Showing posts with label Tomato Photo News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tomato Photo News. Show all posts

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Last week of 2010

Hello all,

First of all, wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011.

2010 come and go so quickly.... It seems like yesterday as the year started and it is the very last week for 2010.

We are very very please with the results for 2010 and will continue to grow to serve our clients (both existing and potential clients) the best we could. 

Our focus for 2011 will be to further enhancing the total client's experience from the second they hit our website to receive the finish products. 

Great image is just a starting point and what is important is the "process"and finish off with products that we proud of.

We have a lot of things in store for everyone for 2011.... it will be sent to everyone who is on our mailing list as soon as we confirm the details....

Once again... The year ended with the highlight of our work being featured in PhotoYou magazine for the second time for 2010... (Sadly.... miss print on our brand name... Tomato Photo).

2010 perhaps finish for many of our clients who is now close to their family and friends... however, we are still finishing off a handful of shoots in this coming week....

Here are a few images of newborn that I love....




Regards,

Hart
Tomato Photo
www.tomato.sg

Thursday, November 18, 2010

work vs family life.... how to balance them....

Hello all....

I thought this is quite an interesting topic to post as I was joking about it with Polo this afternoon...

Here is how our little Tomato family do it....

As many would know, we have 2 beautiful and active boys....

I want to function as a Daddy, someone who preserve memories for my clients, retoucher to images that I shoot, the QC manager to all my images and products, a delivery man for products to all our clients, (yes, I insist to do it myself for item that can't be posted safely), a husband and someone who put food on the table at the same time..... and hopefully have something left for the children's education in the future...

As we know, we have 24 hours in a day... every month, on average, I shoot about 1-2 sessions per day... 

Many of our clients might have seen our little Tomato Photo van which have a big red TOMATO on its roof running around...
If you see 4 people in it... that me, Polo, Alex and Oliver.... so say hi next time if you happen to past by our little Tomato Van.

So we pack 4 people, water and food for the kiddo and us, client's order, cameras and lenses and off we go....

Me shooting, Polo bring kids around to post client's order, feed them and keep them happy... then we meet again as a family... in between if I have the time, I will bring them to Sentosa if I have shoots in Sentosa and Alex loves the "monorail" and you won't believe how often we are at the zoo....

Take a typical day like today... (of course, if I am doing 3-5 sessions a day... I will be all alone).....

  • We wake up at 7ish am.. feed the kids....
  • We put everyone and everything in the van at 10am...
  • ---- still squeeze in a quick shop for kiddo's food at Tanglin mall... before the first delivery...
  • 1st delivery at 10:30am....
  • 2nd delivery at 11:30am...
  • Butterfly park at Sentosa at 11:45am
  • Lunch at 1pm
  • Shoot at 2pm
  • 3rd delivery at 4pm
  • Singapore zoo at 4:30pm
  • Home at 7pm.

Kids are asleep by 8pm and its time to reply emails... download images, process images.... and if we are lucky... 12 midnight when everything slows down...

Of course, we also take phone call, reply email on our iPad and schedule sessions on the run... and thank Steve jobs for iPad and whoever invented Mobile internet... we are greatful for it...

So please pardon me if I get distracted with kids yelling in the van or you can hear children's voices in the background...
So... it that will be a typical "working and family time" for our little Tomato family....

I think with the amount of car ride for the kiddo, they should do fine for Bali round trip everyday in the plane... hahahaha

and lastly... I thank God for giving me the energy and health to run around; and clients for the opportunity for us to spend time together....and most importantly... Glad that Singapore is pretty small which one can do so many things in a day....

Regards,

Hart
Tomato Photo
www.tomato.sg

Friday, October 8, 2010

Lovely people, lovely friends..... of Tomato Photo

Hello,

End of the year is often filled with lots of activities and lots of running around to make sure things happen in the right order and business is being promoted correctly.

It is a busy time where lack of sleep and long hour are a norm....

On another note, you may notice on the street there is a little fridge-like Van with Tomato Photo logo. That's me in the van most of the time.

It is amazing how many of our friends and clients will email and SMS me after seeing our van.

It's fun and it's great to see what our clients remember us....

