"A handful of parents established the Singapore American School (SAS) in 1956 in a private home with just 105 students to meet the educational needs of a burgeoning expatriate community.  Today, SAS is an independent, non-profit, co-educational day school offering an American-based curriculum for preschool through grade 12. There are more than 3,800 students from more than 50 nations, and approximately 70% hold U.S. passports.  SAS... is the largest single-campus international school in the world."

I have long admired SAS for its innovative spirit, willingness to change and desire to be a world-class school.  Whenever the school asks me to participate in a student activity -- whether it's assisting the AP Art class, delivering the keynote address at the Model UN conference or speaking about photography to the Yearbook class -- I am always happy to oblige.

So when Vanessa Spier, the Director of Communications at SAS, approached me last year about photographing the school's latest brand and advertising campaign, themed 'SOAR', I was extremely excited for the opportunity.

In working through the broad creative idea with Vanessa and her colleague Kristina Doss, I learned that through a series of discussions with administrators, principals, and teachers, several overarching themes emerged.

Extraordinary care is a consistent, longstanding thread recounted across faculty, staff, parents and students -- not just for students in their learning, but in their lives, as well as for families as a part of the SAS community, and faculty in their support of one another.

Vanessa also explained to me that a second well-known indicator of SAS's success is a culture of excellence. However, she was careful to clarify that although this culture was promoted very well internally, it wasn't always portrayed as well externally.  Vanessa described how SAS has one of the top AP programs in the world, its younger students deliver some of the highest test scores in the world and its older students attend many of the world's top universities and colleges.  Excellence is definitely a part of who SAS is, but not always part of the story SAS tells.

And finally, Vanessa described SAS's desire to promote its culture of possibilities, emphasizing the wide choices that students have in their course selections, activities and clubs.  She wanted to show that every student, no matter what their age, learning style, interest or strength can find a place at SAS where they can succeed and achieve amazing goals.

In our early meetings, Vanessa shared with me SAS's most recent advertising campaign: "Be engaged. Be challenged.

Be inspired. Be you."  SAS began identifying students who had unique stories to tell or were able to pursue their passions and achieve levels of excellence.  Throughout this process, Vanessa explained, she and her colleagues often recounted how these students were able to "soar".  As Vanessa said to me, "It just all fit together that 'SOAR' should be our campaign theme.  It's who we are.  It's what we want our students to do.  It's what our faculty does on a daily basis.  It's where we want to go as an organization." And so the campaign's big idea was born...

What was unique about this commission was that I worked directly with the client (and not via an advertising agency) who offered me a true hand in the photographic idea generation and throughout the entire creative and production process.  In fact, Vanessa, Kristina and I spent a day together touring the SAS campus, brainstorming possible 'SOAR' photographs and how to execute them.

My favourite photographs from this campaign are the ones that feature students whose passions, nurtured at SAS, are leading them to success in the real world.

One was Alex Fortmann, a high school senior whose beautiful short film, "Flight" -- that Alex wrote, directed, filmed, scored and starred in -- resulted in his acceptance to the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at

NYU.  We made Alex's portrait in the SAS film studio surrounded by lights and cameras while projecting a scene from "Flight" onto Alex himself, essentially using Alex as a canvas for his own art.

Another was Devon Reagan, a young woman who wished to integrate her passion for horses into her senior project. Devon decided to work alongside the Riding for the Disabled Association of Singapore, volunteering regularly and mentoring one student while studying the bond that has been known to develop when the handicapped learn to ride horses.  During this process Devon became certified with the British Horse Society and successfully gained entrance into Equine Science program at Colorado State University.  We photographed Devon alongside a beautiful horse at the Bukit Timah Saddle Club where she volunteered.

High School junior Kartikye Mittal designed and engineered the quadcopter we photographed on the SAS soccer field. He is one of the founding members of the SAS Robotics Team and has participated in several competitions around the world.  Interestingly, Kartikye is also a Google Glass student developer helping to Beta test Google's latest technology.  This photograph was a lot of fun (if not extremely challenging) to make, involving a Genie lift, some technical challenges and some very patient pilots and

and teachers.  (Read a behind-the-scenes account of this shoot on Singapore American School's 'Perspectives' blog).

Finally, there was Colton West, who transferred to SAS a few years ago.  Colton and his family were concerned that he would not be able to fully pursue his deep passion for ballet at a high school here in Singapore.  However, teacher Tracy van der Linden's dance program is not only flexible, but also of a quality and rigour that allows students of all abilities to excel.  Colton has continued to soar at SAS; last year he won the prestigious International Competition du Grasse in France, one of the most important classical European dance competitions.  Colton trains two and a half hours every day after school, and six hours a day on weekends.  He graduates this year and his goal it to attend the famous Juliard School to study dance next year. Colton's was a very enjoyable photograph to make, as I collaborated closely with him and three of his ballet peers to make certain we captured his pose perfectly.

Together we made a total of 15 'SOAR' photographs for SAS to roll-out in press campaigns, publish online and display across campus throughout the current 2014/15 academic year.  I am always excited to see my work come to life, but because of my close relationship with SAS and its faculty, it feels a little more special this time.

