My take, on silver halide

Now located elsewhere

2006-11-06T14:20:00.000+08:00

[SIZE="7"]I am now located at[/SIZE] [URL="http://bakubigshooter.blogspot.com"]bakubigshooter.blogspot.com[/URL]

For some reason the moving notification didn't show. I have moved since mid-OCT and continuations for PIME and other stuff are now on the new blog.

I HAVE MOVED!

2006-10-13T21:27:00.000+08:00

As per the title, I will now be located at Bakubigshooter.blogspot.com. Cheers all. =)

The Life

2006-10-09T22:07:00.000+08:00

Anyone?

2006-10-08T19:04:00.000+08:00

Would anyone like to buy over the anime series "Noir"? From what I heard it's pretty good but I'm unable to watch it because it uses the WMV3 codec, which is a native windows codec and completely, absolutely, i've spent 4 hours trying, doesn't run on a macintosh platform. I can only get the sound but no video. What I plan to do is to sell this off and purchase the DVD-player version so I can watch it on my mac. The current version I have only runs on a computer(does not run on a DVD player), only windows computers, mind you.

I'm selling it for $11, what I paid for it, I'll absorb the postage of $1 I paid for it. It comes on 2 DVD-Rs in Avi format. 26 episodes in high quality widescreen format. 240MB per episode, meaning, nice detailed picture without video artifacts. In other words, DVD quality.

There's a little review on [URL="http://animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=407"]"Noir"[/URL] here.

I'll be very grateful if someone can buy it, obviously because it'll off set the cost of purchasing the twice as expensive DVD player version. I can't play it anyway, so it seems like such a waste to hang on to it.

I think anyone reading this blog probably knows me, so just contact me directly regarding the anime. My hp is 98341467 in case you don't have it.

If you wish, I can also lend out other titles which I have. Currently I have,

- Bakuretsu Tenshi (Crazy Burst Angel)
- Gantz
- Trinity Blood
- Rozen Maiden
- Rozen Maiden Traumend
- Full Metal Panic!
- Full Metal Panic Fumoffu
- Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid
- Chrono Crusade
- Texhnolyze
- Hellsing

I'd be glad to lend you any if you can help me out with the Noir disc. This is by no means a prerequisite, if you wanna borrow one as I friend I'd be happy to lend you one too.

Cheers!

PIME 7 :The art behind photography

2006-10-06T19:15:00.000+08:00

Ok I can't remember where I left off, but conceivably it's at No.7 for Photo Imaging made Easy. The problems I identified previously were problems that I see most commonly in what I term "snapshots", or the shots most people make today. Most of them aimed to deal with the techinical, so I've decided to deal with the art behind photography in this one. It's totally impossible to deal with it entirely in a blog posting, for I could probably write a thesis on that alone. What I think you would prefer to look at is a brief summary of the rough art behind photography, which is truly the essence of the photo. Making a great image, if you haven't realised by now, comes from within you, rather than from your camera or any insane amount of reading you've been doing with regards to the techinicals. Photography is about soul, the techinicals just make your vision happen. The following are some ways to improve your photography where it really matters, right at the heart of it.

1. Attempt to transcend reality. Face it, reality is boring. What you aim to capture in a photograph is something that no one else sees, and hence is not part of their reality. This is the reason why many great photographs make you go "gosh, I wonder how he did that." How you achieve a photograph should not be immediately apparent, which will therefore force you to shy away from a normal snapshot mentality. This is why photographers seek out the best light(which only lasts 30s twice a day!) and most interesting angles for their subjects. These are things that pass normal people by, but as a photographer, you have to train your eye to look out for these things. There is beauty in everything, but in photographing a subject whose beauty is not immediately apparent, it becomes harder to find that beauty, but assuredly enough, once you find that beauty, you can make a photo of an old woman with warts look as beautiful as a portrait of Ms Universe.

Great light only lasts 30s, which is why everyone misses it! Have you ever watched the sky turn dark? You'll realise that at one point the sky can be exceedingly beautiful. Try it. Furthermore, you will realise that what you see is hardly what you get in a photograph. The eye has a fixed "shutter speed", and it works by varying the aperture(pupil size). The camera can vary both so you can make a photograph better than what the eye sees. This should always be your aim. This is why photographers spend hundreds of dollars on filters and thousands of dollars on lighting. We modify the existing light to step reality up to a higher level, which is what we view it as.

This is why things, places, people, should ALWAYS look better in photographs.

2. The eye sees too much. If you notice, your eyes have an almost 180 deg field of view, including your peripheral vision. There are also lenses that give you a 180 deg field of view, but the key difference is in photography, your vision in concentrated in a little box. This obviously implies that you need critical focus in making your photographs. Photography is the art of exclusion, you need to extract what you want out of the tremendous amount your eye takes in. Leave in only what you want, leave out the rest. This is why people always miss out great moments. They gloss over it as they get distracted by all the other crap within their field of view. As you become more proficient in doing this, you'll be able to analyse parts of your vision as individual segments, and decide which carry merit and which don't.

That's all im gonna post for today, because I'm hungry and it's dinner time.

Come back soon for the next segment 3,4, which will be about
- How to find subjects of interest in boring locations
- Planning your shots

Ciao.

Missed out a photo!

2006-10-04T12:38:00.000+08:00

I realised I didn't post my favourite image from the City Scape outing! Gosh! Anyway here it is, just dug it out of my hard drive. Would recommend that you click on the image to view it large. There are certain subtleties that won't be seen in the small version.

Edge of Life Pt 2

2006-09-27T12:01:00.000+08:00

This time what I tried experimenting with(for the series) was really dumping the subjects into a very small corner in the "largeness" of their world. I did a few more today before I read this, as the return date for the UWA was today. Composition is still "messy", for this time I did not try to keep it very clean to isolate the subjects completely, which I'm not sure may be a good thing, but I've never tried doing it before.

Some other images from arab st.

The Edge of life

2006-09-25T21:55:00.000+08:00

A little street series that was an offshoot from my cityscape outing. enjoy.

When life passes you by...

CityScape

2006-09-25T21:46:00.000+08:00

Went on a cityscape outing today with SJ, wasn't the greatest of outings due to the overcast skies, but we made the best of it. Here's the produce. Enjoy. Btw, have received some notes about PIME, so am looking to bring it back! BUT I need suggestions on what to write about. Please send all suggestions to stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg. Cheers.

I shot a mix of Black and White and Colour images(ok only 1 colour image). Will show case the BnW first.

Swirl

Business

Transit

Angular

Skyscrapers

Rails

Mesh

Slice

*Colour*
Curve

Arcs

2006-09-24T22:20:00.000+08:00

Did a little feature on the arcs I located around and inside the esplanade today while waiting for Esther's performance thing to start. Enjoy. Used a rented 10-22, more to make full use of the rental period and my moolah.

Outdoor theatre

My favourite air well.

And Esther's thingamajig before it started. It never did quite start even after 1 and a half hours of waiting, so Deb and I left first to rush home for makan. Still working in architecture mode, as you can probably see.

Overdrive(Which hardly even got into first gear really)

Pasir Ris beach, in monochrome

2006-09-22T11:47:00.000+08:00

Exams are over, and I'm out shooting! Whoopee! Here's the first of many fruitful sets, hopefully.

As I was making this, I didn't think much of it, but looking back, I think that this particular set reminds me somewhat of pollution going on in our world today. Enjoy.

Pollution

And some images in colour

Fiddled with the white balance to turn the orangey sunset image blue. You can get similar results by setting your white balance temperature to 2000 kelvins to shoot a sunset. Your camera must be able to set the white balance in kelvins though. Alternatively, use the Tungsten white balance setting, which all digital cameras should have.

A high dynamic range image made by the combination of 2 images with different exposure. Expose for the highlights and the foreground. This is an easy way to do this without the need for filters. Due to the high position of the tree I was unable to use an appropriate filter to cut down the amount of light coming from the sky despite the fact that I had it on hand. The wonders of digital imaging.

An abstract taken while waiting for the sun to set. You can capture the movement of the water via a tripod and a slow shutter speed. Here I used a speed of 3.5 seconds.

Moth in Monochrome

2006-09-17T22:33:00.000+08:00

Macroing away at home. This guy flew into my house so I subjected it to a photo session. Tried something a little bit closer to what I'm comfortable with rather than traditional macro. Hope it looks better! Can't wait for econs and lit to end tomorrow so I can really cut loose on the photography. As you can probably tell by the daily posts my fingers are VERY VERY VERY itchy.

And the traditional type of shot, or at least the closest approximation I could produce to a traditional kind of shot.

My World on a Curve

2006-09-16T21:11:00.000+08:00

It's a bit like how I view the world. Kooky and slightly awry. Mostly though, I was just amusing myself while choping the table at the food court.

Here's also a little something from my garden. I have no idea what plant it is so don't ask me to ID it. Still amusing myself with various macro objects around the house. I've found AI Servo tremendously helpful with macro work. Lol.

Lil' ol' worm

2006-09-15T20:59:00.000+08:00

Found this little guy on my windowsill escaping the rain just before I left for school today to take the PC paper. As you can see from the image, I still have a problem lighting my macro subjects. I'm terrible at doing so. That being said, I rushed it by using direct flash, creating the strong shadow at the side. I'll be purchasing my Lightsphere soon, so I'll try that out for Macro once I get it. I think a bounce card might help too, but I'm not sure. I'm horrible at macro work, but probably because I don't really have an interest in doing it. Nevertheless, by the end of this year I will train myself to have reached a reasonable standard. That's my photographic target this year, plus landscape imaging and architechtural imaging too of course.

Here's the little worm. Kinda cute actually.

More random stuff

2006-09-14T20:59:00.000+08:00

Having just finished the last major paper today, econs essay, I feel rather elated and relieved. I realised that I haven't posted this yet, the starbucks session with Deb, Han and Jamie where I first used the 100/2 for the first time in a field test. Reminds me of Jamie, who has since left for Pilot school in Aus. He won't be back for quite awhile so here's the last photo I have of him before he dissapeared.

I promise to get some proper stuff that's interesting to look at when I do go out shooting next week after the last paper. Have A LOT OF SHOOTS PLANNED. I get all excited just thinking about it. Technically I could go now because there isn't much left to study (PC, Econs MCQ/DRQ, Modern lit) so that's pretty cool. All of it's prepared for already anyway. Nevertheless, I must still appear like I'm studying because my parents insist that it's terribly important to study for each and every paper(ok it's not like I haven't studied, I'm just done). They probably would make me study for GP too if they could help it! SJ and Xu, if you're reading this, I'll give you guys a ring next week. Xu, really must catch a movie or something! And Daniel, please take back your 70-200! I'll call you after my papers are done if you don't get me first! Heh.

Ok here are the images. I actually particularly like Han's. It's probably my favourite photo of Han, ever.

Han Solo

Jamie - This is his standard photo face.

Random stuff.

2006-09-10T17:11:00.000+08:00

All right! Greeks is tomorrow and I can't wait for the prelims to start because there's so many exciting things going on after prelims! Gosh, I can't wait to enjoy myself. Weird thinking about celebrating even before the first paper huh, but I bet everyone is using the same thing to drive themselves through the week. I hope everyone's ready, and all the best and God bless to anyone taking papers tomorrow. Personally am looking forward to the following, making a list might help you feel great too!
- My new ultra-wide angle 12-24 lens, to be purchased on the last day of exams =)
- A week of intensive street/architechture/landscape shooting with Photonx guys, SJ(?), Dan(?), myself. JC, if you're reading this, interested to follow me for makan/sunset shoot somewhere else again? Gotta prep my submissions for SAFRA photographer of the year before i start mugging again.
- Field testing my new 30/1.4
- Going shopping for prom stuff, though for me I'm tailoring everything. I've totally simplified my whole suit because I think that I'd rather spend more on gear than pay too much for the prom outfit. It's gonna be simple but still classy, hopefully. Gotta shop for linen at people's park.
- Just bumming around after prelims. Sweet.

Here's some random stuff I've been shooting with my new 350d, the portability really rawks man. It's about 40-60% smaller than my 1d and it's made of some much lighter(though much less rugged) material. Polycarbonate if im not wrong. As opposed to die-cast magnesium alloy for the 1d. These photos suck in comparison to the previous post, actually they're not really great, but I'm in the habit of just posting shots regularly as I shoot them.

I found the whole scene rather surreal, but alas, I was hasty in making the shot and it didn't turn out too well.

Another image to add to my "split" series.

Stories of Love Chpt 1: Me and my Tele

2006-09-03T21:24:00.000+08:00

This is the first set of images I'm doing for my Stories of Love collection, which will feature couples and "couples". Be prepared to wait till the end of the year for subsequent chapters. I simply don't have the time now! Anyway...

[B]Nicky and his Telecaster.[/B] Enjoy.

I've known Nicky for quite a long time now, probably close to 10 years, and while he only picked up music about a couple of years back, his dedication to music has made him one of the best guitarists I know. Ok, in fact, he is the best I know. He tries to put in several hours of practice a day, perfecting every single nuance. He got his telecaster after a year of literally surviving on bread and water and it's been his pride and joy ever since. They rock hard together, and are inseperable.

Adrenaline 01

2006-09-03T16:21:00.000+08:00

Right. Finally got round to posting the images. Although I was just covering I had a great time at the event. Loads of fun. Maybe it's just getting back to serious imaging again, but it was great nonetheless. I didn't post all the images cos there were simply too many! And some were of the same sort, so I picked one and left out the rest. If you remember me taking a photo of you and you want it but it's not here, sms/email me and I will send it to you. OK?

Climb Adventure - Adrenaline 01(SSS)

In Chrono order...

Mark, on the bus

Han, with his avatar

A quick briefing...

Abs giving a demo

From Where I was...

Cheri

Roxy

?

I see it!

I've got it!

Mark Han Slips

Elisabeth

CB Cho

Jamie

Yvonne*Pick of the shoot*

Ian

Ivan, Roxy and Hubie

A Casualty of unsafe climbing practices

Ian and Belayer

Michelle

Ivan, with Cho's buns

Taking a back seat

Prepping a lesson for the kids

Delivering it

Cheri with a stuffed han solo

Hope you enjoyed looking at the images! Thanks for viewing =)

My Take on the Durian

2006-09-03T00:11:00.000+08:00

I recently discovered an angle of the esplanade that I've never seen before. As far as I know, no one has shot the esplanade from that angle. All this while I've never ever shot a photo of the esplanade because I was determined to produce something different, or not at all. I shot this image today with my new 350D, heh, and the crop factor of 1.6x proved to be a big help on Daniel's 70-200mm lens. I couldn't get this composition with my MKII. Anyhow, I'm certain this is different. Just to share it.

Oh btw, rock people, I'll post the images from today's rock activity up tomorrow. I've just spend the last couple of hours processing the images and I'm shit tired. I've completed all of them but to write a blog post about them now would be a major killer. I wanna sleep.

Anyway, you can chew on this Durian image first, one of the better pieces I've produced in my photographic life.

Random stuff.

2006-08-27T21:15:00.000+08:00

Ok so Deb got baptised today. Congrats. Bummed out with my mum as usual, probably would have been bummed out my dad too if he wasn't out of the country. Ok, photos from today, and a photo of Nicky. I'm trying to work on this new series, on couples, this one of him and his tele isn't quite right yet, will get it right soon. I've figured out the issue, so yea.

Deb's cell

Joan and steph

Deb and Jamie

Rock Climbing Recce Trip

2006-08-26T18:08:00.000+08:00

Headed down today to meet Jamie, Jus, Abs, Deb, Claire, Han to recce the place where the Rock Climbing activity for the church youth would be held next week. It was a load of fun! I'm certain the kids will enjoy it. Shooting while hanging from the wall was the toughest thing I've ever done with a camera and I sweated profusely not so much from the fear of falling off but rather from the fear of dropping the camera. I was so afraid I would drop it I had it slung around my neck by the strap and firmly attached to my hand with my Matin Handgrip. If I did fall off and die, at the very least the camera would be safe! Here's my nice hairy leg.

And some shots to show you what the place is like.

The kids area, oops, I mean bouldering area.

And the main climbing area

Which is also safe for kids

More kids

Umm... Down please.

Deb and Abs doing community service

The kid. Curse the 1.6X crop. My muscle memory placed my leg in the correct position for the 1.3X.

Some casual portraits from the day.

Gay couple JJ - Jamie(dead to the world) and Jus

Claire at her favourite activity

Abs

Jus

Group photo (Caught Han being anti social)

Gee Whiz, Singapore needs to brush up on it's supply of men's clothes

2006-08-21T17:47:00.000+08:00

It's totally ridiculous. After Corrie's send off today I went down to Peninsula to sell a lens, so I decided I would pop down to Orchard as well to take a look at the latest fall/winter collections plus get quotes for the trenchcoat I designed. You know what? Not a single tailor makes them! I even called up the famous ones like Fashion Clinique to ask and they responded, rather rudely i might add, "for who?". When I said for men, the immediate answer was no and a blank stare. This rudeness was from a tailor published in Urban btw(Far East Plaza 5th floor). The tailor who answered the phone at Fashion Clinique was even better, she kept speaking in Chinese even though I blatantly told her I couldn't tell her what I wanted in Chinese. She clearly understood what I was saying cos she kept responding to me correctly even though I refused to speak in Chinese. I had to call up the boss in the end, only to find out that they didn't do menswear. Total shit.

After calming myself, I trooped down to Paragon to see if I could purchase one off the rack, but lo and behold, not a single trench was in sight! I got shit service too because I was in a T-shirt and only the G-Star guy attended to me. He was polite and nice, even though I told him I was just browsing today and didn't intend to buy anything yet. I hunted all around Orchard, and there was just not a trench to be found. Great, I can't even modify.

Without the tailor, the backup look simply will not work as well. Can you believe it, they don't even do pants! I wanted to scream "what the hell DO you do then?", but I guess the answer was obvious, basic shirts and pants. I even went to the most famous men's tailor in town, CYC at Raffles Hotel. They didn't even do pinstripe pants. Small wonder 90% of Singaporean guys dress like shit. There's no supply of proper clothes in the first place!

Anyhow, after milling aimlessly around, I decided to pop into my favourite Energie store for last minute inspiration. I found an interesting pair of pants which I can use as a core for an outfit, so it inspired me to come up with a new outfit. The problem is that it looks terribly informal. What the hell though, there's not much choice is there?

Ptooi on Singapore Fashion.

