Thursday, April 29, 2010

Schedule Of Taiwan Wedding Shoot

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 9:37 PM

6:50am -- Arrival at the studio

Yes, its not a mistake! Actually, we got to reach the studio at 7:00am, but we are early, not on time! You must be scratching your head thinking dun have to be so "Kua Zhang" bah? I can tell you, "Boh Bian", got to be "Kua Zhang"!


Saw the picture? This is taken when we are on the way to the studio. And this is the skyline of Taiwan 6:30am in the morning! If its isn't cloudy that day, 6:30am will definitely be brighter than this.

Yap, that's how the day lasted! Since Uncle Sunny woke up super early, so he will end work early too! Normally, the sun will set around 6:oopm. So that's why "Boh Bian", got to start early!

7:00am -- Start to Make-Up


Start of a busy day!!! The procedure is abit different in Singapore! In Singapore, they will start off with the make-up first and curl the hair with a hand-held curler. But in Taiwan, they dun use hand-held curler. They used the pre-heated plastic curler.

I look like some Hong Kong "Bao Zhu Po"! Its very difficult to be "Bao Zhu Po"! Wah liao, the curler is killing me like crazy! Ouch ouch ouch...


Finally, my make up is done! Opps... my hair not done yet and its like 9plus already!

And look at Darling, he looks blur, seems like just woke up from his sleep!

9:15am -- Darling's turn for beauty consultation
Im done! My hair had grown long! I can recommend you the formulae for hair growth... Haha... That's the difference between Taiwan and Singapore, they seems to like long hair. So if you got short hair, they will give you wigs.

Darling is all set ready to "Ban Mei Mei"...


Some shaving of eyebrows to be done to make the overall effect better!




See, now Darling's eye brow looks much more neater!



Finally, his hair! And there's also a difference in styling of hair for the guys! In Singapore, the stylist always like to have some fringe in front. But in Taiwan, they like to comb everything to the back, kind of like Shanghai Tango!
9:40am -- Let's set off


Though tired, we are very excited! Not too sure what to expect!

11:00am -- Our first location, 黄金瀑布
Its a pretty small waterfall, but what makes it beautiful is that water that flows down seems like golden in colour!

Actually, the water the very clear! Just that there some chemical reaction going on that causes the rocks to have a change in colour! That's why, its golden in colour! And the surrounding view is very outstanding!

12:10am -- Our Second location, 十三层遗址
This a very spontaneous decision! After our shoot at 黄金瀑布, our photographer suggested that we can just travel up to 十三层遗址 since its only a 10min drive up the hills only!
At first, we had our doubts as how beautiful can an industry ruin be? But we must definitely trust our photographer! It totally blew my mind away!

The industry ruin was very ancient looking with great taste! And you can overlook very famous sceneries from there. Right in front, you can get 金刚山. It was an unknown spot. If not for our driver 龙哥, we would not have take notice that the mountain looks like a "King Kong"



And by the right, we can see 阴阳海. The view of the sea is splendid! It look super majestic! Doesn't look like the normal kind of blue sea due to the contrast of the colour.



This is definitely a must go place! Just by stepping on one ground, you will be able to get two different kind of secenery and two different kind of feel! SO WHY NOT?

1:30pm -- Break for Lunch
Wosh, super hungry! 龙哥 drove us to this small temple for lunch. And the funny thing here is you can get Beef Noodles and Wanton Mee at the temple! Hmm...
Once change, quickly start to gobble my Beef Noodle. Wow, I tell you, "ITS SUPER TASTY!" And guess what 龙哥 told us? The Beef Noodle is only consider as slightly below average, not the best! So what's the best? Hmm...

Once eaten, back to work again! My make-up artist, Peggy whipped this up within 20min!

How do I know? Because Peggy was timing her speed constantly!

