The Vogtmanns first came to me more than nine months ago, knowing they’ll be in Singapore for a family friend’s wedding here. But they weren’t just simple tourists looking for pretty shots – they’d lived in Singapore for two separate periods. Even though they now live in beautiful Southern California in the U.S., fond memories of the Singapore stuck with them.

Many ideas came up leading up to this day, but they were quite sure of what they wanted: black & white, photojournalistic, and shot around the outdoor Singapore River/Boat Quay area, where both financial and historical worlds of Singapore mesh to make a unusual setting.

Although you will see some posed photos below (they requested it!), every other beautiful moment was set up by them. They’re such a happy bunch, and the three kids are just uncontrollable! They ran around and climbed over everything, from historical statues to a Coffe Bean cafe next to Marina Bay. I was happy to put on my photojournalistic hat and watch them wreak havoc and express some love.

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While I rarely get requests for black & white processing, I’m really glad I got to play with contrast, shadows and light to create moody b&w shots. Of course, it also helped that we arranged for all of them to wear only black and white (well except their shoes!).

Also, the 24mm f1.4 was used in some of these shots, and it was an absolute dream. I can see why some shooters only use prime lenses. I’m dangerously close to following that path as well.

I do sincerely hope I get to meet the Vogtmanns again, even if it’s just a social visit. It may be a while or it may be never, but at least now we all have these photos to serve as memories for their time in Singapore.

Nash and Elsie are a young and happy couple from Sabah, Malaysia who come to Singapore regularly to visit family here. They have two utterly mischievous but adorable boys — 4-year-old Ian and Michael who just passed the one year mark. Because they wanted something unique, they ditched the idea of the boring white room photo studio and decided to spent a couple of hours at Singapore’s Botanic Gardens for an outdoor shoot.

In just slightly over two hours, we covered quite a lot of ground! From Symphony Lake to Palm Valley and finally ending at the Bandstand for a unique themed, and posed shot. Enjoy the photos below and read on

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Although everything turned out peachy in the end, it was tough work getting to the end. I had to first brainstorm some creative ideas to give them a special shot that couldn’t be easily replicated by just any other photographer (see the staged photo shoot images at the Bandstand). Because Michael is just a cute lad, and Ian has a liking for photography, it struck me to do a mock photo shoot of the family, with one of the kids as the photographer.

It was a crowded Sunday morning at the Botanic Gardens, but thankfully the Bandstand area wasn’t taken, so there were no obstructions or such. The bigger problem was getting enough light onto the family since the trees were shading them pretty much. We worked through it, but more light is always better.

Shooting hyperactive children is always tough, and this was no different! Personally I don’t believe a baby can be 100% posed through directions, and with Ian running around like a wild child, it was a tiring 2 hours! But of course, it made for some great candid / photojournalistic shots, which Nash and Elsie also wanted

Would love to work with them again in the future, perhaps when they’re back again in Singapore. The Botanic Gardens is awesome, but there’s always creative space to try something cool somewhere else!

Every year, thousands in Singapore graduate from universities, and so many let it pass without truly having a keepsake of images that will last till they grow old. When they look back, all those memories of joy, stress and friendship will serve as a reminder that they had a fulfilling college life.

When Christopher (one among the 8 here graduating) contacted me through a mutual friend, I jumped at the opportunity to take proper outdoor portraits for these graduating folks. We spent about 8 hours traversing the NTU (Nanyang Technological University) campus, driving down to Marina Barrage, eating dinner, and finally strolling the Singapore river bay in front of the skyline.

They were a seriously happy bunch. All they wanted were photos of happiness, and they made it easy by goofing around like they always do. I wish I had gotten to know everyone better but was so caught up in making sure I got all the moments captured!

Apart from photojournalistic shots, we did pose some as well. Perhaps the biggest challenge was coming up with creative ideas for this medium-sized group. Posing 1 to 2 persons is simple enough to direct, but as the numbers increase, so does the difficulty. Thankfully, the results were still great, and I’m happy to report that they were awe-struck by the photos as well!

