Late last year, I was commissioned by The Financial Times to photograph a series of portraits of "entrepreneur, linguist, dandy dresser, petrol head, cycling fanatic, part-time soldier and thoroughly nice bloke: Wei Koh."

Wei Koh is the founder of Revolution Press and the editorial director of luxury horological title, Revolution and men's style and artisanal luxury publication, The Rake.

I had met Wei in passing at his Singapore office a couple of years prior -- when I photographed Oliver Stone for his magazine, The Rake -- so when I arrived at his home on the day of the shoot, we immediately had something in common.

My creative brief was to make a collection of photographs of Wei in his personal environment, and I was immediately attracted to the modern art adorning the walls of his home. I proposed integrating Wei's art collection into our portraits, and he happily obliged.

It was a relaxed and enjoyable photo shoot, with Wei's lovely wife, Jocelyn on-hand to help with his personal styling.

The result of our time together that morning spanned six pages in the FT's December 2012 horology magazine, "Watch This Space".

I am extremely fortunate to have a long-standing relationship with Travel + Leisure magazine, one of the world's preeminent luxury travel and lifestyle publications. I have worked with the Southeast Asian edition a number of times over the years, contributing travel and luxury lifestyle features; however, I have never had the privilege of photographing a cover fashion spread for them.  Until now.

Travel + Leisure SEA's Art Director contacted me, commending this fashion feature I recently shot for Dusit's Ei8ht magazine.  He mentioned that T+L SEA would soon be celebrating it's 5th anniversary, and he was interested in having me shoot a similarly-conceived cover and fashion feature at the brand new W Hotel in Singapore for the magazine's upcoming celebration issue.

In late-October, my team and I descended upon the beautiful W Hotel at Sentosa Cove for the all-day photography session.  Creatively, I love these types of assignments for the opportunity to integrate the property into my imagery, making the location a character alongside the model.  And there were so many remarkable locations to shoot around this contemporary luxury resort hotel -- avant-garde architecture, innovative furnishings and vibrant colours -- that we were spoiled for choice.

Our stylist kept the fashion and accessories luxe, chic, bold and bright: Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Miu Miu, Dolce & Gabbana and Christian Louboutin are among the labels showcased in our imagery.

The result is a collection of photography that graces the cover and eight pages in the December 2012 issue, the biggest T+L SEA issue ever published.

Happy 5th Anniversary, Travel + Leisure.

Browse more of my fashion photography here.

Credits

Client: Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia

Location: W Singapore - Sentosa Cove

Art Direction: James Unkong

Model: Tanja V.

Styling: Vernon Sim

Hair & Make-up: Andrea Claire

Photographer's Assistant: Zam

Digital Imaging: Agnes Teo

Many years ago -- while casting for a Reader's Digest Magazine cover I was shooting -- I met Canadian model, Lisa Crosswhite.  We chatted as I flipped through her portfolio, and I quickly realized that Lisa was an extremely talented and creative young woman with an entrepreneurial spirit.  Although we didn't work together on that specific shoot, we did stay in touch.

Since then Lisa (the model) has starred in many of my images.  From advertisements for GlaxoSmithKline and Meritus Hotels & Resorts, to editorial work for Condé Nast Traveller, to personal creative projects such as "Orphan", I have photographed Lisa numerous times over the years, and we have become close friends as a result.

But when Lisa (the entrepreneur) recently launched Gnossem -- a Singapore-based online fashion retailer -- and asked me to shoot the brand's launch campaign, I was excited for the opportunity for our friendship to grow into a creative partnership.

Lisa wanted the imagery for her inaugural Gnossem campaign to convey a strong sense female empowerment, yet maintain soft, romantic undertones.  Together we chose to shoot the photographic collection at Ku De Ta restaurant and lounge.  Perched atop Marina Bay Sands, teetering 56

stories in the sky, Ku De Ta offers one of Singapore's most spectacular vistas, providing us with a backdrop Lisa felt would "enhance the feeling of celebration and ownership of one’s being."

Featuring fashion artisanship from a handful of independent designers from across Asia-Pacific, including Pepsi Herrera (Philippines), Trioon (Singapore), and Fang Fong Projects (Hong Kong), it was a fantastic day of aesthetic collaboration with Lisa and another fellow Canadian, hair and make-up stylist Andrea Claire.

