Allow me to introduce to u the two fotographers who founded and will be the only two participants this competition will ever see, unlike the annual Subaru Impreza Challenge where hundreds of ppl tried their ‘hands’ on, almost including me, thanks to her.

If ur sharp enough which I suppose u are (if not u better leave this blog haha just kidding), both cams are 550D and although we were stupid enuf to buy the same lens, we are not tt stupid as to buy the same cam body, the foto of me at the bottom was taken a few mths ago when 550D was our new toy and 60D isn’t out in SG yet. But after 60D came out in ard mid Oct in SG, we carried on with our plan to purchase our second DSLR body so we cld pursue our hobbies tgt and go out for shoots like this one.

So here is our first installment of our friendly fotographic competition,

Theme: The quiet and dark side of Joo Chiat (the precinct housing legendary Fei Fei Wanton Mee!)

What we thought: It definitely has to be shot in the night where all the ‘activities’ happen and the ‘cats & dogs’ come out to play =P. It’s also a good place to showcase fusion architecture more heavily influenced by chinese peranakan culture in SG.

All pictures were shot in the night and some light post processing was done to dramatize the colours as you prob will notice but other than that, for me… no photoshopping or any other heavy image editing was done. I mostly just played with hues and white balances. enjoy…

and the following are images from me taking her as my subject…

and this is my collection for this friendly shootout… Let’s wait and see what pictures she has for this lil competition…

Comments are welcomed for all this fotos, in fact we crave comments esp on how we can improve our pictures. We haven’t really gone into manipulating lighting with flashes, it’s something we’ll definitely be trying in the future, lets hope sooner rather than later…

ciao,

But does this mean, I’m being biased and unobjective here? I don’t think so, for one thing, check out their mobile platforms in iPhone and iPad, they seem like very cool and effective ways to manage your finances on the go. You may think this is unnecessary but being a iPhone user myself, I absolutely dig the mobile banking application my bank offers me but I feel more could be done other than just checking account balances and transactions. This is where StanChartBreeze delivers… check this out!

To the StanChartBreeze team reading this blog: I WANT THIS SO BAD! LET ME BE YOUR INTERN PLEASEeeee…

And BTW, I had so much fun doing up this application, by far the most interesting one I’ve done. (my CV is titled collingoh-get to know me) Thanks for this opportunity!

cheers,

Apologies to Winnie and Victor if the title is a bit too inauspicious, I’m sure this will not in anyway affect ur beautiful union. See what a beautiful match the both of u are… sure ‘白头协老’! Marriage something to talk about, ard the age of 25-30 in Singapore.
Nothing else to say except that I’m moving well on track towards spending the rest of my life with someone special. And she knows I’m special too, maybe too special at times… haha… my overspilling confidence again… what’s wrong with me??

Short post but still a post nonetheless… ROFL

ciao,

This is how a iPhone 3G(S) would look like from the inside…

This is our resident ‘Handywoman’ peering the innards and being careful not to break anything…

However, see the big FAIL word in the blog title? Yup she failed and it was slightly broken… What’s funny was how she managed to spoil a perfectly fine phone (making me the scapegoat) out of curiosity. Now she is trying to fix the exact connection point which she accidentally tore out.

Warning: to anyone trying to perform this exact same stunt (read: stupid act) at home, careful not to break the part labelled 3 from the clip causing the clip itself to chip off on the sides, cos that is where it might cause your phone to cease having an audio output from the receiver itself. When put on speaker mode it works fine but not when u try to listen with the phone handheld to your ears. There is simply no sound coming out from it.

Although I’m sure at the back of her mind she was thinking since she is buying iPhone 4 very soon, why don’t I tear it down and see what’s inside? Granted! but i’m sure if it ends up really screwed, she will be sian also, so hope we can fix it somehow or is there anyone out there who has met with the same prob? Though I highly doubt so…

Ok the first paragraph was totally nothing about Photography101, here’s where it starts…

Before I came back for dinner, I was at SLS alone (cos Min is overseas and I absolutely do not want to drag her to Funan or SLS on the Sun that she just came back! Have u seen the half-sian faces of GFs dragged by their BFs to male dominated malls like SLS and Funan?!) walking ard searching for  a Flash Diffuser Cap for my 25th B’day Pressie from friends.

I went to a few places and finally walked in Orient Photo cos I briefly saw the name of this shop appearing on Clubsnap and that gave me a peace of mind in entering!

