Lyrical Moments | Singapore Wedding photography

Some good news to share, 2 of my images have been awarded 1st and 3rd placing in the final Quarter of ISPWP competition.

1st placing under The Wedding Dress

(Kellie and Jim, that’s an awesome dress that you guys design, love it!)

3rd Place under First Dance

(Ken & Lee Yen: Finally won something with this image! Looking forward to our baby photography session soon!)

This print finally received the recognition that it deserves, 8 months after it was created – the Master Photography Awards 2011 gave this print an impressive score of 90, the highest I’ve ever achieved.  Oh yes, to top it off, it received also an Award of Excellence.

The Missing Link

Entitled “The Missing Link”, this is an example of poetic expression in our works – how two person bridge the gap (literall!).   And no, this is not the DLC for Deus Ex – Human Revolution, which by the way is one of the better games made this year.

We must have spent at least 50 minutes to get this image, so many thanks to my couple who believed in my work and vision; not forgetting my trusty assistants Joseph and Vee, who were both working tirelessly with me to create one of my best works this year!

It’s the time of the year when competitions start to pile up one after another.  We have the Master Photography Awards,  which I’ve been a part of since 2007, Canon Creativeasia, WPPI and AIPP, spread out over the year.

IMO, photography competition should be a print competition, especially for wedding photography section.  My approach to photography is always about the print and print quality is such a neglected concept amongst wedding photographers, especially when most just want to deliver images on a CD.  Also, what looks good on screen, doesn’t necessary means it can be printed out nicely. Yesterday, I attended a workshop by

To be honest, print quality has never been in my vocabulary until I joined the Master Photographer Association (MPA) from UK.  And trust me, I learnt it the hard, hard way.  First lesson I learnt, you need time to do a good print; knowing how to prepare an image for printing requires discipline.  Before anything gets printed to 8″x10″ or 10″x12″ for the competition, the lab needs to print out a set of proofs on 4″x6″ on the paper of choice.  Choosing the right kind of paper is another hairy part of the print making process that even my own printers have problems grappling with.  Some of the prints are obvious candidates for Kodak Endura Metallic paper or Fuji Pearl paper, some are slightly more artsy that looks great printed on fine-art matt or textured paper, some are safer on lustre paper because of the high dynamic range compared to the former. Oh wait, don’t even bother about metallic or glossy paper for competitions like WPPI, having your prints viewed in a room lit by just 2 strong light source at 45 degrees to the print means you’re probably better off with matt paper…. these are power tips that are shared by veterans as well as judges from WPPI.

For example, this is one print that I did on metallic paper for MPA because of the shimmer in the image itself and the grass textures is brought out really nicely on it.  Matt or lustre paper somehow looked a little too safe for this.

The Missing Link

As well as this piece, Tangled

Tangled

The next one that I photographed in Morocco, entitled Hand-some, was printed on lustre paper.

Also, all these works were shot on my Hasselblad H4D-40, a digital medium format setup which gives incredible details and tonality when we print it.  It’s really about how effortless and how smooth the details are being drawn, and this is something that make me wish that all competitions are at least 16″x20″ in print size!

We have consolidated over 100 prints from 6 photographers to share out the freight cost.  Trust me, a 5.4kg parcel ain’t cheap, but sharing it among 6 photographers makes it really affordable at USD$17 per pax.  Good luck Team Singapore!

Further to my previous post about the Canon Creative Asia Photography competition that saw 1500+ entries worldwide.  The final judging was done ‘live’ in front of an audience and stream online, and I’m very pleased that this entry came in 1st for the Engagement category and clinched the title Canon Creative Asia Wedding Photographer of the Year!

1st place in Engagement category and Overall winner – “Two” Balloons

Apart from that, 2 other images came in 2nd and 3rd placing in two other categories, both came rather close with a difference of 2 and 4 points from the top image in the category.