We were at Hollandse club last Friday and of course The van was parked in the vicinity... End of day after packing, when walking to my van, I notice a note on the windscreen... I thought... "did I park at the wrong place?" to my surprise and delight...

The note was from friend of Tomato Photo...

Dear Hart,

Love you!!!

Janice, Chirsty and Gommy


It is very very nice gesture and love you guys too....


World is a better place with love...

Regards,

Hart

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Updated website

Hello all,

Just a quick announcement that we have just updated our website with more recent images.

More images on newborn, children and family sections.

Hope you guys love them as much as I love them.

Check it out...

WWW.TOMATO.SG


Regards,

Hart
Tomato Photo
www.tomato.sg

Monday, October 4, 2010

October 2010 - children photography, business in photography, wedding photography...

Hello,

I think October 2010 will be the highlight to the year.

The month started early at 7am on 1 Oct 2010 and 6 shoots on 1 day with twins newborn session which went really well and the day ended at 11.30pm. So that is about 17 hours. Follow by newborn session almost everyday since 29 September.

Apart from the photography, it is a privileged to run a course on "Business in Photography" for fellow photographer who is either new to the business, struggling to get enough jobs to make the ends meet to photographer who is looking to expanding their business.

The course was attended by 11 professional photographers and freelance Photographers. It was fully booked about 5 days from the initial introduction, I guess people are curious about how we gain enormous business in a very short time and maintain it. There is no secret and no magic.. Just an honest business practice by creating interesting images that client is looking for.

The course was suppose to run for 2 hours but over run by another 3 hours due to the amount of questions and interest from the attendees. I think I should run another one if I can squeeze in a time for it...

I lost my voice for a couple of days and still run like a headless chicken... The peak season is truly here... And I feel a lot more creative than before and have been trying a lot of new set of images which will be introduced when I am ready.

Well, as of end of September, our total number of shoot per month has been exceeded in Oct but we will try to squeeze in more clients as we believe in serving our clients rather than turn people away by telling them we are fully booked.

There are a couple of wedding shoots this months along with the usual family and newborn photography...

Well, It is always said, when you are busy, it is a good problem to have... And I guess all the upgrade in our infrastructures was a good decision to make and hope our ridiculous target will be met again... And we are a step closer to our dream.

I took on what Steve Jobs' mention in his speech at Stanford graduation ceremony...

Stay hungry and stay foolish...

Love my life and love my work.. (although lack of sleep)

Regards,

Hart

Saturday, September 4, 2010

New Server... New Website for our subsidiary....

Hello all,

As our business continue to grow, there are a lot of changes made in our infrastructures to cope with the demand.

First up, we have moved to a much bigger server to allow for the increase in demand to our server. Our old server is just about max up....  both on the storage and the email, we are upgrading so there is no disruption due to limit on our server. The transition so far has been smooth without any hiccup... thanks to the team behind our new server...

However, you may discover that the loading time for our website is may slower slightly temporary until all the changes are completed.


Secondly, We are also quite happy to announce that the website for our Subsidiary's company Bambini Photography has been completely overhaul featuring bigger pictures and easy to use interface as well as featuring both our photographer's work... Asri and Nigel...

So do visit www.bambiniphoto.sg if you get a chance.


We are heading into another year of tremendous growth both in Tomato Photo and Bambini Photography. We still have 4 months ahead of us and I am very positive that we will hit our target again...

More changes are on the way in upgrading our service to all our clients....

Despite our achievement, we deeply appreciate the effort that our clients do in promoting our business to their friends and family. Without them, none of the above would be possible.

Our clients are the reason why we exist and they are the people who put food on our table...


Thank you....







Monday, July 26, 2010

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions.....

Hello,

I thought of summarising some questions which pops up all the time....

1. Why the name TOMATO PHOTO?
I think this is our number one asked question, we get that almost on every new client session... 

First of all, from Business point of view, the name do stick in the head...
Secondly, it represent our work... Simple, Natural and Beautiful...
Thirdly, it is healthy... and its organic.

Our images hold the key in preserving the most organic way that we want to remember our children the way they were...

2. Why Children Photography?

Being trained as commercial photographer as well as wedding photographer and being warned by my mentors, never do anything related to Children nor pet in photography. Well, we listen only half of that... at least we don't offer any pet photography... as we don't understand pet's behaviour enough..

