An exuberant family shoot in Karlskrona and Ronneby

We had a fun-filled and high-spirited family shoot session in Sweden for the first time. The idea came from a couple of friends who were aspiring make up artist and photographers, and this was a brilliant way not only to help them polish their skills, but for us, there were some pretty awesome memories that would last us for a lifetime.

Come to think of it, we had been through several photo shoots before. From my convocation to our wedding shoot to Angel's first princess shoot in Singapore, it was no wonder our friends called us 'the posers'. Ok it sounded bit weird on the spot but I knew they were trying to compliment our initiative in conjuring creative poses, right?

I kind of give the credit to my hubby who is probably the better 'poser' of the two. While I like to come up with challenging stunts and pretend that we are contortionists, or come up with childish actions like we were two 16-year-old teens madly in love, jw is usually the one who would contribute more feasible ideas and his expression (be it elated, forlorn, victorious, dismayed or acting like a kid whose popsicle melted in the sun) usually scored a 9.5 out of 10. For those men out there who are always reluctant to take photographs with their gorgeous wives and satisfy the female species' desire of having nice family pictures (it is not considered whole if you are not in it, get it?), honestly, what's so hard about it? Are you going to wait till both of you turn wrinkled and your skin starts to sag before you regret on why you did not capture the wonderful moments of your then-machoness? Come on, just a few pics will never kill you and if it makes your wife happy and more appreciative of you, why not? I think my hubby is the best male species I can ever find, at least in this aspect.

So, check out our picture gallery below.


#1 B&W portraits

Our first theme for the indoor shoot, which was held in our friend's cosy home in Karlskrona, was the Black & White portrait. All of us were dressed in black tops, Angel only had one black dress which she had already outgrown but somehow I managed to button it up and she still looked stunning. We had some nice family shots, couple shots as well as one-on-one shots with Angel. I especially loved those where she tried to kiss daddy with her cute pouty lips or when she tried to give me a peck on the mouth but ended up kissing my nose instead.

Well, although we initially wanted to make it a B&W series, we ended up leaving some in colour because our dearest Angel decided to take her own props into the shoot. First was the banana, then the bread, then a book, then a ball. Yeah, what's with all the 'B's. We didn't really mind though, as long as she gave smiles and cute faces in front of the camera. Have you tried having long photo shoot sessions with a toddler whose attention span is at most 30 seconds?

Anyway the banana shots really turned out to be quite unique. I loved the one where she was holding the fruit in her hand earnestly and concentrating so hard on it like she was having a see-who-blinks-first contest. She also did many jumping shots with the bread in her hand. It just seemed like she loved to eat the whole time!

 

I quite liked this spontaneous shot though I looked quite dumbfounded. How can Angel look flabbergasted and pretty at the same time? Anyway, when she was younger, people always commented that she was a hybrid of both our looks. As time passed, everyone seemed to say that she looked more like mummy as she grew older. True? I guess so but I still think she bears resemblance to jw too.

 

Anyway, it was soon for Angel's nap time which meant that it was time for jw and I to do some wacky couple shots. I loved the one when we did the tango pose, unlike how we re-used many of the poses we already did before, this was a first! But no other picture can beat this one above. It's Supermama to the rescue! Notice how my hair is flying (thanks to the fan)? I especially loved jw's incredibly contented look here. I wonder if that was how I made him feel in real life too. It'd better be. Being a mum overseas does require a certain amount of super power.

#2 Our love story

My friend had this brilliant idea of using a storyboard to tell our love story. I loved the way that it was a personalised shoot that belonged to us solely. The props were also very well done and cute-looking! Check out my 1000-carat diamond ring.

We really had fun in this session. Partly because Angel was still sleeping away, and partly because it allowed us to act out our past and reminisce in the good old times. I mean, it had been 8 years since we got together as a couple in university, and now, we have become daddy and mummy. It's really been a long journey, yeah? Well, I'm sure there's a lot more to come our way, but 8 years is already nearly one-third of my life now. Whatever it is, I wouldn't want to re-write our love script in any other way. It is a beautiful love story because of what it is, all the ups and the downs have come together to bring us to where we are today.

Here are more of the behind-the-scene pictures which did not get chosen into the final storyboard. Nonetheless, I really liked them, for example the one where we wanted to act drunk but ended up looking like sleeping instead, or the one where jw said I was 'crazy' for agreeing to his proposal (maybe I really was), or the last one where he was acting like the chee ko pek (aka dirty old man) while watching me play badminton.

#3 The Liverpool family

For the outdoor part of the photo shoot, we decided to hold it at Brunnspark in Ronneby. It is a tranquil and beautiful park with a big green field which was the perfect setting for our shoot.

The theme for this shoot was contributed by jw, who is a hard core Liverpool fan since young. Perhaps there is really something called  爱屋及乌 (Love me, love my dog). So under his influence, we had been watching literally all the Liverpool games together for the past few years. Previously, I didn't even know what offside was, but now, I can practically name all the players of Liverpool and who's been recently transferred from which team. Likewise, Angel watches the games with us on TV and she's eager to shout 'GOAL' every time while raising both her hands into the air. The only glitch is, she would also cheer in enthusiasm even when the opponent scores. 

So, we bought this really cute jersey set for toddlers from Liverpool's online store. We loved how Angel looked so sporty and lively in it. Nowadays she even likes to say 'Liverpool' (she pronounces it as 'Liv-pool instead) and she always come running up to me with the pants, asking me to help her put it on.

If you were to ask us, we definitely would say we prefer outdoor shoots more. It's like how we also preferred the zoo and Sentosa part of our wedding shoot more than the indoor. No particular why, just because it's more us. We like to be out in the wild where we can run free and not be restricted, we like to play sports because that's our way of life, we like to be dressed down and all natural instead of all glam and proper. Ok, I'm a girl and I like to take pretty dolled up pictures too, but at the end of the day, the one running out in the fields or playing by the beach is the more truthful side of me.

We wanted to tie up Angel's hair into a ponytail initially (not that she would have necessarily allowed me to do so), but we forgot to bring the rubber band and her hair had to be let down. Not that we minded, especially jw who said she looked prettier in her natural hairstyle. When she was still a baby, I was worried about how her natural curls would turn out, but seeing my lovely girl now, I think she looks great. There was a friend in Karlskrona who asked me how I had the time to use the curler to do up her hair every time before we went out. Hello, you think I'm very free and bored at home? *chuckles*

Anyway for the most part of the shoot, it was only me and jw as our curious toddler was fascinated by the walking troop of ducks and was too busy chasing after them and feeding them with bread. Well, that left us to pretty much do whatever we wanted to do, like jumping shots, piggyback shots or the simple lying down on the grass shots.

Nonetheless, we would occasionally grab hold of our baby and 'forced' her to take a family picture with us. See how reluctant she was? Well, guess we were just not as mesmerizing as the duckies.

All in all, we still had a great session in Brunnspark and took some really splendid shots there. We totally enjoyed every bit of the family shoot and there were some precious memories which we would cherish for a long time.

Many thanks to everyone who made this special day possible. To Shuhong and Glenn, thanks for the great photography! To Fang Ting, thanks for making me feel like a bride again and keep striving hard for I'm sure you'll be able to carve out the career you want!

To my dearest hubby, thanks for participating in this shoot whole-heartedly and hope you had fun too!

Lastly, to my dearest Angel, you were definitely the star of the shoot and these pictures wouldn't have been half as gorgeous without you! I love you, baby!