PIME 6: Digital Magic

2006-08-19T18:55:00.000+08:00

I've had many people keep telling me that their photos turn out crummy due to their small digicams. Usually when people mean crummy it's generally either blur, lacking in contrast(ie. the colour looks dull and lifeless), or it's underexposed. Theres this very wrong misconception that buying a digital SLR will instantly give you good images. I'll share this with you, the secret is not so much in the equipment, but in the post-processing. Little digicams can produce about 80-85% of what digital SLRs can produce, but when you look at the difference in quality, it appears to be MILES apart! Why? Generally people that use digital SLRs know the value and the importance of processing their pictures so that they can get it to look exactly how they want it. What am I talking about? Most people refer to it as photoshopping your pictures. It's not cheating, everyone in the professional photography industry does it. They even did it in the old days too, but they had to work with chemicals and various darkroom equipment which was bothersome. Today you can achieve everything you used to be able to do in the darkroom sitting in your chair with your mouse in hand.

I use a highly expensive set-up, but the photos that come straight out of it generally will be lacking in contrast, sharpness, and colour. Though not as bad as digicams, it still looks pretty "crummy". To show you that the camera doesn't really matter, I've picked out some before/after processing shots from my old olympus digicam as well.

These are old shots from my olympus digicam. They look like typical digicam shots before processing.

Before

I increased the exposure by 0.75 of a stop. [Added contrast and saturation using curves. Sharpened the image using unsharp mask.] I saved everything in the square bracket under a single photoshop action, which I have 2 intensities of. I use the higher intensity for non-people shots such as this and the lower intensity for people images. Using the higher intensity for people will make them appear overly red, like a lobster. Take a read of Kenrockwell's "How to add contrast" here. It is almost exactly the same thing I do. I tweak it off course to produce images exactly the way I like it. You can tweak yours to do the same. You can access Unsharp Mask under Filter-->Sharpen-->Unsharp mask in photoshop. ALL DIGITAL IMAGES REQUIRE SHARPENING, unlike film, due to the bayer interpolation used by the sensor. You will never achieve maximum sharpness in your images otherwise.

Under the USM(Unsharp Mask) menu, try setting a threshhold of 5 and a radius of 1.0 pixels. Adjust the percentage to taste. Be aware that sharpening too much will cause artifacts, which is what people commonly call a "digital-looking" image. You generally get sharpening noise too, which shows up as white dots, with increased levels of sharpening.

After

Before

I gave this image the exact same treatment. Except that I increased exposure by 0.95 of a stop. I used the higher intensity photoshop action. I also increased the saturation of the blue channel.

Several questions now come to mind. Why do I keep underexposing my images(making them darker)? Why do I use photoshop actions? What if I don't have photoshop, can I still process my images?

On a digicam, I find it necessary to underexpose images because digital cameras(including my expensive one) clip highlights. This means that severely overexposed areas lose detail and turn white. A plus point is that digital cameras retain shadow detail a lot better. The obvious way to make the best use of this is to expose for the highlights, meaning to expose the image in such a way as to preserve those "bright" portions. Because later, i can always bring back the shadow detail in photoshop, but I cannot ever bring back the highlights. Naturally, if your shadow details are too underexposed, you cannot bring them back as well. So what happens if you cannot expose for both the highlights and the shadows? Simple. You expose for the highlights and use flash to add light to the shadows! This is commonly known as fill-flash.

One of the reasons why a digital SLR is a good deal more expensive than a digicam is that it has more dynamic range, meaning that it clips the highlights only when they're brighter and loses shadow detail only when it's darker. In other words, I can photograph scenes http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifwith higher contrast while still preserving critical detail at the extreme ends of contrast using a digital SLR.

I use photoshop actions because they reduce the time I spend on post-processing by 75%. What takes 4 mins can easily be done with a simple button press now and everything is automated. When you process hundreds of photos, this is invaluable. Naturally, for the casual shooter like yourself, processing each image individually won't waste much time as you probably wouldn't have too many.

If you don't have photoshop, you can also use Iphoto on a Macintosh or Picasa for windows. Though not as flexible, they can provide many of the basic functions you will need, such as contrast adjustment, saturation adjustment, and sharpening.

To prove to you that the raw image from my camera looks just as crummy, here's another before and after.

Before

After

I used the lower intensity action in my photoshop. (+Saturation +contrast using curves USM) My two actions replicate the look of my favourite film (Fujichrome Velvia and Astia). These films are highly expensive as they're positive films, not regular negative films. They typically cost about 3 times what negative film costs to shoot and process. In the digital age, you can get them for free! If you wish to get these photoshop actions from me, simply mail me at stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg You must have photoshop CS or later to use them. If you have other versions of photoshop, mail me anyway and I'd be happy to help you develop a similar action.

Another common problem that can easily be rectified in photoshop is colour casts caused by incorrectly set white balance. An extreme example is here. I had my camera set to "Daylight" where the lighting was "tungsten". A very warm(yellow,orange cast) image results.

Before

Typically, images consist of Red, Green and Blue. An image with a yellow cast therefore has too much red and green. In order to fix it, open the red and green channel and decrease the amount of red and green in the image. You may then need to add a slight touch of blue to balance out the image. If your camera has the ability to shoot in "RAW" format, it's even better because you can get your White balance casts fixed with a nifty little dropper tool. All you have to do is to locate a white object in the image with the dropper tool and click on it. If your camera only has the ability to shoot Jpegs, then you'll have to do it the hard way by increasing/decreasing the primary colours. There are no actions for this because almost all lighting situations are different and need to be tweaked with love to achieve perfect colour balance.

After - I shoot in RAW so I just simply use the WB tool. It looks like a dropper in Adobe Camera RAW. Takes about 5 seconds to correct. By comparison, tweaking the primary colours takes about 2 mins for an experienced photoshop user and maybe about 5-10mins for an inexperienced one.

It's quite impossible for me to teach photoshop online like this because it would take pages upon pages of stuff, which I'm not keen to write because it exists all over the web. What I can do is to link you to Ken Rockwell's tremendously helpful photoshop page. It's got loads of stuff and will help you with everything you need. I can't figure out how to print screen on my mac so I can't show you what the different menus in photoshop look like and how to access them, but Ken has lovely tutorials chock full of diagrams.

What I would certainly like to stress though with this edition of PIME is the sheer importance of processing your images. It's what really makes images look "professional". Happy shooting!

If you have further queries or would like to make suggestions for future PIME articles, please email stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg.

PIME 5: Composition Part III

2006-08-17T21:13:00.000+08:00

Having been suffering withdrawal symptoms ever since I finished watching Full Metal Panic (Season I-III), I finally got down to checking out some other anime titles that were worth watching during breaks in studying. It was really difficult to find good anime titles that struck a good balance between the art and the storyline. I checked out popular titles bleach and Naruto but they didn't quite appeal to me. I considered starting to download Inuyasha but the sheer number of episodes put me off. For some reason I couldn't seem to find the first one anyway. Eventually I decided I liked gonzo studio's animation the most and I popped down to gonzo's webby to take a look at what they've produced. I looked through the descriptions of the anime and picked out two that seemed appealing; Hellsing and Chrono Crusade. I downloaded the pilot episode of each and found both to be quite appealing, though Hellsing was quite a departure from what I've usually come to expect from Gonzo digimation. Chrono Crusade was more typical Gonzo with madcap jokes and much slapstick humour. Anyhow, the Hellsing storyline was much more impelling, I must say and the pilot episode instantly prompted me to download more episodes. Excellent stuff. I remember my friend recommending it in 2003, but I didn't watch it then. Go catch it if you can, or borrow the entire series from me after As. Or prelims. I probably will have it after prellims. Oh, I have the entire full metal panic! series with me now on CDs, muahahaha, so if anyone wants to borrow just ask.

Ok onto this section of PIME while I wait for Hellsing Episode 4 to come in. This section is the third and final part of my basic composition series. What we'll be focussing on today is using the whole of your frame!

The concept is pretty simple really. You have a whole rectangle, so use all of it! Even if you fill it up with nothing, use the space to insert nothing! When I say nothing, I really mean nothing, as in emptiness, because that in itself is something. Sounds complicated, but I'll insert an example later.

I was looking for negative examples, but was hard pressed to find some, because I'm not usually in the habit of keeping the bad stuff. That's a good tip btw, only present your best, throw away all the junk, so people think that everything you shoot is good!

This is ok for the moment captured, but composition wise, it has failed to make use of spare space at the side. It is an 'ok' image, which is why I kept it. It would be quite easy to pick some photos off the net and use them as negative examples, but generally I think that's not a nice idea.

I will now, however procede to show you how a photo can be improved by making use of all the available space. It's not the same composition you realise, which is why this section is under composition, because you need to change the composition to make full use of the available real estate on your photograph.

Consider this image. Here I've made use of the subject's feet, and also the background, to provide a foreground, in the case of the former, and a background, in the case of the latter. I don't have the massive patch of sand available in the earlier image, which seems just so empty by comparison.

Another good tip to note that will help you to fill up your frame is to keep the composition very tight, which means, don't make the subject uber small unless you have a purpose for doing so. Generally your subject should either take up a lot of the frame or very little of it, wishy washy somewhere-in-betweens often don't work. Naturally there is always room to bend the rules, or destroy them completely, but there must be a specific purpose in mind and there must be sufficient experience needed to do so as well. Generally stick to close cropping as a basic start. What do I mean by close cropping? Your subject should be very near the edges.

Generally, something like this makes for a more interesting photo and draws the focus to your subject.

As opposed to this. This one is really horrific, I don't know why I have it, but I do. It makes a good negative example anyway. Notice the ugly posts at the bottom right drawing attention. The loose crop makes me look all over the place too.

As I said just now, you may also decide to go for filling up the real estate with a lot of nothing, or emptiness. When doing so, always try to keep the emptiness clean, when it has too much, it destroys the idea of vastness or emptiness that you're trying to create.

These are quite recent works because I've only recently begun to explore the idea of using large amounts of space in my pictures.

To create a feeling of vastness, keep your subject small relative to the surroundings.

The use of a large black area relative to a small subject can often create the feeling of oppression and isolation.

I hope all this helps, Happy shooting!

Please mail all comments and suggestions for future PIME articles to stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg
Much appreciated.

Year End Portrait Projects Seeking Models

2006-08-16T22:37:00.000+08:00

Midway through studying my econs I suddenly received a massive surge of inspiration. Terribly unfortunate timing because I couldn't get back to work after that! These few days have been terrible, 3 days and only halfway through a set of notes. I keep getting distracted everytime I start to pore through the notes. Shucks. I hit upon 3 ideas suddenly, with 2 new ideas and an improvement on an old one. I'll need to meet the models individually for these new projects because they will be demanding and I have a very specific look in mind for each of the models already. In other words, you either look the part or you dont. If you were to look back in my archives, you'd find that I had 6 themes which I wanted to squeeze into one day. In retrospect, those themes were weak, and in the sudden flow of inspiration I have come up with much stronger storyboards and characters for these new themes. I've also decided to only work one theme per day in the studio, which will allow me to actually execute each theme properly. It will cost me more but I've decided quantity is more important than quality. Below are the themes and a slight introduction to them, should you be interested to model. Prints, coffee are promised. I promise you I'll make the images work too! So, if you ever wanted to look cool, this would be your chance. Satisfaction guaranteed.

1. Colours
I'm working on the basis of how the basic colours red,green,blue inspired me. 3 different females. Require gowns in corresponding colour. Very sensual shoot. Studio shoot.

Lady Blue will be working on flow. Inspired by motion of wind and water.

Lady Green will be working on touch/temptation/desire. Inspired by nature and also envy.

Lady Red will be working on wild energy. Inspired by flame, life and lust.

2. The heart of comedy
I'm seeking to bring across how I feel comedy should be like. It should be raw, hilarious and unafraid to step on eggshells. In fact, it should be crushing a multitude of eggshells in conveying it's purpose. Tragedy fuels comedy. No sexual preference. Heavy make-up. Requires life size Jack in the box. Fairly flexible model. Studio shoot.

Jester Jack will be working on crushing eggshells. Inspired by my disgust at terrible, fluffy local comedy.

3. Rose Black
I've reworked this concept in my brain and I've distilled it into my take on the repression of the uncommon. A take on being different. Female only. Black and White images only. This shoot is now OUTDOOR. Will be hot because I plan to do this on a sunny day and you'll need a dress of sorts. Did I mention the dress is also black? Not for prisses. I might do it in the shade but don't count on it.

Rose will be working on interacting with a rose. Inspired by how people strive to be different in today's society.

Fall/Winter 2006

2006-08-12T22:31:00.000+08:00

I was musing about prom today while studying and thinking of an appropriate outfit. At the same time, I haven't been out to take a look at this year's fall/winter collection. I'm not exactly going for a look that's in vogue right now because I'm thinking of a return to the 30s/50s, which isn't exactly all that popular right now. Currently, the 60s and 70s are all the rage, but I am merging the very working class style of the 1930s with some modernity. Hopefully it works out all right. It's quite a terrible risk this one. I do have a backup outfit in mind which is far less risky though, it's based on spring/summer trends but I doubt anyone would be able to tell, being singapore and VJ prom, no less. Everyone will be in a suit. BORING.

Here's a quick summation of this season's trends.

Men --> Blazers are in, lucky for the VJ guys, who will be obliviously wearing blazers anyway. The catch this time though is that the materials have deviated from the typical cotton or flannel. Velvet features VERY strongly in this season's apparel. Silk comes in a little too, but more for women's wear. Pinstripes stay in. Colours are bold, but dark. Fedoras are in. Sports shoes, unfortunately, also feature prominently in some collections. I'll stick to more formal wear thank you.

Women --> GONE are the uneven hem lines. Long, layered skirts are out! Mini-dresses have returned. Hurrah! Fur, Velvet, Silk and chiffon are the definitive materials for this season. Velvet and silk form most of the bases, fur trimmings are rife, as are feather details. Colours are also dark, chiefly black. Some of my favourite collections like the Lacroix collection contrast black with brilliant colours, providing a very chic and elegant look. Large buttons and embellishments are in. Keep embellishments to a minimum please, too much kills the effect. One is often enough to provide visual focus.

I've decided to share with you some of my favourite looks from this season. I've linked the images directly here. Hope it works! I've linked mainly images from the womenswear collections, because I figure generally Singaporean men don't give a shit. Images courtesy of Vogue UK. *Disclaimer: I did not shoot these images, I linked them from vogue UK*

Christian Lacroix

This is what I meant by contrasting black with colour. Plain hotness!

French Label Noir

Gorgeous velvet gown. Someone please wear something like this! I guarantee you'll be a star!

The minidress. Chiffon sleeves. Feathers are interesting, but I'm not sure if they add or not. Dress kicks booty though.

Classy feather details. This sort of "suit" is a good alternative to a dress too. The feathers add a feminine touch.

Singapore's own Ashley Isham

Gorgeous dress. Note use of chiffon embellishment. Or is it tulle? I can't tell.

This is a similar concept to what I'm considering. This is however much much much more modern. Print based too. If you can think of a 1930s 1950s version of this, that's roughly what I'm going for.

D & G

Amazing attention to detail.

Large buttons

Emporio Armani

And the best for last! Roberto Cavalli This guy is shit famous for his evening gowns. You can obviously see why. He's really done well for this season. Note the embellishments and fur trimmings.

Note the use of the large accessory to grant a plain black dress focus.

I hope that you've enjoyed looking at some of the best from this season. I don't advocate buying these brands on a student's budget though. It's way too expensive. What I do recommend is ripping off the ideas of some of the most brilliant design minds from around the world =)

Drunken Mynas

2006-08-10T19:31:00.000+08:00

Check out this link. It's super funny. Apparently it happens quite normally in the wild. I really really want to see it! Gosh! Haha. Either at the URL below or click here. There are some problems with the hyperlink thing so the URL is below in case the link doesn't work.

http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2005/11/drunken-javan-mynas.html

PIME 4 : Composition Part 2

2006-08-09T22:26:00.001+08:00

The one-week holiday has been surprisingly unfruitful. I've taken to playing Skullmonkeys during breaks, highly addictive. I'm having trouble concentrating on my work again for some reason. The macroecons is also killing me(I thought it was supposed to be easier than micro!), oh well, at least it's moving no matter how slowly. In two days of holiday, I have finished Theory of Income and Employment and 80% of iceman analysis. Super duper behind time now, have to really rush to do some serious work tomorrow. I must finish two sets of macro notes tomorrow. Horrendous. They're insanely thick for some reason. I'm working from morning till evening and sometimes at night but I seem to drift off more often these couple of days. Wonder why. Sometimes, I don't even know why Im stoning. Lol.

Ok anyway, here's the latest installment of PIME.

Composition part II: Lead in lines

Sometimes, photographers desire to draw further attention to the subject. Generally, the aim of the photographer is to guide the eye of the viewer automatically to the subject, wherever the viewer chooses to start looking at the photo. Usually with very good lead-in lines, a viewer will find it uncomfortable and unnatural to look at anywhere but the subject. It's difficult to explain how lead-in lines work because I'm no scientist, but here's an example. A picture speaks a thousand words.

I've used the cables of the bridge and the bridge itself here to draw attention to the man, the subject. These are simple, straight lead-in lines. The next example is the use of circular lead-in lines, which serve the same purpose.

In theory, circular lead in lines lead your eye around the image and are therefore used when there are other secondary subjects along the path of the circular lead-in line that you also want your viewer to take note of on the visual journey to the subject. Straight lead-in lines simply direct you to the subject, creating quicker impact and less subtlety. In practice though, you often just make use of whatever lead-in lines you can, both add tons to the image.

Lead-in lines also have the effect of creating depth in your photo, making it seem more 3d. It also greatly increases the impact of the image because it provides focus for your viewers, rather than letting them lose themselves in the image. Remember, it is the responsibility of the photographer to make viewers "see" what you want and not get them to flounder around in a murky, unclarified, thought-mess.

I hope this section has been helpful for you. If you have something to suggest for future PIME or comments to make about past PIME articles, please mail them to stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg

PIME 3 : Placing your subject, Composition part 1

2006-08-06T22:03:00.000+08:00

Ok i finished Iceman today as well as some econs crap. I realised I'm missing the earliest bits of my econs notes like supply and demand. I also realised that due to the fact that I started from the back of year 1 to the front the year 1 basic notes seem quite spastically easy, I just hope it's not cos I think I know but I actually don't know, you know =P? Iceman is a kickass play btw, I really really really like it. I'm getting a real affinity for Rocky the bartender, wish I had done him for Mono. Heck I wish I had done my ape O'neill piece for mono, with Albert as the gorilla. Too late now, Hamlet's dead and buried, war's over, so I'll just be content with playing Rocky at home haha! I think Harry hope is another great character, don't like Hickey that much for some reason even though he's the main guy. The complexities in the character and the play are fantastic though, you just gotta love O'neill's brilliance.

