Disappearing from Singapore // I Guess This is Goodbye

Random portrait as always that is not related to the post

For the months of November and December, yours truly will be disappearing from Singapore. I'll be going to New Zealand with the army for the entire November (trust me, if I could I'd rather not go sigh) and South Korea for two weeks in December. Fine, I exaggerated a little. I won't be gone entirely, I'll float in and out whenever I have time. Most probably would schedule some posts as well. 

As I countdown to the time when I fly off, there is a feeling of nervousness and excitement that I can't contain. I've never been to anywhere outside of Asia, so New Zealand sounds really exciting. Except for the fact that I'm going with the army. Sure, I'll still get to enjoy some sceneries, but I won't get to do anything I wish to and that's a real bummer. Won't be bringing my camera there either, so I'll make do with just #iphoneonly and #iphoneportraits haha. Instead of packing my bags for the past few weeks, I've been trying to do as much shoots as I could. To stock up on photos to upload on Instagram while I'm there. Smart move huh? I know. 

Without a doubt, I'm much more psyched for the Korea trip. I might have been to Korea before, but this time it'll be around winter and with friends. And can I just say, I never knew planning an overseas trip was so tedious good lord. From trying to get a good deal for flight tickets to finding reasonable priced Airbnb lodging. God why do you place so many obstacles in front of my relaxation trip? Hopefully the obstacles make the trip a whole lot sweeter. I'll be bringing my camera for this trip (duh) so my two bunkmates are gonna be my models for the whole trip.

Matcha, Matcha, and More Matcha

Azukiiiii

Before I start, disclaimer: I don't do food photography so this is just me playing around. A collaboration with my dad if you might, he helped me with the light (just my iPhone 7) while I shot. No idea on how to edit either, so I went with my usual style of editing just with a different preset. For some reason, the photos turned out darker and moodier than I'd imagined, but hey, makes the food look a little more dramatic eh?

I am no food critique so I'm not gonna tell you how the cream bun explodes in your mouth with unicorn sprinkles and gives you a roller coaster ride of flavours from sweet to bitter. I'm just here to tell you that there's this shop at Tanjong Pagar Centre (above the MRT) that sells these cream buns.

Really like their packaging though, it's so lovely

Really wanted to try the custard flavour but they were sold out on that, so we went with one Azuki and three different matcha flavours. Matcha cream bun (original), matcha rich, and matcha melon. Rich like the word already says mean it's not poor. No, I'm kidding. Unless you have a love for matcha, don't get this one. It's way too thick, and kills the whole taste for me. Matcha melon does not contain any melon, much to your disappointment. The melon actually stands for the crust (?) of the bread being rocky like a rock melon (probably). You can take a look at it below. My favourite was probably the normal match cream bun, for it had the right balance of matcha. And also because that melon crust ain't my thing. 

//

Well, the food isn't the main point. The lighting is. I was actually receiving a simple lesson on lighting up subjects from my dad. My house doesn't have the best lighting when it gets dark, with orange light and whatnot. I don't have a speed light either, so my iPhone's torch is all I got. I'm not very familiar with using lighting like this, so I shone it straight onto the bun. That's when my dad came in, telling me to try shining it from the side. I did, and instantly the photo looked better. So he explained to me about the shadows creating depth for the photo rather than shining it straight making it look flat. From there, he took over the light and showed me various ways of lighting up a bun while I took some photos. And I think that last photo of the matcha melon bun was the one with the best lighting. We shone the top / back of the bun, casting the shadows forward.

I'm probably gonna take what I learnt today and apply it on portraits in the near future. Lights make a huge difference like I saw today. 

Matcha rich as you can see, exploding with matcha

The matcha melon that has no taste of melon

Fond Memories

Fashion enough for ya?

On the March of 2015, I posted a blog post talking about how I was about to start internship. At the time, I didn't know how this internship organization of mine would have such a big impact on my life. For privacy purposes, I will not mention the name of the company. All I'll say is that it deals with old folks.

What started off as a mere four months long internship evolved into a long term volunteering commitment. When I'd started my internship, I honestly couldn't foresee myself going back to volunteer after it ended. But I guess those four months were enough for me to form a bond with the old folks, the staffs that worked there, and my two good-looking seniors who interned before me (as pictured above). 

Looking back, I have lots of fond memories working there. From accompanying the elderly to buffets, to the casual lunches and dinners we had inside the center where some of the staffs would cook. 

Two years have since passed, and all but one of the colleagues that I worked with remain. Some resigned for personal reasons, and some transferred out. Truth be told, the colleagues were part of why I went back so often. I really enjoyed their presence. Of course, I will still go back every now and then when I'm free (or if they ask me to), just to see my old folks. 

It'd probably disappoint them to know that I most likely would not continue in this field, since I've decided to pursue photography.

////

Now, you're probably wondering why the fashion photos. I'm just using the post as an excuse to show you the photos I took of my two intern seniors when we met up recently. They helped me out a lot when I was still an intern back then, showing me how to interact with the elderly and giving me ideas for my FYP. So I'm always thankful for that. Have always wanted to try shooting with them as well, so I'm glad this happened. 

We just walked around Somerset and Orchard finding nice spots here and there to take the photos. The way I like it. I get more inspired when I walk around, but I guess that's the street photographer in me talking. 

Also, this shoot was inspired by @faithcheryl's photos.

Random corner with beds and sofas as a background

Just casually sitting on some shop's pillars

GD vibes in this one?

The amount of green in this photo though

Brightening your life with that bright smile

Just smiling to his own muscles

He really wanted to show off the abs

Angel and devil? 

All photos were processed on Lightroom with VSCO Film, tones further adjusted by myself. Still pretty new to Lightroom, so don't be too harsh with me.