Covered a birthday party recently as well, for Megan. She turns 3 this year.
The party was held at GoGo Bambini (www.gogobambini.com), an indoor gym set in idyllic Dempsey Hill. It's not cheap, and personally I think the play gym is very dark. I thought a design that allows more daylight in, and to bring in the natural greenery of the place will give it more character.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. Nevertheless, the party was successful and everyone, esp the birthday girl, went home happy. Nice cake, by the way.

There are some couples who would thank me for taking nice wedding pictures for them, and there are some whom I feel grateful to for allowing me to take their wedding pictures. Ann and Henry are one such couple. I knew Henry because we played occasional football together at our alma mater (he's 4 years younger). He plays good football and I like it when he's in the same team as me (can't verify if the converse is true). It was a pleasant surprise when his wife Ann found me independently as a wedding photographer.

I thank them because they are truly great people: talented, smart, and selfless people with a strong faith, and who made my work so much easier. They have great friends too, who put up several "special items" at the wedding reception that tickled me non-stop, causing a lot of camera shake. I know I am a pro, but I do succumb to wicked humour.

Venues: Church of St Mary of the Angels; Orchard Hotel, Rasa Sentosa

Back to blogging ways.
I must admit I have been very slack in updating my blog.
There are other things that are occupying my mind these past couple of weeks, and they are not all photography-related.

1st, I had to cut my daughter's hair.
To say that she is difficult to handle is putting it mildly.
Ever since young, she wouldn't let us hold her hands---she'd simply shrug our hands away if my fingers ever reached within 5 cm of her fingernails. Nobody can mess with her hair, not even ruffling it. If you so much as to hint that you want to comb/tie her hair up, she'd let you know of her disapproval in an audible way.

I once brought her to a professional kids' salon 2 months ago, hoping that the pro could do a better job. The moment the hair-stylist put the drape on her, she started wailing like her hair was on fire. No amount of Barney's VCD could placate her (they have little TV screens at the seat to distract the kids).Not that she knew who Barney was, anyway. So the hairstylist nipped and trimmed, and for what seemed like an eternal 5 minutes, her hair was cut. I thought I heard the stylist murmur "Easy Money, man!" (just kidding).

So after that episode, I have decided to pocket the $16 myself and offered my baby a quickie haircut. It was my 1st time. After my wife saw the end result, I think it should be my last as well.

Before....



After....



From the looks of it, i think Yuwen was not too pleased either.

The dark horse has crossed the finishing line.....second!
Yes, I am pleased to say that one of the images has won 2nd prize in the VivoCity Photo competition.

The surprising thing is it's not one of the images I thought that stood a bigger chance, but rather it's the least expected one that went down well with the judges.


I know I will step on some toes, but honestly, I think there is a difference when it comes to selecting winning images for competitions when the main judges are professional/working photographers, as opposed to senior members of Photographic Society of Singapore (PSS).

Even though the final judging for VivoCity involves non-photographers, but Russell Wong was roped in and so was Sebastian Tan (Shooting Gallery) who was involved in the 1st round of judging.

PSS follows a certain formula when it comes to deciding what photos are nice. If you have strong colours, nice framing, use panning, or a fish-eye lens, chances are your photos would more often than not, secure some prizes in competitions judged by them. I am not undermining images that are like that, but I am sure a winning photograph can be more than just that.

That's why I am very happy that my photo was selected despite it not being a typical competition-friendly photo. That really encourages me because I know now that there is always an audience out there even if I don't shoot things that are considered "good".

Ok. Don't flame/shoot me.

I have some exciting news:
I’m having a joint promotion with Gabriel Mendes(www.gabrielmendes.com) to do a pre-wedding shoot in Bali, set tentatively over the period of 19 Aug-23 Aug. I am not sure if you are interested in Bali, but you will have the services of 2 photographers (with 2 different styles) for the price of one. At the end of the day, you will receive a 12×12inch 24 page album and you can select images from the pool of images taken by both Gabriel and me.

We are offering very good rates for this trip because Aug is a low season for weddings and we don’t mind doing something refreshing and exciting for couples as well as for ourselves. Sometimes with a bit of friendly competition, we the photographers can raise our game and not treat it as another run-of-the-mill shoot.

So now, here are some FAQs :

How much ? Answer : It is just only $2800 nett
Do I have to pay your airfare and lodging ? Answer : No
How about makeup artist ? Answer : We have a good makeup artist for you and you don’t need to pay extra for it.
I don’t have a gown, so what happens? Answer : Then, let's do a casual/lifestyle shoot. In fact, the poses can be more flexible and without the hassle of the gown, you will feel more comfortable and we can shoot in a more varied environment.
Must it be pre-wedding? Answer : No. It can be post-wedding, family or couple shoot. Since we are already there, you can make use of the situation and do whatever you want.

I think I just stumbled upon a way to increase my income stream by expanding my market base. Post wedding photography: Decades on....

I must be some kind of sadistic/sick father because I absolutely like the way Yuwen looks when she is in some kind of distress. Here, she is standing on sand and she just freezes over and refuses to walk an inch; keeps asking me to "pao pao" (carry) her. Of course her pleas are ignored as you can see, daddy is busy.

Sometimes, I tend to overdo it, as far as digital imaging is concerned.
However, sometimes it's worth trying to salvage something out of the ordinary.

The wedding is one of the most of the important days in one's life.
What happens after the wedding defines the rest of my life.