3:00pm -- Location 3, 野柳
This was one of the very famous tourist attraction! It was super famous with its "Queen Head". When we reached there, it was flooded with tourists, photographers and couples who are taking there wedding shoots.

I had counted! There's a total of 4 couples altogether, including us!



It was really beautiful, even the weather is very cloudy! I believe if the sun is out, the picture will be even more 诗情画意! Darling said that he will spend at least half a day there for photography next time when his back in Taiwan！

This is only a part of 野柳. We had yet to move on to the "Queen Head", then we got to run! Cos its starting to rain.... Haiz... Such a waste! I must come back here again to be the Queen at the "Queen Head"

4:15pm -- Location 4, 三芝白沙湾, 珊瑚礁
This is also another doubtful location! When we are serving the net, doing our homework. 白沙湾 was our last option, because the picture we gotten from the internet was not very tempting.

So why still want to go there? Its a last minute change due to the weather! And we want a beach feel, plus the sun is setting soon, so we need to settle to the nearest beach.

Quickly, i change and do my make-up!


Fantastic for such a short period of time, rite?

Honestly, 白沙湾 is super huge! Majority of the Taiwanese and tourist will head on to the beach part, which I will intro later. So not much tourist would know about the Coral Reef part.

The place dun look fantastic just using our common mortal eyes. But together with the lighting of the sun (which finally came out!), the pictures turn out to be totally different from our bare eyes! SUPERB!!!

Btw, please be careful when ur walking on the coral reef! I had a fall and im not wearing heels, ok! Its really very slippery!

5:30pm -- Location 5, 三芝白沙湾, 沙滩
Basically, the coral reef and the beach is side by side! So its only a 5min drive down! We are literally running to the beach once we are there cos we need to catch the sun before it sets.

Based on the internet pictures, this place looks very dirty, not that attractive. But is actually the sand which is black in colour that gives the dirty feel, the water is very very clean and clear! And before we hit the water, there's some burnt tree trunks that we can take picture, and its very beautiful!

So its definitely a great place for a great shot!

6:30pm -- Back to the studio
Luckily, the sun sets slightly later, then we have more time to take more shots! By the time we are done, its was pitch dark, machiam like 8:00pm in Singapore!

8:30pm -- Thank You Speech!


My make-up artist, Peggy! She is so sweet and thoughtful! I told her that I need to collect something from the main office in the morning, and she stills remember it in the night, even I had forgotten!



He is our driver 龙哥. He is very friendly and a joker too, whom brought us lots of joy along the way! Thanks for bringing so much laughter and knowledge to us at the same time!

He is also a tour guide! You can ask him to bring you around in Taiwan, not only in Taipei orh! And I think the price is normal tour package lor...

Our photographer and his assistant cum girlfriend -- Ah Chang and Xiao Hui! Thanks a lot for all your advices along the way to make the photo shooting process smooth sailing! And the pictures are splendid, I love them!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Tips About Outdoor Wedding Shooting In Taiwan

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 10:54 PM

My Taiwan was not as relaxed as in comparison to the Singapore one! This could be due to the fact that its outdoor in Taiwan. And furthermore, Taiwan is a huge place, travelling from one point to another can be pretty tiring!

We took our bridal package from Sophia Weddings in Singapore, and their partnering bridal studio is 浪漫一生. English translation is Romantic Life!



You need to put aside 1.5 days for the preparation and the photo shoot itself!

Normally for the first day, you will only need about half a day at the bridal studio. As for me, I was there from 2pm to 5.30pm, about 3.5hours only. Actually for the timing wise, this is very subjective on the couple themselves and whether is any homework being done.

When we reach Romantic Life, the first thing to be done is to select the wedding shoot location. I believe many had heard about Romantic Life because they are one of the few that first came to Singapore to promote about Taiwan wedding photography. And they are definitely very experienced and professional!

They have this list whereby all the famous locations are in it which you can select from. And not only that, they bundled the locations that are under the same area together, so you will not waste time travelling from one end to another end.

