About Skai Chan Photography

Introduction

Skai Chan with model / friend Hi there! I'm Skai, a 100% Singapore-born Chinese freelance photographer based in sunny Singapore. My languages are English, Chinese Mandarin and cold humour. I dread formality. I'm an IT graduate, but the certificate's only purpose is to show off to nobody.

I'm an artist who helps people to improve their lives. I document special moments that will be treasured for years to come and personalise impactful and meaningful pictures, for businesses and individuals, for keepsakes and to attract potential customers or even dates.

My appreciative and generous clients hire me primarily for portraiture, event and party, and interior photography.

I've dedicated an extensive amount of time to curating my website, meticulously showcasing all my completed portrait work. I aim to assist individuals directly while inspiring and educating the broader online community. Would you join me in this endeavour to make a meaningful impact together?

You can spend some time finding out about your photographer or you can spend days having doubts.

Thanks for reading on!

What Sets My Photography Apart from Other Photographers

Transparency

Transparent Pricing: No hidden fees or surprises! I believe in open communication. My prices are clearly stated on the website, along with detailed articles to help you understand the packages. I address budget concerns, ensuring clarity and preventing price shock.
Portfolio Showcase: I dedicate time to showcase my portfolio, allowing potential clients to understand my style and standards. These transformations are of common people, not paid models or celebrities. What you see is precisely what you can expect when you collaborate with me.
Clear Service Agreement: Crafted meticulously to avoid miscommunication and future conflicts, I've detailed my working style and rules in the service agreement.
Clear Privacy Policy: I spent time crafting my privacy policy page to allow everyone to understand my policies and the fact that photographers retain the rights to all photos. I also offer the option for clients to keep their photos confidential. Upholding their trust is my commitment.
Guides and Tips: I have created and continue to create a wealth of guides and tips to enrich everyone. Read them to make informed decisions before confirming any shoot.

Value for Money

Honest Recommendations: No upselling of unnecessary add-ons. I'm upfront about what you truly need. Add-ons are listed based on past client requests and I'm honest about their essentiality. My photography services are priced according to my effort and I'm happy to work on any package you require.
Advice and Problem Anticipation: Born with the habit of anticipating problems, I always aim to solve possible problems before they happen. Utilising my experience, I proactively address potential challenges, especially regarding lighting and space issues, to increase the chance of exceptional photos.
Go the Extra Mile: Under-promise and over-deliver. Benefit from my extra effort and value-added services. Read past clients' testimonials to discover more.
Goal-oriented: I work with you to discover, set and achieve goals, ensuring a purposeful collaboration. Let's not blindly take photos only for the sake of taking photos without a clear goal.
Multipurpose Photos: My goal is your benefit. Being greedy, I aim to help you achieve as many goals as possible during our photography session.
Makeup Services: Should you require a makeup artist, I have a list of professional makeup artists for recommendation. Since I don't take any commission or referral fee from them, they will do their best for you since they get their full payment.
Impactful Free Marketing: For businesses and individuals who are amicable, I endeavour to provide free advertising whenever possible by showcasing our work on this website (with substantial traffic from search engines), accompanied by positive write-ups about the shoots. This undoubtedly enhances the promotion of services should a visitor chance upon my website and read about my recommendations, particularly given my reputation for honesty. After all, I once faced backlash for declining engagement with a company of questionable repute, emphasising my commitment to collaborating with genuinely positive clients.

High-Quality Photos

High-Quality Photos: You can judge the quality for yourself by looking through my portfolio. I personally oversee the pre-production, production and post-production processes to ensure the best photo quality possible.
High-End Photography: Offering both high-end and casual photography, I invest in equipment and expertise, setting me apart from others who strictly use only natural light.
Flattering Photos: I'm a fan of beauty shoots, aiming to make everyone look their best. I use soft light to enhance your complexion and make you look charming.
Creative Photos: I thrive on creating something different every time, avoiding repetition even at similar locations. My working style extends to facilitating the entire team, encouraging them to offer their creative inputs in a non-judgmental way.
Impactful Photos: Beyond high quality, my goal is to ensure each photo is impactful in a flooded online space. They should be eye-catching and able to leave a lasting impression on the viewers.
Natural-Looking Photos: Focused on capturing genuine moments, avoiding forced poses to reflect your true personality. My friendly and assuring approach helps put you at ease, allowing you to present yourself in the most natural state of mind.
Selective Expertise: Beyond capturing moments, I bring a keen eye for curation. Often overlooked, the process of selecting the right photos is crucial and many clients often overestimate their taste. My experience and skill in this often-neglected aspect mean you get the best, most impactful images. Nobody wants to sift through hundreds of photos, and my patience and expertise ensure you receive a thoughtfully curated collection that truly reflects the essence of the moment.
Commercial-Grade Editing: I don't settle for less than commercial standards in advanced editing, ensuring nobody can tell that the photos are "photoshopped". This is different from cheap mass production work, which can make your face look fake.

