Besides the usual 'time of the day', 'breath-taking location' and of course, excellent post processing skills, the utmost important rule is definitely composition.

Given a fantastic 'breath-taking location', at the so-called 'golden timing' and with superb post processing skills, the landscape photograph might not be a contender of the 'Best Landscape Photograph of the Year Award' if there ever was one.

Good composition/framing of a scenery is of the utmost importance. With good composition, a simple, 'boring' scenery can still look somewhat exciting and of course, nice.

Another outing has just concluded. It was a late evening trip to Boat Quay, for night scenery photography. Some students came up to me, saying that it was a 'boring place' and there's 'nothing exciting or special' about the location.

Well, make your night scenery photographs special and exciting then. The challenge was simple. Make your night scenery photographs special and exciting.

All along, we've been, hmmm, should I say, 'assaulted' with allegations from many locals and photographers alike that taking landscape photographs in Singapore is very 'boring' and of course, the number one reason, 'Singapore is so small, there's nothing anywhere in Singapore for doing landscape photography.".

Is that really the case?

I would think that maybe most people are not really seeing.

What do I mean by seeing?

The ability to see a scenery differently and to use whatever is in the scenery to aid in the composition in landscape photography.

That is truly seeing.

Having a good idea and a strong understanding in the fundamentals of compositional sense in Photography do help. Using whatever is in the scenery to further enhance your composition will put your landscape photographs in another level.

What good is it if your photograph is anything but the run of the mill, an average and normal photograph that anybody can easily achieve if they are placed in the same scenario?

A continuation from the first outing to the Jurong Gardens, this outing aims to help the students to see since most of them already possess the basic technical know-how in doing night scenery long exposure.

The new Supreme Court flanked by the old Supreme Court.
I realised that this is perhaps an interesting composition as I noticed the 'spaceship' lookalike top of the new Supreme Court seemingly hoevering above it and that the old Supreme Court is just in front of the new building, with construction going on too, making it look as the site is out-of-bounds as we have just located an alien spaceship in Singapore.

We moved on from the initial meeting place and landed up just in front of the Fullerton Hotel.

"Make your composition interesting and DIFFERENT from what a normal tourist, local or even other photographers will have." There, my challenge to the students.

Anyway, I've 2 quick snaps of 2 famous landmark in Boat Quay.

Due to the fact that it rained just before our outing, the wet concrete slabs reflected some of the golden glow from the lights of Fullerton Hotel, making the composition looking even more interesting and exciting.

I made use of the railings along Boat Quay to form a leading composition, leading the eyes of the viewer to the hotel(main subject) itself.

Challenge yourself. Make what is seemingly an 'uninteresting' and 'boring' location DIFFERENT and SPECIAL.

And thus, there we were, on an organised night Photography outing in the heart of Singapore, coming face to face with the majesty of Marina Bay Sands.

We moved from the Esplanade to the Merlion Park. While there, the light show for Marina Bay Sands got underway. Its a perfect chance for the students to practise long exposure. I sneaked in a shot, did a really long exposure of over a minute on Bulb mode.

Doing research, reading up books and taking down points, all the classic moves that I once applied when I was a student is all happening again, making sure that the students are fed with information that is correct and up-to-date is very vital.

Just like learning mathematics, Photography is all about foundation. If your foundation is shaky, somewhere along the line, something's gotta give. Well, in my case, maths gave way back then (kekeke).

We organised an outdoor Landscape Photography practical at the Jurong Gardens where the objectives were getting to know the camera, understanding exposure, how to frame/compose and of course, looking at a scenery differently.

(The following photos are from 2 seperate outings with 2 different classes.)

That perhaps conclude the first outing.

B/W conceptual product shoot. Love the grain from T-Max100!

Yesterday, 1st of August 2011, I celebrated my 1st year in the teaching profession in ITE. Its been an exciting 1st year in ITE, obviously. kekekeke!

On looking back, I've my first photography lecturer to thank for, for inspiring me and for nurturing and guiding me along the way.

Even when I am no longer a student of hers, she still took time off to look through my work and give them honest critiques, at no cost, of course! =)

Back then, we were still shooting using films and oh yes, my favourite camera, the vulnerable Nikon FM2, with a cheap AF28-70 f3.5-4.5D lens. That camera wasn't even mine. It was loaned from the school, one of only 2 SLRs.

Jane is very patient, very kind and of course, very understanding. She showed me the ropes, reinforced my technical knowledge and helped me see, built up my confidence and encouraged me to turn professional as I snagged my first full time job as a photographer 2 weeks after I graduated.

On looking back, Jane has being an inspiration to me, a motherly figure even. There's no amount of words I can say, or type, to fully express my gratitude to her too.

Never did I imagined, 7 years after I left LASALLE-SIA, College of the Arts, I too, would follow in my mentor, Jane Chua's footsteps, to teach and share what little I know.

Thank You Jane. I hope I will grow to be as inspirational as you once were to me! =)

My last Actual Day Wedding Photography was last September.

My close pal, Ivan, married his sweetheart, Ai Beng on 25th of September 2010. It is my honour to be the one whom he entrusted with the heavy responsibility of capturing every special moment on this very special day.

