Pictures
Picture
Listening to Corrine May - Safe In A Crazy World
A few friends reminded me to update this blog. "At least once a month" as I had promised earlier. Or else its "go update veryoff!" Realise that there are still quite a number of visitors, either regular or else from search engine hits or blog links. I wanted to write out a hugely long post. First draft was so long it nearly became a short story. 2nd draft was just not going anywhere. All I can say is that, it has been very good taking pictures. I think I've taken more pictures in the past 6 weeks than in the 3 to 4 months combined prior. I'll just let the pictures do the talking in this case. I'll add in words and commentary here and there.
Much has happened this the police cup rugby finals. The days after up leading to now have been nothing short of a photographic adventure. And the thoughts and thinkings garnered through these few weeks have been a wealth of experience as well as maturity-building knowledge. Other than that, its been a great time improving photographically. I've updated the galleries and I think I'll update and change the template of this blog as well as the big image up there when I have time later in the coming weeks. Can't even find the vision yet... other than that. Well... just give some time for all the pictures to load. Normally I don't post up pictures of myself on this blog. But I guess since practically everyone who reads this now knows how I look like. So be it!
Labrador Park Sunset, Nico Iskandar
Nikon FM2, Fujifilm Sensia 200, Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S. 1/60s, f/4 at 35mm
Central Business District, Nico Iskandar
Nikon FM2, Fujifilm Sensia 400, Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S. 30s, f/11 at 17mm
Marina South Road Tunnel, Nico Iskandar
Nikon F2, Fujifilm Velvia 50, Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S. 8s, f/8 at 28mm
Photoshoots with Master Photographer Nico have been good as usual. I've been taking quite a lot of pictures at things related to AC. Even though I've left the school quite a long time ago. I've been granted the few opportunities here and there to contribute a few snapshots. Partly because I enjoy it and I can improve. And partly its because I'd like to give back something to the Most Nonsense College In The Country - even though I almost got retained. LOL.
Passion ACJC. My most difficult photographic assignment EVER. Light conditions were extremely low. There was very little lighting in the place. What was worse was that most of it was backlight, on the subjects that I wanted to photograph. It was through this even that I came to believe in the use of the prime lenses. While losing the zoom, prime lenses usually have an aperture that is wider than that of the top of the line zooms and allow for flashless photography in really miserable lighting conditions. I'd say that many of my photographs from this event came out blur. Apart from that, shooting in artificial light was very tricky. I'd either end up with a red or orange cast on the singers on the stage, else a blue or green color cast of the people in the congregation.
Overall, Passion ACJC was just a great time. God moved in a great way in the school and I saw many people rededicate their lives to Jesus. I think the sound system never sounded better and the presence of the Lord was very real in the hall. For once, it did not feel like a dried out and baked up chapel session from my year that people would fall asleep in during mondays not too many years ago. I know this because I often spied her sleeping during chapel, ok!
Other than that, it was great seeing and meeting up many friends as well as greeting many familiar faces once again. I'd like to make a special mention. 2 posts prior to this, you might remember that picture from the rugby finals where it was nothing but a picture of photographers on the field? And the last person I mentioned was holding a Canon EOS 1D Mark II. I had the pleasure of finally meeting this fine young photographer at Passion ACJC. He doesn't own a Mark II, rather he has the predecessor to it - The Canon 1D. The best thing is that he bought the camera 5 years ago. Let's think. In the year 2000, did you have a digital camera? Much less one that was 4 megapixels? I believe in those days 1.3 megapixel cameras were the norm. Top of the line consumer ones were 2 megapixels or so? And people were advocating that "digital will never beat film". Wow, how times have past. (The Canon EOS-1D used to sell for a five digit figure approaching the twenty thousand dollar mark five years ago when it was first launched. When most digital cameras were 2 megapixels. It was a mind blowing 4 megapixels going at 8 frames per second with lightning autofocus.)
