On Christmas Eve 2009… this Red-Bellied Poicephalus Parrot half-flew, half-tottered into our lives.

Okay so I brought him home from Goodwill Birds Trading as a Christmas present… and I can’t think of a better present.

When I saw him at the bird shop, he was ultra-affectionate – practically begging for attention. Now my friends know that I’ve never been a ‘bird-person’ ever, but this little thing was just too cute to pass on.

After toiling with a name for long time, we ultimately came to the decision to name him ‘Pigeon van der Beak‘.

Yes I know he’s a parrot. Yes I realise he’s not a pigeon. Yes it’s meant to be ironic – a name that is as quirky as he is…

Here are some photos that I took of him in the first few weeks of life as part of the family – predominantly with the exceptional Canon EF 50mm F/1.2L lens.

This is the first time I tried to get him to ‘Step Up’ onto my finger… okay so he was a little nippy and nervous at first, but he’s not quite used to it. Even though I got a semi-bloody nail (he got a little too enthusiastic chewing on my fingernail), I am exhilarated about how comfortable he is with me.

Pigeon started doing this strange ‘aeroplane’ position with his wings low and wide. Think it might be something to do with mating behaviours. Should I be worried… nah, it’s actually quite cute.

My two favourite images:

Shower Time                                                                  Dr. Evil

Pigeon van der Beak (age: 2) – December 2009

Now truly part of the family, Pigeon gives me one more thing to look forward to at the end of the work day. Now all I have to do is get over the separation anxiety I feel when I have to leave him at home all day!

I’ll be charting his growth and development as the über-pet-parrot on byNoelYeo – so stay tuned.

The following kit was used to create these photos:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• EF 50mm F/1.2L USM
• EF 70-200 F/2.8L IS USM (only for the 3 photos that I was in – thanks for taking the photos Mark)

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So a few weeks ago, I was revving up for ZoukOut ’09 – eagerly anticipating Armin Van Buuren’s set… until that is, I was struck down by one of the worst cases of food poisoning I’ve ever had in my life.

To cheer myself up, I set up this shoot the evening-after the party with the intention to deconstruct fashion and beauty images with water droplets.

Initially, the images I was aiming for was the splash of water after a droplet hit the surface.

~ Dove Clear ~                                                                         ~ Flawless Skincare ~

~ Cover Models ~

~ Shoulder Duster ~

~ Jolly Rogers ~

~ Tear Droplet ~

I then progressed to freezing the moment the ‘rebound-water-droplets’ were suspended in the air – just for that split second. It was an exercise in  patience, perseverance  and luck (in equal parts).

~ Water Crystal ~

~ Jolly Rogers II ~

~Christmas Catalogue ~

~ Grace Jones ~

~ Hugo ~

~ Harpers Bizarre ~

and my personal pavourite:

~ Hermes Picasso ~

Feel free to write to me if you have any questions about how I achieved these images in camera (Lightroom was used for contrast and cropping only).

Coming up tomorrow, a close encounter with a Red-breasted Poicephalus!

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Conducted shoot for five local bloggers as part of Soy Joy’s GI Challenge (April 2009)

The microsite with final images:

Nadia aka Nadnut

Ivy + Eunice

Pamela + Rayner

Behind the scenes at the Soy Joy Shoot:

Thanks to @patlaw (yet again!) for the lead!

I owe ya!

April 2009 byNoelYeo

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As much as I love my Canon EOS 5D Mark II, sometimes I just want to travel without the weight of a DSLR on my shoulders.

Goes to show that you can create interesting imagery with almost any device.

Value-Adding Bangkok Cabby

Weaving through Gridlock

Result of traffic-jam boredom. Might as well try out new ShakeItPhoto iPhone App

Still stuck in a cab. Contrast-y, but not too shabby

Sight for sore eyes: The Metropolitan Bangkok

Beauty in Bath(tub)

Siam Discovery splashes

Sunset at Siam (BTS Station)

Changing face of Bangkok Cityscape

Sneaking a nap on the side of Bangkok’s cityscape. Hopefully where your boss won’t find you. Yes, that is a man on the ledge.

Emergency signs with a twist @ Aldo, restaurant at the Ascott Sathorn

Breakfast Part 1 (left to right: pre, post)

Breakfast Part 2

Lunch Part 1 @ Sacha’s, Hotel Uno Sukhumvit

Lunch Part 2 (are you detecting a trend here). A friend once said “Noel is happiest… when sitting in front of 2 dinners.”

Dinner at Curries & More, Lumphini

Also having a meal, puppies at their err… restaurant

BTS Baby. Unnervingly knowing eyes

And that was my BKK trip in a nutshell.

Next stop, KUL for my brother’s wedding. That’ll be a barrel of laughs I’m sure!

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First shoot was for 7 of their key personnel – the remaining 3 to be shot next week.

Standard 2 light setup with grey backdrop, minimal retouching.

Sample images below.

~updated 9 Nov 2009~

Completed the shoot and final images ready for Actis!

Was great working with the entire team – Thanks to Ms Preeti Seshadri and Ms Jennifer Hoe @ Actis.

Noel

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Perth by Noel Yeo

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byNoelYeo.com officially created on 5th October 2009.

It’ll take awhile to get going.

So if please bear with me, I’ll promise not to put up one of those ‘under construction’ animated gifs.

Yours,

Noel

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