Blue and Barren

Life

An illusionary light rests on the horizon,
Promising warmth and joy.
But those who tries to reach for it,
Will just drown and die.

Tea Time

The golden sun climbs over hills,
carefully baking rolls of lush greenery.
Cool wind peels away stress and sorrow
and freshens one up for the day ahead.
What better way to embrace the moment,
than savoring a cuppa rich English Tea?

Lightpainting

Lightpainting

I'm very sad to say that most of the photos were blurred, due to poor judgment of manual focusing. (with the exception of the group shot, which i uploaded at full res) I've resized them for web use.

Starry Sky

This has to be one of my favourite pictures. The big bright moon was behind the observatory, creating the glow in the sky. The observatory was lit by streetlamps though, making it obsessively red i had to adjust saturation levels.

The night sky is crystal clear in SA. Galaxies are clearly visible, and the place is so deserted light pollution is minimal (unless the moon comes out) Apparently that's why there are 2 observatories in a village the population of 300.

Snapped this picture with a tokina 12-24mm, with the setup dangerously propped by stones (maybe bones) i picked up around me. The camera dropped once (no serious injuries though). The picture had better be good.

Lights at dusk

There is always one important advice when it comes to landscape photography: Patience. Wait for the golden moment, which is usually during dawn and dusk. This is the moment when the colours of the sky are most intense.

It struck me how contrasting the sunset in South Australia seemed. One side of the sky was red with fury, blazing as if a phoenix just made a crash landing. The other was a moody purple, with a rainbow of red, yellow and blue. It was a wonderful sight, and well worth the dinner i missed for the photographs.

Shot through an 80-200mm f4. Colours straight out of camera!

This looks pretty much like a rainbow...

This is the part of the sky in between the red and blue. Wonderful colours i must say!

Outback in SA

Shan't mention what i've been doing in this bone-dry, fly infested land, with hardly any soul 129000 sq km around me. Any Singaporean male (or their girlfriends) would have guessed.

Nonetheless, i took the risk and brought out my full kit of photographic toys. No regrets... even though my d70's on/off switch came back faulty. The scenery was simply stunning. Never would one find such lighting conditions in this wretched island of Singapore. The strong sunshine made the "ray-of-light" phenomenon almost an everyday matter. On other occasions, the sky could be so blue i wondered why i needed a polariser. Its a totally different land.

The above is the first picture i processed when i returned. Granted it may not be the best picture yet, but it sure got a seat in the "best shots" folder on my hard disk. Watch this space as i bring more and better photos taken from South Australia.

Wedding in Kuantan

Wedding #2 Coffee Table Layout

Another special opportunity for me to learn, a wedding of my relative. Unpaid... of course, given the amatuerish pics i took. Anyway, i decided to make a quick debrief to myself.

Biggest mistakes:

• overuse of wide-angle, resulting in obvious distortions
• Constant underexposure resulted in obsessive noise during PP. May be due to underpowered flash though
• Lack of focus on capture of expressions and mood

Improvements over previous assignment:

• More accurate white balancing
• Better lighting for group shots

Personally i'd rate it a $250 job... compared to $150 for the previous wedding. When will my next wedding opportunity come?