::spent the entire day sorting out the LTC pics.. all 2285 of them, some needed cropping, contrast adjustments.. only about 3.8GB worth of pics made the cut.. out of the 6GB worth of cards we used.. went to buy some accessories with Mr Yee on the Wed before LTC.. got 2 Slingshot 200 bags, 4 1GB cards and 2 extra batts.. the bags were extremely useful, you can just sling the bag to the side and can change lenses, get extra cards, batts.. plus so much more space than our current bags..

Friday
met Kian Hwee outside the darkroom first to check if we have brought everything we needed.. rented the 10-22 and 70-200F4 lenses.. so each of us got wide-anlge to telephoto covered.. of course, we were early.. took some pics of them preparing their banners, briefing etc.. nothing special, you can take a look at the whole collection at the college website once I submit the pics..
the trip there was long to say the least.. lotsa winding roads to the campsite once we got off the expressway..
briefings again once we got off the buses.. they had some games first, the crossing game, the tire out of the pole etc.. headed for the kayak school, while Kian Hwee covered the belay school.. couldn't join them out in the sea cos only the next day for their expedition they'll have the powerboat.. so joined Kian Hwee to take some of the high elements.. didn't take much cos it rained quite heavily halfway..



made a light-painting after dinner with Kian Hwee writing.. again, only out of the dozen shots we took this was the nicest.. the rest some letters not proportional, the spacing not right.. the night activities were mostly leadership talks, so took a couple of shots then went to rest already..
woke up the next morning quite early, partly cos I needed to go to the toilet.. hahaa.. it was already 5plus in the morning.. the lights were all off and had take out my torchlight to find my way around.. on the way back, noticed something rarely seen in Singapore..



Stars..
we didn't have the cable release, so had to manually hold the shutter for 1.5mins for that exposure.. would loved to make a star trail attempt, but don't think its possible to hold for like 30min without a cable release..

Saturday
went for the sea expedition in the morning.. had lasi lemak for breakfast, then followed the group towards the kayak shed.. had to waddle through the water to get on the power-boat, so my shoes were wet..



the waters that day looked pretty calm and pleasant... with the morning sun just starting to light up the sky and with the reflections in the water, it looked pretty surreal.. things started to change in the later part of the morning.. sunny was the word to use here.. and it didn't help that I was gonna shoot into the sun, even the lens hood can't prevent the flare..



the 70-200 F4 L lens is amazingly sharp.. the DOF at wide open also quite shallow, too shallow sometimes that I can't get the whole kayak in focus.. only had a few water splashing shots.. have some other nice shots too, but too many to be shown here..
anyway, had a number of incidents along the way.. picked up a couple of extra "passengers".. we were heading towards a checkpoint when we spotted some nets, went back to inform the rest of the expedition, but got stuck in it ourselves.. hahaa..



had to cut through the net cos it was too tangled up to set it free.. the fishes would be happy that theres now a hole to swim though, but the fisherman won't.. hiaz, its this kinda things that are killing off the wildlife in Singapore.. who knows what innocent creatures were caught in this net unintendedly..
handed out some biscuits while they had their rest.. the journey back seemed longer, maybe because now its already the mid-noon sun is up.. most of the time we didn't really go full speed, a few short burst and more waiting... picked up another "passenger" when we were almost back, one of the few times we went at full speed..
had a slight flu when I came back.. slept for awhile, but ended up with a headache.. took some Panadol and by the evening it was gone..

Sunday
went for the high elements today.. took some shots the day before, but today from a totally different perpective.. from the top..






hard at work..
Kian Hwee got geared up and had to "modify" the cam abit.. shortened the camera strap so that it could be worn snuggly, and had to remove the battery grip to lessen the weight.. mounted on the 10-22 lens for that ultra-wide perpective.. also to exaggrate the height..



