I have been accredited with an Associateship (AMPA) in the wedding category from the Master Photographers Association, UK. An associateship is awarded to photographers who demonstrate a great understanding of technique, light, composition, creativity and finesse in the art of professional photography. For more information, visit http://www.thempa.com.

This has been the most grueling experience for me from start to finish. It was a very last minute decision but it was all worthwhile.

It was a great experience and I am truly blessed with the people that I’ve met along the way during my preparation. I’d like to thank Ryan Wong for his invaluable advice and for spending countless hours (occasionally up to wee hours in the morning) coaching me on my final panel. I would not have done it without him. My esteemed judges for your critical and constructive feedback on my panel. I would definitely take it all in and start improving on those areas. My lovely couples because without you, I would not have any images to submit! Thanks for your confidence in choosing me as your preferred photographer.

I would also like to thank all my friends and colleagues who supported me throughout my grading process, Alicia Koh for running around town with me to get my panels completed, Stephen Loh (thanks for the coffee that helped me calm my nerves), Michael Chan (for waking up early and being there for my judging ), Chris Woon, Chris Lim, Agnes Tjan, Jonathan Ho, Jonathan Chan, Gerald Goh and the rest who gave physical support on that day. It was indeed a nerve wrecking experience! Not forgetting Edwin Tan, Jon Low, Andy Chin and the rest on twitter for your morale support. To my wonderful wife for her patience and support, I love you! To my Lord and Saviour, Jesus for His unending favour. All I am, is attributed to Him.

Here are a few images that made it to the panel submission.

eeyern photography will be away for the Charge Up! Conference 2010 in Malaysia from 14-17 January 2010. We will be flanked by notable photographers like Louis Pang, Jenny Sun, Ke Wynn, Ian Salang, Grace Tan and many more during this conference. Feel free to contact us, as we will be checking our emails as often as we can.

Charge Up! Conference is a media conference by LiveWire! Media, a non-profit organisation aimed at imparting and training people in the media ministry. It is a cross-denominational, inter-church media ministry network. With a hope in linking up God’s media artists in Malaysia and to encourage and equip them to a greater experience and encounter with Him in their service, ministry and lives.

I know how late this is, but late is better than never! Looking back at 2009, there are things that I am thankful for and things that I wished I could have done differently. Here are some of my Boos and Yays for 2009.

Boos

• I lost a lens at a wedding
• I drop a lens at a wedding
• I drop a camera at a wedding (now you know why I love to gaffer my camera gears!)
• Spending too little time with my family. This is something that I plan to change this year!

Yays

• I like to thank my Maker, my one and only Jesus, without Him, nothing would fall into place and nothing have be possible. Indeed I am highly favoured, greatly blessed and deeply loved. Double Yays for that!
• My beautiful, lovely, gracious, wise, understanding, patient and adorable wife and personal assistant, Lai Yeen. Thanks for being my constant pillar of support and my sounding board whenever I need advice. God has given you wisdom beyond understanding and it would be foolish of me not to listen to you. You’ve been a true blessing to me each and every day. Thanks for sharing this journey with me. *muaks*
• I went International! Shooting in Bangladesh & Melbourne was an awesome experience. Thanks to my lovely clients and partners for allowing me this opportunity. Getting paid to travel and to do what you love is beyond comprehension.
• To my clients who have trusted me in covering their actual day wedding or pre-wedding. Thanks again for without you, none of these would be possible. Occasionally, I would look at the photos that I’ve taken and wished that I could re-live those moments again where I see the joy of two people madly in love united as one. The laughter, the happiness and the mood that a wedding brings is truly magical.
• I met lots of new photographers and friends in the wedding industry. Without you, I would not know where I would be today. Thanks for your constant support and encouragement. Together we laugh, we cry and we grow. Thanks for investing your time and energy in me, you guys are awesome!
• To the readers of this blog, thanks for subscribing to my musings and although I’m a man of few words (when it comes to writing!), I’m glad that this blog has been interesting enough for you to come back again and again!

Let’s pray and hope for a better 2010 this year as we reach for greater heights and greater goals. Change is the only constant and I am to improve and be a better husband, photographer, friend as the year progresses.

Alright, here’s the 2nd installment to Desmond & Ching Sze’s pre-wedding photos.

This is such a beautiful place that I would come back again to shoot here.

Part II coming soon!

That’s right folks! As part of our World Tour for next year we will be heading to Brunei in January 2010! We will be covering an awesome wedding and hopefully have time to do some sightseeing. We’ve never been to Brunei before so we won’t mind having a tour guide if anyone is willing.

