Our Blog

Coming soon :)

Akwoo — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:28:51 +0000

Dear lovely fans, FINESSENCE PHOTOGRAPHY is our new and exciting photography brand replacing Akwoo Photography. We will officially launch our new website n the like very soon. Thank you for all your Akwoo support and we dearly hope you will warmly welcome our FINESSENCE PHOTOGRAPHY brand. We look forward to bring you beautiful things. xo Karen and Alan Woo

Ashley and Chloe’s Wedding Slideshow

Akwoo — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:55:57 +0000

Ashley and Chloe took a relaxing and casual approach to their wedding, and we loved it!

The day started off in the luscious greenery of Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.

It was an overcast day, with sprinkles of rain here and there, but this just added to the beauty of the day.

The smell of nature, sound of light rain and music gave a calming effect to the ceremony.

This was what Ashley and Chloe was all about – Family, Friends and their love for one another.

The ceremony was followed by canapes and drinks at Breezes at Crown, where everyone got to mingle with one another and chat to the bride and groom.

It was only fitting, that we took a photo journalistic approach to this wedding, capturing the natural essence of the day.

We kept the following slide show as natural as possible with limited processing.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. We know Ashley and Chloe surely did, *tears* Enjoy!

Chloe and Ashley’s Wedding Slideshow from Akwoo on Vimeo.

What do Wedding Photographers really do?

Akwoo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:34:05 +0000

From a recent article on ISPWP – http://www.ispwp.com/the-secret-life-of-wedding-photographers.html

Also another article on this from US Wedding Photographer – Stacy Reeves – http://www.stacyreeves.com/2009/12/08/secret-life-of-a-wedding-photographer/

The Perception of Wedding Photographers

The Reality

The above is so accurate and really shows the importance of educating the public on the Professional Wedding Photographers vs Amateur Shoot & Burn Photographers.

Keep an eye out on our blog for more articles like this and we will also add a section to our web page.

Talk to you all soon!

Akwoo

Gangsta Love

Akwoo — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:04:48 +0000

Peter and Catherine are one of the funniest and energetic couples we have ever met. Their entire wedding was based around a Shanghainess Gangsta love theme, where the ladies wore Chinese traditional dresses and the men wore hats. Peter arrived at Catherine’s home in a vintage Holden along with his Gangsta-themed brothers – I think there were at least 14 of them! Following Chinese tradition, the Groom was not allowed to see his bride until he passed all the ridiculous games that were prepared by the bride’s closest friends and family.

The fun started with Peter singing his heart out to Catherine, brushing his teeth with hot Wasabi paste, picking up Mah-jong pieces in icy cold water using only their toes, and making a love heart using their lips with red lipstick applied. Then they had to form a circle and pass the banana between their legs with their mouths. It was quite a scene and we couldn’t stop chuckling to ourselves as we captured the moment. Eventually the bridal party was happy with Peter’s efforts, and gave him access to see his bride.

Two Chinese tea ceremonies were held at two different locations, which involved the bride and groom kneeling before their parents and serving them tea. It was a way for them to express their gratitude and respect in front of their parents and immediate relatives, and a customary practice for the married couple to say, “Thanks for bringing us up. Now we are getting married and we owe it all to you.” Then both parents will drink a small portion of the tea and say how sweet it is and then give them either jewelry or a red envelope filled with money to symbolise good luck.

Since it was a rainy and wet day in Canberra, the wedding ceremony was relocated from the gardens into one of the rooms inside the Old Parliament House. The building was grand and majestic, which set the scene quite beautifully for the couple to be married in. Formal group photos were taken, but then we decided to mix in a bit of fun with their friends.

Next was the location shoot. Despite the wet rain, we found some great places to shoot – the old Canberra railway museum and Old Kingston Bus Depot. These locations added to their Shanghai gangsta theme wedding and it felt like we had gone back in time! It was also great to have the flower boy and girl join us in the photo shoot because they added so much fun and laughter! They actually wanted a ride in the vintage wedding car, which apparently broke down mid-way to the reception.

The Reception finished off at the newly renovated Ruby Restaurant in Dickson which was owned by the Matron of Honour. She had the night off and joined us for the fun and games throughout the night, served with a delicious feast. There was plenty of entertainment where Peter did a cartoon voice-over for their bride and groom presentation. It was really sweet and cute, and we learned that they had been together for 10 years before they decided to get married. More games were played throughout the night for the Bride & Groom and the night ended off with more grooving on the dance floor.

As a special presentation of the night, we decided to surprise Peter and Catherine, with a same day slideshow with photos that were taken during the day.

Here is the slideshow presentation. Enjoy!

Peter and Catherine’s Wedding Slideshow from Akwoo on Vimeo.

Looking for wedding photographer specialising in asian weddings? Contact us today! – http://www.akwoo.com.au/contact-us

Big Fat Greek and Lebanese Wedding

Akwoo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:17:20 +0000

We love Greek and Lebanese weddings, and Charles and Diana’s wedding celebrated both cultures! It was one massive wedding feast!
This wedding had it all -

Beautiful Greek Othodox church
Melbourne city backdrop for location shoots
Fantastic Greek music and DJing from Nick Missailidis
Awesome singing from Lebanese / Arabic Idol Winner – Ahmad Masri and team!
Delicious food at “The Manor on High”

And of course plenty of dancing with friends and family! It was an amazing celebration and testimony of love and faith. One thing that impressed me the most was their reception bridal entry. Charles and Diana danced their way into the reception hall to the awesome beat of the drum and to singing voice of a famous Lebanese (Arabic) Idol winner, Ahmad Masri. Soon after, their family and friends held hands and surrounded Charles and Diana while they flirted with the music. It was so surreal to watch. I keep weaving myself in and out and under their dancing circles to capture their energetic dance moves from all different angles. I had to keep up or I’ll get lost in the crowd! One stage, they even lifted Charles and Diana in the air and carried them around as they danced!

