Serena and Jonathan first met in the UK but now live in Singapore. They met each other working together (another work couple!) at Industrial Light & Magic. I’m not much of a Star Wars fan but I do consider myself a bit of a movie buff and in my mind I can’t think of many other cooler jobs than making movies at ILM. During one of their recent visits to Hong Kong we shot engagement photos around Central and I had to restrain myself from asking all sorts of gushy questions about their work. Fortunately they had no problems focusing on each other and ignoring me and my camera. In fact, for every location we stopped at it wouldn’t be more than a minute before they were making each other laugh. I couldn’t help but to think that this is how all engagement sessions should be – casual, simple and fun. Its a beautiful thing to see a couple that were naturally made for each other and a privilege to be able to photograph – very much looking forward to their Hong Kong wedding later this year!

Fight week was busy for me as usual, starting with a day long portrait shoot in Macau with the fighters. On the day of the event, I grabbed some environment shots of the arena a few hours early to document some of the behind-the-scenes and setup. Then, minutes before the fight it was on to our on-location studio to photograph the ring girls (tough job!), and then of course the 9-fight card itself. After the final bell we did some quick edits for press and media photos before catching our late night ferry back to HK. Hard work for me and my assistant but exciting and well worth it when I think from the perspective of documenting an evolving sport in one of the most rapidly growing regions of the world.

Here are some highlights from Legend 5:

Ring Girls Cupid, Gloria, Tiffany and Shannie

The ring a few hours before going live

Behind-the-scenes production

Hong Kong’s Vincent Siu

NZ’s Gareth Ealey throws a nasty elbow to Korea’s “Hungry” Yang

Knee from Yusuke Kawanago just misses Mark Striegl, but lands on the ground

Legend veteran Li Jingliang utilizing the jab versus Alex Niu

Ground and pound between South Korean Jo Nam Jin and Chinese Yao Honggang

Some time ago, Dan moved back to Hong Kong from the US to spend more time with his family. While in HK he volunteered in community service where he met his girlfriend, Eros. Last month I received an inquiry from Dan to photograph one of the most intimate moments between him and Eros – he was going to propose.

Although I was excited about the assignment right away, I have to admit that the task became more than it seemed, since Dan wanted everything to be a surprise – the proposal, the photos – everything. So we spent several hours walking through location scouting, vantage points, timing, and even strategically placed roses before the big day. I started to appreciate the significance of the moment and the responsibility I had to capture it.

When the time finally came – I was in position, my 2nd shooter was in position, and Dan and Eros sat casually on a bench just as we had choreographed. Dan was cool as a cucumber (did I mention he was a pro poker player?), but I on the other hand, was overwhelmed with anticipation, emotion, and of course pressure to get the shot while staying unseen. It was an incredible moment to be a part of. Here are the photos =)

Dan chose to propose at the light rail station platform where they had first kissed…

Dan takes a knee to propose

She said yes =)


a carefully placed red rose (you can see it hiding out in the earlier shots)



Looking forward to the wedding =)

Earlier this week, Slash made the last stop of his Asia Tour in 2011 at KITEC in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. Opening was Australia’s Twenty Two Hundred and fronting for Slash’s band was Myles Kennedy. This was the second time I was shooting as official photographer for Slash in Hong Kong – here’s my blog post from his July 2010 show in Hong Kong.

Its embarrassing but I tend to get star struck in the presence of celebrities, particularly rock legends that I grew up listening to. This time around, I tried to play it cool, especially backstage, but I think there is an excitement with being in the presence of rockstars that I’ll probably never really outgrow. As expected, Slash was extremely respectful, shook my hand at the end of the meet-and-greet photoshoot, and said it was good to see me again (I won’t lie, I thought it was pretty cool that he remembered me).

