How to Take Nice Interior Pictures

Unbeknownst to the Home & Decor team, I sneak-shot some behind the scenes photos while they were shooting at my place, hee. They came around 2pm and shot till the sun set. The place is pretty tiny, so we all figured half a day’s shoot would be more than enough, but since my partner and I are such junk collectors (I actually think I have a slight hoarder problem…), the team said there were so many small areas to shoot, that half a day wasn’t really sufficient. I took that as a compliment! LOL. It also took a lot longer to shoot that if you were to just snap a picture of the space because they art direct and style each and every shot, which is the secret to taking great pictures – applies to both people as well as homes!

Here they were testing the light for the cradle shot.

Jade Seah

Moving furniture around, and testing light for the bar shot. That’s a working spotlight we bought and shipped back from the US. Glad it came in handy for the shoot, haha.

Jade Seah

Setting up of the bar shot. The ‘Banker Lamp’, vintage globe and telephone that sit on the counter are some of my favourite things. =)

Jade Seah

The magic that happens when great styling, art direction and photography comes together. (Don’t mind my personal mess on the dining table!).

Jade Seah

Discussion, then some tweaks to lighting and angle. They used the reflector for a soft bounce of light.

Jade Seah

Caught taking a sneak shot while the team tried to make my accessories collection look pretty!

Jade Seah

They kept some away to take some clutter off the shot. =/

Okay…I’ll look through the lot and give/throw some away…soon…

Jade Seah

At the end of the day, it was my turn to be shot!

Jade Seah

Seeing all the shots properly for the first time that day as Winston, the photographer, brought me through his choices. I felt like a proud parent!

Jade Seah

The selected raws, pre-edit.

Jade Seah

Thanks Rebeckka for the feature, Winston, Nonie, Kaffy and Genie for a great shoot, and Amanda for the write-up! Thanks guys for making the space look gorgeous!

2014 Fashion Trends: The Making Of

The ChicPeek team got together to discuss what and where to film new episodes, and somehow we got sidetracked (as we do!) to bits of industry gossip. I shared with the team how the tables were turned on ME this time when I was interviewed by Mothership on uniforms (army or police? ACS or RI?) and who the best-dressed politician is, and then we got to talking about who got it seriously wrong (sartorially!) in 2013.

In case you are wondering what I meant by ‘the tables were turned on me’; yes, here’s me pouncing on boys in uniforms, lol.

So anyway that led to us deciding to cover what to throw out and what to keep in your wardrobe for 2014, and the team convinced me to open up my place for the filming.

Jade Seah

I am usually very private about my place; over the years, for various reasons, magazines and newspaper have asked to feature my place, but I have usually declined because of my family. They prefer to remain private. My mum balked when I asked her a few years ago if she was okay with a local magazine coming to feature my wardrobe some years ago.

After I moved out to my own place in 2010, I think some of mum may have rubbed off on me, and I still chose not have my place featured. However, I’ve since moved once again, and while my previous place was about 50% of how I wanted it to look, this new place is 90% (meaning almost; in my terms, that’s like practically perfect because I am a perfectionist!) there – dream home, fulfilled!

It is a conservation building and it was in real bad shape, meaning it was a real labour of love to get it to what it looks like now (structures, piping, plumbing, among the other aesthetics…), so I’ve decided to share. It also made filming a lot easier as there wasn’t a need to pack and move clothes, shoes and accessories around! I will give you the grand tour of the space in another episode of ChicPeek, but here’s a sneak peek in the meantime.

Jade Seah

DP Daryl is very precise in what he wants. This is how we achieved the top-angle shots in the video.

Went up to the roof as well!

Jade Seah

Producer Terence demonstrating his favourite ‘fashion pose’, the “Dislocated Elbow’.

Jade Seah

I daresay he does a better job of it than I do!

Had to balance in 3-inch heels and ‘walk up and down’ the ledge to shoot this one. It was a little scary!

Jade Seah

Terence seemed to be having a ball of a time from his even-higher perch. (Try it in heels next time though, buddy!)

Jade Seah

Jade Seah

Outfit pictures soon! And in case you missed it, here are the finished products: