It wasn’t too long when we had blast of a time in Penang for Allen and Celia’s pre-wedding shoot and a few weeks ago…they were happily married! They met at the altar of the Church of the Holy Cross and proceeded to Ritz Carlton for lunch. The guests were entertained by the witty speeches by the maid-of-honour and the best man and wonderful, touching and heartfelt speeches by both Allen and Celia. I love the ambience at the Ritz Carlton in the daytime, spacious and flooded with windowlight.

The day started off at Celia’s. Damon was shooting with me and we loved the light and the unhurried manner in which the day started. In fact that was the pace throughout the entire day and we enjoyed every moment of it! Here are a few selected images from the day.

And more 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.

Pink was the colour of the day. Everything was so well colour-coordinated, right down to the pink bedroom slippers. What amazed me was the amount of effore and love put into different cards for personalized messages for the couple. The ceremony was held at the Raffles Town Club, also the venue for the ROM of Ignatius and Mui Ling, whom I had the pleasure of covering too.

Here are a few pics from the day itself starting from the preparation in the morning until lunchtime.

Continue reading 'NERN HOONG AND JO ANNE ROM'»

The thing I remember most about this wedding is the amount of food the brothers had to eat and endured in the morning. From sandwiches, to pasta, to ice-cream. Sounds innocuous enough but if it’s a wedding and you have bridesmaids in front of you, tough luck. The sandwiches had wasabe, and I don’t even know what’s in the pasta.

Another thing to make it memorable for me was the fact that I was with John and Yanleen in Paris last year, for their pre-wedding shoot. Prints were displayed at the entrance of the ballroom, and the stage was decorated to reflect a Parisian setting. A beautiful touch indeed.

Congrats John and Yanleen!

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 must say that Rita’s bridal party was pretty creative in using the playground to stage the games. It resembled an obstacle course with bitter gourd and chilly suspended from the monkey bars. Good thing Ray’s group comprised fit and strong guys that were up to the challenge. It’s been awhile since I’ve shot in Goodwood Park Hotel. I love the building and especially the ballroom. Good lighting on stage but the mirrors on the wall could be a bit tricky at times.

I spent a lot of time with both Ray and Rita shooting their ROM, pre-wedding, meeting over meals and I’m especially overjoyed to see them tie the knot last month. Congrats guys!

and more 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.

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:

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'»

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'»

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:

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.

Oh how I just love Malay weddings. Nothing is more exciting than the beat of the ‘kompang’ drums to keep your adrenaline racing, the vibrant colours that demands the attention of your eyes, the numerous ‘mas kahwin’ (gifts) from the groom, the intricate details of the ‘dais’ for the couple to greet guests, the fragrant smell of the nasi minyak and briyani, and not forgetting the spices and thick creamy rendang curry to soak your nasi. All your senses are engaged at the same time! Dzuhri and Norimah’s wedding last weekend was no different, starting with the Nikah ceremony on Saturday and ending with the Persandingan (wedding ceremony) on Sunday. A great weekend indeed…a beautiful couple and a beautiful ceremony.

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

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed at the wedding dinner was Robin’s friend, Danny’s performance. He’s a professional magician and Robin’s best buddy from school. He got them up to the stage to participate….nothing embarrassing, of course. The other thing that amazed me was their coordinator, David’s huge A3 spreadsheet detailing the whole day’s schedule together with action items. An excellent piece of work! A thoroughly enjoyable Saturday indeed.

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

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.

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'»