Let's get a new...

Whatever it is, that statement means something old must go. Is it really unusable? Have you made an effort to ask if someone else is willing to take in that non-so-new furniture?

On assignment: Fahrenheit @ indoor stadium

When some people decide to name themselves after a temperature scale, I should have expected them to play it hot. But... not THAT hot. Read on to find out more...

No i'm not gay. I was referring to the literal meaning of hot, being so close to being barbecued by some hidden pyrotechnics. As they gathered for their first group pose, I rushed forward with my 11-16 and shoom! I was less than a meter from the nearest volcano, and the heat wave was intense. Picture wasn't great as the exposure was blown by the flames. Not worth the risk coming to think of it.

The lighting for the first 3 songs were bland. No gobo-ed spotlights, no beautiful patterns, no back-lighting, just some crude LED screen behind making the stage look like some variety show. 4 spotlights beamed down on the singers, and when they converge, the exposure quadrupled. Their sweat resulted in some harsh specular highlights that were far from flattering. With no light patterns to compose with, their expressions and moves became the natural points to look out for.


But there were other problems. The stage was high. Lots of monitors lined the edge, making it hard to get a full body shot. I didn't want to move in too close after the first experience with those hidden pyrotechnics. So in the end it was more of those cliche tele shots which you don't gain much satisfaction from.

For the third song they walked down a catwalk, allowing for more refreshing angles. Here i mounted the fisheye and flash and unleashed a lightning storm back at them. =)

Just as i pack up to leave, an abundance of lighting effects filled the stage. What a taunt!

Bottled water

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.

Dusty filters can surprise...

...but a rusty brain can only kill.

Sunrise-refreshed

Someone posted the previous version on her facebook =) So i clicked it again just for fun. Before i knew it, 4 hours of my weekend was gone. Click on to waste your day as well...

Viewing the previous edition on a calibrated screen looked very different. Too contrasty, over-sharpened, over saturated.. basically photoshop on steroids. The use of double GND also resulted in the background rocks devoid of detail, not doing justice to the scene i recall.

Now that i can run capture NX2 properly, i decided to give those NEFs another go. The final version is blended from 6 different files. Added a touch of warmth at the end.