Making it look like I know what I'm doing

Hotter days

A tribute to 30-degree tropical climate....

This was the time when I wouldn't freeze to death by just sticking my head out the window.

It's A Funny Kind of Thing

That was some hiatus. What do you think? Stupid computer wouldn't let me upload any photos for a long time. Managed to sort it out just only but damn was it a pain in the neck. Well, so anyways, I've left the nice warm tropical weather only to be thrown into the piercing cold where sunlight is considered a rare event. Yes people...it's autumn....moving on to winter.

Anyways, welcome to a whole new set of photos....or at least just two photos...
Apples....wonderful colours but a very unbalanced photo overall. I actually had this photo cropped but obviously my com is still having problems so it didn't come out right. Anyways, edited from a RAW....will upload the cropped version soon when I figure out what's wrong with my laptop.


Another RAW convert. Same 4 apples but different angle. Lighting is quite different too. Made sure it was significantly brighter than the last and I have to say, it was quite good. BUT(there's always a "but" isn't there?) framing is out. Slightly slanted. Tried to straighten it but after doing that, I lost some details of the apple....frustrating mannn...


Anyways, more photos when my com's been sorted............................

Funeral

Think morbid. Suddenly the photo up there isn't just a swimming pool. Very grim lighting and with the added noise it sorta gives the photo a rather eerie look about it. One of the few photos which actually looks good with a little bit of a light flare(the small dot to the right of the photo)

Contrast

Parallelism

Parallel lines can be disorientating sometimes but when it comes to abstract photography it seems to lend quite a bit of character to a picture in terms of patterns. I took the above photo on a pretty bright day. It's actually a wooden mat and because of the natural patterns of the wood it makes the picture look like it's gone through a bit of dodge&burn(something I've fancied doing but never been able to because I don't have PS). I didn't really like the colour tones of the original photo thus turned it into a monotone which I have to say does give more emphasis to texture rather than colour which I in this case lends more to its abstractness(is there such a word O_O)

This photo has been made onto a print together with another two photos. It's currently hanging up on a wall somewhere.

Doggies, Duckies, Fishies and Dysfunctional Piccies

So it's been awhile since I've posted anything due to glitches in Blogger's pic uploader. These were the only batch which managed to sort itself out on its own. So anyways, dysfunction aside, back to photography.


How do you like this. I've taken a bit of a different turn with my recent outdoor shots. Though taken on a gloomy day, I still used the fluoresent light white balance to throw a bluish tinge onto the photos. Should have taken the above photo in RAW but I mistakenly left it on JPEG. Had to make do with some tweeking on Picasa. Generally quite satisfactory but composition and arrangement of objects are a little cluttered. The main subject is the dog but because of the hose running through from the bottom left corner, it kinda made the picture look a little deviated.


Simple and neat with a touch of humour. The duck however is slightly overexposed which resulted in the loss of detail and colour. For the true humour to come out it would need a much stronger and more intense colour but increasing the contrast caused it to lose some detail. I might have to do some gradient adjustments

Simple photograph taken by chance. This is a play on colour where the blue is to contrast with the orange. Quite a bit of tweeking this one. Managed to, after all that, make the orange pop out but without completely overshadowing the blue. Quite pleased with myself.

I have more from that day of photog but they're still half way thru edits. Wait awhile. Sorting out the retards and dysfunction.

$#@$#@%

What's happened here?

Pictures are a mess these days. For some reason they're not uploading properly. Will comment when I get it sorted out. The last photo, by the way, was made into a standard print.

When Flashbacks Don't Work Anymore

I don't know why but nostalgia seems to be more evoked by single tone photos. Is it just because we've been brought up to think that memories are always in black&white?


Taken on a pretty cold night. Has a nostalgic air about it if I have to say so myself. Abandons all forms of clean, minimalist photography styles. Messy, grainy, kind of blurry - reminiscient of photos from the 1970s maybe (nostalgia again)? I'm aware of the fact that the photo is slightly burnt in places but that's how it should be. Imperfection seems more of the key here.





Contrast the above with this one. It's a play on colours. A hot pink against a really sickening electric blue. In editing, I had to increase the saturation by quite a bit but had to be careful not to lose some of the details on the plates on top. Honestly, I'm not entirely pleased by this photo. Note the distracting bit of pink on the right. Could have cropped it out but I realised that that'd throw the balance completely off. Can't make the photo too narrow either cause' that would make the photo seem very restricted and cramped.

contrast contrast contrast.....

Dismembered

It's surprising the amount of pictures you can take on a single good afternoon. This one is just one of them(it's the only one the damned internet connection would permit me to upload). Another random photo taken in the evening with really warm lighting. But I decided to do away with the warmth of the photo and turn it sepia. Darkened the background somewhat in hopes that the contrast would give the picture more impact. I agree the photo is a little burnt but I needed that to form the contrast. While editing, I lost some detail of the veins due to the increase in contrast. I suppose if I had PS I'd be able to work around that with some layering(but seeing that I don't have that, I'll just have to work without it -_-")

Purposely positioned the photo diagonally to emphasise on length and also to make it seem more natural (let's face it: an arm framed vertically or horizontally would seem a little mechanical and odd =S)

Unfinished.

