This time is forever, love is the answer (part two)

Read part one: Here

Here's the second part of the pre wedding shoot that I did for Jane and Daniel last year. 

To continue from where I left off, we were very blessed with good weather for two consecutive days of our shoot. 

On the second day, Jane and I happened to be left alone in the car for almost 30 minutes when Daniel had to top up his cash card and we weren't near any of the topup machines. With all honesty, I hadn't expected us to strike up a conversation that personal with Jane. I thank all my lucky stars that we are both Leo girls. Plus point: Both our boyfriends have the same name! Intrigued by both our beliefs in horoscope, we started an endless topic about ourselves and our relationship which slowly led to our families and we found a ridiculous amount of similarities between us. 

As for Jane and Daniel, they met through a mutual friend when Jane was about 19 and here comes the unexpected truth- Daniel is 11 years older than her. What I did not know, was the amount of obstacles they met with in their five years relationship. They were supposed to get married last year, but an unfortunate event happened and they had to postpone it till this year. Jane spoke of their relationship and marriage with so much hope and love in her voice, and she told me she couldn't wait to get married and start a family with Daniel. I almost teared. She told me about her family's objection to their relationship in the very initial stage because of their age difference, but they overcame every bit of it together. I wish I could share the more personal side of their story with you guys, but some things should be kept private. Jane isn't someone who opens up very easily, and I'm glad she trusted me enough to share the private stories of her life with me.

Now 24 and 35, they are happily married and have just gone for their honeymoon in Maldives. I've also done processing their actual day wedding images and handed them over to the couple. (: Everyday I'm still in awe that this awesome couple chose me to document their love. Honestly, I still think that I dreamt it. Forever grateful for this honour I shall be.

Looking back at these photos, I could pinpoint in so many ways what I could have improved on but I guess that's how it's meant to be. There's only progression and improvement when you learn from your past mistakes. It's about 9 months since we shot this entire series, and I can't help but marvel at how quickly time has flown by. Till date, I'm in amazement how fast 2014 has passed, and it certainly feel like the quickest year ever yet. This year, I'm working on bringing Smittenpixels Photography to new heights, and I'm fulfilling what I had promised myself. It's been a great year thus far, and I cannot wait to reveal what I have in store soon! Loads of plans installed for the next 2 months and sometimes the work load gets a little too much to bear, but I'll just have to tell myself that it'd all be worth it. 

xx

ADV: Lactacyd's Bold Phantasies

As ladies, we have been told countless times the importance of taking care of our face since young. Sometimes, we may pay lesser attention to the other parts of our body but it is important that we take the extra effort to care for our hair and body. That said, this includes our important female intimate area!

I had started using Lactacyd about 2 years ago, all thanks to my mom when she started to purchase their feminine wash and educate me on the importance of caring for that area. Now as we grow older, the need to take care of what we thought was once "hidden" becomes more apparent especially for beach lovers like me where you will be more conscious down-south when you are in a bikini! For someone who goes for regular brazilian waxing as well, I've also understood the need of taking good care of your V when I speak to my therapist about it. Since then, Lactacyd has become part of my daily beauty regime.


Did you know that…
One of the most common causes for vaginal infection is actually poor personal hygiene?

A vaginal infection is an inflammation of the vagina characterized by swelling, redness, heat, pain, and an abnormal vaginal discharge. It can be caused by certain bacteria, fungi and protozoans which deposit huge amounts of waste materials that irritate the vagina. They can cause contaminated vaginal discharges with other accompanying symptoms like swelling, odor and itch.



What may be deemed as a superficial infection could lead to many complications. Therefore, it is crucial for all of us females to understand that feminine hygiene wash does not act as a treatment when bacteria infection happens. It should be used on a daily basis to help prevent infections from happening. Prevention is definitely better than cure!




