MOSAIC Music Festival 2008

The MOSAIC Music Festival 2008 was held from 7th March to 16th March at the Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay, Singapore. There were many great musical performances of many different types such as indie, hip-hop, rock, jazz etc etc.

I decided to pop down and listen to the performances at the Esplanade Concourse and watched wonderful singing and performances from Huimin singing jazz ballads and d'Easton Ritmo performing latin and classical guitar musical. For those who were there at the Esplanade Concourse, we were given a warming and lively performances this evening and a nice place to relax and chill out listening to them.

Huimin

d'Easton Ritmo

A great time for me, always love the musical performances at the Esplanade Concourse. Good to move away from work and just relax, listening and enjoying the musical performance, along with chance for photo taking.

Photoshoot Personal Projects

It's another boring update here, nevertheless, thanks for bearing with me !

Well, I was chatting to my fellow blogger iWalkU2 and an inspiration came into me, something that I would like to do, it's massive, culturally rewarding and fulfilling.

• A personal photo album with my stories, my own unique photojournalism style. Locations could be in the highlands/mountains (possibly Shangri-La, Tibet, Bhutan, Angkor Wat). Further details need to be iron out, time frame could be 1 to 2 years. Finding more inspirations from sharing and talking to different people from all walks of life and countries.
• Sports car portfolio TFCD shoot - In conjunction with Formula 1 coming to Singapore very soon and drifting getting more recognition, I have discussed with Jack, who had kindly agreed to allow his Honda Civic FD2 for more photo shoot (after some touch up) while I would think of how I can go about doing such a niche photo shoot and eventually create a niche market for my photography.
• Learning and kick start on studio portraits photography, currently scouting for friends who are willing to help becoming my model for TFCD.
• Learning and kick start on overseas photo shoot for pre-wedding + travel photo albums, currently also negotiating and discussing with newly married couples (my friends).
  
• Create my personal portfolio album of events, weddings, portraits (a handful of projects over time).

Thanks for your support if you have read till this last line ! Hope it doesn't bore you !

Ugallery - A Wonderful Site for Student Artists and Art Lovers

The importance and significance of arts have always been an integral part of the growth of a society. Although societies today depend heavily on financial, manufacturing or heavy industries to push their economies in terms of wealth and prosperity, the beauty of the arts helps to shape the character and culture of a society.

I was surfing around using the internet and was introduced by my artistic friend to an interesting Art Gallery , known as Ugallery, it is not your normal online Art Gallery, it is a social networking site, that allows you (student artists or/and art lovers) to come together, submit your artworks, share your comments and views on the artworks and placing their beautiful and outstanding artworks for sale to arts lovers who have the opportunities to purchase pieces of artworks for the addition to their overall collection.

At their website, you can view different categories of original art works and buy art from Ugallery. They have many different artworks on display and being a photographer, I am amazed by the quality of the photography artwork segment displayed by the artists, they are really wonderful pieces of world class photographs.

I am a photographer (enthusiast & freelance) and I can understand and empathised with the emerging student artists from universities, colleges and high schools or those artists that recently entered the arts scene. The wonderful student artists at Ugallery deserves the recognition and publicity for their wonderful artworks.

Do enjoy your visit to Ugallery !

Drifting is Coming to Singapore !

Folks, have you heard of themes such as Initial D Anime Series, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Need For Speed ? They have something in common and it is DRIFTING !

(Icon Banner from Formula Drift Singapore Official Website)

Drifting is officially coming to Singapore on 27th April 2008 by Formula Drift Singapore. More information can be obtained from their official website.

Being a sports car and drifting enthusiast & fan, I am looking foward to this event and taking photos of artistic and awesome drifting action ! Can't wait for the hot octane and burning tyres with powerful sports cars drifting around !!!!

Is Photography a Lonely Business ?

Photography had been an integral part of my life since I was a young boy, influenced by my dad's Pentax film SLR, and my uncles and cousins too. Even though it was only in the past 3-4 years that I began to take photography more seriously and exploring into different fields and becoming a freelance/semi-professional photographer, I am still at heart, a great enthusiastic.

Is Photography a Lonely Business ? Or even as a hobby ? Sometimes, it is very true, however, you can find people of the same interests and make more new friends too !

I chanced upon this wonderful blog called Photopreneur, from the MyBlogLog Community and read an article on 22 Joint Venture Ideas for Photographers, I find their website to be of great interest, knowledge and sharing for all photographers. Do drop in and have a look, they have great articles and sharing !

