The way it’s meant to be seen

Typical overcast afternoon, with very high contrast. Not a very ideal afternoon to shoot. Those were the conditions when I took this shot. I haven’t been very healthy lately and hence the lack of new photos. This was from 2 years ago..

The trip was meant to be an infra-red shoot, but I found the form of this tree particularly pleasant, and took a series of bracketed shots hoping to be able to process them properly one day. Well.. I never managed to get an image that represented my intentions.. until recently.

 

Sometimes, you just have to get over it..

Just in case you are thinking that this blog is dead, I’m sad to say it isn’t. Ha. I was just blogging on another more informal blog (you should know where to look if you know me enough).

This is 黃金瀑布@九份. Rainy and misty afternoon. Limited time. Wet lens. Had to hide under an umbrella to shoot this.  Just a customary shot. Could have been a lot better if time + weather were on my side.

I may not have the time + opportunity to come back for another try, as it is 1.5hrs away from my school by public transport. Sometimes, you just have to get over the missed chances, and look ahead so you don’t miss other chances that may come by =)

Path with a view

My new observation: Rainy morning = clear blue skies in evening.
It’s been a long time since I’ve shot such colourful sunsets at Pandan reservoir lately.. this shot came just in time for me to try out a number of new processing tools.

No emo no emo kk? =)

Soft and delicate…

I’ve never really felt Singapore’s beaches were worth treasuring, as there is nothing much there anyway, given all the land reclamation going on. But when i heard of the oil spill which left the East Coast and Changi beach covered in oily sludge, I suddenly had the urge to visit all the other beaches before they are affected too. They have never meant so much to me before..

Being a major petroleum refinery, Singapore is highly susceptible to oil spills. The beaches are lifeless enough without all the sludge, and all it takes is a couple of oil spills to finish them off.

How many hours of sleep is 1 mark worth?

According to my calculations… at least 10 hours per mark… maybe more. Thanks for understanding. =)

漂亮的日落，却只能一个人欣赏，好遗憾。。。

好久不见

好不容易有机会遇见的景色，却在刹那间消失。。。 很遗憾，我错过了。月亮太高太亮了，四周的光线却越来越暗。。。

Hmm.. 下个月再见吧!

=)

Wednesday…

To watch a Sunrise…

It’s a race against time.. to see who reaches the spot first… the sun or you.

It’s a bet against nature, your precious (and most comfortable) hours in bed, in exchange for a show that is unknown and unpredictable.

It’s test of endurance, to move around with no food in your stomach, but a sole purpose in your mind.

It’s a lesson on determination, to learn not to despair should you come back with nothing.

It’s an appreciation of life.

In summary.. it’s a great way to start the day with you =)

天生我材必有用

Slow… Small… Vegetarian… Born loser?

I don’t think so…

嗡嗡嗡。。。

Insects are amazing… especially flying insects. The control involved in keeping such a lightweight frame aloft, to be able to react with such accuracy and agility… all packed into a processor measured in terms of millimeters… from an engineering point of view, the technology involved is simply incredible. It is humbling to know how backward human knowledge is compared to the power of nature.

First time using a dedicated macro lens (a borrowed sigma 150mm F2.8). It’s great to have AF, as it helps to save time when shooting subjects that vary their distance quickly. (and i can MF by just grabbing the ring to fine tune the focus) A great lens with beautiful bokeh, but I doubt I have the budget and time for macro anytime soon…

Far far away…

Will we get there?

Third consecutive image taken by a compact. The convenience is tempting… my D300 must have been jealous.

This shot isn’t taken by me.

