Wow, another Final Fantasy shoot? Yep! This time, it’s Final Fantasy XIII (thirteen, for those who are unfamiliar with the Roman numeral system), and the characters are Snow (Will) and Serah (Miyukiko). This shoot has been apparently long in the planning, due to the rather complex nature of the concept. I myself had doubts as to whether I would be able to pull it off...
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First mention for this shoot must go to Christie (Squall) for her tireless efforts spanning months to secure the location for this shoot. Since coming across this place last year, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would, in just a few months, be doing a shoot there. But there it is. Thank you, Christie and Miyu (Rinoa), for inviting me to shoot for you guys. I am...
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Executed a night shoot on Wednesday evening with Madara as Masaomi Kida, leader of the Yellow Scarves faction. We shot near the Darling Quarters at the new-ish bridge there for the casual hanging-out kind of look, then moved to an alleyway to do some of the darker shots. The bridge has a pretty nice view of the city behind it and it’s been somewhere we wanted to shoot...
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Well it’s been a long time since my last dirty alleyway shoot (and I can think of around four I have done), but here we are at another alleyway, this time off Chinatown, which is actually really atmospheric, has nice lines etc. Of course, when we’re talking about alleyways, someone has got to get beat up and this time it’s Kaiya (cosplaying as Setsuna Mudou from...
Learn MoreThere’s no denying that as a male and a nerd, gear is part of photography for me. In fact, I spend a lot of time researching alternative gear configurations to see what sorts of advantages in shooting I can get, and while I was playing around on the small end of the Sony Alpha DSLR series, this was a serious obsession. To a large degree, that obsession over camera...
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Well, it has taken me some time to get everything processed and written up, but here we have the Olimpos shoot which was done last Sunday! Thank you to SorceressMooNBlaDer, itakoaya, sakanamochi and Minami for the invitation to shoot. While I didn’t know much about this manga by Aki before the shoot, I was struck during the research phase by the beauty of the art (as...
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It’s really easy to become caught up so deeply in what you’re doing that before long, you have lost perspective. Everything extraordinary becomes ordinary, and you fail to see the world outside of your own. As a photographer, it’s a constant danger, and even more so when tunnel vision restricts your creativity through the viewfinder, simply because you don’t see...
Learn MoreThe world of photography is in constant flux, with new technologies and new ways of working constantly emerging and coming into tension with those who, for one reason or another, tend toward a more traditional way of doing things. In a way, such debate is a good thing, because it shows the medium is still growing as a form of expression. Whether it’s good for a form...
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Following the Macross Frontier shoot with Madara, we decided to showcase a coordination of outfits that she had brought back from Japan with a short fashion shoot. The overall concept was casual, kinda like how a catalogue type shoot would go, but I’m not very good myself at anything casual at all. This was done in the same room as the Niji iro no Kuma Kuma shoot, but...
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Madara just came back from Japan the other week and already I asked for a shoot XD So we did a shoot for the Niji iro no kuma kuma version of Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier! We even imported a giant teddy bear from the UK for the shoot (she kept it). The idea from the get go was for the over-exposed pastel type colours that many cosplay photos use. Of course, I’m a...
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On the last day of my holidays, I was involved in the execution of a group shoot with kotani, Kani, Jassly and Blue for the casual outfits of Tiger & Bunny. It was a tempestuous shoot, literally, as not only did we get kicked out of two locations in short succession, but the skies decided to start pouring electricity, sound and water in the middle of the shoot....
Learn MoreMany people comment on the speed of my edits – most times, I can turnover the results of a shoot within 48 hours (depending on my mood), but of course, speed is not everything when it comes to photo editing. If someone spends days on a single piece and comes out with a masterpiece, I am much more in awe of them. That said, I have, over time, refined my processing...
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Every once in a while, we fall down from the soaring heights of inspiration. The flights and expectations of our imagination turn to what can truly be called hard work. This shoot, the first of 2012, and the first since kotani returned from China, was such an experience. My lacklustre performance could be attributed to a number of things: the cloudy day (many of my...
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Should the smartly-clad businessman, or the rich folks sitting in the pool of the country club have asked me how I came to be in their nicely air-conditioned office, or on the grass just outside their club taking photos, they would learn that I started the morning with no plans other than a rough idea, to go out into the world and walk around. I packed my camera, but...
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Amidst vivid dreams and vibrant colours, the year has passed. Already, the beginning has faded in my mind, like a negative exposed to light, and I must consult my gallery to once again jolt my memories of the precious months. First of all, I would like to thank all my friends (you know who you are) and a special person who have supported me so much this year. I honestly...
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Also known as the “black and gold” shoot! I expressed an interest in expanding my portfolio of fashion-related shoots and Hehalana graciously suggested another shoot with the gyaru style fashion. Unlike the pink colour scheme of the lolita shoot, the idea for this shoot was to darken the atmosphere. The image I had in mind, then, was that of a slick bar. Since it was...
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