Ok I know I missed a day of PIME, but no worries, I'll eventually run out of stuff to talk about, so I'd best drag it. I met my old mission team yesterday and realised how much I really really missed them, especially Clara, who moved off to another church. Sweet girl, with a heart of gold. We're corresponding now by mail, hopefully we'll stay in touch. Definitely one of my most treasured friends.

Right, on to PIME. I don't know how many of you actually read this, but I figure one day I could compile this into a guide of sorts so ah, what the heck, haha. I'll just produce it for my own enjoyment. Do mail me at stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg to make suggestions on what you would like to learn to improve your images. I'd feel better knowing I was actually helping someone. Haha, joke, joke, eat a croissant for me =P

Placing your Subject - Composition Part 1

Composition is one of the key things about photography that you really have to work on to get anywhere with photography. I'll break this down into little parts so that you can understand it more easily. It's a big topic. Today's bit will be about where to place your subject in your photo.

Take a look at all your favourite photos produced by professional photographers, or photos you think are well taken. How many of them have their subject placed smack in the centre? Probably very very few. The reason behind this is our brain automatically focuses on 4 points when looking at an image. None of them include the centre. The only time placing a subject in the centre works is when you have a square format image, rather than the usual rectangular format that you see. Here's a simple illustration. I was going to make a scan of a drawing but I'm too lazy.

The places I circled are where you would like to place your subject for maximum visual impact. The lines divide the image horizontally and vertically into thirds. This is where the viewer's eye will automatically focus on first. Forcing your viewer to look elsewhere by placing your subject elsewhere will automatically generate an unpleasant response in the viewers brain. Sometimes photographers deviate from this subject placement to create the feeling of unease, but then such deviations are risky and may not always work out. For the casual photograph, sticking to these 4 points will help a lot. In essence, there are actually a lot more places where you can place your subject, but these 4 create the most visual impact. The reason behind this is that our brain looks at the image in thirds. Imagine splitting the image into horizontal thirds and vertical thirds and draw lines at those areas. Notice how those lines intersect at these 4 points? Placing you subject anywhere along those lines creates visual impact; placing them at these intersections of horizontal and vertical third lines serves to create greater visual impact. It is OK to let your subject occupy 2 out of the 4 Xs, in fact it's rather common.

Here are some examples of the "rule of thirds". Try it, it will help improve your images tremendously.

The Sunburst was in the top left third, tree was in the bottom left third and the ray went out to the bottom right third.

Pillars in the top right third, reflection in the bottom left.

Simple placement in top left third.

Ciao! I'm off to bed. Hope that was useful.

PIME : Choosing a subject

2006-08-04T18:05:00.000+08:00

PIME: Choosing your Subject

Today's PIME(Professional Imaging made easy) topic is choosing your subject. I'm quite aware that for the most part your subject will be your friends, but this can still apply. Of course, it applies to whatever you're shooting, because all images MUST have a subject for it to be interesting. What do I mean by no subject, try taking an image of a blue sky or a blank wall, horrifically uninteresting isn't it? If you were to place a tree in front of the blue sky or blank wall, now we're getting on to something.

The key thing we want to focus on today is picking a subject. What you always want to do when choosing a subject for an interesting photograph is to pick a subject that appeals to you. For instance, if you think a trash can is ugly or boring, you're unlikely to make a good image from it. If you don't find it interesting, it is extremely unlikely that your final photograph will be interesting to viewers. What you want to do therefore is to look for a subject that captures your interest. Things that you find beautiful will generally result in beautiful images when captured properly. In most cases for most of you, you will be using your friends as subjects. In this case, while it may not seem like you are choosing the subject, you actually are. Think of the reason why you want to photograph your friend(s). While the answer may not be as simple as photographing a sunset, photographing your friend casually is essentially the same as photographing a sunset in terms of the motivation behind it. You want to preserve a moment, be it a moment of beauty, or that moment when you're really glad that person is your friend, or simply to remember the person.

Having understood that, the next thing you want to work on, having found a subject, is to capture the subject. This is where most people run into trouble, capturing the beauty or the intrigue of the subject. In essence, what you would like to do is to show viewers of your photo why the subject intrigued you. Is it the play of light on the subject, the subject's smile, the eyes, the laughter, the colours, texture, shape, shadow, form? The list is endless, for only you will know why you like the subject. Your goal is to let everyone know, just by looking at the image. Therefore if you like the subject's smile or eyes, endeavour to go in closer for a shot of just the head. This will magnify the aspect of the subject you find most interesting. There isn't much point making your subject's head only occupy a small part of the frame if you wish the viewer to be drawn in by the subject's smile or eyes. You want to give them prominence!

In this picture below, I've given the subjects' eyes prominence.

Sometimes you may wish to "zoom out" to shift the focus somewhere else. In this case, I've shifted the focus to the subjects' interaction with each other.

Other times, you may wish to "zoom out" entirely to make the entire subject the focus. Usually full body shots have the body or the activity of the subject as your key selling point of the photo. Photography is the art of exclusion, don't include what you don't want to be there. This is usually why having a good eye for detail helps.

I've often seen people zooming out to include the entire body when taking a casual photo of friends. Unless of course you wish to highlight the delicious dress your friend is wearing, endeavour to focus on what you probably would like best about your friend, the smiles. For the most part, for casual shots of friends, try not to zoom out beyond the second. Unless of course you are shooting for a large group, where it is sometimes impossible to fit everyone inside the frame without having them perform some level of acrobatics.

Remember, capture the aspects of the subjects that you find interesting and not more, simplicity will often be better than complexity in a photograph. Less is more.

If you're shooting landscape images, the next bit will be particularly useful for you, especially on a holiday.

Many landscape images produced by the casual photographer often have no appeal, though the entire frame may be filled up with glorious Mont Blanc. Have you ever thought that your image looks so... 2d? The reason behind this is that a landscape image needs depth, and for that to occur you need a secondary subject, though your primary subject will of course be Mont Blanc. The purpose of the secondary subject is to emphasize the size of Mont Blanc and also make clear the distance you are from your primary subject, which will in turn emphasize it's grandeur.

The image below illustrates the use of a secondary subject. Here, I've used wild mountain flowers to create depth between me and the house on the hill.

Of course, in landscape imaging, timing is always very important. I will touch on timing another time, but suffice it to say that making an image at different times will create very different images. For instance, making an image in bright sunshine will give me a very different type of image from one that i make at twilight, assuming I used the exact same framing, or composition. Photographs are records of light, so if the light changes, naturally the final image will change as well. Observing your subject at various times will tell you when you would get the best result.

Have fun!

Professional Imaging made easy =)

2006-08-03T17:56:00.000+08:00

Since I'm running low on things to do during my breaks in study I've decided to publish some useful articles on photography, which most of you would be involved in with your cellphones or little "digicams"(everyone owns one nowadays). These little snippets will be targetted at you, or general users who just want to improve their group photos, photos of friends or the odd photo of a sunset or two. I'll be writing these in little mini topics as they come off the top of my head and I hope you'll find it helpful in fixing problems that you've been having with your photos. Do drop me a mail at stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg or thegreatstone@hotmail.com to ask any pressing questions you might have. I will try my best to provide solutions to your photo woes. It'll also help me to think of what topic to write on next! I'll endeavour to make this easy to understand by avoiding technical terms as far as possible.

I'll kick off with the first topic today : Exposure made easy

Exposure Made Easy

It's critical first to understand what is exposure, for it is vital to getting those nice looking colours and tones in your picture. Proper exposure also means people won't be washed out or "dark". Your camera essentially works by capturing light energy on the sensor, forming a correct exposure when enough light hits the sensor. Let us call this 'X'. Too little light energy will result in the sensor capturing less light than 'X', and you get an underexposed or "dark" image. Consequently, too much energy hitting the sensor will result in an overexposed or "glaring" image. Generally, people have more tolerance for overexposed images, because they tend not to look as bad as underexposed images. Overexposed images can also increase contrast and create more vibrant colours, but the downside of this is the loss of detail, especially in the highlights, or areas where there are strong levels of light output(eg. lamp, white/reflective surfaces)

Underexposed photo - Underexposure, though preserving details, gives rise to a rather dull and lifeless image. Colours are not vibrant and images doesn't quite pop.

Overexposed photo - Colours are vibrant, but much skin detail is lost. This is a common problem for digicams, which are calibrated to overexpose slightly to make images look more vibrant and contrasty. The problem is, the camera's brain often overdoes it, usually resulting in washed out images. This issue is particularly prevalent when the on-camera flash is used, leading some people to mistakenly avoid using the on-camera flash.

Correctly exposed photo - I shot this image with flash by the way, but I mixed the lighting with ambient lighting, achieving the look of a shot "without flash" or the "natural look".

We make correct exposures by adjusting the amount of light hitting the sensor, which can be controlled via 3 things, the shutter speed(the 1/x value you normally see on your display. This is in seconds.), the aperture size (the fx.y value you see on your display. Eg. f3.5 or f4.0) and the ISO sensitivity( ISO X on your display). In a nutshell, the shorter the shutter speed(the higher the value of x),the larger the f number and the lower the ISO number, the less light is getting to your sensor. In that case, why can't you shoot at 1/4s, or ISO 800/1600(if your camera has it)? The answer is you can, but there are drawbacks. Shooting at a lower shutter speed increases your chance of handshake and blurry photos. Modern innovations like Mega OIS and other image stabilisation tools usually can only do so much. Even if you have very steady hands, try not to go any lower than 1/2s or 1/15s without image stabilisation. Safe speeds to shoot at if you do not have rock steady hands are ~1/60 or 1/125 if you have an approximation of Parkinson's. There is a general rule that you should shoot at least at 1/f length of your lens. Check your manual for your camera lens' 35mm Equivalent, this will give you the shutter speed that you need to hold it at. It should look something like 35-105 rather than 6-22.5, which you will usually find inscribed on your lens. High ISO values usually also cause noisy images. Noise is those annoying little coloured dots you see on your photo. Different cameras perform differently with respect to noise control, so pick an ISO level with noise levels that you are comfortable with. The higher the ISO level, the more noise. For basic photography on "digicams", aperture size will not affect your photos appreciably, so feel free to tweak this any way you wish to achieve your desired shutter speed or ISO.

How do you counter the camera's auto overexposure? Thankfully, most digital cameras today come with a function called exposure compensation, or +/- EV as is commonly seen in camera menus. This is not to be confused with FEC(flash exposure compensation) or +/- with the lightning bolt. You'd have to experiment but most digicameras today require a -1/2EV adjustment to the exposure. However, the camera will not overexpose ALL the time, thus it would not be wise to just make the adjustment on your camera and leave it there. You should always check the image, if it's not working out, you'd need to tweak it. Here's a tip. At a party, the light generally remains constant, so tweak it once at the start of the party, and you'd not need to fiddle with it for the rest of the night.

Most digital cameras today also will not work well indoors, as the sensors are not as sensitive to light as larger DSLR cameras. Most of the time, you will need to turn on your flash while indoors. However, this usually causes overexposure again because your camera is still using the same image processing engine, which is programmed to overexpose. This is where the FEC function comes in(see paragraph above). The goal of flash photography is to provide a correct exposure for your subject but at the same time not exclude the background, else every photo you take everywhere will look the same with a black background. The trick is, your camera provides the light, therefore this output can be controlled. Generally, setting the FEC to -2 EV does wonders for this. In practical terms, what happens is you are lighting your subject using light from the flash and from the surroundings, providing more natural-looking light.

A typical exposure you would try to gun for when taking photos of a group of friends.

Or a smaller group. Exposing the background helps greatly in telling you where the photo was taken.

This brings me to the final section of this tutorial. How do you expose for the background. Introducing the half-squeeze. ALL cameras have this. Take up your camera and depress the button with slight force. You will notice that it will depress halfway, this is the trigger for your camera to focus and also to take meter readings. Turn your camera on and half-depress the shutter button. You should notice a couple of rectangles or just one rectangle popping up on the LCD screen. These, or this, is your focusing/metering point. Generally, what you want to do to achieve correct exposure for the background is to place the rectangle over a spot in the background, rather than over your friend's face and half-depress the shutter, resulting in a meter reading. Lock the exposure if your camera has a exposure lock. If not, you will have to remember the values of the shutter speed and aperture and input them via the manual mode. Hold down the shutter button and recompose to your original composition(or how the image was originally before you shifted the camera to point at the background). Turn on your flash and set the FEC to -2EV. Fire away. You'd of course have to compensate slightly if the result is under or overexposed. decrease the -xEV number if it's underexposed and increase it if it's overexposed. For example, if the image is overexposed, try adjust the setting to -3EV. Typical situations when this technique is useful is when you find yourself having a very bright background, such that your subjects appear like shadows. Usually people avoid this by placing the sun behind the photographer, but this technique will ensure you don't need to move, letting you get the background you desire, or simply for convenience's sake. If you look at the image of the female I posted earlier, that's an example of artificial back-lighting, where the lightsource is behind the subject. Of course, I produced the light in the studio but such an effect can also be produced outdoors with the sun providing the backlight. As a tip, try not to include a strong light source directly in your image, such as the sun, for there is no way you're going to be able to expose it properly.

Have fun!

Featured Photographer of the Month

2006-08-02T18:57:00.000+08:00

I've decided to feature a photographer every month from now on. So if you're bored you can take a look at their work. Due to complaints I shall now return this blog to it's original purpose, a photoblog. =)

This month's(August) photograher is Lung S. Liu

This link goes to a set of delightful, unassuming street portraits from 2 weeks of work in Mexico. 37 images, mostly Black and White. If you've heard about the term "decisive moment", this is what it's all about. Enjoy.

http://silverandlightphotography.com/lungs/mexicotrip/index.html

The run up to prelims

2006-08-01T21:51:00.000+08:00

As you can see, I'm not studying. I'm finding it incredibly difficult to mug with any level of consistency and I wonder how you guys manage it. Looking at Cheryl or Sam's neat econs notes, mine looks like paltry scribbling in comparison. I'm behind on EVERYTHING, and yet, here I am typing a blog entry after dinner.

It's just a mountain of stuff that I am attempting to get rid of using a teaspoon. It seems so futile, like I'm absorbing nothing. Weird. I didn't remember it being this hard when I was studying for other exams. Will my drive suddenly magically kick in like it did after prelims for O levels? It seems so long ago that I dare not trust that it will again. What's different this time round is two things, I have friends that are actually studying their butts of for prelims and I actually want to see how well I can do for prelims if I study. Unfortunately, what I want is not being evidenced by effort. I WANT TO MUG, but i'm not, oddly enough. I'm usually surfing the net, thinking, I should be mugging, but then I continue surfing the net. I've decided to cut back on games till after prelims, since JC has his Final Year Thingamajig anyway.

As you can see from my previous post, I don't get much done on weekends either. I'm living the good life, but it's not going to work out well, not at all. Everyone's applying to overseas unis, and here I am stuck at aiming for NTU. I'd like to say it's a cost problem, but I think if I really wanted to, I could somehow figure out a way there, monetarily of course. What I need are those damn grades, which I'm certainly not going to achieve working at this rate.

Tell me if you know! How do you make your self go? I really want to do well for this prelims, if not for anything more than knowing that I won't botch the finals too badly. I don't really care if I burn out, I can take a break after the prelims. It's true you know, what Sam's dad said, that these next couple of weeks will determine the next couple of years of your life. Sick shit, aint it?

The crazy thing is I've forgotten how to study. I hardly feel like a student anymore. Well actually, I haven't felt like one for pretty long.

Ok after this crap I feel motivated to do a chapter of econs before bed. Sorry you had to read this, it's like total semi stream of consciousness shit as it came off from the top of my head. I had no purpose for writing this post if you're wondering. I'm really starting to use this blog like a diary, hurhur. So much for the 12-frame seria. Lol.

-Flik Soh

Changi Take 2

2006-07-30T22:29:00.000+08:00

I went down with JC today, armed with an NDGrad filter, in an attempt to set right my previous botched attempt at photographing the boatyard. My previous attempt really looked like trash, so I was determined to do a good job today. I couldn't get the right composition until the very last 15 minutes or so before the right light and was brooding over it. I finally produced something from Changi that I really like and I think does justice to the scene. I dedicate this image to all those that smsed or wrote to encourage me during this depressing period for me. I thank you Cheryl, Dot, Ian, JC(Thanks for helping me tide through the wait for sunset, and carrying my stuff around), personally. You guys lifted my spirits tremendously. Without your encouragement, I wouldn't have felt nice enough to see any beauty around me. Thank you.

Here's my catch for today, but first, the redone Changi image.

A lovely tree I saw on the way to my favourite bridge

Underneath the bridge, where JC and I camped while waiting for the sun to set.

I passed time field testing my new macro lens. It's freaking hard work, macro. If you know anyone that does this sort of photography give them a pat on the back. I'll need some time to master it.

Sea "Kah Jua"

Eventually, after getting stabbed by the barnacles I was lying prone on. I decided to go for easier prey that didn't move around. I wound up shooting some abstracts of the barnacles. I didn't have enough light to maximise depth of field as I didn't bring a flash. Lesson learnt though. Macro photography ALWAYS benefits from an external flash. Now i know.

Why the reasons for all my biasness

2006-07-25T20:44:00.000+08:00

The question Steph posed to me today really got me thinking, and though this is a photoblog, the temptation to type all this out somewhere was just too appealing, so bear with me. She asked why I hated ugly people. This really made me question why, and also why I carry a biasness against fat people as well. If you really must know, I presume fat/ugly people to be bad sorts unless they prove otherwise, which of course is totally not fair, but I can't help it.

I analysed my psyche, over some intensive thought, plus a little help from yesterday's installment of opera where they were talking about pathological liars. I am partly a pathological liar as well because there are occasions where I make things up to sound more informed, or better appearing. Then there are occasions when I realised I have symptoms of pathological lying, I lie about things that completely do not benefit me at all. For instance, I have, on some occasions, told my mum I had shared a cab with 4 people instead of 3. I know the reason why I subconsciously did it was because I thought, somewhere in my subconsciousness, that the smaller sum that I had to pay when the total sum was divided by 4 as opposed to 3 would make it ok that I had taken a cab. If you guys don't know, I get very very bad flak for taking cabs. Most times, I stop at number 42, instead of 46, where my house is, and walk the rest of the way so I can appear like I took the bus. Of course, I digress, but my problem with fat and ugly people are closely related to that.

