A brief history of my photography publications

First and foremost, let me bring you through a brief history of my photography books/zines publications that I produced and published. 

• Hokkaido B&W Landscapes 
• Square 8 x 8 Little Black Book with Zno (Hokkaido travel) 
• Trial/Pre-launch Photo Zine 
• TGH Photography Zine No.1: SG55 Special Edition 
• TGH Photography Zine No.2: TGH Photography Therapy Zine and Playbook 

Visual storytelling proposal plans/ideas

Continuing on from my TGH Photography Zine No.2 (you can get a physical and/or digital copy here!), I have shortlisted two project themes to work on:

A) Long term: Hokkaido travel visual story/travel guide (1 to 3 years)

My 1st travel adventure to Hokkaido was in November 2014, followed by my 2nd adventure in October 2016 (autumn). When I returned from my 2nd Hokkaido adventure, I set a goal for myself that I want to publish a photo book on 4 seasons of Hokkaido. 

This plan hasn’t change, it just got refined, my long term visual storytelling plan is a Hokkaido travel visual story/travel guide together. 

How am I going to discover my unique voice in my travel visual storytelling and travel guide combination? Firstly, I would need to make a few more trips, covering spring, summer and late winter seasons of Hokkaido first, I am reading more travel writing guides, travel writers works and start writing in small steps and phases.

B) Medium term: Singapore travel guides (6 months to 1 year)

I have a wide range of photographs and stories of Singapore over the past decade (and still counting), documenting old places, nature and green spaces, urban landscapes, history, heritage and culture, arts and creative sectors. 

Which sectors should I start on first? How should I approach it? A series of handy and informative handy Singapore travel guides might be my style and approach.

Photography books/Zines proposal plans/ideas

Here are some of my photography books/zines proposal plans/ideas that I have come up with. 

• Old playgrounds 
• Cats
• Clouds
• Sunsets
• Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku)
• Hokkaido landscapes (2nd edition)
• Singapore landscapes 
• B&W street photography 

For 2023, I am planning my zines to be of a more informal style and approach, while photo books would be produced in a slightly more planned approach. There is no final decision yet, I would go with my feel and see how each project theme turns out that I choose to work on.

Why do I still want to print/publish books/zines?

The debate on publishing/printing books/zines have probably been ongoing for quite a period of time now, in this social media driven era of videos and photographs, accompanied by goldfish memory and a getting shorter attention time span. 

I feel it’s less of physical books/zines making a comeback, there are some of us who wish to return back to the analogue days before the internet and social media boom. Some are also looking at a balance of both analogue and Web3.0 complementing each other.

Publishing and printing photography books and zines bring my ongoing works to life, beyond the digital and social media realms. 

Come follow me on my (new) visual storytelling adventures!

I may have honed and discovered my own visual storytelling style over my years of photography and writing, I am also relearning, reading, improving and maybe finding a new voice in my visual storytelling. 

Come follow me on my (new) visual storytelling adventures through my photography and writing!  

The post Photography Books/Zines Proposal Plans/Ideas for 2023 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

My Christmas (December 2022) and Birthday (January 2023) Wish List

How do I come up with a 2-in-1 wish list? Basically, it’s Christmas (December) and my birthday falls in the month of January, thus a 2-in-1 combo gift wish list! Here is my Christmas (December 2022) and Birthday (January 2023) wish list!

Cameras

I have previously tested and reviewed Canon EOS R3, EOS R6 and EOS R7, I have also recently had a short hands on with the latest Canon EOS R6 Mark II. It would be great to add another of those cameras into my current setup, any one of the 3 Canon cameras listed below would be an awesome addition to my current setup!

• Canon EOS R3
• Canon EOS R6 Mark II
• Canon EOS R6 
• Canon EOS R7

Lenses

• Canon RF100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM 

This is one of the Canon RF lenses that I reviewed previously, and I like it a lot.

Accessories/Peripherals 

• Wotancraft Pilot 10L

Technology Gadgets

• Apple MacBook Pro 14” M1 Pro
• Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
• NAS Solution 2 Bay or 4 Bay
• Sandisk Extreme Portable PRO SSD V2 2TB
• Casio Pro Trekker

I would not go too much into the details of my accessories/peripherals and technology gadgets list above!

My Christmas / Festive Season Gift Guides 2022 

This could be the first time that I compile and share with all of my followers and readers my Christmas / Festive Season Gift Guides 2022 that I received.

Photography

For those planning to get yourself a new camera or buying a camera for your loved ones, check out Canon Christmas Gift Guide 2022, whether you are a professional or serious enthusiast, content creator or just entering into photography!

