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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Knowing & Loving What You Do

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
This isn't even about photography, but it has something to do with what everyone wants to know. It's about knowing what you want to do & loving what you do. If you have 15 minutes of time to spare, this video by Steve Jobs is something you may be interested in.

Love,
Roosh
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Absolut Kelly

It's definitely a challenge doing night shoots, as light is limited and almost always, flash is the only solution to this handicap. It's nothing different for this birthday shoot for Kelly, who celebrated her 21st Birthday at a posh location called The Helipad, situated at the rooftop of Central in Clarke Quay.

Because one of the main components of a good photo is a good subject, I'm fortunate to have such bubbly characters who celebrated the birthday with me. And these youngsters were all around the same age as yours truly, so it was always much easier to mingle around with them -- free drinks, free cakes, free hugs.. what else could you ask for? The party was definitely the epitome of fun!

Everyone enjoyed themselves so much, I could hardly locate tired faces there, if any. The night was a little bit warm though, so Kelly got a little worried that the photos might not turn out well as everyone was getting a little sweaty. I think that's really cute, isn't it?

And the best part about birthdays? PRESENTS! Kelly received lots of them and she was definitely the princess of the night, beaming her smile everywhere she went and tried hard to entertain her friends even though we were all scattered around the Helipad.

See that Patrick Starfish cake? I'd never have the heart to eat it, even if someone paid me to do so. So now I really wonder what happened to the cake -- actually, the cake will look cute if it's a pillow or something. I wanted to pat Patrick's head, but I didn't get to.

I'm glad I was able to share the joy, the fun & laughter with everyone who attended the party. Lots of thanks to Kelly who hired me to cover the party for her. She's definitely more than a client to me, a friend indeed. And we're meeting tomorrow, so that's something to look forward to!

Love,
Roosh
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Lomography-Inspired Music Videos

Alessi's Ark - The Asteroids Collide

Have you come across any other Lomography-inspired official music videos like these two posted ones? You know you'll love these non-mainstream music! :)

Black Light Dinner Party - Older Together
My favourite video will have to be Anna Li's My Camera Clicks, even though it's not an official music video, but it's worth mentioning. This one makes me happy everytime I listen to it (could be because of those camera clicks!). Anna's on Twitter too @helloannali.
Do share with me if you have any other such lomo-inspired videos!
Love,Roosh
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For Amanat

For Amanat's private birthday party, I got invited to Fullerton Bay Hotel again at their rooftop section called The Lantern. I really, really love that place. The ambience was just perfect!

If you remembered, my last birthday shoot at the same location was for Sasty.

For some of Amanat's photos, you can browse the flash version here and Facebook's non-flash version here.

Hope you guys are enjoying your weekends!

Love,
Roosh
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For Jamie

I never really got to share these few photos of Jamie Victoria I did for Donnie Bishop Clothing.

Here are some photos of her taken at the roof of this multi-storey carpak in Yishun, Singapore. The sun spared no mercy for the both of us as we worked hard for these shots. The session was quite a challenge, but I'll definitely do this again in the future if I have the opportunity!

MODEL: Jamie Victoria
OUTFIT: Donnie Bishop Clothing

For Jamie (Flash)
For Jamie (Non-flash)

Love,
Roosh

P.S. If you guys were observant enough, you'd have realised that the girl in my site's banner is indeed Jamie Victoria, yay!
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For Isaac

I've never been more excited for a shoot, I almost shrieked when I saw Melvyn wearing a ManUnited jersey. And Isaac too. And some of his friends. And it became overkill for me when they had a ManUnited birthday cake for Isaac too!

Now I'm hoping for a similar cake for my birthday, since my birthday's just next month ;)

Here are some photos from Isaac's birthday party at NSRCC, located near Changi Airport :)

For Isaac (Flash)
For Isaac (Facebook)

Love,
Roosh
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Vino En Primeur's la barra di Vino

Thought you might wanna see some of the photos taken at la barra di Vino last Friday? Well, here's some of them! :)

Somebody spilled a little beer on my camera though, just a little. It's fine don't worry!

For the flash version, click here. If not, the ones on Facebook can be found here.

If you wanna know more about the wines they have, check out their website: Vino En Primeur

I have more photos to come, and another set from yesterday's birthday shoot at National Service Resort & Country Club. These photos excite me actually ;)

Hope your weekend went well folks, because I know mine did!

