Through my lens » Photography

Gloomy vs. Blue

Yen — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:50:14 +0000

Summer this year has been as unpredictable as April’s weather so far. There were days when the sweltering heat threatened to drown you with its mercilessly humid air. While some other days, it was stormy and gloomy, with huge gray clouds hanging in the sky, making everything look all dismal and kinda sad. With unpredictable elements like these, it makes outdoor photography all the more challenging. I’m no guru in photography but I definitely take mother nature into consideration when composing a snapshot. Well, who doesn’t love blue sky adorned by some harmless cottony clouds? It makes a great backdrop to any landscape and blue sky certainly lifts up the mood of a picture. When the sky is nice and friendly, especially when the clouds are aligned in such spectacular way, I try to emphasize the beauty of the sky as much as possible. I love the way the clouds above look so much like some crushed ice splashed haphazardly across a blue canvas, doesn’t it? I used to complain when I’m out and about, with my camera gears all ready but the sky decided not to play along when it turned all gray and gloomy. But someone once told me that sometimes, amazing pictures are made when the sky is covered up with clouds, blocking out the harsh sunlight.Huge rain clouds above look threatening but also add temperament to a picture. I was glad I didn’t put off my visit to an outdoor gardening show a couple of days ago when the weather forecast said that it was going to be very cloudy. The different shades of gray gives a touch of drama and I really like how the picture turns out.All said, I love it when the sky is blue. Period. But when it is not, that’s how mother nature teaches me to take up the challenge to try making beautiful pictures out of it.

Light paint

Yen — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:20:29 +0000

Hello there. First attempt at light painting. It was pretty fun. All you need is a torch light, a tripod and a camera. Then point your torchlight at the wall and ‘write’/'draw’ something on it and the camera will capture the trail of the light. I didn’t know that my writing can be that untidy .

Don’t blame the camera

Yen — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:08:32 +0000

It was one of those perfect summer day for cycling, gentle breeze and not too hot. I decided to schlepp my camera with me this time since it’s been gathering dust at a corner in my room. I started out early, heading towards the orchards and vineyards with vines pregnant with plump grapes this time of the year.

I set a slower pace on my bike than usual as I wouldn’t wanna miss the lovely scenery around me. As I pulled over my bike when I reached a vast vineyard with lush green hills in the background, I decided it’d be nice to test my new lens with such spaciousness spread out before me.

After scouting around for the perfect angle, I turned on my camera. Nothing happened. No sound, no light on the screen. Blank. Great. Okay, don’t panic. Maybe it was just a software glitch in the camera. I turned it off, waited 10secs and turned it on again. Still, nothing happened. Okay, software glitch or not, something was really wrong. I was starting to curse N*kon inwardly as I checked the memory card. It’s still in its place. It might sound silly but I shook the camera, nothing loose inside. Then it dawned on me. I opened the battery compartment, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I left the battery at home, stuck in its charger .

See, that’s how long it’s been since I touched my camera. I can’t even remember that it won’t work without a battery! Kidding .

The thing with the camera

Yen — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:37:48 +0000

Have you ever done some crazy stuffs in order to take certain shots with your camera, stuffs that require you to pose/act/behave less than ordinary? Not everyone shares the same passion for photography. I’ve encountered some people who pooh-poohed the notion of spending so much money on camera gears, while some, whose aims are to buy a camera lens a year.

A couple of days ago, I was visiting some friends in Bavaria and we were doing some very touristy stuffs around the very beautiful town of Bamberg (will write more on this later). There’s this must-visit lovely Gothic-style church on the itinerary, whose interior was a tad too dim for the camera, even though it was bright daylight outside, making it rather difficult to capture the elegant interior of the church.

There were however some plain glass windows built high up near the ceiling of the church, allowing shafts of sunlight to create some pools of lights along the pews. Then an idea dawned upon me to have a friend of mine to pose in the small pool of sunlight and she cheerily played along to have a picture of hers taken. I like this picture very much.

We weren’t being disrespectful nor sacrilegious to the church as we were simply taking pictures, right ? Then there were these group of Germans sitting on a pew beside the spot bathed in the rays of sunlight where we posed, amusing themselves while observing us. They were trying unsuccessfully to suppress their chuckles out of our ear shots.

Well, what shall I say? Sometimes we’d have to be thick-faced enough to get the perfect shot, agree? I think we scurried out of the church in no time after that .