Photog Through my Viewfinder

*click*, *click* I could still remember the sound of the first digital cam I used in the club. I was never a artistic person and really sucks at art. I just barely past my art during secondary school and have to practice for the exams. So when I came into JC, I really wanted to do something different. Then I chanced upon photography club during the CCA recruitment day.

Then, our seniors were a bunch of girls. There was like only 2 guys? Not that I am sexist or wat but they dont really have the "photographer" look. ( I was right until my Juniors proved me wrong!). So I thought for a while before my friends say:"hey wan to join or not ? The Seniors quite chio leh!"

I was like OMG ! You choose CCA because the seniors chio? To amuse my friends, I just join them.

I also thought of joining the Science society cause i was quite a nerd then( Luckily I didn't) and cannoning which I think I would fail the selection test then badly. In the end, I choose photog cause I did not wan to be too active in CCA as I wan to concentrate on my studies and the seniors were like promoting the club to be a slack club then. Yes sorry guys, my initial intention to join photog is to slack. However, which I will elaborate later, I found that there is lot to learn and do in photog.

Our first meeting was at our old dark room. Anyone want to guess where is it? Yes, it is where the Perkcafe is right now. Our dark room now used to be the art room store. ( We are hidden in a storeroom:( ) This will also explain why you all will find a lot of art stuff in our room. Anyway, the room is freaking small. Can you imagine like 20 + of you all going into perk cafe at the same time? With all the stuff around, we hardly have enough standing space. Our meeting was a very short one. Basically, they just told us what they normally do- which is got events then go shoot loh. They even told us that they do their tutorials in the clubroom during CCA time. I was at that time yeah, thats my kind of club. Then we took a group photo and thats it.

Our subsequent meetings also did not do much, they are so insignificant that I did not really remember anyone of them. Oh yah, there was one outing. I think we went to the epson printing centre at orchard road. At that time, the club only as 7 Minolta A1s ( I think a lot die liao), 2 fuji cameras and 2 D100s. The D100s at that time was like a sacred equipment that only the best can use. Haha see you all so fortunate right, first time already used DSLRs. Anyway, those prosumers are still good for teaching the juniors about basic photography, so pls dont just store them in the cupboard to collect dust.

I for a start was really confused with all the aperture, shutter speed, iso etc. I am amazed how different aspects are needed to be correct to come out with a good picture. To make things worse, our seniors are not very pro themselves. They pretty much throw us the cameras to explore ourselves. I could still remember my first shoot which is for CNY concert. The stupid hall as always is freaking dark and the poor A1s with their small sensors keep producing very blur pics for me. But being the noob i was then I didn't know why. I was so naive that I used a 5s shutter speed thinking that i can get motion blur effects. 5s shutter speed HANDHELD. WTF was i thinking then ?

Then, I saw the Grand Master- Mr tee firing away with his D2x. At that time, he seems like a grumpy old ah pek shooting photos for the schools. ( Sorry Mr tee:) ) But I approach him anyway cause all the seniors were like:"dont know leh!" Then he look at me and ask, you from photog ha? I told him ya from photog but new bird lah! Then he ask me wats the problem. I told him all my photos come out like blur blur one. Then he look look a bit and told me his classic answer:" Your camera like that, my camera like that, so I dont know why like that leh?" But later, he told me to try bump up my ASA. There is one little problem- I dont even know wat exactly is ASA at that time! If you guys dont know, ASA and ISO are the same things.They are just in different units. For more details, click this.

So, I end up with one CF cards full of blur pictures.( JS that day told me one blur photo is failure, many is style, so maybe that is style, hahaha) . I was not happy as I feel that it is a wasted effort that day. Hence, I am determined to learn how to shoot a decent picture.

From then on, I took every opportunity to shoot. But I became a OGL then, so much of my time during the PAE is to the stupid councilors. But my hand was itching whenever I see the photog ppl shooting the orientation. Finally the orientation was over ! I am free to go back to photog to shoot again. I volunteer myself to shoot for every event that I can. The more I shoot, the better my pictures became.