Watch a Gnossem-produced behind-the-scenes video here and browse more of my advertising photography portfolio here.

It is always exciting when a client comes directly to me with a creative concept for a shoot.  In this case it was Megan Williamson, owner of Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse in Singapore, who approached me with a unique idea for a fashion-inspired photographic series she wanted me to create.

As a broad concept, Megan wanted me to integrate wild European animals and beautiful, fashionable women into each of five photographs to be used as advertisements to promote Bistecca and as art to hang on the walls of her restaurant.

Admittedly, it was a rather uncommon brief, but I was attracted to the challenge of creating and capturing these fantastical scenes.  Megan was very flexible about which animals I could use, and she gave me the creative licence to conceptualize and art direct the five images myself. Megan's only stipulation was that each photograph needed to be set and created inside the restaurant itself.

My producers, Annette Fausboll and Maureen Audetto of Ugly Duckling Projects, brought together a team of Singapore's most creative and experienced fashion, hair and make-up stylists, and we all met late last year to conceptualize the shoot and brainstorm creative ideas.

The five executions we agreed to shoot were: "Mouflon", a woman going head-to-head into battle with an angry ram; "Pheasant", a localized interpretation of "American Gothic", the famous painting by Grant Wood; "Cows", an homage to the iconic Richard Avedon photograph, "Dovima with the Elephants", substituting giant 7-foot Chianina cows; "Boar", a wry take on a wealthy woman walking her toy poodle on a leash; and "Deer", inspired by the 19th century John Collier "Lady Godiva" painting.

Of course, once we determined and agreed on our concepts, the next puzzle that needed to be solved was how we would bring these animals -- some giant, others ferocious -- to life inside Bistecca.  It was crucial to me that every wild animal look completely lifelike.  I therefore quickly determined that compositing existing stock photographs of these animals into the scenes would not yield the faithful outcome I was seeking.  Additionally, bringing the animals to Bistecca and shooting giant Tuscan bulls or a raging wild boar inside the restaurant was clearly going to be impossible.

I reached out to Procolor, Singapore's preeminent digital imaging studio, to help me tackle the challenge.  We agreed collectively that the best course of action was to shoot the models alone and then, in post-production, photo-

realistically illustrate these animals and composite them into the frames.

Annette, Maureen and I then began searching for a concept artist who could could manage a job of this complexity.  We settled on Calvin Chua, a young graduate of Nanyang Technological University, who joined the team and worked alongside me on the shoot to layout each scene with enough consideration for the life-sized animals he would illustrate and Procolor would composite into the frame.

It took more than six long weeks of illustration and digital post-production, but this past Monday we finally completed the job.  It was the most challenging creative assignment I have ever undertaken; hundreds of hours of blood, sweat and (quite literally) tears were shed by the illustrator, digital imaging team and my entire production staff -- a true labour of love, resulting in finished artwork of which we are all very proud.

Explore "Orphan", another fantasy-styled collaborative fashion series I recently completed here.  And see more of my fashion and portrait photography on my website.

Credits

Client: Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects

Styling: Furqan Saini

Hair & Make-up: Andrea Claire

Hair & Make-up Assistant: Mag Yang

Photographer's Assistants: Zam, Simin & Jun Yang

Models: Nataliya Zapolina & Fabiana Cassol / Phantom

Illustration: Calvin Chua & Dave Phung / Procolor

Digital Imaging: Dave Phung / Procolor

Over three days this past September, I photographed a series of six fantasy-styled character portraits for Ian Hinden's "Orphan", a mystery web drama that is about to commence pre-production in Las Vegas early next year.

The photo shoot was an exciting collaboration of more than a dozen extremely creative and talented people, including Ian and his partner Chris Chiu, my producer Annette Fausboll from Ugly Duckling Projects, my assistant Zam and his team from the Stills Network and hair and make-up stylist Andrea Claire and her team.

My close friends Mike Rogers and Meghan Shea of Persistent Productions were on-location with us in Singapore to document the photo shoot; their short film goes behind-the-scenes on our set and shows how we created the "Orphan" portrait series.

Visit the newly launched official "Orphan" website to learn more about this exciting project.

And see more of my fashion and portrait photography portfolio on my website.

