Michele Yong's Blog » Photoshoots

Coen Koch & Karel Struhacek: KL, Malaysia 14 April 2010

Michele Yong — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:11:58 +0000

After a while, I’ve decided to just skip all my blog posts that I’ve missed and catch up with whichever is more current. Anything else I’ve not talked about can be seen on my Facebook anyway.

Anyway this was a test shoot that I did rather on a whim with two very gorgeous guys, Coen Koch and Karel Struhacek, styled by Henry Gan who helped me as a very last minute favour. Since the shoot was not really planned, naturally it was shot in my apartment. Talk about convenience! These are some of my favourite shots.

Stay tuned for another very revealing shoot featuring them both! xx

Patty Luyt: Arnhem, The Netherlands 20 January 2010

Michele Yong — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 01:34:40 +0000

Patty is an incredibly sweet and very young, new model from Amsterdam currently with 77 models and I must say that the Dutch girls are definitely ruling the scene. Patty has a sort of fresh faced innocence which can be easily transformed into a sultry sex goddess.

It was a really cold day despite the sun being out (which did help make us feel slightly happier), and we shot at the huge Sonsbeek park which was absolutely gorgeous. It was acres of land sprawled across the edge of the city, lots of bike and walking paths, lakes, waterfalls and such. It was almost like a tame forest.

A small part of Sonsbeek.

In the middle of the shoot, Mr Swan made a special appearance. I guess he liked the attention too.

And the gorgeous ducks in the river…. Gosh the ducks! Patty can attest to how excited I was at the fact that there were real, beautiful ducks right in front of me. I know, this is really weird of me. First cows, now ducks.

Pretty ducks!! <3

Awwww… isn’t that just too cute?

Don’t judge. Now on to the REAL photos.

Mr Swan: I’m ready for my close up!

Best Of 2009

Michele Yong — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:22:13 +0000

A lot of things happened for me in 2009. I travelled a lot between Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, published some of my work with Breeze (a local magazine), relocated to the big city, discovered Europe for the first time, became the official photographer for Malaysia International Fashion Week 2009. In a way a lot of it happened quite unexpectedly. I decided staying in Kota Kinabalu would not be the best idea so I packed up and left for Kuala Lumpur in less than 3 weeks. Arriving in KL I was jobless for a few months until I landed the biggest job I’ve had so far for Fashion Week. Going to Europe had always been a distant dream of mine but one day I saw the opportunity and decided, why not? It’s all about grabbing life by its horns and going with it.

These are some of my favourite works from 2009. It was quite hard for me to narrow it down to 10, so I decided on 25 instead (I’m really bad at cutting down numbers!). Some of them you may have seen, but some not. I went through my library of photos and found hidden gems that I overlooked and decided to show them here.

Hope you like them!

Karin Balzli for Catherine Lian, Kuala Lumpur.

Nataliya Zapolina, Singapore.

Andrea Fonseka, Kuala Lumpur.

Grace Kho for Breeze, Kota Kinabalu.

Charlene Decena for Breeze, Kota Kinabalu.

Mariann Vella for Villiam Ooi, Kuala Lumpur.

Patricia Silk, Singapore.

Suzana Abu for Ratu by Walis, Kuala Lumpur.

Mila Melissina for Syomir, Kuala Lumpur.

Wang Ying, Bangkok.

Iva Sakarova, Bangkok.

Kaspar Hebblewhite, Bangkok.

Brygida Naumowicz & Helena Berezina for Pretty In White, Kuala Lumpur.

Mariya Markova for PEGG, Kuala Lumpur.

Aline Thiel for Glitz & Glamour, Kuala Lumpur.

Matheus Nagel for William Liew, Kuala Lumpur.

Matthias & Laurent: Paris, France 10 January 2010

Michele Yong — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:30:19 +0000

Ok, so I really suck at this consistent blog update thing but since I have nothing better to do these tries I should do something about it. Photo overload!

Matthias is a model I photographed before when I was in Sydney. Originally from Belgium, he was in Paris over the weekend with Laurent and we met up for coffee. Being the model that he is, he insisted I brought along my camera to take photos and we found ourselves doing an impromptu photoshoot in the Tuileries which I really liked. The photos turned out really well and remains to be one of my favourite sets.

Ah, Paris is so beautiful! After that, it was my turn to get photos taken with Matthias, courtesy of Laurent. They’re kinda silly but then that says a lot about us. I like. After a while it started to look as if we were having a dance off in the middle of the park. Hmmm…

The things I have to put up with…

I rest my case.

Michael Jackson or a member of some Eurotrash boyband?

The tango, FAIL.

I actually really like this photo.

It was a great afternoon with the guys, they’re lots of fun especially when Matthias is so hyper and Laurent is the cool and collected one. We just walked around the park a bit more, stopped at this merry-go-round at the park and Matthias took some photos of me before they left to Belgium right after. I’ll see you in Antwerp next!

Don’t you think it looks like part of a Korean drama?

Ling-N Lookbook: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 21 August 2009

Michele Yong — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:36:08 +0000

Malaysia Interntional Fashion Week 2009 is finally over so I’m hoping to update my blog more often now (unlike once a month before!). It was a crazy, hectic few months trying to squeeze in so many shoots on such a tight schedule like 6 shoots in 3 days. I’ve never experienced anything so high pressured and draining but surprisingly I made it out alive and a lot better than expected.

Obviously I had to ‘pretend’ to do some hard work for the cameras, right?

This was my first job as the official photographer for Fashion Week, first time working with a Malaysian designer, first time working with a studio setup, first time shooting with a TV crew documenting us, first time for a lot of things actually.

With the amazing Katerina. Girl can strike a fierce pose and speak Malay!

