ANOTHER PARADISE
零下一度的氣溫是否能凝固悲傷
南半球的繁星是否不會覺得孤單
匆匆劃破夜空的流星是否在趕場
曾經錯過的美景是否能重新欣賞
相信遙遠的異鄉
那未知的另一端
在雙手無法觸碰的地方
必定存在着另一個天堂
致逝去的爺爺奶奶
IT’S BEAUTIFUL
I am still suffering from post-fun-trip syndrome…how I just wish it could go on for a bit longer. Greedy as I am, I would just like to share two photos we took at Lake Tekapo during the trip.
Remember last time I’ve learned a few tricks about the stars and finding the axis of the southern night sky? They’ve all come to good use this time.
The exposure was set for 300 seconds for this photo. So it took about 10mins to take this one shot with our camera, excluding set up time.
Here’s another one with the famous Church of Good Shepherd. Truly amazing isn’t it? I think the beautiful stars got me. : )
THE BEGINNING OF A LIFETIME JOURNEY
【The Beginning of a Lifetime Journey】
遠離繁忙的街道與交通
城市熟悉的聲音似乎仍在迴盪着
迎面吹來微微的涼風
這次要講述的會是屬於誰的故事
昨日，今日，還是明日
晴天，陰天，或是雨天
故事當中的甲乙丙丁
是誰讓你們放慢了步伐
期盼充當主角的你我他
又尋找到新的起點了嗎
我們無法改變太陽升起的方嚮
春季的花兒也不因我們而提早開放
不過請一定要相信遠方
勇敢的邁出腳步
踏上屬於自己的旅途
模特: Crystal Ng
化妝: Crystal Ng
攝影: Felix (Me)
文字: Felix (Me)
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THEME OF LOVE ::: JOLIE SHI
愛之主題 「 THEME OF LOVE 」
這次以清新，柔和，朦朧爲主要風格
以一樹山的銀杏樹爲背景拍攝了新的作品
命名“愛之主題”
名字來自於Final Fantasy IV裏面音樂，曲名又叫“通向光明”
雖然第四步遊戲自己沒玩過
不過我也算是最終幻想系列的粉絲吧
因此同樣能多多少少感受到音樂想要表達的內容
淡淡的憂傷中帶有堅強，對未來充滿這期望
等待這美好的到來
新作「愛之主題」
希望大傢喜歡
攝影: Felix Wu
模特: Jolie Shi
化妝: Yiyu Wang [安藝映像]
特別鳴謝 Photo4U 提供服裝
在空中的盡頭
嘗試躲開那心的車輪
在遠方的同時
誰也不會想到
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雨聲中
一邊澄清耳朵一邊發現
被封閉起來的語言
似乎已被埋沒
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注視着心跳
空虛的瞳孔
看不透的心
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對方在遠方等待
思念着我
提早的構想
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爲了曾經的約定
我要打開被封閉的門
奔向遠方
儘管路途艱險
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取出的盒子
在拿鑰匙的時候
不知道什麼時候被弄碎了
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號召的聲音
唱着被愛的歌
現在什麼都不用做
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曾經的約定
隨着船沉入黑暗
對方的指引
在有光明的地方
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True Elegance. 「BLUE」
True Elegance. 「BLUE」
【藍】是永恆的象征，代表純潔，清澈，寧靜
【藍】即是無際的天空，又是海洋之心，不挑剔，心胸容納一切
身為三原色的一員，与【紅】【黃】二色相比，【藍】顯得沉穩，和諧，低調
卻又充滿深度，神秘与多變
它反映出人性的大方，理智，冷靜
同時也夾雜着傷感和憂鬱
【藍】帶有一種強烈的現代感与時尚感
紫藍散發的是獨有的高貴
淡淡的藍述說着淡淡的優雅
帶給大家新作
【藍】
MODEL: ZILING
STYLIST: AIKO. (Rensfx)
PHOTOGRAPHER: ME
POST-PRODUCTION: ME
ASSISTANT: MR.TRUSTY : )
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LOVE JOURNEY ::: JERRY AND MIMI (A BEAUTIFUL INTERLUDE)
When you are looking at a camera, you do not automatically think about who produced it.