Lactacyd, which I am pretty sure is no stranger to most of you by now, is the most trusted feminine hygiene care specialist that is vital for women to stay healthy and confident. Unlike brands that provide intimate hygiene care as a supplementary range to body or facial products, Lactacyd’s heritage is in dedicated intimate care. Lactacyd has launched a “Bold pHantasies” challenge to empower and encourage women to be adventurous and bold and to celebrate the essence of being a real woman.


Bold pHantasies is a Facebook game app on Lactacyd Facebook page to encourage women to step up and lose their inhibitions and celebrate the spirit of adventure. Stand a chance to win an ultimate bold experience where up to 6 rewards are up for grabs! :D


It is a very fun and interactive game for you to collect the items in the game for power ups and extra points and try to accumulate as many points as possible against adventurous environments! In the game, you will find yourself wake-boarding, paragliding and even jumping from buildings. Meanwhile, you will have to avoid the obstacles that would make you lose a life and collect the bonus items at the start of every round when you answer the questions correctly!




The 6 bold fantasies rewards have been finalized as below:
1. Drive on the F1 track
2. Sky Diving
3. Swim with sharks
4. Wake boarding
5. Fly a plane
6. Bungee Jump



Yoohoo! At the end of it, you pick your desired reward with a short writeup about why you'd like to win it. It's just that simple…… and you may just get whatever you wished for! (:

We would all know that none of these six rewards come cheap, and perhaps there are many of you guys out there who have been yearning and waiting for the right chance to fulfil some of these bucket-list wishes just like I do. People say that the best things in life are free and this cannot be more apt. What better way to play a fun game and have your dreams come true?

The Bold pHantasies contest is open till 10 May 2014 and is only valid for contestants from Malaysia and Singapore so lucky you guys!

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Good things are meant to be shared…
If you are completely new to Lactacyd and has been wanting to give their products a try, today's your lucky day! :D However unbelievable this may be, it is happening! Simply sign up HERE and a sample will be sent right to your doorstep.





Well, putting the famous Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs into place here:

"One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. Once these needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualisation."


Health is wealth. This translates to how being healthy in all aspects of your body, empowers you to take on your boldest fantasies and bring out the confidence in you that a woman should possess. I know of friends who have had experienced infections in the intimate areas before, and it made them really self-conscious and it hinders their daily lives. There is no way that you can be your best self out there when you are unable to feel good about yourself. I believe in this because when a woman is confident and happy about herself, it radiates entirely on the outside and this spurs you to achieve your goals in life. When you feel good about yourself, it gives you an extra surge of female confidence and courage for you to take on anything that comes your way.




The above picture was taken when I was in snorkelling in Redang 2 years back, and some of you girls may remember the blog post back then where I had mentioned before that in Redang, there is an area where you can swim with baby sharks and I was so eager to go for it but did not managed to in the end due to the lack of time. Given that I've won the reward… I really would love to go for Driving on F1 Track andddddd Swimming with sharks! #unleashinnerracequeeninme I am greedy like that, and I can't make up my mind which I would love more because both of which have really been my dreams.

To be honest, other than being a crazy roller coaster fan and my cliff jumping experience in Boracay last year…. I haven't had the chance to try anything exceptionally bold YET so when I learnt about being able to fulfill one of my dreams on my bucket list, I just HAD to do it and give it a shot.

I am guessing you will be staying up late tonight with me trying to beat your own high score tonight! If you are still not beginning your game, you really should start ---> HERE right now! There really is no harm trying and you may just have of your lifelong dreams come true for you.


Good luck and have fun!

This time is forever, love is the answer (part one)

"And maybe we can find our own slice of heaven close to the sun."

For three days before this shoot, I was praying fervently for good weather and for everything to go smoothly. This always happen prior to a shoot and my brain goes into an overdrive. 

The other time I had a shoot at the same location, the sun was completely hidden behind the clouds so I was really hoping for a miracle that day. Prayers do work wonders. Jane and Daniel had painstakingly prepped a number of props they would like to feature for the shoot and they were so full of hope for the day. I rarely had to give directions to the couple. When the evening glow from the sun became more pronounced towards the later time in the evening, Jane and I could a barely contain our excitement together. The most magical moment is evident in the last photo- the sun rays igniting where their lips touched. 