The setlist consisted of a lot of stuff from the last show, with the exceptions of a few songs. Noteworthy: Doctor Alibi, one of my favorite songs from the latest album. Patience, one of my favorite GnR songs of all time. I had to put down my camera and just enjoy that one =)

 
Twenty Two Hundred frontman, Ben Lawoko-Leaney

Slash takes the stage

the fans of Hong Kong

Last week I photographed the highly anticipated Legend Fighting Championship 4 event at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo. It was a night of solid fights put together by Legend, but I particularly appreciated the attention to smaller details (commonly overlooked by many event promoters in the region, IMHO): professionalism from the fighters, efficient refereeing and judging, proper beer and concessions, a MMA-savvy crowd – stuff like that. On top of all that, the venue was at near capacity which I think bodes very well for the sport’s growth in Hong Kong.

During the fights itself, as a photographer, I’ve realized its pretty near impossible to pay complete attention with your face buried into the back of a huge camera. Nevertheless, here are some thoughts on some of the matchups that night.

Mark Eddiva, Philippines vs. Alex Lee, Hong Kong
Lee clearly had the hometown crowd behind him, and he nearly ended the fight in the first round when he dropped Eddiva with knees. But Eddiva recovered and secured a crucifix which allowed him to pound away at Lee’s face (a la Hughes-BJ Penn). Lee escaped, but right into a rear-naked choke. Would’ve been great to see the HK native win, but it was great to see the fans support him anyways.

Wang Sai, China vs. Alex Niu, China
Possibly the most exciting fight of the night, Wang and Niu traded precision striking as both fighters showcased their entire muay-thai repertoire. But Niu got the better of the exchanges and landed full mount several times, on his way to an unanimous decision.

Li Jingliang, China vs. Tony Rossini, Australia
Most of the first round was spent on the ground with Li tucking his chin from Rossini’s rear-naked choke. In the second round, Rossini grabbed another takedown but gave up his neck to a guillotine that Li eventually choked him out with. Although he didn’t tap, I remember catching a glimpse of Rossini’s eyes looking towards the ref before he eventually went out. Thats heart right there.

Yao Honggang, China vs. Mick Mortimer, Australia
Although Mortimer dropped him early, Yao quickly recovered to fight what would be a back and forth battle. This was one of those fights where as a photographer it was hard to keep track of scoring, but judges gave the unanimous decision to Yao.

Yohan Mulia Legowo, Indonesia vs. Jo Nam Jin, South Korea
Jo fought this like his opponent had stole something. Seemingly upset at Legowo for grabbing the tape on his gloves, Jo pranced and taunted before dishing out some serious ground and pound, leading to a rear naked choke in Round 2.

Kim Hoon, South Korea vs. Rod MacSwain, New Zealand
With the Welterweight Belt on the line, Kim dropped MacSwain early, but allowed the Kiwi to come back and dominate the remainder of the fight. The fight was a story of heavy hands coupled with strong defense on the ground. MacSwain won the unanimous decision and the Welterweight Title.

Nam Yui Chul, South Korea vs. Adrian Pang, Australia
A rematch of Legend 1′s main event (involving a controversial point deduction and draw decision), Nam and Pang promised to be a good one. The bad intentions were written all over each fighter’s demeanor before the fight even started. Somewhat surprisingly though, both fighters maintained discipline with their strikes from what was clear respect for each other. As the fight went on Pang seemed to be getting the better of the standing exchanges and growing in confidence. Nam, sensing he might have been behind in the score cards, began to flurry with more desperation, but in the end Pang won the split decision and held on to his Lightweight Title.

The story looked at organic farming in Hong Kong, requiring shots of a local farm and an organic farm market in Tai Po. I don’t regularly shoot a lot of editorial assignments, so I was a little bit anxious. Sure, storytelling or shooting something like a wedding in a “photojournalistic style” were some of the first things about photography that I fell in love with, but this would be a different challenge. I wasn’t able to scout ahead of time to plan lighting. I had no idea what time I’d be given to get through my shot list. The New Territories address I was given had google maps completely fooled.