As an only child, I grew up lonely, very lonely in fact, and I was fat and ugly in primary school, to the point where I was a social outcast. I dressed in what my mum bought for me, which was awful suits like ninja turtle themed matching shorts+T-shirt combos. I remember vividly being publically humiliated by people at school, where I always cried to gain sympathy from the teachers, even up to primary 6, yes. I also vividly remember being publically humiliated by an older boy in primary 4, where he pulled down my ninja turtle shorts in public, and having no friends, everyone around me laughed. I was not even spared humiliation by my parents. I was, and still often am, openly humiliated at home by having every single failure and flaw magnified by my parents. They constantly remind me of my failings and also put me down on a very very regular basis. This, if you must know, is why I hate them so much, even to this day. The one command I always struggled with was "Honour thy father and mother". I remember telling God, "Lord, even if I go to hell, I can't follow this command" This is also the reason why I always insult my mum about her flabby arms and her lack of technological savviness. It was a subconscious attempt to gain the upper hand and retaliate that was still socially acceptable. I have no hold over my Dad though, but I know when to push the right buttons to piss him off, which I do sometimes for the hell of it although I know it gets me into more shit. This is why I hate being at home, it's like fighting the Iraq war day after day after day, it's just tiring.

I do not hate fat and ugly people, I am instead afraid of them. Very, very afraid. They are like reflections of my past, which I am terribly afraid of. Since secondary school when I resolved to do something to try and change my loser life, I tried to dress better, to have better hair cuts, to lose weight, to look better, but all that self-esteem hangs together with nothing more than UHU glue. I've glued attributes which I found to be desirable to my outer self, in the hope that it may be presentable to the public. This is the reason why I'm so critical, because if the world were made up of pretty people, then I would never be reminded of how I used to be. Returning to that state scares me deeply.

All that was for what? All I ever desired was acceptance, in essence. At present, I think I've achieved a state of nomalcy and finally, I have friends! I had friends in secondary school but all we delighted in was making the lives of others miserable, to make ourselves feel better. We bullied people, and laughed hard, because we, or I at least, were so glad that we were not on the floor with deep heating rub on our nipples. In primary school, that would have been me there. I didn't sympathise, instead I orchestrated many of the activities. Only in church initially did I find true friends that were interested instead in making each other's lives better, and were filled with positive energy. That was the reason why I became Christian in the first place. I felt that something was different. Coming to VJ and making some of the best friends I've ever made; CATS! I really love you guys, thank you so much, I've been exposed to non-Christians who genuinely have a heart.

In recent times I've also drifted from my church friends because they're all in army now, plus I have my own issues with the youth ministry's modus operandi, Cats, ask pau if you want to know, or just ask me whenever. All that has really made me very very distant from God. I feel extremely uncomfortable teaching a Bible class at present because it's just me and 10 boys. Young, impressionable boys whose Christian lives I really don't want to screw up. When I was close to God, I dared to trust my own lessons and believed they were good for the boys, but now, I rely on a book. Every week, I simply paraphrase lessons from the book and regurgitate it for the boys. I can't quit this year because that would simply screw the youth cell teaching ministry over; who will teach those 10 dear boys if I don't? I just have to hang on and hope for new teachers to come in next year to relieve me, then I may apply for a leave of absence. I worry continually for the future of those boys, and it saddens me that I have to put on a smile and exuberance for them when I see them every sunday. Wouldn't it just suck to know your teacher was a sham, when he was supposed to be the model for good Christian living? I hate myself for that.

What did Oprah say? Ok not her per se, but this psychologist she had on. She said that pathological lying stemmed from self-loathing, which after examining myself, I have found to be shockingly true. I hate myself, perhaps by conditioning, I don't know. I tend to feel that nothing I do is ever good enough, which I why sometimes I fabricate stupid little things to build on what I've done. It would be easy to blame it on my shitty childhood or put downs by parents, but the fact that I've let it all worm it's way into me and that it manifests itself in my insecurities and personality scares me deeply. I get very touchy when my ego is insulted, primarily because I bluff myself continually into thinking I look great, and am a very nice person. Deep down of course i know it's not true, but to think that I'm less would hurt too much for me to face. I see it now, I am very much a coward. Everything you see, everything you know about me, I don't know how much of it is really me, and how much of it has been tacked on as I've gone through life. Do you know I sometimes adopt personality traits from people i find interesting? I envy them! They're so interesting! So maybe if i take what I like, I can be interesting too. What am I, probably about 9-10 different people's traits fused together in a suit of armor over my tiny, cold self. The truth is, my outer shell hates my inner self, and I wish I could be rid of it, but that in essence is my core, which I repress with all my might, but it surfaces at times when I see things that I fear, to protect itself. It shields itself in anger, but in truth, once you peel that away, it's naked and defenseless. I don't know who I am, I can't define it for you.

My massive ego is simply another shield. I always believe so strongly in myself and have a f*** what the rest of the world thinks because I was never ever used to receiving support or encouragement from anyone. My parents never agree with me, so my thoughts are usually f*** you, I'm living my life the way I want to, even if it kills me, I'm not about to live my life your way. Having no siblings, I'm used to picking myself up, lifting myself up when the going gets tough. I've never, as long as I can remember, used anyone as a crutch for weakness. I would rather crawl and die then appear weak and ask for help, ever. I guess in part, because I've never trusted anybody enough to let them see what a pathetic loser I am, because I am afraid. Afraid that I would lose my friends, afraid that I would lose acceptance, afraid that I would return to the living hell my childhood was.

In truth, I am afraid of many things, though I often have a devil may care badge on my shoulder. I am afraid that I will not be able to make it pass the A-level hurdle, I'm afraid that I will not be anything in life, I'm afraid that I will be single for the rest of my life, I'm afraid that I will be nothing and everything my parents always tell me i'll be. I'm so afraid that I will prove my parents right, becoming a menial labourer. I always need to be praised, which is why I praise myself when people don't do it for me. It's rare that I get praised, which is why I do it myself most of the time. I am very deluded, yes I admit, but it's the only way I stay sane. I couldn't cope with this world otherwise.

For church, I'm so disconnected with everyone there now it sometimes seems pointless to stay on. There are days when I wonder whether leaving music ministry was a mistake. I left my friends and all I knew to be safe behind. I wanted to test myself, to stretch myself in terms of faith. At that point I was strong in the Lord, and I felt I didn't need support to keep me going. Just me and God would be able to take it all. Now I find that I'm disconnected from Him because I'm disconnected with the church, I don't feel involved anymore. Discussions about cell make me uncomfortable because I feel like I don't belong there anymore. I don't want to join a cell, it would be extremely awkward. Although I grew up in that church and rooted myself there, I've somehow become undone over the course of this year and I feel this great urge to start a Christian life anew elsewhere. It seems so weird that I used to be part of that world of which I am now merely an observer. I eat lunch alone on Sundays now, if you must know. I hide at a random cafe or coffeeshop and order lunch, which I eat in silence. I like going to church because it's the closest ever I feel to God, but I loathe it because of the intense despair I feel when I'm there. I realised that I fear going to church last Sunday because as I was waiting for my parents for a lift to my Granny's place, I opted to wait at the hot bus stop instead of the air conditioned church. It doesn't feel like home anymore, when it used to be my second home. Actually, I preferred it over home. After half an hour of waiting for my parents, I was so scared that some church people would come that I took a bus instead. It's so awful, the smile I have to put on in church so that everyone thinks I'm still the same God-loving bible class teacher. Can they tell, I wonder sometimes, but I never bother to ask. Anyhow, now I'm open to churches with open doors for next year, if your church is welcoming and not scary I'd be most glad to hop over. East side please.

Sigh, it was so carthatic to write all of that, had to keep myself from tearing on several occasions. It's ironic that I've never told anyone about this and now it's publically available on the internet.

Dearest Cats, who no doubt will read this first, I hope this will not change anything between us, cos you guys are really really dear to me. I also hope that you guys will treat me as normal, and not like suddenly shower me with hugs and encouragement. Above all, I ask that you guys will not step on eggshells around me, please continue to bitch me, don't treat me differently. I promise it's ok. If you're wondering why I suddenly wrote this, it's not for sympathy, but I hope that this helps you guys understand why I do some of the things I do, and why I act in a certain way. Until I can come to terms with the things I fear and till the wounds from my childhood heal, it may be sometime yet before I can remove the "meanness". I do ask however that you constantly remind me whenever I am mean to such undeserving folk, because it will help in the healing process. Love you guys, thanks.

SMU

2006-07-23T00:28:00.000+08:00

After today's shoot, I feel much better because I've kinda sprung out from the rut I was stuck in photography wise. Perhaps due to the fresh genre and material I produced some stuff today that I was truly pleased with. I also shot some interior/exterior record shots for Cheryl to take a look at the place. I forgot about the classrooms though, ps.

I'll start with the stuff I liked first.

An escalator at the business block

Ok this one was from Dhoby MRT, I shot it as a test. I plan to go back when i get my rectilinear ultra-wide and slap on an ND8 filter during rush hour. You may make a guess on what I'm gonna do for the final product. Will wait till Sept Hols though, tough to make my way down during rush hour in the morning otherwise.

An Airwell

Rooftop Garden

And a testament to my penchant for shooting people having lunch. Raffles city basement.

Now for the stuff that probably most of you came here to see. SMU itself. I would say, from a personal perspective, that it looks like a great uni, if they offer the course you want. They even have great programmes for exchange. Here are some of the facilities.

The lovely trimmings on the sides of the building. I wonder how they maintain these.

A quiet corner in the Library

What appears to be a lounge of sorts in the library

A quaint little cafe in the library. On hindsight I should have so gotten a picture from ground level. Unfortunately everyone was waiting for me, so it's really a rush job. Bad angle, bad composition, bah.

An open area where you can see orientation going on in the background. You can eat here too, with some food joints adjacent to this area, hence the tables and chairs. Throughout today I noticed a Subway, 7-11, Killiney Kopitiam, Kopitiam, A store selling Xiao Long Bao. I'm not sure if there's any other food joints besides those, but the campus is rather small after all.

A better look at the sky garden here. Lovely view.

A block opposite the sky garden, don't ask me which it is.

Another quaint corner of the library. Looks comfortable.

A com lab, complete with the latest hardware.

Another random block, with the city in the background. The accessibility is probably one of the best things about this uni. I shot this from the library.

Pensive

2006-07-18T15:25:00.000+08:00

After acquiring my new Sigma 105 Macro today I decided to hunt around the house for something to shoot. Sam's rose, which I have been drying as per Cheryl's instructions, appeared like a good subject. So here's a capture of it, not really that good, but ah what the heck, it's just for sharing purposes.

The End

2006-07-17T13:42:00.000+08:00

And so, things have come to a head, and the unpleasant part of mugging for As is here. The great thing is it'll all be over in a couple of months and we'll be taking the courses we love in Uni, and the guys will be going for 2 years of intellectual degeneration in the army. The problem is here and now, getting through this, which will suck, but here's some Public P photos to cheer you guys up.

In Chrono Order,

Sum and Sum

Marene Sercus

Mingryl - Sorry I didn't get a good deal of photos. I was looking at the back of Cheryl's head most of the time. My fault for not stationing myself somewhere proper. Ps.

Bob and Saiful

BWP

We Are

Just Because

My response

2006-07-13T16:47:00.000+08:00

If you all know me, or know this blog, you will know that I never ever post personal greviances online because I find it tremendously cowardly. Why am I doing this now? Simple, I've incurred the wrath of many, many people in TSD, probably the whole junior batch and more than half of the senior batch and it would be too troublesome to tell everyone this individually. If you want to look for me to challenge me, you're welcome to, I'll still be in school for another 6 months. I would gladly welcome the bared knives for once instead of those concealed behind the back.

I'll be frank, as I always am, for I never censored myself for the sake of people like those whom I intend this for. In other words, people that I do not consider friends. I'll split this up into "for juniors" and "for seniors", to make it easier for you to read.

For Juniors,
I'm hardly anal, and I don't exactly have very exacting standards. Honestly, I don't care if you guys didn't do a damn thing at all and had let the seniors do everything, but what ticked me off was that you guys were complaining and bitching about us behind our backs with the intention of letting us find out about it. If you didn't want to crew for, say me, then you should have told me straight off "I think you're a jackass, and crewing for you is a waste of my time." No problem. Maybe you think I have too much testosterone, but seriously, this is the way things work everywhere once you leave school. Do you think your boss in the future will be on Oestrogen pills? And for the men, yes I call you men, because you're perfectly grown up at 17, when you do enter the army in 2 years you'll have a hard time dealing with your Platoon Commanders if you can't even deal with what you guys have deemed "harsh".

To be frank, I am sick of the tearing tofu that keeps surfacing whenever we have a GM. For goodness sake, show some spine. If you're thinking about Zach and Stefany, that wasn't showing spine, that was running away(or creating dramatic effect. I feel sorry(ok actually i don't) for the lot of you who thought that was mega cool, it wasn't. It's the kind of thing that get's you fired, but of course, in TSD, you're still under the protection of learning). What really ticks me off is that the lot of you went to hide behind Albert and Lofty, or hid behind Bob and Makoto. They shouldn't be defending you, the lot of you should. What's done is done anyway, and they have fired a return salvo on your behalf as well as shielded you guys. Let me just remind you that once you leave the college, no one else will do that for you, better thank them.

To address the issue that some of you didn't deserve to be blasted, I acknowledge it's true. I'm afraid that once again I've given you a dose of reality here. You'll find that as you enter the working world and the army for the men, you'll realise that if one person in the team fouls up, the entire team gets screwed. There is no favouritism, no biasness, because the team is judged based on the team's performance. If one person drags you down, then it's is the perogative of the team, not the authority figure(in future, your boss, your PC), to get these people to stop screwing you by not pulling their own weight. Ultimately, if they don't do the work, who suffers? You, not your boss, not your PC, not us. Why should the person in authority alleviate your suffering for you? Not everyone is kind like what you get from the rest of my batch and the teachers here in TSD. You'd best appreciate them for sticking up for you, because once you leave, there isn't a damn person who will.

I'm certainly not here to gain popularity, my entire life was never about that. I seriously don't give a shit if you hate me, or if you decide to screw up public P. Our A levels are over, and if you're regretting not being able to screw that up, Boo hoo hoo. You could still do it for public P if you wish to drag TSD's reputation in the dirt. Truly, what you want to be focusing on is getting this done, then working like hell on your own A levels, which doesn't concern me, but should be of great concern to you. The relationship that I've had with all of you has always been professional, and It's just tough luck if you don't like that working style. I never have, and never will, go out of my way to be your friend. What I suggest is that we produce this last bit of theatre as a production company, which is soon to be run by the lot of you, professionally. After that, job's over. I don't care much if you wish to make me your number one enemy. Suits me fine. I'm not going to apologise because I'd rather be hated by an entire batch and a half(maybe more) rather than compromise on what I believe in. If you're talking about theatrical truth, where's the truth of reality? Maybe you like mask work, but I don't.

For blog entries like Stefany, I welcome any aggressive action. Just don't talk about it, or worse, type about it, hiding safely behind your computer screen. When you throw punches, ALWAYS expect to receive some in return. There is no way you're going to be able to start a fight and get out of it without receiving blows in return. Do not threaten to harm us when you dont even have the basic guts to do so, please, it's so pathetic.

For Seniors
Frankly, this probably spells the end of our relationship for some of you, where it always existed as a working relationship. As the work comes to an end, so does the friendship. For the rest of you who are disgusted with me or angry with me, so be it, it ends here too. I'm not out to please or beg for forgiveness when I seek none. Those who are my true friends would know who you are, if you don't, it's safe to assume you're not. Of course, I would certainly like to remain civil to many of you because it would be barbaric not to. The only people who I do not desire peace with are the people who have gone home to bitch on their blogs rather than tell me to my face. I have left a statement on Yeek's blog, which I intend for all who have done so. Please, do not descend to the level of invertebrae which the juniors are content to wallow in.

I have great respect for many of you, and much less for some. If you were to read the comments for the juniors above, some of it applies to some of you as well. I shall be specific. Under the guise of being diplomatic and humane, what some of you actually do is to selfishly let other do the dirty work and then blast them to make yourselves look good. Don't you feel nice when the juniors thank you for standing up for them? Be glad the people you stabbed in the back are too nice to speak up against you. You want to know who went down hard with the hilt sticking out of their back? Hwei San and Vernie are just 2 of many. You know what I think? You bully them because they're too timid(or nice, whatever) to rip out that same knife and ram it into your guts. Hate me, I don't care. If you have anything to talk about, please don't comment here. Spit it in my face and put yourself at risk for once instead of letting others take the fall while you step on their heads to get higher. Oh, if you want to continue bitching on your blog I'm not going to stop you of course, how could I even if I wanted to? Keep living being your screen, it's your life and you can make yourself out to be as "nice" as you want to be.

Life is not all fun and games and not everyone is happy go lucky. You may think that I'm cynical but as you progress on with life you'll realise someday that you need to deal with the shit that has been floating under the cloud you've placed yourself on. The sooner the better. If that means that I'm swimming in shit, well too bad, so is the rest of the world. You can stay on your lofty pedestal if you wish, but when it comes crashing down and you start smelling the shit don't start melting like butter. If you think everything can be resolved peacefully, that's a load of bull. You may not know it, but I'm telling you now. Nothing in this situation is likely to be resolved peacefully, because the real underlying issues will never be dealt with if it is. They'll just float along under your cloud 9.

Honestly, it doesn't matter how many of you choose to take this as truth or how many of you choose to think that I'm just a bitter bastard who has nothing better to do with his time. Ultimately, it affects yourself, not me, like what I said for the juniors. Sever ties with me if you wish, but what I hope is that you'll learn from this episode, for there are many lessons to be learnt here that will help you as you go along in life. You may ask how the hell I come up with all this. It's not the extra age, but the fact that many a time I deal with shit like this in the work that I do outside the VJ bubble and also some of the experiences I had in poly. If you are genuinely interested, I'd be happy to tell you more, but if you're not interested at all, this is the gist; it's a totally unforgiving environment out there, there are no concessions, and most of all, the world is not a "nice" place. Idealists among you, you'll understand eventually the hard way.

Excommunicate me from the TSD "family" if you wish, if it is a consequence of my actions, then so be it. Tofu has no place in this world, just remember that. Above all else, even if I leave, I just hope that those of you that remain will stop concealing knives behind your backs(you know if you are guilty, or maybe not, if that's the case, you can't be helped). It's hardly ever beneficial to be blunt, as you can most certainly see, but it's what someone's got to do in situations such as these. You can't be skirting around the rim forever. I just happen to relish it, but some of you really ought to do it out of responsibility.

