Best Shots of 2012

2012 marks my 3rd year in dslr photography.

I'm glad that I had shot more photos this year vs 2011.

The bulk of my favourite shots were done during my taiwan trip as I love the vibrant colours of Spring-time!

 

Braved the rain & tons of sweat, fueled by my passion for photography, precious moments were captured thru' my lens.

As 2012 comes to an end, I will like to share my "Best Shots of 2012".

 

In the process of compiling this collage, I found a missing gem ~ Waterfall with Rainbow that I missed out previously!

This photo is placed at the last as I felt that we should be optimistic despite all the challenges Life presented us with.

 

In 2013, I aim to enter more photography competitions & upgrade my kit lens/ cam body.

 

靠著一股熱誠、機緣和無限的汗水 + 雨水，我將瞬間變成永恒。。。

在2012結束前，這就是走過365天的成績單。

My photography milestones in 2012:

Jan - Feb : Captured the beautiful floral fields in Taiwan + 1st sight of snow.

Jun : My taiwan's flora photo was published in Malaysia's Digital Camera Magazine

Jun :  Blogged for OMY.sg website - SHINE Youth Festival sponsored by Panasonic.

July : Participated in SHINE Festival - Marcellie Runway's charity fashion shoot.

Oct : My first photography assignment for Baby Gareth's 1st Birthday Party.

Dec: First time shooting at my cousin's wedding banquet.

Cousin's Wedding @ MBS

It had been years since there's a wedding in our immediate family... I had a headache as to what to wear to the banquet! I was dismayed that the white belt that i ordered didn't arrive & wondered if it was lost in the mail! I got a nice bright blue Zara scarf to go with my blouse too! Oh yea, I also got my new FaceShop make-up which denise had kindly helped me buy in Korea! My lovely fren even gifted me the blusher ^_^  I also got myself a new mascara.

 

 

 

 

For the first time, I brought along my dslr to the wedding.... we had to arrive early for the wedding solemnisation. Being early there's an advantage, as there were not many guests yet... hence I could use my 50mm lens to try out creative angles. A bouquet of pink & red roses caught my attention & I love the outcome of the shots!

 

 

While all of us sat in the room waiting for the solemnisation to start, I took some quick snaps for my cousins, aunts & uncles. My 2nd uncle is also a photography enthusiast & he brought along his Canon dslr too! As the ceremony progress, I did not rush forward to snap (like what my uncle did!) as I did not want to interrupt the official photographer & videographer. If I am the official photographer, i will be super piss!!! Hence, I will only shoot from a distance. At the end of the solemnisation, my cousin ~ WH & his wife even performed a dance! haha! I never know my cousin will practice a dance just for this!

 

 

 

 

After the ROM ceremony, together with my brother & 2 cousins we helped out at the reception desk... In-between, me & charrisa went to cam-whore! The twilight blue hours make a nice backdrop... However, when i started shooting without the aid of tripod, i realised it was really tricky to get sharp pic & without any flares from the spotlights at the balcony! We really tested many shots! Isit a hint for me to upgrade my kit lens? LoL

 

 

 

 

At 8pm, we shuffled into the ballroom for the wedding to start... Juz like any wedding, couples will play a slide-show of their growing up years. It's really shocking to see my own young time photos appearing on the big screen! The most hilarious moment was at the end of the slide show, when WH & his wife were respectively posing at the Merlion when they were a kid! The caption goes...isit Destined that they were going to Meet?

 

I managed to capture some shots of the wedding march-in and the champagne popping sessions.... However, I find that the shots were not so ideal. Overall, it was a good opportunity to practice photography!

4 Gals & A Baby 。。。

It had been a long time since last catch-up with my poly buddies... duno why juz four persons also so difficult to coordinate? Finally, we all agreed to meet-up at Qy's house today! But alas! a thunderstorm blew thru'out the island, however we still went on ~ 真是風雨不改！

 

At slightly before 2pm, we reached & Qy's 15mth old princess ~ Clarrise seems excited to see us as she smiled gingerly at us (at the gate). Last year when we saw her, she was only 2 or 3mths old....now, she had learnt to walk! Qy & her hubby had ordered a spread of Domino's pizzas & side dishes for us. This would be my first taste of Domino's pizzas... we had the Hawaiian & BBQ flavour, together with some twisty bread & onion rings. Qy also made some delicious sotong balls for us!

