The Blog of Ryan Chua

2011-08-22T17:28:00.000+08:00

do-re-me-fa-soh.

The joy of seeing random things while shooting at weddings!

Blue Bird.

2011-07-26T21:27:00.001+08:00

Forest Kingfisher

Nikon D700, Nikkor 70-200/2.8G VR, 200mm, F2.8, 1/1250s, ISO 800, Manual Mode

Went to the Tyersall Mansion today with my cousin Wei Xuan. Will post more about it soon!

At the heart of the image.

2011-07-16T16:12:00.000+08:00

It's been a month since i've updated this blog! Folders are piling up and full of photographs waiting to be sorted out and post processed!

Yeah alright, i'm here to talk about my switch to Nikon. You guys might actually wonder why i made the huge jump and sold my Sony system. Well, first of all, i always wanted to make the jump years before but after investing so much into Sony, it wasn't the ideal choice at that moment.

The interesting part is when i got my cousin, Wei Xuan into getting a digital SLR, i told him instantly to get the Nikon D700 since he have been shooting with 35mm format cameras like the Nikkormat. A year after that, he managed to psycho me to sell all of my Sony system and dive into the world of Nikon. Ha, what the crap.

Many asked me why i told them to get Nikon or Canon and not other brands, is because investing in Canikon will be much cheaper option in the long run and more third party accessories and lenses for them to choose from. Though i'm more one sided towards Nikon because i have issues with Canon. True story!

Brands like Sony, Olympus, Pentax and Samsung don't have much third party and their own accessories and lenses for them and even if they do, it wouldn't be regularly stocked. Like the experience i had with Sony not having basic accessories like hard screen protectors stocked for the A850/900. Also, they don't have a big range of lenses for photogs to choose from but generally these brands are being used by beginners, hobbyists and enthusiasts. There are a lot of pros and cons between the 4 brands but i'm not going into that.

Sony a700 Sony a850

I had the Sony a700 and the a850 alpha SLRs and they are are fantastic cameras. Produces great colours and.. Actually that's all i can say about them alpha cameras. Slow to focus at longer focal lengths and only have 1 cross AF type at the centre point in their professional range alphas but that is what you get for getting a cheaper FX body than Canikon.

Sony 70-200/2.8 G Sony Zeiss 24-70/2.8 G

I also had the Zeiss 24-70/2.8 G. Frankly, it's no different from the Nikkor 24-70/2.8 G i'm using now (with much better flare control). I know Sony shooters are using the name "Zeiss" too boost their ego at times (like me!) but Zeiss zooms like the 24-70 just doesn't stand out optically other than the blue logo printed on the side of the lens body. Also, the Sony 70-200, it's white. I don't understand why it's WHITE. It has no fluorite element, i don't see the point in using white paint. No, it's not discreet at all! It's very eye catching to the public and annoying.

Sony HVL-58AM

Also, the HVL-58AM flash i had. It is a great flash with quick bounce capability and a lot of functions similar to the 56AM and Minolta equivalent. The only thing that i do not like is the plastic hotshoe that Sony adapted and took over from Minolta. It's fragile and wobbly when mounted on the camera. At times, it would just disconnect and the flash would not fire especially when i'm shooting on a job. Also it has slower recharge cycles! Not very reliable but it's still a great quick bounce flash concept.

But my Sony cameras and lenses have served me well so far.. for those who know me well, i've put my equipment to the test under the rain and much abuse from the weather and the environment. Though Sony did not claim that their cameras are weather sealed, only dust and moisture resistant. Pretty awesome to see my Sony gear working pretty well after all the things i put them through!

Coming to Nikon, they have a huge range of lenses for you to choose from (like duh!) and their pro cameras are robust, fast and plenty of customization you can do from the in camera menu. Their pro cameras also have a very good weather sealing which is pretty much rain resistant. And I simply love their 3D Matrix metering system! it provides accurate exposures most of the times and their flash system is simply fantastic. Not bragging about Nikon here but after shooting with Sony for years, shooting in TTL mode always result in inaccurate exposure most of the time. That's why whenever i use flash i'll turn everything manual. Now with Nikon, when doing a quick draw, it meters fine and accurately.

After selling all my Sony equipment (well not all but yeah), i got 3 lenses and a D700 with the MB-D10. I got them all second hand but the SB-900's new for $640. I am quite surprised that the D700's colour reproduction is almost the same as my ex Sony a850! Pretty amazing since the sensor is manufactured by Nikon themselves. Bravo.

Nikon SB-900

The SB-900 is a great flash which provides zoom up to 200mm. Provides a lot of information at the back for you like the f-stop you're at, focal length and ISO. Pretty useful because you wouldn't have to go through the camera to check what settings it's set to. The only thing i don't like about it is when you do not want to use the flash but just the AF assist lamp, you have to go through the menu, scroll through and more button pushing to set that. For the Sony HVL-58AM, it's just one press of a button. Though it may not seem that major, it's actually a very useful function to use with just a press of a button. Also, the SB-900 have amazing recycle times with Sanyo Ni-mh rechargeables at full power!

Nikkor 70-200/2.8 G VR

The Nikkor 70-200/2.8 VR, at second hand, i got it for $2150 mint! The reason why i got this over the VR2 is because the VR1 version is a tad sharper than the VR2 (cheaper too!). Even without the Nano Crystal Coating in the VR1, it has very good flare control. Plus, it's not white. Hooray.

Shooting with VR on is still making me dizzy.

Nikkor 24-70/2.8 G

The Nikkor 24-70/2.8, got it for only $1950 and it still looks new! Pretty amazing performer. Like i said, no different from the Zeiss version from Sony and much more robust and lighter than Canon's and Sony version!