way up..
had to go off for a few hours cos my family taking a family portrait together.. had lunch first, Kian Hwee went off for the land expedition group, while I went off with my family.. they setted up a make-shift studio in the living room with all the studio strobe lights and reflectors.. after 3 days of taking shots of people, it was my turn to be taken.. irony issn't it..
went to have a nice warm shower and enjoyed the modern comforts of air-conditioning.. changed into a long sleeved shirt and black pants for the photo.. all my cousin were there already there and getting ready for the shoot.. when it came down to the actual shoot, every single detail was not spared.. every position not aligned, every hand not put properly.. quite tedious..
after that photo shoot, had my a photo shoot of my own too.. had to take the group photos for all the groups.. well not all, but 2/3 cos we did 1 subcamp yesteday.. wish I had those strobe lights too, but then that would cut down on my versatility.. had the groups to decide what and where they wanted.. created some pretty nice and creative photos.. each group had their own unique location and pose, so you could easily recognised which group is which..

Monday
the last day of the camp.. took some of the raft-building shots in the morning.. had to get my just dried pair of shoes muddy again.. so much for not packing an extra pair of shoes.. did a group photo for all the facillitators and teachers before we boarded the bus.. started to rain again as we boarded the bus..
anyway, wanna share 2 shots from the LTC thus far that I liked.. more of the teambuilding side..





Tribal..
met up with Kian Hwee once we got back to school.. Zhi Kai wanted to borrow the other 350D but we were kinda short on memory cards already.. I used my 2GB SD card with the adaptor, and still left with 183 shots left.. was planing to fill it with the finale night pics later on, but Zhi Kai wanted the adaptor.. had to make do with the rest of the spare cards we had lying in the darkroom..
had our dinner at the canteen.. then went to get the tripods before heading for LT4.. for Finale Night..



Finale Night..
the skits for finale night were hilarious.. parodied lotsa aspects of the LTC, lotsa cross-gender roles also.. haha.. though it as fun, but I think they learnt some important lessons through those skits.. though some slightly lame.. Ms Audrey was also kind enough to get for us the LTC shirts.. they had a mass tribal cheer at the parade square.. had to rush for the toilet first cos theres no intermission during the finale night.. hahaa..
got to the 3rd Storey to try to get some "aerial coverage" while Kian Hwee did the groundwork.. had a serious problem with the condensation, cos we brought the cams out of the LT too fast.. didn't have time to climatise.. went back to the LT to let it cool down again, then slowly brought it outside.. this time it worked.. tooked quite a number of group pics outside the LT.. outside LT4 theres a medium height ceiling, so could bounce the flash even for large groups.. the 10-22 sure helped alot in framing large groups.. had some request to use their compacts, had to stand way back in order to get everyone in.. don't think a certain brand's claim of 28mm wide lenses would help much here.. 16mm is much better.. hahaa..



the lousiest pic from the LTC..
in all, I think this LTC been a great experience for both of us.. though we weren't exactly participants.. sure, many people out there reading this would say "chey, take photo only.." which I find quite demeaning.. of course anyone who can see can take photos, just like anyone who has hands can paint.. but its not just pressing the shutter button, or just moving a paint brush.. there's lotsa hard work and planning behind which many people wouldn't see.. think this LTC has refined my sense of visualisation.. in the sense that leading up to this LTC, I had already some shots in mind.. that high angle shot from way up was one of them.. but some just came to me on the spot.. like the tribal one, wanted to portray the vibrant and aggressive nature of the tribal cheer..
the hard part of the LTC? it isn't just about kayaking, abseiling or trekking..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 11:51 pm:.
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Wow! I've read it. The entire post was gReat! It jus brings me on to read what's next. Cool. >.= Yea~ totally agree wif u that its not simply just taking of photos. Hope to see u post often. Bye! :))

