartedly....
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so i made them badges...using this idea. the badge has a penguin taken from here and it says "improvements are made, step by step!" for my school students" and "walk with Jesus, step by step!" for my sunday school students. here's the tag..
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then, PP and i scooted over to the meiji seika factory at 36 quality road to buy some goodies for the kids..if you are ever free on fri from 12-3pm, you should go there to check it out! it has a myriad of meiji goodies at significantly cheaper prices and i promise your heart will start beating faster when you enter the shop :) think hello panda, garlic toast biscuits, chocolate bars, galbo and horn chocolate WOW!!!! we bought the special-kind-of-yanyan and tons of other things for ourselves and others. packing time!
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time spent: quite long  -_-'''
money spent:we were abit more prudent this year compared to last year so it was good! :)
was it worthwhile?
being able to work on something with PP, hearing kids squeal in delight and say things like "Ooooh Ms Esther Lin, you are so sweet!!".."CHEEZELS!!!! THERE'S CHEEZELS!!!"..."Thank you SO MuCH i have never received anything like this before!".."Ms Esther Lin, you always like that one!!" ..."EEEEEEH!! There's CHEEZELS!!!" ...i guess it was worthwhile :) :)


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Friday, October 01, 2010

30 sep 2010 from the DD

"God bless your photoshoot! =)"

received this sms from huilin in the morning of 30 sep-the day of our photoshoot! woke up feeling quite tired and groggy, and definitely, quite nervous about how the day would turn out.

10.00am. joce and PP arrived. dear joce had cheerfully agreed to come along for the photoshoot. we packed our stuff, took the guitar and set off! PP driving the mazda and meeeeeee driving the miiiiinnnniii!!! :) we bought breakfast and headed for the studio.all this while, it was drizzling. but i kept telling myself to have faith.

11.00am. thought we were running late. we went to the studio and discovered that it was still not opened even though our appointment was at 10.30am. of course, the worrywart in me started to nag...oh no...this is a bad start to the day..

11.10am. emily, my make-up artist arrived! she was nice and friendly and very sweet. although the trial makeup did not go too well (because of me not knowing what i wanted) it all worked out fine even though false eyelashes were poking my eye! PP had to wear make-up too!!!hahahaha!! :)

12.30pm. we were almost done, but it was still raining :( :( :( we decided to have our lunch first. PP went to maxwell market to grab some food while joce and i stayed at the studio...

1.30pm. we finished our lunch, and our koi, but it was still raining.....

2.15pm. we decided to just set off.

2.30pm. we arrived at mount emily park. it was still raining....we had to stay in the car and wait..joce showed me a hilarious caucasian version of our photographer...

3pm. we could not wait any longer! although it was still drizzling, we headed out anyway. the sand was wet, the swings and see-saws were wet, we had to make do with alot of plastic bags and towels, but we were already starting to have fun and that was when we realised that our photographer was really humourous and we felt quite comfortable with him :) :) thanksgiving: thank God for our photographer, calvin!

4pm. we headed for portsdown road. our photographer has an eye for detail and good lighting. we found a pretty spot and took somemore pictures. we experimented with our props, we ate (sour) strawberries, cycled, and saw a lorry that was stuck on the field because of the mud caused by the rain. thanksgiving: thank God for the rain! by then, it had stopped raining and the sun had come out. perfect for photo-taking :) and not too hot for us! PLUS, no mosquitoes, possibly because of the rain :) :) :)

5pm. we headed for the railway track that was not too far off. we met...a photojournalist...and we took more pictures :)

6.20pm we reached upper seletar reservoir, a most beautiful place. the sun was setting! gasp! we were running out of time! gasp! PP had to pump the helium balloon! gasp! i had to change! gasp! this was probably when the madness started. i walked/sprinted/jogged/crawled all the way to the toilet with joce rallying behind/next to me. it was the longest walk of my life. the toilet was a good 1000000000000000000000000km away and i thought i was never going to reach! at long last, i stepped into the toilet. gasp! there were no lights! in a frenzy, auntie suggested that we just close the door to the toilet entrance and we did just that. i changed, as fast as i could! i think i looked mad. i ran out. gasp! PP was still nowhere to be seen. ah, that was when i saw him in a distance, running towards me, brandishing a 3 feet wide balloon in his hands.

i thought to myself, 他真的是在追我。quickly, hastily, the photograper set up his equipment while we tried to blot the oil off our face and i tried to look sane. we took pictures....with the beautiful sunset..it was....so beautiful.. thanksgiving: that was when i really tasted God's love. joce told me that if it did not rain, the clouds would not have cleared and sunset would not have been so gorgeous.

7.15pm we decided to leave the place.

7.30pm. the carpark was so far away it took us so long to actually leave.

7.50pm. we dropped joce off at FEBC before heading back to the studio. thanksgiving: auntie, you are such a great great help!!!! we will really be a mess without you! it is also a comfort to have you beside me while i drive.....

8.10pm. our families were waiting for us! i ran to the studio trying not to trip over the gown. changed.

8.30pm. we started taking pictures and that was when i felt a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. 2 families 'united' because of our relationship. thanksgiving: for all our beloved loved ones who love us so much and patiently waited for us! also, the timing according to jie, was good because Zachy just woke up.

9.30pm. had dinner, went home, cleared up. soooooo many things that needed to be cleared up! spent a good 30 min clearing the gunk on my face and another 45 min clearing the helmet of hairspray on my head!

1.00am. finally, i can take a deep breath. can we say enough about how good God is to us, in so many countless ways? when you start to doubt, don't. have faith. be sure that you are walking according to God's purposes and that is when you will really taste, and see that the Lord is good, indeed. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.