Life as a Part-Time Tourist
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Whoa ho; what a week! I have been exploring Singapore like never before...
Cheryl, Nikki, Kalyn and I brought the Chinese students to Ministry of Sound on Wednesday. And yup, this is the first time I partied so hard. The last time I was in Zouk as an organizing committee member for KEVII Hall bash. The teachers decided to tag along and we thought our mood would be somehow affected but nope, they left after a short while (the music might have been too loud for them). The retro night music was fantastic and we had fun on the dance floor. Well, not that we were super-good dancers though. Music was so loud that all of us were deaf after leaving the place. And darn, I was waiting for Bananarama's Love in the First Degree and the DJ played it when we were at the exit :(
Fri... Chery, Nikki and I bought about 20 of them to the City Hall area. The group was split into two: Cheryl and Nikki bought some to shop at Raffles City while I bought the rest to Bugis Village and Bugis Junction. The gals, as usual, were incredible shoppers. The group met up and went to Glutton Square for supper... The exciting finale was when I bought the group to take bus 51. The taxi queue was super long at DXO and most of them were on call. It was super frustrating to see so many taxis and yet we couldn't take any. I was not that familiar with 51's bus route and took a wrong turn near City Hall. In the end, I had to call my sis to ask for bus directions. The time was 1215 and the last bus had left Hougang terminal at 2330. My sis reassured me that we could catch the last bus and true enough, as I jogged towards the bus-stop and turned my head to glimpse at my back, a bus 51 accelerated from a stop at the traffic light and headed towards me. I just ran for the bus... Super heng, got the last bus...
Sat... Sentosa. I carried the almost 3kg photographic equipment with me for the whole day. Many of them thought I was crazy to lug all the stuff around Sentosa. Well, lugging equipment is part of the fun too :P And if you can see the above picture, that's how I looked on Sat in Sentosa. Touristy enough? The Sentosa excursion is quite a photographic tutorial for me. My aim was to learn how to take souvenir-holiday portrait and how to balance the snap-shot nature of souvenir portrait and certain classic portrait requirements. Lunch was super crappy and I was embarrassed as a Singaporean host. The mini-steam boat dinner was way, way, way-better.
If you have read the Sunday Times, you would have known that the musical fountain is going to be torn down to make way for the IR. I think this was the highlight of the day. I had a super nebulous memory of watching the musical fountain show and this was something new for me.
Just a quick tip: on the flash when you're outdoor. I flashed almost 100% of my outdoor pictures. The key is to balance the ambient light and the artificial flash (tuning down the flash power is impossible with most compact cameras though). The above picture would have been impossible without the flash. The face would have been dark and the background nicely exposed without the flash. Well, I don't want to be too technical here... If you need more information, please google for "fill-flash" or we could have a fire-side chat.
posted byWilliam at 10:46 PM 1 comments
Some Updates
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
I have been involved in hosting some Chinese students participating in the Sino-Singapore Exchange Programme. Been showing them around Singapore and NUS. Quite tired from the walking around... but fun. It would have been much better if it's the holiday period now. Been to the Night Safari, River Taxi ride; then Sat going Sentosa. Quite happening lah. More on the events that happened later...
Tagged along a pro photographer as a "second" for two events. I have learnt alot but I find that event photography is really boring. I don't think this is what I am pursuing in photography hobby. Money is ok but I don't like to do stuff for money. Event photography is contrary to my style. You anticipate, you jostle around, and you squeeze the trigger to try to get a shot. Perhaps I am too engrossed in pursuing all the "moments" like in wedding photography... Creativity plays a big role in modern photojournalistic style of photography... and even for photojournalism in the papers.
Ok, newspaper photo editors can choose really artistic shots for publishing work. Do I have a choice in selecting what to shoot when I'm employed? I really don't in event photography. There always have to be the standard speaker on the podium, the hand-shakes... The shots are standard, posed, lack space for creativity due to demand of the client... You get the idea.
Do people pay for some pixs which people's head/hand/leg are chopped off, even though the pix is excellently executed? I don't think so.
Do people pay for some fancy digital enhancement for event, like in the modern wedding album to add mood? I don't think so.
Are people looking out for details in your pictures, like a picture of a bouquet, a candle...? I don't think so. People don't pay you to shoot still-life.