When you are looking at an amazing photo, you do not automatically think about the photographer behind the camera.
But when you are looking at the stars, it would make you wonder…Who was their creator?
Previously, in PART I and PART II of Jerry and Mimi’s Love Journey I have posted some of their beautiful engagement photos taken in Jacks Point, Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown and Arrowtown. After approximately 3 hour drive we’ve finally arrived safely at Peppers Bluewater Resort at Lake Tekapo (Thanks to Jerry for being our awesome driver!). So much for Day One’s photoshoot, and I was glad that they both had a good time being in front of the camera! It’s been an awesome day so far and we just wished we could maximise our South Island experience a little more. And we did!
As we were driving towards our hotel, I told Jerry and Mimi about this Earth and Sky observatory tour at Lake Tekapo and how badly I always had been wanting to go up but never succeeded due to cloudy skies at night. We decided to give it another try since the weather was looking fairly promising this time. We were told how lucky we were because it was the first night in the week to have clear sky at Lake Tekapo! There we go! We wrapped ourselves up with loads of clothes and joined the tour departing at 10pm.
Here’s a photo I took for them in the van going up to Mt John. Thanks to modern DSLR’s amazing high ISO capability, I took this photo in complete darkness! Canon 5D Mark2 + 35mm F1.4L just rocks at night, I mean, in really really dark night! : )
Here’s another photo taken with max ISO, F1.4 at 1/15 second.
It was already fascinating listening to the tour guide telling us about stars and skies, and bits and pieces about astronomy that I had not much clue about. But when I learned that photographer Frazer was there with some special equipments to assist us take astronomy photographs he suddenly became my best friend. Frazer had this interesting tripod that was set to rotate at the same speed as the sky’s rotational speed to allow capture some long exposure photos without us worrying about getting the star trails. Frazer and his assistant help me mount my camera on the tripod and exposed it for 233 seconds! After a few trails and errors here’s what I’ve got. An amazing milky way with a fine details of stars! At that very moment all I thought everything was worth it!
Really thank God for this little extra experience, I was really inspired to put more effort into landscape photography. Because it’s truly satisfying!
The stars are part of the beautiful creation. And so are we. Although we both look small.
Coming up in Jerry and Mimi’s South Island engagement photoshoot, we will see some nice change. : )
TO BE CONTINUED…
LOVE JOURNEY ::: JERRY AND MIMI (PART II)
It was an utter excitement to review this entire set of South Island photos. I mean literally. It felt like a dream. “Unreal” was probably the most common vocabulary I used during the two day South Island destination photoshoot because it was just soo PPERFECTTT! I understand sometimes we think that it’s the location, or the lighting, the techniques, the glamour, the outfit, the poses, the props or the photographer etc, but it wasn’t. While having all these elements combined can probably yield some stunning portrait photos, it wasn’t about them. It was about the true, genuine love between the couple being photographed. Love is the heart and soul of photographs in such nature.
When you are out and about you are always restricted by something called schedule. The sun can be your best friend or it can be your worst enemy, depending on how your relationship goes. I approached this set by allowing the two of them freely interact with each other. By doing so not only saved us a lot of precious time (for the delicious local fish & chips in Queenstown) but also brought us more natural looking sweet photos.
Here their Love Journey continues…
So after a few years of working at two different places, they somehow got back in touch and that was when she found out that he had moved to Melbourne. Towards the end of 2009, she and her good friend were planning a visit to Melbourne and contacted him to meet up. But thing was, he was moving back to Auckland around that same time.
