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…
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.
This was one of my last shoots for Breeze before I moved to Kuala Lumpur and in conjunction with Breeze’s 1st Anniversary party 2 months ago the clothes were provided by Baleno and IP Zone. I have to admit, it was tough trying to make casual wear a little more…. fashionable but after hours of making rounds through the store we managed to pick a few items to shoot with. Our models were Charlene and Mark, Grace (from the Androgynous shoot) to assist me on the styling, hair and makeup and Richard as my ever ready assistant.
Quick fitting with the models.
Routine hair and makeup. Plus a big mess.
I had no idea where to shoot until the very last minute and decided to just go up to my trusty rooftop, one of my favourite places to shoot simply because of the vast space, view and convenience. I may have exhausted it a little too much though. Oops. I do not recommend it for people with Acrophobia because it is 18 floors high and on the edge of a hill. Hehe.
Mark taking in the view.
Grace with her ‘guns’ ready to terminate all lovey-doveys.
Give me your PMS face! More pain, more pain!!
The shoot may have seemed very simple but I found it to be quite a challenge because of limitations to how creative I could get. Looking back at it now I think I could’ve pushed a little more but we did exhaust ourselves for it. Simple clothes and simple setup felt more difficult than it seems, hard to believe I know. Again as with all Breeze shoots, the video and the pages.
Thank goodness for ice cream and long sessions at Mosaic. Oh yeah.
Some have asked to see my new studio apartment but I didn’t think of putting it up in public. I love the place so much that I can’t wait to show it off! I don’t have any ‘before’ photos of the apartment prior to dropping a bomb buying all the basics and some extras so these photos will have to do. The finishings are quite simple and basic but I’m hoping to get a few more things to ‘home-y’ it up a little more.
First impressions from the front door.
My lovely new clean kitchen and loving my bar stool (necessary to satisfy my ‘bar habits’).
Tiny dining space for two. I absolutely adore that little plant and floral arrangement, I need more of it (hint hint).
Living area and workspace, featuring a glossy new 24″ iMac and the amazing Alesis M1 monitor speakers.
Last but not least and definitely my favourite, The Room. Also, awesome night view outside my window.
I did have some assistance from dear mother with moving in and shopping for all my items so that was a big help. Thank you mother (yes, she does read my blog). I still have this huge space at the start of the apartment that I need to fill up with furnishing. It’s so empty that my voice echoes in that area. I really like the fact that I have so much space which I can also easily convert into my shooting areas. Apparently my bathroom is so big it can fit a whole family into the shower area, not that I tried of course.
I would love to have people come over for some company since it can get rather boring staying in the apartment by myself all the time. You are also welcome to bring the following as housewarming gifts hehehehe:
• Flower arrangements or shrubs
• Rugs and placemats
• Wine and champagne glasses
• Art pieces or large canvas prints
• Candles and holders
• Throw pillows
• Let’s not forget the ‘Hard Stuff’ (liquids).
Come visit soon because I also have an amazing poolside <3 <3 <3
Off we go! (I drive a HUGE antique Benz, if you were wondering)
Ok, this post is long overdue and about time I write all this down. Before I started on my 6-week trip I had another shoot for Breeze. Finding a suitable model for this was quite a challenge because I wanted to go in an androgynous direction. Yes, it’s been done a million times before but we all love it and I haven’t seen enough of it in local publications. So anyway, which model would be willing to allow me to transform them into either sex or looked like it could be remotely possible?
The answer is Grace Kho. I’ve worked with her before a year ago and she really stood out amongst all the other girls. Humble, funny, and totally on the same wavelength as I am, shooting with her was a pleasure because we understand what each other want. LOVE.
Fitting, makeup, fitting, makeup.
The process of making Grace look like a man. Or sort of.
The ever helpful Richard Nelson played a big role in this shoot. He was a major hand in helping me search for the models, location, work behind the scenes, take unnecessary photos and do bits and pieces for this shoot. In fact, he was the one who suggested that I use Grace. Richard is a very friendly and chatty personality to have around, which is good to help break the tense concentration I tend to have sometimes on overbear on myself. I have also never in my life seen anyone offering themselves to be my slave. Yikes.
“Oh my God, what did Michele do to my face!?”
I like this shot very much. I really need to get my nails done though.
We photographed under a flyover in the Karamunsing area. When I told this to people, they gave me a weird look and wondering how on earth I decided to shoot there. Again, Richard first suggested this location to me. I never thought about using the place since we seem to overlook that area though we’ve been there a thousand times. I’m really glad I listened to him and it was perfect for the dramatic lighting I wanted to get.
Curious spectators at the bus stop across the street from us.
More curious spectators.
Check out all those clips, they actually do an excellent job at holding the clothes tightly.
Shooting in that area was interesting because a lot of pedestrians walk pass to get to the bus stop or shopping mall across from where we were. Every time someone walked by we would get weird stares and even questions, the most common being “Is this for a magazine?”. Seriously, I didn’t realised you cared! I guess Grace was being too fabulous of a model and regular people have never seen a proper one in action before. Malaysians are incredibly curious. Then again, I got the same curious audience when I shot in Khaosan (Bangkok) and Redcliffe (Brisbane) as well.
People have mentioned that I tend to pose with the model, which I didn’t believe till I saw this photo.
Digital cameras make things too easy sometimes.
I am really pleased with the result of the shoot and the great team that came with it although it was actually just the 3 of us. It’s a pity that I was given only 2 pages to show the photos, would’ve to have loved more! (Note to Editor: Jonathan, are you reading this??)
Pages of the magazine. I myself have not even seen the physical copy yet.
Another photo that I love, but is unpublished.
Unpublished photo but I could not resist posting it here.
I have a number more unpublished photos but I’m too lazy to post them up here. Maybe if you beg or buy me dinner I would consider showing them to you :p Anyway you must watch the Behind The Scenes video as well, simply because I put a lot of time into making them. He he he. I need to feel the love. I’m rambling too much now, bonne nuit!
Thanks for pulling a great effort, see you when I get back xx.
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.
Our third visit to Eric Choong in a week.
The car by the end of the day.
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
(yes, she does read my blog). I still have this huge space at the start of the apartment that I need to fill up with furnishing. It’s so empty that my voice echoes in that area. I really like the fact that I have so much space which I can also easily convert into my shooting areas. Apparently my bathroom is so big it can fit a whole family into the shower area, not that I tried of course.
