Had a wonderful weekend shooting weddings. Matthew and Yu Ling got married on Saturday at a new church, the Church of Divine Mercy at Pasir Ris. In the morning, the negotiations at the door involved rafia strings, bananas, pans, spatula and a whole lot of laughter. This in addition to the variety of food available, including oreos with a very unique filling.
Here are a few images processed for a slideshow that was shown at the dinner at Amara Hotel, and a few from the dinner itself.
And more images here.
More of such images can be found on my Actual Day Wedding Photography web page or in the Wedding Photography category of this blog.
I’m a big believer of social media. You know those Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in stuff. Oh how social networking and businesses have changed with the arrival of Facebook. Email is so passe in keeping touch. We’re always online when on the move. On my iPhone I have Whatsapp, Ping!, BeejiveIM, TweetDeck, Facebook and of course the ubiquitous SMS. All in the spirit of getting connected to everyone. Sure, there’s always information overload…no, I don’t really care what you had for lunch but if it’s mindblowing awesomely cheap and good, let me know!
From a business perspective, there’s more interaction between businesses and consumers. Big brands are taking notice of social media to engage consumers. It tears down the walls of communication, no longer can the big brands remain aloof, indifferent to feedback and opinions. It forces them to be on their toes since bad press can easily spread like wildfire. That’s the downside for them….but not for the consumers.
Small businesses depend on it for advertising. It’s like one big referral business avenue. I get a lot referrals especially for my wedding and family photography business and I love social media because I’m closer to people. It allows me to share my thoughts and ideas easily. You will feel that you know quite a bit about your photographer even before meeting him. Often when I meet people the first time, they’ll ask me about the stuff I blogged about. And the connection is instantly made. Is this important in engaging a photographer? I think so! Especially in a wedding, I’m sure getting to know your photographer is important. I’d much rather have someone I know and trust cover my wedding, instead of a total stranger whom I have difficulty communicating with.
Also, social media is a great platform to communicate updates like promotions, recent work, etc. Previously, emails were the most used and abused methods. Spamming was getting out of hand. With social media, we get around all this.
I must admit I have been updating my blog so much I kind of neglected my website. So yesterday I included buttons to link to my blog, facebook, twitter and linked-in profile. Although I’m not totally sure how I can directly get into my linked-in profile. Let me know if you know how. Currently you’d have to do a search for my name. So here it is, the updated portion of my homepage:
Social media links
Follow me on facebook and twitter and keep updated with what’s happening!
Goodbye 2009. Hello 2010! After a season of festivities, everyone’s back to work with, I hope, a fresh perspective to work, life and perhaps a zest, zeal and enthusiasm to make this year count. But take a moment to have some reflection on the past year, and use that as a guide for this.
For myself, this blog was started as a kind of social experiment and i must say I am hooked on it. I started in May 2009, after many years of deliberation and fears that I will not get pass my first post. I eventually discovered a love for writing. I can’t say I’m very good at it but at last I don’t dread it. So my first post was on packing for an overseas shoot in a reply to curious questions on what I always bring on my shoot. At that point of time I was already overseas and that was the perfect moment to talk about it. From then my blogging went on to discuss techniques, equipment, workshops, current work, book reviews and now with my new iPhone, a bit on apps and its camera. After the first post, ideas start popping up and since then, I’ve logged 140 posts! I try to go for higher value content and not just one-liners so I think I’ve done decently looking at my workload.
Continue reading 'A YEAR IN RETROSPECT'»
Baby Photography, Event, Family Photography, Kids Photography, Musings, Overseas shoot, Personal, Portrait Photography, Pre-Wedding Photography, Pregnancy Photography, Product Photography, ROM Photography, Sports Photography, Tips, Understanding, Wedding Photography
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book review, camera, iPhone, Kids Photography, learning, Photography, Portrait, Pre-Wedding Photography, product, studio, technique, travel, Wedding Photography, workshop
The wedding was so near Christmas that everyone was already in a festive mood. What a way to celebrate a wedding! Paul and Vanessa had their wedding in Perth and it was a stunning one at the beach. Beautiful weather and beautiful pictures. Over here in Singapore, it was a intimate dinner party to complete the wedding celebration. Vanessa’s parents stole the whole show with their song dedication to the couple. I have not seen many of these and I think it was really sweet of them.