Take a look and tell me what you think:

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Men in tights — can they be made sexy? There’s no doubt female curves always turn eyeballs, but it’s not so easy with men. Luckily, these custom-made wetsuits, which I had to shoot for the maker, were tight, form-fitting, and boasted vibrant colours.

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While the goal was to deliver clean, crisp images with a white background, some problems did pose themselves along the way. Since this was an on-location shoot at the client’s place, my worst fears of space-scarcity indeed surfaced. We had to move furniture around till we had a long enough area to operate my gear.

Because of gear limitations, it was tough to achieve the cleanest white background. That’s the problem when you don’t have your own studio. I used all the lights I had but it was still not enough to light both the subjects and get a nice white background. Digital processing and post-production can always do it (which is what I did here) but it’s always best to get it right on the spot and in the camera, if possible.

In this case, I made the best of the situation and still came out with a high-quality product that pleased the client. Hooray for Photoshop!

N.B. Since that shoot, I’ve garnered one more light strobe, so believe me, I’m slowly making my way to having a fully functional photo studio!

Little feet, swoon-worthy eyes and expressions of blurry innocence are the essences of a baby. It’d be kinda hard to find a newborn who didn’t possess such qualities. Even Barney must have looked cute and adorable when he was still a baby dinosaur!

My best friend’s elder sister recently got married, and Esther is their first child. My best friend is now an uncle! Pretty wild. I was asked to shoot this bundle of joy, right after she had a nice afternoon nap. I’ve not handled many babies in my lifetime (duh) so it was a little tough getting her interested at first. Good thing my best friend was there to help with that!

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I’d packed light for this shoot and didn’t bring any flashes. I relied solely on some blessed  natural light from a huge window next to the bed. Natural light makes the image look really …natural, though flashes can also look that way as long as you control it properly.

I realized little toys are very important for the babies and for the photos themselves. They lend a lot to the scene. Next time, I’m gonna bring a few props of my own!

Don’t let the eyes fool you. Pete Plotchev may not be able to walk, but he works his arms hard in the gym. This was one of my last shoots in U.S. (possibly forever) and the goal was to highlight his interest in hitting the workstations while also showing that even people in wheelchairs can do some muscle-building for their upper bodies.

There were two machines in particular that I had to shoot — a all-purpose weight-lifting station and a NuStep T5 cross trainer — both adapted for people who don’t have the use of their legs. Because the machines were fixed and immovable, it really limited the kind of angles I could shoot from. Because of that I played with colored lighting, while shifting from traditional, long, portrait lenses to some wider shots.

Pete is an extremely easy-going guy and always packing a smile. He never once complained about my directing (sometimes I feel I might be too commanding) and he always tried to make his weightlifting look as natural as possible (which I had told him to do too). Below are the selected best shots. Comment if you like!

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Why are hairstylists usually so good looking? I don’t know, but Ashley certainly fits into the stereotype while having a bit of spunk of her own. It wasn’t tough getting her to crack up, which is why you see so many smiles in the photos below. Hopefully you can feel her bubbly nature!

Thankfully the salon (in Brighton, Michigan) was nicely lit by overhead lights and a big window just by her desk. All I needed was an additional off-camera light source. It was a very enjoyable shoot and I’m certainly very happy with the results! Perhaps my only regret was to not do more ‘dramatic’ style poses, which would have been good practice for similar opportunities in the future.

Do leave comments below!

That’s right, we’re back in the Nichols Arboretum! The ‘Arb’ in Ann Arbor is such a treasure chest of great shooting locations, especially now that the fall season is accelerating. Last Friday was also my first visit since a couple during the summer and another last winter.

However this visit to the Arb was slightly different, as I had to shoot 4 girls as a group. These ‘Wilmot’ girls are current housemates and have spent a lot of time together during the past two years. Despite sharing all those experiences, one of them realized they didn’t have a decent photo of themselves as a group. And that’s how I — a male — crashed into the picture!

