THIS IS MY LUNCH
This morning as i got out of my apartment to go to school, i almost fell because the ground had a slick sheet of ice over it. It was quite cool/interesting after regaining my balance (you get that heart stopping nervous reaction when you think you’re-gonna-fall-but-manage-to-regain-balance feeling). Was it THAT cold at night? A short walk down further confirmed the temperatures dipped below zero. The entire grass field was frozen. Not in the sense snow fell on the grass, but FROZEN. My theory: Sometime during the night after the plants breathed in and out and when dew started to form (probably around 3-4am), the temperatures dipped below 0 and froze the dew on the grass. It was so pretty to see frozen grass. I really hope it snows in Oslo.
Being a student has many merits like - having less responsibility, more time to pursue interests and having more freedom.
Being a student would also typically mean you don’t have that much cash.
Being a student in Norway is.. well, interesting. The food you buy always depends on the price, and i’m always on the lookout for cheap food. so hence,
I ATE A BIG CAN OF BRUN LAPSKAUS (WHATEVER THAT MEANS)!
I was feeling adventurous so i went to the supermarket and bought the random can of Norwegian food. The cheapest can i could find. No idea what it is, except two people on the sticker pasted in the front of the can seem to be enjoying it.
If the can were in the Dog Food section, i wouldn’t be surprised.
But all turned out well. I think it was some sort of stew with potatoes, carrots, lamb and.. stew. Tip of the day: Buy something random at your grocery store today!
film stash
this is my tiny film stash - it’s all i have to last me through till when i return to Singapore. I’ve shot 7 rolls since i left, a fair sum - not too much, not too little.
what you see is a total of 12 rolls, a mixture of film from all over the place. I have a roll of velvia (which reminds me that i should shoot that soon), 2 rolls of “Boots” brand film from a convenience store i picked up in London, 2 rolls of Delta 3200 for low light photography, 1 roll of Tri-X for daily essentials, and a random assortment of film from China from Pauline (thanks! greatly appreciated)
I haven’t brought my hexar on backpacking trips because well, these trips are a once in a lifetime (almost) thing and i guess it’s better to capture what you want with digital. Crucial images i should say. I also have no way of developing them because the costs are so high here. I will try though, just spend the money on a roll or 2, but nothing more than that.
It’s been raining over the past 3 days and today was the only day it rained only in the morning. The sky wasn’t exactly clear blue but at least some sun made it through. Temperatures are also falling lower and lower - which is kinda cool (no pun intended). Got to buy me a fleece jacket soon!
new in galleries: London!
I’ve added a new album into the gallery, featuring my short take on London. It comprises of more street and landscape and it doesn’t comprehensively cover what London really looks like. I have more pictures on film taken with my hexar but it’s back home in Singapore - bummer.
I’ve been seeing some fantastic work on flickr and JPGmag, and sometimes you wonder what you’re doing with a camera, showing off these fancy galleries/blogs and what not, when there are so many people more creative and more artistic than you. But at the end of the day, the images are a representation of what you feel, of what you see and think. A representation of how you separate the truths of the world.
Which brings me to the next point: from experience, you should never leave the house with your camera with a very specific idea to accomplish. It’s a mistake i make over and over again. Let’s say you see someone’s photograph and you go “Hey, i’d like to do something like that” and you leave the house with a fixed notion of how you’d want your photograph to turn out. You’d envision things that should be in the photograph, and things that shouldn’t be. In your mind your perfect photograph is already printed and embedded. This makes creativity extremely difficult because what you see “on the set” most of the time isn’t what you see in your head.
Creativity spans from having a unique idea of what you want to photograph, developing it through various iterations and most importantly, the understanding of underlying themes of what you want to portray. On the other hand, creativity also comes from spontaneity and basically “giving yourself” over to the environment in which you wish to photograph. Lose yourself in the feeling, the atmosphere and emotion of the environment and you’ll find your photographs to be more sincere, and more beautiful.