There will also pictures for you to take a look so that you will know what you will be getting! But of course, they are flexible too! Doesn't mean that you must pick either of the bundle of location, you still can mix and match. Just discuss your thoughts with them, no worries!

We took slightly longer time in our photography location, because the location that we wanted will be very challenging when there's bad weather. So we need to discuss on contingency plan as its been raining for the past few days!


Saw the gowns??? Yes, next come is the selection of gowns! For me, is one wedding and two evening! Let's proceed up to Level 2...

The lady who helped me with the selection was very friendly! As usual, she will asked me what kind of design I would like and as usual, I replied, "ANYTHING!" But this time round, I got say, "I dun wan red!" cos already selected a red gown in Singapore!

She took many designs for me to try. And I LOVE EVERY SINGLE OF THEM! The designs in Taiwan are totally different from Singapore -- be it the style or the colour combination, simply just blew me away!

Even though, I ended up getting other gowns, but there's this black one that I really love it! Its long sleeve and covers all the way to the neck, where on earth can we find this in Singapore?

You might think its a very conservative gown! BUT, DEFINITELY NOT! Its transclucent with beautiful patterns embroided on it. With the combination of black colour, its not only sexy, but also portrays a stint of mystery!

Other than the variety, the sewing auntie also shock me tremendously with her speed! After I had confirmed on my first gown, it was sent for amendment. When I just about to confirm the second gown, the first gown was ready for fitting! WOW!!! Tat's super fast!!!

Finally, im done! You might think that 中山北路 got nothing much, only all the bridal shops, like Tanjong Pagar. But ur wrong, just ask the bridal studio people, they will direct you to some places for yummy food before you leave the place!

Tips for Best Wedding Shoot in Taiwan:

1) Do your homework before flying over to Taiwan


2) List down the photography locations that you like and check out where it is actually situated so that you know how to group them

3) Know what kind of scenery you prefer (for eg, flowers, beach, buildings and etc) so that the staffs are able to counter proposed

4) Go at the right time -- alot of people will travel in April cos its Springtime, but Spring means crazy weather (either super cold or super hot). If go during Summer, the light is good, but the heat can kill
5) Must have contingency plan

6) Changes do happen -- bear in mind that things, even photography location might change along the way due to weather

7) DUN BE GREEDY -- too many photography locations will waste time in travelling, tired yourself up and have problem when selecting your photos

8) Communicate with your photographer along the way as you can portray different feel at different places

9) Dun be stingy! MUST bring your make-up artist along! Your make-up and hair can't last the whole day and your photos will be super boring with only one style

10) Communicate with your make-up artist

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Schedule Of An Indoor Wedding Shoot

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 10:07 PM

9.30am -- Arrival at the studio

Actually, I was slightly late =p Siow Hui was already there waiting for me and my make-up session starts immediately.


Remember not to apply anything on your hair and face, not even toner and moisturizer! If not, the make-up cannot last!

11.15am -- Darling's turn for make-up
Darling took over my place... Now he is applying ampeal (even the guys need it, I thought we could save up $25)


Cos his eyes are really small, so he needs to curl his eye lashes and put on a little mascara!

Opps... almost forgotten! His hair oso needs styling!

11.35am -- Back to the hot seat again
Yap yap... the hair is not done yet! For almost 2 hours, its only focusing on the make-up! Its definitely not exaggerating at all! Fine-tuning the eyes already quite sometime already.


And dun misunderstood, Siow Hui is not a rookie, but had been in this business for 10 years already!


Now, my hair is flying all around like a "Siao Zha Bor"... Haha...

11.25am -- Photo Shoot Commence
The assistant photographer, Jess briefed us on how the instructions will be given.

Then the photographer "Yi Ke Shu" will start off with some snapshots. Thereafter, he will show it to us and check if we are ok with the feel.