Special Thanks to SAS Administrators and Faculty

Chip Kimball, Vanessa Spier, Kristina Doss, Mona Stuart, Mimi Molchan, Tracy van der Linden, Barbara Harvey, Peter Cuthbert, Alison Cuthbert, Wendy Liddell, Anne Westrom, Paul Koebnick, Anthony Wong, Barton Millar, Meredith White and Jim Ryan.

Credits

Client: Singapore American School

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects

Executive Producer: Annette Fausboll

Hair & Make-up Artist: Andrea Claire

Photographer's Assistant: Zam (Stills Network)

D.I. Artist: Agnes Teo

See the 2014/15 'SOAR' print media campaign and read more about these inspiring students' stories here.

Way back in January -- prior to all the Nikon D4S content we made, and in collaboration with JWT Singapore -- my creative team and I photographed the Asia-Pacific/Middle East/Africa print campaign for the launch of the brand new Nikon D3300 DSLR camera for our friends at Nikon Asia.

Shot on-location in the backyard swimming pool of a private Singapore home, and featuring six young boys ranging in age from five to 13-years-old, this was an extremely enjoyable (if not challenging) image to direct and photograph.

Print ads featuring this picture rolled-out across Asia and around the world a few months ago -- one of which actually hung at the bus stop a few doors down from my home in Singapore for a number of weeks, which was exciting to see.

I Am The New Nikon D3300.  I Am Endless Possibilities.

Credits

Client: Nikon Asia

Agency: JWT Singapore

Producer (JWT): Pepper See

Art Director: Laurent Pastorelli

Account Service: Missy Tolentino, Jeanette Tan

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects (UDP)

Executive Producer (UDP): Annette Fausboll

Producer (UDP): Andre Chen

Styling: Evon

Grooming: Mag Yang

Photographer's Assistants: Zam & Halid (Stills Network)

This story, written by Martha Blanchfield, was originally published on Nikon USA's Focus On Cinema blog.

High Resolution Stills and Video in One Lightweight, Rugged Package

Photojournalists, DOPs, documentary producers and photographers are producing significantly more multimedia assets as part of client deliverables. What’s needed is a rugged, versatile camera that can go the mile, whether at a beachside wedding or high atop a mountain in extreme freezing cold.

Mike Rogers and Scott Woodward, a Singapore-based filmmaker and photographer team, were tasked with testing the new Nikon D4S DSLR and pushing the camera to its limits. Over the span of 17 days, the team created three short films and thousands of photographs that showcase the features and capabilities of Nikon’s latest tool for creative storytelling.

Nikon in Bhutan

Each pro had specific and exacting challenges for the camera. Woodward sought to demonstrate how the D4S is an optimal tool for working in extreme conditions, while

being a must-have camera that produces flawless still images. Rogers wanted to capture the beautiful and enigmatic Kingdom of Bhutan, one of the world’s most

Untouched and unforgiving landscapes through three short films: (1) “Taking Aim” - A film about a young female archer in Bhutan, (2) “A Journey to Perfection” - The team’s story recorded during the Bhutan trek and (3) Behind the scenes for a “A Journey to Perfection”.

Nikon wanted us to reach to extremes for both our creativity and this new camera, so we envisioned a trek up the slopes of Bhutan’s Himalayan Mountains—with a plan to work at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,300 meters (10,000 and 14,000 feet), temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius (15 degrees Fahrenheit), and in environments of snow, dust and wind,” says Woodward. “Our goal: push the new EXPEED 4 image processor day and night. Task every new feature and invent ways to tell our story through both motion and still art.”

Capture in Bhutan hinged on the team’s ability to get equipment to each shoot site. While not a typical commercial production, a large crew and plenty of gear was nonetheless required. A team of 10 Bhutanese guides led

the group of eight; their 21 pack horses carried supplies and gear (totaling 300kg or 661 pounds). The team traversed rough terrain and ascension to altitudes where work in freezing weather—day and night—was on the agenda.

Trek Test

During the journey, Woodward fired off more than 5,000 frames and Rogers produced 15 hours of footage. To task the operating strength of the camera, a decision was made to run all video processing internally. In other words, all footage acquisition went straight to the memory card, minus external recorder and HDMI uncompressed-out. The objectives being to not only prove that the camera alone could deliver tremendous output, but to max-out processing muscle.

“We shot with the decision to perform post-processing and color grading direct from compressed H.264 .MOV files right out of the camera,” notes Rogers. Working that way did create a risky situation in that he did not have immediate large-view feedback. “Nonetheless, our first impression regarding quality of footage was remarkable. Direct-to-camera permitted us to move more efficiently through the final stages of post-production since

capture was already pretty well-balanced in terms of color.”

A View to a Hill

When viewing the films, try to visualize how capture was achieved. The team mixed things with a variety of POV (point of view) acquired using tripod, handheld and glide cam systems. They varied frame rate speed and pushed ISO into the deep end.

Fast lenses were used; a NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4 was the mainstay. For longer distances, a NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8 provided depth of field that yielded desired bokeh-ish mood. The NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8—the widest lens on-hand, was tapped when working 60p with a glide cam and jib. “We also heavily relied on a 16-35mm f/1.4 (most of the behind the scenes film was shot on this lens), a 24-70mm f/2.8 (Woodward’s favorite), plus a pair of 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II lenses (often used for the long scene-setting shots),” notes Rogers.