I surfed around the web viewing event photographers' portfolio, and I am pretty disappointed. I am also disappointed with myself. Perhaps the portfolios I viewed are lousy and I am lousy. Pros, please show me some event photographs to revive my interest.
FYP is going quite well though I am still conducting experiments. At least now, my computational results are matching the experimental results. Now, it's on to the application...
posted byWilliam at 11:06 PM 0 comments
Itchy Legs Got into Trouble
Sunday, March 04, 2007
See lah, all the months of training went to nought for the NUS triathlon...
I ran the regular route at Fort Canning Hill Park yesterday. Talk about Murphy's law: I have never sustained a really ankle sprain until then. Stepped onto some hole in the ground and kena a sprain. Not serious enough to make me unable to walk but enough to cause enough discomfort to put me out of action for the race today. Sorry Zixian, gotta disappoint you with my absence. And darn, my $20+ registration fees also gone. I will be back next year.
Pretty eventful week: participated in Singtel Information Group Annual Dinner on Fri as the photographer. Hmmm... will post some pixs later after I do my FNA1002X tutorial.
Bought a new toy: a Benro carbon fibre tripod. The aluminum Manfrotto 190PROB is just too heavy at 1.9kg and the wobbly joints amplify vibration. Benro 1127 is 1.4 kg and has alot stiffer legs and joints. Well, I lost the versatility of the Manfrotto's removable column though; the 1127 is a classic tripod.
Dad just got me a lobang as a backup photographer at some coporate dinner. He met his professional photographer friend who happens to want some help. Hope this will kick start some rolling money for my photography hobby.
Canon is kicking Nikon's ass in PMA 2007. The release of EOS-1D Mark III makes it the fastest DSLR in the world (10 frames per second!). I hope Nikon is holding back the latest DSLR(s) for last-minute revelation.
posted byWilliam at 2:30 PM 0 comments
Hooked on Personality Test
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
posted byWilliam at 8:31 PM 0 comments
"Get to Know Yourself Better" Result
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Your view on yourself:
Other people find you very interesting, but you are really hiding your true self. Your friends love you because you are a good listener. They'll probably still love you if you learn to be yourself with them. (The question is: do you find me interesting? Very true about the "hiding your true self" part; quite true about being a good listener)
The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes. (I think most people would think this is very untrue since I enjoy eye-candies like Jolin Tsai and Fiona Xie. But hey, they are really eye-candies! I am not looking for someone who is super pretty or pretty in the first place. Perhaps one of the "untrues" in this report might be that I am "attractive in many people's eyes".)
Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You prefer to get to know a person very well before deciding whether you will commit to the relationship. (Very true; perhaps true for everyone. A general statement, I must say.)
The seriousness of your love:
Your have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates. (Whoa, when did I ever have lots of dates? Mostly untrue! Sensible tactics they might be, I got a feeling that they are out-of-date and not-that-effective tactics. Very true: straightforwardness.)
Your views on education
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can. (Yup, very true and accurate. Picked up lots of non-academic skills and knowledge: weight-training, running, swimming, magic, photography, human performance, persuasion, negotiation... I'm a typical jack-of-all-trade. But again, high chance that this is a general statement for most of my friends.)
The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life. (Very true: I have decided to climb up MOE's coporate ladder. Some people might say I'm naive to decide so early even before stepping into the Ministry. Do you know me better than I know myself?)
How do you view success:
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous. (True to a large extent. Afterall, the idea of starting a business has rarely struck me. Perhaps one of the largest risk I'm undertaking in investing a large portion of my savings in unit trusts.)
What are you most afraid of:
You are afraid of things that you cannot control. Sometimes you show your anger to cover up how you feel. (Very true. This shows up very often when I was in the army. In recent years, it has seldom happened. A lot better control of my emotions now, but I think the test revealed my inner self.)
Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve. (Mature? I'm not too sure about that. People still label me "immature" occasionally. Reasonable? Yup, I'm not irrationally demanding. Honest and give good advice? Yup, very true. Perhaps these qualifies me a bit as a teacher. Need to use my heart sometimes? Quite true, there are times when I find myself analyzing too much when I should have followed my heart.)
Go to here for the test. I think the test result has described me quite accurately (or do you find this test giving ambiguous report like most others?).
posted byWilliam at 11:48 PM 1 comments