A few weeks ago, Chen Lei, Andy Chin and I were in Ipoh for a wedding shoot. I decided to record a little video about our travel. It’s my first time recording a video using my Canon 5D Mark II and my first time editing it. Kee Sitt, if you are reading this, please pardon my lack of knowledge when it comes to edits. So click on the link below and embark on a little journey with us to Ipoh. It’s not “Discovery’s Travel and Living” and please don’t comment on the lack of talent from the host of this little travel log, he was really nervous.

Or view the HD version from here.

I know, I suck as a TV host, but bet your mouth is salivating from the Chicken & Bean Sprout!

Till next time, coz it’s 5.30am and I need to go shoot a wedding now!

Wow! I’m speechless! My work is being published by UK’s Worship Central on their blog! No, not just an article but as a permanent fixture on their blog template. *jumps up in the air with hands raised to the heavens* Woohoo!

Last year, I volunteered my services to assist Alpha Singapore to take some shots for the Planetshakers and Tim Hughes Concert, a collaboration with Worship Central. It was for charity and I think it’s a way for me to give back to the Christian community for the number of times I’ve skipped church over the weekends! Hah! To be honest, one of the reasons is because I believe that my photography talent is attributed to one person and that is my lovely Jesus. Without Him, I’m nothing. Thus, I always believe that it is important to give back wherever and whenever you can. I seized the opportunity when I saw the ad in the local Singapore newspaper about the upcoming event and called up the organising sponsors. Met up with them and showed them some of my work. They were happy and I was given an “OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER” tag. The rest of it was history. Not just any history because it was history in the making.

I’ve decided to show you some of the photos I took of that great night of worship with over 5,000 people in a jam-packed hall. Planetshakers and Tim Hughes are probably one of the biggest names in the Christian Music industry. To have the opportunity to cover the event was truly awesome.

Planetshakers started the concert with a bang! If you’ve never heard of Planetshakers, they are one of Australia’s fastest growing churches with awesome praise & worship music.

The atmosphere at the event was just mind-blowing. Hands were raised and people were jumping. Who said Christian concerts were boring?

One of my favourite shots that night.

Tim Hughes took the stage and gave us his all. Technically, he gave his all to the One most High.

Things started to quiet down with some worship songs from Tim.

There are times where the songs picks up and you can see the drummer just whacking away on the drums. I took this shot in between a person’s underarms and the stage railing to get the drummer in the frame.

The worship leader was awesome.

…and ahletic! I think he was like spidey jumping up and down.

Even the bassist joined in the fun.

Nothing beats Henry Seeley rocking on his Telecaster guitar.

Another awesome moment. I love stage lights.

Photo of the bassist rocking away.

Not forgetting the guitarist as well.

The worship atmosphere was spectacular to say the least. Everyone was worshipping with their hands raised.

I even caught this photo of a little boy, mesmerised in the presense of God.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos as much as I did. These are moments where I feel that my dream has come true. That living my dreams is to be where I’m most happy. Even when the work hours are long and there’s no pay involved. My heart is contented and yet my passion continues to grow. It’s a strange feeling. Sometimes, I look back at these photos and find some of my best work here. I was just a 5-month old photographer back then but yet these pictures are prove that there’s something greater at work when you give back to a greater cause.

Shooting season starts this weekend! Can’t wait to get my lazy bum off the couch and off to shoot some amazing photos! You have a good weekend! Stay blessed!

Here are the great photos that Zach took during our Crazy Photobooth session. I definitely had fun from the moment I helped Zach and Jon setup the lights all the way to the crazy photos that we took.

Next time, we will do Crazy Photobooth the moment people register. I would have loved to see more participants taking some crazy shots.

Photos courtesy of Zach Chin

Lenard showing us his kungfu

Can I snip your nose hair for you?

My favourite shot that day, Fiona and Jon’s infamous kungfu shot.

Zach and his hair dryer, no, not Kaz at the background trying to kiss Zach but the shoe! The shoe!

Large coke and small fries. Andy and Grace.

Charlie’s Angels of Photography, Grace, Jenny and Fiona.

Andy giving Zach a sample of his BO, while Paul is standing in line.

Mark and Munz. The perfect couple.

Andy trying to intimidate everyone. Andy won the tallest award in ShootFest that day.

William G.’s version of High School Musical.

Is it a plane? Is it a bird?

Sometimes I wonder why people make such a big fuss over two people wearing the same tee. There were 50 people wearing the ShootFest shirt that day! Duh!

For a moment, Jon looks so tall compared to Adrian and Joshua.

Zach and Ray showing some of their magic tricks.

Somehow, when I see this picture of Ali, the song from Cadbury keeps playing in my mind, “Wouldn’t it be nice….”

I didn’t know it was humanly possible for people to do something like this! Hmm, I blame it on my “low center” of gravity!

Haha, Jenny and Maye getting ready for something to happen.

Again, how can this be possible?!!? Joshua, you are truly my hero! Please teach me how to do that without breaking a bone!

This guy owes me lunch (Ian, do you need to remind everyone each time you see a picture of Danny? YES!) *snip* *snip*

Matthew had the best spot in ShootFest. Surrounded by lovely Sylvia, Fiona and Grace.

Ali, this in Cantonese is called “Chi Pek” which means “Stick to the wall”… hmm, doesn’t sound quite right in Cantonese does it?