I have pretty sensitive skin, and trudging through tall grasses for shoots often result in itch around the feet area and I'm often deadbeat at the end of a shoot from all the running to and fro across the big field. The entire day was worth it, and the golden light that lit up the entire field was breathtaking coupled with the chemistry between Jane and Daniel made it all the more extraordinary. 

I'll share more about their story in the second part of the post.

Keep your eyes peeled (:

Thank you once again to everyone who has participated in the Rakuten giveaway! I've narrowed down the three winners and I'll be contacting you guys by email over the next few days. Do give me some time to sort out my stuffs. 

Good week ahead everyone!

xx

Rakuten SG

If you haven't already known.... Rakuten has finally launched in Singapore!

What is Rakuten?

Rakuten, Inc. is one of the world's leading e-commerce companies and they just had a soft launch on 3rd December 2013 in Singapore, providing local consumers and businesses an e-commerce platform providing high quality merchandises from both Japanese and Singaporean merchants. They offer a wide array of products ranging from electronics, apparels, beauty products, food and beverages etc..! High quality merchandise shipped from Japan to suit local consumers not readily available on other e-commerce sites. In addition, registered members stand to earn Rakuten Super Points loyalty programme.

Rakuten provides other e-commerce services for B2B, B2B2C and even travel!

If you are a fan of japanese products (like me!), you would be happy to know that you literally have a one stop station for all your shopping and necessities!

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When Rakuten launched in December 2013, I had the privilege of shopping for gifts for myself, as well as MY READERS! <:

Here's what's for you guys!

1)

YES,  A nano block camera in the beautiful red! No kidding. I wish I could keep this for myself, but I didn't and I'm giving ONE of this away to you guys!

2)

A briefcase camera pouch. which I cannot help but kept one for myself. :D Even my mom loves this. Hehe

3. 

Another camera pouch in the shape of a vintage camera! I kept this for myself as well <: It doesn't just work as a camera pouch, you can even double it up as coin pouch!

How to be eligible for the giveaway?

To qualify,

1) Sign up for an account for FREE at Rakuten Singapore's Website HERE. 

2) Like Rakuten SG's Facebook Page

3) Like Smittenpixels Photography's Facebook Page

Lastly,

4) Drop me an Email @ fiona.sng@hotmail.com

• With the header:   Rakuten Giveaway
• Pass me the email address that you have used to sign up for the Rakuten account for verification purposes
• With the print screen to indicate that you have liked Smittenpixels Photography's Facebook account 
• This is optional but it is also a BONUS: But you may tell me anything about yourself, and how you started reading this space so that I can get to know more about you. (:

Giveaway ends on 19th April 2014 23:59.

I will choose 3 winners in total, 1 of you will walk away with the Nanoblock camera, and the other 2 will be receiving the adorable camera pouches. 

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION! (: I will be emailing the 3 winners in the next few days! :D

Do visit Rakuten Singapore and embark on your shopping spree now!

xx

For the boy's 25th

In an attempt to document down the process of me hand-making a scrapbook last year for D's 25th birthday, which obviously didn't follow through. I had wanted to combine these images into a video, but time got the upper hand and I was basically racing against it throughout the month I spent doing this.

It's been a long time since I last handcrafted, because each scrapbook takes me a few months to do at least but it's what I love doing since I was 16, and I pride myself in the fact that I use mostly scrap materials I find at home and cheap stickers that I source and collect over time cause I don't believe in overspending on these materials when I can make myself or find cheaper alternatives. I am lucky too, to have found someone who loves handmade gifts more than material goods. Never once have I had someone who bugs me to do make a card or scrapbook for him as much as D did, and I'm blessed.

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As promised, I will be doing a giveaway in my next post! Stay tuned because I have some really adorable gifts up for grabs! <:

xx