Tis the season for babies!

It's going to be a baby bonanza around me for this year.
One of my best friends and his brother just became fathers a couple of months ago, another good friend's will be due in October, and at least two of my football kakis just became newly minted fathers too. And my second one is coming next month! Gosh, I think Yu Wen will have no lack of play dates in future.

Cheer Up, it's Monday!

Last Breath...and One More.

Rain has the ability to nudge me out of my comfort zone to seek out new and sheltered venues for pre-wedding shoots. During my daily shuttle trips to/from my daughter's school, I always pass by the National Stadium---you know, the stadium that, like an action movie hero, just wouldn't die.

The textures, architecture and more importantly, the shelter, make it a very viable option for rainy days. So on Monday, the idea paid off and the stadium became my first location. It's good to record a piece of history too in the photos.

By the way, the stadium will be hosting the Olympic Samba Boys and the Lions later this week, and also this match between X & Y and this match between A & B and this match....well, you get the idea.

I'll only believe it's truly gone when I hold a chunk of its wall in my hand as a memento.

Another Happy Family

It was almost like yesterday that I took pictures of Natalie, when she was like 2 (I think). Now that toddler has grown up to be a fine young lady, who always has a protective arm over her 1-year-old brother Zachary.

Shots were taken on a lovely late afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. I think the children really loved the greenery and the space.






The last time someone showed me his butt, the fella almost got his ass' daylight kicked out of him, but with Zachary? Nay.....I do not bully the weak and the cute.

Excuse me, are you a Malaysian?

A client recently asked me if I have acquired a Singapore passport (I am a Malaysian). I told her I almost did, but then did a U-turn and now I am on the fence again.

I've been studying in Singapore since Primary One but I still love pretty much a lot of things back in Malaysia: the food, the space, the beaches, the nature, and the people. I still follow Malaysian politics as much as I can, and still try to sell the good side of JB to my wife.

However, since I am a product of the Singapore education system since a tender age, I also consider myself a half-Singaporean. I'd criticise and complain about many things Singapore (like all Singaporeans do), but behind the criticism is a veiled and quiet admiration and love for a country which had provided me with a wife and given birth to a lovely daughter.

So, if you ask me now how I feel being a Malaysian settling down in Singapore, my answer will be:

"From behind, I feel like I am being sodomised (by the messy politics and crime rate), and from the front, I feel my balls being squeezed (by the escalating cost of living)!"

Old friends, new friends

It's been many years since I last met Cherie, one of my earliest clients, who booked me to shoot her wedding even when I was only doing part-time wedding photography.

And now, it's her brother, Kuan Wee's turn, albeit a solemnization ceremony held at Amara Hotel poolside. Unfortunately, Cherie was on a business trip that day, and thus I still haven't had a chance to catch up with her after all.

Seeing the bride Peiyu and her friends, I suddenly realised that "youth" has left me ages ago.....but never mind, at least her elder brother "wisdom" has since become my good friend, while my twin "humour" is still having fun with me.

Entering Lives

Some bookings, they are funny....
Recently, I had a spate of inquiries and bookings for maternity/babies/children's party shoots. For a while, I never get asked to take on a single such assignment, then when one comes, a few others would follow within weeks. Funny.

And I love to do babies/maternity shoots. Almost all of them are past wedding clients, and to be tasked with documenting another milestone in their lives represents a great privilege. It's like what George (another WPN photographer) named his blog "Entering Lives", I am indeed entering their lives, and in the process of capturing their memories, I took some home with me too.

Child exploitation

Go on, sue me!

The most difficult customer

As a photographer, I am facing one of the biggest challenges in my career.
My 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter is deliberately trying to look away from the camera whenever she notices me sneaking up on her with a camera, despite the fact I never ask her to smile or look at the camera.

She takes pleasure in seeing my exasperated frustration and yet I can't do anything about it.

Worse than Standchart Marathon

I had the pleasure to shoot Ernest & Ei Tian's marathon wedding recently and even though many of the flowers were DIYed by Ei Tian's sister, they were absolutely beautiful.

Both of them actually live and work in London, so needless to say, there wasn't much of face-to-face communication but then again, with my style of documentary photography, as long as they are comfortable in my presence, the essence of the wedding will be beautifully captured.

True enough, I had fun, lots of fun because it was fourteen hours straight: from the hotel room, to the church, to a short outdoor session, to the dinner reception at Burkhill Hall.

I cannot tell you how I have needed a masseur so much ever, after the evening ended. Though physically drained, mentally I was very gratified and happy.

Hope they and I can share our joy through these images.