Hi guys! It's a friday night and guess what? I'm not out partying with my friends, but I just came home from a very long and tiring shoot! So...

Decided to do a little post today about photography assisting. It's something that I enjoy doing from time to time, helping other photographers out with their shoots and stuff like that. I think it's fun! I get to see how different people work, and see what works for them and how it can apply to my own shoots as well. I get to play with their equipment and get to go behind the scenes in places that most people normally don't go to, and see what most people normally don't get to see. Oh, and I love that the pressure is off me, but I still get to enjoy being part of a team and working in a set.

When I'm assisting, I usually try to read the photographer's mind, try to get things ready before he even asks for them. His usual tools, or if she wants a change of lens, setting up the next shot while he finishes the last, stuff like that. I usually spend the first couple of times assisting a photographer observing, just to find out what type of photographer he is. Though, sometimes there are just photographers that I can't read, for example, I have no idea whether or not he wants to adjust the props himself, or he'd like me to do it. Or what he is trying to achieve by asking me to do things that don't seem to make sense.

I'd love to assist more photographers! Please drop me a line at bizarreness@gmail.com if you're interested in hiring me as a freelance photographer's assistant. I have a quite a bit of experience, and know how to handle most lighting systems. :)

What the video to find out a little bit more! Or you know, just laugh at how horribly tired and death-like I look.



On a much sadder note: After five years of assisting countless photographers... I broke my first bulb today. I feel so utterly bad! I'm usually really careful with equipment, so this just made me frustrated at myself for letting that happen. Live and learn, I guess!

Hi guys! Thought I'd just do a blog post on my love/hate relationship with Photoshop. The love: I've been using Photoshop ever since Photoshop 5.5. Yes, 5.5, and not CS5. I was still in primary school, can you imagine? I love it so much, and I find that doing retouching, especially on people, is actually very relaxing and therapeutic. I'm weird, okay? I know that.

It does require a whole ton of patience though, case in point, I spent the last three odd hours accomplishing this:





I know it's not perfect, but I'm just saying - if I spent that much time on this image doing just that, to make it perfect you seriously need a lot more time than 3 hours.

Now, I'm not a master in Photoshop or anything, but I have been using it quite a while now so I know my way around it. It's tiring and tedious to do something like that, and my hand physically hurts after spending good quality time with the program. What I really, really don't like is that people tend to assume that Photoshop is fast and easy and a quick fix for everything - stray hairs, bad make up, etc etc. Yes, Photoshop can fix those things, but seriously, if during a shoot you spend five minutes ironing your clothes versus twelve hours in Photoshop trying to remove the wrinkles in your dress... which would be more productive?

To all my brides: most of you don't need extensive retouching, trust me on this. And with the lighting that I shoot for your AD and ROMs, it's more flattering than harsh, so you really don't have to worry.

Okay, back to my beloved, yet hated Photoshop.

Let me tell you something, Corliss and Royston are the cutest, funniest couple at an ROM I've shot so far! Oh my goodness I laughed until my stomach ached! I think the pictures will speak more for it than anything. When I was editing the photos, I remembered what went on and had to chuckle to myself in the middle of the night. How silly, right?

Some details to kick start:

















Look at that pretty bling!






I love Corliss's smile! Doesn't she just look so pretty?







One more of her beautiful smile!






While waiting for the ceremony to start, Corliss, Royston and one of their friends decided to have a little bit of fun 'playing wedding'! What do I mean?





Roles are switched around! Corliss might make an excellent Justice of Peace in the future! Ever think of it as a retirement plan? :P




Time to kiss the bride!







Now it's time for the real ceremony!








Having trouble answering the JP's questions! Was it supposed to be 'I will'? Or was it 'I do'? Wait, what am I supposed to be saying...?












I love this photo! "Are you sure this ring can fit...?"







"Maybe I need to push harder!"







Saying the most important words to each other...










And finally married!








And... lastly, Royston got "punished" for only kissing Corliss on the cheek... Poor thing!






What an enjoyable ROM! I can't wait for my next one... which is later today! Speaking of which, I better start getting ready... :)

Something is brewing! Stay tuned to find out what is it...

