Portraiture

Creating everlasting images of people looking their best.

Friday, 25 November 2011

Donathan & Joyce

Congratulations to Donathan & Joyce on their big day!  I had the chance to work along with Sok Eng on this joyous occasion: ...

Saturday, 19 November 2011

Kevin & Iris

Congratulations to my friend, Kevin, of 20 years who tied the knot with his girlfriend today! I had the opportunity to work alongside with Peiying on this special occasion.  Here are some of photos taken on this joyous occasion: ...

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Vincent & Bonnie

I had the honour to work with Edmund on his client's big day.  Congratulations to Vincent & Bonnie for tying the knot! ...

Thursday, 27 October 2011

Abandoned - Forest bashthrough

Today was a trip to multiple stops: Neo Tiew and Istana Woodneuk. Considering the remoteness of these places, careful planning has to be done to ensure the fastest and safest route. Arrival at Neo Tiew at 8+ in the the morning. Greeting me is a small town that looked much bigger after stepping in. No sign of any massive human activity apart from a contractor carrying out some works nearby alone, and thereafter, leaving the premises, with the whole town to myself. 2 hours exploration and I have then completed exploring nearly every nook...

Friday, 21 October 2011

The joy that brings self-satisfaction

I had just did a delivery of prints to a client. Though it wasn't a photobook, those prints certainly does bring about the sparkle in their eyes after seeing them. What brought me great joy was that they really like what had been produced. Sent via my BlackBe...

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Desmond & Jessica

Fortunately the gatecrash wasn't too tough for Desmond on his big day.  Congratulations to Desmond & Jessica for tying the knot, and working alongside with David Teng! ...

Monday, 29 August 2011

D2X

An acquisition had been done for my 1st pro-model. With photography as my undying burning passion, this has to be the best thing I can get for myself this year. It's late into the night, so a quick runthrough was done with thoses lenses I have, before wrapping up the end of the week. The weekend had been most exciting once I wield that camera in my hands and start to make great pictures. Well, not enough time for me to run through some books I've been on for the past week, but I'll catch them up tonight. Hopefully, more coverage. Sent...

Thursday, 25 August 2011

Equipments

Been awhile since I did some equipment shopping.I had been thinking if picking up an older version like the D2X would be a good choice since it's one of those faster models in their array. An ad for a preowned D3S was priced closed to a new set, and that definitely isn't worth considering.Had discussed with Allen and those single digiter models are the pro series as compared to 3-digiters of semipro series; altogether a different adversary.At this time, I'm not a publisher yet so it's not time to command a 'studio range pro model'This morning's...

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Networking

wow! Seems like it's been awhile since I last wrote here.... The past few days had been just busy; busy with post productions, networking with photographers.  It's really great to know a couple of them like Katelyn James; she not just makes great photos, she is gorgeous in person!  Someone I would like to meet up, network and hopefully collaborate with some day. Seems like the season for weddings in Singapore is more packed towards end of the year, so I have 3 weddings to be done within 2 months.  And I'm just simply excited! I'm...

Monday, 22 August 2011

Where the fatigue slips in...

Today's definitley one of those pretty mentally challenging days.  I had actually dozed off a couple of times while doing my post productions. Things certainly aren't as easy when you are running solo.  Basically, I do EVERYTHING; from talking to people, proposing, shooting, post production.  It does gets mentally and physically challenging, and I'm loving it. Well I have to be turning in for a quick snooze; just to be fresher to complete the rest of my wor...

Sunday, 21 August 2011

STGCC 2011@Suntec

It's been awhile since I attended these events to shoot. Finally done with it, almost 4 hours in the run along with Leonard. A good and quiet meal before we moved off. The key to shooting effectively at such events are speed and precision. Having a tele lens definitely helps to get that upclose shots when faced with a multitude of shooters. Looks like it'll be a good time for PP since there's no further events for the evening. Sent...

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Finetuning

The past couple of nights had been some fine tuning in my specialty. What I need to do is to shoot, refine, reshoot and keep it going till quality reaches there. No doubt the photos taken now are better than how it was a year ago, it is still a build up process over time. I have not written here for some time as the days had been packed with events; indoor shoots, backstage shoots and so on, and so forth. Recognition is slowly being gained in modelling portals so that's one good sign for all the works I have put in. No matter how tough...

