Huirong: Bridal Editorial

This is my first solo outdoor shoot with Huirong, despite knowing her for nearly 4 years (my previous shoots are all group shoots, except the one test shoot done last month). She is so accommodating and carried out all the requested poses and at uncomfortable locations despite being bitten by bugs or scorched by the late morning sun. It's heartening to learn that some people have the right attitude and professionalism to go all out to create beautiful images.

Same credit goes to the equally beautiful make-up artist Lynette (Huirong asked me why I did not do a photo session with her), who is actually a night owl. But because of my morning shoot, she ended up not able to sleep. But she still put in her best effort by agreeing to go on-location with us.










Huirong's bridal editorial shoot is the last of the 3 bridal series that I've planned for a very long time. Each bridal shoot attempts to create a different style for my portfolio. Zoe's on indoor fashion. Sindy's 2-styled on soft photostory-like and edgy stronger fashion. Huirong's very mainstream. Already I have requests for more bridal theme shoots, and so I have to think of other different styles. Meanwhile, I'll be taking a break.

For more of Huirong bridal editorial series, visit my Flickr set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/chestertan/sets/72157620843826167/ or my Facebook album at http://bit.ly/uTj5k

Rumours: Nikon D3000 and D300S

Rumour has it. Nikon should have 2 new DSLRs announced by end of Q3. And it's probably the most unexciting announcement in years (surprise me, Nikon).

Why?

If rumours are accurate, the D300S will be no different from D300, except with video (most likely HD) recording and supports SD-card. Some sites claim it's a dual card-slot, so the other slot might remain as CF-card. What I would hope is better high-ISO quality comparable to D700.

The D3000 will be a lower-end D5000, so it'll be a replacement to D60. Possibly no video recording.

That's it from Nikon? Over to you, Canon.

Olympus E-P1 Compact Interchangeable Lens Camera

Has someone come up with an acronym for the compact cameras with interchangeable lens? Maybe, say, DILC? Because the world has now another of such product in the market. Olympus PEN E-P1 follows Panasonic Lumix G1 and GH1 to be the next compact camera using the Micro Four-Thirds lens mount.

I had a quick play at Playworks/T3 office, recently shifted to Sunshine Plaza. Nifty biometric fingerprint security, so no worries about losing the pass, unless...

Generally, it feels like a compact camera, with the advantages of manual lens control and faster AF and shutter response, no different from the Lumix G1 that I reviewed extensively a few months back. The E-P1 supports up to 6400 ISO, and the highlights look rather clean. What's lacking is the articulated screen and built-in flash. What I like is the Art Filter mode which you can select effects like Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film or Pin Hole to capture great arty images. It makes image capturing a lot more fun.

I think compact interchangeable lens camera is the way to go. You get the compactness of a digicam and the responsiveness of a DSLR. The price may be prohibitive since a compact digicam costs half the price, and the E-P1 is priced not any lower than the lowest-end DSLR. So for now, such format camera will be a companion for the serious photographers and early adopters.

Quick specs:
- 12.3 megapixels Live MOS sensor
- 3" LCD screen
- HD (720p) video recording
- 3 fps

LG Viewty Smart GC900

After 13 days of embargo since I got the phone on 3 Jun, I finally can post my review on the LG Viewty Smart.

As you are aware (if you follow my blog), I was selected to participate in the LG "Life is Viewty-ful" Photo Blogger Campaign. 10 bloggers got their hands on the LG Viewty Smart and had to use the camera function to capture and submit 5 photos for the LG Viewty Smart marketing campaign, that includes using the photos for worldwide publicity. Selected images may also be compiled into a photobook showcasing LG Viewty Smart's images.

Being the first shipment firmware, I uncovered many limitations that I wasn't sure if it was a design feature or simply a bug. So I had to review with an open mind. After all, despite the lifting of the embargo, the phone will only be on sale later this month or July. That means LG is still capable of upgrading the firmware.

OK, on with the review proper.

Took me a few tries to catch the cube in transition.

I was impressed with the S-Class 3D interface, but I am one that goes for functionality rather than GUI, so if all the nifty transition effects slow down the interface, I would rather go for the rigid look and feel.

The LG Viewty Smart is a touch-screen phone with capacitive surface. It is more durable but only responds to skin contact, not fingernails. There is only one hard button on the front face, and 4 other buttons on the sides - multitasking, up and down volume, and camera buttons. The cover material is plastic and so the phone feels very light. The phone is slim and so it could feel somewhat flimsy as there are no grips. I am not a fan of small and slim imaging devices, for you need an ergonomic grip to have a steady shot. Another major problem is that you risk touching the touchscreen and activate some other functions other than taking the picture. For me, a concerted effort is required to grab a casual photo with the Viewty Smart, like most of the camera phones in the market.

My major pain points from using the phone are:

- slow auto-focus and laggy shutter. I workaround by selecting manual focus. It works for me since the camera auto-focuses up to about 30cm, afterwhich it's infinity. Since I typically take distance shots, setting to manual focus to infinity means a faster (but still laggy) shutter trigger.

- inaccurate touch. This is probably a common challenge for all touchscreen phones. The Viewty Smart increases the challenge because the 800x480-resolution 3-inch screen is smaller than say the iPhone. So the fonts and the buttons are smaller and I never fail to miss the key or hit the wrong key altogether. For web-browsing, the workaround is to increase the screen font by zooming in (using multi-touch finger gestures) but for interface navigation, the sizes are fixed.

