Well, it is the 7th IR Outing already but I have to give it a miss this time as I have other commitment. :(
Apologies to my IR group friends for not able to turn up for this outing, looking at the list of people who particpate, there are quite a few new faces. Sorry for not been able to meet you all up, hope that you all enjoy IR Photography and hope to see you all for the future outings.
Anyway, next Monday on the 8th May 2006 is an off day for my company because of the election that is taking place on the 6th May 2006 so I thought of using that day to catch up or "make-up" for this outing myself. Maybe it is good in some sense as I can review through what others taken in Clubsnap and try a different angle and perspective. :P
Anyway, I took this Sunday to have a good rest at home so that can prepare me for the coming week of work. I realise that I can hardly concentrate well now. Maybe I am really mentally (getting forgetful) and physically (especially my eyes) tired out or that work is really draining me off. At the start of every week, I thought I was fully charged, but by the end of first working day, there is none of me left. :(
Anyway, so much for it. Better get some good rest as I will be waking up early tomorrow to do some shooting.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Supplementary Field Survey @ Matilda House and Digital Basic Night Outing
I have long awaited for the arrival of the weekend so that I can simply pack up my photography gears and go for my shooting session. Work is getting tough with each passing day. Luckily I have found my source to vent my frustration and unhappiness from work which is through photography. I mean it really takes my mind off work so as to prepare me for the next coming week and to face new challenges ahead.
Alright, back to the topic. My Digital Basic Photography course is having the 2nd outing tonight for a Night Photography shoot and I am really feeling excited about it. I have always wanted to learn the techniques for night photography as the limited light source in the night will pose as a major issue and problem for photographers. I like to know how to tackle this problem yet achieving those nice and interesting effects such as those cars headlights trail and so on.
Anyway, the shoot was in the evening time and we are supposed to meet at the PSS clubhouse at 6pm, I still have lots of time in the morning since I woke up at around 7:00am or so. Hence, I decided to go to Matilda House again for shooting. (For those who missed out, I went down to Matilda House to do a site recce and survey for my IR group, details of the outing can be found on this field report in my other blog titled GIRLs.)
I took a bus down to the Punggol Bus Interchange and proceed to walk to the Matilda House which is nearby. As I approach the vincity, I have to be on my guard because the fear of the "local residents", the stray dogs. At first, I thought that they are no where to be found but as I turn a corner pass a steel column, there is one staring right at me. I think I will leave the details in my other blog. :P
But anyway, the dogs didn't really bother about me so I proceed on to the house to take some photos in both IR and normal coloured. I have not process the pictures yet, but I will post them up as soon as I am done.
Just to share something very interesting. As I am taking my photos of Matilda House, I saw movement in the fenced up House (The Matilda House is actually fenced up). At first, I thought my eyes are playing tricks, but a moment later, I saw some more movement again. So I thought something strange is going on. I took a closer look then I realise that someone was inside the fenced up area doing model shoot.
Well, I just continue with my shoot and after quite some time, the 2 photographers (the model left after the shooting session) inside the fenced up Matilda House called out to me as a greeting. We exchange greetings and proposed to meet further up, out of the area to have a drink and chat.
Upon meeting up, I managed to get their names.
1. Awyong - A bespectacled, nice guy who uses a medium format film camera
2. Spencer Tan - His nick in Clubsnap is frostyIntrepid, a very good portrait/fashion/model shooter.
Really nice knowing them.
Anyway, after the meetup and chit-chat session, we parted and headed for separate ways while I continue to explore the area around Sungei Punggol. In fact, I took quite a few shots there but I think it will be better if I update those photos in my other blog.
The sun is really hot that day and I continue shooting until 2pm or so before I head for home to charge up my camera battery and download all my photos into my harddisk. I cleaned myself up and rested for a while before I head out to the PSS Clubhouse for my Night Outing.
I reached the PSS Clubhouse at around 5:50pm or so and we waited for our instructor to come. Mr Goh (the same instructor for my Flashlight Photography) told us that our Night outing shoot will be on Anderson Bridge and so we head for the location. I was lucky enough to get a ride from Matthew (one of my Digital Basic Photography coursemate) to go to Anderson Bridge where we set up our gears and prepare for the night shoot. Thanks for the ride.
