Photography – Business and Content Creation 

Photography business

It has been a very tough and challenging journey running a photography business, just like running any other business. In an already intense and stressful competitive market facing a slowdown in world economy, we are facing an avalanche of new technological developments and innovations in generative AI, that is going to disrupt the photography and creatives market even further.

While some of my photography friends might not agree or would dispute my views, a stand-alone photography business might not be the way to go for running a photography business. The amount and intensity of change, adapt and adopt is going to exponentially increase.

Change of Old Guard 

Although I do take care of my photography cameras, lenses and gears, as much as possible, there will be wear and tear, along with technological improvements and changes over the years especially in the digital imaging world. All the above also coincide with new changes in my visual storytelling and content creation. 

Hello Canon EOS R6 Mark II, Goodbye Canon EOS 1D X Mark II! I have sentimental attachments to the EOS 1D series, this Canon camera model has always been an icon and part of my photography branding. Another story on this for another day.

Photography – Personal and Content Creation

The personal side of my photography gives me an avenue away from many things, not just away from the photography business side of things, a therapeutic time away from the stress and pressures.

Walking to my nearby neighbourhood areas, taking sunsets, cityscapes, nature and wildlife, with my camera and lenses, it was my personal time away from the hustles of running a small business.

Travel and Travel Related Content Creation

International Travel

There’s nothing to share here as I haven’t travelled out of Singapore since 2019. While I am not in a hurry to travel (Yes, I do have some pent-up frustrations in travel). Therefore, I think the time is now for me to get away from Singapore in Q3 2023, likely a regional trip first and hopefully a medium to long haul trip in Q4 2023. As for my travel destinations, I would keep under wraps for now.

Travel Related Content Creation

While I have been producing and creating visual storytelling articles regularly, there aren’t enough for my travel related content creation segments. Although I haven’t travelled overseas for a few years, that is not an excuse. 

An area for me to look more closely into, how and what kind of local travel stories that I would want to share about to friends and travellers visiting Singapore. This should be my “homework” before I return to travel visual storytelling and content creation when I relaunch my travel photography adventures overseas.

My photo walks haven’t officially take off as planned, time to re-ignite and start working on them again.

Plans for Q3 2023 & H2 2023

In Q1 2023, if you recall, my Yearly Theme (Photography and Travel) for 2023 is “Explore”. I feel that this year’s theme fits in nicely, I am exploring new avenues and directions in an increasingly difficult and challenging world economy and geo-political situations. 

Photography business

I never and I usually will not go into business specifics here, just like the Chinese saying, “The business field is just like a battle field”. My thoughts and views in a nutshell, we better evolve, change and adapt faster. We can’t just depend on one skill/expertise alone anymore. 

New personal project – Featuring and interviewing creatives, artists, photographers, heritage 

Earlier in this year 2023, I had an inspiration to feature and interview creatives, artists, photographers, history, heritage, preservation and culture community. Through this personal project, I hope to be able to help them with more publicity through my visual stories and writing, that’s also possibly a cross mixed media production with the artist’s artworks with my photography, as well as future business opportunities for me.

Travel related content creation, collaboration and partnerships

On top of creating more travel related content creation that I mentioned earlier, collaboration and partnerships have proved to be pretty difficult and tricky to breakthrough into. From competitors who guard their turf, time needed to establish stronger ties and limited opportunities, I have and I will continue to strive for a breakthrough. 

Last but not least

More than just my photography and travel segments, please do visit and check out my Reflecting H1 2023 & Q2 2023 (Technology, Business and Personal) on my TGH Technology and Business portal/blog.  

Although I will not be able to write down and share everything that happened or took place during Q2 2023 and H1 2023, compiling and writing them down serves as a form of diary, collection of memories and moments. Neither would I be able to share all my plans for Q3 2023 and H2 2023, just some key highlights.

Some stuff/matters are also more private and confidential that I do not want or wish to be shared on social media. 

