Spending Way Too Much Time Online

If you are like me, spending too much time looking at other photographer's work, wondering how to achieve beautiful shots; perfect composition---staring at that Leica... STOP! I bemoan the lack of time to shoot, yet I trawl the internet looking for a quick for my gear lust. If only I can put my time into shooting, I figured I'll be a damn great photographer by now. This insatiable appetite for gear has to stop. The envy for other photographers' projects has to stop. Need to get out and shoot.

Maybe just one more Leica CL + 40mm Summicron...

Bookmark This and Read When GAS-ing For A Leica

Rangefinder as a Conceit?

A Short excerpt:

Does a rangefinder camera make you a better photographer? 

I have heard a lot of people, including several I respect very much, make the somewhat extravagant claim that a Leica or some other 35mm rangefinder camera makes better pictures, frees you up to be creative, allows you to "see" the subject, makes focusing easier, etc. There is only one adequate response to that: bullshit. You ability to make good photographs comes from within — the powers of composition and visual discrimination that make good pictures don't depend on whether or not you are holding a box that says Leica, Voigtlander or Konica rather than a differently-shaped one that says Nikon, Canon or Contax. Those powers are within you. Maybe a rangefinder brings you confidence, like a pair of Johnston & Murphy shoes at an interview, but it doesn't make you any better at making pictures.

Photography Quote #003

"I Think Film is like Sex...the more you talk about it, the less you make it" --rangefinderforum

Photography Quote #002

“If I knew how to take a good photo, I’d do it every time.” --Doisneau

Photography Quote #001

"When I was a young tad I had only a Pentax Spotmatic and a 55mm lens. Back then I knew exactly what camera to take." --From apug.org

Arista Premium 400 aka Tri-X discontinued at Freestylephoto.biz

Arista Premium 400 aka Tri-X

It's official according to this link. Not a good day for me. There's a few choices for cheap film the way I look at it.

I could: roll my own at S$90 per 100ft or switch to Ilford HP5+ at S$7-8 per roll of 36exp. One more alternative, switch to bulk rolling of HP5+. Ilford has been doing a great job keeping film shooters floating. It makes sense to send all my business to them.

A Photo A Day: #009

Bus Advertisement

Coming Out of the Closet

I'm a closet Leica lovin' photog. Said it, didn't cause my hair to fall off and turn middle-age. Browsing the evilbay for the cheapest Leica M I can afford and reading post after post of reviews on m-mount lenses isn't productive for my work. I think I wasted a few days just agonising over purchasing a suitable Leica for myself.

I think all these Leica browsing and wondering about what this mysterious world of rangefinders is a sign of my personal dissatisfaction with my work. I guess I was hoping a new M would solve the creative dryness of my life. Guess again, buddy! You just wasted days of potential image making days to browsing Leica gear. I have to stop this. I have to stop the addiction to GAS, reading forum posts, the INTERNETZ!

What I need to do: Clear my work at the computer ASAP and go shoot something with my Minolta XD-11, 35mm f2.8. Problem solved. Now, I just need the grit to put it through the motion.

A Photo A Day: #008

Maxi-cash, Little India

A Photo A Day: #007

Little India

A Photo A Day: #006

12/02/2013: Provision Shop, Little India

A Photo A Day: #005

07/02/2013: Shiny! Shiny! :)

Who doesn't like shiny stuff. I go 'OOOoooo' whenever I view this image. 'SHINATOWN!' Yeah!

A Photo A Day: #004

07/02/2013: Rows of chinese lanterns

There's a lot of old people in Chinatown. Some of them are homeless, some living in rental flats with somewhat dreadful conditions. There's a lot of tourists too, more tourists than old people in fact. The lanterns are for the tourists---not the old folks. You feel like you're trapped in a time warp. Maybe they are just waiting for them to go before tearing the odd studio apartments down. I'm passed the taking of old, homeless people phase---unless I have a statement to make and it's a particularly compelling image. Someday...

A Photo A Day: #003

02/02/2013: A lightbox advertising studio photography services

Year 2013, I don't get how people can run a studio with "1980s lookish" theme and be profitable. I've walked passed during their business hours. Apparently, it is all the RAGE! with transient workers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, etc. You never know what you might find in Little India. I should really learn something from them---I am Serious. See that? Serious with a capital 'S'.

A Photo A Day: #002

02/02/2013: Pigeons in the morning

Woke up at 2 in the morning and just could not get back to sleep. Worked a little bit, that's the bad of working from home---poor discipline. Since I bought the NEX-6 about a week before, decided to take it for a spin in Little India. Reach the Tekka Market before the sky started to brighten up. A wonderful morning with little traffic and people. Just birds and the odd soul or two.

A Photo A Day: #001

05/02/2013: View from the kitchen window

It's been raining almost every day since December. It can get hot on some Lunar New Year months, but this year, it has been raining the week before the New Year starts. Since, water signifies 'wealth', I take it as a good sign. Hey, it's best to be optimistic no? Better to be a happy fool in my book.

A Photo A Day

I'm a lazy person. Every time something starts to resemble work, I bail. That explains why this is my millionth blog in 10 years. Hey, doesn't mean I don't try.

Alright, the idea is simple. Take a picture everyday, till I drop dead with the camera in my hands. Now, that's a tall order for any conscientious and prolific amateur/professional photographer---like scaling Mount Everest for a bummer like me. It does not mean I will post everyday. Making it out to be too much of a chore will only cause me to abandon this mighty endeavor. I will however, attempt to take a picture a day; be it my lunch, flowers, vase at home or brick walls... maybe not, but an image that means something to me; my streets, my home, etc.

In short, "Take a picture a day, but post/blog whenever I feel like."

Some Random Little India Shots

Different cultures smell differently. A friend mentioned that she never liked Little India because of the smell. It sounded somewhat racist at that time, after smelling durians while passing by Geylang, I realised that she meant nothing with that comment---it's just personal preference. For me, I love the place. It has a life that is so out of the ordinary compared to the regular Singapore. If you want to know how Indians cross the road, this is the best place to experience it.

Not really a cohesive series. Some random shots:

Contact Sheet #12-012

Click to view the entire sheet.

Here's how one of my contact sheet looks like.