The weather isn't so good that day. After less than half an hour of shooting, it started to rain and we all run for shelter at the old Merlion Park. We tried shooting under the shelter and Mr Goh was there to guide us along and teaching us the techniques.
After less than an hour or so, the rain stopped and we proceed with our shooting location on the bridge and continue practising until 9pm or so when Mr Goh decided to call it a day. A few of us still stayed back to practise some more and after a while, all of us decided to break off for home and SweeLay (another of my Digital Basic coursemate) who is living in Ang Mo Kio area decided to give me a ride home. Thanks for the ride home.
It has been really an interesting and tiring day and I do look forward to try out my Night Photography techniques. Hope to be able to get some good pictures to share with all. Cheerz.
Alright, back to the topic. My Digital Basic Photography course is having the 2nd outing tonight for a Night Photography shoot and I am really feeling excited about it. I have always wanted to learn the techniques for night photography as the limited light source in the night will pose as a major issue and problem for photographers. I like to know how to tackle this problem yet achieving those nice and interesting effects such as those cars headlights trail and so on.
Anyway, the shoot was in the evening time and we are supposed to meet at the PSS clubhouse at 6pm, I still have lots of time in the morning since I woke up at around 7:00am or so. Hence, I decided to go to Matilda House again for shooting. (For those who missed out, I went down to Matilda House to do a site recce and survey for my IR group, details of the outing can be found on this field report in my other blog titled GIRLs.)
I took a bus down to the Punggol Bus Interchange and proceed to walk to the Matilda House which is nearby. As I approach the vincity, I have to be on my guard because the fear of the "local residents", the stray dogs. At first, I thought that they are no where to be found but as I turn a corner pass a steel column, there is one staring right at me. I think I will leave the details in my other blog. :P
But anyway, the dogs didn't really bother about me so I proceed on to the house to take some photos in both IR and normal coloured. I have not process the pictures yet, but I will post them up as soon as I am done.
Just to share something very interesting. As I am taking my photos of Matilda House, I saw movement in the fenced up House (The Matilda House is actually fenced up). At first, I thought my eyes are playing tricks, but a moment later, I saw some more movement again. So I thought something strange is going on. I took a closer look then I realise that someone was inside the fenced up area doing model shoot.
Well, I just continue with my shoot and after quite some time, the 2 photographers (the model left after the shooting session) inside the fenced up Matilda House called out to me as a greeting. We exchange greetings and proposed to meet further up, out of the area to have a drink and chat.
Upon meeting up, I managed to get their names.
1. Awyong - A bespectacled, nice guy who uses a medium format film camera
2. Spencer Tan - His nick in Clubsnap is frostyIntrepid, a very good portrait/fashion/model shooter.
Really nice knowing them.
Anyway, after the meetup and chit-chat session, we parted and headed for separate ways while I continue to explore the area around Sungei Punggol. In fact, I took quite a few shots there but I think it will be better if I update those photos in my other blog.
The sun is really hot that day and I continue shooting until 2pm or so before I head for home to charge up my camera battery and download all my photos into my harddisk. I cleaned myself up and rested for a while before I head out to the PSS Clubhouse for my Night Outing.
I reached the PSS Clubhouse at around 5:50pm or so and we waited for our instructor to come. Mr Goh (the same instructor for my Flashlight Photography) told us that our Night outing shoot will be on Anderson Bridge and so we head for the location. I was lucky enough to get a ride from Matthew (one of my Digital Basic Photography coursemate) to go to Anderson Bridge where we set up our gears and prepare for the night shoot. Thanks for the ride.
The weather isn't so good that day. After less than half an hour of shooting, it started to rain and we all run for shelter at the old Merlion Park. We tried shooting under the shelter and Mr Goh was there to guide us along and teaching us the techniques.
After less than an hour or so, the rain stopped and we proceed with our shooting location on the bridge and continue practising until 9pm or so when Mr Goh decided to call it a day. A few of us still stayed back to practise some more and after a while, all of us decided to break off for home and SweeLay (another of my Digital Basic coursemate) who is living in Ang Mo Kio area decided to give me a ride home. Thanks for the ride home.
