Year 2014 – Professional Photography Journey Began

Smart Tuition
The tuition agency business was somehow as stagnant as before. I did not have the time and energy to “expand” it. The lack of credible and suitable coordinators was the main problem. There were quite a number of people emailing us to take up the job but we did not want to take any risk as we really wanted to help clients and tutors to our best ability and not treating it like a business. It was thanks to the existing team, especially Tricia and ET, that the business was able to sustain. We continued to meet weird people along the way and I got more and more weary of dealing with ridiculous and cunning people as well.
Photography
I took my photography to the next level by upgrading to a full frame camera. More people started approaching me and I began to take up event shoot instead of just sticking to portrait shoots. It was a tiring journey. I got to meet more people both online and offline. I was very excited to interact with all the good people in real person. However, just as there were many kind people in this world, I had encountered many eat-full-nothing-to-do people. It was irritating enough for “shoppers” to enquire for the fees when I had already stated the minimal amount on the website, but there were also many who were worse. I had entertained many people who had shown so much interest in engaging my help. We chatted for long time and I gave them advices but they eventually decided to waste my time.
Family
Things were pretty much the same as previous years, except that we were all more enthusiastic towards the arrival of my elder brother’s new BTO flat, which should be ready by end of year 2015 or beginning of 2016. By then, our current flat would be more “spacious” and there would be less conflicts. My house might still be very messy since it was my mum’s characteristic to keep everything. However, there might be a change in her attitude when we had an “extra room” while my elder brother would not help to mess up the living room again. Eventually, there would be a big problem for the family as my elder brother was a handy man. Apart from that, my mum continued to put stress to me, while I worked from home, by creating
Health
I had my right arm and wrist injured for a long period of time. The arm was due to volleyball games while wrist was because of holding to the heavy camera on a single hand for long duration. I fell sick twice for a long period of time too, taking panadol tablets more than I had ever taken in my entire life. My health was badly affected by my neighbours’ puppy who barked loudly every morning. My neighbours were helpless over the aggressive dog who was trying to destroy their main door.
Volleyball
My gang was quite active for beach volleyball games until towards the end of the year. Everyone was very busy, especially for those who were doing shift jobs. We finally had an indoor court game because of Jingkun’s request before his marriage. That was the first time I played on an indoor hard court after years.
Friendship
I felt I was disconnected with most of my friends. The struggle for work and photography had massacred every single thought to catch up with my old friends. I had no time to think of giving away presents or whatsoever. In the last three months of the year, I had to attend six wedding though and I had to be the “brother” for two of them. Photography did help me gain many new friends but not many kept in touch with me, most probably because the models were mainly into getting good photos. At least, they knew my character and felt safe to be with me.
Love
Boy-girl-relationship was a flat zero score for me. Due to photography, communication with people was mainly about the hobby. I did not really find new net friends to chat, except for a few occasions, I was curious with some sites like OKcupid, Omegle and the phone app Tinder. I was too busy to utilize them. Besides, it was not my forte to fight for attention with thousands of guys.
Conclusion
My life was stagnant except for the progress in photography. I did not party nor meet friends often to chill up together. To many people, my life was boring but I was glad that I was living it differently and meaningfully. Some people might be seeking to enjoy their lives to the fullest by partying around, some wanted different experiences of sexual partners; I sought to establish a name for myself and be remembered positively after leaving this world.

Printable 2015 Calendar Planner

Try downloading and printing out Calendar Planner for year 2015, which is done by me!
Every year, I’m creating this Calendar Planner for everyone. It is something simple and I’m glad quite a number of people have complimented me over this free tool.
Someone be nice and print out a copy for me as well!

Spread the Love – December 2014

During my photoshoot with Lurvelle, Kelvin Sim joined in and offered very great assistance. He was able to even get safety pins during late night at Clarke Quay. During the entire shoot, he had been taking other great initiatives to offer his help. It was a culture shock for me because “escorts” of models were usually not more than “security guards”. I was very impressed with his courtesy and humbleness.
While helping Lurvelle with her three young models for their portfolio shoots, Kelvin Sim, Lester and Jacky joined in. Apart from rendering help, the presence of the three great guys made me feel heartwarming. It was good to hang out with people who were sincerity nice and had no secret agenda.
Mingfa’s youngest son, Elnathan, turned one year old. Weitat was too busy with his work could not make it down. Despite he was the main “organiser” for our usual outing, his absence did not hinder our trip down to attend the party. Gin, the great one took over the role and made arrangements. His timings were good and I was very impressed. Jingjie was another hero who actually took the trouble to ferry us (Gin, Bernard and I). It was an enjoyable trip with them to collect the cake for Mingfa. He also dropped me at Clementi MRT at the end of the day. Besides, it was illegal to stop at the bus-stop and Jingjie actually made a round by dropping me at the car park instead. Last but not listed, Jingkun also made his offer to fetch me from Bukit Batok, even though I took Jingjie’s car instead.
Mandy and Sharon Yeo were the hair and makeup artist and assistant during the couple shoot with Terry and Lynwen. They were very kind and easygoing, and also, literally strong. They rendered great helps during the shoot, including carrying of my heavy camera bag at times when we were shifting locations.
Terry, the man who made both Lynwen and I laughed throughout the shoot was the man who really made the shoot a success. Since the couple did not want any posing during the shoot, Terry had to make his wife smile in order to get natural photos. It was to the point that I forgot to snap photos while I was too entertained by him as well. He also gave us a treat at the end of the shoot.
During Christmas Eve, Gilbert asked me to go downstairs to meet him. I knew he was “up to no good” but gladly abide to his request. As expected, he passed me my Christmas present. While I had been spending all my time on work and photography, I did not leave any room to plan what to get for my friends during their birthdays and festivals. Gilbert was the only person who did not mind not receiving anything from me and instead, kept giving the little “smiles” and support that I needed.
While most of the time when I messaged Tricia Lee, it was for the sake of my photoshoot stuffs, she was glad to help me. Over time, guilt piled up but I continued to disturb her. She was always there for me, even during Christmas Eve.
It was Kachua’s wedding dinner, the sixth and last wedding for the last three months of year 2014 that I had to attend. Gim Young texted me and offered to give me a ride. Since he was staying in Holland Village, Orchard was actually very near his place. He ended up taking a much longer route to the hotel eventually because of me.