Street Photo - Inversion

Inversion

Water reflections are pretty common in street photography and to take really good and interesting shots is a great challenge for most street photographers. It's all boiled down to the photographer's perspective, composition, and patience for the right subject to appear at the right time at the right spot. In addition, creativity plays an important part too. Instead of showing the upright image, inverting the photo can present a whole new perception with a little surrealism.

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Street Photo - Shadow Walker

Shadow Walker

Vivitar PN2011 on Kodak Portra 400. black and white conversion in Photoshop without crop.

Pano-Street Photo: I WAS HERE

Click on image to enlarge.

I WAS HERE. Or rather I was there at the Singapore Art Museum in 2006 when I took this panorama shot using a vintage Russian made swing-lens panorama camera, Horizon 202 - the predecessor to my modern Horizon Perfekt. I do not own the Horizon 202 which belongs to a friend who is kind enough to let me played with it.

Read more after the jump.

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Street Photo - Sidewalk

Sidewalk

I was taking shelter at this location when it was raining. After some time, it drizzled and many folks walked past along this sidewalk or pavement with umbrellas. I took many shots of them and after some editing, I find this particular shot more outstanding than the rest.

Look closely and carefully for the shape of the umbrella in comparison with the curved white painted arrow on the road. That's it! Just these two simple shapes that are not related but somehow, to me, makes this street photo a little more interesting than just merely a mundane shot. Yes it's subtle. That's how I tried to connect them together.

Photo info:

Seagull 205 RF on FujiFilm Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Seeing is Believing

Seeing is Believing

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Finding Vivian Maier At A Design Film Festival 2014

Last week I got the chance to watch the documentary film Finding Vivian Maier at the local A Design Film Festival 2014. ADFF was conceived in 2010 as a film festival dedicated to architecture, fashion, photography, street art, motion graphics, technology and the subcultures of design.

More after the jump.

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Street Photo - Undercover

Undercover

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - In-grown

In-grown

After all these months of posting my street photographs in black and white, this week a color street photo is featured.

I came across this in-grown plant that grows right out of a concrete wall covered with algae. It must have been there for many years as its leaves are richly green and part of its roots is growing outwards hanging by the wall. It shows the power of Mother Nature. Look at how tough this plant is and they are capable of growing out from any surface of the Earth.

I approached this plant with a fine-art style of shooting and by showing the plant and the so-called decayed wall and surface textures, and a small patch of grasses, I want to show the living condition that supports its growth as well as a sense of scale.

Street photography doesn't necessarily involves human subjects, architectural buildings a.k.a. concrete jungle, still found objects, etc etc. It involves landscape as well. As a usual practice, I converted this color image into black and white with added warm tone. In some sense, warm toned images have this 3-dimensional effect on them. It works well on this image too.

In-grown (warm toned)

Samsung S3 on default mode except WB set to Daylight. All post-production processed in Snapseed.

Before I made the above image, I visited this place at night a day before and made a few exposures with my Nikon D70s. Below is the edited one.

In-grown (at night)
Nikon D70s on Tamron 17-35mm @ 24mm f/3.5 1/2 sec E.V. +5.0 AWB ISO 1600 Center-weigh Metering.

This shot was exposed for half a second handheld, hence it looks slightly blur which has this soft painting effect but flat without shadows. I would have mounted my camera on a tripod and do some light-paintings but it's best to make the shot under natural ambiance lighting. Personally I prefer the warm toned version shown above. However the main purpose of showing these images is to explore with different lighting condition at different time of the day and see which works well.

Street Photo - Wonderful Childhood

Wonderful Childhood

A mother and her child are seen here in this street photo, walking down the stairs. I first noticed the little kid's printed T-shirts followed by that robot toy he was holding. I don't see many kids these days holding their favorite toys while,they are outdoors, not to mention playing with them. I can say this was a rare scenery. Look at their hands. The mother was holding her child's hand so tightly as they walked down the steep stairs. I guess the kid is about 8 or 9 years old. Or even 10. I'm sure he can walk down the stairs all by himself, couldn't he? It goes to show and proves how much the child's mother loves her child and pampers him with toys.

I was standing right at the foot of the stairs when I saw them walking down. As my camera has had set accordingly and pre-focused, I quickly turned towards them and took the shot. By then they were quite close to me. One moment, one shot and I nailed it down. Lucky shot? Yes it was.

Seagull 205 RF on Fuji Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - On Reading

On Reading

Seagull 205 RF on Fuji Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Personal Hygiene

Personal Hygiene

Seagull 205 RF on Fuji Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Suspicion

Suspicion

Seagull 205 RF on Fuji Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Artist At Work

Artist At Work

Seagull 205 RF on Fuji Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Rodeo Shopping Time

Rodeo Shopping Time

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Hoody Lady

Hoody Lady

It was mid day sun as I walked around this busy street in downtown area, keeping a constant look out for interesting characters. As I was walking towards the bus stop, I saw this old lady with her head covered with a floral patterns scarf. She kept her head low with her eyes fixated on the ground and walked at a slow pace, which allowed me to have enough time to halt, lift up my camera to focus and click on the shutter.

