Monochrome

A while back, I tried something fun on my Instagram. I posted only black and white photos for a month, and since I upload two photos a day there, it added up to a total of 60 photos. It was easy in the beginning, since I had some black and white photos which I'd been wanting to upload. However, after a few days, it got tougher and tougher. I was running low on black and white photos, and I didn't have much time to take new photos (only some iPhone shots here and there). Hence, I decided to take some of my old photos that I hadn't seen for a long time and reprocessed them as black and white. All I can say is that the results were awesome. Sure, there were a few photos that didn't work out in black and white, but most of the photos went well with it. Just by reprocessing these photos into monochrome taught me a lot more about black and white. My eye for black and white definitely got better in the process, being able to tell whether a photo would look good in monochrome and all. I learned the importance of shadows and highlights as well. In colour photos, shadows and highlights are usually not as important unless you're taking photos of light. But in black and white, they are very important, if you're not careful, you'll lose a lot of details because they all seem to blend in together.

Taking and processing photos in black and white only made me realize how distracting colours can be. Monochrome photos remove all of that distractions, allowing me to focus only on the subject, the emotions, and other details I never would have noticed in my colour photos. It was an amazing feeling for sure. Another thing is that I learnt to keep the details in my photographs as minimal as possible after this period. I guess it's because I realized that a lot of the details in the photos tend to turn out just black after being converted to black and white. Being more minimal with my photos also mean that they're less distracting now as well. I can say for sure that I now know how to better process my photos in terms of black and white.

However, I've since missed colour photos. And since we're living in the 21st century, I should embrace colour photos as much as I love black and white photos. So while my eye for black and white has sharpened, I would like to focus more on colour photos now. But for now, enjoy some of my black and white photos.

Chasing

These photos were taken last August when I went to a temple with my parents. I remember it was a funeral of a great person in the Singapore's Buddhist community. When our Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, was about to leave the place, he was flooded by the citizens who were there. Most of them ran up to PM Lee with their phones, requesting for selfies and to have photos taken with him. For a moment, I thought everyone was chasing an idol. The entire scene felt very interesting to me, and since I had my camera with me, I decided to take a few photographs to document the entire process. My parents asked me to go ahead and take some photos with him as well, but I declined, it was more meaningful to document this down instead. This is probably one of the few photojournalist moments that I have on the streets.

Enjoy the moment

The best sunsets that I've seen have always been the ones where I am on the bus and know that even if I get down the bus at the next stop, I wouldn't be able to capture the sunset in all it's glory. I've always found it to be a pity that I am unable to take a photo of those sunsets and can only watch it in awe from inside the bus. But my mindset has since changed after watching "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". In the show, there's a photographer who tells Walter, "If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don't like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it."
So rather than taking a photo of a moment that he likes, he chooses to just enjoy that moment instead some times, to just be in the present and take it all in.

After hearing that, I no longer find it a pity if I see a beautiful sunset when I'm on the bus. Instead, I just sit and admire the sunset from inside the bus. It doesn't just apply to sunsets, it applies to all sorts of moments I come across in general. Being a photography hobbyist, it's very easy to fall into the mindset of wanting to take as much photos as possible and to capture beautiful moments (be it on the streets, in events, etc.). But this quote was a reminder that sometimes, it's better to just enjoy the moment in person. Even though you don't get a tangible memory, by enjoying the moment, you are creating a far more significant memory.

Honest Portraits

When people talk about portrait photography, the first thing that comes to mind is usually models with make up on and fanciful clothes, or portraits with a certain planned concept. Others might think of models doing very cool poses. Rarely would one think of taking standard portraits on the way to the market or for breakfast. When I first got my camera, I would bring it down with me every Sunday morning as I went to have breakfast with my parents. My subjects were usually on the street as I mostly did street photography.