Our dear friend here is a very gifted photographer. He is so good that if the school doesn't have him. It will be their loss. I believe he shall be the president of the photographic society next year. I certainly am crossing my fingers that he will gain that role because from the way he photographs - not to mention taking up photography at the age of 13 as well as having really strong skill as well as composition techniques. As a 17 year old. He really puts to shame many other photographers who are far older than him. So let's keep at eye out for this fine young man. An absolute pleasure to take pictures with him.
I was blessed spiritual, photographically and socially by Passion ACJC. It was just great. And through this event, I am forever convinced in the power of a prime lens, especially indoors in low light. I plan to accquire some good prime lenses as time goes by. Beyond this, I still need to find the vision.
Strangely just a few days later, by an incredibly strange amount of nonsense. I ended up sitting through a performance by the ACJC Chinese Orchestra. The story is incredibly nonsensical. Basically someone asked me to go watch Initial D as he has free tickets to the show. When it came closer to the time of the show. We realised that he had lost the tickets. Probability was that when he threw away a wrapper, he threw the tickets away as well. An hour prior to this, the fine young photographer from ACJC sent me an sms to notify me about the approval to photograph the ACJC Chinese Orchestra Concert that night. The guy who lost the tickets brought me and another friend to the venue since both of us didn't really know where it was. And somehow, the ticket-loser was mistaken to be one of the official photographers as well. In the end, 4 of us sat through the concert for free whilst snapping pictures of the event.
I've always enjoyed Chinese Orchestra music. Something cultural and even more. I never knew we had had a semblance of a Chinese Orchestra in my year. So this was really a treat. Either way, a blessing to attend, to take pictures and to appreciate the great music from our ACJC CO. It was good. Tiring but a good experience. Photographically, no good shots. Just a whole bunch of cliched photos as well as a few backstage ones. A good experience.
The next event I photographed related to school was the 30th Student's Council Investiture. I only heard about the event 5 hours before it started. My dear friend Matt messaged me of MSN that it was to be the NEXT DAY. Honestly, I was very tempted to just sleep through the even and not to wake up. In fact, even on the morning itself, I did not feel like going. Feeling that "they would have an official photographer" and all. As well as thinking that I would be the only joker who was out of dress in the whole wide entire school.
I WAS the only joker out of dress in the whole sea of white and blue! I wore red! Because that was the only comfortable shirt with a collar I had in my cupboard that day! The rest of my other shirts were being washed. Everyone in the student's council was so finely dressed in their AC Blazers. As I walked into school that day, I thought, "Aiyah, I shouldn't have come lah... I think this is going to be a waste of my time". So, well, the fine young photographer was there once again. With his arsenal of super-fast prime lenses. Not to mention. EXPENSIVE. In the upper picture, as the 29ths came down from the stairs. I could hear audible sobs. A few were rubbing their eyes. And for once, I realised how real all this really is - even though it might just "feel" like another photoshoot. In reality, there are emotions and feelings involved. One of the most important parts of photography is the capture of emotion. So I learnt something new that day. Capture Emotion at its peak.
I would say that the council investiture was my easiest photographic shoot. And to be honest, it was so easy, I couldn't believe it. I just go in, lift up the camera and lens and snap and it just comes out great! Passion ACJC had taught me some good tips in photographing in that place in low light. That day was much better in terms of lighting conditions - partly because there was light from the windows streaming in, and all the lights in the hall were on. I still did get some blur pictures because of poor and lazy handholding technique, and the lesson learnt would be to master manual metering indoors, instead of constantly relying on exposure compensation for a semi-auto exposure program mode.
It turned out that the school photographer could not make it to cover the latter part of the invetiture - where everyone would be gathered in the Viewing Gallery (Love that Place!) for the celebrations. So I was the only one there. Definitely a good time to photograph the outgoing 29th as well as the incoming 30ths. Badly dressed and all. It was good to see Matt once again, dressed up as the sole representative of the 26ths Student's Council. That must be like the funniest and most lame self portrait shot I ever took with another person in AC. LOL!
