When I was in Singapore, I was lucky enough to once again take part in a photoshoot with the incredibly talented, super visionary and creative photographer Weili. He’s responsible for the picture on the sidebar of this blog.

What makes Weili super good at what he does is a combination of skills that many photographers do not have.

His attention to getting the perfect shot is second to none – he’ll happily take hundreds of shots until he captures the entire package of mood, lines, lighting and contrast.

He also understands vision, and is very much like a magazine’s art director/creative director in that sense – he understands setting the scene, how to make the lighting work like instant real life photoshop (seriously, he somehow obliterated cellulite at one point!) and how to use any space to lighting advantage. The shot below was taken in a room with a BRIGHT blue wall behind me but you totally can’t tell.

Additionally, Weili has people skills – something so lacking in MANY creatives. I don’t know Weili as well as I’d like to as a friend, and yet he has an ability to draw out your emotion and mood and capture the very essence that is in your persona for the shoot. He talks you through, almost coaching you as he yells out things to jolt you into the moment, shows you the shots you’ve taken and guides you through moves and what he’d like to see. I also really love that he allows your personality to shine through, and tries to capture the weird, the whimsical, the intrinsic characteristics that make a person THEM, and isn’t scared to take unorthodox poses. Like so:

my favourite pic of the whole shoot!

Invariably, with all those skills, coupled with his extensive dedication to the technical aspects of photography, he manages to produce shots that are overwhelmingly authentic, real and almost scarily stark. A great piece of art evokes a feeling in you, and I think Weili has this in him as a creative person.

You can view some of the other dance shots in the series here on his site. If you’re based in Singapore and after a shoot, you should totally contact Weili. He’s fab.