I have the fortune to shoot a few beautiful weddings over these 3-4 weeks.
The conclusion I get is that no matter how grand or big-budget a wedding is, it's the people involved in the wedding that define it. Of course, with better ingredients, the wedding photographer can whip up a more extravagant dish (think thousand buddhas jump over the wall). With simple ingredients, the ultimate challenge is to do the simple things well (fish soup bee hoon) and be able to present a sincere and heart-warming dish.

By the way, I like both dishes.

Take a break from wedding photography.
That's why I did, on 29 Jun, when I spent half a day at Vivocity trying to capture some nice photos for the Vivocity photo competition. The deadline was the next day, and boy was I stressed. i think it is a continuation of my school days when I always left it to the final moment before studying for a test.

And there i was, with camera in hand, time against me, and scratching my head over what to shoot. The thought process was different from when i shoot weddings. To take a good wedding picture, it doesn't mean it has to be award-winning. For the competition, the photo needs to have a wider appeal and eye-catching. I didn't think mine were particularly eye-ctaching. True to my style, I think my photos are subtle, and understated. i was especially surprised by PC17......it was one of my personal favourite. It's a boy who is holding an apparently new toy and i share his delight in his joy. i didn't think it'll be a judge's favourite, but hey, prove me wrong, man!

Deep inside, I know I have always like to shoot children. Subconsciously, it crept into my photography and it turned out most of my favourite takes on the day were about children, or at least have children in them.

So, by a stroke of fortune, 4 of my entries have qualified for the semifinal and the photos are now on display at Vivocity. Please go down and take a look. You can actually stand to win prizes if you can guess te judges' favourite.

PC15 by Wong Khing Chong


PC16


PC17


PC18

These 2 busy doctors got hitched on 1st July, a day before my birthday. They already had their ROM half a year ago, together with the tea ceremony, and this "wedding" is more or less a chance for a photoshoot and to host a dinner for everyone. we could hardly agree on a date and time to meet, prior to the wedding (they booked me over the phone, on friend's recommendation). Finally, on the day itself, everyone is relaxed....no calls from the hospital, no distraction. Just each other.

Tis the season again.....convocation that is!
Everywhere you go, you see fresh/and not-so-fresh grads wearing the "robes" and posing for photos, to commemmorate the start of a new (dog's) life in the workforce. Haha....anyway, I had fun shooting a couple recently.

A weekend of consecutive wedding shoots, of a couple of experiments, of the champagne cork hitting my forehead, and a weekend of satisfaction.

It's also a weekend of missed opportunities because my wife told me my 17-month-old daughter can increasingly string 2 words together in a conversation, or a monologue (sometimes we can't tell the difference). For example "sit....bus", "Aunty.....wipe", "read...book". I am happy that she is growing up healthily and we never give her any pressure or force her to do things she doesn't like.

However, there was one incident that troubled me a bit. Last month,she was at her gym class (not exactly gymnastics, but the toddlers get to sing, run, jump and learn to be independent and confident through some physical activities) and was interacting with one of the boys there. They were of the same age but my daughter has always been the "smaller" one in stature. She was able to identify and said "toes", "knees" and stuff, and I think the father of the boy was mighty impressed. Sadly, I think the pressure and competitive streak got into him and he said to his son:"Quick, son! What's that? Say it. Don't lose out."

I thought that was totally unnecessary and if he is going to grow up getting compared to everyone else, I think his childhood will be quite sad.

Come on. Give them a break!

June 16/2007

This is HOT from the press.
Cillian & Chez got married at Burkhill Hall in a simple and intimate ceremony.
They are happy clients of Angels Atelier whom I am proud to display my sample album with. I think they make great-looking gowns and Wendy (the boss) is so friendly and easy to talk to.

It was a rather tiring day because I didn't get to rest during the break.
Nontheless, the opportunities to make good pictures presented themselves and that really kept my energy level up. I'll be going to JB on Sunday (which is in a few hours' time!), so I reckon I might not have time to update my blog soon enough.

Here it is.

It's always a good feeling when my former wedding clients come and look for me to take more photos of their "new" or extended families. In this case, Karen and Thio have been married for more than a year, and they have added Cookie, a spritely Golden Retriever who is a testimony of their love. We had a fun time at Punggol end, but none more than Cookie, who had a splashing good time.

Both Paolo & Yiting live and work in Los Angeles and have had their wedding held in the states before they flew back to Singapore for the traditional Chinese tea ceremony and dinner (Meritus Mandarin). That didn't stop us from having fun in sunny Singapore though.

Just returned from a 2-and-a-half-day workshop conducted by a world-class wedding photographer based in US (see www.josevillaphoto.com). He actually flew 18 hours to this tiny island and conducted this workshop to a select group of wedding photographers who are serious about taking their business to the next level.

Even though his style of shooting is different from mine, that doesn't stop me from being able to learn from him the business side of wedding photography.

More importantly, I finally got to meet some of the finest wedding photographers in Singapore through the workshop. The networking and the sharing sessions certainly are worth the ticket prices alone.I sincerely hope this community can grow and progress on a platform that is competitive but not combative, and at the same time to mature with the vision of promoting wedding photography in Singapore.

This is all made possible courtesy of the Wedding Photographers Network (www.wpn.sg) and thanks to Gilbert, Eadwine, Kate, Kuang, Eng Hong, Gary, Aloycius, Lawrence, Gabriel, Wan Sheng, & Jose Pang for the wonderful sharing. Looking forward for more.

here are some of the shootout pictures I did at Changi beach for the workshop. It's interesting to have a group of us shooting the same subjects and marvel at the various angles that other photographers captured. The difference in style and vision become quite apparent.