We as photographers are concerned with mirroring reality, but as conscious individuals are still haunted by tacit imperatives of taste and conscience (paraphrased from On Photography, Susan Sontag). This causes us to think a wee bit too much when portraying a scene in our heads to photograph. Creativity is then handicapped because we are constraint by rules we have set for ourselves. We think that a bridge should be portrayed this way, we think about the rule of thirds, we think about how we should place the sun in the sky. We think about perfect models with perfect smiles, we curse the weather when the sky is gloomy, we need to have perfect conditions before even bringing the camera out.
A reason for this is perhaps the need to produce beautiful images. After all, as individualistic as photography is, the end product is meant to be seen not only by you, but also by friends, family and strangers alike. We therefore make a conscious choice to want to produce the most breathtaking, astonishing photos - and because of the very fact we try our best, we do our worst.
If you are undertaking a photography project or just doing a personal series, delve deep into why you want, how you want and what you want to portray. Then lose yourself, taking only the essentials of the idea - a rough framework to work within. If you’re traveling like me, or photographing spontaneously most of the time, the best way to to break all the rules and immerse yourself “in the moment”.
If you noticed, the two albums- Summer and London - have extremely different styles. I was at a low point in London and tried my best to get postcard shots, but failed miserably. On the other hand, falling in love with Autumn was a totally satisfying and fulfilling experience. The pictures came naturally and turned out quite well.
This was supposed to be a regular post but it somehow turned into an article. I hope this helps anyone out there with a camera to capture true photographs, and not contrived, hollow images.
cheers,
Shaun
finally, some (proper) updates
this blog was inclined towards photography, but somehow i don’t post that many photos. Whatever the reasons, I know some of my readers are getting really bored with the blog. I am happy to announce that the official clickbangwhirl galleries are finally up!
I’ve created the gallery to house some of my photographs, so it will be easier to browse through them and view them online. It will, hopefully, be a permanent fixture of CBW and will be continually updated.
The first album i have in there are photographs from Sognsvann lake in Oslo, Norway. At least you guys now know what Oslo is like. The gallery is still being tweaked, and i will add more albums as soon as i’m satisfied with the way my photos look. Do feel free to comment and tell me what you think of the gallery - loads too slow, no music, too confusing to use etc. and i’ll try to do something about that. Also comment if there’s something you like!
It’s flash based so get your latest flash for your favourite browser. Recommended screen size is 17″ and above, but 15″ will do. Resolution should be greater than 800 x 600. Let’s drop the technical jargon and just enjoy the photos 
cheers,
Shaun
jet setting
Norway is beautiful, and yes, though i haven’t posted any photos 
i did take some. Not comprehensive but i have a couple of snapshots. I have some photos from the Sognsvann lake in Oslo that you guys can see on flickr.
I will be jetting off to Venice tomorrow, from the 18th to the 27th of Sept, so I will update when i’m back! I also need to post some photos from my Sister’s wedding.
~toodles
Good day, Nor way
I’m writing this in school right now, in between breaks during class. Classes here in Norway are much different from the ones we have in SMU. In SMU we have 3hr 15 min long lecture with about a 15/20 minute break while here classes are 2hr 45mins with 2 15 mins breaks after each 45 mins. Effectively that’s only 2 hours worth of lessons.
And to top it off, in my finance class, i fill out about one and a half sides of A4 after 2 hours, about 4-5 times less than what i would have to fill in SMU! it’s so relaxing here as compared to Singapore because there isn’t much stress or much competition. And it’s not really that difficult. And when i say it’s not difficult you can take my word for it.
Anyway ! the exchange program will end somewhere in Dec, but i will only be returning somewhere around 10th January. For now Christmas is scheduled to be in Vienna, and i will be travelling around praque and germany.
