polaroids pow-wow!

hey look what you can do with this programme!

check out poladroid.net!

 

  

happy NIU year!

fireworks anyone?

 

 

 
 

shanghai according to the fisheye

so the photos came back. and man, there is a lot to learn!

first of all, i need to use the flash more often. well, this first roll, i hardly can be blamed because i went snapping away with buying a battery for the flash. so a lot of the pictures taken in alleyways came out really dark. but then again, i had thought there was enough light. i need to be more sensitive to the amount of light in the surroundings. 

secondly, i need to get closer to my subjects! in photos that i thought i got really close-up still turned out relatively far away. time to step closer and give in-your-face a whole new meaning. 

 

thirdly, the distortion effects of the fisheye works really well when there are structures or objects at the edges of the photos. the further away from the center of the shot, the more distorted they become. check out these cool ones that unexpectedly turned up interesting.

           

taken on the pedestrian bridge sandwiched between flyovers

 

     

Venturing out with One-Eyed Jack

the fisheye is great!
i grabbed my fisheye and decided to roam around the streets of shanghai again.

i love how the fisheye is just point and shoot. it is exactly how i would take pictures, without giving it too much thought. no consideration to angles, or lighting. random capture. sometimes in embarrassment, i don't even look clearly into the viewfinder, i click away just so i can get over and be done with the picture. too afraid that i might be infringing on somebody else's privacy, taking up somebody's time.

i can't wait to finish this roll of film! i was suddenly (and excruciatingly) aware that i needed to be patient! no frantically snapping away just so i can develop the film. i have to wait till the roll finishes, wait till it is sent for developing and then collecting the photos just to see the results. With the invention of the digital camera, who is willing to wait anymore? We all want instant gratification! Aim, click, delete. (if the results are less than satisfactory)

i have 6 more pictures to go.
patience patience patience!

get arty!

This October National holiday week, i decided that it was way out of our budget to travel. J and i had grand plans to visit southern Yunnan / Sichuan / Zhangjiajie. Alas, after painstakingly outlining my itineraries (again with Lonely Planet China in hand), i had to shelve plans till the next holiday (probably Chinese new year).

Instead, with all the money saved, I decided to buy myself a Fisheye Lomo! i had been EYEing (pun not intended) it for the longest time, back when my friend got her Holga. One by one, my friends got their Colour Splashes, their Holgas, and their Polaroids i told myself, i'll get my Fisheye on my next birthday. Four years later, and after a random stumble upon a lomo shop in shanghai, i decided fate has called upon me to get one -- my One-Eyed Jack (named after my favourite, hardiest Neon Tetra)

I had the most splendid afternoon walking around the back streets of Shanghai. I avoided busy and crowded areas like Huai Hai Road and instead, turned into XiangYang road and Fuxing road, looking out for colourful scenes to capture. I realised, all of a sudden, i am aware of so many more things around me. The buildings / architecture, the patterns on the sidewalk, the colours in the stores, the activities going on. I think i've been walking around, too busy and absorbed in my own world that i have forgotten how to stop and just look around me.

Carrying One-Eyed Jack around makes me want to go up to people and ask, "Excuse me, but can i take a picture of you?" Most of the time, i don't carry it through. I see a group of old Chinese people sitting by the roadside just by my house playing cards. I see them every day, on my way home after work, yet i don't think twice about it. Right now, i actually feel they make good picture material! I did however, muster up enough courage to ask a couple if i could photograph their 13 month old baby who was crawling on the ground in the park. I can't wait to develop and see those pictures!

When I first saw and fell in love with the Fisheye, I thought to myself, hey i could bring this camera to school and take up-close and personal shots of the babies i love! i'm waiting for party week when i'll bring One-Eyed Jack in and go trigger happy!

Pictures soon!