Jiaying's Chanel No. 11

It's another 21st birthday for another girl, this time it's at St. Regis Singapore. But this wasn't the 1st time meeting Jiaying because both of us met before during Kelly's 21st birthday at the Helipad.

And for this shoot, I had to bring along my banner stands for her awesome backdrop, 'endorsed' by Coco Chanel. That girl on the right is Jiaying, but the one on the left is another special girl because her birthday would be the last 21st birthday I shoot for year 2011.

I gotta thank this young man for helping out with my stands. His dad also provided for Jiaying the backdrop, so if you're interested in getting a quotation for customised backdrops, do email me at info@rooshphotography.sg.

Yup, that's Kelly. These are the red devils I guess. Both Kelly & Carolyn (that girl at the back in red) are almost always together it seems. But Carolyn's a bit unlucky not to have her face featured here. Maybe, Kelly purposely did that so as not to let her steal the limelight.

Of course, I'm kidding. Both of them are good girls and they're my friends as well. They're an awesome group to hang around with.

Like the cake? I did! And besides, why would anyone not love a cake that came with a high-heeled Chanel shoe?

There you have it, that shoe beside the cake. I never asked though if it was edible & I've no idea why I didn't ask her. Maybe I was just distracted by Chney's pretty ring, that shiny, pretty pink stone whose owner's hand was sacrificed just to wait for Jiaying to blow out the candle.

Jiaying's a really smiley girl & she really smiled a lot during that night & all the other times I was with her. And she's also the type of girl who owns a special kind of sense that'll alert her whenever a camera's pointed at her. So let's say, her back is facing me & I wish to capture a scene whereby she's reaching for something. Even if I move as quietly as a mouse, she'll just turn to look at me & will just smile & pose for me. Sometimes, it's scary for me since it's kind of unexpected. But it's okay, she's cute & I guess not all possess an awareness as special as hers. She's an awesome girl, really!

And by the way, she's not celebrating her 2nd birthday. I've no idea where No. 1 went. Thanks for having me at the party Jiaying!

Love,
Roosh
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Graze At Martin No. 38

This was a simple yet fun birthday event that was held at Graze At Martin No. 38. Yup, that's the whole name of this restaurant. This time, it's for Pamela, who's a friend of Tina, Margaret & Marjorie, whom I shot for previously on their 21st birthdays. Look at that cake. I thought it looked pretty squishy & fun to chew.

One of Pamela's friends brought for her these custom-made pillows that had the letters P, A & M, which looked pretty comfortable to sit on / hug / sleep on, but even if I had wanted to squish it, I couldn't. Why do these girls always bring something to nice to play with? For me as the photographer, it's hard for me to refrain myself from touching these things!

Pamela & her friends love instant films A LOT, and like in previous shoots for her friends, one of Michelle's tasks was always to design the guestbook & get the instant shots done with a Fujifilm Instax for her guests. It's expensive to shoot like this, but it's worth it of course.

That's Tina there, laughing her heart out. She's always one of the chirpiest girls to hang around with & one can never get bored just by being in the same room with her. Yup, she's that funny.

To be honest, I ate a lot at the parties of these girls. I'd always reject them at first, but because these girls were always so persistent, it's hard to resist what's offered on the dinner table. Of course, I still took shots in between my munches. Afterall, I was there to work, right right?

I love shooting parties for 21 year olds primarily because I feel young being around with them. Not that I'm saying I'm that old, but you know, how being with these youngsters, the energy, the vibe, the excitement are totally different than what you'll get at adult parties. It.. makes you feel young!

Love,
Roosh
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The Sons of Angel

Today's a good day for me to upload some of my previous shoots which never materialised on the web. And one of them was this, one of two birthday shoots which I did for Angel & her sons.

They also had with them a tattoo artist, who's pretty talented. She also brought her son along, who was really active, I had trouble keeping up with him.

