Product Photography Workshop by WS

Attended a very interesting product photography workshop organised by the West Shooterz.  The first part of the workshop was Macro Photography by an avid macro photographer, Peter.  Peter really has an eye for details. His works on insects are brillant.  But I am not into macro, too busy running away from insects than taking photo of them!  I signed up for the workshop as I was more interested in the 2nd part of the workshop - Product Photography.

The speaker, Larry, gave a very practical sharing on the equipment, lightings and some techniques he used.  We had a lot of fun shooting the products that he brought along.  Kudos to WS who organized it.  No regrets of spending $30, which mainly went to the room rental and food.  And it was great catching up with the boys, who are so passionate about photography.

Buko Nero

Another post with no photo.  This time, it was because we went to Buko Nero, who had a NO PHOTOGRAPHY policy.  Buko Nero is located at Tanjong Pagar road, heard about them some years back, from an Italian excolleague.  But never had the chance to try it, as the place was so small, can take around 20 people, and you would need to book 1 month in advance to secure a seat!!!  Place was also way too small for you to steal a photo with your phone..heehee

Polo and I were out to secure a seats.  So we came out with a brillant plan which I shall not share.  The restaurant was already half full when we were there, and there was 2 ladies working, one younger one, and the other elderly and motherly one.  I figured one should be the wife of the chef, the other the mum.

Deciding what to order was a challenge.  I was usually quick to decide what I wanted to eat, but I was stucked as everything seems so good.  We finally decided a scallop for starter, and the focaccia crusted cod fish recommended by the lady, and a pasta with wagyu beef. 

Bread with sundried tomatoes were served before the starter.  The bread was very very good.  Soft, warm and the sundried tomato gave it the extra flavour.  The scallop was fresh and crunchy.  The Cod was very fresh, and the crispy focaccia gave it the punch.  The pasta was a bit disappointing.  The pasta was good, but with the wagyu beef cut into small piece, you could not really taste the wagyu beef.

We ended the dinner with a warm milk chocolate cake with gelato.  Average, not to my liking as it was too sweet.  Service was efficent and i like the mum, as she was warm and attentive.

Overall:  7.5/10.  Not the best italian restarants in town, I wonder if I would wait 1 month for it.  If the waiting time is shorter, I don't mind a return.

Buko Nero
Address: 126 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore

Tel: +65 6324 6225

Nicholas Le

This is a no photo post.  Well, they said photoghraphy allow, but no flash!!!  I could not manage my shaky hands, so none of the photo turned out acceptable, other than the starter, which i used flash.  I was stopped after the first photo..Sigh

The restaurant was just a block away from the famous Ember, and was relatively small, with approx 6 tables. and a private room.  It was a open kitchen concept, so you could actually see the chef cooking.  Well, at least you know that you are not eating monkey's brain.

We chose the Wine Pairing Tasting Menu, a 8 courses dinner which started with some crackers as well as complimentary free flow of bread.  The bread were warm and soft, and we had to control ourselves to prevent overeating before the main course!

Crispy bread with duck terrine (In addition to the warm bread)

First Course - Starter

Pan Fried King Prawn.  Well, only 1 king prawn, though the plate was big.  Prawn was chopped into 2 pieces, with different sauces.  I would say that it was a piece of art.

Second Course- Starter

Soup, some clams

Third Course - Starter

I love this one.  It was an egg.  According to the waiter, the eggs were from Japan.  Inside the egg, there was some sauce or soup that tasted like truffle, mixed with the egg.  There was also a piece of cripsy biscuits in the egg.  On the side, there was a piece of crispy pork.  Totall unique combination.

Fourth Course:

Pasta, with some caviar.

Fifth Course:

Grilled pigeon.  Very small portion, but grilled to perfection, and served with different garnishing and sauce.

Sixth Course:

Dessert, a waffle, a chocolate pudding and icecream.  I love the desserts, because there were not as sweet.

Seventh Course:

Coffee

Of the 8th courses, 6 were served with wine.  We ended with a sweet wine, which was not as sweet.  What's the name?  i could not remember either. 

So where is the missing 8th course?  There was one more before the pasta which I could not remember what was that.  We finished the meal with a cheese platter, where we could select from a variety of cheese.  I chose blue cheese, my fav brie and 2 others recommended by the waiter.  The brie was of an older age, not the usual super market quality.

Overall, the food was excellent, you could feel the love and the dedication of Chef Nicholas put in.  My only complaint was that they do not allow photoghraphy with flash!  With my shaky hands, I could not manage shutter speed of less than 1/50, so most of my photos turned out blurred.  It was a shame, because only good photo could do his art pieces justice.   Wine pairing is recommended too, because it can bring out the flavour of the food.  Definitely a place to go for special occasion.

Overall:  9/10

Nicolas Le Restaurant

31 Keong Saik Road
Singapore 089138
Tel: +65 62242404

Otto Ristorante

JY and I went to Otto for an "assignment", to show me how to take photo in restaurant! I was complaining to him how difficult it was to take photo in restaurant, so I was requesting him to show me what would be the best way to take, especially without a flash.

I chose Otto, since they were still running the UOB promotion ($128++ for 2) and also an excuse for me to try the food.  We started the dinner with complimentary bread.  They brought a basket of food to us, and let us choose.  I chose the onion bread, and JY chose the Focaccia bread.  The onion bread was really good, and I had 2 servings of them :-) 
This was taken by Canon G11, by JY.  Not too bad for a PNS, and the white balance was correct, but I was not very happy with the result.

Complimentary appertiser.

