…up and down the stairs everyday, just like this.
Archive for 2009
…up and down the stairs everyday, just like this.
I can’t remember when was the last time I did a self portrait. After an awesome shoot with Fabian and Xinyi this afternoon, I came home… and Hutch greeted me happily like every other day. Before I popped into shower, I sat outside the toilet while he snuggled up. Looking at the lighting from the toilet, I thought the location was perfect for a little low light portrait. Set up my gears and after a couple of minutes, here we are:D
I was watching this video about men’s brain vs women’s brain and it talked about this “nothing box” in the men’s brain. It’s funny, but true.
Angel and her dad after putting on the veil for her. I can’t tell what’s on his mind. But from the way he held her hands, I believe it’s far from a “nothing box”.
I know this is a little overdue. Haven’t been the most diligent in posting wedding day images. I have decided to now post images instead of slideshow.
This is a wedding I took in May. It was a pretty simple and straight forward affair. Meet at church and tea ceremony after that. No sweaty gatecrashing games. The evening setup was nicely done up by the team at Heaven’s Gift at my favorite hotel, Four Seasons. Not only because they serve real kick ass club sandwiches (on par with Intercontinental), I know the wedding it probably going to hold about 200+ guests. A pretty comfortable size for a wedding reception I feel. The well thought out evening programme had everyone entertained. From the wedding singers, dance, games… right down to the personalized pastries.
Here are some images of the wedding.
It’s been two crazy weeks since I returned from Bali. Granted, I had a little fun in Batam, but it was still crazy. Now that the dust has sort of settled (into a huge pile of images), the image making machine begins to warm up.
Besides diving in Bali and trying out some underwater shots, we did a Pre-Wedding for James and Melissa as well. Shooting underwater requires so much logistics it’s not even funny to list them down. One of the major pre-requisites is the models themselves. It was physically taxing on both parties. But end of it all, it was fun and we found out tricks and all to make things easier. Can’t wait to try it again though:)
After my “epic” dive with the jacks at Tulamben, I met James and Melissa the day after and stayed at the beautiful Karma Kandara Resort with Melissa’s brother and CJ. The shoot was scheduled for the next day and we headed out to Uluwatu, then to Dreamland (where we were made to pay “fees” to access the beach) before moving out to Tanah Lot in the evening.
And… let’s just say that… I wanna go out now and I’ll leave the images to speak for themselves?
Beyond the viewfinder. The reason why I gave my blog this name is because I don’t want this blog to be all about my work, the wedding images I take. I want it show what I do besides photography and perhaps, a little about my life as well. But don’t worry, I will still be posting up wedding images. Soon ok?
I was swarmed with work right after the Bali trip. It’s the same as how you guys work overtime after taking leave. Emails, admin, edits, delivery, meet ups… you name it. The Hari Raya long weekend was especially long for me, with back to back weddings. The one consolation for the long standing hours are the people that were at the weddings, the couple, relatives, friends and even vendors. Gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling. I may be too engrossed taking pictures that my response might be a little less than warm, but when the dust settled, reminiscing the events are just as great.
My exercise regime took a long break after that 2 weeks of sickness and 2 weeks in Bali. Add another week of crazy workload, that’s more than a month without working out. For someone who can’t keep still, that sucks. So here’s the much needed “break” from work. I remembered a friend once told me, after one wedding, the next day should be “no work” day. That’s one thing I always remember… to make me feel less guilty:)
So Batam was the place to be. We headed out to Batam Cable Park for a full day of riding. Had an awesome time with really good company! I had so much fun I forgot I didn’t sleep much, didn’t eat much and worked my body so hard. All in the name of de-stressing:D
Here are some images from the trip.
EP off the ramp with a stylish bone out.
Andy hanging on the line. Hang on, don’t come down yet.
Oooooooooo’brien!!
Suter’s powerslide. I think this backdrop is so much better than ECP!
Covered in a veil of water droplets.