I'm just happy that day that a few student councillors came up to thank me for "my contributions" and all. They did take a few of my pictures and put it into a video of final memories. That's what you see in the last picture up there. All of them gathered around the projector screen to watch the movie. Other than that, I'm glad to see that my pictures have gone a long way to bless the lives of other people. I recognised a few prints of my pictures being passed around, as little postcards and on the reverse was usually a short message and note. Truth is that I don't print many of my pictures. If I do so, usually its "quite big" - at least 6R and above. I'm quite satisfied that even the web gallery reduced file size pictures yield pretty good prints. At the end of the day, I'm just happy they are being used one way or another. Not that I can boast about it. That what God has given to me, can go to bless others.
It was a beautiful day to take pictures. The sun was great and all. I shot this through the glass of the viewing gallery. I would say on that day. Most of my pictures were more tuned towards the "snapshot" side. Its like, there really isn't any strong pictures of the even "vision-wise". Even my camera flash ran out of battery (I had a feeling I had to change the batteries that morning, but ignored it and did not bring any spares thinking it would last) and thus had to resort to telling the councillors to face the windows when doing a group shot - to avoid backlit group portraits. (My camera does not have a pop up or in-built flash.)
Whatever it is, I wish the 30th Student's Council the best in the endeavours. The Best Is Yet To Be!
These are images from my own photoshoots.
The last and final event that I shall make mention of with regards to school related photography would be the National Schools Swimming Championships. And whilst AC did not win, it was a great experience nonetheless, photographically as well as seeing both ACJC and MGS seated side by side in the bleaches of the Toa Payoh swimming pool. Its quite a sight to see both schools cheering as one for either side. MGS and ACJC people working side by side. Hahahaha. Very nostalgic. *cough!*
In my rugby finals post, you might recall me casually mentioning about some ACJC senior who had both the Canon and Nikon 400mm lenses. Well, by some strange coincidence, this particular senior was back in Singapore during the swimming championships. He brought exactly ONE LENS and exactly ONE BODY to the event. And he let me play with his camera lens.
Photography by Stephanie Lee
THAT is the BIG MAMA Lens. The Canon 400mm f/2.8 L lens. This is the older version of the latest canon model that features an in built image stabliser. This lens is only superseeded by the Papa Bread lens. The 600mm f/4. Hahaha. This senior brought along a 2x teleconvertor. Adding it to the lens and to my camera body. It became a monsterous 800mm f/5.6 lens! It is a prime lens. Hence you cannot chose the focal length of the lens. What you see in the viewfinder is what you get. The lens is immensely heavy and I injured my upper shoulder by hand holding the lens for over three minutes or so. A Monopod was needed. The lens was so heavy that even the ballhead attached to the lens could not support its massive heft and weight. It was a challenge controlling this lens. Even more using it.
Photography by Stephanie Lee
At 800mm, one can stand at the opposite end of the pool and cut about a half body portrait of a swimmer standing on the other end. It is so powerful and you automatically get noticed anyway. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to carry, have a feel and use this massive lens. An experience in itself. When shooting a portrait of a person over 6 meters away using the 400mm focal length. It just very nicely fits a person's head into the frame of the viewfinder. Not only that, the depth of field is so shallow that it just barely slices through the eyes, nose and lips, rendering everything else as a pleasing and soft blur. The autofocus is lightning fast, the lens is razor sharp wide open and is just one incredible piece of metal that creates great images. One need a good photographic vision to fully utitlise this lens. Even more so. For once in my life. I actually felt like one of those "official photographers" hahahaha. Just for the fun of it and I really really cherished the experience.
While AC did not win much in swimming this time round. It doesn't matter. There was still the jumping into the pool celebrations. Thank God nobody pushed me into the pool even though I was barely a feet away from most of the guys that were promptly dumped in after the singing of the school anthem. Most of the pictures can be found on the pbase gallery. They aren't the best images I admit, yet I can say that I'm slowly improving and getting better step by step. I just need more time and practise as well as prayer before I find the Vision in photography. Its been great so far. Whatever is and whatever comes forth. The Best is Yet to Be!
