Evening.

Evening.

It's been ever so long since I've last updated the blog. Things have started to wind down and we're pretty much gearing up for the holidays (Although there're still some things to finish before that happens.)

For the first time, Halloween was special. Trick-or-treating at 17 is definitely not normal, but well, I have to at least try right? ;)

The photo today has been a sight I've been in awe of ever since I've found it. The evening is gorgeous. The contrast between our place and the sky makes it even more significant. Singapore's skies is something I like to appreciate, the sky is always changing on different days. Of this same view, I've got at least 10 different sceneries. Look forward to it! Enjoy the contrast! :)

Cheers,
Aileen Fu

Loving Singapore, our home.

It'll be Singapore's 47th birthday in a few days, it's only fitting to post a photo about out country. This photo is actually not newly taken, but from my previous trip to the city. But the Merlion(s) will always be there.

Happy birthday Singapore! :)

Cheers,
aileenfu

True self

Which is the reflection? Which is the true being? Often, people wonder about their true self. But could it be that both sides of you make you who you are? The truth is, in this photograph, neither of them are reflections.

We played with miniatures today, hence the legomen. It was pretty fun working with them and our imagination. That's it for today.

Cheers,
aileenfu

Morning sky

Second photo of the day. In order to make up for the long period of rest. :)

I really am in awe of IPhone's camera, it does take good shots. (At least acceptable of viewing.) But that can only said when it is bright. Try using it at night, The photos are so noisy that it's unbearable.

This photo was taken before I left for school this morning. I like the contrast between the blue and orange ray from the sun on the building. And the white clouds spread like bushes of a tea plantation. (Not really an excellent comparison, but that's what came to mind.)

It's really a wonder how the sky changes every single day. You'll never get bored of shooting the sky. I've had some other pretty cool shots of the sky previously. Perhaps I'll upload them next time.

Cheers, 

aileenfu

After it rains.

That day I went for a walk with my camera after the rain stopped. The raindrops were pretty marvelous. There were droplets on plants are nice but hey, this one one on a really doesn't seem too bad. I thought what's interesting about this photo is that the waterdroplets in this photo reminds me of the black and white keys on the piano. 

I will most probably have another photo coming in soon. Awesome after such a long pause on the blog. :) 

Cheers, 

aileenfu

Merlion and rainbows

Here's a photo from the recent Photog outing (Photog is short for Photography Club). We walked quite a fair bit from Tiong Bahru, then took a bus to 'town'. It had me officially exploring Singapore for the first time.

This photo different from the other Merlion photos I had because of the rainbow. Also, the fact that the merlion is undergoing construction is different in it's own way. :)

Cheers,
aileenfu

Of colours, windchimes, and the Sun's bright circles

Not been updating for awhile now. But here's the new photo. :)

Been to Malacca recently and I did enjoy myself. But I fell sick right after I returned, most probably due to food poisoning. It could be a good thing that it didn't happen during the trip like it did when I went to LiJiang. (My guess is altitude sickness)

Today's photo was taken at Malacca. I like this photo because of 3 main reasons.

1. I have a thing for colourful umbrellas. Although this is a magnified version, it still is a colourful umbrella. :)

2. The sun creates those pretty circles in the picture. I could have avoided them by tilting my camera a little and maybe I may regret it when I look at this photo later. For now though, I like the way it looks.

3. I never really liked having too many windchimes around the house, I find them rather.. distracting. But they do look and sound good outside. :)

So until I have a new photo (Which may be rather soon), I'll just leave it at that.

Cheers, 

aileenfu

Cat modelling

I haven't posted a photo for more than a week, or maybe two? It's just that I have not been carrying my camera out for a walk. It's always when I do that I will find something nice to take and then update this blog.

The watermark I put is really weird seeing that I'm not so good a photographer (yet.) It makes me feel as if I'm exaggerating (Maybe I am). But I wouldn't like seeing my photo elsewhere without any credits or anything. And the watermark seems to be a motivation for me, working towards the goal where my photograph may one day be worth the mark. :D So do bear with me until that comes true..

