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

Super Import Night 2009

Popped by Super Import Nights with my kakis last weekend. Have not been shooting any portraiture lately due to family matters. It was pouring when we reached Expo. I wanted to snap a few pictures of the drift performance but had to forgo it due to the bad weather. I saw a number of photography kakis snapping away when I entered the exhibition hall.

I still prefer organised shoots to event shoots, mainly due to the fact that I can't direct, pose or have the model's eye contact as I desire. Just bought myself a new photography gadget and hope to use it in one of my shoots soon.

September has been a destructive month for me up till now. First my PC crashed, next my 1 TB external hard disk crashed, followed by my iPod wiped out and my 4GB CF card corrupted. Managed to salvage most of the data and I got an iMac to replace my PC.

Packed the wrong lens for shoot

I was planning to shoot macro today, so I packed all my macro gear and went out. But due to foul weather, I had to postpone the plan. Went to Orchard to meet my wife for dinner. Didn't know that there was a National Lion Dance Championships going on at the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza.
I didn't want to miss out the action, thus I used my 105mm macro lens (the only lens I had then) which I packed this morning to capture the action.

Yizhan & Kay Hui Wedding Banquet

Got a photoshoot assignment for a wedding banquet on 9th August, Singapore National Day. Only managed to complete editing of the whole album today as I was busy with work and family matters.

Walking on Sunshine . . . Bernice

Went for an outdoor shoot last Sunday and I must say it was a fruitful one indeed.

The first location was unique as it is a field located in a HDB estate next to an expressway. Neat rows of short trees line the field. The second location was a lalang field in Punggol.

I must really thank the model for bearing with mosquito bites and thorns during this shoot.

The One & Only Assignment of July

After three weeks' break from photography, I finally got the one and only assignment for the month of July. Got a soft box from an online store last month and had not had the opportunity to test it out.

That morning, I was woken up by sound of raindrops tapping on my window. My first thought was: there goes my Sunday morning shoot. Got up as planned and went to the coffee shop to take my breakfast while I waited for my friend to pick me up. By the time we finished our breakfast, the rain had stopped and we drove to meet the model.

We were early and decided to drive around to hunt for a suitable location for the shoot. The model had requested for this shoot to be in "Dark Theme", and we decided to look for an abandoned place. We were lucky enough to find one near the meeting place.

This shoot went well and ended at around noon.

*Something has been frustrating me these days as I've heard that someone with the same namesake as me has been deceiving young girls by using photography as a cover. I've heard about this matter quite sometime ago, but I now feel the urgent need to speak up about it as I've now been mistaken as him. I would like to advise young girls aspiring to go into modelling, be it as a career or just a part time job to earn extra income to know their rights and not fall into the traps set by people with ulterior motives. Learn to say "NO" to ridiculous demands or if you feel uncomfortable. No decent photographer would ask you to anything uncomfortable or lewd.

Disappointment . . .disappointment . . .

Joined an organised shoot a few weeks ago. Have not joined any shoot by this organiser before and I also did not know much about the model's background when my friend sms me, asking if I wanted to register for the shoot. I double checked my calendar, decided to give it a try and took it as an opportunity to brush up my composition skills in portraiture.

The organiser only released information of the venue the night before and it was at Clarke Quay. When I knew about the venue via my sms, I thought to myself, "Clarke Quay again?!" I started shooting portraits at Clarke Quay and have since been there for more than ten shoots. Why Clark Quay?! But since the organiser had chosen the location, I've to respect her decision.

The meet-up time was at 8.30am. This was actually set by the organiser. Two of my friends and I, together with a few other photogaphers, waited for more than 20 minutes before the organiser and the model strolled in slowly. Not a very good start. Next, the organiser gathered us and the model took out a few outfits to seek her advice. Instead of answering the model, she directed the question to us. The outfits should have been selected way in advance when the organiser set the theme for this shoot. Not very professional, I must say. I have joined shoots organised by other organisers and this type of situation has never happened before.

The thing that riled me was that the organiser started asking us where we wanted to shoot the model. Hey! You chose the venue and now you ask us where we want to carry out our shoot?! Then in the first place, we should have been allowed to vote for the venue we wanted and not to waste precious time on the actual day, deciding where to shoot. This is a paid shoot and an organiser should do all the necessary arrangements. I must stress again that I have never encountered this with any other organisers before.

By the time the exact location was decided upon, the model had started looking disinterested. When we were posing her, she seemed restless and uncooperative. Not sure if it was the hot weather or that she had been partying hard the night before, she looked haggard. It didn't help when the make-up she wore couldn't conceal the dark circles around her eyes. All these I could still do a bit of touch-up during my post processing but it didn't reflect well on her as she had been a model with a certain male magazine before. This piece of information was told to me by my two other friends after the shoot.

As for the organiser, she sat at one corner and started dozing off without even bothering about the entire shoot. This should not be the case. Once again, this was a paid shoot so as an organiser, you should bear the responsibility in ensuring the entire photoshoot progress smoothly. Not just sit back and doze off after receiving our hard earned cash (SGD60).

My two friends and I gave up shooting the model one hour after we started. This shoot was supposed to last three hours. Normally, I would use up all three of my CF cards for any other photoshoots. But this time round, I barely managed to use up ONE CF card. If you have noticed from all the five photos I've posted here, they were all candid shots which I'd captured. None of the posed photos could make it.

There has been an increase in the number of organisers in this particular photography forum. Seems like a lot of people want a slice of the pie. We, photographers, are not ignorant. Once bitten, twice shy. We will not throw our money down the drain if organisers cannot deliver what they have promised. I vowed to myself that I would not join any other shoots organised by this organiser anymore. Meanwhile, I will just stick with the few organisers who have been really professional in their organised shoots which I've joined.