Cease the wishy washiness. Why bother to call something like a GM when you don't have the heart/guts to speak what so many of you have been privately bitching about? You should have left it unsaid by letting sleeping dogs lie and letting the juniors go on as they are. Eventually, they will reap what they sow, and apply however much they've learnt, whether it's a lot or very little. Having decided as a batch to call a GM, do not let a select few do the dirty work and be quick to pounce on them for self gain. Why didn't you speak your grieviances? Ask yourself that before you blame them for the animosity the juniors feel. If you didn't have grieviances, why attend the GM at all, or agree to the GM? Did you want to step in at an opportune moment to make yourself look "nice" and "caring"? If you weren't prepared to speak out, why were you there? Think about it. It certainly wasn't to support the scapegoats, based on what I saw from some of you. It didn't help much for batch unity as well. There are no sides, but if you don't agree with the standpoint, which you should have known what it was when there's a GM, you shouldn't be standing with us, because then it is a false show of solidarity. You do know what it means to stand with someone right? Psst, that means you've got their back. It's why the backs of the people at the forefront were facing you. I'm sorry that you chose to shoot them. Even if you disagreed, you attack them from the front, not in the back.

Right now, I'm tired of typing stuff that most of you will just brush off as insanity, so if you've gotten this far, congratulations on your patience. Feel free to take issue with me if you disagree. Otherwise, best regards on your life.

Cheers,
It's what must be said.

The Toilet. Warning, contains nudity

2006-07-06T17:01:00.000+08:00

Some images for public P publicity. The second image contains nudity so please do not scroll down if you do not wish to see Bob and Shawn's bareness. Was playing with cross-processing with this set. I've also removed the music, due to complaints about it interfering with your own music.
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Serenade 06

2006-06-27T10:00:00.000+08:00

I'm not gonna type much because I'm like rushing off for my TSD paper later. Just enjoy the images first, I'll try to post some detailed captions later if i'm not too lazy. The event was basically a Christian outreach event at Emmanuel Assembly of God, Glan's and Meredith's church. I was quite satisfied with the coverage, but maybe that's just me. I'm not going to post up a story board, just some selected photos.

Here goes.

People coming in.

The opening dance

Mosh pit

The Crowd

Praising God

Band Portraits

Worshippers, Young

And old(er)

Pondering on the message

Enjoying the message

And Joan not really enjoying the message? Jasmine is though.

Bidding for freebies

Grateful for her friend's conversion

Blessing the new converts

Crack

2006-06-25T19:28:00.000+08:00

I've been processing the images from Serenade during breaks from studying. I had originally intended to post up everything at one go but this set of photos from the skit forms a group on it's own. They didn't give it a title, I think, so i'm just gonna call it "crack". I'll be posting the shots from the Serenade programme later, how soon? Don't know. Latest will of course be Thursday night. Meanwhile you can check this set out.

The Changi Shoot wasn't wasted!

2006-06-22T09:51:00.000+08:00

I rechecked the roll of slides again in dismay and I chanced upon one of the shots I made while waiting for the right light. This one made sure the entire shoot didn't go to waste at least. It's decent, for me.

Meanwhile, SYPA results will be out soon! Damn exciting. Nervous. Argh!

My Birthday Wishlist

2006-06-21T10:44:00.000+08:00

Here's the list that nobody wants to put up but everyone wants to see. Thick skin a bit la, my birthday :]

Material Wishes
-Music Player
-More lenses!
-A New digital body
Ok and on to the more realistic stuff

-New Shoes, preferably runners
-Jeans
-Fitted Berms
-Basically whatever's nice
-Ray Bans! Muahaha

Immaterial Wishes
-To draw closer to God in the coming year, and also to live like a Christian, cos many times I dont.
-To actually do decently for As
-To start studying properly for As
-TO WIN SYPA (Oh yeah! But the competition is damn gross. I was checking out some of the featured contestants and realised I might be in for more than a spot of trouble)

Changi Shoot

2006-06-20T17:58:00.000+08:00

Fired off a roll of slides to test out the EOS 5. It seems that it has the same problem as the EOS 3, it consistently underexposes by half a stop. Annoying. That means that I'll have to go back and redo the changi Village "under the bridge" shot. As you can see from the preview here, the shadow detail(or rather lack of it) is atrocious. My scanner, which consistently underscans by another half stop, doesn't help much either. The geylang shots were totally whacked. This is the best of the whacked roll. I knew something was wrong when I looked at the meter readings but I didn't trust myself enough to countermand the camera. I'm relying way too much on the LCD preview nowadays. Imagine if I had been overseas -_-" Roll after roll, down the drain, just like that.

Anyway, here's what I was trying to shoot, imagine it a little brighter.

And a shot I took while waiting for the sun to set. This is, unexpectedly, the only good shot in the roll.

Geylang Bustle

2006-06-16T01:03:00.000+08:00

Went down with Jasmine today to grab some night shots of the Geylang fruit stalls at the Lorong 11 area. I potted a couple of frames when the light got good with whatever remaining Velvia I had left over from the Changi V night shot shoot and then switched over to digital when it started sucking. Ok the sky here is not the best i know but i shot these as streets and not landscapes instead. Different from my original intent eh? OK enough crap, here's the shots from the digital first. Check this space again for the velvia images soon, cos I'll be processing them tomorrow. Well, that means i'll only get it back on Mon, so you roughly know when to be back. IF you like this preview of course haha :)

OK right, here goes.

My pick, as with every series i shoot, is this.

And the rest,

Outings anyone?

2006-06-13T10:22:00.000+08:00

My productivity as a photographer is totally dwindling. I think in part because I'm getting lazy and keep sitting on my butt surfing Clubsnap instead of actually going out to the field to shoot. The other part would be that I don't have any kah kees to go out and shoot with. I generally like doing streets with about 1-2 other people, for lone ranger work is boring. The problem with forum outings is that you get too many people going, and then that becomes total chaos, which interrupts the flow of the photography.

Ok, I've decided to do some of the projects I wanted this June, so who wants to come with me? It doesn't matter if you're not into shooting stuff, just come and talk nonsense. Here's the list, let me know ya?

- Geylang Night trip. I've been discussing the street walker project with some people and I decided now isn't the best time to do such a project. I've amended the project to "geylang night lights". We can go for makan there(durians, crabs, whatever) before/after the project. Photography Time: From 5-8pm.

- Changi V night trip. Focusing once again on the incredible night scenes available here. Makan outing again. If you all have never been to try Changi V food, now's a good time to do so. Photography time: 5-8pm

- Night lights in town. Focusing on the night time scenery in town. Everywhere around the city hall/chinatown area. We will not be doing the esplanade/fullerton skyline because it's been done to death. Let's look for something fresh. Photography time: 5-8pm

Oh and here's a random recent shot that I normally put up.

Cloud Cover

2006-05-25T23:05:00.000+08:00

I noticed an interesting cloud coloration outside my window today as I was storing the camera equipment in the dry cabinet. Promptly took out a telephoto and my cam and popped one as soon as a plane moved into position.

The Soccer Girls Finals

2006-05-25T22:32:00.000+08:00

What follows is a very biased view of the soccer match. As a photographer, you can't help but be involved with your subjects as some level, and the fervor of the soccer girls spilled over into my photo-essay as well. Well, for your enjoyment, nonetheless.I was invited personally by Steph to cover their journey from before the match to after the match. I was reluctant at first because I was somewhat lazy but I was really glad I did in the end as it was a really touching experience. To see how much these girls wanted the trophy and how hard they fought for it made me extremely glad to see them finally lift the challenge trophy in the end. They deserve it, truly. Photography wise, I didn't do too well on the sports end; it's still my weakest area. I discovered finally that 200mm is way too short for field sports, but I tried my best. Many shots were terrible, with some average ones filling in the rest. I had to crop a lot of those you see here and I apologise for the OOF ones too, I left them in for the sake of complete coverage. Here we go then.

Gathering in a circle for prayer.

Mental preparation by the coach. Rar-rar speech.

Off to the bus

Taping up an injured ankle - The captain played the full game with it.

In high spirits on the bus

Strategy Discussion

In the locker room, keeping the smiles there despite the nervousness

The assistant coach's turn to give a pep talk

Group warm ups

I was surprised to see this girl here. I had thought she would be out because of her broken arm, but apparently she was one of the reserves. Amazing dedication.

The school song. The stress leaked a little on to their faces here.

Coming onto the pitch, proudly bearing the school flag.

As the players ran past the flag, they touched it for luck and to remind themselves of what was a stake. Pride ran high amongst the players.

A final steeling from the coach

The TSD folks

Players shook hands

A quick coin toss and reminder about fair play

The captains parted and the match was underway

Oops...

Team TJC bites the dust

Steph nearly decapitates a TJ player.

Before anyone knew it, the keeper was staring panic stricken as the ball travelled past the goal line after a beautiful follow-up.

A brilliant run by No. 6 catches the TJ defenders out of position. A sharp strike seals the goal.

The TJ goalie stares panic stricken at the incoming ball. Her face screams OMG, OMG, OMG.

Now here is where the expletives emerge.

The half time whistle blows, leaving the game at 2-0 to VJC. The VJ girls run off screaming to the locker room, leaving the already defeated TJ girls standing aimlessly on the field. The coach tries desperately to lift their spirits in the hope of a comeback.

The TJ team played a lot better in the second half though. They were more organised and their defense didn't leak as much. Possession still remained with the VJ team for most of the half though.

What looked to be an early 2nd half goal was denied by the TJ keeper who was finally making some good saves in the 2nd half.

Some challenges and runs came but neither side made much headway or scored goals.

Final whistle blew. The VJ team went berserk with joy. Final score, 2-0. Fists pumped in the air, faces broke out into laughter and wide smiles.

Hugs everywhere.

Tears of joy as the school song was sung

And shouts of jubilation as everyone ran round wildly waving the school flag. Numero Uno indeed.

A win, well-deserved.

Albert's grave

2006-05-21T21:41:00.000+08:00

Ok I just got round to posting the photo of Albert's grave. We will always remember you. Love, TSD.

Fish Eye Fun and Au Contraire Group Photos

2006-05-17T23:30:00.000+08:00

Hello!!! Won't type much cos I'm really beat from all the TSD stuff that's going on. People who want to pray for me, my Individual Skill exam is on 6/6/06(yes, i know, ugh) and my Group exam is on 1/6/06. Thanks if you're praying or offering well wishes. Here's my wonderful group, Au Contraire. These are our cast photos btw, showcasing our characters.

Andrea(Lucy) - The typical Ah Soh. Complain Queen who is hesitant to venture out of her comfort zone.

Me(Cecil) - Pervy, lewd, sleazy hotel owner. Cheats on his wife with the prostitute he employs. A bastard, mainly.

Tash(Maggie) - The Maid. She hates her job, but is afraid to lose it. She is also Darren's mistress.

Maya(Diana) - Cecil's neurotic wife. She has always suspected Cecil of having an affair but was too afraid to bring it up.

Glan(Mommy) - Cecil's mom. Funky and just back from Australia. Cecil will always be her little boy.

Jas(Ling Ling) - A chinese prostitute. No friends or family. Loves nothing except cash. Cecil's employee. She also services Cecil on a regular basis.

JunYi(Darren) - A blue collar worker who cheats on Lucy with Maggie, the maid. He regularly bookes into the hotel to visit Maggie.

FISH EYE FUN

Thank you guys for staying back to accompany me while I waited for Jas. I had a lot of fun fooling around with you guys and the fisheye. Crap shots really, but a world of fun.

The Juniors pieces

2006-05-01T23:00:00.000+08:00

The pieces, well most of them anyway, were well worth waking up early and paying 8 bucks for the cab ride to school just to watch it. A lot of work obviously went into some pieces, while others seemed less prepared and it showed in some cases. Some pieces had their costumes all done up, while other groups had simple blacks. I obviously enjoyed watching the former more, but ok here are the pieces, my thoughts on them, and pictures too. Enjoy.

In chronological order,

The Good Person of Szechuan
This was ok, but just ok. Nothing brilliant, nothing horrific. Acting was ok. Moments also just ok. Singing needs to be worked on. Directorial concept is ok. Quite a slow opening to the day. Predicted Grade --> C

The Crucible
Brilliant Stuff, I must say. Especially when juxtaposed with the two performances on either side of it. Directorial concept was strong but perhaps greatness was limited by a lack of effort on the costumes part. Execution could also have been a tad better. Performance was strong though, but I would have loved more frills. Could be more polished I feel. Many great moments. Jia Hui shined in this piece. The rest of the acting was fairly good, but not brilliant. Tableaux were raw, but good. Good pick-up from previous piece. I felt more relieved. Predicted Grade --> B/A(maybe)

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The Bacchae
I'm sorry to say this, but the piece was really the worse I've ever seen in TSD. I could see the tremendous effort that went into it though so I kinda feel bad for this group. The thyrsos obviously took a lot of time to make and though it looked like a cheap toys r us thingamajig I have to give this group credit for their effort. Unfortunately theatre never rewards effort, only results. The acting was bad, so bad. Enunciation was way off and Dionysos had a Chinese accent. The short movement segment in the middle was the best part of it, though compared to some of the tableux from the other groups, not strong at all. There wasn't any saving grace for this piece actually. Pentheus looked like a bellboy with a mutated eyebrow. Kadmos was impotent and weak. Agave was mildly disturbed at the death of her son. Chinese-accented Dionysos actually turned in the best performance, but it might have done better for Chinese Drama. The effort did show in the performance though as it was rather well-choreographed, producing nice stage pictures but no moments of worth. Use of levels was a bit misplaced in some areas i felt. Directorial decisions were also rather iffy. Sorry guys, but it isn't going to do well. Predicted Grade --> E/O

Lysistrata

Certainly a very entertaining piece. Polished, well-choreographed movements that were executed rather flawlessly. Technically I think this piece is quite good, but I can't say I agree with the directorial decision to turn a classical piece into a musical. I felt some songs were inserted for the sake of inserting those songs as they didn't contribute to the piece. Acting was ok, as is the case for most musicals. Singing should be improved on. Good Tableux. Nice concept, aesthetically pleasing, but theatrically unsound for me. Predicted Grade --> C

Caucasian Chalk Circle
I was raving about this piece. Mainly because the way the piece was directed was very in line with what Brecht wanted I believe. The entire concept of Brechtian theatre was grasped very very well. Acting was good too. Not brilliant acting but good nonetheless. Nice use of the space, not cramped like some groups were. Good use of levels. Lawyer was a bit extra I feel. Jill, Dennis, gave notable performances here. Costumes were a bit weird though and looked rather random. I hope that there was a good reason for choosing them. Strongest directorial concept I saw today. Brilliant. Predicted Grade --> B/A

Morning becomes Electra
It's just a guess but I think this group put in the least effort. I don't believe the blacks were used because they made the best costumes. I suspect because they had Ahnaf, who is in my opinion by far the most brilliant actor in the 06 batch, they chose to rely heavily on acting. Ahnaf put in a good show as usual, but the rest of the cast was hovering around ok. Quite raw and unpolished. Not very good but compared with some of the others, ok. The goth thing did not contribute for me. Directorial concept was weak. Few, if any, great moments. Predicted Grade --> C/D

The Great Inspector Hound
This one knocked my socks off. I enjoyed watching this one the most, though it's directorial concept was only marginally, ever so marginally, weaker than CCC. Zach gave a tremendous performance here, but the rest of the group wasn't too shabby either! All deserve a pat on the back for great acting. The Grand-Seniors were very impressed i'll have you know! Good blocking, good use of space and brilliantly chosen costumes. No gripes. The whole absurd style was captured very, very well. I loved it. Performance was polished, very much so indeed. The Albert thing was a little below the belt but it had the teachers chuckling all right. Brilliant stuff, nuff said. Predicted grade --> A

Drama Night day

2006-04-29T22:04:00.000+08:00

I had intended to shoot drama night, so I brought my MKII down with all my bright primes. In the end, the day ended with me having dozens of shots of TSD people, who all dressed up in costumes for drama night. I've never shot so many bad pictures at one go! Hah! But it was heck of a lot of fun. I'm just going to post all the crap(photographically) that was shot here in case you guys want it heh. I had fun shooting it though. PHOTO INTENSIVE!!!! cos i didn't filter at all. Oh, there are some random Black Comedy photos at the bottom too. Scroll down if you wanna.

The first non drama night event of the day. Lofty playing baseball with Makoto, and thrashing him completely.

And all the various dressed up people!!

Me and my nurse outfit haha

On the left is Pau my duo partner. One of the most hilarious people I know. Couldn't have asked for a better duo partner =)

My Favourite picture of the set. I like this one. Photographically too.

Black Comedy Stuff - Ok, to be frank the entire presentation was quite shitty. Darrel was marvelous, but unfortunately, that was about the best thing that could be said of the piece. 5/10 in my book.

Bridge to Terabithia(is that how it's spelled?) was far better, with stellar performances by Ahnaf and Steph and also a very decent performance by Hui Ying. Solid. The piece was spoiled though by the lack of good minor characters. DRAMA NEEDS MORE PROPER ACTORS!!!!!!!! The tree thingy was a little dodgy. Minor complaints though. 8/10. Good build-up, no climax. There were some great moments in it that saved it for me. Kudos to the Twinkies scene. Some very dodgy moments prevented it from approaching greatness.

*No photos cos I just wanted to sit down and watch. I couldn't get anything but loose crops, which i dislike, from the rear of the PT. Not much point shooting heh.* I think Drama Fest would be very nicely shot with a Sigma 120-300/2.8 from the rear of the PT. Alternatively, a 100-300/4 would also do very well if tripod mounted.

Simplicity

2006-04-29T01:38:00.000+08:00

The latest random photo from my simplicity series. A little different from the usual style, but still about the same old everyday stuff.

Drama night crap will be up tomorrow. Tired tonight.

Glass baubles

2006-04-26T00:03:00.000+08:00

A tribute to the really wet weather we've been having recently. Thanks Jas for spotting the lovely patterns on the glass. I digitally altered these images in case you're wondering about the weird colours, which those of you who can recognise the shooting location should probably realise.

Blue

Red

It never rains when you want it to - Norah Jones

Pictures from the past week.

2006-04-24T17:17:00.001+08:00

Colours!!!! Was looking out for wild colours everywhere I went and found them in the oddest places. Anyway, here's my catch for the week.

First, my pick. The subject makes it, really.

And, the rest
Another locker image

someone's windows

Putting the waist-level finder to good use outside Kallang MRT, a random street image.

A restive moment.

