Shooting Green Tea

Final folio piece for "liquid" assignment. Alot of people asked me why is the green tea so thick. Apparently, the real green tea in tea ceremonies are thick and not translucent. Well, I heard this from a photographer who went to Japan and drank green tea.

It was such a dramatic day yesterday. I woke up late for my 8.30 am digital test. Later on, I collected my film and it was blank. I went around, trying to get it developed in an hour and a 1/2 because I had to hand it in today. I had my slides confused and I just threw in what I vaguely thought had my variation liquid film. Total chaos because of my lack of organizing skill.

Hopped onto a tram and there were conductors. Luckily my friend lent me her monthly tram ticket and I was saved. From then onwards, the day went smoothly. I collected the other film and there was an image on it. I think I forgot to pull the slide up to expose the previous film so I basically processed a blank film. I'm in 2nd year and I'm still pulling this kind of bullshit.

I need to work on my portraiture ideas a little bit more. I've been concentrating too much in studio ( hey, that is my chosen career path, after all ) but I need to remember that it's essential to shoot people too.

I feel very unrested, like something's going to blow up in my face. By the way, Leon and Ravin gave me a bit of their web space so I can now run on a wordpress system. I'll probably sign up for my own web hosting space soon.

Polaroid 600 is still available in Melbourne but I need full frame polaroids ( Polaroid 54 ) for studio. *Bites nails* It's not even available online. Wtf. How can polaroid do this to us??? I think they're fantastic so why are they quitting on us? :(

Melbourne Central

Random shot. 30 seconds exposure.

Miniatures. Maybe Not

Photoshop tricks to make objects look like miniatures. The proper way to do it is called "tilt-shift photography". One must pick certain photographs to be able to use the Photoshop tricks. I don't think mine really look like miniatures. I think the quality of light gives it away. I suppose if the light is even, it'll be more believable because now you can see that it's sunset in the pictures.





Maybe I'll try this again someday. By the way, it's been cold these past days! Raining, raining, raining. Argh.

Infinite Repetitions On The Way Up

A quick snapshot in the elevator. Going up to the 29th floor to shoot the cityscape. I love infinite repetitions.

My 25th Birthday Party - Pt II

Finally, I have my digital birthday pics. Leon was the photographer for the night. I wonder if he was stressed because the house was mostly filled with photography students.


Tony, the chef. He came back to see us all preparing in the kitchen. He tsk-ed at us because we didn't marinate the lamb and I threw away all the prawn heads. He wanted to use the heads to make the stock for the pasta. Usually, when Tony comes down from Canberra - it's great fun because he has a very funny sense of humour.


Me, the birthday girl wiping the floor. Why do I have friends who make me do this???


More work for me. Yes, I want to just start this post off with me slaving away in the kitchen. Heh. In truth, everyone chipped in to help from the afternoon. By the way, isn't Ravin and Leon's kitchen so fabulous? Their whole house is fab!!


I'm telling Sarah what's what. The only thing I made was the Japanese potato salad.


Everyone sitting around and eating. I thought it was a very cozy and sweet thing to do at a birthday party. However, our groups were segregated - uni group, Avant Garde group and the wine-loving group.


I was trying to move from group to group but I spent most of my time with my uni friends. This is me doing a Kampai with Daniel but with food in my mouth.


Joyi and Ravin. I haven't had a picture of them both in a long time!


Gwen, Peggy and I. We spent the later part of the night chit chatting about girly stuff and the Singaporean boys.


I swear I wasn't scolding Ravin. I was questioning him about something. Heh, probably what was he discussing with Joyi. I'm a busybody just like that. From the looks of it, he didn't seem to want to tell me.


Ileana bought a birthday cake. This is Flanegan and I.His birthday is on the 18th so we cut the cake together. He's still very young. There were two candles - one pink and one blue.


Waiting for people to sing the birthday song. Ravin lit the candles up and chatted with other people, leaving everyone standing around us. I had to yell, "Ravin, we're waiting for the song!".


Blowing the cake. Heh, Flanegan's still folding his arms.


I think this was the part where I asked why it seemed like a wedding cake cutting rather than a birthday one.


There were more beer and wine than this. Everything was finished!


Uni group. Leon keeps snapping without waiting or prompting us to pose.


This is the best one I could find. But my eyes were so small! I think the alcohol was starting to take its effect.


Wine-loving group. They're more of Ravin's friends whom I now know and am pretty close with.


Can you spot the twins in the Avant Garde group? Guo Ming says I dress monochromatic and dress like a goth ninja. When I heard it, I went blank. What the hell is a goth ninja style?

It was a great night. Thinking about it just makes me happy. :) Especially since I'm stressed about uni now. Good times, good times.

Product Shoot

Not the best product shot in the world but at least it's worth a try. I would say it took me a while to get the black and white rims; including the glow.

I love studio but it's beginning to stress me out big time. I don't know if I want to be an advertising photographer or an editorial one.

