Iceberg's Photoblog.

New Zealand - Nov 2011

2011-12-18T22:42:00.003+08:00

New Zealand trip started from Auckland, then to Queenstown. We stopped at Te Anau first, visited Doubtful Sound, Milford Sound, then headed to Invercargil, Dunedin and then Queenstown!

Most of the places we went was raining. Locals everywhere almost say the same thing: "Yesterday was bright and sunny!"

Took 1059 shots. Filtered down to 79 pictures for first pass. And posted 17 here. Will definitely work on having a PDF/PPT version to document the travel from Day 1 to last day!

Willy the Wanderer

2011-10-20T23:52:00.017+08:00

Meet Willy.

"Hello!"

He was adopted just 2 days ago from a nearby shop which seemed to have eluded me for 1 year, for just $7.90. He even has a functional magnifying glass!

"Watcha looking at!"

Willy is an addition to bring to light the 3D Models that we have been building for the past weeks/months. Willy the Wanderer.. for obvious reasons.

At first, he wasn't sure whether he was dreaming, or really visiting places. He started off at Tower Bridge, London.

Scrutinizing closer, it seems real enough. And the journey commences!

Willy was at Burj Al Arab. Right where Agassi played tennis a few years back. But somehow, he sees the Petronas Twin Tower not too far ahead!

It's nice to hang off the Petronas Twin Tower bridge once in a while it seems...

Moving on, there was Paris...

Then there was Pisa....

"Whoa"... leaning as much as Willy can go...

Moscow...

Trying to blend in to the Kremlin.. playing Spot Willy instead of Find Wally...

China....

"Yippee!!" on top of the Great Wall.. or part of it...

Taj Mahal...

After a long trip, he rested.

But it was too hot, so Willy got into the shade!

Moving on... Willy came to the Himeji-Jo!

Try to Spot Willy...

Looking out of the Himeji-Jo... Willy is getting tired..

As I try to take a bird's eye view...

Willy sits back and rest...

Completing his tour... Willy went Down Under

Where else to go then the Opera House!

Exploring the Opera House...

It's time to take a break. Willy sits back, stretch out, gear down. It's time to conclude this journey segment of Willy the Wanderer.

La Trappe

2011-09-25T14:21:00.003+08:00

Went to Little Part 1 Cafe at Upper Thomson for Friday dinner.
Second time there, and second time having the La Trappe!

This time round, I took the bottle home (with consensus of the Cafe of course) for a photo shoot.

Nice strong beer. + the bottle looks good. Deserving of the effort to setup and shoot!

p.s. I realized my watermark for the product shoots were far too much at the bottom corner (like the Lomo Recesky), so for this round, I shifted it to overlap with the product.

Lomo Recesky

2011-09-18T17:56:00.002+08:00

My New Toy!
The newest addition to my toy collection - Lomo Recesky..

A DIY TLR for the price of $33SGD. This price is pretty flexible depending on where or who you get it from. I'm not sure whether I will be passing any roll of film through this, but it is definitely a cheap and good deco to be used at Halia.

Casio G-Shock

2011-09-04T19:29:00.003+08:00

Got a new toy for Friday.
Wanted a sporty watch, probably hoping that I will get out and do more sports!
Casio G-301BR-1ADR 2737
Quite different from my previous watch shoots. (Check out here: Product)

Glass and Asparagus

2011-08-11T22:39:00.003+08:00

Another set of photos not uploaded! What has been going on!! These were taken when the thought of concept photography was lingering... hopefully more inspiration will return. Shot in June 2008 as well.

Tree in solitude

2011-08-11T22:34:00.004+08:00

Essentially.... broccoli.

This came up during lunch today. I tried to find it on this blog but realized I didn't post it... taken in 2008 June, close to when Ripples and Cherry was taken. Couldn't remember whether it was Australian or China Broccoli though...

Singapore KTM Tracks

2011-07-30T21:29:00.005+08:00

These photos were taken before the Hanoi trip, but I only sat down to go through them in LR after the Hanoi trip.

The KTM tracking trip took place on 16 July, Morning. The idea was to track from track close to Rifle Range, and end at Rail Mall, with a hearty breakfast at Hatched. Luckily the weather was good, not too sunny/hot, not moody either. There were a lot of people. I would have described it as half of Singapore who were not at shopping malls were there.

And of course, there was the breakfast @ Hatched and coffee @ McD after that.

Hanoi 2011: July 23-26

2011-07-29T22:44:00.032+08:00

My first post via email! My plan is to type out the text in email then add in the pictures through the dashboard later.

Day 1

We reached in the afternoon, checked into our hotel, Tirant Hotel. Here's some room pics.

Then we went for a quick walk before heading for spa. Nearby the hotel lies the lake which is like a landmark to me.

We passed by the place where we would watch the show later, Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. We had the hotel staff to help secure the tickets less it were sold out.

Dinner at Green Tangerine.

Food pictures!

At the Water Puppet theater, apparently need to pay 1USD for photography. I didn't pay, so only took some shots before the show started.

After the show, we headed out to the night market, which only runs on weekend nights.

Crossing the road is scary! Tons of vehicle horning, people etc

View of hotel at night.

Day 2

Halong Bay!
We booked a tour for 30USD per pax. A van came around to pick us up.

Halong city.

At the pier.

On the boat.

View on water. Splendid.

Inside Cave @ Halong Bay

Day 3
Food day!
Thanks to Ben, We were spoilt for choices on where/what to eat.

Bun Cha

Ordered 2 persons' share and a coke for 180k VND

Bun Bo Nam Bo

Went there right after Bun Cha and just couldn't eat as much anymore! So had to share one.

Zooming to dinner time.... Quan An Ngon.

This was good. Really good. Wrap-it-yourself with pork.

After the heavy lunch, we couldn't really eat much. Was looking around on what to order. The following is Rice Cake with Pork. Didn't quite like it, so just took a nibble.

Looking for a place for drinks, especially forgoing the usual Highlands Coffee, we sought advice from the local stall keeper. She pointed to across the street, an alley with little light, only to see something bright at the end. We walked through. It first seemed like a residence, then a temple, or it could be both. Finally a lady asked whether she can help. After knowing our intentions, she used some effort to switch on the lights, and handed us the menu, waiting to take our order.

View from the other end of the alley

This does not seem like a drink place in any sense!

The part where it feels like a residence. There was someone watching tv in the room.

After having taken the order, we headed up. There's a straight stair and a windy stair just to reach the 'cafe'. Then there's another flight of stairs going to don't-know-what.

The inside view of the top. We sat outside, with 2-3 other tables of customers.

View of the lake while seating outside

The signboard at the entrance of the alley.

Bishan

2011-06-17T22:08:00.005+08:00

Reached home earlier today. Was feeling a bit flu-ish, but think that it will be good to try to catch the sunset @ Bishan. Sunset was not exactly wonderful today. The process was over by the time I got to my spot. The clouds weren't fantastic as well. Here's just some shots of the neighbourhood.

Earlier shot of the HDBs. Before the sky turned darker.
There are actually some stars if you stare at the photos carefully. Those are not pixel noises.

Stadium - Good to have the flood lights turned on. Just something to add to the photo.

Mad for Garlic

2011-06-08T21:10:00.003+08:00

One idea to shooting more has to start with bringing the camera with you more often. So, I brought the cam to work, and then to the dinner appointment @ Mad for Garlic. I brought the 50/1.7 only because it's compact, useful and has good aperture.

Some food for thoughts:

After dinner, we hunted for McCafe. This one was at Center Point.

Mocchachino

PS Cafe

2011-06-05T17:47:00.006+08:00

Went for brunch today. It was pouring super cats and dogs today. Even as we ventured after the thunderous rain, it was still pretty heavy. But brunch was pretty good, albeit pricey.

PS Cafe at Palais Renaissance.

Table setting:

Cappuccino with love.

PS Big Bacon and Egg. I chose poached egg. It comes with chorizo, herb bread, baked tomato, mushroom and of course bacon.

Brunch burger. This would have been my choice if poached eggs ran out! Very good burger, though this plate was pretty exp, but beats most burger I've had hands down.

Egg White Omelette. Comes with spinach and mushroom.

Labrador Park

2011-06-04T23:19:00.003+08:00

Having realized that

1. I have not been utilizing my camera much
2. This blog has long been neglected

today, I made a trip down to Labrador Park, hoping to catch the sunset. However, the sky was a bit too cloudy, so had to miss the eggyolk in the sky... Not a very fruitful trip, but, it's a good start. Hope to go out shoot more, post more in the future.

2 pics for today..

Cambodia

2010-11-29T23:43:00.005+08:00

Realized I have not uploaded the photos since my trip in Dec 09!!
It's almost going to be a year.. so here goes..

Star Search 10 contestant photoshoot

2010-10-03T19:32:00.003+08:00

Today I had the opportunity to take part in Mediacorp's Star Search 10 contestant shoot. This was a 1hour thing, with each photographer having 10min to shoot per couple. 5 couples at 5 stations.

After the debrief, I went to my first location. I had a less than ideal flow. 5 stations were located at 3 location. 2 location had 2 stations. Just so happen that according to my flow of stations, I had to start and end at the same location.

Also, we started late, around 2:20pm. By 3:10pm, when I finished with the 4th couple. It was time out. Below are what I have come up with. Thanks to Cathay Photo, we had strobes to use at 1 location.

On with the photos!