Isn't it gorgeous? If you've got no idea what that is, it's actually a pretty butterfly with an awesome staff-like body. Gotta love the yellow stars too!

I'm not sure what she's holding there, but these girls are sisters. They're pretty shy at first, but once I started showing them the photos on my camera, they got pretty excited posing for me.

That Oreo birthday cake was too tempting, but too bad I wasn't able to dig my hands into it. It's all right though; the priceless expressions of these little boys & girl were just as fulfilling.

The party started late, so I wasn't able to stay throughout the whole event as I had another shoot to attend to right after. Nothing lost though, as the next birthday shoot I did for his brother was even more physically-demanding than this -- at a playground!

Love,
Roosh
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For Chloe

Sometimes, it can get really tough trying to catch up with overly-active children, especially when they're too engrossed with their own group of friends, running all over the place. I can't help but to feel like I'm running through an army obstacle course, just to keep up. Take it like I'm a war photojournalist, but in a fun setting instead!

It's also hard to predict what these girls could do, like this one. Throughout their conversation, she kept doing that hand gesture while her quiet partner just sat and watched her actions. I wish I could listen to what they were talking about, but more than half of the time, I couldn't understand whatever they were trying to say.

Unless instructed by the parents, children hardly hug their friends. So I got lucky when I saw this pair hugging and spinning around the room, dancing to the song that was looping in the background.

And what are friends for? Chloe's necklace got unhooked, so she took the initiative to help her out. It was hard at first, since her fingers were so tiny, but hey, she managed to hook it back after quite some time!

This group of girls were listening to some instructions before a game. Girls, it's really bad to bite your fingernails. Not a good habit!

This was a really short yet sweet birthday party and all the children there were really receptive to me, so that made my job a whole lot easier. Children love cameras and as long as the photographer don't show them the mean and fierce look, they'll be happy to approach to ask to be photographed.

I get too attached to them at times, so there'll be parties where I'll just linger around after my shoot, just to play around with them and talk with their parents as well. It's nice to be able to communicate with everyone at the party; it makes me feel more human and less mechanical. That's why all these hardly feels like work to me only because I enjoy being a photographer as long as I deliver what is expected of me.

Hope your week is going great so far. Weekend's coming fast!

Love,
Roosh
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I Think It's Time We Have Shoes

Cato's an adorable young man whom I shot for during his 7th birthday at The Chevrons' Bowling Centre. He's much like his father -- pretty charismatic. Cato never really spoke much though -- he's so engrossed & focused on the bowling game with his friends, I'm not even sure if he's aware of the photographer who kept tugging the camera under his nose. And of course, that photographer was yours truly.

What's fun about this shoot was that, it's at a bowling centre! How can bowling not be fun? It's one of my favourite hobbies too, though I never really got past the stage of amateur. But still, even if I didn't get the chance to play with them, running after all these kids was already exciting enough. Altogether, they had 8 lanes booked, and that's how much I had to cover just to capture those rare glimpses of the special moments. Moments like this one above, that 'cocky' boy look, don't come often, right? The man in this photo wasn't the boy's father though -- it would've been perfect if he was!

By walking on the slippery, waxed alley, this boy got all my respect. I'm so glad he didn't slip while he's pushing the ball back. You see, these kids don't have much power so almost half the time, you'd see these balls stopping midway through the alley -- there were 3 year old bowlers there too & that made it even cuter.

I've totally lost count of the number of birthday shoots I've done for kids, but what I can remember from all these are that kids make me happy. Even if they get into small quarrels with each other, you'll see them playing again just minutes after that. Kids seldom hold grudges. They just want to have fun whenever they can & not waste all that energy being sad & all. Their playfulness are so contagious, it's hard to not enjoy whatever I'm doing right now: shooting kids' birthday parties.

So I'd like to thank everyone who played their parts to make this birthday party for Cato a successful one, especially his awesome parents. Without their support, all the fun, joy & laughter shared on that day would not have been possible.

Love,
Roosh
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