The content, reflections, thoughts, and views might be lengthy and boring to others, even to my friends. Some are probably busy posting on social media platforms flooded with media and videos, we need to know what is happening to them, they don’t want to know what is happening to others.

Writing down my reflections, thoughts, views and upcoming plans are more than a good way of regular writing, constantly honing and improving my writing skills, this is also therapeutic in its own ways.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for making it to this line, reading my lengthy writing and ranting (sometimes). 

* Photos shot with Canon EOS R6 Mark II *

** A TGH Photography x Canon EOS R6 Mark II Explorer Series Production **

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Special Theme Q2 2022 – Fully Restarting Tourism 

Why such a theme “Fully Restarting Tourism”? This was a follow up from my June 2021 article on “When Can We Restart Tourism”, at that particular period in time, the world was still caught in between opening up and managing the global pandemic situation.

Fast forward three quarters into Q2 2022, the global pandemic situation is under better control and getting more stable, although the world is not of the woods yet. We can start to see more countries opening up their borders and restrictions, the activities have started to kick in, with tourism organisations ramping up their publicity, awareness and marketing campaigns, along with many other industry players from the travel, tourism aviation and hospitality industries. 

That’s how I personally view it, “Fully Restarting Tourism”, finally! However, my personal analysis are that while we are absolutely delighted in fully restarting tourism, this is not an immediate change/recovery. Things and changes are going to take a bit of time to get up to speed, from both demand and supply side of things, my personal estimation is that it would start to peak in Q3 (June school holidays) or Q4 2022 (year end school holidays, year end Christmas festive season). 

Call for media pitches from travel, tourism, aviation and hospitality industries 

For my special theme Q2 2022 – Fully restarting tourism. I am inviting a call for media pitches from travel, tourism, aviation and hospitality industries around the world, not just from Singapore or from regional countries.

Whether you are travel industry players with forecasts and insights, destination travel and tourism marketing companies/agencies, travel stories for your community tourism. For the Singapore market, I am open to discussions/collaborations with inbound tourism or outbound tourism industry players too.

The deadline for my pitches is 30th June 2022. This special theme “Fully Restarting Tourism” would be my key topics for Q2 and Q3 2022, with a possible extension into Q4 2022, depending on how the world travel and tourism industries move during the next few months. 

Wanderlust Dreams, Hopes, and Plans

During this period, I hope there would be opportunities opening up again either for travel photography/writing assignments/commissioned work. However, I won’t mind familiarisation media trips too if that opportunity arises. 

I have a number of countries that I would like to visit again soon. For short haul travel trips, I might start off with regional countries Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. As for long haul travel trips, I would visit Japan first before planning other countries with Europe likely my next destination. 

For all fellow travel writers, photographers and wanderlusts, I think it is safe to say that we are fully restarting tourism. 

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The top ten scenes of Hangzhou Digital Economy Tourism are Alibaba Group (China) Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd., the Cloud Town & Hangzhou City Brain Co., Ltd., Xiaoshan Hipark, Turing Town, Alibaba Cloud Industrial Internet Co., Ltd., Inno & Entre Town, Zhejiang Dahua Zhilian Co., Ltd., Xiaoshan Robot Town, and Wasu Digital TV Media Group, all of which are world-famous technology companies or business centers/parks.

From my personal travel and photographer perspective, I visited Hangzhou once, it’s a beautiful historical and cultural city and I wished I was able to explore more of Hangzhou and Zhejiang Province at that time. Besides my photography and travel writing, I am also into technology writing and coverage in both consumer and enterprise technology sectors, I would have some knowledge on the technology companies from China. When I read this news on the top ten scenes of Hangzhou Digital Economy Tourism, I was intrigued and interested to learn more about how technology companies play a part in a new era of tourism and travel.

Hangzhou is the political, economic and cultural centre of Zhejiang Province. Hangzhou is an ideal MICE destination, from its rich Chinese traditional culture to passionate team building programs, to cooperation-inspiring business study trips and colourful leisure night life, a wealth of various interests that can be keenly felt for event planners.