Random stuff which I've been doing lately

2006-04-24T16:24:00.000+08:00

I haven't been uploading recently because, believe it or not, I haven't had time to actually sit down and look through the stuff I've been doing for the past few days. Well, so here's what I have been doing and random shots from it. I'd suggest you scroll down to the appropriate header before looking, some sections like the 35/2 test is photo intensive. I've put it last as a consideration to the non photo-junkies who visit this blog.

Food - The Bratwurst Shop

Easily the best sausages outside of Oktoberfest. They taste as good as the dude in Chinatown's sausages but are about double the size. They're still not as massive as the 12" traditional bratwursts but they're a good approximation. For traditional bratwursts, wait for Oktoberfest! There is a fair selection of sausages, which come with bread, as well as a variety of foccacia sandwiches. I personally had a plain pork sausage, which was great, but they also have chicken, beef and mixed meat sausages. Jasmine tried a mild spicy pork and beef sausage, which was great as well. Prices are really reasonable for what you get. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the food in my gastronomic frenzy, but here's what the sausages look like(they're about 8")

Ratings:
Food: 9.5/10 (If only they were another 4" longer? Ok to be fair I can't give this a 10, because then what would Oktoberfest sausages get?)
Price: 9.5/10 (Perfectly Priced, not cheap, not expensive)
Service: 8.5/10 (The staff are a little blur and somewhat disorganised, but friendly in general)
Ambience: 7/10 (Hey, it's an open concept store, so you're smack in the middle of the crowd)
Location: 10/10 (Heart of the city)
Overall: 9/10 (I'll definitely be back. Highly recommended.)

NYP Visit

Went back to NYP on Saturday to visit my old friends from NYP. Missed watching Verona, but I really didn't feel in the mood that day so I passed my ticket to Andrea. I was starving too and 7 11 just didn't hit the spot for lunch. I hopped down to Katong SC with Jas instead for a nice chicken rice lunch, which was really good. The chicken rice in the basement food court is a hidden gem btw, I'll do a review on it someday. After Jas scooted off in a cab to church, I headed down to Peninsula, where I purchased my 35/2. I quickly went down to YCK to meet the guys after that. They look pretty much the same and were still in love with basketball. I sat out the game though, preferring to test my newly purchased 35/2. My first real-world shots with this little one.

The Guys playing a game.

Rayson and Arden taking a break.

The most interesting events of the day happened with JunCheng though, also known as xtremez to you dota people. First there was a major hassle to get in, because his admin card couldn't work and we nearly had to climb over a roof to get into school. Thankfully, some random girl came to our rescue and we managed to get in while she got out. After basketball, he went to shower and succeeded in breaking the door of the cubicle. Solid stuff.

The Man.

The adventure was not over yet though. When we wanted to exit the school, we found that the gate was locked once again! Being our lazy selves, we decided that climbing over the gate was the best option. So here I was, halfway over the gate, when this voice emanates from the intercom, "boy, boy, don't climb!" I quickly scrambled over and motioned for JC to hurry up before the guard came. Apparently the guy monitoring the security cameras must have been hard at work. The guard then went on though, "hello boy, don't climb. you wanna go out is it?" After a prompt "ya ya" the gate suddenly popped open, allowing JC to saunter out. Lol. ok great, anyway we were on our way!

35/2 test - non camera-junkies i recommend you stop reading here.

Did a quick test today. no tripod mount, just raised to my eye and fired. a 10 min test, but at least i know how the lens performs now. All unsharpened 100% crops.

F2

F2.2

F2.5

F2.8

F4 - I suspect handshake is the problem here. I tested it though when i bought it in a real-world scenario and there was no difference in image quality from F2.8.

Results proved highly interesting. F2 was better than expected. I expected it to be slightly soft but it is in fact sharp, though not crazy sharp like my 50/1.4 is at f2. It is at least as good as my sigma 24-60 at f3.5. Now this is the interesting part. Stopping down 1/3 of a stop brings the sharpness up dramatically. at f2.2 it's really quite sharp. Solid. It gets marginally sharper again at f2.8. F4 makes no difference at all from f2.8 other than the DOF. Colour and contrast is consistent all throughout the aperture range. A bit on the low side when stacked up against my 50/1.4 and 85/1.8, but good nonetheless. A very good lens indeed. I have no idea if the 35/1.4L is worth the upgrade, but this $300 35mm is very good value for money indeed. I forsee myself making some serious images with this one. The lens is also of a 16-year old vintage, and has a spot of dust on the 2nd element from the rear. No matter, images are very good.

Simplicity

2006-04-17T18:19:00.000+08:00

The new digital camera is proving to be a real boon for my blog posts because i now generate more images due to the fact that I now carry a camera everywhere with me. Having nothing to do today, I went on a little photo exercise around school. I shot with the theme of simplicity. No shots too complex here and all shots taken within 100m of 24. I figured out that in order to squeeze quality shots out of the camera, it's necessary to take about 3-5 minutes per shot. For all of these shots, lighting conditions were extremel difficult and required me to go to manual mode eventually to tweak the exposure. The waist level finder on the camera proved to be a real boon too for getting those low angle shots, which would otherwise require me to lie vertical on the ground. Can you recognise the locations?

#1 - Wave (The super macro mode in action. Focuses just 1cm from the subject at the widest lens setting, giving me very very close to 1:2 magnification!!!!! Superb. Auto exposure worked great, though I had to dial in -2EV for it to give me a correct exposure.)
Settings: 1/500s, f8, 7.1mm

#2 - Shafts (The auto-exposure couldn't handle it here, I had to manually take over. Once i did though, making this image was a breeze.)

Settings: 1/125, f4.5, 11.9mm

#3 - Up (The low angle lcd finder proved to be really helpful here. The camera was almost flat on the floor, mainly because the lens wasn't wide enough, but ya it still produced the desired result. I had to operate the camera with one hand and use a C-PL in the other. The irritating thing is the darn lens doesn't have a lens thread, so I have to manually hold the C-PL over the lens and rotate the darn thing using my wrist. The nice blue sky I got was definitely worth it though. The auto exposure refused to cooperate once again, so I went full manual.)

Settings: 1/160, f8, 7.1mm

A Saturday at Settlers.

2006-04-15T22:20:00.000+08:00

Probably one of the worst $10 I've ever spent. There were some good moments though and it was a good chance to test the flash performance of the C5050 in low light. I was still fiddling with some of the controls while I was there and I've also discovered a key weakness in the C5050's seemingly inpenetrable armor. The C5050 cannot hit proper focus in low light! It was a hit and miss affair and you never really knew when it was going to work. With proper FEC adjustments, the mixed lighting was as good as I could expect. Oh, this may be of note, the Oly takes 3s to prime itself from half-squeeze to full-squeeze in flash mode, presumably for the flash to charge because it doesn't do that in no-flash mode.

Anyway, here's some shots from the outing; my first real-world ones! It'll take some getting used to so it might be awhile before I get some decent shots. These are just for record.

Settlers Cafe - A place where you can chill out by playing board games and eating food.

Truth or Dare Jenga
This was pretty fun. I got a raspberry from Junyi and now I have a rash on my belly button. Basically the game required you play Jenga as normal, except you could pull out truth/dare blocks which required you to spout truth or do a dare, based on what the block said. Junyi lost and had to perform 3 dares which we chose. Here's him moments before his demise.

Guess what another dare was? Junyi was required to tell Cheryl how he felt about her! The magic 3 words came out, ask him to find out!

A tender moment(yes i know, bad cropping.)

Awww...

Dividends

Easily one of the most boring games ever. Steph and Cheryl zoned off during the game. Please do not ever play this unless you're an econs freak.

Junyi and the dudes at the store setting up.

As usual, I provide ratings for the place. There's no photo to accompany the place cos they neh nehed me when i tried to take an image of the place. As if their decor was nice.

Settlers Cafe
Food - 7.5/10
Entertainment - 6.5/10
Price - 4/10
Service - 9/10
Ambience - 8/10

Rating : Average. Price was too high at 12/hr for board games and 48 for a small basket of finger food. Food was better than average, but nothing fantastic. The games tended to get stale after awhile. Staff was very friendly, top marks. Place had a nice chill out atmosphere that inspired relaxation and seating provided was cosy and comfortable.

Why your camera seriously doesn't matter.

2006-04-15T12:55:00.000+08:00

I'm truly amazed by the image output of this camera. I'm so glad I decided to buy this instead of the other models I was looking at. The functions and features, though still far from my MKII, is more than I could ask for from a compact. The lens is sharp, edge to edge, even wide open. Not as sharp as my favourite primes, but it's a zoom that provides f1.8 at the wide end and f2.6 on the tele end. It's the brightest zoom lens I own, except that it's attached to the Oly. I pit it here in a totally unfair real world test against my MKII and my Sigma 24-60, which I stopped down to F11 to provide similar DOF. Check out the two images below, the rendering of shadow details and highlights were truly amazing for me. Dynamic range of the Oly isn't as good as the MKII, but that's a given. I shot both in RAW format, so no in-camera processing.

Check out the two images below, can you tell which image was produced by a $7k camera-lens combo and which was produced by a $400 compact? OK to be fair the image wasn't the same, I forgot what the image looked like when I went up to get the other camera. It's a rough approximation anyway.

You ask, why then do people(myself included) spend so much cash on cameras and lenses when we could easily pick up a $400 compact. Well, the main reason is that these compacts are not as easy to use as a DSLR. On my MKII, I can change settings quickly on the fly, allowing me to be ready for the "moment". On the Oly, I have to scroll through menus. What is interesting about the Oly though is that there is a click wheel, allowing me to adjust aperture, exposure compensation, FEC!!(holy!), flash mode and exposure mode on the fly. It's a great camera!.

Still things like drive and AF point can only be adjusted through menus. ISO performance is clean only until 200, but that's to be expected. My MKII is clean till 1600 by comparison and ISO 3200 is worlds apart from the Oly's ISO 400. Response speed on the MKII is much better too, well it better be or Canon ought to be shot. Heft and weight on the Oly is nice too, about the same weight and size as a 350D without lens.

*Bottom-Line* Learning to use your camera will make the most difference in your images. If you don't ever intend to turn pro, something from the Oly CX0X0z series will be great! Highly recommended camera if you're thinking of which one to buy.

Sports Day, Maya's Birthday and My first urban landscape set

2006-04-15T00:18:00.000+08:00

Too much crap happened in one day so here is a multi-post, where there are 3 different subjects. Don't worry, I'll divide it nicely so you can locate the appropriate moments. I'm lazy to write now, being past 12, so I'm going to say even less than usual. I found sports day tremendously boring, so I won't post much sports shots. I'll be posting more shots of the people. Seriously, how interesting can people running around in a circle be? I once read something about building a great portfolio, "there were only 10 shots, but every shot was a killer". Ken Rockwell says "keep the best shot from each shoot, junk the rest." It's all about self editing really. Unfortunately I'm not at that standard yet and I still have to provide shots for the school, but I'm beginning to see which shots to junk and which not to. My problem now is that my skill is not catching up with my expectations in terms of growth, so I wind up being rather dissapointed with a good deal of my shoots. Ugh. I really want to practice, but school is really constrictive. Anyway, I bought an Oly C5050z today so I'm pretty excited cos now I have a camera to go everywhere with me.

SPORTS DAY

If I had to pick a shot for the entire sports day, it would be this one.

Here are the rest of the shots.
Sports/Cheerleading stuff(boring, but undoubtedly there will be people wanting to view this crap)

Shots that I enjoyed looking at, mainly because they
didn't bore me to death.

And some humour.
Why China Scholars shouldn't cheerlead.

Maya's Birthday(shots only. I'm too lazy to comment. There's only two photos of the cake though.)

Side View

Front.

My First Urban Landscape Set(VJ)
The first of a little exercise I'm currently working on; learning to "see" in overly familiar surroundings. Ever since I started this exercise, I've been noticing how great Singapore must look for a foreigner. The sky is bluer, and buildings suddenly seem so fascinating. Have you noticed how the juxtaposition of bouganvillea and the overhead bridge on the bus stop around the corner from Bedok MRT is so stunning in bright light? Great exercise I must say. I'll attempt to show you guys what I see and more, as I begin to bring my C5050 out with me.

From the aircon ledge outside the PT.

Just outside the PT(Fisheye)

Outside the PT(Normal Wide)

Some old Stuff

2006-04-09T18:49:00.000+08:00

I was digging around my photo archive cos I was bored today and I located some of these shots taken in 2004 on my first mission trip. A swell of memories of shooting with my old FM2 and 35-70/3.3-4.5 lens, which I still have btw in my dry cabinet, surfaced. Ah, nostalgia. It's all on superia 100 consumer film btw, which I would never touch with a 10-foot pole nowadays. I turn my nose up at print film, in the typical photo-snob fashion, in favour of slides. Print film, in my memory was remarkably easy to shoot though. In fact, I'm giving up film photography. Kinda sad really. I'm really torn about selling my EOS 5 to purchase a small digital compact, but I figure I want portability too. Plus future purchases of likely a 20D/30D/1ds/5d as a second camera dictate that I will be going pure digital. I will miss the colours and the dynamic range, which I can never duplicate 100% with digital. To be fair, I can duplicate it with about 85% accuracy, so for convenience, I'm going digital. Film is dying! Omigosh, I wish it wasn't so but it's going fast. Major stores aren't even stocking a fair range of film anymore. Hmm, actually, I probably will have my FM2 for quite some time yet. I may take it out every now and then to fiddle with it. Heck of a camera. I will always treasure it as my first photographic tool and the sound of the ratchet film advance lever will forever be a pleasant memory. Anyway, enough nostalgic rambling. Here's my favourite old stuff that surfaced during the dig.

A cracked window at a haw flake factory

The new wing under construction at Hope foster home

A cute pair of cleft-lipped twins at the orphanage

Music Fest 06

2006-04-02T17:51:00.000+08:00

After examining the shots, I realised my technique is getting, somewhat sloppy. It would be all too easy to blame it on the new lens, but it's mainly technique that needs to be worked around. I'm getting lazy, for lack of a better word. I don't change lenses sometimes when I need to, amongst other things. Not my best concert shoot, but I came away with some decent shots nonetheless. Missed quite a number of things, like Daniel noticed, ack, it's not a paid job anyway. Oh, I've also done away with my photobucket and My Webbie now links to a Flickr account. I've junked everything that is junk and the Flickr account is only for showing my best, or shots that I like lots. There won't be so much random stuff on my site now, in pursuit of more professionalism. I hope to put up my own site one day, probably after army, but for now, I'm on Flickr.

Ok here's the event coverage.
Some easy shots first, just to get an overview of the event

Vocal Solos - Easy to shoot, but it's always the same old same old. Close-up, full body. Ack. These are my preferred shots from the vocal solo section. The rest bore me endlessly, but for record purposes, they must exist. Why these?

She had crotch grabbing- Pity i wasn't fast enough to catch the entire hand. I claim full responsibility for not anticipating it in a school event.

This guy had interesting lighting for the first 30seconds. He should have stayed there.

Dance shots
Blaze - I made mistake after mistake here and I'm sorry to say I came away with nothing even remotely presentable for this group. I won't make any pretenses, this group was really difficult to shoot. Usually for such a difficult subject I don't screw up so badly, but well, shit happens. This shot is blur, but nevertheless for web viewing, it stands for record.

Risque - Now this was a piece of cake, i gave them more blog space simply because I have better shots of them.

Don't ask me about the last dance group. Nothing that doesn't bore me to bits.

Vocal Groups
KH and Joel - I can't spell her name, so it's KH. I actually really liked this performance. Maybe if they had more eye contact.

These guys sang something and Coca Cola. Cute, but nothing spectacular for me. I can't even remember their group name. very blah

Some random photos during the intermission. The DOF and tight-cropping problem could have been entirely fixed by switching lens. Nah, I was too lazy and used the 70-200 for all these. I'm really getting lazy. Well, actually have you noticed a trend? I can't take group photos for nuts! hurhur. I'd better work on it.

A bunch of TSD people. As you can see, it's a comedy of errors. Oh well.

Ta, Karm and Gen. Better, but Talia, you need multicoated glasses. Actually i could have just bounced the flash, but oh well, error #2.

Other than the tight cropping, the mixed lighting here is pretty decent. ZhiYing(who came back for a break) and Kai Lezzing.

Moving on to the band shots, which is where my better-liked shots of the day came from.

The Daniel Band - My favourite shot of the day. Their lighting set was the best of the entire concert IMO. They were also the most strong technically. Well, maybe just the drummer. The bassist, guitarist and vocals were ho-hum.

The Camels - Good music, poor enunciation. Wish I could hear the lyrics. A pity about the sparklers thing though, it spoiled their entire energy.

And yes, the band that butchered Evanescence, which I will forever remember them as. How they managed to destroy it so completely I have no clue. Horrendous attempts at delivering a metal voice by the guitarists failed miserably. The pseudo, if rather short, "Amy Lee" would be hard pressed to carry off Mary Had a Little Lamb, let alone Bring me to Life. Her voice was way too weak and the key was what I would usually sing it in. If you are female, please refrain from singing in a male octave. The China dude, posing as a western metal star, didn't quite cut it. Poserish outfits and make-up does not carry a performance people! The plea bargain, delivered in a rather poserish manner at the end smacks of unattainable glory. Boo!

And finally, the end of music fest.

Some rejoicing at their win

And yes, what would VJ be without the cheers. Probably a more genuine school. Then again, I don't even know the school anthem. I'm not Victorian, I just school there.

Joan's 18th

2006-03-21T19:02:00.000+08:00

If you're wondering why some of the photos seem a little harsh, I used direct flash. 0.o? I'm still practicing my mixed lighting technique. It seems the mixed lighting is rather inconsistent at close ranges, though it does produce nice results at between 1.5m-3m. Natural lighting would still be a very good choice for ranges outside of this. Anyway, Joan's surprise was well, like all surprises usually are, not really a surprise heh. Still, I'm sure she appreciated it. RIGHT JOAN? I have decided to start eating a little sugar every now and then, but coke is still out im sorry. I had a little tiramisu though and 1 chocolate. Here's some of the photos from the party(ok well not really a party, more like a bunch of people sitting round a dinner table.)

Ivan helping with the food

Mark having a Coke

Oops

No i don't eat too much!

The Cousins

Finger Lickin Good(This is typical of 1m subject distance for mixed lighting. Argh should have used natural. Anyway i like the expression, so here it is)

Ian entertaining us(This is 0.25m subject distance. Argh. I know this one is a BIG BIG error, but hey, it's not for commercial use hurhur. )

Ivan(0.5m subject distance. Oily skin :P heh ok more my fault. )

You know what? I missed the blowing out of the candles. Thanks to Joan's snake-like candle extinguish strike. I also missed the full cake. Haha, I'm getting slow. Anyway by the time i remembered, this was all that was left.