So I went in and ogled ard at Photographic equipments and then I popped the question… Will U Marry Me? OK not really… Of course I asked the shop keepers whether they had any flash diffusers and yup sure they have. But disappointingly, they only have 3rd parties like Yongnuo’s and not the famed brand name StoFen Omnibounce. Damn I go for brands one leh!

Although It wasn’t exactly what I wanted… I bought it! Why? Its 33% cheaper at $10 ha! no need to think one lor at this kind of price! I was actually very interested in getting the Gary Fong Lightsphere Collapsible (GFLC) but due to reasons like unsuitability, price and actual results of photos, I’ve decided to go for a cheaper alternative first and that is the Omnibounce.

GFLC in my opinion works really well if u are taking portrait shots indoor where u have no lack of white walls to send light bouncing in all directions. When it comes to wedding photography, which I foresee a few coming up for me, there are mixed reviews about its usefulness and how inconvenient the size of it poses as compared to a small Omnibounce that ain’t too bulky. In weddings, one doesn’t get walls to help bounce light onto subjects as often but i believe if there was a wall nearby , the effects would be better then an Omnibounce or Bouncecard. (Do leave comments if u think i’m wrong!)

So my next issue was, my Yongnuo cap had raised dots at the underside of the top, and according to a pregnant lady whom I believe is the ‘Lao Ban Niang’ told me that those dots actually help to diffuse light better, I have my doubts about her facts! Cos I personally feel the cap smooth shld be able to do a good enuf job of diffusing light and there was no need for the dots, (which i may be wrong so pls correct me if i’m wrong again?) degrading the aesthetic feel of it.

Anyhow I tried searching for an answer but found none prob because it was too minute a difference for people to discuss intensively…

Putting this issue aside I decided to test out the effects with and without the Omnibounce and here are some photos of it (unprocessed)…

Top: with all Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO the same for both and flash head pointing up, the pic on the right (with the cap obviously), was better lit showing more details of the Bag…

Top: Pic on top has the cap on and when used to bounce off a white wall (on my right), also has a diffused effect, which makes it less harsh but the strong lighting effect by the naked flash (bottom pic) is nice also right. Bottomline, with cap on, less light gets bounced off surfaces and so not as bright on subject.

Top: Pic on top (with cap on) has a shadow cast against the door, and reflection of light against mirror and white surrounding became less optimal as compared to bottom pic where cap is off. I personally prefer with cap off for this way of using flash. The flash light coming from all directions are more balanced.

Before I end of, I realise this post as titled Photography101 shld teach the reader a thing or two about photography… so what i’ve learned is don’t bother about thinking which to get, just get all! the Omnibounce, Bouncecards and GFLC! You can use them for different situations and environments. Omnibounce is not good if u wanna bounce light off something else cos it diffuses the direction of ur light, Bouncecards are better if u intend to use a lot of light bouncing from the card itself or from walls cos u can always tuck away those cards and the flash head is still barenaked. GFLC is good for telling people u are serious about photography but only the pics will tell rite… haha… on a more serious note its good for closer portrait shots like if ur shooting for ur resume? Whether it works well for Weddings, I’ll definitely want to get hold of one and test it at my Bros wedding coming Jan! Its pros is how it redirects light in all directions leaving no shadows on ur subject and a soft tone. Power!

That’s all for now, hopefully will post more Photography related stuff cos I get to learn as I write!

ciao,

Shall not take the easy route of saying how this trip cannot be described in words, so… here it goes…

Trip was relaxing and intensed at the same time because we had to cover a lot of ground with the limited period of stay we had there… 6 days was definitely not enough… we couldn’t travel outta Tokyo at all. Next trip will definitely squeeze Osaka into the itinerary.

Our preferred mode of transport to and fro Narita Airport, Narita Express and Suica package. cost abt 5500yen if my 1month old memory does not fail me…

on a random road trying to snap a shot but failed. turned out pleasantly gorgeous though after some post processing!

something we always try whenever we travel, take a blurred bg shot in the middle of a busy road ignoring public stares cos we attempted like gazillion times.

Harajuku at night! all shops are already closed by the time we got there so we had to go back the next day… its indeed the place for cult fashion and random unheard of labels that sell for exorbitant premiums.

YES!! The lengendary Apple Store along Ginza, the Mecca of all Apple fans around the globe and my die-die-also-must-visit-place. In fact its my first time in an official Apple store. I’m such a consumerist and sucker for Apple.

For more pictures of the store from inside, visit my Facebook page cos i believe Apple fans will wanna see more fotos than hear me ramble…

another one of those shutter-priority shots… this time of the apple store in the bg.