Enjoy your photography, folks !

Dragon Scout Group Investiture Ceremony 2008

On 1st March 2008, Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group held its annual investiture ceremony for its new members to our new family, the Secondary Ones and the Cub Scouts from Radin Mas and Gan Eng Seng Primary.

A bit of history lesson for my readers, my relationship with Dragon Scout Group dates back to 1990, when I entered Gan Eng Seng School and joined the Scouts as my uniform group and it was an era of lots of fun, outdoor activities, personal development growth and character building. Today, I come back as a Dragon Chapter member a.k.a. Old Boy.

The past few years investiture and group photo taking was covered by me and it was an honour to be able to contribute back to Dragon Scout Group. One of my best time was helping in our 85th Anniversary Celebrations in the Year 2007.

Reaching there in the morning, we had the Flag Break ceremony and everything was going in order and timing until rain starts pouring down. We had to move up to the hall for the wet weather program and proceeded with the investiture ceremony there, along with the parents of the Secondary Ones and Primary Schools.

As it was still raining, the program was switched and the boys and girls watched videos and presentation of our 85th Anniversary Hawaiian Exchange and Mount Kinabalu trips events. Please do drop by my previous links below and read about some of our 85th Anniversary Celebrations !

Mount Kinabalu Summit Climb

Dragon Scout Group 85th Anniversary Dinner

With the rain still ongoing, we switched the location for the Group Photo taking, and I had to thank all the leaders and ventures, that helped to setup the new tables and benches for the Group Photo shoot. Especially thanks to Ganesh for the direction of the boys and girls to the tables and benches. It was lots of fun especially with Wei Bin and Moo Teng playing around with my remote control and taking photos of themselves.

After the photo taking, there were games and food for all, before the event ends for all with the Flag Lowering Ceremony. It was great to be back with Dragon Scout Group, something that still holds a special place in my heart till today.

Onward Dragon Scout Group !

My 1st Official Actual Day Wedding Photographer

Having entered into photography using my Dad's Pentax manual SLR and Nikon SLR F401X film days in my early years and teens, it had been many years of photography journey. However, it was only in the past 3 years, when my Dad bought Canon EOS 300D, it got me back into serious photography again.

Over the past 3 years, my photography experiences improved by leaps and bounds, experimenting into new fields of photography. My passion for photography, travel and writing are the key factors in the creation of my photojournalism blog. I also had undertaken various assignments e.g. functions, events, portraits, ROM Ceremony, Wedding Dinners and finally my first official assignment as the Actual Day Wedding Photographer.

I would like to thank Wen Liang and Portia, for giving me the opportunity to be their Actual Day Wedding Photographer, their belief and trust in my photography skills and experience were a great testimonial to my exponential photography advancements. I would also like to thank Dave Koh of Espoir Bridal whom I have worked with in a number of assignments recently.

Folks, for my maiden 200th blog posting, I would like to present some of my works from my recent photography assignment as the Actual Day Wedding Photographer......

It was a great day of fun, enjoyable and learning photography experience for me ! A memorable and unforgetable maiden experience as an Actual Day Wedding Photographer...... Priceless ...... Still have to learn though ........

With this 200th posting, I would like to sincerely say THANK YOU ! to all my readers, who have been following my photojournalism blog all this while. Your support is greatly appreciated !

Updates + Preview to my next post, my 200th post

During the past few weeks, there were a few events and holidays happening in Singapore. As much as I would like to attend all the major events and enjoyed the holidays, somethings things in life weren't always smooth and goes according to plan, therefore, we must always be ready and be prepared for any changes.

Missed 2 major events
- Chingay 2008 : Didn't manage to get the ticket in time, as well as finding myself wanting a ticket but couldn't get and people having tickets and giving it away...... ironic ..... that's life.
- Airshow 2008: Same, didn't manage to get the ticket in time, however, with the various forum topics and discussions on the crowd control and transportation issue, it's a really big challenge to be stuck in that situation.

Postponed photoshoot projects (personal)
- During the Chinese New Year long weekend holiday period, I was planning to visit Singapore (mainland) last kampong (aka village) and arranging for a car portfolio photoshoot, however, there were incidents happening during that time, demoralising me and I didn't go ahead instead. Well, things happen and we must learn to adapt to events and changes.