Aside from swapping a lens to vary DOF, Rogers eased between FX and DX modes. For instance, his 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II lens became an effective 105-300mm which served as a quick and effective option to get closer to a subject.

Slowing Down the Ascent

Rogers says, “Let’s start by talking about the 1080p slow-motion capability with the Nikon D4S. Capped at 60p when running NTSC (50p on PAL), this new speed feature turns the D4S from a regular DSLR into a creative power house. Once we saw how 60p looked, we filmed many scenes at this higher frame rate with the intent to create a bed of footage that could be later slowed down to accentuate a key moment in a scene.”

He continues, “A lot of cameras offer capture at 60p, but it’s important to bear in mind that this setting alters how the sensor reads the light. Done poorly, the record process can seriously increase artifacts and noise in dark areas of the image. In our motion scenes—many of which were staged in darkness and illuminated only by a single small studio light and/or purely a table of candles—the blacks stayed smooth with very minute artifacting.”

Rogers jumps back to comment on Nikon D4S versatility at 1080p, specifically when footage is to be cropped down. The camera’s excellent capture gave him more options to vary focal lengths (digital retouch in post-process) using that original take. He could also work this crop functionality into slow motion edit work. And finally, 720p Web delivery was possible.

Black Made Better with White

Calling out a specific span of capture at 60p, Rogers references the candle scene. Here, he wanted to keep the presentation very natural, so illumination cast by the candles was the only light permitted. “I focused the camera, adjusted the Nikon Spot White Balance setting to the skin tone of my subject, then commenced capture.”

Working in this manner did require him to increase ISO to 1600 (to preserve some exposure for background and environment). “This ISO boost, with almost all other cameras, would have rendered blacks in the scene to be grainy and horrible. I’d be spending more time in post-production color to correct things,” he says. “In the past, when using other brands of DSLR as a main camera, I’ve noticed a less than stellar track record properly rendering colors. The Nikon D4S did an amazing job of keeping the blacks nice and smooth, even with capture direct-to-camera.”

Accurate white balance in a final product is highly influenced by the processor’s ability to capture, then accurately display on the LCD monitor, what the camera has acquired. With the Nikon D4S’s new Spot White Balance function, that challenge has been solved. In “Journey To Perfection,” Spot White Balance in Live View was tapped

to accurately set white balance. “In that production there were a lot of different light sources with various color temperatures. Spot White Balance is an amazing feature that we both continue to frequently use on sets and locations. We both witness highly accurate tonal range and interpretation,” says Rogers.

The white balance feature was also called up by Woodward when creating stills during that dark scene. “This spot control allowed us to immediately set control in each and every scene. We could make quick decisions about the look of a scene, which then permitted us to move immediately to creative decisions without wasting time messing around with gelling lights or windows,” he adds. “This feature quickly became one of our favorite functions while on set.”

New Sounds for the Nikon D4S

Just one more aspect put through the tech wringer was the new audio system. “Minus a standalone mic, would our two Nikon D4S cameras be able to satisfactorily record a documentary shoot via solely directional boom mics?” Assets Rogers, “The objective—test the D4S paired with as little extra gear as possible.” What would it be like to take the camera straight out of the box and begin producing?

Rogers affirms that while not one of the sexiest new

additions, the D4S has notable audio functionalities that saved production several times while on location in Bhutan. Monitoring and adjusting-on-the-fly sound sensitivity levels for the attached mics was a breeze. “We could gauge audio levels at any moment of filming. Having that live read-out permitted us to shoot continuously in a variety of locales. If a change in audio occurred, we did not have to interrupt capture to adjust placement of a sound record device.”

This audio oomph came in handy on more than one occasion. Rogers recalls a shoot series where the main characters descend a steep hill then come into the frame aside a noisy river. The Nikon D4S was positioned on a tripod adjacent to the water; the audio setting initially dialed low to tame the sound of the rushing stream. As the characters enter the frame and come close enough for him to hear them, Rogers easily adjusted the dial to a more sensitive level to capture the conversation. “Audio for that progression would have been too low had I not been able to adjust to a significantly different level of sound.”

Mighty Multimedia

Woodward sums up, “We believe the Nikon D4S is a tool that digital filmmakers and multimedia producers should take a serious look at.” From a photography perspective,

his favorite feature is the Group Area Auto-Focus. The improved AF accuracy achieved by a 5-point focus grouping helps reduce back/front focus challenges for a subject that has erratic and/or unpredictable movement. He was able to more accurately track subjects with greater certainty and less distraction or shift of focus.

From a filmmaking point-of-view, a favorite feature of Rogers is the 1080/60p functionality. “To be able to capture slow motion footage at a resolution of 1080p with such a small form factor is a game changer,” he asserts. “I can quickly capture various options for editors without the need to switch between cameras. As a result, I saved time using just one capture device, and kept all files stored on the same memory card. That’s a big time saver in post-production.”

This story was originally published on Nikon Asia's Learn & Explore blog.

