Studio Notes by Shai Coggins» Shopping + Girl Stuff

Style Studio: Geek Chic {November 2011 Edition}

Shai Coggins — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:51:59 +0000

It has been a while since I last shared one of these “Style Studio” posts, so I thought I’d share one today. Not because I’m feeling particularly stylish or fabulous. It’s just that I can’t think of any other blog post to share today that’s simple, easy, and quick.

Besides, I have to admit: I do SO love these shoes. And, yeah, I think they rock enough to deserve a blog post, right?

Style Notes:

Drop earrings in antique gold – Can’t remember where I bought them!
Black specs – No, I’m not trying to look smart. I don’t usually wear specs in public. Very very rarely in photos. But, my eyes got kinda messed up on my last day in Cebu, and they haven’t fully recovered yet. Until then, I need to refrain from wearing my contacts. These are soooo old, though, that I really can’t recall where they’re from.
Beaded necklace – Diva, if memory serves me right.
Short-sleeved stretch shirt – Brand is called Divided. From H & M (San Francisco, USA).
Black, ruffled skirt – Brand is called TEMT. Can’t remember where I bought it from.
Brown, stretch belt – This is actually part of a dress shirt I bought from Macy’s in San Francisco.
Long, textured vest – New haul from NAVA in Manila, Philippines.
3/4 sleeved Black blazer – A favourite, from HYPE.
Tall, brown pattern platform pumps – Another newbie from NAVA in Manila. Nearly 5-inch heels. I adore the heels especially because they’re shaped so differently. Plus, the patterns and materials used give them so much texture and interest. Love, love, love ‘em! Can you believe they’re less than AU$30?

Where To: This was today’s outfit to the office. And the bank.

Photography Notes:

Photos taken using iPhone camera.
Mostly natural light. Flash only fired for the shot of the shoes.
Post processing: Diptic app for the collage style. Then, Instagram with Valencia filter.

Girls’ rules for fun mini holidays

Shai Coggins — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:08:45 +0000

Today, I’m getting ready to fly off to Bacolod for the next leg of my work trip here in the Philippines. Then, I’d be off to Cebu before heading back home to Adelaide.

But, before I start my speaking engagements at the Microsoft NGO connection days, I’ve been hanging out with my mom and sis over the weekend for something I’d like to refer to as my “mini weekend holiday break” here in Manila.

And yes, it has been fun!

Even though it can be a challenge to go on overseas business trips, especially with a young family back in Adelaide, and a huge task list both back in the office and at home… I knew that I intended to make the most out of my mini break by:

1. Wearing a “no worries” attitude. It’s hot, humid, plenty of traffic, chaotic in some places… But hey, I’m on a weekend break and I’m not going to stress about what’s not going the way I would like them to.

2. Remembering that while plans are cool, being flexible is even better. There are places I want to see and things I want to do, but if I can’t get there and do them, well… just remember Rule No. 1.

3. Allowing myself to indulge – within reason. With food tripping, shopping, pampering, and more on offer… Who am I to resist too much when it comes to trying to contribute to the country’s economy?

But, of course, even though the temptation is way too high, especially with AU$ and PHP exchange rates, I still have to remember to reign it in a bit.

Well, that’s after I’ve had a good fill too, yes?!

4. Trying something new! Whether it’s a visiting new place, checking out a different restaurant, giving a new dish a go, or experiencing something you’ve never done before… It’s all part of the fun!

Some new things I’ve tried so far: checking out C2 restaurant at a place called Rockwell (yum!), getting hair coloured and highlighted (!), and hanging out more at Greenhills and not Alabang. Next stop: Visiting Bacolod for the first time.

5. Doing the stuff I love. Of course, other than the new stuff, we gotta do the stuff we always look forward to, right? Food tripping with fave foods and restaurants (yes, including going to Jollibee!), visiting our local salon, hanging out at Starbucks (good for free wifi), and more. I would include catching up with good friends and family here, but unfortunately, the nature of my quick mini break doesn’t give me a lot of time to organise meetups and such.

6. Opening up to opportunities. Though I was shopping for swim suits at one stage, I found out that the business owner of the shop is also involved in a local NGO. When I gave her my business card, we managed to chat a bit about the work my organisations does with nonprofits and charities. And, we talked about blogging too. So, that was pretty cool. I think I even managed to get extra discounts on my new bathers in the process. Heh.

7. Keeping safe. ‘Nuff said.

8. Recording the memories for posterity. Write, take pictures, blog, Tweet, share on FB… Spreading the fun makes it all even better.

