Through The Looking Glass...

February

2009-02-24T19:31:00.005+08:00

The sands of time...

The Knight...

Bokehdom

2009-01-26T11:12:00.012+08:00

Bookish endeavours

More uploads to follow!

High Steel

2009-01-10T23:49:00.001+08:00

Another shot of the Heeren towers (I think) lengthwise...

Love how the glass reflects the wispy clouds, giving it a rather smoky-dark feel...

It was a huge challenge framing up the lines without the use of a tripod... Another case where the IS comes in really handy when you're going freehand...

Karen Cheng

2009-01-04T19:40:00.003+08:00

As promised, us doing the Karen Cheng, during Caroling...

Okay, I had a bad hair day. Hair doesn't like adjusting back to the humidity of Singapore, hence it went floppier than a 2.5" diskette.

Translation

2009-01-04T11:38:00.011+08:00

I love the feel of how the gliding wisps of clouds and unusually blue evening skies translate onto a canvas of glass and steel...
A fusion of nature's beauty and artificial art...

Shot from the roof-terrace of the Somerset service apartments during the barbie, on the YF's remembrance night. This would be the Heeren's towers (I think!).

Well, it was a time of reflection wasn't it?
Perhaps, concerning personal/self-reflection, I'd have to post a Karen Cheng up... =)
(Heh! couldn't resist it... OHM.)

Light Red

2009-01-02T22:58:00.005+08:00

Yes, its light red.
> <
And no, I didn't pick to have this.

Reason for the Season

2008-12-30T22:35:00.006+08:00

Carolling in Singapore, a rare enough sight amidst all the misguided revelry, and well, it certainly brings out the reason behind the season...

Emmanuel- God With Us.

Orange

2008-12-30T09:32:00.005+08:00

The gardens in Rimkok, Chiang Rai, revisited...

The orange blooms at Rimkok have always been well kept, and presents a really brilliant display of colours... Comparatively to the 300d in the past, the rendering is really a step ahead, and on the flickr page, a close up onto the images at full scale would even bring to light tiny water droplets and various other interesting patterns...

I've been rather tied up with responsibilities during the trip, hence, the lack of photos... Perhaps, the only outstanding day was at Rimkok, where an hour of relative freedom allowed a little action... More photos to come if time permits...

Jouissance

2008-11-30T23:53:00.004+08:00

Gift
A fitting name.

Dreams
Some, can still afford to do so.
I hope this country doesn't smother yours.

Wonder

2008-11-30T09:52:00.005+08:00

All warm and Cosy...
(wasn't paying attention! heh.)

I Spy with my little Eye...
Captain cosmos and his camera again!
she's incredibly calm for a preschooler...

Espy

2008-11-28T21:05:00.010+08:00

Fiona's brother, Gift =)

One Small Step for Man
one big leap for mankind...
To infinity and beyond! (with lotsa love...)

The World's in Our Hands now...
Shot by Esther... I have no idea how she framed it, but it turned out really nice... (in my opinion at least ^ ^ I really really like this shot!) Glitter comets, glowing stars, and fluorescent pink galaxies on black art paper =)

Glimpse

2008-11-25T04:48:00.006+08:00

Some photos simply speak for themselves.

Simple Joy

2008-11-23T12:36:00.005+08:00

It was a wonderful week spent with the little ones during the vacation Bible school...

Perhaps, in photography, there is very little else that can compare to the joys of capturing stills amongst them. There is this liveliness, and spirit in it that cannot be found in the most brilliant of sunsets, or in the lofty grandeur of architectural wonders.

Being the mascot (I was Captain Cosmos! An intergalactic astronaut of unparalleled courage) helps tremendously, it removes any apprehension or unfamiliarity you might face...

It was a return, back to the days of childhood, before the simple joys of life, and crystal innocence are tainted by this world.

Above all that, there was no greater joy than to see them discover who God is.

It was a day with the 50mm, plenty of Bokeh, Off hand/hip shots, unfeigned smiles and innocent laughter.

Henderson Wave

2008-11-03T10:27:00.004+08:00

Shot during the outing at Henderson Wave.

Get it get it get it?

Henderson Wave, Henderson Waves

Henderson WAVES, Henderson WAVE

Henderson Road Waves.

Get it get it get it?

WAVES - LOOK AT THE YELLOW LINES

Ah. Lameness at its prime.

Spider Lilies

2008-11-02T09:19:00.002+08:00

Was down at the henderson wave during the day. Not really impressed. Flora and fauna was lacking terribly, the only thriving species were ants. I'm no macro photographer (I was infatuated with my 50mm all over again) and well, just did what little I could. As you can probably tell, I need a little more practice with aperture management. I tend to shoot at the lowest f-stops possible, but that leads to the lack of details or clarity. Well, practice, practice.

The architecture probably would work out alot nicer at night with the lighting. But then again, unless I have 10-22 or fisheye on me... I've got no interest in heading back anytime soon.

Well, I've got no desire to come back with a load of touristy sunset-with-cablecars-industrialpark-crassjungle-juxtaposed-"scenic" shots. So much for Singapore... I'd save my breath for streets, people, and the Thai trip coming up.