Personalised Photos

Bespoke Photography: I do bespoke photography to personalise photoshoots for individuals. I believe every client is unique. I provide consultations to eliminate problems and create the best possible quality photographs given any scenario. This requires extreme passion, patience and knowledge of photography.
On-Location Photography: I provide on-location photography, such that you can have the photoshoot done at your office, home or even the outdoors.
Unique Lighting: Why choose to be normal when you can be special? I focus on flattering and creative lighting. I use soft light to make my subjects look good and it's an extremely challenging technique. I also try to create lighting that will make the photographs eye-catching. I work on unique lighting whenever possible to create photos that are different. Even for a studio shoot, I try to achieve different effects by using different light setups.
Bespoke Photography: Being a firm believer that everyone is unique, I customise photoshoots for individuals. I provide consultations to achieve the most suitable and meaningful photographs.
On-Location Photography: I provide on-location photography, such that you can have photoshoots at your office, home, studios or outdoors. You don't have to worry about problems with dim places. My equipment and expertise in lighting ensure flexibility.

Exceptionally Great Experience

No Skin Contact: Respecting boundaries, I ensure subjects feel comfortable and respected. I provide guidance verbally to ensure no skin contact with you. Without body contact, you can rest assured that you will be safe throughout the shoot.
Lifestyle Poses: I employ lifestyle and freestyle posing that make the photos look like candid shots, ensuring ease for non-models to achieve and feel comfortable. This approach also enhances the creation of natural looks.
Increase Your Motivation: Get motivated by my passion and keep your drive for the shoot going, enhancing our collaborative results. My dedication goes beyond a job; it's a way of life.
Genuine Heartwarming Personality: I'm fortunate to be well-loved by everyone, including the elderly, kids and pets. By establishing a comfortable rapport with my subjects, I can capture more natural, authentic moments that truly showcase their personalities. It's all about making people happy and at ease during the photoshoot. I value friendship, ensuring clients feel at ease.
Team Player: Working seamlessly with clients and vendors, such as videographers and makeup artists, I accommodate styles, working silently behind the scenes to create the best photos while letting others shine.

How My Photography Evolves with Meaning

Document Event: My journey into meaningful photography began with capturing personal events using point-and-shoot cameras. My passion for preserving memories led me to volunteer for a charity organisation (Tzu Chi), community event and a student orientation camp, where I captured cherished moments despite the initial low photo quality.
Advocate for Volunteering Work: I then focused on documenting volunteers, aiming to promote and celebrate their selfless deeds. My hope is that these images would serve as a heartwarming memento of their kind work.
Portraits to Empower Women: Equipped with my first good-quality camera with APS-C sensor, I embarked on a mission to empower women through captivating portraits that exude confidence and beauty.
High-End, Professional Portraits: Encouraged by a supportive friend, Benson Lin, I ventured into professional photography, showcasing the transformative power of expertly lit high-end portraits.
Special Themed and More Interesting Portraits: Fuelled by a makeup artist (Tricia Lee) friend's guidance, I delved into creativity, exploring themed portraits that went beyond the mainstream. The results were truly fascinating.
Artistic Portraits: I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone to craft artistic portraits that instil confidence in the subjects. The trust and respect in these one-on-one sessions created extraordinary and mind-blowing photos.
Customising Meaningful Portraits: Recognising the importance of customisation, I committed to making every shoot unique and special, ensuring each client receives a one-of-a-kind experience.
Wedding Events: The joy of capturing blissful moments in weddings fills my heart with happiness, as I find comfort in contributing to such joyous occasions.
Corporate Events: Despite my aversion to formality, corporate events proved to be invaluable experiences, allowing me to interact with professionals and high-profile individuals in a respectful and meaningful manner.
Interior Photoshoots: My affinity for photographing elegant interiors inspired me to preserve beautiful designs, while also offering clients valuable documentation for their properties.
Surprise Wedding Proposal: Participating in surprise wedding proposal photography brought a new dimension of meaning to my craft, as I became a part of a memory that laid the foundation for new lives together.
Dating Profile Photography: Taking bespoke photography to a higher level, I delight in helping singles present themselves in the best light for their dating profiles, increasing their chances of finding love.
Natural Light Photography: Realising the importance of adaptability, I embraced natural light photography as well, ensuring my work remains meaningful and accessible in diverse situations.

My Approach to Photography

I do crazy things for photography. Sometimes I forsake my sleep for photo-taking and I don't mind getting dirty in exchange for good photographs. Photography is an addiction for me; it's one way I can express myself with. As an artist, capturing good photographs gives me a sense of living.

I believe in quality over quantity and I believe in under-promise and over-deliver. I'm lucky to be overwhelmed by the trust of many people who have approached me. I'm also extremely thankful to them for writing very flattering testimonials for me - and you should read them to visualise your experience of working with me.

I have devoted a great amount of my time to share my experience and tips to help others. I believe my photography and hard work will make a difference in society.

How I Make My Photography Sustainable

As a photographer, I understand that sustainability is key to a successful business. I have implemented various strategies to ensure that my photography is sustainable in every aspect.

