life!
쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES SATURDAY, JULY 18 2009 PAGE E4
Shutterbugs
click for cash
Amateur photographers
are turning their hobby
into money by doing
freelance work
yusuf abdol hamid
I
t is a hobby shared by thousands of
Singaporeans, but for those with a
little skill and business acumen, it
pays to play as well.
Some photography enthusiasts
have stepped up from snapping pretty or-
chids and cherubic nephews for fun to
commercial gigs such as weddings and
events for a small fee.
A week before his sister’s June 14 wed-
ding this year, Mr Henry Ong, 35, went
online to hire a photographer.
Swamped with replies after a few
days, the owner of logistics company
Channel Management Systems chose a
hobbyist, a 35-year-old civil servant
with a master’s degree in business admin-
istration.
He claimed to have over a decade’s ex-
perience in freelance photography.
“Professional photographers’ rates
are too expensive,” said Mr Ong, who de-
clined to reveal how much he paid, ex-
cept that it was “much cheaper than that
charged by professionals”.
Hobbyists who advertise their servic-
es on online forums typically charge any-
where between $15 and $100 per hour.
Photography has undergone a renais-
sance in the last few years, with camera
stores and photography competition or-
ganisers reporting significant increases
in sales and participation.
The boom owes much to the introduc-
tion of the digital format which has large-
ly replaced the use of film, making pho-
tography cheaper and more accessible.
“People save on film and chemicals
used to develop their prints, and use that
money to buy a better camera instead,”
said Mr William Toh, 55, director of
50-year-old Cathay Photo Store in Penin-
sula Plaza.
He has seen a marked improvement in
business since digital photography was
introduced around 2003, with customers
spending an average of $1,000 in his
store.
Popular local photography competi-
tions such as Safra Photographer of the
Year have seen more submissions than
ever.
Held every other year since 1992, the
Safra competition in 2008 received 1,244
entries, more than twice the participa-
tion rate in 1998.
“Most of the winners are amateurs
with a strong passion for photography,”
says Safra Photographic Club chairman
Victor Chick.
Hobbyists say freelance photography
is more than just a money-making oppor-
tunity.
“Photography is a practical, hands-on
activity, so freelancing is a chance to im-
prove my skills,” says Mr Clarence Lee, an
environmental project manager at Kong
Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
The 36-year-old began taking photog-
raphy seriously around four years ago
and has since spent more than $20,000
on camera equipment.
Unlike professionals, his rates are flex-
ible. He said: “It really depends on the cli-
ent, so I’ll shoot for free if it’s a charity
event or if the person is really in need of
help.”
Because of work commitments, Mr
Lee, who uses a Canon EOS-1D Mark III,
takes on freelance jobs only once or
Mr Clarence Lee, a hobbyist who also freelances as a photographer, says the jobs
he takes on offer him a chance to hone his skills. ST PHOTOS: YUSUF ABDOL HAMID
twice a year, which he says is insuffi-
cient to support his hobby.
Getting in on the act as well is Nan-
yang Technological University student
Shawn Kang.
He says: “The cost of this hobby is
quite high and as a student, I need to jus-
tify buying expensive equipment.”
The 24-year-old undergraduate
picked up photography five years ago
when he was in the army and began free-
lancing three months ago.
He has completed three assignments
so far, and has a wedding shoot this De-
cember.
“My professional friends told me not
to charge too little, saying that I’m
‘spoiling the market’, so for future work,
I’m raising my rates,” said Mr Kang, who
currently charges about $400 a day.
Age is no barrier to getting work, a
fact that 18-year-old Keith Premchand
attests to.
The second-year Victoria Junior Col-
lege student said that at a recent job, an
executive’s birthday party, the client
was not surprised by his age and even
Do not discount
18-year-old
Keith
Premchand’s
skills, for the
quality of his
work speaks for
itself.
tipped him for a job well done.
He said: “I may look young, but it’s
the product that counts in the end.”