Everytime I shoot, Mr tee will be there. As time goes by, Mr tee turn from that Grumby old man to my shifu. He taught me how changing the aperture size to control the depth of field would allow me to bring focus to my subjects. He taught me panning techniques. He taught me how to control WB to suit different lighting. He taught me many other things and guide me through my shoots. He will always ask me occasionally, so how can?, wat ASA you set?, Come come see your pictures. I really credit many of my photography skills to him. Juniors, if you get the chance to shoot alongside with this grandmaster, do learn a lot from him. Observe how he postion himself when he shoots. See the viewpoints that he sees when he shoot. Kaypo a bit wat settings he using. You will learn a lot.

Then it was time to elect the new exco. At that time, about 10 ppl will be chosen to be in the exco then out of the 10 they will fight it out for the positions. The rest will be just in the exco. Weird right? My buddy- Benjamin ( who eventually became the president) decided that we two will fight to be in the exco and he wants to be the vice-chair and I will be the chair. So during the interview which was in groups, I try to be a bit enthu so that the seniors will choose me to be in the exco. But, I was not choosen. I overheard the seniors saying that although I am very enthu, I dont seems to be those that will work. WTF again! I dont seems to be the one that will work ? I was like how will you know someone will not work just by a interview. Maybe I did not really talk to them much because I feel that they have not much that I can learn from.

That day to be honest I was quite sad. I very much want to be in the exco at that time but later on I realised that being in the exco does not really mean anything. Its wat you do as a member in photog that matters. Being in the exco just gives you a name and a status. But if you are not willing to contribute to the community, you are only as good as anyone of the ppl in the club. Being in the exco gives you the role and responsibility to carry out your task effectively and with pride.

Then, I met jun sen for the first time. I was put under him as Assitant-Chief-Lens; Jun sen was the Chief-Lens. Basically, down on the field, the Chief-Lens direct the photographers where and when to shoot. But, we end up being the ones that shoot most of the photos because most of the members are just not interested or could not be bothered with how their pictures turn out. However, I also made a mistake by shooting for almost every event. By doing that, I deprived others in the club of a chance to learn and shoot. I regretted not being able to include the entire club to be involved. So pls guys, give others a chance too :) Those who are good, let the ones who are not so good more chance to shoot. It is only through shooting more that they will become better and have more passion for photography. Guide them along if possible.


Oh yes, there is also Mr Cheng. When he first came in, he was this very unfriendly teacher.This is how our first meeting goes.

XQ: Hey Mr Cheng, Xing quan here! ( With a pat on his back)

PPC: Is that how you speak to a teacher?

XQ: Eh....Yah. Thats how I speak to almost everyone.

PPC: Will you speak like this to the principal also?

XQ: Maybe, I have not spoke to her yet. ( In my mind, I was thinking why he is like that one)

Hahaha :) Thats was my first meeting with PPC. At first, I thought he is very attitude one so did not speak much with him. But, after some time, I think he realized that I was not trying to be rude or wat but that is how I talk to ppl. Sorry Mr Cheng if I have been rude to you in the past. But, this is how I speak to my friends & you are a friend to me too :) Mr Cheng turn out to be a nice guy actually. The progress of MJC photog is credit much to him. Without his "ka ka lai"
-which means dare to try attitude to let the members do what they want, we would not have made it this far. But, I am still not happy with PPC cause he changed the club's equipment to canon. Haha:)

Time past very fast for me in MJC. Juggling between schoolwork and shooting was tough. There are times I really want to shoot for a event but due to schoolwork I have to give it a miss. Ultimately, your results still matter most in JC. So pls do not neglect your studies too.

Photography to me was a form of relaxation, a break away from the everyday school. I would occasionally borrow the D100 after school and go to the nearby Pasir Ris park to practise. So if you have been doing funny things there, I might have already caught you:) I get the thrills from shooting events. Being behind the camera, gives me a whole new perspective of the event. Now with not much events for me to shoot, I am shooting street photography. I will walk around the streets with my trusty S3 IS and shoot whatever that catch my eyes. I will try to capture and show the "Feeling" at that time.

Then, it was time to choose the new exco, which is Kingston that batch. We pin all hopes on their batch as we knew our batch is already a flop. I must say that they did very well and we were so proud of them. I take my hats off to you all. You all really turn the club around and accomplised what we couldn't accomplised. 21 Flash-gun salute to you-all.

Now, the young ones, its time for you all to take over the baton. Uphold wat your seniors have build up, push MJC photog to even greater heights and remember that each & everyone of u matters to the club. I see a lot of potential in many of you. Continue to fuel your passion for photography and stay together:) Photog!