Proper and Transparent Pricing: I ensure that my pricing is proper and transparent. I strive to be fair to both myself and my clients. I charge reasonable rates that reflect the value of my work and the quality of the service I provide. This allows me to sustain my business and continue providing high-quality photography services. Unlike other cheap photography packages in the market that have many hidden costs or perks to draw clients into paying for more, I have tried my best to be as transparent as possible upfront on my website. I believe that clients should not have to worry about surprise charges or fees when working with me.
Self-Improvement: Another way I make my photography sustainable is by continuously improving my skills and equipment. I invest in my craft by doing constant research to improve my workflow and the quality of my photos. By doing so, I can provide even better services to my clients and keep up with the ever-changing trends in the photography industry.
Inclusive Packages: My forte is on providing high-end photography services to create top-notch quality pictures. However, I understand many clients are also looking for less extensive yet professional photographs. To cater to a wider range of clients, I offer different packages, including casual shoots. This provides a more accessible option for clients who may not need a high-end photoshoot, but still want high-quality photography services.
Showcase Creative Work: Although most clients are seeking standard work for commercial use, I try to free up some time to do some creative projects to add diversity to my portfolio and showcase my creativity. I enjoy experimenting with new techniques and styles to deliver unique and memorable photos to my clients. This helps to keep my photography fresh and relevant and encourages clients to come back to me for their photography needs.
I Qualify My Clients: I qualify my clients to ensure that we are a good match so that I can focus on those who truly appreciate my work and are willing to invest in quality photography. This is essential to maintaining a sustainable photography business, as it helps to prevent any potential misunderstandings or conflicts that could negatively impact my business. I believe that this benefits both myself and my clients, as we can work together to create stunning and memorable photographs. Of course, I do lose many businesses but this has also helped me to ensure that I can continue to produce high-quality work.
110% Effort: I go the extra mile and most clients can feel it, and some of them even gave me tips at the end of the shoots. By providing exceptional services, I build trust and long-term relationships with my clients, which is crucial for my sustainability.

Overall, by implementing these strategies, I can ensure that my photography is sustainable in every way. This allows me to continue doing what I love and providing high-quality services to my clients for years to come.

My Photography Equipment

I came from a low-income family. When I was young, owning a 200-buck family film camera was more than a luxury. This obstacle had buried my hobby. My dad passed away when I was in secondary three.

It was during my late teenage days when technology brought my dream into reality; the invention of the digital camera had overcome the high cost of buying films and developing them into hard-copy photographs. The decision to buy my first compact camera was still difficult though, as I was struggling to fill my stomach. I had never thought of doing photography professionally.

It was only when I was in my late 20s, my friends encouraged me to strive for my passion. I bought a mirrorless camera and embarked on my portrait journey. I soon realised I had to learn flash photography to improve my photography skill. I upgraded to an entry-level DSLR, a speedlite and accessories. Soon, I realised there would be lots of wear and tear to my equipment that I would soon need replacement.

Since I'm not financially stable, I make sure I only buy new photography equipment using the fund I've earned through photography. To do professional portrait and event photography, I soon upgraded to the cheapest full-frame DSLR possible. I also started purchasing more lighting and accessories, which are necessary to learn and improve my photography work.

Risking It All for Photography

Every click freezes a moment in time, dedication knows no bounds. While I'm passionate about capturing life's beauty, the path hasn't been without its share of sacrifices and even risks to my health and well-being. Here's a glimpse into my unwavering commitment to the craft.

Early Morning Shoots, Sleepless Nights: The golden hours of early morning light offer a unique charm that's often worth losing sleep. I've ventured into the predawn darkness, sometimes preceding precious hours of rest, to seize that enchanting, soft sunrise or the quiet serenity of an awakening world. It's not uncommon for me to have days where sleep becomes a luxury, a testament to my unwavering pursuit of the perfect shot.
Through Sickness and Health: Commitment is non-negotiable. I've faced situations where cancelling or postponing a shoot simply wasn't an option, even when my health was rapidly deteriorating. One particularly memorable instance was during a wedding banquet.

Despite feeling a debilitating stomach stitch, I persevered through the event. The event couldn't come to a halt just because I wasn't feeling my best. It was a small gathering, thankfully, with only a few tables. There were moments when I could barely stand, my dedication pushing me through each shot.

By the end of the wedding, my condition had worsened. I was overcome with nausea, and it was evident that I couldn't manage my usual route home. With sheer determination, I rested at the nearest bus stop, trying to regain my strength. Eventually, I hailed a cab instead of walking to the nearby MRT station, a short distance that felt like miles in my weakened state. This experience serves as a vivid reminder of the lengths to which I'm willing to go to capture life's most precious moments, no matter the personal cost.
Stress and Its Consequences: Photography's intense workload has, at times, led to overwhelming stress. The rigours of managing shoots, post-production and client expectations can be demanding. I raced against time to push my portfolios on my website and include educational information to help everyone, including my potential clients. It's suggested by a Chinese physician that the severe digestive problem I faced might have been related to the stresses of my work. Nevertheless, I've soldiered on, learning to strike a balance between my passion and my health.
Around-the-Clock Commitment: Every day, I wake up and work in front of my computer almost immediately, continuing until it's time to return to bed unless other commitments demand my presence. This relentless dedication is my way of ensuring that I can perfect the art of photography, from the technical aspects to the creative vision.

