vividshots

Here are the rest of the shots which i played around with this evening.  Not purple series cos...they are not purple..  :P

note: the actual photos are sharper...i just can't figure out how to make the images bigger without pixelizing it on livejournal :P

Have not been sleeping well since Yukari's "spooky" encounter few nights ago.  Last night i couldn't sleep at all, i don't know if it's because of tat incident or my excitement on today's test shoot.  I must have had about 5hours of sleep.  Woke up feeling cranky, kopi gao didn't help.  I was really looking forward to the test shoot this afternoon in an open field.  But dark clouds were looming threateningly when i stepped out of the house.  I was just cursing and swearing my way to The Makeup Room.  It was hot and sunny past few days when i didn't have much on and now......it's going to rain. grrrrrrrr......  So i just have to hope tat the rain would stop by the time the makeup and hair is done.

Unfortunately, not only did it not stop....we had an island wide thunder storm.  I was cracking my brains on a back up location and The Plant came to my mind.  Called Michelle urgently.  And THANK GOD she was in the shop.  I had 2 hours to get my ass there and finish up the shoot.  And here are the results of my very last-minute-change-of-plan-shoot .  And here is the " 紫色心情" series


      

     <---- my personal favourite!!







All these are made possible because

Rowena of Diva let me test their models
Majing & Brent took the time to Test with me
Jit Huey from The Makeup Room made them look beautiful with her impeccable makeup and hairdo
Dang from Dang Bridal for loaned me all these beautiful dresses
Michelle from The Plant letting me use her shop with such last minute notice. 

THANK YOU!! :D  

Has always wanted to try doing a shoot using projector and Ngiap Heng was really nice to lend me his last week.  I was thinking for a whole week what to project.  Then remembered i shot Ma Jing last week and I tot how perfect Brent and her would look together.  So i edited a couple of photos also did some fire and water shots.  The water ones didn't come out very well.  



This was one of the image i used for the projection.  Majing is a 19 year old model from china and i think she looks divine!!






The two images of majing that i absolutely love.

   

My sweet Paulo is officially ONE years old today!!

  
Shortly after he was born                                                                  First day home at 2 months old


10 weeks old and getting more playful.                                        3mths plus, ears popped up...becoming quite the feisty pup.

   
Notti face after chewing up a stick of lip gloss....  & birthday celebration with Paulo June 08  & of cos... Paulo chewed up J's LV wallet during CNY 09.... we call it his VERY expensvie beef jerky.




And here is Paulo just few days before he turned One having an identity crisis.  :P

I slept very early last night despite that I was still feeling lethargic most of the day.  Either the recent many late nights or the ultra boring dvd we were watching last night has caused...an early night yesterday.  Despite my infatuation for the very charming and extremely handsome Jung Woo Sung, i found The Good, The Bad , The Weird....really NOT my type of movie...yawnz..

Also maybe the fact that I am missing a Brunch Kaki (sharon has gone Genting for a short get away) and it's just me and Paulo now.  I decided to call up the gardener to revamp the disastrous garden today.  Yes Paulo has dug a huge hole over the months hunting for rocks and burying our shoes.  And not to mention him frapping in the bushes... most of the plants has been reduced to fertilizer thanks to that little rascal.  The horrible sugar cane that just wouldn't die has been FINALLY removed and we have pretty ...watever plants to replace them now.  The empty patches in the corners has all be replaced with bigger plants so Paulo can't trample on it.   Did all the auntie things, go Shop and Save....speaking of shop and save...I am so amazed by all these aunties who PARK themselves right outside the supermarket from morning to evening EVERY DAY, rain or shine waiting patiently for not-so-auntie ppl like us to give them the stamps which until now I have no idea what its for, but it has to be a really big deal for 10 aunties to be parked there begging for them everytime a shopper walks out. 

Anyways, i whipped up a nice cod fish and femented bean yong tau hu today. Yums.  Of cos J had requested for Pig head skin.. I hate tat stuff... He's eating it almost everyday from duck rice auntie... his nick name at our Kopitiam is the Pig head skin guy....

