For friends who frequent my Facebook profile, you would have found out that I have sold half of my backup camera gear. I am officially taking a break from wedding day event photography, as I had promised in my April blog post. The decision is because the current commitment to family routine schedules clashes with the wedding day schedules. Another significant reason is that I want to remove this time-consuming task so that I have more space to fill in other tasks in my Time Jar.
What is my focus for 2009?
1. More time with family.
2. Expand my full-time working career.
3. Compose some new music.
4. Expand my photographic portfolio in photo story
2009 is a good year. Believe it and it will be.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Movie Marathon Month
I've watched more movies this month than the entire 2008 year (I think). My way of celebrating the holidays.
Twilight. It's more of a teenage fan movie. Nothing fantastic and bombastic, just a glamorous vampire love fantasy tale. Personally I felt that the screen adaptation doesn't do justice to the novel, and as a result, I don't see the hype. But I could imagine how the writer Stephenie Meyer's would have written in such beauty and awe. People who love this movie are probably fans of the leading cast or the novelist. I rate it 3 of 5.
Yes Man. Me and my wife love Jim Carey movies. We love him for being him, just like most people love Stephen Chow for his comedic style. So we caught this movie. It's really a feel-good movie, and tells us how we should change our perspective, and with that, good things will follow. My rate: 4 of 5.
Australia. This movie should be called "Northern Territory", because everything happened only in that area. To say that the movie showcases all the beauty of the country is an overstatement. There are so many land in the country that the movie did not cover. While the aboriginal element is probably universal across the land, the portrayal is very limited - one to be exact.
Still, it's a visually attractive movie, especially with the 2 beautiful leading "-man", Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. The supporting child actor, Brandon Walters, is most captivating, loved his eyes and his hair. He should win some award. In the show, the bad guy didn't get a chance to be too evil. He's sort-of a bad-luck bad guy, who tries to be bad on the good guys but couldn't manage to do it
The movie has many touching moments, and the movie uses some familiar tunes like "Over The Rainbow", and "Nimrod" by Edward Elgar's "Enigma" Variations to bring out the intense emotions.
My rating: 4.5 of 5.
Ip Man. When I first saw the movie poster, it spelled "IP MAN", and for a moment I thought it's a sci-fi movie about the Internet Protocol superhero. Then I realised it's about Bruce Lee's master. I knew it would be another stylised kungfu movie, but I know I won't be disappointed if I wanted a kick out of the movie. Often, watching a movie is an escapade from your daily life. Being in a cinema with large screen allows you to submerge into the movie setting, the cast, the place, the sound. All the effort the producers put in to the movie in every detail - clothes, props, locations, music - fully rendered in the huge screen. Plus, getting some unexpected responses from the audience, laughing at the wrong parts (the Japanese General and Ip Man talking to each other in their native language), screaming at some scenes (like the cracking of bones during fighting), just adds to the entertainment experience of movie-going.
My wife commented however that Donnie Yen's face looks flawless for his age. Donnie has been acting for decades in many kungfu movies as supporting actor but only in recent years did he get more leading screen time. Good break from the usual Jet Lee and Jackie Chan.
My rating: 3.5 of 5.
4 days to end of 2008. Will I be watching another movie? Hmmm...
Twilight. It's more of a teenage fan movie. Nothing fantastic and bombastic, just a glamorous vampire love fantasy tale. Personally I felt that the screen adaptation doesn't do justice to the novel, and as a result, I don't see the hype. But I could imagine how the writer Stephenie Meyer's would have written in such beauty and awe. People who love this movie are probably fans of the leading cast or the novelist. I rate it 3 of 5.
Yes Man. Me and my wife love Jim Carey movies. We love him for being him, just like most people love Stephen Chow for his comedic style. So we caught this movie. It's really a feel-good movie, and tells us how we should change our perspective, and with that, good things will follow. My rate: 4 of 5.
Australia. This movie should be called "Northern Territory", because everything happened only in that area. To say that the movie showcases all the beauty of the country is an overstatement. There are so many land in the country that the movie did not cover. While the aboriginal element is probably universal across the land, the portrayal is very limited - one to be exact.