Kite Festival 2010 (Marina)

2010-09-18T21:29:00.008+08:00

Never knew such a festival existed until today. Haven't been to this area of Singapore before, and I didn't know such a nice place exists too. The kite festival was held at this green patch across the marina barrage. On the opposite side is just Marina Bay Sands. There were soooooo many people. Those with kites, those with cameras, and those who are there just to see look see look.

Nice place, nice time, quite a good place for picnic. Shall go there another time just for that!

On with the kite festival =)

Angel Rays

2010-09-06T21:29:00.002+08:00

Good day in Seoul...

Food Photography - RedDot Brewhouse

2010-07-10T10:12:00.003+08:00

Had a photoshoot at RedDot Brewhouse for food photography. The 2nd time, but this time round the photos are more satisfactory. The hardest to shoot is still the pork knuckle, difficult to make it look like a pork knuckle!

Citizen Eco-Drive Moon Phase

2010-07-04T23:27:00.005+08:00

Got my Citizen Eco-Drive today!
Given that I've done a shot on my Casio about 4years ago, I did the same thing this time round with the Citizen before using it extensively!

This watch is suppose to be eco friendly. No need for change of battery as it derives energy from light.

Cherry

2009-06-13T19:26:00.003+08:00

Part of the effort of my "a photo a week"

Ripples

2009-06-06T17:00:00.005+08:00

Decided to some experimental shoots... here goes....

Changi Boardwalk

2009-02-19T00:21:00.004+08:00

Went to Changi Boardwalk today. Decided to update this blog as frequent as possible!

Andalucia

2009-01-05T23:02:00.003+08:00

Had a visit to Sevilla, Malaga and Granada with my mum and sis in Oct 2008. This is a waaaaay llooonnng overdue post..

PS #2

2008-07-26T20:28:00.001+08:00

Themed

2008-07-20T22:30:00.007+08:00

Trying to change. Themed pictures.
It would be subjective. But pictures are just that. Let me know what you think.

First Light

Reflections

Tunneling

PS

2008-07-16T05:00:00.001+08:00

And yet another PS. May need to get myself one of those Wacom soon.

Southern Ridge

2008-07-09T23:52:00.003+08:00

We took off from Alexandra Arch, and headed towards Harbour Front.
Here are some of the photos. More to come, with text :)

Planned to complete a 4+km walk in 2.5 hours, which we did! Weather was a bit shady before that, raining in parts of Singapore. But it was very fine eventually.
Our route was basically:
Alexandra Arch -> Forest Walk -> Henderson Waves -> Mount Faber -> Marang Trail -> Dinner

Haven't shot for a long time. Took out my M42 Fisheye & 50mm. Sadly, the 50mm wasn't very attractive. So I had to utilize the M42 FE, quite a good practise for the basics: manual focus, exposure, depth of field utilization

Well, here're the photos.

Forest Walk

Henderson Waves

Rome 2008

2008-07-08T23:28:00.006+08:00

A long delayed post. In the middle of processing the pictures, mainly due to more new photos and refuse to wait for more backlogs!

Will post up the pics first with text in the future :)
I stayed in Rome for 4D3N. The hostel was pretty convenient. Very central, close to the Termini Station. The attractions in Rome were pretty closed to each other, reachable by foot for most cases, depending on how thrifty you want to be.

I met some pretty cool room mates. Matt & Tamsin, 2 NZer on a 20week quest to travel Europe. Then there were 2 HKers who stayed for only 1 day. The fun about travelling alone is you get to meet others who are doing the same, or more or less. During dinner, I met 2 Brazilian girls who stayed for 2 days in another room.; during breakfast, a handful of Canadian nurses to be.

On to the trip, Rome was nice. Weather a tad too hot. Traffic a bit too horrendous. Drivers would not stop at the zebra crossing unless you dare to put out your foot. They look like they're travelling at 80km/h without the will to stop. But they would if you take the first move!

So, the 'standard' few places to go to in Rome are the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. That's where I went in the first day.

Colosseum

Roman Forum

St. Peter's Basilica

This was kinda cute. There was some children day happening near the Leonardo's Workshop (this term I learnt while playing Civ3). And the fire department was just out to give them a good time! There was a 2 storey high jump with air mattress below. There's this "how-to put out a flaming car" excercise.

While in search of a particular ice drink recommended by an Italian I met at Barcelona airport (who took the same plane and train with me to Rome), I passed by this place with many restaurants which look nice and cosy. Then there's this lone car just standing there...

New toy

2008-05-14T05:53:00.004+08:00

A test of my new toy..

Valencia

2008-04-02T04:10:00.003+08:00

Supposedly, people would travel to Valencia just the Las Fallas. However, I don't want to risk sleeping on the streets and trampled on, hence, the trip took place on Semana Santa, the weekend after Las Fallas.

Valencia, is probably known for the Valencian Oranges. However, it's the alleged place of origin for the paella and horchata de chufa. There's the paella marisco but typically, there's the paella valenciana! And boy, horchata is wonderfully nice, just that it's a tad too expensive in Valencia!!

I was on the trip with SY. I couldn't help posting this photo here, though I'm not a fan of self-taken pics!!

The highlight of the trip is to visit the city of arts & sciences! Wonderful place to visit even if you decided not to go in! Some preview to the architectural beauty of the place.

The aquarium or Oceanographica is the most expensive to enter of the whole array of sites. Personally I don't think it's worth to pay so much due to the horrendous amount of people and limited display. Nonetheless, I like these jellyfishes.

Nuria

2008-04-02T04:05:00.004+08:00

I have been procrastinating on processing the photos from Nuria. Haven't been out shooting for some time. Hope to find more new places to go out and explore.

Nuria is a valley located near Barcelona.
During winter, it transforms into a ski resort suitable for families & experience ski goers alike. During spring, it becomes a nature trail for enthusiast when the snow melts.

Nuria during winter

Hong Kong 2007

2008-01-09T05:39:00.000+08:00

Being there this time round, it was more of a getaway than exploration trip. Hence, was not exactly snappy happy.

However, as a testament of been there, here's a photo taken from The Peak. It gives an overall view of the part of HK Island facing Kowloon.

The building at the center with lights crossed is BOC (Bank of China).
The highest building on the left with the bright trapezium top is IFC2 (International Finance Center Tower 2)

Shot hand held, supported by railing of course.

La Fageda Trip

2007-11-21T04:38:00.000+08:00

Went for a 2 night 2 day trip.
Itinerary of the trip includes a visit to a medieval town, yoghurt farm (which has everything from cows to plastic forming machine), walk in the green park and visits to dormant volcanoes.

Spent the night at a place called Camping La Fageda. The place is COLD. In the morning, frost forms on the car and leaves. Those on leaves actually stay on for the whole day!!

First stop was the medieval town. Then the town built on cliffs. Next would be to yoghurt farm. That night, we headed out to Olot, and I bought myself a Luigi headgear. The best headgear I have ever bought.

The next day, it was a 6hours tracking in the forest and volcanoes. My Luigi cap actually got me pretty lucky. People call me Louis! Louis! or is it Luis! Luis!.

Enough of babbling.. here are the pictures.

Sitges 2007

2007-11-02T04:10:00.000+08:00

1st of Nov is All Saints Day in Spain, a national holiday.
Some new found friends from M'sia S'pore decided to go Sitges, so I tagged along instead. Nice to be able to go on outing with people of the same kind, at least in this part of the world.

Anyway, Sitges was absolutely stunning. Perhaps I haven't been out shooting for quite a while, but the scenary was definitely tantilizing!!

True blue sky interconnected with the Mediterrenean Sea with occasional waves breaking near the shore. Some surfers trying out at the waves, beach goers tanning along the sandy areas, nice breeze from the sea, strolling by all these while enjoying photography. This combination is really fit for a holiday!

Anyway, enough of description. Let the pictures do the job.

Berlin - Prague

2007-08-31T22:59:00.000+08:00

Spent 3Nights in Berlin, 4Nights in Prague.

The main highlight of the trip is the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. One of the few preserved Concentration Camp from WWII Era. This was one of the places that many prisoners who came in and never leave. This particular camp is huge. Took me almost 2 hours to walk around the place.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - Entrance
ARBEIT MACHT FREI ironically means "Work Liberates"

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - Bunk 39
One of the two preserved bunks in this concentration camp. Bunk 39 & Bunk 38.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - Execution Trench

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - Crematory

Sachsenhausen Jail

Berlin - Remains of Berlin Wall
This is an isolated piece of remains of the Berlin Wall. It shows how the structure is constructed. The height of the structure is approximately 3m. Not an easy climb for anyone trying to get across. The funny thing is this is located in the middle of town, not along the stretch of the original wall.

Berlin - Sony Center
This building is built up by Sony, the electronics giant. I guess that's why they constructed this advanced looking building for their offices. Located right beside Potsdamer Platz.

Berlin - Reichstag/Bundestag
If you've taken history and studied the part on Third Reich, Reichstag should have appeared some where in the notes. It's where the parliamentary sessions are held. Another piece of art I would say.

Berlin River
This was shot at a bridge in between Hautbanhof and the Reichstag.

Prague - View for Prague Castle
The sky was misty, cloudy. I guessed that the view wouldn't appear fantastic on picture. But I like this picture. Taken from where Prague Castle is situated. The entrance to the Castle was not free. Well, I am not a fan of paid entrance to Castle/Museums unless there's a strong attraction to it. So I walked around and took photos around the Castle instead.