- not a smart phone. It lacks full multi-tasking capability and its web browser is not powerful enough to display webpages efficiently. I was also unable to find any applications for the phone on the Internet, while Java-coded apps are limited and lacks full features. Many phone makers deploy different phone OSes and it's really a challenge finding the correct apps. Phone makers should openly inform consumers the OS so that they can find more apps to expand the capabilities of the phone, thus making the device more user-friendly.

What I quite like about the phone:

- a myraid of camera and video settings and controls. The Intelligent Shot (IS) mode actually displays real-time indications of the camera analysing the scenes. There is an exposure compensation quick button for ease of adjustment. The manual focus helps in creative photography. As for video recording, I had fun doing fast-forward recording (as seen in my previous blog post) as well as slow-motion recording.

I find that the shortcut keys are useful for both the camera and video recording modes. One gripe is the on-screen dial mode that simulates the actual camera dial, which I find is a UI gimmick and not user friendly. I spend a lot of time scrolling one item at a time, and there are quite a lot of items to scroll to. I would prefer an option to change to a menu view.

- comprehensive image and video editing functions. Although the 8 megapixel image quality is not the best in the market, the quality is certainly not the worst that I've experienced from other leading brands. But what amazes me is that I can do almost all kinds of basic editing on the phone without using a PC, like saturation, contrast, colour filter, white balance; you can rotate, crop, sharpen, do image morphing and warping, enter text, insert bubbles, stamp cute icons all over the image, or create fogging effects. Likewise for video, you can trim, merge, add text, blend audio tracks, to name a few.

- integration to Google Blogger and YouTube. Once I'm done with the images and videos, I can easily upload to post on Blogger or to YouTube. Nothing to shout about, but it's neat.

- motion and wind sensor games. Pre-installed games demonstrate the capabilities of the LG motion and wind sensor. You get to roll dice, hit a "ball" up in the sky, blow bubbles, spin a wheel. Basically, the 'wind' sensor is just based on microphone volume. Instead of blowing to the mic, the same effect can be applied when speaking to the mic, although naturally it will be noisier than blowing.

- technically the slimmest and most portable 8 megapixel camera phone in the market. I like the understated design. One friend even thought that the device is a digital camera. The screen is bright and colours are rich.


The Viewty Smart is a phone with smart camera functions found only in some of the latest compact camera models, but what I really like is the level of image manipulation. I also had my share of fun with the motion-sensor games. The Viewty Smart will be a great device for photo bloggers who can capture images, edit, and post it online without leaving their phone off their eyes.

Sindy: Two Styles

The following day after the beauty shoot with Zoe, Sindy and I did a solo bridal shoot, again collaborating with the great make-up skills of Lynette. This time round, we tried both extremes of styles: from the soft elegance to the strong fashionistic edge.









Making use of the available images I captured, I pieced them into a short photostory, my first one since Jan this year. The story and words were conjured over one evening. I already had the plot in mind during the actual shoot but I didn't know how to write it such that there is a twist to the ending.

http://chester.sg/photostory/sindy/

Read it and see if it makes sense.

Emilia: Super.Model.She.

There is a new reality show coming to Singapore. It's called SUPERMODELME.tv and will be broadcast exclusively over the Internet at http://supermodelme.tv/ from 16 June 2009. 10 models. 10 weeks. 2 models representing Singapore. 1 Emilia.

Since the first time I shot her 1 year ago, Emilia has grown to be a better model. She is begining to forge her unique style, look and poise.

Join her facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emilia_smm/91311182810

More photos at my flickr set. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chestertan/sets/72157619327159838/

Sindy Ang and Zoe Raymond: Beauties' Shots

For the past weeks, I have been experimenting my lighting setup using my daughter's room as a makeshift studio for some basic photoshoots. What's more basic than doing beauty shots? So I rounded up a few of my model-friends and a few new acquaintances. Huirong was my first "test subject", then Emilia, and Christine (I invited a few more, but couldn't make it). And here I have Sindy and Zoe together in one session.

While you may be familiar with Zoe, Sindy is my new model-friend and her portfolio so far has been impressive. In fact, I told her that if I were to delay the shoot any longer, it would be harder for me to do a unique shoot because of her ever growing portfolio that includes some interesting and stunning concepts (personally, when a model requests me for a portfolio shoot, I will always look for a concept that he/she has never done before and is also something that he/she wanted to showcase). Sindy is also one of the top-21 SingTel Grid Girls 2009, so watch for her on the TV and media.

I am privileged to get Lynette to join the photo session, as she graciously came to my house to do make-up for not one but two models. And when you have 3 ladies in one room, it's quite a din as they chatted and merried.

With a make-up and hair stylist in the photo session, I get to do more looks and concepts.

As mentioned in Lynette's blog entry, the girls liked almost every other photo as I let them pick their likes using Lightroom. But we still have to shortlist to a select few, or else I'll die from post-processing. And so here in this post are my favourites.

Visit my flickr set for more photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chestertan/sets/72157619468801137/

Or Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83225&id=29681438116

Sherine and David: The Fateful Maternity Session

Sherine, my office colleague, is destined to get her maternity photos taken.

Somewhere in Februrary, she enquired about maternity photography, and I responded, afterwhich I did not hear from her again. Then in late April, I checked with her again and she told me she had been busy with her new home and preparation for the arrival of the baby. Plus, she was resting at home because of her swollen legs condition. So I recommended doing the photoshoot at her new house, on 10 May, for about 2 hours.

