Every picture tells a story

[tengk]

I am experiencing a drought on the photo story front.
Today i went for a walk and stumbled upon this structure.
I always wanted to do something on the night street scenes of our industrial landscape in B&W.
I guess this one will qualify as the first.

Water tower.

Opps, i did say night.

Water tower at night.

 

[tengk]

They say the camera captures reality and sometimes the unreality.

This morning i decided to put it to the test and what better place to try than at the friendly, neighbourhood laundromat.
At the laundromat i get this feeling that time stands still for us while our laundry goes round and round and round.
Who knows what happens when time stands still...

untitled 1

untitled 2

untitled 3

At the laundromat where time stands still.

Now you know why no one looks at their laundry being washed.
Another reason why laundromats are 24/7 and never sleep.

Please don't ever go to a laundromat alone. You have been warned!

The camera i used with the supernatural mode was the DP1M monochrome setting.

I look forward to your stories. Thank you very much.

 

[tengk]

On Saturday, we dropped by the Thian Hock Temple 175th Birthday celebration of the Goddess of the Sea, Mazu.
This was held in conjunction with the Singapore Heritage Festival 2015.

I arrived at the venue a few minutes earlier and waited for Chee Wei and Hak Wee.

FIrst thing i noticed was a snake charmer,

charming the crowd, many of whom stayed a safe distance away.

Temple festival meant getai and more Hokkien songs to draw the crowd..."sob sob"

Of course the ever present photographers like us.

to be continued...

 

[tengk]

As daylight faded, the glow of the lanterns illuminated the street.

A lovely evening for a temple visit.

The stage was set to celebrate the birthday of Ma Zhu, Goddess of the Sea by the Thian Hock Temple.

In conjunction with the event there was a traditional Hokkien food fare as well.

Young and old turned up.

continue...

 

[tengk]

And since it was in the city, tourists throng the place too.

A common Singapore phenomenon, the queue (2015 will probably also be remembered as the year of the queue)
This time the queue was for chairs!

Order had to be maintained in any queue.

Finally it came down to one last chair.
I am sure it ended well here, i did not stay to find out as something much more interesting came up!

to be continued...

 

[Daoyin]

Thanks. Next best to being there.

 

[tengk]

What can be more interesting then a potential fight over a single chair?
It appeared that i was not the only one whose curiosity was piqued.

It all happened here at this door way.

At the side entrance to the Thian Hock Temple are a pair of wooden door panel intricateley painted with the images of the Door Gods. They were formerly imperial generals, Qin Shu Bao and Wei Chi Gong. They were both assigned to protect Emperor Tai Zong ( 太 宗 皇 帝 )of the Tang dynasty from ghosts and demons.

The Door gods.

Curious.

Curiouser (one person who is curious is a curiouser)

and curiouser(s). (plural of curiouser er...please don't believe everything you read on the net.}

Then came this photographer, he was even more curious than me, photographing everything in his path.
When this series of story is over, i shall share a photo story of him in action.

The intrepid photographer.

So what's so interesting???

Hi Stephen, Glad you enjoyed the event thru my eyes.Thanks for the heads up on this event which i shared with Hak Wee and Chee Wei. Again serendipidity played a role in this, Chee Wei's reminder of this event got three of us to drop by. And a fruitful one to boot.
to be continued...

 

[tengk]

The threshold.

The entrance to the temple has a threshold for devotees to cross.

According to the guides, It was built high to stop the entry of sea water as well as to enable a gesture of bowing as the devotees enter.
I am using this analogy of crossing the threshold to metaphorise choices we have to make, positions we have to take in matters that we encounter.

In our lives, our careers, there are always thresholds to cross.

Do we stay put or take a leap of faith. Is the grass on the other side really greener?

To cross or not to cross, that is the question.

to be continued...

 

[tengk]

The undecided.

The undecided too.

The grass is greener on the other side too.
(i have no idea how to upload a gif file to flickr or clubsnap)

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104923316329528752656/albums/6152292545107535249

I guess by now you realised the thing that caught my attention was people crossing the threshold.
So what were the rest of the photographers looking out for.
Since it is their job, they had to do the boring stuff.

Non other than the guest of honour.

Since he was the guest of honour, i had two shots of him.

VIP crossing threshold 1.

