SamuelGoh

She got a speeding ticket and I said..

samuelg4 — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:17:44 +0000

The iPhone beeped.

I picked it up.

It was a Whatsapp message.

It was from Z. ‘I got a speeding ticket

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‘, she said.

I replied, ‘Orh bi quek!’ (Which means, serves you right!)

HEHEHE

So mean. I know. But in my defense, I have been warning her that her ‘unintentional’ heavy foot on the pedal is one day going to cost her a speeding ticket. AND I’d rather she get a ticket and SLOW DOWN than get into an accident.

Oh what the hell. I’m going to pay for the ticket anyway; directly or indirectly. Husbands and boyfriends, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Ya feel me right?! (Yeah sometimes I like to act gangsta like that but let’s face it I can never pull it off)

BUT besides that amazing trivia of the day, I’m also superrrr excited and proud to announce that I’ll be ordering my first wedding albums soon from Cosmic Egg Albums. Cosmic Egg has amazing intricate designs for their wedding albums that I can really foresee my couples appreciating.

Seriously, they look SO good that I’m craving one myself. Just imagine running your hands over the smooth faux leather cherry blossom patterns. *Shudders*

Just to give a brief description of their products, they have compact slimlined albums that I feel are really modern, easily portable and great to show to family and friends. Their high quality designs and materials are sourced from all over the world and cover materials range from intricate, elegant floral designs that will really fit an oriental wedding, to suave slim line leather covers that will cater to others who prefer a more traditional touch.

I CAN’T WAIT. And I’m so excited to show it to all my couples out there.

In the meantime, have a look at the beautiful wedding day photographs and album layout of Andrew and Melissa’s wedding to keep yourself occupied.

Rainy days and pretty photos

samuelg4 — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:09:45 +0000

“I have just seen the weather forecast for the weekend and it isn’t looking good

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” Stacey said to me over a text message on Facebook. Stacey and I met in February when I was photographing her brother-in-law’s engagement party and we’ve been trying to organise a family photoshoot ever since. Luck was never on our side though, every weekend it would either rain or Neil had to be whizzed away for work and it’s been postponed over and over again.

It was Sunday, the sky looked gloomy with grey clouds and the occasional drizzle. and it has been raining over the last few days. Just after noon though, the sun decided to peek out and almost as if Stacey was reading my mind, she sent me a text message to do the photoshoot earlier whilst the weather was perfect.

Impromptu change of plans? Oommmph! I like it!

All I have to say is, I am SO SO SO GLAD to have photographed Stacey and her family on Sunday. She has two gorgeous looking girls who are just naturals in front of the camera. Alexis just couldn’t stop dancing during the whole session and just filled the whole session with hugs and kisses whilst Amelia, well what can I say, just look at her clothes; that girl’s got STYLE!

After previously photographing Sam’s family, I have to say that I LOVE taking photographs of kids, they are just so genuine and natural that every frame is perfect

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Before I stop talking and let you enjoy the photos, I also want to promote my new online gallery for future clients to show friends and family PLUS order prints directly. It’s easy and convenient and all prints are from NuLab that print photographs of the highest quality (trust me, I’ve ordered from them before).

Do check out the store!

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All these family sessions have gotten me all excited and I’m at the moment planning a special promotion for family shoots.

Interested? Just drop me an email here!

The Kite Runner

samuelg4 — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:05:47 +0000

I’m rarely interested in foreign films, it’s not that I find them boring or unworthy of my time. On the contrary, I often find them rich in culture that draw me deep into the story, and many of them leave me walking away feeling touched emotionally. I hate to admit, but I’m quite big softie and therefore I try to stay away from these films just to prevent me bawling my eyes out while stuffing my mouth with popcorn.

However, I’m going to write about one of these films today and the reason is because I’ve only very recently gotten to briefly understand this culture through photography. The film is ‘The Kite Runner’ and if any of you haven’t watched yet, it’s a very moving story set in Afghanistan about the friendship between two boys which after a turn of events, cowardice, betrayal and the war, led them to grow apart from each other and live separate lives. In the end, the film ended with a man’s courage to face his demons, and to repent for the wrongdoings in the past.

The reason I’m so affected by this film is because I’ve only recently photographed an Afghan party, and it’s the first time I’ve ever had contact with these people. I think it’s fair to say that ever since the events of 9/11, the stereotypical image of this nationality has been condemned in a negative light. When I first photographed these people, I didn’t know what to expect but what I witnessed that night was a people rooted so deep in culture and so civilised that I couldn’t help but wonder if throughout all these years, had we been misled into believing otherwise?

