Waking up early on Boxing Day morning (hey it's GMT+8 over here for the smart alecks) with a little time to kill before heading out, I thought I'll take some time to share with you what I've learnt in 2005 thus far.

We'll go as far back and start from the middle of 2004 which was the year I finished my National Service liability

All along I've been trained up academically as a software-hardware-network-fixmythingamajig (in short, techie) person. When I finished my NS liability, looking for a job was an utmost priority to make sure that I don't end up eating bread for one meal a day.

I wasn't keen on going the IT way (in fact it scares the shit out of me when I imagine myself doing it for at least 10 bad years!) and was glad I was given a taste of it as a full-time national serviceman which I'm glad and thankful for.

Photography was the obvious transition and I got a temp job as a photographer's assistant. It was tough work doing commercial photography and the pay was mediocre for an assistant but it keeps me surviving. When you do it for bread-and-butter, it becomes a different ball game. It wasn't long before I got my break and became a full-time photographer with the company. 3 months is all it took and I have my paymasters to thank for that chance.

Year 2005 marks the full year I've been with them. It was a pretty smooth year and I've made good progress as a photographer. It wasn't easy at the start because of my technical background, I was more of a left-brainer than a right-brainer. It wasn't too bad because you still need a sound technical understanding in this field. But looking back on my earlier shots and prints, they were technically good but barely OK aesthetically. The bar or perhaps passing mark was raised.

I started shooting based on feel, to portray emotions and became more highly critical of my own work. Feel the whole around you with your heart rather than a logical brain and better shots will come your way. What matters to me most is not the photographic process, it is the end product. Photo-realism is not important if you think it isn't appropriate.

Enough of talking, let me consolidate and put up some of my works this year.