2 days before the shoot, I found out that the Audi Photo Competition judging session was to be held on the same day, and so I had to cut short the shoot to an hour. Initially, Sherine wanted to postpone the shoot, but eventually she agreed to do the shoot in 1 hour.

She gave birth to Megan the very next day.

Sherine and David are a fun couple and so they wanted to have fun photos instead of the artistic sensual kind. It also makes shooting fun and spontaneous. I also love shooting in simple houses, good thing they have some plain-colour walls (white, yellow, and dark blue), enough to set up my portable strobes.

My unofficial rates for maternity/newborn photography is $120 for first-hour session on-location inclusive 10 high-res processed images. $60 for additional hour, $10 per additional high-res processed image. Unprocessed images will be returned in small-res (about 1000 pixels on the long side). I prefer not to shoot in a studio because it's rather stifling. Doing at your own house is so much more cosy and convenient with all the maternity and baby stuffs. All I need is a decent piece of plain wall for some of the shots and we can use the house decor for the rest of the shots.

The Singapore Blog Awards

I've been blogging for years (started with a CMS-based site http://portal.chester.sg/ then later this blog), but I always miss out on this award thingie. This morning, I started an MSN conversation with Zoe (she told me she was on TNP article) and she mentioned about the hype one of the nominees had created for the past week. When I visited the awards site, I realised that today is the last day of nomination. Before I knew it, Zoe nominated me for the Photo Category.

And so I submitted for 2 categories: Best Photography Blog and Best Insightful Blog.

After today's closing, the judges will select 10 blogs for each category, afterwhich it's open for public voting (30%) and professional judging (70%). If I'm in the next phase, you'll hear about it right here.

Visit http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/ for the latest updates!

Lunchtime Double-time

One of the first photos taken with my LG Viewty Smart GC900 at the Photo Blogger event on Wed. The white balance was pretty aggressive. The place was lit with warm lighting but the shot turned out well-adjusted. 

Yesterday, I went for lunch near my office and recorded my 10-minute walk to a food court in "fast motion" mode into 2 minutes, using the Viewty Smart GC900.

You will hear more commentary from me once the phone is officially launched. For now, it's just sharing of images and videos as is created from the phone direct, no third-party apps adjustment except the built-in phone functions.

City drive

Posted from my test phone

----------post comments-----------
The above post was published directly from my test phone. The image was taken with the test phone, edited using the test phone, and uploaded to a default mobile blog. Then I "claimed" the mobile blog and updated the link to enable all mobile posts to appear on my current blog.

The LG "Life is Viewty-ful" Photo Blogger Campaign

I was one of the 10 bloggers chosen to get my hands on the LG Viewty Smart LG-GC900 in Singapore. This camera phone was already announced officially by LG on 20 April but never been available as a production set in this part of the world. Until today.

I won't (and can't) say much (due to NDA) except that for the next 7 days I will be taking lots of photos with this device and show the world what the Viewty Smart with Schneider Kreuznach F2.8 lens is capable of.

Christine Tan

Christine and I was first acquainted almost 4 years ago. We discussed about doing a shoot but never materialised. Over the years, Christine has perfected that winning smile and is been featured in numerous print ads and magazines. Last month, Christine contacted me for a photo session, and this time, we found time for each other.

The Singapore Girl

The Singapore Girl is an icon of the Singapore Airlines that is recognised worldwide. In this photoshoot, I attempt to recreate that trademark style seen on advertisements. Images are given a warm tone and the hair is let down as appeared in many SIA ads. Make-up was also given creative flexibility instead of adhering to the SIA code.

Make-up: Lynette Pang http://makeupbylynette.livejournal.com/

Huirong: The Reunion

The last time I photographed Huirong was in September 2006. The last time I met her in person was in Aug 2008. After discussing about our shoot for 2 years, we finally met again on 21 May for a test shoot. A simple single-light beauty-dish setting.





I think we spent more time talking than taking photos, which explains why out of the 5 outfits she brought, we took only one. 

Zoe Raymond: Bridal Shoot

Zoe's not getting married - yet. But it is every girl's dream to don the bridal gown and look absolutely ravishing. This shoot gives her an excuse to wear a gown.

Many friends have asked me why I have done so many photoshoots with Zoe. That's mainly because we have built a good friendship over the years, since the start of her modelling and event stints. During the times, I don't have many models to work with, and Zoe is always around to hear my concepts and work with me. I always give priority to model-friends whom I am comfortable to work and communicate, rather than soliciting stranger models.

We sought permission from The Arts House to do this shoot. Here are my favourites:











For more photos of Zoe Raymond, visit my facebook album at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69614&id=29681438116

Happy 2nd Birthday Mayenne

I didn't realise I haven't been blogging for almost 2 weeks. I haven't had a blog break so long for quite a long while. That's because I was rather busy with the office move and planning for photoshoots.

In this post, I'd like to share with you the photobook that I did for Mayenne. Creating photobooks has become an annual affair for me, as I document the growing years of our darling. This is also the time that we look back at her growth progress and remininesce at the times when she was so small, immobile, and dependent. Today, she's a free-spirited bubbly jumpy girl who gives us lots of joy and frustration. These experiences are gifts that everyone should experience. After all, we only live once - as far as we can remember.

http://photo.chester.sg/year2/

Happy Birthday, Mayenne. Papa and Mummy love you. And so does everyone in the family tree.