 

Like this shot ~ a candid cheeky smile!

Surprisingly, Clarrise likes ZF to carry her! Duno isit due to ZF's cuter tee-shirt leh?! haha! I managed to take a number of photos of the food & of course the baby! Clarrise is such a happy baby & loves to smile alot too! But I gotta be quick enough to press the shutter...many a times, when i was focusing on her, she din smile... but once i shifted my focus, she smiled! She certainly knows that she's the centre of attention! ^_^

 

 

Baby so engrossed in watching Barney! Nice catch-light thou!

 

I spent time taking close-up shots of the baby... the natural window light worked wonder! I simply love the catch-light in her eyes! When enlarge the photo, it is crystal clear with tints of reflections in her eyes. Swee! At one point, Clarrise was so engrossed in watching her Barney dvd & eating her snacks that she totally ignored us... Zf played a prank on her by trying to block her view of the TV! It was hilarious when the baby kept trying to 'fan' ZF off... i think if her arms were longer, sure slap ZF lah! haha!

After filling our tummies & chit-chatting, Qy's hubby asked us to play the Xbox Kinect! Wow! upgraded gaming machine & it's certainly a First Time for all of us... Ruby & Zf started off with the dancing game... Baby Clarrise also love the groove of the music! Next, Zf & I pitted each other in a game of tennis. Sei, I had never played tennis before thou I would love to learn... I actually beat her to the game! keke! Our last game was bowling, where 3 of us gals & Qy's hubby competed... It took us awhile to get the knack of the game. The ultimate winner was Qy's hubby as his bowling ball spins thru' with a powerful surround sound!

 

 

All the gaming surely helped us burnt some calories from the hearty meal as the energy utilised really mirrors the real games! Ruby was tempted to get one so she could work-out at home instead! Before baby went to nap, we took 2 group photos & the first one that I snapped was really good ~ Ruby asked Clarrise where's the camera & the smart little gal actually pointed to me! It's amazing for a 15 month old to understand this! Luckily, i was quick enuf to capture all their fabulous smiles too! ^o^  We ended the gathering wif ruby's sponsored gelato desserts & I wonder when would be our next meet-up?

Baby Gareth's 1st Birthday!

I have been counting down to today & marked my calendar ever since I received a booking in July to be the official photographer for baby Gareth's First Birthday! I was so excited that I couldn't really sleep! I was worried that things may not be smooth going... I thoroughly cleansed all my equipments & packed them into my Lowepro the night before.

As I was about to reach my destination, the skies broke out into a storm! Geez! I did not have my umbrellla, only got raincoat! I was stranded at the bus-stop for a good 20mins before I could cross over to SP.
 

 

 

Once I settled down, I immediately start work by taking shots of the decoration put up by Carolyn & her 2 friends. The location is a restaurant called Food Haven at Singapore Poly's staff club. There were 10 tables set up, each with 3 colourful balloons & cute 'cupcakes' specially made by the host ~ Carolyn. Inside each 'cupcake' is actually a towel stuffed nicely that can easily pass off as the Real thing! ^o^

Soon, baby Gareth arrived with his dad... he's so cute! The front part of his hair was gel too, keke! He's a shy boy so he needed some time to adapt to an unfamiliar environment. While he's still feeling fresh, I took some family portraits for them with my 50mm. I find the venue not so ideal for photography as it has a big aquarium right smack in the centre where the cake-cutting table was set. It was meant to be a No Flash session as I usually do not use flash on young children. However, the reflection of lights from the aquarium was distracting & confused the camera's metering. If not for the rain, I would have suggested a family portrait by the poolside.

Yummy Cream Puffs!

 

After doing the family portraits, I moved on to 'discover' each buffet tray by uncovering it! haha! At close to 1pm, guests started streaming in & this was when i felt the venue was too small to contain 100 guests! Especially when the tables filled up, it was quite hard to move in between & arranging the guests for group shots was tricky!