Still, it's a visually attractive movie, especially with the 2 beautiful leading "-man", Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. The supporting child actor, Brandon Walters, is most captivating, loved his eyes and his hair. He should win some award. In the show, the bad guy didn't get a chance to be too evil. He's sort-of a bad-luck bad guy, who tries to be bad on the good guys but couldn't manage to do it
The movie has many touching moments, and the movie uses some familiar tunes like "Over The Rainbow", and "Nimrod" by Edward Elgar's "Enigma" Variations to bring out the intense emotions.
My rating: 4.5 of 5.
Ip Man. When I first saw the movie poster, it spelled "IP MAN", and for a moment I thought it's a sci-fi movie about the Internet Protocol superhero. Then I realised it's about Bruce Lee's master. I knew it would be another stylised kungfu movie, but I know I won't be disappointed if I wanted a kick out of the movie. Often, watching a movie is an escapade from your daily life. Being in a cinema with large screen allows you to submerge into the movie setting, the cast, the place, the sound. All the effort the producers put in to the movie in every detail - clothes, props, locations, music - fully rendered in the huge screen. Plus, getting some unexpected responses from the audience, laughing at the wrong parts (the Japanese General and Ip Man talking to each other in their native language), screaming at some scenes (like the cracking of bones during fighting), just adds to the entertainment experience of movie-going.
My wife commented however that Donnie Yen's face looks flawless for his age. Donnie has been acting for decades in many kungfu movies as supporting actor but only in recent years did he get more leading screen time. Good break from the usual Jet Lee and Jackie Chan.
My rating: 3.5 of 5.
4 days to end of 2008. Will I be watching another movie? Hmmm...
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Zoe Raymond: The Attic Secrets
I invited Zoe for a photoshoot at a private attic, and got Cammie to help in make-up. Zoe possesses that youthful look and therefore it's a challenge to transform her into something that she isn't. But that's exactly what I want to capture from her.
Despite, we still could not resist capturing some images that is simply her:
"The Attic Secrets" is part of an upcoming 120-page photobook that Zoe ordered. It includes "The Final Ember" and "The Bedroom Session".
Visit my Flickr set for the rest of the attic images.
http://flickr.com/photos/chestertan/sets/72157611597462025/
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Internet Explorer Vulnerable to Hacks
Just read from my daily newsletter subscription that IE is now vulnerable to a flaw that has already infected 2 million computers. The problem is: unlike other vulnerabilities where you need to click something or download anything, this flaw simply infects users when they open a Web page. The worse part is: Microsoft has not provided a patch.
Read actual article here:
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=100003G53BD4&nl=2&full_skip=1
The best option now is to STOP using IE and switch to other browsers like Firefox or Google Chrome until Microsoft announces a patch. I have stopped using IE for a long time except when accessing my workplace intranet and some sites where my other browsers are not supported.
Remember: no web site is safe. Even the site owner might be unaware because someone could have hacked into his site and inserted the code. If you are a regular web-surfer, the next line of defense is your anti-virus internet security application in your PC. If you don't have one, go buy one. It's only less than S$90, lets you install 3 PCs, and you get patch updates every other day.
In this age of social networking on the Internet, protecting your PC also means protecting your peers' PC.
18 Dec update: Microsoft has issued an out-of-cycle patch. What it means is that instead of waiting for the regular patch cycle, MS released an ad-hoc patch. If you run Windows Update, the patch should be updated. So for IE users, you can resume using IE in peace - and then, maybe not.
Read actual article here:
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=100003G53BD4&nl=2&full_skip=1
The best option now is to STOP using IE and switch to other browsers like Firefox or Google Chrome until Microsoft announces a patch. I have stopped using IE for a long time except when accessing my workplace intranet and some sites where my other browsers are not supported.
Remember: no web site is safe. Even the site owner might be unaware because someone could have hacked into his site and inserted the code. If you are a regular web-surfer, the next line of defense is your anti-virus internet security application in your PC. If you don't have one, go buy one. It's only less than S$90, lets you install 3 PCs, and you get patch updates every other day.
In this age of social networking on the Internet, protecting your PC also means protecting your peers' PC.