Winners of the Audi Impressions Photo Competition

After 7 full days of adrenaline-pumping excitement, the competition is over. For 7 full days, I spent my waking (and a bit of my sleeping-dreaming) hours thinking and working on the competition.

On the evening after I did my 1-hour shoot, I went home to process the images. As I scrolled to shot number 3, the image impressed me, and so I did a quick edit and posted it up on the Facebook Audi Page for online voting. I won the Photo Of The Day with 32 votes.


I reviewed the rest of the set and selected my favourite 2 shots without difficulty. Deciding on the last image was hard.

My favourite entry is this one (below). I can't photoshop well, so I left the background untouched, rather than ruining a good photo with bad DI.

I had a concept of a red carpet coming out from the car and the model walking out. There were other poses, but this was a "safe" choice that conveys the concept clearer. I had another shot where the model walks away cooly. I'd prefer that, but a sample group review felt that the walking away did not convey a positive message about the car.


Then came the final image. I was torn between the image below and my "Photo of the Day", but I chose this because this was the only image that conveys the A3 Cabriolet tagline: Serious Fun.



The judging process was open to public, and most of the 28 contestants were there, crowding around the 5 judges next to the red Audi R8 who scrutinised the images over the latest Samsung LED TV screens. They selected by several rounds of elimination. When I reached there, I think there were about 30 images left. All my 3 images were in. Then slowly, the number of images were reduced. I remembered 2 of my images remained among the final 10. When it came down to the final 5, none of my images were present.

Jimmy Pang, who added me as a Facebook friend recently for this competition, was standing next to me throughout the process. His image was in the final 5. Then it reached the final 3. All the finalists were asked to talk about their images in front of the judges. After much deliberation, they eliminated one, leaving the final 2. At that point, I told Jimmy, "Well, at least you already won something!" His image was one of the final 2.

This image, by Nasrul, was the 2nd runner-up. Great image that shows the car very clearly. Fantastic commercial-quality catalogue photo.

Comments shared by Willy regarding this photo:

Nasrul's photo had the most areas which the judges picked on..

Joyce (from marketing perspective) looks at which car she would like to buy.. Jimmy's stood out.

Olivier (from commercial photographers perspective) feels that for a lifestyle shot, it needs to be believable that you're the person in the shot. This seems more high fashion than lifestyle (Olivier, pls correct me if I misunderstood you)

Jingna (from a fashion photographers perspective) feels the model didn't connect with the camera.. at least not up to her standard :p

The below image is created by Natalia Tjandra. Another great DI artist. I like the concept: the unveiling of the A3 Cabriolet in front of the stadium of spectators. This will work as a print commercial ad.



But Jimmy's photo won over the judges. Model is Shahirah Price. I like the spotlight, and the fact that Jimmy DI the background works in isolating the subjects. Stefen Chow, one of the judges, has this comment:

Jimmy's picture fits the contest theme the most, where Audi is about lifestyle, glamour and fashion. The usage of the model, the pose and the angle where the shot was taken made it the clear winner among the entries.

Here is a post-competition comment from Olivier Henry of Milk Photographie posted on Facebook:

It is important, as a photographer, to understand and execute the brief given by a client. You guys were given a car, a fashion context, and of course the lifestyle angle. As a photographer, you must think about who you must please the most (the client paying you) within the spectrum given to you; it goes this way:

1) Who is the client? What do i know about this client?

2) What is the product?

3) What am i selling here (a lifestyle? a product?)

4) How do i meet this criteria without compromising my artistic integrity as a photographer?

5) How do i have FUN executing the job? A competition is a job, like any professional photography assignment.

6) Am i under-delivering or over-delivering? How would i feel if i saw my own image in a magazine for the first time and i was not the one shooting it?

This was a tough call. You guys did an amazing job! Continue taking pictures and never let anyone tell you it is not worth it. Practice makes perfect!

This photo competition is certainly a unique experience for me. This is unlike other photo competitions where you simply submit the images and wait for the results. This competition has got that "reality-show" feel, where you got only 1 hour to do the shoot on-location, and you interact with other contestants from the official Facebook contest page, viewing their photos posted, giving comments. And this open judging event also lets us see how the judges come to their decisions.

I applaud Willy Foo for putting together this competition in a matter of weeks (post ed: Willy informed me that the discussion on this competition started only on the evening of 29 April) . He is a great photographer, an innovative entrepreneur, and an excellent contributor to the photographic community in Singapore.


Blog Article References (note: you might not be able to view the links depending on the access rights configured by the Facebook post owners)
Winners announced on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=80332297047
Official Facebook Group for the Competition - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72004217719
Facebook Photo of the Day - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=79534137047&id=719891275

Comments to the Final 4 photos - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3135687&id=719891275&comments=
Audi Singapore Photography Contest - http://www.audi.com.sg/sea/brand/sg/models/a3/a3_cabriolet/photography_contest.html

The Audi A3 Cabriolet Photography Contest

Titled "Impressions: Featuring the new Audi A3 Cabriolet", the contest is the brainchild of entrepreneur-photographer Willy Foo. When he announced it on his facebook page, I was the first to sign up and to submit photos for shortlist. 2 days later, I received a facebook note from him that I was one of the 28 selected for the contest.

The challenge is to book a 1-hr slot from 6-9 May between 4-11pm and go to the Audi Fashion Tent where the A3 Cabriolet is displayed and to capture the car depicting the lifestyle.

