Relections, Keppel Bay

A view I never tire of.

Creamier. Gillman Barracks

For some reason, I love this structure. Simple, but effective, aesthetic and perfect for our climate. If I should be lucky enough to find a plot of land somewhere far from the crazy crowd I intend to replicate this steel and concrete superstructure. Folding doors, an outdoor kitchen and a private sleeping area and ensuite bath would make it the perfect getaway dwelling. Does anyone have a plot I can lease in Bali?

Bali Puppy.

Stoned.

I am not a fan of granite. At least, not in its cut, polished and impeccably laid form which one sees everywhere these days.

Ah, but this crystalline rock - when used generously, in its almost raw, monolithic state - can have a powerful effect on the senses.

One weekend (inspired by a lovely property nestled in the woods nearby)  I went and got a few slabs for our own little front yard, to complement the carpet grass that I had freshly laid the week before.

Lifting the 2 feet square 2 inch thick slabs by hand damned near gave me a hernia, so you can only imagine what it was like to heft to these massive babies into place in this District 10 condo.

Dentsu Building, Tokyo.

Corals @ Keppel Bay

December 2012 was a significant month for me. It capped a year that was filled with travel, thrills, and a short, but life-changing experience that was to re-shape my attitude to life and how I would choose to live it from then on. 

( But, more on that later.)

Shot over the space of a week, we spent two sun-filled days at sea capturing Akemi and Yusuke on the water, and another three days at various locations in and around Keppel Bay. The remainder of the production was set in the client's magnificent show unit whose capacious interiors and direct sea views gave a glimpse of the splendid dwellings that were to be -  Corals at Keppel Bay. 

Another waterfront property I dearly wished I had in my portfolio 

( And I am not just referring to the images. )

Trivia: Whenever we shoot a portfolio for a property client,  the biggest challenge is always with the images where we need to combine actual people with a computer generated image - which usually consists of a yet-unbuilt structure, building or some other architectural feature.

For Corals, I had to direct and shoot our two talent against a chromakey background - so they could later be digitally inserted into the final composite image, which consisted of real, and computer generated elements (in the case of the promenade image above, the computer-rendered buildings and landscaped gardens - courtesy of the client's architectural rendering firm.)

Perhaps one of these days I'll show some before-and-after plates to illustrate how these things are done for the benefit of the uninitiated. For now, I shan't spoil anyone's fun. Make what you will of what was make-belief and what was real from the above.

Clue: Only one image in the set above, had a computer-rendered background. While the rest were all shot on location, and each captured in a single shot with no messing around.

(Can you guess which one was a little less than the Real Thing?)

Akemi and Yusuke

When the sun shines.

When the skies clear.

When the wind blows.

When the chemistry between two strangers who've never worked with each other
is so palpable you'd think they were twins separated at birth and re-united twenty two years later.

Is when I'm sure these two are my favorite models of 2012.

ANGKOR

Angkor. In Winter, of 2011. (Correction, 2007.)

Surely one of the most deeply spiritual of journeys.

A week on foot. One camera. One tripod. No map. No GPS. No food in between dawn and dusk.

Threading tenderly on thousand year-old stone.

Getting lost and going hungry has never been this much fun.

Mother Earth. 

What she giveth. 

Me.

Oh when the sun goes down...

I love it when the sun dips past the horizon in the temperate zones. Twilight is special light. Blue becomes Indigo, Flesh turns the color of brick and the low contrast flattens out everything. Which in turn forces the photographer in me to squint into the shadows and spend just that little bit more time in search of the perfect picture to frame.

I followed this wonderful character as he made his way from a public library into the park. He had a strange gait, a kind of hobble cum hop with the odd half-skip followed by two shuffles and a long drag-step. Almost as if he was walking to a song playing on an old vinyl that had half melted in a fire.

I do not know who looked more bizarre. Him in his Edgar Allen Poe-ish coat, or me walking sideways like mother crab as I fired off frame after frame in the twilight, until he disappeared into the shadows.

Twilight is good light.

Personal Work - Series 1

Baby Elephant

Nassim Park Residences. Available light tests.

Daniel Libeskind. March 2012

One day.

When I have a gazillion dollars in my bank account.

I'll ask him to design me a house by the beach.

TWILIGHT ON THE WATER

It's almost always great fun when we're shooting on the water.

I say almost, because while it's fairly comfortable when the vessel you're on is cruising, it's something else altogether when it's stationary and rocking wildly.

Especially when you're trying to frame a 30-tonne yacht that's coming at you at 25 knots through a camera viewfinder. Somehow the eye and middle ear conspire to trick the tummy into thinking it's been put in a bag and churned wildly.

Avomin, for the record, only seems to make things worse...

Fortunately, the challenge here wasn't so much the task of dealing with imminent sea-sickness. But the job of producing a shot, at twilight when all the lights in the Singapore skyline were on, along with setting off a bunch of strobes via radio. And trying to make sure the whole kit kaboodle came out sharp.

Fortunately a combination of high ISO, a camera platform that was a modified barge, and some daredevil runs by a certain almost-heroic Italian captain did the trick. In the end though, we put everything in the computer to even out the color grade and construction mess that speckled the waterline. So much for getting it all done in one go; but at least we tried...

I'd like to do this shot again with a larger yacht than the 63 footer here.

As soon as my stomach stops churning from the memory of the aforementioned experience.

DELHI - CITY OF DUST STORMS AND DISTANT DREAMS

There is a small but distinct possibility that I will eventually forget how to work this blog.

Practise, practise, practise!

Where has all the time gone.

DEFYING GRAVITY

Near perfect geometry.  Kudos to the builders. 

Another view of Reflections - from the exact opposite viewpoint. Twilight leading to dusk.

I can't quite decide which of the two views I prefer.

View from the marina breakwater. 

50 meters behind me, the Philippe Starck - designed 

'A' Yacht looked equally dazzling in the early morning light.

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE WEALTHY?

Some years ago this brief landed on my lap. I was asked to shoot several musicians with their instruments of choice. The client was a bank. So I thought parallels were being drawn between music instruments and financial instruments. I think I read it too deeply. In the end, the campaign was to launch a premier banking service for high nett worth individuals. I guess the campaign must have worked, as the images ran for a long time. I was particularly proud of these because they were my first commission in B+W.

Frasers Chengdu

The days following a major photoshoot are usually a frenzy. Editing, can be a headache. Made more painful by the need to cull images that sometime number by the hundreds. While it's hard to cite a typical example, here are 4 contact sheets, out of a total of 8 from a project earlier this year. Me aching eyeballs.

NiteScapades

KALEIDOSCOPE

A and I spent a day at the museum - it was great fun. I wished I had time to do this on a regular basis. Just take a camera to all the tourist spots in Singapore and make like the tourists do.

It's amazing what subjects turn up around every corner. I might make a huge print of this. Only problem is figuring out where to put it. Wall space at the moment is almost at a premium.

PAUSE

A leaf from our Mulberry Treee.

The Serapong Course, Sentosa Island.

More plants from our garden.