Police Coast Guard (Finding A Vision) - Passing Out Parade
Police Coast Guard (Finding A Vision) - Passing Out Parade
The Police Coast Guard Training School asked me to be the photographer for the passing out parade held yesterday at the Brani Base. Generally, I was quite tired after finishing my night shift, but headed on down anyway to the rotten base to get the transport over to the venue. However, due to the usual-mismanagement as well as poor-coordination of pepetually cannot-make-it departments (biggest one being the police national service department, the training school is a separate entity from the rotten base). The transport bus left a long long time ago when I thought that I had arrived EARLY to wait for the transport.
Nevertheless, due to the fact that some jokers in the base were driving over to the Brani base itself for the Passing Out Parade Ceremony, I managed to get whisked off at the last minute for a quick journey down to Pulau Brani. Along the way, the ride took me through Keppel Harbour as well as treated the occupants inside to a close up view of one of the economic powerhouses of our country - Our Port. Its very impressive and its very true when they say that "you'll feel like a tiny ant in the place". Magnificent ships as well as container cranes doing their work 24-7. Such a sight. The port is a one great place for architectural photography - though I don't think anyone will get the chance to stay in that place just for the purpose of artistic photography.
In my previous attempt at taking pictures of the passing out parade, what I encountered was severely blown highlights. That is, either I'll have the white of the Number 1 uniform well exposed with detail, but the black pants lose all detail. Else I will get black pants with a slight hue of detail, yet everything else white will be blown out overexposed. Very tricky situation. Almost similar to what most wedding photographers face - getting the perfect exposure. And to be honest, after 300 over photographs. I only had ONE pathetic picture with a perfect exposure, that combined both the details in the highlights as well as in the shadows. So that's a good place to start to show how difficult it can be despite the "technological advances" of the Nikon metering sensor. Generally, I had to do quite abit of editing for all my pictures taken - just to correct the exposure. So that's a point for me for improvement.
Other than that, I had a the pleasure of meeting up with a very old friend - in fact, a classmate from my primary one class, who was in one of the graduating squads. As I readied my equipment and all. He called up to me and handed over his Sony Camera and asked me to snap pictures for him. So funny. Don't buy a sony! Buy either Nikon or Canon! Else Leica or a Hasselblad (for film). The rest cannot make it! Ok I admit that inside every Nikon Camera is actually a sony sensor! (Talk about irony!) Besides all this equipment, I'm glad to be reunited in a rather unexpected way with one of the guys I've known for so many years - just that we eventually lost contact due to the fact that I went to the Most Nonsense College In The Country while he went to further his studies in the Polytechnic. And the time disparity is quite great too. Here he was, just about to enter to the folds of finishing his training and really starting out to serve his slave debt to the nation. And I will technically be a free man within less than 3 months time. No consolation for the fact that most guys I know went in later than me and will come out earlier (in March). So that sucks.
Generally, after tweaking a couple of settings in my camera as well as having installed a custom curve to generate a desired sequence of colors, I somehow set my white-balance wrongly. Very wrongly! Most people won't care about the white balance. However, its an essential thing in removing color casts in the pictures (unless you just want black and white ones). Its not nice to have a neatly pressed white colored number one uniform in a shade of cyan, or green or yellow or magenta. Perfect white is a must. And its very important. It wouldn't be nice if a particular bride's dress turned out with a hue of green in her wedding pictures. Being a cloudy day, I set my white-balance to "warm up the pictures". So they don't end up with a hue of cyan or a bluish cast. I warmed up the pictures so much - that everyone's face came out in a dark shade of red! Lesson Learnt: Do not judge exposure by looking at the LCD outdoors. I spent a great deal of time later on removing this self-imposed red color cast on everyone's faces. Else it would be unacceptable to use the pictures.
