A New Tempo #7: Moonrise Studio Perseveres In Photography By Seeing The Bigger Picture

Moonrise Studio, are you okay? (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

Slow and steady, we are starting to see progress in the reawakening of the economy as businesses reopen, people come out of their caves, and lately, there have even been slivers of hope for the events industry with talks of small-scale live performances and MICE events up to 250 attendees. While a large bulk of enterprises waited for these optimistic prospects as their momentum took a hit, others like Moonrise Studio had the foresight to take action before the crisis – good news for the state of scene photography.

Moonrise Studio has shot for big-time venues like Zouk (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

The brainchild of Debbie Y, Moonrise Studio started out as a one-woman brand known as Debbie Y. Photography eight years ago, and it has since evolved and solidified itself as a photography powerhouse in events and nightlife. Vibrant, polished and with a knack for storytelling in a frame, the works of the studio garner interest from major players in the scene, with a portfolio that includes Zouk, Marquee, Kilo, Bang Bang, Sofitel So Singapore, Ultra Music Festival and the Singapore Grand Prix. With a track record like that, Debbie could’ve rested easy knowing she was an ace in her craft. But that simply wasn’t her vision for Moonrise Studio.

Debbie Y has come a long way since stepping into the world of photography eight years ago (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

Even before COVID-19 struck, Debbie had made plans for Moonrise Studio to diversify into other industries, extending the reputation of the brand and giving it a stronger foundation. Interiors, F&B and portraiture are now some of the other services provided by the studio, and it’s been a move that’s most certainly paid off in these unpredictable times. Yet without forgetting her roots, Debbie remains dedicated to the community that helped propel her business, and she hopes to assist afflicted entities in the nightlife industry with her passion and profession.

For this edition of A New Tempo, Debbie shares how Moonrise Studio persevered in this low tide season, the double-edged sword of social media, and finding inner peace amidst the chaos.

Moonrise Studio has been there since the old parties at CATO (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

“It was definitely worrying at the start, especially since a huge portion of Moonrise’s revenue comes from physical events. I personally took a while to adjust to the drop in revenue, especially since our initial projection for this year was looking extremely positive. But once there was the reconciliation that it is what it is, our outlook became more forward-looking, focusing more on dealing with the current situation and asking ourselves, ‘What can we do within these boundaries?’ rather than dwell on the negatives.”

“Social media is definitely a double-edged sword. While we need it to retain an online presence, there were times I consciously stayed away from social media as well, especially when I saw that people in my industry were still busy with work, or that they had found ways to retain job engagements as if nothing much had changed. These feelings that arose from seeing such updates slowly became an incessant nagging at the back of my head, because I kept asking myself ‘Is Moonrise Studio not doing enough?’ or ‘Are we not striking while the iron is hot?’. So as much as social media was (and continues to be) an important tool for Moonrise Studio, taking a step back sometimes did prove even more useful.

Lastly, I learned how to be at peace with the idea of taking a break. After all, how often does a forced two-month break – where Singapore was made to slow down altogether – come by? This mindset helped my workaholic self feel more comfortable being okay with doing nothing.”

Branching out, the studio also does photography for interiors (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

“I am a firm believer that only those who can adapt will conquer adversity. I mean, look at Zouk with Capital Kitchen or DJs like i.o and W&W playing sets online taking place in ‘venues’ created purely by motion graphics, or events like Tomorrowland or EDC pulling off their festival online.”

F&B is also another avenue of income for the business (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

“What Moonrise Studio has done is fairly subtle; we used to showcase a great deal of nightlife-related photos and videos on our socials, but have now shifted our focus to highlight more of our lifestyle, portraits, food and cocktails and interior work. This was done to cater to people who were not aware these were also aspects of photography and videography we offer, beyond our key specialisation – nightlife – in order to widen our reach and clientele.”

Portraiture is also in their portfolio, as seen here with their portrait shot for DJ Amber H (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

“Moonrise Studio started out in the nightlife scene, but has now diversified into providing a range of photography and video services, to clients across different industries, including Formula 1 and Grand Hyatt Singapore. I hope that when people think of Moonrise Studio, nightlife is not the only association they have of us anymore.

There were a number of overseas engagements in our pipeline for 2020, spanning Bali to Europe, as I was gearing Moonrise Studio up to transcend Singapore waters. So it was really unfortunate that COVID happened, as these were really incredibly exciting projects, which are now put on hold.”

Do you still remember Kilo V1? (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

“Everyone in the industry has been very caring and supportive, constantly checking in with each other despite being hit very hard too. Fortunately for Moonrise Studio, we planted a couple of seeds to diversify into additional areas and industries, soon after our inception late-2018. Diversifying early while the economy was more stable really saved us during this period. Once Phase One was given the green light, it has been go-time throughout for us and I cannot be more grateful to both old and new clients.

Help-wise, I have always been, and will always be thankful to people I have worked with who unreservedly recommend Moonrise Studio – whether be it pre-COVID or COVID times – to anyone who is looking for photography or video services.”

There for the big moments (Credit: Moonrise Studio)

“I would also like to put it out there that through the good times and bad, Moonrise Studio has always enjoyed a strong support system of industry partners and clients, something that we are very grateful for.

To pay it forward, Moonrise Studio would like to extend our own support, especially for nightlife industry players that have been hit hard by the pandemic. Feel free to reach out to us if you would like a certain type of service rendered but think you might not be able to afford the full fee, and we can work something out from there.”

Moonrise Studio continues to offer on-site photography, videography, and post-production services for events, product campaigns and more. Reach out to them at hello@moonrisestudio.co to find out more.