#220

Salam all! I know the silence of this blog is deafening, but I have been so busy with work lately. I hope you would forgive me. Anyway, I've been keeping quiet until my plans were all confirmed. I will be traveling to Europe from the 28th of December onward insyaAllah... I am stoked with excitement! 

Frankfurt, Germany

Zurich, Switzerland 

Florence, Italy

Paris, France

Amsterdam, Netherlands 

#294

I'm heading east for an assignment early tomorrow morning insyaAllah. Iman is accompanying me. We will be staying in Tanjong Jara, Dunggun. I make a return to the beautiful resort, this time as an adult and married! :) Hope everyone has a fantastic week, watch this space, might upload a photo or two while I'm there. 

#290

June has proven to be a hectic month for me.I am juggling between photography and working with the Chef in a Hat. Workload is pilling up, and I feel like I need to duplicate myself to keep the show going!

 I'll be traveling a lot this month insya'Allah for work and pleasure. Hence why I'm rushing to meet datelines so when I'm out of town, I can be at peace and not glued to my iPhone or laptop. ..(yeah, right!). 

Here's a sneak peek to where I'm off to:

First location from the 21st-24th of June

Second location from 29th of June - 1st of July. 

I was supposed to head down to Sydney, Australia on the 14th of June for an assignment but it got postponed to some time August. Oh well, at least I am traveling! Now back to work! 

#288

I am stoked about an assignment I have in June. I'll unveil more details on Monday insya'Allah :D 

#284

I had an assignment in Semenyih, yesterday. An engagement to be precise. Here's a sneak peek:

#270

We were featured on the Star yesterday, well our photos for the Royal wedding  we covered a month back :) 

Baby Aliyah

This is my niece Aliyah, the latest baby in our family. I'v been spending a great deal of time with her, my cousin says it would be a good platform for me to practice before I embrace motherhood... oh dear, I need to learn to look after my big baby (Iman) first before I can think of starting a family, but it was meant to be, of course I would thank the Almighty for the blessing :) 

#218

I just bought myself a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 D, a treat after endless nights and heavy workload. although I was tempted to swipe my card and purchase the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, but I would have burst my monthly spending quota, if I was not getting married and had no other obligations I am not surprised if I came out of the camera shop with the 50mm f/1.4 D, 35mm f/1.8 D and 24-70mm F/2.8 ....however that would mean eating rice cakes roti canai (what's cheaper than roti canai?) and drink plain water for the next 2 months. 

 image courtsy of Kenrockwell 

This made my day:

:) 

#188

I've been contemplating to get the AF-S Nikkor 35mm F1.8G DX since last year, that's 2 days worth of work pay. 

I actually don't mind spending on lenses because at the end of the day, I use it for work :) 

this was taken with the 35mm:

Persidangan PEMUDA UMNO 2011

My favorite shot of last night:

(c) Balqies Arafia 2011

Khairy Jamaluddin is such a compelling and eloquent speaker. A natural. I never paid any attention to politics (unless I had to study cases), specifically our country's politics but that all changed after listening to Khairy speak, he reminds me of a young Tun Mahathir. 

#167

I rarely take self-portraits of myself, because I think I suck at taking my own photos. But I like these from tonight:

the first photo was actually unintentional, but it turned out nice. The latter was obviously intended. 

#166

At Balqies Arafia Photography we provide macarons to keep our employees happy and creative. So far, I'm the only employee, so more macarons for me! yay! :P

 tee-hee! Well, I will be recruiting photo retouchers in the new future, if you're interested  e-mail me at:

                                

#165

Balqies Arafia Photography (BAP) will be affiliated with Groupon Malaysia.

Alhamdulilah. Thank you for the endless experience. ameen.

#164

 

A teaser on what's to be expected from Bali my trip. Half of the shoot was done in the water, it was cold and I was practically shivering but could not let myself be careless because I had my tool of trade with me in the swimming pool, one clumsy moment would lead to ... never mind what it would lead to! Alhamdulilah it went alright. ameen. I'm glad I got to challenge myself creatively. I have two more assignments for this week, so watch this space.

Behind the scenes @ Bali.

me directing, it was a pario and Indonesian batik theme shoot hence the reason me being wrapped in a pario to immerse myself in the moment :P

#156

Image courtesy of Pinterest.

wishes Iman could come along to Bali this Saturday. I need someone to carry my camera bag and equipments :p he-he. I'm kidding Iman! I am stoked with excitement, last I visited Bali was in 2004. I left 2 days before the Tsunami had hit Bali in December 26th 2004. Insya'Allah this trip will be a safe and an exciting photographic experience. ameen.

#147

If you have a Facebook account, and like my photos don't forget to 'Like' my page here.

#131

My father's mother, Sofiah.

#128

My first ever commissioned work:

 

Five years ago, it's been an amazing journey and there's still plenty to learn! Thank you for the opportunities and the endless support :) Syukur Alhamdulilah.