By  Anonymous, at December 04, 2006 9:34 pm  

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::went for LTC pre-camp on sat.. reached there just in time, but had to get to the darkroom for the cams.. then found out the shutter was locked, got the sercurity guard to unlock it, but he locked it back after I left.. and I left my bag in the darkroom..
Kian Hwee didn't want to attend the briefing, so I had to.. and inform him whats happening.. quite interesting theme they had.. revolves around Camelot, Knights of the Round Table etc.. they got into groups after that and had some ice-breaking activities.. Kian Hwee came and helped.. looking forward to this LTC even though I'm not really participating..
then Monday suppose to pass the QM list, but woke up late.. anyway going to school on Tues to disccuss about the website so pass it then.. then met Qihao, where he gave me a bussiness proposition he had.. would like to earn some cash for myself, but it wasn't really what I was looking for..
then went to CP to check out the bags and accessories we would be buying.. bought a IR filter for my cam.. looks like just a black piece of glass, its almost opaque.. instead of showing you what it looks like, showing you what it can do is better..


had only an hour or so of daylight left.. its literally seeing the world in a different light.. Infra-red light to be exact.. it basically blocks out all light except IR light.. you just need to check whether your cam is sensitive to IR first.. quite easy, in just a few simple steps..
1. Get any remote control.
2. Point at your cam.
3. Press a button on the remote.
4. Look at the LCD to see if you can see some light from the remote.
and your done.. all you need now is to get a IR filter.. would be exploring more into IR in the weeks to come, so stay tuned..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 9:53 pm:.
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::had lectures the whole week.. covered some new topics for next year.. its 1 1/2 hour lectures and no breaks inbetween, so it gets pretty cold in LT4.. had a very interesting econs lecture.. had a mini-debate about whether or not to stay in singapore.. talked about cost of living etc..
thursday went to Marina Bay there to eat.. before that did a more detailed version of the virtual tour of the drum.. they wanted it for next year's orientation or something.. went home to change first, then took the NS line down to Marina Bay.. quite a long journey to the end of the line, almost slept halfway..
think almost the whole class was waiting at the station when I arrived.. waited for a few more people and went.. think this is one of the biggest outings we had, some of the 1st intake ppl also came, but didn't really take much pics.. partly because of what happens when I take out my cam..
went for a walk while Jack was organising our seatings..


went to the large field across the road.. there were a couple of people there flying kites.. think this is one the memories I could recall clearly.. my dad brought me here once to fly kites also.. the wide open space and unobstructed skies.. we also came to have steamboat here a few times..
well, the real reason I came out here was just to get a breather.. dunno why, but got slightly nervous as I came for this outing.. heartbeat beating faster than normal.. thoughts of just screaming out lingered in my head.. stressed up by all the happenings lately I guess.. then being in a large group didn't help.. when I tried to take some pics, but they didn't want to, thats when I took this walk.. think it reflects on the level of trust and understanding..





anyway, caught some colours in the sky before I went back to join them.. sat with Joel, Yong Huan, Yan Hao and Shu Heng.. we were joking most of the time, created quite a mess..
then went to the arcade to play for awhile.. mostly just stood there and watched.. went to play pool next.. paired up with Yong Huan.. we were winning in the first match, then it came down to our last shot on the 8-ball.. Yong Huan didn't wanna risk going for the other corner pocket cause the angle not that good, then he chose the easier shot.. but instead it went for the other pocket and we lost.. the next game was better.. did a nice jump shot.. still dunno how to curl though..
then friday went to Tricia's house to celebrate her birthday.. had a rought idea of where her house is by looking at the map at the MRT station.. walked for quite a distance and thought I should have reached by now.. wasn't really sure, so went back to check, turns out I was correct and walked one big round.. need more exercise anyway..
anyway, leave you with this 2 group shots..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:49 pm:.
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::the post from sat and sun..
woke up just in time for the photog meeting at 9.. spent the night doing up some notes, then rushed to print them.. reached slightly after 9, the usual room where we have our meetings was locked, so went to the AVA room instead.. almost like giving a lecture, except with more hands on stuff.. gave my "lecture notes" and went through the concept of Depth of Field.. just go search for the term if you are wondering whats it about.. much better than the first time now that I've prepared my stuff.. hope to touch on the creative aspect next time instead of just the technicals.. like if you are learning piano, you need to know all your fingerings, chords, which pedal does what before you can venture into musical expression..
talked till about 10.30 when we left.. went the longer way to the MRT instead of cutting through the interchange.. reached there just in time for our team's event..


