1778 Stories of Me and My Wife

If you were to catch the film, 1778 stories of me and my wife, you would have to agree that it is a real tear jerker… I cried like countless of times within the movie itself… there were like moments when you feel like pouring forth your heart for both the lead actor and actress especially when you see the hospital staff looking at the writer who writes the story for the day for his wife who had contracted colon cancer and also the scene when his wife told her mother that she lives each day to read his stories. There are many more touching scenes but I shall leave it at that. To be able to live each day with the one you love is a blessing.Cherish it!

Honestly, if you were to ask me, I might not bring my other partner to watch this movie with me cause to see her cry and depressed would be the last thing on my mind. But then again, it is an awesome movie that everyone should watch! Really stirs up one’s emotions :)

Do bring along a box of tissue too… I had no idea when I bought the ticket it was that bad… the last movie that I cried to was 10 promises to my dog and I just cried for one scene…. Well… I guess you get the picture…. (:

photo credit: http://www.oneasianworld.com

t i m e

I'm kinda of an arty farty person despite going into science and eventually accounting and finance for my degree... I love the artworks of stamps especially those from Japan or a lot of thought and effort has been put into them. In my previous company, I had an office scanner and I would frequently use it to scan my stamps to the scanner and uploaded it to my other blog: http://postaway.blogspot.com/ It has been sometime that I have updated it. Have been real busy with photography, work and stuff even though I have finished my degree last December. Hopefully I can squeeze sometime in the end of the year to update my collections. I have boxes of Japanese stamps that have been waiting for me to wash them.

That said, I do wish to have time for myself in the coming months ahead while embarking on a new career portfolio in October 2011. I will be moving to a Finance portfolio in a research centre within the same faculty and everything will be foreign but I am certain the Lord will see me through in this journey.

life as a photographer friend

If u think that shooting for free or paying to shoot for your friend's event is good, think again. I always have pretty bad experiences shooting for free and paying to shoot as a photographer (ie. there is no reimbursement for transportation or meals).

Here are just some personal reasons,
1. More than often, the photos that you spent hours touching up, trying to rush them, forgoing dates, appointments with friends don't get appreciated. cause there isn't any value in it. When your clients doesn't spend a single cent on them, they do not see the value that you have captured. Some may think it is a nice shot but that only is just a fleeting moment. At the end of the day, they do not feel attached to the photo as much as they would need to pay for it.

2. You get smacked back into reality, your friends may just wanna use you as they think you take good photos and want to give you a chance to expand your portfolio by letting you have an opportunity in taking their wedding photos or events. These may just be the friends that would give you a small red packet say S$20/- that may just cover the cost of your taxi in the wee hours of the morning but not the trip back. More than often, they are the acquaintances than real friends. Will you receive a written thank you card or a date out after that photography shoot? I doubt so.

3. You get thrown left right up down all around during the photography assignment and need to be professional about it despite not doing it for any cent. Well, since you have offered your services, you just gotta stay cool and be professional about it.

4. Clients are clients. As much as a friend you want to be with them other than a photographer, I feel most clients would just want to maintain this client and service provider friendship. Imagine, if you are one of the highly commanded photographers, that would be a different story. Everyone wants a piece of you. Trying to be a friend to you and stuff like that. If you market yourself as one budding photographer that anyone can find in the streets, noone really wants to be interested in you except when can you deliver the photos.

5. You can't post the photos that you shoot. Enough said. so why shoot? cause he/she is your friend. how bout just one photo? no. period.

6. You did not capture a particular shot that they wanted. It actually doesn't matter if you were paid or not for this job but your client/friend was not happy with the photos that you given them. So how? Reshoot? Somehow, they forgotten that you were not paid in the first place.

7. You get branded as the shoot for free photographer which I'm sure it will be hard to break out of the name.

So why am I still shooting for free or paying to shoot? beats me. I just like to press the shutter and capturing that frame that I'm proud of. It doesn't matter whether I'm paid S$2,000 for a shoot or shooting for free. I give my all in each shoot.
That said, I have the luxury of choosing my shoots that I want to shoot each weekend. :)

cheers!

Advice

What Every Aspiring Photographer Should Know:

http://photodino.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/advice/

Speaks a lot to me which in some cases I already knew.

And thus it enforces my understandings to beliefs.

J O A N N E & H E N D R Y

There is one thing about reading people’s blog or looking at many inspiration photographs. The absence of doing the activity yourself. I for one admit to sinking myself in the many different websites by the amazing authors and visual artistes. I constantly had to remind myself that I need to go out and shoot. To practice and hone the skills that I have in me. To be a better visual artist.

Last Saturday was my first assignment of 2011 from French Bridal. William the photographer called me earlier that week to confirm my availability on the 15th January for the Actual Day wedding ceremony for the expat couples, Joanne and Hendry. Hendry is from Indonesia and Joanne is from the Philippines and they have known each other for a long time before tying the knot. It is truly a different experience to have a dine-in lunch banquet right after the wedding solemnisation by the Rev. who spoke on the scripture in 1 John which was chosen by the couple. The service was held at a function room next to the lunch banquet.

Joanne's dad was all teary when he hand Joanne over to Hendry. It was indeed touching to know how deep her father's love is for her. He also reminded Hendry to take good care of her during the lunch banquet. Hendry reassured his new dad that he would love her with all his heart.

With that, I wish the best of love to both the couple and may they be as fruitful as the Lord would want them to be. :)

The rest of the photos maybe found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=128303563903933&id=121137611287195&aid=25136

starting blog anew

It dawned upon me that I have always like to write. It just that the locket of my tiny little heart is jammed. No tool is able to pry it open. The things that I share does not reflect the whole extent of my personification.

I am inspired by a photographer on her straightforwardness. her dedication and her style. Her name is Jasmine Star, J*. Although there are no 2 persons alike, I would try to be as open as how she is today. She is able to blog openly and has no regrets to whatever she may have written years ago. That is just who she is and at the same time, I would want to share my story, my life like this.

I have a tendency in the past to delete blog posts and hence, there are a few post left within. From this day, I shall have no regrets when posting or looking back at the post after all, these are the things I wanna share with you.

Thanks for dropping by :)

tick tock

going crazy and fat all of a sudden... stab me and let the oil flow out...

Blarh... can't wait for my classes / exams to end so I can run every other night...