On: Competitions

The blog seems to be very very quiet these days and I reckoned as much; but if you are here now, then I reckon again as much that you need a break too. :)

For those of you who don't frequent Clubsnap, you prolly would not have noticed this:

http://www.thempa.com/masterphotographyawards09_finalists/

It's essentially the Master Photography Awards 09 Finalist album. It's an outstanding selection of 70 odd photos and even though it's a British competition, you can see some local pictures in there. Some local professional photographers managed to enter the finals; hence they plastered this on the Clubsnap front page.

But that's not the point, the point is that: It's a good album and you all should take at least a quick glance to get a sense of what makes a good photo.

The other point is that while I was looking through the photos, if anything, a number of the photos were heavily edited (burning, dodging and even framing), some even composite and it really got me to start thinking, if overseas professional competitions allows for such freedom in photographic expression in competitions, then why are local amateur competitions so uptight about post processing? Some don't allow you to edit and some allow, some don't allow you to crop and some restrict you to certain specific sizes, some allow for some form of contrast enhancement but the large grey area leaves much to be desired.

Over the years, I have joined or witnessed quite a number of photographic competitions and I've noticed that a lot of our local judges tend to favour under edited photos; some WB correction or very minor contrast enhancements at most. For some reason they seems to like the raw and unadulterated flavour in photos, opposed to those heavily edited ones, seen in the album I mentioned about. Like some people prefer their vegetables blanched in water rather than stir fried in chilli. Of course to one his own taste, but the problem - from what I gather is that they tend to think that heavily edited photos are fake, over processed and unnecessary. It's almost like saying its a sin to fry kang kong with blachan because it kills the delicate flavour of the kang kong even though it might taste delicious. It may be extremely delicious but it's pointless hence it's a failure because it relies on heavy seasoning. Clearly to just brush it off as bad, is just wrong.

Is it fair to say girls who put on heavy makeup have poor fashion sense or out of their mind? If she's pretty, she's pretty, if she's ugly, she's ugly. What does having heavy, light or no makeup got to do with it?

Then again, those of you who have seen my photos would know that I like to process my photos heavily so you may think I might be biased, but I'll let you decide on what you think is best.

But personally at the end of the day, your preference in post processing really boils down to how you view photography, whether you think it's a journalistic extension of writing or a more technical form of art, hence the way you preserve the "truth" would be very different. The important thing is that you do it your way, not what others think is the right way. To me, photography is an art form and as an artist; my expression is absolute. Everyone else comes after me.

TIME's list of Top 10 Doctored Photos

Hello!!!!!

Been a long time since I've posted.. anyways, for those who are bored / frustrated with mugging, here's a link to check out: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1924226,00.html?xid=rss-photoessays.. as the title suggests, it's a series of the most famous doctored photographs in history.. try to see if you can spot the difference.. but after mugging of course ^^ and remember, this kind of photo editing is wrong ah, don't do this to your photos.. the integrity of a photographer is v v important :D

good luck for promos and a levels!! and term papers for alumni who are in uni now.. PHOTOG!!

Ops New Cat: AMBER

For all you stressed souls out there-

Here's some cute pictures of my new cat Amber, my sis picked her up at Telok Ayer street when she was only 2 weeks old... Now I think she's 2 months old le. Very naughty kitteh, loves to play with anything and everything. She practically ravaged the squeeze ball my dad gave her. Luckily for Mr Squeeze Ball, he still had his plastic packaging on it, if not I think what's left of Squeeze ball is shreds of foam. Lol.


Her little paws can be claws of terror, I know, I got a deep scratch on my belleh thanks to her.


She's posing for the camera...


The deed's done and she's demanding for a belleh rub.

View more photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152552&id=547935794&l=1cec3d3e4b

Macro

i was quite excited when i read the ST yesterday and it said that there'll be an article in digital life today on macro photography so i went to get the papers and flipped flipped until page 25 and it read, "most COMPACT cameras have a macro mode"

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so anyway, even before this article, i borrowed my girlfriend's 100mm macro f/2.8 and tried some macro shots. no no no, no butterflies or dragonflies la! they zhioop here zhioop there so fast i couldn't catch =(

i think you need:
1. macro lens some people say tele also can...
2. insects/animals that are still (hummingbird that kind will be v difficult)
3. tripod
4. if shooting plants, best if there is no wind. got wind sure blur one
5. cable release if u want to minimise movement
6. a lot of patience and some luck: sometimes u wait wait wait until hair turned white also got no insect LOL
7. to open your eyes big big O.O to spot something "shoot-able"
8. i find having a spray bottle handy to create the "dew" look

here are some shots i took, editted with LR2:

this tiny froggy (about 10c size) was in a position that i can only shoot from the top (unless i got qing gong and can do the "dragonfly skips on water" kungfu) and i didn't dare to go v near cos i was scared he would jump!)



this snail (about a 5c coin size) was crawling vvvv slowly by the pond...




my best find was probably this tiny (about the size of a cooked rice grain) green grasshopper on a red leaf =) it was v guai, v co-operative, stayed there for me to shoot shoot shoot =)




k, for flowers, i cheated. i picked them and brought them indoors to shoot so that there won't be wind =P

orchid



small yellow flower



lotus bud (er, this was from a bouquet i received)



frangipani



small red flower (i didn't pluck this, i shot it on the bush)



i also did two "product shots" using a 5ml bottle of perfume (free gift, about 50c coin size). i didn't have sophisticated studio lighting (a la jin bei) and backdrop. just draped a black satin bath-robe over an arm chair and used natural lighting so the effect may not be as good.




no animals were harmed during the course of the shoot =) the frog was left alone, the snail i believe reached its destination the next day and the grasshopper... i left the leaf by the side then it hopped away lor ^^

Happy Teachers' Day!

