For those who don’t already know, today I launched my new photography blog. This has been an ongoing project since JULY. You would not believe how scared I was to publish it!!! I used every possible excuse to avoid/postpone the project. Not enough time, too busy with work. Still deciding on a color scheme and background. Waiting for my graphic designer to finish my logo. Blah, blah, blah…

I wanted it to be perfect from the start, which was/is virtually impossible. My new logo still isn’t done yet. I will probably change the background. And there are hundreds of other little things that can and will be tweaked… but yes, for now, it’s public. Because my review session with my mentor Junshien is tomorrow and I really don’t want to disappoint him for the 7th month in a row. -______-

I stayed up till 3 am (which isn’t that late I guess, but I was running on adrenaline!) working on this. Hope you like it.

Btw, don’t worry – just because I have another blog does NOT mean that I am leaving xanga in any way. In fact, I will probably blog here more often because I’ll need a place to talk about more personal things. That’s another reason why I was so scared to publish the blog. It means that my parents and relatives and other people are going to read it… which freaks me out!!! I don’t like the idea of everyone having access to my personal thoughts lol.

TADA!

www.fernlee.com

Right now I am not only thrilled by the facebook comments widget but also my adorable favicon!! It’s the cute little leaf that shows up in the address bar/tab.

Since you guys wouldn’t believe me… I have no choice but to post these.

1. It’s all in the body language. Do I look comfortable? No. Do I look confident? Heck no. My dress was falling off…

2. *laughs nervously* I’ll just… look over that way..

3. omgggg… why did I do that??!

4. Wardrobe malfunction. It looks like a towel hahaha

5. No.

6. “Take your right hand and hold onto the roof.” I have a feeling this was supposed to look sultry. Instead I look like the statue of liberty.

7. “Walk across from here to there.” … that probably didn’t turn out the way the photographer wanted it to LOL.

8. ……… NEED I SAY MORE???!

9. I envisioned this to look a lot more graceful.

10. YEAH. TOLD YOU SO.

Background

The original inspiration for this photo shoot was a very special necklace handcrafted by my mom’s friend. The pendant is a fern leaf and I LOVE it. I wanted to have some photos taken of me wearing it! Of course, most of the time the DOF was too shallow or the camera was too far away to even see the necklace… but that’s okay, it gives me an excuse to do another shoot in the near future.

The Dress

I went shopping with my cousins at Gurney Plaza (it’s one of the nicer shopping malls in Penang) to look for a dress to wear at the beach. Oh, goodness… my heart aches thinking of the perfect dress that we found. It was exactly what I wanted. Beige colored linen, v-neck halter top, floor length, with subtle rows of sequins at the bust. Elegant and beach casual all at once. The only one they had was a size 10!!!! T___T I cried a little inside when they said they couldn’t order it or call another store to get it.

So instead we walked all around the mall searching for something that would make do. The other dresses I tried on were blah. Not the style or material I wanted. Then my cousin suggested that we try a dress shop downtown; she was sure I would find something there. Casual, flowy, beach wear.

I found this dress. The shape and cut was gorgeous and fit me well, but the color? It only came in dark green or burnt orange. I typically don’t wear either. I kept asking the store owner if they had ANY other colors available, but nope, that was it. Well, I thought to myself, I guess I could embrace my namesake even more and DRESS as a fern… dark green it was.

The Photographer

I wanted my friend’s coworker to take photos of me. He’s very talented, especially with strobe lights – a technique that I’ve only just started to learn. Unfortunately he was busy with Chinese New Year activities and couldn’t do it for me, but he did recommend two other photographers. I picked the one with the most promising portfolio and emailed him. He could do it!!!!

The night before the shoot we texted back and forth where and when to meet. Just before I went to bed I sent a text to Ryan – “I love you babycakes. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day so I probably won’t get to talk to you. I’ll be home soon!” OKAY, the nickname “babycakes” is disgusting but it’s a joke… we heard someone else say it and had a good laugh about what it meant and I started calling him that sarcastically. lol. Anyway, guess what happened. I sent the text to the photographer instead. LOL!

Hiding my face…

The Morning Of/Beauty Routine

I am really bad at getting ready in the morning. I tend to drag out the process as long as I want, which inevitably makes me run late. The morning of the shoot? Yep, I was running late.

