Music Albums Galore!

Over the CNY weekend, I was bombarded with lots of TV ads on new music album releases, particularly David Foster's "Hit Man", which was re-titled internationally as "You're The Inspiration". Nevertheless, Warner Music priced it very attractively. You can look at it as either buy-CD-free-DVD or buy-DVD-free-CD. Initially, I was not expecting the DVD to be of top-notch production quality due to the pricing and packaging strategy. Boy, was I wrong.

I was impressed by the fantastic production and the quality recording. The live tracks are very well-recorded and balanced, from the instruments to the vocals. I love the song arrangements, some of them faithfully reproduced from the original song, others gone through nice renditions. Although not all the original artists sang the songs, the alternative singers sound very closely similar to the originals, which I find nothing wrong with it, because very often the songwriter (in this case, Mr. Foster himself) would want the song to be sounded the way it was made popular. And that's what I love about this album: the new tracks have strong original flavours with changes to provide a new perspective and yet not overdone.

If you are a fan of David Foster, then this album will let you see lots of him in action, on piano for 2 full hours, 'live' and interacting with guest singers and lots of speeches. Finally, the man behind all the greatest hits is bathing in the limelight.

Another album I got is the 101-tracked 6CD Warner Music compilation, "Love 101: 101 Ways To Say I Love You". It's a real bargain, selling for the price of 1 CD. That's cheaper than a legal paid download, even cheaper than a pirated CD, and you even get printed lyrics. Mind you, these are not some out-dated garbage tracks, but great classics and even some recent tracks, like The Corrs and Damien Rice. While some people could have gotten the tracks off the Internet via some form of free means, I'm always for the idea of owning a piece of an original work if it's affordable. It's a no-brainer: please get it if you have love around you, which I believe a lot of people have. When you run out of ideas of what love song you need, for your wedding day, or Valentine's Day, or just to convey a special message to that important person, this album will help you a tremendous lot.

I also purchased Kavin Hoo's instrumental album, "A Moment In Time". After months of seeing it on the shelves, I finally purchased it because I got a chance to sample the CD. It sounds good, and more importantly, inspires me to start writing new material. Kavin Hoo is fortunate to get his wife, Corrinne May, to do vocals. No lyrics, just humming and ahh-ing. Ethereal.

If you are interested in this album, I recommend you go to PinkArmchair website (http://www.pinkarmchair.com/) to purchase an autographed copy at US$14 (before shipping).

Wedding Moments - My Final 2

My final 2 wedding assignments are at both extremes of challenges. One is absolutely tiring - a 12-hour Day 1 and 5-hour Day 2 shoot - and the other totally relaxing - a 5-hour church wedding shot with 3 other photographer friends.


Jon is my primary school classmate, whom I met again during NS. From then on, we keep in touch and met up once a while. Originally, I was to take their pre-wedding photo at Bangkok in September. Unfortunately, Thailand was facing some political crisis and my wife forbade me to go. Eventually, I found another photographer that met their budget. It would have been a great experience, but I guess it was not meant to be mine.

The entire wedding was a test of my endurance. From the early morning bridal preparation to the gate-crash, and tea ceremonies, to the full-length wedding ceremony, plus the next-day wedding banquet. I took nearly 1800 images, double of most other weddings. Church weddings usually expend lots of frames because of the exchange of vows sequence.

Here are some of my favourite shots of Jon, my friend.













After this wedding, I immediately sold off half of my camera gear, despite having one more wedding shoot. That's because my "swan song" wedding assignment is accompanied by 3 other buddy photographers, so I can afford to go basic. One of them armed with the 70-200mm lens while the other brought prime lenses. Kevin is the groom and our colleague, whom we hang out with and discuss about photography stuffs.

Kevin and Angela love the camera. They never fail to give me that spontaneous moments. When people enjoy being taken, the photos naturally becomes good.











While processing all these photos, I felt a sense of nostalgia. After all, these are my final works for wedding day photography. As I looked through my past photos I took, I began to recall how it all started.

