For those in the know, the piggies and Tian Fen Lan have a close working relationship. We are family. =) You see their new collection banner at the bottom of TFL's site and we share photoshoots + models, mainly due to TFL not selling clothing.
The piggies started their blogshop half a year earlier than TFL in 2008 (hey, that makes them 3 years old now!) and to be where they are now, they went through a lot of rough patches - finding suitable models, getting the choice of clothes right, disastrous experiment with photography & studios, not able to launch regularly to keep the crowds coming, having a slump in business when the whole equation was messed up, balancing full-time jobs with PDP's work, creativity block in doing up the site/photo templates...and the list goes on.
Now, not only are the piggies able to launch weekly, they also have a prospering rack space at KissJane Boutique at Bugis Junction, #03-13A!
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| The very first template for the clothes photos |
Pretty Sister, the very first model & graphic designer for the piggies.
If Sister had become a blogshop model, I dare say she would be a popular one. =D
By the way, if you like the dress in the above photo, right now, it's on the piggies' Flea section! At only S$9.50 with postage!
In the true style of how blogshops started in the past, photos were taken at home against this long cream wall in the living room. 2 Ikea standing lights were shoned at Sister for lighting effect. A tripod was borrowed from Sister's then-boyfriend-now-husband and guess what, the camera used was mine, a wedding present from the Husband!
If Sister had become a blogshop model, I dare say she would be a popular one. =D
By the way, if you like the dress in the above photo, right now, it's on the piggies' Flea section! At only S$9.50 with postage!
In the true style of how blogshops started in the past, photos were taken at home against this long cream wall in the living room. 2 Ikea standing lights were shoned at Sister for lighting effect. A tripod was borrowed from Sister's then-boyfriend-now-husband and guess what, the camera used was mine, a wedding present from the Husband!
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| Credits: infoborder.com |
The Husband bought the camera for me to use during my travelling. I never did, and my camera ended up being the piggies' helper. Those were the days when photoshoots started at 11pm and ended at 1am.
The boys would be in their PJs, laying out the accessories on the long dining table, all bleary-eyed, while Sister shuttles in & out of her room, changing outfits as fast as she can.
At that time, we thought the photos were pretty good, until the trend shifted towards studio photoshoots and blogshop owners getting DSLRs. My camera began to look really small.
When Sister left for greener pastures, I was already doing TFL and had picked up some artwork skills along the way. That means I've contributed to some of the ugly photo templates that you see on the piggies' site. *smile*
But hey, isn't the current one pretty? I like that best! =))
So from that, the piggies now produce photos of this quality.
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| Credits: www.polkadotpigs.com |
They have really come a long way.
I honestly do think they have one of the best photos around. =)
And that's my 學妹, Melissa!
No, I don't know Mel personally, but we are from the same uni course. =)
Somewhere in March, I first approached Melissa to help TFL out with a shoot. Interacting with her online was pleasant, which really made things easy. After being in this industry for a while, both the piggies & I have our fair share of 'horror' stories about the models we have dealt with.
It was a very tight schedule that I had then. She was the first model who emailed me her entire week's schedule, just so that it would be faster for me to arrange a shoot with the studio, cutting away the to-and-fro. Such initiative, how rare.
The boys were trying to get a shot of Mel looking at TFL's website on a laptop and these were the photos that ensued.
Me: "Eh, how come photographer never switch on light ah? Why is the photo so dark?"
The boys explained some technicality issues that they faced, which I forgot. Hehe.
Hmm, not any better.
Okay, now we can see Mel, the beautiful solid wood table & the DIY Africian daisies bouquet, but TFL's site?
Apparently, the boys had to move several lighting equipment just to get this shot.
Think it must have been tough for Mel. The boys were saying she just sat there smiling at the screen for at least half an hour and not exactly knowing what else she can do.
Well, at least, now we can see TFL's site!
The boys enlarged the laptop's screen image, so that TFL's logo is visible in the photo.
But I didn't like the lighting in this photo.
It seems like Mel is secretly shopping online in the middle of the night, not wanting her mum to find out.
It seems like Mel is secretly shopping online in the middle of the night, not wanting her mum to find out.
Haha!
After 16 tries, I think I eventually chose this photo. =)
Oh dear, it's already quite late. I wanted to blog about the themed shoot that the piggies did with Mel in March.
Never mind, I'll be back to blog about it soon!
p.s. by the way, I've having so much excitement & heart attacks from planning the photoshoot for the new manufactured bag just in on Fri! I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it will be gorgeous!
Hope everything goes according to plan & no screw-ups pleasssse!
Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu
