Lyrical Moments | Singapore Wedding Photography

February 12, 2010

Overall 5th placing on AGWPJA for 2009!!!

Filed under: annoucements, awards, photography, wedding — Tags: , , , , — Stephen @ 11:59 pm

I’m delighted to announce that after 4 quarterly AGWPJA competitions, with 12 winning entries, I have been placed overall #5 for the year 2009! Last year, I was placed overall #5 for WPJA for year 2008 and wondered if I could pull off the same for the AGWPJA…and it finally came true! Many many thanks to all my couples for going against the grain and putting their faith in the quest for more experimental and cutting edge work. I don’t think any of these would have happened without their support, so thank you, thank you, thank you! :)

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January 2, 2010

Goodbye 2009, Welcome 2010!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — Stephen @ 10:29 pm

2009 had been a great and blessed year for Lyrical Moments and this slideshow is dedicated to all of you here, who have in someway or another contributed to part of our success. We’ve bagged 20 international awards for 2009 and to all my couples whose wedding images have won, thank you so much for being part of this legacy! :)

and here’s the slideshow for your viewing pleasure

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August 27, 2009

To London?

Filed under: annoucements, awards, personal, photography, wedding — Tags: , , , , — Stephen @ 9:26 pm

MPA and WPPI, these are the two organisers of the toughest photography competitions for wedding and portrait photographers, and looking at the previous winners from the different category, photographers like myself will probably spend days hammering out the prints, send them to USA or UK, and hope for the best.

Just received a congratulatory email from Master Photographer Association in London (MPA) that one of my images has made it to the finals for the Overseas Wedding Photographer of the Year Award!

That came together with an invitation to the awards ceremony in London come Oct 2009.

However, much as I would love to attend the awards ceremony, as well as see the other finalists and winner’s print next to mine, plus the chance to mingle with some of the veterans in this biz, I happened to have an assignment overseas.  The biggest irony is, both the clients happened to be based in London, but their wedding will be held in their hometown back in Asia.

Good news and bad news come in a pair, usually.

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August 13, 2009

One of the entries for the MPA Master Photographer Award

Filed under: photography, wedding — Tags: , , , , — Stephen @ 5:49 pm

After working on the images for the annual MPA Master Photographer Award, life is slightly more normal now. Preparing for print competition is tedious, and doesn’t help that I procrastinate a lot when it comes to selection of images (entry fee is one, the printing cost is another thing altogether), and spending hours with the print guru to get the right print, and reprinting thanks the perfectionist nature of such competitions.

One of the FAQs when I discuss photoshoot venues with the couples is “Which is your favourite place in Singapore?” . Actually, there are no favourites, and as mentioned in my previous post, all venues are determined by my couples.  Just that some venues tend to be the choice for many of my couples.

I must have visited this site more than ten times within the first half of 2009, and I make it a point never to repeat any shots or produce similar looking photos.  After all, no one will pay big money for photographs that are easily replicated ;)

This is one that I really like, a lot.

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May 28, 2009

AGWPJA Q1 2009 results

Filed under: annoucements, awards, photography, wedding — Tags: , , , — Stephen @ 1:44 pm

3 more international awards from AGWPJA Quarter 1 2009.  This time round, the photos are really something cutting edge and looking at the other entries is a reminder that one should keep inventing and exploring new styles and techniques.  I’m very glad to  be placed overall 6th this time, Dino Lara as usual securing the top 3 places (well done Dino!).

3rd place under Ceremony  sc420a

4th place under Engagement  & Wedding Portraitsc431a

 6th place under Engagement  & Wedding Portrait (my favourite of the lot, can you spot 2 balloons there?)

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May 12, 2009

My biggest achievement so far… WPJA Worldwide Ranking #5 for 2008!

Filed under: annoucements, awards, bridal, photography, wedding — Tags: , , , , — Stephen @ 4:06 pm

First of all, thank you very much for all the well-wishes that I’ve received over the past week.  Just last week, I’ve received some really great news from the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) and better late than never, they have ranked the photographers based on the points scored throughout the entire year of 2008 in their quarterly competitions.

I’m very pleased to announce to be been named as one of the top 5 photographers for the year!!!

This is probably the biggest achievement for me so far and unlike the quarterly ranking, this result will be etched permanently on their Hall of Fame here .  It’s an honour to be ranked together with photographers like Shane Snider and Matt Adcock, and I love the works of these guys.