The designer was Karina Ng who people in the industry know as the shoemaker for Malaysia’s leading fashion designers including Bernard Chandran. She now has her own shoes and accessories label Ling-N and sets herself apart from others because all her shoes are handmade. These are some of my favourite shots.

Designer: Ling-N by Karina Ng | Styling: Nareez Zabidi | Hair & makeup: Kelly @ XpressionMaster | Photography assistant: Jay Lai | Models: Linda Markova and Katerina Davidova @ Andrew’s Models

A few weeks after the shoot, Karina gave me one of the best gifts ever–a pair of custom-made stiletto ankle boots which I wear very often even at shoots because they are so comfortable. They are so amazingly hot and I’m going to show them to you

5 inches of leathery goodness <3!!!!

Karin For Catherine Lian: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 27 August 2009

Michele Yong — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:02:48 +0000

Since moving to KL I did not have the chance to do a shoot for months, until Karin wrote to me suggesting a test shoot together. It was perfect timing because I have always wanted to work with Catherine Lian who is currently based in Paris and also long time college mate who went into fashion design. This was her first shoot and I’m debuting her right here so when she makes it big remember the name Catherine Lian!

The shoot was simple and done in the comfort of my own apartment. We had lots of fun and it was fantastic working with such great friends. If only all shoots could be like this.

<3 my polaroid wall. Are you on it yet?

I am also introducing a slightly different style to my photos so I hope you like them

And as always, the short behind the scenes video

Me, Karin and Catherine.

Iva Sakarova: Bangkok, Thailand 22 April 2009

Michele Yong — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:55:38 +0000

Iva Sakarova, the gorgeous girl from Bulgaria of Fame Management was my last shoot in Bangkok. Only 16 and an intelligent budding philosopher, she is the total opposite of what you’d expect of a model. With big doe eyes and flawless skin, easy to work with and extremely accommodating, we hit the challenging, bustling streets of Khao San. Doing a shoot in middle of a backpacker’s district is tough with so many people around, insane heat and lack of ‘amenities’ but we managed to get through it.

We were so drained after the shoot that we could barely speak. All we wanted to do was have a shower and rehydrate!

Getting hair and makeup done at one of the street-side watering holes.

We did get a lot of curious spectators (as usual) trying to pose with Iva, asking us about the shoot, what it was for. It was amusing but also a little annoying at the same time because the heat was starting to get to us. Either way, we still came out alive and got some pretty good shots.

Gotta love Bangkok for it’s colourful nightlife and insanely fun times!

A very sweaty me and Iva.

Kaspar Hebblewhite: Bangkok, Thailand 19 April 2009

Michele Yong — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:33:19 +0000

My second shoot in Bangkok was with the gorgeous Australian Kaspar Hebblewhite from Fame Model Management. He is a part time model who is actually an offshore engineer, you know the kind that works on oil rigs in the middle of the ocean/nowhere. Amazing, I know.

When I first saw his photos, I thought of Abercrombie & Fitch right there and then. It was just the two of us at Lumpini Park on a blistering hot Sunday so what more of a better excuse than to photograph him with his shirt off!

My job is so awesome sometimes

Definitely my favourite photo of the day.

This is my money shot.

It was time to put some clothes on at least.

Because the pigeons were getting too ‘curious’.

Besides melting to death and losing all forms of bodily fluids along the way, it was a great day. I think anybody who knows Kaspar can also attest to him being the party animal. He has quite the crazy life and the one to go to if you want to have a good time. So ladies, don’t take too long now.

Kaspar & Me on the BTS.

Shoot Prep For Andrea Fonseka, Face of M-IFW ’09

Michele Yong — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:06:11 +0000

Much of the preparation for this shoot was the styling which both Nareez and I did. With Andrea Fonseka as the face of Malaysian International Week 2009, we wanted to go with a few grand, over the top outfits, and some equally as glamorous but much more wearable day to day. Just going from one designer to another took two full days with the insane KL traffic and everything. Obviously we got snap happy and recorded our days in photos.

My planner at the start of the week. The two pages were completely filled by the end of the week.

Nareez, totally stressed out coordinating all the shoots and meetings.

First stop, Sonny Sun for Eclipse.

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

Pickup from Tangoo to Jovian Mandagie.

Close-up of the shoes. <3<3<3 Only one pair created specially for the runway show.

Gallo.

Teresa, the designer for Gallo had her 18 month old daughter in the studio that day. When I first saw the adorable girl, I thought she looked like she was wearing designer baby clothes. After a while I realized that Teresa actually made her a baby version of the collection for Autumn/Winter 09! How cool is that? I doubt the baby versions are for sale though.

Our third visit to Eric Choong in a week.

The car by the end of the day.

Altogether we collected over twenty outfits but used about fifteen. The back seat was filled with so many clothes to the point of not being able to see the rear window. The total value of everything was probably more than the car itself! And this is only one of the very few things we do with much more to come…

Best Of 2008 And More

Michele Yong — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:37:33 +0000

2008 was quite a year. It was the year I decided to do photography full-time, the year I embarked on my traveling journeys, the year I got my first credit card (which is now cancelled by the bank. Whoops), the year I partied too hard, the year that started my experiences.

Here are some of my favourite portraits taken in that year including those that I have not been shown before.

Tim Wetzel, Kuala Lumpur

Thomas Pullar, Melbourne

Natascha Verkaik, Melbourne

David Maher, Melbourne

Rhiannon Hough, Melbourne

Elke Bonner, Brisbane

Sharon Smith, Brisbane

Annalyn King, Singapore

Vishnu Bala, Singapore

Rokshana Aitken, Melbourne

David Paris, Sydney

Brendan Maclean, Sydney