Flood

Was going thru my images on my Dopod, i load them in so that i can show anyone who wants to see what i do, and decided to flood them here, some have been posted here before:

pick your favourite!































































































































enjoy...

POTD

This is, again, untitled...

POTD:



Click on image for a larger one.

It's confirmed, I'm driving up to Ipoh on Sunday. Probably be back on Monday night.

Was great to see my mum.

RIP Por Por

Thanx for those who offered their condolences.

I haven't decided if i'll be going up to ipoh, but most likely i will, she's my last grand parent. i'm officially "grand orphaned"... if there's such a thing.

*sigh*

i dunno wat else to type lar. i wish i had stayed close to her but of course my excuse was that ever since we moved to australia (which was AGESSSSSSS ago) we never really saw each other much.

at least she's reunited with Gong Gong. Her life ended when his did anyway.....

i guess i'll post my thoghts another time, if i do at all.

now waiting for my mum to fly in at 2am. at least i get to see her again! it's been ages.....

I need a title for this...

i came up with "Windy Bride" but i don't think that works...

love this shot.. love it love it love it!!!!

POTD:




click on image for a larger one.

Many potds!

brought out my s3 and 50/1.8 yesterday and didn't get any great shots at the IT show. instead, since i had the camera with me full time (didn't bother bringing a bag out.. just let it sling) i came up with these:

getting into the car to go out:





then after parking the car while going back up to my flat:





funny how i brought the cam out to shoot at the show but got these instead. i should bring my cam for a walkabout more often.

using my laptop atm... the spacebar is driving me nuts!!! i have to POUND it for it to work...

ifnoti'llbetypinglikethis....

Reflections on turning full time #1

Haven't had a chance to pen down my thoughts since being a full time photographer.

Before I start rambling off, I need to thank Wendy (natty) for helping me come up with my brand, expressively jOhO. This brand will go a long way, hopefully. Thank you girl, you're such a pleasure to talk to, then, and now!

Ok now, for the rambles, not quite sure where to start.

It's been a great year so far, i never expected to be this busy. At first i was very worried, but then not overly that it affected my hope for a better ahead. Before CNY it was really quiet, but after CNY i suddenly got hit by a tonne of bricks and bookings have been coming in more than i have expected.

Sometimes i do wonder what sells. The images, or the personality. Most would concur that it's a mixture of both. So both have to do well for this to succeed. Images, generally, get better with time, and that's what i strive to do without question, but personality, i think i've been myself thus far, and will continue to do so. I remember saying to a customer "there's no way i can shoot for you if you don't like me. so... do you like me?" ahhahaha.. i can't remember the context, but it was something like that. she booked me, so i guess she liked me! good girl, you made the right choice!

Adrian has been a great support. He seems to have more confidence in me than anyone else in this world. It was almost as if when i told him i was going full time, that he could see this being a success. Success is not just money, heck, if any of you know me well enough, money does NOT drive me. not enuff, yes, worry, but never will i chase it for the sake of "more is better". Thank you bro for the confidence that constantly drives me, in one way or another.

Thanks also go to Willy for giving me the opportunity to work together under Live! Studios. I look forward to working with you much closer in future, and let's see how we can take over the world, LIVE!!!!! ok maybe not, but you get my drift.

KNS.. this sounds like a grammy award speech. wtf...

you guys getting bored yet? Yes? too bad, go help yourself to the cold prata in the kitchen!

Well, i guess enuff from me tonite. going forward, i need to have better time management and clear my shoots in a more timely manner. Those that catch me procrastinating, please remind me: Your images lose power if they sit in your hard drive unprocessed for too long, becos you start to lose the feel of what happened when you shot it.

It's true. photography is about feel. it is not just my work, but all of me.