Hangzhou’s digital economy industry has been constantly growing in recent years. The industrial sectors are empowered for development with technology innovations, along with emerging economic sectors such as the Internet, cultural creativity, financial services, health care and new energy. Top national and international conferences take roots in Hangzhou, including the APSARA Conference, 2050 Conference, Netease Future Conference, and Money20/20. The digital economy is one of the fastest growing industries, it has attracted more and more Chinese and international business tourists. This untapped tourism has become a “new blue ocean” for the development of Hangzhou’s tourism industry.

With that in mind, Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, TV and Tourism launched “Top Ten Scenes of Hangzhou Digital Economy Tourism”, integrating new digital economy resources into their tourism concept. The ten scenes have established a specified visitor reception mechanism catering mainly for business tourists, allowing them to showcase their achievements in the development of the digital economy.

Alibaba

Alibaba is a world-renowned technology company founded in Hangzhou. Alibaba offers three visitor lines covering its Visitor Center at QINCHENGLI Mall, Tai Ji Zen Garden, Fly Zoo Hotel, and other unique resources. The spots are all representative. Alibaba’s Visitor Center shows the style of Alibaba, including Alibaba’s culture, industry, and products. As a new retail experimental field in smart commercial space, QINCHENGLI Mall relies on the big data and AI technology to upgrade the production and circulation process of commodities and form a display of new modes through deep integration of online, offline and logistics. As the first smart hotel in the world, Fly Zoo Hotel boasts 290 rooms, the future fitness center and other facilities. Facial recognition check-in, smart elevator, Tmall smart butler, robot food delivery are all part of the lure, reflecting the latest smart applications.

Hikvision 

Hikvision is an intelligent IoT（Internet of Things） solution and big data service provider, focusing on comprehensive security, big data service and smart business. It is committed to building a smart city and digitized enterprise with integration of cloud and edge, IoT and Information, and digitization and intelligence. Covering an area of 4500 square meters, the Hikvision Exhibition Center showcases the design language centering on “light”. For example, the device in the hall is called “The light of heart mirror”, whose linkage with the big screen and the dance of light helps convey to the audience the philosophy of the company and the theme of the whole exhibition. And it shows a city empowered by high-tech, including whole-house smart home experience, road safety driving guaranteed by vehicle-road collaborative technology, AR smart scenic sights, “take and go” easy shopping area, efficient smart factories and urban operation center, etc.

Hangzhou City Brain

As the cradle of characteristic towns in Zhejiang, home to Hangzhou City Brain, and the permanent venue of “Cloud Computing Conference”, the Cloud Town boasts five big industry ecology of “cloud industry”, “City Brain”, “intelligent manufacturing”, “space information”, and “biological medicine”, committing itself to forge the first town in China’s digital economy. The City Brain, known as Hangzhou’s “golden name card”, enables urban managers to better allocate public resources, make scientific decisions and improve governance efficiency. Hangzhou City Brain Co., Ltd., as the operation and management main body of the smart system, is striving to become a model in Hangzhou’s digital economy tourism. This scene offers three routes covering Cloud Town Exhibition, Museum of Inspiration 2050, Herbal Garden, City Brain Base. The City Brain Base presents the new mechanism in which the Hangzhou government explores the development and construction of the city brain, including the industrial application, the process, the achievements, and the future of collaborative innovation among the government, enterprises and research institutions through the Innovation Base.

As a travel photographer and writer, as well as a technology writer, the top ten scenes of Hangzhou Digital Economy Tourism is interesting and I would love to visit when the opportunity arises, even though they are catered mainly for business tourists. This unique mix of historical and cultural roots, along with new age digital economies, makes top ten scenes of Hangzhou Digital Economy Tourism, a special tourism, digital and business hub showcase to the world.

* Information and picture courtesy of Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, TV and Tourism and Media Outreach *

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