"I AM ONE!"



My Favourite Shot of Gareth!



The most fulfilling takes were shot while i sat opposite Gareth & observed him playing with his grandpa & eating. The candid shots were good & well-lit without any edits required! At 2pm, the stressful part arrives... cake-cutting! While Carolyn & her hubby were getting baby Gareth ready for the photo-taking, Gareth's powerful flying kick smashed a portion of the cake! OMG! I think every kid's birthday has a funny moment! But of course, we were all in shock for 1 second before quickly cleaning the CREAM off his shoes! Luckily, the smashed portion was right at the back, so front view shot still looked ok! LoL

"Hmm... I want to eat the M&M!"

Mr.Bow-Tie

After the cake-cutting, original plan was for the family (with baby) to pose for group photos at respective tables. However, baby was not in the mood & cried alot! Hence, no choice but to just take some photos without baby & also those of other kids.  There's this particular little gal who loves to take photos & automatically posed her 'V' sign when my lens faced her! It's nice for a few shots as the gal was cooperative but it became like very 'posed' after awhile! At 3pm+, Jeannie & I helped to take down the decorations & we called it a day!

 

Post-Session:

 

My whole sunday was spent madly editing the photos & selecting the best shots. I also managed to come out with a tagline for Minzstudio.

~ A Moment in Time, A Picture for Life. [I find it meaningful, do u?]

 

Lastly, i designed a nice DVD cover & label as I feel that packaging is important too!

Upon delivery, Carolyn was evidently pleased with the DVD & photos.

Her testimonial for my service:

"I engaged Kester's photography service for my son's birthday party in October 2012. It was a wonderful experience working with her. Her dedication is evident in her prompt replies, her efforts to do "homework" before the event, and her insightful suggestions."  ~ Carolyn Fong

I feel so encouraged & sense of fulfilment to be doing something which is my passion & at the same time I think kids' parties are fun! If you or any of your friends would like to engage me as your photographer for similar parties be it at your selected venue or home; or even outdoor portraits, feel free to email: minzstudio@outlook.com for a non-obligatory discussion.

Lanterns by the River @ Clarke Quay

It's been a month since I shot with dslr... with the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, a series of lanterns displays lit up the river-bank. I decided to pop down to Clarke Quay for dinner & photo-walk. I couldn't remember when was the last time i dine at Central & only discovered today that the food court had given way to a chinese herbal soup restaurant! After walking one round, I decided to try The Freshness Burger. It's quite empty despite being a sat evening. I ordered a Teriyaki burger with Onion Rings & an ice-lemon tea. The beef patty was small, however I found the burger tasty & its bun was very soft to the bite! The onion rings were rather unique, wif a soft batter... if u love them crispy, then this won't suit your taste-buds. Its texture is like MOS burger's fries. It's a tad pricey thou as the meal cost 8 bucks!

 

There's pandas lanterns added to the display too!

 

After filling my tummy, it's time to practice photography... I was lazy to lug my tripod along & decided to shoot free-hand! How times flies... I remembered using my new Fotopro tripod at this location for the lanterns shoot last year! This year, the organiser fenced up one end of the path, which used to allow access for a closer shot of the lanterns across the riverbank. I could only shoot from a distance & used the railings as support. I decided to practice panning & zoom burst!

Chinese New Year

Dragon Boat Festival

Chinese Valentine's Day (Qi Xi)

Winter Solstice (Dong Zhi) - where families gather to eat Tang Yuan

 

The whole area was flooding with people & I had to shoot fast... hence, not having a tripod was also a good idea! I focused on the floating lanterns which depict various Chinese festivals. I like the one depicting Dragon Boat Festival most! Thou I like Mid-Autumn Festival but I'm not a big fan of mooncakes! I prefer the savoury dumplings!

Cool streaks of lights!

 

I noticed many photographers lugging their dslr & tripods... some squeezed closed to the bridge for the panorama shot. I decided to shoot using 5 vertical shots & stitch them up. My foto buddy ~ Wei likes to shoot pano in such manner & I gotta test it out too! I was damm lucky as some of the lights on the bridge switched off right after i finished shooting!

