History was made just over an hour with Mark, Audrey and their children, right in their very own house! Instead of bringing everyone out the door for an outdoor shoot, they had wanted a simple studio shoot with a nice backdrop and proper lighting. So what we did is bring the studio to them!

It was no easy feat though, because it meant bringing lots of extra equipment, including a large vinyl backdrop to fit everyone in. Yet it was worth, because we all know sometimes young kids can be hard to coax. With them at the comfort of their own home, it wasn’t as tough to get them to loosen up and bring out some smiles!

[Show as slideshow]

While I still like the spontaneity of an open outdoor space, I can see the appeal and convenience of shooting in a studio. Who doesn’t like air-conditioning? I can really picture the studio set up as something very formal and grand, and in future I’d like to incorporate more props and maybe even throw in some water into the mix!

Kai Yuan and his sister Wen Yu fight to blow out the cake's candles

Whether you’re four or 60, birthdays are special, as all of us can relate to. Even when we feel down and out because of a flu bug, we want to make the most out of that special day. Kai Yuan here was somewhat unlucky to have gotten the sniffles for his big day, but in the bigger picture everything else was perfect.

His parents had arranged for a special one-hour magic show performance at his kindergarten school, and they invited all his classmates to be the audience! What’s more, Kai Yuan’s sister also studies at the school, and so she was a definite, automatic inclusion. After the cheers came the cakes, and everyone had a slice of it (well except me hah)!

[Show as slideshow]

I couldn’t ask for more than two adorable kids to shoot. They’re not the easiest bunch to photograph (always running round and never listen) but they have limitless joy in their appreciation of things and the world. On his 60th birthday, I hope Kai Yuan and his sister can look back on these photos, and smile.

What’s it like to go through your 40th birthday? Your 50th? I’m still a good few years from even my 30th birthday, so I can’t contemplate the experiences, trials, and tribulations someone of Mr Tan’s age has encountered. And yet, on April 17, 2011, Mr K.C. Tan celebrated his 60th like a wild child who is still in touch with his youthful side.

It was a reunion of sorts as well, held at the historical Spring Court restaurant in Singapore’s Chinatown, for Mr Tan and his extended family. More than 50 showed up in a private floor reserved just for this occasion. The cause was grand, yet the proceedings were simple: feast on good Chinese food, reconnect with old friends and family, and be happy.

[Show as slideshow]

Myself, I was comfortable enough with two bodies and a number of prime lenses. I shied away from using flash at the dark areas of the restaurant and I didn’t want it to spoil the ambient light of the place. The nice, thin depth-of-field also narrowed focus while making the images more dramatic. I’d even rented the venerable 85mm f1.2 lens for this occasion, which you can see in some of these photos. The only thing to watch is when taking group shots – it’s important to increase the depth-of-field to get people in focus.

Despite it being a short and sweet affair, I think the significance behind this 60th birthday celebration really makes it special. Seeing everyone talk on old times and see each other after a period of absence is an eye-and-heart-opener. Will I have a similarly successful celebration when I turn 60? It’s way too early to say, but I can only hope.

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.

[Show as slideshow]

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

[Show as slideshow]

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:

[Show as slideshow]

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.

[Show as slideshow]

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!

[Show as slideshow]

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!

[Show as slideshow]