Igniting the passion

No, i am not talking about passion in the bedroom (which is almost non existence with your kid sleeping between you both ;p) but getting the passion back for photography. As with most jobs, after you've been doing the same thing day in and day out for money, it begins to get boring and mundane. For the later part of last year, i have been struggling to get my passion back into shooting without it feeling like work. i guess the trick is to start shooting from the heart again and getting inspired.

Shooting my son at home provided this opportunity and i must say i felt somewhat encouraged by the results and was determined to bring this inspiration into the studio. On Monday, i met the most lovely couple who came into the studio for their Bloom shoot. i totally enjoyed my session with Gervynne. She and hubby were a fun couple to shoot plus it was also a weekday so we had time to try out new shots and poses and i was pleased with what i got out of the session - physically & mentally.

*****PHOTOS REMOVED AT CLIENT'S REQUEST*****

Then yesterday i got inspired again when a sweet lady, Sherina decided that the best gift she could give her husband for their 10th anniversary would be some black & white portraits of herself wearing her mother-in-law's stage costumes (MIL was a singer in her younger days), awwwww! :) i must say the outfits fitted her beautifully and they were in immaculate condition and actually quite sexy! We did some nude shots as well and she was very happy with the results. i was delighted to play a part in this gift idea of hers and hope that her husband will love the present. Here are a few of the photos:












thank you son, Gervynn and Sherina for igniting my passion for shooting again :)

Daddy this, Daddy that

Since i got pregnant with #2, i have cut down on carrying my 14kg toddler on the advice of my gynae. Little did i know that this would lead him to favour Daddy over Mummy in just a few weeks! >(

Before, i was the most important person in Kayden's world. He would stick to me like a leech, shouting "Mummy" when i was out of sight and always obliging me with a kiss or a hug. Not anymore :( Recently i've noticed that when we fetch him from school, he will smile at me then look for Daddy and run to give him a hug, bypassing me on the way! *sob sob* Then in the morning when we leave the house and Daddy is slow to exit the door, he will fuss and shout "Daddy daddy" till he appears. He don't really care if i am around anymore *double sob* Sometimes when i ask him for a hug or kiss, he will say in a deliberate tone "don't want" and purposely go to Daddy and give him that kiss instead, giving me the evil eye while doing so :s sigh, i get so heartsick and jealous when he does this and i really hope that this will just be a phase and pass soon.

i am trying to spend more quality time with Kayden now, sometimes intentionally leaving Daddy out *evil chuckle* so that i can claim back my space in Kay's heart ;) tomorrow we will going for a mother and son photoshoot at The Pond, hopefully it will be a fun session with memorable shots of my first born and me :)

Daddy is wondering why i am going to another photographer when in his words,"I can take for you what!". Oh please! In Kayden's 2 years of existance, this is the only nice photo he took of me and my son!

In colour:


In mono:

Pregnant women have bizarre dreams

A couple of nights ago, i dreamt my husband having a go at Pam Anderson :s Is that sick or what?! i told Ik Hui and Candida and the latter's interpretation of the dream was that it's due to my cupsize upgrade from the pregnancy.

Then last night another breast related dream. At home, we have this A4 paper sign stuck to our bedroom door since Kayden was born. Erwin printed it, and we never got round to taking it down. It says “Breastfeeding in progress!!!”. It was to stop my MIL from just coming in without knocking... Anyway in the dream, i dreamt that Kayden (who is as tall as an adult in the dream in order to reach the paper) took down that piece of paper, hmmm....

Candida's analysis:
"You are anticipating breastfeeding already due to impending arrival of baby. Kayden is doing that becos you are also anticipating him vying for your time & attention, plus he is after all the older and taller, that's why is portrayed as adult-size. oooh, did he look like Jay Chou in the dream?"

hahaha! ok the Jay Chou thing was started by Candida who thinks that Kayden looks like a young Jay Chou. She is very sure he will look like him when grown up! But Candida, in the dream Kayden still has his toddler face stuck on an adult body!

Stitch Like A Witch

This is one of my Bloom client Nicole. Besides being such a hot mama, she also runs an online scrapbooking store called Stitch Like A Witch! What a cool name! Both her daughters have cool names too, her elder is named Melody and the younger is Harmony, too cute ;)

I have been trying out this effect on photos lately, sort of a desaturated look. It didn't quite worked on my Little Big Shots photos but i think it turned out great in Nicole's Bloom shots. The last one here is of her belly dancing. See! i told you she's hot!

Name that fruit!

now if only he will eat the real things! so far he only likes apples & pears :s

Flying solo

Most of you already know this, my business partner and friend, Candida, left The Studio Loft at the end of 2007. Since then, it's been a challenging and stressful period dealing with all aspects of running the business alone, from demanding clients to balancing the accounts to fighting with the landlord over their exorbitant increase of rent by almost triple the rate i've been paying :(

On the bright side, i've found an assistant, Ashley! For most of January we've been fervantly clearing the backlog of orders (which went back as far as Sept) and things are starting to be more sane now. To make sure we never have that huge a backlog again, i decided to cut back on studio shoots in January to continue clearing all of 2007 projects. And i also came up with a promotion for Feb & Mar 2008 which will keep revenue coming in but requiring little post processing work from us. It's the SAY CHEESE! $108 studio photo special:



we are very grateful of the response to this promo and the support we got from some of our past clients were most encouraging. we would like to thank you all sincerely :)

i am still looking for a new place for The Studio Loft as our lease expires end April. Meanwhile, we will enjoy and make full use of whatever time we have left at Devonshire Road.

Photos from a guilty mummy

Since Kayden turned 2, i have not taken any photos of him (except on my mobile phone). He's past 30months now and finally on Sunday this guilty mother took some shots of him around the house and at East Coast Park.

Pffft! when he flashes you that sweet smile and you managed to get a good shot, this booming voice goes off inside my head chiding,"Now was that so hard?!???!?!!". Sheesh, ok ok i'll be more regular now!







"Hello plant!"



Riding on his favourite cow-cycle



Sharing a private joke with Big Bird






Running in the wind at East Coast Park

Returning to an old habit

Back when i was in Raffles Girls' Primary School, i recall being given a diary by the school to write a sentence or paragraph of what i did each day. Some days my entries would be as lame as,"Today i had noodles during recess.". Other days i would run out of space writing about an adventure i had with my pet cocker spaniel. Little did i know then that this early start to cultivating the habit of keeping a diary would lead me to many pages of personal and sometimes extremely emotional entries over the years and finally to an electronic version today!

As i start this blog, i hope to share parts of my life with you and in so doing, have a journal to which my kids can look back on later in life and have a chuckle or cry reading about how their mummy coped with their antics and got through parenthood :)

I don't know about you but for me, the best part of keeping a diary is reading it.