Mugathoner!

2008-10-27T23:12:00.004+08:00

2 Weeks to the exams, and we've been having mugathons in the library! This is a typical scene when James does his research papers. I've jut got to have the books laid out around me, and it sort of really reflects upon my scatter-brained, random mind. I flit from book to book like uhm... a butterfly from flower to flower, tasting the sweetness of the writings from ages past... Uhm Yes. Something like that.

Just me, iBernia, 5000+ musty books and God.

The Early Days

2008-10-27T13:58:00.005+08:00

Rummaged around lightroom, and found this little piece out of the 15000+ photos.

This was shot during a street shoot at Clarke Quay years ago when I first entered the DSLR territory. This would be one of the 5-foot walkways at the shopping/dining arcade. Architecture and Depth of field remains as one of my pet favourites.

I did compose this shot with a wider angle to the right, but that photo just got too distracting with unnecessary objects in the distance, so well, this was a product of the early experiments. It has a smooth finish due to the fresh renovations then.

Argent

2008-10-24T15:02:00.004+08:00

Here's something you won't find in car showrooms, fresh raindrops from an autumn storm...

Argent |ˈɑːdʒ(ə)nt|
adjective poetic/literary & Heraldry
silver; silvery white : the argent moon.

ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting silver coins): via Old French from Latin argentum ‘silver.’

Facing Life

2008-10-23T23:53:00.006+08:00

While messing around with fd's flickr toys' ego surf, I happened to find this shot I took some years back, and its sort of recently featured in Presscue's top 10 political graffiti heh.

If I remember correctly, this was shot while we were in Bethlehem, at a street right beside the massive concrete barriers set up by Israel to prevent insurgents from sneaking through. It was taken with my first digital camera borrowed from my parents, a little Creative silverbox that's probably about as good as most phone cameras today.

I guess the trip down to Israel was one that really did expose me to a whole other side of the world, and probably a little spark that did get me pretty much interested into photography, sort of a mini-revival of the photojournalist dreams I had when I was a kid. Its such experiences that makes you grow alot. We were on ground zero during an escalation, the tension hung like a thick blanket in the air. It was pretty much commonplace to hear rockets and jets flying over, and meeting armed men all around the city.

I utterly do detest those who have a whole lot of opinions and comments on the situation, but have never seen a single shot fired in anger, or faced a loaded rifle.
Just to think about all the general paper essays being written and school debates simply makes one sick. Kids playing politicians, having intellectual debates over issues where their only knowledge comes from wikipedia and the mass media.

Being in the face of such reality, it only felt right that such images of daily life be brought to the world.

If I had a choice, I'd gladly return back there, and just wander around at street level. I'd have no qualms about heading down into the heart and heat of things in Iraq either.

Smother

2008-10-23T15:19:00.003+08:00

Despite Urban renewal, development, or growth, however you'd want to phrase it, its still nice to see that certain things are left untouched by the hands of men...

Growth. Naturally, artificially.

Spotted this amidst Capitaland's development of ion downa in orchard, scotts, and well, thought that the cranes and construction work would juxtapose nicely with the tree amidst all the grays and harsh lines.

De Opresso Liber!

2008-10-20T11:14:00.003+08:00

Sketch ! I've always loved drawing as a kid, and its always kinda fun working with monochrome, even in photography =)

Off the cuff inspiration, well, it pretty much sums up the much-forgotten reformation that flipped the light switches on to a world of darkness...

De Opresso Liber!

Thai Cookout

2008-10-18T21:54:00.009+08:00

Saturday morning cookouts in college...

Been joining the Thai-Lahu guys...

Lahu-styled (I think!) Chicken curry, stir fried onions, parsley (yum)

And as a side dish, there's this eclectic Asian mix of barbecued ladyfingers, charred onions and garlic, mashed with dried, pounded chilli, and of course parsley!

The workings of 2 Authentic Thai-Lahus, 1 Aussie, and 1 culturally confused Singaporean...
It has a 3 fireballs rating =) Heeheex.

Perfect Love

2008-10-17T21:38:00.004+08:00

Homework =)

Declining/Parsing 1 John 1:1-2:6,

This is from 2:5, where the little phrase reads "the love of God has been perfected" literally...

Refers to the condition where if a man keeps the Word of God, he would be counted complete, and that is a completeness in the Love of God, where his life shows forth God's Love, the agape, sacrificial, unconditional love =)

It's been a rainy day, but well, I'm kind of too lethargic to head out and look for water droplets to shoot, so its back to macro at the desk, and indoors...

Breaking Fast

2008-10-16T18:41:00.003+08:00

If there's one thing that I'll never grow tired of munching on, its cereal-

I'm inclined towards the "basic" varieties, Kellogg's Special K has always been a favourite, along with Marks & Spencer's and Post's.
There's nothing more fun than working with basic cereal and low-fat milk, and mixing in condiments and little bits of whatever I can find, from chocolate chips, cubed wafers, diced fruits, to shredded coconut...

and as you might have guessed, Irish Cream blends in surprisingly well =))

Anticipation

2008-10-15T13:31:00.006+08:00

This semester's studies have proven to be far tougher than expected...

