[CMW] Hi everyone, I'm Cherry... your wedding or love story photographer in Thailand!

Good afternoon... I decided to join a blogging challenge called the Feel Good Blogging Challenge which will require me to write a post each day for the next 7 days! How exciting!

In this first post I'll be introducing... me! So, here we go!

Hi, I'm Cherry as you might already know :) I'm a photographer based in Thailand on the gorgeous island of Koh Samui (although right now I'm on holiday visiting my family in Australia!), however I LOVE to travel and love it when clients book a destination wedding or love story session anywhere else in Thailand! I live with my boyfriend, Nek (who is in Australia with me right now) and between us both, we own 3 businesses, so it can get a little busy at times ;) I have loved photography since I was young and I wouldn't be happier doing anything else for a living! Wedding days are so much fun and I love spending the time to get to know my clients leading up to their big day so that by the time their wedding day does come around, we're great friends already! 

I started blogging a few months before I had started up my business to get a feel for writing, which is probably about 2 years ago now! I'll let you in on a secret, and that is that I actually used to dislike blogs and was kind of scared to start my own, as I thought they were all just to talk, talk and talk about yourself for others to read... however as soon as I started reading some of the other blogs out there I realised that most blog posts are actually quite informative in which ever topic the writer is writing about, and of course, that blogs are great marketing tools (apparently google loves blog posts!) as well. So I knew having a blog would be a great way to put my work out there for my future clients to see and also for them to get to know me a little as sometimes I mix in some personal blog posts as well about my daily life in Thailand.

[destination love story] Miren & James, Sha Ha Beach, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

Ahhhhh..... THIS session has been a long time coming (in sharing it on my blog that is!)... It just makes me so happy every time I look at these pictures because THESE TWO.. they are great friends of Nek and I.

Let me pull back a bit and tell you some more.

I first met Miren (pronounced Mee-den) -one of the most gorgeous + beautiful people I know, inside and out- and James, who is friendly in the best way and you can just fall into conversation (about anything) with him so easily... more than 3.5 years ago when Nek first introduced them to me.  They used to live on Samui with us, teaching English (and Spanish) at Samui International School and we used to go Stand Up Paddleboarding (see my guide of things to do on Samui, featuring Miren in the photos and James behind the camera, he's forever documenting their travels & adventures) together and enjoyed the island lifestyle together for a while..

August last year, they moved to Hong Kong. We were sad to see such good friends go but knew we would see them again. So when my yearly visa ran out this year in June, we contacted them to see if it was a good time to visit... and luckily it was!

They offered to let us stay with them in their gorgeous apartment in Sai Kung (one of the most beautiful areas in Hong Kong, Nek and I agreed) for the whole of our 6 day stay, so we are forever grateful to these two and I felt like some photographs of the two of them together might be a nice gift :)

After the boys had gone Stand Up Paddleboarding in the bay, James went to change into his 'photo outfit' that we had picked out earlier. Nek left us to go back and start cooking up a yummy Thai dinner for us all while I spent some time on the shores of Sha Ha Beach, Sai Kung with these two beautiful people....

It was foggy and so beautiful at the time, the beach businesses were closing up for the day while families still played in the water. 

 

I was so excited to hear Miren & James' happy news when she told me they will become three this year! It was amazing to see my friends so happy in a new way, Miren was so bubbly and joyful in everything we did together, you can really see how excited they both are to welcome their little boy into the world.

The whole time we were taking photos, James was so nervous, haha... he kept saying 'Ooooh, I've never been photographed by a professional photographer before!' So I just told them to talk, be with each other & enjoy the moment ;)

It was a tough experience for me to go through too, you know... friends can tell it like it is, and when we got back after the session (all staying in the same apartment), James wanted a preview of the photos straight away!! I had to go all 'HEY, this process is secret!! None of my clients get to see their photos like this!!' on him ;D

Miren still has her Thai 'sai sin', to protect from bad spirits... You can get these at the temples in Thailand, monks bless them for you and women are to wear them on their left arms, men on the right, until they naturally fall off.

James started recalling all these memories from their travels together which made for some cute reactions!

Can you believe these two have been to 20 different countries together??! Yes. Twenty.

James is English, Miren Spanish, their little boy will be born in Hong Kong... how cool is that?