Despite these personal sacrifices and challenges, I am fuelled by a deep passion for photography. It's not merely a career; it's a way of life, an unquenchable drive to capture life's beauty in all its forms. My dedication isn't just about clicking the shutter; it's about the spirit of persistence and the pursuit of perfection.
Irregular Dinner Times: With shoots, especially during the evening's golden hours, my dinner schedule often takes a backseat. Travelling back after late shoots or when they overrun can leave me grabbing a meal well after 9 p.m.
Aches, Pains and Permanent Injuries: The physical toll of photography is often underestimated. My commitment has resulted in numerous permanent injuries, from chronic shoulder pain to finger strains. The sheer weight of carrying photography equipment over time can take a toll on one's body. These injuries are a testament to the physical dedication required to excel in this art form.

My Injuries

I have suffered various injuries, directly and indirectly, due to photography. Some have since recovered, while some have not.

Sprained right wrist It was during my first official event photography, which unfortunately required an insane number of clicks continuously for almost an hour. I held the camera very long on my right hand while my left hand was busy adjusting the speedlite on top of my camera to create the best bounce lights possible for every snap.
Numbness on shoulders I carried my tripod sling bag for excessive time without taking sufficient rest. Eventually, I was left with numbness in my left shoulder, together with a kind of non-sharp pain. It didn't take away my strength and the pain would subside over time, but the injury would return whenever I load anything over the shoulder again. I suspect I have badly injured my shoulder blades.

Following that, my right shoulder has started giving way as well.
Bad bruises on knees On various occasions, I had to kneel to reduce the camera shake. The grounds happened to be rough. Multiple times, I got very badly bruised which would take months to recover from. The rest would hurt me for over a week at least.
Bruises on side of legs On certain occasions, I had a more relaxing photography session where I could manage to get seated on the ground to reduce camera shake. However, I pressed onto the ground too hard to keep my camera stable and sometimes, it was just my silly mistake that I tried to get up too quickly that I caused some friction against the ground. Luckily, they weren't very bad bruises.
Sand fly bite The worst insect bite that I ever had was during my solo exploration trip to Coney Island for an upcoming portrait photoshoot. I was lucky throughout my life that I had managed to keep my hairy legs clear, apart from a surgery scar, and the suspected sand fly bite left a permanent mark.
Mosquito bites Since I do outdoor photography at all kinds of places, I do get attacked regularly. I can get over 10 mosquito bites for photography at places such as Fort Canning Park.
Injured pinky finger on the left hand Many keyboard shortcuts require the use of the "ctrl key" in combination with other keys. The last finger on my left hand was somehow injured due to excessive use. In the year 2021, the joint was hit by a fan inside my desktop computer when I was trying to fix something and somehow the injury worsened.
Left wrist injury My left wrist started giving me pain out of a sudden. It was likely injured during a photoshoot trip due to the transportation of equipment in some weird angles that the muscle group wasn't commonly used. The pain lasted for months and I was diagnosed by myself that a vein was injured, and it led up to my elbow.
Dry eyes The excessive staring at the computer screen left me with frequent dry eyes, which caused fatigue. The rushing of photo albums that would usually take days for post-production and online marketing were devils.

Working with Clear Conscience

As a photographer, I believe in always working with a clear conscience. In 2018, I had an experience with a makeup artist who approached me for collaboration. A businessman, whom I didn't recognise, approached her and wanted to meet for a "business discussion". After some investigation, the makeup artist discovered that this businessman had a bad track record and was once jailed for molesting model(s).

I couldn't risk being associated with someone who had such a bad reputation as it would harm my reputation. Most of all, I was afraid that beginner models might think that I had endorsed him and thus they would let their guard down when dealing with him.

When I declined the collaboration, the makeup artist became upset and tried to sow discord between me and the other people we had collaborated with. Unfortunately, she made a few success.

Eventually, the businessman approached me directly, asking for free photography services, which I ignored. I have proven right that the business discussion was a sham after all; it was totally about abusing talents with no compensation for his own commercial gain.

In conclusion, I would rather work with people of good character, even if it means offending those with bad character, rather than compromise my principles and risk damaging my reputation. My goal is to maintain a clear conscience and always do what is right, even if it means going against popular opinion.

How I Became a Photographer

How I Became an Event Photographer

I'm a sentimental person who loves documenting memories. There's no lack of opportunities for me to practise event photography skills. At times, I struggled between hands-on and photo-taking at the same time when I was doing volunteering work with my friends. My family, relatives and many friends supported me in my hobby.

The event pictures from my volunteering work helped me to gain clients. Over time, more clients got to see both my event and portrait photography work and started hiring me.

Unfortunately, there are too many photographs in every event album and I'm unable to continue to update my event portfolio.

