Behind the scenes - Willy Foo

Was quite surprised when Willy dropped me a note on modelmayhem to request for a shoot today. Being a weekday, I had to apply leave in order to attend the shoot. Makeup starts around 1 hr 40 minutes before shoot and thanks to Alycia for agreeing to come over to help out despite last minute arrangement!

It's a test shoot with Leica M9 and Noctilux-M 50mm F0.95 that's worth a whooping 27k! (Camera body 11.5k and lens 16k) They call it the ferrari among the cameras. It's not an easy camera to shoot with indeed. The focusing is extremely challenging and I will need to maintain the poses for a substantial longer period. We started shooting around maxwell road, followed by red dot museum and within my condo area. As we were taking a break, we were contemplating about the next image for subsequent shoots. I mentioned that I will love to do a trash a gown shoot. Immediately, Willy called his friend to arrange for a gown rental. In order to capture motion, we need to be in a moving vehicle. Next, Willy actually called Audi to get an Audi A3. Kudos to him loh!


Changed gown, added veil, collected car. We are ready for business!


Pardon my monkey face, I have to point and go gaga over that darn expensive but powerful camera.


Finally a proper picture of me and Willy. Sorry loh... I'm not Fann but I also look not bad in wedding gown lah! (He's the appointed photographer for Fann's wedding yesterday @_@!)

We shot till evening and I have not eaten for the whole day. Exhausting shoot but extremely fun!

Ranked number 1 as my craziest photoshoot! Behold for pictures....

Black Pepper Smoked Salmon with Fish Roe Explosion

Ingredients

100g Black pepper smoked salmon
3 tblsp Japanese mayonnaise
50g Flying fish roe

Directions

1. Roll smoked salmon into rose petal shape.
2. Top salmon with mayonnaise.
3. Sprinkle fish roe on top of salmon.

Darn easy and a super orgasmic appetizer.

Caramel Custard Pudding

Ingredients

Caramel:
40g sugar
10ml hot water

Custard:
200ml fresh milk
10g sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
30g sugar

Directions

1. Caramel: Melt sugar in a sauce pan, stir until golden brown. Once it starts bubbling, stir in hot water then remove from heat.
2. Lightly grease the moulds, then fill each mould with about 1 teaspoon of caramel. Swirl the mould to coat bottom of mould when the caramel is still hot. Set aside for later use.
3. Custard: Bring together milk and sugar, bring to boil on low heat then stir in vanilla essence. Turn the heat off and set aside for later use.
4. In a mixing bowl, lightly whisk eggs with sugar. Then pour in milk in stream, whisk rapidly until well blended.
5. Sift the mixture then fill each mould with mixture, and steam on low heat for 15-20 minutes. If using oven, place moulds in a tray then fill tray with water. Cover tray with aluminium foil. Bake at preheated oven, 140ºC for 25-30 minutes.
6. Turn the heat off, let puddings stay in the steamer or oven for further 10 minutes.
7. Chill before serving.
   

Pâtisserie Glacé

Found a very interesting cake shop and tried the strawberry soufflé. Very delicate flavor with a well balance between cheese cake and a thin sponge cake base. Fresh strawberries and cream makes the cake very enjoyable. I have no idea why it's call soufflé as it has a denser texture to be called one. $5.30 / piece. Better to get it after 6pm Mon-Fri!

Tian Tian Hainanese Curry Rice

Had curry rice for lunch today. At the price tag of $6.80 for pork chop, mixed vegetable and assam fish, I seriously think it's absolutely not worth it. Everything was skimpy, cold and the "special" curry sauce mix wasn't even outstanding. I don't mind paying more at an atas place, but the food quality is really quite lousy....... Quality control people!

The Queen & Mangosteen

We were off to The Queen & Mangosteen @ Vivocity for dinner on Friday night. Draft chilled Achipelago lager from the tap after a long day at work, heavenly!


Had bangers and mash that the servers introduced as one of the best sellers. Bad choice, all the sausages tasted dry and unfresh. Mash taste bland and the caramelized onions aren't anything to shout about.


Fish & chips saves the day with its fresh fillets and curry tartar sauce.

Overall, a very nice place to hang out. Good choice of music that was not too loud and you can still talk comfortably with your mates.

Two pints of lager, bangers & mash and fish & chips for around $80 bucks. Reasonable priced, but I wasn't too happy eating sausages that requires chewing till the sun comes down.

TFCD / TFP part II

To dos and not to dos

Very often I hear complains and compliments from photographer and model friends about good and bad points of both parties.

Let's list down some crucial points for model side:

To dos

• Sleep early! Your eyes can tell tiredness.... If you go out dating or clubbing till 2/3am the night before and your shoot commences at 9am. Your photos will sure lack the energy as your eyes will look fatigue. You can do whatever facial or skin care but that can be fixed easily by photoshop. If your eyes look tired, it's super tough to redraw your eyes in photoshop! I've not seen much photographers that has the effort to do it. Most probably they might just junk the photos.
• Groom yourself. Clean, trimmed eyebrows, proper filed nails (NO flaking nail polish or elaborate nail decoration) and whatever that makes you look neat. Unless you are shooting Tarzan female edition.
  
• Pack your wardrobe ahead. This is a good habit to pack everything before the shoot and not leave till the last minute to prevent missing anything. There's no time for you to go home to take things especially if you are shooting in studio. Every minute cost $.
• Be on time! Nobody likes to wait for others. Especially if you are shooting in studio, you are wasting money for being late.
• Be HONEST! If you are 1.60 meters tall, don't lie saying you are 1.70m. Don't tell photographers your primary school weight. Photographers are not idiots. Also be direct with any tattoos, pimples outbreak, braces.
  

Not to dos

• Do NOT wear flip flops........... Unless you are taking a super casual shoot where flip flops are required. Else NEVER wear flip flops! It makes you look unprofessional and wearing heels has it's benefits as it will automatically makes your body have it's natural curves with solid calves (Of course not heels that's only half inch tall).
• Go without makeup and there's not makeup artist (MUA) provided. Unless you look like an angel, admit it, we are all prettier with makeup on. The camera lens is ruthless and have no compassion to make you pretty automatically and you have to DO IT YOURSELF. Moreover, with a light makeup, your skin will look quite nude on photos. Without makeup? Challenging isn't it? Even plain lipstick will make you look very different. There's no excuse of, I-don't-know-how-to-put-makeup.
• Weird color contact lenses. If you are asian, stick with brown or dark colors will be the safest. It doesn't matter light brown or dark brown but just keep it to a reasonable tone. You can use your amazing rainbow color contacts for other occasions as you do not want to look like an alien in close up photos.
• Don't bring your daddy, mummy, sisters, brothers, boyfriend, ah gong, ah ma or your dog to the shoot. It's a photoshoot, not picnic. If you need to bring someone, obtain permission from photographer first.
  
• Mismatching outfits. You will not wear a office jacket with bermudas right? If you are doing a lingerie shoot, PLEASE wear matching top and bottoms! Else I rather you shoot in your birthday suit...
  

Photo-shooting are not anyhow do anyhow shoot. Hence, do your homework!

Photography by Mark Pascasio

This is a very interesting shoot with Mark who's an expert in lighting setups. It's our first shoot and the pictures are turning out so vibrant and energetic! We had a fairly short shoot and it was really hot outdoors. Nevertheless, I love the photos!! Thanks Mark!

I also had a very interesting makeup that's super colorful! I'm always soooo interested in colors and trying something creative!


Here's a photo that I obtained from MUA after she did my makeup. Thanks Angeline!!

Project T concoction....

I had great fun at Project T gathering!!! Me & Cindy was assisting for this gathering and not the actual models for this shoot. But we managed to get some smashing pictures too!











Love all the pics! Love you guys!!!

Attitude photographer? BUCK off!

I always apply the power of nice to most people around me. But you can never expect a perfect world or people treating you the way you treat them. In short, there are Assholes around us.

Besides scammers and cheaters in photography world, there's another category that you should always try to avoid. Neck high attitude photographers who thinks they are more superior than models or thinks they can take bloody good photos.

In TFCD, usually there will not be any monetary exchange. I do not charge the photographer any single cents or proposed a TFCD rate. And I'm still being given attitude???? What the.....

I have to list this example here. His nick is known as Tan SLR. He approached me for a shoot in the beginning with a nice attitude.

Tan Slr July 20 at 11:44am

hi Novia,
I am attempting a bridal fashion shoot in late Aug. I would like invite you as one of the preferred models. Let me know your thots.

Its going to be very different from the everyday white bridal gowns..

Novia Lim July 20 at 11:46am

Hi there!

Bridal fashion especially something different sounds very exciting! Count me in!

Cheers,
Novia

Tan Slr July 20 at 11:50am

cool.... yippie..
brief concept outline... today's bridal shoots are usually White... ya...