One tradition still prevails: Guard of Honour. Every hour, there's a change of guard duty. I overheard a tour guide declaring to her group that these are professional soldiers!

Prague - View of Karlovy Vary from Diana
Diana is the name of a hill in Karlovy Vary. Karlovy Vary itself is a small town famous for hot springs. At the turn of most corners, you can find water flowing out from ground taps, safe to drink, BUT, the taste differs from tap to tap.

Prague - Kutna Hora
At this ossuary, there was once someone who brought small quantity of earth from the Holy Land and laid it here. For that reason, many people wanted to be buried here upon death. The request was high. Eventually someone came along and rearranged the bones into chandeliers, towers, shield of arms. Mind you, these are real human bones.

Figueras

2007-08-06T04:24:00.000+08:00

I went to Figueras on Saturday. The main highlight of the trip is to visit Dali Museum. A family was planning to go and was kind enough to invite me along. =) This post, unlike previous posts, is not to showcase photography, but more of to showcase the incredible works seen from the visit to Figueras!

Figueras is located north of Barcelona; beyond Girona, and approximately 60km from French border. Spain has several prominent artist: Picasso, Dali, Miro, Gaudi...

Dali was particular famous for his 'melted' arts, or so I thought. But the museum did not showcase much of that aspect, but his arts are really masterpieces! I am not a particular fan of museum, but this trip was really really a fruitful trip.

The highlight was a large Lincoln picture I would say. At first, I couldn't see how attractive the picture was, until I took a picture with my DSLR and review it on the cam! I guess human eyes are too perfect to notice certain stuff. Several images overlapped onto one.

This is not exactly the best picture among the lot to represent the actual picture. But it gives an idea.

This, for one, looks very 3D. On the other hand, this was painted on the ceiling!

In the museum there was a separate exhibition on a different artist whose name sadly I can't remember. The theme then was about rocks painting featuring human shape succintly.

Another highlight of Dali's works is this living room setting. There's another door which looks like hair, however, the queue for the best view was waaaaay too long.

The entrance ticket to Dali Museum entitles us to another museum entrance. I guess the best work here is this. Nothing special looking at it this way, just that it is drawn on a single piece of canvas/paper. Basically 2D surface.

Plaza Espanya

2007-08-02T04:05:00.000+08:00

The magical/musical fountain at Plaza Espanya.
In Summer, between 2100-2330, at every 30min, there would be musical performances, by the fountain of course.

Facing a different direction, you can see Tibidabo in the picture. It looks like Glowing Gold in the dark

Mont Serrat 2007

2007-07-23T01:20:00.000+08:00

I have heard of Mont Serrat as one of the places to visit when I first came here.
But, it was closed for quite a long time due to some landslide, close to Christmas 2006.

Recently, friends of friends came visiting, so they decided to go Mont Serrat and invited me along. Well, they drove, so it was pretty convenient to get there.

On a nice Sunday morning, I woke up at 630 just to meet them and go there early. It's good to be there early as the crowd is less. Weather was great! In the shade, it was cooling. In the sun however, there was a burning sensation BUT it was still cooling.

The outing consist of 2 cars, 7 people ( out of which are 6 columbians!). We took a walk from the carpark for about 1.5-2 hours, including walking back to the carpark. We had lunch at the base of the mountain and drove on to the airport to send off two of the columbian girls.

All in all, it was a nice trip. =)

Side track a bit:
- I have not taken my camera out for shoots for coming to two months. This is definitely a good opportunity
- I am using GIMP instead of my usual Photoshop CS2. Why? Because someone took my CD without returning. If you're reading this, you know what to do. I prefer PS CS2 to GIMP. For one, I'm more familiar with it.

On to the photos.

View from the car, while driving on the high way!

Near the carpark, before we started walking up

A cathedral near the carpark

A road sign on the way up.

Inevitably, me, to show that I was there. In the background are the companions of the trip =)

Keukenhof 2007 Pictures

2007-05-17T05:56:00.000+08:00

I have comments that the photos taken at Keukenhof are lacking in colours and contrast.
Given the fact that I was lazy in passing them through sufficient PS coupled with the bad weather in Netherlands, I guess it was more or less inevitable.

Here's a repost to some photos. Hope it's better now.

AMS - BRU

2007-05-14T02:41:00.000+08:00

Amsterdam - Brussels

This was really an impromptu trip. I booked the tickets. Booked the accomodation. Took the leave(s) necessary. All done, except the planning. The Amsterdam trip was spurred by San Min when she mentioned Keukenhof. So there was an objective for Amsterdam. Brussels was suggested by a colleague as it's rather near Amsterdam. Only on the week when I am due to fly, another colleague mentioned Atomium. There, that's my objective for Brussels. Two major objectives, with many blanks in between to fill as the trip goes along!

On with the trip.
I took Transavia. Reached Amsterdam and decided to go to the Hostel first. It was pretty near the Central Station. There was a big blue sign with "Bob's Youth Hostel". I took the room at the nearby extension block as it was a dorm for 6. Not bad, except for the really steep stairs to climb.

[The stairs]

I spent the day roaming around Amsterdam before meeting Vincent for dinner. I knew Vincent since we were in RI. We were room mates for two years when we went JC.

Back to Amsterdam.

The weather was kind of miserable. Chilly, rainy, and windy. That, apparently was not the usual weather. Anyway, I realized some things that were very symbolic of Amsterdam, besides the infamous Red Light District. They were the Clogs, Cheese and Windmill.

[Cheese]

[Clogs]

Amsterdam, at first glance, is pretty complicated to walk around. The trick is to realize that the roads are more or less concentric. If you walk on the right path, and keep on walking, you may seem to have only travelled a short displacement though you have walked a lot. Note: Displacement vs Distance.

[Some of the scenaries in Amsterdam]

2nd Day at Amsterdam was to fulfill the objective of visiting Keukenhof. Again, the weather is bad.

Keukenhof is a show case of flower in Netherlands every year in Spring. That's when the flowers blossom. So, let's show case the flowers.

Keukenhof

Some top down series of flowers at Keukenhof 2007. Was kinda unhappy of the bad weather. So this was the result of looking high and low for different view.

Some kind soul was feeding ducks with apple! Well, I couldn't snap the whole flock of ducks. Here's two of them.

3rd and final day, Brussels.

From Amsterdam to Brussels, I took the train. Remember to ask for Youth Discount if you're less than 26. That saved me about 8 euros. When I reached Brussels, damn, it looked like it was going to rain again. The weather seems to be bad everywhere I go. Anyway, I decided to go the hostel to put down the stuff first. Luckily I met some friendly French girls along the way, and also the fact that the hostel is near their house. Anyway, in Belgium, people speak Dutch (Northern Belgium), French (South), German (East).

After that, it's off to Atomium.
Atomium is an Atom look-a-like building.

[Atomium]
This is a standard view of the Atomium.

By playing with exposure, it gives a totally different view. This, is my favourite Atomium picture of the lot. Absolutely favourite.

This was shot after I came out of the Atomium. The rain blew the clouds away. Hence the deliciously fabulous blue sky.

I totally like the blue sky. But the underexposed version is my favourite due to the different perspective it gives and alternative dimension given the fact that the sky has total overcast.

Lisbon

2007-04-23T04:10:00.000+08:00

Just got back from Lisbon, Portugal. First and lasting impression: It is tourist oriented. A lot of the service personnel speaks English too.

Spent two nights there at a Hostel. When looking for Hostels to stay, I would recommend using hostels listed under Hostelling International (www.hihostels.com). This trip, for 16 euros, it comes with a bed, sheets, breakfast of hot drink, cold drink, bread, cheese/ham and yoghurt.

For day trips, one of the best way to travel around is to buy a day fare ticket. The metro and bus network is run by two different companies. However, the day fare ticket allows you to take metro, bus and tram (which is widely used in Lisbon). For 3.85 euros, get a "7 Colina". A nice disposable paper ticket which has embedded chips to be used like EZ Link (Singapore) or Oyster (London) card. Interesting thing is, you'll have to tap to exit as well.

Some of the places on the list of to visit are Bario Alto, Alfama, Belem and Baixa.
First day, I reached at about 1pm. Clickair delayed for 2 hours! The hostel was near to Marquis Pombal. It is basically a roundabout with a statue, typical of roundabouts here.

The objective of the day was to visit Alfama (Castelo de Sant Jorge and Catedral) and Baixa District. Being a thrifty person, it was planned to walk all the way! The trip to the Castle and Catedral was a climb instead of walk, and my knee was giving way by the time I reached the top. So, I took a tram on the way down. Near the Baixa District, there was this impressive 105 years old escalator built by the Bus Operator - Carris.

A shot in the day was not that impressive. It was kinda difficult to find which angle is good for this building. BUT, at night, it was a total different story. The contrast of the lighting with the blue sky was fantastic (fanta-bulous I would say)

Anyway, back on to the day trip.

There's this Arc De Triomf look-a-like entrance near the sea. By the way, Lisbon was a famous port back in the old days. There were too many people at the Arc De Triomf look-a-like. So, I decided to shoot the other way.

Anyway, at night, I had Chinese Buffet (don't ask me why). I was trying to look for alternatives and I saw this pastry shop, selling the so-called Portugese Egg Tart!! Of course, being in Portugal, how can I not miss this. 6 pieces for 4.50 Euros. Reasonably priced.

