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Proud to be a child of God, a faithful son (I hope lol) a trying to be hardworking student, a part-time worker, a nerf/milsim enthusiast, a crafting and music lover and an awesome friend. to you :) Hope you have an enjoyable time reading about my life, as much as I have fun living it! |
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I am a university student who loves chocolate! Coffee is my best buddy when it comes to taking on my finals. I have a tendency to want to try and do so many different things at once and as a result, I've found my hobbies to be as such!
Nerfing is one of them, but aside from that, I also love arts and craft. I have my own startup, Thumbforlego at: where I sell my works! 
I love to do all sorts of crafting, so you will see me uploading posts of my leathercrafts, thumbdrives, replica guns, nerf gun modifications and gundam models! I'm fortunate enough to be blessed by really supportive parents and given the chance to explore many, many parts of the world and try out a plethora of activities. This is also how I discovered my love for film photography, videography and piano. 
The film photo above is unedited! My family loves cold countries xD. We managed to catch the northern lights twice! 
I've also gotten the chance to experience many of nature's wonders 
And my most freezing experience to date: riding a husky ski sled into the sunset (It was -38 to -40 degrees celsius and the huskies were pretty fast.) 
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Why 36000feetabove? This is the altitude that commercial planes cruise at and I have always loved the view up in the sky, being amongst the sea of clouds. :) Personally, my favourite favourite food has got to be airplane buns! Does anyone else feel the same way?! With a slice of butter and looking out of the window, I have yet to find an experience that can beat that. 
After tomorrow, before today
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Friday, January 27, 2017
Singapore Motorshow jsut passed about a week or two ago and it was my first time ever going in! Despite being always so close to the event, i just never went inside before and it was so different from what I would have expected. I expected it to be much more packed, abit like how the IT fair is like, but it turned out to be more like this!
Wow now the photo looks so much darker than when i was editing. I realized that well maybe those crystal clear sharp images would look better for car photos....?
I think the crispy sharp image looks better than trying to achieve that "film look" like what i do in my usual photos.
Surely I am used to taking scenery and people, portraits, so when I pressed the shutter button pointing at a car....it just felt kinda weird! Unsure is probably a more apt word to use here. When taking sceneries and portraits, I will have an idea as to how to take the photo. Which comprises of the composition of the photo; what i want inside the photo, and the angle of the shot to make things look more attractive, or to play out some leading lines, etc.
Suddenly when I point the camera at the car the first thought that shoots to the head is
"what angle to take it from?"
then a few thoughts follow
"Do I focus on the car or the girl?"
"From which angle do I take the car from?"
And after an evening of snapping only a couple of photographs while spending most of the time molesting the cars, I still am not confident on taking photographs of cars!
It's like no matter how you take photo of it, they kind of still look the same to me. And whether to take the back of the car, or straight up front, or from a certain angle... In the following two photographs, you can see how i tried to photograph the girl but miss out the car, but when I include the girl AND the car, the shot seems so far away?! So maybe we are supposed to pick either and just focus on that? The below photos also show the difference between having a crystal clear image and one that has more of that film characteristic to it! You pick your favourite.
 
Still prefer the crystal clear photos! Like something just seems "off" about the photo. Maybe it's because everything in the car show is meant to be nice and shiny and perfect and dulling it just kills off the look? After pondering about car photography over the week, on one of the occasions of friend meetups, I was quite disappointed that I couldn't really get the shots in the motorshow and hence decided to try it out on my car. Below, I tried one more film look shot with my car, what ya think!