Due to our natural habit, there will be some parts that we dun like about ourselves such as tummy, fat arms, teeth and etc. He will check if we are ok, then he will adjust his angles accordingly!

2.20am -- Break for Lunch


Wow!!! Indoor shoots can be more challenging than the outdoor ones! It took us two hours to finish one style!!!
YEH, LUNCHTIME! Really very hungry!


Not very yummy looking, rite? Yes. indeed! The hokkien mee is a little cold and not very tasty, but no choice leh. Halfway through the shoot, my stomach start groaning!
So pai say, even "Yi Ke Shu" knows that im hungry!

2.40am -- Make-up starts again!
Quickly, gobble down my food, so I can quickly go for my make-up, so I can quickly start the wedding shoot, so I can quickly go home =)


I look like "Siao Zha Bor" again after letting down my hair! Luckily, this time round only takes slightly more than an hour! Cos I wanna leopard eyes, that's why spend slightly longer time, if not will be faster!


3.30am -- Photo shoot starts again!
Same old thing again! Taking shoots with different colour of backdrop! After the backdrops are done, then they open all the windows and start taking internal of the shophouse shoot.

So you will have the artificial lighting first, then the natural lighting!

5.30am -- That's All Folks!
Finally, we are done for the day! And one very interesting culture that they have is they will shout, "同学下课了!" once the shoot is done!


Siow Hui, thanks a lot for your patience and effort to make my make-up and hair so beautiful!


Jess, thanks for helping with all the lighting and arranging for my gown!
"Yi Ke Shu", thanks for your patience and your detailed instruction! I really love the outcome of the pictures!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Tips About Indoor Wedding Shoot

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 10:19 PM

Yes, I know I should be sharing about my wedding shoot in Taiwan since is like almost a week ago! But my fingers just can't stop what they need to do! Aiya, just have to talk about it!


BECAUSE YESTERDAY'S SHOOT WAS TOO OVERWHELMING!

I am EXTREMELY satisfied with the make-up, which gives totally two different kind of feel!

I am definitely not the kind of sweetie pie who like to act cute or have that romantic outlook that gives a dreamy feel. Even though im not, but definitely had tried such styling for my Taiwan wedding shoot!

So this time round, I wanted something different, but not sure what are the options? So I told my make-up artist (Siow Hui), ANYTHING! And this is what she came out with...

My wedding gown is very elegant and sweet at the same time, so my make-up was very refreshing. But I guess stylo is in me, even the head ornament was so stylish, which brings a twist!


I am always a great fan of 女人我最大. There was this episode whereby they taught us on how to draw different kind of cat eyes and leopard eyes. When I changed into my evening gown, I asked if I would be suitable for either the cat or leopard ones? And this is what she had drawn for me!


Leopard eyes must come with a super dynamic hairstyle!


I seriously look like a DIVA!!!

Make-up is only part of the element which is important to the wedding shoot! Next comes, would definitely be THE PHOTOGRAPHER!!!

Not only I am a great fan of 女人我最大, I am also a huge fan of American Next Top Model! I always like the shooting style of all the photos, they look extremely gorgeous, even the most lousy ones, look good too!

So I wanted something very different for my wedding shoot, I guess "ABSTRACT" is the word! I definitely dun want the normal kind of wedding album. Yes, its beautiful, but after flipping three pages, then there's no wow factor!

I had discussed this with my photographer, Eagle Soo (everybody calls him "Yi Ke Shu"). He was very doubtful about my acceptance level, because the angle that he captured will be the part that I had never seen of myself, and I will find it weird and unlike me.

Guess what? After the shoot, all of us are very pleased with the outcome! "Yi Ke Shu" told me that he was a wedding photographer for more than 10 years, and there's a lot of couples wanted such shots, but all of them couldn't appreciate it and find it very weird!
BUT EXCEPT ME!