That's all for the day. Time to head back, rest, and prepare for the next day.
The next day's plan was to go to Belem District to visit Jeronimos Monastery and Torre Belem. On the way there, there was this long bridge connecting Lisbon Central to another land across the River. I'm not so interested in geography actually, BUT, the bridge was fascinating, coupled with the wonderful blue sky, it was a deadly combination.

The benefit of buying the "7 Colinas" is you're allowed to take multiple trips with 1 ticket for the day. So, along the way, I got off the tram/bus several times in view of interesting sights. By the way, beware of pickpockets on the tram/bus.

Anyway, finally I reached the Jeronimos. Impressive piece of building. Also, judging by the amount of visitors there, it's evident of it's level of touristic attraction!

Entering some portion of the Monastery was free, other portion ain't. So naturally I went into the free admission portion. As usual, 1 sign shows the dos and don'ts while being inside. It shows: No flash photography, no tripod, and silence. People just don't understand what it means of no flash photography and silence. There was a service going on in the Monastery for goodness sake.

Well, no flash photography posed a big challenge. So I went off to shoot at the interior architecture.

Jeronimos Monastery ain't the only attraction of the Belem district. There's the Torre Belem as well. While walking there (yes, it's loads of walking), there was a statue with figurines of scholars, humbled and standing/crouching behind this figuring of an explorer. Well, enough of descriptions. I just like this picture of Sun hidden behind Statue.

Finally, Torre Belem. Nice. Enough said.
[Actually, most things with background of blue sky is nice. If you check the links of the photos posted, those with 'Medium' in the file name, has not been ps-ed at all. Those without 'Medium' in this series, has been ps-ed slightly]

There was this plane structure near the Torre Belem (Belem Tower). First look is "Oh, there's a plane here." Further scrutiny of the plate at the base of the structure shows that it's the first propeller plane which crossed the Atlantic Ocean!

To finish off the brighter part of the day, I visited Campo Pequeno, which means Small Camp. It's actually a shopping centre, converted from old structure of BULL FIGHT RING! Well, nothing to be excited about actually, come to think of it. There are quite a few shopping centres like this.

[to be continued/edited]

My take on Photography

2007-04-14T01:15:00.000+08:00

Photography, Photographs, Photographers, Photo Critics, Photo Leechers

Photography is :

an interest
a career
used to past time
used to derive satisfaction
very personal

Photographs are:

subjective
the pride and joy of the photographer
presentation method. It doesn't matter whether you post process the photos as long as it is known. Previously, post process is done in the dark room. With digital dark room, it helps to liberate photographers from equipment limitation.

Photographers are:

proud of their photographs
will defend their rights to the photographs
A good one can envision and execute his vision.
holding on to the rights of their photographs unless willfully withdrawn.

Photo Critics are:

people with the rights to their opinion as any other living being. And opinions are subjective as are photographs.
people who see a photo and say things like "Good" "Bad" "I like it" "It sucks". Good photo critics are people who answers why they have the opinion.

Photo Leechers are:

people who displays photographs NOT taken by them without permission
people who removes watermark of the photographs. That is the reason why my photos come with watermark across photographs.
They should stop leeching because what goes around, WILL come around.

无言（一）- 只

2007-04-12T07:05:00.000+08:00

无言（二）- 能

2007-04-11T07:05:00.000+08:00

无言（三）- 靠

2007-04-11T06:40:00.000+08:00

无言（四）- 自

2007-04-11T06:20:00.000+08:00

无言（五）- 己

2007-04-11T05:49:00.000+08:00

命

2007-03-22T03:01:00.000+08:00

一个人可以活多久？
一个人要活多久才够？

五十？六十？七十？八十？九十？长命百岁？

做了以下的发表，被我妈骂
“我活到四十够了”

这可是依目前的个人情况来看/估计。
看以后有什么值得活过四十。

其实，那不是重点。

重点是，要以四十，走别人七十的路。

重点是，时间宝贵。把握时间。

充分利用时间。

Southern France

Carcassonne

BCN Business Trip

2007-03-17T09:39:00.000+08:00

Here's some pictures taken from the previous trip to Barcelona. Some photos have been posted before. This post serves as a collection of photos. As I go through more photos, maybe there would be more updates!

Southern France

Carcassonne trip

Barcelona

Barcelona Beach

Taken at Barcelona Beach near Vila Olympica, the 'village' created during the Barcelona Olympics.

Some Gaudi Place

View from Park Guell

HOSPITAL ST. PAU

For this 'post card' grade shot, I was at this place for 15 minutes!

Vila Olympica

Museu de Maritim

TARRAGONA

Catedral

Zaragosa

Moorish Castle

Purposedly taken out of focus. Converted to BnW and burn-in in PS to initial concept.

Taken in the morning about 9am.
The thickness of the morning fog is incredible.
Zaragosa is an interesting place in Spain where the whole nation may be raining except this particular place.

Mediterranean Sea

LONDON

Church

This is the Church where Diana got married.

St Paul Church

This is particularly for San Min. Sorry for the late reply. Somehow Internet Explorer and Blogger weren't really compatible. Anyway, Diana got married here. This picture may not be the best of my lot, but a quick search on the net shows many pics with this dome shape portion of the Church. Taken handheld in the middle of the night from Millenium Bridge.

Tower Bridge

English Scones

Kensington Park

这两天。。

2007-03-15T05:14:00.000+08:00

这两天，电脑出现了问题。

基本上，不能用电脑上某些网站，不能上msn，电脑有些程序也出现了状况。

不能上的网站：mail.yahoo.com, blogger.com

今晚，让同时搞了一阵子，终于解决了前面两个问题。

才能发这个贴子。

Zaragosa
Taken in the morning about 9am.
The thickness of the morning fog is incredible.
Zaragosa is an interesting place in Spain where the whole nation may be raining except this particular place.

Pursuit of HappYness

2007-03-12T02:00:00.000+08:00

Pursuit of Happyness
是一个刚上映不久的电影。
领衔演员是Will Smith。

注：Happiness，特地被拼为Happyness

我刚看了这部戏。有个朋友介绍我看的。
当时我问她，看了，是不是能了解什么是快乐？
她说：“戏的重点是 pursuit ”

戏中，至少两次提到美国前任总统提到的人的本权。
[戏后，研究了一下，原来这是来致美国Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776]
Quote:"... all men are created equal.. with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

我想，Pursuit of Happiness 可以翻译成：追求快乐。

快乐。
是通常人都想得到的。
每个人都是有权力追求快乐。至于能不能成功，当然又是另一个话题。
戏中，Will Smith 饰演的 Chris 对他的儿子说
：“记得，没有人可以阻止你迈向你的梦想。”

梦想成真，当然会快乐。
钱，权，情，事业，渴望，奢望。。。

没有人可以阻止你追去快乐，迈向你的梦想。
加油吧！

愿意分享你的梦想吗？

[不知不觉，这个photoblog已成为blog多于photo 了。]
Hospital Sant Pau
For this 'post card' grade shot, I was at this place for 15 minutes!

新的生活

2007-03-11T02:24:00.000+08:00

今天，晴天。

新的生活。
决定开始实行较“健康”的生活。
选择了运动。

20分钟跑步。
15分钟肌肉运动。

开始时，慢慢来。就像任何新的生活的开始。

任何人都希望能尽快让新生活上轨道。欲速则不达。
还是慢慢来的好。

有时，或不知道，新生活能不能成功。
有开始，有尝试，好过没尝试过。

希望，运动，能持续下去。

新的生活。

至少，这是在我的掌握范围之内。

Museu de Maritim

Zaragosa
Purposedly taken out of focus. Converted to BnW and burn-in in PS to initial concept.

以毒攻毒

2007-03-08T02:40:00.000+08:00

今天，上班了。晴天。

下班前，经历了发烧，头痛，鼻塞，泻肚子。Self diagnose: 生病了。

辛苦吗？感觉到寿命在渐渐减短。有点夸张，但是，却有哪个感觉。

下班了，下着雨。雨几乎下了整天。

冒着雨，走了五条大街才到家。

记得，是在温度大概 15 CELSIUS 左右的情况下淋雨。

本来打算第二天拿病假。但是，我相信以毒攻毒的道理。希望没错。

淋雨的那一刹那，有点感到离乡背井的辛酸。

这个感觉才是夸张。=）

To put up some more relevant photos.

ALPS

SUN.CLOUD.SKY

Anyway, Eye on Malaysia. Copy of London Eye.

走了

2007-03-05T15:52:00.000+08:00

刚过了元宵，这一天终于到了。
是时候走了。

有人（A 君）说：
“趁年轻，在事业上拼一下。但是，也不要忘了social。。。”

也有人（B 君）说：
“适当的付出，将会有适当的回报。。。”

C小姐说：
“用心吧。用心就好。。。”

对于第一个忠告，我赞同。事业与感情，能兼顾是最好的。但是，多少人是那么的幸运？
对于第二个意见，我期望。世界是不平等的，一份耕耘不代表一份收获。有期望是好的。但是，期望越大，失望时也会更受影响。
对于第三个忠告，我赞同。或许是以前的时候，但是，至少我曾经赞同。但是，单单用‘心’就够了吗？

是时候走了。

希望，临走的感觉没有错。不希望会有遗憾。
希望，走了，能够提升自己。
希望，回来，能以成绩来做代表。

有希望是好的。没有希望也是好的。

是时候走了。

希望，保持联络。
祝福。
真的。

[毕竟这是一个photoblog。Taken with a camera phone.]

