Take 1

Dinesh & Karan live and work in Australia, but in different cities.
Some might remember their pictures from a recent pre-wedding session they did with me.
Well, I seldom had the chance to shoot an Indian wedding, and this one certainly gave me a good initiation to the richness in its culture, traditions and colours.

There were actually four of us documenting the wedding: Yang, myself and an Indian husband-wife team of photographer and videographer. The man was very helpful in giving us tips and guidance on what was going to happen. But what tickled both Yang and I was the wife with the video camera. Yang wrote this in his blog:

"Hahaha...anyway, what amazes us today is the BIG LIGHT used by another videographer. Other than the 2 of us covering the event today, there's another traditional indian photographer and videographer. And i tell you, the BIG LIGHT she was using was POWER. I think she very garang also. She was like carrying a portable AC plug running around, with wires all over her in order for the light to work. Her BIG LIGHT needs to be plugged to an AC. And the light it produced...is very very power and not forgetting the heat. I felt i was BARBEQUED just standing besides her power light for like 2 seconds. As hot as standing in front of 2K BLONDIE. No joke man...Nevertheless, i think she is a very garang videographer. Cool stuffs"

I Lost It

What's worse than shooting consecutively for 5 days?
It's when I do it while I am sick!
Man, the feeling was horrible. At first it was still ok by the end of the 1st day. Come 2nd day, I already felt my neck getting stiff and achy, possibly from the swelling of the lymph nodes. By the 4th day, my voice was gone. Luckily I don't talk much when I shoot, ha ha. Nobody actually noticed. However, when it comes to the group photos, instead of my usual "One, two, three!", I held up my left hand and showed the subjects my fingers 1-2-3.

My daughter was sick too. She has been coughing for three weeks already, and after two consultations, still to no avail. Finally, we went to the third doctor who is well-known for his aggression in administering medicine and started her on nabilization. She screamed the whole clinic down because of the odd apparatus and the hissing sound. Poor thing. We drew many sympathetic looks from the other parents. Hope she gets well soon.

One thing about shooting a midweek wedding is the traffic. Because it's a working day, the expressway would be choked with vehicles during the morning peak hours. So, what I did on 12 december was to get up at 4am, watched Liverpool thrash Marseille 4-0, and set off at 6am, and still managed to catch a short nap at the bride's car park. :)

Just Like A Gathering

I had a wonderful time last Sunday at Wilmer (or better known as Munch) and Ling's wedding. You see, I've known Munch since the late eighties when we were both in the formerly known as The Chinese High School and Ling since 1991. It's been a long time, and Ling and I stayed at the same hall of residence (Temasek Hall, where I was the permanent squatter). That's why shooting their wedding was like a gathering of sorts, where I saw many familiar faces, catching up (albeit briefly) with old friends.

Even though some of them are already parents to many children, but the bantering between them seemed a throwback to the college days where familiar corny jokes were cracked at will and we were 17 or 18 again. It was a good feeling; I certainly felt a warmth inside me.

Certainly a perk of my job.

And what struck me was the number of children-related photos I have for this wedding. Is the photographer's interpretation and vision an extension of his/her life? After becoming a parent, maybe I start to see things differently. Well, the verdict is still out.....we'll see.









I actually did two versions of slideshow here. One was my direct interpretation of the day (a very fun one) but my wife, being my biggest critic, felt that I should make it more romantic. So after some editing, I came out with version 2.

Click for "fun" slideshow

Click for "romantic" slideshow

Roy & Sulis

Last Saturday, I got to document Sulis' and Roy's short and simple wedding banquet at Goodwood Park Hotel. They are a nomadic couple who has just recently relocated from Bahrain to Bangkok.

It was also the first time I worked with Yvonne from Ideal Weddings. Well, looking forward to working more with you, Yvonne. And it would be the 2nd of the 4 weddings in 2 months that I hooked up with Yang. I think he was getting (literally) sick of me already. Watch your health, man. See you again on 13th December!

Anyway, here's some pictures to share:

Campus Superstars

It was a miracle we could even get this outdoor shoot completed last week because the rain was pouring down by the truckloads and I had to crack my head to think of some indoor possibilities. Immediately consulted Kuang and Gabriel and I sincerely thanked them for their kind suggestions.

In the end, their suggestions weren't necessary after all because our first intended location, National University of Singapore (NUS) campus provided some good opportunities. It was a place that meant something to Murali and Malar and no wonder they enjoyed the shoot while we were there.

Villa Raintree Spa

This is my first visit to the Villa Raintree Spa at Labrador Park. It's been quite a while since I last went to that part of Labrador Park, and the transformation of the once laid-back historical site astounds me.

In a vein similar to what the government has done to Tanglin Village at Dempsey Road, many of such once sleepy places have been sort of awaken and injected new lease of life. It's hard to say whether it's good or bad. I suppose people generally would prefer better amenities but nature-lovers and escapists like me would loath the development and the ballooning crowds at these places.

Nonetheless, the wedding ceremony was beautiful and the amount of attention the couple paid to details certainly added an extra touch to the splendour.