Tuesday, 1 September, 2009 (Continuity)

"Lux et Veritas"

New Haven, CT

The beginning of a difficult semester to come, softened by the night view from my window.

-Darell

Touch the Sky

Philadelphia, PA

This random tower outside the Jefferson medical college plastic surgery building.

Shutter: 1/2000
Aperture: f/16

-Jing

"chain."

swarthmore, pa.

to be honest, i didn't see today's theme until...

...after midnight of wednesday.

so...it's not really a continuity picture.

but we all know continuity is just an illusion

and a myth.

:|

aperture: f/6.3|exposure: 1/250

-june.

"Coops Shot Tower"

Melbourne Central, VIC

Aperture: f/4.5 | Shutter Speed: 1/6s

So I had grand plans for my theme. But it didn't go through since I was doing my Gearbox assignment...I have a progress report tomorrow! Eeks! Anyway this is a picture of a tower in Melbourne Central. Since it's heritage and all, they had to build around it. Hence, the dome like structure on top. In a nutshell, it is like a nut in a nutshell.

I wish I had a super wide lense.

- Jian

Monday, 31 August, 2009 (-)

Train Station
Swarthmore, PA

Waiting for my train to Philly. I really liked the shadow I cast. I do, however, look mad sketch.

Shutter: 1/160
Aperture: f/16

-Jing

"glow in the dark."

swarthmore, pa.

yay stars.

:)

aperture: f/5.6|exposure: 1/25

-june.

"Beauty and the Beast"

Drummond Street, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6 | Shutter Speed: 1/100s

Obviously, my ride is Beauty.

But which is my ride?

- Jian

Sunday, August 30, 2009 (-)

"Corporate High-Flyer"

Corner Bourke and Swanston Street, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6 | Shutter Speed: 1/250s

Sorry for the delayed post.. I got a bit lazy on Sunday to get it up! So there is this awesome statue of three businessmen in the CBD that is named "Three Businessmen Who Brought Thier Own Lunch". I've always found it to be really quirky and can't figure out how to capture all three of them nicely....so for the time being let's be content with one.

- Jian

Pancake Pantry

Nashville, Tennessee

Shutter: 1/640
Aperture: f/16.0

This is a really famous pancake place. Natives and tourists alike queue up for hours to get in. On Saturdays they hand out free coffee.

Sorry its an old photo. These past few days have been so so so hectic like you wouldn't believe. Saying goodbye to parents, hi to friends I haven't seen for a while... moving in... moving my sister in. Classes start tomorrow. Ugh. Goodbye summer.

-Jing

"junior 15."

swarthmore, pa.

forget studying.

let the eating begin.

aperture: f/2.0|exposure: 1/40

-june.

Saturday, 29 August, 2009 (-)

Bicycle shop

Philadelphia, PA

Right next to one of my favourite coffee places in the city. :)

Shutter: 1/400
Aperture: f/16.0

-Jing

"Hot Ride"
Bourke Street, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6|Shutter Speed: 1/15s

So Bourke Street is one of the main street's in the CBD. The major departmental stores are here and basically lots of stuff goes on. There was a couple taking their wedding shots on the other side and buskers and what not perform here.

Anyway, Melbourne not only loves coffee but also bikes. And by bikes I mean customised, single-speed bikes like the one above. They are awesome! I wish I had a bike like that. Hum.

- Jian

"some kind of weather."

swarthmore, pa.

i love rain.
just not when i'm wearing off-white shorts.

:)

aperture: f/5.0|exposure: 1/250

-june.

Friday, August 28, 2009 (Laughter)

Emily

Philadelphia, PA

Shutter: 1/1000
Aperture: f/16.0

I cheated again, but then again I did spend a lot of today travelling and unpacking. This is an old picture, taken the same day my friend Emily climbed City Hall. We also went wading in a public fountain that same day, and I think she was getting splashed when this candid was taken.

Now, because I am an even bigger cheater, this is a second picture that I thought fit the theme really well, not because of its content, but because of the back story. I didn't think the picture was spectacular, but I couldn't resist telling you guys the story. To make things slightly better, this one WAS taken today.


