Best Of 2008 And More

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

Georgia Verschuer: Sydney, Australia 20 October 2008

This is my second shoot with Samantha Denise and we had Danielle Hampton for hair and makeup, together with Georgia Verschuer as the model. We didn’t need as much coffee this time unlike our previous shoot but what we should have prepared for was a lot of warm clothes (more on that later).

I never took notice of Georgia’s collarbones till now. Gosh.

Prepping in Samantha’s studio.

We shot by the cliffside close to Bondi Beach near the houses and featured a blue Porsche convertible. It was a lot of fun riding down Bondi with the top down, wind in my hair, sun in sky, well you get the picture. Note to self: buy a convertible when I start rolling in the big ka-chings $$.

Samantha, our stylist.

I really love that you can get such clear skies and blue seas in a major city like Sydney. The weather was gorgeous until it decided to turn its back on us in the middle of the shoot. The clouds rolled  in with strong winds and the threat of a major storm happening. Poor Georgia actually goose-bumped all over, she has not an inch of fat on that body of hers. I have to admit, the change of weather did add a little extra to the photos. You’ll see what I mean

And then we felt drops of water falling on us….

With Samantha, Georgia, Me and Danielle.

Janneke Thurlow: Sydney, Australia 19 October 2008

The first of my three espresso shots that morning, courtesy of Samantha’s machine.

I enjoyed my previous trip to Sydney so much that I decided to extend my trip in Australia by a month just so that I could spend more time there. During that time I managed to do three shoots with Samantha Denise, the stylist. Our model was Janneke Thurlow and hair and makeup was done by Eddy and Lisa from Sleek Hairspace (Bondi Junction). For some reason, Samantha and I always run into problems locating models but usually are lucky enough to find them just at the last minute.

Check out Eddy’s fabulous makeup kit.

Early morning prep.

Quick touch ups before we start shooting.

It was an early Sunday morning, the streets were quiet so I decided to shoot in the garage next to Samantha’s studio. The light there was gorgeous and good thing it was not opened for business or we would’ve ran into a lot of… distractions. Of course I had to make the model suffer a little by putting her in direct sunlight, heat, dirt and grime but hey, it was worth it.

By the end of the shoot I was so high on caffeine and bouncing on my toes even though we were all so exhausted. Still, thank goodness for the constant coffee breaks. And then it was time to start preparing for the next shoot….

Eddy, Lisa, me, Samantha and Janneke.

Rhiannon & Tanarra: Melbourne, Australia 4 October 2008

My last shoot in Melbourne was with Rhiannon Skye, Tanarra Hepburn, Monique Gow for hair and make-up, Eleanor Seymour and Christopher Prendergast both as assistants. It was quite a last minute rush for me trying to pull the team together, the outfits and spending hours walking around the city looking for the shooting location. Fortunately, I stumbled upon the gorgeous Carlton Gardens on the way to Brunswick Street (the ‘boho’ shopping district). On a separate note, I high recommend Brunswick street for what they have to offer which is anything but mainstream.

Flashes of memory for the day includes, Chris’ illegal parking ticket (sorry Chris!), a wedding shoot across from us (bread basket, classic car and all), and a lot of chattering teeth. It was a good day.

Making another huge mess of the apartment. Chris is bored to death.

Who doesn’t love getting their hair done?

“What did I get myself into?”

We like getting in your face.

Notice the human light stands? That’s right, human.

After a long, long, long, time waiting and probably almost getting pneumonia (whoops), here are the photos. Sort of a ‘Friend to Foe, Day to Night’ kind of progression, don’t you reckon?

I seem to have a thing for super-hero style photos. Rhiannon and Tanarra are definitely going to be very highly demanded in the industry. Thanks again to everyone for sticking it out one full day and doing a great job. Much love xx.

Monique, Rhiannon, Moi, Eleanor, Tanarra and Christopher.

10 more days, and then some…

David Maher: Melbourne, Australia 28 September 2008

David Maher is the modern day Clark Kent; Banker by day, model by night. He is a chameleon in the sense that I could get him to go from a stylish ‘super-hero’ to James Dean. He was the one who inspired me to draft my own three-year plan (posted here a few months back). David has great ideas and knows what he wants which is quite rare in a lot of young men.

His girlfriend Eleanor Seymour (sorry ladies) is also a part-time photographer and was on hand to assist on the shoot. These two were a great team to work with, funny and entertaining. David had another session right after ours so we didn’t have much time to shoot, but we did manage to get some great shots. Talk about being dedicated!

I miss the street art in so many of Melbourne’s alleys.

Clark Kent!

Our rendition of James Dean.

On another note, have you ever noticed how some people like to use random shopping carts in their photos? I never understood why they would steal a shopping cart and put it in the middle of nowhere just as an odd prop. Guess what? There was a lone shopping cart stranded at where we were shooting and we couldn’t resist the urge, so…

Group shot featuring the runaway shopping cart.