Finally!

Okay, this is not the best shot I have of the skyline, but finally! At least a have a night photo of the skyline (at last) with me in it. I could have taken using an SLR, but it would be very awkward for me to set it up there with a tripod in front of all those tourists. It would probably feel as if I were having a photo shoot. This photo was taken using a point and shoot camera mounted on a tiny pocket-sized tripod. Tweaked the levels a bit, but I think it would pass as a good photo. Oh, how I love technology.

Night Portraiture - Group

As an amateur, wannabe professional photographer, I never appreciated the importance of a good tripod, well at least until now. For the longest time, I loved to shoot night photos hand-held as much as I could (actually I still do). But now I've realized the beauty of having a good portable tripod to carry around every time I will shoot. It allows shooting with a deeper depth of field and longer exposure times, of course, you still need the cooperation of the people you are taking photos of - they need to be still until the end of the shot. I'm also beginning to appreciate the importance of using the flash - but not too much of course. I always disliked having to use the flash as it washes out the color of your subject. However, one shot that I'm really proud of, as of the moment is the photo of my friends jumping in front of a huge Christmas tree at VivoCity, Harbourfront (below). I used to think this wasn't possible with an ordinary kit lens mounted on a D80, the shutter just wouldn't be fast enough. It's really not possible, at least not without the aid of a tripod and flash. Okay it's not the best shot of people jumping but at least I got it on the first try. Can't wait to go out and shoot more night photos. For more photos, visit VEC1.

Night Portrait

Night Portrait. Last night I was out looking for scenes that I may use for my photo essay assignment for the last day of my advanced photography class. Instead, I ended up shooting night scenes and portraits. This is a portrait of my best friend shot at the Bay Area of SM Mall of Asia, one of the few people, so far who willingly poses for me in any situation, without hesitation (hehe). We were supposed to shoot nearer to the bay but to our disappointment it was raining. After a few shots we left and went to buy some stuff for my still life assignment on fish. I'm still working on that, but as soon as I get a good shot I'll be posting it here.