Personal Project: AM in the City

© Jasemaine Gan. All images and contents in this blog belongs to Jasemaine. Do not distribute or republish without written permission.

I've been wanting to do this concept for the longest time, but never had the time and right person to work with. Thanks to my ex-student Tania, she was able to rope in her room mate MuiDiang as the talent. I couldn't ask for a more suitable model :)

I also used the opportunity to mentor Tania. A budding photographer, she definitely took great shots that day. 

The concept of this shoot is 'a random morning of a strong, independent lady living in the city'. I wanted to feature the subject's feminine side, youthfulness, and kawaii-factor with a tinge of sexiness.

All photos are Straight-Out-Of-Camera (SOOC), except for the second image where I turned it into black & white. The three of us really had fun that morning... it was such a relaxing shoot. I'm super pleased with the outcome as it's more than what I had in mind!

Thanks Tania and MuiDiang, I couldn't have done this without you.

BFF Portraiture: Priscilla & Adeline

© Jasemaine Gan. Please do not distribute or republish all contents and images in this blog without written permission.

It was my first time photographing friends portrait. Normally, it's couple, family and pets. It was also my first time riding in a zebra pattern pick up truck, going through an airport custom without stopping, and photographing at a hangar. I felt very cool that day. All I needed was an aviator sunglasses :)

Anyway, Priscilla and Adeline are best of friends. I'm very honored to be able to photograph their friendship. Hopefully 20 years down the road, they'll look through this set of photographs with their children with the same loud laughters and vibrant characters. 

Travel Log: From London To Santorini

© Jasemaine Gan. All contents and images in mainestage.blogspot.com belongs to Jasemaine Gan. Please do not republish or distribute without written permission.

Images are from both Canon 5DMKII and iPhone 4.

Back in KL, when I was still planning the trip with gege over the phone, he asked me whether I wanted to visit the lavender farm in France or Santorini, Greece. Though I've long to see a lavender farm, but my reasoning were, he has already visited France so many times, and I wanted us all to go to a place where we've never been before. So Santorini it was :)

What Plane/Airport to Go To:

At London Victoria Station, we took the Gatwick Express to Gatwick Airport, London. If you're traveling in group, please buy the group ticket for Gatwick express train to the airport terminal.

London Victoria Station, London

London Victoria Station is pet-friendly. You'll see dogs (with leash) everywhere. And people make themselves comfortable just about anywhere. In Malaysia, if you sit in the middle of the station, people will either think you're a beggar or plain crazy.

At the Gatwick Airport, London, we headed for Tor Air check-in counter. I've never heard of the airline before, so I was a tad bit worried. 

Quick Review of Tor Air Charter Plane:

It was the smallest plane I've ever flown in. Feels so much smaller than Fireflyz. Three seats on the left, narrow walk way and another three seats on the right. The cockpit was super short. There were only two cabin crew. One is young, and the senior was, well, really senior. She's probably around 50 years old? She was super though, it was as if she's the captain of the ship :) The cabin crew was very courteous. It was a smooth flight from take-off to landing. No air turbulence or anything.

The plane was so small that the cabin crew had to keep their stuff in the passenger's overhead compartment LOL

Tor Air Flight Experience:

To be honest, I was completely ok with the plane. The leg space was sufficient and the seats can be reclined. However, there's this huge family... we call them the family-from-hell. In the short three hours flight, they could yap non-stop from take-off till landing. Imagine a mom talking loudly to her babies NON STOP, babies whining and playing NON STOP, toddlers playing and kicking seats NO STOP... truly un-bearable. I cannot understand why some people are so inconsiderate :( Apparently that huge family was gonna attend a wedding in Santorini. We were praying that we won't be staying in the same hotel later...

Minus off the family-from-hell, the flight with Tor Air was smooth and comfortable

Flight Duration:

It was a three hour+ flight from London to Santorini. 