Wagyu beef carpaccio served with arugula “La Fenice” style 

Smooth and tender beef, went perfect with the sauce.

 Blue swimmer crab meat, avocado and vine tomato timbale with yoghurt dressing.

I couldn't taste the yoghurt dressing, probably overwhelmed by the tomato.  But it was still good, with fresh serving of seafood.  I shouldn't be eating seafood, so i just had some of the soup to taste it.

Sagne pasta with black mussels and oven baked pachino tomato ragout

Very seldom we got to see Sgane Pasta served in restaurant.  It looekd like a big row tie pasta, funny shape.  This was my favourite dish of the night.  The mussels were very fresh, and the sauce was heavenly.  I wished that they sell the sauce by bottle so that I can use them for my own cooking.  Fat hope!  Otto has lived up to its reputation of serving great pasta.

 

Sautéed lamb tenderloin with chiodini mushrooms and semolina medallions

You can either choose the lamb tenderloin or the cod as your main.  Both of us chose thje lamb, and I had my done medium well.  The 2 lines of gravy at the side means medium well, as explained by the chef.

Dessert was a bit disappointing.  It was passable, but I would usually expect a bit more from dessert from an Italian restaurant.

On our way out, we saw a restaurant/cafe in the Red Dot Traffic Building.  Will be back to check it out.

Overall:  8/10 (For the pasta & the bread)  And thumbs up for the service, and MOST importantly, allow me to use flash :-) 

Otto Ristorante

28 Maxwell Road #01-02 Red Dot Traffic Building
Tel: +65 6227 6819

Voyage De La Vie

Thanks to YM, I got to watch Voyage De La Vie FOC!!  It was quite an entertaining show, supberb bald juggler that can juggle up to 6 balls.. Women with super strong core muscles that can support herself with one hand on some stands.  Flying woman on trapeze and man with amazing shooting skills that can he can fire the arrow from his crossbow, hit a few rebound and still hit the target- apple on a man's head!
Not your usual circus show of dancing animals.  You probably get the best view in the center of the theatre as there were many scenes and shows going on at the same time.  Highly recommended. 

Beer before show

Sentosa:

A Day as Photographer Assistant

Wow! This was a once a life time experience, and i was so excited when JY told me about..In fact, I was waiting in anticipation, and prayed that I will not fall sick like I did when I was suppose to go for the menu shoot.  Finally, the day was here - I am going to be a photographer's assistant!  It happened to be on the same day as my bro's birthday too!

JY must be very fed up with me, because I was asking him many stupid questions, such as:
Where am I going to stand?
What should i do? Duh
What photo to take?
Which lens to use?
I don't have L lens, can or not?
450D can or not??!
Haha, he probably regreted letting me to follow him!

The wedding was at Singapore Flyers, but we had to get to the room to get the make up process at MO at 330pm.  However, due to some miscommunication on the bride side, the make up was almost done when we got there at the room.  I must admit that it was very awkward at first, because i did not know where to stand in the room.  The bride groom, G and the bride, W were there, so were G's parents and brother.  Thank God that it was alright after a while, and things got natural.

The Family

The Brothers

JY & I walked to Singapore flyer as there was not enough seats in the car.  In the end, we were faster than the car, as the traffic was bad due to F1, which was a week away.  We waited for the car to arrive at the flyer, and i was really anxious, not sure how to capture it.  The Videographer was also there to standby and to wait for the car.  We took a few posed shots, and moved to the room whereby the tea ceremony would be held.

Tea Ceremony.  The folks were very amused

After the tea ceremony, we went back to the ballroom where the wedding solemnization was held.  Man, i never imagined that it was so difficult to take photo.
a) I did not know where to stand so as to not to block JY
b) Action packed.  Should I take them singing?  Exchanging rings?  Or saying vows?

the photographer wanna be :-)

You must be wondering why was this chilli sauce doing here.  It was the wedding gift from the groom's brother!  According to the bro, there was a background to this chilli sauce.  One christmas, the groom gave the bro a mustard, which was totally unrelated to Christmas.  To "revenge", he decided to give his brother a bottle of chilli sauce!

Tiring day, but it was one of the very touching wedding that I have attended.  Not the usual one that went through the motion, you could feel the love between the couple.  No doubt the speech was a bit long winded, they really meant what they said.  I wish the couple a blissful marriage, bless by God.  I have also learnt a lot of tips from JY, lots of room to improve.  Keep shooting, YH!

Lunch @ Mandarin Oriental

This lunch was organised by my boss, to celebrate the team hitting the target.  Well, technically i did not contribute much to it, since i joined them in mid july, and the FY ended on 30 Sep.  But again, I was part of the team, soooo i got to eat! Heehee
After much voting and consideration, we have decided on the lunch buffet at Mandarin Oriental - Melt the World Cafe.  While I did not really like buffet, a) I tend to over eat b) The quality may not be that good, i guess buffet was the easiest since boss needed to cater to 7 people's preference.  Buffet will just solve his problem!

I was amazed how beatuiful the desserts are, so while they were settling down to eat, I was busy taking my photo.  My favourite dessert among all was bread and butter pudding, it was a pity that i did not manage to take a photo as they were in the oven.  It was a match in heaven with the coffee to end the meal.

Too beautiful to be eaten!  Everyone of them had a fanciful name, which alas, I could not remember.

 The mains.  I did not find them as enjoyable as the dessert.

 Stirred fried beef, thai style.  Taste was alright, but too tough for my liking.

 Air dried beef

Overall is better than your normal buffet, but nothing special, except for the dessert.  Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable lunch.