I was on a media invitation trip to Marina Bay Sands last month to do a review and shoot of the entire casino and hotel complex. This comprises of shopping malls and convention center apart from the casino hotel. There is more coming up in the near future like the LV shop and nightclub that is being built, and also the museum too. While this is an invitation visit there is still many restrictions to our shoot. We were not allowed to use tripod for most of the places making it difficult to shoot interior and given the short time that we have, it is also not practical to move heavy equipment around. Casino area is also not allowed to take photos. The fine dining restaurants has some interesting interior designs but again taking photos is really difficult, as they don¡¯t want to disturb their VIP guess dining inside. So tripod and flash is out, which means I have to turn up the ISO and use bigger aperture. The hotel has some really great views up at the 54th floor infinity pool, offering you a panoramic view of the Singapore skyline. Down below at the shopping mall, the sampan ride at the indoor river offers another type of experience.
Recently did a series of food shots with Chui Ling about restaurant foods review that will be publish into a book later. Shot with Nikon D3X and CLS with 2 units of SB900.
Over the Wesak holiday weekend a few of us took a day trip to Malacca. We were taking a HK friend for a visit to Malacca and we have to be the local guide taking Jeremy to the usual Malacca landmarks and the heritage trail of old Malacca. Apart for the sightseeing we also took Jeremy to try some local Nyona cuisine, cendol, and the all time Malacca favourite, Satay celup.
Due to the extended weekend holiday Malacca is packed with tourists, causing traffic jam around the red building and in Jonkers Street. By later afternoon we were feeling hot and exhuasted, dying for some cool drink we ended up in Geographer Cafe. After dinner is a long drive back to KL due the the heavy traffic along the highway.
I am not so much of a coffee person but occasionally I still enjoy the weekend morning at Starbuck having coffee and surfing the net or catching up with some writing.Usually I would be at Mid valley but last Sunday I went to KLCC as I needed to check out the Homedec exhibition. Nothing really special, just the usual stuff but lots of people. Later I went out to the KLCC park to take some photos with my iphone using the lomo effects.
Later in the after noon I went to Dataran Merdeka to take a photo of the Sultan Abdul Samad building and the surrounding skyline for my stock images but I was totally unprepared and very disappointed when I see the amount of trash scattered all over the field. I believe this were left over from Saturday Labour Day celebration but it was already late on Sunday afternoon when I was there and the pile of rubbish is still all over the place. This is suppose to be a major KL tourist landmark and there were a few busload of foreign tourists taking photos of Sultan Abdul Samad building and some were seen walking at the padang. I was rather lost for word when a Chinese tourist asked me why are there so much rubbish on the field?
I got my iphone (finally) 2 days before I left for a 2-week travel to New Zealand South Island with 3 friends. This is the first time I am using the iphone and the built-in camera. In the beginning I found the photos I took are not sharp enough and I can¡¯t find a button to focus like even in a compact. After awhile and getting the hang of it I found that if I touch the screen and hold it a couple of seconds before letting go I can get it sharper. The pictures taken with the iphone is not that fantastic, quality is much lower compared to a much cheaper compact camera. And then I found out the morelomo apps that could produce an effect that¡¯s is similar to a conventional lomo camera. I have used the lomo and still own the Holga but the difficulties in getting film and processing have put me of using it and have been wishing someone out there will come out with a digital lomo. Meanwhile I have to make do with the lomo effects thru my iphone..while still hoping that a real digital lomo will be a reality soon¡wishful thinking?
This is a mix collection of photos taken during my last year trip to Xinjiang, mostly in the northern part. We probably have chosen the worst time to be there as Xinjiang is caught in the most violence of ethnic clashes between the majority muslim local and the Han Chinese. Xinjiang as I recalled from my last trip some years ago is a beautiful place with spectacular landscapes, in many places unspoilt and still not too commercialized. With a rich history and colourful culture it's definitely a place where travelers will not be disappointed regardless of whether you are tracing the once famous silk road of Marco Polo, or walking thru the places that made famous of the legend of ¡°Monkey goes West¡±. As in most trips the weather plays an important part to my photography. There are days the weather was so gloomy that I get restless. When it rained for a few days, when it sky is just pale and white, when the rain made the dirt road so muddy our bus got stuck, when we have to detour due to road block¡when we arrived minutes after the sun set you feel like kicking the fellow who was late and caused the delay¡