We set out a little late, so in total we shot for only about 75 minutes. That’s pretty short for a portrait session, especially a group one, and remember it’s already the second half of October and temperatures at night fall close to freezing temperatures. The girls had brought their winter coats, and shed them for quick snaps here and there. Between that, moving between locations, and scene set ups, there wasn’t much time left for actual shooting. Yet we ended up with 9 great final images which I’m quite proud of.

I realize groups bring a whole other level of complexity to poses. Now there’s four times the detail the look out for. Is the hair right? Where are the hands? Even I can’t catch everything. But I did do my homework and came up with poses and set-ups in my head before the shooting day. Some we managed to pull off, but others had to be canned because of the lack of shooting time and available light. In our last shot (the one with the wine party), it was so dark that I had to set up my new light stand with umbrella. First use in the field and it created good results. Soft and even lighting illuminated the three girls nicely.

Shooting group portraits are certainly more challenging than solo ones, but they can be more fun too as a higher level of dynamics are involved. I’ll just have to put more thought into poses the next time!

Enjoy the photos below and do leave comments!

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Brock Mealer on the field of The Michigan Stadium!

All my time as a student at the University of Michigan, I never once got to step on the lush green field of the Michigan Stadium. I attended plenty of home football games, but always as one of the over 100,000 fans and none of the victories sparked a rush onslaught onto the field. Ironic that only after leaving the school do I get to skip around the field, doing what I love — photographing!

All that was possible because of this man — Brock Mealer, who is an uncontested mega-fan of the Michigan Wolverines, and also personal friend of Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. But not only did Brock get us access to the field after the game against Indiana, he was also an absolute joy to shoot. We threw footballs to each other, every time a cheeky smile etched on Brock’s face.

There seemed to be limitless possibilities and poses and scenes to shoot! Granted, The Big House is an impressive sight any way you look at it. We went from end zone to end zone, and loitered around the 50-yard line a bit. I loved capturing the bright green of the field, the colossal stands where fans sit, and even the press and luxury boxes just were too sweet to miss out.

This was also the first time that I made use of my recently-acquired Lastolite TriFlip reflector. Those things aren’t cheap, but they certainly quite effective. For once I didn’t make creative use of flashes but sometimes truly less is more. We didn’t spend a great deal of time on the field, but we made the most of it. This was certainly one of my most enjoyable shoots to date, as everything went like clockwork. If this will be the only time I got to step on the field of the Michigan Stadium, there are no regrets.

Check out the rest of the images!

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There are two things important in Katie’s life — dancing and Rosie, her dog. People with their passions often look the best in front of the camera, so since I’m trying to look out for the beautiful, our portrait session naturally revolved around these two elements.

First stop was the dance studio in Chelsea, Michigan. Never once had I seen an open-concept studio (no walls, only one side with angled, two-panel mirror) and it certainly posed enough challenges with composition and lighting. Getting myself out of the photo was tough and increasingly frustrating as almost every nook and cranny was inescapable, especially shooting at a wide angle, which you can see was done with some of the shots, such as the black & white image.

The solution: shoot long. That got me out of the way, though very limited in creativity. Having a variety of shots is important. It wouldn’t have been personally gratifying if I only stuck to one look for the entire session.

After a quickie half-hour in the studio (we had arrived late, and it was closing), we took to nearby fields to get some outdoor shots with her dog, Rosie. It was my first time doing an animal portrait, and having never owned a dog, didn’t really know how to interact with it or get its attention. Don’t get me wrong – I do love dogs – but when I’m so flummoxed with the photography side, it’s hard to jump into the playground with Rosie.

But Katie helped, trying to get her head turned towards the camera. Needless to say, I shot a lot to even up the chances. Getting the lens up close was something different I wanted to try. I propped the camera up on a tripod and used a remote release. If I had glued my eye to the camera, Rosie would probably never have gotten that close to the lens (which was maybe a few inches away).

Although the day started slow, I’m happy with some of the results. I shot a lot that day, more than I usually do for a portrait session, but it was necessary given the circumstances. Please check out the gallery below, and do leave a comment!

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