spontaneity

What's in an image?







How do you express your thoughts and impressions through an image?







Is it the photographer's feelings? Or is it the feeling of the subject or atmosphere of the environment?

Does it matter?

For me, each preparation to get out to take a photo usually ends up in vain. No, don't get me wrong.. I still go out.. I still take the photos... This morning, I thought that I would have a good breakfast with Lee Cher, then go for a jog around Seng Kang Park and take some photographs while I jogged (kinda like the group in the movie "Yes Man"), and no it did not happen... So I did what a "trying to be optimize time" guy does.. I scouted what I wanted to shoot, then return to shoot it after. More than 100 shots later, the best shot of the day is the first photo above. And it was a shot pointed out by Lee Cher as I was shooting the 90th shot of a bug-eaten leaf. Finally, for today, total number of shots taken 143, published shot ... 1.

It then dawn on me that there were many other days where my photography outing ended up in the same way. A day of kite flying with many kites captured by my camera. But in the end, the one I really liked, was the one where Lee Cher flew a kite with no one else in the picture. Was she really lonely? Not really... but was she enjoying her time of solitude? Yes I am sure.

One more photograph that is very treasured by me was the one that I took at the Singapore GP 2010. I thought I needed fast lenses with fast ISOs, but eventually.. the treasured shot had nothing to do with the mean machines, but the one of a performer from Africa, sharing his African culture... It was "Africa! Africa!"

Sometimes life is like that isn't it? Even this blog was like that.. I was finishing my "playing together" blog and was ready to go chill out in-front of the TV, but something inspired me to write about some of the pictures that I cherish because I knew I captured the moment. But as I started to gather images, I realize that all the pictures have one thing in common.. spontaneity! One can only plan so much.. stick to your plan, but be ready to adapt and be flexible.. Take what you planned and make the best out of it. Sometimes, it is the one who didn't plan, who will get (or help to get) the day's reward..

Enjoy spontaneity spontaneously!

playing together..

For a while now, a few of us have been promoting the flying of quad line kites and a recent check with Lao-Zhang, he told me that there are at least 100 flyers which have quad line kites... BUT where are they? I have hardly seen any other, apart from a few folks whom are truely "strangers" flying alone. Then it came to my revelation that actually some of us have more than one quad kite. Myself already having more than 10. (I have more than 10? How did that happen??)

Recently, with the leadership and promotion of "playing together" by Handi, the crowd seem to have gathered quite spontaneously and two weekends back, there was 9 of us flying together... I made a call to Lee Cher and soon she joined us, with the camera..



It was interesting that in such a mega-fly, characters are revealed and we see each other with better light. There was TOLERANCE... waiting patiently as the one in-front flies slower than the rest (like me). There was MOTIVATORS... edging on those with lesser experience but nevertheless was 'edged' to join in the fun. There was LEADERSHIP... taking the lead position was Handi who called the formations. There was confusion... (yes I am guilty but it was not just me..) whom was not fully aware what each formation call was (Where's the manual??).. Most importantly, there was COMRADESHIP... people looking out for people, friends playing together.



It was not about who could fly well and who couldn't.. It was also not about who has a better kite and who doesn't.. It was about the time we spent together, coming together to do something that we couldn't do alone; doing a Mega-Fly.

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a new kite flies...

About 2 weeks ago, Lao-Zhang called me and said.. the 300+ panel Spectrum Kite has arrived. As usual, the first apprehension is how many colors was changed from the original design... But when Handi handed over to me the Spectrum Quad "Cool", it was so beautiful that I forgot how I designed it on paper, but instead I simply said THIS IS MY DESIGN "PERIOD"!

Unwrapping it nervously and then setting it up, it was a day with strong winds when I first flew it. Always a gentle flyer, I am careful not to overstretch the sail of the new kite. However, it was interesting to quickly notice that with the many stitches, the panels were holding together very well. Before long, I was zipping it, dropping it, spinning it, without much hesitation.. totally enjoying the very smooth ride. I immediately called Lao-Zhang to tell him how impressed I was with the kite.

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It was Saturday afternoon last week at Layang-Layang at the Marina Barrage and boy was it a rain-down day. Moving to the foyer, I whipped out my Indoor Revolution but realized it was too breezy to fly the indoor. Handi made the first move to setup the Spectrum Quad "Hot" and zipping it thru' the air, taking advantage of the very gentle breeze and then floating high overhead with each turn... and before long, it was the head turner and crowd pleaser.. Peter and myself both took a shot at it (me being the least skillful) and I was further impressed by the superb balance and glide-ability of this 300+ panel kite.

The greatest pleasure for me was when Handi and Peter started an unchoreographed routine around the courtyard with the kites getting many eyeballs. The way the kite was moved through the air, it was almost like a seagull gliding. There was no better way then to have had an "unofficial" reveal of the Spectrum Quads "Hot" & "Cool".

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Looking back, it was Spectrum Quad "Warm" & "Cool", I think its the kite is too "Hot" and warm is at the wrong temperature. And there is exactly 312 panels all in all, and the colors are just right!

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