不带走一片云彩

2007-02-25T23:19:00.000+08:00

悄悄的我走了

正如我悄悄的来

我挥一挥衣袖

不带走一片云彩

忘了作者是谁，但是精神是心仪的。

Another rare post without photos, reminds me of 24th Sept 2006.

[edit #1]

Managed to consult a friend. 原来，作者是徐志摩。

Long Trip to Barcelona

2007-01-14T17:54:00.000+08:00

Yes, a long trip to Barcelona.
I left Singapore on 27th October 2006. Reached BCN airport on 28th October Morning. 777-222, SQ377. I came with little luggage, but the main thing to bring was my camera!! Packed with my Dynax 5D, 18-70mm lens and my faithful Lowepro, and off I am.

[The accounts here are to allow easy upload of pics when I have time to go through the gigs of photos!]

While in Barcelona, as I would be here for quite a long time, I segragated the touring of places as there's no need to rush. Some of the places I have visited so far: Sagradia Familia, Hospital Sant Pau, Parc Guell, Montjuic, Tibidabo, Gaudi houses, Picasso Museum, Museu de Maritim.

Besides travelling in Barcelona, I also took the opportunity to visit Spain. I had a road trip to: Zaragosa, Tarragona. Planning to visit Valencia, Girona before I head back for CNY.

Of course, being in Europe, it's a golden opportunity to do EU country hopping! But so far, I have only been to: Southern France(Perpinya, Carcossone), UK(Central London, Colchester).

BARCELONA

HOSPITAL ST. PAU

Vila Olympica

TARRAGONA

Catedral

Mediterranean Sea

LONDON

English Scones

Kensington Park

SPAWN

2006-09-10T09:48:00.000+08:00

SPAWN
Wings of Redemption
After a long long break from food poisoning, and yes, I took 2 days of MC just to recover on that, I sat down on my personal project in shooting models. Not real life sized models like Cindy Crawford. But still life models :p

Model courtesy of Dinky Genius =)

Hope you enjoy the series. Too bad after I finished shooting then I realized that this is an evil side/twins of the spawn. Might need to read up a bit before I shoot next time.

Cheerios.

Rag 2006

2006-08-13T02:42:00.000+08:00

It's the time of the year again for Rag Day 2006.

And yes, KE7 managed to clinch the Best Design Award!!

Here's a super collage of pictures. Click for a bigger file. Big.. as in big. So might take some time to load.

Street Shooting #2

2006-08-06T15:09:00.000+08:00

Community Clicks 2006 @ Tanjong Pagar
I was out shooting with DY. Met up with the rest of the Uncles. Lol. Briefly.

Some of the pictures taken today.

Who else can this be?

Reminds me a bit of Ipod advertisement. The concept of silhouette.

I pumped the saturation a bit here.

A different view of the NDP decorations done in Tanjong Pagar.

The uncles playing Dam was quite friendly to allow us to shoot them. When we were happily shooting them and looking at how they play, two fellas also sneaked up and shoot too.

The 'chess' pieces used by the Uncles to play Dam. First time I see Dam game with 5 rows each!

The Laughing Buddha. His stomach resembles mine. Touching his is heard to lead to good fortune. How about mine? Lol.

This pose of the cat reminds me of Garfield lazing back and staring away.

I love shooting cats now. Period.

Street Shoot #1

2006-08-05T17:24:00.000+08:00

It was supposed to be a TFCD for DY. But, I didn't shoot much. Was just there coz I have nothing to do this morning. Made a new friend today too. =)

Here's just two shots.

Product Shoot #2

2006-07-23T17:30:00.001+08:00

Another product shoot.
I just got this watch yesterday. It suddenly struck me today, since it's a Sunday, why not do a product shoot on this watch?

Disclaimer:
I'm not affiliated to Casio in any way at the time of shoot and posting of this photo =). It's purely for personal satisfaction and leisure.

Here it goes. It was done pretty last minute, post processing was at a minimum too as I'm rushing to go out but can't wait to upload the photos! Was quite please with the time spent and results. Of coz, there are several details like the hand blocking the brand name, some unwanted reflection, but for the time spent, I think the results are pretty encouraging. I didn't want to spend time on the little details for this brief shoot. Feel free to comment away =)

I did some post processing. What do you think of this version? I like this one better. Am very tempted to email this to Casio and see whether they are willing to pay for this picture :p

CosFest 2006

2006-07-09T21:11:00.000+08:00

CosFest 2006. or CosFest V. The fifth Cosplay Festival in Singapore.
It is my first actual CosPlay event! My first encounter was during the SSF just weeks ago. That sort of stirred my interest in CosFest. And there I was with some friends to experience the largest Cosplay event in Singapore.

It was held at Pasir Ris, Downtown East, D'Marquee. Boy, I love the MC. He's good. Period.

Back to the event itself, there were many people who dressed up. I saw some familiar faces from the previous SSF event too! There were characters from a wide variety of series/shows/movies. I saw Star Wars, Star Trek, Bleach, One Piece, Gundam, Naruto etc etc etc. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Talking about pictures, I came home with about 130 pics. I'm posting about 16 of them. The percentage of personally acceptable photos are still between 10-20%. My personal goal? To raise that to 50%. Btw, for the 16 photos of the first (might be the only one if I don't have enough time) batch of uploads, no individual processing was done. Mostly batch processing. Maybe can raise the posting % of photos a bit if I have time for individual touch up and processing.

Back to the photos.
If you see any of your friends in the pictures, do introduce them to this site. If you would like your picture taken off my blog, do drop me an email too. Lastly, here are the photos.

Taken down due to request of cosplayer =)Will find something to replace it when I have time

Here's the 2nd batch of photos =)

Photos taken around Singapore #3

2006-07-09T00:08:00.000+08:00

Well, this time it was at Punggol, near the jetty to depart for OBS Singapore.
This outing was aptly named West Coasters Outing or something like that, coz all the people are from West Coast!! That was one of the motivation of joining this outing :p

This outing consist of 11 people. 11 nice people to be exact. Let me try to recall, there was Kiz, Luke, Louis, Colin, Dan, Alvin, Jacky, Dennis, KK, WeiGang (if any of the spelling is wrong, do let me know :))

Initially, it was all 11 strangers, but slowly, the ice breaks. Mainly due to the fact that we all have 1 common interest!!

Anyway, the outing was themed Sunset Shoot. However, the heavy overcast sort of covers the egg yolk. I ended up with the below few shots.

I always wanted to do the silky wave enveloping rocks at the sea. Finally I have the chance and I must say, finding the correct size of stone and undistracting surrounding elements is not easy.

I took this nearer to the end. The Fish Eye has been left lying around for too long, so decided to take it on a spin. My first FE picture taking on digital so far. The Crop Factor seems to have cut down on the exaggerated feel of the pics.

I did some PS to produce this picture. I wouldn't term it as heavy PS, but more than usual/normal PS. Would you prefer this or the original unchanged version below?

Rambling #1

2006-07-05T21:24:00.000+08:00

What is a blog without some rambling, some complaints, some discoveries, some sort of self-directed conversation?

Lol... this shan't be some simple rambling, it shall come with pictures!!
Let me introduce the new picture taking device I used today.. my Motorola SLVR L7. Those who are familiar with handphones may know how good, or how limited the L7 is at taking photos.

If you can't, that's not the main point.

Here's the story.

I was out shopping with my friend. Shopping for office essentials, things to be worn when we go to work etc. Logically, we went to John Little near Centre Point. After the usual search for clothes, we went to check out some houseware stuff for fun. And I passed by this rack/shelf/wat-ever-you-call-it-display-thing.

I told myself, this product looks familiar. I picked up the packaging, turned it around, and found something that took me by surprise. Mouth opened. Stunned. These 4 photos show what I saw behind some of the packagings.

If you recall my previous blog entry, or wish to visit it HERE, you may find the pictures extremely similar/familiar/some-may-even-claim-it-as-exactly-the-same! Well, the pictures you see on my blog, is 100% taken by me. If I search my database, I probably can show you the RAW/PSD of it.

You have no idea what was my feeling just then. It was a mixed feeling. That was the first time I actually see pictures I took printed on packagings!! Brochures I have seen before, but coloured packaging? And the funny part was, really weird, that I have to find it out in this manner. Where I didn't have prior knowledge that I would find out my picture to be used in this manner?! So if you still have no idea what was my feeling, feel free to msn me and chat it out with me.

Milk Run 2006

2006-07-02T23:30:00.000+08:00

I was at the MILK Run 2006 today. Thanks to Anna and Beyond for the opportunity to join in the fun today =)

I read up a bit on MILK Run before I went there to shoot. It's an annual event since 2001 i believe, in conjunction with the annual youth day. What I didn't expect was the scale of the event!! This year it was held right outside Zouk. Zouk, the night spot for pubbing, was the venue sponsor of the event.

There were many stalls selling food, Henne paintings etc to raise fund, not to mention that the run itself is meant for charity. The number of volunteers involved today was huge. There are people manning the stalls. There are people manning the refreshments, providing food and drinks to those present. There are people who are the road marshals. Not to forget the medical Red Cross people. And also, the photographers, videographers, various sponsors etc.

The day started at about 1145 when I met up with Vincent V for lunch. After that, we headed off to Boys Brigade which was near to Great World City. We followed the kids and staff to Zouk, mingled around with them, watched performance, and off they went for the run. V and I stationed ourselves to shoot the run. Quite an interesting experience definitely. The important point was how to capture moving subjects to be well focused. After the run, there was the prize giving ceremony. We ended the day by returning to BB for a while before leaving for home at about 2000.