Saturday, 23 July 2011

A haven for used equipment

Ok, it's been awhile since I have wrote here. Been packed with many things over the past weeks and have finally got some time to stick in to write something. Peninsula Plaza seemed like a haven for used equipment; you name it, they have it; a great feast for the eyes if you're into this. I didn't find what I needed so it's time to head back to base and use my regular setup for tomorrow's on-location shoot.   Sent via BlackBerry from SingT...

Thursday, 30 June 2011

Portraiture - Endless possibilities

The mind is fresh again for me to carry on after a 9 hour deep sleep. What I have gathered the previous night should suffice, so that I can continue to have an endless choice for on location shoots. Portraiture, portraiture, portraiture. This never ends to thrill me with the endless possibilities. Sent via BlackBerry from SingT...

Brainstorming for locations

Just spent sometime brainstorming on good locations for photoshoots as I want to have a wider choice of places I can tap on. So there I went scribbling out my mindmap to have a bigger picture of the whole thing; afterall; drawing out a mindmap is more effective than doing an e-version. I get more out when I 'spread' them out. However, it's late and I better get some rest. Sent via BlackBerry from SingT...

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Updating of my portraiture site

It's still in the making and I'm beginning to have more photos to be displayed on a simplified, yet professional looking site. Being away from home is a good way to keep me focused to fulfill what I needed to do. Had spent several hours at a quiet place to get it all going. Now, home sweet home and to get something to refuel myself from all the mental works. Sent via BlackBerry from SingT...

Sunday, 12 June 2011

8 Days Flea Market@Marina Square

It's not a planned shot today but when I visited a friend's shop in town, I caught a few shots of Jesseca Liu, a pretty well-liked local celebrity.  She sure look gorgeous in person as compared over the screen. An especially fruitful trip down town toda...

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Destined indoor activities this afternoon

PP done for the morning's shoot: http://tinyurl.com/3wecc9s This afternoon will be destined to be fully indoor for any photoshoots to be conducted as the weather had turned gloomy after the lunch hour. Looks like there will be little or no chance to catch a good sunset this evening as this rain will continue till late.  That's how the weather had been "programmed" these da...

Landscape - Sunrise@Punggol Beach

Arise and shine at 5:30am and I'm nowhere tired.  After doing a quick run on the Web, I had decided to move to Punggol Beach to do a sunrise shoot.  Equipment were all prepared by 5:50am and ready to roll out. When I arrived at the beach, it was slightly past 6:30am; sky seemed a little brighter than usual but no sign of the sunlight breaking through.  I should be in time.  Equipments were quickly assembled and ready for the birdie which should be out soon. At 7:05am, the first sign of the orangey globe could be seen in a...

Wednesday, 25 May 2011

People mass and weird photography outing signal

I don't usually blog about my dreams here, but here's one scenario which has strong relations to my photography passion. I saw many people in this setting as if we were all going to some national parks, however, the sky is purple in colour and trees are white, as if all of us are under the filter effect of IR photography. The signal that was sent out were something unusual - seemingly out of this world but it sure resembled some audibles of morse code. All these seemed short but they certainly are so vivid in my min...

Monday, 23 May 2011

On location - the preparation

There will be another location shoot today, after the maximum heat of the sun has faded off later in the afternoon. Right now, some preparation works as I need to have a sequenced flow how the shots are to be done lat...

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

On location: Tampines Eco Green

Today's the first off-cam flash outdoor shoot with my exclusive model, Serene.  I'm minusing the 'personal salutation' (if that's a right decision) as I want to keep this journal professional. Our location: the new eco park in Tampines where it's about 10mins' walk from town centre.  The nearest parking amenity was just across the road, so that didn't make accessibility an issue, as we have to make the best of shots while Serene's fresh. We finally found our spot after the Forest Trial.  Wind is still a little challenge, so since...

Sunday, 15 May 2011

Location shoot: Sengkang Riverside Park

Ok, finally we have a chance to do an outdoor studio shot. With the wind still being a challenge, we managed to do some shots under shelter and at the floating platform.  What a cooling evening.  Although not all shots are perfect, I had managed to get the hang of it while taking at different angles, with a variety of lighting styles.  However, battery had complete depleted just in time as I experimented a few self-shot lighting shots...oh well, have to review the photos another day. The next best option is to do indoors; all I...