I continued strolling over to the pubs area at Clarke Quay... I noticed sisha (turkish smoking pipes) outlets there. In the past, there were no such outlets here. At one of these places, there's a pretty dancer dancing & weaving thru' their customers. Interesting!
 

Next, I went to the fountain area to practice shooting at various shutter speed, both slow & fast... too bad, no spectacular shots during my experiment as I wanted to capture kids playing there. I returned to Central & bought myself a push-cart's Sweet Corn ice-cream with bread, yummy! The ice-cream seller enjoyed roaring business & luckily still have the flavour I wanted! A sweet ending to my photo-walk!

Night Festival 2012 @ Singapore Museums

I had marked my calendar for the annual Night Festival. I was looking forward to this year's as I had captured some nice shots previous two years. As frens indicated that they were keen to join me this round, I created a FB event for the first time, with a well-planned itinerary... but alas, it's a waste of my efforts as they did not even bother to read the details & asked me stuff which I had indicated clearly! Anyway, I had tot that in the event that people were late, I will proceed by myself!
 

 

 

The festival runs for two consecutive weekends & I did my 1st round on the 25th Aug. Ruby & i met up early at Kopitiam for dinner, while CK was late for a gd 1hr! She came with 2 other frens. We started out at Singapore Arts Museum & toured the 2nd level galleries... After 45mins, i realised there's nothing much to shoot inside but CK & her frens were still stuck in one of the galleries! Hence, i had no choice but to break off from them & proceeded wif Ruby. We moved on to SAM's ground floor & facade to shoot the light displays beamed on the main building.

 

 

Next, we strolled over to SAM at 8Q & I saw a big group of photography buffs shooting. For the first time, I had to setup my tripod at the pavement to capture the [Night Watch] display. 30 giant pairs of quirkly animal eyes peer out from the corridors of SAM at 8Q, modelled after the eyes of birds, fishes & reptiles. We also had fun doing self-shot but exposure was quite hard to grasp!

 

 

 

Cute motifs & quotes on cardboard boxes

 

 

I always find SAM at 8Q is more interesting as their artwork are usually kids-focus, hence easier to understand & appreciate! I much prefer the lively ambience here! As it was a saturday, the place was extremely crowded! We spent quite a long time exploring the various themes here & missed the National Museum's circus show...

 

 

 

At 10pm, after 3hours of continuous walking & shooting, we were tired & chilled out at Coffee Bean... while Leonard popped by for a chat with us. Thereafter, I continued to shoot across the road, to capture the reflections of SAM lit-up facade. We ended the night at 11.30pm!

 

PART II:

 

I felt that my shoot was incomplete & decided to return the following friday...Thankfully, my terrible flu recovered by then! I was clear that I only wanted to cover 3 areas for tonight & my parents decided to tag along!
 

 

We were caught in an unexpected traffic jam & instead of a direct bus ride, we had to change to the MRT & walked to Armenian Street! The La Argentina show outside the Peranakan Museum was supposed to commence at 8.30pm....we ended up waited for 40mins before it start at 9pm! I had setup my tripod, however once the crane ferrying the dancer suspended in mid-air moved into the crowd spilling on the narrow lane, there was no way for me to put a tripod! It was almost impossible for me to capture the shots clearly too! The dancer was spinning 360 degrees at one point! Luckily, I got dad to use the Fuji cam to capture some video! As the dancer performed, confetti rained onto the audience, nothing exciting :(
 

 

After the 15mins show, we moved to the National Museum & again shot some lighting designs splashed on the museum's facade. This was not so nice. We popped into the musuem to take a look at the 3-D artwork [Scaling the Dome], created by street artist, Joe Hill. It's nice but there's a long Q waiting for a shot with the artwork! I simply steal a shot from the side.

 

Lastly, we trooped over to the School of the Arts to view [Children's Dreams], where fairytales characters lit up with the synchronised music, created by french artist. It's cute :) Juz these 2hours plus was enough to warrant a supper stop at MacDonald's, haha! Overall, this year's Night Festival was not up to my expectations.