Even Superman has its weaknesses. Jon’s armpit hair.

I love this series. Jon is so comical sometimes yet serious. Love ya, bro!

Ok, I’ve no idea what I was doing but I guess photoshoots make me wanna pee.

Actually, Jon was standing on a chair while Andy was kneeling down….

Wedding Story team and I.

Kee Sitt and I…. videotaping our silliness again.

Lastly, like Superman, he wears his g-string on the “youtside” *wink*

I’m using Ecto as Alex from Integricity has suggested to post my blog post. Hey, it works great! I love it!

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending my first ever unconference, ShootFest 001: The Wedding. It’s also the first time that I have been involved in the planning and execution of a photography event. One of the things about unconferences is that it is not very structured, allowing programmes to be changed or even adding new ones to it. You can even decide to skip a topic if you like and have a cup of Starbucks just to relax and chill out with friends. Leading up to the event, I was given a very important task. One that can’t be ignored. Registration!

Thanks Edwin for the photo!

Here are a few things that I’ve learnt over the past few weekend.

1. Everybody is twittering! Yes, you can catch some gems from the many twitterers who twitted about #ShootFest at twittersphere. Phew…
2. Fiona made me think about what is really in my bag. Probably a Snickers bar wrapper still left inside. Gotta start thinking about what I should be bringing for my next shoot.
3. Realised that I didn’t get to introduce myself during the session that I lead about turning pro. After Edwin Tan introduced himself, people started asking questions. Next time, introduce yourself first!
4. Dennis and Kris taught me about smart partnerships and there’s so much that we can do together!
5. Kenneth’s topic on Photojournalistic Weddings was fantastic! Love his work and I really wished there was more time for him to finished what he wanted to share. There’s so much gem there!
6. Pecha Kucha was fun. This should be part of ShootFest’s permanent programme from now on.
7. Jon Low, what can I say. You da bomb, man! Now I gotta start pestering my wife about getting an iMac with a 30″ monitor! Ok, that’s not just what I learnt, I also learnt how to organise my work better. Still trying to find the best way for myself.
8. Mun Keat, please teach me everything you know! Photoshop God! *bows down and worships*
9. Cultural Weddings by Visithra, Johan, Jon and Kaz was amazing. I think I learnt the most during this session and probably I have to start looking for more weddings of other cultures in order to learn more. Anybody would like to hire me as an assistant?? I would love to get my hands on the slides to keep as reference.
10. Danny, Danny, Danny… thanks for making me your model. You still owe me lunch
11. Asther, thanks for making time to share about contracts. I learnt a lot that day, gotta go back to my contract and make amendments now.
12. Johan’s lessons on buying second hand equipment is invaluable. I’m gonna keep all these lessons close to heart…. so that I know when I sell stuff, what I need to hide from the eyes of the buyer. Bwahahaha….
13. Zach’s work inspires me! I have been spending the whole week doing nothing but looking at fashion ads, music videos and just everything under the sky that can help me generate some nice concepts. Oh, that song from The Ting Tings is on my mind the whole week. Bought the song from iTunes. Thanks!
14. Jenny’s voice is so soothing. I have a thing for Australian accents. Hehe. Well, there’s so much to process and there’s so much to think about in regards to my own branding. Thanks for sharing your insights.
15. Lastly, I learnt a lot from all the new people that I’ve met. Thanks for adding me to Facebook and Twitter. You guys rock! Hope to meet you guys again soon!

I’ve decided that at the next ShootFest, I would want to present at least TWO sessions. Yes, TWO sessions! I think I am so fired up right now that I am already thinking about the topics. Hmm, how bout, “How to laugh your way to success”. Boy, I think I’m well known as the clown of ShootFest after the event, someone left a message saying that I brought a lot of fun to ShootFest. I hope I didn’t make you laugh til you peed in your pants! *wink*

Day 1 Participants

Day 2 Participants

Mark laughing while twittering.

Mun Keat thinking about his session later in the afternoon.

Kee Sitt’s infectious smile.

The sessions lasted till evening and I manage to catch a shot of Paul Kong listening intently to Jon Low and Mun Keat’s session.

Jason mesmerised with the beautiful pictures from the speakers. Don’t you just love his pose?

Don’t you love unconferences? Fiona was a speaker-cum-participant. She was thoroughly enjoying herself throughout the sessions.

Johan Sopiee was showing us how to inspect lenses and how to buy second hand equipment. Kenneth Hiew was busy checking out if the lens had any fungus in it.

Screenshot of a screenshot. Jon Low was one of the many speakers who  spoke on Cultural Weddings.

Zach Chin was enjoying himself after a long session.

Crazy PhotoBooth! This was da bomb! Check back later for more pictures on Crazy PhotoBooth!

This has got to be the funniest behind-the-scenes video out there! I laughed my head off when I saw it, and I am STILL laughing! Thanks to “Malaysia’s Best Wedding Filmmaker” and soon to be “The World’s Best Wedding Filmmaker”,  Kee Sitt for editing it from the many hours of footage that we got from our Bangladesh shoot.

Yes, we are funny people. Sometimes we even double up as court jesters during a wedding.

You can visit Wedding Story’s blog here to find more photos and our adventures to the lovely land of Bangladesh.