Here I used the Sunny 16 rule i.e. aperture set to f/16 at 1/300 seconds which is Seagull 205 rangefinder camera maximum shutter speed. As i was shooting on black and white film and with the super hot and strong sunlight, f/16 is good enough to expose for the shadows. During the film processing, I was able to control on the highlights development. So in this street photo, the old lady's face is still visible with enough shadow details, especially on her eyes.

I was focusing on her alone and after I scanned the negatives, I noticed the word "WANTED" on the bus stop advertisement panel in the background. Somehow the subject in this photo can be misinterpreted as a "fugitive". Well all by accident. I didn't notice the bus ad when I took the shot. If I knew, I would have changed my position and perspective where the subject's body shape would cover most part of the bus ad leaving the headline "WANTED" right on top. That might make this street photo more interesting and humorous, I hope.

Photo info:
Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Shadow Shifter

Shadow Shifter

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Double Protection

Double Protection

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with cropping + minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Watching The World Goes By

Watching The World Goes By

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with cropping + minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Men on the Street

Men on the Street

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty!

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor conctrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Lady on White Hat

Lady on White Hat

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Face Off

Face Off

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - State of Being Incognito

State of Being Incognito

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Five Monks Walking For Alms

Five Monks Walking For Alms

I'm not really a religious person but today's is a big day! And I hereby sincerely wish all my Buddhist friends and all fellow believers; young and old, a Happy Vesak Day!

Seagull 205 RF on Fuji Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Umbrella Man

Umbrella Man

It was a hot weather as I walked this street and saw this man was handling the huge umbrella. I noticed that little girl who looked on the man curiously and perhaps trying to say something like "Can you quickly set up the umbrella to shade us all?" I can't remember if the man was setting up the umbrella or was closing it for keep. I walked away right after the shutter was fired.

Seagull 205 RF on FujiFilm Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Runner

Runner

This is truly a lucky shot. Yes sir! Similar to that famous "Decisive Moment" street photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Take a closer look on the runner's right foot which is about a couple of inches off the ground. The timing for him to run into the Olympic logo sculpture can be anticipated but to capture this shot required luck indeed. As HCR said "It's always luck. It's luck that matters."

Photo info:

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with cropping + minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Bird Chaser

Bird Chaser

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with cropping + minor contrast adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Groups of Threes + Sixes

Groups of Threes + Sixes

Take a couple of minutes to look at this street photo. Take a closer look. What do you see in it?

An old man, a man with 2 dogs and a couple crossing the road and three parked cars. It's OK if those are just what you see in the picture. Nothing wrong about it. However, if you look beyond the photo and see what I saw at the time of taking this shot, then we're tuned to the same frequency. Or are we?

More explanations after the jump.

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Uniquely Singapore Street Photo

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor contrast adjustment in post.

Warm Morning Breakfast

Warm Morning Breakfast

Took this shot while I was having my breakfast. The man's orange T-shirt goes very well with the surrounding reds and that logo casting its own shadows on the wall also attracted me to take this shot in the first place. There are lines, curves, shapes and identical color tone all come into place to form this photo.

Samsung S3 on Daylight WB at Auto ISO. Cropped and post-processed in Photoshop.

Street Photo - Fashion Doggies

Fashion Doggies

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with tonality adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Merry-Horsey-Go-Round

Merry-Horsey-Go-Round

Every year during the Chinese Lunar New Year, there'll be a carnival set up at The Float, next to The Esplanade; the same place we held our National Day Parade, for the past three years. I don't really fancy such place and hardly patronize every year. However this year I happened to be in that area as I was heading towards The Helix Bridge linking to Marina Bay Sands.

The carnival operates from afternoon till night fall. I was there in the sunny hot morning and the whole place was empty and I came across this Horsey-Go-Round machine. I walked around it and found this interesting signboard, shown in the picture above, that reads "LARGEST PERSON SITS HERE!"

I guess it is to be fair for any body regardless of age and sizes, to have the chance to enjoy the ride, though it seems quite intimidating. On the flip side, it's for their own safety as they are over-weighed and might cause damage to the Horsey seats and result in unwanted accidents.

The next interesting thing I noticed was the Seahorse character alongside with a Horse. According to Chinese zodiac, this year is the Year of Horse and hence they had these creatures featured together on this machine, which is nice. All these elements came into place and I believe they make a Horse-say (means wonderful in Hokkien dialect) street photograph, don't you agree?

Seagull 205 RF on FujiFilm Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor tonality adjustment in post.

