Instant Photography, Live Event Photography by LiveStudios

Willy did a shoot for Samsung and the photo was being placed for advertisement on 9 April 2010, The Straits Times.

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Last week, Willy has had the pleasure to conduct a workshop at World Gourmet Summit 2010: An Afternoon of Photography Appreciation with Leica. Together with food stylist, Chef Anderson Ho, they share tips on food photography and styling techniques at Singapore Tourism Board’s Auditorium.

Getting started

A shiny, metallic surface to demonstate reflection. The ‘before’ shot.

And after…

The setup. Using clamps to hold the styrofoam boards to bounce off light in a certain direction and having black cardboards as background to provide an edge for light reflection.

Chef Anderson, on the other hand, is preparing the hero dish. It is interesting to note that food for photography should not be eaten (unless you wish to) as they are specially handled. This means to say that the food are either not fully cooked (as above, Chef is just flaming the squid for its visual appeal)… or you just don’t want to eat them upon seeing how they are being handled during preparation.

A small step ladder comes into handy in this case.

One trick to make your food shine – glycerin. You can opt fpr egg white as a more readily available option.

Getting the aperture, ISO and white balance right is just the first step. The purpose of food photography is to represent the dish at its best in a single shot. You will have to twig its ingredients around for it to look tastier.

Pulling the clam from behind the pasta and adjusting the position and angle of each clam to reveal the juices they contain.

You may also wish to consider what you would like to highlight in the dish, and ensuring that other ingredients do not steal its limelight. Therefore, it usually takes quite some time to manually adjust not only the settings of the camera, but also the presentation of dishes.

Due to a shortage of time, we didn’t manage to demonstrate capisicums being dunked into water as we had originally intended to. Click here to view the shots that we have done in our studio.

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It’s been a long while since we’ve updated this space. The past year has had been busy. We had more than 500 events that kept us going despite the worldwide economic crisis and we are really thankful for all our clients who have been supporting us all this while.

So here’s to another event(full) year ahead! New year resolutions (yes, we know it has been 4 months past the new year)? One of them is definitely to keep this space updated religiously!

Microsoft has organised a Photosynth 360 contest offering a unique look at Singapore’s historic, cultural and sporting landmarks using Microsoft® PhotoSynth technology. This competition encourages students and photo enthusiasts to select, capture and stitch photos of Singapore attractions into one big interactive 3D viewing experience.

Now you may be wondering how it all works. Photosynth takes your photos, mashes them together and recreates a 3D scene out of them that anyone can view and move around in. Vastly different from static photos and video, Photosynth allows you to explore details of places, objects, and events unlike any other media. You can’t stop video, move around and zoom in to check out the smallest details, but with Photosynth you can. And you can’t look at a photo gallery and immediately see the spatial relation between the photos, but with Photosynth you can. You get to visit places that you may not have been, yet knowing the exact details of each spot!

This contest positions Singapore as an ideal location to host international events like the Youth Olympic Games, as it presents Singapore’s unique cultural heritage, architecture and exclusive sporting infrastructure in a virtual 3D format to the international public. Beyond the games, the contest is a celebration of Singapore’s cityscape, and serves as an avenue for youth to express their creative interpretation of landmarks in a cinematic and immersive way. All the 3D synths of Singapore sites will be permanent fixtures on Bing Maps.

“It’s clear that photography has taken off in a big way in Singapore – there were a number of great synths that really captured the essence of a given landmark. Synthing opens up new areas for photographers, at any experience level, to express their creativity and create more artistic imagery. This competition was a great platform for encouraging young photographers to experiment with composition, lighting and how a fully 360 degree image differs from a static shot. Being able to have their work immortalised on Bing Maps is also pretty cool,” commented Willy, one of the judges for the contest.

Over an interview at Mediacorp Radio 938LIVE, Willy shares what this is all about with Keith Nakamura, John Fernandez and Zainolabidin Bin Esa. Check out the photosynth of the studio done at http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=54efa70e-9f9b-4fd5-a07d-39dde548ecd6.