Well after all tat domestic work i decided to just try DI'ing something.... only did 3 today.  So here it goes.



 

I like both but the first one abit more, maybe cos it's diff from what i would usually do.   

   



Here is the 2nd installment of the photos from yesterday, i've decided to experiment on a few different colour tones. 

When I decided to bring my next Test shoot to Geylang, i had alot of doubts in my mind.  I mean... the street which i have targeted is the prostitute streets after all.  With all the warning from concerned friends worrying that we may get into trouble with the pimps and the prostitutes, afraid that we may get extorted or even chased out of that area...I was worried.  I started out really ambitious.  I had wanted to loan a Pink light prostitute-sit-in-tank brothel for the shoot.  How cool is it to have a model in the aquariam with a dozen almost naked girls in sitting around.  I talked J into recceeing those brothels with me on saturday evening.  After knocking at about 5 doors, the pimp uncle told said don't bother asking cos nobody would allow us to shoot with the call girls...much less in their brothel.  I was feeling abit disappointed no being able to get that shot i want and started to doubt the success of my monday shoot.  I even asked Sharon if we should actually call a police to escort us just in case.  It's the mean parts of GEYLANG after all... , on top of all that worries... i was most worried about the weather.  It's outdoor shoot and if it rains....everything would just go to waste, the light rental, all that planning and makeup and hair .....We were really lucky, clear blue skies the entire day.

The most surprising part was that not only did nobody came and give us trouble, the pimps were helping us control traffic.  My back was facing the "audience" I had no idea we were surrounded by so much curious passer bys..... we had a bigger crowd then if there was a tragic road accident.  I was definitely shocked.  The very nice uncle pimp actually scolded ppl who tried to walk in front of my camera.  He even cleared all the prostitutes in the back lane so we had a nice clean wall to shoot on.  After we finished we thanked him with a friendly handshake.  The bangla workers were so nice to let us shoot in their bunks, one even volunteered to wash down a mirror for us.  We even ALMOST got free prawn noodles until the auntie realised that the pictures were NOT appearing on TV...then she said "$5.00" .......

My conclusion is that never judge people.  We were treated with utmost respect and warm welcomes.  So to all the Girls and Uncle Pimps in Geylang, Durian shop uncles and even the prawn noodle lady. (I think she added more ingredients and made a very pretty looking bowl of prawn noodle for us)   THANK YOU!  

I have managed to do up a couple of shots from last night, will up load more when i'm done DI'ing.

 

 





Last but not least, the bunch of people whom i owe my THANKS to

1) Jit Huey, the best human being/ makeup artist i've ever met.  You're my lifesaver!!  Without you, we wouldn't get such beautiful images!
2) Sharon, my dearest housemate and friend who has helped me so much!!  Thou tiny, but STRONG as an ox
3) Shaun Paul, Thank you for assisting me without you holding all the heavy stuff and ur height as our tripod, we would never be able to get some of the shots.
4) Justin, Thanks for recceeing all those sleazy places with me even though u were really embarressed to be walking into those brothels with me.... :P
4) Brent, thanks for all the motivation and inspiration you've given me and THANKS for being  my model AGAIN!! 
5) Maiko, thank you for shooting with me despite your busy schedule yesterday, you're a natural beauty and just fantastic to work with.
6) Rowena, thanks for giving me the opportunity to test shoot Diva models.  THANK YOU!!
7) Amanda Lee Weddings for the beautiful cheong sums and Pants.
HUGS HUGS HUGS !!
 

I feel so tired and totally flat this week.  It's been a busy but fruitful week.  Lots of last minute shoots popped up which means all my bills are well taken care of.  But also means I need to squeeze more idea out of my little brain.  4 shoots next week.  Out of which 3 i have to squeeze my brains out and think of a really good concept for.  I wish i had someone whom i can throw and process ideas with right now.  It's usually in the night my brain start working and also the time when everyone is zzzz ing.  arrghhh.... 

