“this is it!” said one of the posters…and another said “today i marry my best friend”. you see, clark is a fireman or a firefighter? not quite sure which is the appropriate term and yes…his name is CLARK haha you know, as in, Clark Kent as in superman? so it was quite hilarious when they decided to tell a “faux fairy tale” version of their love story with Ashley, the pretty demure (cute) teacher, playing the damsel in distress coughing in a classroom filled with smoke and Clark came sliding down from the fire station pole, jumping over ramps (when they could seriously just run around it haha) and carrying her off in a dramatic slow motion sequence. 

but back to reality, their love story was one of a friendship that blossomed into a deeper romantic love and thus their theme for the wedding - bestfriends. and in that little time i spent with them, you can see that they are truly each other’s rock. where clark was nervous, ashley was calm and assuring to him. when ashley felt she needed space, clark rushed to her protection and took charge and it made her smile. 

to lovers and bestfriends!
congrats to ashley & clark :D 

…more pictures to come…

cheryl & erwin are my june wedding couple and i know i’ll be seeing a ton of familiar faces at their wedding! it’s gonna be amazing, i just know it ;) here are just some of my favourite shots from the engagement photosession, cheryl was so cute she came all excited with a boot full of props - from flowers to books to balloons and a broccoli…yes, haha a broccoli (her favourite veggie of all time haha)

their story began in NUS and that’s where their friendship and love blossomed. so of course, if you’re a student there or you were a student there, you’d recognize a few familiar looking spots!

the last photo? well, let me explain. haha cheryl and erwin were explaining to me that when it was really hot and bright, cheryl would use erwin’s hand as shelter hahaha, really cracked me up and i couldn’t help but snap their little show and tell.

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this is a little story of maybellene’s note. on hotel pen and paper, maybellene, huddled in the corner of the room with sebastian, using the bathroom wall as support attempted to pen down the han yu pin yin of her speech translated into chinese. having lived a couple of years in australia, her chinese was a little rusty and they had a good laugh over it. haha

thank you speeches are one of my favourite moments at weddings. you just can’t help but choke up with emotions when they share how much and why they love their family and friends. but the cutest part of this story is that during the outfit change, as maybellene and her little crowd of bridesmaids waited in the room helping her to polish up her speech with the right phrases, maybellene read out the words from her ipad and already started to shed her tears.

haha and of course, when they finally took the stage, there was much tears and much laughter too. a special time when family and friends will love and remember their love for one another as the couple walked off stage, balls of tissues in hand.

# more to come from maybellene and sebastian’s christmas day wedding!

www.nicolethen.com (info@nicolethen.com)

back from my trip and i missed the reflections of year 2011 and my goals for 2012 haha but i guess it’s better late then never since i just got back from overseas (more on the trip soon!). here’s a look back at the year at {nicolethen studio} in 2011 :D

shot my first lookbook for love bonito

haha it was real fun <3 and we forgot the whole luggage of clothes! and the security guard came by and we had to blah-blah him to let us continue shooting lol

test shoot with vineeta

we did a shoot with vinee and michele was my assistant during that time (thank you babe)! haha and thivya came to offer moral support and later on i shot her family portrait <3

love bonito lookbook corporate

shoot with francesca

my first official gig

at rehearsal

so after helping to 2nd shoot at wendy & marcus and then for my cousin (i want to thank them for even asking me to help them haha because i would have never thought weddings could be this fun. i would have never thought of photographing weddings ever), i got my first paid gig as the official photographer at denise & ivan’s wedding (thank you guys so much for your trust, love and amazing support!)

behind the scene at the hotel

so it rained like CRAZY that day haha i remember, we were getting soaked even while using umbrella. so we changed location and shot indoors instead. i was really happy with the results even though i shot at that location for the first time in an indoor setting.

at the actual day! they got married on polling day haha so they were featured in straits times ;) haha and there’s an iphone pictures of me shooting…well, behind the little girl doing a weird face haha

best friend photoshoot <3

the two of them were absolutely gorgeous :D haha

bryan and rachel’s wedding

rachel and bryan’s wedding was one fun and rowdy one haha, the yum seng was insane!! lol

the summer lookbook!

pre-wedding/engagement shoot with eileen & mervyn

couple of personal work

started experimenting with film too! absolutely loved it

portraits with munfoong/ kristie

started doing a couple more portrait sessions on film!

other personal work

with vineeta!