Fast forward another month, they finally met each other in an ex-classmate’s wedding in Kuala Lumpur where they enjoyed chatting and cherished each other’s company. Since then, they started sharing more even though there was 4 – 5 hours time difference between Singapore and New Zealand. He always appeared on MSN at 11pm Singapore time, which was actually around 4am NZ time. And of course, he kept coming up with ridiculous excuses on why he needed to wake up so early.
Despite being thousand miles apart, they felt connected to each other. He sent her a song that was close to her heart, just in time to encourage her when she was feeling down. They supported each other and sharing their part of the world became a daily habit in their life. They were attracted to each other. One day, he told her how he felt about her. That’s how their relationship officially started.
Things happen when you least expect it. After a big detour, who would have known that the person they were searching for would be someone whom they used to go to the same class with…
(TO BE CONTINUED…)
QUEENSTOWN
It’s Queenstown, it will be beautiful anyway! 
I think the Starbucks background works for this photo.
Work it out Mimi. ; )
ARROWTOWN
Did I tell you Arrowtown is one of my all time favourite shooting spot? This is 200% true in Autumn!
Unreal! Unreal!
So sweet ; )
Ahhh…isn’t it beautiful?
This concludes our Day 1 of the South Island engagement photoshoot, and the Jerry and Mimi’s Love Journey continued to carry on.
Coming up next…something totally unexpected. Stay tuned!
TO BE CONTINUED…
LOVE JOURNEY ::: JERRY AND MIMI’S SOUTH ISLAND ENGAGEMENT PHOTOSHOOT (PART I)
Remember in one of my previous recent blog entries I mentioned about a perspective client found my portfolio on the internet and miraculously turned out to be someone that I could have possibly met? That’s Mimi.
It all happened really fast. Literally. Mimi approached me to find out details about having an engagement shoot in Auckland, but I was very busy then. Mimi insisted me to be their photographer so therefore she tactically posted blog comments, sent emails, text messages and then followed up by phone calls. So she caught me! The next thing I knew, we were drinking coffee in St Lukes mall and discussing about their engagement shoot in Auckland.
It’s always nice to talk about photoshoot and the possibly of getting some unique photographs and we had a good time there I must say. Few hours after our first appointment I received a message. Mimi asked about the possibility of having their photoshoot down South Island. I was like ARE YOU SERIOUS? The next thing I knew was that we had our flights, accommodation and rental car all booked, and we were on our flight to the amazing Queenstown, in the beautiful Autumn. It’s worth to mention that we managed to board the Air New Zealand All Blacks plane. There are only 2 of this kind in NZ. I know, it’s all very exciting and happening so quickly!
They were classmates back in year 1999 and 2000, and he was her class monitor. He was a really nice and responsible person, but sometimes he did misused his powers. Once he took the attendancec for the whole class when only a few people actually turned up. Funny thing was, the teacher actually believed him…
They were not closed friends back in high school. They seldom talked to each other, maybe he was too nerdy for her liking. Jerry strongly denies this till these days….
After high school, they then went separate paths with literally no contacts at all. He went to Auckland for his tertiary studies while she had hers in Malaysia…
(TO BE CONTINUED…)
While this is a good back lit shot, it fails miserably as a story telling photo beacause nobody could tell this is the All Blacks version. Hehe..
Let’s heck out the crew…as you see, we don’t have a fancy team. Mimi was responsible for her own makeup and hair, Jerry did 90% of driving
I had two camera bags, one for lenses and one for camera, strobe and wireless flash triggers. Flash stays on tripod, camera bag stays in the car.
Mimi suggested I should give my assistant a name, so I have been called him Trusty. ^^
THE JACKS POINT
Mt Remarkable as a back drop, love it!
Then we discovered a spot with all the long grass. O my favourite long grass!
LAKE WAKATIPU
Beautiful reflection…
Mr Remarkable in the mirror 
Together, Jerry and Mimi started their Love Journey…and I was honoured to be the one who can document this.