Haha... I guess im the weirdest bride in history! Sorry, there's no pictures of my photo shoot! But will try to upload once its ready to selection! Now I can show you one that is taken by me =)



Tips to take note if you want the best shots:

1) Communicate openly with your make-up artists and photographer (must express your extreme do's and dun's)

2) Bring pictures of the kind of make-up and style of shooting to show them

3) Ask questions on their opinion and not jump into conclusion

4) When things get started, dun add in your opinions or remarks anymore (sometimes "I think this is better" might caused a reverse result)

5) Most importantly, BELIEVE IN THEM (hey, they have been in the business for a long time, they know wat to do one, dun worry!!!)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Junying Is The Best Nail Art Manicurist!

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 6:05 AM

Remember what I had done before I went Taiwan?


Isn't it beautiful and it is still beautiful! These pair of hands definitely compliment each and individual outfit during my photoshoot!

I know such acrylic can last for 1 month or even longer. Guess wat? Nothing came peeling off and the colour still remains the same after getting into the hotspring. Imagine going through 40 degree of hot water...

But tomorrow is my indoor wedding shoot, so need to change style lah...

Soak Soak... Sob Sob... There goes an art piece... There goes Jun Ying's effort! Luckily got picture as a momento!
Jun ying patiently removing the acrylic....


Removing dirty particles...

I actually wanted "Leopard Preenz" for my nails as my evening gown is red in color, but my photographer felt that the picture will not turn out to be great!

Yes, he insisted that try to be as simple as possible. Knowing that I dun like to follow the norm, so Junying decided to add a difference within simplicity!

The splash of red might felt too out of the blue, thus she had cleverly added a flower to tastefully bring out the vibrant subtly!

And the FINAL RESULT...

Simply love it! Its simple, elegant, and yet stint of wilderness pervails!



White symbolize purity, which means BORING! But look at this white flower, its definitely not boring. The dimension had incredibly became the centre of attention!



This is simply another splendid art piece! All thanks to Junying!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Taiwan Part 1 -- Super Miss Taiwan!

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 8:55 PM

Oh no!!! Im back in Singapore....



I had totally enjoyed myself in Taiwan! Great People, Great Food, Great Scenery, Great Shopping, Everything is JUST SIMPLY GREAT!!!!


I was told by many that Taiwanese in Taipei are not very friendly as compared to people from Tainan and Taichung. Furthermore, the well-known Taiwan boxing parliament and the recent showcase of one of the hottest gangster movie "Manga" had pulled up my defence wall.


Seeing is Believing! All the Taiwanese that we met are SO SO SO SO SO nice and friendly! Some of you, including my mum, might think that, "Aiya, they only want your business, that's why they are so nice to you!"


Well, that could be true! But after trying on five different piece of clothings and say you dun want, what would a normal Singaporean sales gal react? Straightaway "bean chow" lor... And when you tell a Singaporean sales gal tat you might not buy anything, I can bet tat she will leave you alone!


In Taiwan, such things will never ever happen! Never "bean chow" after all the asking and negotiating of prices without getting anything! And when tell them tat im not getting anything, they still follow you around quietly, observing wat are the things you might like!


And all of them are so gentle and sweet! Even I want to bargain with them, once they start talking, my fighting spirit went down by 50 percent! And you might think tat such services can only be found in department stores... Then im sorry lor, even the night market auntie can beat any Singaporean sales gal anytime!


And such friendliness is just everywhere!





Look at the sign! We have priority seats in Singapore too, but how many of us will give up our seats to people who need it? Honestly, I have yet to see any, most of the time I need to tap on somebody's shoulder and asked him/her to give up the seat for the Ah Ma or the Mrs Preggy!
But in Taiwan, even an old man is giving up his seat for an older man! And when the older man declined his offer, the old man would insist and pulled the older man to the seat and make sure he sit on it! If for me, I will be like, "Yeh, the person dun need the seat, I can still have it!"
I seriously think that there's alot we can learn from this people! And stop the, "It needs another 10 years for Singaporean crap!" Its either now or never!
Please start doing something about it and not wait for others to start first!"