Will comment soon

Spiralling

So I've taken a step back into abstract photography - something I haven't really looked at in a few months. So, after having done event after event and street photography and what not, I decided to have another go at abstract. I know they don't look like anything but I guess it can only be appreciated by some.


This one's actually a photo of watermarks on a cement ground. The unedited version showed only vaguely the orange bits but after increasing the saturation and playing around with the colours, I managed to reveal the blue hue from the cement ground. Well, yes, orange and blue don't necessarily go well together but that's what makes it interesting - colour contrast of an artificial (almost)electric blue and an unnaturally bright earthy colour.


Obviously this one doesn't have any colour whatsoever(unless you consider sepia brown a colour in this case). Photographed this based on a photo I saw on flickr in which the supposed subjecct was thrown out of focus. Kinda reminds me of the pinhole effect. It's pretty interesting I suppose. Definitely has some abstract qualities to it. Surprisingly, I managed to take this photo in autofocus. Usually would use manual but I managed to get it to focus on the background without to much of a hassle.

Photos for You, Photos for Me

Good lighting is hard to come about these days. Had a perfect opportunity to try out a few techniques I got of a photography magazine. Can't say they worked out too well for me. I got a little distracted after awhile but it did yield some interesting pictures.



This one's a bit of a trial photo. Was playing around with the idea of reflection. I don't know if you can tell but the top left bit is actually a mirror. You can see the reflection of the top of the camera in it but it's pretty obscure(which is a good thing of course =P). Turned it into a sepia cause' of the distracting colours in the background.
I THINK this ones a RAW. I can't really remember. Pretty good lighting so I thought I give macro a try. With the fast shutter speed, I didn't have to fiddle around with the camera tripod, which btw, is broken -_-". Picture is very sharp and DOF makes it more dramatic. There is also a gradual increase in darkness towards the bottom-left which I thought contrasted pretty well with the bright bits on the right

My somewhat pitiful attempt at minimalism (after having read an article on it in the magazine). It's okay, I suppose. Only thing worth noting is tone. NOthing special here.

Uhuh....another horrible attempt at a so-called "self-indulgent" photo. Thought I give the catch-light technique another go having failed it countless times before - this one's no different. I framed the photo a little to far away from the eyes, so any detail which I could have picked up in this shot was lost. Not much reflection in the eyes though even when zooming in. Plus, hair got into the way. Pupils in the right eye cannot be seen. The picture as a whole, though, has a warmer hue to it. Purposely done to emphasise the lighting.

Okok......this one's a "special addition". Taken in RAW 3.99MB. Another attempt at minimalistic photos? Maybe. But this pic is for someone.

Thank you so much =)

One Last Time.

Using this damned internet connection for the last time. I somewhat glad. =P



Will comment when I'm not so muddled with packing

A Change in Focus

It's been awhile since I've photographed...well....anything besides human beings really.



Will comment when I can get more pictures up. All of these were RAWs except for the first one....

Play the Sport

I find it pretty hard to photograph any sport. I've done ball sports and athletics. Done a bit of cheerleading few years ago (if you can even call it a sport to begin with). So far, the hardest for me to do has been football mainly because I can't get any good angles on it and the sportsman in it don't really do anything interesting worth photographing.

I did the Swimming Gala a few days ago and due to "restrictions" I didn't actually photograph and sports. I had very wimpy pathetic pictures from the whole thing and I ended up deleting half the stock. Anyways, I did manage to salvage a few with a "little" bit of editing.



Okay....not the most flattering photo because I framed it a little to close to the face. If you notice, part of the chin at the bottom is not in frame which makes the photo a little odd in terms of framing. However, while editing, I decided to place the focus of the photo onto its colour. Great contrast between the left half and the right half of the photo. I was hoping to be able to isolate the face further by increasing the warmth of the colours but that only played down the cold colours on the left, turning it into an odd shade of grey/purple. I was hoping to have some catchlight but the subject wasn't facing the right way -_-". Quite a waste really....



What I like about the girl I was photographing was her prominent jaw. Very strong and well-structured. It sorta makes for a more dramatic photo I suppose. For this photo, I turned it into a mono just because the colours around it were kind of a mash of odd tones. I also used a soft focus to bring attention to the subject. Yes, I know soft focus is a very noob thing to do butI had to work with what I had and Picasa doesn't do much for you. Time to get P/S.