 I think this "film" shot works out because of the single lighting and the background. Also, while editing the photos, I scared my mum into thinking I just repainted my car! I sent her this image below and she got a scare :P Many people believed it too! Hehehe. Jokes aside, I think that the orange actually looks pretty good on the car?? It has that certain liveliness to it! It feels brighter.  I think that car photography is interesting! Which angle really pulls out that look of the car. Whether to make it look menacing like a Lamborghini Aventador or a more fun/cute car like the Daihatsu Copen. It's a different style of photography definitely. As compared to architecture or scenery or portraits. So it's a new thing to learn!! One thing I do know is that there's always supercars parking at Millenia walk outdoor carpark, so that is a popular spot for car photographers in Singapore. I really really wish the government can remove those bans on car modifications and then we can really see the car modification scene bloom! It'll be so interesting to see, just like how you have car meetups in japan! Added some videos as to how the scene is like for car modification overseas! First one is in Japan, the second one is SEMA in America! Sunday, January 22, 2017
So today I shall review the Everyday Backpack while reeling in from the insomnia I am currently facing. Well, a backpack with such a title would have large shoes to fill. First off, the Everyday Backpack started off on Kickstarter, and that was where it caught my eye! It is thoughtfully designed by Peak Designs, who pride themselves in creating quality camera accessories. So this would give a comfortable reason to believe that this bag was created primarily for camera gear. However, the modularity of the compartments in the bag and the thoughtfulness of the design of the bag such as the external straps to fasten down a bulky item like a drone, or in my case, a steadicam, as well as the dedicated laptop compartment makes this bag a joy for me to use on a daily basis. I've been using so many bags now and my go to bags are usually bags from Hazard 4, a tactical brand that builds extremely hardy bags. These expensive, good quality bags feature molle webbings at the front and sides (those straps you see sewn onto military bags), that gives me the modularity that I am looking for, thereby adding pouches according to wherever I deem would greatly simplify my commute or photo takings. it was basically my everyday, anything and everything go to bag. Hence, I was satisfied with the Hazard 4 bag. Therefore it was really difficult for the everyday backpack to prove itself that it would be a loving companion for my item storage. So what does the Everyday Backpack have to compete against for attention? The Hazard 4 bag... 1. is extremely hardy (i mistreat my bags), 2. holds a lot A LOT of items while having side straps to compact the bag, 3. has a dedicated laptop sleeve that fits my 15" Macbook, 4. provides endless ways for me to mount what I need on the bag because of the molle system, 5. even has a waterbag compartment, 5.5 straps to tie down the drinking tube that makes it super useful when hiking 6. standard side straps for greater stability when hiking 7. hard case for spectacles/sunglasses/shades/anything fragile (my heart) 8. huge capacity, so much so that I can even fit my sport shoes inside with my gym attire. +socks. 9. yes that is a number lock you see on the right. 10. Added hooks so that i can hang anything extra on the sides.   I have no proper digital/film photos of the Hazard 4 bag as it is stuck to the back of me most of the time. The moment I received the bag, I flew to Norway and had ALL my camera inside the bag, or strapped to my bag. Which in my opinion was really impressive! Everything was so easily organized into the well thought-out pouches that they designed and i was thoroughly impressed! Taking reference from Razer's "By gamers, for gamers" tagline, I would be so so pleased to say that this bag was created for photographers, by photographers. The first thing that impressed me right out of the nice shipping packaging was the build quality of the metal buckle. Really hardy and sturdy, more that what i have expected while watching the online live video that they had with the Kickstarter backers to familiarize ourselves with their creation and to offer any feedback too. To simply matters and prevent subpar product photos of the everyday backpack from my smartphone, here is a video that fills you in on the many features of the bag! I do film photography on a pretty often basis and blow up my wallet over that, however because I do digital photos too and have a 15" macbook to carry around, it can become very cumbersome, especially to find a bag that can suit the bizarre needs of such. There is always this thing that I always need to bring out my Sony A7ii, Pentax camera for coloured film shots and the Ricoh GR1 for B&W street photos. Sometimes at the end of the day, the cameras don't even see the harsh sunlight. I'd like to show you how I categorized all my items in the bag and list out the items that was inside my daily carry. For the record, I am back in Singapore and still using the bag on a normal basis and bought the 20L backpack. What bought me over, was the modularity of the compartments which I often use and the large laptop compartment that comfortably hugs my 15" Macbook. Who doesn't like hugs?! Photos below taken with my Samsung S7 edge at the airport. First off, the right side of the bag.  The left pouches inside are made of a really soft fabric and the mouths of the opening lined with an elastic band which helps tremendously. Also, there is an external layer of fabric covering everything for some added protection! That way, also, when you insert things in from the top of the bag, they would not get caught up with the items there. Which can get messy if cables start getting caught and tangled amongst your things. The top pockets are filled with 1 extra Sony battery, 1 roll of film and a 9v battery for the rode mic. The below compartments are filled with another 3 sony batteries and a pen and marker just in case. As you can already see inside the bag, there is a medium sized tripod separated easily by the foldable modular separators that they gave. On to the right side!  Here, the highest pocket holds my usb c dongles because well idk what was Apple thinking when they came out with the new Macbook and take away the SD card slot and then not provide/sell a dongle for it when it's the lifeline of any photographer. And well isn't the Macbook optimized for media people? The other pocket with the black cable holds the GoPro charging cord and my earpiece for editing videos in public. And lastly a portable WD 2TB hard drive to store the extremely big video and photo raw files churned out by the Sony.  For the main section of the bag, lets start from the top! You can see a yellow bag that holds the Macbook charger, Samsung charger and more usb chargers for the GoPro and portable battery. Still has loads of space for more. Impressive. The middle section holds the portable charger whether for phone or gopro, a GoPro Hero 5 Black, a Lume Cube for lighting and a cold shoe adapter to mount all of them to my Sony if need be. (not a bright idea. pun unintended). On the bottom most section, it holds my Pentax Spotmatic film camera with a Custom SLR air strap attached to it. I must mention that it is a snug squeeze with the strap on. For the portable charger, i am using a XiaoMi one, although I highly recommend an Anker brand as only theirs matches the discharge rate of a GoPro. Meaning, while charging and recording, your GoPro does not lose battery life.  Using the 2016 Macbook Pro and it fits very very comfortably inside the laptop sleeve as shown above. Although sometimes it gets caught on the smaller pocket, as shown in the next photograph. No biggie. As stated by the video, you can fill up the entire bag and slot in the laptop and it will still fit. Whereas some bags i've tried has your laptop latching on to the contents of your bag. 