Well, I've been shooting very little as of late, I'm trying hard not to complain, but Singapore has this certain environment where it takes a fair bit of creativity and effort to bring art out of the land...

Thank God for an upgrade to a 30D, which I've hardly got a chance to fiddle around with to get used to...
I'm looking forward to the year end, where the 2 weeks in Thailand will grant me some time to do more extensive walkabouts, which has always been a brilliant time to relax a little, and work on the brighter side of the gray matter within this tiny skull...

I think since I'm confined largely to my studies and room... I'll try my utmost to bring up little bits of my daily life...

Library Cards!

I've been swotting away, and that requires frequent visits to the college library, and all night marathon stayovers in them...
I think these library cards are interesting, one would hardly have these around in today's age of barcode scanners and plastic gizmos...
We still work on a system of library cards, where all our books have little "borrower" cards in them to record the dates... Its kind of archaic and old-world... but well, in a library where books and works average back to the 1800s... what's new? =)

I'll try to shoot at least one piece every other day or so... =)

I've been writing more these days, on the journal proper...
deivorytower.livejournal.com

Glissade

2008-08-13T10:08:00.002+08:00

I've got a penchant for black and white lately.

The Exit.

The butterfly, exiting the water in poise, and form.

Glissade

Gliding without so much as a splash. A proper swim goes without noise, just the light, near silent sound of gentle ripples...

Rippled Soar

2008-08-10T10:13:00.002+08:00

He takes flight in water, as if it was nothing but air.

From a recent water shoot, an ol' buddy of mine who's currently a swimming instructor...

Stand Out!

2008-07-10T22:21:00.001+08:00

Outstanding...

Go against the flow. It doesn't matter if the rest are green with envy.

I See in the Sea...

2008-06-23T11:04:00.003+08:00

Okay, that's not really his name... a friend out walking during the low tide during my sunrise shoot...
Shot this with the cam barely a few centimetres off the water... Thank God it came out pretty nicely =)) It almost seems as if he's treading on water...

The Heavens Open...

Shot at white sands island, Bintan, Indonesia...

I'm in a bit of a photo editing frenzy now, after shooting 2k+ worth of photos after 2 camps... so well, more to come =))

A Snippet of June (So Far!)

2008-06-17T08:17:00.002+08:00

I've been busy/lazy... so here's a snippet.
More to come!

Rev. Titus Kilonzo Nzioka... Classmate and friend from Kenya =)
Shot on a bumpy boat ride, where the Image Stabby saved the day...

Low-tide during a sunrise shoot... it was a daily discipline of being ready at 530am >__<
Rewarding though =) Its actually water channels left after the tide receded...

A Quiet Measure...

2008-05-24T11:03:00.000+08:00

Under Nature's Arms We Rest...

Glimpses.

2008-05-24T10:48:00.003+08:00

As you can tell... I've been Slacking away...

Sunrise at Mersing. Crocs owned by another photographer who decided to go off on a beach hike sans shoes.

A little bit of lomo...

Snippet

2008-05-14T01:09:00.002+08:00

The Holidays have just started... so well, hopefully more to come... Shot in the morning light, which beautifully lit up the guitar...

Dance of the Pentagons...

2008-04-10T13:21:00.004+08:00

Tiny little pentagons of light caught through the 50mm lens.
It was interesting shooting this, watching the little glissades they made as they danced across the glass, and caroused along the night air, creating flickering patterns.

The 200th Photo to be posted up on flickr =)
Shot in Chiang Rai, where the cheery neon lights, dim streetlights, and the gloomy, inky darkness made an interesting set contrast...

A Time Past

2008-04-06T11:49:00.002+08:00

Dug this out of my massive photo archives...

Shot in the streets of a small town in Chiang Rai. Was off on a street shoot, walked past a little opening beside a shop, and caught sight of the scene. Shot it offhand, and it turned out rather nicely.

The clocks and calendars, as well as the two generations of aged women clinched the mood totally, and made the shot really "national-geographically" inclined.

More next time. Exams soon, followed by a massive holiday of 3 months, where hopefully I'll get to shoot and post more...

Beautiful Are The Feet of Them...

2008-03-22T12:02:00.001+08:00

Shot this off impromptu while we were on a mission trip off in North Thailand... The nice feet were quite a contrast to the rather stark and stony ground...

A verse comes to mind...
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things- Rom 10:15

Well, not literally of course, heh. It just sort of occurred randomly...

I Dream.

2008-03-13T16:31:00.002+08:00

I Dream.
Of the morning light,
Its gentle touch,
Golden shades of bright,
The wood's smoky scent,
Air's cold embrace,
Your presence close,
In that quiet place,
Of which so much was meant.

As a youth, I dreamt,
Flight, wings of steel,
Imaginary feathers, Gentle current,
Freedom, in the mind's reel.

Desolation

2008-03-08T23:36:00.001+08:00

Been busy again! Here's just one interesting shot.

Was on the way to SKS books near tanjong Pagar, there's this little hill nearby with some graves, and there's this little road at the side, where the huge trees surrounding it scatter enormous heaps of leaves upon the ground... from a distance it was a carpet of yellow, brown and mottled gray...