How I Became a Portrait Photographer

When I was working in Clementi ITE, one of my colleagues sighed that she was ageing fast. It greatly affected me because she's an extremely nice and capable lady, and our team was close; most importantly, she's a hot babe who's quite confident. This inspired me to use photography to beautify ladies and keep memories of their beauty.

I didn't have the budget to pay for freelance models to learn portrait photography. I started approaching volunteer models both online and offline to practise, and I met with lots of arrogant rejections. Since most of the models who were willing to do portrait photoshoots with me couldn't do proper makeup, I had to spend a lot of time on PhotoShop (post-production). While I could have expedited the quality of my portrait portfolio fast with the help of professional models, I'm glad the non-models have helped me to learn more of the basics; moreover, my target audience is normal people and not professional models.

My friend, Tricia Lee, saw my enthusiasm and started guiding me along. She spent a huge amount of time and energy going through every photoshoot album with me, to spot tiny flaws and coach me accordingly to the commercial standard. The quality of my portrait work soon improved tremendously and aspiring models started approaching me instead. Then, clients came along.

How I Became an Interior Photographer

I grew up in a house that was plain (and clustered) and thus I was always fascinated by houses with nice interiors. This was one of the reasons why I loved visiting my friends' houses. I think nice things should be documented and interior photography helps a lot.

Both my portrait and event photography work helped me gain my first interior photography client as they were eye-catching on social media. When the opportunity came, I grabbed it. The first thing I did was to get a reasonably good tripod, which was almost covered by my first interior photography project. After that, I had the luxury to work with some very interesting interior design companies, furniture shops and homeowners.

My Other Photography Work

Communication

Communicating with Me

I rely mainly on my computer Typing on the soft keyboard on my smartphone is slow and highly inefficient; moreover, the small screen requires me to scroll up and down to proofread my messages before sending them out. Worst still, I usually type a lot for every reply. It's just too inconvenient to do the typing on my smartphone. I get extremely frustrated relying on the phone at times.

Since sitting in front of my computer is kind of a luxury to me nowadays, please bear with me if I can't reply to you immediately.

Before I got my first Android smartphone, I was tempted to upgrade to Blackberry instead for the physical keyboard. However, I foresee that good usability (with APPs) for Android users would outweigh the privilege of having a physical keyboard.
My phone is usually in silent mode My phone is in silent mode most of the time. That means there's no point in calling me unless you have informed me earlier that you need to talk.

Text me instead!
I don't know my photography rates by heart I do many kinds of photography, such as portraits, events and interior/ real estate. For portrait alone, there are different rates and optional services to be added. Therefore, if you happen to ask me for my photography rates in real person or via phone call, I likely won't be able to give you a proper quotation without going through my document or website.

If you somehow can't find or understand my photography rates for your specific photography need, just text me with as much detail as possible. However, you should know the basic rates on my website to not waste both our time.
I can't reply to every enquiry I'll try hard to assist all people who truly appreciate my work and are looking forward to helping me or hiring my photography services.

However, the fact is that there are various weird or ridiculous requests that I already know won't turn out well. Some people are obviously in different frequencies that, in my experience, will only be wasting our time to engage in the first place.
Trying to undercut my photography rate is a big turn-off I can't focus properly if I can sense that the person whom I'm trying to help is trying to squeeze me hard. I have some nasty experiences and I understand that it's just not worth it to take up some projects. It's not that I'm loaded but there's a high chance for problems to emerge, especially after the photoshoot.

Providing photography services is different from selling products or conducting large classes. If I were to be selling certain products, giving some discounts would at least be ensuring that my cash flow has no issue, whereas, I can be selling them to many clients at almost the same time. If I were to be conducting a huge class, an additional student with a discounted rate is a bonus.

I'm Busy

As most freelance photographers do their own post-production and marketing work, they spend most of their time in front of their computers. This, unfortunately, may give others the wrong impression that they are easily available.

I'm usually overwhelmed and can only take up a few projects every month.

Update website I've spent a vast amount of my life on my photography website to showcase my work and educate people. The design of the colour, font, navigation and page layout, coding and copywriting requires a huge amount of time.

A massive amount of my time was spent researching, writing and proofreading my various photography tips and articles. Till now, there are a gigantic amount of language issues all over my website.
Edit photos Photo-editing usually takes up the majority duration of the entire production. Advanced editing may take on average, around two hours for each photograph, depending on various factors.
My wife Throughout my life, I've been searching for my soulmate. I experienced various rejections during my younger years before being hurt by a few playgirls. I did meet quite several nice girls but we realised that we weren't compatible. I've finally met my dream girl who has given me unconditioned love. My top life priority would always be her and we would try to compensate for the loss of our youth years as we didn't meet earlier.

We stick together almost 24/7. We walk a lot to get food and grocery, and any impromptu errand her creative mind can suggest. On a usual weekend, we would go out for late breakfast, and by the time we reach home, it would be almost lunchtime. After lunch and grocery or some impromptu shopping, we would be home by late afternoon. We may nap or do some housework before dinner. As we love strolling around instead of taking public transport, we spend a lot of time travelling.