Coming up next…more photos in Queenstown and in the ever beautiful Arrowtown…stay tuned ; )
TO BE CONTINUED…
DONALD AND KYLIE ::: A ZEN GARDEN WEDDING
You know how sometimes when you look at the weather it makes you feel good and you know that is THE day? That was exactly it – a perfect sunny Saturday morning for Don and Kylie’s wedding. Despite the fact we have now entered into the season of rain and it has been raining throughout the week, this day was so special that even the rain had to take on a one day short holiday.
Don and Kylie not only picked the perfect date, but they’ve also picked the perfect venue for their wedding – The Zen Garden. In our initial pre-wedding consultation I was already excited to hear that they’ve chosen a wedding venue that was new to me. Then when we went out to scout around the venue I was completely blown away by its tranquil surroundings, unique landscapes, character architectures and the defined details with an Orental flavour.
Here comes the beautiful bride Kylie and her father walking towards Don and the guests, with the amazing Zen Garden architecture as a backdrop. This could well be the longest distance grand entrance I have ever seen at a wedding. ^^
The happy couple…
I like how they were looking into each others eyes while exchanging the rings. A sweet moment.
For the grand exit, Don suddenly decided to be spontaneous and headed for a new path “on the water”!
The charming boys and girls : )
The light was just lovely. I call this the shadow shot. It generally works quite well with cool guys.
Beautiful light!
GREAT MOMENTS ::: HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!
Today before I left for photoshoot I signed up an agreement with our new clients. And it’s a strange feeling to actually write down the year “2011″. Farewell 2010, you have given me a lot of memories. I want to celebrate you. Celebrate the fabulous moments in the past year. As much as I am going to miss 2010, I look forward to the new year. Although uncertainties are always ahead, the future has far greater attraction to deserve my anticipation.
Happy New Year everyone! Wherever you are, I believe you have come through your 2010 well and worthy. : )
AUCKLAND ROSE GARDEN WEDDING ::: MICHAEL＋APRA
A great wedding inspires, so do great people. There’s nothing more encouraging than hearing your clients tell you how much they trust you even before your challenging day begins. There are times when I finish shooting a wedding I feel like I want to upload the photos and post them on my blog right away. And this is TOTALLY one of them. If not because I was caught up by so many other jobs this blog would have been posted a lot sooner. They are the couple who came for an appointment and for the shortest time expressed a strong interest in our photography service. Yet interestingly, they the couple who have had their deposit paid for the longest time ever and couldn’t decide on which package to choose, until a week before their actual wedding day. They are the couple who have a simple smile on their faces and give you a strong assurance that they trust you. They are a happy, lovely and the luckiest couple.
Here it is…introducing the luckiest man…
And the happiest bride…
Apra is such a polite and adorable girl who has a contagious personality and an amazing smile. And she takes it even further. When I arrived at her house that day Apra was already in her gown and everything looked almost ready. As I asked who’s the makeup artist and Apra told me she had a course at MAC cosmetics so she did her own makeup! What a fantastic job!
She’s gorgeous, and stunning.
The lovely bouquet fits perfectly in her hands.
After the church ceremony we arrived at the reception venue in advance to have some photos taken.
Cute…
A 10/10 natural, happy smile.
As part of the Indian culture, Apra’s family helped her to put on the wedding Saree, which was previously used in her mother’s wedding.
A different look brought her charm to new level.
Here they come, for their wedding celebration!
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY 3 ::: MESMERIZED
Came back from the 2-week break, work piled up like crazy. When Andy and Yiyu picked us up from the airport I have been briefed how busy the next few weeks would become, and now, I am living in this reality. I should actually update this entry on the 3rd day of our trip but I was either too tired from the long distant driving and then was unable to get hold of the (free) internet in the subsequent days. But yeah, it is still refreshing seeing some of the pictures I took and be mesmerized by the true nature in New Zealand.
The sun was slowly climbing over the mountains, and the warm sunlight hit the snow in the carpark.