Or do drop a visit at http://www.photosynth.net for more information.

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Our CEO and chief photographer, Willy Foo, was interviewed by The New Paper as one of the nominees for the 2009 Martell’s Rising Personality Award. As we were thrilled and happy for his nomination, we were also happy to be involved in the Martell events that are on-going currently. The Martell Award is an annual effort to give recognition to 10 talents who are on the path of success and rising above. Voters will also be rewarded with exclusive prizes from Martell for their effort in giving support. To find out more, visit http://www.martell.com.sg. Here is the full write-up of the interview, titled Sharing Stories With His Lens, featured on page 27 of The New Paper on 18 Jan 2009:

We often forget who was behind the camera when we look at a beautiful picture. However, Willy Foo is one photographer who deserves all the credit he gets. Not only is the 33-year old an award-winning photographer, his effort in promoting his passion in Singapore is commendable. He regularly judges photography and conducts workshops for budding photographers. We find out what the man behind the lens is like.

Q: What makes a good photograph?

A: A good photograph should evoke an emotion or carry a message. It could be sharing a grandmother’s joy of playing with her grandson or stimulating a thought        about preserving the beauty of nature.

Q: What makes a good photographer?

A: Other than being technically capable, a good photographer needs to communicate with both the subject of the photo and the viewer who looks at it.

Q: What is your most memorable photoshoot?

A: It was a shoot in a nature reserve in Seychelles, on an island called Cousin Island. There are thousands of birds on this little island and I took more good photos in that one hour than I ever did in my past four years of natue photography.

Q: Who is the most famous personality you’ve shot – and any secrets to share about him?

A: The one that probably struck me the most was Jackie Chan. I’ve shot him on two occasions and he’s always very friendly, with no airs at all. a very likeable person indeed.

Q: Do you like being photographed?

A: While I’m more comfortable being behind the camera, I know better than to shy away from the camera when people is pointing at me because people who sun the camera almost always spoil a potentially nice shot.

Q: There’s a rising popularity in photography among the youth here – how do you feel about that?

A: It’s fantastic that more people are picking up photography. It’s an easily accessible hobby and does not need to be expensive. I’ve started a “Singapore Photographers” group on facebok and currently have about 2,300 members. We have weekly contests, monthly gatherings and a very active community who’s there to learn and share in the spirit of helping each other.

Q: Who motivates you? Who inspires you?

A: Al Reis and Jack Trout, who wrote the infamous 22 Imutable Laws of Marketing. The book was published in 1993 but the concepts are still applicable today.

Q: What does the future hold for you?

A: I am planning to expand my range of services and I’m also starting to conduct courses for photography.

Q: What is your favorite genre of photography?

A: I would say travel photography. You are in a different environment and everything is new. You get fresh inspiration and you start to see things differently as well.

Q: What does it mean to be a Rising Personality, and what’s the best way to drink your Martell Cognac?

A: Its an affirmation that I’m on the right track and that I should’nt rest on my laurels. Try Martell with green tea. Its a pleasant mix.

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Martell recognises personalities who have risen to be the best in their industries. I am one of the lucky 10 who have been presented this award by Martell for 2008. More information profiles and videos can be seen from http://martell.com.sg. Click to ‘Rise Above’ and ‘More Information’.

Martell held the event at Old School and totally transformed the hall into a posh area befitting of the Martell label.

2 of our photographers were assigned to cover the event with David my business partner trying his hands on the camera as well – some decent results, considering he was fairly new behind the camera. Here’s a photo he took of me and Filmmaker & Photographer Nicholas Chee.

The awardees posed for a group photo with the head honcho of Martell. There are 10 awardees but Tim Nga, the actor couldn’t make it due to an overseas assignment.

Guests posed by a photowall as they were ushered in to the event area.

After the trailer video introducing each of us played on the screen, a spotlight behind the screen turned on casting a silhouette of the awardees as the screen is raised.