Nikkor 35/2 D AF

Ah, the Nikkor 35/2. The best puny lens i've ever used. Though it has quite a significant purple fringing and chromatic aberrations at the highlights (Pretty common lenses that are designed for film), it's still sharp and it only weighs 205 grams! Auto focuses super fast. At the second hand market for the Minolta's 35/2 costs about $600 and above for a relatively new one.. I got this for only $380.

From left: Nikon SB-900, 70-200/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 35/2, D700.

SB-900 mounted on the D700 with the WG-AS3.

As you can see the above photograph, the WG-AS3 is a rubber gasket to protect the contact between the hotshoe and the flash from water and dust. After getting that and inspecting the SB-900, is the flash unit itself weather proof? Weird for Nikon to manufacture the water guard for the hotshoe but the flash unit is not sealed! I'll test that when i'm out shooting in the rain.

Well in conclusion, Nikon camera bodies, flash and their lenses are pretty well balanced and comfortable to hold and shoot with. I do not regret changing systems at all. Thank you friends who gave me support!

Lim Chu Kang Revisited.

2011-06-14T23:43:00.000+08:00

I think it's more than a year since i've been to that suburban Lim Chu Kang. Can't seem to find the post I had about this place before. Went together with Minghui to shoot for his assignment which consists of many themes and such. You can check out his part of the story here and here. Well, less text and more pictures! Hit the jump to find out more!

Freaky tombstones scares me even though we went there in the day. Like the one above, with the portrait of the deceased carved into stone.

A grave marker for an infant. Only a few months old before he passed away.

Cemeteries are pretty scenic with long stretch of roads with lush green trees.

A chinese temple at a top of the hill amongst grave markers.

The two distinct buildings at the top are "houses" for the dead. As you can see the one on the right with a tombstone in it.

Have no idea what the darker tombstone for, but it looks pretty freaky.

Families come to visit their ancestors and family.

Graves at the muslim sector of the cemetery.

Made myself a smores energy bar sandwich!

We then went to the SAF's FIBUA (Fighting In Built Up Area) or MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) for the US Army. They have pretty much relocated their FIBUA training centre to some place else because i've never seen any military operations here for a very long time now.

It was a overcast day which means light was soft and it was a bad day for Minghui because he needed harsh lighting for one of his assignment themes, dark and light or we simply can't think of any ideas relating to that theme!

A familiar boot print from Gore-Tex combat boots.

Some people came here to have a little game of nerf!

The building in the middle of the FIBUA training area, which used to be a wet market or a food centre. Rare to find similar structures here in Singapore. The places which used to have this was the Maxwell Food Centre at Maxwell Road and Hougang Wet Market. This buildings have a nostalgic feel to me.

This place used to be a coffee shop.

This graffiti? is very weird.

A telecom pole near Aljunied Reservoir.

This is an example of Singapore's shoreline. Sad isn't it?

Locals catching Mussels by the shoreline.

More to come!

Updates.

2011-06-01T23:06:00.000+08:00

It's been quite awhile since i've updated my blog. Been really busy with photo work, photo editing, xbox-ing, sorting out stuff for my church's carnival jumble sale and shoots and more shoots!

I'll do a brief update on what's going on for the past weeks and i'll do up a full post later on! Hit the jump to find out more!

Lim Chu Kang Christian Cemetery with Minghui to accompany him for his photo project.

A shoot for a Seb's Bistro at Rochester Park.

a Cocktail party held at Seb's Bistro.

Members of Church of the Good Shepherd sorting out used stuff for the Carnival which was held last Saturday.

Wei Xuan and I stayed over at Roger's house to play some xbox games.

With only 3 hours of sleep after xbox-ing, we head down to Bukit Timah Hill for a hike. Crazy I say.

Went to the closed down Cathay Theater at City Hall.

Cleaning up and setting up stalls for COGS' Carnival

Youths came the day before to set up their stalls and tested out their games before the actual day.

While setting up, I happily fired full power off my SB-900 while my cousin's setting up the softbox.

Test lighting.

The people at the Nerf booth.

And oh, I shall post on switching to Nikon! and what i miss about Sony.

More to come!

Plastic Skyscrapers.

2011-05-07T23:44:00.001+08:00

The final product after 3 days.

This is a rather late update! 2 weeks ago, Wei Xuan and I helped Michelle, to build a 1/500 acrylic scale model for her final project as an architect at National University Singapore. We spent 3 late nights sorting out pieces, peeling out their protective piece of brown paper of both sides. Hit the jump to find out more!

Sorting out Floor Plates and Massing on a sheet of A0 paper.

All of us had to wear latex gloves as not to leave fingerprints on the model as they are mainly clear acrylic.

Precise laser engravings on the base plate that represents shophouses and where the buildings will go.

Wei Xuan using acrylic glue (Chloroform) which fuses both pieces by melting them.

Wei Xuan's square format camera.

Michelle's final product.

After the whole construction of the model(s), we had to set up a studio to snap different angles of the model. As we're all tired, most of the images were somewhat crappy and unusual due to my brain dead state. I only found that out when I was sober the next day! But thank God it all went well and it was done beautifully!

More to come..

Mechanical Orchestra.

2011-04-27T23:39:00.000+08:00

An old typewriter passed down by my aunt.

The journey into the unknown.

2011-04-13T01:48:00.000+08:00

Minghui and I took a bus down to Punggol End to this gravel road where we always wanted to explore. It was close to sundown about 1730hrs. We walked in and found something quite unexpected.

Erm yeah, we ended up at a construction site.

We ended up at a construction site

Garments hanging outside the worker's living quarters

Fishing is common here at Punggol End

Tall grass and blue skies

This is where all the mosquitoes are breeding

After much rest, we headed down to the Lorong Halus Wetlands and explored this new place!

This place was still rather new and parts of it was not covered by street lamps.

The amount of stars we can see in Singapore. Sad isn't it?

This looks like a scene from a zombie movie, Land of the Dead

More to come..

NTU's Risk Management Competition Finals.

2011-03-26T03:37:00.001+08:00

Undergrads finalists having their presentation in front of a panel of judges from major asian banks like DBS, OCBC and UOB

Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Risk Management Competition is about the dynamic nature of financial and enterprise risk management, the latest developments in financial and banking regulations, as well as a fostering a deep appreciation of how they impact the key stakeholders such as regulators, banks and financial services companies.

Frankly speaking, I find shooting an event full of presentations and talking is a bore but the presentation was rather new to me because i've knew nothing about stocks and banking. It was interesting yes, but most of the terms used I don't understand. Space was tight in the lecture theatre due to all the seats filling up the area and had limited spots to shoot without causing any disturbance to the audience. I popped on my 24-70 and shot on the wider end most of the time. Hit the jump to find out more!

An undergraduate talking about the importance of diversity

Discussing questions with the other judges during a Q&A session

Synchronised finger pointing

More to come..

Colouring a monochrome photograph.

2011-03-08T00:48:00.001+08:00

Before and after photo of my grandparents

This is a shot of my grandparents taken around late 40's to around early 50's. This photo was stuck on her kitchen cupboard door with other old and current photographs! I was thinking I could turn these photos into colour so I took the images with my iPhone and went home to work on it.

I don't know the exact colours they were wearing so I just filled in what deemed fit in the photograph! These were made with many layers and brushing them in with colours in photoshop.

Before & after photo of my mother's family

This another shot of my mother's family during the late 60's to early 70's I guess. This time with more accuracy because most of the colours were described by my mother. I will need to do more research about what colours they were wearing and will redo the image again!

More to come..

2011-02-21T21:13:00.001+08:00

whoosh.

Updates.

2011-02-18T01:42:00.002+08:00

Last week and weekends was rather tiring as on Thursday we had to test and set up live feed video cameras for last Saturday's Church Of the Good Shepherd Chinese New Year dinner. Spent the whole Friday Climbing and carrying 4-5 metre tall ladders weighing about 6? kilos to install cables and stuff. Tiring shit, no kidding. Next, all I have to learn how to walk on ladders like those workers do.

My cousin, Wei Theng

The channel switcher and the monitor

The area was very dark and I had to push the ISO to 6400 and i could only get about 1/15s at f1.4

Testing the projection area

On the actual day, with our guest star Moses Lim.

Sorry if i don't have much photos of the whole event. Most of it are just random snapshots and table photos! Mainly everything was recorded down with my video camera!

The poster for Saturday night's event

On a sunny Sunday, went to Lenson's house after church to film and shoot some photos of his latest project, which involves everyone and everything being still! A idea from a video involving clowns robbing a bank. Saw that video once but now I can't find it! If some kind soul would help! And oh, also his awesome Sony XDCAM and his Steadicam!

After Action Review

On Valentine's day, my brother and his girlfriend came over and cooked us a awesome meal!

Also, I have another wedding shoot at the end of the year and it's my 4th wedding shoot! So excited!

More to come..

So Far During Chinese New Year...

2011-02-07T11:25:00.002+08:00

The Year of the Rabbit

Been a rather long, draggy days of visiting friends and relatives. I don't know whether is it just me but somehow, I do not feel the spirit of the Chinese New Year in Singapore this year especially. The tradition stays but I find the heart of celebrating it isn't. Maybe that explains why Singaporeans fly overseas during this period. Well, other than taking photos here and there, when i'm doing nothing, I kept eating. Man, i'm going to gain extra weight!

Dayler & Kayler

Mum with a pretty smile!

I <3 Richie!

Richie is a Shetland Sheepdog. He will always come towards you and lick almost every part of your body which is exposed!(Annoying but most of the times cute) Always full of energy and excitement! I'm starting to miss him already!

Me playing with Richie

Awesome toasted bread with cheese and sausage

Every year the same, Card Games and Gambling

Mahjong

Awesome fried cuttlefish strips

More to come..

Day 1 of the Chinese New Year，新年初一。

2011-02-04T01:13:00.001+08:00

Chinese New Year Day 1! Hot and humid weather we have here in Singapore. Making me sleepy during mid-day. I will make this post short and sweet, so, hit the jump to view more photos!

Traditional Snacks!

Awesome Fishballs

That 70s look

More to come..

Chinese New Year.

2011-02-03T03:44:00.000+08:00

"Yusheng", also known as "Lo Hei", being tossed with chopsticks.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Lots more to come..

Youth Olympic Park.

2011-01-26T21:41:00.000+08:00

Part of the 3 Walls that were up in the Youth Olympic Park by the Helix Bridge

The Olympic Wall is up! Hand picked images from 133 photographers that captured each and every athlete's portrait during the Inaugural Youth Olympic Games. All our names are up on that wall! The first time my name was ever being up in the history of the Olympic games! How exciting! And oh, I'll let you guess which one of these photographs I took!

More to come..

Starry Night.

2011-01-24T22:57:00.001+08:00

Orion's belt can be seen in this image!

2011 have been slow so far. Not been taking much photos these few weeks. Also, due to drastic weather change here in Singapore, many of us are falling sick. That includes me. Been browsing through Strobox.com and looking at some of photographer's work was really inspiring! Hope I can have a photo shoot soon enough!

More to come..

2011-01-12T23:18:00.002+08:00

Mum & Dad

2011-01-10T23:52:00.000+08:00

Something random I shot today. Haven't been really a great year so far and so it goes.

Jiaming & Ginny Wedding Highlights.

