M a r i a. . . . . .a girl from Kazakhstan

Should have posted this album last week but I was down with flu & fever. I really enjoyed this shoot as I really like the shoot location, Red Dot Museum and the Maria Carey lookalike model. However, I felt that I have not fully captured the red building's characteristics.

Audi A3 Cabriolet Photo Competition

I was thrilled and excited when I was informed that I was one of the 28 photographers selected for the Audi A3 Cabriolet Photo Competition. Each contestant was given one hour exclusively to create a LIFESTYLE image with the Audi A3 Cabriolet. I look upon this competition as a opportunity to learn from other photographers. The competition was spread out over 4 days (6th - 9th May) from 4 - 10 pm daily. The 28 finalists were only made known 3 days before the start of the competition date. Details of the location and colour of the car was not confirmed until hours before the first day of the competition.

Time was not on our side for this competition. The organiser only provided the car and shoot location. We had to do our own planning, hire our own model, select model's outfit within 3 days. First challenge was to book the time slot. It's an outdoor shoot and 2 flood lights were provided to illuminate the car for the night slots. With little information of the actual location of the car, I decided to book a "safer "outdoor portraiture time, 6pm on a Friday evening so that I could buy some time to prepare for the shoot.

My next concern was the model selection and outfit. Got these done within 2 days but had to change the model's outfit when we saw the actual car on the first day of competition. That was taken care of in one day before the actual day shoot. Couldn't sleep the day before the shoot as I was really excited and at the same time, nervous.

The shoot went on well. I got the shots I want and completed the shoot within 45mins. Before the competition, I learnt that there were a lot of professional and semi-pro photographers among the 28 of us. Standing out from the group was very slim and I treated the competition as a opportunity to gain experience and to learn from the professionals. I'm already very contented to be one of the 28 finalists.

I had a fruitful experience from participating in the Audi Impressions Photo Competition. Now I'm inspired by fellow photographers to shoot more and compose more creatively. Hope to achieve a greater height in my photography skills and creativity.

Feathered Friends

Visited the Singapore Bird Park last weekend with my family and friends. Kinda got hooked to bird photography after the Terns experience. Of course I would like to capture images of birds that are not in captivity.

There are lots of non-captive birds that you can capture in Singapore. Sunbirds & Kingfishers at the Singapore Botanic Garden or at Tanah Merah Coast Road (near SAF Yacht Club). White-belly Sea Eagle at Upper/Lower Pierce Reservoir or Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Pied Hornbill at Pulau Ubin and many other locations. Unlike the ones at Bird park, you need to have a lot of patience and time to capture images of the ones in the wild. At least a 500mm lens so as not to startle the birds.