Huirong: The Reunion

The last time I photographed Huirong was in September 2006. The last time I met her in person was in Aug 2008. After discussing about our shoot for 2 years, we finally met again on 21 May for a test shoot. A simple single-light beauty-dish setting.





I think we spent more time talking than taking photos, which explains why out of the 5 outfits she brought, we took only one. 

Zoe Raymond: Bridal Shoot

Zoe's not getting married - yet. But it is every girl's dream to don the bridal gown and look absolutely ravishing. This shoot gives her an excuse to wear a gown.

Many friends have asked me why I have done so many photoshoots with Zoe. That's mainly because we have built a good friendship over the years, since the start of her modelling and event stints. During the times, I don't have many models to work with, and Zoe is always around to hear my concepts and work with me. I always give priority to model-friends whom I am comfortable to work and communicate, rather than soliciting stranger models.

We sought permission from The Arts House to do this shoot. Here are my favourites:











For more photos of Zoe Raymond, visit my facebook album at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69614&id=29681438116

Happy 2nd Birthday Mayenne

I didn't realise I haven't been blogging for almost 2 weeks. I haven't had a blog break so long for quite a long while. That's because I was rather busy with the office move and planning for photoshoots.

In this post, I'd like to share with you the photobook that I did for Mayenne. Creating photobooks has become an annual affair for me, as I document the growing years of our darling. This is also the time that we look back at her growth progress and remininesce at the times when she was so small, immobile, and dependent. Today, she's a free-spirited bubbly jumpy girl who gives us lots of joy and frustration. These experiences are gifts that everyone should experience. After all, we only live once - as far as we can remember.

http://photo.chester.sg/year2/

Happy Birthday, Mayenne. Papa and Mummy love you. And so does everyone in the family tree.

Winners of the Audi Impressions Photo Competition

After 7 full days of adrenaline-pumping excitement, the competition is over. For 7 full days, I spent my waking (and a bit of my sleeping-dreaming) hours thinking and working on the competition.

On the evening after I did my 1-hour shoot, I went home to process the images. As I scrolled to shot number 3, the image impressed me, and so I did a quick edit and posted it up on the Facebook Audi Page for online voting. I won the Photo Of The Day with 32 votes.


I reviewed the rest of the set and selected my favourite 2 shots without difficulty. Deciding on the last image was hard.

My favourite entry is this one (below). I can't photoshop well, so I left the background untouched, rather than ruining a good photo with bad DI.

I had a concept of a red carpet coming out from the car and the model walking out. There were other poses, but this was a "safe" choice that conveys the concept clearer. I had another shot where the model walks away cooly. I'd prefer that, but a sample group review felt that the walking away did not convey a positive message about the car.


Then came the final image. I was torn between the image below and my "Photo of the Day", but I chose this because this was the only image that conveys the A3 Cabriolet tagline: Serious Fun.



The judging process was open to public, and most of the 28 contestants were there, crowding around the 5 judges next to the red Audi R8 who scrutinised the images over the latest Samsung LED TV screens. They selected by several rounds of elimination. When I reached there, I think there were about 30 images left. All my 3 images were in. Then slowly, the number of images were reduced. I remembered 2 of my images remained among the final 10. When it came down to the final 5, none of my images were present.

Jimmy Pang, who added me as a Facebook friend recently for this competition, was standing next to me throughout the process. His image was in the final 5. Then it reached the final 3. All the finalists were asked to talk about their images in front of the judges. After much deliberation, they eliminated one, leaving the final 2. At that point, I told Jimmy, "Well, at least you already won something!" His image was one of the final 2.

This image, by Nasrul, was the 2nd runner-up. Great image that shows the car very clearly. Fantastic commercial-quality catalogue photo.

Comments shared by Willy regarding this photo:

Nasrul's photo had the most areas which the judges picked on..

Joyce (from marketing perspective) looks at which car she would like to buy.. Jimmy's stood out.

Olivier (from commercial photographers perspective) feels that for a lifestyle shot, it needs to be believable that you're the person in the shot. This seems more high fashion than lifestyle (Olivier, pls correct me if I misunderstood you)

Jingna (from a fashion photographers perspective) feels the model didn't connect with the camera.. at least not up to her standard :p

The below image is created by Natalia Tjandra. Another great DI artist. I like the concept: the unveiling of the A3 Cabriolet in front of the stadium of spectators. This will work as a print commercial ad.