Ivan and I go a long way back, all the way to the time when we were teenagers, enlisted into the army in 1998 and served our country proudly as recce troopers from the Armour Brigade. Indeed, it is a privilege and a honour to serve in the same unit as Ivan and something that I still believe to be, a turning point in my life.

I was young, all of  18  and definitely, clueless, aimless and to some extent, a pitiful sight.

We were young and we had dreams, well, some of us anyway. Ivan and I were close buddies, sleeping on the same double decker bed. He occupied the upper deck and me, the lower deck.

There were many sleepless nights as the bunks were not that well ventilated and we often engage in long chats and discussion on what we are going to do when we leave the army. To me, I would think that it is a rather personal and sensitive question. Till today, there are times when I think back on that actual scene when Ivan tested me on my drawing skills (oh yes, Ivan can draw very very well).

Ivan, my dear friend he surely is, encouraged me to pursue further studies in what I really want and that is, to study and practise Arts in an arts college. With blessings from God, the government announced that they will subsidise tertiary students who are keen to pursue an education in arts, up to around 50% in school fees (if my memory serves me right).

Thus, I joined the ranks of those who had a clear plan on what to do after their spell in National Service and from then on, looking forward to leaving National Service isn't that daunting anymore.

Having a goal in life perhaps gives some of us, hope and a clear target, something to reach out to, something meaningful to live on for.

Till today, I am very grateful to my dear friend, Ivan and this series of Actual Day Wedding Photography, I think is the least I can do for him.

I have been looking through my past works as a food photographer and food stylist recently so as to find suitable photographs to use as a teaching reference when I chanced upon this particular photograph.

The Singapore nyonya laksa.

This commercial work was for a small eatery in the central part of Singapore and I love their nyonya laksa!

Perhaps it is of no surprise that I love to eat, especially so after I did a shoot for my clients, just so on the pretext that I want to try their cooking, their food (kekekeke!).

Nyonya laksa has always been a big part of my life ever since I was a young boy and my first makan experience with it back when I was in primary school was... utter madness.

"Gosh! It was so spicy!", I thought back then.

However, I soon overcame the spicy part (after several attempts at consuming more bowls of nyonya laksa) and fell in love with nyonya laksa.

Today, the humble nyonya laksa can be found in 99% of all foodcourts and hawker centers in Singapore. The difficult part is in finding one that actually keeps you going back for more!

There is one such stall in Kovan Hawker Center (take NEL to Kovan and the hawker center is just behind Heartless... oops, Heartland Mall). I used to do their food photographs for their new shop somewhere in central part of Singapore when I was a commercial photographer back then.

Teochew Fishball Mee has been around for years and so too have I been makaning their noodles and nyonya laksa.

(Disclaimer: By the way, their current set of food photographs have nothing to do with me.)

Last I tried, their nyonya laksa is just as heavenly, bringing me back to the time when I was probably 18.

Sweet 18... ahhhh... when I was due for NS. kekekeke perhaps not such a sweet memory afterall! haha!

A year ago, I did my last pre wedding shoot, as I slowly move away from accepting wedding assignments as they are eating too much into my time.

I take around 15 to 30 days to edit a wedding assignment, be it pre wedding or actual day coverage as I insist on shooting only in RAW and doing the post processing myself, my way. I would think that most photographers who took on wedding assignments are just as insistent on quality like me.

Christine's a friend of mine and prior to shooting her pre wedding, I've shot quite a few series of portraitures for her all over sunny Singapore. I'll load up some of the more memorable ones sometime later.

Anyway, Christine and Ryan are getting married this year and it's a pity I won't be covering their Actual Day as i'm bogged down by my teaching job preparing and grading assignments... blahblahblah.

I just thought that I can no longer spend 4 or 5 month's worth of weekends processing 500 photographs from an Actual Day coverage and i'll be too drained to teach during the weekdays.

Perhaps we all do reach a point where we have to prioritise what is essential, what is important and for now, my career as a teacher and my students come first and I intend to give my very best to ensure that the students do get quality teaching and guidance from me.

Back to this series, we covered quite a good ground, from the morning to the night, from the Helix Bridge, to Clarke Quay, to Fort Canning and finally, the former Supreme Court. It was an extremely tiring day, yet satisfying when I got home and reviewed the photos.

All in all, I gave the couple around 96 photographs from this pre-wedding shoot. I think it's a decent amount for a day's outdoor pre wedding shoot... I think...

I'll be attending their wedding dinner soon. =)

Time flies...

A year ago, I shot my 2nd last Actual Day Wedding Photography.

Just recently, Alvin and Hedy are the proud parents of a newborn baby boy, Elgin. Congratulations!

Did I miss the hustle and bustle of AD Wedding Photography?

Yes and No.

I can do without all that crazy early morning 'get-up-&-go', that mad rush from place to place etc.

But I do miss the atmosphere of AD Wedding Photography. One can literally 'smell', 'touch' or even feel the happiness that is lingering in the air...

Ahhh... Perhaps lately there isn't much joyous news from around the world?

Perhaps...