While i was in Singapore, Cheryl and some friends headed to Stockholm and Gothenberg. Acting like true budget backpackers, they took overnight buses and used that as their hostel for the night. When i arrived in Oslo, i decided to be spontaneous and i bought train tickets to meet them in Gothenberg to spend 2 days and 1 night! turned out to be a fantastic experience. Sweden is much much cheaper than Norway, and i bought my hiking shoes there.
Will try to post pictures soon!
Just because everything’s changing, doesn’t mean it’s never been this way before
Last Thursday i flew back to Singapore for a short week, to attend my sister’s wedding. It was a big rush because there was just so much to do and so little time. Before leaving i had to take a list of what to bring back and what to bring up again, and had to arrange to collect camera equipment for the wedding day, and to meet up with friends and family!
Everything was back to back. If something were to delay one event, the rest would fall apart. And like they say, Murphey’s Law happened.
I was supposed to take Lufthansa from Oslo to Frankfurt, and catch another Lufthansa plane to Singapore an hour in transit. However, apparently the plane got struck by lightning before taking off from Oslo and i was stuck there for over 2 hours. After finally leaving i was told that i had to put up in Frankfurt for the night. This pushed back my return date by an entire day, from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning. The only consolation i had was that i was put on an SQ flight instead of an Lufthansa one
On the other hand, i’ve never experienced a delay so bad they had to put me up a night in a hotel, so i enjoyed it. I also raided the mini fridge because the airline was paying for it.
Anyway, I’m back in Norway already. I brought up 14 kg worth of prima deli mix, instant noodles and other random things! and add on text books (which are half price compared to norwegian bookstores), the luggage hit a hefty 28kg. Exceeding the weight limit and breaking all boundaries! but luckily the guy let me off so alls well. All Swell.
It’s cold, and lonely in Norway.
I miss cheap food, cheap everything in Singapore, but i don’t miss the cheap people.
the loveliness of Paris, seems somehow sadly…
..lacking?
Paris was nice, but not as nice as you’d envision it to be. City of love and all that jazz! The Eiffel tower was breath taking, Notre Dame de Paris was gorgeous, but Paris as a city?
This was taken in Notre Dame. It’s truly a sight to behold - the grand arches, the sheer size of the cloisters and its intricate stonework. You become quiet inside as you walk through it, and you feel connected to a certain antiquity that envelops your emotions. You feel connected to the people that built this magnificent cathedral and connected to their beliefs, seeing these stone arches hold - and continue to hold - many centuries of stories, whispers of myth and legend. And this is how i want Notre Dame to be portrayed - not in its usual grandeur of its architecture - but instead a sanctuary for solace, and perhaps hope.
mix and match
Here’s another take on the lightning. I’m still quite happy with it so i’m reprocessing it!
the window panes rattle
The weather in Oslo is unpredictable, even more so than London. It can rain and shine and rain and shine a couple of times within a day. When it shines it gets pretty warm in the sun, and when it rains is gets really cold from the wind-chill and of course the dampness of the rain.
I digress. A thunderstorm just ravaged our housing and destroyed the poorly constructed estate. Roofs were blown away and water flooded the area until it was waist deep in muddy water. Homeless people are abound and food is scarce. Fires are breaking out everywhere!
That would make a great story.
But yes, a lightning storm did just make a pass through our lovely little hostel and silly me just sat through most of it just enjoying the bright flashes and earth shaking booms of thunder. I never thought to take any photos till it was almost over!
I called on tholmas who lives on the 5th floor (i live on the 2nd) and grabbed my camera and tripod as the last lightning flashes faded into the distance. I glanced quickly at the “How to do lightning photography” manuals and dashed upstairs before my chance is lost forever tonight.
Standing at the window, i fired about 50 - 60 shots of 20 seconds each. f/5.6 set to infinity. I had to balance my camera on the tripod because i forgot to bring the tripod head (zzz). Yep and this is the only shot i got! 1 out of 50/60 shots! and i faced the camera in the wrong direction because you never know where the lightning is moving to! at least i got something from my newbie attempt.