A random art house cum cafe tucked in a dark alley, you need luck to find it, quite sure its in Harajuku!

a group of Tattoo artists who just came out from their workshop in Harajuku, wonder if they are all going home to watch ‘wrestling’ videos like how we stereotype Jap man. ROFL

through her eyes i see…. fake lashes!! haha

The master on top prepared the sushi i had in my hands… Ok not really but sushi there is the freshest it can be… @ Tsukiji Fish Market. must go even if that means waking at 7am! worth the trip if u heart Sushi! Any fresher you will have to skin it yourself! Haha

along the enclosed street of Ginza where they close it up for shoppers on weekends! Orchard should totally do this. u hear me URA? or whichever GOVT agency that should be concerned with?

and here she is acting cute in her red skirt… something is not making sense, if it’s so hot than use the umbrella to shade urself instead of your fingers? haha

another must go place, Sensoji Temple in Asakusa if I’m not wrong, I’m quite sure I’m right haha!

you will feel so much at peace although the place is bustling with activities!! we went there during one of their annual festivals and it was crowded with youngsters who are dressed in their Kimonos. The big incense collecting bowl behind has a lot of people crowding around it and using their arms to collect whatever smoke that comes out of it and smearing it on their bodies as an act of blessing themselves. Yes we did the same action too while shouting HUAT AH! HUAT AH!

an old lady praying right beside the coin well…

We asked for our fortunes to be told there and yes its damn accurate I must say although i’m not one who believes in this or so called ‘Pan Dang’.

and of course just like any other trips we had… we will always gather our victorious items of acquisition to take a photo, i’m not sure for what also… maybe so we know where we bought some of our stuff in the future.. ok maybe not! My fav buy is definitely the camera bag on the top left, Artisan&Artist is awesome, love the design and feel of it. Bought it from Lemon at Ginza, a must go for Photo-Enthusiasts!!

That’s all for my post on Tokyo… I so wanna fly back there now, but before we do so, we have to work our butts off to save enough! sounds sad but yup that’s life!

Tokyo! I’ll be BACK!

ciao,

We also just compared the no. of frens we have on FB and she has more than double the no. of frens i have… is it really true, guys just befriend any girl they can find on FB?? I really think so…

First up since i’m at it, i shall just post a short wish list

• Canon Speedlite 430EX II (of course a 580EX II would be wonderful)
• Wallet
• A Good Job (if this can be wished for…)
• iPad
• iPhone4 and my Singtel contract to reach 24 months like NOW!!
• iMac 27”
• Spare Canon 550D Battery
• Happiness for everyone around me…

Now its all just about building a career for myself… of course while i’m at that, i shld enjoy my bummer life first… will be doing more dedicated posts about each event (i.e. Tokyo, Graduation, Jay’s Concert and 25th Birthday) very soon… hopefully haha!

It’s the much lusted and desired DSLR which Min and I have been eyeing for since she started iLoveLRH.com!

Its only until recently that we or rather she became more financially stable and is able to splurge on this kinda thing, whereas for me, being a fresh grad still hunting for his first job I can only live off her for now.. Well, there is no better way to put it… Sad! Talk about investment foresight… I had it when I was 15 if you know what I mean.

Its also the perfect time to spend on this particular DSLR because its about the best (in terms of product life cycle) time given current technologies to buy 550D because its comparable to the 7D in many ways and captures images with stunning quality. OK before this sounds like an informercial… I should just show off some pics you might have already seen on my FB page, and it shall witness exponential growth in no. of images being uploaded this few months.

aren’t they pwetty… gotta owe it to the lens! “一分钱一分货“

Now I’m thinking about a f/1.8 lens, I wonder how dramatic will the Bokeh be… personal opinion, although I haven’t tried a decent outdoor shoot with LRH but I feel the shots taken on this camera are “elegant” not too dramatic but beautiful in a subtle way, that is so me!! haha ok maybe not.

Next Up… We are going to the land of beautiful porn! erm… maybe the guys will get this better but to the girls, it’ll be the Asian Fashion Capital… Yes Tokyo! So looking forward and again which GF is so nice as to bring the BF to Japan for Grad Trip cum 25th birthday cum 10th Anniversary, and all she says is: “he’ll bring me to many more places in the future…” OK you have my word on that! I usually don’t do promises but this is one I’ll want to keep and fulfill…

“Ohaiyo” for now, oh wait is it “Kong-Ba-Wah”? ok gotta brush up on my Nihongo and bargaining skills, till then…