My 25th Birthday Party

It was my 25th birthday yesterday. I had a dinner party at Ravin's new house and invited 16 friends. Tony cooked for everyone and his pasta was super delicious! I made Japanese potato salad. We baked some garlic bread and pizzas. There were lots of wine and beer. Everyone sat around and one of my girlfriends bought me a birthday cake.

Leon was taking photographs the whole night so I suppose I'll put them up when they're ready. For now, here are some polaroids. We all love polaroids.


(L) I'm no longer in my early 20s! I'm 25!
(R) Me, Peggy and Gwen. Peggy is getting married next year!


(L) Tony and Ravin. Tony came down from Canberra for a week.
(R) Ravin and I. He never smiles for pictures.


(L) The Avant Garde Group and I. They wear black and skinny jeans a lot.
(R) My uni boys!! Hah. Gotta love 'em.

It was fun. I ate and drank so much. And cleaned up so much too. Thanks to everyone who came and helped out.

Final High Key Image

Tea Shoot

It's expensive to shoot full frame polaroids in studio but the satisfaction is amazing. I can really check on my composition. If I shoot with the pack bag, I'm only using the polaroid to check for exposure because my composition comes out cropped in the polaroids. For my tea to be rendered in a black cup, I mixed more tea leaves with less water for it to be thicker. The color was a little dull so I had to add wasabi in to lighten it a tad. :) Wasabi green tea. Mmmm.


Just a mock-up with my polaroid. I haven't send my actual film to be processed.

It's almost the weekend and my birthday's on Monday! I'm having a small dinner on Sunday and there's going to be beer, beer, beer. I'll take it as a little reward for a productive week.

Misheru Is Boring

I want to shoot more polaroids.

I want to shoot flowers all day.

I want to shoot light.

I want to buy flowers everyday.

I want to re-decorate my room.

I want to shoot perfume bottles.

I want to composite sets.

- There a million things I want to do but there a zillion things I need to do ( I suppose this is what we call life ). I've got a couple of models lined up for shoots and I am freaking out. I think I need to start jotting down photo shoots, which make-up/ hair stylist while keeping it going on with my still life studio subject.

I love shooting still things compared to people. There is something so exciting about crafting a highlight of a product. They don't say "I'm tired" and you don't need to talk. *Wails and hugs perfume bottles/ flowers*

ARGHHH

I'm so pissed off. I keep stuffing up Digital Imaging weekly tests. More practice for me!

It's only 6pm now and the sky is dark. It feels really weird from a day when the sun is still out at 8pm to this. I've been trying to gather some models to shoot. I need to get started in portraiture class. Soon soon, I swear. There was a girl who sent me her modeling shots but she's not exactly right for my photo shoots.

Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been updating much. I was helping Leon and Ravin move to their new place which is superb ( their house, not the moving bit ). Tony and his girlfriend are down and we're going to Crown Casino tonight for cake and ... coffee? I don't know if they're going to gamble.

I'm so de-motivated at the moment. Damn Digi Imaging tests.

It's A Quiet Tuesday Night

Flowers from my shoot. A processing problem with the polaroid. My ND filter slipped out and I couldn't place it back properly without wasting more film. I've already wasted one by taking the film pack out to slide the filter back in. Hmm. I wish I can buy flowers everyday. They cheer up the room so well.

Today, I spent two hours going back and forth David Jones and Myer. I was looking at facial products for this week's studio shoot. I loved SK II's products and was hoping to shoot it. When I asked the woman how much it cost, I stepped back and ran away when she told me.


The red was really so lovely and striking. One was a deep red and the other was a more vibrant one.

Most of the nice looking products ( Elizabeth Arden, Dior, YSL, Guerlain, Lancome ) were expensive. I mean, I don't even use those products! It would be such a waste to just buy it for a shoot. Furthermore, I spent quite a bit buying Dior's Midnight Poison for my last shoot. I'm not going to spend that ridiculous amount on a product ( not even counting my other props for a shoot ) again. So, since I was still feeling guilty from spending so much on the last shoot, I decided to buy a hair product. The finishing isn't as elegant and good as the SKII but I guess that's the price I have to ( can ) pay.

*Looks at SKII products sadly* I think I want to photograph it so much more than wanting to put it on my face. I am officially "thinking" like a man. I hope I don't run out and buy it tomorrow. Okay, the previous sentence - definitely a woman's mentality.

Things I Did Over The Weekend

Went to stay at the boys' house. I brought chips and beer and we all laughed over things. The next day, I went to Tiffany & Co. with the boys to buy my early birthday present ( courtesy of Daddy ). :) Surprisingly the boys gave very practical and stylish feedbacks. They were almost like girls, almost but not quite.


Here's my 5th Tiffany item. I can't wait to collect more and more and more!!