Generaly, nothing much goes on at a passing out parade. Its just a march in. A speech, a presentation of prizes. Singing of the national anthem followed by a march past and a march off. I've been inside myself. And seen it like once every three months. Overall, this time round, I felt personally confident enough to shoot the entire sequence just using one prime lens - yes the slow focusing, pathetic neither-here-nor-there 50mm lens. I find that a zoom gives me too many choices to shoot pictures with. And I often miss the decisive moment of a picture just because I'm busy adjusting for composition. Zooms make me lazy! A prime however, means that I have to actively move forwards and back of what I see through the viewfinder does not fit me. Zooms and Primes have their individual uses. I thought that I would never go the prime route and even laughed at it before. Guess that I'm wrong! A digital SLR camera plus a Prime equals to slightly better pictures for me currently. I will usually crop off the part I feel is more suitable in photoshop later on. Cropping isn't exactly "good". But for now, it works for me. And I'd like to outgrow its use eventually.
It was quite an easy shoot I would say. Because I had already experienced how the whole deal would go. I could walk from one spot to another to capture the various shots. My previous attempt saw me running all over the place like a rabid dog in a vain attempt to get some shots - many good ones which were lost in the silly process of zooming the camera lens. Goes to show that I have a long way to go still in terms of technique. Its challenging, yet fun and enjoyable to a certain extent. And I'd like to push myself a little bit. No excuses. Yet now I think an 85 or 90mm lens will suit my photography just fine. And I'd love to venture into portraiture eventually because of the variability of the depth of emotions that can be captured in one sitting. On hindsight, anyone wants to volunteer for me and Nico to do a portraiture session with me and Nico in our stabbing strike out to explore this genre of photography?
Everyone laugh at me: I even used the pop-up flash on my camera in favor of the big external one, which just sat inside my camera bag throughout the whole proceedings until the very last part - where I had to get a large group shot. This is only when my wide angle zoom comes in very handy. Oh well... A Canon 1Ds Mark II is nice to have....Imagine what I can do with 16.4 megapixels....I can crop off 1/4 the picture and still have a "4.1 megapixel" picture. Oh well, I guess there is nothing left to be said except that in a Passing Out Parade - its quite bland in terms of emotion. You get nothing but a few rows of men who are supposed to act serious, stern and stiff-necked. Yet in terms of coverage, there is only so many angles I can go and there is just only so many actions shots I can do for now. Until I find a Vision that is...
The Police Coast Guard Training School asked me to be the photographer for the passing out parade held yesterday at the Brani Base. Generally, I was quite tired after finishing my night shift, but headed on down anyway to the rotten base to get the transport over to the venue. However, due to the usual-mismanagement as well as poor-coordination of pepetually cannot-make-it departments (biggest one being the police national service department, the training school is a separate entity from the rotten base). The transport bus left a long long time ago when I thought that I had arrived EARLY to wait for the transport.
Nevertheless, due to the fact that some jokers in the base were driving over to the Brani base itself for the Passing Out Parade Ceremony, I managed to get whisked off at the last minute for a quick journey down to Pulau Brani. Along the way, the ride took me through Keppel Harbour as well as treated the occupants inside to a close up view of one of the economic powerhouses of our country - Our Port. Its very impressive and its very true when they say that "you'll feel like a tiny ant in the place". Magnificent ships as well as container cranes doing their work 24-7. Such a sight. The port is a one great place for architectural photography - though I don't think anyone will get the chance to stay in that place just for the purpose of artistic photography.
In my previous attempt at taking pictures of the passing out parade, what I encountered was severely blown highlights. That is, either I'll have the white of the Number 1 uniform well exposed with detail, but the black pants lose all detail. Else I will get black pants with a slight hue of detail, yet everything else white will be blown out overexposed. Very tricky situation. Almost similar to what most wedding photographers face - getting the perfect exposure. And to be honest, after 300 over photographs. I only had ONE pathetic picture with a perfect exposure, that combined both the details in the highlights as well as in the shadows. So that's a good place to start to show how difficult it can be despite the "technological advances" of the Nikon metering sensor. Generally, I had to do quite abit of editing for all my pictures taken - just to correct the exposure. So that's a point for me for improvement.