Friday, 13 May 2011

Pixel Knight T-331

Ok, I've finally acquired my first wireless flash trigger since I started this strobist journey. I got it at a good deal of $199 from Alan Photo.  Seems like smaller shops like Reddotphoto, Artboxfoto and even sgcamerastore charges at a higher rate. What's left is to test this shutter and see how effective it is.  With a range of 65m, that's pretty sufficient as it has the superiority of HSS over many other wireless triggers. If all else is good and I've mastered the strobist's way, more of this will come in useful. Sent via...

Thursday, 12 May 2011

Getting those as second nature

I had a 2nd watch on Zack's tutorial to get those technical knowledge into my subconscious.  While it may already be late, absorption rate is still at maximum. It's really important to have those knowledge as 2nd nature, as they will play an important role when I turn professional. I recall how much I relied on PS when I was still in the early stages of my dSLR - the 'resurrected' shutter journey.  No doubt it helps to make photos more impressive, it's not the core skills in photography.  This processed, more known as PP, is now...

Indoor Flashplay - the prelude

Come this Saturday will be the first indoor studio shot at Nicole's abode, thanking her in advance for inviting us to her place. What we currently lack is the wireless radio trigger, in case we need the flash's sensor to be out of the camera's line-of-sight.  Equipments?  We have 2 flashes, 2 umbrellas and 3 cameras if Madeline's bringing her own.  Our objective this round is to get the fundamentals correct, and as much as we can get perfect shots directly off our camer...

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Equipments, equipments

There are so many equipments of choice in the market.Since I'm into studio photography, good equipments are to be used. B&H Video is one good site that Zack had recommended in his tutorial. For example, Westcott softboxes, Pocketwizard Plus II and Alienbee strobe flash are some of the common things that are used. By far, I only have one studio umbrella, so still, a considerable amount of inventory to gather.It's a common slang for the photographer to call this the BBB Syndrome, where a surge in massive purchases have been considered for...

Enrichment of knowledge

I had not touched my D300S for sometime; not because I have lost any weeny bit of interest in my passion.Extensive reading has been done on books, watching tutorials by Zack Arias and Bryan Peterson. What I need now is the absolute practice to apply those I have learnt.Had just read an article on Zack's blog, which had gave a quick runthrough of 10 tips of how one can be a professional photographer; those can be applied in steps but not required to be in order. Of all the tutorials I've watched, I found Zack's to be most interesting from his...

Thursday, 28 April 2011

Clik Elite series backpack

Just came across this backpack which will cater to my needs when I go adventuring with my digital sniper: http://www.clikelite.com/ They feature Elite series, which has compartments made for camera accessories, as well as a separate compartment for basic necessities like clothes, camping equipment etc. This will be a great investment so that I can travel far with proper equipping - Uprise 48 wasn't really made for backpacking as it doesn't have room to keep my basic necessities.  In Singapore, so far, what I can source is from Manda...

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

PP after Melaka backpacking

Finally completed the series of my photos taken at Melaka's backpacking; it was a memorable trip I had been the most independent during the trip; and being able to capture photos of the place at my own pace, without any interruption.Some pictures appear overexposed under the extremely scorching sun; more practise needed?  The best I could do to correct them is via PS, which has tools to fix these fla...

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

A PP accompanied evening

Sleepless night. I decided to start off redoing an event photo that had previously been done under the noobiest settings; poor colore management and presentation. It was all done in a couple of hours, after a brief browse and deciding on which to start. Dearie's dad' birthday celebration 2010. At least now, have yet another of the portfolio of a birthday event to present on my website. Flash-based still in the making.  Looking at those joyous moments does bring joy to me, especially those who are close to my heart. Again, some people...

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Baby's 1st birthday and flash photography

What did not tun out to me turned out to be actual; I became baby Amanda's 1st birthday's event photographer for the afternoon; there was a huge group of guests so I managed to capture the moments of her cutting the cake, birthday songs and group photos. Next destination, Fort Canning. The weather had been hot but we managed to do some practises with flash photography, courtesy of our unofficial "master", Allen.  Bounce flash had been...