A story of tradition and legacy sparking modern day success, 'Taking Aim' was shot exclusively on the D4S by Nikon ambassadors Scott Woodward and Michael Rogers. The story follows a young Bhutanese girl, travelling the roads of her ancestors to deliver traditional yak butter tea to her father.

When Nikon first contacted Scott about test-driving the new D4S, he recounts knowing instantly where he wanted to take it.  Coining his style as “Choose Your Own Adventure Photography”, he knew Bhutan’s rolling hills are a mecca of inspiration, begging to be tapped into.

Bhutanese culture has long celebrated the sport of archery, with communities gathering to observe, sing, dance and drink as men dress in traditional ghos send arrows flying. This inspired Scott and his team instantly – “We thought that there was nice synergy between them through the legacy of archery in Bhutan.  We wanted to create a story that took inspiration from both the history of traditional archery while including Bhutan’s contemporary female athletes.”

Traversing the vast landscapes of the Himalayas is challenging in itself, being rich in vast mountain planes and a lively Bhutanese culture.  It’s not a journey for fainthearted, considering the 4,000 meter trek, with the added task of transporting production equipment onto location.  With the help of Ian Mangiardi, a trekking specialist, the team was left in good hands.  Battling the heat, cold and unfamiliar grounds they began their journey into the Himalayas.

Using the latest features of the D4S, they were able to capture luminescent lighting in dark interiors, all without losing the brilliant colours adorning people and places. Much of the cast in the narrative film were locals from the countryside eager to join in.  “People watching our crew work were very supportive and kind.  We had some serious production equipment, like a 35-foot jib that was pretty unusual to see out in the Bhutanese countryside, so that certainly caused some head scratching and curiosity amongst our observers.”

The short film shares the importance of home, the people that make it your sanctuary, the traditions we uphold and our duty to keep it alive.  Mixed in with sweeping scenes of Bhutan, you get the sense of Bhutanese lifestyle existing in

harmony with nature.  The journey takes us from the country side, riverbeds and bustling market stalls, before we see the metaphorical passing of the torch and sharing of legacy.

Affection for Bhutan and the Bhutanese heritage is not only alive in the 'Taking Aim' story, but was ever present in the people they underwent the journey with.  One of the oldest Bhutanese guides that they lovingly referred to as “Yak Man” was quick in forming a friendship with Scott and the crew, showing them his herding techniques whilst sporting traditional Yak hair sunglasses -- a patch of hair wrapped around the eyes of the wearer.

“Additionally, our Production Assistant and Fixer in Bhutan, Sonam Tshering (ST), is also Bhutan’s national mountain biking champion.  He tutors young riders on the weekends and we required four young boys for our bridge scene in ‘Taking Aim’; they are ST’s mountain biking protégés.”

These are the people that inspired a story of love and culture, old and new adventures.  We can only hope to see more of what makes Bhutan such a captivating place.

See more of our film and photography from Bhutan here.

As a Nikon Ambassador, I have worked closely with my friends at Nikon Asia since 2004.  From shooting new product advertising campaigns to hosting photography workshops and seminars to judging sponsored reality television shows, Nikon and I have partnered on a wide variety of creative collaborations over the past decade.

This past January, I was asked to a meeting at the Nikon offices in Singapore.  Although I was not informed of the specific agenda, I was more than happy to see my friends from the Regional Marketing team for a discussion about upcoming projects and partnership opportunities in the year ahead.  I had no idea Nikon would request I work with them on the launch of the brand new Nikon D4S.

Creatively, I and my team -- consisting of my long-time partners Mike Rogers, Meghan Shea and Annette Fausboll -- was given a very long leash.  The only thing Nikon insisted was that we take the D4S on an extreme adventure.

We knew immediately where we wanted to go: the enigmatic Kingdom of Bhutan.

We decided to bring the D4S on a trek in Bhutan's Himalayan Mountains.  We had only one small problem: none of us had any experience with this type of adventure. So we reached out to Ian Mangiardi, the high altitude

trekking specialist from The King's Challenge.  With Ian's help, we planned a route that would take our team beyond 4,000m (nearly 14,000 feet), pushing the limits of both the camera and ourselves.

Working within the broad creative framework of "I Am Perfected By Pros", Nikon gave our team three specific content deliverables: a Camera Test demonstrating the camera's new features and innovative technology; a Behind the Scenes video giving viewers a glimpse into the shoot production and logistics; and a short, scripted Narrative film shot entirely on the D4S.

In a word, our Camera Test and Behind the Scenes shoots were epic.  A team of 10 Bhutanese guides led our crew of eight people, while their 21 pack horses carried all of our supplies and gear (and there was A LOT of gear) on an unforgettable adventure.  With the local insight and assistance, we were privileged to witness and document the rugged beauty and friendly people of Bhutan: filming an early morning archery competition at sunrise, visiting a monastery on a mountain with a single monk living inside, experiencing an unexpected overnight storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on our campsite, singing traditional Bhutanese songs by campfire with an elderly yak herder and sharing breathtaking views of Jomolhari, Bhutan’s highest mountain.

