Saturday, May 31, 2008
who's the boss?
just woke up, went to the kitchen and noticed something different. normally at this time of the morning, lots of mynas and small birds would gather noisily at the rooftop of the opposite block, but its all quiet today. looked out of the window and i saw the reason why...
the eagle has landed..
i guess this is what they meant by strength in numbers... gathering quietly at 1 corner now... i hope the eagle comes everyday, just to shut the birds up
the eagle has landed..
i guess this is what they meant by strength in numbers... gathering quietly at 1 corner now... i hope the eagle comes everyday, just to shut the birds up
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
what is your purpose?
day 3 of my 40df. was reading Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life, felt like chapter3 was talking to/about me.
everyone's life is driven by something. if its not God then its probably one of these: guilt, resentment/anger, fear, materialism or the need for approval.
but surely there are people that are driven by positive things, like not wanting to repeat past mistakes or regrets (or guilt?), or wanting to proof doubters wrong (anger/bitterness?), or wanting to provide the best for your loved one or buy that new RX8(abit of materialism here?), or wanting to match or better your colleagues so your boss can praise u during the annual D&D.....
i am sure many people will disagree with what i wrote above. yes, wanting to do better at work or in life is not at all wrong, wanting to work hard to earn that promotion and pay raise is good too, coz u can donate more $ to the poor and buy toys for your kids and bring your family for a holiday and enjoy quality time.
but these reasons should not be the main purpose of living. easier said than done, i know. but i certainly hope and pray that my life here is for the purpose of God, not myself.
what would your family and friends say is the driving force of your life now? what do you want the driving force in your life to be?
In spite of all the advertising(popular sportswear, designer goods' promotion slogans mostly tell me how i deserve those things) around me, how can i remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
do i sound like a pastor?
everyone's life is driven by something. if its not God then its probably one of these: guilt, resentment/anger, fear, materialism or the need for approval.
but surely there are people that are driven by positive things, like not wanting to repeat past mistakes or regrets (or guilt?), or wanting to proof doubters wrong (anger/bitterness?), or wanting to provide the best for your loved one or buy that new RX8(abit of materialism here?), or wanting to match or better your colleagues so your boss can praise u during the annual D&D.....
i am sure many people will disagree with what i wrote above. yes, wanting to do better at work or in life is not at all wrong, wanting to work hard to earn that promotion and pay raise is good too, coz u can donate more $ to the poor and buy toys for your kids and bring your family for a holiday and enjoy quality time.
but these reasons should not be the main purpose of living. easier said than done, i know. but i certainly hope and pray that my life here is for the purpose of God, not myself.
what would your family and friends say is the driving force of your life now? what do you want the driving force in your life to be?
In spite of all the advertising(popular sportswear, designer goods' promotion slogans mostly tell me how i deserve those things) around me, how can i remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
do i sound like a pastor?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
busy weekend
past few days were a little busy, which is good. i guess i am back to normal now. went blading with Cat last friday nite, told her about my mini-depression. as usual, Cat was encouraging and really supportive of me and my work. her input and advise helped clear my thots alot. oh ya, i tripped and fell. wasnt concentrating and bladed over a rock/fruit/black stuff....
Indiana Jones was ok, not too bad but its not as good as the old ones. too much CG can be a bad thing, just like star wars, speed racer, etc... somehow this 1 is just not as swashbuckling and fast-pace, i find myself yawning at parts of the movie. so i give it 3 popcorns out of 5.
the british club family day shoot was really fun. took alot of pix. heres some...
Indiana Jones was ok, not too bad but its not as good as the old ones. too much CG can be a bad thing, just like star wars, speed racer, etc... somehow this 1 is just not as swashbuckling and fast-pace, i find myself yawning at parts of the movie. so i give it 3 popcorns out of 5.
the british club family day shoot was really fun. took alot of pix. heres some...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Kids 2
ok, enuff of whining, this is still a photoblog. i posted images of kids afew months back, heres afew more...
