A Glimpse of Me...

I am not the most creative person and I do not always have great ideas of what to post on my blog. I want to continue learning photography so I have to keep shooting. Lately it seems like I have no idea what to shoot. I can't keep walking around town, fingers crossed, hoping to get a few good shots of anything. I am a planner. I plan my meals for the week and write out grocery lists. I schedule days to work out, etc. So having nothing to post until Thursday has been giving me some anxiety! Super happy I found a great photography focused bookshop and bought a great book with 44 different exercises. Lets hope this allows me to feel a bit more organized. The first exercise is titled, "Glimpses of You". Oh boy, off to a bad start. I hate having my picture taken that is why I am behind the camera! After I read through the exercise plan I realized its only a glimpse and not a full self portrait. I think I can handle this...

Reading a book outside by the pool on one of the super comfy loungers. I didn't like this photo so I have it on its side to try to make it more interesting. Makes me look slimmer, too! I think the worst part of this is that I have to use my tripod and set the timer on my camera then run into place. Its super hot outside and I had to do this about a dozen times to get it right so I was sweating by the time I had it. 

The only good shot of me at the pool :) Immediately cooled down again after running around for the previous photo. A remote control is on my "to buy" list so I don't have to set the timer and run into place. Instead with a remote I can shoot whenever I am ready. 

My reflection in the windows on our balcony. Took longer than I thought to get this to turn out. Had to switch to manual mode focus because the camera wants everything but my reflection to be in focus. I have had the same issue with water reflections and manual mode focus is so far the only way I can get what I want out of the shot.

Lounging, yet again, on the couch waiting for Geoff to come home. I really don't sit around this much I swear!

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I don't like to go out to eat everyday so I do most of the cooking at home. Unfortunately in Singapore most kitchens do not come with dishwashers. When we first moved here and were looking for our condo we were told most dishwashers in Singapore have two arms and two legs. Ugh. But it is worth it to eat super healthy meals at home. There is nothing flattering about standing at the sink washing dishes and the exercise guidelines are to photograph part of the daily routine to show who I am. Out of focus is my way of being creative and giving the photo some interest. 

I am holding a small mirror and shooting into the mirror while facing a framed piece of art that I love and you can see my reflection in that as well. Sort of cool. 

I do love flowers. I had some printed on a sort of foam board and I put them up on the wall in the guest room. Love it, need to print a few dozen more to cover the wall. I tried to use the fresh flower to take a photo of me holding the flower up to cover part of my face but it didn't work. I tried about 50 different shots, different angles, different backgrounds, it just didn't work for me. This came out nice and it is a glimpse!

I have a Butterball turkey breast in the oven and when Geoff gets home from work we will have a nice Thanksgiving dinner, just the two of us. No shopping for Black Friday this year instead we are signing up for another half marathon in May 2014. Normally we don't sign up so early but they are giving out free singlets for early bird registration. WOOT WOOT!

Happy Friday!!!

Street Photography

I almost named this blog post The Best of the Worst. That is how I felt when I was trying to pick photos to post. Street photography, for me, is so difficult. The definition of street photography, from the Google plus page: "Street photography captures people and places within the public domain. More specifically, street photography is defined as “un-posed, un-staged photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.”

 I have the hardest time getting a single good photo after a few days of shooting at multiple locations. When I am out shooting flowers it is so easy and I get a few hundred photos to look through after a couple of hours. I think that is because the main subject or focus is clear to me, its flowers. When I am out doing street photography the main subject could be anything. Too many choices! Google plus has a wonderful world wide street photography community, I could spend hours looking through the photos posted. Here is my first attempt at it. Not great by any means! No contests will be won today...

Shopping on Orchard Road. Before I set out I read a few blogs on street photography and one of the tips was to go to a place that is busy and had a wide walkway. Orchard Rd seemed perfect, tons of shopping, tons of people, nice wide walkways. There are plenty of benches in the shade so I could take my time and wait for the perfect shot. I never did see it...

