Friday, August 24, 2012

Instant Addiction

Kelly - the cute dog that makes me sneeze.

If you follow me on Tumblr or Twitter, you would see that I post on Instagram a lot... As an avid social media user and photo taker - Instagram is just perfect for me :)

But the problem is that as I use it more and more, I'm developing a greater 'need' to instantly share my photos. This means that my cameras have been put aside for a prolonged period... Even if I do take a photo with a proper camera, I still want to share it on Instagram! Should I embrace or resist this changing technological and social environment?

(Uni is teaching me that in order to remain relevant, I need to be agile and embrace change. But I can't just let go of my beautiful cameras....)

Some wise words from C.S. Lewis

Walking home to some pretty skies

Economics love

A smile from the bus driver

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Light and Shadow






Have you ever had one of those days where you don't intend on taking photos, but then something catches your eye and before you know it, you've just taken a whole series of photos?

Well that's what happened here. Too bad my battery died so my 'photo walk' ended a bit prematurely.

So I'm currently on holidays until the end of the month. Yay! But I've still been pretty busy - working (mostly unpaid though), hanging out with friends and breaking windows. Yes, I broke a window with my arm and there was a piece of glass stuck in me. (Don't worry, all my cuts were superficial so I'm all good now.)

Monday, June 18, 2012

Bright Days

Excited about our 8:30am accounting lecture.

In Sunday afternoon traffic.

9am at Bondi.

From these photos, it probably looks like I'm in nice warm weather but unfortunately I am not. It's currently winter and everyday I struggle to get out of my warm bed. I'm looking forward to spring.

Also, I haven't been eating out much lately so I have very few food adventures to share. And when I do eat out, sometimes I forget my camera and instead I take photos for Instagram. The troubles of teenage photography enthusiast - should I take a photo with my phone for Instagram or with a good camera??
(I normally end up taking photos with both...)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The City







I think I have a love-hate relationship with the Sydney CBD. Some days I find it really exciting and cool. Other days the noise, pollution and stuffiness gets to me. The first two pictures were taken at Town Hall station which is always super stuffy, especially when you go to the bottom platforms. I definitely prefer the stations that are above ground or if they're below ground, I hope that they're nicely ventilated, such as the stations on the Epping-Chatswood line. The third photo was taken at Broadway, which is just next to my university. It's always such a busy road with so much traffic.

With the semester almost at an end, I'm getting a bit tired of trekking it to the city four days a week. I can't wait until the semester break.

(Don't worry, my next post won't look as depressing as this)

Monday, May 21, 2012

Food Adventures | 2



I only ate out a couple of times this week but Via Napoli Pizzeria was definitely the stand out. Such good pizza... Especially the corner - so much yeasty goodness! We split a metre long pizza between four of us for $15 each and being a group of small Asian girls, we had heaps left over. Next time I go with a group of four, I'll definitely get the 1/2 metre (which means only $10 each!!). The staff were super friendly and looked like they really enjoy the jobs. The owner is a third-generation pizza maker from Italy. Crazy!

On that same day, we also baked some delicious cookies, pandan chiffon cake (unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of it) and super adorable Hello Kitty cookies. Now I want to bake more!

Other photos I've taken over the past couple of weeks should be posted within a couple of days.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Gastronomy adventures! (The first of many?!)

I never thought this day would come, but perhaps I'm turning into a food blogger?? As I've been carrying around my new Canon G1X a lot, I've gotten into the habit of taking photos of food. So here is what I've been eating lately when out!

 I can definitely see myself visiting Thai Newtown a lot in the near future. Not only is it a 5-10 minute walk from my university, the lunch specials are only $6.50! And it's quite delicious and super filling! I can't believe I didn't go to Newtown sooner. Don't worry UniBros, I still love your cheap pides and kebabs, which I will still be buying on those days where I can't be bothered walking to Newtown. I'll definitely take photos of their pides and kebabs and share it with you guys next time I have them.

 Chefs Gallery will definitely be an option when I'm out in the city with my friends. They have a lunch special for noodles for just under $10. Definitely worth it. Their green tea ice cream was pretty good as well, though I wish there was more sweet potato and less of the other stuff, such as red bean and almonds.