It has been really an interesting and tiring day and I do look forward to try out my Night Photography techniques. Hope to be able to get some good pictures to share with all. Cheerz.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Sixth IR Outing @ Walk and Shoot
This is already my 6th IR Outing already and I find myself really getting active with IR Photography and also the IR Sub-forum in Clubsnap. I guess my passion for Photography is there and Infra-Red (IR) Photography can achieve that surreal and dreamy effect and colour which is totally different from normal colour photography just make it so interesting, nice and fun.
In fact, I like both normal and IR Photography, like I said, I like landscape and cityscape photography more than portrait, but I guess to be a good photographer, it will be better to be well verse in all types of photography such as from Portrait to Macro, from Action to Still Life/Abstract, from Landscape to Studio shoot. With the knowledge of doing IR Photography, it just give me more options to explore and shoot in a different kind of lights that is not visible to the naked eyes.
Anyway, the shooting theme/destination is rather special this time. The theme is Walk and Shoot in the city, so most of our shots are cityscape. It really pose as a challenge to me as without the green trees (which turn into white/snowy tree with IR) to bring out the interesting potential and nice effect of IR, I must really try my best to capture the shoots to make my photos as interesting as possible and try to be different from the rest (-_-").
Here is the list of people who join us for this special shooting theme.
1. photoexpress - Bobby, as usual, our great organiser (Really appreciate the hard work)
2. teerex - Teerex, the IR Master
3. archloverz - Never Turn Up
4. Francis247 - Francis Goh, yes, it's me
5. HweeChwee - Miss Poh (So happy to see that she really enjoyed doing IR Photography now and she is also getting more active in Clubsnap too. Oh yes, before I forgot, it was her birthday 4 days ago. Happy Belated Birthday to you.)
6. PandaOng - Jonathan, our nice Panda, always more fun with you around
7. Incastasman - Andrew, really a fun guy too (Make me wonder, if Edmund is here too, I think the outing will be full of laughter, jokes and candid snipe shots)
8. JimDavis - George, first time joining us, really a nice and friendly guy too (Thanks for showing me the rope to do panning, I was really struggling and scratching my head on how to do panning. Really thanks for taking the effort to teach me, will try to practise more to improve on it)
9. thl - Tan, always great to have you with us for the outing
10. garykoh - Gary, first time joining us too, nice chap (So sorry I can't help with the D2X White Balance setting, I guess it is too advance for me, will try to find out more about the White Balance setting so that you can try out IR)
11. Ark19 - Ark, funny guy (He was enjoying his newly IR modified Fuji S602Z, no need to carry his tripod, simply just point and shoot during the whole outing)
12. Max2.8 - Max, first time seeing him. (He is a regular in the IR sub-forum, also an experienced IR shooter too. Really honoured to see him. Hope to see him more often in the future for the outings)
Too bad Edmund, Nisa, Stan, Dennis, Quekky and quite a few didn't join us for this outing. Anyway, trying to do some post-processing for the photos now. Was trying out the different effects in Photoshop so that can be different from the rest. Here are the pictures for this outing. Enjoy.
In fact, I like both normal and IR Photography, like I said, I like landscape and cityscape photography more than portrait, but I guess to be a good photographer, it will be better to be well verse in all types of photography such as from Portrait to Macro, from Action to Still Life/Abstract, from Landscape to Studio shoot. With the knowledge of doing IR Photography, it just give me more options to explore and shoot in a different kind of lights that is not visible to the naked eyes.
Anyway, the shooting theme/destination is rather special this time. The theme is Walk and Shoot in the city, so most of our shots are cityscape. It really pose as a challenge to me as without the green trees (which turn into white/snowy tree with IR) to bring out the interesting potential and nice effect of IR, I must really try my best to capture the shoots to make my photos as interesting as possible and try to be different from the rest (-_-").
Here is the list of people who join us for this special shooting theme.
1. photoexpress - Bobby, as usual, our great organiser (Really appreciate the hard work)
2. teerex - Teerex, the IR Master
3. archloverz - Never Turn Up
4. Francis247 - Francis Goh, yes, it's me
5. HweeChwee - Miss Poh (So happy to see that she really enjoyed doing IR Photography now and she is also getting more active in Clubsnap too. Oh yes, before I forgot, it was her birthday 4 days ago. Happy Belated Birthday to you.)
