People at the Park
This weekend I went to Punggol Park. This being a park, there were lots of people around. Runners, kids, you name it. In general, these don’t make interesting subjects to me. Sweaty people aren’t fun to photography, and I wasn’t gonna try to nail the focus on kids- not with my manual focus lens, at least. But I did run across a couple taking their wedding pictures. These are always interesting to me. They’re recreating a beautiful photographic record that is basically entirely fake. This is kinda the magic of photography, I guess.
Above: Here the couple head up the hill for a shot of them framed against the beautiful blue sky. This picture really sums up what I feel about wedding photography. It’s like a beautiful couple taking pictures in very ‘bleah’ surroundings. I mean, look at the apartments in the background- this is a shot the official photography certainly won’t be excited about. But, after the magic of photography is applied, nobody’d know that these photographs were produced in such commonplace settings.
Above: I guess this is closer to what the wedding photographer had in mind. You see them doing their poses- again, more artificiality. I don’t mean that in a bad way- it’s just all so surreal to me. Anyway, the results are often fantastic, and I can definitely see why people do it.
Above: My dad was very excited to be at the park, and he wanted me to take a bunch of pictures of him. He made sure that I included the background so, as he puts it, he can ‘use it on Facebook’. Hooray for technology! On a sidenote, I’ve discovered how to make the yellow-green sickly colour of grass more palatable. Apply the same vintage-look to everything, and it actually looks okay! To my eyes at least.
Above: I’ve noticed this for a while already. There are a LOT of fellow photographers in Singapore, and you see them at all the usual places- museums, events, parks… Photography is really taking off as a hobby in Singapore. I guess it’s because there are only so many places to visit, and ironically, the best way to revisit a place is to look at it again through a camera lens. PS, the only part of this photo I really find interesting is the strong lines of the pavilion the photographer is standing on. Ha. I guess at heart, I’m really not a people photographer.
Singaporeans going about their daily lives
After that extremely wordy previous post, this one is gratuitously full of just pictures. These are pictures I’ve taken over the past week of (mostly) Singaporeans going about their daily lives. Enjoy.
kid vs coke can
farewell
fellow photographer misses the train (now if he were carrying a petite Olympus Pen like I was... things may be different. ha.)
This photo makes the cut because I like their hand expressions
awww. brothers in matching outfits!
Dude with two big backpacks checks out laptop computer. What's he looking at that can't wait until he removes those ridiculously large bags? Why is that guy sitting next to them totally impervious to the huge bag in his face? This situation is just strange, man.
the striking pink sky draws my eye
Seen on the street
Street photography is an interesting animal. You gotta be really thick-skinned, react quickly, and snap away with abandon. But the results are sometimes awesome. Hope you enjoy these!
Lone Ranger
Growing Up
Nice Whip
Outpost in the Desert
Purple and Green
Lunchtime
From Flea Market to Geylang – all in a day’s work
It was an eventful weekend. On Saturday, I took a trip to Orchard for a flea market, and then to Geylang for food. Here are the photos to prove it!
saw this yellow pick-up parked at a yellow hump as I headed out the door. I wonder if the owner realised he was being so poetic.
The Flea Market
My first stop was a flea market, “What the Flea”, happening at *scape. This place was crazy. There were at least 50 different stalls crammed into a dark and unventilated space under *scape. (Each of them paid $55, so that was something like $3,000 earnings for *scape, not including extra human traffic. Not bad.) It was quite an interesting event, with a flea market happening right next to a skateboard park and basketball park.
potential buyers pore over beautiful clothes galore at Sunflowers On Her Hair (my gf's stall- that's her on the left!)
skateboarders doing their thing at *scape, next to the flea market
a pair of heels sold by Sunflowers on Her Hair
Food in Geylang
After leaving the flea market I went to Geylang for dinner! I followed the recommendations from this link, but really only got to Kwong’s satay and the hokkien mee next to it. The satay was amazingly succulent and not dry, and the hokkien mee was literally dripping with wok hei charred flavour. Yummy.
heading to Geylang with my buddy Soon
arriving at the coffeeshop (at the intersection of Lorong 29 and Geylang Road) for Hokkien Mee and Satay that was to-die-for.
delicious satay at Kwong's- Pork, Chicken and Beef.
we took a walk after dinner, and were surprised to find beautiful colonial-style buildings in Geylang
As far as weekends go, this was pretty enjoyable. Got to see youngsters in Singapore ply their wares at a flea market, and enjoyed amazing food at cheap prices (without much queuing, too!) in Geylang. It got me all recharged for the week ahead!
PS, this weekend I also did a photoshoot with my sweet gf Wendy. You can check out the end results here at her blog. She missed out this beautiful picture though.
*cue music* pretty woman.. walking down the street