VIP crossing threshold 2.
Arms akimbo intact!

to be continued...

 

[Nikonzen]

I am hesitant to interrupt your great story sir, especially at this dramatic point... but I have one of my own fresh on my mind I would like to share with you. I think we can tell a few stories at the same time maybe.

It is the story of the birth of a small American town located on the outskirts of a fairly large city. It is the place where I now live.

The story sort of begins way back in the mid 19th century in what was then called Indian Territory. This is where the Ang Moh relocated many of the tribes during the Manifest Destiny times. The area around Sapulpa has many natural creeks and fairly abundant water due to the rain patterns here. This northeastern part of I.T. now called Oklahoma is commonly referred to as Green Country. It is Green. Lots of vegatation...lots of water. In the 1850's the area was settled by a Creek Indian named Sapulpa later known as Chief Sapulpa. His camp was at the confluence of two creeks - Rock Creek and Polecat Creek. Towards the end of the 19th century the steel horse came to the area in pursuit of black gold. The railroad made Sapulpa a major hub...at the time the town was bigger than Tulsa which would exceed Sapulpa in population and growth and become the Oil Capitol of the World in the twenties and thirties up to the early 50's probably. So this is the background for our little tale. Now we shall hear about another creek in the area...now relatively unknown to most folks...yet hidden basically right in the middle of a sizable of population...once vitally important to this town.

 

[Nikonzen]

Around 1900 the town was bustling mainly due to the railroad making this their repair station. Soon oil wildcatters discovered the secrets of the region and things really began to take off. One of the problems the small community faced was water supply. This was remedied by damming up Pole Cat Creek and another small creek in the area called Euchee Creek. This is where the farm I live on meets a little piece of paradise. Euchee Creek is part of the property line. Adjacent and connected with the farm is another piece of land which contains the hidden jewel and the main point of this little story.

Let me take you to a high ridge for a look!

To your left...



Down below and in front...



To your right and in the distance you hear something..loud rushing roaring water...but it is hidden in the woods amongst the Mimosas and Willows...what could it be?

 

[Nikonzen]

A very old dam. Built 1904. The town's water supply until the Great Depression and FDR WPA era when another nearby creek known as Pretty Water was turned into a small lake.

 

[tengk]

Hi Jeff,

No hesitation and fresh in your mind is good!
Thanks for sharing the history and geography and stories of your home.
Lovely.

Tk

Another time i will share some survey of my own backyard.
Here's a glimpse of that

I look forward to your story!

 

[Nikonzen]

The place still brings forth a ton of precious life despite being unused forever. It truly is a hidden jewel as few know about and even fewer ever visit.

 

[Nikonzen]

And finally I come to the end of my tale and given liberty of flight to my fancy I can see the bird in the foam...



The dragon's head with last year's amber leaf for an eye...



And even the expression of awe on some of the trees...



Thanks for reading my story!

 

[Nikonzen]

Some lagniappe as the Cajuns would say...a little bit of extra something.

In the past 24 hours since these snaps were made we have experienced somewhat unusual torrential rains...

This snap was made this late this morning.

Mother nature is awesome!

 

[Kaikeong]

Hi Tengk,

As you mentioned 'Every picture tells a story' I do agreed. As this thread is supposed to be a photography thread I am sure every readers would love to see shots that are photography related. 1) Pictures with nice composition (2)Able to implement the right lighting for the shots (Correct time of shoot to best bring out the best lighting and contrast for it. (3)Able to choose the most appropriate aperture for each picture in order to make the subject stands out (4)To also able to play with the colours or black & white tones. These are basically the few points we look for in every shots.

I must say your shots are totally taken without any of the above mentioned points. Your shots are just very ordinary or even below average. You are trying to take shots for the shake of telling a story. If these pictures are featured in a
travel forum, maybe it is okay. You may felt satisfied to see your pictures appearing in the website but at least they got to look good in a photography forum. You don't need many good equipments to get the right shots. Shots from a mobile phone can looks just as great.

You may ask how to make your shots look great? Learn to look and observe at many photography magazines or websites. See how other photographers use the above mentioned points to create their good shots. It requires many hours of observation. I don't see any differences in your shots from 2013 to 2015.

All the best.....

 

[tengk]

Hi Kaikeong,

Thanks for your feedback!