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Good news come in pair and last month, the ranking for the Artistic Guild Wedding Photojournalist Association has placed me overall #10 for 2008 as well.

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Once again, competitions like these are the best form of reassurance that our work are of certain standing in the International scene because they are judged by an overseas panel of substantial credibility.  WPJA in particular look out for the story-telling elements and how well a moment is captured, thus explains the panel of photojournalists and editors, some of whom are Pulitzer prize winners themselves.  In other words, it is far from any of the popularity contests out there that are based solely on voted by the consumers.

Now that I’ve settled down from the Hong Kong photoshoot and clearing up some the backlog, I can finally go celebrate with a bottle of Dai Jin Ju Sake that’s waiting to be opened :)

Cheers!

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March 29, 2009

5 awards from WPJA Q4 2008

Filed under: annoucements, awards — Tags: , , , — Stephen @ 12:20 pm

5 images from WPJA Q4 2008 to share, competitions getting stiff these days, and we’ve seen more and more photographers from the Asia pacific region being named in the top ranks for this competition.

15th place under Engagement Portrait

This is the second award received by this image, shot right next to Tower Bridge in London in August 2008. Not the kind of images we would expect from this site (where’s Tower Bridge?!?!?!) :)

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8th place under Full-frame (B&W)

This is a wild card category that accepts any journalistic style images, so long they’re not cropped and in black-and-white. Shot this while Jean was walking out of the hotel suite, image is a real moment and the difficult thing about these shots is to get it right without giving directions to the subjects /telling them what to do just for the sake of getting the photos. Best part is, she was probably too nervious to even notice me taking this photo as she walked out of the hotel suite to the solemnisation venue.

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6th place under ‘Other Vendor’

This photo is a tribute to all vendors, especially those who are perfectionists, like this banquet manager preparing the glasses for the Champagne pouring.  I love the way those funky colors from the stage light work in this image.

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15th place under ‘Emotion’

The next 2 images are very typical of the kind of quirkiness that’s underscores most of my images.  The whole mix of reactions and expressions that really make us wonder what exactly is going on in the scene, and in anyway, most people would have focused their cameras on the flower girl in this part of the ceremony, I’ve just offered the other perspective …  looking at things from an obtuse angle.

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and from the same wedding as the previous image, 3rd place under ‘Toasting’

I’ve shot countless toasting pictures at a wedding, but this particular one really caught my eye because of the expression of the bride’s brother in the picture.  I like the graphical way in which the hands holding the glasses is presented, and even the judges have mentioned that it is a very different angle from the others.

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Time for a little celebration, 9 awards in total for WPJA 2008, and 3 of which came in top 3 placing, I can’t wait for the overall ranking to be out :)

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February 26, 2009

WPPI 2009 – Accolades of Excellence

Filed under: annoucements, awards, photography, wedding — Tags: , , , — admin @ 11:24 am

The WPPI 16×20 is one of the international competitions that’s often regarded as the Oscars equivalent of wedding and portrait photography, and probably one of the very few competitions that the big guys and legends of wedding photography (folks like Jerry Ghonis, Yervant, David Oliver) take part in.  I’ve always wanted to attend the seminar but for the past few years, I’ve got to photoshoots in Singapore that tied me down.  Last week, I’ve received some well wishes from fella photographer, some even from Malaysia, who saw my prints hung up there, amongst the finalists, in the hall of fame.  What really sucks about not being there is, you have no idea which prints you’ve won…until this morning.

Just received the email from WPPI about 3 of my images being awarded Accolade of Excellence!  Not too bad for a first attempt, and considering I’ve only sent in 4 pieces (they do cost a lot of money to print, considering it’s 16×20, postage and all just adds on).

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and the 3 pieces are…

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Looks familiar eh? Ivy & Suan Hau must be very happy, this is the 3rd International award!

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The quirky image shot in Arab Street, and ….

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Another of my familiar favourites, this photo taken in Melbourne has won it’s 3rd International Awards, along with AGWPJA and Contemporary Wedding Portrait during the MPA Singapore print competition last Nov 08.

5 years ago, I would not have imagined myself being able to compete in such gruelling competitions, and I really owe my couples and mentors for their constant support and encouragement. So a BIG thank you to all you out there! :)

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