A short outdoor night shoot

Got a opportunity to work with Venessa a few weeks ago. We had planned for an evening outdoor shoot and followed by a night shoot with the aid of a portable generator which we bought last year. For the past few weeks, the weather was pretty hot but the skies were in beautiful shades of blue. With the polarizer fixed on the lens, the blue sky was enhanced. However I was quite disappointed as I couldn't capture any catchlight in Venassa's eyes.

Before the shoot, I was really excited as I finally have a chance to test out the second-hand portable 600watt generator that run on gasoline. Night fell and we set up the lights and powered up the generator. We did a few trial shots and started shooting but that only lasted 15mins. We ran out of gasoline as we did not top up the generator before the shoot. We had assumed that we would be having enough gasoline for the shoot. Because of this oversight, we had to end the shoot early.

Lesson learnt: Never assume and always bring spare gasoline and battery pack.

First Portrait of 2010

This is the second time I'm working with Mico. She has just changed her hair colour and we wanted to do "punk rock" theme for this shoot. As we couldn't get suitable outfits in time, we decided to do with beach wear theme instead.

It was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies. When we reached the location where we intended to shoot, two photographers were already there, trying to capture shots of waves hitting the rocks. I assumed this as they had set their tripods with their cameras directly facing the rocks. Thus we moved futher up to find another suitable location and that was when we found a blue tractor by the yacht dock. Well, there is a saying "When one door closes, another opens". We should actually thank the two photographers who were shooting by the rocks. If not for them, we would not have found such an interesting backdrop to work with.

The Last Macro before the end of 2009

I was planning to do a photo journal of the last day of 2009 but weeks before the actual day something came up and disrupted my plan. I didn't have the mood and time to plan for the shooting locations and what to be included in the photo journal.

Something unexpected just pop out of the blue and ruin my last days of 2009. It was beyond my control and I can do nothing about it but to accept it. I have came to terms that we can't control what is install for us ahead but I got to choose which path to take when I'm at the junction.

Anyway, photography is a way for me to destress and I spend my last day of 2009 shooting macro and enjoy the company of nature.

A New Beginning

Wishing Everyone a Happy & Prosperous 2010 ! ! !

M i c o

Did a portrait shoot with Mico on Sunday morning. I was initially quite worried about the weather the night before as it had been raining for the past few days. When I was packing my camera gear, I realised that I had not been using my Sigma 30mm/f1.4 for quite a while as I could not seem to get the result I wanted when it was mounted on my D300.

We went to the first location and saw the beautiful facade of a Bali-themed restaurant. After taking a few shots, the employee of the restaurant came out and told us that no photography was allowed. "No Photography Allowed" yet again. Think I'm getting used to this phrase now. It was not even their business hour yet but I understand that there was no point arguing. We packed up our stuff and went to the second location.

I wanted to try out High Fashion with the aid of my speedlight but after a while I decided to give up and put my flash away. I couldn't get the effect I wanted. Guess I have to read up more on the techniques required. I popped open my reflector and mounted the 30mm lens on D300. I'm quite satified with the results. Mico was surprisingly good with poses, so we didn't need to guide her much. I really enjoyed this shoot.

A Saturday Night Shoot . . . Distrupted . . .

Went to a night portraiture shoot last weekend and was really upset towards the end of the shoot as we were interrupted by two security guards. They demanded for written authorization and stopped us from carrying on with the shoot.

This is not the first time I've been chased away by security guards during photoshoots. In fact, I've been chased away quite a few times, including those times when I was shooting outside shopping malls. After the 9-11 incident, security has been stepped up and "Big Cameras" pointing and shooting has been banned at some premises. You can shoot with P&S or camera phone and get away with it, but definitely not with a DSLR. I often see tourists snapping away and why weren't they stopped? Does that mean they pose no danger as compared to photographers with DSLRs?

We are already running out of outdoor locations to shoot, especially in Singapore. Do I have to photoshop all the backgrounds for my future photoshoots?! The thought of it simply puts me off!

Asia Autosalon 2009