The Seed Of Love

For my latest photostory, Ashlyn approached me months before her big wedding day. Tapping my specialisation in photostory, she requested me to create a video that will express her appreciation to the man that she loves.

The photo session took place in December 2009, and was broadcast during their wedding reception on 6 Feb 2010.

For weeks after the shoot, I had no idea how to start creating the photostory. I had the script, I had the photos, but I need the soundtrack. Then ...

I was stuck on a photo montage project, until I got inspiration from one of my compositions and decided to use it as the soundtrack. #fb 10:48 PM Dec 31st, 2009 from yoono

The answer is "Shyanne", a track from my Piano Spa 4 album. The music seems very apt because it doesn't sound too depressing or too cheerful. A nice fit to the whole story, about reflection of the past, drawing an understated emotion which builds after the chorus, into the climax, before echoing into the coda. The music ends in an open unresolved chord, signifying a journey that does not end.

The original idea was to get Ashlyn to narrate the text, but during the draft, I inserted the text and showed to her. She liked it that way. For that, I had to make the montage move slower so that the viewer can read the text and absorb the images.

Anna L: Portfolio

After the previous outdoor casual shoot, Anna and I did a studio session at my house. Every model must have a few of such photos in their portfolio when going for casting. And there should be minimal photoshopping (save to remove pimples or eye bags), as it is rather misleading if the real person turns out to look different from the photo.

Makeup and hairstyling by Lynette Pang, who also did a great haircut job for the shoot.






Apart from doing Anna's portfolio shoot over the weekend, I also did a pre-wedding photoshoot with Pierre and Jane. They are both avid scuba divers, and naturally, the photos revolve around the waters. I'll be ploughing through the thousand-plus images I shot in the 2-day shoot, but here's a preview shot:

Wedding Moments - My Final 2

My final 2 wedding assignments are at both extremes of challenges. One is absolutely tiring - a 12-hour Day 1 and 5-hour Day 2 shoot - and the other totally relaxing - a 5-hour church wedding shot with 3 other photographer friends.


Jon is my primary school classmate, whom I met again during NS. From then on, we keep in touch and met up once a while. Originally, I was to take their pre-wedding photo at Bangkok in September. Unfortunately, Thailand was facing some political crisis and my wife forbade me to go. Eventually, I found another photographer that met their budget. It would have been a great experience, but I guess it was not meant to be mine.

The entire wedding was a test of my endurance. From the early morning bridal preparation to the gate-crash, and tea ceremonies, to the full-length wedding ceremony, plus the next-day wedding banquet. I took nearly 1800 images, double of most other weddings. Church weddings usually expend lots of frames because of the exchange of vows sequence.

Here are some of my favourite shots of Jon, my friend.













After this wedding, I immediately sold off half of my camera gear, despite having one more wedding shoot. That's because my "swan song" wedding assignment is accompanied by 3 other buddy photographers, so I can afford to go basic. One of them armed with the 70-200mm lens while the other brought prime lenses. Kevin is the groom and our colleague, whom we hang out with and discuss about photography stuffs.

Kevin and Angela love the camera. They never fail to give me that spontaneous moments. When people enjoy being taken, the photos naturally becomes good.











While processing all these photos, I felt a sense of nostalgia. After all, these are my final works for wedding day photography. As I looked through my past photos I took, I began to recall how it all started.

My very first wedding shoot "trial" attempt was for my wife's good friend in early 2005, and I was using the Sony F828. Months after that shoot, I bought myself my first DSLR, the Nikon D70, to equip myself as a serious wedding photographer. My second wedding shoot was with another experienced wedding photographer who allowed me to join him to learn from him and build my portfolio. The third wedding shoot was done thanks to my friend who heard of my venture into wedding photography and so got her friend to agree to let me try. My fourth wedding shoot was for my colleague whom I convinced to let me cover her wedding. For this wedding, I put in a comprehensive package, from childhood montage to the actual day express montage, my first. For wedding no. 5, I requested my university friend who already got an official photographer to let me shoot his wedding as a second photographer.

With my five-wedding portfolio I posted online, I clinched my very first paid wedding assignment in Dec 2005. I think I charged them S$400 inclusive of prints. They liked my photos and even invited me to their home to do some more family portraits before the relatives flew back to overseas.

Following that shoot, I got to shoot for my ex-boss' wedding in Jan 2006. Again, I requested to be a second photographer because they have already booked an official photographer. Weeks after I gave her the photos, she told me that she actually preferred my photos to the official photographer. From that moment, I knew I was in the right track in my style of wedding photography.

3 years later, now in Jan 2009, despite my announcement of "retirement", I'll probably still take up assignments via referrals, if my schedule allows and if they are willing to pay S$2000 for the service, which will include a 40-page hardcover photobook. Otherwise, I am more than happy to refer some close associates who deliver just as good, if not better, images, between S$1200 and S$3000.

No one can see the future, but I'm glad I had a chance to capture past memories for people through my photography.

Wedding Moments - November

Tsui Ping attended Racheal's wedding and saw me doing her wedding photography, so she decided to ask me to help out in her dinner banquet. She already engaged Gabriel Mendes as her photographer, but needed another photographer for the banquet. There were 80 tables and the wedding couple did not intend to do table-to-table shots. So that's where I came in. I was tasked to do table photos for those tables that her parents wanted. And since table photos would not take place until after the 2nd march-in, I am free to take any shots that is required of me.

So I wore the "secondary photographer's" hat and fired away.











Another November wedding I did was for my friend of 11 years, my uni course mate, Eelin, We attended same tutorial classes in Year One but never spoke or said hi to each other. Until the last day of Year One exams, when the tutorial group decided to go clubbing to celebrate the end of exams, did we talked. And by the end of the night, we found out so much things in common that we wondered why we never hit it off during the course year.

Fast forward to 11 years later.















We were supposed to do bridal shots around the hotel after the lunch banquet, but the day proved to be too tiring for the newly-weds, so we put off the shoot till a possible later date.

Leaving for Hokkaido

My sister's wedding lunch is a 12-table affair at the Fullerton Hotel. Great opportunity for the wedding couple to spend more time with the guests, which was the exact intention.

Here are some of my favourite moments:






More images can be found in my Flickr album here.

I'm off to a 7-day vacation in Hokkaido. I am glad to have this break because so many many things have happened in my day-to-day life that I have no time to pause and enjoy life. Office work, photo projects, music stuffs, Mayenne. Actually, I doubt I will have a relaxing time there too since it's a guided tour and so the itinerary should be rather packed.

Sometimes, all I need is time to do nothing - and yet not feel guilty. What do I mean by that? Well, for instance, while I am holidaying now, my office workers have to cover my duties, my photo clients have to wait a little more to get the photos, and Mayenne will not see Daddy (and Mummy) for a while.

And while I appreciate having breaks, it does not mean that tasks will go away. When I return to Singapore one week later, I'll have to catch up on office tasks, on editing photos. Not to mention a little poorer from the holiday spending.

But really, at least it's a break away from the routine, to experience new cultures, to appreciate new scenery, and most importantly, have a break. All the daily tasks can wait. After all, I might have to do them for the rest of my life.