As we walked past the coffee shop in our hotel lobby, we noticed the refrigerated section where all the drinks and yogurts were kept. A grill had been put down to stop people from stealing the food.

My father paused. He turned to my mother and me and asked, mischievous twinkle in his eye, whether we knew what he used to do whenever he saw those in college.

No idea, we replied.

He grinned. We'd open the bottles, then stick straws in and drink them...

-Jing

P.S. My father is a scavenger. He is the type of person who walks around food courts so he can get free samples. He is such a bear. :)

"LOL (Laughing Out Loud)"
State Library, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6|Shutter Speed: 1/250s

People shots are hard...especially without a lens that has an ultra zoom capability. Risking being called a pervert and schoolgirl stalker, I managed to capture this girl laughing rather loudly on here phone. Something funny must have been said.

I quite like the effect that the pillars give. It's almost as if they are creating a little bubble for this girl, allowing her to laugh as loudly as she wants to without any attention whatsoever.

- Jian

"hamb."
roberts dorm, swarthmore.
so sorry, jian, that this is not out of my room.
i did, however, take some pictures outside today.
BUT.
this is my son.
his name is hamb.
(he's a hamster-lamb.)
he likes drunk people who are clean,
and embodies laughter.
:)
aperture: f/1.8|exposure: 1/20

-june.

Thursday, August 27, 2009 (Smooth)

"Andrew"

-Darell

"light."
roberts dorm, swarthmore (pa).
light reflection off of my fan's metallic stand.
:)
aperture: f/5.6|exposure: 1/10
-june.

Check.

Miami, Florida

I love the way smooth dark wood feels against my hands.

Shutter speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.0

-Jing

"Liquid Desire"
Seven Seeds, VIC

Aperture: f/9|Shutter Speed: 1/3s

So I guess I've been talking about coffee all this time and how I love it so here goes! Originally the theme was 'Smooth' and I took the chance to shoot this awesome Latte at Seven Seeds. It is a bit unfortunate that the froth has bubbled up a bit because I took a while to get the right shot. Anyway, smooth as a baby's bum. This is the good stuff.

I stole the title from the name of Dali's exhibition here in Melbourne. How appropriate.

A cool article on surviving without coffee for a week: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/culture/the-long-black-week-20090824-evmf.html

- Jian

Wednesday, 26 August, 2009 (Interaction)

"Søren and TV"

Pangkor Island, Perak, Malaysia

-Darell

"Hang in there."
Melbourne, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6|Exposure: 1/25s

This was taken in a laneway in the CBD that used to have a really cool bar. It was subsequently shut down because it was pilfering electricity from its next door neighbour=) Anyway, people seem to love throwing their shoes up onto electricity wires here in Melbourne. Is that a phenomenon elsewhere?

Upon closer inspection, you can see the word 'Hope' scribbled onto the ballet shoe that is hanging by a thread. I like how this contrasts with the graffiti of a grotesque clown-like monster/alien/ugly thing in the background, almost as if it wants to gobble up the dreams of the ballet dancer.

To all of those who are in dire need of hope right now, hang in there.

- Jian

Parents looking at Pool

Miami, Florida

Shutter: 1/20
Aperture: f/16.0

Today, we went to see the Fountainebleau hotel on Miami Beach. Its a really famous hotel, and it was THE HOTEL to be seen at in the 60's. Its reaaaally nice. I love the architecture of Miami Beach! A lot of art deco stuff. The hotel was designed by an architect named Morris Lapidus who is famous for that type of architecture, and it honestly feels like there isn't a single straight edge in the building... its all curvy. Apparently he was all about free-flowing spaces. I was a fan.

It was used in the Bond movie Goldfinger, Scarface, an episode of the O.C., a season of Top Chef, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

This is my parents checking out the pool. People always say that my dad looks like a monk. The person at the Nashville immigration told him that he looked like the Dalai Lama.

- Jing

"who?"

okay, i cheated.

this was taken yesterday.

but it's almost perfect for today:

the blurred faint smile on his face,

his head turned--

the photographer

and the photographed.

aperture: f/7.1|exposure: 1/200
-june.