2011-01-03T00:18:00.000+08:00

Ginny & Jiaming

Covered Jiaming & Ginny's wedding today! Borrowed a Nikon D700 from my cousin, Wei Xuan and Dion's Nikkor 85/1.8D. Love that combination! Now i'm dreaming to get a 85 ZA from Sony.. sigh. This was my third wedding event shoot so far and have learnt more about photographing light. Not to mention the really good food from the banquet! Hit the jump to view more!

jump!

More to come..

Church Of the Good Shepherd Fund Raising Dinner Highlights.

2010-12-30T02:11:00.000+08:00

Came home from the fund raising dinner at Raffles Town Club not too long ago. After a run at a nearby park, uploaded the photos and decided that I should blog right away!

Guest speaker, Prof. Wee Chow How

A few of the paintings that were up on live auction

And not missing out good music too!

More to come..

Updates.

2010-12-27T02:39:00.001+08:00

Baptism Panorama

Last weekend ended with a huge sigh of relief! All 7 videos we exported (HDV 720p) are not supported by all windows laptops we tried out! Only one of the videos will be shown after the votes have been cast and we only had time to re-export one video that is compatible. We had to cheat in the voting system! More info about our COGS Synthesis youth event "Twisted Christmas" can be found here.

Took a series of photographs during my church's baptism ceremony and stitched them into a panoramic image (shown above). It was an perfectly stitched automatically in Photoshop! First time! No funny headless people, disfigured faces and weird stitchings. And, thank God for those who are saved and have accepted Christ in their lives.

Christmas didn't went well as I didn't spend much time with my friends! Totally regretted that! But anyway, after dinner, I got a chance to try out the new xbox Kinect! It was a fun night with my family and relatives!

Lastly, I helped out with my friend's fashion shoot in Orchard yesterday. In the email stating there was going to be helpers to assist us with the lights, so I packed a Sony a850, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, 50/1.4, 17-35/2.8-4 (i have no idea why that was in my bag!), 2 strobes, a shoot through 33" brolly, gels, batteries and other random stuff. It weighed about 6+ kilos? Goodness. In the end, due to lack of helpers, I had to help out with lights and surprisingly, I did not have a single shot from my camera! But it was worth to meet up with them despite not shooting anything myself!

Mind me for this wordy post! Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas!

"Twisted Christmas" Updates.

2010-12-15T11:50:00.000+08:00

Our improvised dolly.

We are done for the production phase! Now, we are left with only 3 days to finalize all our 7 videos.

Masking tapes as markings for focal/zoom points

More to come!

Posters for "Twisted Christmas".

2010-12-05T23:48:00.002+08:00

Did a couple of posters for our outreach! The first idea came about when I wanted something dark and "twisted" (somehow). Something like side lighting. It was a very basic set up, just a single strobe pointed directly at the side of my face with a gobo.

After the shoot, did a few tweaks to the image and made the first one below:

The second one was my cousin, Wei Theng's idea. Worked out pretty good! The Image was taken with a single strobe fired at 105mm @ 1/2. I did not have a snoot at that time! So I had to place the flash real close to the subject.

I like how the posters are kept simple!

More to come..

"Twisted Christmas" Outreach Updates.

2010-12-05T23:28:00.000+08:00

Mark the cinematographer & Mafia Benny

We are almost done with the production sequence now! 2 weeks left to our actual day and to complete all 7 videos. Hope we will manage to complete all in time! Took a few shots behind the scenes of our production, hit the jump for more!

Mafia Benny

Daesiree is obsessed with the pet hamster

More to come..

"Twisted Christmas" Outreach Updates.

2010-11-28T01:51:00.000+08:00

Mark and his Canon 550D

We are halfway through filming now. Hopefully, our team can finish up all the post production before the 18th! Yesterday was the rehearsals for the live acts on the actual day. Really disappointed that we couldn't shoot anything today due to inappropriate costumes and props!

From left: Gloria, Isaac, Edward

Though watching the rehearsal was a joy, Mark went to destroy a nearby wasp's nest while I watched.

From left: Wei Theng, Ian. Solving problems through discussion and holding a weird toy gun

Ian's inspiring shot

A "Behind the scenes" view of the anchorman set

More to come..

2010-11-24T01:01:00.001+08:00

Filming has begun!

Updates.

2010-11-21T00:43:00.002+08:00

Clement's iPod Shuffle clipped to his jeans

There are 8 upcoming video shoots for my church's youth outreach on the 18 December! There is also a shoot for Queenstown Secondary School next year and another wedding AD shoot this coming January!

My mum, posing for a impromptu picture

Cell G, doing craft work for the outreach's publicity

The "Threadless tee gang"

More to come..

2010-11-18T20:49:00.002+08:00

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr George Yong-Boon Yeo, giving a speech during Holy Innocents' Primary and High School's 118th Anniversary Alumni Dinner in 2010.

2010-11-14T21:11:00.002+08:00

Grandma looks real happy!

2010-11-11T22:10:00.002+08:00

Interesting.

Weekend Updates.

2010-11-07T16:39:00.000+08:00

This weekend is rather fun, unlike my other weekends! Had a family day event and celebrated my brother's birthday on Friday, cycled on a interesting pedal kart, youth service in church on saturday night and intensive planning for my cell group's outreach next month. Hit the jump to find out more!

Dad and Mum enjoys eating prawns and drinking wine

My brother, Cedric and his girlfriend, Liling

My dad always looking cool!

After a location scout at Bukit Batok Civil Service Club on Saturday, My friends and I headed to West Coast Park to kill some time before heading to church in the evening!

Wei Theng and Gloria swinging on some turning platform

Gloria's yellow painted toe nails

Excited faces of Lydia and Gloria

The pedal karts available for rental for $12 per 30mins at West Coast Park

Cell G planning for next month's outreach

More to come..

