Think your life with a camera is getting out of control sometimes? You’re not the only one! One day we swing from a gear geek, to a time we think we have a shot at National Geographic and then bang, we are sometimes too ashamed to bring out the camera. Got this from the internet one day and I think it’s a humorous and good reflection of what photographers go through, amateur or professional.

Let’s start with Knowledge.
At the beginning, we’re born with zero knowledge of photography. At least I am. So we have a new camera, things are set to auto mode (unless you’re like me who started without auto modes). Then you learn about properly exposing your images and wow, you can actually take pictures and then you drool over the pictures in National Geographic and you’re convinced all you need is gear, and more gear. So break your piggy bank, starve a bit, work part time, and then you enter the gear geek stage. You improve on techniques, attend workshops, and then your knowledge just increases from then on.

Continue reading 'STAGES OF A PHOTOGRAPHER’S LIFE'»

I had a discussion with a friend this afternoon who blogs at NikonD90Lab.blogspot.com and the issue about lenses cropped up. He wanted to know what’s the most versatile lens to get. I have 6 lenses and if I were to go shoot street photography, I’d pick the 35mm F1.4. I use a Canon 5D MkII, so on the full frame without FOV (Field of View), I get the full 35mm. For street photography, Continue reading 'The Versatile Lens'»

A few days ago I was asked to give some advice on someone else’s photography assignment relating to architectural photography. The theme was ‘Extraordinary out of the Ordinary’, using compositional techniques such as two thirds rule, diagonal approach, balance of negative and positive space, and colour. Here’s the content of the email I sent out (with more explanation here). Continue reading 'Composition'»

You’ve been there before. You shoot an image on a bright sunny day and then you realise there’s no detail in another part of the image in the shadows. The basic thing photographers know is that the film/slides/sensor of the camera cannot capture all the exposure values you see with your eye. The eye has a wider latitude to exposure values compared to the camera. So how do you increase the latitude or the dynamic range of the camera? Enter HDR, or High Dynamic Range. This is a fancy term for something photographers have been doing all the time, since the darkroom days. We burn (darken) and dodge (lighten) areas of the picture to pull out the details and to even out the lighting. With the digital camera, our lives are made easier. Continue reading 'What is HDR?'»

I’ve been asked this question many times and to be perfectly honest I think a good image surpasses the basic techniques like composition, lighting, contrast, colour, etc. Sure, every photographer and aspiring ones, need to know all this. Instructional photo books flood the market with these basics. So what makes a good image? Continue reading 'What makes a good image?'»

Light modifiers

They do exactly what they are called, modify or change characteristic of light. You’ll see some of these terms used frequently in this blog since photographers use these a lot to get the effect they want, kind of sculpting light. They can be used for both strobe-based (flash) or continuous light. I’ll explain the ones I use a lot in studio and on location, and in my opinion the most basic if you want to start getting into studio lighting. Continue reading 'Light Modifiers'»

A simple, beautiful wedding in charming and idyllic Penang. The dinner was held at the very posh and delightful Rasa Sayang Resort, a highly acclaimed hotel, with a gorgeous garden and vintage old, lush trees facing the beach. We had some time during the day to explore the grounds and get some good pictures.

A very memorable part of the wedding dinner was the part when Poh Huat and Siew Len formed a train by pulling friends and relatives along, as they went table to table to greet guests. It was impromptu and they didn’t have any alcohol in them! In all my years of shooting, this has to be the first for me.

More of such images can be seen in my Wedding Photography webpage or in the Wedding Photography category of this blog.

One day Kevin, from Yellow Octopus, informed me he’s bringing a bike over and if I were keen on shooting it. Sure, I said. I love bikes. So he came over with this fantastic piece of art. I couldn’t keep my hands off it! We discussed how the shoot would go and we wanted to shoot it in a way that it won’t look obvious at first what it is, concentrating on the parts of the bike. The design of the bike is a collaboration between YOLO and bike designer, SOUL and this is the resulting YOLO-SOUL website. Here are a few images from the shoot. Continue reading 'YOLO'»

My favourite equipment when I shoot portraits outdoors is (besides the camera and the flash, of course) the Canon’s wireless transmitter, ST-E2. You would need this to trigger an off-camera flash and really, that’s the way to go for good portraits. Alternatively, you can use another flash to trigger the main flash, while disabling its light output. Check out the flash manual to do this. Continue reading 'Shooting Outdoor Portraits with Speedlite (Flash)'»

I was approached to contribute a few tips to shooting with a compact camera to JetStar’s inflight magazine recently. I shoot so much with heavy equipment that on a vacation, I’d love to just bring a compact camera or a film rangefinder. I find that, sometimes, stripping away all the equipment allows me to have a new approach to shooting. Very refreshing. Well, my favourite compact camera is the Canon G9. I would have a G10 had I waited a few more months. Nevertheless, the G9 is a beauty, both to hold and to shoot. Continue reading '5 Tips to Shooting with a Compact Camera'»

Pictures of Sharon and James just a few days before Nadine was born. Talk about timing! The shoot was done at their house. I brought along a black backdrop, 2 lights, and I used one of their white walls too. Continue reading 'Sharon and James'»

On my way to Aceh in April I received two smses in a span of 5 mins, from friends who do not even know each other. And each one asked me to do shoot for a friend. That was how I met Alila, a singer/songwriter who was such a livewire when she stepped into the studio. Such a joyful and bubbly person! Someone introduced her to my facebook the day after she was just checking out my website. And then she realized the images were from the same photographer! She wanted a few simple images for her CD so we brainstormed a short while and came up with images along these lines. Continue reading 'Alila'»

Anxiously looking forward to John and Yanleen’s shoot in Paris, end June. I’m also praying that the swine flu will not take a turn for the worse and jeopardize our trip. So far, we’ve planned for a 2-day shoot around Paris starting from the Arc du Triomphe and heading south-east, while taking some time to drop by Montmartre, where Amelie hails. Love the movie so I definitely have to check it out.

I planned the itinerary with Google Maps, realizing how much I’ve underestimated the software. Amazing piece of work! Here’re the shoot locations. The colours denote different dates.  Continue reading 'Viva la Paris!'»

I’ve been asked frequently what I would pack for an overseas shoot. Of course a lot depends on the shoot itself ie, duration, location, complexity, client, etc. However, since I’m now overseas for a wedding shoot and had to go through some packing last night, I’ve listed these few items: Continue reading 'Packing for an Overseas Shoot'»