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#Take52 Week 32: Perspective

Image | | NeoAaragorn

As some of you know (well those who read my blogs), apart from the #Take52 Weekly photography challenge I am also working on a daily photography challenge on my Instagram feed under the hashtag #AG365in2015. And since it’s Instagram, the challenge is executed using only my handphone, i.e. the iPhone 6Plus.

The Instagram challenge was something I had planned on doing since 2013. Ever since I saw the hashtag #365PhotoChallenge images I was bitten by the daily challenge bug. So when I set out to list of challenges I wanted to accomplish this year, I decided to include the daily challenge as well.

The daily challenge has helped me become more aware of my surroundings and perceive mundane objects and street scenes with a unique perspective. Lot of the images in the feed are everyday objects or places with a little filter magic in a square frame.

If there’s anything I’ve learned this year it’s that my handphone is a great camera when I’m not carrying the dedicated photography equipment. I’ve enjoyed my previous smartphones (ALL HTCs! All six of them!). But the images that I have been taking with the iPhone are simply put, stellar in comparison. And the fact that each image is taken with almost complete automatic settings, it is indeed a commendable feat for a camera phone.

This shot is taken on September 4, 2015 and is of the Australian Federal Police building and Travelodge hotel at Alberta Street in Sydney. Something about the way the two structures seem to face off each other caught my eye and I decided to capture the shot.

So although this image was not shot exclusively for the weekly challenge, it seemed to fit the theme of “Perspective” rather well.

iPhone6 Plus

For those who are curious, here’s my Instagram feed.

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#Take52 Week 22: Hostile

Image | | NeoAaragorn

Playing catch up (once again!) with the theme from way back in June.

There were quite a few military and armed forces inspired images from the Singapore National Day Rehearsal that I thought of using for this particular theme. A number of them would have conveyed the essence of the theme quite well without any additional editing or processing.

Instead I chose to use an image that would need some processing to make the cut. The structure in the image is St. Mary’s Cathedral near Hyde Park in Sydney. A magnificent structure, the cathedral attracts tourists from all over and is a hot spot for photographers especially the wedding and prenup specialists.

However I felt that the imagery could be manipulated to render this holy building into a tad more unnerving and well hostile. Since it was overcast the day I shot the image, the skies above the cathedral gave me the idea to darken the skies with a little desaturation and the gradient tool. The end result makes the holy cathedral look a little like the Bates Motel! Well at least a “hostile” haunted cathedral.

The Cathedral
Fujifilm X E2 | XF 18-55 f2.8-4 R LM OIS | f/6.4 | 1/250 | ISO 200 | 23.3 mm

The Red Queen

Asia Singapore Arab Street Woman In Red
Image | | NeoAaragorn

Dug this one up from the archives. This shot dates back to 2010 and was taken with my very first DSLR camera, the Canon 500D. The image was part of a street photography exercise when I was taking a beginners course in digital photography.

On the day, there were some sort of celebrations taking place in the grounds of the Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah near Arab Street. This damsel was part of a group of women all dressed up in similar attire and leisurely walking around the park grounds. The reds aren’t just limited to her dress but also seem to seep through her visage on the lips as well as the rouge foundation.

Her slightly contemptuous glance and regal adornments prompted me to dub her “The Red Queen”. Although I’m sure she must be an angel in person, that title has somewhat stuck ever since I clicked the image.

 

Asia Singapore Arab Street Woman In Red
The Red Queen

And with this image I strike off Red from my RainBow Series. Three down. Four more to go. Yay!!