The following are some pictures taken during the day. =)

MILK Run 2006

Singapore Street Festival 2006

2006-06-12T00:16:00.000+08:00

Damn, am I tired!!
Today I was at Singapore Street Festival (SSF) 2006, stationed at Youth Park, as an official from ClubSnap. Don't get me wrong, it was purely voluntarily =) and I must say it is a very very good experience.

The weather today was terrible. Utterly terrible. It was cold in the morning, due to morning drizzles. Noon in Bugis was fine. But mid afternoon in Orchard was raining! Luckily there was tentages, and the rain subsided in the later afternoon.

Today's theme was J Walk (hope I got the spelling correct!). The performance on stage was Jap Songs performed by Rock Bands. Not to mention that there were tonnes of CosPlayers.

Some of the pictures taken today. =)

I guess any Bleach fans out there should be able to recognize this character!! Boy, was the costume and expression sooo alike!!

I can't put my finger on the representation of this group, but I must say that from some angle, one of them looks like Yuna. Hmm.

Incidentally, all the pictures posted up first are girls! Incidentally. More pics will be posted up later, after I get some sleep.

SSF 2006

May 2006 Holiday Trip: Post-Thai

2006-05-29T19:29:00.000+08:00

When we reached Ipoh, for the first night, we had the privilege to stay at Wong GH (kindly sponsored by Po Ling). Uncle Wong was kind enough to drop us off before reaching the GH for a bowl of Chendol famous in Ipoh.

Wong GH indeed is a well recommended GH. Our dear Po Ling even became a tour guide for the day. We visited Kek Lok Tong, one of the more natural 'Holes' in Ipoh. If you're interested in caves, you would love Ipoh coz Ipoh is full of them.

For the 2nd day in Ipoh, we had the privilege to stay at Leow Guest House (kindly sponsored by San Min). Right before we depart from Ipoh to KL, Uncle and Auntie Leow brought us for Dim Sum breakfast! Though I haven't been to Hong Kong, from what I see on TV, this place gives me that HK Dim Sum restaurant feel!

May 2006 Holiday Trip: Thai

2006-05-29T19:22:00.000+08:00

Chiang Mai

Mae Salong

In Mae Salong, we stayed at ShinSane GH. This GH is run by a Mr Ho. A very friendly fella, even invited us for liquor session. All he needs to do is ride to a nearby place and pick up more bottles from his friend. We stayed in a 'bungalow', a big place meant for about 7-8 people. 6 people in the room for 500THB per night is quite cheap. The environment is pretty quiet and serene too!

Our Chiang Mai acquaintance, Auntie Jasmine and Uncle Ricky, brought MahJong while they travel! What else is there to do at night? A table was set up right outside the rooms at ShinSane!

One of the things-to-see at Mae Salong is the morning market, which conveniently is very very near to Shin Sane. The light pollution from the sun was intentional. Hopefully the glare adds some feeling to the picture rather than distract the viewer. What do you think?

This was taken at morning market at Mae Salong. While the three girls were busy chatting with the Auntie selling the straps, what else can I do? Just snap away!

Near the morning market, there was this indoor market. The first stall was this stall which sells Thai You Tiao. This shows the ingredients/equipment used to product You Tiao.

Chiang Rai

This buddha statue reminds me of works by Botero. It is located at Wat Phra Singha. Chinese would be able to distinguish that this ain't the Laughing Buddha or Mi Le Fo. This is indeed a slightly plump Buddha. Anyone who knows Thai can help translate the blue sign attached to the base of the buddha?

While walking up to Wat Doi Tong, we passed by a few residential areas like this.

It was not rare to see dragons at Wat(s) in Thailand, but the opportunity to catch a Chinese Dragon is one not to be missed!! Taken at Wat Doi Tong too.

This is the temple, from which I shot the Chinese Dragon. Another very "chinese" temple indeed!

Bangkok

This was taken while we were walking to Viman Mek Mansion from our Bangkok GH. The mansion was a destination prior to visiting the Orchard Road of Bangkok. Check out the colours of the sky without using polariser or any other filter!

When we reached Bangkok, China Town was one of the destination. This trip, we managed to explore the Public Bus system. We boarded a bus from the Grand Palace. Thanks to the kind uncle and auntie and kid we met along the way, we managed to make our way to China Town, Bangkok!

Aah.. let me introduce my favourite model for the trip - Miau. She has gained the award for Best Model in my opinion. =) Natural ain't she? This was located right outside the Zoo in Bangkok, near the Old Parliament.

Another model of the year is Ben, but he is the direct opposite of Miau. He likes to pose, in funny ways especially. This was shot at Grand Palace, Bangkok. Check out his Big Gun!

I nearly forgot about this pic! Well, as requested, I have to cover up their face. BUT.. if you know who they are, and want to know what they were doing, you can ask anyone who was on the trip! It's pretty obvious though... lol

This is one the most frequented stall that I know. It's located at Soi Ramburi, near Khao San Road at Banglamphu area. It sells fruit juice, blended. What you get is blended fruit with only ice. A mixture of banana and mango and ice costs only 20THB. Right before I left, I took 3 cups. Well recommended to all!

As the title suggest, this is the Giant Swing!! Well, we can't see the swing, can only see the frame at which the swing should be swung from.

This is the Democracy Monument! We passed by this when we were walking to the Giant Swing. This is monument is a roundabout itself. Luckily there was divider from which I took this shot, else I would have to stop in the middle of the pedestrian crossing to shoot!!

This is a montage of our final dinner at Bangkok. Let's see, the from Top Left in clockwise motion, I had Carbonara. Miau had Ham Sandwich. San Min and Po Ling had Pineapple Fried Rice each, served in real halves of Pineapple. Referring to the centre pic, Ben had his share of Caesar Salad. This was the most expensive dinner I had in Thai. The carbonara cost 100THB! With another bottle of liquor, the cost of the dinner for me was 220THB!!!

Another shot Bangkok Don Muang Airport near the boarding gate. I just like the contrast and the pattern on the floor which disappears to the bright area.

A shot through the window at Bangkok Don Muang Airport near the boarding gate.

May 2006 Holiday Trip: Pre-Thai

2006-05-28T14:13:00.000+08:00

Yes, the title can't be more obvious. I had the opportunity to go travelling right before the next phase of life commences. On 15th, we stopped by Genting. By 17th noon, we reached Chiang Mai. Our adventure started from Chiang Mai, to Mae Salong, to Mae Sai, day trip to Golden Triangle and Chiang Saen, then to Chiang Rai. From there, it was a 12 to 13-hour long bus ride to Bangkok where we spent 3 nights, 2 of which is at a guest house.

It was really fun with the group of people around. At Genting, the group consist of 12 people. That number diminished to 6 for the Thai trip.

As the trip was not themed for photography, I went with rather little gear. My Lowepro was packed with only my D5D and 24-85, with no additional filter other than the attached UV filter. I shot about 300 pictures less than expected initially. The pictures will be posted up shortly as I go through them slowly. Heh. The photos are organized into Pre-Thai, Thai and Post-Thai trip, since the trip originated around the Thailand trip. =)

Pre-Thai

This was taken at malaysia KLIA LCCT(Low Cost Carrier Terminal). When boarding the plane, there was not covered walkway. So while walkingon the tarmac, there was just sufficient chance to fire a few shots.

Taken at KLIA LCCT too!

This was taken at Genting, through the window where we stayed. We stayed at First World Hotel, Level 13 (weird to find Level 13 at hotels though).

In the mist of all the photo shooting at genting, I took this photo. Too bad for Po Ling when she was intentionally made blur. Heh. Check out the enlarged photo of the fingers on the camera. Can you guess who it belongs to?

Shop Front Photography #1

2006-05-11T17:28:00.000+08:00

A friend approached me to help shoot his shop front and some of the menus. The whole shoot took 2.5 hours. I think that the time taken was reasonable, considering that not much advanced information on the settings, feel, item to be taken etc was given. Here are some of the shots.

Bakin Boys. Located at Cineleisure, Orchard.

This was taken with D5D mounted on tripod, triggering 2 wireless flash 1 on each side to light up the menu underneath the shop sign.

A closeup of the cookies that is sold.

Below are several packages that would be sold by the shop. I guess for food photography, the important thing is that the picture makes you drool! If you drool, or can imagine the taste in your mouth, or the urge to try, the picture is good. Otherwise, there is room for improvement.

ROM #1

2006-03-31T22:21:00.000+08:00

My primary school mate approached me one day to help out in her ROM. Frankly, I was excited of the opportunity, but I told her I have not done it before. She insisted that she has faith in me. And I am off to cover a happy moment for her. The results were quite encouraging. Attached is some selected pictures. There are some inconsistencies in the editing especially the text and position. Still under experimentation. If any in particular appeals to you, do let me know.

Photoshop #2

2006-03-23T20:34:00.000+08:00

Anything 'wrong' with this photo?

Product Shoot #1

2006-03-23T20:22:00.000+08:00

In the quest to experience different areas in photography, I ventured into still life photography. This is not exactly my first try though.

Xin Yao@The Ark 2006

2006-03-19T10:31:00.000+08:00

Xin Yao, a KE Hall activity with students composing and performing their own creation. This year's performance was a bit unique, with a variety of styles coming into play, not to mention the wonder guest performances from Acapella and KR performers. There was the usual ballads, as well as interestingly Rap and Rock!