2010-11-04T00:26:00.001+08:00

Reliving Childhood.

Pinnacle@Duxton.

2010-10-31T20:15:00.000+08:00

My aunt decided that we head to the roof top garden of "Pinnacle@Duxton" after our lunch treat she'd given us. "Pinnacle@Duxton" have seven 50-storey connected towers and a total of 1848 housing units. The group photo of my family & relatives above looks very old school, except, in colour! Hit the jump for more!

My grandma looks really happy!

My little cousin, climbing up a obstacle at Pinnacle@Duxton's roof top garden

Making my brother seem like he's climbing something higher!

When i got back home, i saw this glow behind a housing block opposite my flat. This glow is actually produced by factories in Malaysia.

More to come!

Updates.

2010-10-28T19:08:00.000+08:00

Pretty stagnant these few days. Since school started, everyone is so busy! Some hardly have the time to hang out. I have not been shooting for quite some time now.. It's making me really restless not being out there to shoot! I guess I'll head out alone to do some shooting myself then!

Anyway, the afternoon sun is finally setting. After the hazardous haze we've been having, clear blue skies are showing up!

More to come..

October 20, 2010.

2010-10-20T14:41:00.000+08:00

Haze in Singapore again. I always had been wondering, do these people actually care for our environment we live in? No. They care more about money then anything else.

Digging up the past.

2010-10-20T02:32:00.000+08:00

While accessing to backup my files on my hard drive, I was looking at photos dated back in 2007. It was the year i got my first dSLR, how I met the band "Waiting For Nothing" and how it journeyed all the way till now. Well, looking back 3 years is actually quite a lot of difference. How people change and how much i've advanced into photography. Hit the jump to find out how Gerald, Joey, Reuben and Wank was back in 2007!

Gerald and Joey with their long hair

Reuben

Wank

Updates.

2010-10-15T20:23:00.001+08:00

Shot through an angled window from my balcony! Looks some what like a double exposure shot with lomo cameras.

It's been a boring week! The weather in Singapore now is super humid and scorching hot. Been playing TF2 and L4D2 at home on my macbookpro to kill some time at home.. The next few weeks will be non-photography related work. That's going suck! But i'll try my best to take more photos! More to come..

2010-10-06T15:28:00.000+08:00

Though it may have focus blur, I still find it imperfectly beautiful.

Shot during Melvin & Lindy's Wedding dinner.

Old Gaming Buddy.

2010-10-05T14:23:00.000+08:00

My old gaming buddy, the Razer Destructor. Carried on after the late Razer Mantis which is no more in production. I'm never a fan of Razer mice because they are simply too light for my use but their mouse pads are simply awesome! Too bad my Logitec G9 gave up on me after I've stopped my part-time gaming career in [bf.nut] and switching over to Apple. My Everglide DKT Keyboard and the Razer Piranha is still working strong!

Now I sound more like a gamer than a photographer.

Welcome to Pulau Ubin.

2010-09-28T16:51:00.000+08:00

Went biking with Minghui and Lenson at Pulau Ubin!

Hit the jump to find out more!

Minghui and his imaginary camp fire

Rock on!

This was shot at 1/10s, one hand riding downslope! Risky!

We came across this abandoned house

old stuff was being thrown here

old and creepy!

Minghui got owned by a traffic cone

Lenson trying out the smile shutter

More to come..

2010-09-27T00:12:00.000+08:00

Zhiwei & Denise ROM (Registry Of Marriage).

2010-09-25T16:25:00.000+08:00

Was only informed last night that a couple needed photographers because the previous one bailed at the last minute. It's not really a paid shoot, just helping Minghui's friend to cover this event together with him and his friend, Eunice. It was a joy to be able to shoot for them! Hit the jump to find out more!

During the rehearsal

Their singer and guitarist, Hui Shan & Nelson

More to come..

The Legend Continues, The Minolta Legacy.

2010-09-22T22:05:00.000+08:00

Today's Mid-Autumn Festival here in Singapore. It's hot and humid now, children playing sparklers and lanterns, families gather and have dinner together, having moon cakes for dessert.

When I was very young, I used to have the excitement whenever mid-autumn festival is around the corner. Because I get to meet up and play with fire and lanterns with my cousins. But here in Singapore, not many families celebrate this event because we get to see our families almost everyday! It's still a very joyous and most celebrated festival in other larger countries like China.

So instead of lugging my lazy ass and my bulky camera, I stayed at home spending time cleaning my equipment. It's been ages since I've cleaned them. heh. Before I did, I took, well almost all of my lenses out and took a picture! Hit the jump to find out more!

Both images was shot with the Sony a700, Sony 18-70/3.5-5.6 and wirelessly triggered by the Sony HVL58AM.

1/80s, F29, ISO 1600, Manual mode, AWB, EV+0.0, Commander off.

Lenson Sim's Short Film, "Vengenza".

2010-09-21T22:15:00.000+08:00

Today, I had the opportunity to cover and help out in one of Lenson Sim's short films called "Vengenza". The shoot was at his parent's office at one of the buildings at Ubi office buildings in Singapore. This is a budget shoot, so we didn't have big lights, expensive camera equipment, hired paid actors, or fancy props. Hope the video will be up on youtube and I will be able to share it with you guys! Hit the jump to find out more!

Lenson's Canon 550D with the Nikkor 24-70/2.8, attached with a Rode shotgun/condenser microphone, mounted on a shoulder rig.

We had plastic toy guns as our props

Lenson coordinating the set

The volunteer actors

Winson Sim getting into action

Hitman?

