Pages of INK

Ashley has a new cousin! Her name is Sarah, born on 23rd Sept 2008, 7.57pm weighing a healthy 2.6kg. Congrats to the Poh family! Can’t wait now to see if Ashley will have a baby brother or sister.

Sarah

Ashley: “Wow so small”

Click here for the full gallery.

Popularity: 20% [?]

There’s this cool restaurant that just opened at the basement of Centrepoint called New York Deli where we stopped for lunch one Sunday after church. What really impressed me was how well decorated the place was to mirror an American kitchen or diner in the 50s.

The place makes for great photos too.

Let’s order?

Getting bored…

So let’s do some fashion poses while waiting.

Or how about the cute look instead?

That’s my girl!

Don’t forget mummy!

Let’s eat!

Photography notes:

1. When shooting indoors, try to determine the right exposure in manual mode and once you’ve got it, stick to the same settings throughout. In this case, f/2.8 at 1/100s at ISO800.
2. Try not to rely too much on one of the program/priority modes because the very contrasty nature of some indoor lights can fool the camera’s meter resulting in very under/overexposed shots.
3. Even for shooting normal shots in restaurants, no harm asking for certain seats if you think they will get you better photos. I insisted on sitting in the corner near the wall display and the waiter happily obliged.
4. If I could do this again, I would’ve used my flash for fill light to make the subject “pop” more. I didn’t like how the foreground (i.e. subject) and background were equally exposed.

Popularity: 14% [?]

I’ve known Fernando & Grace for only a few months since they joined Hope Church Singapore so you can imagine my surprise when I was invited by this lovely couple to photograph their wedding alongside Merv on 19 Sep. Merv, as many of you know, is a veteran wedding photographer. Check out his cool wedding galleries here and I guarantee that you’ll wish you knew him when you tied the knot. In fact, he has gotten so good that he believes that he can somehow photograph his own wedding. We’ll see…

Anyway, the initial enthusiasm was soon met by a lot of self-doubt given that this was my first time shooting a wedding. Now, I’ve attended plenty of weddings, heck even went through one myself, but my preconceived notion till now of wedding photographers were those annoying people that interrupt you in the middle of your dinner to pose for photos. Or, who walk around with Tupperware on top of their cameras. Nonetheless, I never cease to be amazed when I look at wedding portfolios like this and this. Somehow, somewhere, in between interrupting people’s dinners, these fine local photographers manage to capture photos that are so magical they transcend merely being a record of history into a timeless piece of art.

I had big shoes to fill.

And thank God everything worked out in the end. “We have faith in you!” reassured Pris, F&G’s wedding coordinator, a few days before the wedding. Thanks for believing in me and I hope these photos go some way towards repaying that faith!

Click here for the full gallery

And, some selections here:

The beautiful bride

The rings

The happy bridesmaids

Fiesta at the entrace

YAM SENG!

Also, check out Merv’s excellent gallery here.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Feel the power and emotion behind JUMP! 2008 (Jesus U Must Praise!) held at Fort Canning Green on 22 August 2008 in this gallery which features the musicians and singers who made the event such a success. Witness the raw energy in their expressions and gestures as they gave it their all in this intense 2 hours of praise and worship.

Click on this link for the full gallery.

Popularity: 45% [?]

As promised, here are the days best photos. Enjoy!

Jump!

Cast: Pris
Photographer: INK

Say a prayer

Cast: Pris
Photographer: INK

Beijing, here I come!

Cast: Chris
Photographer: INK

Netball with a football

Cast: Priscilla An, Adeline Frances & Priscilla Tan
Photographer: Merv

What’s a small Nikon to do next to that Canon?

Cast: Junming & Vanez
Photographer: Merv

Here come the jazz dancers

Cast: Elaine & Tamar
Photographer: Merv

The juggler

Cast: Junming
Photographer: Merv

Kung Fu Hustle!

Cast: Johnnie & Davyd
Photographer: INK

Ong Bak

Cast: Davyd & Johnnie
Photographer: INK

Angels are falling from the sky!

Cast: Ruth & Vanez
Photographer: INK

I wanna be free………

Cast: Vanez
Photographer: INK

The END!!!

Cast: Ruth, Davyd, Junming, Chang Shiung, Johnnie & Vanez
Photographer: INK

Note: If I got any of the names or credits wrong, please let me know!

Popularity: 46% [?]