To help you understand better, imagine yourself conquering 10,000 footsteps on a weekday (work from home) and 20,000 footsteps on a weekend - estimate the amount of time you would have to spend outdoors.

I used to go to bed near sunrise and work almost every moment upon waking up. My wife has helped me to restore a lifestyle completely, which improves my health. However, my working time was shortened to mostly 10am to 6pm on weekdays to fit into hers, which forced me to step back on some of my work due to the time restriction.
Upload new photo album For every set of photographs that I've done, I'll spend time sharing them online, unless the client pays me extra for privacy.

The first step is to select the photographs to be uploaded, followed by reducing their resolution (for web viewing purposes) and renaming the files properly. The write-up usually takes the longest time, such as half a day of work on average. After that, a new web page (coding) has to be created to put in the images and text. Other pages will then be linked to it, which involves coding as well. Eventually, all the files will be uploaded to the server.

Look at the number of photo albums I've uploaded and estimate the effort.
Answer new enquiries I receive new enquiries for photoshoots often and many are simply doing price-checking. There are enquiries that I may need to take quite a lot of time to think over so that I won't over-promise anyone. Occasionally, there are also weird requests.
Brainstorm for shoots Since I personalise concepts for individuals and I try not to repeat ideas and locations, it takes a lot of time to research and brainstorm for shoots.
Discussion with clients I just need one client who has lots of questions to keep me very occupied. Some clients do have many interesting ideas and trust me a lot to give them good feedback.
Social media update/ PR Social media such as Facebook and Instagram are monstrous time-eaters. Posting good work alone is never sufficient; a lot of public relations work is required.
Unforeseeable issues There are times when my equipment and tools will be down. They include computer hardware and software and photography equipment such as my camera, lenses and other accessories. I need to spend time trying to fix them.

For example, in the late year 2021, I spent days trying to fix my computer, including two days at the repair shop, and I still had to go elsewhere to go get some parts fixed/ exchanged.
Self-improvement Everyone needs to pick up new knowledge and skill. I do keep myself updated with news and new skill. I spend a lot of time on YouTube and sometimes Udemy.
Family Family is part of my life. I especially love spending time with my nephews and niece. I also accompany my wife to visit her family. Every gathering occupies the entire day, and sometimes till late at night.
Tuition agency business I have a tuition agency business that I need to do administrative work for. I'm the web producer and the coding part for the website is much more hectic than my photography website. Every year, I also produced Calendar Planner and Calendar for the public, totally free of charge.
Friends I love making new friends although I hardly have time to meet up with most of them. I do occasionally keep in touch with some of them.

I also have a businessman friend who acts as my mentor. He would randomly call me and pick me up to go for coffee. Whenever I need any gym space for a photoshoot, he would settle for me. Of course, I do my part as a friend by providing him with my little knowledge and ideas for his businesses.
Volunteering work I have a group of kind friends who are crazily into volunteering work. Therefore, I do have the opportunity to get involved once in a while, apart from providing volunteering photography services. My wife's involvement in other volunteering group(s) gets me involved as well.
Other commitments I do have other commitments other than the above.

Building the Right Connections

I count myself very blessed because the majority of the people whom I've worked with are fantastic people. The testimonials summarise it.

Nobody can make everybody like him. After doing photography for years and holding my principles well to not harm the already hurt photography industry in any way, I still can't help but offend some people unintentionally.

For example, I have to reject hot girls who propose I photograph them in little clothes as a form of collaboration (unpaid), which they would be using the professional work as a catalogue to sell those clothes. How could professional photographers make a living if nobody needs to pay for commercial work anymore?

If I have to offend even hot girls (who have many followers online), who else can't be offended?

Cheapo There are cheapos who try to ask for discounts or even free services. I don't allow anyone to devalue my work and thus I would rather turn them down or simply ignore them.

I'm not proud nor am I loaded. Working with bad clients will drastically drain my short available time or may even affect the quality of my work. No matter how hard I've been screening through the enquiries, there's no foolproof way to filter them. I'm quite blessed that the number of good clients outweighs the bad ones by a lot.

For instance, a client initially engaged me in a face-to-face discussion about a dating profile photoshoot, for which I didn't charge him. Despite multiple postponements, he eventually opted for the cheapest basic package instead of the meticulously designed personalised option I had crafted for him. Despite this, I still conducted a personalised shoot for him, even though he didn't even compensate me for the extra hours invested. He assured me he would meet up with me after his next holidays, which never materialised. Despite this, I even followed up on his dating app progress out of goodwill. Over a year after the shoot, he had a change of heart about privacy and requested the removal of the photos from my website. In a show of respect, I obliged but informed him of the effort involved and proposed a fee for the service. He admitted to his mistake and shared that he was willing to compensate me for my effort. After detailing the extensive work and even offering some concessions, considering our friendship, he abruptly reversed his stance, citing the lack of a physical contract. He was rude over the phone, and I was stunned when he shouted that he didn't regard me as a friend after all I had done for him. This occurred during a particularly challenging period in my life.
Failed aspiring models I had helped many aspiring models to build their modelling portfolios when I was more available in the past. They usually sang high compliments on me and my work when they approached me. The terms and conditions were clear on my website and they agreed. I showed them great respect and photographed them professionally to help them get tasteful photographs of themselves for experiences, memories and/ or other purposes.