The easiest way to establish ourselves were to offer Commercial photography in Architetural and interior photography as well as Wedding photography... however, I simply follow my heart and offer Children photography because we believe in it.

Children photography to us is about presenting children in their most fundamental behaviour and not on what they are wearing, not what prop that we use, not on our latest photoshop post processing... there is no gimmick.. as we belief in long term value... 
Remember during the 80's where everyone is wearing shoulder pad? it was the latest fashion... would you consider wearing them today? 

It is the same concept that our photography is based on. Our aim is to preserve today in its most organic way for years to come. It is the subject, your child in its most organic form... the smile, the cry, the cheekiness and everything else but prop.


3. How come you have never provide digital negative on CD?
First of all, we don't charge for images on CD, but we put a minimum spend before we hand you the images on CD free of charge.
Tomato Photo is a brand name that is associated with one of the most creative studio in Singapore, our clients ranges from local artiste, company CEO, Socialite, to anyone who would appreciate photography as form of art.

As an artist, we believe in ultimate control of working the whole process from start to the very end. 

We find it is a need to make sure our work is produced by the right people who take pride on their work by providing an honest and highest level of quality there is to offer. Sadly, people who are offering high standards are a rarity these days.... 

Our aim is to make sure our client gets the best... but not a compromise... 

Apart from that, we need to ensure all images that leaved our studio is properly reproduced to our strict guidelines... we guarantee all our products to be perfect when you receive it.

We work very closely with all our suppliers and we understand that without them, we are simply an image creator and nothing else. Due to our tightly knit relationship with all of our suppliers, it is enable us to fine tune our workflow to ensure highest level of reproduction right from my mind's eye to the product that our client received.

At the end of the day, due to globalisation, it is not uncommon for our clients to move to another city to live permanently... so by having the digital negative available free of charge with minimum purchase satisfy both the artist's need of producing highest quality product and the client's need of archiving their images themselves.

4. Why do you charge for image archival?
With today's advancement in digital technology, Our camera equipment produce the highest resolution on 35mm full frame which produce a RAW file size of 40MB per image and on an average session, we will produce about 60 files which is about 2.4GB per client.

On top of that, the processed high res Jpeg files will take up another 1GB... so roughly, each session will take up about 3-4GB of files. 1 TerraBytes of Hard Drive only last about 2-3 months... and we need 4 of them in that time frame...

Most reputable studios will archive those files in a minimum of 4 Hard Drives (Basically similar to have 4 copies of the same images rather than 1) to ensure there is very little chance that our client's images will be lost between the ordering process.

5. What is Fine Art Print?
Fine Art Print refer to a process where the paper (medium) and the ink are certified as museum grade for longevity of the image.

Our fine art prints are done by Master Printers that serve Museums in Singapore...

It is definitely an investment for those who value the longevity of their images.


The reason that contribute to our success in a very short time is mainly due to our honest way in offering our services and doing the right thing while providing our clients with value...




Friday, May 21, 2010

PhotoYou Magazine Front cover...

Hello all,

I was contacted by the magazine when they were planning for the first issue but sadly, I have missed out on first issue of PhotoYou Magazine as featured photographer due to overseas travel assignments.

Anyway, was really thrilled to be featured on second issue (summer issue) of the magazine... there are 8 pages of tips and tricks on how to shoot your precious little newborn on the magazine.

Furthermore, I was shocked and delighted when one of the image that I took was selected for the cover of the magazine.

Special thanks to our client to allow us to use the images for publication, thank you...

So here it is... do grab a copy from major bookstore when they hit the store sometime next month. I will let you ponder on the content of the magazine...

You will also see this advert in Discovery Channel Magazine and Reader's Digest.

Regards,

Hart
www.tomato.sg

Friday, April 9, 2010

Singapore's First Certified Greener Photographer

Happy to announce we're the first in Singapore to be certified as being a Greener Photographer!

Our small steps in re-thinking and changing business practices to be greener and hey... every little step helps in environmental sustainability! 

We come to realise that we have been consuming and consuming the natural resources and take it for granted. 
We just wanted to put in our little bit in helping in any way we can to make the world a little sustainable for our children in the future...