Sat shoot...shhhhh is a secret  :P

We'll be test shooting Taylor on Sunday at OCH,  i'm toying with the concept of death.  Death has always been depicted as black, morbid, frightening.  But i think Death is not that scary after all, it's a transition all of us eventually go thru.  If Death was a being, I would imagine him to be white and lonely.  Taylor has an almost angelic face and would be perfect for this concept.   Death left behind in a old hospital with no souls left to transit, lonely and white from dust that has collected over the decades.  Blending in like part of the building, furnitures tat are left behind.
I'm looking forward to this one and really hope Taylor can make it this sunday.

Wed shoot is I hope at Supper club.  If it's there I have the whole concept sorted out but if client wants to change location.... haiz... means i have to start from square 1 and look for locations again and time is really tight considering this job just got confirmed today.  Please let it be supperclub, at least it would be something different for me. :D

And I'm really looking forward to Brent's and Maiko's shoot.  All i can say is that it's going to be 1920's theme.  It will probably be in a location i'm very familiar in but the concept will be diff from all those i've shot.  I can't wait to see how the 2 will turn out.  They look fabulous together when i put their com card together.  Pray it doesn't rain... Pray i get the location i want....

Well after much brainstorming, i've decided to name my last shoot Absence of Time.  Here are somemore shots

 

 

 

 



*Looks back and sees Paulo sleeping with his nose stuff in my wallet.......grrrrr is eating up a whole LV wallet not enough for him???*

Did a test shoot with Brent 2 days ago.  We were suppose to do a "chinese opera" themed shoot at the opera stage in ubin, but with the unpredictable weather recently, we decided to find somewhere safe.  We shot at this very nice and nostalgic temple in Keong Saik.  I absolutely love the "oldness" of it.  Jit Huey was just amazing, she did 2 looks for Brent, first is kinda like a half done makeup of an opera singer. 

Thank God i have great friends.  Sharon and Ron were there to help out.  Sharon my ever trusted grip and house mate.  Nothing can go wrong with her around.  Petite but strong and very "zai".  Thanks Ron for all his inspiring poems.  He's such a talent.  He was typing away during the shoot coming up with beautiful poems for us to incoporate into each picture.  Thanks guys for all the hard work!!!!  MUACKZ!

Here are a few pictures i've managed to DI from the shoot.

Despite my very busy schedule this two weeks, I've managed to indulge in 2 sessions and 4 flavours of muffin baking this week.   Sunday night while J was busy playing oblivion....(it's too frustrating to watch him play, i do not understand how he can navigate so well in a car...but suck when he's in a game) Inspired by Sharon's attempt in making cup cakes on Friday and having found my 500 Muffins recipe book I decided to put on chef's hat.  First flavour i did I basically took whatever i can find in my fridge that has been long forgotten but not pass expiry date yet.  I whipped up a Banana Chocolate Nutella muffin with Crunchy peanut butter filling.  J's & E's praises inspired me to continue on to my 2nd batch that night.  Blueberries and strawberry muffin.  It tasted pretty good but the texture was abit like huat kueh...abit too "sweaty"  Was it the additional lemon I added or the very moist fruits?  Maybe too little butter.  Anyways after looking thru the recipe again...realised I got all the steps wrong for the two muffins.  As usual my over enthusiasm and over confidence took over and I tot I knew better.  But for first attempt, I was happy.

Tonight I knew J was going to do his oblivion thingy again.  So I decided I'll try 2 of my fav things.  Chocolates and Oranges.  So first Flavour was Double Chocolate chunk with Mars Bar filling Muffin. (ULTIMATE SIN!!!)  I should take a picture of it... the mars bar caramel was oozing out of the cracks on the top of the muffin.  The chocolate was oozing out of the muffin on my first bite.  hmmmmmm I should just sell muffins. :P

2nd Flavour.... my pride... my joy... my FAV!!!!!!  Orange Almond Muffin.  Simple but i added double dosage of orange zest and almond.  Less sugar thou.  It was just nice for my palete.  And YAY despite my very wet and moist orange pieces I added, the muffins did not sweat this time round.  They cracked and browned perfectly. 