But with an increasing number of hob-
byists offering their services, the market
has become saturated.
“We have a large pool of amateurs
and hobbyists who are willing to offer
their services for a fee, or even for free,”
said Mr Darren Lau, 42, one of the found-
ers of Clubsnap, a popular home-grown
online photography forum with 89,000
registered members.
Mr Kang, who has been using online
photo-sharing service Flickr to store his
portfolio, is working on a personal web-
site to stand out from the crowd and ap-
pear more professional.
In spite of the volatile nature of free-
lance photography, there are those who
have graduated to becoming professional.
Photography trainer Mohammad Sul-
han Juman had already made plans to
turn professional at the end of the year,
but getting retrenched earlier this year
forced him to speed up his plans.
The 36-year-old former electrical en-
gineer with
Hewlett Pack-
ard Singapore
is now based
in Melbourne,
where he teach-
es photogra-
phy, has pub-
lished a book
called Let’s
Learn Photog-
raphy and oper-
ates a mobile
photo studio.
Mr Sulhan
began conduct-
ing free pho-
tography class-
es for mem-
bers of Clubsnap in 2001. After a few
years, he began charging for the classes
and earned about $800 a month.
He said: “Never would I have imag-
ined that conducting a free class would
have such a big impact on my future.”
yhamid@sph.com.sg
Young pianist
makes stunning
concerto debut
review concert
PRESIDENT’S YOUNG PERFORMERS CONCERT
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Darrell Ang, Conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall
Thursday
chang tou liang
A solo appearance at the annual Presi-
dent’s Young Performers Concert by the
Singapore Symphony Orchestra is argua-
bly the highest accolade a local musician
under the age of 30 can aspire to. While
even an invitation to audition for the se-
ries is an honour, actually performing on
the vast Esplanade stage with VIPs in
attendance is quite something else.
Eleven-year-old pianist Mervyn Lee
Cheng Hui could not have had a better
concerto debut with Haydn’s Piano Con-
certo In D Major. Exhibiting neither emo-
tion nor nerves, his self-assured take –
coloured with a subtle variety of shades
and dynamics – would have made some-
one double or triple his age proud. Craft-
ing his own cadenzas, itself a dying art of
extemporisation, he surprised with sud-
den shifts in harmonies and nuances. All
these confirm that he is fully in tune with
the cunning wit of Haydn and suggests a
budding composer.
Canada-born soprano Anisa Kureishi,
now a permanent resident here, was
gowned in pristine white and had the an-
gelic presence to sing a vision of a child’s
heaven in the finale of Mahler’s idyllic
Fourth Symphony.
Her deportment and intonation were
impeccable throughout, but voice projec-
tion and conveying of the expressions be-
yond mere words were little more than
what a very talented 14-year-old could
manage. A commanding but seemingly
compliant persona is needed to be con-
vincing.
That is exactly the reason why most re-
cordings and performances, barring nota-
ble exceptions, involve mature singers
(one thinks of Frederica von Stade or Bar-
bara Hendricks, for example) who bring
depth but act child-like rather than chil-
dren portraying their own age.
Darrell Ang, himself a youth by conduc-
tor’s standards, presided over the orches-
tra like a veteran. The balance of the sym-
phony, Mahler’s lightest, shortest and
least neurotic, passed like a pleasant
dream. Its leisurely rolling slopes and val-
leys were traversed between gentle con-
templation and persuasively heaving, not
thunderous, climaxes. Every phrase was
carefully judged, with little or none of the
cathartic extremes that usually typified
Mahler’s oeuvre.
The theme of youth had earlier begun
the concert with Ravel’s Mother Goose
Suite. Sumptuously orchestrated, each
fairy tale-inspired movement was per-
formed with much colour and characteri-
sation. From furtive bird calls, gamelan
chimes, gauche waltzing to miraculous
transformations, fantastic imagery was
never in short supply. All one needs is to
abandon all worries and doubt, and let
the music do the storytelling.