It’s amazing how busy life can get. Very soon days become weeks, and weeks become months, and before you know it, the only sign of the fact that time has indeed passed, are the signs of age on your health, and the amount of taxes and/or bills you’re paying each month.

And then you get a sweet message asking you very politely, “Could I see the photos please?” *falls over chair*

Anyways, I did this shoot some time back. I think it was July *peeks at the EXIF*.

Strange trivia about this shoot: it’s the first time I participated in an arranged shoot by a privately run modeling agency. Can’t even quite remember how I found out about it. Hmm, that reminds me, I still owe the organizer his thumbdrive. *gasp* I’m seriously all over the place.

So needless to say, it was a fairly simple shoot. The model, Stella Matilda, is simply gorgeous, and she already knows darn well how to pose. I just merely had to be there (to a certain extent-lah). Usually these kind of shoots aren’t immediately my cup of tea, but the reason I got involved in this one anyway, was to try and pick up a few pointers on how models pose, i.e. get portrait experience. Frankly, it’s something I’m still learning, and have ways more to go. I reckoned, back then, that this shoot would give me an opportunity to learn from a professional model. And technically I did learn.

Only thing with the absent minded person that I tend to be these days, I forgot what I learned. Ah well, it’ll come back to me. =)

In any case, before I keep going on and on, thanks Stella for being a wonderful model (not to mention be patient enough to wait 2 months for the images). I hope that these images will at least redeem me a tiny little bit *angelic halo*. =)

PS: Is it just me, that by sheer coincidence, this isn’t the first shoot I’ve done since the D700 acquisition that involves an angel theme. And just for the record, I had nothing to do with the planning of either. I’m just saying… =)

In what can only be described as a pretty long absence from my relatively new start in the blogosphere, I am finally back to at least brush the cobwebs off this website. So what happened? Well, let’s just say in a nutshell, the day-job caught up with me.

One stint included me being away for work from Malaysia for 18 out of 22 days in a row. There’s a fair bit of glamor to business travel, but I have to admit, during those 3 weeks, I was poof-ed beyond belief. I nearly felt I could hit someone on the head if they said the phrase ‘Wah, so nice’ to me in response to my 18 days away. The grass is indeed always greener.

And then there’s the fact that I’ve been going through a photographic slump. It’s very much the weight of expectation that shrouded the new camera. Some from the peer, mostly from myself. It got so bad, I didn’t want to shoot just because I feared I couldn’t do the camera justice. Sometimes, it would get the better of me in that even after a shoot, I refused to look at the shots because it just didn’t quite click. It’s as though I was staring at an extinguished flame, somehow hoping it’ll rekindle by some miracle.

Yes, it was a low period. I did some shoots in between, but the inspiration only came like little droplets from a drying sieve.

But last weekend, in what was a culmination of two amazing close friends, two incredible talents in their own right, and me being fortunate enough to be a part of the equation, I was part of a fashion shoot. In some ways, as one of them keenly told me, it’s what I’ve needed for a while, which is to take the wheel again. So happens that Lady Luck was on my side when I did this time.

The shoot, in short, was inspiring and reinvigorating. There was just so much positive energy emanating from it. Frankly, if all shoots were like this, I’d consider taking up photography full time quite seriously.

So onwards to the shoot. My dear friend Cassey is one who’s simply passionate about fashion. So much so, she’s pursuing it now with the vigor and energy which I haven’t been able to muster in quite a while even for my own passion; photography.

It started off as a simple idea of shooting her creations; a lineup which I’d personally describe as very casual and wearable, yet with a bit of character and uniqueness about them, that you won’t find in any ordinary boutique.

The outcome? Well… I’ll let the images speak for themselves. My only wish is that I did her work justice. So without further ado, I present to you the tops by Cassey Gan. And she can take the credit for not only designing them (with the exception of the jumpsuit), but also amazingly modeled herself.