6. PandaOng - Jonathan, our nice Panda, always more fun with you around
7. Incastasman - Andrew, really a fun guy too (Make me wonder, if Edmund is here too, I think the outing will be full of laughter, jokes and candid snipe shots)
8. JimDavis - George, first time joining us, really a nice and friendly guy too (Thanks for showing me the rope to do panning, I was really struggling and scratching my head on how to do panning. Really thanks for taking the effort to teach me, will try to practise more to improve on it)
9. thl - Tan, always great to have you with us for the outing
10. garykoh - Gary, first time joining us too, nice chap (So sorry I can't help with the D2X White Balance setting, I guess it is too advance for me, will try to find out more about the White Balance setting so that you can try out IR)
11. Ark19 - Ark, funny guy (He was enjoying his newly IR modified Fuji S602Z, no need to carry his tripod, simply just point and shoot during the whole outing)
12. Max2.8 - Max, first time seeing him. (He is a regular in the IR sub-forum, also an experienced IR shooter too. Really honoured to see him. Hope to see him more often in the future for the outings)
Too bad Edmund, Nisa, Stan, Dennis, Quekky and quite a few didn't join us for this outing. Anyway, trying to do some post-processing for the photos now. Was trying out the different effects in Photoshop so that can be different from the rest. Here are the pictures for this outing. Enjoy.
GIRL aka (Good IR Location)
I am starting out another blog to list down some Good Locations for IR Photography. This suggestion actually was started by Dennis, one of our fellow IR Photographers, he posted a thread on Clubsnap to ask for suggestion for some Good IR Locations aka GIRL as some of our IR photographers could have visited some places for more than twice already and is going to run out of places for suggestion for the next few IR outings. Hence he thought of putting up a list that some of us who had been or passed by certain places and think that it is a good location for IR photography and propose it for outing.
I personally think that it is really a good suggestion, so I decided to volunteer myself to undertake this continuous task and effort to start a blog to list down some good locations for IR shooting and also to generate a field report for others to evaluate the potential of using that place for IR Photography.
For those who are interested, you can follow this link to my new blog started out for Good IR Location Field Report Log. Cheerz.
I personally think that it is really a good suggestion, so I decided to volunteer myself to undertake this continuous task and effort to start a blog to list down some good locations for IR shooting and also to generate a field report for others to evaluate the potential of using that place for IR Photography.
For those who are interested, you can follow this link to my new blog started out for Good IR Location Field Report Log. Cheerz.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
A Slow Sunday, Good for Recuperating
This has been the first Sunday since a long time that I can wake up late and start things slow ever since I really started to dive in to photography. I must admit that the weather did play a part because I actually wanted to meet Thomas for a shoot at the Matilda House which is near Punggol MRT. I thought of spending the whole morning for photography followed by exploring that area so that I can feedback to my IR group about the potential of having an outing there. A downpour came and just take the whole morning off, I think it is the Divine's will that he wanted me to have a good rest to recuperate and catch some sleep.
I set my alarm at 6:15am and when I wake up, it was raining quite heavily, so I decided to head back to bed to rest for half and hour more to monitor the situation. The weather didn't get any better at around 7:30am. So I just wake up and start surfing the net. Time ticks by, the rain sort of stop, but the condition is not really good for shooting because the "Golden Light" is missing. I messaged Thomas to call off the shooting because I see that the weather and lighting is not ideal, he actually proposed to meet up as the light is not too harsh which should be good. I couldn't help but agree with him, but the problem is, the area we are heading to will be muddy after the downpour and the overcast weather just put me off as I can't really try out IR at the Matilda House and it looks like it may rain again.
I proposed to Thomas to meet up another time and I just wash up and head back to my the other home. It is been quite some time since I last enjoyed the breakfast that my parents bought for me from the market. When I reached home, breakfast is ready and I simply indulge myself with the Bee Hoon and reading The Sunday Times at the same time. It is just so relaxing and slow.
After my breakfast and reading through the newspapers, I have decided to take a nap. It has been long since I last took an afternoon nap. I thought of just catching an hour nap or so, I ended up waking up at 4pm in late noon. What a good sleep. I find myself rejuvenated and recharged and ready for the week to come.