I am attempting to do a full RED and BLACK wedding gown shoot.. for the morning, evening will be RED/BLACK evening gowns... I will leave you out of the Bridal Lingerie shoot session...

Raymond...

He's still nice enough to study my portfolio to know that I don't do lingerie theme.

But afterwards, attitude starts to surface... As it is a bridal gown shoot, I'm required to go down to the bridal studio for gown fitting. I preempted him on the days that I will not be available for fitting but realised that the schedules he has given is way too tight as I have travel plannings during August period. He attempted to squeeze three models schedules into each individual fittings and seems to forget which days I'm not available. He started to be extremely impatient and his messages changed into short and extremely straightforward. Lastly, he did not mentioned that it will be a two full day shoot. I'm ok with both days but will need to leave early for day 1 around 5pm. He did not want to shift his timing to start from morning and simply replied. "Then I have to drop you."

There's nothing wrong with a shoot did not turn out to be. Quite often we have some shoots that didn't materialize in the end. But what's with the bad attitude? The most childish part? He removed me from his facebook account!!! Get a life dude!

PS: My friend saw his bridal photos and told me they didn't look good. Karma.... *Kiaks*

Traditional Beef Stew

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for frying, plus more to drizzle
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 to 3 pounds beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 2-inch pieces (this cut is also called chuck shoulder pot roast and chuck roast boneless)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bottle good quality dry red wine (recommended: Burgundy)
8 fresh thyme sprigs
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 orange, zest removed in 3 (1-inch) strips
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups beef stock
9 small new potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut in 1/2
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups frozen pearl onions, a large handful
1 pound white mushrooms, cut in 1/2
1/2 pound garden peas frozen or fresh
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Directions
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil and butter.

While the pan is heating, arrange the flour on a large dish. Season the cubed beef with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and then toss in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour and add the beef chunks in a single layer to the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan, you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate and reserve.

Add the wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon being sure to loosen up all those tasty bits. Once the wine has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, smashed garlic, orange zest strip, ground cloves, freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the liquids start to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours.

After 2 hours add halved potatoes, sliced carrots, pearl onions and mushrooms, along with a pinch of sugar to balance out the acid from the red wine. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Add the frozen peas during the last minute of cooking. Season with salt and pepper and remove the thyme sprigs.

To serve, place the stew in a soup bowl, garnish with parsley and drizzle with olive oil.

TFCD / TFP part I

TFCD / TFP, Time For CD or Time for Print means that it's a collaboration between the model and the photographer. The job is usually unpaid for both parties and the model will receive a CD or print of some or all of the shots taken during the shoot in exchange for her time.

So, how and where do you get your first TFCD?

You can either approach photography hobbyist friends or join social networking sites like multiply.com, clubsnap.com or other photography related websites. But first, you will need to have a decent photo to "promote" yourself. You can either set up a multiply account and post recent photos of yourself or post your photos on clubsnap forum to request for a TFCD shoot.

Do not post funny, casual pictures of yourself half drunk clubbing, taking photos in toilet and expect people to respond to your casting. To gather the best response, post your most smashing (in a pretty way) photo.

In your TFCD request, you can identify the theme that you will like to be photographed. The most general term for a normal shoot can be, casual, fashion etc. Very often, TFCD photographers like to shoot theme like sexy, sensual, bikini, lingerie, artistic which means implied nude or even nude. You know, the stuffs we see on magazines, the FHM, hot steaming stuffs...

Do be careful of suspicious requests that requires you to be in bikini, lingerie or nude. Unless you want photos of that genre, it will always be best to avoid such theme in the beginning.

Always communicate! Communication is the best tool to detect scam photographers. Make sure that you get on emails, msn or any type of communication tool to gather more details of the shoot. If you sense anything suspicious, find excuses to drop off from the shoot or request the photographer to sign model releases form before heading down for the shoot. If you are really uncomfortable, request to bring a friend along.

Best of luck!

How to kick start your modeling portfolio

Firstly, I'm not a model but I'm glad I have the opportunity to work with outstanding photographers to build up my portfolio.

From young, I've never inspired to be a professional model as I'm not tall and not exactly beautiful. Through networking and friends, I got to know an amazing group of photographers thru social networking sites and personal recommendations.

So how do you kick start your portfolio?

Forget scams "modeling agencies" that charges you few hundred bucks for a simple portfolio and promises to get assignments for you. Very often the makeup artist(MUA) and photographers DON'T do a good job.