Last year I received an email from Ian Hinden, an artist, poet, writer, musician, fashion designer and self-professed "author of culture".  He told me that he was creating a mystery web drama called "Orphan" where the puzzle would be in the hands of the Internet audience to solve.

Ian went on to explain that Internet culture and the way the Internet consumes content would be a large part of the show's design, with the primary goal of "Orphan" to reward viewers who pay close attention to the show; by doing a bit of detective work, the viewer could discover hidden communications from the show's universe and characters.

Ian had completed the script for "Orphan" and his next step in getting his web drama produced was to create fantasy-inspired character portraits of all the main "Orphan" characters.  With my curiousity piqued, I agreed to see him.

Ian arrived at our meeting and launched excitedly into the "Orphan" storyline, which tells the tale of Jason Diego, whose father dies and leaves him a mysterious document which could change the course of the world.  To solve the mystery behind the document, Jason must travel deep into Brazil, where he discovers a territory claimed by no country -- an orphan territory.  A people with a strange and tragic history populate the land and, ultimately, Jason must face a villain -- the monster of the modern age with power stretching all over the world.

Ian took the time to introduce each of his "Orphan" characters to me: Geisha, Nurse Coli, Bible Jacket, Hiroshi, Tattoo Girl and Watch Man. He explained that his inspiration for these people was born from the simple idea of human imperfection; he was fascinated by the idea of taking some form of psychological disorder and chasing it to the extreme within the universe he'd created.

Geisha is symbolic of the meeting of Eastern and Western philosophies, with the traditional Japanese kimono finished in a Brazilian carnival style.  Geisha's white face is also reminiscent of Anonymous, an online persona that many people take on when they don’t want to be identified.  To Ian, identities are fluid, borders are fluid and alignments are fluid to the degree that you can’t tell who’s good and who's evil.  "Good vs. Evil is a boring story," declared Ian.  "The only story worth telling is Good vs. Good".

Nurse Coli was inspired by 4chan, where the users say, “We are the cancer that is killing.”  She is what would be spit out if a hospital managed to get cancer.   There’s a medical aspect involved in "Orphan": many of the characters have strange quirks or disorders, and part of the experience is diagnosing the characters.  Ian explained that Nurse Coli is his favourite character because she’s a monster who doesn’t know it.

The man wearing the Bible Jacket is the personification of addiction.  He wears a jacket made of Bibles to symbolize that ideas are often the things we are addicted to most. According to Ian,  "Some ideas, even though they feel good, can be the most destructive parts of ourselves."

Hiroshi is representative of conformity.  For a group like Anonymous to function, the members must completely conform.  "Although in the West strength is often exhibited through individuality, people purposefully shed these characteristics online so that no one in particular may be culpable," remarked Ian.

Tattoo Girl is a worker in a geisha-type hotel where the girls must have certain expertise.  Her tattoo is a barcode that details her skills.  Ian explained, "In 'Orphan' tattoos aren't viewed as a source of individuality, but rather as something your owner 'puts' on you.  However, Tattoo Girl is a non-conformist looking to break the system from inside."

Watch Man comes from a scene Ian envisioned where the sound of clocks ticking out of sync permeated the room.  "The universe of Orphan spans a long time, so there is a deep history that the characters are aware of.  The creature I envision would emerge from a century-long slumber," Ian exclaimed.

Ian showed me a tattered notebook full of character sketches and costume designs to further articulate his vision for "Orphan", emphasizing that, although the broad story concept was his, there was already a small team behind him: his partner, Chris Chiu, who works as the costume designer for the Venetian and Sands in Macau, would lead the wardrobe design, assisted by Steven V. Turner, a prop builder for Cirque du Soleil in Macau and local tailor, Zhou Quan.

I was hooked and, over the coming months, invited my producer Annette Fausboll into the fold to assist with talent casting, securing locations and aiding with other shoot logistics.  We brought in Andrea Claire to lend her expertise with hair and make-up styling; Procolor, Singapore's preeminent digital imaging house, to lead the photography retouching; and my frequent creative collaborators Mike Rogers and Meghan Shea of Persistent Productions to help with documenting behind-the-scenes of the shoot.

Over three days in early September -- more than 15 months after my first meeting with Ian -- we shot the fantasy-styled "Orphan" character portraits at six different locations in Singapore.  It was an exciting collaboration of more than a dozen people, and the resulting photographs are a testament to the hard work and creativity of the entire team.