Immediately following the trek, our team jumped straight into shooting our Narrative movie about a young Bhutanese girl's journeys across the countryside.  Led by Director-and-Writer team Mike and Meghan, making this film was a unique opportunity for me to wear a different creative hat and gain experience assisting them in producing and shooting a short scripted movie.

As I say in "A Journey To Perfection", never in my career have I taken a camera straight out of the box and onto assignment.  But having taken the D4S above 4,000m and through more than 5,000 frames, I can confidently say...
I Am Impressed.

See previous multimedia content created by our team for Nikon Asia for the launch of the Nikon 1 V1 camera.

Credits

Client: Nikon Asia

Executive Producer: Annette Fausboll

Director / DoP: Mike Rogers

Writers & Producers: Meghan Shea & Elizabeth Jensen

Editors: David Flood & Mark Chua

Assistant Cameras: Sangay, Rinchen & David Flood

Trekking Specialist: Ian Mangiardi

Production Assistant / Fixer: Sonam Tshering

For the past few years my creative partners, Mike Rogers and Meghan Shea, and I have worked closely with the Sala Bai Hotel & Restaurant School in Siem Reap, Cambodia to document the positive work they are doing for the nation's disadvantaged youth.  We have made photographic reportage and documentary films about this tuition-free hospitality training school and how they provide students with the skills and experience necessary to secure gainful employment in one of the city's numerous hotels, guesthouses or restaurants.  These skills, and the resulting economic independence, not only improve the students' quality of life, but that of their families as well.

Our close friend, Sam McGoun, has made a lifelong commitment to supporting Sala Bai in their effort to help stop human trafficking before it starts by providing young Cambodians -- teenage women, in particular -- with an education at Sala Bai.  Sam explained, “My purpose is helping others -- giving more in this world than I could possibly ever take.  My passion is Sala Bai, and more specifically, giving young Cambodian women access to education and employment in the hospitality industry.  My true happiness, therefore, is the result of helping others, and in particular, the students of Sala Bai.”

Inspired by the challenges overcome by the students of Sala Bai, in April 2012 Sam decided to run, cycle and swim more than 670km across Cambodia to raise funds for Sala Bai

and to increase awareness of the dangers of human trafficking.  As the documentary photography- and film-making team tasked with chronicling Sam’s odyssey, we did our best to keep pace with him as he traversed muddy lakes and rivers, ran through small villages and pedaled across the craggy countryside of rural Cambodia.

Sam’s route across the Kingdom of Wonder followed the metaphorical journey traveled by more than one thousand (and counting) Sala Bai students -- from a small floating village in Mechrey on Tonlé Sap Lake, to Sala Bai where they study in Siem Reap, to a sandy beachfront overlooking the Gulf of Thailand in Sihanoukville where the students’ graduation celebration is held annually.

For 10 days this past November, Sam and our small documentary team descended upon Siem Reap for a second cross-Cambodia fund-raising adventure.  This time Sam ran, cycled and swam more than 701km across the country, honoring his commitment to raise money to help the students of Sala Bai and to fight human trafficking in Cambodia.  Once again, Mike, Meghan and I were tasked with following Sam up hills, into mud, across lakes, through rivers, onto floating villages and into pagodas to tell the story of his epic journey.

A few months before Sam's odyssey began, I was speaking with my friends at SanDisk in California.  They had seen the

short behind-the-scenes video that Mike and I created following Sam's first cross-Cambodia triathlon and there was interest in us making some similar photo and video content during Sam's upcoming second adventure for the #SanDiskStories campaign.  We were excited for this opportunity and, along with our editor, David Flood, the team agreed to make two short films for SanDisk.

The first video, 'Extreme Cambodian Triathlon', is a short film that introduces Sam to viewers as he explains his inspiration and personal challenge.  It also takes people behind-the-scenes with me as I document Sam's cross-Cambodia adventure.

The second film, 'The Challenge', is a short video about the personal challenge I gave myself during the documentation of Sam’s journey: to make 10 photographs in rapid succession, every hour on the hour, from sunrise until sunset, each day of the adventure.  It includes me explaining the nature of my photographic experiment and shows viewers both the process and results of my creative challenge.

These films are complemented by a series of blog posts that the team created for the SanDisk Stories site.

Click here to see more of my work as a member of the SanDisk Extreme Team.

For more than five years I’ve been collaborating closely with Annette Fausboll at Ugly Duckling Projects and Mike Rogers at Persistent Productions on the creation of a variety of commercial advertising campaigns and documentary films across Asia and around the world.

During the past 18 months, our creative partnership has extended into producing branded multimedia content for a variety of commercial clients, including Nikon and Google, as well as philanthropic organizations like Touch Sala Bai and The Chain Reaction Project.

This past year I also worked with The HISTORY Channel in the dual role of Host and Photographer on Around The World With Voyager, a five-part broadcast television series sponsored by Diageo that featured me traveling around Asia and capturing the Johnnie Walker brand and product story in both imagery and voice.

This combination of presenting/hosting and collaborative photography and video production recently led to Mike, Annette and me partnering with Arcade and their client, Unilever, on the creation of three Clear Shampoo online beauty videos offering tips for women on how to look flawless in headshots: in groups, in a mirror and the increasingly popular self-portrait (or #selfie).