9. Not worrying about too many other rules.

Well, what else can I say?

Groupon Giveaway: Two $20 Vouchers!

Shai Coggins — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:42:08 +0000

It has been a while since I last held a giveaway here at the Studio. And, since I’m still in an 11th year blog anniversary celebratory mood, I thought we can do a giveaway again.

So, up for grabs today are TWO $20 vouchers for the deal site, Groupon Australia*. There, you can find a number of offers in your city/state or nationwide that you might be interested in — from discounted gadgets to cheap vacations.

So, how can you win ONE of 2 Groupon vouchers that I’m giving away?

There are four ways you can enter. Each time you do one of these things, you get an entry. So, there more you do, the more chances of winning:

1. Leave a comment in this post. Your comment may answer ONE (or more, if you wish) of these questions:

“Have you ever used Groupon before? If yes, what do you think of it? If not, what would help you to use it?”
“Have you used other ‘deal sites’? If yes, which ones? If not, why?”

Or, feel free to leave a general comment about this post and/or deals in general.

2. Tweet this post! It’s easy. Just click on the Tweet button you see at the beginning or the end of this post and leave the @shaicoggins reference intact, so I know that you’ve Tweeted this post.

3. Share this post on Facebook. Just copy and paste the link to your status and make sure you tag me, so I know that you’ve shared it on FB.

4. Like or comment on the post about this giveaway on Studio Notes’ Facebook page (a page that badly needs some attention!). Or, on my personal FB page.

Please note that this giveaway is for Australian residents only. Sorry, my non-Oz based friends! I hope that I’d be able to do a giveaway for you too one of these days.

In any case, I look forward to folks’ participation!

Deadline: 19 October 2011 (12MN, Adelaide Time). At the end of this giveaway, I will randomly draw winners based on entries. TWO winners will be notified accordingly.

* Full disclosure on Groupon Australia: I am not paid to do this giveaway. I have just been invited to participate, and I thought some of my Oz-based friends & readers might find the $20 vouchers useful, so I decided to take part. I’ve been given a voucher to test out their service as well, which I haven’t used yet. I’m hoping to be able to share my Groupon experience one of these days, when I get to use my voucher. And, I look forward to your stories too!

Style Studio: Life Tones (April 2010 Edition)

Shai Coggins — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:11:04 +0000

Things are going to be even more crazy hectic on my side of the sky in the next few weeks, so I’m going to try and blog Studio Notes’ “regular features” as quickly as I can before the month is over. So, here’s my monthly Style Studio/self-portrait installment. Since I’ve been posting dresses a lot lately, I thought I’d go simple and casual again this month…

Style Notes:

Brown, long tube top – Not sure where I bought this from now. It’s a few years old. In fact, I’m pretty certain I’ve posted this somewhere on this blog before.
Wide, twisted tan belt – From Target. I love it. This belt reminds me that belts can really make good fashion accessories.
HerBench Blue Jeans – My favourite hand-me-down jeans form my sis. You’ve seen this often enough in my style files!
Earrings – Black giant dangling tear drop earrings.

As you can see, this is just a simple summer/spring attire. Oh, and yes, there are no shoes in the photo shoot, but I believe I used both my black wedge shoes and my flat brown shoes with the whole thing (alternates, of course, not at the same time! ).

Where To: Filming/Interview for my digital storytelling workshop class.

Photography Notes:

Camera: Trusty old Nikon D40x
Lens: My beloved Sigma 30mm f1.4
Time: AM
Light: Natural light, no flash
Self-portrait technique: remote control
Post processing: Only used Picasa to create the collage, then I adjusted the light + used B&W focus effect

Style Studio: Blues and Florals

Shai Coggins — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:14:43 +0000

Well, I’ve promised another Style Studio installment, so here we go.

It feels like ages ago since I last did a self portrait. I haven’t really had much chance to do much photography lately. In any case, here are my style and photography notes:

Style Notes:

Navy Blue Halter Dress – This one’s an oldie but goodie. It’s a custom-made dress that I asked a seamstress in the Philippines to make for me some 10+ years ago. I chose the fabric and I sort of designed the dress (based on another dress I saw in a magazine), if I remember correctly. It was actually a maxi dress (ankle length) — when I first had it made. I even wore it on my hen’s night! But, I sort of got tired with the long dress. I didn’t want to throw it away, though. Since the cut was still right for me, I decided just to make it in to a mini dress. So, I took it to another seamstress (in Singapore, I believe) and had it cut and hemmed. Even though it’s soooo old, it’s still one of my favourite dresses. Yeah, this dress really makes me miss getting custom-made dresses (it’s too expensive here in Oz).
3-strand Blue Elastic Hairband – Brand new from the cheap shop. Only $2 – and I love it.
Silver Hoop Earrings – A staple for me. I wear these earrings. A LOT.
Black Sandals with Heels – A hand-me-down from my mom.