On another note, I'm always at a lost of what to wear to weddings! I take pride in looking presentable when shooting my client's wedding, I mean, it's really not very nice if your photographer turns up wearing berms and a ragged old t-shirt, right? It's totally disrespectful to the client! However, the clothes that I have are either too uncomfortable for me to run around the whole day in, or are too... manly.

My usual uniform is a nice t-shirt, or blouse, dark jeans, and depending on whether it is in a church or ballroom, a jacket or blazer. I'm just... getting a little bored of it. Time to go shopping, I guess? :P

Hi Everyone! Wedding season is kicking in now, so I'd expect the posts to be lesser than usual. Like they're not little enough, right? Yes, yes, chide me, I deserve it for not blogging as much. I thought I should update you guys on what I've been working on in the non-wedding months!

I've been working with Steph from kittymao.com, who is a fabulous make up artist, to create interesting and edgy make up looks! You guys should totally check her out, she's pretty awesome!

Here are some of the looks that we've been doing on various gorgeous models!



















We are having a makeover package for anyone who wanted to feel pretty! Please email bizarreness@gmail.com if you are interested.

I shall end off with a picture of Ms. KittyMao's skills on me - those of you who have actually seen me in real life know that it takes mad skills to make me not look like death because of the weird hours I keep. :P




Hugs and kisses to all who come by my little web space, and till my next post, good bye!

I thought I'd do a quick post this morning just to share with you guys a picture from the wedding I shot yesterday. It was rather dear to me as the bride was my classmate and very good friend back in my diploma days. I was really, really happy for the both of them, and I almost cried at their church ceremony! Leon and Dorothy, may you guys have a long, long marriage, filled with happiness and laughter and little kiddies for your parents to play with!

I've got a couple new members in my family today! Introducing the 50mm 1.4. I've been using Regina's lens for quite some time and I've really grown to like it. I actually like it better than the 50mm 1.2L! Could be just my preference, I guess. But since I find that this lens is a good lens to use for work and for play, it is now added to my Canon family!

But the star (and I've been saving up for a long time for this baby) is the 5DMII. She's (yes it's a girl) an absolute beauty. I've worked with many other photographers who use the MII and have fallen in love with it over time. I have heard that the 5D produces equally good, if not better images in terms of high ISO etc, but the MII has something about it...

The fact that it can take video as well greatly helps.

So yes, I will be bringing forth higher quality images to my customers! :D

This will be a slightly more personal post, so for brides and grooms who want to see pretty wedding pictures, please feel free to scroll downwards, or click the wedding category button on the right hand side. Or read on if you want to know a little bit more about the person whom you're considering entrusting your big day to!

I've shot a few long distance couples in my time as a wedding photographer, but you never really understand how it feels unless you go through it yourself. You count the days where you finally get to see each other again, the time when you spend with the other person is so precious, and you're unable to let go of each other at the airport when one of you has to leave. I am thankful that technology has advanced to a point where we could talk to each other fairly often, be it over instant messaging or Skype calls, and I wonder how was it like to have a long distance relationship in the past, where all you had were hand written letters that could possibly get lost in the mail.

This year, on the seventh lunar month (the typical slow month for wedding photographers), I took a break and flew down to Perth to visit my partner. We haven't been a couple for very long, but we've known each other for more than half a decade now, and a good duration of that time we've been really close to best friends. The feeling of being in the same place as him was so surreal, having mostly seen him through a screen. The last time I saw him in person was five years ago.

I guess, people that are meant to be together, always find their way in the end.

I spent a good portion of the trip meeting his friends and family, and another good portion just... hanging out with him. Doing simple things that we can't when we're apart like... falling asleep on his lap, tickling him, hugging him. Even something like watching a television show together seemed so special, because we can't do it normally.

I just sound so starry-eyed and emotional right now, don't I? Just thought I'd raise a glass to all those couples going through the same thing I am. Be strong, be patient, there will come a time where the distance will end, and you can finally be where you belong - in each other's arms.

With love,
Elizabeth