Please find some photos of the memories below and also a video snippet!

Charles and Diana Wedding Entrance Snippet from Akwoo on Vimeo.

Here is a small video snippet of the from Charles and Diana’s wedding.

We love Greek or Lebanese weddings and would love to capture yours, so contact us today! – http://www.akwoo.com.au/contact-us

Hektic Month

Akwoo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:03:59 +0000

What a hektic month, after completing our 2 weddings in Canberra, we had 1 wedding in Sydney and 3 in Melbourne.

With the Sydney weekend, we actually woke up Saturday morning 5am and then the next day had to wake up 5am again to fly back to Melbourne for a big fat Greek / Lebanese wedding.

But as everyone will know us both, we were full of energy as always and just ran around like Energizer bunnies and had great fun!

We have seriously fell behind with the updating of our web page, so if your new to our web page and looking for a wedding photographer for next year. We highly recommend organising an appointment with us to check out our latest and greatest work.

We promise to do a massive update very soon, so we can show you some of our latest stuff.

One update we have been working on is Peter and Catherine’s wedding slideshow, look out for that in the next week.

This Shanghai Gangsta theme wedding had lots of action! Lip Stick, Trains, Old Canberra heritage building and of course lots of Loving and Dancing!

Actually while thinking about dancing, also look out for Charles and Diana’s wedding. A Greek marrying a Lebanese, there was NON stop dancing all night!

In the mean time, here are some random updates we have done to our flickr account recently at http://www.flickr.com/akwoo.

Click any of the photos for a larger photo.

Special Thanks to Helena for assisting us on the weekend with Brad & Huong’s wedding!

Here is a photo below from that wedding.

xoxo

Alan and Karen Woo

Grandpa Watson

Akwoo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:35:24 +0000

It has been a long time since I had a free Saturday afternoon to belt out a few tunes. Music is definitely one of my favourite past-times (other than playing with my camera) where I can express my emotions. Anyway, I popped over to my friend’s house to prepare for Sunday church praise and worship segment. I currently lead a worship band at church and loving it. While we were singing away, I couldn’t help noticing my friend’s dear Grandpa Watson sitting alone in the living room watching Chinese opera re-runs. Karen has been given the responsibility to look after her grandfather every weekend, and I have so much respect for her because it’s not the easiest thing to do. She has shared that it’s been a huge sacrifice to let go of weekends and care for Grandpa Watson and miss out on what most people enjoy doing on Saturdays – catching up with friends, shopping or lying out on the beach. About a year ago, Grandpa Watson lost his wife from a sudden stroke, and passed away 3 days later. The sad news shattered Grandpa Watson, and since then he was left heartbroken, distraught and became physically frail. He has gone on walk-about, calling out to his wife. They married in year 1947!

I tried to strike up a conversation with Grandpa Watson, but I was lost for words. It was one of those boring old conversations like, “how are you, what are you doing”, but it didn’t feel genuine. It was only until I walked away and saw the intimate relationship Karen had with her Grandpa; I wanted to capture it (Yes, I had my camera on me…hehe). It was so beautiful to watch so I asked for their permission to take pictures of Grandpa Watson. From the first click of my camera, it totally change Grandpa’s perspective of me and he opened up to me and towards the camera. Cameras are a fantastic communication tool! Apparently he use to own an SLR but during the war in China, his camera got confiscated. I had sweet pleasure taking pictures of Grandpa Watson. Their story is a reminder how we should all treasure and respect the elderly. I dedicate this story to my dear friend Karen and Grandpa Watson – a real testament to life.

Joseph and Xixi Night E-session

Akwoo — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:45:37 +0000

Meet Joseph and Xi Xi, a gorgeous couple who got engaged after dating for 5 months! They sure didn’t waste any time as they are getting married this December!

We decided to take them out for a night engagement photography session (e-session) where we got creative with lights and use of reflections.

To see the photos, please click on the above photo!

Enjoy!

Love Akwoo
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(c) Akwoo Photography reserves the rights to all images displayed here.

Point your RSS Readers to our new Akwoo Blog address

Akwoo — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:59:40 +0000

Hi all!
It has been a crazy few months and we have experienced many amazing weddings and also have been given awesome opportunities doing fashion photography at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and the launching of a new fashion brand label. Fashion photography is another strong passion we have and we are would like to thank Madam Virtue, Bryan Boy and Base Standard (coming soon) for bringing out name into the fashion industry.

We will be flooding our blog with more updates. Keep an eye out for many new changes on the blog and our facebook.

Please point your RSS readers to the following address and keep an eye out for some awesome photos we have taken recently.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/akwoo

xoxo
Akwoo

Bryan Boy in Melbourne, Australia

Akwoo — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:01:17 +0000

Bryan Boy – Madam Virtue from Akwoo on Vimeo.

Well hello Bryan Boy! The hugely popular fashion blogger and trend setter to hit the streets of Melbourne during the Melbourne Spring Fashion Festival. He is currently in town to host a bunch of Marc Jacobs films and play dress-ups at Madam Virtue &…amp; Co, which stocks the most divine and exquisite designer labels such as: Marc Jacobs, Antonio Marras, Dries van Noten, Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Muir, Alexander McQueen, Marni, Lanvin, Salvatore Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana, Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Balenciaga, to name a few.

Visit Madam Virtue web page at
http://www.madamvirtue.com.au

Akwoo Photography would love to thank the wonderful Madam Virtue & Co team for this amazing opportunity, and….of-course Bryan Boy for being so fabulous for the camera. You go boyfriend!

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(c) Akwoo Photography 2009 reserves the rights to all the images on the video.
akwoo.com.au