My very first wedding shoot "trial" attempt was for my wife's good friend in early 2005, and I was using the Sony F828. Months after that shoot, I bought myself my first DSLR, the Nikon D70, to equip myself as a serious wedding photographer. My second wedding shoot was with another experienced wedding photographer who allowed me to join him to learn from him and build my portfolio. The third wedding shoot was done thanks to my friend who heard of my venture into wedding photography and so got her friend to agree to let me try. My fourth wedding shoot was for my colleague whom I convinced to let me cover her wedding. For this wedding, I put in a comprehensive package, from childhood montage to the actual day express montage, my first. For wedding no. 5, I requested my university friend who already got an official photographer to let me shoot his wedding as a second photographer.

With my five-wedding portfolio I posted online, I clinched my very first paid wedding assignment in Dec 2005. I think I charged them S$400 inclusive of prints. They liked my photos and even invited me to their home to do some more family portraits before the relatives flew back to overseas.

Following that shoot, I got to shoot for my ex-boss' wedding in Jan 2006. Again, I requested to be a second photographer because they have already booked an official photographer. Weeks after I gave her the photos, she told me that she actually preferred my photos to the official photographer. From that moment, I knew I was in the right track in my style of wedding photography.

3 years later, now in Jan 2009, despite my announcement of "retirement", I'll probably still take up assignments via referrals, if my schedule allows and if they are willing to pay S$2000 for the service, which will include a 40-page hardcover photobook. Otherwise, I am more than happy to refer some close associates who deliver just as good, if not better, images, between S$1200 and S$3000.

No one can see the future, but I'm glad I had a chance to capture past memories for people through my photography.

Work In Progress: Deon, Harp, and Earth

Sneak preview of images that I shot of Deon on 2 Jan 2009. They will be used for my next photostory, about an angel's earthly encounters.

CNY Goodies: Pine Garden Pineapple Tart

I seldom blog about food, but this deserves an exception. Pine Garden's pineapple tart is simply delicious.

I've eaten many kinds of tarts, and I'm generally not a picky eater. To me, anything tastes fine, and people who knows me will know that I do not go crazy over food, definitely not a foodie.

But when I ate the pineapple tart from Pine Garden, I have to say they are good. The pineapple filling is not too sweet, and the texture is not rough. The crust, always my favourite part of the tart, melts in your mouth the moment you sink your teeth.

It is good.

But I won't go gaga over it. I am perfectly fine with normal tarts.

In case you decide to order, you can forget about it. When we collected our order, the staff said it was oversold. In fact, order-taking started since December 2008. We're just lucky to have gotten our order, despite being listed under 'waiting list page 3'.

Next CNY, I'll be sure to order way in advance.

Ashlyn - Listen To The Light

Ashlyn contacted me on the last week of December 2008 requesting for a photo session. After checking my schedule, I decided to arrange the shoot on 31 Dec afternoon - the last day of 2008.

Ashlyn went all out to make the shoot possible, by re-arranging her room to meet the requirements. She initially proposed 3 photo stories, one of them is an emotional outburst of her in a room. I then recalled that I had an undeveloped storyline with similar theme. I shall not reveal the actual theme right here so that you could view the photo story and experience the ending.

In one of the scenes, I requested Ashlyn to shed some tear. I put an eyedrop bottle within the reach of her hand, in case she couldn't get any tear out and had to supplement the crying look without disrupting the emotion.

She didn't need it.


She cried beautifully. It was a cry that emotes helplessness, hopelessness.

Why did she cry for? View the photostory in video below


View the full-screen photo story at my Flickr Set here.
Mirror site: http://chester.sg/photostory/ashlyn/


Here are some images that did not make it into the photo story.







We finished the shoot with some fun shots. Ashlyn looks equally good at being mature and playful.

Lumix LX3 24-60mm f2.0-2.8: Wide-angle Wonder

I only got to play with the LX3 for 15 minutes before the battery went flat. T3 Magazine lent me the digicam for review but couldn't find the charger. Nevertheless that 15 minutes is sufficient for me to form an opinion.

The LX3 has already garnered lots of positive reviews on its image quality, and I have no doubt about that. But after using the Lumix G1 for a day, the LX3 felt inferior in all areas - except the f2.0-2.8 24mm-60mm Leica DC Vario-Summicron lens.