Whirlygigs.

2008-02-06T20:48:00.000+08:00

Round and round we go... a long exposure shot @ west coast...

A bunch of guys having insane fun on the merry go round... Induced concussion and motion sickness never felt so good...

Weekly Offerings- More bits from Thailand

2008-01-15T11:05:00.000+08:00

School's on in full swing now... but I'll try to post some shots up weekly...

Bamboo slats

Memories of quiet mornings sitting on these bamboo slats, reading, and spending time with God, its an environment, a place, a niche which you'll hardly find in Singapore.

A time almost surreal, away from the cares of this world, where you could almost believe there was no worry, no situations.

Just a simple sunrise, and time alone with my creator.

Reading, watching the soft light of dawn creeping above the trees, feeling the gentle caress and warmth of the morning rays, quietly dispelling the cold touch of night air.

Beautiful. I miss Thailand. The tranquility, simplicity of life there.

Some shots from suvarnabhumi airport again...

Guess what's this...

Fellow snapper.

Good day =)

Sails of Steel

2008-01-05T12:18:00.000+08:00

Little Bits of Architecture from Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Sails of steel...

School's started. 08's here. I think I'd be busy.

I'm hoping for a 30d. Hmm. I've maxed out my 300d.

Just a little...

2007-12-13T07:39:00.000+08:00

Here's just a little bit to keep your eyes bugged here =)

Shots taken in Thailand, Chiang Rai on my recent trip...

Lovely =)

And more Food! =)

Lightroom Madness. There's this flickr issue with colours and saturation, so they aren't turning out as well as they should...

Updates, A Magazine Offer and A Photoblog Feature =)

2007-12-12T02:03:00.001+08:00

Just back from a missions trip to Thailand,

2200 shots in 7 days, I predict my macbook and lightroom will merrily be burning away this Christmas season...

And there's a youth camp next week.

The strudel shot has been selected for a magazine publication!

Yay =)

And the kitty shot has been featured on the cutebabyfix photoblog...

http://cutebabyfix.com/2007/12/08/kitty-pillow/

Tidbits

2007-12-01T23:12:00.000+08:00

Here are little bits of eye candy while I'm busy.

I've discovered Lightroom. Yayness! =) It allows me to mass process stuff so much faster. Thumbs up on that.

I've been busy, despite the hols, I'm hardly home. I've been shooting alot my shutter count has crossed 15k, but finding little time to sit down and process stuff, and I'll be gone again on tuesday for a week to Thailand on missions, so hopefully I'll be back with great stuff, and time to process my shots...

So, enjoy these little bits. =)

Cold Steps

F/8 1/2s Iso 400, 28-135mm IS USM, Canon 300D

Chocolate Fondue Strawberries

F/5 1/13 Iso 200, 28-135mm IS USM, Canon 300D

Made by the guys for the girls on blue/pink evening.

Dribble dreams

F/8 1/500 Iso200, 28-135mm IS USM, Canon 300D

Shoot,chip,volley

F/8 1/800 Iso200, 28-135mm IS USM, Canon 300D

Friend on the rooftop of vivo city, candid, right off the floor shots. Leading lines and depth.

Here they are... for the time being...

Refreshers

2007-11-23T15:52:00.000+08:00

Exams are over, lots of shoots lately, and posts will be up soon...

New hardware, ditched windoze for the just refreshed Santa Rosa white macbook finally, checking out lightroom first, which I'm inclined to use for now... I'm not sure about aperture yet. And its alot more accurate to edit images up on a mac, the display is simply mindblowing, and the colours are great...

Cafe Pralet =))

2007-10-13T20:58:00.000+08:00

Just remembered I had some photos from an FCM outing to Cafe Pralet... Here are just little bits of it =) I didn't shoot much, heh, didn't know how they'll react to this guy with a massive dslr shooting at their stuff... =)

I don't think they have a website... but here's a link that shows the location...
http://www.hungrygowhere.com/caffe_pralet

The ambience in the place is really warm and cosy (at least in my opinion, I love warm lights, a yellow glowy interior, nice plush sofas, soft music...) And it wasn't crowded, just perfect for a place to chill out... Food prices are not too bad, you can get an entire decent meal at around ten bucks, (which includes dessert and a drink...) , and the proportions are quite alright... There's a cooking/baking school next door by the same people, so some of the creations I guess, come from next door... I can't remember the spread of cakes and stuff, but its a good variety, and some stuff is really rare, like the Irish Bailey Cream cake which I had...

Love the creative menu... Its a calendar stand thingy... =) Classy, modern, simple =)

Seafood baked rice! Really really good. ALOT OF CHEESE ON TOP =P```

THE BAILEY'S IRISH CREAM CHOCOLATE CAKE =))

Okay, it wasn't as great as I would have expected it to be... (cos the Irish cream taste wasn't that strong, and I'm an Irish Cream fan... Maybe the students baking it next door snuck some from the bottle. Grrr.)

I think I sound like a girl. Heh. Usually guys don't get this excited over pastries, cakes and chocolate. But it was good...