This has been a slow and boring Sunday I must admit, but I guess I really needed it so that I can recuperate. It just make the meaning, "To take a rest/break is to prepare yourself for the road ahead" really meaningful.
I set my alarm at 6:15am and when I wake up, it was raining quite heavily, so I decided to head back to bed to rest for half and hour more to monitor the situation. The weather didn't get any better at around 7:30am. So I just wake up and start surfing the net. Time ticks by, the rain sort of stop, but the condition is not really good for shooting because the "Golden Light" is missing. I messaged Thomas to call off the shooting because I see that the weather and lighting is not ideal, he actually proposed to meet up as the light is not too harsh which should be good. I couldn't help but agree with him, but the problem is, the area we are heading to will be muddy after the downpour and the overcast weather just put me off as I can't really try out IR at the Matilda House and it looks like it may rain again.
I proposed to Thomas to meet up another time and I just wash up and head back to my the other home. It is been quite some time since I last enjoyed the breakfast that my parents bought for me from the market. When I reached home, breakfast is ready and I simply indulge myself with the Bee Hoon and reading The Sunday Times at the same time. It is just so relaxing and slow.
After my breakfast and reading through the newspapers, I have decided to take a nap. It has been long since I last took an afternoon nap. I thought of just catching an hour nap or so, I ended up waking up at 4pm in late noon. What a good sleep. I find myself rejuvenated and recharged and ready for the week to come.
This has been a slow and boring Sunday I must admit, but I guess I really needed it so that I can recuperate. It just make the meaning, "To take a rest/break is to prepare yourself for the road ahead" really meaningful.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Fifth IR Outing @ Fort Canning
Time flies and I have already gone for 5 IR outings already. The IR outing usually take places every fornightly and I will always try to particpate because not only that I can learn more about IR Photography, I can also pick up some Photoshop skills from those experts. On top of that, by attending these outings, I can learn more from other photographers so that I can improve my photography skills and also can discuss and share some of the knowledge that I have, this is what photography is about, share knowledge and learning from one another.
Most of all, the thing that makes me look forward to these outings is the people, I find that the regular photographers in IR group are very friendly and nice. We usually set up our equipment and do our IR shots. In the process, we usually just talk with one another. We can talk about IR Photography to Photoshop tools to Nikon Equipment, joke here and there and of course some chit-chatting session. I guess that really makes me forget about those troubles and unhappy issues at work.
OK, usual practise, here is the list of people who managed to join us for this fifth IR Outing.
1. photoexpress - Bobby, our organiser, thanks for taking the time to do the organisation and coordination, really appreciated that.
2. teerex - Our IR Sub-group Moderator, he is the man
3. Francis247 - Me, myself and I aka watashi
4. PandaOng - Jonathan (He is late for the outing, but I am glad that he can make it)
5. archlover - Wellington (Hope that I got that right. First time joining us, I think he is an Indonesian, he is using a Canon IR Modified camera, nice to meet you)
6. Ark19 - Ark (This is his second outing since the start of the year. Ark is a regular in the IR Group, but he was quite busy since the start of the year so he missed the last 3 outings before the Dempsey Road one, nice guy)
7. billitone - Never turn up
8. karfee - Jia Fei (He and I are becoming regulars in the IR Group already. I recalled that his first outing was at Sentosa which is same as me)
9. Incastasman - Andrew (First time seeing Andrew, I believe that he is a full time wedding photographer, he pick up IR Photography last year, but was very busy and missed the last 4 outings, glad that he can join us today, nice meeting you)
wif my buddy tkp77 - Francis (Never turn up)
10. thl - Tan (He is also becoming a regular in the IR Group too, pick up IR Photography around the end of last year, missed the Sentosa outing as he is late, but now he has been actively turning up for the outings)
11. hweechwee - Poh (Thanks for the ride again. This is Poh's 4th outing, I recalled that I invited her for the 2nd outing and now she too is becoming a regular too)
12. Dennis - Dennis (Nice Guy with all the newest gadget, he got a D200, a 105 VR and 18-200 VR lens. Really a up-to-date photographer with the latest gear)
13. Quekky - Quekky (Haven't seen him since the first outing at Sentosa, glad that he can make it)
14. eawtan - Edmund (Outing seems to be more fun with him. He bring his 300 f2.8 today for some early birds shoot and he shows us the "catch" which is really very nice. At first, I was shock to see his 300 f2.8 lens because it really looks like a mini mortar, he told me that it weighs about 3kg, OMG, that can really weighs me down. Anyway, glad to see that he can make it for this outing)
Today outing was quite fun, we meet at Funan Mac at around 9:30am and break off for lunch at around 12:30pm at Funan Food Court.
After lunch, I walk down to Clifford Pier again to do some shooting as I already got my gear with me. This is the third time I went down to Clifford Pier to shoot as it just seems that, no amount of shooting can really capture the beauty of this old yet majestic landmark.
Anyway, here is some IR pictures from today's outing and I am still processing some of the photos taken at Clifford Pier today which capture the aftermath of moving to the new pier at Marina South. So keep a lookout for the Clifford Pier series. Thanks for reading. Cheerz.
Most of all, the thing that makes me look forward to these outings is the people, I find that the regular photographers in IR group are very friendly and nice. We usually set up our equipment and do our IR shots. In the process, we usually just talk with one another. We can talk about IR Photography to Photoshop tools to Nikon Equipment, joke here and there and of course some chit-chatting session. I guess that really makes me forget about those troubles and unhappy issues at work.
OK, usual practise, here is the list of people who managed to join us for this fifth IR Outing.
1. photoexpress - Bobby, our organiser, thanks for taking the time to do the organisation and coordination, really appreciated that.
2. teerex - Our IR Sub-group Moderator, he is the man
3. Francis247 - Me, myself and I aka watashi
4. PandaOng - Jonathan (He is late for the outing, but I am glad that he can make it)
5. archlover - Wellington (Hope that I got that right. First time joining us, I think he is an Indonesian, he is using a Canon IR Modified camera, nice to meet you)
6. Ark19 - Ark (This is his second outing since the start of the year. Ark is a regular in the IR Group, but he was quite busy since the start of the year so he missed the last 3 outings before the Dempsey Road one, nice guy)
7. billitone - Never turn up
8. karfee - Jia Fei (He and I are becoming regulars in the IR Group already. I recalled that his first outing was at Sentosa which is same as me)
9. Incastasman - Andrew (First time seeing Andrew, I believe that he is a full time wedding photographer, he pick up IR Photography last year, but was very busy and missed the last 4 outings, glad that he can join us today, nice meeting you)
wif my buddy tkp77 - Francis (Never turn up)
10. thl - Tan (He is also becoming a regular in the IR Group too, pick up IR Photography around the end of last year, missed the Sentosa outing as he is late, but now he has been actively turning up for the outings)
11. hweechwee - Poh (Thanks for the ride again. This is Poh's 4th outing, I recalled that I invited her for the 2nd outing and now she too is becoming a regular too)
12. Dennis - Dennis (Nice Guy with all the newest gadget, he got a D200, a 105 VR and 18-200 VR lens. Really a up-to-date photographer with the latest gear)
13. Quekky - Quekky (Haven't seen him since the first outing at Sentosa, glad that he can make it)
14. eawtan - Edmund (Outing seems to be more fun with him. He bring his 300 f2.8 today for some early birds shoot and he shows us the "catch" which is really very nice. At first, I was shock to see his 300 f2.8 lens because it really looks like a mini mortar, he told me that it weighs about 3kg, OMG, that can really weighs me down. Anyway, glad to see that he can make it for this outing)
Today outing was quite fun, we meet at Funan Mac at around 9:30am and break off for lunch at around 12:30pm at Funan Food Court.
After lunch, I walk down to Clifford Pier again to do some shooting as I already got my gear with me. This is the third time I went down to Clifford Pier to shoot as it just seems that, no amount of shooting can really capture the beauty of this old yet majestic landmark.
Anyway, here is some IR pictures from today's outing and I am still processing some of the photos taken at Clifford Pier today which capture the aftermath of moving to the new pier at Marina South. So keep a lookout for the Clifford Pier series. Thanks for reading. Cheerz.