Tuesday, 25 August, 2009 (Movement)

"wheel in black and white."
maybe in new york. 
june's not sure.
AHHHHH!
SCHOOOOOOL!
NOOOO!
aperture: f/8.0|exposure: 1/200

-june.

FOOD!
Philadelphia, PA

Shutter speed: 1/8
Aperture: f/16.0

Pigeons (rats with wings) are so puntable, as my friend Julia likes to point out. Particularly fat ones.

-Jing

"Work Much?"

Aperture: f/16

Shutter Speed: 1/6s

So I wasn't really doing work. And I was writing on scrap paper, which happens to have some lecture slides printed on it. I would have loved to capture the rush our crowd today but my oh my was Mother Nature not in a compromising mood.

- Jian

Monday, 24 August 2009 (Musculature)

"The Creation of Adam"

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter Speed: 1/6s

So Darell really had me in a corner with this theme! This is my rendition of 'The Creation of Adam' by Michelangelo. You may notice it is lacking the muscular bodies of Adam and God. I decided not to put them up so that we don't have to make this an MA 18+ blog.

The anatomy book is courtesy of my housemate. In case you are every bit that interested in the anatomy of a finger, refer to "Atlas of Human Anatomy" by Frank H. Netter, M.D. (Third Edition).

- Jian

Conch

Miami, Florida

Shutter speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/16

Its pronounced "conk" by the people there, and six years ago I dove into the sea to get it, off the shore of a small island in the Bahamas called Bimini. Wikipedia tells me that the island is seven miles long and 700 feet wide. It is one of the many random things my siblings and I have collected over the years and left in our home here, including a massive seashell and seaglass collection, lots of old photographs, old VCRs and clothes from many years go.

I think its because we spend less time here, that we don't ever throw anything out. All of it has now become sentimental. My shelf is a hodgepodge of things I collected growing up, an old wind-up music box that plays The Music Box Dancer, a stack of TeenPeople magazines, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Simone de Beauvoir's The Mandarins from my existentialism phase. Next to the Little House on the Prairie and Raymond E. Feist fantasy books are old yearbooks, a BEAT book, a book on Tadao Ando and Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. There are a pair of stuffed cats from when my brother and I were four, all the stuffed animals every boyfriend ever gave me, and stuffed bears I got on Valentine's Day my senior year of high school. There are pictures of Christina, Elena and me at prom, a Venetian mask from my visit to Gil in Italy two years ago, and a 101 dalmations clock that stopped working about 6 years ago. On jet lagged nights we'd watch the time tick to 5 in the morning as we drifted off to sleep.

Oh, and how could I forget - my straw cowboy hat. :)

In terms of personal treasures, this room has more of me in it than any other room I've ever lived in.

-Jing

"tongue-tied."

bedroom.

note: super-hyper editing has been done

to make my skin less gross.

1. darell's theme is crazy.

and impossible: i have no visible muscles.

2. tongue=strongest muscle=fact/fiction?

3. last day at home!

4. ahhh!

5. this photo is not meant to provoke,

though...the tongue is very provocative,

isn't it?

don't stare at it for too long.

aperture: f/5.6|exposure: 1/30

-june.

Sunday, August 23, 2009 (-)

"Afternoon treat"

My room, Singapore

Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 1/10

Nom nom nom :)

...which reminds me of this song. Enjoy!

~Tian

"loving memory."

central park, new york.

i want to be laura.

seeking arthur.

preferably with a different last name,

but i'm not too picky.

aperture: f/5.6|exposure: 1/20

-june.

Cowboy boots
Nashville, Tennessee

To quote Johnny Cash:

"Yippie yi Ohhhhh
Yippie yi yaaaaay
Ghost Riders in the sky!"

Shutter: 1/125
Aperture: f/16.0

-Jing

"Superman or Doraemon?"

Puchong, Malaysia

Aperture: f/10

Shutter: 1/4

ISO: 400

It's possibly the toughest choice for a kid to make, ever.