At Santorini Airport

Upon landing in Santorini, it was close to midnight local time. It was dark so visibility was very low. The 'airport' was super basic. But but BUT! The custom officer, or rather a police officer was SUPER HOT. He's a young man, great hair, wearing a white t-shirt with 'Police' word across it. He had some chains and gun holder thinggy around his waist. The three of us were the last to get the stamp on our passport so once he's done, he walked out the booth and oh my god, Carmen and I were like, 'WAH THE POLICEMAN HERE SO HOT ONE!' 

After behaving like teenagers meeting their idols (me and Carmen only. Gege was just rolling his eyes), we were greeted by reps from Olympic Holidays travel agency. We were then asked to get on a bus. Before going up the bus, saw a girl patting a huge white dog. Never seen this breed before but it was soooo nice. It kept rubbing his head towards the girl, so sweet :) I'd love to have that dog as mine.

The bus ride journey from the airport to our hotel was probably around 10-15 minutes. Everything was pitch black outside so I couldn't see anything at all.

Sandy's Villa-Our Home in Santorini

Finally, when we arrived at Sandy's Villa, we were brought to our respective rooms. Again, everything apart from Sandy's Villa was pitch black. I saw two dots of red light in a distance though... but couldn't make anything out of it. I'll reveal what's this in the next post. Suspense, suspense :)

After putting down our bags in the room, we went to the pool side and had a snack. Sandy and her super adorable son-Vengelis was there to serve us. She was very very kind to us throughout the entire trip.

Anyway, that's all for this post. The following posts on Santorini is not to be missed. I had the time of my life there and would like to share info and images with you. Stay tuned!

Roadtrip to Cherating [HD Trailer]

So the girls and I went on our very first all-girls only roadtrip. We've been talking about returning to Cherating for ages. The last time 'round, we were still innocent 19 year olds... :p Close to a decade later, we've finally fulfilled this little goal together.

To commerate this special outing, I've put together a small video of highlights during the trip.

Enjoy!

Old Timer

I think the last time I had a Slurpee, it was way back in primary school, around the age of 8 or 9,

I forgot how fun it was to dispense the Slurpee into the cup :)

To keep the nostalgic moments rolling, the both of us hand-made our very own five stones. Ladies and gentlemen, it was my first time sewing. Yes, yes... at the age of 27, I've sewn something for the first time *bows*

Anyway, my first attempt was disastrous, but the second stone I made was perfect! Heeeheee... 

We spent close to two hours sewing the stones and we finished the game in like, what, 10 minutes? Then we spent the next few minutes throwing the stone at each other and placing it on Bibi's head and body. The look on Bibi's face was classic.

Fun moments :)

Building a Nail Spa Empire

Sereen, my high school friend, is the owner of HRH Nail Studio and Posh! Nail Spa. 

Building a business is never easy, but she has managed to pull through, and now moving towards building a nail spa empire. What inspired her to venture into this business? How does she market and brand her business?

She's definitely an inspiration to all budding entrepreneur out there.

Pet Portraiture: Ai Vee + Henry + Maxxi + Toby

© Jasemaine Gan. All contents and images in this blog belongs to Jasemaine Gan. Please do not republish or distribute without written permission.

Recently, the weather's rather gloomy and most of the time, it is overcast. I used to dread this type of weather condition, but as time goes by, I'm starting to love shooting in overcast weather! Love love love :)

I had the opportunity to photograph Ai Vee and Henry with their super adorable and well behaved pups-a Schnauzer name Maxxi and Toy Poodle name Toby. I've photographed a number of Toy Poodle and it was my first time shooting a Schnauzer. Schnauzer breed is definitely in my top list if I ever have the chance to own a dog :) So imagine how excited I was to photograph one (and play with it).

Apart from the four of them, I photographed Ai Vee's friend and their pup together as well. It was like a double-date-photography-outing kind of session. I'll blog them separately. Photographing three dogs and four adults is not easy feat... but what's life without a challenge right? :)

Here are some of my personal favorites from the shoot, enjoy!