Dragonboaters in action..
we were at just before the starting line.. so could get pretty close to them.. spotted Jun An and Hek Ming.. made our way to the finishing line area.. where all the tents were.. while we were walking there, a boat capsized.. when I joined my class they said they didn't notice it.. even though the announcer mentioned about it on the PA system...
more shots from the day..






rained quite heavily in the later part of the day.. luckily they brought umbrellas, even with umbrellas we still got slightly wet.. the 5th consectutive time it rains at the regatta, some kind of tradition already..


took this shot before it rained.. was getting very cloudy and gloomy, no suprise that it rained so heavily.. met Chuan Xin at the entrance of the MRT station.. such a coincidence again.. she was meeting someone, but its raining quite heavily outside so I've no idea how she's gonna meet..
then went to Marina Square to eat.. sat at the open air area partly because we couldn't find a seat, or just too hungry to wait?
tried my hand at food photography.. the cloudy skies gave a nice soft diffused lighting..





looks yummy doesn't it.. speaking of which, getting hungry also.. hahaa.. had grilled chicken, the sause was rather nice.. then waited for quite awhile for Michelle.. was getting bored, so tried to find something to shoot.. noticed the rain had let up already, its just drizzing.. good thing we sat outside if not I wouldn't have noticed the rain.. tried to get some shots of water droplets.. out of the dozen or so attempts, think only these 2 were ok..





went to shop around for presents for the November birthday boys and gals.. just walked around abit, then took the train home.. quite tired from the day out so slept almost immediately..
woke up early on Sun.. went for the finals together with about a third of the class.. Angie was the first to reach there after me, so joined her..
nothing much different than yesterday.. went to get something to eat, walked one big round around the river while having my breakfast at the same time.. met Ms Lim at the opposite bank of the river.. gave me a small pep talk.. really gotta work harder for next year..


leave you with this last pic to show you how close the race was.. the boat number you get sometimes doesn't signify what position you'll get..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:59 pm:.
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::up early in the morning yet again.. going for the finals of the River Regatta so holding off that post till tomorrow.. so just a continuation of Friday..
baked some cookies since I was up so early..



Before..