Conceptualized by Arcade, the 360-degree 'Nothing To Hide' campaign also includes a customizable photo app (available for download in both the Apple App Store and on Google Play) that is designed to help users make, upload and share their own "flawless headshots".

Filmed in different locations across Singapore this past May, the making of this campaign -- which was produced by Annette, directed and filmed by Mike and hosted by me -- was a true team effort and great fun to create together.

Clear's 'Nothing To Hide' recently launched in Thailand and will continue to roll-out in markets across Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere around the world throughout 2014.

Credits

Client: Unilever Asia / Clear Shampoo

Agency: Arcade

Executive Creative Directors: Matt Cullen & Mark Taylor

Executive Producer (Arcade): Rebecca Soh

Account Service: Dorothy Yew, Saufi Salleh & Chin-Han Yu

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects (UDP)

Executive Producer (UDP): Annette Fausboll

Producer: Andre Chen

Production Assistant: Quinny Vu

Director / DoP: Mike Rogers, Persistent Productions

Assistant Camera: Shahril

Main Model: Thaís Garavello

Supporting Model 1: Sara A.

Supporting Model 2: Monalika

Styling: Furqan Saini

Hair & Make-up: Andrea Claire

Photographer's Assistants: Zam & Halid (Stills Network)

D.I. Artist: Agnes Teo

It is not often that I collaborate with another photographer when shooting an advertising campaign.  And it's certainly never occurred when the other photographer and I are located on separate continents, we have never met, nor have we ever spoken.  But this was the case with Johnnie Walker's 'Join The Pact' campaign that I created together (yet separately) with British photographer Leo Cackett in China and the UK respectively.

As part of Johnnie Walker's sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One Team, global creative innovation agency Iris Worldwide is tasked with developing the brand's 'Join The Pact' campaign.  This social responsibility initiative encourages consumers worldwide to join McLaren F1 drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, along with Johnnie Walker’s Responsible Drinking Ambassador and two-time Formula One World Champion, Mika Häkkinen, in signing a pact to never drink and drive.

My team and I were commissioned to fly to Shanghai this past April to photograph Mika standing in front of a Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG and a McLaren MP4-C12 on a pier in Pudong.  The brief was technically and logistically intricate, as lighting and photographing cars -- particularly on location -- always is.  However, because Button and Perez were unable to be present at the shoot, we had to

leave space for them in the frame and light the set accordingly, making the shoot all the more challenging.

It was among the largest outdoor sets that I have ever worked on, taking my crew and me more than eight hours to set up and prepare ahead of Häkkinen's arrival that evening. Because he had other sponsorship obligations immediately following our shoot -- he had to film the final scene of Button's 'Ultimate Walk' advertisement with Firecracker Films elsewhere in Shanghai -- I was permitted just twenty minutes to photograph Häkkinen.

A few weeks after I photographed Häkkinen and the cars in Shanghai, Leo shot Button and Perez at McLaren's factory in Woking, England.  The driving duo were then composited into the template my team and I created in China to complete the final 'Join The Pact' advertisement.

The 'Join The Pact' campaign launched globally this week. And last night, Häkkinen and Perez were at Clarke Quay in Singapore for the official media event, which I documented for Johnnie Walker's social media channels.

It was a pleasure to work with Mika Häkkinen, as well as collaborate with Leo, Iris and Firecracker, all of whom worked tirelessly to make this shoot a success.

Browse more of my advertising photography portfolio here.

Credits

Client: Diageo/Johnnie Walker Asia-Pacific

Agency: Iris Worldwide (Singapore)

Creative Director: Grant Hunter

Art Director: Shawn Foo

Account Service: Prema Techinamurthi & Joyce Yee

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects & Firecracker Films

Executive Producer: Annette Fausboll

Photographer's Assistant: Zam

As part of Johnnie Walker's sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One Team, global creative innovation agency Iris Worldwide is tasked with developing the brand's 'Step Inside The Circuit' campaign.

Following teammates Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, both on and off the race track, 'Step Inside The Circuit' is designed to offer an intimate glimpse into the glamorous life of an F1 driver.  The campaign's advertisements and exclusive behind-the-scenes short films and photographs showcase the stylish and sophisticated Formula One lifestyle.

Johnnie Walker's 'Circuit Lounge', an exclusive and invitation-only F1 race weekend party series, is undoubtedly a key component of this jet-set lifestyle.

In preparation for the upcoming 2013 Singapore Formula One race weekend, I was commissioned by the Singapore office of Iris Worldwide to photograph the 'Circuit Lounge' key visual.  Working with my fantastic team, we created a series of projection-based photographs of the lovely Liv Lo in a studio here in Singapore.

This campaign rolled-out across Singapore a couple of weeks ago.

Browse more of my advertising photography portfolio here.

Credits

Client: Diageo/Johnnie Walker Asia-Pacific

Agency: Iris Worldwide (Singapore)

Creative Director: Grant Hunter

Art Director: Shawn Foo

Account Service: Prema Techinamurthi & Cheryl Chan

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects

Executive Producer: Annette Fausboll

Producer: Andre Chen

Production Assistant: Quinny

Model: Liv Lo

Styling: Ong Weisheng

Hair & Make-up: Andrea Claire

Photographer's Assistants: Zam & Halid

One year ago, my friend Quentin from Qube Studio in Singapore contacted me about photographing a campaign for one of his clients, the Sheraton Towers Singapore. Together, our resepctive teams pulled together a lifestyle advertising shoot consisting of models, wardrobe, props, stylists and more.  And, although I photographed these layouts nearly 12 months ago, it was only a few weeks ago that the ads rolled-out in print media.

