day 626 | september 1, 2012 | of marathons and meanings

for my 29th birthday and STP's 2nd year anniversary as a registered business in Singapore, i wanted to do what i love and do it meaningfully, which is how i developed the idea for a photo marathon. the support for it has been such a huge gift which i hope will translate to a significant difference to several children's lives through worldvision's sponsor a child program. i'm so happy everything went well.

the night before the shoot, i had butterflies in my stomach, fluttering against my chest, barely able to sleep. one concern is weather. it had been very hazy the last couple of days, and i was worried it's going to rain. 90% of my sessions are outdoors, so it feels almost like a benediction that weather was fabulous the whole day.

happy birthday smile... :)

we had a 3-person team shooting a total of 33 people, grown ups and little ones alike, from 8:30 am until 6:30pm. it was a test of physical endurance for all of us, carrying equipment and random props, chasing after little ones, and keeping our 'happy' energies on the green. :) 

beautiful lady L! :)

H, chauffeur and purchaser, also makes for a great baby carrier!

the other big thing i worried about is 'creative' endurance. as an artist, i want to deliver work that would do justice to ALL my clients. the sessions are virtually free, but i also wanted each family to come away with something precious from our time. the galleries have been released -- let's see what they think! :)

we had a cool variety of subjects, from a couple who is about to be married (accompanied by a niece), to a family with three little ones; mostly singaporean with a sprinkling of british, french and indonesian flavors. :)  

 ended up shooting mostly around the botanic gardens, with a couple of exceptions.

nasi lemak and teh tarik lunch at serene court. ;)

unfortunately, we had a couple of participants who couldn't make it for the day. no worries though, as we know there'll be other opportunities to shoot them. :)

literally shot ducks during our breaks. ;) 

after our final session, lady L went off to a movie date, while H and I had a simple family dinner and walk-around with roo, red, and our lifesaver. tested the D800E with a few night shots and it performed amazingly!

ginger ale and ginger beer, a lot like roo and red. same but different.

read more about participant experiences here:

in the wee hours - http://intheweehours.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/pass-it-on-portrait-marathon/

sanses - http://sanses.com/2012/09/capturing-memories/

bottomsup - http://thebottomsupblog.com/?p=22367

it was exhausting, but also very rewarding. a perfect opportunity to build on creative strengths, and to explore improvement areas, to play with so many little ones and carry roo and red as an inspiration, to be moved by the beauty of connections and simple joys, to shoot multiple unique subjects in succession and to commit to delivering quality work to each and every client, and finally, to do it all for a cause bigger than myself. i hope when roo and red think of us when they are grown, they will be moved by some of the things we've done. we've re-defined birthdays, and we've made ourselves proud today.