PERSONAL | spottlyinsider x tesla

It's Christmas Eve here and I'm sitting at home because I'm just too lazy to go out to celebrate. Instead I'd like to share some outtakes from a shoot I did for a Spottly x Tesla collaboration last week. I'm really excited to share these because this is my first booked 'gig' as a freelancer (I'm still learning the ropes, but one step at a time) and I couldn't be happier with the results!

Check out the blog post on www.spottlyinsider.com

PERSONAL | hypebeast hq

So here's some snapshots I took of Hypebeast HQ. I've been waiting to share these photos since July but had to wait for their publication on Spottly's new blog first. Before moving to Hong Kong I had no idea what Hypebeast was. It wasn't until I checked their facebook page did I realise what a huge international following they had - even some of my friends from Irvine were following them. And what was more surprising was finding out they were based in Hong Kong, of all cities!

I had a blast doing some behind-the-scenes shooting that day. It's such a treat to be able to visit people's creative spaces. Actually, one of my favourite daily reads is an online interview magazine that portrays people of diverse creative and cultural backgrounds in their homes and within their daily working environments. They've been one of my biggest inspirations this past year, so getting the opportunity to do something similar was just a great experience.

PERSONAL | currently working on...

One of the things I enjoy the most about my job is the opportunities to discover new spaces in my own city. Even if it just means taking a left turn instead of a right at the mall I pass through almost every week. In this case, I'm talking about IFC and it's amazing rooftop that nobody seems to take any notice of. However, the lack of rooftop activity is probably due to the fact that it was a blazing 35+ degrees outside that afternoon. I for one am ready for summer to be over so I can revert back to my vampiric ways. No more sun, please & thank you!

And since we're in the final stages of production I guess there's no reason for me to keep it quiet anymore: Spottly's starting a travel guide magazine and I'm going to be one of the contributing photographers in this project! Thats right - I'm going into print! I'm marking this as the first step towards my dream of working in editorial one day (whether it be through photography or graphic design) and I couldn't be more excited for the final product. So far 'Spottly Insiders' is going to be separated into two categories: print and digital. Both will feature interviews from hand-chosen influencers and their recommendations of their top favourite places to eat, shop, stay, and play in the current issue's featured city, which, in our case is Hong Kong (duh!). 

PERSONAL | behind-the scenes of chai wan mei village

Currently sifting through several weeks of backlogged photos and I realised i haven't posted my photos from last month's Spottly Chai Wan Mei Village event.  I always loved events like these - back in Los Angeles I used to attend Unique LA's holiday show every year. I love the idea of supporting local artists and bonding with people through our mutual passion for art.

I was too busy the day of the event, meeting and greeting people, to take photos so my buddy Li Hui handled the daunting task instead - and did an amazing job might I add! All of these photos were actually taken in the preproduction stages, a few days before the actual event. I took some shots of some of the vendors who had came in early to set up their products. I really really loved the neon and tribal prints from the vendor in the first photo - I would love to buy one of those patterned stools for the living room in future apartment! The rest of my time was spent finishing painting the massive Spottly signage, prepping the tote bags, and decorating the space with props with the other interns. If you're interested in seeing the official event photos of CWMVillage, please head over to our [ Facebook Page ].

PERSONAL | spottly photoshoot at nosh

Back in April, Spottly was prepping for a major rebranding before its official launch in May. And as part of the rebranding process we needed whole new set of photos and graphics for our website, blog, social media outlets, and other miscellaneous purposes. I was required to nail 3 different shots, each in a different location. This happened to be my first time shooting photos for something other than for personal use so I was a bit nervous in the beginning. I've also had no experience with food/object styling so it took a little while to get things going. Good thing my co-worker had a talent for mise en place, which helped the shoot run smoother.

Our first shooting location was at { NOSH Tai Ping Shan }, one of my favourite brunch/coffee spots in Hong Kong -- I actually featured it in my publications project for one of my classes. I have to say, the waiters/tress's working at NOSH are some of the most patient people I've ever met. Nobody said a word while I darted in and out of our little table nook for a better part of an hour in attempts to take the perfect shot. It took a long time to nail the final shot because our lack of props left us with very limited composition options. But all the work was worth it in the end because best part was getting to eat everything we ordered. :)

PS. A little note. Spottly is a social travel app you can use to document all your favourite spots in any city and organize them into convenient lists for sharing with friends (hence all the photos with the iphone). You can download Spottly in the iTunes app store { here }.

TRAVEL | cloud forest

I've been so busy lately thanks to work and school, leaving me little to no time to genuinely blog (I'm not a fan of blogging for the sake of blogging). Anyways, here are two snaps of the Cloud Forest Dome in the middle of Gardens by the Bay from my trip to Singapore last month. My childhood friend Rachel was kind enough to take me around her city - even to the major tourist spots - because I'm sure she has done it hundreds of times before for her other friends. Nevertheless she was an incredible trouper, to the point where she even offered to hold my bag so it would free up my hands to take photographs. Best person ever? I think so.

I'll have some more Singapore photos up once I finish all the edits and can find time to sit down to properly write a post about my travels to South East Asia. One thing I can say now is that it was HOT HOT HOT! And all this time I thought Hong Kong was humid..it has clearly been a long time since I've traveled to the tropics.

On a more work related note. We at Spottly have something amazing up our sleeves. Everyone at the office has been working so hard for the last month to bring it all together. On my end, I created a lot of graphics and designed a lot of the posters for the event. I can't wait to see all of the final products posted up at the venue!

PLACES | beef & liberty shoot

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a small shoot at the newly opened [ Beef & Liberty ] restaurant in Wan Chai for Spottly's first Power User Meetup. The interior really spoke to me, with the wide open dining area, semi-open kitchen, and crazy cool custom mural backdrop by Los Angeles based graffiti artist group, [ Cyrcle ].

Check out the rest of the photos from Spottly's Meetup night on our [ Facebook Page ]