Swimming clears your mind... Listen
went for a swim just now, its my twice weekly routine, along with gymming(??) and running. i feel guilty if i dont exercise often enuff. but i dont understand it when i read those celeb interviews in magazines, about how fresh and refreshed they would feel after an early morning exercise, and how it fires them up for the rest of the day. how come i feel even more tired after working out every morning?
wont be doing the Stand Chart marathon this year. accepted a wedding without checking my calendar 1st. Bummer....
ok back to the swimming. many things crossed my mind when my head was underwater, only hearing the sound of bubbles. thot about the 40df next week. planned this few weeks back after hearing pastor's sermon. hope i can do it. but the thing that appeared in my head was, "whats the purpose of doing it?" do i want God to do something for me in return?
You dont tell God what to do, you dont even ask Him for anything. You should just let Him do it His way and ACCEPT whatever that comes along.
Strange thing was, i prayed for direction a few weeks back. Asked Him to give me a sign, tell me what to do. but didnt get anything til now. On the plane back from HK on Tuesday, i was scrolling thru' the movie channels and stopped at I Am Legend by Will Smith. already watched this before in theatre but somehow i stopped at the channel and watched on. will's character was in dispair and argueing with a lady in the scene, she was convinced she met Will for a reason. Will asked her why and how, she said God told her. she told Will that he just needed to LISTEN.
wasnt that the pastor's sermon few months back? to Listen. keep quiet and listen. dont say anything, dont think of anything, just Listen. maybe He has already told me something but i wasnt listening properly...
wont be doing the Stand Chart marathon this year. accepted a wedding without checking my calendar 1st. Bummer....
ok back to the swimming. many things crossed my mind when my head was underwater, only hearing the sound of bubbles. thot about the 40df next week. planned this few weeks back after hearing pastor's sermon. hope i can do it. but the thing that appeared in my head was, "whats the purpose of doing it?" do i want God to do something for me in return?
You dont tell God what to do, you dont even ask Him for anything. You should just let Him do it His way and ACCEPT whatever that comes along.
Strange thing was, i prayed for direction a few weeks back. Asked Him to give me a sign, tell me what to do. but didnt get anything til now. On the plane back from HK on Tuesday, i was scrolling thru' the movie channels and stopped at I Am Legend by Will Smith. already watched this before in theatre but somehow i stopped at the channel and watched on. will's character was in dispair and argueing with a lady in the scene, she was convinced she met Will for a reason. Will asked her why and how, she said God told her. she told Will that he just needed to LISTEN.
wasnt that the pastor's sermon few months back? to Listen. keep quiet and listen. dont say anything, dont think of anything, just Listen. maybe He has already told me something but i wasnt listening properly...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
the perfect photo
thot about the time when i was setting up my new website. was having a hard time going thru all my wedding pic, selecting the 'perfect photograph' that can convey a strong message of wedding joy. but i just realised that the perfect photo only exists in the heart. this is not an excuse to shoot crap, or pass off flukes as artistic, but there are so many photos that i liked when others think means nothing. there are also couples that loved all (really appreciate that) the photos i took for them when i felt i did just ok. photography is so subjective.
no mood to work. was reading thru the blogs of other wedding photographers and i realised i am not the only 1 that faces these problems. on price and rates, "why your price so high? market rate is $600 + album wor". come on, market rate? the market is filled with amatures and part timers, if you want them to cover your once-in-a-lifetime wedding then please go ahead. if you multiply my rates (minus a few hundred for cost) by 40 weddings a year (thats roughly about 1 wedding a week taking away the lunar 7th month and lull periods), divide that by 12months, you will realise that my month "salary" is the same as that of a junior technician. and i dont even have CPF, medisave and the big year-end bonus. and i may not get 40 weddings a year.
plan a grand, unforgettable, romantic wedding that costs $40-50k, and set aside $500 to document it? makes no sense. the truth is, 1 month after that, no 1 at the wedding will remember the day other than the lovely couple themselves, they wont even remember what they ate at the banquet. the studio album certainly cant bring back any wedding day memories. i am not asking for every couple to prepare $10k for photos, i just need them to show respect for this profession.
think this is the longest i have ever posted. just wanna get it off my chest. sorry about that. cheers
no mood to work. was reading thru the blogs of other wedding photographers and i realised i am not the only 1 that faces these problems. on price and rates, "why your price so high? market rate is $600 + album wor". come on, market rate? the market is filled with amatures and part timers, if you want them to cover your once-in-a-lifetime wedding then please go ahead. if you multiply my rates (minus a few hundred for cost) by 40 weddings a year (thats roughly about 1 wedding a week taking away the lunar 7th month and lull periods), divide that by 12months, you will realise that my month "salary" is the same as that of a junior technician. and i dont even have CPF, medisave and the big year-end bonus. and i may not get 40 weddings a year.