All of us, sans me of course. Back row, Steph Joan Mark Ian, mid row, Joce Nick Deb, front row, Cho Ivan. I apologise for Cho, I should have used f4, like i mentioned for group shots in my previous post!

And a fun shot heh.

Cheers guys, good party.

Contestant 1858 and real-world 50/1.4 tests

2006-03-18T02:22:00.000+08:00

Went down to support Cho today for his S Idol auditions. The way i see it, the competition is horrible. He should be into top 4 in no time.

I took the opportunity to field test my newly acquired 50/1.4, which I acquired at way below market value at 360 with hood. Those of you who know the price know how much im saving hehe. The lens isn't easy to use, especially with the paper thin DOF. I refused to stop down for group shots though because I was testing the wide open performance. My recommendation is f4 for 50mm group shots. As you can see, f2 here isn't sufficient.

I started initially playing around with the lens but hunger took over. I'll master then lens another time. Anyway, Cho and Ivan took over the cam and lens to play around with. Quite a lot of junk shots, but I took the best from each of their shots and processed them. Here they are. Not too bad la hey ;)

Cho's best

Ivan's best

Here's another image also courtesy of Cho, featuring Ian and myself. I'm out of focus but hey, i'm inside a photo! hurhur.

OK i'll continue on with the idol story now, cos we went in shortly after i finished lunch. Mac's fries at toa payoh suck badly, don't try it.

Us, the supporters, plus Dansen, cho's little brother. I reverted back to my Sigma 24-60 for the group shots.

The entire competition was quite a laugh. Firstly, the people were well...laughable

and even the producer couldn't take the singing. What more me?

I was nearly falling off my seat at several points. Hilarious, truly. I have no idea how they even got in. Judges, you are deaf.

Amidst the waiting it got boring. So i decided to continue more 50/1.4 tests here.
Reviews said
- Unusable at f1.4
- Specular highlights are poorly rendered
- Gets good at f2.0
- Gets disgustingly good at f2.8

F1.4, 1/100, ISO 1250

*Definitely more than usable. Notice that the spec frames are sharp? I missed the eyes, it's not that the lens isn't sharp at f1.4. The DOF is just so, so THIN! However, as you can see, specular highlights are indeed very poorly rendered. This lens gathers way too much light at the wrong areas. It's not a bright lens problem, cos the 85/1.2 and the 35/1.4 are not similarly affected. Then again, the 50/1.4 doesn't have those fantastic fluorite elements that control diffraction so well. It's also 1/5th the price.*

f2.0, 1/160, ISO 640

*Noticably sharper. MUCH. Colours and contrast improve slightly. I apologise steph, the shots were meant to test the lens, not make a nice photo. Stopping down to f2.8 improved it only slightly. Not much difference. I'd rather have the extra stop.*

*Overall, it's a very very good lens and I see it giving my 85/1.8 some stiff competition amongst my favourite lenses once i master it. I had initially determined to sell it and reap some profit because i have the 50/2.5 as well but i've now decided to sell the 50/2.5 and buy a longer macro lens. I'll be keeping the 50/1.4 as my main 50mm. Canon dudes, BUY BUY BUY!*

OK back to the idol story.
Cho finally got to audition.

Despite future mrs Cho stressing, it wasn't a problem as i predicted. Here's him being interviewed after being the first person to be approved after quite a while.

And so ends the idol story, till 6 april, when there's another round of eliminations =) Not a problem. look for CHO on tv soon.

TSD A prelims 06

2006-03-12T23:29:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time in preparation and a ton of stress but it damn sure was worth it all! 3 days of truly amazing theatre, and forget about the grades for a moment, but almost everyone was nothing short of amazing. I wish I could have been up there with the brilliant ones, but well at least it was a good run and was ok I guess. I'm satisfied cos I gave my piece all I could. Nevertheless let me show you my favourite pieces. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the pieces, they were MUCH MUCH better than I had thought they would be. You guys blew me away. I tried as best as I could to overcome the stupidities of the 300D I borrowed from the school. It's really a lot more dumb then my MKII, I mean what kind of camera tells you a subject is in focus when it isn't! Man, I miss those cross-AF sensors and that spot meter. My dad really picked the wrong time to bring it to Vietnam. The lack of ISO 3200 was a big issue too, but I overcame that somewhat by shooting at -1EV and pushing it in RAW. It was tough, I don't deny that, but at least I produced proper coverage. Images were not as good as I wished they were but it certainly beats no images at all!
My Predicted A list is as follows,
Darrel and Maya - Duo

Bob and Saiful - Duo

Serene - Mono

Cheryl - Mono
*I don't have images for this one, cos it was the same day as my piece. But yea! It was really cool.*
Saiful - Mono

Sam - Mono

Tash - DS

Talia -DS

Jas - Set*I told you you'd be great!*

Gen - Set

I thoroughly enjoyed watch each of these pieces. Fantastic stuff. Thank you guys for producing such great theatre. For photos of the other performances hop over to my site http://photobucket.com/albums/v229/CSStoned/TSD%20A%20level%20Prelims%2006/?start=0

Just some random thoughts.

2006-03-02T22:16:00.000+08:00

Ok I apologise for those who keep coming here to see photos. But after the recent spate of photos I haven't had time to actually produce anymore amidst prep for IS prelims. I don't know how that's gonna turn out because of the incredibly limited amount of time I have left. Slotting like mad may or may not relieve the crisis. Anyhow, just gonna trust God on this one cos there's no way I can do it on my own strength. Im booked out for slots tomorrow all the way till my exam and I'll probably be really burned out. Nevertheless, He lifts my burdens =).

Here's something I wrote during Econs lec quite some time back, while I was pondering about the Black Rose Project for the end of the year.

Spinning, whirling
Mind-numbing twirling
Fallen petal blossoms
Into dreary wholesome
Oneness
Of dark black clothing.
A shadow of nothing
That once set hearts fluttering.
Fullness of life in the bloom and bud
That suggested so much more than life in the mud.
Blood.
Colour.
Rich, sweet ardor.

Here's also some thoughts about why my relationship with my parents is so bad. I was thinking about this recently and I've condensed all of it into the following.

The primary function of parents is to support, emotionally, financially and spiritually. For an only-child like myself, they would need to really do well in these aspects to cater to my needs. Well they do, about 5% of the time, but as for the others, keep reading on.

Emotional Support - When I'm hurt, I most certainly cannot count on my parents to provide support. What I can count on is for them to make it worse. For some odd reason, they have an incredible knack for rubbing salt in a wound. The worse thing of course is not that. I can be perfectly happy when I come home and then be angry/irritated/hurt 5 mins later. The main reason for this is that my parents, instead of providing emotional support, are all too ready to step on me, such that I need emotional support. Take today for instance, I sauntered in at home after a long day. I had just lugged back a massive 1.2mX0.8m piece of mounting board from Bras Basah and was really glad to finally be back and have my dinner. A transcript of the ensuing conversation follows.
Mom : "Where did you go? Buy things again? The other time you went to buy that board not enough must buy again? I hope you didn't borrow money from people! Everytime we give you money you spend it on this kind of thing.(at least this time she didn't suggest that my pocket money is too much like she usually does)"

Me(still ok): Oh, no la the other board is used up. I just went to buy cos I need it to submit some photos for a competition.

Mom: What competition? You see la you always concentrate on this kind of things(how often do i spend on preparing for this competion? Do i spend every waking moment every day doing so?), then no time for studies(i have plenty, don't blame my photography for everything you can't control)! Whole day play computer games(ok my fault, I happened to play for about 4 hours yesterday after a 2 month abstinence) and do your photography things(it's called a passion for a reason.). Always never study(true, but again it's not the fault of the photography). Stop spending all your time on competition this competition that(hardly even a fraction of my time). It's not going to get you anywhere(now this is too much. Thank you for spitting on my dreams.).

Me(a little ticked off now): The competition is important to me. It's rather high-profile also and anyway it doesn't take me a lot of time to enter. I just have to cut up the bloody board and stick the photos onto it then submit cos I already have the photos on hand. It's not like it takes up a lot of time.

Mom: So now you've decided to drop out of school and become a photographer(now where did this come from. Bloody hilarious)? You think it will get you somewhere(well, yes.)? Let me tell you without paper qualifications you'll never get anywhere(who said I was dropping out of school again? Oh you.).

Me(now i'm really starting to boil): I never said I was going to drop out of school. I just want to pursue something that I want instead of what you want.

Mom(obviously not listening): You cannot just turn your back on the mainstream route(well now, out of the blue again). You need to at least get your 3 A lvl passes(wow what wonderful expectations).

Me(simmering): I'm actually aiming for an AAB, much better than last time, when I was aiming for an ABD. And I'm not dropping out of school! When did I ever say that?

Mom(oblivious again): ABD? D? D?!

Me: I WAS. WAS! Ah whatever.

Well basically if you didn't get any of that, I realised the reason why I detest my parents so much is they never ever support what I want to do. They spit and step on whatever I aspire to do or try to do in order to get me to do what they want to do. Of course, being the person I am, which developed from growing up under such conditions, I don't really care what they think. I told my mom that much to her face, because mainly, they have no say. As long as I feel I'm right with God and true to myself, I never really need my parents for anything because mainly, they have nothing of worth to contribute. My mom always shoots of her mouth without adequate information. My dad gets the wrong information and then shoots off his mouth. Neither is better than the other. At least my dad is quite capable. My mom just watches the idiot-box and cooks.

Financial Support - My parents have never given money freely to me. I've always had to jump through hoops for rewards like doggie treats when I was younger. When i grew older, I stopped getting doggie treats even. The main reason why I could afford some of the things that I wanted was always because of my generous grandparents' twice-a-year red packets(once during new year and another during my birthday) I stopped studying hard when I got older cos i decided there was no point. Even a dog stops jumping through hoops once it stops receiving rewards. I'd bet they thought me more simple than a dog. Now that I actually have the capability to make my own money, they berate me for it. They say it takes up my time and takes time away from my studies. Well perhaps if they actually purchased things for me like clothes for instance I wouldn't have to work to get it. Let's put it this way. If I want to buy new clothes for the new year, it comes from my own pocket. If i want to buy anything in fact, it comes from my own pocket. There's pocket money, sure, but how is that supposed to cover everything? Heck, buying, processing and scanning a roll of trannies consumes half my weekly allowance. Would they buy me something if i asked them. No. Even though I eventually got my dad to cover my DS costs, thank God, I had to give him a budget sheet for it. What kind of parent does that? Well, basically a parent who thinks that his kid is constantly out to cheat him of his money. I have to sign like loan agreements if I borrow stuff from my dad as well.

Spiritual Support - I get none of this from my parents. in fact, my parents were why I never accepted Christ until so late in life. When it all happened, they were no where near being remotely involved. I thought if my parents were Christians, I wanted no part of it. My mom constantly quotes bible verses out of context. My dad is careful and doesn't flex the bible to suit his own whims and fancies, so i respect him for that. Becoming a spiritual leader in church is not something my parents were happy about either. I expected that so I didn't really tell them, but they found out. Well instead of a "great son. glad that you're serving in church.", which most parents would give their children, I got "how can you be a sunday school teacher and act like that?", "It's definitely going to affect your studies" and most recently "do you even do your quiet time(bible study and prayer)? You always come back so late, i bet you don't give any time to God.". The last comment prompted me to show my mom my quite well-highlighted and studied bible. She promptly responded "ya so what about the highlights, I bet you don't actually study it" I nearly blew up. Anyway, I didn't.

Overall, I'm glad I have God and wonderful friends. My parents aren't really useful for much of the relational support that I need in this world. I would simply die without God and my friends. Oh if some of you wonder why I'm so determined/stubborn sometimes, it's mainly cos I need to defend what I believe is right so often at home that if I'm sure something is right, It's gonna be an uphill stuggle. Just gently remind me I'm not at home, I'll come around.

Cheers ppl,
hope to post some photos soon.

Equipment Shopaholism

2006-02-19T15:45:00.000+08:00

!!!!Non-Camera Junkies please do not read on, you're gonna be lost!!!!

I think I have an addiction to buying lenses. Ok this morning I felt really great because SJ referred me to a thread on Clubsnap where someone was selling a 35/2, which i've been looking for ever since I was inspired by Terence's Calcutta shots (see mrsanguine.blogspot.com), where he uses a 35/1.4 almost exclusively. Of course I would like a 35/1.4L but it's 1600 at the very cheapest and I'm not sure as of yet whether 35mm is a suitable f length for me. The 35/2 at 400 or less seems to be a much better choice. I happily PMed(private messaged) the guy this morning, saying I would take it at his price of 380, and was looking forward to picking it up the next week. Not too bad a deal too, 2004 make, with Hood included. When I checked it in the afternoon, expecting a reply to ask me to contact him with a meeting place and time, I discovered instead that someone had entered a bid of 400 :( *feel like slapping the guy* Ok anyway, i'll probably have to wait another month or more to actually find someone selling the 35/2. That wasn't the worse part of the whole saga though, in my irritation at not having been able to buy the 35/2, I put in an offer instead for a 135/2.8, which I actually really don't mind as it's also a good buy. It's a terrific lens, having used it before, and I wouldn't mind owning it again. I might just start using it for the "real" portraits thing I've been starting. The scary thing was that I made an impulse decision to buy a 300+ item because I couldn't purchase another. Ok, in the camera world 300+ is a pittance, but nevertheless, it's still money. I'm not sure if I should buy the 135mm now because I'm not sure if I'm buying it to use or buying it just to feed the continual need for more equipment. It's a dangerous business to purchase something I might not use, when i could use the money for something else that I really need. Like an 85/1.2L for instance.
I guess in this major equipment restructuring phase, when I actually have quite a sum of money in the bank, I had better consider buying only stuff that I need. When you can afford stuff, let me tell you, everything seems tempting. Suddenly a lot of lenses that you decided you didn't really need, suddenly become quite a desirable lens. I owned both the 35/2 and the 135mm before. Stupid me to sell the 35mm off. I sold the 135mm off just in time to avoid the price plunge but the 35mm subsequently appreciated. As I said, camera equipment is very much like stocks. I have a sudden desire to buy a Tokina 17/3.5 too because the prices plunged, but ya, I already have a Sigma 20/1.8. Does 3mm justify the 200+ cost of the Tokina now, well it depends, I would buy the Tokina for it's small size and the ability to use cheap C-PLs. So if I could find one under 250, yea I would buy it. The Sigma gives me terrific f2.8 performance so I would use it in Singapore, mainly for indoor work. I'd say both have different applications. I have my doubts about the Sigma 15-30 that I've been considering as well. As many of you know, I widely regard a C-PL as the most important photographic filter that gives you what you can't duplicate in photoshop. The other really important one is an ND and NDgrad filter, both of which I don't use because I don't find the need to very often. If the Sigma can't use a C-PL to save it's life(due to serious vignetting) then that becomes a major issue for me. The size of the lens and the filter size are secondary issues that have never really mattered to me much. Maybe I'll borrow a copy from someone sometime to test it out on a 1.3X and 1.0X body. Vignetting is a serious irritation for me on lenses and is something I cannot accept readily. It leaves disgusting blue edges on slides. This is the MAIN reason why I hate the Canon 50/1.8 so much. It vignettes like crazy. Easily 1/1/2 to 2 stops when wide open or at f2.8. The tamron 24-135 vignettes somewhat too but it gives me fantastic performance and range, which unfortunately the 50mm doesn't.
The current 50/2.5 I have doesn't quite sit well with me too. Being a macro lens, I'm shocked at the appalling bokeh. It looks positively choppy. I'm not about to trade it in for a 50/1.4 though because I'd rather have dual function at this point rather than good bokeh. It irritates me though that my second favourite F length isn't as good as I would like it to be. I think at some point, maybe in a year or two, I'll trade in the 50/2.5 for a 50/1.4 and get a tamron 90/2.8 for macro purposes.

And so, my dry box is still devoid of a 35mm and anything wider than 20mm. Other than my beloved Zenitar FE of course. Hopefully, the other buyer will back out and I'll be able to take over that 35mm. Whatever small chance there is, there's always hope till it's sold. Anyway, to tell you the truth, I really don't need that 35mm but... well, you know, lens lust is quite hard to curb. Hurhur.

Real Portraits

2006-02-16T22:48:00.000+08:00

I brought my newly acquired 70-200/2.8 to school today to give it a good field test. Excellent, even though it's of a 10-year old vintage. I found it to be the perfect lens for the candid portraits collection I wanted to do this year. It's a real pity the lens is so heavy =(. Should I follow TN's style and bring a 135/2 around just for this purpose? I'm interested to try and shoot portraits that achieve some sense of realness about it. I'm not caring about photography nitty-gritty technicality for this entire series. All that goes out the window in favour of pure subject truth. This is the first two that I've selected, ok maybe just Talia's, Krystle's was posed.

Talia, deep in thought

Krystle, being her cheery self, shows off her ideal hairstyle to the camera

VJ concourse arts project Day 2

2006-02-16T19:30:00.000+08:00

The shoot went great this time. Short spiffy and I wasn't dog tired! I'm actually satisfied with the shots this time. I'm sure you'll notice a marked improvement in the quality if you compare it with the first day's shoot. Pau didn't paint too badly this time, and the atmosphere was more relaxed. I enjoyed myself this time but THANK GOD it's over! It's time to concentrate on more important things =) Anyway, here are the shots hurhur.

BETWEEN THE BLACK AND THE WHITE
Model :Saiful
Make-up: Mik, Sam
Notes: The paint exuded a lot of fumes that were terribly stinging to the eyes. Kudos to Saiful for his excellent modelling despite the eye irritations.

WEIGHTED NOT
Model : Tash
Make-up: Jay
Notes: Kudos to Tash for be willing to redo shots again and again. She's a new Fry btw, cool right =)

DANCE ME ROUND
Model: Stella
Make-up: Jay
Notes: An excellent dancer, was able to do all the demanding things I wanted. Great Job.

Does this image look familiar? Hurhur I used the same technique that I used for Kai in the TSD publicity. I modified it a little this time, triggering the manual slaves twice. I'm kinda interested in the result. It's not digitally created btw =)

CLOUDS
Model: Random character
Make-up: Sam, Mik
Notes: Ok admittedly this was the worst of the day. The guy was quite obliging though and rather nice, but he looked just a tad gay. Not quite his fault though. They apparently can't use his shots because they look too gay. Only one usable one.

Me, my 3, my Zenitar and the rain.