Had this sour plum cooler thingy for the drink... didn't snap pictures of it, but it was great... and they had real sour plums in it... (I got about 6 of them... heh, compared to the rest who got 3/4...) Thinking of it makes me thirsty...

WHO WANTS TO GO =)) I'll prob. find one day to org. an outing there to chill out and grab a meal after the exams...

Snippets of September

2007-09-29T21:27:00.000+08:00

Just 2 more Shots before the month's end, due to schoolwork commitments, things might be a little slow here, but I promise to be back with loads during the holiday season =) I've got 1 overseas trip to thailand and 1 camp, so do expect more then! In the meantime...

Urban Decay vs Urban Development

Shot it, because of the contrast between the left and right walls, where the left shows and older side of town that's decaying, despite facelifts, and the right would be the MPH building... Its a pretty stark contrast between the two... and the light cuts nicely across the road... Is modernisation just a facade of urban decay? Or does it just simply delay decay? =)

Just a simple backlane shot from near SMU, in the city hall area. Backlanes have always sparked a little curiousity in me to wander through them and see what goes on =) This lane had loads of graffiti here and there, and it was surprisingly neat and well kept despite the old buildings.

Workspace =)

here's a little peep of the wall beside my desk. Its decorated with my bright little moo cards to cheer up the day, along with letters, and various little postcards that livens up the place =)
And oh! there's still like 40-50+ moo cards if anyone needs little one-of-a-kind bookmarks =)

Shot yesterday for a combined FCM meeting, Most are people-shots, and I won't be posting them up here... Unless they give me their explicit permission of course... =) I have a certain flair of unglam photography. Or at least, few people appreciate the candid and portrait shots I shoot. It's about capturing expressions and emotions.

Perhaps because, I myself lack these two at times.

Don’t look for “depth” but instead search for subject aspects which prove the presence of depth. -Andreas Feininger

Flickers of September...

2007-09-25T15:24:00.000+08:00

I've been pretty busy this month to process much photos, and yups, being a bit lazy on that... heh.
Anyway, here are a few little glimpses of september's little endeavours...

Depths of the Kitchen Table

Canon300D F/3.5, Ex 1/50, Iso400, 28-135mm IS USM

It was a pretty fun afternoon as we attempted italian cuisine =)

Carbonara!

Bolognaise...

We ran outta sauces in the end...

And one random shot from the past which I missed out on posting...
Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry

Canon300d, F/22, Ex 1/40, Iso 200, 28-235mm IS USM

This is one vehicle with character in it =)

Fireworks Fest 07' - Team Spain

2007-08-19T11:34:00.001+08:00

It was a pretty wonderful experience to be able to shoot the fireworks fest from the panoramic view @ tanjong rhu, except for the fact that the team decided to concentrate majority, if not almost all of their bursts to be closer to the skyline then to the platform... It was a drizzly overcast evening, but thankfully the rain stopped at 7...
Thankfully got a life from Cecil, and hiked there with him and Eric(edgedale) for around 15 minutes to grab a pretty nice spot... Setup shop on the less-wet rocks there, and realised my tripod doesn't actually allow you to go very low... Was taught on how to do manual focusing by Cecil, and spent like 70 shots zeroing in on several buildings till I eventually got the sharpest that I could with my relatively old 300D...

Decided on the settings of 5-6seconds of exposure per shot, F/11, and Iso 100 of course, the widest lens I had was the 28-135mm IS USM, shot at the widest focal length... I guess its a tricky part now knowing how the team would organise their shots to appear... otherwise I would have scoped in closer...

Anyway, team Spain was relatively conservative I think? or maybe they're just saving up for the internationals in Malaysia in a week's time... Alot of low level sprays and bursts, and there were several moments went everyone went "tio con!" opening our shutters to realise that they were just gonna do a whole stretch of low level sprays... Heh, we ended up speculating that Team China would probably do better cos they have cheaper fireworks and cos they better practice hard for the beijing olympics...

This is the first batch, out of a total of over 120+ shots, not including the zeroing ones which would total it to 180+ for the whole night's shoot..

RED was a dominant colour that night =)

Images are best viewed large, from the flickr gallery... and my humble apologies if it takes some time to load... but it'll be worth it =)

One of my favourites... and one of their largest releases... Burn da launchas amigos!

This one's distinctly green tipped and shot individually...

This trio is spectacular... distinctly shot and it opens up to a very nice "saturn" like spread..

This is a distinctly large bouquet... not too messy, and very nice streaks...

This is one of the more intense releases, very nicely shot with bits of stardust around it...

This one's a very distinct bouquet, where you can see the individual bursts, nicely framed with stardust again...

Purple-pink is one of the rarer colours seen... beautiful !

Orange bursts with purple tips... breathtaking... its a good colour combination in my opinion...

This is how they look, in the early stage before a full blast... nice streaks...

Nice framing idea, a little strange cos of the green rain behind it, but still spectacular =)

This one's a beautiful spread to end it all off for this batch, a shower of diverse colours...

