Thoughts from First Charity Auction

Singapore Chamber of Commerce here in Jakarta, had our Singapore National Day celebration on 26 August 2015. Thrown in last minute were pictures of Singapore, they wanted, and to be auctioned off for charity!



1.Selection
I don't have a lot of Singapore pictures, since I only shoot when I go on Biz Travels, and timing wise, not always that fantastic. I struggled to find those "print" worthy.

I picked the top pix, as it was obviously Singapore, and did quite well on social websites like 500px and Pixoto - which was taken fairly recently. I had to dig through some older pictures.

The last picture in this blog, was the one I thought over the most, I hated it when I took it, just didn't make it. But I didn't have enough, so decided to see what could be done.


2.Post Processing

Since I was going to print this biggish, I wanted to re-touch up the post processing of the pictures - for facebook, I don't really do much, as FB resolution is small, and often degenerate the picture anyway.

But this picture, which I previously liked, looked bad. I struggled with the post processing, the sky too grey, the sea not clear enough.
Anyways, I finally went to the printer, and got the 5 printed. I realized it's really nice to see pictures printed out. But all the flaws are also blown up.



3.Lessons from the Print - Calibrate your Monitor
 
The B&W picture were fine, but the color pictures, just seem a bit off. I was not so happy with my post-pro, and how it turned out. There IS a difference, and next time I do something similar, I will invest in a monitor calibration spyder thingee.









4.Lessons from the Auction - Prepare a story
My favorite picture was this @ Changi Airport. And I was really surprised that it was the "cheapest" at Rp1.2mn? It was the first photo, and people weren't so sure what to expect.
I realized that if I had prepared, and explained the picture or the story of the picture, it would probably have done better, or given it more meaning.





5.Lessons from the Auction - People see pictures diff from Photographers?

This was the picture which nearly didn't make it. I wasn't so happy with it - but surprisingly, this was hotly auctioned, and went for Rp7mn! and the 2nd bidder asked for a copy after too. I was completely blown away.

People seemed to like the B&W more, and suggested I shoot more of it. And it is partly because of the color being off, partly as they were mostly night scenes, and not the ideal golden hour.

But this gives me lots to think about. Maybe I will focus on B&W, which I love, but can't seem to find good enough pictures. I will need to work on this.

All in, besides this all for a great cause, it really was a big boost to my confidence that people paid money for MY photographs. I am really humbled. And I gotta keep working on my "craft" and keep shooting!

Lessons from Shooting Events

Shooting Events, aren't as "pretty" as landscape or holiday shots.

But I've been shooting quite a few recently - All Saints 20th Anniversary celebration (Men's breakfast; Dinner and Sunday Service); ARPC church camp, there's a few things I'd learned.

1. Background.

 The stage had a backdrop of projector screen. So if you shoot straight on, the background will be messy and very bright, and person cannot be seen so well.

So I had to shoot from an angle, pick a dark and relatively uncluttered background, so that the person's face can be clearly seen and stand out.













2. Moments/Expression.

I think a picture is more interesting when it captures a certain expression/moment/expression. So here, I wanted to shoot Philip and Judy together (coz they were obviously the VIPs), but waited till they laughed at something said - it makes them look better, and it's a picture that invokes an emotional response - you just smile.

Like here on the right, some interaction between the people you want to shoot, always works better.










3. Shoot long and go Candid

I spotted these 3 men all engrossed, but ended up with similar poses and shot it quickly.

As you see, I prefer candid shots, and sometimes, it is easier to shoot candids with a long(er) lens, in this case, 200mm. You spot, you shoot. and the Subject doesn't know or doesn't have time to respond to the camera!

But it is very much up to the person's preference.



4.White Balance

If you note, the pictures taken for All SAints (2nd and 4th) have a more yellowish tone. It is both a function of using orange gelled flash, light of the room. Although I do like a warmer picture, in hindsight, it is tend to be a bit more yellow. The 1st and 3rd picture, was shot under white light, and no flash. The colors come out more natural and nicer.
I still need to go understand better on using flash and color of ambient light.

5. Mixing it up.

Since I have the fish eye, I always use it when I want to capture "it all". Composition is also important, balance between the elements. In this case, the groovy lines of the carpet balances with the roof, and yet you can take the whole ballroom in.

 Here's another use of the lens I like, to shoot people sitting in a circle, which would be much harder to, using a normal lens. I went, took 5 sec, snap and off I went. Didn't have to get people to move around.

Here, again it is to play with the carpet and composition. Just a fun shot, with kids playing, and them having a "natural" reaction.

Have fun shooting, shoot what you like, shoot for yourself, and sometimes, that fun comes through, and you break the boredom of shooting boring shots.





Conclusion
Shooting events requires you to watch people, anticipate reactions. You have to observe lighting, be familiar with your gear and settings (you know what settings each lens require, instinctively), watch the background. I experiment, shoot from different angles and then pick and choose. Like the camp, by the time I reached the 5th day, I knew where I knew which angles/lens work better. And you are very much limited by the venue, so mix it up using different lenses.

I obviously have a lot to learn, but it was good fun (albeit functional) just shooting, learning, then shoot somemore.

Happy Shooting!

New Year Resolutions

It seems a good time to be making new year resolutions - let's see how many actually lasts the whole year! These are do-able, not too strenuous on time commitments... so here goes.

1.Print and Frame up 10 photos.

I cheat. I got 2 photos framed up by someone else (above is one of em), although the framing was very cheap - hanging up in my office in front of me - is quite nice! Photos were meant to be printed and enjoyed, and not just as a desktop wallpaper. IMHO. So I think there is space for 8 more. There's always wall space at home to be invaded too!



 

2.Intentionally shoot

Go out and shoot something intentionally once a month. More than just family shots, events or church pictures. I will (try) and make time (Saturday morning or an evening) to go out and shoot something.

 






3.Learn something on Photoshop.

I'm a complete newbie on Photoshop. Ok, I did learn how to post-process star trails,  But if I am to develop (*get it?*) I need to keep expanding all parts of my photography journey, and the weakest (well, amongst many other parts) link is my post-processing. I did buy a book last year, which I never quite got started - so I'm calling it - learn something (could be an simple action, but something I didn't know before) once every quarter! That should get me to chapter 4 by end of the year.

 
4. Attend a photography tour/workshop.

Ideally, twice, but let's start with just 1. I did a Bromo shoot last year, which was really really fantastic - in getting me out of my photography doldrums. It's great to meet other photographers and learn something practical.

 





5.Travel and shoot

I also tremendously enjoyed shooting in Bhutan (in my getaway with the wifey) last year. Nothing like a new place, culture to pique interest. Love it!

 









6.Shoot something different.

Last year, I learned shooting stars, dabbled in a bit of Infrared photography, and using fisheye.
I need to keep on trying the IR, learn to see architecture through the fisheye. Maybe I will try Macro photography (not bugs though, maybe seeing common everyday things in a different light) - which means I HAVE to buy a new lens... (hehe).


Do you have any resolutions that hasn't been already broken since 1 Jan?
Happy Shooting everyone!