Chasing the wrong league?

Sometimes i wonder the choices that i have made...are they the right choices?
Am i chasing the wrong league and should have long ago been in another league that suits me better?

Now there is another choice present and i need to think carefully, once more what is suitable for me..

Finally Over!

Like studying, there is always a time for exam..and so today was the day where the Board clears the hard work that each of us put in for the past few months.

I'm glad that things worked out well in today's presentation and everyone seems rather happy that its finally over!

While i may still have some work on hand to draw a finale to the budgeting cycle, the stress and deadlines has finally distant from me.

Now, like every exam, there would be a report card to show you the results on how you fare and like every year, this is the most headache time for me. Im also quite unclear my directions in the coming year and how valuable i may be to the team from now on.

My colleagues was telling me that job hopping would get me a better remunerations & better exposure than to stay loyal to the company...well in some ways, i agree...every new joiner seems to get a much higher salary than me...and younger inexperienced but yet fetch a higher salary...

Maybe after 7 years in the company, i should start exploring...its never a bad thing to see what the market has for me...

My SAPA pics

Thanks to Holly, i finally gotten some pics from our trip to SAPA, Hanoi...

I realised i look rather fat back then for the trip!

My Billingham Bag

It took me seriously a very long time to finally get this bag. Given the price, it seems to be one of the more expensive camera bag that i ever owned.
Supposingly, this bag is going to last a good 15 years and more with proper care.



Directing the angles, i got holly to take these pictures for me.





By e way, my first wet prints!

Trying out all the new stuff

So finally on a Saturday morning, i tried my first ever engaged "Model" shoot. With the Large format guys, i feel more relax on my medium format. After all, i just got my cheap 150mm portraiture lens that i need to test on.
The group wasnt as intimidating as DSLR group as basically, we are all shooting on films and it took a few minutes each time for the Large format guys to adjust their camera. So the "Model" didnt really get a nice time posing for them. She has to freeze and stay still for minutes once the focusing is locked on. The good thing is, they only shoot that few shots thats all.
Angah Singh was the guy who guided us on lighting and metering etc.

Posing at the first spot..here's Desmond positioning his camera


Angah giving instructions to the model...


Checking how a LF image looks like so she can better hold her position.




Desmond who is more experienced, show us how to bounce the lights


Sorry if the pics looks abit noisy, Im using my point and shoot camera as i lend my dslr to a friend..(I think i cannot live without my DSLR)

Well, it was the experience i wanted but i guess its just not my style. I couldnt take the fake posture of the model and i wanted something more natural..more candid..and also the main reason i shoot street candid...so in a way, its not very flattering to see people pose for shots...(I know fionis likes to do the same pose as well but limited in a way, haha) the killing factor that many dont realize that they dont look natural..

And there was all the bloopers that happen on this trip! I carried around 7kg of equipment and walked the park from 1 end to the other just because i thought MRT was more convenient! Its horrible!!! and the worse thing was that i took my billy bag on this trip and i dont dare to put it on the floor, so literally im carrying the bag throughout!

So after the shoot, Ernest called me to ask if im interested to try out the darkroom printing...and i agreed despite feeling exhausted...The only thing that i wanted to do was to complete the whole process of shooting film to printing film and there was no reason for me to say no!

He provided everything and i just need to bring my negative along.

The paper that is light sensitive.


The enlarger machine!


The frames for the negative


I took a picture of the image falls from the enlarger...no paper was there which explains why i can take a pic of it!


And the next thing to do was to measure the exposure which in my case was f16, 10seconds..and i let the image project on the paper.
Place the paper into the paper developer for 1.5mins(You will see the image slowly appear on the paper and stop bath it in another tray and finally fix it in the fixer.





The first time you see the image appearing on the paper was captivating. I got so hooked on it that i went to develop a 2nd picture. Ernest was very generous to offer me unlimited tries and paper..it was dark when we left the dark room...that is how interesting the process is that you will lose count of the time.

Sadly an enlarger is not easy to find in Singapore and i do not have the space to set up a dark room. Luckily, Losheng set up a dark room in some office space that allows us to use it. Definitely a must go for me!

The Rain in March

The climate these days has gone viral. Who would have thought that March would be a raining season in Singapore. I dislike March for every single reason, especially so with this wet weather.



Well, the only activity that i can think of during a weather like this is to have a nice cup of tea or latte at a cafe or you could try the Danny Santo's method of shooting in the rain..:)

http://www.dannyst.com/good-times-in-bad-weather/

Finally Sick

When was the last time i took a MC? I think it was somewhere last year April. I broke my "MC free" run for a consecutive 5 years record and i didnt think that i will take another one so soon. Well, all thanks to my noisy and inconsiderate neighbours who kept me mentally and physically exhausted almost every night.

The horrible kids next door always catch a late nap and start their screaming session every night past 11pm. I just dont understand how can the grandparents tolerate such behaviour?

So i decide to make a wish this year that there will be an en block and hopefully i can moved to somewhere more peaceful!

Shania Unexpected visit to office

Little Shania had began her "schooling" at Learning vision. It was only her 4th day at school and Sherry brought her to our office...

A little occupied

I havent got the time to update this blog of mine lately...Feburary was a busy month for me at work. There wasnt much to blog about except whining about work and stress, so i thought i might as well skip blogging them.

March is a completely different month, im back to the normal pace of life. Well that's the kind of working life i have been through for years...An extreme between Peak and off peak periods.

Aside from work, i spend alot of times participating in various photography outing. Each outing somehow enlighten me with new knowledges. I have seen how people develop slides, the tips to shoot better, and having a chance(coming soon) to develop my own wet print in a dark room.
And unlike the past, i spent more time shooting and experiencing the different style of photography. Well, in a good way, it helps to cut down on my spending for lenses and cameras but spent more on films.

Hopefully by May, i would have more or less master the different style of photography that i wanted. So on my trip to Yunan, i could get nicer pictures.
And Yes, im going on a vacation trip to China with my family this May!

This year, i have decided to just travel to 2 countries, Yunan in May and Myanmar in October. Myanmar is a free and easy back pack photography tour that i had planned with Hollie since the last Hanoi trip. Heard so much about this place and its time to see it for myself.

Hopefully with lesser trips this year, I would have save enough for a trip to Finland or Europe next year! Crossing my fingers!