Keppel Marina

Lens : EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Settings : f5.6, 1/800 Sec , ISO 100, 55MM

My favourite picture for that day, originally uploaded by Technical Tango.

New Year Eve and New Year Day @ The Sail

Lens : EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Settings : f4, 1/1250 Sec , ISO 400, 20MM

Fullerton Bay Hotel, originally uploaded by Technical Tango.

I want to tell a story

The four elements of a good photograph

1) Composition

2) Lighting

3) Subject

4) Story

I was at a baby showers last Sunday and the only photograph I brought back was that of the baby (i.e. my subject). I had wanted to take some pictures of the red eggs. I did take two but they were not up to my expectations. The room's lighting was casting shadows on the red eggs. As I was taking the photos of the red eggs, I overheard one of the relatives' comments. She spoke in Hokkien and when loosely translated, she meant "Eggs, she also want to take.." I do respect that and stopped taking. Else I would have tried a diffferent angle and re-take the eggs. Of course, the baby is the main subject but most people tend to ignore the nitty gritty details and the surroundings.

Traditional cakes and eggs, dyed red to symbolise luck and blessings are given out to relatives and friends. Eggs are chosen as they represent fertility and their round shapes symbolise harmony. It is believed that if you have a boy, you give out an odd number of eggs, and if you have a girl, you give out an even number of eggs.

Think about this, we are attending a baby shower. Which set of photos will tell a better story? 1) set consisting of only baby photos or 2) set consisting of baby and red eggs photos?

Settings : f5, 1/15sec, ISO 3200, WB @ Auto, Flash OFF

You can tell that there is noise in the photo. This is because I was using a high ISO to compensate for the very dimly lit room. The baby is only a month's old and I do not want to use any flash on him. (I will blog about "respect for the subject and surroundings" in a separate post).

Let me elaborate on what I mean by details and surroundings. I was at Emily's birthday Soiree two weeks ago. Apart from taking photos of the birthday gal, I also focused on other details such as, Danielle brought an adorable soft toy, the invitation card that the birthday girl has made, the birthday cake, the restaurant we dined at, some of the food we had, candid shots, etc etc.

Whenever I take a photograph, I always think to myself, "What is the story that I want to tell?

External Flash - Canon Speedlite 430EX II

I bought an external flash and I intend to use it often with the portrait lens. The portrait lens can also double up for taking macro subjects and food. As my portrait lens does not come with an Image Stabilizer, the external flash will help me increase the shutter speed by a few stops.

It was quite fun testing out the flash (under room's lighting). We did it with 1) without flash, 2) with built in flash, 3) with external flash (flash head pointing towards the subject and 4) with external flash (flash head pointing towards the side). The best result is #4. We pointed the flash head towards the side and tilted towards the ceiling, this created a softer look. When done correctly, the external flash also helped to reduce/eliminate shadows on my subject's face.

Suggestion : Keep the ISO at 400

And I bought this again! I bought a similar one before Christmas last year and lost it 2 weeks ago. This is handy if you only want to bring your camera/with one lens. It helps to prevent scratches when I put my DSLR into my handbag. 

Chinatown

20100206 Chinatown, originally uploaded by Technical Tango.

The first set, consisting of 23 photos is finally uploaded to Flickr!!

Doddling with Light

Date : 6th Feb 2010

Location : Marina Barrage

Lens : EFS18-55MM. f3.5-f5.6 IS

Settings : f5.6, 2.5 Sec , ISO 100, 55MM, Flash ON

I call this doddling with light. I had used a tripod for this shoot so I can use a slow shutter speed of 2.5seconds. Important : tripod is a must! I managed to achieve the patterns by zooming in gradually after I click on the button ie from focal length of 18MM to 55MM within 2.5 seconds. The shadow on the left belongs to Light Painter KK. I don't have a specific reason for using a flash. I was just experimenting with the light painting. Unfortunately, as soon as I finished taking this photo, my 500D battery went dead. How untimely!

Date : 24th Dec 2009

Location : One Fullerton

Lens : EFS18-55MM. f3.5-f5.6 IS

Settings : f3.5, 0.8 Sec , ISO 100, 18MM, Flash Off

A similar photo that I took except that instead of zooming out, I zoomed in. As I did not have a tripod with me, I used a shorter shutter speed.

Painting with Light is fun and it is always a new experience each time!

Technical Tango has a Flickr account

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Hair accessories

Lens : EFS18-55MM. f3.5-f5.6 IS

Settings : f5.6, 1/10, ISO800, WB @ Auto 55MM

Settings : f5.6, 1/8, ISO800, WB @ Auto 55MM