Short Talk: Damn, the description of "Recess Week" is really deceiving. Recess is suppose to be a time where kids get to play and enjoy their lunch boxes at the canteen. In university, Recess week basically means holiday for one to get out of the hectic routines and indulge in leisure/pleasure/pressure indulgences. However, in Singapore, Recess literally means accomplishing more work during the holidays than schooling days. :S WTFKNNCCB Raya is around the corner!! Sadly, we only get one day off. :S Le Sigh

The assignments, tutorials and Continual Assessments are killing me! But, in the midst of busy-ness, I still manage to do the things I like to do most and NO, it's definitely not fantasizing.

Remember in the previous post I posted about flash guns that summed up to S$85? I actually took some shots with them once I got back from the tech shop. Unfortunately, I was too lazy busy to post it up. xD

However, being "hard-working" again, I've decided to post up a lil' experiment of mine.

Photography basically means the art of light. The statement is short but the theory and understandings behind that statement is so profound that if you fall into the ditch of photography, you're worse than falling in love. *Okay, I have no idea of what I have just said".

Creativity is when one bends the rule and manipulate its artwork into another dimension/perspective yadda yadda yadda.

*I am typing these nonsense just to ensure that my post is not as short as my ordinary posts.*

iHalo


In this shot, I used three flash guns.
- One being attached to the camera to trigger the other two slave flash guns.

- One slave flash gun being held right above the iPhone to give it a Halo-like effect.

- One slave flash gun being placed in front of the subject at the bottom right corner.

The downside of the flashes I bought is that both of them shoot at full power. This means that I have to play around with the distance/aperture in order to achieve the correct exposure and not screwing up the photo.

iPhone Yoga


Similar to the previous shot, I used three flash guns.
- One being attached to the camera to trigger the other two slave flash guns.

- One slave flash gun being positioned at the subject's thigh area targeting the iPhone.

- One slave flash being fired from the top right corner of the picture.

Yesterday, my school club had a photoshoot for the main committee members. We rented 3 180W studio lights that came with stands and umbrellas for S$60 per day. I thought that it was inexpensive and a cost-saving way to have the corporate shoot.

I was one of the photographer for the photoshoot. Joining me was Ming Wei, a senior of mine who was very accommodating in helping us to get the job done efficiently.

Self Portrait


Two studio lights were being used.

- One being positioned right behind the subject to create the hairlight*glowing hair* effect.

- One being fired 45 degrees and reflected by an umbrella at the top left corner of the photo.

Coverboy

*the above subject is Ming Wei by the way*

Short Talk: A sudden change of the blog header was being inspired by this particular tutorial created by a friend, Rames. You can visit the site here.

I am going to attend OBS, abbreviation for Outward Bound Singapore in less than 4 hours. It is going to be a 3-day trip from Saturday till Monday evening. During the duration of the camp, mobile phones are required to be handed in to the personnel in charge for safe-keeping. No tele-communication for the next three days I guess.

Right after my last CA paper, Life Sciences, I decided to reward myself in a walk down the gadget malls near Orchard. After walking for more than two hours in Peninsular Plaza, I managed to get a good deal from different stores.

One thing I noticed about shopping in Singapore is that gadget merchants tend to be snobbish and ignorant at all times. They tend to know everything and be your gadget consultant. In fact, they may be wrong.

Before I quote you the example, here's a summary of what I encountered yesterday. I bought an optical slave hot-shoe adapter and by hot-shoe, I'm not referring to those that you actually put on your feet. I was looking for a secondary flash so that I could do wireless flash photography. I shall continue the story in the dialogue below.

S = Seller, M=Me

S: Hi, what are you looking for?

Me: I'm actually looking for a secondary flash which I can use it as a slave.

S: Oh, which brand of cameras are you using by the way?

Me: I'm using a Canon 400D with 580EXII Speedlite.

S: If you're using Canon Speedlite, you should use back flash guns from Canon such as 430EX and bla bla bla.

Me: Yes I understand, but as you can see, I bought this optical slave adapter and all I need is just a cheap flash gun to put onto it.

S: Trust me, if you use flash guns from other brands, it won't work because the moment you start to snap a picture, the Canon flash gun will do a pre-flash, and the slave flash will fire during the pre-flash and not the actual flash.

Me: I know, but I'm not going to lock my exposure, hence, a pre-flash will not be fired.

S: Most of my customers encountered such problems, if you do not believe me, then it's up to you.

Me: Alright, I don't mind. Could you show me the cheap flash guns from China. *Wait till I prove you wrong, ignorant tard.*

*Puts on the optical slave adapter to the cheap flash gun and tested a few shots with my camera.*

It really worked! The flash from my Canon Speedlite actually triggered the slave flash without doing a pre-flash. The trick is to disable the use of exposure lock by not using it at all. Change the mode of the flash to Manual and you can snap pictures without doing pre-flash.

The seller was wordless when I showed him the little experiment of mine. In fact, I actually educated him that if he locks the exposure, then, a pre-flash will fire. Then he was like: "Ohhh, so you shoot with Manual?. My answer was like: "Yea, from the beginning I was telling you that I won't lock the exposure."

THAT WAS SO RIGHT ON HIS FACE!!! Muahahahaha.. I am so mean.

So what's the good deal I got?


I got the two flash heads and the optical slave hot-shoe adapter for S$85 and 8 eneloop batteries for S$40.


The two flash heads being triggered by my on-camera 580EXII.


I went back to my hostel full of excitement to those babies into test and they worked perfectly fine!

The ring flash adapter which I designed on my own. Made out of pure cardboard!

Here's a picture of me with the flash guns.



More to come when I'm back from the camp!
Stay tuned!!

Short Talk: I'm so excited for the F1 Night Race to start in Singapore. It's going to be one hell of an experience!

Continual Assessment a.k.a. CA is starting soon next week. Am I prepared for it? NO is the answer. I practically drowning myself into late-night "My Heroes Ability" in Facebook with my roommate. As they say, Facebook can be quite addictive. Suffice to make one stay up to the wee hours of the night to do random activities like "throwing a sheep" or "tossing a drink".

I can't wait for recess week which is coming soon, 20th September to be exact.



On a lighter note, Wen Chiet likes to camwhore given the opportunity.


Stay tuned!

Short Talk: This is how I looked during the Merdeka Night organised by MSA.


Thank goodness I'm not going home anytime soon. :S

I wasted 3 hours yesterday trying to build a Ring Flash Adapter.

After the completion of making the ring flash, I decided to give it a try and pulled my roommate in to be my test subject. He obliged obediently and I thanked him for his willingness. xD

*P/s: Please click on the pictures to read the descriptions! Thank you. ;)