Lenson and Minghui

The Nikkor 70-200/2.8 VR

Wondered why Lenson have a Canon body mounted with Nikkor lenses? Lenson is a Nikon shooter himself. Having the Nikon D80, D300 and the D700 and various Nikkor lenses, he had to get a reasonably affordable video rig to start out with. That's why he got the 550D.

This shot looks like a scene from "Infernal Affairs" like the image below:

Andy Lau in "Infernal Affairs"

(Source: Randomwire.com)

Lenson trying to pose like a bare skull

Minghui found this set of shark jaws at the office

More to come!

Melvin & Lindy AD Highlights

2010-09-19T23:20:00.000+08:00

Melvin & Lindy are married! The sweetest couple I know in church! Though I don't have much knowledge of Actual Day wedding photography, I hope the pictures will be pleasing for you guys and for the couple as well! Hit the jump to view more photos!

Enjoy your honeymoon! :D

2010-09-19T22:01:00.000+08:00

Met up with my friends whom i've never seen for so long at Changi Village and snapped a few photos along the way before having seafood for dinner. Hit the jump for more!

Some one tied up this leaf into a "Ketupat" like shape.

Spotted an ant trying to take down a bigger insect. Sad I don't own a macro lens. This was shot with my 28-75/2.8 at the longest end at full 25mp, cropped and sharpened in photoshop.

Kane with his new Nikon D90

Fion with her Canon 50D

Kane Chua

Bukit Timah Hill + Universal Studios Singapore.

2010-09-16T02:53:00.000+08:00

Woke up at 6am for a short hike (It was raining. gah.) at Bukit Timah Hill, met up with my YOG team and headed to the Volunteers Appreciation Party held at Universal Studios! Didn't take much photos of the venue though. Well, hit the jump for this short update!

Ming Hui resting on a rock at the summit of Bukit Timah Hill

While waiting for the bus home Ming Hui wanted this "under the rain emo" shot

And of course we had our breakfast at McDonalds located at King Albert Park

The entrance to Sentosa was jammed packed with volunteers entering the theme park. This party was split into 3 days? for about 20,000? volunteers. The park wasn't that big, everywhere was crowded and there was long queues. The long queues didn't matter as almost all of the volunteers were very spontaneous about having their own fun while waiting for their turn.

I guess it's been more than 10 years since i've stepped into Universal Studios. The last time i remembered was America? or was it Australia? don't matter. The excitement of the rides and attractions really made me feel like a kid again! Almost lost my voice!

Shafii with Derek's Nikon D3 with Nikkor 50/1.8. This lens doesn't do this impressive body any justice. gah.

This is the best posed shot I got of Derek. Because he's always shy in front of a camera

Latif

Our first ride, the Carousel! Latif is seen having fun!

Hanis posing for the shot

Irfaan recording video with Latif's Canon 550D

Irfaan

A parking meter by the road of the theme park

sexy.

More to come!

COGS Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration Highlights.

2010-09-12T00:24:00.000+08:00

Church Of the Good Shepherd celebrated ”中秋节“ (Mid-Autumn Festival in chinese - pronounced as "Zhong Qiu Jie".) with activities for all ages! Hit the jump to find out more!

Our special guest, Henry Chong

In the chinese tradition, we eat ”汤圆“ (Dumplings in chinese, pronounced as "Tang Yuan") as a symbol of ”团圆“ (Reunion in chinese, pronounced as "Tuan Yuan") These "dumplings" are generally coloured flour made into balls

Lanterns prepared for the children

Colouring activities for children were also conducted during the activity.

While the adults were enjoying the singing by Henry Chong and the kids enjoying their kiddo stuff, the youths had their session filled with board games

More to come!

Melvin & Lindy's Church Wedding Rehearsal.

2010-09-10T19:00:00.000+08:00

Genesis 2: 24
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

Wedding rings are one of the favourite subjects to capture during or before the Actual Day. So I spent some time shooting them!

Here's a shot with the rings in the box

And there's the ring out of the box

And another shot on top of the box!

The church wedding will be held in our own church, Church Of the Good Shepherd! Here's a few snapshots of the wedding rehearsal!

Lindy's shoes left lying around

Rev Tan waits patiently

Lindy (Brown giraffe blouse) excited for her wedding!

Melvin (middle)

Marching down the aisle

I'm kinda excited and happy for them! Can't wait for the Actual Day shoot!

More to come!

Back In Black.

2010-09-07T00:25:00.000+08:00

It was a rainy night and after a hearty dinner, I had some spare time and i thought to myself, "hey! why not shoot a random photo of myself!". and so i did. Hit the jump to find out more about this simple set up!

I did not take a photo of my set up, but here's an illustrated one! And, pardon my lousy drawing

The original with slight touch ups

More to come! Stay tuned!

The Month of September.

2010-09-01T23:10:00.000+08:00

August had been a rather busy month and there's a load of events lined up in September! Melvin & Lindy's wedding video and my church's soccer match photos are still not finished yet. I feel so drained, lack of motivation. I need to buck up.

Earlier this afternoon, Khai and I helped out in Irfaan's Photoshoot at Kallang!

Khai holding up the reflector and Irfaan's on the camera

Evening view by the pier of Singapore Indoor Stadium

More updates to come!

2010-08-31T16:07:00.005+08:00

Help, is there anyone out there?

I'm hopelessly lost.

New Brolly!

2010-08-27T17:02:00.000+08:00

Got the shoot-thru brolly from the net and i received it yesterday! Along with some colour correction flash gels. No one was at home for me to try this brolly out, but instead, i got my mcdonald's meal for a test shot!

YUM!

Hit the jump to find out this very simple set up!

HVL-42AM at 1/4 power shot through a 33" shoot-thru brolly,

Triggered by HVL-58AM (commander) attached on my Sony a850.

Minolta 28-75/2.8,1/50s, F8, ISO 400.

