Sunday, October 24, 2010

First time @ Canon Photomarathon 2010

Well well well, it was only yesterday but I gotta write something while it's still hot. Yes, it was our first time at the Canon Photomarathon. After so many times missing the chance to join, we finally had a day running around from 9am to 6pm taking photos, going back for submission and then going out taking photos again. At the end of the day, our legs felt like falling off. Here's a snap of what happened.

We got 3 hours to do everything for each theme: go out, take photos, come back, and submit the best photo straight from the camera. It sounded easy but the MC warned us that we needed like 1-1.5 hour for the queue. So you've got to get the idea, go to the place, take a nice photo and get back really fast or you'll be late for the next theme. There were 3 of them in total to make you busy all day. Lunch time was not in consideration.

9am: Theme 1 "Clarity"

The first thing we said was that these Canon guys might be inspired by the big haze covering the island the last couple of days (j/k). We thought that everybody might jump into that as well so we decided not to go there. We kind of like the idea of shooting through Analox's glasses and kept looking for some good objects to shoot. We shoot some water drops as well but they weren't so nice. Eventually, here's what we got. I like the idea of multiple layers of glasses in these photos.

Clarity
By Analox

Clarity
By Admiré

12pm: Theme 2: "Faith"

It was hard to think of something out of the box for this theme. While queuing to submit the first theme's photos, we quickly decided that we would go to a religious place and see what we could get. We went to Kampong Glam but didn't find much inspiration there. The mosque was closed for visitor when we reached. We thought it would be easier to take photos at temple as praying was usually in open area but we both didn't know any temple nearby and it was almost 1.30pm, so we went to St Joseph's Church.

In the end, we had something to represent the idea of blending 'faith in normal life'

Faith
By Analox

Faith
By Admiré

3pm: Theme 3: "Charge"

Well, we really needed to re-charge at 3pm when energy level was at red alert. We decided not to go anywhere far from Suntec city so that we wouldn't be too tired to get back and submit the photos before 6.05pm, the final deadline. Many ideas came to mind but most of them were thrown out of the window because of feasibility. These were more or less from the idea of 'electronic charge' from our low energy minds :)).

Charge
By Analox

Charge
By Admiré

As many other competitions, there could only be a few winners. And, as many other participants who didn't win, we didn't totally agree with the judges' choice =)). Some of the winning photos were really good but some weren't quite so. Anyway, you could have your own idea by taking a look at some of the winning photos here

Congratulations to all the winners and participants. It was a fun day. Hope to see you next time!

24 Oct 2010
Admiré

Friday, October 8, 2010

Maybe it is not about the photos...

I've had a great time shooting film with the Olympus OM1, a complete manual SLR camera. This is my 1st 35mm roll, a Fujifilm Superia 200. Technical discussions on "Digital vs. Film" are available all over online and I'm not so interested in talking about that. Each simply has some pros and cons. Rather I want to share with you my experience from using it in the past two weeks.

Using a complete manual camera means you have to manually set the aperture and shutter speed for a "correct" exposure, then get the subject in focus by rotating the focusing ring. In short, it means taking things slow. Really slow. And more anticipation. No rushing or pressure for taking 2-3 frames of the same thing, in hope that at least one will be good. With the limit of 36 shots and the cost of film processing, you only press a shutter button when it feels right (still, not guarantee a good outcome though).

Shooting film means you only know the actual pictures after finishing the whole roll of 36 shots, then wait couple of days for the film to be developed. You become curious (or extremely curious) about the outcome and yet need to be patient at the same time. It is different from shooting digital when you can see the image right on the LCD.

Shooting film also means that in the end of the day, you "have to" put the camera down and go to sleep, as there is not much you can do to an unfinished film. No downloading from the CF card. No post-processing (and uploading to Flickr or Facebook right after that).

Sure, you can put your digital camera to Manual mode, turn off the LCD and try not to be addicted to the "download, post-process, and upload" things. But here, you HAVE TO do that ;)

Anyway, here are some shots from my 1st 35mm roll (Straight Out of the Camera). Guess we can still produce similar outputs with a full-frame digital (5D Mark II) and some film-like post-processing. However, maybe it is not about the photos, but what you experience....

A. We went to Changi airport to pick up my friend's mother who transited here for one night. In the end, we were late for the last train home. Luckily there are NightRider buses for us to get home at 2am in the morning.

@Changi Airport

Waiting @ Changi Airport

@Changi Airport

B. Our "family picnic" at Botanic Garden...

Admiré

Admiré

Sky

Conversation

C. Some shots in NTU - my effort to finish the roll

@NTU

@NTU

Analox