But Jimmy's photo won over the judges. Model is Shahirah Price. I like the spotlight, and the fact that Jimmy DI the background works in isolating the subjects. Stefen Chow, one of the judges, has this comment:

Jimmy's picture fits the contest theme the most, where Audi is about lifestyle, glamour and fashion. The usage of the model, the pose and the angle where the shot was taken made it the clear winner among the entries.

Here is a post-competition comment from Olivier Henry of Milk Photographie posted on Facebook:

It is important, as a photographer, to understand and execute the brief given by a client. You guys were given a car, a fashion context, and of course the lifestyle angle. As a photographer, you must think about who you must please the most (the client paying you) within the spectrum given to you; it goes this way:

1) Who is the client? What do i know about this client?

2) What is the product?

3) What am i selling here (a lifestyle? a product?)

4) How do i meet this criteria without compromising my artistic integrity as a photographer?

5) How do i have FUN executing the job? A competition is a job, like any professional photography assignment.

6) Am i under-delivering or over-delivering? How would i feel if i saw my own image in a magazine for the first time and i was not the one shooting it?

This was a tough call. You guys did an amazing job! Continue taking pictures and never let anyone tell you it is not worth it. Practice makes perfect!

This photo competition is certainly a unique experience for me. This is unlike other photo competitions where you simply submit the images and wait for the results. This competition has got that "reality-show" feel, where you got only 1 hour to do the shoot on-location, and you interact with other contestants from the official Facebook contest page, viewing their photos posted, giving comments. And this open judging event also lets us see how the judges come to their decisions.

I applaud Willy Foo for putting together this competition in a matter of weeks (post ed: Willy informed me that the discussion on this competition started only on the evening of 29 April) . He is a great photographer, an innovative entrepreneur, and an excellent contributor to the photographic community in Singapore.


Blog Article References (note: you might not be able to view the links depending on the access rights configured by the Facebook post owners)
Winners announced on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=80332297047
Official Facebook Group for the Competition - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72004217719
Facebook Photo of the Day - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=79534137047&id=719891275

Comments to the Final 4 photos - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3135687&id=719891275&comments=
Audi Singapore Photography Contest - http://www.audi.com.sg/sea/brand/sg/models/a3/a3_cabriolet/photography_contest.html

The Audi A3 Cabriolet Photography Contest

Titled "Impressions: Featuring the new Audi A3 Cabriolet", the contest is the brainchild of entrepreneur-photographer Willy Foo. When he announced it on his facebook page, I was the first to sign up and to submit photos for shortlist. 2 days later, I received a facebook note from him that I was one of the 28 selected for the contest.

The challenge is to book a 1-hr slot from 6-9 May between 4-11pm and go to the Audi Fashion Tent where the A3 Cabriolet is displayed and to capture the car depicting the lifestyle.

This is probably one of the most "dynamic" and shortest-notice contest I've ever entered. Even the details of the shoot is evolving day by day. For instance, the actual location of the car was only confirmed 16 hours before the first contestant gets to shoot the car. And even then, the car colour was changed at the end of the first day. The facebook and photographic community is certainly keeping abuzz with the developments, as everyone tries to uncover the latest news and get prepared for the 1 hour experience.

I was brainstorming without a clue for 2 full days since I was informed of the shortlist, but after that, it was so much relaxed, as I get the outfit confirmed, the props purchased. Now all's left is the actual execution, from the lighting to the camera angle and the post processing. As the car is on public display, one cannot expect the showroom look with clean or picturesque background (like the one above). Neither do we get the big strobes to give the car a great shine.

I never felt so excited about a photographic "assignment" before, because the 28 selected photographers, at the end of the day, got to submit their photos to the panel of judges that includes professional photographers like Zhang Jinga (zemotion), Olivier Henry (Milk Photographie), Stefen Chow, and Willy Foo. I have to prove and show what I am capable of, and even though it's probably not as good as some of the contestants, at least it must represent my skills.

Official Audi Photography Contest Page:

http://www.audi.com.sg/sea/brand/sg/models/a3/a3_cabriolet/photography_contest.html

Official Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72004217719

TAKEN The Movie

I was deciding what movie to watch over the weekend. Wolverine is not out until Wednesday, and there wasn't any must-see movies in my list. Initially I decided to catch The International because I thought it must be a nice movie, not from the story point-of-view, but maybe cinematography or action. Then there was the Fast and Furious 4, but when I watched the trailer, I wasn't too excited. 