2006-02-14T13:10:00.000+08:00

Went down with SJ last thurs for a slides outing in Chinatown, but it was raining heavily! We decided anyway to go for the outing and I wasn't in the least dissapointed because I got some interesting shots that I probably wouldn't have gotten if not for the rain. We were huddling under umbrellas on the street for most of the time but watching the world go by through a fisheye was interesting, so I took the chance to get some snaps and finish up the roll of velvia in my camera. I traded my EOS 3 for a 5 last sunday and I miss it already! The 5 has so much less functions that the 3 and ergonomically it loses out a lot. Well, I realised I needed to restructure my equipment so this thread is dedicated to the memory of my 3; the last roll I shot with it. Goodbye, baby.

THE WORLD GOES BY: THROUGH A FISHEYE

Lunch first at the Kosma food court in Peninsula's basement. SJ went to buy his food first so I took this shot while I guarded the bags. The hustle and bustle of the city is quite a contrast to slow-moving Chinatown that we went to later. Well, maybe it was just because of the rain.

When we initially arrived the rain was quite light and despite our shoes being fairly wet and the slight risk of equipment damage, we proceeded to shoot in the drizzle. I tried out some shooting from the hip(not looking through the viewfinder), to avoid detection by my subjects. In this case, it was this caucasian couple here having lunch.

A sudden increase in the intensity of the downpour forced both of us into shelter. We huddled under an umbrella that was sheltering a roadside store. As I sat there I began to take interest in the people passing by, so I fired off a few frames.

People don't appear to be affected at all by the rain and human traffic was still fair despite the downpour. In general, the locals seemed to be prepared for rainy weather. The foreigners on the other hand, were mostly stuck indoors drinking Tiger. There were a few adventurous ones who braved the rain, but not without some muttered curses under their breath.

Chinatown seems to be a nostalgic place for the old as well as an interesting place for street photography in Singapore. Here, an old couple walks down the street. It's interesting to think that they may have first started walking down this street 40-50 years ago on their first date. There is much history left in Chinatown, even though the outlook has changed so much. Bright modern banners now cover faded old facades of buildings liberally, but it doesn't change the fact that those old facades and structures are still there.

We took a break from the shooting and the rain for a bit and had a bite at this friendly Austrian's store. It's apparently the last sausage stand before the equator, as he claims on a boldly displayed sign on his shop. He asks us politely if we were on a school assignment and when I replied that we were just doing it for fun he was quick to proclaim that "Nothing is done for fun! There is always learning in everything." Minister Mentor would have been pleased with this one =). He was quick to holler at the primary school expedition passing his stall as well, "Happy learning!"

He gamely posed for a photo when asked, but not before whipping out his special photo hat.

My tummy started to rumble, so I suggested that we have a break. He sells a variety of German sausages, but they all appear to be downsized to suit the Asian palette. SJ and I both got a bratwurst($3) with bread($0.50). I opted for mustard and SJ opted for ketchup.
When we were served, we noticed SJ's ketchup was brown and I promptly asked the proprietor for an explanation. I had initially though he had put barbeque sauce instead of ketchup.

He proudly declared, "This is GERMAN ketchup! None of that lousy tomato stuff in that American ketchup."

Delicious.

Food rating:
Value:7/10
Taste:9/10
Service:10/10

We then moved on further into Chinatown. I came across a large gathering of retired old men playing checkers and decided to do a small photo essay on them. I was in luck because the local checkers champion was in the house and was taking on challengers.

CHINATOWN SHOWDOWN

The crowd was exclusively made up of men over 50. They all appeared to have little to do but sit here and watch checkers games, or play them, in the case of the more capable players. Regardless, all the tables were filled and the air was filled with dialect chatter, with some offering suggestions on better moves, and gasps at shocking maneuvers. I felt a little sad that the old people didn't really have much to do but I soon realised that amidst the seeming lack of purpose, there actually was a very close-knit chess community here that was made up of friends and associates. Such activities give these retirees meaning in life and helps keep their minds sharp to boot. Why not I thought, It's a good way to retire.

The key match of the day. The local champ is the guy with the crew. I watched as he destroyed the challenger match after match. This was one of the moments where the challenger was stumped at what to do next.

The champ.(far right)

A fresh match-up. The challenger makes a move.

A side-show. Not that many spectators, but this old man was content to just sit there and smoke his self-rolled cigarette while watching the game.

I found out later from a fellow photographer that these people apparently play for money. It's an interesting notion to think about, which explains why there were so many spectators. Nothing is more interesting than a relaxing "day at the turf club" for these retirees.

We went down to the Zoo, zoo zoo, now how about you, you you?

2006-02-12T22:17:00.000+08:00

Interesting little ditty, it's been stuck in my head for some time now. Andrea didn't come at first so we went down to her place to pick her up and her parents were nice enough to give us a lift after our pseudo picnic at her place. Finally, WE ARRIVED AT THE ZOO! Bubbling with excitement, we bought our tickets and proceeded to go look at the animals after having a good laugh(ok just me) at the balloon animals that were selling like hotcakes. They look so ridiculous that it's hilarious.

Anyway, here's us at the entrance. Minus me of course.

My favourite shots of the day.
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

And the sleepy ones
#11

#12

#13

#14

And a stoner.
#15

I sometimes wonder whether animals are happy in the zoo. It seems to be all good because they get fed, receive grooming and medication on a regular basis, but after seeing a leopard with a sagging paunch pacing in it's way too-small enclosure and some rat-like animal looking listlessly at the hoardes of visitors passing, I think that just makes them live, disease-free, sad animals.

VJ Concourse Arts Project Day 1

2006-02-12T01:15:00.000+08:00

Spent 8 hours shooting day 1, really really beat. I just managed to finish processing all the files and it's now 2am in the morning. Dead tired, but decided to update my blog as the final thing to do before going to bed. Here's what went down in the first day of shooting. I picked some sample shots to show as well, so you guys can preview what might come out at the concourse(I don't know if they'll pick these or other shots, but the rough style is there.) Body paint work, all the way. Got some strobes too, but they were really antique! 17 year old models by my estimation. Apparently the "professional" dude we borrowed it from isn't doing too well in his business. Hurhur. We also lost his light stand bag because the soccer guys mistook it for a floorball bag and kept it in the PE store. Hilarious stuff. It's not nice to laugh at the tragedy of others so I shan't, for the moment. Just photos now, I'm too tired to write. Shoot was fair, it wasn't brilliant photography, neither was it bad. I wish I had a black floor and more accurate lighting that wasn't 17 years old. I'm looking forward to processing the zoo shots though, I've got some stuff I'm interested to look at in there. Watch this space :)

1st Subject: Imran
Make-up: Mrs Jay and Random teacher
Title: ZZZzzzz-_-
Notes: This took like forever. Ironically, it produced the worst photos. Why does simplicity never hold weight with anyone? Worked with no aim in particular, I didn't really dig the tribal design.
Prep

Result

2nd Subject: Matthew
Make-up : Pau and Mik
Notes: Pau can't do outlining, as we found out. She did help quite a bit in the colouring though. Mik managed to fix her errors later so it wasn't too bad. Pau also has a fetish for painting armpit hair. Worked with form for this.

Prep

Results

Mik and Sam's signature

3rd Subject: MinRu(did I spell it right?)
Make-up : Mrs Jay and Random Teacher (This make up was the most solid of the day. It was a pity it wasn't permanent.)
Notes: Nice make-up. Worked with movement for this, more full body shots. The most prolific, but not quite the best. I think I kept wanting to show the make-up and lost focus somewhat on the overall aim.

Prep

Results

4th Subject:Nicola
Make-up: Mik, Pau, Mrs Jay
Title: Hatch
Notes: Went along with the butterfly theme, was thinking cocoon hatching. Don't think I quite achieved it though, still got to practice a lot more. I wish so much I had a black floor instead of a parquet one. -_-"

Prep

Results

5th Model: Random Character who reads chinese novels
Make-up: Mrs Jay, Mik
Title: Colour my world
Notes: By this time I was shit tired and relied a lot on the model to provide the energy necessary. Didn't quite come through, but oh well. Guess she was tired too. Bleaugh, I'm so sleepy now.

Prep

Results

I love you Fries!

2006-02-06T22:48:00.001+08:00

I shan't ramble on about my group cos I know I could go on for quite some time. I just wanna say thank you to you guys, appreciate you lots and I really really look forward to group slots again for As. Zoo this sat too of course hurhur(I've settled my mama lens for some animal shots heh) and Big Fish and Blue Lobster and many many other foodie outings to Old airport, Simon Road, Zion Road, Changi V... it goes on and on. I'm so glad to have found such a group of lovely friends =)

Check out what Jasmine(Thank you dear, this is like the nicest card I've ever received) HAND-MADE INDIVIDUALLY for us! She's a genius, though she claims she can't draw. She can only paint -_-" =) =) =)

I photographed it with my makeshift home set-up, 4 pieces of white paper held up by books. Hur hur. This is putting my macro lens to good use.

Messages we all wrote for each other after prelims. We conveniently used Jas' card, cos none of the rest of us thought of it =X

The actual thingy, at first glance. Cool stuff right?

Me. Primate.

X-country

2006-02-01T23:23:00.000+08:00

The worst event I've ever covered. Bleaugh. I got a total of 20 keepers from the entire event's proceedings(keepers are remotely decent photographs, not necessarily good ones), partly because I was damn cheesed off and kept deleting photos. They were trash though, really. There can be only one conclusion from this, I am not a sports photographer. If you give me sports only, I give you trash, really. I need a nice studio with a good strong AC where I can think and play with the lighting.

I should have run. Anyway, for those interested to watch my group piece, we are on at Day(a studio in VJ) sometime right after lunch. SMS or call me for the exact timing.

Some photos for sharing's sake, so you can share in my misery. Boring, ya-da ya-da, I know.

These are the least boring of the lot. I don't dare show the rest.

The standard general shot

Competing for positioning

Lousy positioning

Thumbs up

Don't give up!

And now some humour.
BEFORE

AFTER

Fries with that!

2006-01-27T22:27:00.000+08:00

Prelims are in exactly one week from now! Our piece is taking great shape and my lovely group is bonding better than ever. Here are some simple shots of my group(I actually only like Maya's) which we're gonna use for our program booklet. Don't worry Fries! I'll get proper shots of the real us done and those will go into my collection folder =) For non-fries, here's what my group's characters look like!

Andrea - The Modern Alien [Visitor]

JunYi - The Indecisive [Son]

Glanies - On the Cusp of Womanhood [Girl]

Maya - Past her time [Grandma]

Jasmine - Prim and Proper Matriach [Mom]

Tim - Psychotic Caveman [Handyman]*Photo courtesy of Glanies*

Some extras.
I actually prefer this photo hah! *Photo Courtesy of Glanies*

I also prefer Maya's shot in BnW.

Portraits

2006-01-25T22:54:00.000+08:00

I'll be collecting some standard headshot portraits of people that are important to me or have made an impact in my life so don't be overly shocked if i suddenly come to you with a camera and request for a photo. I will collect these throughout the year or whenever. Don't worry though, it'll take only between 30s-5mins if I do need your help.

BFEC ppl --> Probably whenever I feel like it
VJ ppl --> Probably whenever I get the opportunity to
Fries --> Ok I know you guys come under the above category as well, but you guys are in another league! My group! I'll probably do all of you after our group prelims =) Let's work hard, not much time left.
Misc. ppl everywhere(others) --> Whenever I can yea?

It turns out I'm not gonna be running for X-country too. I deliberated over it for a LONG LONG time because i really wanted to run but I need to build my portfolio on sports events and especially for running events(can apply for stand chart. marathon photog. more easily).

I think many of you were wondering what my projects and stuff were about. Essentially it's more important than it looks. These are not quite simple projects but they are instead concepts that I have worked out to collate into a special portfolio, which I intend to submit to apply for a scholarship for Still Film(Fashion) a.k.a photography in Melbourne Uni. That's why these projects are so important to me. They NEED to be good, so please be serious if you decide to help out ok?

Vivace 06

2006-01-21T20:50:00.000+08:00

I had initially felt like just sitting back to watch the concert because of how tired I was on Fri. Slotting madness now, so Thank God for a wonderful group and for Jasmine who is helping me out with the script. I would die otherwise. I still have to do it later after posting these shots up. 2 weeks to group prelims, scary thought, but the script IS TAKING SHAPE! Alright! Ok anyway, before I go on too much, here are the shots which I decided to just take anyway since I brought my equipment down.
I'm too tired now to label photos with captions, and I've gotta get back to scriptwriting soon, so I'm just putting general titles for this series of shots.
Choir shots

Conductor shots

Concussed. Hee.

Shots featuring Amanda. I located Joycelyn and Dorea too but I couldn't get clear shots. Sorry ladies! Stand at the front row next time.

VJ Cosiety shoot

2006-01-17T22:19:00.000+08:00

Was asked to do the publicity for some new VJ publicity crud. VJ is all about publicity aint it? Anyway, what happens was I wasn't supposed to use a couch for the shots(which they neglected to mentioned, you know what, the instructions were about an sms long.), so they rejected my shots. So I asked, well then, is the model supposed to sit on the floor? "Well, try a stool." Okie doke, so much for good taste and artistic freedom. How a stool could conceivably be more appealing than a couch is something that escapes me. Anyway, this is why I almost always spend a long time talking to clients about exactly what they want. "Er, anything la" or other vague responses like this almost always end up with something that's not quite what the client had in mind. Oh wait, why am I calling the school a client, I'm not even being paid! *bleaugh*

Anyhow, they're redoing the shoot tomorrow. Thank God I don't have to do it again. The concept is blardy boring, if I do say so myself. Suits VJ doesn't it? *Runs Away* [^____^]

Anyway, here's the less boring stuff i did. All very experimental stuff that I'm still toying with, not my usual quality if I do say so myself.

Backlighting. One of the absolute hardest lighting techniques. Have really got to work on this lots to get it to go the way I want. This was important experience for me so my time wasn't at all wasted.

The standard close-up. Putting my macro lens to gd use heh.

Damn I can't wait to do my own concepts! Really itchy, must, MUST CONTROL....

Stuff that's coming up.

2006-01-15T18:24:00.000+08:00

In the days to come you will likely see less photos and more words. The reason being I don't really have time to do anymore shooting due to As and stuff. Attempts to bring the camera out of the house will most certainly result in much nagging. I've still got half a roll of velvia stuck in my EOS 3 which I can't finish till probably March. Btw, in case some of you are wondering about the camera I've been raving over recently, here it is - http://www.contaxcameras.co.uk/gseries/g2/g2overview.asp
Sexy, aint it? Hur hur.
If God is gracious I shall be able to sell my EOS 3 and with a good HB collection this new year, i should be able to plonk down the 1.7k i need to own this baby and a 28mm, 45mm and 90mm. Woohoo! Ideal scenario of course. I still need to get my music player though :(

I'm thinking of several projects now:
1) The Black Rose project. (this has long been in conception but unexecuted, I DESPERATELY NEED A MODEL WITH NICE FULL LIPS. Let me know if interested. I'm most excited about this one.)
2) Portraits of my friends. (Headshots mainly. I'll think about this one soon.)
3) The Coffee project (This one is half done. If you're game to help let me know, you get free coffee/drinks at TCC. Need a female )
4) The Stepping out project ( Need a female. Fair complexion.)
5) The Illusory World project ( Need a male. Must be fairly flexible and game to pose. )
6) The Chocolate project ( Need a female. Strong cheekbones. Slim. )

Feel free to apply for any of the above, I'm not picky about models. Be aware that it will be demanding, but fun I promise. I'll give you prints or lunch/dinner for helping. Thanks =)
Too many concepts, too little time. Need models, desperately. I'm gonna finish all of these by the end of this year. Tee's studio shoot will be at this year's end as well! I've got many concepts for you Tee!

VJ Sea Regatta

2006-01-10T01:00:00.000+08:00

Heck of a tiring day. Thank God Tues is Hari Raya. Ok many have complained that the prev post was too long, so I'm not going to talk anymore for this post. Just enjoy the shots! Much Thanks to Roxy for this new blogskin you see here!

Steph and her OGL

Wet WET WET!!!!!

Tug of War

Dunked

Getting Muddy

Marcus, Talia and A teacher whose name I can't remember

Toes

Sand Burial!

Jasmine getting muddy

Glanies and her friends

I feel super efficient, these were just shot this morn. Hurhur.

My take, on silver halide

Now located elsewhere

I HAVE MOVED!

The Life

Anyone?

PIME 7 :The art behind photography

Missed out a photo!

Edge of Life Pt 2

The Edge of life

CityScape

Arcs

Pasir Ris beach, in monochrome

Moth in Monochrome

My World on a Curve

Lil' ol' worm

More random stuff

Random stuff.

Stories of Love Chpt 1: Me and my Tele

Adrenaline 01

My Take on the Durian

Random stuff.

Rock Climbing Recce Trip

Gee Whiz, Singapore needs to brush up on it's supply of men's clothes

PIME 6: Digital Magic

PIME 5: Composition Part III

Year End Portrait Projects *Seeking Models*

Fall/Winter 2006

Drunken Mynas

PIME 4 : Composition Part 2

PIME 3 : Placing your subject, Composition part 1

PIME : Choosing a subject

Professional Imaging made easy =)

Featured Photographer of the Month

The run up to prelims

Changi Take 2

Why the reasons for all my biasness

SMU

Pensive

The End

My response

The Toilet. *Warning, contains nudity*

Serenade 06

Crack

The Changi Shoot wasn't wasted!

My Birthday Wishlist

Changi Shoot

Geylang Bustle

Outings anyone?

Cloud Cover

The Soccer Girls Finals

Albert's grave

Fish Eye Fun and Au Contraire Group Photos

The Juniors pieces

Drama Night day

Simplicity

Glass baubles

Pictures from the past week.

Random stuff which I've been doing lately

Simplicity

A Saturday at Settlers.

Why your camera seriously doesn't matter.

Sports Day, Maya's Birthday and My first urban landscape set

Some old Stuff

Music Fest 06

Joan's 18th

Contestant 1858 and real-world 50/1.4 tests

TSD A prelims 06

Just some random thoughts.

Equipment Shopaholism

Real Portraits

VJ concourse arts project Day 2

Me, my 3, my Zenitar and the rain.

We went down to the Zoo, zoo zoo, now how about you, you you?

VJ Concourse Arts Project Day 1

I love you Fries!

X-country

Fries with that!

Portraits

Vivace 06

VJ Cosiety shoot

Year End Portrait Projects Seeking Models

The Toilet. Warning, contains nudity