I have actually written a long and exhausive post about the above title. But then I decided against posting it. You see, there are many people out there who are not able to take the truth. The truth about how people see them, and how things are actually. So let’s leave it as a title as a reminder of who we are and what we have become. Ok, let’s talk a little bit about those two things.

Financial planning is your own business. You do not need to pay money to have someone else tell you things that you already know. Like, watch your expenditure and credit cards, buy stock low, and sell high, strike when iron is hot.. etc etc. Plus, I will tell you somewhich which financial seminars will NEVER tell you; for every successful stock market player, there’s 50 who have failed have are now in tremendous financial debt.

And about Positive Motivation…. I have this friend of mine whose sister’s boyfriend was a very simple man who rode a motorbike around town and rides to work. Then he got conned into ’setting up his own business’ and dumped a good deal of money into buying stocks from the company. Stocks as in goods. Something you burn then out come magical healing scents. Anyways, as if it was not enough that he emptied his bank account and piled up a huge amount in credit cards, his ‘upline’ then told him that since he is in ‘business’ he should look the part; with new fancier clothes and fancier cars like a BMW. So he went and upgraded himself from a simple kapchai to a BMW. Fine, he can always reject, but these fellas have a way of pushing you to a corner and making what seems to be a guaranteed way of loosing money, seems ok and a very good idea at that time. Needless to say, when things start to go south, his up-line turn a blind eye and left him to himself. Good thing my friend and her sister are very supportive and he is now back on his feet.

About wedding photography; One of the things which I struck a chord for me during a recent photography seminar I attended was this statement

“..you have spent so much money and efforts on your wedding day, why stinge on the one thing which will immortalise it forever?..“

Think about it while I show a photograph…. a blog post without photos is boring

image by Daphne Gan.. thanks girl

.. .and this is my own saying…

“.. to be a good photographer, one must be comfortable to be in front of the camera..”

Last weekend was a very tiring weekend.

Jason and I were asked to cover Sunny and Patricia’s engagement last Saturday in Singapore. Since both Jason and I both do not know Singapore well, we decided to spend the night in Johor and then catch a cab into Singapore. Our initial plan was to head down south after work on Friday. Which was also why we decided again driving into Singapore, especially at night. Anyways, to cut the story short, it was a financial disaster. The next round, we will drive directly into Singapore.

Sunny and Patricia were great to work with. They had great friends who were also wonderful in front of the camera. I think it is important that subjects are comfortable in front of the camera. This paves the way to even greater photos. Of course a good photographer makes the subject feels comfortable, but only if you have the luxury of time. In our case, or rather in most actual day weddings or engagements, time is usually not a luxury that we have.

Here are some of the teaser photos taken during that Saturday. More will come later.

See.. friendly people. Very eager to be in front of the camera.

All photos were shot with the AF-S 50mm f1.4G lens wide open @ f1.4, except for the last one which was shot at f2.8.

After the registration, they headed off to a nice cruise in a yatch. Everything was completed by lunch time and the happy couple ensured that we had a full tummy before letting us off. How considerate of them.

Jason and I then wondered Singapore for a bit before deciding that we were a little too tired to wonder anymore and thus headed back to Johor in preparation of our long drive home. So that Saturday, I had my shower at 5am. The next shower I had was almost midnight. I was smelly, sticky and extremely tired. My nice comfortable bed never felt nicer.