The way small-time grocers drape colorful lanterns all over their shopceilings makes me feel irrefutably at home.

-Darell

*Original

"On top of the world"
Mt. Dandenong, VIC

Aperture: f/18
Shutter Speed: 1/80s
Edits: Reduced brightness

So I went to Mount Dandenong today for a friend's birthday thing. Everything was perfect (weather, food and company). I was excited because I could play with my camera yet again at a scenic place (and with a bit more experience)! Anyway, the picture was a bit bright in that I could see the actual person. I fiddled with the brightness and it gave the picture this whole new dimension!

I guess editting does take away some elements of originality but I still can't seem to obtain such vivid colours with my shooting.

*Argh I didn't post it at the same time because it was on my camera and I was lazy to get the cable to post it again. The one on my laptop was the edited one. This is a classic example of how computers bring out the colour so well. I just can't seem to get it right using my camera. Blergh.

- Jian

Saturday, 22 August, 2009 (-)

"No Unseen Visitors. Yet."

Puchong, Malaysia

Aperture: f/5.6

Shutter: 1/80

ISO: 800

My dad tells me that if I take one too many pictures of the Hungry Ghost Festival effigies I'll find little unseen-before shadowy figures in my pictures when I edit them.

So far, so good.

-Darell

"Forgotten"

Elevator, Blk 1E Gillman Heights

Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 1/10

So, I use the same elevator every day (the other one's faulty...and not reliable at all!), but it wasn't until recently that I spotted this heart-shaped sticker on the floor. It's quite easy to miss, if you don't look carefully! I'm sure it's been there for quite some time already, probably fell off someone's backpack or purse, and continues to lay there, trampled on by careless feet...easily forgotten. Very much like our hearts sometimes.

Now, every time I walk into the elevator, I automatically look for it. It's comforting, somewhat.

~Tian


Illuminated Cross

Nashville, Tennessee

This was on the wall of my brother's dorm at Vanderbilt University. There was a whole wall full of little cross-shaped windows, and I really liked it. It reminded me of the Church of the Light by this architect named Tadao Ando.

Shutter: 1/10
Aperture: f/16.0

Now, just because I have been stuck in a car with my family for the whole day, I will make a list of things that the Ng family likes on road trips:
- beef jerky
- singing along to the Eagles (particularly the line "I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna saaaave me" from "Take it Easy")
- Diet Mountain Dew
- Anchorman
- key lime pie
- fighting over space in the backseat
- fighting for the front seat
- fighting over who gets to drive
- fighting for control of the ipod
- Dr. Hook (greatest hits)
- the South
- my father singing along to "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
- cheesy signs that go on the back of cars/trucks like "Save a horse, ride a cowboy"
- Chick-fil-a
- pecan pie
- "That's amore" by Dean Martin
- making fun of people on funny motorcycles
-Cracker Barrel
- Bob Dylan
- naked trucks

-Jing

"unthrough the unlooking glass."

bedroom.

i realized the other day

that if i keep looking at things

too closely

i'll never see anything clearly.

today wasn't a good day.

aperture: f/5.6|exposure: 1/10

-june.

"Entourage"
My Bedroom, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/3s
Edits: Cropped

So in the background we have the hit TV show 'Entourage'. I love it and I love Keep Cups too. A Keep Cup is an 'eco sustainable reusable coffee cup' (www.keepcup.com.au) and it's cool because I can get my Latte, my way, in my own cup. The flap on the top can rotate to either give you an opening to drink from or close so you can stash the magical stuff in your bag without it leaking.

"Hot Coffee, Cool Planet" - KeepCup motto

- Jian

Friday, August 21, 2009 (Clouds)

"Ali Sees All"

Lighthouse Point Park Beach, New Haven, CT

Aperture: f/16.0

Shutter speed: 1/800

ISO: 400

It is pouring recklessly now. Puchong rains are of the dank, excretory sort-- the type that squelches everything out on the grey cars rushing by without much regard or consciousness. I have no intention of sullying myself in its noxious watery film. Neither does Russell the camera. Curled up in a sea of blankets, I savor J. Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" one thought bubble a time, slow detachment from the outside mug; eliciting the rawness of a happier day and time where we tried to fly a kite christened Ali after our eccentric housemate to the clouds on that rocksand shore and carefully placed my slippers and your heels away from the tawny salt water, gnawing hunger, kelp, those drafts and that perennial drifting...drifting...

