Ashwini is bubbly and full of energy. Sudarshan is steady and calm. They are a great match. Got to know them thanks to the recommendation of Vanessa & Irwin, a couple who tried to book us more than a year prior to their big day only to find out we were unavailable. So Vanessa insisted that Ashwini, her best friend mustn’t suffer the same disappointment.

We hit it off right away. I am envious of Sudarshan’s collection of timepieces, which includes IWC and Panerai. This guy has got taste. Well, just look at who he marries! They will make beautiful babies. I am sure. Just hoping that stressful medical work won’t come in the way of these two doctors. Back to the wedding day…

I love Ashwini & Sudarshan’s wedding. The colors, sounds and fragrance make all five senses come alive. They hired a great band in Vijay and Albert, which is the key to having a great party. I honestly feel I shoot slightly better with great music…here are my personal favorites

Taken at Tanjung Aru Beach recently in the middle of an e-session. Love how abstract it looks and feels.

There is a Chinese proverb I learn as a child. If we work near black ink, we’ll get black stains. If we work near scarlet ink, we’ll get red stains. We are influenced by what we are close to. Friends in our inner circle, mentors & literature are major influences of what we love & how we live. Gotta be careful what & who we model after.

It’s quite common to have younger photographers talking to me about their career path. Who should they work for? Who should they seek as mentors and teachers? What association should they join to further their craft? In short, who should they model after? These are very valid questions. From their tone and body language, I can tell their concerns are beyond skin deep. I suspect they know this Chinese proverb as well. There are no easy answers. John Maxwell developed questions to ask himself before picking a model to follow:

Does my model’s life deserve a following?

Is my model’s strength reproducible?

taken from Maxwell’s Developing the Leaders Around You

It’s every writer and photographer’s dream to be published. Back in the days at the news desk, while it was a daily routine, it was still exciting to see where and how the chief editor play the story or pictures. Did he dismembered my piece? Did it get on front page? Oh yea, front page. It was our holy grail. Left the news desk many years ago. While you can take the journalist away from the news desk, you can’t take news desk thrill away from a journalist.

I was OVER THE MOON when I found out some of my work have been published in the US recently. First it was American Photo May-June issue. Did some behind-the-scene shots for Joe McNally’s article “House of Flying Flash” that he shot in Kuala Lumpur in February. If you squint your eyes hard enough, you can see the credits at the corner of the pages. Thanks Simon for saving a copy for me!

Then I received a package from Amherst Media with two contributors copy of the Wedding Photography: Advanced Techniques for Digital Photographers by Bill Hurter, author of at least two dozen books, chief editor of Rangefinder Magazine and the Master Yoda of WPPI. Remembered the email Bill dropped me a year ago. “May I have your permission to use some of your photos for several books I am working on? You’ll be in the company of Marcus Bell, Yervant, Jerry Ghionis, Cliff Mautner…” Well, Bill you’ve got me at “May I”.

Folks, Amherst Media has published lots of books on photography. A great resource for any photographers. Check out any Borders, Kinokuniya, MPH or a reputable bookstore.

While scouring Amazon.com, it stumbled upon a book cover that strangely resemble one of my WPPI-award-winning shot. It is my shot! Oh wow, it graces the cover of the soon-to-be published Wedding Photographer’s Handbook, authored also by Bill. By the way, the gown was courtesy of the talented designers at Pretty in White.

Just very thankful that my dreams are coming true. Hope to publish my own book one day. My friends…live your dreams.

It’s easy to get caught up gunning for the “big epic” shots and forget the beauty and importance of being in the moments. I must admit I was caught in that at one stage of my career. Over time, I find that being a wedding photographer I have to shoot the “asked for” & “sought out” pictures with equal panache and care. The formal and posed shots. A picture of a couple kissing passionately under a dramatically saturated sky with four flashes firing simultaneously at different power ratios. Her lips are parted, eyes closed…his hands holding tightly to her thigh…you get what I mean. This is an “asked for” picture.

Then there is another kind of story we need to tell. The fleeting moments that require a photographer to probe and seek out for. A mother sobbing when her daughter delivered her speech. The father and daughter exchanging a warm glance as they walk down the aisle. These are pictures that pull the strings of our hearts and make us go, “Awww.” As soon as these stories take place, they are over. It requires sensitivity, anticipation and relentlessness to record these moments. It’s not a case of advocating one over the other but the case of doing both equally well. “Asked for” and “sought out” pictures require different techniques and skills. That is why I LOVE photographing weddings. I have seconds to execute my vision and I’d better come up with something creative and good if I wanna stay in business.

I don’t have anything that I would consider an epic shot from Josephine & Nigel’s wedding but plenty of priceless gems that I believe will still warm the hearts of Josephine and Nigel ten years from now…

note: I must credit David A Williams & Storey Wilkins for teaching me about “asked for” & “sought after” images

A great shot by Shen who assisted me. What a vision.

In the beginning of this year, for some unexplainable reasons, I was really drawn towards high key shots. It was likely some creative mood swings for the artist within. Yeah, if I change my mind, I can always pin it to some creative license. So I did a few shoots with a high key approach, which was something fresh to me. When I shared my high key shots, I got a bunch of questions on how I accomplished them. I thought I should slow down my thought process and share my experience here.

Typically, high key shots are accomplished in a studio environment with a white backdrop. A couple of strobes are set to illuminate the background while a different set of lights control the exposure of the subject in the foreground.

My high key shots, however, are done with available light.

First, find a strong light source. My favourite is large window or glass panels. It’s even better if you can draw a layer of sheer material over it to soften it a touch. The exposure difference between the light outside and inside the room is probably 4 to 8 stops apart. This light source will the background of the photo.

Then I’ll expose for the subject inside the room. That may mean setting the camera at EV +4 or +5. I’ll keep chimping until I get the subjects are properly exposed. At times, I use a large reflector to bounce some light into the subjects. I’ve also use the Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe to illuminate the subjects when I needed more light. If you are at Aperture Priority, you should set a higher ISO so that you can still get usable shutter speed.

Thirdly, at that sort of exposure gap, the background will be whiteout. If you can get a white sheer layer draw over the windows, the whiteout background can be accomplished easily. If you have vibrant colors at the back, it is a lot harder. That’s why a lacy or white sheer material is very useful. The good news is this can be found in most modern homes.

Finally, lens choice. If we are using a window as the background, then a tele lens like 70-200 will be handy in isolating the background and framing our shoots without distractions.

Here are some photos from Adeline and Chuen Hau’s e-session. The first five shots were done inside their living room with a glass window. The sixth at a hotel’s lift lobby where I used a speedlight & softbox to bring out details in their faces. I hope this post is helpful. I’ll be sharing my lighting techniques at the Inspire+ Five-City Tour.

Marble floor is highly reflective. I was lying on the floor to get this shot.

And this was where we shot it. Window light from the background as the main light source. White walls and floors inside the room bounced lots of light back to the couple.

At a hotel’s lift lobby. Again, strong light from the window panels from the back as my background light. Main light is a SB800 in Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe from top left.

Here are the rest of the images from the shoot.