But how to compare? The LX3 is almost half the price of G1.

Seriously, the LX3 pales in comparison with G1. The start-up time is slow(er), the AF is slow(er), the shot-to-shot is slow(er), the zoom mechanism is slow. The LX3 even exhibits the delayed-shutter-syndrome that I pointed out was pleasantly absent in G1. When I full-press the shutter while the LX3 tries to establish focus and when I lifted my finger off the shutter while the focus is still in progress, the LX3 proceeds to take the shot even if it means finding the focus 1 second later. That's so silly and I felt like an idiot when that happens to the camera I am operating on.

Image quality is understandably less stellar better than G1. Granted, the LX3 is better than most compact digicams, and G1 is technically classified as a DSLR with a larger image sensor. And despite LX3 having a bigger lens aperture, the lagged performance negates any advantages a fast lens could deliver.

But the LX3 has its place in the photographic arena. It's an excellent (and rare) wide-angle camera that produces above average images compared to any compact digicams. For static situations like posed portraits, the LX3 with f2.0 lens will capture low-light scenes at lower ISO, which translates to lower noise images.

I must say that with Lumix G1 and LX3, Panasonic has 2 innovative camera models that differentiates from the rest of the competitors. These will find a place with many consumers looking for specific photographic needs.

Lumix G1: Micro DSLR

The Lumix G1 is the world's smallest DSLR, but to me, it's really just an improved prosumer compact digicam that allows you to change lenses, with a large sensor that allows you to create high ISO low noise images similar to DSLR. Since there is no optical viewfinder, the usual focus-and-shutter lag exists, and it gets worse in low light conditions when the electronic viewfinder pumps up the sensitivity (and noise) to let you 'see'. Without an optical viewfinder, shot-to-shot framing is slower than using DSLR. But overall, the G1 out-performs almost all compact digicams in the areas of focus speed, shutter lag, mirror black-out, image quality.

One thing I like about G1 is that when you fully press the shutter and if there is a shutter release lag and when you decided not to capture the shot and when you release the shutter, the G1 will not fire the shutter. In most compact digicams and phone cameras, the shutter will continue to fire even after you release the shutter. That's very annoying because it deprives the user of re-framing the next shot.

The G1 is generous with hardware switches, like auto-focus dial, burst mode selector. Controls are generally easy to grasp. THe 3-inch articulated LCD monitor is a plus point that improves versatility. The start-up is extremely fast compared to most compact digicams: I can take the shot within 1 second of switching on (providing AF is locked). The LCD monitor is very clear and sharp. In fact, the live view looks better than the shot image.

Like many new Lumix models, the G1 comes with a special AF-lock that literally locks any item within the frame and tracks it anywhere it goes. This is really helpful when you want to shoot a moving object, and it tracks really fast. The first time I tried this "3D-tracking" feature was on my Nikon D300 DSLR, and now that I've tried on the G1, I realised the D300 tracking was considered slow. But in all fairness, it cannot be compared, because DSLRs uses fixed-location sensors across the frame while compact cameras use virtual sensors on any area on a frame.

The only thing G1 doesn't do like a normal compact digicam is to record video.

The review set I was holding comes with the 14-45mm (equiv. 28-90mm) f3.5-5.6 lens. The small-aperture lens did not help to demonstrate the advantages of G1. At the indoors, I wasn't able to capture still shots of active Mayenne despite bumping the ISO to 3200. However, shots that got her are sharp and clean. I believe the G1 will shine once better lenses are fitted.

While the G1 performs better at outdoors, focusing speed is not as reliable. There was a shot where I totally missed despite trying to refocus twice. The shutter refused to release because focus was not established. In majority cases though, focus is fast and snappy.

The Lumix G1 is a showcase of technological advances and will help in future product releases. On one hand, compact digicams could perform faster and produce cleaner images. On the other hand, DSLRs will become smaller and more compact.

If you need a compact digicam with superb handling speed and good image noise control, then G1 has no competition. If you prefer an analogue photo-capturing experience without the digitised live view, then nothing beats a real DSLR.