Photography

Back to teaching

Leave a comment

Ok, better late than never.

Received an invitation recently to conduct a talk cum workshop for Clubsnap Live @SAM event that was held over the last weekend, and it was an opportunity to share with the participants, which consists of hobbyists to semi-professionals to professionals, my thoughts about the wedding photography industry. This was followed by a hands-on workshop for the participants, about 15-20 of them, a chance to direct and photography a model couple.

Conducting a talk and workshop is easy, after all, teaching is second nature to me… so I accepted the invitation.  However, the most difficult part that took me days to ponder over, is how to connect the talk component with the workshop component.

This question haunted for a few days, in my sleep and even in the bathroom.  What’s there to talk about the wedding industry that can be connected to the photoshoot demonstration?  I finally had some breakthrough and came out with a topic that has been pretty closed to my heart, and hopefully be able to reach out to the varied levels of the participants.

My topic: Evolving from Cameraman to Artist

(Photo credits to Alex Ortega and Simon Goh)

Overwhelming response, Singapore Art Museum auditorium was fully packed!

dsc_3731

About 12 of my works were exhibited.  The photo on the right is the one that won me two 1st placing last year in the international competitions. Photo on the projector screen should be familiar to most of the readers 😛

dsc_37251

Outdoor hands-on session on day 2, another overwhelming response

dsc_43711


Simply irreverent topic, simply me 😛  Hopefully this session will pave the way for the participants to move towards the high-end wedding photography market.  Basically, I spoke about the high end wedding photography market and what it takes to get there. These are certainly things you can’t find in the textbooks and I was sharing with the participants the real concerns and methods that are tried and tested.  The response was overwhelming and many questions were raised, and some participants even shared their woes about wedding photography, which is a good indication that there’s hope for the wedding photography market to flourish.  The workshop/demo part came later, and I was showing the participants how to take charge and direct a scene, how to “artsify” their images through playing with light, as well as making them aware that the energy level of the couple/subject is dependent largely on the photographer.

These are some of the images that I taught the participant how to create.  It’s no secret really, cos ultimately, who directs the scene is going to make a difference…trust me, the difference is huge.

sc474

sc477

sc475

sc476

Am so glad that the event was a success. Thanks once again to the organisers and sponsors who have made this event possible!

Ok, back to clearing my backlogs….

Post to Twitter

Sylvia & Dongmin – 5 June 2009 (part 1)

1 Comment

About 80% of Lyrical Moments’ couples are from overseas or Singaporeans who are working abroad.  I had the privilege of photographing a Singaporean girl who married an American Korean just a few weeks back and here are some of the highlights from their series. And by the way, the wedding was almost postponed because the couple is from Los Angeles, California and all thanks to the H1N1 flu virus that is causing all the panic and hysteria.  The couple shared with me their little adventure when they had to be escorted to Tan Tock Seng hospital for H1N1 tests and all (Yes Sylvia, your country loves you!) and looking back, I’m so glad that everything turned out fine.

Here are some of my favourites, will be updating with more wedding portraits 🙂

[nggallery id=10]

Post to Twitter

AGWPJA Q1 2009 results

2 Comments

3 more international awards from AGWPJA Quarter 1 2009.  This time round, the photos are really something cutting edge and looking at the other entries is a reminder that one should keep inventing and exploring new styles and techniques.  I’m very glad to  be placed overall 6th this time, Dino Lara as usual securing the top 3 places (well done Dino!).

3rd place under Ceremony  sc420a

4th place under Engagement  & Wedding Portraitsc431a

 6th place under Engagement  & Wedding Portrait (my favourite of the lot, can you spot 2 balloons there?)

sc428a

Post to Twitter

Cindy & Kenneth

Leave a comment

Some photos from the outdoor session, you guys did a great job, esp Cindy, who wasn’t really bother by the torn ligament.

And yes, the very talented Dax for designing the gowns and his makeup (moi only good at photography, our friend here can do a lot of other things as well, hehe)

[nggallery id=9]

Post to Twitter

5 awards from WPJA Q4 2008

1 Comment

5 images from WPJA Q4 2008 to share, competitions getting stiff these days, and we’ve seen more and more photographers from the Asia pacific region being named in the top ranks for this competition.

15th place under Engagement Portrait

This is the second award received by this image, shot right next to Tower Bridge in London in August 2008. Not the kind of images we would expect from this site (where’s Tower Bridge?!?!?!) 🙂

cathjun2_v2_0274_out3

8th place under Full-frame (B&W)

This is a wild card category that accepts any journalistic style images, so long they’re not cropped and in black-and-white. Shot this while Jean was walking out of the hotel suite, image is a real moment and the difficult thing about these shots is to get it right without giving directions to the subjects /telling them what to do just for the sake of getting the photos. Best part is, she was probably too nervious to even notice me taking this photo as she walked out of the hotel suite to the solemnisation venue.