Singapore Wedding Photographer

ok this reminds me.. since Panda asked me about putting my blog in her links...

can you all wonderful people do me this favour? i'll buy u prata....!!

if you wanna link me, put in my wedding photography website too, and call it SINGAPORE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER like this:

<a href="http://www.expressivelyjoho.com">Singapore Wedding Photographer</a>

this is becos the most common search in google is this phrase, and it will help me get more hits hahahah..

see.. prata is good!

thanx in advance!!! =)

Flooble Chatterbox

This flooble chatterbox is always "temporary unavailable and will be back shortly".

why, u gotta go toilet regularly becos u got food poisoning?? it's giving me the shits!!! (pun not intended)...

talking about that, i had food poisoning last nite, was at Roy's place and Matt cooked "anchovy risotto", but then again Edmund ate it too and he was fine, so could be the chicken rice i had b4 the risotto. then again, Edmund's got a stomach of double reinforced polycarbonated stainless-steel, so he's immune to this... anywayz.. thanx to Roy for sending my back in my car after 5 visits to his toilet, while Vanessa followed us to drive him back after.

ok anyway.. can someone pls recommend a chat box for this blog that doesn't have constant food poisoning?!!!!!

Rather bad day...

Had a wedding to shoot today, but cock up.. not the images, the images are fine, actually i shot well, i thought, so it was something else, but i won't talk about it here.. sigh. it just gets to me lar.

wanted to complain about how busy i am, my appts on my pda's front screen has overshot the height and now has a scroll bar on the right side! i never knew it could do that... yeah.. about 5 appts tomorrow.. that's why they all appear in the front page, the next day's appts will all appear...

ok, a couple of pics from the wedding today. good news, i STILL love my s3. i brought it out today to use, after being in cold storage for the longest time, since i had the luxury of iso1600 on a d200 for the last wedding i thot i might put the s3 thru it's paces at the same iso, and boy did it do well! damn fuji sensors are the FUCKING BEST, but it's camera functions are SO SHIT!!! argghhhhh...

u know it's like that stupid question, mother vs wife drowning, which one u choose? except now it's image quality vs useabiliy.... and please don't gimme an answer like "jump in save my wife, b4 that throw a life bouy to my mother..." such pple tell me that they do not have the balls to make and voice out difficult decisions in life. anywayz, this post isn't about morals or philosophy so screw this paragraph shall we?

so i guess i'm not selling my s3. but i need to get a 50/1.4. the 50/1.8 is still too soft at f2... not like many of you would know wtf i'm talking about but if u do, then good, find me a second hand 50/1.4! (afd of course).

ok here are the pics, knn, talk so much skarli forget to post:

POTD x2





note: second shot was inspired from ron lee, one of the wedding photographers that i hold in high regard in singapore.

ron if you ever read this, CHEERS TO YOU! learnt heaps from you shooting sheryl's wedding. =)

Johari and Nohari

There's the Johari window where pple say good things about me, then there's the Nohari window where you can tell me what you hate about me. Just make sure i'm not within throwing distance.

Johari Window
Nohari Window

cmon... do me a favour.. click on BOTH!!!

(the johari one was posted a few posts ago.. some of you may have already done it...)

go go go go go, gimme some entertainment.. pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

rememeber, i have to be out of throwing distance when you do this, which is usually longer than my spitting distance... so you're safe either way if u follow instructions!

and hor.. no one commented on what i wrote so far.. so sad...

Two Worlds - Part 2

Part 1

They had met several months earlier.

"You're going to have to try harder, Janet."

She was already trying very hard. Her beads of perspiration showed that.

"Do you think you're beautiful?"

She shook her head.

"Alright, take five, I need a break too. Kim!" Jason turned around. "I need her make-up touched up, and please, blot the sweat off, she's sweating more than I am!" He sounded irritated.

"It's not sweat, it's perspiration..." Kim retorted, and got in return an icy cold look that got her scrambling. She was used to him, but his stare was still deadly.

Jason lit a cigarette, placed his camera on his bag, tripped over one of the rocks that formed the break water, swore, and walked towards the clear water.

"He must be having a bad day..." Janet commented as Kim blotted her forehead.

"Oh not really, he's just being normal today."

"This is normal? He seems so fierce..."

"Why do you say that? What did he say to you?"

"Well, nothing much, he did ask me if I thought I was beautiful, then stared me down, kinda frightened me." Janet glanced towards Jason in the distance, thinking how he could be polluting the beautiful area with his smoke, before realising he was looking at her. Or at least in her direction.

"Really? He said that? That's strange, he's never asked that to the models he's shot before."

"Anyway, I just wanna get this shoot over with."

"Yeah, my sentiments exactly, girl. I gotta rush off later for another make-up assignment for a show in town. Looks like no time for dinner!"