The Xin Yao head for the year, I call him Beng, because he was quite beng at the time I know him. Well, actually he is not very beng, actually not beng at all. However, I can't stop calling him beng, it's just like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop. Notice the same style of photo as the photo below, this also belongs to slow sync type.

Here's one of the great singers(guest singer on this day if I get the message correctly). She sings in band, plays the keyboard, sings for choir.. multi talented eh. I did a slow sync shot here, trying to capture some movement while keeping her as sharp as possible. The flash shadow behind is pretty bad, didn't have a bounce card then for my 5600HSD, and the ceiling/wall was not 'bounce-able'.

This guest performer from KR, the group is called KR Inspire. This fella must have been thinking.. "what the hell.. why is this guy shooting at me?" lol... but his next expression shows other wise, too bad I didn't capture that laughter. Haha, anyway, this is my good 'ol classmate from back in JC.

Misc Photos

2006-02-12T20:07:00.000+08:00

When I'm not out shooting, I tend to look through the old photos and see whether I missed out any of them. I found this, from Rag 2005.

XQRJ 2006

2006-01-22T02:00:00.000+08:00

XQRJ = Xing Qing Rong Ji aka National Chinese Song Writing Competition organized by students of King Edward VII Hall, NUS. Just in case some viewers do not know what is XQRJ.. heh. Unlike the previous XQRJ 2005, this was shot with D70 with natural lighting.

The guest performer of the day was Huang Yi Da. This is the 8th XQRJ since it started . I was shooting this event sharing the camera with another fella. Took some of the shots I made and posted them here.

Huang Yi Da. Actually, I didn't really know who he was before that. When I was covering the event when he sang, I was shocked to see the crowd of girls beside me with their camera phone and kneeling down in order not to block the audience. Imagine how the organizers scramble for crowd control! D70 ISO 1250

The best thing about shooting with digital is you can keep trying to shoot; dare to shoot and experiment. I kinda like this shot; seen it when it happened once on stage and keep hoping that the moment would be just nice with the pose and smoke and lights!

There was limited shots we could take because there was only 1 storage card. So, when trying to repeat too many of the same scene, I decided to play with the camera while sitting at the front row. The lights that day is pretty darn impressive I must say.

When this guitarist came out, I can hear the crowd go "Wah!", which was echoed by the photographers in front scrambling from their place. The lighting on him was so darn cool.

Another shot of the same group of contestants/performers.

Aah, we must not forget the organizers, the group of people behind the scene, be it committee, sub committee, helpers, "old people" etc...

Photo Trip to Thailand 2005 #3

2005-12-03T16:53:00.000+08:00

On my part, I managed to squeeze in 5 rolls of film during the trip. 2 Fuji Superia 400 rated at ISO250, 1 Provia100F, 2 Tmax400, 1 mistakenly rated at ISO200. As I get the films digitized, I would be posting more photos here.

This was shot at Wat Chai Wattanaram at Ayuthaya, Thailand. Climbing the steps to the top of this temple to take the bird's eye view of the place is pretty scary. The steps are steep, small and stony. Finally with the sky slightly on the bluer side, the Provia was put to good use.Fuji Provia 100F

This is another view from the same place. This shows a wider view of the place taken at the peak of the building shown in the next picture.Kodak Tmax 400, rated 200, developed at 320.

I actually took this shot before I embarked on the climb which led me to takethe two shots above. Going up was easy, coming down was a bit scary. More care had to be taken to ensure the camera were intact. Kodak Tmax 400, rated 200, developed at 320.

This was still at Wat Chai Wattanaram. These headless buddhas are located just beside the building shown at the above pictures, to the right hand side of the first and second picture to be specific. Fuji Provia 100F.

Another shot of the headless Buddha using the fisheye. I actually carried two film cameras. One would be carrying a negative while the other one positive, or one colour and the other black and white. Kodak Tmax 400, rated 200, developed at 320.

Finally, a group shot of the outing members!! This was actually taken to provide proof of presence!! Heh. Of course, camera was on tripod. Just a point to note, the shots of Ayutthaya was mainly done with Polarizer on, contributing to the saturated look of the sky. The disadvantage here would be the vignetting at the corners. Nonetheless, I would trade the vignetting for the saturated blue. Fuji Provia 100F

Another shot of the ruins at the same place. If in the old days they can trade stones with metal and technology would be more advanced, doesn't this look like a couple of missiles or rockets? Fuji Provia 100F

Still at Wat Chai Wattanaram, I did some PS on this shot to bring out the Buddha's face. I wanted to take the silhoutte of the buddha, but guess it doesn't look appealing on screen. I might just post the original up just for comparison.Fuji Provia 100F

I've some difficulty on recalling where was this taken. Nonetheless, this is one of the rare group shot taken!! The shot came out a bit underexposed. Luckily it was taken on slide film. Wonders of Photoshop eh? Fuji Provia 100F,

Another shot at the same place. The building is sooo high. And the sky is so blue!!! Polarizer + Slide film rocks! Fuji Provia 100F,

Finally we reach 1 of the 2 initial destinations we had in mind when we were going to Ayuthaya, Wat Phra Si San Phet. The first one was the Wat Chai Wattanaram. Kodak Tmax 400, rated 200, developed at 320.

This is a closeup of the 'rubbles' lying around Wat Phra Si San Phet. Why 'rubbles' with the inverted commas? Look on to the next picture. Kodak Tmax 400, rated 200, developed at 320.

When we were there, there were construction workers working on retouching/renewing/maintenance of the ruins. Hence, the use of the term 'rubbles'. The white dots at the top right hand portion of this pic was not intended. I believed some thing went wrong while I was developing this in the dark room. In another roll, the dots look like snow flakes!! Kodak Tmax 400, rated 200, developed at 320.

When I was taking this shot, I was thinking whether the pointed end of the shadow would look nice with the runis. Gosh, was the sun ever so hot!! That's the irony. Bad weathered day is cooling but not good for photographing. Good photographing day is so hot! Blue sky, no clouds, and us fully exposed to the sun. Kodak Tmax 400, rated 200, developed at 320.

Photo Trip to Thailand 2005 #2

2005-12-02T18:01:00.000+08:00

For the 3 Days in Bangkok, our plan was to explore Bangkok on Day 2 and then Ayutthaya on Day 3, when on Day 4 we would be returning to Singapore. We decided to drop off at the "Marble Temple". To go to the place, we instructed the driver to drop us off at King Chulalongkorn Statue, which was located near to the temple. When we reached there, we saw a statue in the middle of the road, with people paying their respect with flowers, with police around ushering the people to leave once they are done. It seems that it was the King's birthday, according to another fellow tourist.

After the area around the King's statue, we headed off for lunch at Siam Square area and headed to the Grand Palace. Actually the Grand Palace is in the same compound as the Wat Phra Kheow. The above is the Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn. The entrance fee was a whopping 250THB. Thai speaking individual who can pass off as locals could have gotten in for free! The sky was finally blue, better than Phuket, but still not as blue as I wish that it would be. Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

Oh yes, before we entered the Grand Palace, there was this flock of pigeons outside. Imagine the BirdFlu scare lingering around SEAat that point of time. "See bird, shoot bird". Well, of course we did shoot birds. Not with firearms, but with you-know-what. Really shoot and run. There were actually people there trying to sell bird feeds to us. Obviously we declined. Kodak Tmax 400

Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

This was taken in the same compound as the Grand Palace. The slight vignetting at the corner is due to shooting at 24mm, with Cokin P ND Gradx8 filter attached, I think. Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

Finally, we reached the Grand Palace itself. It was under renovation!!! To think that we paid 250THB each to get in. To make the visit worth it, I decided to try multiple exposure. Made three shots on the same frame with people timed to walk at particular parts of the picture. Too bad the buildings are bit blur. But I still quite like this pic. Maybe it's time to change tripod? Exposure wise, I did 3 shots of -2, -1.5, -1.5 exposure. Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

The Grand Palace was basically the last potential photo shooting opportunity in the compound. As we were walking out, there was this two gigantic, towering doors. 1 side of which looked like it would crumble just in front of us. Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

After the Grand Palace, we wanted to go visit Wat Arun, which was just across Chao Phraya River, or known as Menong Chao Phraya. This was when the tuk tuk drivers became a pest. Our driver took us for a spin. Particularly dropping of places where I believe he would benefit. Not much pain for us, no gain either. Only time was sacrifice. In any case, we managed to reach the pier opposite Wat Arun, The Temple of Dawn, though ironically it looks better at night. Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

I shot a lot of this Wat Arun. The boat across the river was only 3THB per trip per person! So decided to jump on the one which is leaving, even though not sure of what is over the other side or how to come back. I noticed that changing the exposure time produces slightly different colours of the temple. In any case, it made the temple lited at night to look like it's made of gold! Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

Another close up view of the Temple of Dawn. Fuji Superia 400, rated at ISO250.

This is the Temple of Dawn shot from across the river. Fuji Provia 100F

Photo Trip to Thailand 2005 #1

2005-12-02T17:35:00.000+08:00

I had a short photo trip to Thailand with Chin Wee. We came back even before some people has yet to sit for their last paper. We stopped by Phuket, Bangkok, Ayutthaya then came back to Singapore. Phuket stop was rather disappointing. The weather there and then wasn't conducive for photo shooting. We ended up eating under shelter when the drizzle became unbearable.

