Southwest Area Campfire at Singapore Polytechnic

Photos from the Southwest Area are available here: http://sproversgroup.multiply.com/photos/album/29.

Liyan, The Navy Specialist

Liyan is a friend of mine who is leaving the Navy to pursue her studies in France and she wanted to do a photo shoot with her No. 1 uniform for keepsake.

It isn't exactly common for a girl to be serving in the military, at least in Singapore. So I wanted to try and bring out her feminine nature while also showing the trait of strength and toughness of women serving in the military.

I also wanted to veer away from very stoic shots that I find rather common for formal uniform shoots. Thus, the smiles and intense lighting for an almost glamorized look.

So what do you think? Did the shoot achieve my intentions?

The lighting setup consists of 2 Speedlights (1 x SB-600 and 1 x SB-900) The SB-600 was used mainly to create the edge lighting while the SB-900 is used to illuminate the subject.

Night at the Museum

After our session at the Mind Cafe and the brief glimpse of the National Day fireworks, we moved on to the National Museum for a group portrait session.

First up, I set up a single speedlight unit just behind Eugenia and Liyan to light up the arch, David. It also gave the ladies a nice subtle highlight. Unfortunately, I didn't have the equipment to eliminate David's shadow being cast upwards.

In the same set up, I took shots for a few other pals. Here is Aaron and his brother Justin.

We moved on towards the back of the museum. Nothing technical about the lighting for this picture, I was just playing with composition.

Made this fun composition with everyone (except myself) messing around with the headphones.

What exactly is Yangyi listening to?

And more messing around...

I thought it would be nice to do something fierce...

And here's the favorite shot, with much thanks to Yangyi for holding up the speedlight unit on camera left.

Almost like Heroes.

More photos available at my multiply album.

Mind Cafe Madness

Neil was back briefly from Guangzhou and we gathered on National Day for some catching up at The Mind Cafe around Beach Road before heading off to catch a glimpse of the fireworks.

Fun with board games

At the table

Gary and Neil

Liyan and Eugenia

Take Attendance

We decided to make our way to the National Museum for a photo shoot. But before that I got Yangyi to hold the flash so I could do some test shots with the Creative Lighting System.

Aaron, Neil, Justin, Chongjie and Yangyi

Justin

Aaron

Liyan and Eugenia

Looking promising, I think. Off to the National Museum! (to be continued...)

Pengerang Cycling Trip!

We went on a cycling trip down to Sungei Rengit, Pengerang for cheap and good food!

We started out from Changi Village, renting our bicycles that would be loaded on the ferry…

We shared the boat with a cute little boy and his family…

The jetty on Malaysia’s side has been upgraded and even has a marine tank for fishes…

Ahead of us was about 20km which would be covered by cycling…

In between, we stopped over for a break and phototaking…

Upon reaching our destination, we checked in to Millenium Hotel and proceeded to lunch. Then we cycled over to the Ostrich farm for a look-see.

Ying Huei and the ostrich egg for size comparison.

Enough to feed 40 people

Nicole and the ostrich egg for size comparison.

Mark and Yangyi having weird ideas with the egg.

The Girlfriend with an ostrich hen.

The ostrich’s blank expression

I attempt to impersonate the ostrich’s expression, but failed at it.

Ostrich Chicks!

Miaozhen is mortified of feeding an ostrich.

The Girlfriend feeding Lulu the ostrich hen

take attendance~

I then gave ostrich satay a try. It’s pretty good, but not exactly cheap, at least when you buy and eat it on the spot.

Ostrich Satay is good, but not exactly cheap.

Satisfied, we split up into 2 groups. One went to look for Batu Layar and we returned to the hotel to rest.

Along the way, we stopped at an old couple’s place where they were preparing fruits to be sold on their push cart stall. At 30 sen per skewer/piece, the fruits were awfully cheap and good!

Check out the uncle’s biceps! Must be the daily wheelbarrow workout.

Dinner Time! Everyone was looking forward to this meal. We went to Good Luck Seafood Restaurant. No chance to take any photos of the food because everyone else would have finished it by the time I was done shooting…

We then stopped by the push cart stall of the old couple for more fruits and photos!

Miaozhen “kidnaps” somebody’s little boy, yet again…

We nearly cleared all the old couple’s fruit stall of their fresh fruits before we moved off, all thanks to their special sauce of dark soya sauce, sugar and chilli pad mixed together.

Miaozhen brought us to an old-skool confectionery with old-skool cakes…

…And Ying Huei modelled for us…

Then, the group returned to our hotel for the night. Old already, couldn’t stay up late like last time liao.

Breakfast! I was thinking about the very good made-on-the-spot chee cheong fun since the night before and I got really excited when I spotted it at the kopi tiam!

Jackpot~!

One of the awesomest chee cheong fun in the making…

The finished product, ready to eat!

After breakfast, shopping for food stuffs!

Happy with all the shopping, we finally checked out of the hotel and embarked on our journey back to the jetty. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t seem to be letting up, so we hired a lorry to bring us and our bikes back to the jetty.

Another group photo~

Then we got hold of Miaozhen's passport...

On the boat back…

I think we are up for more fun in the near future!

More photos available at my multiply.