There is a small pocket for you to keep your valuables and still have easy access to them, without having to worry about misplacing your belongings or having too many things to hold in your hand. Over here, I kept a box of SD cards so that I can swap easily if need be and a pack of poker cards to keep the sociable part of me satisfied.
So therefore, all the items in the bag would include:
1. 15"Macbook Pro
2. Hard case for SD cards
3. A deck of poker cards
4. Medium sized tripod
5. Macbook charger
6. Phone charger
7. USB head charger
8. Travel adaptors for electrical plugs
10. Lume Cube
12. Pentax Spotmatic
13. 3x extra Sony batteries
14. 1 roll of coloured film as backup
15. Pair of marker and pen
16. 9v battery for the Rode mic.
17. 2 usb c dongles
18. Gopro charging cable
19. Glow headphones
20. Western Digital 2TB Hard Disk (Formatted for Mac)
Twenty items! All inside that one bag. and the occasional steadicam strapped for carrying when i am not using it. Is it overkill, yes it is but that's how I've always done it this way. TEAM OVERKILL!!! Jon Olsson quote. Surely, back in Singapore, I am carry much lesser stuff and more suited based on my day-to-day usage but it is still pretty similar. Throw out the chargers and I can nest the Sony A7ii nicely in the top section so as to free up my hands if need be.
On top of the crazy amount of stuff you can put into the bag, it also has a water resistant surface hence you would not see me scurrying for shelter when there is a storm as I would have with the Hazard 4 bag. I have yet to abuse the bag hence I cannot comment much on the durability. However gut feeling tells me the Hazard 4 bag will win the durability seat in parliament.
Modularity wise... I would say that they are pretty on par with one another in a sense that they have different strong/weak points. It's just a balance thing. Like a zero sum game. The Everyday Backpack has things more organized and neatly tucked away as compared to the Hazard 4 but the latter definitely holds more than the 20L variant of the bag. Peak Designs carries a 30L bag but as I worry that I'll look like a tortoise, I stood by the 20L. Which also suited my needs better. I love the modularity of the everyday backpack and how it fits so well with my camera lenses! Even though I am using smaller sized vintage lenses as compared to the big bulky ones they have in the market now, I have no qualms of them slipping around that compartment as everything is very secure. The sides being able to butterfly out all the way also allows me to easily reach for my cameras and lenses when taking photos without me needing to put down the bag. Although I would feel much safer to put the bag down and swap lenses.
Running. Hmmm... I certainly have no plans to run with the Everyday Backpack. Or hike with it. It does not have padded shoulder straps like the Hazard 4 does, but the lack of paddings also means a much sleeker looking backpack comfortable enough for a train ride home after a day. I like the material that they use on the exterior, making it water resistant and has a nice clean look to it. I bought this bag with the vision in mind that I can use it when I am working in future. It looks nice, presentable and just different from the usual backpack, which is what I like.
Indeed the Everyday Backpack does live up to its name as the everyday backpack!
At least for my lifestyle!
It was indeed tough shoes to fill but I am really pleased to have found a bag that is so well suited for my needs. The buckles, the pouches and all, you can tell that a lot of meticulous thinking went into it, which I greatly appreciate.
They do have smaller variants like the tote bag. However that had problems accepting a 15" laptop. I believe that this backpack will work out for other lifestyles too, whether you hit the gym or go hiking with it. Although if I go hiking, I would very much prefer to stick to the Hazard 4 bag.
The Everyday Backpack has since replaced the Hazard 4 bag as my go to bag. However for sports and recreation, I would very much prefer to fall back on the Hazard 4.
For the record, I've been using the Hazard 4 backpack for over 2 years and I am still loving the bag and find it almost impossible to find another bag that can suit its capabilities. The Everyday Backpack just has a different approach to it. It's like comparing a sports car to an SUV. Both have different roles, but they are both really, really. Good products.
If there are any Peak Design employees reading this, I love your packaging so much I kept it and am going to get it made into a HUGE pouch.
