Photographers need food on the table and food for the soul. I believe that most photographers got into the photography business at the first place purely because of passion. A survey was done on 1500 people. Eighty three percent of them chose their career for the money they thought they could earn. The remainder seventeen percent or 255 people chose what they love doing. Five years later 101 of these 1500 people became millionaires. A hundred of these new millionaires were people who chose their career path based on their passion.

Passion was what brought me into photography. Falling in love is easy. Staying in love is the tough part. So how do I stay in love with photography? I am challenging myself to do 1 to 2 personal shoots per month. These are shoots that I carry out purely to satisfy my needs as an artist: to innovate, experiment & push the boundaries. I also challenge myself to come up with something new each shoot…something I had never done before, even when I return to the same location. Experimenting with new equipment & techniques also stretches my imagination. Once in a while, I will force myself to use a lens that I rarely touch, buy a new light modifier, or shoot in totally new venues.

Yesterday, I had the privilege to do a fashion shoot for Pretty in White’s upcoming new collection of gown designs. Big thanks to Lee Kuen and her team for their amazing make-up skills. Celest provided the outstanding styling. We spent close to 12 hours to complete the shoot…but time flies when we do what we love doing. Here are two images that I am truly proud of.

Trolls. What are they? Wikipedia has a good description. Basically online users who post inflammatory comments to provoke a respond. For that reason, I steer clear of most forums because I’ve seen too many of them prowling around.

Apparently trolls have moved on to social networking media as well, spreading their venom on blogs, facebook and twitter. Often when I announce a new workshop, I will have one troll who would berate me…basically telling me that I worth less than a penny as a teacher/photographer. The same troll even setup a bogus facebook identity, requested to be added as friend and then posted venomous comments on my wall. It was totally unprovoked!

How do I respond? I just deleted the comments because a troll is not here for a rational conversation but a cowardly figure who spew hateful stuff behind the anonymity of the Internet. If someone care enough to correct a genuine issue or give constructive criticisms, they would have called me up, written me an email or spoken to me face to face.

I thought I was the only one haunted by trolls until I read Ron Dawson’s blog post 30 minutes ago. Ron suggested that we either kill trolls with graciousness or ignore them. I think that most trolls consumed by envy, jealousy, insecurity and bitterness. It is important that when we deal with trolls, we do not become one. I just turn them into motivation to be a better teacher & photographer…making sure I add value to the workshop participants & clients.

I am crazy about the warm, broad and “long” late afternoon light. You don’t get this living near the equator!

I had four days in the Netherlands, mainly in Amsterdam to shoot a wedding on September 9, 2009. It’s probably the most popular wedding date of the year. Clients put us at the Krasnapolsky Hotel, an amazing hotel right at the heart of the city. Love the room and breakfast! Still it took me a couple of days to adjust to time difference. By the time I got my first good night sleep, I was packing my bags to go home again. You gotta be adaptable to do this job.

Together with Josh, we took in as much of Amsterdam as we could. Visited the Rembrandt House, home and studio of one my favourite painters. It is inspiring and educational to see how the master made etchings on copper plates. The precision, subtlety and control that he showed…man, I struggle to keep up even with Photoshop & Wacom tablet. It is a tiny museum. Most of Rembrandt’s famous work are exhibited in museums around the world, not here. But it is cool to catch a glimpse of how Rembrandt lived in the 17th century and how he designed his studio and gallery.

Anne Frank’s House is another memorable museum that we checked out. This fourteen year-old wrote a brilliant diary that detailed her experience as a Jewish girl hiding in a secret annex with her family during WWII & suffering under the atrocities of Nazism. It became one of the most read literature of the 20th century. The house was well preserved. War artifacts including identity cards issued to the Jews, records of deportation of Jews to concentration camps, videos and photographs were exhibited. Walking into the secret annex where Anne and her family were hiding gave me a chill. Anne died in a concentration camp 4 weeks before it was liberated. Get there before 10am if you want to avoid long queues.

It was too bad that I missed out on the Rijksmuseum. Wanted to see it the day after the wedding shoot…but I was too worn out. It houses a lot of paintings from the Dutch golden era, including Rembrandt’s controversial Night Watch. That’s a good excuse to come back to this city again.

The wedding was amazing and truly Dutch. I can’t wait to blog about that. Stay tune

The Dam Square

This place is a reflection galore

The Winter Room where we had our breakfast. I love the freshly made croissants and hand squeezed orange juice.

Long queues at Anne Frank’s House. We got there before 10am and avoided the congestion.

This goes down as the furthest shoot I have ever done. Over 24 hours of traveling, 12 hours of time difference…man, it was worth it to be there to witness and document an unforgettable wedding. I still remember the first time Jasmine and I met Sarah. There was an instant click. I knew it would be great to photograph her wedding. Kevin didn’t come into the picture until we got to New York…but it became very quickly it became clear to us why Sarah was crazy about this guy. He is funny, courteous, respectful & good looking too (that never hurts).

Behind the beautiful venues, amazing gowns, stretched limousines, champagne, gifts…something much deeper and valuable unfolded. It was full of love, cheers, tears, laughter, hugs, kisses. You could sense that everyone turned up in New York (and many of us came from far flung Malaysia) to bless & be there for Sarah & Kevin.

Sarah & Kevin, thank you so much for having me at your wedding. Your family & cousins are just fantastic too…really loved and took care of me. You guys are amazing!

It was too difficult to shortlist my favourites (coz there were too many of them!). Here you go!

Two of my most admired photographers Jerry Ghionis and CM Leung will be conducting seminars in Kuala Lumpur. Jerry needs little introduction. He is a fantastic communicator, awesome photographer and brilliant marketer. Jerry will be doing a one-day seminar at Park Royal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on September 25. This is Jerry’s first visit to Malaysia and you must not miss this rare opportunity! Sign up today!

CM will be holding a 3-hour seminar in KL on November 26. He will be sharing his marketing secrets that propel him to one of the most sought-after wedding photographers in Asia. Book your spot!