Top designed by Cassey Gan || Modeling by Cassey Gan

Top designed by Cassey Gan || Modeling by Cassey Gan

Top designed by Cassey Gan || Modeling by Cassey Gan

Top designed by Cassey Gan || Modeling by Cassey Gan

Top designed by Cassey Gan || Modeling by Cassey Gan || Shot courtesy of Huey Yee

Top designed by Cassey Gan || Modeling by Cassey Gan

Modeling by Cassey Gan

Top designed by Cassey Gan || Modeling by Cassey Gan

Thanks so much Cassey and Huey Yee for reminding me of what joy there is to find in a passion that seemed lost to the many everyday pressures of the contemporary corporate world, and everything else in between.

Till our next collaboration! =) *big hugs*

Rummaging through my archives again yielded one of my favorite planned shoots to date, simply because there was no pressure, and by jove, did these two know how to naturally work it for the camera. They make any budding photographer’s life a breeze and I do look forward to being able to maybe do a shoot for either of them again in the near future.

For the record, James and Kerri aren’t actually a couple, other than both being personal friends of mine. To date, they are arguably still the two most photogenic people I personally know. To everyone else I know, please don’t take any offence as I probably just haven’t photographed you yet to decide… =)

Being able to go back through my archives and finding shots like this does make me wonder what the fuss is about all the latest and greatest camera gear. I myself got lost and bought myself a brand spanking new camera that will likely financially choke me for a while to come, but I digress. My point being, I was able to take shots like this with much simpler gear than I have today. Why can’t I do so anymore, and to my dear readers, why can’t you? =)

I have fond memories of this shoot, and the people involved in it. And it puts a smile when I am reminded of the mishaps too, including one shot where I have my face completely white-d out with the light of a full powered flash unassumingly triggered by a dear friend. I vaguely remember having a darn good laugh, not to mention temporary blindness and seeing stars for a bit. All in the spirit of good photographic fun.

Note to self: Always remember to have fun…

To James and Kerri, I thank you sincerely for reminding me of another high in my photographic journey.

I find myself looking through my old shots today, and I came across one of the series of photos that made the biggest impact amongst even strangers. This series is without a doubt what I’ve come to call the “Fresh Series“.

The shot above, I remember fondly, had the honor of once having the No. 1 Spot on Flickr Explore on the day I uploaded it. It was so exciting then, the whole sudden influx of comments, and favoriting by fellow Flickr members. And all of a sudden, just like Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point”, the number of hits on my Flickr page skyrocketed to numbers I’ve never before seen.

This went on for a while as I was actually posting one new Fresh Series shot a day back then.

What amazes me is the amount of dedication I had to each shot. I remember using a Tamron lens along with the first generation of the Gadget Infinity RF triggers for my 430EX flash, and I did all this from my motel room in New Zealand when I was posted there for work. I’d come home from work each day, trying to figure out a new way to shoot these seemingly unassuming fruits. Oh, the fond memories of the amount of water spilled on the table (and myself) and how I used white pillows and kitchenware to diffuse the light, along with the nearby white walls as well.

And the results, although post-processed via RAW, are until today some of the best ‘product’ work I’ve ever done. No ‘professional’ lighting setup, no macro lens, no PocketWizard… just an entry level DSLR, and a third party lens (albeit a very good one), and a second tier Canon flash. Oh, and LOTS and LOTS of DETERMINATION.

It’s a shame that since then, I’ve not been able to create a ’splash’ as big as those shots. Perhaps I’ve gotten distracted by a lot of things, but one thing’s for sure… I proved to myself back then, that I could take amazing imagery with not so amazing gear.

Frankly, I miss doing that. It was quite painstaking then, having to shoot and reshoot, and reuploading to review the shots on a proper screen than the 1.8″ LCD (tiny by today’s standards), till the natural light faded some days. On some days, I worked in near darkness, ‘coz I needed the light to be consistent, and not muddled from the tungsten lighting of the motel room.

A very good friend of mine honored me by asking to print these photos as a series. It moved me. And some days, when I’m out of inspiration, I look at these photos and remind myself, that no matter how many photographic lows I can hit, there are sometimes when there are indeed highs.

And as the name implies, the Fresh Series was one of those highs…

Cheers to more of these in the near future!