2nd place under Bride & Groom together category

3rd place – Bride or Groom Alone

Nonetheless, it’s really good to hear what different judges have to got to say about the images that were submitted – expert opinions are certainly more valuable!

Chinese New Year sure come early this year!

I am very thrilled to have received 7 awards from the Canon Creative Asia Awards!!!  This is an international competition with a panel of esteemed and renowned judges.   To top it, up, 4 of them are awarded Silver!!!
My early X’mas pressy !

Another piece of great news just came in while sipping my morning latte – two of my images have won the 1st and 3rd place in the Off-Camera Flash/Strobe category for WPJA 2009 Q4!

Incidentally, both images came from the same wedding, thanks so much Nat & WP!!!

Here are the 2 winning-entries:

Looking at past competitions, we’ve been doing very well in the Off-Camera Flash categories – four of them won 1st , 2nd and 3rd placing for WPJA and AGWPJA 2008; the escalator piece that won me the MPA Overseas Wedding photographer of the Year for 2009 was a play on two off-camera flash; 5 won AGWPJA 2009 , including a 2nd place.

What a great start to a weekend!

I’m delighted to announce that after 4 quarterly AGWPJA competitions, with 12 winning entries, I have been placed overall #5 for the year 2009! Last year, I was placed overall #5 for WPJA for year 2008 and wondered if I could pull off the same for the AGWPJA…and it finally came true! Many many thanks to all my couples for going against the grain and putting their faith in the quest for more experimental and cutting edge work. I don’t think any of these would have happened without their support, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

MPA and WPPI, these are the two organisers of the toughest photography competitions for wedding and portrait photographers, and looking at the previous winners from the different category, photographers like myself will probably spend days hammering out the prints, send them to USA or UK, and hope for the best.

Just received a congratulatory email from Master Photographer Association in London (MPA) that one of my images has made it to the finals for the Overseas Wedding Photographer of the Year Award!

That came together with an invitation to the awards ceremony in London come Oct 2009.

However, much as I would love to attend the awards ceremony, as well as see the other finalists and winner’s print next to mine, plus the chance to mingle with some of the veterans in this biz, I happened to have an assignment overseas.  The biggest irony is, both the clients happened to be based in London, but their wedding will be held in their hometown back in Asia.

Good news and bad news come in a pair, usually.

3 more international awards from AGWPJA Quarter 1 2009.  This time round, the photos are really something cutting edge and looking at the other entries is a reminder that one should keep inventing and exploring new styles and techniques.  I’m very glad to  be placed overall 6th this time, Dino Lara as usual securing the top 3 places (well done Dino!).

3rd place under Ceremony  

4th place under Engagement  & Wedding Portrait

 6th place under Engagement  & Wedding Portrait (my favourite of the lot, can you spot 2 balloons there?)

First of all, thank you very much for all the well-wishes that I’ve received over the past week.  Just last week, I’ve received some really great news from the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) and better late than never, they have ranked the photographers based on the points scored throughout the entire year of 2008 in their quarterly competitions.

I’m very pleased to announce to be been named as one of the top 5 photographers for the year!!!

This is probably the biggest achievement for me so far and unlike the quarterly ranking, this result will be etched permanently on their Hall of Fame here .  It’s an honour to be ranked together with photographers like Shane Snider and Matt Adcock, and I love the works of these guys.

Good news come in pair and last month, the ranking for the Artistic Guild Wedding Photojournalist Association has placed me overall #10 for 2008 as well.

Once again, competitions like these are the best form of reassurance that our work are of certain standing in the International scene because they are judged by an overseas panel of substantial credibility.  WPJA in particular look out for the story-telling elements and how well a moment is captured, thus explains the panel of photojournalists and editors, some of whom are Pulitzer prize winners themselves.  In other words, it is far from any of the popularity contests out there that are based solely on voted by the consumers.

Now that I’ve settled down from the Hong Kong photoshoot and clearing up some the backlog, I can finally go celebrate with a bottle of Dai Jin Ju Sake that’s waiting to be opened

Cheers!