Eventually, some of them may approach me years later to make me remove the albums. They would cite ridiculous reasons instead of compensating me properly for my work (photography, copywriting, editing of websites and social media accounts).

Once, I fell victim to a scam orchestrated by a narcissist who persistently sought my free assistance in enhancing her horrible modelling portfolio. She presented herself as open-minded and flexible. Eventually, I sympathised with her and agreed to help her. I sent her sample photos I had in mind, but she remained unresponsive until the next day (the day of the shoot), sharing a picture of another office outfit when she had already left her home, leaving no room for discussion regarding the attire. Essentially, she deceived me into conducting a pointless shoot that would solely benefit her portfolio, when it was intended to be mutually beneficial. She disrespected my time by arriving egregiously late. Following the shoot, she threatened me to manipulate my website to conceal her attempts at modelling, despite having her own public modelling website under her full name. Disgusted, I promptly removed her photos from my website to sever all ties. In a further deceitful act, she posted a fabricated Google review, falsely claiming to be my client and accusing me of threatening her instead.
Black sheep I have been writing educational articles on my website to help people do the best I can. Some of these articles do include bad photography culture and even blacklisted photographers. Although I don't mention any name, some people may, out of guilts, turn defensive and start bearing grudges towards me.
Over-sensitive people Besides, due to my lack of supremacy in my language skill and also my bluntness, I may have used words/ terms that are sensitive to some people. For example, the term "flaw" describes the common skin issues that my clients have often complained about and demanded to be removed - some people twist my words to incite that I'm trying to insult others.
Jealous amateurs I was once informed by a female model friend that some amateur photographers criticised me in a Telegram group because they thought I was sharing too much photography knowledge online (on my platforms). Since I focus on my photography and don't get involved in events and forums, I don't get to interact with many photographers to offend them directly.

I humbly suspect that it's partly due to the number of female models who have trusted and approached me for photoshoots; in contrast, amateur photographers likely have difficulties approaching girls. Besides, my Instagram account was once very popular when I was extremely active, which was before Instagram changed its algorithm.
Two mentally unstable people I've stepped on the tail of a makeup artist who self-proclaimed that she had some mental illness. Then, I caught her sowing discord between me and some project-mates. Eventually, she succeeded in turning a snowflake into hating me. Snowflake started spreading lies. To this day, I've no idea what I've done or said wrongly to her - I didn't murder her entire family.

FAQs

#1 Experiences

What are the most common mistakes you make for portrait photoshoot and how do you rectify them?
What's the most saddening moments after doing a portrait shoot?
What's your biggest regret so far?
What's your most embarrassing moment during a shoot?
Did you get turned on while doing sexy photoshoot?
Do you get to see 'free show' during the photoshoot?
What are your achievements so far for event photography?

#2 Personal

Do you do links exchange?
What is the most difficult thing about photography?
How good is your photography skill?
Will you lower your rate just to take up more photoshoot projects?
How open-minded are you?
How many shoots do you do in a month?
Why do you have so few photos of yourself?
Why don't you take photos with every model you have shot with?
Why do you not want to work with PR/advertising agencies and 'middle-man' companies?
Why don't you like to talk over the phone?
What are your non-photography worries for every shoot?
Will I get 100% satisfied photos if I were to engage a big photography company for my shoot?