This was taken at a stall at Patong Beach. Patong beach was damaged by the Tsunami disaster. When we were there, it seems that tourists were returning, locals are resuming business as usual. When it drizzled, we decided to enter the stall to have some snacks and beverages. 1 big coconut drink for only 30THB! This pizza cost only about 120THB if I remember correctly. Fuji 400 Superia, rated at ISO250.

Since weather wasn't really much in our favour in Phuket, we try to take pictures whenever we can - Streetshoot. Bearing in mind we were carrying our four-day-luggage, camera gears and tripod(which weighed 2-3kg! measured at airport), it was d*mn tiring. The above was taken at Phuket Town. Fuji 400 Superia, rated at ISO250.

To travel from Phuket to Bangkok, we planned to take an evening bus. Hence, we decided to have our dinner at Phuket before boarding the bus. As usual, with the lack of opportunity to shoot in Phuket, what better to shoot than the food itself! This was Phad Thai wrapped in egg. I decided to open up the egg to reveal the content inside. Fuji 400 Superia, rated at ISO250.

When we reached Bangkok, we ended up going to the Guesthouse to put down our luggage. It was enough carrying it wherever we go at Phuket. We stayed at Thong Lo, Soi 55. Travelling was relatively simple there. We just need to walk about 20min to reach Thong Lo skytrain station. This pair of statue, as well as the elephants below were kinda cute, don't you think so? Nearly symetrical, but not symetrical as yet. Fuji 400 Superia, rated at ISO250.

Fuji 400 Superia, rated at ISO250.

The fruit seller above was located just beside the staircase to the station. I like the motion of the vehicles happening behind him while he is there running his business. Fuji 400 Superia, rated at ISO250.

Finally we reached Thong Lo station. I took this shot before our train arrived. This shot was suppose to record the Exit sign in Thai. I guess you can figure out that we were quite early birds judging from the time on the clock. Kodak Tmax 400.

Judging from the experience in Phuket, the trigger-itchy finger was just calling to fire the camera. So, on the train, when there isn't much to do, I decide to shoot the feet! I think the shutter speed was around 1/10 seconds? Would you find this photograph acceptable though there is motion blur? Kodak Tmax 400.

KE7 DnD PnM Photoshoot

2005-09-28T22:25:00.000+08:00

This was taken for my hall DnD Pagaent and Manhunt contestants. This girl here is the representative of GH block. I will post more from the photoshoot when the roll of NPS in my camera is developed. Of course, with their consent.

Finally I got the roll of NPC developed. Got it scanned too by my usual lab, and did some PS.

I wanted to try different things with the new batch of photos. I think after the PS, the pic gives a different feel. Any comments?

This girl is the representative from E block. We had two venues for photoshoot that day. The first one is at Munchie Monkies. The lighting was pretty bad there, with NPC 160, I could only managed to fire 1 shot. Luckily the shot turned out acceptable.

Photos taken around Singapore #2

2005-09-10T00:21:00.000+08:00

Got this shot while trying to finish off the roll of NPC used for the PnM photoshoot. Had about 4 more frames to kill. Took it for a walk while having an outing with my hall PVC ( Photo Video Crew ). Had the liberty to put on Cokin ND Grad 8x. Did minimal PS, only cropping, bordering and text/watermark. The colours turned out pretty interestingly nice.

This was taken at Haw Par Villa. Initially I thought it is abandoned by tourist. Lo and behold, when we reach there, there were 2-3 buses bringing groups of Malaysians to visit the place. This door is the exit from the ��灞��扮��.

This is PGP viewed from my hall. I like the imprint of shadow of clouds on the building. If you notice, there's an image of the moon near the top left hand corner.

Rag Day 2005 Part 2

2005-08-20T00:04:00.000+08:00

Rag Day 2005 Part 2 pictures are taken on Kodak E100VS. The colours came out a bit awkward, towards to bluish/purplish tint and overcast. I attempted to do some colour correction and PS.

Initially I didn't want this to be part of the Abstract category. But after some PS, this is the result. It's pretty difficult to tweak back to the original colour. You can notice some sort of colour leak . In this picture, it's red colour.

In the mist of finding ways to tweak the colour to be more acceptable, I decided to go towards making the pictures nostalgic. How does it feel?

Some friends commented the first picture looks rather cold, blueish tint, tends to give sad feelings instead of old/nostalgic type. How about this one?

Expired film

2005-08-18T21:05:00.000+08:00

This would probably be one of the rare post without pictures.
My second roll of pictures taken at Rag Day 2005 is back, and the colours are horrible! The purplish cast spoils the whole film. This is most probably due to the age of the film. Well, I would scan the films and see what I can do in photoshop to restore the colour. If all is well, there would be a post of Rag Day 2005 Part 2.

Photoshop

2005-08-16T11:03:00.000+08:00

I did some PS on the picture I took at Rag 2005. I find that I like this kind of desaturated look. How about you? If I have more time, I'll explore more on PS.

Rag Day 2005

2005-08-15T22:54:00.000+08:00

This is a friend of mine posing for a static display. Shot with M42 135mm. Another shot appeared to be slightly out of focus.

While the rest was busying with float, I took the liberty of walking around all the floats. Shot this at TH float. Took a few shots of her, only this one seems presentable. If you would like to remove this, do email me. My contact is at the bottom of the main page.

This girl is from the costume department of my hall's float. When I was heading towards the dancer's tent, she and her friend were so exhilarated by the colours and pulled me over. Nice play of colours here ain't it?

When I headed to the dancer tents, my hall dancers have finished with their body paint. They spontaneously agreed to pose on the field for this shot.

They decided to try a different pose. I guess the pic would look nicer if all looked away. But well, they still look very nice when standing in the sun with the green and sky as background =)

This was taken during the presentation. Luckily, I managed to go into the photographer/videographer stand. But alas, the best place is taken up by the VIP. Some of them were busy sipping and chatting with others. I took 4 shots. After cropping, this seem the most presentable of all.

And finally, the grand finale. In the pictures are the KE float, floaters, KEWOCs, freshmen, seniors, alumnis. All who supported Float in one way or another.

Car shoot for friend

2005-08-15T16:41:00.000+08:00

A friend asked me to shoot his new Nissan March. So I did. Shots were taken with a Nikon D70. Some PS was done because the sky was heavily overcast.

I saw this shot on some magazine or forum and wanted to imitate the shot. Hope it's acceptable.

Photos taken at XQRJ 2005

2005-08-05T04:00:00.000+08:00

Joi Chua was one of the special guest performer at XQRJ (Xing Qing Rong Ji) 2005, which was held in UCC(University Cultural Centre), NUS.

This was shot on Fujipress 1600. Probably the 800 version would be better, with less noise. Colour cast while shooting stage events can be a headache.

Photos taken around Singapore

2005-08-02T21:34:00.000+08:00

Taken at Xiao Gui Lin, located near Bukit Gombak Mrt. Shot on Velvia50, 35mm film. Scanned and converted to sepia.

Taken at Raffles Place, near Cavanagh Bridge. Shot with Provia100F, 120 film, when I had my Mamiya RZPro2 then.

I rescanned the copy above from the slide. Apparently this scan is better, in a sense that it can bring out more details in the shadow.

Photos taken at Kent Ridge Park

2005-08-02T21:33:00.000+08:00

This was fortunately taken on my trusty C2040. Couldn't get the readings to fire the Mamiya. Damn.

After the sunset, this was what the view on Kent Ridge Park looked like. Provia100F, 120 film. F8, 4s.

Photos taken on a Malaysia trip in 2003

2005-08-02T21:21:00.000+08:00

Taken in Melaka. This was shot with Tmax400. Pity didn't have a soft filter then. Had to photoshop it to give it a soft effect.
This building is located on top of A Famosa. I believe the building used to be a church.

This was outside a temple on Pulau Ketam. Shot was taken with Tmax3200. Wanted to try ou this fast film. Grains turned out pretty acceptable. When people are done praying with the incense, they will leave it in this.

This was on Pulau Ketam also, near one of the ship yards. Shot on Tmax400. Was playing with depth of field.

Different perspective from the black and white shot above. Same location, shot this on colour negative, Fuji200 superia if I remember correctly.

This is the kelong at the jetty of Pulau Ketam. This was a lucky shot. First time heard of reciprocity failure. Scanned this from colour negative. Hope the colours turned out natural. Some friends tell me it ain't.

About Me

2005-08-02T21:20:00.000+08:00

I bought my first camera in 2002 Jan/Feb after I got my first month's pay working during the long holiday. It was a brand new Minolta Dynax 5 packaged with 2 lenses. I didn't really understood the concepts and theories behind each photo. When I went to uni, I met a few fellow enthusiasts, that spurred me to read up more and study more, and of course, shoot more.

I tried a few stuff, from different films, of consumer negative, portraits negative, positive film, black and white negative, high speed films etc. I even obtained a Mamiya RZProII, but eventually sold it off as it is not practical for me at this moment.

I am on the lookout of more and different opportunities to take photos. If you have any to offer or to advice on, feel free to email me. My address is at the bottom of the page.

Photoblog Created!

2005-08-02T21:19:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Iceberg's Photoblog!

My name is Shih Yang.
This is the first time i'm touching Blogs!
Hopefully this can be a successful photoblog.
The nick Iceberg was already taken,
so I could only use my less popular alternative nick.. Berkyberg

I intend to use this blog to showcase and share photos I have taken since I picked up photography. Any feasible recommendations to improve the photos or to improve the site would be deeply appreciated.