Books/Zines

Planning to get some books to read? Check out No Missing Tools by Fernando Gros, you can get it from his website! One of the books that opened up my mind in thinking, writing, thought leadership and creativity. 

I recently published a new photography zine, it’s my second zine in the areas of photography therapy and exploration. If you are interested, visit MagCloud platform, you can get a physical or digital copy of TGH Photography Therapy Zine and Playbook, or even both physical and digital copy together!

Lifestyle Technology Gadgets 

I have the following brands Christmas 2022 / Festive Season 2022 Gift Guides to share with you! Do visit them and check out from the various brands offerings during this festive season:

• Jabra
• Acer
• LG
• Samsung
• Dell

Merry Christmas 2022 and Happy New Year 2023!

Wishing all my followers and readers a Merry Christmas 2022 and Happy New Year 2023 in advance! 

Any kind sponsors for any of my Christmas 2022 + Birthday 2023 wish list? 

The post Christmas 2022 and Birthday 2023 Wish List appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

During the journey leading up to this launch, I do have a lot of thoughts, feelings and emotions, behind the scenes in producing and publishing my second photography zine that couldn’t really go inside there, I wanted to share some of them here below. 

What is my second photography zine all about? It’s a lot more than just sweat and tears 

The motivation and story behind my second photography zine came about from some personal crisis in a middle of an ongoing global pandemic situation. There were a series of situations that took place in 2021, I won’t be going into detail anymore. In a nut shell, I spiralled down into a rabbit hole and I have to find my way out and up. 

My second photography zine has a unique and special theme – photography therapy theme, heading to the outdoors, nature, photography walks with friends, all forming part of my route to recovery. 

On a side note, if you are interested to read and know about my lengthy rantings, you can visit and discover my articles on this TGH Photography and Travel portal/blog and TGH Technology and Business portal/blog (where I write and publish personal articles as well)

Why do I write and publish a zine, and not as a book?

I decided not to go in an official book format/style, I would like it to be a bit less formal and a photography zine allows me to explore and test it out further, my photography zines are my building blocks towards a more formal visual story telling style book down the road.

“Nobody is going to buy your book/zine”

A feedback/comment that I heard previously, both a constructive and brutal harsh feedback/comment in a capitalist world that we live in. This is also on me to constantly improve my writing, style and types of visual story telling projects. 

We are living in a goldfish memory world that probably has only a 1-2 minutes attention span, glued to videos and driven by social media flaunting, or only looking at article headline and not reading the full article/story. 

Let’s bring back the world of reading, not just online, also reading from a physical book/magazine/zine again, in a world driven by internet and social media. We are also supporting fellow creatives and writers too! 

Question: Where can I purchase your second photography zine?

For my relatives, friends, supporters and followers from outside Singapore, my second photography zine is available for purchase on the MagCloud. For those living in Singapore, you can also order from MagCloud platform! 

As for my family, relatives, friends and supporters in Singapore, I would need to speak to local publishing/printing company Grenadier Press, and print them for the local Singapore market. I have yet to finalise how and where I am selling them. I might have a chat with my regular photography shops and place my zines for sale at the local Katong Square lifestyle and vintage market held every first weekend of the month.

Acknowledgements 

There are a number of people that I would like to sincerely thank them from the bottom of my heart, from being there for me when I was at the rock bottom. I wrote a pretty lengthy acknowledgements inside my second photography zine.

Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart to the following folks that played a significant role/part in my second photography zine that you might or might not have known: Chef Keith, Ryan Cheng, Isaac Ong, Wendy Kong, Michael Tay, Sue Fang, Tiffany Ngan, Belinda Tan and Fernando Gros.

What’s next in 2023?

Till my next photography project in 2023, which form and type should I embark on? A new photography book from my list of personal projects, a visual story book on my travel or a new set of photography zine? 

Last but not least

Last but not least, thank you from the bottom of my heart, to my family, relatives, friends and supporters who believe, trust and supported me in my photography and personal journeys, writing over the past decades (and still counting).

I have my fair share of criticisms, making (I lost count) mistakes in my personal life, professional career and from running my own small business. There are also people who look down on me (who doesn’t have them in your life?). We have to take it on our chin – learn from mistakes and life lessons, change, adapt, adopt and improve.

It’s not perfect, there’s always room for improvements, my photography business, personal photography, writing, publishing photography books, photography zines and I can only get better.

Thank you once again, for joining and following me my visual storytelling photography adventures over the years!

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