Hello!! Vicky here!

OMG I just realised that I totally missed the midnight of Teachers' Day! :/

Haha, that's cause I typed out this Special Teachers' Day Post, and wanted to post it at midnight, but I think I fell asleep and forgot about it. Haiya ya.... Now if I post no feeling already (a la XQ).

Nevermind, here it is!:

Once again, Teachers' Day has come around! Happy Teachers' Day everyone!

And when I say everyone, I really mean it. Let's look at the definition of a teacher.

teacher |ˈtiːtʃə|

noun

a person who teaches, esp. in a school

Well then, this means that this is applicable in many levels, as long as someone has made you learn something, right?

And I've got to admit, being in the photography club I've learned a lot... Haven't we all? :)

Happy Teachers' Day to our cutest juniors! Hahaha, through teaching you guys stuff, I've learnt to be a teacher! (Though I do apologise if there were certain inaccuracies that I've passed on unknowingly.) I've learnt that teaching is not easy, and thanks guys, for not all falling asleep during photog sessions!

To our beloved beloved 2008 photog members. You guys have taught me compassion, and have given me the best memories ever! I always think of you all with fondness, with your super-enthusiasm and I've learnt to appreciate that best of all!

Happy Teachers' Day to the one and only ALUMNI!!! And I'm not being biased okayyyy I know what you all are thinking. Seriously, I've learnt most of the technicalities of photography (that is, what I can remember lah ^_^") from you guys, who never tire of repeating over and over and over again. Who always come back and help out! And organise all the outings, and studio days stuff. And the forum. And the crazy jokes. And always always blogblog! Haha, if you look at the percentage of who actually posts on the blog, I think the alumni reigns hands down. Remember the study advice posted by you all for the graduating batch chiong-ing for A levels last year? Haha, now that the A levels are coming up, I personally keep referring to them. THANKS!

Happy Teachers' Day Senior Exco! As in, Quentin's batch exco! You all taught us the ropes and everything, and we really appreciate it! Other than Photography Photography, I think what was most important was the MJC Photog spirit and CULTURE that you passed on to us, and the leadership qualities you all represented. (And also thanks ah for all the dos and don'ts when interacting with PPC, heheh the heads-ups were well appreciated). :) I really do cherish our heritage! (no pun intended :P)

Happy Teachers' Day wonderful wonderful Exco! What I will always think of fondly as MY exco! Elliot, Shirleen, Zheng Hui, Angeline, Vanessa, Mumtaz, CHINCHYE! The countless experiences we've had in the clubroom, the saikang saikang saikang gossiping gossiping gossiping youtubing youtubing youtubing and crazy crazy dancing~! I lovelovelove all you a lot and as we grew together (ahaha literally sia! I was same height as Elliot, and now I'm taller than him!!! Woo~!!!) I think we've all taught each other lifeskills, as well as what it means to work as a team, though most importantly. Cheers to our friendship!!!

Ahahaha Happy Teachers' Day Elliot! Truthfully, I've never held a REAL real leadership position before, and I was secretly observing you for how-to-be-a-good-leader-tips. In the end I found out that I was getting lessons from a retard. HAHA joking joking. In the end I found out a lot about real leadership, and... ahh that's a whole other kettle of fish and I'll leave it for another post. >_<>

HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY MS KOH KOH KOH KOH KOH!!!!!! The bubbliest happiest chioest funniest talentedest teacher eva eva eva eva!!!! Hahaha, thank you for the guidance you have given all of us throughout our two years, and for sharing all your smiles and jokes with us. You've brightened up our days in MJC photog. (And we hope you'd like the present we made for you). Thank you!

Last, but never least, HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY MR CHENG CHENG PAPACHENG!! Hahahahaha the one and only Mr Cheng who is the most unique and quirkiest teacher that I've ever met. I will always think of you and laugh. Despite a lot of bad times, there were a lot of good times you've given us. Hahaha I remember there were a series of nightmares I've gotten of getting scolded by you during a particularly busy period of time. Mr Cheng, thank you for your dedication to the club and making MJC photog such a meaningful experience to all of us.

MJC Photography Club is not MJC Photography Club without Mr Cheng and Ms Koh.

HAPPY TEACHERS DAYYYYYY!!!! ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Top 100! ^^

Hi Hi, no more eye power liao O.O here comes a new post ^^

Kar Mun participated in the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Photo Competition and her photo was selected as the TOP 100!!! Woot! Although she didn't win, this is an international photo competition so PPC n I share her joy =D

here's her photo entitled Beyond The Lens