Street Photo - Girl With The Lotus Flower

Girl With The Lotus Flower

Seagull 205 RF on FujiFilm Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor tonality adjustment in post.

"#FREE MY INTERNET" Protest

Singapore media regulators at Media Development Authority (MDA) on 1st June 2013 imposed new licensing rules on 10 news sites run by Yahoo’s Singapore unit and two domestic media companies, requiring them to apply for individual licenses, furnish a “performance bond” and comply with government orders to remove any objectionable content within 24 hours.

A week later, advocacy group #FreeMyInternet organised a protest at Hong Lim Park which attracted approximately 2500 attendees. The protest was part of an ongoing campaign calling for the removal of the new regulations and amendments to the Broadcasting Act made by the MDA.

The #FreeMyInternet protest was preceded by a blackout of more than 150 participating blogs and a petition to rescind the new rules which has garnered more than 4,000 signatures. More report here.

I was there to witness and to support and to take pictures. I did not stay till the end anyway here are just a few shots I took on that eventful day.

Street Photo - Ice-cream Boy

Ice-cream Boy

Seagull 205 RF on FujiFilm Neopan 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor cropping and tonality adjustment in post.

Street Photo - I Love SG

I LOVE SG

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with cropping + minor tonality adjustment in post.

Urban Landscape In Whampoa

Slanted Tree

I have been staying in Whampoa Drive for most of my life and it's a pretty small housing estate area with a small bus interchange terminal, a not-so-active Community Center, two hawker centers (one opens in the day and the other in the night where a number of food stalls selling good food) and a wet market, where all are just a couple of blocks away from my place.

If one looks closely and observe well, one can discover a number of interesting things in this small neighborhood. Well, in my case, I noticed this small little slanted tree, shown above, during my bus trip from Toa Payoh towards the bus-stop where I would alight. And I thought to myself "how come I've never seen this tree before?". So this morning with warm morning sunlight shining upon this open field where the tree is rooted right next to St. Michael bus interchange terminal. I walked there and made a few shots with my Seagull 205 RF as well as with my Samsung S3 mobile phone camera.

More pictures to show after the jump.

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Street Photo - Snowman by the Red Altar

Snowman by the Red Altar

I was walking across the loading bay area between Peninsula Shopping Center and Funan DigitaLife Mall when I noticed this snowman positioned right besides a red colored Chinese altar. Without hesitation, I took out my phone camera and made a couple of shots. We don't really get by to see such scenario so I think it's worth to capture it before snowman is gone.

I posted the same image on my Facebook page with post and 16x9 pano crop in Snapseed app. Resized in Photo Editor for easy online post. However I did another proper post-process and cropping in Photoshop CS5 and this is what you see above.

Street Photo - Outside The Cafe

Outside The Cafe

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with minor tonality adjustment in post.

Street Photo - On Reading...

On Reading...

Seagull 205 RF on Kodak Tri-X 400. Developed in 1:1 Kodak D76 for 500 seconds and scanned on Epson V700 with cropping + minor tonality adjustment in post.

The Return of WOCA 120G!

It's been a long time since I last loaded a 120 medium format roll film into my WOCA 120G plastic toy camera, which is similar to my HOLGA 120GN as shown above. The last time I uses my HOLGA was in 2012, which I was taking some shots of an old school playground which had long been demolished. The results from that outing was pretty bad I must admit. I believe it got to do with the overcast weather on that day. Despite of the 2 lighting modes - Cloudy (f/13) and Sunny (f/20), a shutter speed of approximately 1/100 second and a mounted flash light, these plastic toy cameras still require a large amount of sun light to make a proper exposure. With that said, choosing the right film speed is important too. 

I really like these two new models over those other fanciful models, mainly because the lenses are made of glass. The lens on the original Holga 120S (which I used to own one) is plastic. Well you'll see the results from WOCA 120G after the jump.

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Penang Street Photo - On Reading...

Old Gentleman On Reading...

During my Penang trip last December, a local friend brought me and my friends to Penang's popular hang-out place for local artists and many expatriates and tourists. The place is called ChinaHouse. 

It's cozy and has good atmospheric decors. We walked through from a pub, which is the back part of ChinaHouse, to the main front cafe, and in between it's this nice quiet garden with red strips of fabric hanging on the surrounding trees and a miniature house placed on the edge of a pond (as shown below).

In the garden, sat an old gentleman who was enjoying his book until we came along and disturbed his peace and pleasure which I believe he found it annoying. He had the whole garden for himself. Anyway, he carried on his reading.

As the saying goes "At the right place at the right time." Everything came into place as the lighting was great and I took a few shots of the quiet wall-mannered gentleman who was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't know I was taking his photographs.

Seagull 205 RF on FujiFilm Neopan 400. Developed on Kodak D76 1:1 for 500 seconds. Scanned on Epson V700 with tonality adjustment and cropping in post.