I'll be post processing more if there's time in the week, and yes, my Moo cards are here! =)

Media! Nowpublic.com =)

2007-08-11T11:33:00.000+08:00

Okay, I'm quite surprised and happy that nowpublic.com grabbed a shot up for their news article =)
I'm in the media! Lols =)

http://www.nowpublic.com/singaporeans-celebrate-national-day

Do head there and take a read, its a contribution-based sort of news site, so you get to see various opinions of particular featured issues and stories... Not just the usual controlled media that's restricted...

Here's the shot again, entitled Rainbow Burst!

City of possibilites? Duh! There's always possibilities anywhere, everywhere.
I think its a subtle move to sort of propagate to the masses that we're an "open" country...
Ironically, we're known to be in a place renowned for feeding the young to grind through the education system...

Fireworks!

2007-08-10T23:18:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was national day... After much debate, decided to head down to the esplanade at around 6, which was terribly late compared to the thousands of kiasu singaporeans who probably have been camping there since lunch time...

I had little wish of joining the crowd, even if it meant getting a clearer spot, it probably meant quite a fair bit of wasted hours... anyway, ended up at a nearby park opposite the esplanade, beside the war memorial, found a spot, which was pretty difficult, being jampacked , and where they had huge spreading trees around... Setup shop there, and was joined soon by a few other shooters, two american chaps, an indian national, and two nus guys...

I'll let the shots tell it all, it was difficult. We caught the side/rear end of the fireworks, accompanied by huge plumes of smoke from the rapid release... and the wind sort of wafted it all over the place... still managed to grab a few decent shots though...

Shots were taken with a tripod and the 28-135mm IS USM set at infiinty focus...

Cropped, and original...
Canon300d, f/8, 2.5seconds, 47mm focal length, Iso 100

Canon300d, f/8, 3.2 seconds, 47mm focal length, Iso100
National colours...

Canon300d, f/8, 2.5seconds, 47mm focal length, Iso100

It was a dodgy night, shot, and scooted out of there soon before the human floods enter the train station...

I'll post up more as soon as I get to post process more shots... =)

13 Lines of Death...

2007-07-22T11:05:00.000+08:00

The 13 lines of LCD death have appeared on my laptop screen progressively over the weeks...

Yeah. And the 13th one appeared on Friday the 13th... =)

Time to change... Giving up on PCs... gonna head over to Mac=) It'll be much better for post processing anyway...

Grr. Waiting for Comex... which is end august -_-

http://www.comexshow.com.sg/

I'm hoping for freebies =)

Street Shoot partII...

2007-07-15T09:23:00.000+08:00

Two more Shots from 11/7's walkabout shoot...

Unzip My Eyes...

300D, F/5.6, Ex 3/10, Iso400, w/28-135mm IS USM

After dinner, decided to walk down to the esplanade and sort of check out the platforms and stages built for national day, it was already pretty dark, decided to walk along esplanade bridge instead... This shot's taken from under the esplanade bridge, where the orange streetlights helped to cast this dim glow onto anything white, spotted this gap between the roads, and decided to venture a shot... It looks like giant zipper, with a building bring worked on in the distance...

Unzipping your eyes to the progress of society... where the physical is often too much an imaginary yardstick for the progress of the soul of society itself.

Esplanade...

300D, F/3.5, Ex 1/4, Iso200 w/28-135mm IS USM

Okay, I testify of Canon's Image stabilisation... managed to take a decent night shot at Iso200 =)
Shot this while on the esplanade bridge, somehow, it actually looks pretty beautiful with all the lights on... despite the harsh criticism of it being the durian... from certain angles it actually looks fine... (especially at night...) I think during the day it looks alot less impressive from the outside...

That's all for now... School's starting, so there'll be alot less shots for a while... perhaps.

Street Shoot...

2007-07-12T18:19:00.000+08:00

Walked about town yesterday, ran down to college to dump my duffel, and brought along the cam... took a bus down to city hall and sort of wandered to the Bugis area... there's alot of hidden nooks and crannies around, old buildings, backlanes that are worth walking around to explore... And I found this...

Have A Break...

Canon 300D F5.6, Ex1/100, Iso200 w/28-135mm IS USM

Chanced upon a sidelane near bugis junction, somewhere between that and the old NAFA building... spotted a whole row of rickshaws, and quite a number of rickshaw riders there taking a break, snoozing and socializing in their little social circles... Shot this kneeling on the road, where thankfully cars didn't turn right into me... The hanging towel and sleeping uncle on it lent quite a fair bit of depth and meaning to the scene... The world has changed alot, where the iron men of the past toiled physically in the open streets, and today's silicon warriors hide in towers of glass and steel staring at little screens... Such symbols are vanishing...

Received several weird looks from the uncles and one young ah beng rickshaw guy,a typical golden lion maned one, stood out from the rest of the greying uncles like parking an evo amongst several benzes. (The context must be ah beng, lols, I don't wanto say sore thumb. I don't think sore thumbs actually, literally stick out. Considering the fact that its your shortest finger.) Received glaring stares from him and several uncles, especially when they spotted this gina doing a high kneel on the side road, with the bulky cam. Decided not to shoot him.

Alone...

Canon300D, F/8, Ex1/25, Iso100 w/28-135 IS USM

Walked further down to where the old NAFA building/campus used to be... Saw this fella all tarped up and neglected... That street corner was a little out of place, facing buildings like raffles hospital and the bugis junction stretch where and old world faces the new across a single street...

Will post more soon... =) Really sleepy now... Zzz... Even though its dinner time...

Randomness from Church Camp

2007-07-07T20:23:00.000+08:00

Here are some random shots from Church camp... =)

Flicker

Canon300d F1.8 Ex1/800 Iso400 using the 50mm 1:8 Prime

Shot this while we were having dinner by the beach... was absolutely fascinated by the tikki lamps they put up, and especially so where they used glasses on them, instead of traditionally using kerosene or oil containers in bottles... Ventured a shot in the wind, and it gave some interesting shapes to the flickering flame =)

Surf's Up!

Canon300d F/3.5 Ex1/500 Iso400 w/ 28-135mm IS USM

Shot at the beach, they had surfboards on the beach stuck into the sand for decorative purposes. Warning tongue twister- They had surfboards there without sufficient surf for serious surfers to do some serious surfing =))
*cue applause* Lols...

Corridor

Canon300d F/1.8 Ex1/50 Iso400 w/ 50mm 1:8 prime

Taken whilst walking back at night, the ambience was typically beach-resort kinda, with warm lights, but it was really quiet here, and a little eerie on hindsight...

Kayaks & Canoes

Canon 300D, F/3.5, Ex1/80, Iso400 w/ 28-135mm IS USM

At the beach, spotted a whole stack of canoes sporting interesting colours other then your standard yellow/reds...

Friends!

Whiffer and Cream bananas have an uncanny resemblance. Dale has anime-like eyes that are waaayy huge. Plushies united! They still need the warmth and comfort of friends whilst stuck in a cold conference room... =)

Hurricane Lamp...

2007-07-05T08:38:00.000+08:00

This was shot in batam, just when we were having our dinner by the beach @ sundown...

Shot w/Canon 300D, f/3.5, ex 1/1000, Iso400, focal length30mm, w/ 28-135mm IS USM

If you look closely, the orange glow on the left is cast by the remnant rays of sunset, and the lights at the base of the lamp reflects the lights on the beach where others are having dinner, as well as the brighter lit sky behind...

Thought I lost this photo along with some others, somehow windows messed up by displaying them with another image, until you actually preview them. One more reason to be change to mac =)

Posted it on flickr. 5 hours later, this morning, I've got 22 comments and a 100+ views, which was a pleasant thing to wake up to... =) I'll be posting more...

More Hearts to Serve...

2007-07-01T23:20:00.000+08:00

More photos of the lovely spoons!

I love playing with the 50mm and Depth of field... =)
Boosted up the saturation and contrast to give it a little more emphasis and depth =)

A Heart To Serve

2007-07-01T10:44:00.001+08:00

A Heart To Serve, originally uploaded by jamestraceur.

Shot with a Canon300D, F/1.8, Ex 1/640, Iso400, 50mm 1:8 Prime

After 20+ tries at it, I think this is one of the best few shots =) Our youth fellowship's 9th anniversary souvenir, based on the theme "a heart to serve" spoons were chosen to represent the theme...

In the process, I've learnt how to pain cute little red hearts... (thanks to the 2 very patient art teachers...) Heh. In their opinion my hearts are way too slim (despite my protests that my hearts were healthy, unlike their sugar loaded fat ones) But you've got to admit, little wide, fat hearts brings the cuteness factor up by way more then a notch =)

I'll post more in time to come once I'm done with some post processing... =)

Walkabout shoot 28/06/06

2007-06-30T08:49:00.000+08:00

Romped around parts of the city hall area... Walked along the backlanes near the philatelic (I think it spells this way) museum near wesley methodist, back down to the central fire station...

An Angel Landed...

Shot at the Armenian Church, from a rear gate looking into the courtyard... Decided to put it in Sepia =)
Canon300D, F/16, Ex 1/50, Iso200, 28-135mm IS USM

Masonic Bouquet...

Canon300D, F/4, Ex 1/800, Iso200, 28-135mm IS USM
I walked past the masonic lodge, (into it actually) and shot this at their restaurant. Cool. Never knew they had a restaurant... Mrph. At least those freemasons didn't have security or stuff like that. Very foreboding place.

Arrowed Door...

Canon300D, F8, Ex 1/320, Iso200, 28-135 IS USM
Thought this door looked interesting... Shot it off one of the backlanes across from SMU near the cheers store...

More to come =) All photos linked to my Flickr Page

Flowers...

2007-06-27T21:04:00.000+08:00

This post will be entirely on flowers from my flickr page... =)
All shots were taken in India, Nagaland, Kohima...

I don't know the name of this flower... -_-
Canon 300D, F/8, Ex 1/640, Iso400, 28-135mm IS USM

Red Roses ! Canon 300D, F/8, Ex 1/200, Iso 400, 28-135mm IS USM

Morning light... Canon 300D, F/9, Ex 1/800, Iso400, 28-135mm IS USM

Its one of my favourites =) Its a shot worth seeing in its full size, which wont really fit here... Dropped the Iso down so there's alot less noise then the rest of the shots... Like the early morning light on this cap...
Canon 300D, F/8, Ex 1/160, Iso100, 28-135mm IS USM

Shot in the rain... Canon 300D, F/6.3, Ex 1/250, Iso200, 28-135mm IS USM

that's it for now... Will post more once I grab time to process the rest... They're available in different sizes on my flickr page... =)

Kohima War Cemetery... Flowers, graves, and memories...

2007-06-27T19:12:00.000+08:00

Kohima lies in the highlands of Nagaland, India, at an elevation of approximately 1444m (1.4km or 4738ft.) above sea level... and unknown to many its a turning point in the Burma campaign during WWII, alongside with another battle occuring at Imphal, many gave their lives to prevent the Japanese from establishing a foothold into India from Burma, being outgunned and outnumbered.

It's interesting to note that at the memorial, the allied soldiers were a mixed multitude of nations, cultures and religion. Amongst them were Indians, Sikhs, Gurkhas, Brits, Aussies, Scots, Irish, NewZealanders, Muslims, and Jews even. The site is still maintained by the commonwealth, and its a yearly affair for survivors and relatives to fly in to remember the day.

Another piece of forgotten history would be the Kohima poem, inscribed on this memorial...

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,

For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today

It's attributed to John Maxwell Edmonds (1875-1958) and it is thought to have been inspired by Simonides' Epitaph which bears similar resemblance... (okay, if you've watched Frank Miller's 300 you'll get the idea)

Ὦ ξεῖν’, ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε

κείμεθα, τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.

O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde

keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi.

which may be translated as:

Tell the Spartans, passer-by,

here, obediently, we lie.

(From wikipedia.com)

Interesting =) Simonides' epitaph is attributed to the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 spartans and other greeks stood against the full might of the Persian forces... Which is sort of similar to the situation at Kohima then...
The cemetery's located at what used to be the governor's tennis court (its still there)... where intense fighting took place.... All in all, its a peaceful place as most memorials are, and the gardens are well kept with lots of flowers... Went down in a heavy downpour, but managed to grab some pretty decent shots...

The entire memorial has multiple terraces...

An Unknown Soldier.

Rows of Plaques and the Tennis Court...

I'll put up the flowers on the next post... =)

Kitten Pillow- On TheKittenChannel.com

2007-06-27T01:27:00.001+08:00

Kitten Pillow- Catnapping, originally uploaded by jamestraceur.

Shot at India, Nagaland- Canon 300D, f/8, Ex 1/80, Iso100, 28-135mm IS USM

Made it onto The Kitten Channel's Blog just two days ago ! Heh, sweet =)

Check it out on www.thekittenchannel.com/blog/

Will be posting more articles tomorrow morning, time for bed after a long day running down to Canon's service centre. "zhnged" my Cam's firmware and ended up with a continuously blinking red-eye reduction icon on my info screen, which they can't remove, but said it would not affect photos in any way. The only solution is to replace the entire circuit board which is totally not worth it... Nights =)

Apertural...

2007-06-27T00:23:00.000+08:00

Chose apertural as the name for the photojournal due to the vast amounts of illustrations/allegories I could use with the term and its meaning...

Technically its an area which I'm currently endeavouring to control, and yups, I like photos that feature Bokeh (check out wikipedia on what it means) and depth of field...

I sort of figured that it'll be a good name since in a sense, photography is an aperture into the lives of people, culture, places, and it preserves a slice of time, a moment itself at a place, where it could be shared with other people... It is able to shed light on situations or places, and provide perspectives that others might miss... I could go on writing pages on it, and in the process quote cliche phrases like "a picture tells a thousand words", as well as possibly incurring flaming comments from others on certain controversial aspects... but I'd rather not... I'll let the articles, photos and writing speak for themselves...

Okay, I'm quoting from dictionary.com here...

ap·er·ture (āp'ər-chər) Pronunciation Key
n.

An opening, such as a hole, gap, or slit.
1. A usually adjustable opening in an optical instrument, such as a camera or telescope, that limits the amount of light passing through a lens or onto a mirror.
2. The diameter of such an opening, often expressed as an f-number.
3. The diameter of the objective of a telescope.

[Middle English, from Latin apertūra, from apertus, past participle of aperīre, to open; see wer-⁴ in Indo-European roots.]

ap'er·tur'al adj.
(Download Now or Buy the Book) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

BeSwitched !

2007-06-26T16:55:00.000+08:00

I've finally decided to create a seperate blog, apart from my journal @ deadjournal.com/users/deivorytower
Its still tempting to make a complete switch, but I'll rather not, despite my recent year's laziness to update my journal, I still wish to keep a journal as it is. I'll write (or rant) more about it on my journal about it...

This blog is meant more for photos, where I'll have a chance to put up shots and write stuff on them...

I've been on flickr for quite some time, but there's little place for others to freely give opinions and comment, where its restricted to flickr members (Amongst my friends, I've only known 1 person using flickr.). Its a hope that this photojournal/blog would provide that bit of liberty to comment and describe...

Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing a meditation. -Henri Cartier-Bresson