 I absolutely loved Messina's decorated ice cream cakes! Hmm... Whose birthday is coming up...? I really want one of their big cakes for my birthday.

Coco Noir I've been to a few times and it's a pretty good cafe. They make great macarons! Yummy... Sel et Poivre and Oliver Brown were alright but not as good as I expected (especially for their prices!).

If I continue eating out regularly, maybe I'll do this as a weekly column. Comment and share your opinions!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

New Day Up Ahead






(Don't worry, those tears are from plucking my eyebrows. I decided the tears would make a good photo opportunity.)

A new day for my photography, hopefully! So maybe if you've talked to me lately, you've heard me complaining about how I haven't taken many photos recently and that I miss photography. Well I have found a solution (hopefully)!

Work and uni have consumed for the last couple of months. My weekdays are jam packed, rushing between work and uni. My weekends are full of study and church. This leaves little time for me to go out (with friends, preferably) and take photos. I want to be able to carry my DSLR around every day, but it's just too heavy for me (even though it's pretty much as light as a DSLR can get, especially with my kit lens and prime lens) and I don't want to look like a massive tourist every day. Also, I feel DSLRs look quite intimidating to most people.

Originally I wanted to use my (new) phone as my everyday camera. I tried using it a few days but my battery would die by 3pm... So seeing as I had some money in my bank which was originally going to be for my laptop fund (but my brothers ended up buying one for me! :D) I decided that I would buy a 'serious' compact camera.

And I did it! Last Wednesday! I bought a Canon G1X!

It's not light, it's not small but the sensor is big and beautiful. I've gotten some really nice (but horribly composed) photos with a sharp foreground and pretty background blur (bokeh). The macro isn't very good, but there's more to life than extreme close ups of flowers and food (they're not my subjects of choice)! With 14.3 megapixels, I can always just crop photos in order to get an extreme close up. The autofocus speed and shutter lag is more like a point and shoot than a DSLR, but it still does the job (quite beautifully) for everyday photos of friends and the world around me.

I'm planning on carrying the camera around with me on most days so if I know you in real life, expect a camera around my neck!

The plan now is also to save up for a 'more serious' DSLR. After 3 years, I'm starting to feel like I've outgrown my Nikon D60... This will probably take a while, but there's no rush to upgrade. If I had just upgraded my DSLR without buying a smaller camera, I would only be able to use my DSLR on 'serious' occasions. This would mean that photography would become a smaller part of life, with little chance of taking photos normally! What a travesty that would be! =P

With this Canon G1X, I'll be able to wear my camera! I'm looking forward to that.

Okay, I hope I haven't bored you all with my ramblings of me justifying why I just spent so much money a new camera...

See you again soon, hopefully!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Taiwan 2012































Part of me loves Taiwan - the cheap food, shopping and convenient lifestyle. Another part of me struggles to get past the noise, pollution and dirt. My recent 3 week trip to Taiwan was a mixture of frustration and love. I spent the whole time in Taipei (except for a one day trip to the country side) so I thought I would be able to see everything I wanted to in Taipei, yet somehow there was so much I still felt like I missed...

However, I did really enjoy that I had so much time to go around exploring and taking photos. Before I went, my photography was pretty much all about my friends and my outings. However, in Taiwan I don't really have friends to constantly take photos of. Instead I spent time taking photos of landscapes, architecture and even more daring street photography. I even spent NYE taking photos of dancers - something I've wanted to do for a while!

I wish I had more time for stuff like this in Sydney. No wait, I wish I was less lazy when I'm in Sydney. When I'm at home, it's a struggle for me to bother to take my DSLR out of my house, let alone out of my bag to actually take photos. Sometimes I'm in a scenic area and I wish I had brought my camera with me. With university starting, I'm hoping to be exposed to more opportunities and meet more people that will inspire to go out and take more photos.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Be Still



















The light painting photos were done with a SB-600 flash and then a 'bulb' shutter while someone drew something with a torch.

These photos were taken from my recent Youth Group camp which was a great time learning more of God's Word and growing in fellowship with my awesome brothers and sisters in Christ. I also got time to mess around with my camera at night - which is always fun for me.