Lets start reduce the amount of waste we produce, reuse what we could reuse, recycle what we could.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Tomato Photo on Facebook... Yes, we are on it now...

It has been the longest time that we procrastinated to add Tomato Photo Fan Page on Facebook.

Anyway, Polo did all the signing up and I just do all the formatting of the pictures and we will put more of 'Facebook only promotion and news' so everyone can read and learn about it.

So do join us as a fan... www.facebook.com/tomato.sg

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Newly updated website.... www.tomato.sg

Hello,

Spent countless hours for the last week to get the new website re-work and updated with more current images or previous images that have slipped through.

So do view our newly updated website... www.tomato.sg

I have added "What's On" for special priced session as well as few "special" bits and pieces. 

Also added is the "Workshop" which gives some of our clients who would like to learn from me some trick on how to shoot their kiddo or simply want to do more with their photography.

It was really difficult to delete those my selection but Polo is really great saying... nope... no... nadah... uhm... so this is the result of the very cruel and painful exercise but we hope that we have presented our best shots for your enjoyment.

Also hope that the music that I have selected gives you the pleasure when viewing our work...

If you still see our old website, please kindly refresh your browser...


Once again, thank you for viewing and hope you like the images on our newly updated website.

Last but not least... for those who has facebook, we have "shamelessly" created the "Fan" site so you can get updated on what is going on with Tomato Photo. You can either search us : Tomato Photo or by clicking www.facebook.com/tomato.sg

Okie dokie... time to sleep...

Regards,

Hart & Polo


Sunday, January 3, 2010

Away

Hello everyone,

I'll be away in Australia from 4th to 17th January 2010. Please email your inquiries to info@tomato.sg. We'll be in touch with you via email within 24 hours.


regards,
Hart

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hello all,

It has been a very interesting year....

The year started very gloomy with lots of economic uncertainly for most and things start to improve for us since March.

We are very fortunate despite the sudden gloomy outlook as we still exceeded our own expectation on our initial budget, perhaps we are too easy on ourselves?

We have met a lot of people with Big Heart this year, who go out of their way to help the needy... It has been very privileged to help them in their effort to make this world a better place.

Read a very interesting book call "The Idea book" and it really inspires me to think outside the square and take on challenges that I might not even think of.

Further along the year, one of the pinnacle achievement as far as professional photography goes, is achieving Licentiate status from the prestigious Master Photographer Association from UK.

The year ended with a wonderful news of the arrival of little Oliver (our second child). Alex, the elder brother loves him too... (although, we were really worried about the jealousy in the beginning).

We are really pleased of our achievement this year and certainly gives us a lot of morale to carry ourselves to the New Year. There are still a lot to be achieved and we are thankful everyday for what we have.

Thank you everyone who have helped me grow professionally and open the window of opportunity.

Last but not least, for all our clients, without your trust, we wouldn't be where we are, so thank you!


Hart, Polo, Alex and Oliver

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Overseas Shoot

Once again... time to go overseas...

Adelaide, 4-11 January for weddings and Sydney, 12-17 January for some relax time and perhaps portrait session if there is any....

So if you are travelling to Sydney or have friends who like us to "Shoot the Kids" then please get in touch with us at info@tomato.sg

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Finally... Qualified Master Photographers Association

Been working really hard and countless hours have been spent to ensure that we can qualify for a prestigious association from UK.

Thanks to all our clients who put their trust in us to capture part of their life....

Also special thank to two of my peers as well as dear friend, Matthew Tan from Portrait Gallery as well as  friend Eloise Clarke from Eloise Clarke Photography in giving me valuable suggestions and encouragements.

Without you all, to qualify to MPA was just a dream...

Well, it was nerve-racking this morning waiting for my turn to get my panels judged. It was even more so during the judging.... and I was so thrill that all judges propose that I can be qualified for the Licentiate membership to Master Photographers Association.

This is just beginning and more works needs to be done to ensure higher level of membership can be attained in the future.

Once again... thank you everyone and we are committed to continue to grow to provide you the best work and service.


Saturday, August 15, 2009

Promotional Weekdays Studio Session

Hi All,

After months of planning, reshaping and hours we have put to ensure our studio is being personalised to the way we are wanted, we are happy to announce that the studio is ready to the specification that Hart has been working at for a few months.