Love,
Roosh
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Another 13 Useful Business Links For Photographers

Here are another 13 links which you may or may not have heard of. I've got a few favourites in here as well! :)

1) 2 Good Things
2) A Photo Assistant
3) A Photo Editor
4) Ask An Art Buyer
5) Dan Heller's Photography Business Blog
6) Groozi
7) Photo Business Forum
8) Resources For Photographers
9) Strictly Business Blog
10) Taylor Davidson
11) Tofurious
12) Your Photo Promo
13) Yuri Arcurs

Enjoy your week guys!

EDIT: I'll be adding more here:

14) H&H Color Lab
15) Numbers Are Life
16) Zenologue
17) ADBASE Blog

Love,
Roosh
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10+3 Useful Business Links for Photographers

Well, it's Friday today & if you're familiar with the Twitter community, every Friday we'll do this #FollowFriday & recommend fellow Tweeps worthy of following.

But for this time round, I'll be listing 10 different websites that I find really useful for photographers, especially for those who are keen on starting their own photography business.

So here are the 10 of them, in alphabetical order:

1) Black Star Rising
2) Current Photographer
3) GoingPro
4) New Media Photographer
5) Photo Attorney
6) Photopreneur
7) Photoshelter
8) Shakodo
9) The Part Time Photographer
10) Virtual Photography Studio

And I'd also like to throw in 3 more useful links for freelancers, entrepreneurs & business starters:

11) Enterprise One
12) Entrepreneur
13) Freelance Folder

If you have any more recommendations, do provide their links in your comments below!

Love,
Roosh
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A Photographer Promo

A Photographer Promo: Meet Justin & Mary from Stillmotion on Vimeo.

There was lots of love in this video, wasn't it?

The first time I was watching this video, I thought Justin & Mary were just another wedding couple for Stillmotion. But actually, they're wedding photographers wanting to promote themselves a little differently than the others.

When Mary's talking about her relationship with her husband Justin, she wants her potential client to know that both Justin & her can be trusted to understand the importance of their romance.

I thought this video was beautifully-made & achieved its purpose. In the end, it's all about the trust between the artist & the client -- whether they're willing to listen to learn more about them.

Have you come across other videos like this one? Do share!

Love,
Roosh
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A Note from Jessie

Here's what Jessie had to say on my personal FB page:

"Roosh! Thanks so much so much for being such a fantastic mentor. Btw, checked out some websites on the holga flash thingy. Apparently, both the flash voltages are different so it might damage the camera! =( haha oh wells. Anw, thanks so much once again! You taught me so much more than what I'll learn on my own. I'll definitely be checking your sites for more awesome photos and look u up when I'm back- All the best dude!! =)
- Jessie"

So try not to hook up your Holga flash directly to the camera, though it's definitely much safer to do it through a wireless transmitter. And thanks for for the wonderful help as my assistant Jess! Have fun studying while you're at the Downunder! =)

Love,
Roosh
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Holga 15B & 12MFC Flashes

A few days back, Jessie & I met up at Starbucks Parkway to review some of her photos that were taken at Lil Ryan's & since she just recently bought an external 3rd party flash, the Yongnuo YN-465 Flash, we thought we could try out her new toy too.

I had with me that day the Holga 135BC & its 15B flash but we decided to fix our Holga flashes on our Canon 1000D & 60D this time.

This photo above was my 15B flash, but she had the Holga 12MFC flash which had a guide number (GN) of 12 unlike my GN15 which simply means the 15B flash is more powerful. One other difference we spotted was that the 12MFC's metal contact point was much smaller than what is shown here on the 15B, but we weren't really sure if it mattered much, or at all.

After some testing, we found out that the 15B was able to be triggered off by both the 1000D & 60D almost flawlessly, unlike the 12MFC which didn't fire at all.

I'm sure the 12MFC's not faulty though because it worked well on our Holga 135BC & 120N, so I'm just wondering if that contact point's making all the difference on the different bodies.

We're able to fire off the 12MFC with the Phottix Aster wireless transmitter though.

Any idea why, my friends?

Love,
Roosh
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Image Quality Difference

I've finally done what I've been wanting to do all these while: Set up an alternative album on my site to compare photos from the ones in Facebook. Come, let's look at them! =)

For Marjorie & Margaret FB Version
For Marjorie & Margaret Non-FB Version

And the image quality difference is there for all to see. But I'm still going to keep uploading these photos on my Facebook page only this time, I'll add a link to the album on my site. Actually, it's kind of hard to totally abandon Facebook since that's where most people are & it's the best place to tag the others & spread some love from my work.

By the way, I used Lightroom's Simpleviewer to create that simple album on my site.

Got to thank my clients for spreading word of my works. I love them! =)

Love,
Roosh
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