Mistakenly Spammed

Today I did a regular routine filter on my Gmail spam folder to make sure the spam engine did not filter out valid emails.

To my horror, I found 2 emails enquiring for my photography services.

To my relief, the emails are dated within the past 7 days.

Speaking of photography, Cathay Photo has added a new product, called the ExpoImaging Rayflash Ringflash Adapter. Instead of purchasing a bulky studio ringflash that powers on AC, the ringflash adapter fits into your hotshoe flash unit (currently only fits Canon and Nikon flashes) and channels the light to the adapter. The product manufacturer claims you lose only one-stop of light.

The catch is that this "simple" device costs around US$300. And Cathay Photo is selling for S$500.

For a piece of plastic that has zero electronic components, I must say it's really over-priced. It's almost the price of a high-end sophisticated flash unit.

But I think for photographers who can afford that kind of price, this adapter will really help.

And I truly believe that there is such a thing as 'photography enquiry season'. For today, I suddenly received numerous enquiries for my photography services. Time to get busy again...

Photo Story: Emilia

Here's a photostory I created for Emilia whom I shot last month. The pitch for the story goes like this:

"A talented model with an ambition for greater achievements in life, this photo story attempts to capture this genuine moment before she leaves her teens.

"Who is Emilia? It really depends on who you are."

I wonder if you get what I mean on the above last paragraph. You see, different people perceives you differently. Your parents, your siblings, your friends, your bosses, your colleagues, your clients, your spouse, your enemies. Likewise, you treat them differently too.


Emilia felt somewhat misunderstood, but I think it happens to most people at some point of their life towards some group of people.

Late last year, I attended a course on EQ, and the trainer taught us this concept of Think-Feel-Do. In theory, when you encounter an event, you first think about the event, then you feel about the event, the finally you do an action. Each consequence will lead to another.

Let's take driving on the road for instance. If someone cuts into your lane, you will think, "That car came into my lane!". Then you will feel something. If you feel angry, then your action will be to horn or flash your high-beam. If you feel forgiving, then your action will be simply reduce speed and drive on.

There are many instances where the feeling part is skipped ("Think-Do"), like during an emergency. Then there are cases where the thinking part is forgone ("Feel-Do"), which could be dangerous. The trainer terms it "emotional hijack", which means you do something without thinking. And there are some that loops "Think-Feel" but never actually goes into the "Do" part. These are the procrastinators.

This process may be applied differently on diferent situations to different people. To people you are familiar with, the "Do" part is probably quite direct and straight-on. To strangers or people you want to impress, you might spend some time on the "Thinking" and "Feeling", to be more careful and tactful before you "Do".

We probably need to be brave to confront the "misunderstander" to clarify, if he or she means a lot to you. But even if you choose not to, that itself is a conscious result of your Think-Feel-Do process, for you have chosen to "Do" nothing.

Quite often, understanding yourself could be more difficult than understanding others. Because you judge others with the set of limited information the others present to you, whereas you judge yourself with a source of unlimited data directly accessible in your own mind.

Who is Chester Tan? It really depends on who you are.


OK enough of philosophy or theory. Click the cover image below to view the photobook.

Mirror link to Flickr Slideshow

Piano Love Letters - Jazz & New Age

This album was published by Warner Music Korea in 2006. A 2CD album featuring songs by Laura Fygi, Ray Charles, Renee Olstead, Chester Tan, Maksim, Ennio Morricone... wait a minute. Is my name in that list?

Yes.


I found out about this album 2 years ago. Since then, I tried many means to get hold of the album, but this album is only available in Korea. I even asked friends and friends' friends who were going to Korea to help find the CD at shops, but to no avail. Ironically, this CD is readily available for sale on many Korean online websites!

Eventually, through Facebook, I found out that an ex-student from the ballet school, Sue-Ann, was there for a student exchange programme. I asked her to help, and she managed to get a copy! Today I finally met her to pass me the CD.

There was also a Korean write-up. Sue-Ann helped to translate:

“Chester Tan,began learning to play the piano at the age of 5. After entering university, he combined ‘computer MIDI’ together with his major to create dynamic and simple music, becoming Singapore’s first pianist to release an album. The album, Body and Heart (or Body and Soul) was released in 2004, in the album , which consisted of classical new age songs that were calm and served to soothe the senses. Songs/sounds that serve to relax and encourage meditation will warm your heart and awaken your senses.”

The part about me being "Singapore's first pianist to release an album" is so blatantly unreal. It's so embarrassing if Koreans really believed that. It sounded like Singapore doesn't have great pianists worthy of album releases.

And I wonder why of all the tracks they chose "Heart and Soul". It's definitely not one of my better works. That goes to show how music tastes differ vastly with individuals.

But still, it's so surreal to find my song in the same album compilation as some of the greatest artists around the world. Thanks to Warner for using the track from my Piano Spa album and most importantly, credit my name as the composer and artist on this CD.

Just be

Maintaining a blog is a sure way to forge an online identity if you are serious to establish yourself on the World Wide Web.

It is easy to fake an identity, hiding behind a user name and run amok in your verbal actions as if you will never hurt anyone like you could in the real world.