Where To: Off to my son’s school for drop-off (and supposedly, volunteering at his school) + Uni seminar

Photography Notes:

Camera: Nikon D40x
Lens: Sigma 30mm f.14
Self-Portrait Technique: Remote Control + Tripod
Lighting: Natural light — almost mid-day sun. When it comes to photography, I really love making the most out of natural light – and the outdoors.
Additional Note: I like playing with angles in photography. This session is an example of how using different angles can make different pictures.

Style Studio: Garden Grace

Shai Coggins — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:58:36 +0000

My parents-in-law have an amazing garden. Every time we visit Johannesburg, I am always marveling at the beauty of their backyard bliss.

Since this is the first time that I’ve been back at their home since taking up self-portraiture, I knew that I couldn’t pass up the chance to feature my in-laws’ beautiful South African garden.

So, on the first day of 2010, I decided to do a Style Studio shoot featuring their garden — and a couple of my Christmas presents. Plus, my Diana Mini!

Anyway, here’s my very first Style Notes of the year here at the Studio:

White sequined stretchy headband – Just another inexpensive accessory that I picked up from a local cheap shop in Adelaide. And yes, I actually curled my hair for the day, using my hot curlers.
Silver five-petal floral necklace (with black band) – Not sure where this one was from originally, but it was one of my Christmas gifts. My sister-in-law (and her family) gave this to me and it has become an immediate favourite. She said she bought it from a local shop in Johannesburg. It’s just my kind of thing! I love it. I’ve been wearing it almost every day since I got it.
Powder blue cotton maxi dress (with knitted/crochet? detailing) – From a label called Fresh Produce. I’m not sure if it’s South African, but this one was bought at Jo’burg from a shop called Pick N’ Pay Clothes. Yes, no designer label there. But, I love it anyway. It’s actually a gift from my parents-in-law. The original gift was a pink knitted top that didn’t fit, so my mum-in-law encouraged me to go back for an exchange. I ended up finding this lovely thing! At half the price too (Just 70 rands, I think, which was equivalent to around AU$10!).
Black ballet-style shoes – I forgot the name of the shop where I bought this from. I just remember it was something I purchased during my last trip to the Philippines about two years ago. My sis has a matching pair, which I gave her as a pressie. Maybe she’ll remind me where we bought them. Heh. And yes, I must admit, I probably would prefer to wear some kind of sandals with this dress, but since I didn’t pack any, I just had to work it with these shoes.

Hmmm… I think that’s it. My only other accessory here is my Mini Diana. Honestly, I don’t know what possessed me to model one of my favourite new gadgets. Such a geeky/dorky thing to do, eh? But, I thought it was fun anyway!

Where To: a New Year’s Day braai with the family at my sis-in-law’s house in Jo’brg

Photography Notes:

Camera: Nikon D40x
Lens: Sigma 30mm f1.4
Self-Portraiture Strategy: two-second delay remote control
Other photo gadgets: Gorillapod
Minor Editing of Photos: iPhoto
Collage: Picasa

Side Note: Uhm… I know I missed a couple of months’ worth of Style Studio installments. Sorry about that. Hopefully, this post makes up for it somehow. And, I look forward to sharing more with you this 2010.

Style Studio: A Smile for Spring!

Shai Coggins — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:34:37 +0000

It’s the people who make you smile that matter most.
Who cares about those who try to wipe them away?
Just keep smiling anyway.

It’s amazing how different emails can make you feel different things within a matter of minutes. Recently, I’ve had the strange experience of receiving a series of emails from different people under varying circumstances that had contrasting effects to my emotions.

The first lot of emails made me seethe and weep. The other lot of emails made me smile. Even laugh out loud. Feel excited.

All the emails were coming within minutes of each other.

If anyone was watching me at the time, they’d probably think the computer has driven me insane. (Not hard to imagine, right? )

As my conflicting emotions from these emails tried to battle inside me, I made the choice not to let the smile-erasing emails win. Go the smile-inducing emails, I say.

Not an easy thing to do for me, mind you. Normally, negative emotions overtake whatever positive emotions that I might have. I think it’s because our psyche has the tendency to feel the impact of negative emotions more. That’s why a nasty comment or a single episode with someone difficult can ruin an otherwise perfect time with great weather or wonderful company.