and After..
went to Jin Hao's house to do some last minute touch up on our project.. then his father fetched us to school.. we were slightly late... the presentation was ok.. nothing bad happened.. maybe I did move too much, other than that it was fine.. my Q&A was quite short, now that I think of it, could have added in more points..
brought a bottle of distilled water for our presentation.. my group was doing on Fuel Cells, so we got some distilled water to simulate the pure water that you can obtain from a Fuel Cell.. but the assessors has their own water bottle already.. hahaa.. anyway it still came in useful.. we were rather thirsty after the presentation..
the group after us were suprisingly similar to our project.. both were on alternative fuels, ours Fuel Cells, theirs was on Ethanol.. our projects slightly overlapped abit.. at least we went first.. met Yong De at the corridor, his OP also just finished.. offered him a cookie.. was quite confused when he asked if I made it with them also.. who's them?
gathered some resources to do my notes for tomorrow's meeting and ate with Wee Chong.. had some time before practice starts.. the trumpets were having sectionals with their tutor in the band room..
turns out that Gloria, Regina, Kok Wey and Shi Chie had also baked some cookies of their own.. hahaa.. munched them along the way to the concert.. Gloria wanted to take one of mine but when she found out it was mine, she didn't take it.. OK... I sense another episode of deja vu..
went for NYP's concert, Sinfonia 06.. our practice ended at 7 and the concert starts at 7.30.. got their late and had to squeeze just outside the door there.. it was a free concert, so kinda expected it to be packed.. it was a Symphony Orchestra so that had a string section too.. but kinda boring for them cos they also played lotsa band pieces which don't require strings.. so half the time they are just sitting there doing nothing..
after the concert didn't feel excited or anything though.. technically wise I can't fault them, very nice balance and sound.. its just that some pieces they play too slow for my liking.. like Hungarian Dance.. and they didn't play the band version of Rhapsody in Blue!!! was looking forward to that clarinet solo.. their clarinet section quite good though, 2 of my former section-mates are also inside.. Desmond and Yong Liang.. can't really spot them cos we were way back behind..
the sec 4s also came even though it was in the middle of their O levels.. just wanna wish them all the best for their Os.. if any of the current sec 4s happen to be posted to NYJC, pls tell me.. hahaa..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 4:47 am:.
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::6.5 hours more to go before OP starts.. you might ask why am I up so early in the morning.. was rehearsing at Joel's house on thursday.. took 132 there, Sarah was there already.. played on the piano and had lunch while we waited for Jin Hao.. Joel's mom commented that my playing was good.. dunno whether its the rain or the air con but started sneezing.. laid down on the bean bag which Jin Hao was hogging all the while and tried to get some rest.. my head was aching when I tried to get up.. went off early to get more rest.. took 410 to Bishan then 88 back.. then slept till now.. feeling much better now.. can't imagine the first time I'll be sick is on OP day.. speaking of that, Bao Bao's also not been feeling well for the past week.. didn't come for our rehearsals.. hope she's fine by today..
Wednesday went back to Montfort to help out again.. since my band practice in the afternoon and theirs in the morning, why not.. they practiced their SYF piece, Flight of the Falcon.. which was quite sight readable considering the stuff we've been sight reading lately.. there's a part where the clarinets accompany the flute melody.. Joshua had some trouble with his part.. its more of his intonation and sound.. so took him outside for awhile to try to correct it.. been some time since I last saw him and I thought it would be ok by now.. he's able to get the nice sound, but he's not consistent.. like sometimes its nice and sometime's its not..
borrowed their Eb Clarinet since no one's using it.. quite troublesome to carry 2 cases.. why can't they have a combined case like for the A and Bb.. played though Sinfonia with the tempo Mr Tan wanted.. which was fast.. first time seeing the Eb part, so quite exhilirating to sight read my part at that speed.. hahaa.. still need lotsa work on the high notes though..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 6:06 am:.
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::1st post of the month.. wednesday had to go to school to hand in our I&R, touched up on our GPF.. labelling and all that.. then went to Jin Hao's house for PW.. had to leave early cos have practice.. walked back to school myself from his house, not really sure of the route.. mostly from memory, then just reversed the image I had..
sight read quite a number of pieces during the 2 practices we had.. Sinfonia Nobilissima one of our possible SYF piece.. Grandfather Clock Variations nice and all that, but don't really think its competition stuff.. the piece quite challenging.. only played it as woodwind and brass ensembles on wed, had to wait till fri to hear how it sounds like as a full band.. exciting and invigorating piece..
Friday had Chinese As.. brought an extra dictionary cos I thought my locker didn't have.. the compo was ok, compre part er.. the mark allocation quite high, 1st question 12marks for 3 parts? mcq 4 marks? wah, its all or nothing..
lotsa people stayed back after band.. ended quite early compared to normal, so why not.. tried out other instruments, wanted to try the sax but didn't really have the opportunity before.. asked Shao Ming for a spare instru and some fingering charts.. saxophones so much easier to play than clarinets, after a few mins could play some tunes already.. hahaa.. still haven't figured the fingerings for the extreme high notes though..


Regina had this pencil which came with her clarinet.. looks like some super high piccolo clarinet.. was thinking of doing a silhouette outline of the instruments thing for the band T-Shirt design.. I'm able to conjure how it looks like in my head, but just can't draw it down.. just too complicated..
anyway.. sat had sectionals.. played at outside the squash courts there.. extremely echo-y, practiced lotsa running notes there.. its like playing running notes on the piano and pressing the sustain pedal.. clash like crazy.. on the other hand, can hear ourselves pretty clearly.. Wei Jie came from his performance, he looks like some just retrenched worker with his rolled up sleeves.. he played some jazzy/blues impromtu thing which added to that image.. hahaa..
went to Far East to eat.. they couldn't really decide on where to eat, so I suggest the chicken rice upstairs.. haven't been there since with 1T24.. they went for NP's concert next while I took 132 home..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 9:46 pm:.
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