This is probably one of the most "dynamic" and shortest-notice contest I've ever entered. Even the details of the shoot is evolving day by day. For instance, the actual location of the car was only confirmed 16 hours before the first contestant gets to shoot the car. And even then, the car colour was changed at the end of the first day. The facebook and photographic community is certainly keeping abuzz with the developments, as everyone tries to uncover the latest news and get prepared for the 1 hour experience.

I was brainstorming without a clue for 2 full days since I was informed of the shortlist, but after that, it was so much relaxed, as I get the outfit confirmed, the props purchased. Now all's left is the actual execution, from the lighting to the camera angle and the post processing. As the car is on public display, one cannot expect the showroom look with clean or picturesque background (like the one above). Neither do we get the big strobes to give the car a great shine.

I never felt so excited about a photographic "assignment" before, because the 28 selected photographers, at the end of the day, got to submit their photos to the panel of judges that includes professional photographers like Zhang Jinga (zemotion), Olivier Henry (Milk Photographie), Stefen Chow, and Willy Foo. I have to prove and show what I am capable of, and even though it's probably not as good as some of the contestants, at least it must represent my skills.

Official Audi Photography Contest Page:

http://www.audi.com.sg/sea/brand/sg/models/a3/a3_cabriolet/photography_contest.html

Official Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72004217719

TAKEN The Movie

I was deciding what movie to watch over the weekend. Wolverine is not out until Wednesday, and there wasn't any must-see movies in my list. Initially I decided to catch The International because I thought it must be a nice movie, not from the story point-of-view, but maybe cinematography or action. Then there was the Fast and Furious 4, but when I watched the trailer, I wasn't too excited. 

Then there is this movie called TAKEN. The title reminded me of the HBO series by Steven Spielberg, and so I didn't think highly of this movie. But after I watched the trailer and read the synopsis, I think this story has more depth than the other films. There is the human emotional drama (like "Changeling") with action (like "Bourne Identity").

I didn't realise the film is co-written by Luc Besson, and that it premiered in France more than a year ago. I was a fan of his movie ever since The Fifth Element. He's got an interesting way of writing his story. He has no qualms about gun violence, and breaks many rules about dramatic gun scenes in favour of surprises. For instance, in the final gun scene, the Sheikh held the protaganist's daughter hostage. The moment the Sheikh utters a word of negotiation, Niam Leeson's character put a bullet in his head without hestitation. Woah! I would expect some kind of dilly-dally drama like many other movies.

Apart from that, I think it's a great story, kindda like community message for the world about Europe human trafficking activities. Haha why should Singaporeans feel silly about Jack Neo's agenda-filled movies when other countries are also doing the same, albeit with more budget? As a father to a 2-year-old daughter, the film really connects to me. My wife commented that maybe Harrison Ford would have been more convincing, but I reckon he could only portray more as a desperate dad than a level-headed one. It's also unfair to say that Niam Leeson isn't suited for action films. I thought he is fine because he's already a father of a 17-year-old girl and has retired from CIA, so it shows on his face. But if the critics meant that he doesn't look suave and stylo to be a action star, well ya I guess so. This role needs more of a father-looking character than an action-looking figure, and Niam Leeson has that fatherly look, having acted as Obi Wan Kenobe's mentor, including some light-sabre-wielding sequences.

The only scene I thought was overly-glamourised is the long movie-tagline monologue where the character talks to the kidnapper, "... and I will find you, and I will kill you." The voice track was perfectly recorded, and as a voice talent, Niam Leeson really sounds great narrating the lines. But it just lacks emotional context for that scene.

I like the movie. I probably won't watch it again, but the story will live in my mind for years to come. It's a stark reminder of the dangers of the world out there, and young people needs to be wary of strangers and never to be too wild and playful to attract unwanted attention. The worst is that young people think they are smart enough to know the dangers, but I think these organised criminals are far more intelligent to fathom what tricks they could come up with.

Recently, a friend shared with me about someone who is not being honest in a business transaction. I found out that this someone has a history of being dishonest to people he engages for jobs. My argument to my friend is that: if this person with a poor history can still survive in this trade for years, then it really says something about his street-wisdom.

 

Why I'm not interested in E75

The Nokia E75 is the latest E-series mobile phone, a replacement to the E71 launched in June 2008. 10 months have passed, but it seems like time stood still and not much new features are found in E75.

While E75 boasts a large QWERTY keyboard, supports HTML email, and probably some firmware enhancements like seemingly better camera still and video quality (30fps VGA vs. 15fps QVGA), there is almost no critical differences. In fact, a quick comparison using Nokia website shows that the E75 contains only 50MB internal memory compared to 110MB for E71.

Thus the choice of E75 or E71 boils down to the looks and usability. I used to like to input text using the normal keypad via T9 because of the ease of one-hand operation, though I am often restricted by the word suggestions and occasionally I have to switch back to non-T9.

E71 works for me because I can still use the QWERTY keyboard with one hand. Some of the input facilitation features on the E71 include the multi-key press, so holding the Shift and pressing an alphabet gives me upper case. Or holding the Shift and moving the cursor lets me highlight text. Or long-press the keys to get the alternate numeral characters. When you want to make a call, the E71 is intelligent to recognise whether the keystrokes match a contact name, and if not, it will interpret as a phone number. These features replaces the need for touchscreen or keypad.