Preview to my 200th posting
Looking at the dashboard of my blogspot, this post would be 199th. Next post would be my 200th post ! It's a long journey towards my 200th post and this blog had grown a lot, in many areas e.g. increased international viewership (thanks to all my international readers !), higher readership than 1 year ago, improving my photography skills, making new friends from blogging and networking.

Folks, without much ado, my 200th post would be a write up on my first official Wedding Actual Day Photographer !

Introducing TrafficJam powered by BlogRush network

Hi folks,

For the regular readers to my blog, you would have seen the BlogRush widget at the sidebar of my blog, it is a wonderful networking instrument and community for bloggers all over the world to showcase their quality content to fellow bloggers who share the same interest and passion, uniting and driving readership and fellow bloggers together.

I would like to introduce TrafficJam, that is recently launched, powered by the BlogRush network. When I received an email from BlogRush network, I entered for my 1st time into TrafficJam and did a search on my category, Photography. I scrolled through the entire list of photography related blogs and recognised them because of their quality content and excellent photography works.

To my surprise, I found I had 3 of my Photojournalism blog entries listed in the Photography Category of TrafficJam !!!!

1. No. 47 - Day 3 : Rose Cabin - Timpohon Gate - Laban Rata
   
2. No. 248 - Couple Theme Photoshoot with Espoir Bridal
   
3. No. 316 - Recent Photos Are Uploaded on Flickr
   

Unbelievable , thanks to BlogRush and TrafficJam for the recognition and networking that allows my Photojournalism blog to be showcased to the world blogsphere.

A special mention to Jack Lan, who introduced me to BlogRush ! Thanks, Mate !

Japanese Race Queens of Evo X Official Launch

These Japanese Race Queens were flown in to grace the Evo X Official Launch and they sure light up the whole event. Beautiful, kawaii, entertaining, lovely and very professional models / race queens.

Lancer Evolution X - Official Lauch @ National Stadium

The Lancer Evolution X, coming from a strong generation of powerful and famous WRC sports cars of the Evolution family. Today, on the 16th February 2008, it was officially launched in Singapore and they even had their official site for the Lancer Evolution X !

Before the official launch, there were Mitsubishi Cars Owners display, whereby they were given the red carpet treatment and shown to the public when they drove up the ramp and elevated stand, photographed along with local race queens.

This event was held at National Stadium East Entrance and they had the open air compound barricaded for stunt demonstrations by Group N Rally Driver Katsuhiko Taguchi and I remembered vividly when he came down on 14th May 2005, Taguchi San was also in Singapore to help launch Evolution IX at the Kallang People Association compound. It was a great spectacle to watch live drifting actions with the tyres "burning" and smoke coming out from the tyres.

There were also 3 very beautiful, lovely and kawaii Japanese Race Queens and they sure do attract a lot of attention and head turners there. There were quite a lot of photographers standing on the steps of East Entrance of National Stadium and if you were there looking at how many of the camera flashes were firing off at the same time, it was an awesome sight, like press photography shoot !

The Japanese Race Queens sure made the whole event gaga over them besides the main attraction of the Lancer Evolution X and while there were still many photographers snapping away their beautiful photos, Taguchi San was busy drifting around the compound for Singaporeans who won the lucky draws to sit inside the Lancer Evolution X and driven by Taguchi San ! The 3 kawaii Japanese Race Queens hopped into the Lancer Evolution X too at a later time, for a grand finale before bringing the Official Launch to a close.

Enjoyed my time taking photographs of Fast Sports Cars and Race Queens ! It's time to plan for another car photoshoot soon......

Recent Photos are uploaded on Flickr

Dear readers,

I had uploaded selected photos from recent 2 photo shoots into my Flickr. Please do drop by and take a look.

Pandan Reservoir - a photoset on Flickr

Changi Boardwalk & Changi Beach - a photoset on Flickr

Hope you folks enjoy viewing my photojournalism adventures !

Pandan Reservoir Stroll + Photoshoot

3rd day of Chinese Lunar New Year, took the chance to do some exploration around Pandan Reservoir and the great opportunity to take photos.

It was a peaceful time for me in the midst of Chinese New Year Celebrations, it felt great to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the Pandan Reservoir.

p/s: More photographs of the Pandan Reservoir would be available for viewing on my flickr photo site soon.

Singapore River Hong Bao 2008

The Singapore River Hong Bao is an annual cultural event held in Singapore, as part of the Chinese Lunar Year Celebrations. It's a great spectacle of showcasing Chinese cultures, exhibitions, delicacies and performances. More details of the Singapore River Hong Bao 2008 can be found here.