Listening to Corrine May - Safe In A Crazy World
A few friends reminded me to update this blog. "At least once a month" as I had promised earlier. Or else its "go update veryoff!" Realise that there are still quite a number of visitors, either regular or else from search engine hits or blog links. I wanted to write out a hugely long post. First draft was so long it nearly became a short story. 2nd draft was just not going anywhere. All I can say is that, it has been very good taking pictures. I think I've taken more pictures in the past 6 weeks than in the 3 to 4 months combined prior. I'll just let the pictures do the talking in this case. I'll add in words and commentary here and there.
Much has happened this the police cup rugby finals. The days after up leading to now have been nothing short of a photographic adventure. And the thoughts and thinkings garnered through these few weeks have been a wealth of experience as well as maturity-building knowledge. Other than that, its been a great time improving photographically. I've updated the galleries and I think I'll update and change the template of this blog as well as the big image up there when I have time later in the coming weeks. Can't even find the vision yet... other than that. Well... just give some time for all the pictures to load. Normally I don't post up pictures of myself on this blog. But I guess since practically everyone who reads this now knows how I look like. So be it!
Nikon FM2, Fujifilm Sensia 200, Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S. 1/60s, f/4 at 35mm
Nikon FM2, Fujifilm Sensia 400, Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S. 30s, f/11 at 17mm
Nikon F2, Fujifilm Velvia 50, Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S. 8s, f/8 at 28mm
Photoshoots with Master Photographer Nico have been good as usual. I've been taking quite a lot of pictures at things related to AC. Even though I've left the school quite a long time ago. I've been granted the few opportunities here and there to contribute a few snapshots. Partly because I enjoy it and I can improve. And partly its because I'd like to give back something to the Most Nonsense College In The Country - even though I almost got retained. LOL.
Passion ACJC. My most difficult photographic assignment EVER. Light conditions were extremely low. There was very little lighting in the place. What was worse was that most of it was backlight, on the subjects that I wanted to photograph. It was through this even that I came to believe in the use of the prime lenses. While losing the zoom, prime lenses usually have an aperture that is wider than that of the top of the line zooms and allow for flashless photography in really miserable lighting conditions. I'd say that many of my photographs from this event came out blur. Apart from that, shooting in artificial light was very tricky. I'd either end up with a red or orange cast on the singers on the stage, else a blue or green color cast of the people in the congregation.
Overall, Passion ACJC was just a great time. God moved in a great way in the school and I saw many people rededicate their lives to Jesus. I think the sound system never sounded better and the presence of the Lord was very real in the hall. For once, it did not feel like a dried out and baked up chapel session from my year that people would fall asleep in during mondays not too many years ago. I know this because I often spied her sleeping during chapel, ok!
Other than that, it was great seeing and meeting up many friends as well as greeting many familiar faces once again. I'd like to make a special mention. 2 posts prior to this, you might remember that picture from the rugby finals where it was nothing but a picture of photographers on the field? And the last person I mentioned was holding a Canon EOS 1D Mark II. I had the pleasure of finally meeting this fine young photographer at Passion ACJC. He doesn't own a Mark II, rather he has the predecessor to it - The Canon 1D. The best thing is that he bought the camera 5 years ago. Let's think. In the year 2000, did you have a digital camera? Much less one that was 4 megapixels? I believe in those days 1.3 megapixel cameras were the norm. Top of the line consumer ones were 2 megapixels or so? And people were advocating that "digital will never beat film". Wow, how times have past. (The Canon EOS-1D used to sell for a five digit figure approaching the twenty thousand dollar mark five years ago when it was first launched. When most digital cameras were 2 megapixels. It was a mind blowing 4 megapixels going at 8 frames per second with lightning autofocus.)