As expected, Jason tossed his cigarette butt into the sea and came back, this time making sure he didn't trip over any rocks, or the like.

"Ok girls, how's it going? Can we continue making beautiful images of someone who thinks she is otherwise?" His smirk seemed to boderline between sarcasm and charm.

"Yeah she's good to go." said Kim.

Janet looked up at Jason. He looked different with the yellow hue of the setting sun behind him forming a glow. He was still smiling, and his demeanor was just so different from moments ago. Perhaps it was the nicotine, Janet thought to herself.

"You don't talk much huh?" Jason offered his hand to pull her up, but she decided to get up herself. "Not to me anyway..."

"I do, but I guess, not today?"

"Well, so after the touch up, do you think you're beautiful?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it does. Answer me."

"No I don't."

"Well, we seem to disagree on that. Alright, let's carry on, can I get you to sit on this rock over here, with your body about 45 degrees from the sun, I wanna get a slightly silhouetted shot of you in this lovely yellow light. Since you don't think you're beautiful, I'll try to get more of you in shadows, how's that?"

Janet couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, but followed his instructions. After a few poses, he seemed to be more inspired, and Janet knew it wasn't due to the cigarette. Every so often he would put his camera down, and look at her purposefully. At first she was really conscious, as it is she wasn't wearing much, but his eyes never seemed to roam around her bikini clad body, and were fixated on her face, each time she noticed him looking, that is. She would then look away, wondering if she might perhaps be more comfortable if he stared at her body instead, which was what most photographers did anyway. His eyes were piercing, but it wasn't a sharp pierce. Soft? Was there such a thing as a soft pierce?

"Janet!"

She was startled.

"There you are, I lost you for a moment. What were you looking at? Fish in the water?"

"Er... no, nothing. Sorry, yeah I was day-dreaming for a while."

"It's ok, while you were away, I caught this shot." Jason showed her the LCD screen on his camera.

It was amazing. Her face was infused with warm light, with subtle hazy, even smokey patterns on her skin, with a lingering expression that complemented the light. Her eyes shone from the reflection of the sun while the side of her face in shadows was contrasted with a background of pink and orange hues from the sunset. The rest of her body was rendered out of focus, but still in the warm tones of the setting sun. She remembered how he only studied her face, and it seemed apt that the rest of her was literally, not in focus.

"Wow..." She was so happy. She looked great! "Why is it that my skin looks like it's got a smokey-like effect?"

"That's the ripples in the water reflecting light from the sun."

"Can we shoot more? I love that shot!"

"Nope, this one is perfect. When you get one that's perfect, you don't need to hunt for another." He smilied. She had to agree with him in principle, but all she wanted was a few more shots!

"So now do you think you are beautiful?"

She smiled and walked away, not doing a good job of hiding it from him.

"Dammit, that was the smile I was looking for all day!" Jason thought to himself and started packing up his equipment. "There'll be a next time..."

POTD : x2

couple of lovely shots to share, taken earlier today.

wat a lovely wedding. i wish i coulda captured it better....





my mind is so awake, but the body is weak already.

Want to know what I'm like?

You tell me first!

Click me!!!

gogogogogo...

A few moments of materialism

Vitamin M suddenly drained like a horse pissing after a race.

Items acquired recently:

- Fujitsu System 2 air con
- Rowenta Stand Fan
- Dopod 818pro (as shown below)



Air con will go into both rooms this week. old one gets thrown out...

I'm tired man.. these few days sleep very little.. tomorrow morning got golf..

yes.. u got that straight... GOLF.

why the hell would i be doing golf? well, you probably guessed it, i am shooting a tournament. you think i will play golf?? PUH-LEESE!!!!

then again.. why not? hmmm..

meaningless post. i need inspiration for my story, something like:

She brushed her hair from her eyes and placed her arms around his shoulders. He was eager now, and she couldn't wait, but did, for him to bring them both over. It wouldn't be long now...

Two Worlds - Part 1

She loved the look in his eyes when he stared straight into hers, but it was always a fleeting moment because she would will herself to look away. She never quite figured out why, even at times when he gently coerced her chin back towards his gaze she would resist. Sometimes she doesn't, but mostly she does, and ends up wondering why she would resist when she loves it so much. That adoring look she just can't get enough of.