 Sunday, January 15, 2017
My preparation for Norway was probably one of the most haphazardly mixed together cocktail as I put too much focus on Thumbforlego and had little time (just the day when I flew) to prepare for the trip. One thing that I was really looking forward to was using the c200 expired film to take nice snapshots of Norway and spend a bomb developing them later on, however, it was only on the last day did I dare to use the film camera! Which was quite a waste, judging by the 8 rolls of film and the hefty weight of a Pentax weighing down my luggage. Photographing Norway was challenging as I wanted to produce a new style of video and yet still be able to take photographs. Which is also partly why the film rolls complained of lack of attention. Videoing was the main challenge and holding the steadicam was pretty challenging. Surprisingly i found it more of a hassle due to its size rather than its atrocious weight. Having to switch between video and photo got convenient when I decided to leave the Sony A7ii in aperture priority and simply press the video button which wasn't a good idea. The footage did suffer a bit as I forgot to adjust the aperture in between photo and video!
Having gotten off on a bit of the negative side, Norway was really rewarding!! I super love the country and feel that it is one country worth going back again, as I really admire their design works. If asked to summarize what Norway feels like in one word, after having a glimpse of the locals and their interactions, I would say HAPPY. Second word would probably be content. That everyone somehow feels satisfied and just glad with their lives. They didnt give off the "life is very stressful" knitted brows or the "i am in a rush" stern looks or the "sick of this country" facial expression that well many of us Singaporeans are used to seeing each other with. The people in Norway looked so content with life and striking a conversation with each other randomly beginning with a smile. I guess smiles are contagious and it goes around! The only frowns that I saw were found in the 7 Eleven outlets, behind the counter. Apart from that, everyone gave off a very positive vibe, just simply talking to one another and also to us tourists! I felt welcomed in Norway and did have a good chat with the locals too, although i wished i had the chance to find out more about their lives. I asked the locals if they were bored of the northern lights but apparently they aren't! Every time they see it, they still marvel at it. Which i felt was particularly interesting as I thought that they would have been bored of seeing it already.
 Norway is really scenic, but it is more of mountains and fiordes to look at, whereas Iceland is more of waterfalls and volcanoes. However to say that it is more scenic than Iceland, it would be not giving the Icelandic waterfalls their due credit. These two photos were taken from the Vigeland Sculpture park which I felt was really nice! Not as nice as a tourist attraction but really nice to have such a park in your country. I believe the weather played a pivotal role too! It's like saying Gardens by the Bay would be REALLY nice if we had a chance to go there in winter conditions. Nevermind the occasional icy floors but there is just that certain sense of rustic feeling to it, as depicted in the photo beneath.  The lighting in Norway, although did not give me much confidence in using 35mm film, brought out really beautiful shots with my Sony A7ii! Once again, that cool, rustic feeling brought out through the Zeiss ZM 28mm biogon lens. 
Norway is a country that is really beautiful, I believed I only chipped the tip of the iceberg as cloudy skies obscured some of the Northern Lights and a really lethargic body paired with the winter clouds hazed out the beautiful fiords i was so keen on seeing (and photographing) (and videoing). One thing that I wished Norway had more of, and knew that they used to have a lot of, was snow. Due to global warming, i've heard so many locals mention that they used to see so much more snow but now what is left are patches of cold water on the rocky floorings. They say that the change has been really big and it was only when we went to the mountain/hill top? did we manage to experience snow, as well as in towns further up north like Lofoten. It was quite a stark difference when I compare it to Finland, two years back when exiting the airport was just heaps and heaps of snow everywhere! The entire Finland airport was just snow whereas in this case, it looks pretty normal as seen in the photography above.
 That's me and brother in a slightly bluish photo which would look good when turned black and white. This shot was taken with a tripod and a timer. Just gotta frame the shot, press the shutter and start running while praying to the camera shutter gods. Going to try to keep this post short if not a lengthy post might start getting a tad boring to read! Assuming you are not bored up till this point. The Northern Lights was wohoo! Lucky me have seen it it Finland and Iceland already, hammering this encounter into the glacier as the third time! Third time and it never fails to amaze me. This time round, camera setup was all good so I did take some nice shots of nature's wonder!     Apart from the lights, the amount of stars really amazed me! it's such a fortunate thing to be able to marvel at the crazy amount of stars in the sky! Due to the movements of the cruise while taking this night photo, it created little hearts in the sky!  Norway was a really nice trip, and it offered great practice for my photography skills! I took the trip with a tour group under EU Holidays and it was a really laid back trip, with an enjoyable tour guide, Chris. If given the chance to, I would visit Norway again, especially to Oslo to see their minimalist design work. Their minimalist design, albeit looks simple but you can tell that lots of thinking was put into it to make it simple but yet visually appealing. Which is very different from the conventional "minimalist" designs that are flooding the market whereby many products are just done simply and marketed under the theme. The difference is the amount of thinking that went into it. No offence but I do realize that many products have tons of effort poured into them, but the way how the Norwegians/Swedish resonates better with me and that i should learn from them. PHOTO ALBUM HERE Highly suggest to watch the video on a big screen and in HD. Hope you like it :) |