Reputable agencies will not charge you a single cent for photographing your portfolio.

I will personally recommend sourcing for good makeover studios or even portraits photographers.

If you do not know how to do your own makeup, makeover studio might be a better alternative as you will be able to get a decent startup portfolio around $200 bucks with makeup and hair-do inclusive.

If you will want to engage an individual photographer, you can either do your own makeup and hair, or engage a MUA around additional $80.

Personally, I paid for my first photoshoot because I've always wanted professionally taken photos for myself and my favorite photographer happened to have a photoshoot promotion going on.

Next I will introduce TFCD / TFP, Time for Print or Time For CD -

Means that the job is unpaid, and the model will receive a CD or print of some or all of the shots taken during the shoot in exchange for her time.

Tenderloin with red wine caramelized onions

Something special for your special someone. I paired it with kani potato salad.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup water or beef broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 beef tenderloins, 6 to 8 ounces each
Additional salt and pepper
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Additional butter to thicken sauce

Directions
To caramelize the onions, heat a medium skillet over medium-high. Add the 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter. Add the onions, sugar, salt and pepper. Sauté until very soft and nicely browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from pan. Return the pan to a hot burner. Add the water or broth and bring to a boil, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. Remove from heat and save for later.

To make the tenderloins, heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the 1 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle the tenderloins on both sides with salt and pepper to taste. Add to the hot pan. Sauté until desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for rare. Remove the meat from the pan. Add the wine and reserved broth from onion pan. Reduce for 2 or 3 minutes, scraping the bottom of pan as it boils. Add the thyme and onions. Return the meat to the pan with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Stir in about 1 tablespoons butter just until melted. Serve immediately, spooning some sauce and onions over each serving or as a base for tenderloin as display in picture.

Bruschetta

This appetizer is a never failing crowd pleaser and extremely easy to make.

Ingredients

3 fresh tomatoes
1 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and spun dry
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or 1/2 lemon juice
8 cloves garlic, peeled
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large French baquettes, sliced 1-inch thick (about 36 slices)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. You can toast the baguette in a toaster if you do not have an oven.

Dice tomatoes, basil leaves, 4 garlic into chunky pieces. Combine ingredients, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar or lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

On a baking sheet, line up baguette slices. Toast in oven for about 3 minutes or until light golden brown. Working quickly, rub the remaining garlic on the toasted side of each slice. Spread one tablespoon of the tomato mixture on each piece.

Photoshoot gathering - Project T

Went for a photoshoot gathering with multiply.com gang last Saturday.

It's so nice and finally get to match faces to our online buddies.


TG & Nic


Girls having fun...


Me kapoing for random shoots. Kaka!


we can even pose with a sandwich..... Pengs... It was fun meeting new friends! Super chio and friendly models can! From left, Calista, Faith, Welna, Novia, Cindy, Vivian. Hugs all of you!


Left to right: Nicholas, Michael, Bend1ck, Tiong Ghee, Simon, Calvin, David, Wayne Soh


I've always wanted to have a picture of me and Cindy!!! This picture captures our different personalities very well. I'm the bochup type and she's the bubbly one. Thanks Nic!

Thanks to Michael! We had a great gathering!!!

Photography by DeadPoet 2

Did another shoot with Antony again and this time round in a more professional studio. Antony brought a long something that I love.... I always love samurai swords!! Thanks Antony! I'm still waiting for the pictures!!!

Kani Potato Salad

This is super easy and super yummy! It taste best if you get the real crab meat and not the imitation type.

Ingredients

4 potatoes
10 crab legs (Can be found in Giant)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 spring onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1 Put potatoes into a saucepan. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add water until potatoes are covered. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes, or until done - a fork can easily be poked through them.

2 Drain water from potatoes. Put hot potatoes into a bowl. Add mayonnaise and 8 shredded crab legs. You can use fork or potato masher to mash potatoes until well mashed. Salt and pepper to taste.

3 Sprinkle diced spring onions on top.

Behind the scenes - Benjamin Seetor

Off to a professional studio!


Benjamin setting up his macbook and lightings.


The entire studio is BLACK! Quite pretty!


All set and ready.


Even have a attached dressing table and changing room... Real Cool!

Photography by Benjamin Seetor

Did my first black and white series with Benjamin. I really like the overall mood and the superb shadowing effects. Thanks Benjamin! Let's plan for our next shoot!