As a digital photographer living in the modern age, I am used to instant gratification; seeing my images appear on the screen mere seconds after pressing the shutter has become a regular and expected part of my life.  But, as a commercial photographer, it takes some getting used to when it takes many weeks or even months for my work to be approved, retouched and distributed.

However, no matter how much time passes between making the picture and seeing the final result, I am always transported back to that precise moment when everything came together, I pressed the shutter and created the image.

See more of my advertising work here.

Back in May, my team and I photographed a regional advertising campaign for Pioneer Asia-Pacific's car audio and entertainment group.  Working closely with Nectar9, Pioneer's advertising agency in Singapore, my task was to create two images: "Driving" and "Dancing".

My brief was to tell a story in a single frame, capturing real-life moments of pure kinetic energy, blasts of dynamic light and explosions of bright colours.

Creatively, "Driving" was about the driver achieving nirvana -- a state of perfect happiness -- in unison with his car, the music and the city swirling by as it engulfed him and his vehicle in lights and energy.

On the other hand, "Dancing" was about taking a moment and making it better -- the women freeing themselves and embracing that experience.

Ultimately, the man in "Driving" had to demonstrate an awareness of his surroundings and control of the moment, while "Dancing" had to illustrate the women letting go, being free in their surroundings and allowing the moment to control them.

Like most of my work, I chose to approach this shoot from an editorial perspective, creating images in a true photo-reportage style and providing the viewer with a feeling of spontaneity, realism and authenticity. I wanted to produce images showing candid and emotional moments-in-time, captured in a true cinematic fashion.

We thought long and hard about how to photograph these scenes, eventually deciding it would be best to shoot them in a studio versus on the streets of Singapore.  My production team from Ugly Duckling Projects pulled everything together, including two beautiful automobiles for me to photograph: a mint condition 1969 Mercedes-Benz 200 and a brand new Maserati Granturismo.

Working in the studio, we had to rely entirely on artificial light for our shoot.  We opted to use a mixture of powerful strobe lights that "pop", film and television lights that "burn", small in-car lights and a collection of multi-coloured fluorescent tube lights.  We lit the scenes for both "Driving" and "Dancing" in a dramatic, high-contrast manner -- giving us the nighttime essence we wanted -- and then achieved the splashes of colour and streaking lights on the hood of the car separately in-camera.  Our

friends at Procolor in Singapore then helped bring everything together for us in post-production to create the desired speeding, streaking effects in both photographs.

The resulting images of this dynamic shoot rolled-out across the region last week. The entire team is very proud of the work. And fun was had by all, especially me...

Browse more of my advertising photography portfolio here.

Credits

Client: Pioneer Asia-Pacific

Agency: Nectar9

Creative Director: Robbie Bempasciuto

Art Director: Tom Kelly

Account Service: Andre Chen

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects

Executive Producer: Annette Fausboll

Styling: Arina Abu Bakar

Hair & Make-up: Andrea Claire

Photographer's Assistants: Zam, Halid & Jun Yang

Digital Imaging: Dave Phung / Procolor

This past May I was asked by my friends at Nikon Asia to create a collection of images using the new Nikon 1 V1 mirrorless camera, F-mount adaptor and five different AF-S Nikkor lenses of my choosing.  They also requested that I make a short film about my personal experience working with the camera and lenses.

Although I didn't know exactly what I wanted to shoot for Nikon, I did know precisely whom to call for some creative assistance: my close friends and frequent collaborators, documentary filmmaking team Mike Rogers and Meghan Shea.

Coincidentally, Mike and Meghan were just about to depart Singapore for the United States to film a television pilot with folk and roots musician Ben Taylor at his home on Martha's Vineyard.  They suggested that I join them and use the Nikon 1 to document behind-the-scenes and the making-of the TV pilot.

I loved the idea, Nikon supported our proposal and -- most importantly -- Ben graciously agreed to star in our photographs and short film.  The next thing I knew, I was traveling around the world from Singapore to Massachusetts to join Mike and Meghan and the rest of the team working on the production.

Together we spent three remarkable days with Ben on Martha's Vineyard.  We visited his home-recording studio where he shared with us the sources of his creative inspiration and his songwriting process.

We enjoyed downtime with Ben, paddle boarding on Menemsha Pond at Chilmark and sitting on his balcony at Tisbury as he serenaded us with his acoustic guitar.

And the climax of the entire experience was a small, private concert Ben hosted at his home on our last evening.  He invited about 30 of his friends from the Vineyard to join him around the campfire while he and his bandmate, David Saw -- along with a handful of his musician friends -- sang late into the night.

Mike filmed me as I went about documenting each of the moments we experienced using the Nikon 1.  In this short film by Mike, go behind-the-scenes of our shoot and visit here to see a collection of the photography I captured during our three fantastic days on Martha's Vineyard with Ben Taylor.

