Paul Cypert Photography & Design

Hey all,

I’ll be heading back to Bangkok tonight. I have a shoot with Horizons (pictured above). They used to be a branch of Casa Pagoda, but re-branded and launched a new store with 4 floors. 2 floors are divided into “light” style furnishings and 2 floors are “dark”. Should be fun.

Then it’s probably off to shoot the Theme Club party on Friday and surprise, surprise Reggae at Glow on Saturday.

I’ll hit up a nice restaurant on Thursday for a new side project I’m working on and will make it to Soi Polo for their phenomenal garlic fried chicken and som tam on Saturday for lunch. Hopefully will have some time to get a haircut and hit up MBK for some odds and ends as well.

Anyone needing to reach me that’s located in Thailand, I’ll have my old number on this trip so give me a call.

Paul

PS - The shot above is mine for them from last November. Notice the raking of light across the top of the fabric to pull the green color out If you shoot something like this with direct flash the couch will appear almost black. It was an odd shoot, she wanted it to appear dark overall, but wanted the couch to show up lighter than it normally appears to the eye.

Hey all,

Yesterday I was finally able to get a phone in Singapore. My original 1st Gen Jailbroken iPhone was on it’s last legs. The side volume control was stuck forcing the volume up, the button on top of the phone that lets you turn the screen/power the phone off was no longer responsive, and the phone had more than it’s fair share of scrapes and scratches on the back.

I debated for a while not getting another iPhone. › Continue reading

Hey all,

Will be doing a lot more typing in the coming months. So decided it was time to move off the laptop and onto a real keyboard. Not wanting to use up precious USB 2.0 slots I chose to go the bluetooth route. › Continue reading

Hey all,

Well it’s been a long time coming and those who know me have known for a while that this day would arrive soon. I’m now based in Singapore…and no, it’s not just for the Mountain Dew (though it is a factor ).

This will not affect coverage in Thailand at all, in fact most flight prices from Singapore are actually cheaper and more reliable to Phuket and typical Thailand wedding destination locations than from Bangkok.

After the last round of protests and non-democracy in Thailand I decided that Bangkok was not a reliable long-term base of operations for me. I’ll still travel to Thailand at least once a month (and some months more) and will continue to offer competitvely priced wedding solutions to anyone looking for a creative wedding photographer in Bangkok, Phuket, Samui, Samet, Krabi, or anywhere else in Thailand.

I hope this move will also open me up to the rest of Southeast Asia. I’d love to cover weddings in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and other locations in the region. The websites will stay the same for now and all internet contact will remain the same.

Now I’m off to put the finishing touches on my application for an Entre Pass and begin the search for an apartment. What new changes are you making in 2009?

Paul

Hey all,

NEWS STORY

Woah, sitting here at my computer shocked at the news this morning. Called all my University friends first thing this morning, Sabaerni, Shyless, Mario, etc…all my friends who regularly go to Santika.

Santika isn’t a place I photograph usually. It was, however, the first place I visited when venturing out in Bangkok. My friends from University used to go there in groups of 10 or 15 or so kids and we always had a good time. You buy a bottle of Black Label and all the mixers and ice and stand around tables in circles. Each night there’s the same set of DJ playing Hip Hop, Thai band playing covers, DJ, Thai Band, and finish with DJ again.

I went there about 5-10 times over the past year and a half and always had a good time. I photographed there once for the Global DJ concert (the guys that do that horrible remix of All the Leaves are Brown or whatever that song is called). At that concert I remember the place was over-packed and I felt really unsafe/uncomfy there and left after 15 minutes (made some good friends that night because of our shared distaste for the music and our after-party at 808). I’ve never returned to the place after that.

And this was precisely why. It never seemed safe there. I feel so sorry for those who died and were injured. These kinds of things shouldn’t happen… kids just wanting to usher in the new year. Santika is a place where people enjoy the evening with friends, it’s not a sleezy pick up place. You dance and sing in your various table circles and by about 1 AM everyone is dancing and singing together.