It is an event that attracts both locals and tourists, therefore, there were performance troupes from China, performing cultural dances and performances, giving the River Hong Bao, a multi-cultural feel. For 2008, this event incorporates other religious displays, building religious and cultural harmony and understanding.

There were game rides for the children, 4 different days of fireworks and something for the visitor to Singapore River Hong Bao. Personally for me, Singapore River Hong Bao is a great opportunity for me to take photos relating to Chinese Culture and of course, I had a great time enjoying the Lunar New Year Eve Fireworks that lasted 10 minutes !

Wish all my readers again , Happy Chinese Lunar New Year ! Gong Xi Fa Cai ! May the Year of the RAT be a great year of blessings, well wishes, luck and good health for you and your family members !

Chinese Lunar New Year Eve Fireworks

This 10 minutes of fireworks at the Singapore River Hong Bao 2008, ushered in the Year of the RAT with a big bang and beautiful lightings.

Hope you all enjoy the fireworks photos !

1st Sunrise of the Lunar New Year of the RAT

7th February 2008 - Chinese Lunar Calender Day 1

After dropping off my parents who were heading to China for holidays and Nicholas family, who were heading to South Korea at Singapore Changi Airport, I decided to head towards Changi Beach to capture the 1st sunrise of the Year of the RAT.

I reached there at about 0630 hrs, sunrise was about 0717 hrs. It was a great opportunity for me to take a special sunrise, being that it is 1st day of the Year of the RAT and I took more sunset photos than sunrise photos (well ..... too lazy to wake up and head from west to east for a sunrise photo shoot).

The sea breeze and beautiful weather at Changi Beach was really peaceful, beautiful and soothing. While waiting for the sun to rise from the dark, I took photos of the surroundings and enjoy myself there, alone, busking in the tranquility of the sea.

The location that I stopped was at Carpark 4 and 5 area, it makes a good wide landscape location shoot, however, if you would prefer a bigger view of the sunrise, between Carpark 6 & 7 might be better. Let's all welcome the Year of the RAT in 2008 with my 1st sunrise of the new Chinese Lunar Calender and Fly as high and reach for your goals and objectives for the Year 2008.

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year 2008 !

Dear folks,

Wishing all of you a Happy Chinese Lunar New Year 2008 ! Thank You everybody for all your support of my photojournalism and personal blogs.

May the Year of the RAT gives all of you the fireworks needed to reach your goals and objectives for 2008 !

Gong Xi Fa Cai ! All the best of luck in the Year of the RAT !

PicLens - Full Screen 3D ~ Impresssive Photo Viewer

PicLens was something unique that I came across via my Blogrush widget that appeared at the right side bar of my blog. A fellow photographer blogger, Talk Rocket, wrote a post about PicLens and being very curious, I went inside to their website and check it out.

After some experimentation, It was really impressive and I have downloaded it for my FireFox and when it was used on my flickr photo site, it was really cool and fun to use, play and present photos !

Go check it for yourself, especially if you love photography !

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Hi folks,

For my social networking and social bookmarking community, MyBlogLog.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Canon EFS 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS - Indoor Test Shots Portfolio

Folks,

You all probably would have read about my new toy, after collecting my new lense, I brought home and tested it out indoors. Here are 2 test shot photos:

Shooting Mode: Manual
Photo Effect Mode: Off
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/60
Av( Aperture Value ): 4.0
Metering Mode: Evaluative
ISO Speed: 400
Lens: 55.0 - 250.0 mm
Focal Length: 55.0 mm
Image Size: 2336x3504
Image Quality: Fine
Flash: On
Flash Type: External E-TTL

Shooting Mode: Manual
Photo Effect Mode: Off
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/60
Av( Aperture Value ): 5.6
Metering Mode: Evaluative
ISO Speed: 400
Lens: 55.0 - 250.0 mm
Focal Length: 250.0 mm
Image Size: 2336x3504
Image Quality: Fine
Flash: On
Flash Type: External E-TTL

Based on my maiden experiences with the EFS 55-250mm, it was a really decent telephoto lense and a great value for money. In my opinion, the quality of the photos were good and the optics built inside the lense is more than worth the money paid for.

As for focusing, without the USM feature, comparing it to my powerful EF 70-200mm F4 L USM telephoto lense, I find it a bit slow though. Nevertheless, more test shots need to be done and I would look foward to test it out in the outdoors.

Keep you folks posted !!