-Darell

Painting with Clouds
Belmar, NJ

Soo I cheated again today. Honestly I did take a couple of pictures of the sky today, but this is still by far the best cloud picture in my collection (and my brother agrees). This was taken a while back at the Jersey shore.

I'll try to get you guys some cool pictures over the weekend, since we are travelling. :) Tomorrow we leave Atlanta, Georgia, for Nashville, Tennessee, where my brother goes to school. You guys didn't miss much of Atlanta. The coolest thing we did today was go to this AMAZING farmer's market, which didn't even allow photography. You guys should've seen the produce. They sold food imported from the Caribbean, food imported from Singapore, fresh seafood from all over the world... I even saw fresh rabbit and the BIGGEST watermelon I've ever seen in my life! :) Oh, and they sold Blue Mountain coffee, which made me think of all you coffee drinkers on this blog...

Shutter speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/10.0

-Jing

"unclear."

briarwood, new york.

taken from my bedroom,

before the scattered storm broke again.

it was a pretty sexy group of clouds.

aperture: f/6.3|exposure: 1/80

-june.

"Up"
Melbourne University, VIC

Aperture: f/13
Shutter Speed: 1/40s
Edits: Adjusted saturation

A very uninspiring day for cloud spotting. The weather was crap (contrary to what this picture suggests). It was cloudy right behind me! Anyway, today was an off day. I hope to find a better representation of the theme when I trawl Melbourne once more. I know it's out there!

I increased the saturation in the picture to highlight the orange-red balloon that caught whilst floating into the welcoming arms of the clouds. Instead, it got caught by the big bad tree.

- Jian

*Original

"Stairway to Heaven"
Gillman Heights, Singapore

Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 1/800
Edits: Increased contrast

It's fun looking at clouds. I like trying to see if I can spot various shapes and animals in them. After walking around for a bit, I spotted this cluster of clouds! Looks like a path right up to the heavens, doesn't it?

*Increasing the contrast makes the picture seem more surreal, more mythical-looking...as if this image was taken right from a scene in a fairytale :)

~Tian

Thursday, August 20, 2009 (Red)

"sex."

forest hills, new york.

flowers remind me of sex organs.

that is all.

aperture: f/4.5|exposure: 1/80

-june.

Wooden shoe... coming soon!
South Street, Philadelphia, PA

Yeah. I don't know. All the lamp posts and bicycle bar things on South Street are painted bright red.

Shutter: 1/160
Aperture: f/16.0

-Jing

"The Flamingo and the Snail"

My garden, Puchong, Malaysia

Aperture: f/4.0

Shutter Speed: 1/40

ISO: 1600

In my mind, the calla lily and the ornamental snail shell in the far corner of my garden have a classic, endearing Cat-and-Owl relationship.

The Flamingo looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Snail, O Snail, my love,
What a beautiful Snail you are,
You are,
You are!

What a beautiful Snail you are!

And hand in hand on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

--adapted from "The Owl and the Pussycat", Edward Lear

-Darell

"Hum Dinger"
1000 £ BEND, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 0.6

1000 £ BEND is a new cafe in Melbourne. Same owner as Pushka. Like Pushka it has a lot of quirky stuff, which I will share on the 'free and easy' - themed weekends.

Teddy looks so comfy and snuggled up in his makeshift bed. I couldn't think of a really cool title but the term 'Hum Dinger' came to my mind when I saw Teddy in his cool Red mattress bed.

I love Teddy and 1000 £ BEND.

- Jian


"Spare change?"
IMM (Shopping complex at Jurong East), Singapore

Aperture: f/5
Exposure Time: 1/2

What can you get for just a few cents?
Trinkets, trinkets, and more trinkets!

~Tian