Let's dance with Cecilia Yong

I don't remember exactly how I know Cecilia Yong but we've been discussing this dance idea for the longest time. It was something I feel enthusiastic about and it was something I want to do.

After months of planning, I finally got a rough idea of the direction and the lighting elements I wanted for this shoot. It took quite some trial and error before we managed to capture each individual shot but when I pin the lighting aspects and the framing... we'll just click the shutter and she'll just do her magic.

She's wonderful with curves, lines and movement. As a dancer, she definitely knows how to move herself and every time she moves, my jaws drop a little. It was some the most beautiful poses I've ever captured and to distract myself from looking in amazement, I had to focus on the other aspects of the image and making sure that I try my best to complement the mood that she's bringing into the image.

We have not spun a person so hard in our life.

This image looks like a simple image but it was probably the hardest and most time consuming image of the whole series.

We shot this in the middle of the road in Penang along Penang Street and at around 11PM. With the ongoing traffic and mechanically faulty trigger for our flash we had to reshoot this image more than 10 times. Also, there were some oncoming traffic which threatened our lives so we had to stop, reassemble, shoot, stop, reassemble, light, shoot, stop, reassemble, light, shoot...

Basically, it was a long tiring repetitive process not just for us but even more for the talent who spun herself everytime so I could get that perfect movement on camera. I am so delighted to be working with someone so dedicated to making great images and to perfecting her dance moves. I could never have nailed this image without her hardwork and dedication.

In terms of editing, I had to bring in both sides of the road to cover up some imperfections including people in the image, lighting errors, color imperfections due to the street flickering lights and sometimes oncoming headlights, etc...

However, at the end of the day, this shot which took us half an hour and at a time when we're all tired from a day of shooting... was absolutely worth it.

We slept at 3.30AM. Woke up at 6AM for makeup and rode two hours into the most secluded place after Ipoh to shoot this.

It was worth it. We arrived in Kellie's Castle around 12PM and shot this image with a lot of help from a gradient filter and some powerful lights. I knew we had to overpower the sunlight to bring out her silhouette. As she stood there, I was expecting some model poses but she showed me some wonderful lines with this pose.

I was amazed with her pose. However, I kept my mouth shut and focused on getting every other detail perfect. I knew she would work her poses, I can absolutely trust her on that one but when we nail that pose, I want to make sure the other aspects are perfect.

I'm still amazed with this shot. I keep coming back to this and I was thinking of keeping this as one of the few privileged images on my blog but I really can't contain the excitement so I posted it on our facebook previously. I don't know, maybe I'm biased... maybe this is just an ordinary shot but I'm sure I fell in love with her lines and curves in this pose.

p/s: I've got some projects brewing on I'm excited about. I hope to reveal it all soon. Keep a tab on this space and I'll reveal it as soon as I get everything on camera. Till the next time, take care.

Before you go, let's see some of the other shots we took with Cecilia Yong from Malaysia's So Yo Think You Can Dance Season 2 winner! She has grown so much since then. *hint* You can search for this girl on youtube.