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Where To Get Beautiful Nail Art?

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 7:54 PM

So Excited!!! Heading to Taiwan today for my wedding shoot! It will be on Saturday, hopefully my eating at Shilin and Danshui will not make me grow fat!

Yesterday I went to to do my nails with Junying, my sis-in-law's fren! I seriously think she is super talented, she had come out with many different unique designs... You can check out her blog and see how good she is

http://thistlebellenail.blogspot.com/

I am very impressed with the flowers! Different fingers had a different taste


And look at the colour combination! It was blended beautifully!




The trend is no longer French Manicure for brides. Wat simple and classic, I think is totally bullshit! Even the lots of the gown out in the market are not simple and classic, why should my nails be???




If ur looking for creativity, Junying definitely is the best choice and definitely at a reasonable price!

Not only tat, you can get a SUPERB service from her!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Turning 30 Means Changing NRIC

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 3:53 AM

Over the weekend, I went out for dinner with my parents. On the way to the dinner venue, my dad passed me a letter from the "IMMIGRATION AUTHORITY"!



"Wat is it, wat is it....", my dad kept asking me as if I had committed some crime! Yah, and I also thought so too! Maybe I forgotten to 'chop' my passport or the white card write wrongly, so kena 'saman'

After opening the letter, "deng deng deng..." Immigration informing me tat I will be turning 30 soon. Haha... as if I dun remember when is my birthday and going 30 this year!

Gosh, I will missed my 12 year old NRIC photo liao! No longer can I flashed out my NRIC when talking to people how I look like when im young... No longer can I have a good laugh when looking at my NRIC picture...

My NRIC had accompanied me for 18 years liao! Accompanied me through different things and part of my life... Gone through my secondary school, apply my Poly with it, not forgetting for University too. And everytime go for interview, also need to show my NRIC.

There are so much sentimental values... Just dun understand how come I just couldn't keep my NRIC? Maybe a mark can be put on the NRIC to verify tat its no longer a valid NRIC. You know just like the bank book, the teller will stamped "Cancel" if the bank book is no longer valid!

Can I keep my NRIC?

Friday, April 9, 2010

My Early Birthday Present -- Canon IXUS

0 comments Posted by Mabel at 12:05 AM

Yeh!!! Darling just bought me the best and fantastic gift -- a CAMERA!


As we are heading to Taiwan next week for our wedding photo shoot cum my birthday celebration, so I thought tat I would be given an amount to shop till I drop! Yes, based on our planned itinerary, we will be at Shi Men Ting and Wu Fen Pu (shopping paradize) on my birthday!
I got an EARLY SURPRISE yesterday! Knowing tat I had always wanted to have a camera, so he bought one before our trip, so I can take lots and lots of pictures to put on my blog!

SO SWEET OF HIM! I believe I will still get my shopping voucher hor =)


I think this will be the part tat drives me crazy... Software Application....



There's a lot of wires... I hope I will not be entangled by them! Memory cards, there's two, not sure if it is enough for my Taiwan trip? Should I get one more memory card?


Look at it! Isn't it beautiful?

You will never believe it! This is a second hand camera! The guy was selling at $180 online, and he is only willing to drop it to $140, which im only willing to pay $120 max.

Who knows? My darling bought it from him at $140

At first, I was like, "Huh, you bought the second hand camera!" But after taking a look, I was like, "Wow, its pretty new! Ok, worth the buy!"

Isn't it beautiful? And its scratchless! I was putting on my glasses and running through every single detail of the camera -- IT FLAWLESS!

Best of all, the previous owner had already used it for 2 years! Could you imagine its been 2 years and he kept the box and most importantly, there's no scratches at all!

Marvelous!!!!

I would like to sincerely thank him for being such a great seller!

THANK YOU, NICK!!!



Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)