When that happens, he would always ask, "What are you thinking about?" with a half smile. She would smile back, "Oh, nothing..."

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, ok."

"Ok then."

The silence usually deafened her. Why was it that whenever they got intimate he would be so silent, and that gaze, that gaze seemed to trap her, in a nice way, if that was possible. Mostly he was animated, spoke of his life, shared his dreams, and when he was too excited, expletives would make her cringe, but as long as they aren't directed at her, she was fine. But when he gazes, it brings her to another world, almost.

"Did anyone tell you that you have beautiful eyes?" She managed.

"Not from someone who's eyes are just as beautiful, no. Not at all..."

"You're just sweet-talking me..."

"Sweet is a bonus, the truth is what matters." He looked away. Finally!

"Come, let's get out of here, and get something to drink, I'm thirsty." Said he, and proceeded to start the engine. Almost immediately, he became that chatty person again, joking about how he left the house without his car keys that morning, asking if she was available for dinner sometime soon, and swearing at a taxi driver that he passionately feels shoudn't have gotten his license, then realised it was a her instead. She was amazed, why does it seem like he was two seperate persons?

-------------------------------------

decided to write some crap. i'll see if i'll continue it. i have the "moral" of the story in my head (that's how i came up with the title) now i just need a plot. as usual, i'm writing in the third person, i don't think i understand women enuff to write as one in the first person.

Been frigging busy...

Managed to clear most of my shit load of work.. i dunno how i did it, nor do i believe that i can sleep all the way until my salsa lesson at 7pm tomorrow, should i wish to, altho i probably won't!

a couple of interesting things happened recently:

-- my first full page ad! i think the magazine is U-weekly.. it's a chinese magazine where one of the artistes i shot is in there. i think there'll be many more issues of different images in there. dun think i'll buy them all lar.. anyway if anyone's interested, they are images of Elson Soh.

-- three brides in the past week have called up from Europe, having weddings in singapore sometime this year, two from london and one from norway. THREE in a week when i've had ZERO in three years! that's gotta be a call to buy 4D? but what number? how about 2806? dun ask me why that number, i just typed it out blindly. no, it's not my pin to my DBS a/c....

-- last but not least, finally a POTD. yes it's under one of the points of "interest".





Which do you prefer?

No, I meant: to read words that touch, or hear words that touch?

Short one...

dunno wat to write, but still click the damn "new post" button.

and that's it, i'm blank!!! one liner??????

there's one thing about being troubled, and then there's another about not being able to write about it! wah lan.. jia lat.

nitez~

The little things...

Funny how little things can sometimes out do themselves and seem bigger than they really are.

I am irritated that something small, or i guess, "smallish" affects me, but it did. it DOES.. ahah it is still in the present tense.

The thing about such irritations... well i don't even know if they are irritations.. i guess that's not a good word, let's try, "uneasiness" or "inadequacy"; they are so vague. Are they really small, and if they are, why so bothered? so maybe it's not a small thing after all? so what's what? the "size" of the thing, or the screwed up head thinking or heart feeling too much throwing things out of proportion?

If you're asking WTF's bothering me, well I'm not gonna say it here. *shrug*

Spring cleaning it still not done at home.

I had a short chat to my mother about my time management. It SUX lor. I feel I can make use of my time so much better, it's just totally not efficient at all. I guess I'm like that: nothing to rush, slowly sleh geh and procrastinate. Got things to rush then everything chop chop finish and stress it out. Result? I can push shit out quickly, but i end up taking more time OVERALL (including all the procrastinations) than if I was diligent and applied myself and constantly did my work. Aiyah, honestly even writing here is kinda a waste of time. Especially when I have shit to do...

Not feeling great tonight. it's actually morning. 11am got appt, and I'm still awake. Salsa classes tonight, spring cleaning after appt, and b4 the dance classes. gotta go to the bank, gotta buy some stuff for cleaning and shifting over to the other room, gotta this gotta that and i have to lump it all in one day. see what i mean by great time management?

One last burning question:

When will I be happy? For some reason, when that question pops up, it is almost always inclined towards the notion of some sort of "soul mate". What to do, I've always believed that humans weren't meant to live alone. And I don't mean literally in the same house. I mean sharing joys, dreams, tears, apprehension, uncertainty. Sharing LIFE.