Whiplash-ed!!
Lin and Li doing some synchronized ollie-ing. Nicely executed.
Al and Ray by the dockside. So much fun for a day.
The fifth trip to Bali has officially ended. Easily, my best trip there yet. There was no rush, no pressure, no obligations, no fear that things will turn out wrong. Perhaps because, there were no expectations. I allowed the flow of things to take over. I was overwhelmed by calmness. Sometimes, I wonder how I do it. In the words of the fat-barrel; kan cheong is not an option.
Out of this entire trip, my favourite moment would be the one where I was swimming with the jacks. It’s the first time I have spent such a long time on a subject. The experience was so surreal. I wish I could do more of such dives. When I travel, I always believe in spending enough time at a place to appreciate it. But I have never imagine that to happen underwater as most of times, we will be grouped and it’s a little like guided tours where you touch and go. Finally, I got what I wanted and I will definitely be planning my dives like this. That said, I’m planning more trips soon and very likely, a nitrox course as well. Let’s see how it all pans out once I get my schedule sorted out.
It’s almost exactly 6 years since that dive that broke my eardrum. That was pretty much a turning point in my life. The event that led me to the world of photography. Because of that accident, I picked up my first DSLR and somehow, got started in wedding photography and had never looked back since. The money that was used to buy that DSLR was actually for an underwater camera that I have been saving up for months after I got addicted to underwater world. Being able to do this all over again is like redemption to me. And yes, it was worth the wait.
Here’s a slideshow I put up for the Bali trip.
Click to view slideshow
The last two days of my slightly longer than usual work trip. On day twelve, the boys stayed villa-ed, while the girls went diving at Nusa Penida again. I wished I could go, but I have to detox before the flight next day. And that proved to be a bad bad bad (not like I have a choice) decision. After they left, we went to Ubud to have lunch and did some hopeless shopping. I’m not sure about the others, but my head was still spinning like crazy from that horrible ride to Nusa Penida two days ago.
Right after lunch, we received an sms from the girls. They saw a huge school or mantas at Manta Point and are heading for Crystal bay to try their luck on the Molas. Sea condition was bad and they are just going to try anyway. An hour later, we got another message, they found the Molas. Not one, but TWO!!! And the best part, only 2 divers, 1 diveguide and 2 molas. It was unbelievable!! If I hadn’t seen the video after that, I would never have believed it.
This was their story. The details are pretty accurate since they repeated the story the whole night after they came back:P *lol* Right after they made their descent at Crystal Bay, the diveguide signaled them to move down the slope. According to them, they’ve never seen the diveguide so excited. They followed and spotted a baby mola, probably about 2 foot in diameter. The shy baby mola swam away as soon they approached. Wayan, the diveguide, took Michelle’s camera and started video-ing the other big mola. That one is probably 4-5foot in diameter. It was an amazing 4 minute documentary of the mola-mola! And at a depth of 50m!! Too bad I can’t link the video here since it’s not loaded on public site yet.
Though worn out from the extremely rough boat ride, the girls were smiling from ear to ear and watching the videos over and over again the entire night till they ran out of energy. I was in dreamland, wondering, why didn’t I extend another day. Damnit, now I have to wait another year to catch them again (if I’m luck enough). I was happy though, that they managed to catch it. At least it’s not a wasted trip.
On the last day, we woke up early and headed for the resort’s private beach. We did some shooting and headed up to the pool for a swim. Had a crazy time before it was time for me to pack up. Damn I wished I could’ve stayed another day. What a fantastic trip, fantastic company. Never a dull moment.
Here are some snippets from that morning’s shoot.
I told James to sit at the rock while the waves were crashing in. It looks pretty mild for awhile…
…then a HUGE one crashed right into him. I manage to avoid it somehow and… laughed my ass off:P That was so funny!!
The travel party at the infinity pool…
…going for the infinity…
…FACEPLANT!!
Happy people, all around. The photographer too, was happy behind the camera:D