Our dear friend here is a very gifted photographer. He is so good that if the school doesn't have him. It will be their loss. I believe he shall be the president of the photographic society next year. I certainly am crossing my fingers that he will gain that role because from the way he photographs - not to mention taking up photography at the age of 13 as well as having really strong skill as well as composition techniques. As a 17 year old. He really puts to shame many other photographers who are far older than him. So let's keep at eye out for this fine young man. An absolute pleasure to take pictures with him.
I was blessed spiritual, photographically and socially by Passion ACJC. It was just great. And through this event, I am forever convinced in the power of a prime lens, especially indoors in low light. I plan to accquire some good prime lenses as time goes by. Beyond this, I still need to find the vision.
Strangely just a few days later, by an incredibly strange amount of nonsense. I ended up sitting through a performance by the ACJC Chinese Orchestra. The story is incredibly nonsensical. Basically someone asked me to go watch Initial D as he has free tickets to the show. When it came closer to the time of the show. We realised that he had lost the tickets. Probability was that when he threw away a wrapper, he threw the tickets away as well. An hour prior to this, the fine young photographer from ACJC sent me an sms to notify me about the approval to photograph the ACJC Chinese Orchestra Concert that night. The guy who lost the tickets brought me and another friend to the venue since both of us didn't really know where it was. And somehow, the ticket-loser was mistaken to be one of the official photographers as well. In the end, 4 of us sat through the concert for free whilst snapping pictures of the event.
I've always enjoyed Chinese Orchestra music. Something cultural and even more. I never knew we had had a semblance of a Chinese Orchestra in my year. So this was really a treat. Either way, a blessing to attend, to take pictures and to appreciate the great music from our ACJC CO. It was good. Tiring but a good experience. Photographically, no good shots. Just a whole bunch of cliched photos as well as a few backstage ones. A good experience.
The next event I photographed related to school was the 30th Student's Council Investiture. I only heard about the event 5 hours before it started. My dear friend Matt messaged me of MSN that it was to be the NEXT DAY. Honestly, I was very tempted to just sleep through the even and not to wake up. In fact, even on the morning itself, I did not feel like going. Feeling that "they would have an official photographer" and all. As well as thinking that I would be the only joker who was out of dress in the whole wide entire school.
I WAS the only joker out of dress in the whole sea of white and blue! I wore red! Because that was the only comfortable shirt with a collar I had in my cupboard that day! The rest of my other shirts were being washed. Everyone in the student's council was so finely dressed in their AC Blazers. As I walked into school that day, I thought, "Aiyah, I shouldn't have come lah... I think this is going to be a waste of my time". So, well, the fine young photographer was there once again. With his arsenal of super-fast prime lenses. Not to mention. EXPENSIVE. In the upper picture, as the 29ths came down from the stairs. I could hear audible sobs. A few were rubbing their eyes. And for once, I realised how real all this really is - even though it might just "feel" like another photoshoot. In reality, there are emotions and feelings involved. One of the most important parts of photography is the capture of emotion. So I learnt something new that day. Capture Emotion at its peak.
I would say that the council investiture was my easiest photographic shoot. And to be honest, it was so easy, I couldn't believe it. I just go in, lift up the camera and lens and snap and it just comes out great! Passion ACJC had taught me some good tips in photographing in that place in low light. That day was much better in terms of lighting conditions - partly because there was light from the windows streaming in, and all the lights in the hall were on. I still did get some blur pictures because of poor and lazy handholding technique, and the lesson learnt would be to master manual metering indoors, instead of constantly relying on exposure compensation for a semi-auto exposure program mode.
It turned out that the school photographer could not make it to cover the latter part of the invetiture - where everyone would be gathered in the Viewing Gallery (Love that Place!) for the celebrations. So I was the only one there. Definitely a good time to photograph the outgoing 29th as well as the incoming 30ths. Badly dressed and all. It was good to see Matt once again, dressed up as the sole representative of the 26ths Student's Council. That must be like the funniest and most lame self portrait shot I ever took with another person in AC. LOL!