As the film progresses, it showed a nation with a strong nationality and culture, living their ordinary everyday lives, nothing different from you and I. But as it is, every country will be damaged by the ripples of war. I guess we can be counted lucky; Singapore was only occupied for three years. Even so, it was a time that shouldn’t be forgotten, a time where a lot of cruelty took place, and a lot of lives were lost. But look at places like Afghanistan that has been constantly occupied first by the communist and then by capitalism, all the while being brutally oppressed by the Taliban.

How do you think these people feel?

And yet why do we see them so differently? When I mentioned to a friend that I photographed an Afghan party and they were so cultured, she was under the notion that they are dangerous and barbaric and skeptical when I said otherwise.

The thing is.. why? I simply can’t understand.. How did we become so strongly influenced by the media and politics that our eyes are blinded and our minds are closed?

We live our lives everyday thinking about the next car to buy, about earning enough money for that new Gucci bag, or that new camera that could take awesome images and propel us to stardom. We think about all these materialistic things, all the while there are so much other things going around us that we are ignorant about.

What is the point of this post? I’m not entirely sure. I’m not hoping to change the world, but if I could only change your view of these people.. and make you just think about it, it would have been something.

The last hint of autumn

samuelg4 — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:24:40 +0000

It’s a Saturday afternoon, I’m sitting on my couch and watching Armagaddon on TV.

Why?

Because it’s raining, and the weather looks absolutely miserable outside.

I’ll be the first to say it, I love summer. It’s all about sun rays and Saturdays, strolling on the beach on a warm summer night..

But just before the cold sets in, let me share with you images from a beautiful wedding I photographed two weeks ago. We were absolutely blessed with nice, warm weather and a beautiful golden sunset that made for some unforgettable moments. I mean, how often do you get to photograph a party where you rock up at the groom’s house, and they are messing around with Nerf guns. Or a bride’s father who is absolutely hilarious!

Congratulations Andrew and Mel, thanks for all the fun during the engagement shoot and the wedding!

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Celebrating Sam’s family

samuelg4 — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:52:24 +0000

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve never had any luck booking family sessions previously.

Sure, I’ve had several inquiries over the past year but just didn’t get down to booking them; no particular reason! However, over the last couple of weeks, I managed to book in three separate family sessions over a two-week period. Suffice to say, I was thrilled AND nervous!

The first family to photograph is Sam’s family, whom I’ve known since last year when I was a physio student. Sam and Rob have one of the most amazing families that I have met and Sam is such an incredible person herself; I am truly glad that I have met this family. Don’t even get me started on the dog!

We spent the evening catching up and taking photos in the picturesque Tomato Lake with amazing light. In fact, I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.

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Bari and Zakia’s Engagement Party

samuelg4 — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:54:59 +0000

If there is one word I can used to describe all the Afghan people whom I photographed yesterday, it will be respect. It’s always something unique and special when you are exposed to a different culture for the first time, and I’m once again grateful and thankful for having the courage to walk the path of photography. Who would ever know 8 months ago that this little black box could open so many doors and let me reach out to so many people!

Yesterday I had the privilege to photograph Zakia and Bari’s engagement party, thanks to a referral from Jun Song, another amazing photographer himself! Apart from the amazing decorations, beautiful location and AMAZING food (mmm so good! – think really tasty rice, yummy curry, roast meat and awesome desserts), the evening was filled with hugs, handshakes and kisses. It was essentially, a night filled with culture.

The evening started off with a few portrait photos of the newly weds at the amazing Mulberry estate and we were blessed with such beautiful light that evening! After which, we went on to take a few family portraits and I was quite surprised that one of Zakia’s sisters knew my name before I introduce myself. Turns out she was already a fan of my Facebook page a couple of months ago!

Oooosh!!! *fist pump moment*

I always love it when people come up to say hello

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Being my first time photographing or interacting with people of this nationality, I really didn’t know what to expect and found the whole event to be very respectful and prim and proper; really different from the Asian and Australian culture that I have gotten used to indeed! Every guest was greeted by the family when they arrived and very well looked after throughout the night. Of course, how could the party be complete without dancing and music?

I was standing at a corner watching all the dances and I found it very interesting that the dances were very cultural and although it was about having a good time, it was also centered around love for each other, for family and a strong sense of friendship. At that moment, a thought struck me and I wonder, how can people so civilised with such a deep rooted culture of respect and humility, be portrayed as such that we have all become accustomed to?

That is why I think that photography is so important. It’s simply because we have the power to influence what people understand about a person, a country, or a culture, and with that we must choose to do it wisely and with good intentions

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Check out the Facebook album here.

Does a logo guarantee QUALITY?

samuelg4 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:52:54 +0000

If you are not a photographer, you may or may not realise that a series of events have unsettled the whole photographic community which has ultimately led to a larger division between non-AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography) members and AIPP members.

Half groggy from waking up at six in the morning yesterday, I turned on my iPhone and was greeted by numerous status updates and comments about a news report on A Current Affair in which a wedding photographer in Queensland, Derek Smith, apparently received money from couples, shot their weddings, and then disappeared after that with all their images. Digging a little deeper, it seems that this photographer had a shady history dealing with previous clients as well, taking up to one and a half years to provide the wedding album to one couple and getting the wedding date wrong on another wedding album!

It’s really, really sad to see these things happening where newly weds and families are greatly affected and it really generates a whole lot of renewed skepticism into wedding photographers and the wedding industry as a whole.

After this particular incident, the AIPP released a statement on it’s Facebook page which says, “If you have just seen “A Current Affair” on Channel 9 tonight…PLEASE PLEASE help get the message out…Use an AIPP Accredited Professional Photographer…Don’t risk it with your wedding by employing some shady cheap guy with a camera…for goodness sake…LOOK FOR THE LOGO!“.

All I can think of when I saw this pitiful act of public relations statement was “… Really?… (Are you kidding?)“. For a while I’ve been questioning the merits of signing up with the AIPP, and eventually didn’t.

Here’s why.

The AIPP is simply that – an organisation. Suffice to say, most organisations require an annual membership fee and in the case of the AIPP, it’s more than $400 annually. Now, I’m really a nobody in the photographic world, I’ve just started out and I think to be honest, most professionals wouldn’t even bat an eyelid at me. But yet, how does it make you feel that a photographer can PAY to be termed a professional? Let’s be honest, photography is an art, and like art, it has to be honed and learned and you do need a certain amount of talent for it. Art is subjective, it is qualitative rather than quantitative. So how does an organisation govern or regulate a photographer’s work, when there are thousands of members in that organisation? It’s just not possible. Here’s what I think, and I’m not specifically targeting anyone with what I’m going to say.

How does it make you feel when I say I have seen the works of AIPP members that is at best, mediocre. And this is coming from a photographer who has only started less than a year ago. (Have I mentioned that Derek Smith was a member of the AIPP?)

How does it make you feel that a student who has completed two years of photographic studies, can register as an emerging member and place the logo on his/her website. And we all know the amount of experience fresh graduates have.

Now, how does it make you feel, that what you think you are paying extra for, is a logo that can be bought by a fresh graduate?

What I said was not meant to be a blanket assumption for all AIPP members. What I’m trying to say, it that an AIPP logo DOES NOT guarantee you quality. Simple. It’s the very reason I didn’t sign up for it. I don’t believe that I can call myself a professional simply by paying for a logo.

I’m also not saying that you shouldn’t join the AIPP, by all means go ahead. But I’m saying that the AIPP shouldn’t attempt to exclude other photographers who are not part of their ranks. It is this very close-minded mentality that is splitting the photographic community in half. I can’t say for others, but I have dedicated my time to improving my skills, networking with professionals and non-professionals alike, building up my business. I have spent countless hours when I first started, doing photoshoots for free to build my portfolio and to practice my skills, to build a website that represents my brand. I have went into calculated debt to purchase a high quality camera and lenses, pay for workshops, and ensure that I have multiple hard drives so that my work, and your photos, are safe.

I’m still very new to this business, and I’m learning as I go along. But what I charge, I charge accordingly to my skills and the quality of my work. I have spent more than $10k into building my brand, and I’m proud to say that because of the recognition of the improvements in my work, I have recovered my debt within 6 months of starting out.

So then, the question that begs to be answered is – How can I find a photographer that is reliable and worth your time, effort and money?

For one, testimonials from other clients. If someone you know has used the photographer’s services and is satisfied with his character and work, then you will know for sure that he will deliver to the best of his abilities.

Secondly, systems. Does the photographer have a good backup system? After a few months into this business, I realised that backups are essential and therefore purchased three external harddrives. I back up images onto my second harddrive after every edit in case the first one gets corrupted whilst the third harddrive is located away from the workstation so that in the event where something happens, there is still a backup of all the images and edits.

Number three, QUALITY. I can’t stress this enough, but is there quality in the photographer’s work? Don’t simply sign up with the photographer because of a logo, or because he is a good salesperson. Most importantly, what do you think of his images and what have others said about him and his work? I know so many photographers who are not members of the AIPP, who are amazing artists that produce great photographs. Don’t think for one second that simply because you are paying a premium price, you are getting premium quality work.

Four, check out his/her photography Facebook page. Normally, this will allow you to see the most recent works of the photographer, testimonials from others, as well as more complete albums from photoshoots. If you haven’t, you can check mine out here.

I still have more opinions of the current state of the community, but I’ll leave that to a later time.

And then I had NO time..!

samuelg4 — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:00:53 +0000

I have to start this post off by saying a huge SORRY to everyone. I know I haven’t been blogging consistently these days (or actually.. WEEKS). I’m back to the hospital at the moment and completing my first of four physiotherapy placements; which to say the least is absolutely draining. Every night I’m struggling to make it past 10pm! And then I have to wake up again at 5.40am which I think is absolutely ridiculous. I know 99% of you are probably gonna ask me to stop whining BUT I’M A NIGHT PERSON. It’s a valid excuse.

Moving on!

Over the weekend I still managed to squeeze in a couple of events to shoot. One of which is an 80th birthday party with an amazing family; which I will blog in my next post. The second is Comedy Lounge’s RAW Comedy WA State Finals which was held in the oh-my-god-jaw-droppingly-grand His Majesty’s Theater. It’s always great shooting for Comedy Lounge, they’re are really good organisation to work with and they always appreciate my work; which is always very rewarding! Plus, it always helps to have a laugh when you are taking photos. Another thing that made my day was that someone actually came up to say hello! I know, I know.. all you other photographers are probably saying what’s the big deal right? BUT it’s always great to meet new people who enjoy my photographs!

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So that’s it guys.

OH, guess what. It’s 9.58pm… BEDTIME!!!

It’s about saying goodbye

samuelg4 — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:27:58 +0000

About a month ago, I wrote about my little pom pom, Olive. I wrote about how he is a part of the family, and because of him, I learn to value and cherish the important things in life. The truth is, I love Olive and to me, he is more than just a dog. Until he came along, we never had any close connections with dogs in our lives; mainly because 1) I’m allergic to fur and 2) my parents don’t really care for dogs in the house.

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The day Olive trotted (I’m not kidding, when he was a puppy, he was trotting around like ain’t nobody’s business) into our house, everyone just fell in love with him. He was something special and everyone doted on our little ‘baby boy’. He has such a unique character and everyday I look forward to waking up to him sleeping outside my room, ready for play, or coming back home after a long day and having him there to cheer my day up. The good times we spent at the dog park chasing each other around and at the beach will be memories I will keep forever. In our hearts, Olive meant more to us than anyone would care to admit, and I guess only dog lovers will understand the special bond that you share with them.

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I always thought that Olive will always be around in my life; I imagine my kids growing up around Olive and us forming one big happy family. The sad truth is, Olive is getting onto a flight back to Singapore tomorrow, for good, and I won’t be able to look forward to having him around at home anymore. I will always remember him wagging his furry tail and jumping onto my leg when I enter through the door, curling up on the floor beside me when I’m using my laptop, jumping up onto bed in the morning, pushing the tennis ball against my leg begging for play, or us chasing each other around the house.

***

I woke up to Olive waiting outside my room again. He walked in, jumped on the bed and slept between the two of us for about an hour; something he rarely does. It almost seemed like he knew that he was going to leave. A while later, the doorbell rang and I felt my heart sank. Olive ran out barking, of course, but I lay in bed not wanting to see him being taken away. A few barks later, the house was quiet, and Olive was gone.

I can’t sit still as if my bum is on fire

samuelg4 — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 07:27:04 +0000

OH MY GOD *breathes*

I’m sooo excited!!! *fanning himself*

I’m buzzing with excitement because, in August, I’ll be able to hear Kelvin Koh of Lightedpixels Photography speak at a workshop in Bali.

BALI!!!

Whoooopeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Okay, for some of you, or maybe most of you, or maybe ALL of you, the reason behind my excitement may not be that obvious. So, please let me explain the reason behind my apparent meltdown to a 12 year-old school girl attending the Backstreet Boys after-party (Hey! They were popular when I was twelve alright?!)

I can very much say that the reason I got into wedding photography, is because of Lightedpixels. I first got to know about them about a year ago, when my friend was getting married. Then I heard the name being mentioned by another friend, who was fanatically smitten by their images so I thought “Hmm, I gotta check this guy out”.

So I went to look up their Facebook page and I was like..

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Which then became..

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I can’t express how I feel (I’m a guy) but yes, their images are mind-blowing.

The thing that sets their images apart is their composition and tone. It’s not only photography, they can place the emotions into photographs and let you feel the love, joy and laughter at that moment. Their ideas are so unique that my heart jump every time I see a new photograph released by them on Facebook.

I can say they are my only inspiration and my photographs are heavily influenced by them (although, of course, quality is nowhere near theirs). The wall in which my laptop sits in front of, is plastered with their photographs. That being said, every time I’m stuck in a rut… I will think “WWLPD..” You know, just like “What would God…”.

Hence, I am extremeeeeeeeeeely excited that I’ll get to meet him in August and hopefully learn from him, as well as *gasp*, take a photo with him. (I do sound gay, but I assure you, I’m straight. So please ladies..)

If any photographers are interested, other established photographers are speaking as well; Yu Hsin Seah from Tiny Dot Photography, Oly Ruiz from Metro Photo and Sergio from Sergio Photographer.

You can find the link to register here.