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We had the pleasure of being the photographer for the incentive trips for the top performers for AIA Hong Kong. About 200 star performers stayed at the Hyatt Century Plaza hotel in LA and had to tour around some of the highlights of the city.

We took a visit to the Hollywood Walk of the Stars where everyone took photos with the stars on the floors and the costume characters on the street.

We then visited Universal Studios where the main highlight was the tour where we were shown how some of the hollywood special effects were done.

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STB hosted the annual awards ceremony at the Esplanade concert hall.

Guests started arriving and the stars mingled in with the crowds. Here’s K.F Seetoh of the Makansutra fame.

A crowd of enthusiastic people awaiting the ceremony gathered at the foyer area before the doors opened for seating.

The presentation revolved around a theme of visiting the galactic system and the performances were accompanied with wonderful costumes and stage lighting.

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We were interviewed on an article about Wifi, Technology & Facebook by the National Chinese Newspapers. It appeared on the Front page and page 5 of ZB Now.

Here’s a condensed scan to put them together. Click on it to see the full article.

The article describes how Live Photography was conceived in 2003 when had to lug around a notebook in a haversack to physically wire my camera to transfer the image. (I was in a suit and the notebook heating up in the haversack makes it hot & tiring). It also talks about out digital guestbook which featured the photo in Opening of B-One at The Singapore Marriott.

Here’s a translated portion:

WiFi, modern technology used to broaden base in Facebook
An article by Wu Qing Kang

Wireless network present unlimited business opportunities

Besides the popular Facebook, WiFi is gaining ground rapidly in the past two years, bringing along enormous commercial opportunities. Creator and Photographer Willy Foo taps on his IT background and hence started LiveStudios.

Also a Facebook-er, Willy is the perpetual photographer for many local social events. His unique selling point is using WiFi to showcase the newly taken photos onto the big screen live on stage. WiFi also allows immediate print-outs of these images into customized wallet-sized photocards for guests as memory keepsakes.

A Computer Science graduate from National University of Singapore, Willy has been exploring the opportunities of wireless network. His technical expertise may have made him the very first high-tech photographer in local social scenes.

Recalling the start-up process, he commented, “I began research on wireless connection in 2003. Besides my camera, I had to lug around a notebook in a haversack to physically wire my camera to transfer the image. It’s really cumbersome. However with the advancement of wireless technology, I can now use WiFi to do it all efficiently, with negligible delay.”

Besides customizing the photocards with company logos, Willy also combines Facebook and Web 2.0 to create a “Live Album” as a online digital album. Event guests also get to sign off and doodle on their selection of album photos (”Digital Guestboook”, as shown in photo in article), and even download these images to their phones and other devices. These value-added services give Willy an advantaged edge over competitors and are separately charged.

 An online version of the article can be found at http://it.zaobao.com/pages9/commerce071228.shtml

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Esprit reopened on the 2nd floor of Raffles City with a bigger shopping area and even a members lounge complete with lockers and internet access to let the kids & the guys rest while the ladies shop! Hmm.. I want a membership

The talented Andrea Fonseca was the emcee for the day.

Maya and Eileen amusing themselves posing with the photocards.

Models paraded around with Esprit fashion wear choregraphed by the renowned Daniel Boey.
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I spoke at the PIX conference on “Marketing Yourself” to photographers from Singapore and around asia.
Interestingly, Kid Chan, probably the most well-known wedding photographer in Malaysia introduced himself to me just before my talk. I was plesantly surprised having heard at lot of his fame and have wanted to have a chat with him.

On the 2nd day, I was moderating the discussion panel on “Online Photography Forums & Photo Hosting Sites – How do they impact the photographer?”

From Left, Willy (LiveStudios), Eddie Ng (Organiser for Crossing Bridges), Yusof (Founder of PhotoMalaysia.com), Kristupa (Fotografer.net), Peng Eik (Moderator of ClubSNAP.com) and Simon (Founder of ClubSNAP.com)

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