In comparison, E75's QWERTY keyboard is too wide and the keys are flushed. I believe I have to stretch my thumbs over a larger area which adds more muscular stress. Not forgetting that the phone is bulkier than E71.

Having said that, the E75 does have an advantage: the normal keypad. This will allow higher adoption of the E-series. Admittedly, I was initially apprehensive about the Blackberry-lookalike E71 that looks too "corporate". The E75 breaks the mindset and yet offers the user two input methods - best of both worlds. Interestingly, the E71 actually has a lot of non-corporate users, from students to normal office workers. No wonder the E71 has won many awards as the best mobile phone of 2008. While there is no doubt that the E75 delivers several improvements over the 10-month-old predecessor, the E71 is still a swell phone.

The D3X Verdict

Shot using D300 and Tamron 90mm, window light

Just submitted my D3X review to T3. Watch out for my review article, signed off as CT, on the magazine. And if you can't find my name on the contributor list page, that's because they left out my name occasionally.

In a nutshell, the D3X is no different from the D3, but offering different imaging extremes. For D3, you get high ISO performance; with D3X, you get low ISO high-pixel details. Yet this difference is worth over S$6000. Ironically, I don't feel like I am handling a $13k equipment. Perhaps, only Photoshop addicts could appreciate the image details that the D3X captures.

For my style of shoot, I prefer D700: it's got same fps as D3X, but it's lightweight and delivers identical ISO performance as D3. D3 users are action-shooters that needs 9 fps. D3X users are poster-men who want details at every pixel. But to fully exploit the beauty of D3X requires you to shoot at low ISO. That's not to say that D3 is incapable of details at low ISO, but in that respect, there is no fight between a 12mp and a 24.5mp sensor.

On an unrelated note, I did a family shot of a dancer-teacher friend, Soo Poh. She'll be featured in a Mother's Day article and needed the photos. These 2 photos are selected for the publication:


Shot at her house with the D300 using SB-900 shoot-through a white umbrella on the right of camera at 1/8, and a SB-800 on hotshoe bounced straight to ceiling at 1/4.

Another Creative Thai Ad

Thailand ads are often laced with emotions. Here's one to share.




Pantene did this 4-minute theatre commercial about a deaf girl who yearns to learn the violin, snubbed by her pianist classmate. Eventually, she overcame the prejudice and her own inferiority and did it.

Not as well done as the other Thai commercial I posted some time ago. Nevertheless a good inspiring storyline. I could work something along this line for my next photostory...

The most expensive DSLR in the market

Woken up at 6am by a bad tummy ache, followed by diarrhoea. What did I eat yesterday? Morning was Nasi Lemak at Cuppage Plaza Isle Cafe, lunch was Beef Noodles at Cineleisure, dinner was the Fried Noodles ("sang meen") with Fish Slices at Blk 505 zichar store. Just blogging here in case I, you know, well, can't blog due to some physical deteoriation. For now, the word "diarrhoea" is a fearful word in Singapore, where 2 person has died from food poisioning from the same store, and 154 recuperating.

Ironically, I had wanted to wake up early today to do some office work. So thanks to the tummy, I am one hour earlier from my expected time of awakeness.

Last night, I went to collect the Nikon D3X for review from T3's Shawn, who was at the Eleganz Talent Management studio doing a shoot for their next month's magazine. At RRP S$13,888, the D3X is probably the most expensive commercially-available DSLR in the market. More on that after I finished my reviews for T3.

Supposed to do some test shots with the D3X to see and compare the prowess. But I had to rush off. Did a few shots of the shoot process.

Next month's gadget girl for T3, Stacy

Whenever I get a new cam, I always test it out with my dearest daughter. She is the best test subject: focus speed, high ISO at room environment, auto WB, ease of switching shooting modes on the fly, video mode (for compact cameras), and more.

If I do get a full-frame DSLR, the next thing I'll buy is the 14-24mm lens.

Jessica's Jewels

Diamonds and pearls are a woman's best friends, aren't they.

Model: Jessica
Make-up: Lynnie, who was ill on the day of the shoot, so Jessica did the make-up at her house and travelled to the studio. We would so appreciate her presence at the studio to tidy up the hair and make-up.
Jewels: model's own

Do check out Jessica's own photoshop here

The curious case of the shrinking Carls Jr. burgers and motionless toilet business

1. Carls Jr. burgers have shrunk!

Last week, I went to Carls Jr. at Vivocity and ordered one Portobello Mushroom Burger with chilli beef fries, to share with my wife. When it came, we were appalled at the size and thickness. It's probably just the size of a BK Whopper. Whatever happened to the traditionally-huge serving? Paying more than $10 for a burger that puny? Looks like Carls Jr. is getting it quite wrong.

(edit 20 Apr 2009: my wife told me that when she went to the Big Splash outlet today, the burger was big as was before. Perhaps the above shrinking experience was a one-off.)

2. Motion Sensor in Toilets

If you are using the toilets for big and long business, just remember not to be alarmed if the lights suddenly go down on you - while you are on the throne. I experienced that, and fortunately it was in broad daylight. You might want to get hold of some objects to throw out of your cubicle to attract the attention of the sensor, like newspapers

Marina Barrage: Take 2

Exactly 7 days after June's shoot, I brought Samantha back to the Marina Barrage for another shoot. Not that I love that place, just that because it's near my wife's office. Come to think about it, despite my second visit, I have actually not explored all of the Barrage.