Just one day after the historic and auspicious opening of the Beijing Olympics (the number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese customs, so 8pm 08/08/08 is like winning the $10mil Big Sweep… without having even bought a ticket), Singapore celebrated its National Day. National Day celebrations in Singapore are always really spectacular, and spectacularly crowded. We thus chose to avoid hotspots like the City Hall area in order to preserve our sanity and headed down to Henderson Wave instead, the tallest pedestrian bridge in Singapore.

In the photo above, you can see how the bridge’s structure comprises curved steel “ribs” that alternate above and under the deck giving it a wave-like form. Under each “rib” are alcoves where people can sit on the nice yellow balau wood floor and enjoy the view. And for me, a great place to snap some shots!

You might probably be wondering by now what time at night I took these photos at. Well, the answer is actually closer to 6pm where there was still a lot of light. The trick to this was to ensure that the flash was strong enough to overpower the ambient light, thus making the whole scene darker that it actually was. Of course, this correspondingly meant that the camera had to be set to expose for the flash, or else bright scene + even brighter flash = blown out picture.

Now here’s my favourite modlet (I just coined a new word!) in action.

By now, another question might have cropped up in your mind: if it was still bright and the bridge was made of wood, how come the wood looks so blue? Again, there is a trick to this. If you own either the Nikon SB800 or SB900 flashes, they come with a set of CTO colour-correction gels. CTO stands for Colour Temperature Orange and they are meant to make light from the flash warmer.

So in theory, what happens is that when you set your camera’s white balance to incandescent/tungsten to compensate for the flash emitting warmer light, everything else in the scene takes on a darker shade of blue. Groovy isn’t it?

Yes!!!

You can read more about this technique here from the Strobist website.

Anyway, back to National Day, we were able to see other great action from the bridge like the Singapore flag fly-past and a distant view of the Black Knights’ aerial display.

Photography notes:

• Forgot to bring a lightmeter so everything was on the spot guesswork. If I recall correctly, my SB900 was set to full power, i.e. 1/1.
• In addition, I was using an 85cm shoot-through translucent umbrella to diffuse light from the flash. Umbrella was positioned about 1.5-2m away from Ashley and pointing downwards about 25 degrees.
• Flash sync speed was at 1/125s and aperture was purely guesswork, alternating between f/5.6 to f/7.1. Why people advice you to be proficient at reading the camera histogram is precisely for times like this.
• The Elinchrom Skyport Universal Transmitter and Receiver were used to provide-off camera flash wireless triggering.
• It rained while we were there and the shoot-through umbrella found another use.

Popularity: 38% [?]

I was back in Kuching recently to attend Dawn and Dave’s wedding held at Sarawak Club on 29 Jun 2008; and apart from spending quality time with family, it was also a great chance to take photos around the house. I used to take the ol’ house for granted but only recently did I discover that there are many nice walls around the house that make for nice backdrops. As always, Ashley was ever obliging!

This short but simple theme mirrors a lot of our Christian walks, from how we were called out of darkness to be born again into His wonderful light. May the verses and pictures inspire your day!

“Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9

“To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Revelations 3:21

Notes:

1. Picture 1 was taken at the staircase that has green walls, white tiles and an icky fluorescent light from above. But, it really helps make for a moody and dramatic picture!
2. Picture 2 was taken at the backyard with Ashley peering into the tool shed. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen what’s inside either…
3. Picture 3 was also taken at the backyard in front of a wall separating our house from the neighbour’s. It just absolutely glows in the morning sun! And that really is my father’s throne, I mean, chair.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Since my last Hope Premier League update, our team (TAG United) had won a couple of games consecutively to miraculously end the season in 4th place! This meant a semifinal date with the no. 1 and unbeaten team in the league, Esmond’s FC2024. This was the same team that thrashed us 8-3 7-2 in a pre-season friendly (thanks Tiger for the correction… so it wasn’t as bad as I remembered it!) and 4-1 in the season opener.

But first, a quick recap of the results:

• [6 Jul 2008] TAG United 5-1 Team Impossible
• [15 Jun 2008] TAG United 6-4 Eastdee United
• [18 May 2008] TAG United 4-0 Pikachu United

The semifinals involves match-ups between the 1st-4th placed teams and 2nd-3rd placed teams.

Our match with FC2024 today took place at Beatty Seconday School at Braddell. As always, we started the match with a word of prayer to the Lord for protection over us and our opponents as well as for the match to be an enjoyable one.