He is sitting on the edge of a water feature, don't slide back!

Same water feature close up.

Raffles Place, near Chevron House. This area gets busy during the day. There are offices and shops/restaurants here. 

That is one of the many entrances to the Raffles Place MRT in the background, same area as in the photo above.

Waiting for the light...

Another light...

Waiting for a bus..

Kitty!!!! He didn't really want his picture taken. But I think he is the best photo out of the whole group. 

The tall building is the Swissotel. Geoff and I are going to walk up all 73 flights of stairs on Sunday for the Vertical Marathon. Actually I am walking up and Geoff is racing up, he is so strong! Fingers crossed I make it up to the top. 

Bought a photography book called, Shooting with Soul by Alessandra Cave. Looks like a great book wit 44 photography exercises. Looking forward to getting into it and having better blog posts. 

Happy Friday!!!

Rainy Days

I love rain. I love to watch the clouds gather and become dark. It is so interesting to me, so exciting. We have plenty of rain in Singapore, almost everyday. When we realized we were moving here we read on line there are two seasons in Singapore, hot and wet and hot and wetter. That is the truth. The heat is not so great but the rain is so nice. I hope to add to this collection. It is difficult to take photos of the rain. I don't want to get my lenses or cameras wet, afraid it will damage something. Bought a camera storm jacket, hoping that will help. Many times the rain doesn't show up in the photograph at all. If there are any photographers out there with some rain experience, please feel free to message me some tips!

Riding the bus during a down pour. 

A nice glow from the headlights in the afternoon rain.

Sharing an umbrella with a friend.

I do hope to add to this collection more interesting rain photos. I'd love to catch a few kids playing the rain, maybe someone caught without an umbrella or a group of people waiting under an awning for the rain to clear.

Happy Friday!!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner ;)

I entered an online photography contest with the Nikon Club Singapore. It is open to everyone and photos are submitted based on a pre planned subject. The subject for October was backlighting, lucky for me I just did a few backlit photos so I was ready. I have never entered a contest before and I don't even tell anyone I have this blog because I just don't think I am that good of a photographer so I am stunned to say I won this contest. Here is the #1 Choice:

Backlit Fern

For this weeks blog I went to the Gardens by the Bay Flower Dome. They were supposed to have it decorated for Deepavali. This is a Hindu Holiday (if I'm wrong please correct me!) that celebrates the victory of light over darkness, goodness over evil. One of the biggest holidays of the year. Normally when the Flower Dome is celebrating they decorate it beautifully. Safe to say I was a little underwhelmed with the holiday decorations but the flowers were just as beautiful as always.

Cute elephants carved from wood were nestled into the flowers all over the dome. 

Red sparkly elephants were the centerpiece. 

More cute elephants. Maybe I missed the big decorations, the website for the Gardens said it would be on display through Nov 10 even though the holiday was celebrated Nov 2. 

Still the flowers did not disappoint and there just so happens to be another photography contest with flowers as the subject. Here are some of my possible entries.

Love these, I was there early and they had just been watered. 

This one turned out well too. Aperture setting to give a blurry background and keep the main subject in focus.

Not a flower but a succulent. They are some of my favorite plants. Used the aperture setting to get the blurred foreground and background.

Like the composition of this one. Using the rule of thirds to create a picture with more depth by putting the main subject off center. What do you think?

These guys were so pretty!

Gorgeous!

Love this one too. Wish it had a better background, all one color at least that I could blur more, it would help the flower become more the center of focus.

Sunday is the Great Eastern Women's Run and I signed up for my first half marathon. I have completed my training and I was super ready for the race and then I got hit with a nasty cold/cough. I think I will still go and do my best but it is such a bummer to do all of that training and then feel like I can't do my best at the race. You never know though, maybe I will feel better and have a great run. Crazier things have happened! I just won a photography contest, maybe I'm lucky right now? Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Happy Friday!!!