Canon First Ever Blogger Event at The Screening Room

I was invited to the Canon Blogger Event held at The Screening Room at Ann Siang Road. I was expecting a huge event but was pleasantly surprised that it was exclusively for a handful of around 20 guests.

Before the presentation started, we chilled out at the rooftop with the rest of the bloggers. Met and chatted with Claudia and Diana from 24seven, a social media company. Among the blogger guests, I only recognised Fidelis at the rooftop and Sabrina who appeared later at the event room.

Great view, great weather.

Once everyone was here, we were led down to the room. The effort they put in to present the colourful new Canon products among the fingerfoods.

Matching pastry colours against each digicam.

Canon announced like 8 new compact digicam models (IXUS 95IS, IXUS 1o0IS, IXUS 110IS, IXUS 990IS, Powershot SX200 IS, Powershot A1100 IS, Powershot A2100 IS, Powershot A480) with 27 colour variants, 1 new DSLR (EOS 500D), a new sub-brand for the camcorder called LEGRIA with 7 new models (HF S10, HF S100, HF20, HF200, FS21, FS22, FS200).

Wong Li-lin's the brand ambassador. She showed us some snazzy footages produced by the LEGRIA.


Me wifey cannot resist a photo opportunity with a celebrity.


Trying out on the Powershot SX200 IS. The lens is HUGE simply because it's a 12X wide-angle zoom digicam from 28mm to 336mm f3.4-5.3. Believe it, this digicam can take macro shot at zero cm. The flash auto pops-out and auto-retracts.


It was very nice of Canon to provide free 8GB SD cards at the door for all guests so that they can test the products and compare. I actually recorded a footage with the top-range LEGRIA HF S10 using my SD card but forgot to switch to SD card mode, so I wasn't able to enjoy the sharp footages produced by this camcorder at this moment. But really, it's impressive. The sensor is actually a full 8 megapixels instead of the usual 2mp for HD resolution, so the camcorder records in ultra-HD then downsamples.
Ironically, I did not touch the 500D at all, despite being a DSLR user - because I know I could get my hands on it from T3.

On hindsight, we should have a group shot. Or maybe they did, coz me and wifey left at 8.30pm to pick up our darling from my in-laws. Many thanks to Glenn from Ogilvy who invited me after visiting this blog, and Noel (Ogilvy) and Sin Yee (Canon) for their warm hospitality at the Screening Room.

P.S. All photos taken with the Canon Powershot G10.

Another Fashion Shoot with June Low

Doing photo stories is still my primary passion, but fashion photography is something that I've always desired to endeavour. A good fashion photograph has all the fashion elements: the outfit, the hair, the make-up, the location, the sets. Photography only comes after all these, and post-processing delivers the final packaging to the image.

I chose to shoot at the Marina Barrage. I was not expecting a large public crowd on a Wednesday late afternoon, but I forgot it was a school holiday week. When looking for locations for the photos, I had to be mindful of the crowd and so there were many potential backdrops that we could not set up on that day.

I'll be going back there very soon to explore more. Meanwhile, here are some photos taken of June. She has never done commercial print assignments, and we hope this will help her to get some attention in the industry.

More photos available at the links below:

Facebook Album

Flickr Album

Grace P

A fashion shoot was planned with a model weeks in advance. And we were counting down to the actual shoot day. But days before the shoot, there were signs that indicate that the shoot might not proceed as planned. First, she was busy with both school and modeling assignments. Then she requested to 'downgrade' the shoot from an actual shoot to a test shoot (difference is that we're not going all out in terms of hiring MUA, bringing all the attires). Finally, on the eve of the shoot, she went down with a bad diarrhoea. Cancellation seemed imminent.

So I quickly looked through my waiting list of models and see which ones are suited for the theme and location. Challenge is: I only have their email address, and asking them via email might be too slow. I had to also consider the possibility that more than one might agree, then I would have to reject those unselected again. I needed a more immediate kind of communication, like IM or mobile phone, to discuss the last-minute arrangements quickly.

Grace was lucky. She happened to be online at the right time. Grace was lucky, she was available and was willing to start the shoot at 7.30am.

I was lucky. I got the shots.














Special thanks to Ervine for giving me new perspectives in processing my photos.

Newfound old friends, and then some

It's only the first week of March, and already many things have happened.

Firstly, I found a few long-lost friends via facebook. In normal circumstances, this wouldn't be such a big deal. But the process of finding them are short of a miracle.

Once a while, I will reminiscence some old friends that I had and will try to locate them via the social networking sites. But see, these friends were so old that during the time, there was no email except their name. Of course it doesn't help since many people do not use their full name as the profile name, and even if they do, there are too many people with the same name.

To cut the story short, I was looking for friend "C" on facebook, but there were too many same names and no profile pic. So I looked for friend "V", and I did find her because her photo was on the profile. As I browsed her album, I found my friend "C"! And since I also know the brother of "C", I found 3 friends, not forgetting the parents whom I was very close with too.

In addition, I am also upgraded to "uncle" status as 2 close relatives gave birth to baby girls. So Mayenne has 2 cousins and she's no longer the youngest within the extended family.

Last month, I attended my university hall mate's wedding, and caught with lots of fellow hall mates whom I had fun working with. Many of them are already in my facebook list, but I finally get to meet them face-to-face. After the wedding, Angie and I even went karaoke with a few of them till 2am in the morning. That is undoubtedly the first night out we had in this decade - YES, this decade. It's quite funny: the moment we sat in the karaoke room, we asked the waiter whether they still have some of the 1990s "oldies".

