Wednesday, August 31, 2011

My Return To Safra Yishun

Every Singaporean man has gone through 2 years of army life. Like it or not, you can’t say no. Like it or not, it has changed our life. So in some ways, once that 2 years was over, I distanced myself from anything related to it. Even to the extent of cancelling my Safra Club Membership.

But for my girls, I am back to the Safra Yishun for a swim. Things a Dad will do just to make his children happy.

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Joey is under 1.4m and enjoys consession rate. For cheapo parents like us, we felt happier than seeing TT getting elected for presidency.

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Getting ready.

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Joey being more accustomed to the waters, immediately jumped into the pool and tried to pull Jayne in.

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Jayne decides to soak her legs first, then started to play at the washing place instead to build up her courage.

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Meanwhile… do you still remember Joey’s look without her specs?

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The persistent sister tried another method. Big balls!

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Can you see Jayne is slowly being lured towards the waters? Heheehe…

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Brave girl conquers her fear and starts to enjoy herself. At least Papa’s effort and sacrifices are not wasted.

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PS. thanks to all the people who left a comment on my blog or youtube for the Crizal Competition. If you have won, I will be in contact with you soon. Enjoy your FREE Crizal lenses and frame.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

How To Photograph Children

Having 2 active and I really mean moving non-stop kids, it’s a constant challenge to take good and clear photos of them.

Stole a few Child Photography tips from some websites and put it to use. 2 parts to understand:

Photographing Children – Settings
Looking at some tips on how to set your camera.

Aperture Priority Mode – personally I feel this is the best mode to shoot in as it gives me the control over Depth of Field (DOF) which is quite important on portraits. If your camera do not have Aperture Mode, you can choose Portrait mode too. I will usually set my aperture at f/5.6 which will throw the background out of focus (blur) and yet the face will be in focus. Actually most of my kids photos are shot in this mode and aperture.

ISO – for me I will set it normally to 200 for outdoor and 600 for indoor. Just need to take note if you keep a lower ISO for indoor in Aperture Mode, the shutter speed will be slower, a greater chance your hand will shake and the photo will be blur. Play around to see the difference.

Focus Mode – set your auto focus to single point focussing. That’s because kids tend to move a lot and with multipoint focussing you may not get the right focus point at times.

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Photographing Children – The Shoot

Photographing children is all about ease and comfort. If your kids are not comfortable during the shoot, they will not want to cooperate. Try to show your kids what you are shooting, get them involved, maybe allow them to take a few shots if they are old enough. This will ensure them that Daddy is having fun with them.

Location – vary the venue you take the photos. If your child is bored, the photos will not turn out as good. On the contrary, if they are excited about the place, the joy and smile on their faces will be priceless. For me, I like to bring the children outdoors, the element of surprise is greater.

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Candid Approach – get the children to enjoy what they are doing and start snapping off. Occasionally you can request them to pose for you, but natural is beauty, I stand by that all the time.

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Posing Approach – I can only do this with my elder daughter, she will understand what I want and pose as requested. Younger kids will not have the attention span for such shots.

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Go To Their Level – you are almost twice the height of the kids. So go down to their level, see the world with their ‘eyes’. This will result in a more intimate feel.

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Alter Your Perspective – don’t just shoot from a certain angle or level. Break the traditional rule, try creative ways of shooting a picture. From above, below, behind an clear window, through a hole, etc..

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Zoom In – ever tried to take a shot so close you feel like almost you can feel their breath in the photo? This type of shots can be done if you have a good zoom lenses, if not you have to just move your legs and get closer. Just remember one thing, make sure that the child dominates the shot rather than the environment.

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Focus On A Certain Body Part – switch on your single point focus, you want that particular part to be in focus and the rest of the photo out of focus. Point your viewer to the focus you want them to see, a photo without a focus will just be another picture people will flip pass and forget.

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Background – look out for strong contrasting background to frame your photos. You will find the photo surprisingly captivating.

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Shoot In Burst Mode – switch your camera to multi-shot mode (where the camera shoots a lot of shots fast). String the photos together and see the cuteness of your kids.

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Having said all, the most important thing in Children Photography is GO OUT AND TAKE THE SHOTS!

Enjoy!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Totally In Awe

Q: How can she be so cute?
(alright the photos are not exactly clear, but you can’t deny the fact)

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A: Cos she is my girl!

PS. Check out my video post on Crizal lenses, comment to win a free pair of specs, competition ends Sep1.
http://jbabiesdad.blogspot.com/2011/08/crizal-ftw.html

Friday, August 26, 2011

Woodlands Waterfront (Revisited)

Playground to Joey is like cheese to a mouse. She will immediately be full of energy, nothing else matters, not even titbits or cartoon.

During Kless’s short family break to Taiwan, I took the chance to bring Joey to Woodlands Waterfront again. The weather was perfect and timing was excellent, not too many kids to crowd around the slides and swings.

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See how fast my girl ran, before I can take a clear shot, she was already reaching the end of the pavement.

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This is the highlight of the playground, even the old man (me) wants to give it a try.

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Joey enjoying the slight breeze on her hair. I just love her smile!

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Where is Joey?

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A good way to used up her energy (she fell asleep on the way home).

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We saw a rainbow too! Small it may be, but the promise of God stays true forever.

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We sat on the floor for a good 10mins and talked about everything (why JB is so close to S’pore? why is there a rainbow? can we come back again?) Such moments are priceless!

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Woodlands Waterfront is such a relaxing place. Maybe I will bring Joey back for fishing next time..

Thursday, August 25, 2011

It’s So Good To Be A Child

As adults we are constantly complaining that Singapore is a boring place. There isn’t anything interesting to do in Singapore. This can be true to a certain extent, cos we are indeed a very small country, what else can you expect?

But with the girls, I really learnt something important. Be contented with life. Every weekend I have to crack my head to find new places to bring the girls out. So that they can enjoy themselves after a week cooped at home. Singapore being surrounded by waters, going to the beaches seems like one of the favourite ideas.

Thank God the girls are always so excited and happy to go out for some fresh air. So even though we have been to ECP for numerous times, nonetheless, every visit is still full of fun and laughter. It’s so good to be a child, be contented.

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At least I promised myself, the next trip will be to West Coast and no more East Coast. Anyone has any idea what to expect in the west?