with rachel!

with constance ;)

family portrait with the tan family

wonderfully fun!! i just love the kids, they’re too adorable <3 keith and fiona were so funny too, haha they were afraid their kids will turn me away from photographing children lol. but no! i love them <3

added my own spin & styling for my sister’s couple shoot

success! and they both look so good ;)

graduation shoot

menwear fashion lookbook

first time working on menswear and it was fun ;)

another little lookbook

teeny tiny portrait session with tingzhi

one artist that i love to work with anytime

asokan family portrait

had a wonderful time with the family, just love these girls <3 hugs!

mommy photoshoot

photographed haslinda mommy’s glowing gorgeousness <3

eileen & mervyn’s actual wedding day

selina and gervais anniversary shoot

sylvia & justin’s engagement photosession

they printed out a photograph from their session for both their parents to keep. too cute and precious!

best friend photoshoot

the lovely pair who wanted to capture their friendship together as well as help out somali! thank you girls

genevieve & marcus’ wedding day

november started with the gorgeous genevieve and rockstar marcus!

ling yun & bernard’s wedding

the following week, lingyun and bernard officially tied the knot <3

portrait x dance session

sylvia & justin’s wedding day

the surprise left many others in tears too haha, too adorable

portrait session with sueann

met the lovely sueann and photographed her twenty-first bday special portrait <3 more on the photographs to come!

personal work

experimented with dark areas and corners with little light together with newbie model cherlyn and her little sister. will show more stuff too soon!

winter lookbook

portrait session with lemon

she celebrated her eighteen birthday and what better way then to keep beautiful pictures. after my engagement surprise, where ken put together this collage of pictures of us, the love and endearment of pictures we took just grew so much more!!

all in all, this was one AMAZING year and i’m so grateful to God for all the blessings. i cannot know the future and i can only plan my steps so much then work really hard at it. so truly credit must go to God who helped path the way. and of course, the wonderful support from my family, friends and my fiance! haha not forgetting you guys who have really helped me so much in ways you cannot imagine <3 thank you!!

I’ve wrapped up my photo sessions & weddings for the month and will now be working on the pictures as well as prepping for the december shoots. and these non-shooting periods are as important to me as the “shooting-periods” (if that is even an accurate way to describe my schedule haha). why is that so? i know of wedding photographers or videographers who shoot every weekend and shoot sometimes up to 3 weddings in a row back to back in just one weekend during peak periods!!

and that’s ALOT!! while i admire their stamina, it’s not where i want to go. to me, weddings are special because of the couple. and i want to grow to become fond of my couples, i want to take time to understand their love for one another and to absorb their wishes and vision. i don’t want to rush through each wedding or be so tired out that i leave no room to be emotionally invested in their special day. every wedding is special because the couple is unique and i never want weddings to feel or look the same (even though generally they are, but it’s still so different!)

by the time that special day arrives, i want to make sure that when i lift my eyes to the camera, i shoot both with my mind (knowing the technicals, schedule, etc) as well as my heart. that is why my wedding photography calendar is “full by two” for each month ;) cause every wedding day is special and every couple unique!

# film photography: just thought these pictures will be a very relaxing touch hee

if you’ve been a bride, a bridesmaid, or a guest you’ll soon realize that a wedding just cannot function well enough without an amazing party of friends. and i’m always very touched by the sisterhood and brotherhood between friends and siblings all coming together because it means something special to the bride and groom.

that’s one other thing i love about weddings. it’s a celebration of the couple and their love for one another, but it is also a celebration of friendships. the girls genevieve knows she can count on and the girls who love her and choose to be there for her on her special day. a special shout out to angela who did an amazing job in executing genevieve’s vision of style through hair and make up in such a tight time frame (apparently, the guys didn’t sleep so they were really early haha). also a huge thank you to Cerlyn for your help especially towards the end of the day!

it was really lovely getting to know all the beautiful bridesmaids (fern,cerlyn,bibi & goy) and genevieve just looked absolutely stunning and beautiful :D now onto the next chapter for the next time, the brothers ;) 

# but of course, you know i’m dying to blog about the couple and how marcus eyes smiled when he saw genevieve…but that’s for another chapter!

heading out to collect my gear and then meet up with the rest for the shoot! but before that, here’s a video of the wonderful lingyun & bernard at their wedding rehearsal. they’ll be getting married this saturday!! woohoo :D