One normal Sunday while I was out with my parents for breakfast, they suggested to talk a walk around the neighbourhood area as we hardly ever did that. We spotted some lalang plants and we had a mini photoshoot right there and then with all the groceries. I was very new to portraiture photography then as all I did was street photography before that, so I didn't really had a clue on how go about taking portraits. My dad, who used to be a portrait and commercial photographer back in the film days, took the camera and taught me a few tips about composition and using light. It was an eye-opening experience indeed.
After that day, I began to take more portraits with my parents when we went out for breakfast on Sundays. I would find walls to use as a background, or just a random spot on the street. Having some background in photojournalism, what started off a portraiture practice slowly became a project to me. I wanted to show that portraits need not always be in studios or glamorous photoshoots. It could be as simple as taking photos during a morning walk. I wanted to show that there was no need for cool poses and what not. These are my honest portraits.

Some were taken with digital (Nikon D5500) and some were taken in film (Nikon FM2). I will continue taking more photos of course, over the months and years. Hopefully, I can eventually change the subject to Nicolette after we get married. I would love to capture her candid moments as often as I can.

Slowing It Down

About two months ago, I went to buy a roll of film as I wanted to try out film photography. Since my dad's Nikon FM2 was recently repaired, I decided to put my skills to the test. I've been shooting full manual on my DSLR ever since I got it to prepare me for this moment (so that I would know my exposure settings). Paired with the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5, I shot the 36 exposures roll of film over the course of two months with my dad.

It wasn't easy at first, of course, being unable to see the results instantly and needing to do guess work for most of the exposures. However, a few exposures in and I was hooked. There was some sort of relief that came with using film. I never had to worry about whether the photos looked good or not (since I couldn't check), so I just moved on after I clicked the shutter. But it has also taught me to contemplate before taking each shot, something that digital never taught me. Because I only had 36 exposures, I had to make sure I checked the framing properly in the viewfinder first. I also needed to be sure that the exposure was right. This certainly slowed down the entire process, but looking at the photos, it was worth it.

Like I said earlier I took two months to finish the roll of film, so when I sent it to be developed I had already forgotten most of the photos that were taken. I received it one day before Christmas and it felt like an early Christmas present to myself from myself! It was really an amazing feeling going through all the photos one by one and being constantly surprised, "Did I really take that?". And when I saw the photos that my dad had took, I also realized that I still have much to learn regarding portraiture.

Maybe it's because I'm using a crop sensor DSLR, but one worthy thing to note about the Nikon FM2 is the viewfinder. It's much larger and brighter, and there is a circle in the middle which only aligns when the focusing is done right. This makes manual focusing so much easier and better! But the best part is that I have hard copies of all the photos, allowing me to study each photo in detail and knowing where and how to improve. I've already got my next roll of film on standby, and I'm excited to go shoot some more after I've improved my portraiture!

Nikon FM2 with the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 lens attached

To Unwind

I've been an introvert my whole life. Even without taking any personality tests, I always knew that I was an introvert. It wasn't just being shy or quiet, I enjoyed my personal space and alone time. In fact, I got my energy from being alone most of the time. That was until I met Nicolette of course. I got energy from being around her, although there were times where she would need her own alone time. Because I enjoyed being around her so much, I forgot that I needed my alone time too.

And recently, after weeks of assignments and other stressful events, I felt very drained. In fact, I was completely drained. After talking to my girlfriend and my two good friends, I decided to take a day off from everything and everyone just to spend some alone time. Coincidentally, there were no classes on Thursday, so I made good use of the free day.

With no plan in mind, I headed out with only the bare essentials: camera, phone, water bottle, umbrella, notebook and my pencil case. I have to admit it was pretty awkward for myself in the beginning since I hadn't done this in a while. I relied a lot on my earpiece and music to feel comfortable as I was afraid of getting judgmental looks for being on my own. Society really knows how to make introverts feel at home. But after a long while, I decided to keep my earpiece and really embrace being alone - to be unaffected by everyone and everything and just enjoy my introverted time.

I took some photos at Vivo City / Harbourfront and had my lunch at Burger King (satisfying my fast food cravings), followed by going to the library at Bugis to borrow a copy of the 14th issue of 'Kinfolk' and just walking around that area before ending off my day at a Starbucks near my place with a hot cup of cappuccino and jotting down some ideas for photos. I haven't engaged in much creative thinking since school started so it was a good way to unwind and let my brain roam freely.

At the end of my alone time, I felt rejuvenated. Not fully, but enough to not feel tired. It was definitely a reminder to have some proper alone time every once in a while.