18 Dec update: Microsoft has issued an out-of-cycle patch. What it means is that instead of waiting for the regular patch cycle, MS released an ad-hoc patch. If you run Windows Update, the patch should be updated. So for IE users, you can resume using IE in peace - and then, maybe not.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Back to Mayenne
The last time you've seen or heard of Mayenne from my blog is probably in August, so I shall pick up where I left off. She's growing well, walking and running fine, toilet-trained. Still cannot communicate with words, but has a grasp of all the alphabets and numerals. She sometimes fusses for unknown reasons but responds well to routine games that brings a smile on her face and distracts her from crying moments. Let the photos speak for themselves.
Another contemplative moment.
Who's the boss?
She read Singapore's second Olympic medal.
Funny-face moment.
An "oh my" moment.
Doing business.
Her final days on the pacifier.
Joyous.
Elated.
Hip.
This shot was taken at night using the D700 at ISO 12800. She was at the kitchen in complete darkness except living room lights behind her. She was in complete shadow, yet the camera captures her face and her T-shirt details.
Her second Christmas outing.
Now she can pose on her own with the Christmas tree.
Glowing smile.
Trying to take control of the CD player.
Looking out.
Playing with shadow.
Brushing her own teeth.
Smitten by a boy during the zoo excursion.
Moments with daddy.
Moments on TV.
Who's copying whose hairdo?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Back to Music
I have not touched my piano keyboard for months, nor used my sound card to do audio recording. So when Zoe needed to practice her singing for her talent segment of "Miss Veet Standout Challenge 2008" competition. I found that there was something wrong with the audio playback. I eventually found that it's not caused by my expensive card but my 2-year old PC. I have yet to find the root of the problem, and I suspect some audio driver is corrupted and I probably should re-install my OS, a time-consuming process.
Meanwhile, I plugged my sound card to my backup PC, and it works without missing a beat. I'm rather impressed at how my 3-year old machine could still handle the Akoustik Piano sound samples. Thanks to my old trusty PC, the practice session went on smoothly. Zoe managed to grab the "Miss Veet Desirable" subsidiary award.
Here's a video footage of her actual performance.
You can listen to the demo recording we did during the practice session.
That's What Friends Are For
Zoe Raymond (vocals)
Chester Tan (piano)
You can visit my Facebook music page for more full-length music tracks, from my previous albums as well as unpublished tracks.
Meanwhile, I plugged my sound card to my backup PC, and it works without missing a beat. I'm rather impressed at how my 3-year old machine could still handle the Akoustik Piano sound samples. Thanks to my old trusty PC, the practice session went on smoothly. Zoe managed to grab the "Miss Veet Desirable" subsidiary award.
Here's a video footage of her actual performance.
You can listen to the demo recording we did during the practice session.
That's What Friends Are For
Zoe Raymond (vocals)
Chester Tan (piano)
You can visit my Facebook music page for more full-length music tracks, from my previous albums as well as unpublished tracks.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wedding Moments - November
Tsui Ping attended Racheal's wedding and saw me doing her wedding photography, so she decided to ask me to help out in her dinner banquet. She already engaged Gabriel Mendes as her photographer, but needed another photographer for the banquet. There were 80 tables and the wedding couple did not intend to do table-to-table shots. So that's where I came in. I was tasked to do table photos for those tables that her parents wanted. And since table photos would not take place until after the 2nd march-in, I am free to take any shots that is required of me.
So I wore the "secondary photographer's" hat and fired away.
Another November wedding I did was for my friend of 11 years, my uni course mate, Eelin, We attended same tutorial classes in Year One but never spoke or said hi to each other. Until the last day of Year One exams, when the tutorial group decided to go clubbing to celebrate the end of exams, did we talked. And by the end of the night, we found out so much things in common that we wondered why we never hit it off during the course year.
Fast forward to 11 years later.
We were supposed to do bridal shots around the hotel after the lunch banquet, but the day proved to be too tiring for the newly-weds, so we put off the shoot till a possible later date.
So I wore the "secondary photographer's" hat and fired away.
Another November wedding I did was for my friend of 11 years, my uni course mate, Eelin, We attended same tutorial classes in Year One but never spoke or said hi to each other. Until the last day of Year One exams, when the tutorial group decided to go clubbing to celebrate the end of exams, did we talked. And by the end of the night, we found out so much things in common that we wondered why we never hit it off during the course year.
Fast forward to 11 years later.
We were supposed to do bridal shots around the hotel after the lunch banquet, but the day proved to be too tiring for the newly-weds, so we put off the shoot till a possible later date.
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