So, lets celebrate this with a special pricing for all who is interested to test out our
 unique, "built-for-kids" studio.

No flash, no backdrop and no props... a natural light studio like no other.

In case you are wondering, Tomato Photo has only 1 photographer, Hart. All images on our website (www.tomato.sg) belongs him.

Please note, The studio pricing is good for weekdays on September 2009 only. Digital negative (or softcopy) is not included in the package but will be available to purchase at our normal pricing.

Advance booking is essential to ensure best availability for you.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Tomato Website Updated

22.06.09

Hello all...

Finally have some time to update our website. It has now include more of the newborn images and we have added "PROMOTION" section which we will put our promo up from time to time.

Please visit our website at www.tomato.sg

If you still see our old website, please remember to press "refresh" on your browser....


Should see this on our splash page when you go in for newly updated website....

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

London Eye or Singapore Flyer

Hello all,

It has been awhile since my last post. Has been really busy with running the company after seeing some remarkable growth....

We would like to thank you all for your support. Every month, we thought, we are going to be a little quiet but somehow we often surprise ourselves after looking at those shoots we have done each month.

I have marked in our calendar about few weeks ago that I will have to take a day off so I could spend time with the family.

Furthermore, allowing myself to indulge in going out shooping for a point and shoot camera that allow me to create and bring with me all the time. So while Alex is asleep during lunch nap, I went out and bought a Panasonic Lumix LX3 point and shoot camera.

Love the camera... beautiful lens... too sharp in my opinion, but it is better sharp than not.

Since Alex sleeps around 7pm every night so we have to be home at least half an hour before so he don't get cranky... so we have decided to bring Alex on to Singapore flyer for a ride in the afternoon...

Well, I took a shot of London eye in 2003 and again 6 years later, I took a similar shot for Singapore Flyer... Back in 2003, I shot the london eye on film with a 20mm f2.8 lens and today were using the point and shoot camera.

I love the mood and the background of the image on London eye.... it is soft and very moody which I love... with modern technology, everything is too sharp, hence with much effort, I added noise to the image and soften the image to "imitate" the "mood"... much to my dismay... I just couldn't get it... but nonetheless, i still love the image.

One thing that taught me on after looking at both images, I realise that sharpness in the photo seems to have detrimental effect to an artistic view...

As a famous late Landscape photographer, Ansel Adams said...
It is better to have clear idea and soft image rather than clear image and fuzzy idea...
Unfortunately, with the introduction of digital imagery, the "clear and sharp" image has made many have fuzzy idea... or no idea at all...


We are glad that we continue to grow in a very fast pace despite with current economic climate... I guess, our focus is very simple....

Capturing images that touches our Heart...

It all started deep inside our heart and through our mind's eye comes the pre-visualisation that translate to our action from capturing to our workflow to produce the images for you.

The idea might be overly simple... but it is very "clear" idea on how we set ourselves apart from the competition and we are thankful every time when we receive encouragement email from our client as well as potential clients.


Tomato Photo
www.tomato.sg



Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Some updates on Tomato Photo....

Website Hits & Number of unique visitors has DOUBLED!!!
Have a bit of time before going to sleep and just had a peep on our hits on the website. Comparing 2008 and 2009, the hits of our website has double from unique user. Page view for last 3 months is close to the same level of our busiest time in Dec 2008 comparing month per month basis. Just thought this is quite a good indication that we are growing at a healthy pace.

Slower delivery time:
We would like to apologize for slightly slower delivery time from 7 days to 10 days, due to higher demand in recent months. Hence, we are putting on a retoucher to help out to do the retouching. She is still under training by our principal photographer/retoucher and will be put on the pipeline as soon as she is ready. However, slower delivery time is needed now to ensure quality of work. This will soon over when the new retoucher is up and running.

Growth:
We are quite relief that despite the gloomy economic weather in recent times, we are growing in steady pace (although we want a steeper curve), however, we are extremely please with the result so far though, but it could be better.... There are a lot of things on the pipeline, it will be rolled out when the time is right.

So thank you all for being part of our supporter and continuously helping us by recommend friends and family to us. Without our clients, we will not be where we are and certainly where we are aiming for.