Angie and I had to leave at 2am because we had to wake up early next day to pick Mayenne from her Mum's. The rest stayed till 3.40am. According to sources, they were too tired to hold on till the end of the booking session which was 4am.

We had to walk down this dark aisle to reach our karaoke room. Felt kindda sleezy, no?

Finally, comfort zone.

Some shots during the wedding on 21 Feb. Taken with review set Canon Powershot G10, courtesy of T3 Magazine Singapore. Cyprian and Vanessa's wedding is covered in the excellent hands of Stephen Loh from Lyrical Moments Photography (http://www.lyricalmoments.net/)

"Funny-face" groom

"Hearty-laugh" groom

You Can Protect Your Mobile Phone Information for US$19.90

I was about to go to sleep when I noticed my friend's MSN status message: "my phone is stolen".

Can't help but I simply have to do up this blog post.

Do you know you can all protect the information in your mobile phone for only US$19.90? No subscription required.

While it's probably not possible to recover your phone, at the very least you should protect any data that is residing in your phone.

Bak2U is a Singapore-made software that achieves that. It allows you to remotely delete all data in your phone in the event that your phone is stolen. It also notifies you via SMS about the whereabouts of your phone.

While there are probably ways to break the software (for instance, hard reset), it also means destroying any data in your phone. To me, that's a better deterrent that allowing the phone to be freely accessed by the stranger. Bak2U also creates some interesting security software, one of which is PhoneScream. If the password is entered wrongly, the phone will let out an audible sound customisable by you. That would be fun if the thief happens to be within the vicinity.

If you are still contemplating about spending that small amount of money, there is another protection that all phones come with: phone lock. Just activate it and your phone will not be accessible until the correct PIN is entered. Again, that does not stop the thief from accessing your personal data in the removable memory card.

http://bak2u.com/

If you are thinking that this won't happen to you, then you are probably one of those who doesn't believe in insurance.

 

Nokia E71 Opens Up A New World

I have been using Sony Ericsson mobile phones since 2001 (with the T68) because mainly of its unbelievably list of features and its "open-source" data format. I could transfer contacts, notes, multimedia files via IR and Bluetooth to PC without any proprietory software. This is important for me so that all information can be easily backed up without depending on any proprietory applications to view them. Even till now, most other phone manufacturers have this limitation, and is very very annoying.

And so for years I have been hanging on to SE phones, no doubt not running the most efficient interface in the market. Till now, I still love the Symbian UIQ touchscreen interface but hated the lag. 

Then a fortnight ago, my colleague showed me the Nokia E71 during lunch. I was wholeheartedly impressed with the speed of interface, the seamless connectivity to the online world, and the capability of what it can achieve. It reminded me of how Sony Ericsson won my heart with their mobile innovation.

And so, here in my hands is my very own Nokia E71.

Instead of lauding how good the device is, let me list down what I could achieve with the Nokia E71 that I could not on my current Sony Ericsson G900:

1. The entire interface is faster. There are some apps that take a little more time to load, but that's the exception rather than the norm.

2. A faster interface means everything. Scrolling data, moving from page to page, app to app.

3. The speed of logging onto the Internet using E71 is so fast, it felt as if the phone is always connected. Simply put, it's no longer a pain to access the Internet when I need to.

4. There are more installable applications due to the popularity. For instance, there is no Yahoo Go app for UIQ3 after so many years..

5. With app like Nimbuzz, I made my first ever overseas VoIP call on a mobile handset. And I did that with zero fuss.

6. The device has almost everything that a converged device would need: a QWERTY keyboard, IR, bluetooth, WiFi, A-GPS, VoIP, music player, photo viewer, Flash player, Realplayer, Internet browser, instant messenging, MS Office viewer, PDF viewer, Zip compression app, Microsoft Exchange to sync with office Outlook emails, expandable memory, camera (3.2mp), video calls, HSDA (3.6Mbps).

7. The phone has a landscape screen orientation which is easier to view information than the traditional portrait mode.

8. It keeps a log of all activities you did on your phone for up to 30 days.

9. The raised keyboard is easy to feel and press the right keys.

10. The keyboard supports simultaneous key-presses. I can hold the shift key to get caps, and when I release, I get normal letters.

While Sony Ericsson still maintains its advantage of "open-source", this advantage is no longer critical, because of the ease of synchronising my calendar, tasks, contacts to my remote Exchange server. And the supposedly ease-of-use with the Symbian UIQ touch-screen is negated by the intuitive navigation method on the Symbian S60.

The question is: did I wait too long to convert to Nokia? Probably not. Because I find that the selling point of E71 lies entirely with its ease of connection and content creation (using QWERTY) to the Internet. Until a month ago, my only data activity on my phone was to check my Gmail. With the popularity of social networking plus the competition from wireless broadband operators, the E71 is an enabler to the world of Internet content at a fixed access price. Sadly, the UIQ interface has been largely unchanged since the P910 in 2004 and has been bogged by memory and processor speed issues (the G900 seems to have fixed the stability issues as I personally experienced 30-day uptime without having to restart). And since 2004, many many manufacturers have progressed tremendously in their hardware and software development, particularly touchscreen interfaces.

Using the E71 is very liberating, and has truly opened up a new world for me to access and interact - on the move.