Other than that, I had a the pleasure of meeting up with a very old friend - in fact, a classmate from my primary one class, who was in one of the graduating squads. As I readied my equipment and all. He called up to me and handed over his Sony Camera and asked me to snap pictures for him. So funny. Don't buy a sony! Buy either Nikon or Canon! Else Leica or a Hasselblad (for film). The rest cannot make it! Ok I admit that inside every Nikon Camera is actually a sony sensor! (Talk about irony!) Besides all this equipment, I'm glad to be reunited in a rather unexpected way with one of the guys I've known for so many years - just that we eventually lost contact due to the fact that I went to the Most Nonsense College In The Country while he went to further his studies in the Polytechnic. And the time disparity is quite great too. Here he was, just about to enter to the folds of finishing his training and really starting out to serve his slave debt to the nation. And I will technically be a free man within less than 3 months time. No consolation for the fact that most guys I know went in later than me and will come out earlier (in March). So that sucks.
Generally, after tweaking a couple of settings in my camera as well as having installed a custom curve to generate a desired sequence of colors, I somehow set my white-balance wrongly. Very wrongly! Most people won't care about the white balance. However, its an essential thing in removing color casts in the pictures (unless you just want black and white ones). Its not nice to have a neatly pressed white colored number one uniform in a shade of cyan, or green or yellow or magenta. Perfect white is a must. And its very important. It wouldn't be nice if a particular bride's dress turned out with a hue of green in her wedding pictures. Being a cloudy day, I set my white-balance to "warm up the pictures". So they don't end up with a hue of cyan or a bluish cast. I warmed up the pictures so much - that everyone's face came out in a dark shade of red! Lesson Learnt: Do not judge exposure by looking at the LCD outdoors. I spent a great deal of time later on removing this self-imposed red color cast on everyone's faces. Else it would be unacceptable to use the pictures.
Generaly, nothing much goes on at a passing out parade. Its just a march in. A speech, a presentation of prizes. Singing of the national anthem followed by a march past and a march off. I've been inside myself. And seen it like once every three months. Overall, this time round, I felt personally confident enough to shoot the entire sequence just using one prime lens - yes the slow focusing, pathetic neither-here-nor-there 50mm lens. I find that a zoom gives me too many choices to shoot pictures with. And I often miss the decisive moment of a picture just because I'm busy adjusting for composition. Zooms make me lazy! A prime however, means that I have to actively move forwards and back of what I see through the viewfinder does not fit me. Zooms and Primes have their individual uses. I thought that I would never go the prime route and even laughed at it before. Guess that I'm wrong! A digital SLR camera plus a Prime equals to slightly better pictures for me currently. I will usually crop off the part I feel is more suitable in photoshop later on. Cropping isn't exactly "good". But for now, it works for me. And I'd like to outgrow its use eventually.
It was quite an easy shoot I would say. Because I had already experienced how the whole deal would go. I could walk from one spot to another to capture the various shots. My previous attempt saw me running all over the place like a rabid dog in a vain attempt to get some shots - many good ones which were lost in the silly process of zooming the camera lens. Goes to show that I have a long way to go still in terms of technique. Its challenging, yet fun and enjoyable to a certain extent. And I'd like to push myself a little bit. No excuses. Yet now I think an 85 or 90mm lens will suit my photography just fine. And I'd love to venture into portraiture eventually because of the variability of the depth of emotions that can be captured in one sitting. On hindsight, anyone wants to volunteer for me and Nico to do a portraiture session with me and Nico in our stabbing strike out to explore this genre of photography?
Everyone laugh at me: I even used the pop-up flash on my camera in favor of the big external one, which just sat inside my camera bag throughout the whole proceedings until the very last part - where I had to get a large group shot. This is only when my wide angle zoom comes in very handy. Oh well... A Canon 1Ds Mark II is nice to have....Imagine what I can do with 16.4 megapixels....I can crop off 1/4 the picture and still have a "4.1 megapixel" picture. Oh well, I guess there is nothing left to be said except that in a Passing Out Parade - its quite bland in terms of emotion. You get nothing but a few rows of men who are supposed to act serious, stern and stiff-necked. Yet in terms of coverage, there is only so many angles I can go and there is just only so many actions shots I can do for now. Until I find a Vision that is...
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