Fortunately, I was picked up from the mini bus stop by Jeannie, the owner of The Green Patch organic farm. She was the type of sweet, hospitable woman that you could sit with and listen to stories for hours. During my tour of the farm she told me about her travels, her prior businesses, and her rather strong opinions about organic farming and Hong Kong as a whole. By sunset, I finished getting my shots and Jeannie gave me some takeaway fresh salad before I left.

That weekend I went back to Tai Po with my girlfriend to shoot at the Farmers Market (definitely worth checking out, every Sunday except the first of every month). We bought some veggies and homemade pasta from Jeannie’s booth. I also gave her a set of prints from the farm shoot. It was the least I could do for the salad and intruding on her work schedule. She also kindly invited me and my girlfriend to return in the Spring to work on the farm for a day.

In the end I was pretty happy with the shots I came away with from the two days. But sure enough, only about 4 or 5 of what I thought were only decent images ran in the actual article (I’m not sure who photographed the other 3 or so shots in the story). Nevertheless, it was very gratifying to see the work get published. Perhaps there will be some point in the future when its no big deal and I won’t even care to see what photos of mine get selected for print. But hopefully it isn’t too soon =)

OK, one more scan from the issue…

…some other shots I liked that didn’t run (is this why photographers typically hate art directors?)

Anyone that knows me probably knows that I am MMA superfan, and I watch the UFC religiously. It always makes me laugh a little when I think about it, because those that know me also know that I couldn’t wouldn’t hurt a fly. Anyways, the reason for the blog post is that Legend Fighting Championship is returning to Hong Kong with Legend 4 on January 27. You may have seen posters around the MTR featuring photos by yours truly =)

So as a photographer, of course this is great because I get to shoot another awesome event that I love to watch. As a fan, its great because to me its an indication of consistent mixed-martial arts promotion here in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong seems to have a long history of muay-thai and kickboxing events, I’ve recently noticed more and more MMA events in areas outside of Japan, like Singapore, Macao and Hong Kong. Unfortunately, these events has been plagued with cancellations – most infamously the Fury event last October and most recently the Deep event earlier this month.

Legend on the other hand seem to be doing a good job at attracting a bigger and bigger crowd in each subsequent event. I also look at their deals struck with Affliction Clothing and US pay-per-view as notable milestones. They however have not been impervious to fighter injury, with welterweight belt contender Rod MacSwain, replacing Bae Myung Ho who hurt his shoulder in training. Nevertheless, very much looking forward to shooting Legend 4 at AsiaWorld-Expo!
 
Here are some shots from Legend 3, held last September 2010.

Helloooooo ring girls

Last November, in the middle of last year’s Hong Kong wedding season I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Wendy and CK. Wendy and I first met over drinks – we were introduced by her piano teacher who is also a good friend of mine. CK, the groom, has been a film photography enthusiast for years, but now he shoots with a Nikon D700. So yeah, we get along well =)

Wendy has been one of those invaluable supporters of mine that I mentioned in an earlier blog post, particularly with tidbits of legal advice as I was rummaging through paperwork to get my business started. So I really wanted to get a ton of great shots on her wedding day. Fortunately, the bride and groom choose some beautiful venues for their wedding day: prep at the Upper House, ceremony at Union Church and reception and tea ceremony at China Club.

The Upper House, Pacific Place

Union Church, Midlevels

China Club, Central

…and one more portrait at Upper House before the night ended.

Sarah and Stu married each other in the UK, but last November they celebrated the first year anniversary of their wedding day in their new home – Hong Kong. We decided to have the anniversary portrait session at Victoria Peak Garden, a spot that is slowly becoming one of my favorite shooting spots for its green grass, blue skies and beautiful sunset light.

Portraiture has always been my favorite genre of photography. One of the things that I love the most about shooting portraits is being able to meet all the different people that I photograph.

Hong Kong brings such a diverse group of people from all over the world into a relatively small community. Here are a few that I met recently.

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Sarah Brennan, Children’s Author, Australia

Pascal, Entrepreneur, France

Kay Ross, Marketing Consultant, Australia

Edith, Horn Player, Hong Kong

Lorraine, Conductor, Hong Kong