plan a grand, unforgettable, romantic wedding that costs $40-50k, and set aside $500 to document it? makes no sense. the truth is, 1 month after that, no 1 at the wedding will remember the day other than the lovely couple themselves, they wont even remember what they ate at the banquet. the studio album certainly cant bring back any wedding day memories. i am not asking for every couple to prepare $10k for photos, i just need them to show respect for this profession.
think this is the longest i have ever posted. just wanna get it off my chest. sorry about that. cheers
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
back...
just got back from HK yesterday. its not really a holiday trip so didnt take many pictures. heres a few..
these were taken at T3 before departure
the moon at 530pm. it looked much bigger thru the window
view from our hotel room
the Luv of my life
these were taken at T3 before departure
the moon at 530pm. it looked much bigger thru the window
view from our hotel room
the Luv of my life
Monday, May 12, 2008
took this today :) had fun playing with Cookie. i luv him
edited a self-portrait taken by cat last nite at taka :) did i overdo the dark edges? i like my monos dark dark + dark edges.... not every1's cup of tea though...
took these pix in RAW format, really versatile in terms of white balance, can forget about white balance setting and do that in post processing. will be using raw for future assignments.
edited a self-portrait taken by cat last nite at taka :) did i overdo the dark edges? i like my monos dark dark + dark edges.... not every1's cup of tea though...
took these pix in RAW format, really versatile in terms of white balance, can forget about white balance setting and do that in post processing. will be using raw for future assignments.
Friday, May 9, 2008
so many things to do
feel like going out to take photos but i have so many things on my hands now. paperwork, wedding pix to edit, design Norman's product packaging, prepare a trial montage for an upcoming wedding....
mothers' day this sunday, bought mama and M-I-L flowers :) well, its Cat's idea so i won't take any credit for it.
watched Ironman with Edwin, its good, almost as good as the 1st Spiderman movie. bought a Rubik's Cube after that, felt out of place walking into toys-r-us. the amazing thing is, i solved the cube for the 1st time in my whole life!! (with help from the guide ofcoz) 7 steps were all it took to solve the cube, no matter how messed-up the cube was, follow the 7 algorithms and any1 can do it. i am just amazed at the people that came up with the algorithms and apparently there are more ways other than these 7 steps to solving the cube. Am i sounding more and more like a geek?
mothers' day this sunday, bought mama and M-I-L flowers :) well, its Cat's idea so i won't take any credit for it.
watched Ironman with Edwin, its good, almost as good as the 1st Spiderman movie. bought a Rubik's Cube after that, felt out of place walking into toys-r-us. the amazing thing is, i solved the cube for the 1st time in my whole life!! (with help from the guide ofcoz) 7 steps were all it took to solve the cube, no matter how messed-up the cube was, follow the 7 algorithms and any1 can do it. i am just amazed at the people that came up with the algorithms and apparently there are more ways other than these 7 steps to solving the cube. Am i sounding more and more like a geek?
Thursday, May 8, 2008
2 more
received a call from Adrian yesterday, offering 2 more assignments from the British Club. he said they liked my photos from the previous shoot ;) feels great
Saturday, May 3, 2008
its May
just cover another wedding on Mayday with bro Jeremy. it was great using new equipment :)
i learnt a great deal over the past month on other aspects of photography (other than the usual technical stuff), mostly from Jeremy. its great to partner some1 with so much drive, it made me realise i wasnt doing enuff.
"how bad do you want it?" was my msn nick some time back, i think i need to keep using it just to keep me on my toes.
ok, this is not related to photography but i really love this singer and her songs.
This song is Jesh de Rox's website music, really cool... just audio, no vid. the singer is Amy Seeley, name of song Gravel Lines
i learnt a great deal over the past month on other aspects of photography (other than the usual technical stuff), mostly from Jeremy. its great to partner some1 with so much drive, it made me realise i wasnt doing enuff.
"how bad do you want it?" was my msn nick some time back, i think i need to keep using it just to keep me on my toes.
ok, this is not related to photography but i really love this singer and her songs.
This song is Jesh de Rox's website music, really cool... just audio, no vid. the singer is Amy Seeley, name of song Gravel Lines
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