I really appreciate you taking time going through the images from 2013 to 2015. { hopefully you took some time to read the stories to realise the context}

You are so right about my poor colour control, not waiting for the best light, white balance, tonality etc. i am guilty of all the above and more. In fact quite a few of my photos taken with my handphone camera(htc) looked better rendered than my camera. The only time i cared about these qualities is when i print my photos. Sometimes i set the wrong white balance, shutter speed and forgot the correct date too! My eyes tears easily if i stare at my monitor for too long .

For example, the images from the stories "crossing the threshold" , "songkran festival" were taken without me even looking through the viewfinder.

As for stories that followed, it was just a spontaneous response to the images that i had. I did not know what i wanted to shoot, what story to tell till the subject matter appeared before me. In fact it is the unpredictabilty of what may come out of a photo outing that fascinates me. I enjoy taking the plunge into the unknown.

The other side.

I am pretty sure most who drop by this thread are not here for the images but to hear me spin a yarn, there are plenty of beautiful images by other clubsnap members if thats what they want to see. You should check out their threads too.

Maybe one of these days when i get a leica camera/lens, maybe then i will make better pictures.

btw, if you had read the thread, you know you owe this thread a story or image. I/We look forward to your images and stories, which i am sure are very good.

Thank you very much and good night.

Best regards,
Teng Kiat

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for sharing your story and especially risking life and limb going back out there during the torrential rain to bring us up to date info of the changes.
Really appreciate your gesture.

Water, the harbinger of change and life.

Thanks and good day to you.

Best regards,
Teng kiat

 

[Kaikeong]

Hi! Tengk,

I was rather surprised to see your reply. You’ve definitely earn my respect for been able to accept criticism. One that could take criticism will gain more in knowledge. I remembered clearly many years ago when I printed some A4 size images after some self taught in photography. I was introduced to a professional photographer. I was so excited and brought the images to show to him. He looked through my images and didn’t said a word. After the viewing, he threw my portfolio right through the window from the second floor.

I did not get angry and I told him that I would improve. After that incident, I went back to continue looking and studying more works from other photographers. We must learn to accept criticism.

By the way I am not a photography master. I just thought to share with fellow friends some of my experiences. By sharing, it would bring our knowledge to another level. I am still learning.

To own a set of Leica camera equipment doesn’t mean our shots will be the best. Of course by using the Leica system, we can be very well certain that the shots will be super sharp and the dynamic tonal range will also be wide range. Leica lenses are made for us to push it to the limit. Even with wide aperture like F1.4 it will still look sharp.

I have enclosed some of my shots for viewing. And you can also feel free to share with me from your point of view.

Have a nice day.


Kaikeong

View attachment 8056ATTACH]

 

[tengk]

The intrepid photographer.

Every photog out there has their tricks up their sleeves when it comes to capturing moments on the streets in front of a suspicious public.

I learnt a new tactic, ie. have an oversize diffuser over your flash that does not flash.

That way we can weave in and out snapping images of innocent victims without arousing their suspicion.

Here is our dear brother in arms in action. HE was like his eyes never left the viewfinder!

He may have captured images of me standing there but i was ready with a smile.

I really like this guy, it was like everything caught his attention, a true explorer. He beat me hands down in enthusiasm!

If you happen to stumble onto this thread , i'll be happy to exchange photographs!

(Visualise a buzzing busy bee at work.)

One of these days, i'll see if a GIF animation works for him.

Thanks Kaikeong,

First of all accepting criticism and accepting differences are part and parcel of life's moments, nothing special about it.

Thanks for presenting banal, everyday images to illustrate the various basic photographic techniques.

I am sure all of us here especially me could do with a refresher course and be reminded of the basics.

I can see that you have the making of a salon photographer and the patience of a teacher of photography.

I like banal. Eggleston , Stephen Shore and Gregory Crewdson's elaborately staged banal settings are some of my favorites. Most of life moments are banal. Capturing them helps us notice and connect with our surrounding.

Best regards,


tk

Hi all and Jeff,

That more or less wrapped up my unexpectedly fruitful visit to the Thian Hock Temple.

I mentioned a story of my(Singapore) backyard. That will be in the next installment.

I look forward to your stories. Thank you very much.