But if you have a blog that runs for years, you are guaranteed to have international alibis - people who follow your blog for a long period of time, who reads and follows your life over the entire period. They will attest to your personality - good or bad.

The blog is a personal space where you can write whatever you want people to see you as (not necessarily your true self). But it's ironic how someone could pretend to have another personality when he or she is not in real person. Think about it: if you knew how to pretend to have another personality, why can't you be that person in real life? If you 'pretend' to be nice to people in blogs, wouldn't that be convenient to be just that person in real life?

So seriously, don't pretend. Just be who you are in blogs. Write what you feel, say what you think.



Yesterday was my dad's birthday, which coincided with my sis' wedding banquet food-tasting session. So we conveniently celebrated his birthday at the restaurant.

It's a rare photo moment that I capture Dad with such a hearty smile. That's our gift for him, a Raoul shirt that he can wear on my sis wedding.

Mayenne and Grandad synchronises their looks for the camera

One Year

One year ago, I remembered going to Singapura Finance wanting to withdraw my matured fixed deposit amount, but was rejected because I went too late and the principal amount was already auto-committed for another year. If I were to terminate the account then, the penalty would be hefty. So I marked my calendar and told myself that one year later, I will close the FD. I even went to the branch 3 weeks before maturity and hope to request in advance for a standing order to send the principal amount in cheque. No, they said. Have to wait for maturity date.

So one year has arrived. And I nearly missed the dateline again. Today is my company D&D so we had permission to leave office early. I left at 3.40pm and drove hastily to the AMK branch, reaching there at 3.59pm - one minute to closure. After 10 minutes of paperwork, I got my money in cheque. And that ends my relationship with that financial company.

Amazing how time passes by, so quickly.

And to think of what I have achieved. So little, so much.

That's how my life will be.

One year. One year.

Some photos of Mayenne which I picked at random.

Loved her making funny faces. Shows that she's a happy baby.

Instead of mulling which photo to show, I did a montage.

Mayenne's first swim.

Mayenne playing Tamagotchi

Photo Story Assignment: Lara

Lara is 17 years but she is already experiencing the urban pressures of a grown up. Longing for freedom of her life, she writes to me her story and requests that I produce a photostory.

Here are some images taken during the shoot one month back.













And click the below cover image for the 40-page photostory.


This is the shoot assignment where I encountered the black cobra as described in my previous post.

Creating Tangible Emotions

I was listening to some online music and began to miss the days of producing music.

Then I suddenly realise why I love to compose so much.

That's because I get to create a piece of work that touches my soul.

It's not about money, it's not about fame. It's not so much about the pleasure of realising how many people appreciates my song (although that does motivates me somewhat).

It's the pure joy of able to experience a tangible form of my emotional state.

As far as I know, I have emptied my best compositions to the Piano Spa series - all 106 of them.

So it's time I stock up, find some time in the next 12 months to write another set of new compositions.

I shall create music the way I like it. Not for any record labels, nor for any particular projects.

I won't be involved in Piano Spa 5. Fred is already working on it now and is expected to hit the market by the end of the year.

Support the Piano Spa series, and hopefully the old albums will get a lease of life from the warehouse.

Nikon launches D700, new full-frame DSLR

For years, Nikon refuted rumours of developing full-frame DSLR, despite Canon dominating the full-frame DSLR market for many years. Then in August 2007, Nikon revealed the D3 and christened 'FX' to denote full-frame 35mm format (DX for 1.5x cropped-frame). D3 is the top-range DSLR to replace D2X.

From there on, people again started to speculate whether Nikon would release a more compact and affordable FX DSLR. Yesterday, Nikon finally announced D700, a hybrid of D300 and D3, the best of both models, a compromise of both too.

Deciding to buy D700 is not a simple upgrade from my current DSLRs, because D700 is a 12MP full-frame DSLR while all my current DSLRs are DX format. Based on my existing lens collection, I only have 2 DX lenses, which means I can use all other lenses on FX DSLR. Actually, I can also use the DX lenses on FX DSLR but I only get 5MP image size.

Another important consideration is my semi-retire status from wedding photography. The major advantages of D700 is excellent low-noise at high-ISO and ultra-wide angle coverage. While one can claim that a camera alone doesn't make good images, having a camera with low-noise at high-ISO will help the photographer make clear images at low-light situations.

Another consideration that I have to remind myself here is that the FX market is yet to mature, so there is still a limited number of ultra-wide angle lenses that allows FX to replace DX DSLRs. To state my point, you can get a FX-equivalent 15mm coverage using a DX lens for S$900 (Tokina 11-16mm f2.8), but you have to pay $2400 for similar coverage for a FX lens (Nikon 14-24mm f2.8), not forgetting the additional equipment weight. Well, you could settle for a similarly-priced 3-year-old full-frame Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-4.6 lens for about $1000, but that's a different class of lens that you wouldn't want to use on your new D700.

One thing is for sure, that is, FX is here for good. So I can take my time to consider if I really want to go to FX format in future. For now, I'm hanging on to DX format to take advantage of the lighter lens and the fake-crop advantage.