They also have their own love language... Spanish, which James speaks fluently. They love whispering to each other in it <3 or maybe that's just them trying to organise something in secret, like my brother and I did when we were kids and our parents couldn't understand us speaking Thai. ;)

I can't wait to meet their little one, one day. I just know he will be a wonderful little person, just like his parents!

Uhhh, I LOVE these two photos!

While we stayed in Hong Kong with them, James and Miren took us out to dinner at some of the most delicious dim sum and market style restaurants... ohh, so GOOD! We went to see the Symphony of Lights together, and they took us hiking up in the Sai Kung Country Park which was so beautiful!  All in all, they made our trip.

I can't wait to watch my friends grow together, and hear about their travels (which are constant!) and see Jame's photos... I know their adventure is just beginning ;)

We'd spent enough time on the beach, so we started heading back in the direction of their apartment...

I love how rustic & local Sai Kung feels, it's really such a nice area of Hong Kong.

Can't even describe... I love these photos. It feels so good to capture your friends, and see them, and their personalities in something I've captured :)

I also wanted to print off a photo for them and this is what I chose in the end, we left it on their dining room table with a card summing up our gratitude & LOVE for them as we left on a weekday while they were both at work, teaching.

I hope you just love these photos, as much as I do. These guys mean a lot to me!


Happy Thursday!

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[travel] Upcoming trip to Australia!!!

I've been holding onto this VERY EXCITING news (who know how!?) and keeping as quiet as I could since last December now, fearing the worst... that somehow, something might go wrong and my biggest dream for the year might not come true.

BUT now? Well, I'm soooo happy to say that it's come true! Nek actually got his visa granted, so we've booked the flights and we will be off to AUSTRALIA!!!!



I can't begin to tell you all, or even try to put into words how STOKED I am about this trip. For one, I'm dying to see my family again (as most of my friends and clients know) all of my close family and I made trips here and there within just a few months of each other, meaning we all saw each other around the same time and haven't since. So it worked out that it's been nearly two years since we all saw each other in person (I mean, I'm sure my brother will look completely different than when I last saw him - I'm talking different coloured hair and new piercings/tattoos, people!) and all I can say is... I love the internet. Thank god for Viber. and Skype. And Whats App. Oh, and snapchat, which is apparently the only social media/application cool enough for my brother to use, so I have the app to communicate solely with him! haha ;)

For another, well, I get to show Nek around the AU-land! I just know he's going to LOVE it!! When we first met, Australia was the country he most wanted to go to, and we are finally getting the chance to go together! I'm sure there will be surfing. And shark catching (by mistake, as my dad did yesterday morning). And Great Ocean Road.. road trips.

Back to the awesome dealeo/announcement thing we've got going on...

I just wanted to say, if you or any one you know and love would be interested in having Cherry May Ward photograph you while we are there... please feel free to get in touch. You can email me at hello@cherrymayward.com, I can't wait to hear what you have in mind!! :)

We will be spreading our time between 3 cities, because I have family ALL over the place haha ;)

**EDITED:

First up is Gold Coast (for one night) the we are off to Cairns. We will arrive 15th October 2014 for one night& day in the beautiful Gold Coast, then we will fly to Cairns the next day on the 16th October and stay approximately 2.5 weeks then head to Sydney for 1.5 weeks, then Melbourne for, you guessed it, two weeks! Then we fly back to Thailand just in time for the busy season here in December.

AUSTRALIA TRAVEL ITINERARY 2014:

Gold Coast, Queensland
15th October 2014 - 16th October 2014 (A full day & a half!) 

Cairns, Queensland

16th October - (approximately) 30th October

Sydney, New South Whales

(approximately) 30th October - 14th November

Melbourne, Victoria

(approximately) 14th November - 29th November

I am hoping to get lots of family and friends time in of course, but would also like to devote some time to photography while there, as I'd LOVE to get to go back more often, and there's nothing I love more that travelling and working at the same time...  :D

The dates above are approximate at the moment (although they won't be much different, just depends on the cheapest domestic flights at the end of the day), the two certain dates are the arrival and departure dates (and that's how we like to travel haha, not too much planning!) .

I really am open to anything, I'm a couples & wedding photographer, so I LOVE photographing love... think engagement photography, proposing, elopements, a lifestyle shoot with a couple who loves to SURF, any kind of styled/conceptual shoot with a model or couple, I'd love to hear from you!