Update on 200809: It seems that Canon has finally woken up from it’s Megapixel dream, and recently released 2 比较像样的 compacts – G11 and S90. Both shoot RAW (yea!), and I’m enticed by the articulating LCD on the G11 (it’s damn useful.. not a gimmick at all), but none of them goes wider than 28mm (and offer uncropped 3:2/16:9 outputs). I love wide-angles.. and am hoping Panasonic would finally release something that’ll make me part with my mula…

花香

花，有永久不谢的吗？只要是真的花，开得再灿烂，再芬芳，都有它凋谢的一天。它的存在只是为了完成更大的任务，任务一旦完成，它也就失去意义了。

人生也不过如此。

人有生、老、病、死。物有成、筑、坏、空，这是自然的循环理，没有必要执著于某个阶段。事来则应，事去则尽。只有这样才能达到逍遥自在的心境。

no more emo =)

It turns out that this looked better

This was made using Photomatix 3 (together with Lightroom). I was getting a little lazy to blend the exposures manually, and it turns out that the software is capable of some pretty nice results. I personally find this better than the one below (composition and colour wise), although it might be a bit overkill with so many sunset+water+boat pics these days. I should just remove the previous post.

My first Panaromic HDR

On second looks, it doesn't even look like a panaromic image. But hey... 15 images, and some serious computing power were used in its creation. One day I'll lay my hands on that CS4 64bit. My HDD must be feeling damn angry that there's 1gb of ram slacking away while it is forced to thrash about.

I waded into the water for this shot, ankle deep in soft, greyish mud. It's low tide these days, so I hope not to waste the opportunity to get more shots like these. I'll be back!

When the cold wind blows...

Today is not so sunny after all. Another day... perhaps.

Went for a walk in the park after the heavy rain, and found yet another casualty.

When time permits...

For the sake of blog revival, i'm posting this far from perfect picture. 

After a long day staring at 2 screens of codes, it's a relief to have a beautiful sunset. Sunset these days are very colourful, and I will try to go for more pictures if time permits.

Now... back to coding.

Power of motion

I'd like to visit beaches with much larger waves than these.

It's over... all over.

What a luxury it is to be able to doodle on 1 photo for the whole night =)
Read on if you have such a luxury too...

After sooo many days of inactivity, i wanted something special to refresh this blog. The weather these days are dry and hot. While i do curse and swear at how much floor mopping i'll have to do, its also true that the sunset is a lot more colourful.

Exams are finally over, after less than 20 weeks of actual schooling (not counting test/break). Kindof feels like BMT, intense training/studying and stress and then poof... all the weight off your shoulders, but with the lingering worry of what's to come next.

I have no plans to go anywhere during the hols, but intend to do a lot more photography. Every shoot feels like a little holiday trip, especially those that i go solo. Its just you, and your way of seeing, unaffected by convention. I get to think aloud, commenting my own pictures and in a way, get to know myself.

While shooting this pic, i realised that i've changed a little in the way i compose. I am seeing it more as a painting than a picture. I ask myself questions like: If you were to paint this scene, what would you include? Colour or monochrome? How dark/bright would u paint this area.. stuff like that. Photography, with photoshop, gives me the power to make such decisions =)

Technical data: 5 exposures digitally blended. 2 GND8 stacked (results in the nice vignette at the top). Tokina 11-16 f11 at 11mm.

Barking up the tree

This was an opportunity shot. I wasn't there to shoot chameleons. I just thought this chap's position allows for an interesting composition.

I was in WCP for cycling, trying to feel some wind from an otherwise hot and humid day. Although there is no autumn in SG, the amount of dried leaves and flowers is still substantially more. Stopped to have a second look at a particularly beautiful angle when i noticed this sunbather. Glad i brought my cam along.

The bigger version is a must see. I love the colours and details one can extract from shooting NEF.

Bankruptcy - Some people just don't care

Humans create their own problems. Let them die for all I care. As long as the sun still rises tomorrow, I will be here to embrace it.

Every sunny afternoon, these guys will be there for their spa. Always. I've made it a point to carry my camera with me today, and i think i'll do so more often.

Barely 200m long, this path to school never fails to surprise me. Rain or shine, there's always something interesting, if you've been observant enough. One day i shall stick a fisheye into one of these lizards' face. Until that day... For now, i'll look forward to school.