Hmmmmm satisfaction!! 

I shall post the recipe and maybe some pictures of my creation tomorrow night. 

Yeh!  I've finally completed DI for SB's march fashion spread which I did in Cyprus in October.

On day of shoot.....everyone was SUPER relax.  hmmmm maybe abit TOOO relax.   Well, to my disappointment, it did not turn out the way i had wanted it actually. 

- No one wanted to go to Paphos cos it was "too far"  (An hour bus ride away, we did hire a mini bus)   I wanted to go there so much, the beautiful old greek ruins were there and the beach ...sea...sigh.....so tranquil so blue...so nice.  Of cos i factored in that very nice little restaurant tat serves OUT OF THE WORLD pork knuckle and calamari rings where we could have stopped by for lunch... :P~~~ 

This picture was taken on my HP.....The pork knuckle was super juicy and tender on the inside and very very crispy on the outside.  Best pork knuckle i've ever ever had.  Cost me a whooping $15euros.



- The ONE castle we went to did not allow us to shoot, we need permits and license which we had to get way before hand in the city...... we still made the best out of it.  Involve climbing up high walls and balancing on uneven pillars.  I must say the models were very professional and obliging. 

Here is Leanne (she's only 15)  and Stellios our Hairstylist.  According to Diva in Cyprus, he's their BEST!!

Finally all the hustle and bustle of CNY is over.  The only thing i really enjoyed during this festive season is MAHJONG... YES.  This year has been my best year for Mahjong since i ACTUALLY diao zng 7 times in a row.  Thanks to the 2 S who kept feeding me tiles.  slurp. :D  I had made a winning of about $90 tat night but....all went to Paulo's medical fee the next day... A whooping $187.00 :( .   That rascal had overplayed and developed a "slip disc" which is what the doctor had diagnosed.  But he miraculously became totally fine 2 days later.  Not only was he running, he was almost flying in the air for his toys.  #$&*(&%*(#&($.... Personally i think he was just depress and angry with me for showing more affection to Roo who was staying here for a few days over CNY.  Anyways,  I'm just glad that he's all well now. 

Oblivion.....just hearing it sends chills down my spine.  J and me were so bored last weekend cos we have finished playing all our PSP and PS3 games.  I've technically finished my Grand Theft auto... other then the stupid pigeons that i have to find to 100% complete it...Screw the pigeons....  I couldn't decide if i should get Fall Out 3 or Oblivion.  Actually Fall Out seems more appealing to me but to pay $100 for their collectors set with a stupid tin lunch box when the game only cos less then $70 is just silly.... so i settled for Oblivion and J bought some stupid PSP game i've never even heard of.  He gave up on his game 2 days later as it was boring.  And chose to sit next to me during my game play giving commands.  grrrr irritating......  "Go there, change view, stop walking around, use this, throw that...."  I swear if he give me one more command, the joy stick will be shoved up his nose.  I don't like oblivion at all....everything is so dull and ugly inside.  Even the characters look horrible.  The fact that i picked the wrong character and wrong major skills did not help too.  And the thought of starting over is just bleh..... this game is too gruelling.  I think J just enjoys irritating the hell out of me.  grrrrrr.  hmmm Maybe i'll start telling him if he wants me to play Oblivion, he will have to iron his own shirts.  :D  yes tat will work. 

Brent is finally back and we're finally going to do a TFCD shoot.  I'm quite nervous and excited about it since it will be my FIRST time working with only Male models.  Come to think of it.... all my 8 years plus i' ve been working with either women or couples.  Never male models.  Brent and Borgy are from New york.  I particularly love Brent's face.   Oriental and edgy.  I'm still thinking what concept i'm going to shoot this time.  I'm going to meet them up next week and perhaps brainstorm something out then.  YIPEE!!! 

Oooo yesh!! I finally bought my 5D mark 2 and succeeded in burning a big hole in my pocket.  I should play more Mahjong :P  Anyways I'm excited to use it tomorrow.