Here are a few pictures from that day.
And more here..
Continue reading 'PAUL AND VANESSA’S WEDDING'»
Joan and Derras had their celebration at Tung Lok, at The Central, Clarke Quay last Saturday. The same place Rita and Ray had their ROM too. It was unfortunate it rained and their solemnization had to be conducted indoors but that didn’t dampen their spirits one bit. Plenty of laughter and joy to go around. And I was equally amazed at the level of details they paid attention to. The namecards and menu were specially designed and added a touch of colour in the restaurant. He’s from KL and she’s from Singapore so as wedding favours, they gave guests a bottle of I ❤ KL and I ❤ SG sweets. Now, that’s sweet! And their celebration made a beautiful evening perfect.
Namecards for their guests
Wedding Favours
The menu
Rain drops
Derras and Joan
The date is surely one Esther and Huan will never forget. 20.09.2009. This is actually part one of their wedding. Part two will be France in May next year. Huan’s French so where else better to have a cozy evening celebration than Au Petit Salut at Dempsey. Warm ambience and even warmer guests comprising mainly close family and friends. But before the evening celebration, there was the tea ceremony at Esther’s. There was a huge turnout and that added to the celebration.
There was a short solemnization ceremony before the dinner proper and the couple were all giggly when they exchanged rings. Esther has the biggest smile and Huan matched her personality with his humour. The guests were entertained by A Little Dream, with Bev on vocals and Adeline on the piano. A Little Dream is by far the best in my opinion and I particularly the chansons they performed. A perfect touch to a perfect evening. You can read about Bev’s blog on the wedding here. I was also particularly impressed with the humorous emcees giving their, needless to say, inaccurate interpretation of how they met. The couple also didn’t have it easy when they were put in the spotlight and were forced to answer questions. Of course, it got really funny when they have differing opinions.
Esther and Huan, congrats! Can’t wait for Part Two of your wedding!
Here are a few highlights:
Wedding Favours
Tea Ceremony
Esther and Huan marching in for their solemnization
Esther
Huan
Cake cutting
The cheers
And more images here:
More of such image can be see in my Wedding Photography webpage or in the Wedding Photography category of this blog.
Gordon wrote a beautiful poem for Shirley when he proposed to her but little did he know then that that was used as the negotiation chip for him to meet Shirley in the morning of 18 July 2009. The ladies insisted he recite the entire poem verbatim without pausing. Every pause meant he and his gang had to suck on sweet, sour, bitter and spicy ice cubes. How the ladies made those cubes was beyond me. What tickled me most that throughout the entire session, the ‘model answer’ was pasted beside the door. With very convincing acting skills, he managed to complete reciting but not before the tough ladies had their way and forced all of them to finish the cubes.
The solemnization and dinner was held at the Pan Pacific Hotel. The intimate christian service was held just before dinner. I love shooting at Pan Pac because of the great lighting both at the reception area and in the ballroom itself. Congrats Gordon and Shirley!
More of such images can be seen in my Wedding Photography webpage or in the Wedding Photography category of this blog.
Once awhile I shoot at an unfamiliar venue, a place which makes you want to drop your bags, whip out your camera and start shooting immediately. I did exactly that yesterday. The ROM and dinner celebration was held at Tung Lok Signatures, at The Central, on their balcony overlooking Singapore River and Clarke Quay. Rainy days tend to introduce beautiful, warm light in the evening as soon the rain retreats and the sun breaks through the thick clouds. Yesterday was no exception. Coupled with the sensational view and soft warm light bathing the place, they got legally married in front of family and close friends. The balcony wasn’t large but sufficient to fit everyone in comfortably and with enough room for me to move around. Yesterday also happened to be Rita’s birthday and a cake was ushered in immediately after the ceremony. The intimacy of the ceremony, together with the view and magical lighting, was the silver lining at the edge of the dark clouds seen throughout the day.
More of such images can be seen in my Wedding Photography webpage or in the Wedding Photography category of this blog.
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