Saturday, 19 March 2011

Today's photoshoot might be more focused on heartland, since the hours are not sufficient for a full day shoot.While waiting for my car to be ready, this is a good time for me to set my mind thinking about where I should go for these "short shoots".  The town that I had went by this morning seem to be a good place; just that I didn't want to stay too long there as that was not the primary purpose, no doubt in the vicinity.Guess my full day shoot shall be left till tomorrow instead.Coming to think about it, it has been coming to a year, but...

Campaign shots

Another corporate event where my photoshoot skills will be utilised.Marketing team is doing some outdoor campaigns and require someone to take some photos of the occurence.  The good news is, they have hired a crew of pretty ladies to do the distribution, so my reply was "ain't I so lucky" to R...Time to do some readups before the real thi...

Sunday, 13 March 2011

2 projects completion

FInally finished processing photos of both events slightly after dinner. The body is feeling some discomfort after the prolonged illness since Thursday.  Could it be the bad air, or just manisfestation of germs when sleeping in airconditioned room with dearie, who was also unwell?Or could it be the bites from mosquitoes at the dilapidated bungalow shoot?  I certainly hope it isn't the last option.I have to rest early tonight since I have to work tomorrow; hopefully, will be just perfect when I awake tomorr...

Saturday, 12 March 2011

BBQ@Nicolas' place, Grandeur 8

The photoshoots turned out better with SB-900, especially for offical events as such.Being the official photographer, eating is something which can only be done periodically after each series of shoots. It had been assisted with dearie this time, as she helped me collect the food.I'll do the processing tomorrow since event ended quite late, and dearie wanted her Koi t...

The ruined bungalow with past glory: The Mission

10:48amI had finally found the opportunity to move into the premises after a 100% coast-clear status.At the first sight of the dilapidated house, one can recall how it had appeared with its past glory decades ago. What had happened since it's vacation from 1991? Being a bungalow, it has its own garage and I moved into the house. Level 2 is no longer accessible the staircase up have been fully destroyed. Even the flooring across the two main halls in the front have already eroded, exposing the wooden frames that held the flooring in place.Hanging...

The ruined bungalow with past glory: Pre mission

I'm in luck today. The house which I plan to shoot still stands, only being shielded from the public with zinc panels and self made doors.Coast is quite clear now, only for the next action of moving in at the right time.As the place is pretty uphill, the best formof getting here is by wheels rather than by foot.Right from the sidewalk, one can see how magnificent it stands, along with the long lost glory since inhabitance from 1991. I have never learnt about who the owner was until I did some homework online.It seems that this place where I am...

Acquisition of another tool

I've finally obtained the SB-900, the ultimate tool for night portraut and event photography! Having ran a couple of test shots, the results are simply perfect; all I need now are a few rounds of practises and I'll be all set to make a good shots for events. During my catchup with Marc, I chanced upon that he runs an events company which hosts a team of professionals, so that's where I can get opportunities to rub shoulders with people who are for real in the business. Another good opportunity lies ahead for me....

Tuesday, 8 March 2011

A probe into the history of Eric Choa's house

Further reading unveills the story of the empty house beside Paramount Hotel in Marine Parade Road. It had belonged to a late lawyer who passed on in Nov 2009.The strange thing is that the house had been vacant - not a single time had I seen anyone entering or exiting the house at one time. The question is, if anyone of the family members are still holding ownership to that house?Probably only those who lived there will know the truth; an indeed impressive view of its past glo...

Monday, 7 March 2011

Major Coupeland's house

There's more than meets the eye on Mt Emily and Mt Sophia.Major Coupeland's house stands at Upper Wilkie Road, but I wonder if it is still around.I have not seen this house with my own eyes, but stories have mentioned that it had been abandoned for 20 years...Definitely worth a sig...

Abandoned temple

I spotted this temple when I was driving out of Upper Serangoon area.Hidden behind somw conserved shophouses, it sits comfortably on a patch of grass and yet tightly bounded by overgrown weeds, it appears to be a tiny building amongst its surroundings.I wonder on the history behind it...