A word of prayer. (Click on the image for the original version)

Click on the image for the original version

The first half was a tense affair and against all odds, we managed to hold the game at 0-0 with both sides having scarce opportunities at goal. We were definitely playing at a higher standard this time round and I think the FC2024 players genuinely had a hard time in midfield.

The second half was just as tight, but the hallmark of champions are that they put away opportunities when they come along, evident by a lethal volley from a cross across our goal that effectively ended our hopes of making the finals. The match ended 1-0 in FC2024’s favour and many of our players were crestfallen, though proud to have put on a really good fight. My participation in the match? An action packed 10 minutes in the 2nd half before I ran out of steam.

Here’s to all the players and supporters that have stuck through us during the past challenging and rewarding 7 months!

All together now - TAG UNITED!!! (Click on the image for the original version)

Apart from the match, I also took this opportunity to test my Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed Battery Pack and A-Head for outdoor shoots. Many thanks to all the great IslandHopies who posed for photos as well as wifey and Ashley for supporting me during the match!

My biggest fans!

Ashley had lots of fun kicking the colourful football today.

Zhiyi was asking me after the game why she is promoting Carlsberg. I had to tell her that it was a Liverpool jersey.

The genius attempts to kill some brain cells.

Samba-man shows that he can spin a ball as well as his hips.

Aloy showing that you don’t need to be a soccer player to know how to juggle a ball.

You’ve been a baaaad ball…

Not used to standing at the corner… flag. Ha!

Look at how much I won!!! (And I wonder why we lost… hmmm… J/K!)

Sarah - always a picture or poise and grace.

And Merv, the total opposite.

Can’t we all just take turns?

That’s all folks! I’ll be setting up a booth at the carnival that is taking place alongside the finals to take similar pictures for players and supporters with the proceeds going to charity. Come and support me and see you at the finals!

Date: Sunday, 17 August 2008
Time: 3 - 9 pm
Venue: Yio Chu Kang Stadium

Popularity: 48% [?]

This is me taking a break from editing my Hawaii photos and having a go at some newly acquired studio lights and backdrop.

This photo session actually came about in a very strange way. Ashley and I were lying in bed with mummy who was already fast asleep (I think it was 9.30pm?) and Ashley was still making lots of noise. Or rather, talking to herself. She obviously wasn’t sleepy at all and when I asked her what she wanted to do, she said “Take picture.” When your two year old says she wants to take pictures, you take pictures! And, did I say mummy was already fast asleep? Heh heh…

This series is Ashley wearing a princess dress from Tom & Stephanie and a tiara from a Barbie princess toy set.

We started session with Ashley doing some classic show-off-my-dress-and-look-at-how-cute-I-am poses.

Swaying with the dress.

A very long 5 minutes later, Ashley was bored of standing at the same spot so she took off her tiara and started dancing around. This is where the musical piano comes in (to keep the tempo) and lots of patience (stay in the frame, stay in the frame!). This was also a good opportunity to practice photographing dynamic poses. Dynamic posing refers to the style of adding movement, or implying movement, through gestures.

Turning around and looking at the lights.

I want to be a ballerina!

Another 5 minutes, and Ashley was off to bed, this time exhausted and quite ready to hit the sack. She was definitely seeing stars at this point! (Did’ya get the joke? :P)

Photography Notes:

1. Both the main/key light and accent light were set to F8 (measured using an incident meter at 1/200s)
2. A 12-degree honeycomb grid was placed in front of the accent light to focus a nice outline of light on Ashley’s left. On hindsight, a smaller grid might have worked better (i.e. bigger spread of light) because Ashley couldn’t stay at one spot.
3. Music is a must to keep the rhythm or tempo of the shoot and to keep Ashley entertained! This is certainly a useful tip when shooting studio portraits in general.

Popularity: 34% [?]

There are so many things I miss about Hawaii - the cool weather (hot but not humid), beaches (white sand and turquoise water), food (everything is served twice the portion of what we have in Singapore), friendly people (aloha and mahalo!) and shopping (everyone thinks I’m a Jap tourist) among others. But what I really miss is being able to end the day looking into the golden sunset with not a ship in sight along the horizon. I can’t remember when I last saw a good sunset in Singapore…

These pictures were taken along the beach at the Hilton Waikola on Big Island (Hawai’i).

Popularity: 79% [?]