Ohhh and it's my dream to shoot a couple on top of the cliffs down south along the Great Ocean Road, I just want to put the idea out there, because I know it's do-able, and would be so amazingly beautiful!!!

Also, if you are a photographer... I'd love to meet up! I love meeting new photographers and making friends!!!

A very HAPPY WEDNESDAY, from an oh-so-excited Cherry!

xoxox

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[travel] Penang, Malaysia

This is one post that's been a long time coming!! 

I thought I'd start writing about my travels, since it's something Nek and I both love so much and dream about often... we love to travel not just to see someplace new or go on a break from everyday life, but to experience different cultures and ways of life. I mean when I think about all the different countries, cultures, beliefs, traditions and upbringings people all over the world have, had it gets me all excited! And I want to learn about as many of them as possible! It's my dream to find something I can hold onto from those people be it a part of their culture/ tradition that I love, or just a wonderful memory of that place, or an amazing experience we had there. I believe that travel truly can make you richer, in life.  And every time I travel, I hope to learn something that can make me a better person!  :)

ANYWAY, back to telling you about Penang... Nek and I have been to there together twice now and I have to say I really like it. It's a Malaysian island (and State) and that time we stayed in Georgetown, the spot with the most little hostels... We've actually been to Penang together twice now, but I actually go quite often, and will be heading back there again this September for my visa... so if you're a past client and are in Penang and want to meet up, send me an email!! I love catching up with you all!

Our trip started from Samui, as you may be able to guess, haha! We booked the trip to Penang from one of the many tour/travel organisers on the island, which means we got to take the ferry across to Surat Thani...

And drive nearly 11 hours on a minibus, down all the way past the border of Malaysia, over the  bridge connecting the Penang island, to the mainland and into Georgetown. We had some nice views driving through the last bit of Malaysia watching a storm come in while the sun set as well! :) 

When we got to Georgetown, we found this nice old hostel that I had stayed in on my previous trip there alone, got some delicious INDIAN food for dinner and chilled out for the night.

The next morning we explored... I love the rustic feel in Georgetown. 

We always love to go to this breakfast market and get some delicious brekkie!

Hahah, spot me if you can in the background somewhere, Nek snuck a photo of me :)

Then we had a walk around the market areas before we headed off for the day :)

This restaurant was so busy, we thought maybe we should have tried the breakfast there!

We got on a bus to Batu Feringgi beach :) The bust drive is nice and scenic once you get to the coast, so keep a lookout!

Here's a look at Batu Feringgi beach...

....But the day we went there, there wasn't much happening at the beach and the weather wasn't that great so we decided to go straight to the Teluk Bahang National Park. 

Acting the part of tourist is fun, especially when it's a great excuse to get lots of photos of each other, haha!

There were fishing houses floating in the sea, and a storm brewing!

We actually really liked the hike in the park, and we saw heaps of monkeys, we planned to walk to another beach in the park called Monkey Beach..

The only thing was it was, it started raining quite heavily when we were half way there on another beach, so we decided to head back out when the rain slowed down. 

Here's one of the cute guys who guided the way for us!

After a full few days of doing stuff, we ended the day by walking the gorgeous streets in Georgetown and finding some nice places to chill.

Micke's Place was so nice! The owner, Micke, is so friendly to everyone visiting his shop and is there to offer any travel tips from his own experience. We had dessert there and it was SO DELICIOUS!! We had a crepe with orange flambé and chocolate and ice cream and a few drinks.  Highly recommended!

Then MORE walking proved handy after dinner, then dessert but we ended up finding another place we just had to pop into... Moustache Houze!

Haha ;)

This was the deciding factor; Nek fell in LOVE with these lights haha! So we luckily were about to get a table just before they were closing, and get some photos of their inspiring decor :) Nek loved them so much, he wanted to use these lights at our Bar, or house! I think they are pretty cool too!

 

They had mummy drinks, and again desserts (but we didn't have any more though!) and cocktails.

The last day was just relaxing, so we didn't get many photos, except for the breakfast haha! Yummm, I LOVE Cha siu bao!!

Georgetown is a very historical town, full of colour, cute rustic lane ways and lovely people! If you have a few days to drop by, I definitely recommend it! 

Best of all, there's a lane called Love Lane ..... <3 :) 

Have a lovely and happy mid-week, Wednesday!

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