I wanted an everyday ring ( a ring that I wear everyday. duh ) that didn't quite mind being scratched or threatened to scratch my camera when I shot. The Tiffany 1837™ ring fit my requirements quite perfectly. It wasn't too thick, too expensive and it was unique in its slight "concave" shape.

After Tiffany's, we went to Brunswick and visited a herb shop. The shopkeeper was pretty cool/ hippie-like and she was so knowledgeable in different herbs. The boys were asking all kinds of questions and she knew almost everything. I asked her if she had any aromatherapy herbs to help with anxiety and she gave me a few suggestions to overcome anxiety or tiredness. She recommended a herb for me to drink but I kindly declined, I wasn't very comfortable with drinking dry leaves.

That was my weekend. The week has started and I'm kinda going, "hereee we goooo". Rush, rush, stress, stress. I should learn to take it a little more easy. I've got so many menial tasks I haven't done!!!

Calling Calling

Are there any female Melbourne readers in here that are interested in modeling for me? Or if there's anyone who has a friend or friend's friend's friend ( you get the idea ) who doesn't mind modeling. I don't have money to offer but I'll exchange prints and hi-res files folio. Mail me here and we'll talk. :)

Midnight Poison

The weekend is nearly here! I usually feel Thursdays mark the end of my week; mainly because I start homework and such from Saturday. Today was the first time I shot digitally in the studio and I'm telling you, it's so much more convenient compared to shooting the 5x4! But it's not really good to start off with digital if you're learning - you'll end up checking exposure on the screen rather than calculating and trusting your exposure instincts.

Our brief today was a low key image for a double page spread. We had to expose everything mid-key and ensuring that there's no clipping ( which means losing information ). I shot Midnight Poison, one of the later fragrances from Dior and John Galliano.

It was all about the color blue, the enchanting ( or witching to some ) hour at the stroke of midnight and they introduced a modern day Cinderella in the campaign. I couldn't get a Cinderella so I shot the product while maintaining the mood and tone.


Quick editing, not final yet.


An option for the spread. Just an ad with their tagline, "A New Cinderella Is Born".


Another option - an editorial piece for a magazine.

I'm quite alright with it but there are a few things I wish I can change. If only I had more time! 3 hours is seriously not enough. Alright, I'm off to kickback and relax at dinner.

Pre-Production Notes

It was so hectic today. I woke up late because of the exhaustion from shooting and stuff. I had classes, went to buy props for studio, headed back to uni, went to buy more props and then, it started raining. It was horrible. I was stuffing props into my bag, while walking up and down the streets. On top of that, I forgot to bring my phone and I ended up struggling with props in one hand, finding phone numbers on paper and dialing from a pay phone. Really, I looked like a wet cat and felt as pitiful as one too.

When you prep ( or prop, I prefer the term prep ); you have to remember you're not a real photographer on a job, you're paying for everything out of your own pocket. There's no requisition at all. However, you can't just buy cheap things because we all know cheap plates are a lot of different from expensive ones. The differences will show even more when you place them under studio lights.

So, I have to scout for best prices for quality things ( especially when our RM isn't as strong as the $AUD ). Sometimes, I end up walking back and forth streets to compare prices. This is the tiring part of being a studio photography student.

There's the need to:-
1. Buy props with a small budget.
2. Walk, walk, walk.
3. Remember to buy everything you need in the shot.
4. Think of your color palette and composition.
5. Figure out technical problems in certain props while browsing.

Sometimes, I feel that it's more tiring to pre-pro than to shoot but pre-pro actually makes up 60% of a shot. That is indeed scary. I've got to make sure I've got everything before the shoot because once I'm in the studio, I've only got 3 hours for everything including compositing and lighting.

Maybe I'm stressed because I feel kind of sad lately. This probably explains everything.

Nothing New Except Homework

I haven't been to anything much except shooting and assisting some classmates. After assisting Stefan on Saturday, I hung around the studio and assisted some fashion kids. Fashion seems quite fun. I know, I know - I said it was slightly shallow. The difference between fashion is that it's so fun and free. You can do whatever you want where else if you're an advertising studio photographer, it's got to be all about techniques and order, etc.

Here's a studio shot I did last week. I'm not too happy with it. Our brief was for a cookbook cover and this is a pretend cover for the ever sexy Nigella Lawson. She's yummy, yeah? I had a variation shot without the five round flower buds. I wanna do something freeeee this weekend. Like the movies or something. Hang loose or something.

Today I went to the studio to re-shoot Stefan. Modeling lights weren't working so I had to craft the highlights with flash. It isn't an easy task! I haven't selected the shots yet because I have to work on studio quite a bit. Studio's on Thursday and tomorrow, we have to present our cookbook assignment. Anyway, Stefan went out to smoke with Ravin and when they came back, Stefan was holding a broken frame. I looked at them suspiciously. They entered my set and Ravin clicked this picture of Stefan:-



For fun's sake, I edited this picture. The lighting for this didn't seem too bad even though it wasn't set up for this shot. I'll give it to Stefan as a present.