It is indeed exciting times ahead and we can’t believe all the opportunities that have been presented to us thus far. It is beyond ouor wildest dreams and we would like to thank our lovely clients and those that have been faithful followers of our blog.

If you would like to meet up to discuss about your up and coming wedding plans or just to meet over a cup of coffee, do drop us an email. Do contact us regarding other World Tour dates as well. Limited spaces available.

Brunei Darussalam is situated in the south-eastern region of Asia, on the Island of Borneo, between longitudes 114′04″ and 114′23″ East and latitudes 4′00″ and 5′05″ North. Brunei, although occupying less than 1% of Borneo’s land area, is the only sovereign country on the island, which it shares with the Indonesian provinces of West, East, South and Central Kalimantan and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. For more information click here.

As part of my constant desire to learn, I’ve just signed up for my third photography workshop for 2010. Photography workshops don’t come cheap and like any other good, professional, note-worthy workshops out there, it would cost most people an arm and a leg. I’ve long decided that in order for me to improve on my photography skills, I will have to invest in my education. Without a doubt, next year would be a year of learning, improving and reinventing myself.

The end result, would eventually translates to the photos you’ll see here and ultimately being passed down to my lovely clients. There would be changes to the services and products that I offer for next year. The only reason for that is because I believe that my clients deserves the best and that quality & service should always be at the top of our list in eeyern photography. I’ve set some goals for next year and hopefully I’ll be able to share them with you in time to come.

Like one of my favourite authors would say, “People only think to the level of what they are exposed to. If you want to think big expose yourself to bigger things”.

Continue to stretch. Continue to grow. Think big. Never stop learning.

I had a fantastic weekend shooting Desmond & Ching Sze Pre-wedding in Singapore! It was a challenging day because we were sparring with the weather most of the time. You see, it started out a week prior to the pre-wedding shoot. I was observing the weather forecast and the pattern goes something like this; morning – bright and sunny, afternoon – rain, evening – beautiful evening skies. Perfect! This has been ongoing from Monday to Friday morning when I was all psyched up for the shoot on Saturday. Great, I couldn’t wait! But things took an about turn when I saw grey clouds gathering on Friday evening. Oh no! It started raining!

Sure enough, Saturday was a challenging day, grey and dull skies for most of the morning, afternoon had a hint of sunlight. We did some beautiful casual shots for the morning. I initially thought that we would have clear blue skies for Saturday like the rest of the week prior. I was so confident that I planned out a string out outdoor locations without a backup plan! Hah! BIG mistake! As we were heading out for the evening shoot, I saw the clouds gathering above us as we drove to our first venue. We had to practically race against time (and the rain clouds) for most of the shoot.

By the time we got to the first venue, it was getting really dark. I took a few shots with the couple while Andrew and Mark (who graciously assisted me for that day) were setting up the lights for me. I felt a few raindrops on my face now, and I remembered shouting to Desmond and Ching Sze, “One last shot, guys! One last shot!”, just in case you do not know, that’s my favourite sentence *wink*. The rain was getting heavier now but I insisted that we took “one last shot”. *snap* *snap* *more raindrops* OK, by now, I knew we had to leave, although we only had 30 minutes at that beautiful spot. I told the guys to pack up and head to the car. We started loading the gear into the car when I heard Desmond shouting, “It’s coming! It’s coming!”. I looked with the corner of my eye and I saw a thick grey layer of rain like a curtain moving towards us. “Quick!” We dumped everything into the car boot and jumped into the car and slammed the door shut. BOOM! The rain poured like there was no tomorrow.

This was one of the “last shots” we took before the rain won.

Definitely one of my favourite shots of the day!

Finally, I could tick off one item on my wishlist. To photograph a couple or bride/groom alone, next to a plane. Woohoo!

I had to think of other spots to shoot due to the heavy downpour. I’ll probably post some of those photos later. As the rain hampered most of my plans, I was determined to wait until I could shoot at another wonderful spot. Here is a preview of what is to come.

All in all, it was a wonderful day out with friends. The weather did make things a little difficult for me at the beginning but it all soon fade away the moment I look at the photos. Desmond & Ching Sze, thanks for being so patient with me and for putting up with all the impossible requests at times. Would love to show you more photos but that would ruin the surprise for the Ipoh Wedding in December! The rain didn’t stop us and I think, end of the day, the chili and pepper crabs did make a whole lot of difference!

Unconventional Brides Promo has been extended to December 31, 2009!! Find out more here http://www.eeyern.com/blog/promotions