Youth Olympic Games 2010 is over!

2010-08-27T01:05:00.003+08:00

Yes, it's over. 12 consecutive days worth of shooting, deprived of sleep, running from one place to another, hunting athletes down, lots of free food and drinks, meeting new people and making new friends, and most of all, we had a lot of fun! 137 volunteer photographers and 3,600 athletes. The portraits we took of all the athletes we took will be up on the olympic wall next to the Helix Bridge. I still can't believe it's over, but i'm happy that we are part of the inaugural Singapore Youth Olympic Games!

SYOG +11 Updates.

2010-08-25T00:38:00.001+08:00

11 days of the Youth Olympic Games had passed. Today (August 25) will be the last day before the closing ceremony! Hit the jump to find out more updates!

Bunch of balloons floating away at YOV's Village Square

Shot with the Minolta's 28/2.8 MD hand mounted on the Sony a850

COGS's Church soccer updates! Did not really get the other's Church's name but more details will be up soon!

More to come!

2010-08-22T00:45:00.000+08:00

"Memory-rich photographs taken that cannot be re-lived again."

SYOG 2010, end of week one.

2010-08-21T02:14:00.000+08:00

Went to Pulau Ubin Island to cover my athletes who are participating in SYOG's CEP(Culture & Education Program) organized by Outward Bound Singapore! Later that evening, headed back to the Youth Olympic to catch the night festival held at the village square. Hit the jump to find out more!

An athlete from Vietnam jumping off a platform at OBS

Random cute little birds hanging around Punggol Jetty

A night festival held at Youth Olympic Village. Consisting of local and the Switz rock band!

More to come!

Updates.

2010-08-17T22:43:00.001+08:00

Canon 1DMK3 with a 400/2.8 at Singapore Sport's School media stand

The past 4 days of shooting for YOG have been alright so far. new experiences, new friends, and more waiting. Today nothing much have been happening since the athletes were having a free day. Tried out my friend's Canon 1DMK3 attached is a Canon 300/4. Hit the jump for more!

I find the 1DMK3 have a very weird inconsistent AWB, giving me magenta-ish and green-ish cast under tungsten lighting. But no doubt, the lens was quite nice to shoot with! With a 1.5m MFD, it gives a different perspective!

Nope, not a new perspective but my camera is just sexy!

Shafii, my YOG team leader

Khai, my team partner

I still prefer my Sony a850's colour rendition and great contrast their lenses give!

Bought a 5 pack 160 Portra VC film from Cathay Photo today!

More to come!

Youth Olympic Games.

2010-08-14T11:49:00.000+08:00

The Youth Olympics is opening in about 6 hours time? Tiring 8-10 working hours starting from tomorrow. And to clear some confusions, i'm not being paid. I'm one of the 133 volunteer photographers shooting behind the scenes portraits and basically mixing around with them! My ID is 007! If you happen to see me there, say hi!

2010-08-10T00:17:00.002+08:00

oooo, a donut!

2010-08-10T00:13:00.000+08:00

Spent the whole of National Day at home.

Am I such a loner?

007.

2010-08-07T01:08:00.001+08:00

Updates.

2010-08-05T02:11:00.001+08:00

The past two weeks has been tiring. Finalizing our short film "Popcorn" for the Parallel Lines Philips Cinema TV competition, hell lots of folders filled with hundreds of photos waiting to be edited. Recently recorded OSTs for our "Popcorn" and our Church Camp Rally Song. Also, shot a few portraits for Mh's school project! Hit the jump to read more on this short update!

Lots of green tea during our recording of soundtracks over at Wei Xuan's Place

Mh with my iPhone

Amazing what how much details a 25mp Sony a850 can capture!

Zoomed in to 140% and i can see myself!

More to come!

I think i'm going crazy with the lack of sleep.

2010-07-29T00:40:00.000+08:00

Good God, if your song leaves our lips
If your work leaves our hands
Then we will be wonders and vagabonds
They will stare and say how empty we are
How the freedom we had turned us up as dead men

Domke F-1x

2010-07-26T18:56:00.001+08:00

The classic Domke F-1x "a little bit bigger" I ordered from B&H photo 2 weeks back is finally here! This bag is fantastically well built with thick canvas. No doubt reviews said that this bag could let dust get in easily, i wouldn't have to worry! Because I still have my Lowepro D550 and the D200 and, the Sony a850 and a700 camera bodies are dust and weather proof though (Yes I've tested them out) So is the Sony 70-200/2.8! They claimed that this Domke bag is water proof and weather proof, i've yet to test this out! (How can it be when dust could get in easily?) I'll find out soon!

Well, hit the jump for a short review on this amazing bag!

Rubber linings stitched into the shoulder strap prevents it from slipping. Like what my Lowepro bags always does.

I can fit the Sony a850 and the a700, HVL 42 and 58AM flashes, 50/1.4, 17-35/2.8-4, 28-75/2.8, 70-200/2.8 lenses.

All of these sung perfectly into the bag and the bag still have 4 empty bags on the sides for filters, food and what ever you can fit in. They also have pockets on the underside of the flap for CF cards perhaps.

This bag is made in the USA and so far, there are no complaints about it! And, it's amazingly comfortable!

All the photos are taken with my ol' Sony a200 with the 18-70/3.5-5.6.

More to come!

Updates.

2010-07-26T01:03:00.000+08:00

Rain, rain and more rain. It's the wet season here in Singapore. It's have been a tiring week. Church camp photos and a camp refresher video are due in two weeks time and i've not started yet! It's youth month for Church of The Good Shepherd Synthesis peeps and there's still a 4th week recap video to do for the 5th week of the Alpha course. Feeling fatigued but i can't sleep at all! Work, work and more work to come!

Hit the jump to find out more what had happened today!