I got out of the shower and started doing my make up. I previously wanted to hire a make up artist but got lazy and didn’t bother to find one – BIG MISTAKE!!! I think my parents were in a bad mood and rushing me, so I ran out the door with damp hair and only foundation on. In my panicked rush out the door I forgot to grab eyeliner/eye shadow… so I was feeling pretty crummy. Girls, you know how make up can give you a boost of self-esteem? This was like the opposite effect. I felt UGLY and unprepared.

During the shoot I kept asking if we could stop by a store to pick up some make up… and we ended up stopping by a department store on the way to our next location. There wasn’t anybody working at the make up counter so I went to the test products and put on whatever I could find. That’s what I get for not hiring a make up artist – a sloppy, last-minute job by myself.

The Photos

Out of the 346 photos he took, I liked about 5 of them. But I’m still beyond happy with the ones that I like! Surprisingly enough all the best ones are at the beach, before we hit up the department store for a makeover. The beach makes for a nicer background. I can’t wait to go back…

Ryan and I went to Costco for lunch (polish sausages ftw!). After paying up at the cash register we walked away, but the customer behind us in line called us back. “Wait! Wait!! You forgot this – ” The Indian lady held up three pennies. “Oh, I don’t want it,” Ryan replied with a dismissive wave of the hand. I caught a glimpse of her shaking her head and couldn’t help but laugh at her facial expression. She probably muttered something like “Who willingly throws away money??!?”

We continued on our merry way towards the exit.

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Sidenote: I’m all for saving money. Usually I take all the change I’m given, including pennies. But there have been times when my wallet is loaded with spare change and I happily dump it all out as tips.

I’m still working on photo sessions from November and December. Gotta pick up the pace, ugh!! But anyway this is my favorite from this family session. The kids were pretty shy and it was a cold day… but we managed to get some great shots anyway! Sara has beautiful eyes.

Last night we celebrated Mr. Baker’s birthday. It was a very low-key “celebration” that involved me, Ryan, and Ryan’s mom watching his dad blow out a single candle and open presents at the kitchen table. After that I suggested we play cards, and we started a game of Liverpool (similar to gin rummy; it’s my favorite card game).

Ryan’s younger sister called the house but his parents ignored it because we were in the middle of the game.

Then she called each family member at the table. Nobody picked up.

Finally his dad answered the phone.

“Hey, we’re in the middle of something right now. Can I call you back in half an hour?”
“OMG, WHAT are you guys DOING?!?!?! Why is nobody picking up their phone?!?! You guys are acting so shadyyyy!!!” She shrieked over the phone.
“We’re having sex. Bye.”

… LOL.

If only I could sum up in words the events that have taken place over the course of two weeks. In retrospect, two weeks is a short amount of time – but it’s strange the way time works. Incredible what can unfold in mere hours.

I feel like I haven’t been this happy in a long time. And I would consider myself to be a fairly happy person. Things have been falling into place, praise God for that. If this is a preview of 2011, then it is FOR SURE going to be the best year of my life!!!!

My apologies for keeping you guys out of the loop. I update my facebook page more often than xanga – www.facebook.com/fernleephotography.

I want to hire a professional organizer. I know they exist. There has to be an efficient system for storing receipts, letters, business cards, pamphlets, magazines, scrapbook paper, etc. Even when I put these things together in stacks/piles/folders, it still doesn’t work. SIGH.

I also would like an accountant. And a secretary. A designer would be awesome too.

Disclaimer: I can’t afford this… YET. But after reading the 4 Hour Workweek I’m pretty sure that all of the above will be working for me in the near future!! hehehe

Me: Is there any chocolate pie left?
Ryan: Finish editing that session then we’ll get some.

He keeps me on task!

… except then it makes me so happy that I sign into Xanga instead of editing.

I tried to think of a title to warn readers of the content… I have a feeling that I write about this stuff way too often.

Last night I went to Ryan’s house after shooting a wedding (third one by myself, w00t!). We walked into the kitchen to get a late night snack and I noticed a bucket in the corner with three bouquets of flowers.

“Who’s that for?” I asked curiously.
He gave me a sheepish smile. “It’s for your mom’s birthday.”
“SERIOUSLY??!”
“Yeah, seriously.”
“Ohmygosh! Was this your idea??!”
“Yeah… what do you mean, was this my idea?”
“I don’t know, seems like something your mom would make you do.”

I can’t get over how sweet that is. Maybe he’s doing it to suck up to her but geez, it’s working… on ME! Hahahaha. Now I feel bad for not getting his parents birthday presents. I did photograph his dad’s birthday party… I guess that counts for something, right?

So excited to see her reaction when we take her out to dinner tonight!