I’d be cautious if I were a clubber in Bangkok from here on out. The clubs are very vulnerable to things like this. Glow only has one door, Bed has a sort of emergency exit, but the tools customers that go there would probably all be pushing over each other to reach the exits, Club Culture has only the main door and a stairwell to boot, and many other clubs are also woefully underequipped for emergencies. All it’d take is one bomb or fire at those places to cause mass casualties and loss of tourism to this already hard-up city. I hope all the clubs will now be forced to undergo renovations to put better measures in place. This shouldn’t happen again, but given the state of things in Thailand I fear this is just the beginning.

Paul

Canon HV30

Hey all,

Christmas list is a bit late this year. I’ve actually received my presents (new glasses and money), but just in case anyone else out there is wanting to make my Christmas dreams come true there’s this.

It’s small, but HD. It’s Canon so I’m familiar with the controls. Underwater casings are cheaper for it. But mostly I just don’t have the funds to get one of the larger 3 Sensor cameras right now. So we’ll start with this and work up a reel. Donations or full camera accepted

Paul

Hey all,

Oops, made a small mistake on the post from last night. I said that Rocky’s Resort was in Koh Samet. Rocky’s is actually located in Koh Samui and is possibly the busiest place to have a western wedding in Koh Samui.

Rocky’s averages almost 40-50 weddings a year which is probably the most consistently booked wedding destination for foreigners in Thailand. They really have weddings down to an art form there. I’ve shot two wedddings there and have yet to see any mishaps or mistakes, unlike another resort on Samui I’ll mention in a later post which messed up every detail of the day.

I can’t remember the guy’s name that is charge of wedding services there. I’ll try and contact him and maybe get an interview for the blog. He’s super attentive and in control of the day. He knows how to get the Thai staff to perform on the wedding day and makes sure everything goes according to plan.

So sorry to Rocky’s Resort. They’re a Koh Samui Wedding Destination not Koh Samet.

Paul

Hey all,

Sifting through my older weddings trying to get my website back to where it was before the crash. Put to new weddings up on the main site.

These two weddings are Sample Gallery 3 and 4.

Sample Gallery 3 is a Thai Wedding at the Sukhothai Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. Nice couple, and really nice venue for a wedding.

Sample Gallery 4 was my fateful “measles wedding”. That’s right, I shot that wedding while I was coming down with the measles. I had a 102 fever but hadn’t yet developed spots and had been misdiagnosed in a Thai hospital

This was a Samui Wedding at Rocky’s Resort (a popular Samui Destination Wedding location). The bride and groom opted for the western wedding option. Rocky’s also does a Thai style wedding featured in another sample gallery.

Hope you enjoy!

Paul

Hey all,

Yesterday visited a theater for the first time since March of 2002. Some of you may know that I started out thinking I would be a theater director… and hopefully one day artistic director of a regional theater (what kid dreams of that? ). Time in a college theater program, however, burnt me out. So much so that apart from one trip to New York (where I saw some of the worst shows of my life…on broadway no less) I haven’t set foot in a theater since.

Earlier on the blog I gave a shout out to my friend Sonia. She works for BK mag and has been a nice, supportive person to talk to in Bangkok. When she invited me to her play I knew I had to go, hatred of modern theater or no.

The play is Rendezvous with My ALTER. Thankfully Lifestyleasia.com sent me to photograph the play so I was spared buying a ticket . Too birds, one stone.

Rendezvous with My ALTER was written by Sunaina Gulati. It was about a girl named Naaz who is not a traditional lead….sort of like in the musical Hairspray. But instead of a free-spirited girl who’s never down, Redezvous features a more realistic “larger girl”. The lead in this play deals with the real issues a larger girl deals with today, particularly in asia.

The play also featured many dance numbers. The script was similar to dance comedies out today like Step Up or others; kids dealing with life and dancing The actors seemed to enjoy their roles, though I was watching a dress rehearsal and a show like that really needed a live audience to bring out the energy in the show.

The lead was great as was Sonia, which was a great relief to me… I hate having to lie to friends and smile and say good job when they really didn’t do a good job

The play was also neat for me because it took place at the Chalermkrung Royal Theatre in Chinatown. This is one of Bangkok’s oldest theaters and I’d never visited.

Pics as always this week were for lifestyleasia.com. Full gallery here:

Paul

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Got a call late on Sat from Jam to come to Glow for SENSHIMIX METRO Pt2. Was fun party all in all. Not many people so took the opportunity to photograph the staff a lot. Mini pics here or look for glow on their facebook page.

Paul

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