A shot of Clement and Daesiree's Nudie Jeans which looks like a advertisement!

Went to the Marina Barrage with Mark to snap a few photos for his school project and witnessed this beautiful sunset this evening after all the rain that was pouring throughout the week.

And what's more! Mark and I saw Lee Kwan Yew drove by in a buggy right in front of us at Marina Barrage!

Workers taking a break by flying a kite

More to come!

I want to see you face to face.

2010-07-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

I took this photo for you. since you liked photos of telephone lines and poles. with a starry background where i wished you were there, lying down with me just gazing at the stars and talking about random stuff. how excited i was to show you this photo. but we didn't had the time. and how i realized it's different now. i was stupid to stop talking to you. we could never go back to the start. i missed you.

Filming under rain.

2010-07-18T21:53:00.000+08:00

Minghui and i accompanied Lenson to film a few scenes in the Central Business District for his project. It was raining quite heavily and when we waited for it to simmer down, we headed out to shoot!

What?

The umbrella was supposed to shield the camera from rain

And Mh's documentary about snails climbing walls

More to come!

COGS Alpha "Super Heroes"

2010-07-14T21:03:00.000+08:00

Photos of this event will be posted up soon! Stay tuned!

"Mini Gym"

2010-07-14T20:56:00.000+08:00

A small crew of a video team and I did a promo video for COGS' "Mini Gym" class. Woke up 5am in the morning, ate mcGriddles for breakfast PLUS a nice cup of hot coffee! Nothing beats hot coffee in the morning!

So enough of coffee and burgers, i whipped out my a850 and the 70-200/2.8 and started shooting for the video! Hit the jump to find out more!

Morning stretching

A rubber band that's called "Gym In The Pocket". Pretty useful though

Stretching the band to exercise!

Pairing up with another person with "Gym In The Pocket" makes it a cheaper way to exercise

Sheesh, it seems like i'm promoting the rubber band instead

We interviewed people from the public who joined the Church's "Mini Gym" Programme

"Rejoice in the Lord" seems like a nice subject to place in the background! Since our bodies are the Temple of God

"Gym In The Pocket"

More to come!

2010-07-10T23:51:00.000+08:00

So many questions yet the answers are scarce.

2010-07-08T15:56:00.000+08:00

"Nothing is more powerful than still photography, though in the journalism world, photographers are often deemed the lowest rung. “Shooters” are often seen as fungible and hirable like taxis. Yet the truly top-notched shooters, that top percent, are not fungible, and can be a force unto themselves. Still photography is—in my opinion as a writer—by far the most powerful and versatile method to convey powerful messages quickly and broadly. Nothing else comes close. Not video, not writing, not portraiture or radio or telephone interviews. Still photography is the Big Gun of war reporting.

And yet the snobs are often the writers, who might view themselves as intellectually superior, but who when teamed up with a top-grade photographer can literally, without exaggeration, affect battlefields as would the most powerful generals. Nevertheless, photographers generally are seen as sidekicks, supporting actors, and downrange you might hear a journalist quip, “Oh yes, the Shooters are first to the bar and last out.” (While the writers plug away at their stories and wrestle with editors.)"

-Michael Yon

Alpha Interview & Popcorn Updates.

2010-07-07T22:08:00.000+08:00

It have been ages since i've brought out my dSLR to shoot.. Now and then, it's more video and Final Cut Pro. Well, doing video is interesting as well. I need to head out to take photos! I'll still prefer stills anytime! Hit the jump to find out more about the recent shoots!

My current work table at home

A screenshot of my Macbook. A video of COGS's Alpha course public interview timebase in FCP.

A screenshot of the external monitor. A extended desktop of FCP's preview window

Lastly, a sneak peak at one of the frames in Popcorn's shoot!

Popcorn

Now it's all the post-production work after all the production work. I need to find peeps to shoot stills now! I guess photo shoots will be great :D

More to come!

20 people and a 5 minute video.

2010-07-01T00:19:00.000+08:00

My cousin, Wei Theng, checking audio of the interviews.

Filmed a video interview of about 20 people around the City Hall - Beach Road areas today for an Alpha course which my church (Church Of the Good Shepherd) is conducting every saturday on the month of July.

We asked questions about Christianity. Whether they ever heard of Jesus or their opinions on Christianity. In Singapore, when talking about doing a "Video Interview" or to talk about "Religion (a very touchy subject!)", people will just walk away or simply avoiding you.

So, our job is so cut out videos from the pile in Final Cut Pro and make 5 minute video on "How many people do understand Christianity and the Christian Faith".

This Alpha course will allow both Christians and non-Christians to ask questions regarding to almost anything! And, If you are interested to go for this month long course (5 Saturdays) or would like to go for one, feel free to contact me!

More to come!

Project Popcorn.

2010-06-29T23:52:00.000+08:00

Filming has began!

New Zealand Day 14+15, Christchurch-Home!

2010-06-29T00:24:00.000+08:00

Headed to Starbucks for breakfast at Christchurch's City center, running from one souvenir store to another, checked into a really nice motel in the suburbs near the airport, evening stroll towards the fish and chips store and sat a limousine to the airport! hit the jump to find out more!

Hand mounted mh's nikkor 50/1.4

"Crikey"

The motel we checked into was "Airport Gateway Motor Lodge". The nicest accommodation we had the past 2 weeks.

Went out to grab dinner, to the nearest Fish & Chips stall! While on the way there..

Watched loads of movies on the TV

The next morning, our last morning in New Zealand.. We sat in a stretch! and was chauffeured to the airport!

Well, that was the end of our trip.. The sights and sounds i'll never forget.

Till our next trip! :D

When you seek me you destroy me
Rape my mind and smell the poppies
Born in blood in every single time