Ian has now left Singapore to return to the Las Vegas where "Orphan" is being produced in partnership with Phyllis Carreon-Taie of Dream Vision Studios and Shawn Lane of the Las Vegas chapter of the charitable organization Women in Film.  Ian will act as executive producer along with his co-writer, Garek Bottesch, and business partner, Levi Larkin.  "Orphan" will be scored by Ian and James Von Boldt.

Visit the newly launched official "Orphan" website to learn more about this exciting project.

And see more of my fashion and portrait photography portfolio on my website.

I was tidying up my Lightroom catalogue a couple of weeks ago and stumbled across these forgotten photographs of model Julianne from our recent Ei8ht magazine fashion shoot at the dusitD2 Baraquda property in Pattaya.

No photographs from this series were published in the Eight magazine fashion spread, as the art director didn't feel that the dress fit with the rest of the shoot's "colour blocking" wardrobe styling.  However, the stylist loved the dress and asked me to shoot a few quick frames just for fun.

I agreed and we walked outside to find an interesting corner to make some fast photographs.  This small shrine sat off in the corner of the hotel parking lot, and we agreed that the combined colours of the dress, the model's hair and the shrine complimented one another well.  Although we didn't have any lighting set-up (or even a reflector at hand), the stylist and I gave Julianne a bit of direction, and I started banging off some frames.

I made just over 20 photographs in those few moments; these are three of them.  I love finding hidden gems like these.

See more imagery from this shoot, including a few more unpublished photos and iPhone outtakes.  And see more of my fashion photography portfolio on my website.

Shooting fashion photography, for me, occurred organically -- almost accidentally -- over many years.  I never set-out to be a fashion photographer; making candid, reportage-inspired pictures of people was what I was interested in, and how I truly got my start in photography.

However, when I began receiving my first travel magazine assignments years ago, it was required that I shoot a lot of architecture and interior photography: designer homes, boutique hotels, trendy bars and stylish restaurants. Inspired by the glossy pages of renowned luxury lifestyle and travel publications like Conde Nast Traveller and Travel + Leisure, I worked hard to create my own personal style of interior photography.

Merging these two photographic subjects together -- people and places -- and creating narrative-inspired, location-based fashion imagery seemed to me like a logical next step in my photographic career.  And I was fortunate that, more than five years ago, a couple of magazine editors I had been working with on travel and portrait work believed in me and my work enough to offer me opportunities to shoot small editorial fashion features for their respective publications.

Borrowing a little from my individual techniques for photographing both people and places, I learned a lot on those first few editorial fashion commissions.  And over the years I have continued to grow and to be inspired, and I have laboured to fine-tune a personal style for my location-based fashion photography.

No matter how many assignments or commissions I am awarded, it is always gratifying when a client hires me to create photography for them.  So I was extremely excited when, in April, I was asked to shoot a fashion feature for Ei8ht magazine the Dusit Thani Hotels and Resorts' custom lifestyle publication.

Alongside a fantastic creative team, I traveled to Thailand where we spent two days shooting at the Dusit Thani's boutique dusitD2 Baraquda property in Pattaya.  A modern design hotel, the dusitD2 was an extremely stylish location that provided us with constant photographic inspiration. The results of this shoot appear on the cover and across 10 pages of the recently-published Issue #2 of Ei8ht magazine.

See more imagery from the Ei8ht magazine fashion shoot, including unpublished photographs and iPhone outtakes. And see more from my fashion photography portfolio on my website.

Credits

Art Direction: Peter Stephens

Styling: Furqan Saini

Hair: Khanawut Ruangrot

Make-up: Wansuk Bunprasert

Photographer's Assistant: Zam

Model: Julianne Steege / Wilhelmina Models

Retouching: Agnes Teo

Last week I posted the cover and fashion feature that I photographed for the Summer 2011 edition of Sparkle, Park Hotel Group's fashion, lifestyle and travel magazine.

This past week end, as I was backing-up the retouched files and then clearing the shoot off my laptop, I quickly skimmed through the shortlisted photographs that didn't make the final cut for publication in the magazine.

I was particularly struck by the final series we shot that day, in the Club Lounge at Park Hotel's Clarke Quay property.  As I clicked through these captures, I kept seeing photographs I liked that weren't featured in the magazine, as we only had space for a single frame from each location/outfit.  In the end, more than a dozen photographs of the lovely Paula in the green dress by Etro caught my eye; here are seven of my favourite outtakes.

These photographs have not been retouched, but they have been processed using a free application called Poladroid which gives the images the vintage 1970's, instamatic feel.

See more of my fashion and portrait photography on my website.

What makes my job most interesting is that I am fortunate enough to have a range of diversity in my photographic briefs and subjects.  I find the contrasts between working on personal projects, shooting editorial assignments and photographing advertising campaigns to be perfect for me.

Literally, one day I can be alone with just my camera, searching for a perfect moment to capture; and the next day I can be on a set with lighting equipment, assistants, models, clients, creatives, stylists and producers trying to manufacture a perfect moment to capture.  This variety in my life and in my work helps keep me challenged and inspired.

So, when I was recently approached to shoot a style feature for the Park Hotel Group's in-house fashion, lifestyle and travel magazine, I happily agreed.

My brief was to photograph an indoor/outdoor, location-based fashion spread that mimicked the look and feel of natural light.

So, in late-February, the art director, my assistant and myself -- along with the beautiful model and accompanied by a fantastic group of stylists -- descended on the Park Hotel Clarke Quay for a day of fashion photography.

The results of the shoot are here, and appear on the cover and across six pages inside the Summer 2011 edition of the Park Hotel Group's Sparkle magazine.

The photographs look great, and I am very thankful to the talented team of people who provided their expertise and worked very hard alongside me to achieve this result.

Credits

Art Direction: Shirley Saphir

Styling: Vernon Sim

Hair: Eileen Koh

Make-up: TG Goh

Photographer's Assistant: Zam

Model: Paula A. / Carrie Models

Retouching: Agnes Teo

See more of my fashion and portrait photography on my website.

Way back in January of this year, Oliver Stone was in town to lecture at the Singapore campus of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, as well as screen Commandante -- his controversial documentary about Fidel Castro -- at the Next Reel International Film Festival.  During his few days in Singapore, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet this Hollywood legend and photograph him exclusively for The Rake magazine.

Christian Barker, editor-in-chief of The Rake, and I decided to photograph Mr. Stone at the beautiful Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island, in one of their exclusive private villas and in their gorgeous Rolls-Royce Phantom limousine.  The backdrop was perfect.  Now all we needed was the man.

"Oliver arrived, a little late, and in person he was all you'd expect -- his air that of a heavy-hitting Hollywood auteur", writes Christian in The Rake article.  "I was rather in awe of the man I was about to interview," he continues, "and our photographer Scott was understandably nervy that he'd soon be tasked with 'directing' one of the world's top directors."

Indeed, I was intimidated photographing Oliver Stone.

But this feeling was more because of the pressure I put on myself.  In fact, the three-time Oscar winner and four-time Golden Globe winner was not an intimidating person at all.  I actually found him to be quite the opposite: he was an extremely willing subject, very patient and happy to take direction.  Oliver was generous with his time, and he repeatedly ensured that I had the perfect shot before moving on.

Even the next evening, when I saw Oliver at the film festival, his first question when he greeted me was how the photographs looked and whether I was pleased with them.

I am pleased with them.

And, to coincide with the release of Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, the article has been published in the latest issue of The Rake (Volume 5, 2010).  I am very excited to finally be able to share this work.

See more photographs I made of Oliver Stone here.

Bridal isn't something that I typically photograph.  But narrative and cinematic fashion is.  So when the very lovely Faz -- who styled many of my favourite shoots, including Sin Palace and Golden Age -- offered me a chance to shoot with her for Singapore Brides, I had to say yes.

The shoot idea that Faz and I came up with was suburban-housewife-doing-mundane-tasks-around-town-in-a-wedding-dress; a simple idea with a slight social commentary on marriage and managing the day-to-day tasks of a household.

Assisted by Zam (Photographer's Assistant), Iggy (Stylist's Assistant) Dewi Mahoney (Make-up) and Ash Loi (Hair), we photographed the series in Singapore's Bedok neighbourhood.

It was a lot of fun to shoot this spread in such a public sphere, and (for once) not be concerned about people standing in the frame, staring at the camera or generally being part of the photograph.

Here are three images that didn't make the final cut for the spread (but I like a lot, anyway).  See the whole feature online at Singapore Brides.