The Beach

Twilight beach, Esperance, Western Australia

I first started learning more about photography so that I could take better pictures of the sights while traveling. After thousands of photographs, I think that I've learned a bit more about photographic technique since those early days. The more I learn, the more I realise that it is not easy to take a good landscape photograph. The main thing is of course the light. Landscape photographers like Galen Rowell don't shoot landscapes unless the light is spectacular.

Sometimes when, traveling with family, it's not possible to wait for the perfect light, so I've shot the details instead. Although I've got a long way to go, I won't let the fear of not being perfect, stop me from practicing this craft, learning and improving.

Elsewhere:

JCYRHS is a Singapore photographer who experiments with infrared photography. Check it out here.

Crown

Roof detail, Commonwealth Market, Singapore.

There's an interesting story in the book Art & Fear about a pottery class. The teacher divided the students into two groups, and told the first group that at they end of the term, they would be graded only on the quality of their work. They only needed to produce their one best piece of pottery to be graded. The second group of students were told that they would be graded solely on the quantity of their work. The student with the most pieces at the end of the term would get the best grade.

Now here's the thing, at the end of the term, the best pieces of pottery came from the students in the second group, the group that was only concerned about number of pieces they could produce. Why do you think that happened?

The guys who wrote Art & Fear, say that it's because the ones who were doing more work got to practice their craft, learn from their mistakes and make better art. The ones who were focused on the one perfect piece never got enough practice to improve their craft. In this case, the perfect was the enemy of the good enough.

This story sort of makes me feel better about what I post here. LC sometimes tells me the pic I'm working on isn't very good. I tell her, "it's ok dear, I am working on quantity not quality" :-)

Elsewhere:

Tan Lip Seng is a Singaporean photographer who shoots marvellous pictures on colour slide film. To my eye there is a different look to these photos compared to a picture shot on a digital camera. Check it out yourself.

Street Song

Fremantle, WA.

A companion piece to this one:



I like both of these for different reasons. As ever, I'd appreciate your thoughts on these shots.

Elsewhere:

One of my pictures has been published in issue 4 of JPG Magazine. A big thank you to Derek & Heather for selecting my pic. The mag has a great selection of interesting contemporary photography, do check it out.

Great Ocean Drive, WA

Esperance, Western Australia.


Whoops. Forgot that I got tagged by Ron.

Name five of life's simple pleasures that you like most, then pick five people to do the same:

1. Hanging out and squabbling with LC;
2. Rereading a good book and coming across forgotten details;
3. Working on a photograph and if I'm lucky, seeing something beautiful emerge;
4. Hearing the Director's commentary on a DVD to learn how the movie was made;
5. Kopi-O. Hot, sweet and strong.

No idea who to pass this on too, but Ashwin and Eng Loy might enjoy giving this a go.

Niven Road - Bougainvillea

Niven Road, Singapore.

Wishing all of you a peaceful and prosperous Lunar New Year.

This past week has been a great one for Singapore photography and photoblogs. Let me share with you this little exhibition:

• Penguins Perfect's Ascension
• Shutterbugism's Insomnia
• Pond Musing's Rajasthan - Epilogue
• Midnighttales's untitled

Teach

National Library, Victoria Street Singapore.

Mason Resnick attended a workshop given by that master of street photography, Garry Winogrand, which wasn’t quite what Mason expected:

Winogrand told us that anything was photographable. He said that we only make the pictures we know; it is hard to break from our preconceptions about how something should look photographed. He told us to let what we see determine where the edges of the photograph go. He challenged us to forget our preconceptions about how to photograph something. "A photograph," he said, "is the illusion of a literal description of how the camera saw a piece of time and space."

I wanted to know what technique Winogrand used to get his best shots, and all he'd talk about was a strange, esoteric theory! By Wednesday, the students were getting restless. We had a gripe session with the program director; several students were ready to drop out. The director confided that Winogrand doesn't make learning easy; be patient, he urged, it's worth it. If we weren't satisfied by the weekend, he'd give us a refund. Back to class. After an hour or so of Winogrand's interminable jokes and more coffee, the whole exercise seemed futile. Suddenly, almost in exasperation, he said, "Aww, let's go out and take some pictures."

That's when the class started ...

Find out what Mason finally learned from the master here.

What is the Matrix?

Roof detail, Tekka Market, Singapore.

I'm fascinated with the quality of light that filters through the roof of this building. Here's a few other views of the roof:





Elsewhere:

I've updated the links page to include a few more Singapore photoblogs which I've discovered.

Twilight Beach

Esperance, WA.

Hellfire Bay - Detail

If anyone knows why this beautiful Bay has a name redolent of Dante's Inferno, please let me know. It seems a singularly inappropriate name for a place that is close to an earthly paradise.

I prefer this close crop of the previous post, but thought it better to lead off with the wider angle shot to set the context.

Hellfire Bay

Cape Le Grand, Western Australia.

Shelter Me

Middle Road, Singapore.

It's been unending rain for the past few days.

Art Deco II

Art Deco soap dish. Prinsep Steet, Singapore

Surfing the Rock

Wave Rock, Hyden, Western Australia.

Man - Fish - Bug

Pearl's Hill Park, Singapore.

Sometimes life's like that. You're carefree and sunning your wings in the summer sun, and suddenly something unexpected comes out from nowhere and drags you into the depths. You never know. Just be thankful for the beauty of the moment and enjoy your perch in the warm sunshine. You never know how long it lasts. C'est la vie. That's life.

With this ring, I thee wed

Indian wedding ceremony, Tank Road Temple, Singapore.

The groom has just placed a toe ring on the bride. Her feet are resting on a stone mortar and pestle, as a symbol of their firm love and strength. The bridegroom says:

Come, beautiful one.
Come, step on the stone;
be strong like a stone.

The groom will later anoint her feet with the liquid in the golden vessel to the right. If anyone knows more about the meaning of the anointing, do let me know.

Come live with me and be my love

Wedding, Tank Road Temple, Singapore. A beautiful beginning for this couple.