30-1025-19-125211

6th place under ‘Other Vendor’

This photo is a tribute to all vendors, especially those who are perfectionists, like this banquet manager preparing the glasses for the Champagne pouring.  I love the way those funky colors from the stage light work in this image.

sc316

15th place under ‘Emotion’

The next 2 images are very typical of the kind of quirkiness that’s underscores most of my images.  The whole mix of reactions and expressions that really make us wonder what exactly is going on in the scene, and in anyway, most people would have focused their cameras on the flower girl in this part of the ceremony, I’ve just offered the other perspective …  looking at things from an obtuse angle.

shaunfiad1_0196_out

and from the same wedding as the previous image, 3rd place under ‘Toasting’

I’ve shot countless toasting pictures at a wedding, but this particular one really caught my eye because of the expression of the bride’s brother in the picture.  I like the graphical way in which the hands holding the glasses is presented, and even the judges have mentioned that it is a very different angle from the others.

shaunfiad2_0440_out2

Time for a little celebration, 9 awards in total for WPJA 2008, and 3 of which came in top 3 placing, I can’t wait for the overall ranking to be out 🙂

Post to Twitter

WPPI 2009 – Accolades of Excellence

8 Comments

The WPPI 16×20 is one of the international competitions that’s often regarded as the Oscars equivalent of wedding and portrait photography, and probably one of the very few competitions that the big guys and legends of wedding photography (folks like Jerry Ghonis, Yervant, David Oliver) take part in.  I’ve always wanted to attend the seminar but for the past few years, I’ve got to photoshoots in Singapore that tied me down.  Last week, I’ve received some well wishes from fella photographer, some even from Malaysia, who saw my prints hung up there, amongst the finalists, in the hall of fame.  What really sucks about not being there is, you have no idea which prints you’ve won…until this morning.

Just received the email from WPPI about 3 of my images being awarded Accolade of Excellence!  Not too bad for a first attempt, and considering I’ve only sent in 4 pieces (they do cost a lot of money to print, considering it’s 16×20, postage and all just adds on).

wppi_release

 

and the 3 pieces are…

sc376

Looks familiar eh? Ivy & Suan Hau must be very happy, this is the 3rd International award!

 080910-karen-ryan-prewedding0295_mpa_blue

The quirky image shot in Arab Street, and ….

 wppi3

Another of my familiar favourites, this photo taken in Melbourne has won it’s 3rd International Awards, along with AGWPJA and Contemporary Wedding Portrait during the MPA Singapore print competition last Nov 08.

5 years ago, I would not have imagined myself being able to compete in such gruelling competitions, and I really owe my couples and mentors for their constant support and encouragement. So a BIG thank you to all you out there! 🙂

Post to Twitter

Penang – photoshoot (laksa & chendol & beh teh saw)

Leave a comment

Catherine & Jun is one of my overseas couples and they are currently based in London, some of my readers would have remembered one of the couples I shot in London back in August 2008.  (One of the few things that I *should* have updated, their series of photos was one that was highly commended at my last Master Photographer Association Associateship grading, one of the images won the Contemporary Portrait Awards during the print competition in Nov 08).

Recently, they’ve decided to do a photoshoot in Penang, their hometown where I’ll be doing their actual day wedding as well this coming Oct 2009.  This was a really short trip, I flew in on 22 Jan, did the shoot on 23 Jan, and was at the airport within the next 1 hour for night flight back to Singapore.

What is Penang without the famous hawker fare, and having brought me around the best eateries in London, I had the chance to savour one of the best Penang laksa and the famous cendol, served by the roadside. Brought back 4 boxes of beh teh saw (some pastry with water chestnut filling), a much better variant of the famous Penang tau sa piah (the original version with a saltish sweet bean filling).

Here are some of my favourites from the series:

[nggallery id=3]

Post to Twitter

1st Award in 2009! Wii-eeeeeeee :)

1 Comment

Have received some really good news today , I’ve just been named 2nd place for the annual competition organised by Digital Wedding Forum (DWF). Yes, I was told that the piece was selected for the finals and result’s finally out!

Here’s the quirky piece, which is also one of my favourites! 🙂

sc376

The prize, a brand new set of Nintendo Wii, which I’m going to put it up for sale since I’ve already bought one last year 🙂

Post to Twitter