#1 Experiences

What are the most common mistakes you make for portrait photoshoot and how do you rectify them?Unable to spot errors in the models' makeup and outfits. To avoid these problems, I will try to discuss the models' photos with my HMUA friend(s) to judge the models' makeup skills and outfits. I will also refuse to shoot with models who do not show me their outfits before the shoot. Of course, this will create another big problem as some models have been working with photographers who don't care much about preparation work.
What's the most saddening moments after doing a portrait shoot?The HMUA wanted to have the three looks, be shot near her studio so that she could do the makeup and hair comfortably. Since the first look was a little revealing, I was a bit lost but decided to accept the HMUA's proposal to use the small studio after I failed to find a better location while they were doing the makeup. For the second and third locations, I had them planned but the HMUA was detailed in her work and that she 'last minute' had something on and I had to use the 'interior' of the building for the last shoot instead. After the shoot, things went fine and the model liked the photos. We discussed the next shoot but the model dragged on for months. Eventually, she confessed to me that she thought the HMUA and her had already done their part by choosing the outfits on their own (which I did with the HMUA privately after she sent the HMUA some of her outfits) and that she thought I didn't do 'my part' of selecting the locations well.
What's your biggest regret so far?I was invited to a friend's friend's fashion show to do the shooting. There were at least two other outspoken photographers who had turned up much earlier. Since I did not like 'fighting', especially in crowded places, I lay back and kept a very low profile. Even during the group shoot, in the end, I was blocked by all the photographers and 'photographers'. I did not perform well due to my lack of experience but it turned out that the quality of my photos was much better than any of theirs. It was a total waste of my chance to not get better photos, especially of potential models, by giving up all the good spots to others when they could not perform.
What's your most embarrassing moment during a shoot?I took up a cheapo project because the girl who had approached me sounded very nice and I was curious about it. Eventually, I had to work with a very experienced and highly confident director and the extremely insufficient time disallowed me to set up the basic equipment. He did not know it was just a cheap project that was supposed to be paid for by the PR/marketing company. By the way, the company was cheap enough to delay my cheapo payment for around four months after contacting them around ten times. By then the girl who had approached me had already left the company.
Did you get turned on while doing sexy photoshoot?No. I'm a dedicated and stubborn guy and would be too focused on thinking of how to capture good photos. During a shoot, there are just too many important things to think of, such as poses, lighting, background and composition. It's more of the intention of the photographer that will cause his mind to wander around. If the photographer is purely into getting good photos, he probably can control himself; unlike some 'photographers' who are paying for models to remove their clothes instead of the models paying them, they are very likely to want to have something more than just a photoshoot.
Do you get to see 'free show' during the photoshoot?There will sometimes be wardrobe malfunction and upskirt (often) during shoots, which I have 'immune' to. Of course, for implied nude shoots, the model will likely be naked. Professional models will likely be very comfortable hanging around without trying to cover anything. Everyone else around will get to see more because the photographer's job is supposed to not let any unglamorous thing appear in the lens. The worst thing that can happen is when the expression and posture of the model inside a photo are perfect but a little part of the underwear is revealed. The photo won't be tasteful anymore and thus cannot be used.

As I'm quite protective of my models, I may even call for a rest when there are too many onlookers/passers-by during an outdoor sexy shoot. This is the reason why I'm trying hard to work only with female assistants.

There was once after I did an outdoor dancing shoot, the model told me many people got to see a 'free show'. She had raised her legs to do splitting with her side facing me and thus I did not know the upskirt had even happened - impossible from my angle.
What are your achievements so far for event photography?I have clients paying me extra money right at the end of the events without even looking at the photos. They can see and appreciate my character and effort. Eventually, they claim that they love the photos I have produced and I think I should believe them.

#2 Personal

Do you do links exchange?Yes, I do links exchange with good quality websites!
What is the most difficult thing about photography?Educating clients. To most clients, photography is just about clicking the camera's shutter and they think using a good camera alone is enough. They usually don't understand all the constraints. Many things are very technical and thus they won't be able to know even if I were to explain them in detail. For example, when I warn them about lighting issues, they usually won't care. To them, they simply want good photos even though they are likely not able to judge the quality of photos. Whereas for shoots like interior and product, they may even try to be the expert to estimate the time required instead.
How good is your photography skill?Photography is wide and has many categories. I know most of them but do not have practical experience with some. My current experience is mainly in people (portrait and event shoots) and interior photography. When compared to most hobby photographers, I'm better than them but I'm probably still behind those very experienced professional photographers in terms of skill. Hence, I try to be creative and hardworking at times to compensate for it. Viewers can judge by themselves through my latest work.
Will you lower your rate just to take up more photoshoot projects?No. The quality of photos matters most to me and I don't want to feel underpaid and under-appreciated, and eventually put in only 50% of my effort. Most of all, I don't wish to undercut the market. However, I promote certain types of shoots that I'm interested in.
How open-minded are you?When it comes to photography, I'm extremely open as long as the shoot is tastefully done. My character is, however, very traditional.
How many shoots do you do in a month?I'm very inconsistent in this and thus unable to give an answer. I can only say that I'm doing very limited number of shoot.
Why do you have so few photos of yourself?I'm the one holding onto the camera.
Why don't you take photos with every model you have shot with?I usually forget it after a hard day work.
Why do you not want to work with PR/advertising agencies and 'middle-man' companies?Bad experience - low budget, ridiculous demand and extremely late payment. Photography is a fun thing to do and we should not destroy the good feeling about it. Most advertising agencies in Singapore will probably give the same problems while big agencies with generous clients will rather go to big photography companies than work with a low-lying freelance photographer.
Why don't you like to talk over the phone?Need records for evidence. Besides, I have poor memory and, unlike texting, I can't refer back to the conversation. Since every request is different, I will need time to work out the quotation. From my experience, most 'clients' are just wasting my time. It is not worth the time to go over the phone before the clients have confirmed they are okay with the fee, which is usually the most important factor to them.
What are your non-photography worries for every shoot?Travelling - 'public' transport in Singapore is getting more unpredictable and I can't estimate the travelling time anymore. My meal time is another big problem for the shoots are usually done at weird hours while photography exhausts me both physically and mentally, draining off more energy than sports.
Will I get 100% satisfied photos if I were to engage a big photography company for my shoot?For event and non-studio photoshoots, no (not 100%). The turnover rate may be high and thus the photographer being assigned to you may be less experienced. However, for shooting inside the company's studio, it's likely to be yes since everything, including the lighting, can be pre-set like a template.

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