This one's got pretty odd framing but that's how I wanted it. Instead of throwing an elongated frame in the front of the subject, I moved it to the back. This is a trial for me because I only came up with the idea on the spot. Would have been better if I framed in more of the subject's shoulders. In terms of editing, I added noise and threw a colour filter over the photograph to give it a slightly worn out effect. Could have done with more noise. And yes, I know adding noise to the photo counts as cheats but you have to admit: it does have an effect. =P



This one's another nightmare to edit. The original was pretty lame. The angle was awkward and colours were really dull. Again, like the first one, I decided to place emphasis on colour rather than anything else. You can just imagine how shitty this would look like in mono -_-". Anyways, it's a good thing the girl on the left had a lighter hair shade. It, at least, ceated some contrast with the cold colours. The girl on the right seems to serve just as a mean of balancing the photo out. There is one confusing bit in here though. At the far left of the photo, you can see the hair of another girl next to the girl on the left. Sort of an unnecessary and confusing addition to the photo. Can't crop it out cause' than the photo would be thrown off balance.



Probably one of the better photos of the day. A typical candid photo but I made it more dramatic by sharpening the picture and turning it mono. Sorta has a timeless effect on the photo. Too bad for the pole at the bottom right of the photo. It cuts the photo off a little. Wish my camera had a higher aperture range. Introducing some bokeh into the background would have given the picture a much better tone and texture plus it would have isolated the subject further. Currently I'm using a standard lens. Not expecting any miracles from it.

A Little Bit on the Slow Side

Brilliant. After an hour, I only managed to upload one photo. At 2.4MB it shouldn't have taken that long. Bloody internet connection =S.

So anyways, here's a photo I took during the Swimming Gala. A moment of distraction maybe. Despite the great colour and what not, the position of the tree is a little to central making this photo a little too organised. Not exactly how I wanted it to turn out.


I will upload my photos from the Gala when there's actually an internet connection worthy of any usage. This year, I wasnt able to get any photos of people actually swimming. Was in a VERY bad position. Couldn't see a damn thing from where I was. But I did get pretty mediocre pictures from the crowd around me. Perhaps something worth the time uploading....

Here We Go Again

Exams are over....

...and once again I'm back to taking photos again. Will be covering another event later today: Swimming Gala =S. I don't really like sports photography because of the good judgement timing needed. I can barely get myself to events on time let alone do sports photography. I'm a complete and absolute noob.


Anyways, nothing new yet. Got a couple of oldies from December last year. Pictures taken under the rain. Thank god my lenses haven't gone mouldy(though if it did, it'd be an incentive to get a new set of lenses =P).

Not the best of pictures. The flare coming from the light which everyone's holding burnt the picture. Attention has been drawn away from the main subjects due to the distracting light at the bottom. Plus, the half of the face of the person on the right is completely dark. Barely a dramatic effect. A dramatic DEfect is more like it -_-"


Another goner. The photo would have been pretty okay if it weren't for the light at the bottom right-hand corner. I guess I could have cropped it out but that would have left the subject right at the edge of the frame which would make the photo slightly unbalanced. The face at the top-right corner is also kinda disruptive.


A much more recent photo. VERY dry on colours. I just thought the subject with the floral hat was pretty interesting. I would have increased the contrast to darken the colours a bit but trying to do that would only cause the photo to lose some of the details in the darker bits.

I'm pretty happy with this one. Not great but a thousand times better than the others. I especially like the image of the laughing woman in the backgound. Sorta lends a slightly less serious air to the photo in general.

This one's a little burnt. Tones are harsh and The subject is standing in a really awkward position. I had to turn this one into a sepia mainly cause' of the lighting they had that day. Bright red - a little too dramatic for just a small event.

Working it off till the End

My camera-lugging days are pretty much over now. Bogged down with exams and really bad internet connection. Hence, the lack of updates. I've been feeling rather nostalgic recently, maybe because everything is almost to coming to an end.

I certainly haven't taken my camera out in weeks...nothing new in particular to upload. Just a couple of so here and there which I thought were somewhat pretty interesting...


I guess you could call this a "self-indulgent" photo despite the fact you can't actually see me in it. Quite dry on colours really but the bokeh in the background makes for something interesting I suppose.

Another random addition...well, it's pretty blur and it was taken at a very high ISO (ISO 1600 maybe?) so the quality has degraded quite significantly. It would have been a pretty nice picture if I had it put more into the frame but I stupidly had to cut off the bottom bit so the cup looks like this glowing piece of rubbish floating in mid-air.

I kinda like this photo. Could've cropped a bit more of the left bit away but it's okay like this anyway. The only thing that really frustrated me about this pic was the lighting. Very harsh arificial white lighting at the back really contrasted with the reds which makes the colours look a little misplaced in a way. The bad lighting wasn't part of the stage lighting. In fact it came from the camera flash of a Nikon camera. Such bad timing -_-"

This is a pretty old photo taken almost a year ago during a basketball match. One of the players had taken a good hit on the head and was being atttended to by friends and a teacher. A photo with great meaning if a photo essay came along with it -_-". On it's own, it's pretty much worthless trash. I oversaturated the colours too...and the background is too busy. Very frustrating. If only my lens had a wider aperture....