It’s not right, though. I think we ought to try to strengthen the effect of those smile-inducing moments and people in our lives more. And, give less power to the smile-wipers. I think that’s a lesson I’m trying to learn as I take the path of Blissology.

Anyway, enough of that… here are the style and photography notes from this shoot:

Style Notes:

Very, very casual look here, as you can see. It was the beginning of warmer weather this day, I believe. We’ve had such a long winter this year that finally getting 23+ degree (C) weather is such a relief. To celebrate, I wore my ‘Smiley’ shirt (it has a glittery gold smiley face design with the word ‘Smile’ underneath). I think this must’ve been the first time I wore a shirt in months (without layers, that is). The label says “Jack Pot”. I believe this was a gift from my mum and/or sis. Also, I was wearing one of my fave jeans (a hand-me-down from my sis), which I believe is from Bench. Although I wasn’t wearing shoes in these pics, I actually wore my favourite Wittner shoes from this shoot when I went out this day.

Where To: Off to attend a graduate school seminar at the Uni.

Photography Notes:

Camera: Nikon D40x
Lens: Sigma 30mm f1.4
Lighting: Natural light, morning (around 9am)
Self-portrait strategy: Remote control! Also used a tripod.
Post-processing: Some iPhoto tweaks. The collage was created using Picasa.

Style Studio: Red Hot (and Black!)

Shai Coggins — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:48:11 +0000

Well, I’ve been meaning to share a full “Style Studio”/”Look of the Week” post for some time now. So, here’s one that I took early this month. And, as always, here are my style and photography notes from the series -

Style Notes:

Long-sleeved fitted grey shirt – From Supré; Got it on sale a few weeks ago. Loved the fit so much, I ended up buying in one light blue as well.
Black velvet jacket – This one’s a really old piece of clothing. I don’t even know where I bought it. I think I was still living in Singapore when I purchased it. It used to be part of a two-piece suit (jacket + pencil skirt). However, I’ve stopped using the skirt.
Printed dress – The label says “Ms Who?” It’s one of those dresses that I bought from a children’s clothes shop. Got it for about AU$10. The thing is, I keep wondering when I’d bump in to a ten year old wearing the same thing. Heh.
Black loop belt – Another hand-me-down from my sis.
Black stockings
Wittner stiletto booties – One of the few stiletto shoes I own. I love the shape, but for some reason, I haven’t really taken to wearing them. Haven’t broken them in yet properly, so they’re still a bit uncomfortable. But, I must say, looking at these photos, I am beginning to get convinced why stilettos may be a good way to go.

Where To: Off to my part-time work as part of the Resource Team in an organisation that support people with intellectual disabilities.

Photography Notes:

I must confess that I felt quite happy with this series of self-portraits. They’re not technically great photos, but I like them anyway. Something about the lighting and the composition really appealed to me.

I especially like the top photo in the collage. It was sort of an accidental shot, as I was actually trying to use the fireplace area as my backdrop. But, I couldn’t quite get “the shot”. You know, that one photo that help me to tell what I want to say in pictures.

When I moved to a different wall to try some extra shots, I found that the floor lamp lighting in that area created a different visual effect in the shots. That’s why I ended up liking more photos from my “extra” pics (3 out of the 4 shots in the collage are from the extras; I even have a couple more I wish I could share some time). I even liked the effect of the huge floor vase in the top photo.

So, I hope you like them too! Anyway, here are my photo notes -

Camera: Nikon D40x
Lens: Sigma 30mm f1.4
Lighting: Combination of natural light and indoor artificial light (a ceiling light and a floor lamp); No flash
Self-portrait strategy: Remote control!
Post-processing: Some iPhoto tweaks – a bit of straightening, some adjustment in saturation, sharpening, and some cropping (for a couple of the pics). The collage was created using Gimp.

Studio Notes by Shai Coggins» Shopping + Girl Stuff

Style Studio: Geek Chic {November 2011 Edition}

You Might Also Like To Read...

Girls’ rules for fun mini holidays

You Might Also Like To Read...

Groupon Giveaway: Two $20 Vouchers!

You Might Also Like To Read...

Style Studio: Life Tones (April 2010 Edition)

You Might Also Like To Read...

Style Studio: Blues and Florals

You Might Also Like To Read...

Style Studio: Garden Grace

You Might Also Like To Read...

Style Studio: A Smile for Spring!

You Might Also Like To Read...

Style Studio: Red Hot (and Black!)

You Might Also Like To Read...