Compliation of Lace and Ebony's Lookbooks

Wardrobe: Lace and Ebony

Model: Angela Maryann Lim

By: Fiona Sng

Apologies for the lack of updates! I was trying to squeeze some time out in between before I left for my second trip in June but every day was a race against time. So here I am, with a compliation of my favourite frames from the lookbooks of Lace and Ebony over the past few collections. I love how Ange and I can always effortlessly agree on the same concept and ideas for shoots. She is one hell of an amazing, kind and beautiful woman in and out. Check out her store for really pretty manufactured dresses now (:

It's been about a year since I've started Smittenpixels Photography, it definitely isn't a great deal of time but wow, how time flies! A year ago, I was struggling with projects, examinations, moving of house and the very start of my photography career. I'd say it was one of the toughest period of life. I'll let you in a little on how it all started. This time last year, I was approached by a few shops to photograph their outdoor lookbooks for them and I turned them down because I was really afraid of taking on paid jobs. I haven't been to any photography classes nor have I had a mentor that I learnt my ropes from. I found my interest in photography when I was 18, borrowed funds for my first DSLR (Nikon D90), and played around with it ever since. I brought it out with me everywhere I go to, and contrary to what everyone said about how I would get tired of lugging this big black camera out and how I would soon dump it elsewhere and purchase a small compact camera, I did not. I'll be honest that the weight is a bitch at times (most of the time, maybe) but it has never once deterred me from bringing it out on dates and outings with my friends. I felt that nothing was more important than documenting every happy occasion and memorable days.

I would lug the camera and the tripod out on weekend dates, and set up makeshift picnics and scenes for my own little photoshoot and I'll blog about them. I love what I'm doing, irregardless if I've an audience or not, and I pick up everything along the way slowly with the help of photography magazines and sites online to better my skills.

I'm very grateful to all who have helped me to kickstart career, and people who have rendered endless support to me throughout this year. Especially the close ones who hear me grumble and whine about the endless photos I had to sieve through, the late nights and early mornings where sleep has become such a precious thing, and how my macbook is the one I face the most every single day. And days whereby I feel so tired and uninspired I just want to give it all up because the stress I have to face is beyond me. It's been about half a year since I've graduated from school and I still find it hard to really adapt to the life of a working adult and the burdens I have to start shouldering, and making sure that my passion can feed me and my family. I can humbly say I'm doing well enough now to feed myself and to feed my wanderlust spirit with overseas trips. But there's just so much more to what I am doing now, and I want to break out of this blogshop scene to achieve more, and there're just so much more for me to go out and explore and learn along the way.

When I thought that doing this would steer me away from office politics, I was wrong. Competition remains, and tongues will always wag to bring you down. But hey, i've been doing this alone and I'm strong. I won't ever give this up, because I'd like to remind myself that I'm really lucky to be able to do what I love for a living. Thank you to my close friends who have been the most understanding of my working hours I could ever have asked of, and make arrangements to meet me at my convenience so that I could have sufficient time to finish up on my work and have sufficient sleep. Thank you to all the clients I've worked with who are always so appreciative of my works and efforts. I'm thankful that my parents are more supportive of my job now that they see me reaping fruits of labour, and I am very thankful for the boyfriend who sacrifices every bit of sleep and time for me by going for every shoot with me on weekends and staying up on weekday nights with me while I work on editing just so that I wouldn't have to be alone. Thank you to all, who constantly inspires me and spurs me to work even harder for a better Smittenpixels Photography. I'll make this ride worthwhile.

PS/ I've finally succumbed to buying a smaller compact for me to bring around on days I'm out and about and when I'm not working (after years of lugging my DSLR, I finally deserve a break on my shoulder). It's a huge hole in the pocket, but my new Fujifilm X100s is the bomb... Classic vintage looking beauty in a (relatively) small body and incredible image quality. So cheers to more casual outtakes on life on this space!

xx