Dragonplane Photography Blog

What a way to end 2009 with the biggest shoot ever. 14 hours photo shoot straight today at my studio for 14 pageant contestants from the National University of Singapore (NUSSU) Bash 2010. Wishing my dear friends and family a fruitful and successful 2010. Make-up/Hair stylist: Justin Lim, Style House ( www.style-house.org )

The theme for this year's Orchard Road annual Christmas light-up is called "A Christmas All Decked out". You see giant Santa and Santa's mouse deers lined up along the road. The design are pretty creative these years. There were numerous giant mouse deers dressed up in colourful outfit in different poses. On the trees, there were bright globes together with a laser type tear drops creating some motion to the decoration. This year there are a few shopping malls that are nearly opened which helped to make Orchard Road light-up even more exciting namely Ion Orchard, 313 and Central. Merry Christmas to all and have a safe and happy holidays. Best, Stan

The highlight of 30th November, my birthday is meeting popular Hong Kong actors Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok. Well, almost. They made a life appearance to promote their new Chinese action fantasy film called "Storm Warriors (Fung wan II)". The story is about Wind and Cloud, two warriors find themselves up against a ruthless Japanese warlord intent on invading China. The film opens in Singapore on 10th December 2009. Earlier during the day my wonderful friends have invited me to lunch and dinner. The night before, at midnight we went to Dragonfly at St James Powerstation where live music was played. It is a Mandarin dance club with amazing vocal by the singers. Reference: Storm Warriors (Fung wan II), St James Power Station (Time Out Singapore)

Finally the wait is over. I have bought myself a dream camera; a present for my birthday this month :-) It's the 5DMk2, battery grip and the 70-200mm IS USM f2.8 tele zoom lens toted by most Canon professionals. Canon 5DMk2 is considered the best digital SLR camera ever made by Canon with its impressive 21 megapixel 'full frame' CMOS sensor. As for the lens, it is featured in many of Canon's glossy brochures, a tough pro lens, big and heavy and very fast and sharp. When I received the boxes, I was ecstatic. I certainly is looking forward to having a new best friend that I will treasure. Camera review at www.dpreview.com 1/2010 Update - I have renamed the words referencing the camera to 5DMk2 and not it's official name as it is inviting a lot of hits from people who google for this camera.

Last week I had a wonderful time shooting food photography for new dishes creation by one of Singapore's top restaurant - Coriander Leaf. The best part of the work was eating the delicious food after I have shot the pictures. I highly recommend this restaurant by Chef Samia Ahad. See Coriander Leaf website

I have compiled some of my work that I have done in the past year in a card layout. The diverse style ranging from portraits to events and property.

My first photography studio is opened today. It is located at Braddell Tech at Toa Payoh. Since moving back to Singapore in August, an opportunity arise that I could possibly open a photo studio. Within weeks I made the decision to proceed and embark on this new experience, an opportunity to start my own business and continue to pursue my love for photography. While the studio undergo renovation, I went on a study and planning of my first studio, the setup required and equipment. With the completion of the studio, I had my first shoot with a model from an agency on 1 Oct 2009. The next step is to build the business through promotion and marketing.

Today marks the end of almost 6 beautiful years of owning my gorgeous Audi A4 Convertible. The black beauty which I like to called it has been a wonderful car to drive, always realiable and joy to own. It has maintained its great condition and has now found a new home to a nice family who I know will continue to look after and enjoy the great car. I'm gonna miss you NCS88J.

Life can be like a book full of chapters of the experiences and journey that we have embark on. This weekend marks the end of another chapter in my life...of living in Australia for the last ten years. I first stepped foot in Canberra in 1998 working on some projects for the government and in 1999 until 2000 I was seconded there. During those time I developed my interest in darkroom development and printing of photographs. I also started shooting black & while portrait using the first Bowen studio flash that I purchased. In late 2000 I went to worked at the Sydney 2000 Olympics where I had to stopped doing studio shoots for a while. In January 2001 I was offered a permanent job in Sydney where I have stayed until now. It has been a fantastic journey for me living in Sydney, the many friends I have made and many deep friendship that I will treasure for a very long time. I will never forget you. Here are some photos of my home taken last month a week before I started selling some of ...

Every change is a form of liberation. My mother used to say a change is always good even if it's for the worse. - Paula Rego

If any of you who has moved house before then you certainly can understand what I am going through to organise and plan the whole thing. The past year I have contemplated relocating back to Singapore to spend more time with my family and my dad who isn't well. I was brought up with a very loving and caring family; and being away from them and not living in the same country can make it quite difficult. I have spent almost ten years living in Australia first in Canberra and then Sydney. During those time I have worked in two jobs and have made many wonderful and thoughtful friends who have filled my life with fun and laughter. That has made my stay in Sydney memorable and the friendship I certainly will treasure for a very long time. Planning and coordinating a move, selling personal belongings, packing and shipping of stuff can be quite daunting. The past weeks I have finally have enough courage to make all this happen. To begin the process, I had to identify every items in my house...

1958 - 2009 The world today mourn the death of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop of 1980s-1990s. I remember back in the 1990s I was a big fan of Michael. Together with thousands of fans, we have gathered at the National Stadium in Singapore to watch him perform. It was at the height of the MJ fever. Then suddenly through the P.A. an announcement was made that Michael was ill and wouldn't be able to perform. I was so close to watching one of the greatest performer performed but with sadness I will never ever again. There will never be another Michael. The King of Pop legend leaves on in his music. Michael, R.I.P.

I have spent the past two weeks visiting a beautiful national park south of Canberra called the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. I was there to implement a new tourist systems for their visitor centre. The word 'Tidbinbilla' is Aboriginal in origin and is derived from the word Jedbinbilla – a place where boys become men. I drove from Sydney to Canberra which is about 300km south. There it will be another 40km drive through through stunning valleys and mountains. Close by the park is the Canberra Deep Space communication complex where I go to have my lunch. The complex is operated by NASA that listens to signals from outer space. The giant dish is a sight to behold. Wikipedia on Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve - read Canberra Deep Space communication complex - read