Back to today's photo. Some cats do make for great models. Even though others are shy and may run away, they still have some awesome camera-ready poses. This cat in the picture wasn't that friendly, it did run when I tried to shoot, but it looked at the camera with such hostility and curiosity that it made for a rather good shot all the same.
I'm not that into shooting cats and I haven't taken a photo of the big fat friendly cat at school (With a dslr at least..). Maybe someday it'll be a candidate for shooting. :)

Cheers,
aileenfu

Our generation is not all about technology.

Well, who says our generation don't enjoy ourselves in nature when we're young..

We hear older people telling us about what they played as children without digital handheld devices. 'Long kang' fishing, playing outdoors in general. Although I admit that not everyone in our generation has had the experience of fishing, or tadpole-ing in the 'long kang' (Canal) when they were young, we still do enjoy the outdoors. I used to catch tadpoles in the drain behind my block and keep them in a fishtank, waiting for them grow into adult frogs. I do hope I am not the only one my age who did that.

The young child in the photograph, plays in the water, while her mother tells her so much about what she did as a child playing in the river, looking for shell animals to catch.

Children today have their limitation when it comes to playing in nature. Another child, so desperately wants to step into the water, yet because of the fear of wetting his shoes, he was not allowed to. Furthermore, how many places can you find close to home in Singapore which allows you to get into such proximity with nature?

So, the difference between generations who played in the water and the generation who found joy in handheld devices is not technology, but rather the lack of exposure and allowance to get close with the rustic lifestyle. At least, I do like the feeling of stepping into the running water. Perhaps if we were given the choice of technology or nature after enjoying ourselves under the sun, we'd never want to leave. :)

Cheers,

aileenfu

Revival.

As you can see, I'm finally back to this blog after a week or so. During this period, I've been having reservations on whether or not I should continue posting new photographs that I take. I like sharing my photos, and writing about them because it helps me get my thoughts down. But what I do not like about it is that it limits other uses of the same photo. The thing about the internet is that once it has been uploaded, it's there forever. No matter how hard you try to erase it, it'd still be there.

At the same time, I watermark my photos in hope that if (and only if) it is used elsewhere, somehow, it'd be acknowledged.
So here's to a new revival of my photo blog! The photograph above, was taken on my way home. The backgound of this photo is actually a multi-storey carpark. It's really astonishing how such beauty of nature can survive in our urban city around us.

Many thanks to the people who played a great part in my decision to continue photo-blogging. Really appreciate it.
Lastly, a very HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my biggest fan! <3

Cheers,
aileenfu

P.S. Oh, and please do leave the links to your photo blogs. Would really love to follow them. ^.^

Prayinggg Mantis

Photo-of-the-day is once again, an insect. Purely a coincidence, it's not that I have a sudden fad for taking insect portraits..

The mantis looks like it's injured. Is it? Hope not.

What I find interesting about this photo is not actually the insect, but rather the shadow of it that was cast on the ground. The shadow seems to show the shape of this praying mantis better than the actual thing.

I covered an event for photog today and it was quite tiring. But it was an enriching experience and anticipating the many more ops to come. :)

Cheers,

aileenfu

All that light

Today's photo is once again taken at Bishan Park. Like I said, there would be many more to come. Just when I've had enough taking pictures of other things, I came across this spider web above a light in the grass, so that explains all the brightness in the photograph. It was found in the bushes, guess how long I squatted there waiting for the wind to stop as any slight movement would blur the photo. (Not like it's very sharp now in any case.) And also, while waiting for the wind to stop, I saw many small insects flew and got stuck onto the web. That's what you miss when you dont wait to observe something. Think that's a main benefit of photography. It makes you stop and observe things around you..

Well, just wanted to share this photo and thought of the day. Please do comment below if you have any comments (Duh!), or words of encouragement will do too. ;)

Cheers,
aileenfu

Food photography dilemma

Disclaimer: This photograph was taken as part of a food photography module, the set was not prepared by me.

For photography session this week, we learnt how to arrange and take photographs of food (To be exact, pasta). As mentioned before, photography isn't what it seems on the surface, it takes much more preparation than just snapping photographs of food given to you.

What came to my mind during the session is that when we prepare the food, we try to make it as appealing as possible. Yet, sometimes, what we photograph may not be exactly what you get when you from the stall. But think about it, if you really just shoot what they really serve, it would not look good at all, who would even bother to try the food at such a stall?

So what should the photographs of food look like? How they truly are, or beautified to a certain extent?

Cheers,
aileenfu

Insignificant and important?

There are always some things that we do not realise how important they are until they are gone. How is it that we do not treasure things that we have and take them for granted. 

To us, so many things we think we could live without. Think again, is it really that way? What if the chair we are sitting on broke, how troublesome would it be? There are things we don't think we need and do not pay attention to them. It has happened many times to me. I ignore the safety pins lying in sewing boxes at home, thinking I'd never need them. But once in a while when buttons drop outside, you'd do anything to be able to have one at that moment.

Boy am I glad that I can use my mouse again, and that my laptop is once more well and functioning. Guess I should start thinking about the many small things I should start valuing and seeing their importance in my life. Any sudden revelation of insignificant yet important things in your life?

Cheers,
aileenfu

BishanPark

This photo was taken at the reconstructed Bishan Park. It's a really good place for some shooting, be it at night or in the day. Do expect more photos of Bishan Park in the future, may explore it a little more. Best deal? There's a Mcdonald's outlet there where you can go after shooting. But that could be a pithole for people who are there for some exercise.

I've not updated the blog with the photo-of-the-day yesterday. All the ports of my laptop are not working, and this means I'm unable to connect my mouse as well. Editing without a mouse is an absolute bother so all I could do for today was dig out an old photo from my folders to post. The many inconveniences of faulty technology..

Cheers, 

aileenfu

Ps. It's funny how a malfunctioning laptop could get me so upset.

FU FEE VAL

A friendship band is more than just an accessory, it's a reminder of your closest friends, and a promise of 'I'll always be here for you'..

This post and photo is dedicated to two of my best friends who have stuck with me through two years of secondary school, and for years to come. Being around friends is as comfortable as lying under the night sky, and that is exactly how I felt.

Dependence and support..

Today, I post my photo of the day at half past 12. 

This stack of branches, all with varying colours and thickness, are leaning on each other for support. Would it still stand of I were to remove one of them? Like people, we lean on each other for support and creating a strong community just like the structure formed in the picture.

P.S. The picture was taken at night without a tripod. Tried my best to stabilize the camera. 

Cheers, 

aileenfu

Toys, friends..

I guess most children must have had a toy they really loved and that stayed with them as they grew. These toys are not only toys, they were our companions and our friends. Age will never cause me to outgrow such close friends.

Bearleen was that special companion. She was my 14th birthday present from my mother. 14 may have been the age where kids outgrow their toys and no longer need them anymore, yet it was the new beginning of my journey with Bearleen.

She was like my shadow, more obscure but definitely my confidante. I'd imagine how filling her in on my troubles every night would take all my worries away. It was talking to my inner self, trying to convince myself that the problems were nothing.

Never forget your best toy for they may be an important part of you. And who knows? They may even feel sad for being forgotten.

Cheers,

aileenfu

Firsts.

This first photo may just be my first step. 

Photography to me? It's about keeping those few beautiful and precious moments close to heart, that is, on my SD card. ;) 

Today, was the second session we had on food photography. The trainer said something that i thought was really true and is something that most of us often do not realise. Many say that if you want to be a photographer, you can just quit school. But photography is not what it seems. Hours of preparation, of composition, of editing, and maybe even longer periods of waiting for the perfect moment.. 

Food photography is not just about snapping a picture of any food placed in front of you, it takes long preparations to create the perfect model of the food that stays for hours at ends until you finish shooting. Take for example a cold drink, the ice would only remain as long as 3 minutes until you end up with a layer of water on the drink. There are however certain techniques to create the same environment as the real image. Well, so I have lots more to learn and capacity to improve.

I will continue to update this blog (hopefully), sharing more photos with gradual improvement as I gain experience in shooting. 

Cheers, 

aileenfu