One of my favourite things to do whenever I see snow is to mark things with this beautiful logo. : )
Glacier!
I couldn’t really get a perfect clean shot of Mt Cook because it always seemed to be covered by the cloud. I later discovered that when the wind blew across the snow on the high mountain, the snow became clouds.
The snow on the road were the first to melt, probably somebody cleaned them in the early morning.
I am always excited about new views and as I drove towards Oamaru we passed this little paradise.
The first and maybe the only thing we ever did in Oamaru was to watch the return of penguins. But before that, we witnessed the interesting moonrise moment. It’s nice, trust me. I told Candice about this and she said why don’t you name it “Mesmerised”? Hence, I put it as the title for this entry. ^^
Here we go, the smallest penguins in the world getting out of the ocean and were heading back to their colony. They are really tiny! By the way, at this place cameras are strictly NOT allowed! The staff there always mentioned that we should all keep quiet, with a loudhailer! LOL
SOUTH ISLAND ::: DAY 1-2
Although I have been to South Island for way too many of times, each time I discover something new and amazing about this place…
Let’s begin with an iconic photo – the mighty cross and Lake Tekapo…taken on Day 1
Over all the weather turned out to be much better than what the weather forecast, but it didn’t last till the evening though so we didn’t get to see the stars at night. It’s a bit disappointing. However, we were invited to stay with Andy and Elva, which made things even. : )
Day 2 – Second day started with an exciting news – It snowed last night! The streets were covered with ice and snow so everything looked so white and clean.
The beautiful weather insisted to stay with Lake Tekapo. As we were heading towards Mt Cook we could hardly see anything but fog. And as we were driving in the National Park it began to rain, then snow! I’ve never seen snowing like this before so it’s definitely new to me.
I saw this at the i-site and thought it’s a pretty neat arrangement for wheelie bins!
One side is heavy snowing, and on the other side it’s the beautiful sunset colour.
So much for Day 2.
Today is Day 3 and the weather looked beautiful and we could finally glaze Mt Cook in a distance. I took heaps of photos today and I don’t have any good reason why. Tomorrow Crystal will join us and very soon we will have Issac joined us as well. Please look forward to this journey. : )
CRAVING FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
I will be going to South Island for about 2 weeks in about 3 weeks’ time. Tickets all arranged. I am excited. So excited! Knowing I will be saying farewell to this place sometimes saddens me but I know that life is a journey, and in a journey you don’t always get to remain in one position or location. Things change, life moves on. Today the sky is all moody and the rain was struggling to find a pause. In weather like this I dug out a few landscape photos I took in the past and mixed 3 landscape photos I took from my recent Ski trip. I realised I have been CRAVING for taking landscape photos! I just can’t wait to scout the entire New Zealand and take photos from the very best vantage points.
Looking through the photos I cannot repeat enough how AMAZING God is, for such amazing things He has created – beams of light, movement of clouds, shapes of rocks and mountains, breeze of wind, steams of water…some stays still, others are in motion, peaceful, yet so powerful. Simply AMAZING.
I am currently playing a game called Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS4). Together with Final Fantasy they are firmly sitting on my Top 2 best video game list. I found this song on the ipod Snake was carrying and I just love it.
Calling To The Night
by Natasha Farrow
Through the night, to the day
When everything is gone
Carry the soul away from the dryness
In the sun we see, fighting over lives
All our dreams and wishes
We send home for safe keeping
Fighting for what’s right
Calling to the night, to dream
Forgain in the light
Waiting for a storm to rise
Feel the isolation fleeting
Calling to the night, to be, or not to be fighting here
Leaving without you, leaving my soul behind
Calling to the night, corners of golden crown fade with time
Calling to the night, for us, for every single life
All the ashes of men remain as a perfect memory
Calling to the night
But the heart will remain, as a silhouette of time
Hear the ringing echoes in the splitting horizon
Calling to the night
