Picture: Westshooterz at an annual reunion dinner

21st June 2013, Singapore – This is the 3^rd featured article from the special photography group series that we will be running for this month.
For this week, we are going west!! West Shooterz is the name!

West Shooterz is a pretty “new” photographic group in Singapore dedicated to all photography enthusiasts, mainly made up of people with a broad range of skills and varying knowledge levels. Ranging from the “keen to learn” novice, to the full-time professional, West Shooterz are united by their common love of photography. Founded in 2008 with a handful of founding members, today West Shooterz is a 370+ strong photography group. (Correct at press time)

Photo: Picture by Peter Yeo Hwai Teck

Pioneered by a group of photographers, they are Mr Larry Haydn, Mr Peter Yeo, Mr Skyimage U’sov, Mr Jackie Num, Mr Michael Neo, Mr Alvin Gay, Miss Dayana Mohamad & Mr Patrick Tay.

West Shooterz was initially formed and named for a very simple but meaningful reason – the pioneering members are all residents from the constituencies in the west zone of Singapore, from Jurong, Clementi and Bukit Batok, and other western zones of Singapore.

Photo: Picture by Peter Yeo Hwai Teck

The group never sticks to a specific genre, the group is always exploring and expanding the possibilities of photography at different levels.
That, in a way had inspired the members to move on from 1 genre to another and through the process, many had found their calling (to certain genres) and found their directions in the complicated world of photography. That does not end there. Members also find the sharing by the other members to be very helpful, that actually created a platform where members learn from another member – just like “community learning”.

Photo: Picture by Zachary Esni

We have dedicated a few interview questions specially for the founders of West Shooterz as below:

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An Interview with the Founders of West Shooterz

Ed: How does photography inspires the founders?

WS: We get really inspired by seeing the works of others (members) and the team spirit that we had built along the way. It is great that we are all  “like-minded” people and we all found each other at West Shooterz.

Photo: Picture by Ramlie Abdullah

Ed: How does managing a photo group feels? Any ups & downs?

WS: Not exactly Ups or any Downs. Managing West Shooterz gives all of us a satisfaction – this feels better than monetory gains; especially with the people/photogs that we had met. Awesome bunch of people.

Ed: How frequently does the group meet up and is there other activity that had
been organized that is non-photography related? Like social events?

WS: We make an effort to meet up at least once a month to do some non-photography related outing such as TCSS and dinner.
And also, West Shooterz started a “tradition” that we have our Annual Re-union Dinner for all the members and their families just after every CNY.

Photo: Picture by Tony Lim

Ed: In your view, what is the most important element in photography?

WS: In our views, we feel that the willingness to learn and explore beats every other factoring reasons to be an important element of photography. In short, the attitude.

Ed: In the diversified and sometimes complicated circle of photography, have you met good people as well as bad people?

WS: We had met tons of good people. So far, we were lucky enough to not meeting any BAD people.

Photo: Picture by Skyimage U’sov

Ed: Please describe the relationship among you & your photography members in 01 sentence.

WS: “Family”

Ed: Is there any Allied photography group that your group associates with?
Any rival groups?

WS: We do not consider any group as “rival”. On the contrary, we will prefer to work alongside with other groups as part of the group’s learning journey.

Photo: Picture by Cheng Chin Kiong

Ed: Is there a person/ group that inspires your group?

WS: Everyone can be a source of inspiration. And we meant anyone.

Ed: What visions & dreams do you have for your photo group?

WS: We wish our members to progress and enjoy everything & whatever we are doing for them.

Photo: Picture by Kevin Fan

Ed: Thank you West Shooterz for the wonderful and insightful sharing!

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“WEST SHOOTERZ” is a Singapore-based photographic group dedicated to all photography enthusiasts residing in any part of (not just west) Singapore, made up of people with a broad range of skill and knowledge levels ranging from all photography levels. West Shooterz are united by their commong love – photography.

West Shooterz can be contacted as below:
Group Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Westshooterz/photos/
Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Westshooterz/photos/
Contact Persons: Mr Larry Haydn, Mr Peter Yeo, Mr Skyimage U’sov, Mr Jackie Num,  Mr Micheal Neo, Mr Alvin Gay, Miss Dayana Mohamad & Mr Patrick Tay.
Contact Person Email: west_shooterz@yahoo.com.sg