Saturday, 5 March 2011

Abandoned Places - Seletar

The mission was carried out in the late morning as I had spent some time researching online prior to moving out.  My initial intent was look for Baker Street in Seletar, but ended up on a road which I could see the control tower of Seletar Airport, which also stand 2 abandoned colonial houses.  It took me awhile to gather shots of the place and as I was replying a message in the grass patch, I saw a police car and the driver was looking in my direction as it drove on the main road.  I made m move far away from the area to steer clear...

Mission Seletar

It is decided; today's journey will be to Seletar Barracks which is just about 10mins' drive from dearie's place.No doubt I had been a little tired; it is already 10am now after tossing and turning in bed on numerous split slumber for the past 2.5 hours since I was awaken by my alarm at 7:30am.Time to get packing before the sun starts to hit down ha...

Friday, 4 March 2011

Pre-epic adventure

i've been liberated from the deak-chains. What a pity that I'm not armed with my digital sniper today as the attraction from Mt Emily still lures me close.Come this weekend, an uncapped adventure to cover those places which have not been fully explored. Let's hope the journey go as planned.This, will definitely make my adventure worthwhile, and bring back an epic collecti...

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Abandoned Places - round up

Just mindmapping those places I have on mind which are still, unpublished to the public.More details to fill my itinerary for these places....

Sunday, 27 February 2011

Abandoned Places - further uncovering

Just discovered more places which are yet to be discovered at the following website in Singapore:http://ghostclubsg.blogspot.comhttp://www.sdam.sg/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=94Looks like there are certainly more unknown places which are abandoned to the public yet...which reminds me o the abandoned house beside Paramount Hotel in Marine Parade, opposite Parkway Parade.  Locked gates without a single soul in sight from day to night, nor any of the windows had been opened once.Another place would be the abandoned house at 25 - 26 Still Road...

Monday, 7 February 2011

Mass reprocessing: 169 - Travelogy: Batam Trip 29.05.10 - 30.05.10

169 photos done in a span of about 10 hours including meal breaks...that's sure some productive time spent at dearie's place revamping those pics taken at our Batam trip almost a year ago.I should be relooking at how to use FluidMask since they should help me save more time with those background with lots of vegetation.Another photowork redo...

Sunday, 30 January 2011

Reworks marathon

Finally completing a series of 100 photos including reworks, the entire journey lasted 6 hours. I had reworked Baghdad Street and added more pics for the upcoming CNY. Still more to go but I shall end here today.There are more undone works including the following:Dinner@Hotel Rendevous 30.10.10Hari Raya@Joo Chiat 2...

Saturday, 29 January 2011

Atbara House - 1898

That's the name of the former French Embassy and the year it was built, which I managed to take a photo of many months back when I went there one of the Sundays.Seeing those pictures in Flickr, I now have further inspiration to relive those pics by processing them into my neater, yet more professional photoframe.The festive season may be around the corner, but I am still captivated by these abandoned places around the country. Take for example, Neo Tiew estate, which had been abandoned since 1989 or so, with it's ungazetted area, makes welcome...

Thursday, 27 January 2011

Planned additions

Ok, the following are my planned additions to my D300S: AFS 35mm F/1.4G $2130 (SLRR 12/10) AF-S VR II 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED $3030 (cash) iPhoot 18/01/11 AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED $2580 (TK 07/10) That would be a hefty pricetag for me but I'm looking in the long run...to cover for all distanc...

Sunday, 23 January 2011

Nikkor Trinity

Just learnt from Hwa Seng about switching to his new Trinity lens, the pics of his old Trinity are all purely Nikkor, the most expensive lens that are compatible with Nikon dSLRs - straight from their own manufacturers. I have a 50% inventory of that as my prime lens is a Nikkor build; colourwise, there are some significant differences so I already had in mind to bring dearie for a portrait shot one of these days. I had done up most of the pics taken for CNY 2011, just to capture more pics from more places where the festive season can be felt....

Saturday, 22 January 2011

Festivals - Chinese New Year 2011

My CNY 2011 collection had been done up pretty quickly ever since I took time to collect those pics over the weekend.  There are still a few more places where I should capture the shots; Chinatown, Tampines Mall, Singapore River and the rest will be places I can find. Just wondering how I can get a definite sharp pic in manual mode especially for those shots which involve heavy movement of subject, without flash?  That was what I had been known for: Flashless shooter - producing images in premium quality without the usage of flas...