One of Ben's songs, "Worlds Are Made of Paper" -- from his brand new album Listening -- is featured in our film. Download Listening from iTunes starting from August 14.

First started in 1994, the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) is an annual shopping event organized by the Singapore Tourism Board.  Aimed at promoting both the retail and tourism businesses in Singapore, and with the goal of establishing Singapore as an Asian shopping destination, the GSS attracts both locals and tourists to malls and shops across the island.

This year, for two months from 25 May to 22 July 2012, "shopaholics from the region and beyond flood to these shores to get their hands on bargain buys...at the main shopping belts and in suburban shopping malls throughout Singapore".

MasterCard is the Official Card of the GSS and is offering card members an opportunity to win a "priceless trip"to Sydney, London, Beijing or Dubai by using their MasterCards during the GSS.  A couple of months ago MasterCard's advertising agency, McCann Worldgroup in Singapore, contacted me about shooting the advertisement to communicate this promotion.  My brief was to photograph a young couple on an airplane as they departed on their second honeymoon to one of these exciting destinations.  We decided to shoot this ad on a private jet in a hangar in Seletar, Singapore.

Having never personally been aboard a private aircraft (let alone shooting an advertisement inside one), this was an exciting experience for me.  It was also a technically challenging shoot for me and my team to produce because we were only permitted to shoot at night and there is very limited cabin space inside a private jet.  Therefore, we had to light the interior of the aircraft using only artificial light originating from outside the airplane.

Working with the hangar staff, we wrapped three 20' x 20' sheets of diffusion fabric around the entire body of the jet. Then, using three Broncolor Scoro 3200w power packs and six flash heads set up outside the windows along each side of the aircraft, we were able to fill the entire cabin with soft "daylight".  Finally, using only a single Nikon SB-800 speedlight set-up off-camera inside the plane's cabin, we were able to light our main subjects for the advertisement.

I had fun collaborating with a great team on this shoot. Maybe next time we shoot in a private jet we'll actually get to leave the ground.

Browse more of my advertising photography portfolio here.

Credits

Client: MasterCard Asia/Pacific

Agency: McCann Worldgroup Asia-Pacific

ECD: Todd Waldron

CD: Emma Savage

Art Buyer: Karen Leong

Account Service: Hedvig Lyche

Production: Ugly Duckling Projects

Executive Producer: Annette Fausboll

Producer: Maureen Audetto

Styling: Sheh Alkaddri

Hair & Make-up: Andrea Claire

Photographer's Assistants: Zam, Halid & Jun Yang

Digital Imaging: Dave Phung / Procolor

Instagram, the wildly popular mobile-only photo sharing social network, is my favourite app for sharing my iPhoneography.  And although I enjoy posting my images on Instagram for my friends and followers to see, I enjoy even more viewing the photography that other people around the world are making.  I find it incredibly inspirational to see the places people live, work and visit and how they interpret these spaces, moments in their days and the people they encounter along their way.

A few months ago I stumbled upon an Instagram user called @penguinstagram.  I was immediately taken with the imagery on the Penguinstagram feed, but what really caught my attention was how the photographs were coupled with extended captions -- in fact, passages from books -- helping the viewer actually visualize the literature.

Upon closer review, it became clear that Penguinstagram's photographs were actually crowdsourced from the Instagram community, with the work of many different photographers exhibited on the feed, coupled with relevant excerpts from books written by Penguin Books' authors.

Created for Penguin Books India by Ranadip De, Edwin Tam and Suhaimi Saadan from digital agency Futurist in Singapore, Penguinstagram is actually a clever, interactive marketing campaign.

According to Ranadip, the creative challenge facing their client is that the printed word now competes against a vast digital landscape including videos, blogs, tweets, and other online news.  Futurist's creative brief, therefore, was to devise a campaign that would help Penguin Books India stay relevant to a digitally savvy audience with short attention spans.

Futurist's consumer insights where that "humans are social animals -- or rather they’re social media obsessed animals -- who love consuming bite-sized web content on the go. And people visualise what they read."

Thus, Penguinstagram was born as a ‘stealth’ social media campaign that meets these challenges and "celebrates the beauty and power of the written word, and the pictures they conjure up in our imagination."

Uniquely, Instagram users can not only comment and 'Like' Penguinstagram's photos, but they can also collaborate on the project.  In fact, Ranadip recently contacted me and asked if I would be interested in contributing some of my iPhoneography to the Penguinstagram feed.  In the spirit of collaboration and community, I agreed.

Alongside around a dozen other talented Instagram users, a handful of my photographs have appeared on the

Penguinstagram feed so far.  It's been exciting for me to see my work paired alongside literary passages, often casting a different light on my imagery and giving new meaning to my photographs than perhaps I intended when I originally made them.

I love the digital world we live in.  Our ability to connect and share (photography, literature) with like-minded individuals, whether around the world or in our own backyards, is a wonder of our modern time.  It is incredibly exciting that I can find creative partnerships anywhere. What's more exciting is sometimes they even find me.

Browse my Instagram feed @scottawoodward or see more of my iPhoneography on Flickr.

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.