Then there is this movie called TAKEN. The title reminded me of the HBO series by Steven Spielberg, and so I didn't think highly of this movie. But after I watched the trailer and read the synopsis, I think this story has more depth than the other films. There is the human emotional drama (like "Changeling") with action (like "Bourne Identity").

I didn't realise the film is co-written by Luc Besson, and that it premiered in France more than a year ago. I was a fan of his movie ever since The Fifth Element. He's got an interesting way of writing his story. He has no qualms about gun violence, and breaks many rules about dramatic gun scenes in favour of surprises. For instance, in the final gun scene, the Sheikh held the protaganist's daughter hostage. The moment the Sheikh utters a word of negotiation, Niam Leeson's character put a bullet in his head without hestitation. Woah! I would expect some kind of dilly-dally drama like many other movies.

Apart from that, I think it's a great story, kindda like community message for the world about Europe human trafficking activities. Haha why should Singaporeans feel silly about Jack Neo's agenda-filled movies when other countries are also doing the same, albeit with more budget? As a father to a 2-year-old daughter, the film really connects to me. My wife commented that maybe Harrison Ford would have been more convincing, but I reckon he could only portray more as a desperate dad than a level-headed one. It's also unfair to say that Niam Leeson isn't suited for action films. I thought he is fine because he's already a father of a 17-year-old girl and has retired from CIA, so it shows on his face. But if the critics meant that he doesn't look suave and stylo to be a action star, well ya I guess so. This role needs more of a father-looking character than an action-looking figure, and Niam Leeson has that fatherly look, having acted as Obi Wan Kenobe's mentor, including some light-sabre-wielding sequences.

The only scene I thought was overly-glamourised is the long movie-tagline monologue where the character talks to the kidnapper, "... and I will find you, and I will kill you." The voice track was perfectly recorded, and as a voice talent, Niam Leeson really sounds great narrating the lines. But it just lacks emotional context for that scene.

I like the movie. I probably won't watch it again, but the story will live in my mind for years to come. It's a stark reminder of the dangers of the world out there, and young people needs to be wary of strangers and never to be too wild and playful to attract unwanted attention. The worst is that young people think they are smart enough to know the dangers, but I think these organised criminals are far more intelligent to fathom what tricks they could come up with.

Recently, a friend shared with me about someone who is not being honest in a business transaction. I found out that this someone has a history of being dishonest to people he engages for jobs. My argument to my friend is that: if this person with a poor history can still survive in this trade for years, then it really says something about his street-wisdom.

 

Why I'm not interested in E75

The Nokia E75 is the latest E-series mobile phone, a replacement to the E71 launched in June 2008. 10 months have passed, but it seems like time stood still and not much new features are found in E75.

While E75 boasts a large QWERTY keyboard, supports HTML email, and probably some firmware enhancements like seemingly better camera still and video quality (30fps VGA vs. 15fps QVGA), there is almost no critical differences. In fact, a quick comparison using Nokia website shows that the E75 contains only 50MB internal memory compared to 110MB for E71.

Thus the choice of E75 or E71 boils down to the looks and usability. I used to like to input text using the normal keypad via T9 because of the ease of one-hand operation, though I am often restricted by the word suggestions and occasionally I have to switch back to non-T9.

E71 works for me because I can still use the QWERTY keyboard with one hand. Some of the input facilitation features on the E71 include the multi-key press, so holding the Shift and pressing an alphabet gives me upper case. Or holding the Shift and moving the cursor lets me highlight text. Or long-press the keys to get the alternate numeral characters. When you want to make a call, the E71 is intelligent to recognise whether the keystrokes match a contact name, and if not, it will interpret as a phone number. These features replaces the need for touchscreen or keypad.

In comparison, E75's QWERTY keyboard is too wide and the keys are flushed. I believe I have to stretch my thumbs over a larger area which adds more muscular stress. Not forgetting that the phone is bulkier than E71.

Having said that, the E75 does have an advantage: the normal keypad. This will allow higher adoption of the E-series. Admittedly, I was initially apprehensive about the Blackberry-lookalike E71 that looks too "corporate". The E75 breaks the mindset and yet offers the user two input methods - best of both worlds. Interestingly, the E71 actually has a lot of non-corporate users, from students to normal office workers. No wonder the E71 has won many awards as the best mobile phone of 2008. While there is no doubt that the E75 delivers several improvements over the 10-month-old predecessor, the E71 is still a swell phone.