I'm just happy that day that a few student councillors came up to thank me for "my contributions" and all. They did take a few of my pictures and put it into a video of final memories. That's what you see in the last picture up there. All of them gathered around the projector screen to watch the movie. Other than that, I'm glad to see that my pictures have gone a long way to bless the lives of other people. I recognised a few prints of my pictures being passed around, as little postcards and on the reverse was usually a short message and note. Truth is that I don't print many of my pictures. If I do so, usually its "quite big" - at least 6R and above. I'm quite satisfied that even the web gallery reduced file size pictures yield pretty good prints. At the end of the day, I'm just happy they are being used one way or another. Not that I can boast about it. That what God has given to me, can go to bless others.
It was a beautiful day to take pictures. The sun was great and all. I shot this through the glass of the viewing gallery. I would say on that day. Most of my pictures were more tuned towards the "snapshot" side. Its like, there really isn't any strong pictures of the even "vision-wise". Even my camera flash ran out of battery (I had a feeling I had to change the batteries that morning, but ignored it and did not bring any spares thinking it would last) and thus had to resort to telling the councillors to face the windows when doing a group shot - to avoid backlit group portraits. (My camera does not have a pop up or in-built flash.)
Whatever it is, I wish the 30th Student's Council the best in the endeavours. The Best Is Yet To Be!
These are images from my own photoshoots.
The last and final event that I shall make mention of with regards to school related photography would be the National Schools Swimming Championships. And whilst AC did not win, it was a great experience nonetheless, photographically as well as seeing both ACJC and MGS seated side by side in the bleaches of the Toa Payoh swimming pool. Its quite a sight to see both schools cheering as one for either side. MGS and ACJC people working side by side. Hahahaha. Very nostalgic. *cough!*
In my rugby finals post, you might recall me casually mentioning about some ACJC senior who had both the Canon and Nikon 400mm lenses. Well, by some strange coincidence, this particular senior was back in Singapore during the swimming championships. He brought exactly ONE LENS and exactly ONE BODY to the event. And he let me play with his camera lens.
THAT is the BIG MAMA Lens. The Canon 400mm f/2.8 L lens. This is the older version of the latest canon model that features an in built image stabliser. This lens is only superseeded by the Papa Bread lens. The 600mm f/4. Hahaha. This senior brought along a 2x teleconvertor. Adding it to the lens and to my camera body. It became a monsterous 800mm f/5.6 lens! It is a prime lens. Hence you cannot chose the focal length of the lens. What you see in the viewfinder is what you get. The lens is immensely heavy and I injured my upper shoulder by hand holding the lens for over three minutes or so. A Monopod was needed. The lens was so heavy that even the ballhead attached to the lens could not support its massive heft and weight. It was a challenge controlling this lens. Even more using it.
At 800mm, one can stand at the opposite end of the pool and cut about a half body portrait of a swimmer standing on the other end. It is so powerful and you automatically get noticed anyway. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to carry, have a feel and use this massive lens. An experience in itself. When shooting a portrait of a person over 6 meters away using the 400mm focal length. It just very nicely fits a person's head into the frame of the viewfinder. Not only that, the depth of field is so shallow that it just barely slices through the eyes, nose and lips, rendering everything else as a pleasing and soft blur. The autofocus is lightning fast, the lens is razor sharp wide open and is just one incredible piece of metal that creates great images. One need a good photographic vision to fully utitlise this lens. Even more so. For once in my life. I actually felt like one of those "official photographers" hahahaha. Just for the fun of it and I really really cherished the experience.
While AC did not win much in swimming this time round. It doesn't matter. There was still the jumping into the pool celebrations. Thank God nobody pushed me into the pool even though I was barely a feet away from most of the guys that were promptly dumped in after the singing of the school anthem. Most of the pictures can be found on the pbase gallery. They aren't the best images I admit, yet I can say that I'm slowly improving and getting better step by step. I just need more time and practise as well as prayer before I find the Vision in photography. Its been great so far. Whatever is and whatever comes forth. The Best is Yet to Be!
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