Thursday, December 27, 2012

JL Family Photography Practical Outing @ GBTB



Another great evening with my ladies @ Gardens By The Bay (GBTB). It was a photography practical outing for my 2 girls. I was very pleased with their progress and improvement.


Jewel was armed with a Panasonic GF1 (my first M 4/3 camera) and a 20 mm f1.7 lens. She was working on her composition skills using a prime lens almost = to a 35mm lens. She did well and was able to apply all the basic principles I taught her. She surprised me with a few creative shots!

Jovin was armed with my Panasonic GX1 with a Panasonic 8mm f4 Fisheye lens. She is the creative one. Jovin loves the fisheye and she is able to spot nice fisheye angles and creative shots. Many good takes from Jovin.

I supported my 2 girls with my trusty Olympus OMD (with grip), Panny 12-35mm f2.8 lens, 7-14mm f4 UWA lens and the FL-36R flash. My role was to coach and guide them. Occasionally I will capture a few candid moments as they go around shooting and framing their subjects. O.k....I was shooting too! Have been deprived long enough!

We had a lot of fun shooting and bonding. Girls were excited and we captured close to 400 shots together! Below are some of the selected shots taken by my 2 girls with some coaching. Looking forward to our next photography family outing. Next time, my wife will bring along her Panasonic G3 camera as well! Ha Ha.

p/s: By the way, this shot was taken by my wife with a Canon S90 compact camera. Don't ask me how many more cameras we have in the family.

Below are some of the shots taken by my 2 girls. They are still learning so the pictures are not perfect. Allowing them to make mistakes along the way and learn from their mistakes is the best way to learn and improve. :) Hope you will enjoy their creations.



The shoot practice started as we took a slow walk from Marina Bay Sands (MBS) to GBTB. Girls were very eager to start snapping non-stop. I was glad we were using digital cameras (and I brought along several extra batteries and SD cards), if not, it's going to be an expensive affair :)


My 2 darlings all ready to go!




Jovin took these several wide angle shots on the Supertree Grove. This was where I started to share with them how we should frame our shots and identify our subject matter. Also took the opportunity to share with them that any odd number subjects will make their picture interesting. The 3 supertrees were perfect examples.



Jovin was playing with her fisheye and below was what she captured.




Before we entered the Cloud Forest. Look how excited my ladies were :)



 Once we entered the Cloud Forest, we were greeted with a 35m tall mountain covered in lush vegetation. This is the world's tallest indoor waterfall!


Jewel careful! My GF1 is not weather sealed!



These few shots were taken by both of my girls. They were trying out the "framing" technique I taught them. Framing is simply using other objects in your photograph to frame the main subject. This is one of the easier composition techniques in photography. Not perfect pictures but my girls got the idea.



The shot below was captured by Jewel. I was coaching her on how to use reflection to make her picture more interesting. Reflection can make your picture more interesting but you need to know how to frame your picture in the right angle and master your camera's capabilities. Picture taken was not perfect but I knew she got what I was trying to share with her.



O.k. time for some informal pictures with my ladies. 


Below shot was taken by Jewel using her 20mm f1.7 pancake lens on her GF1. She was practicing on how to frame her subject using the Rule of Thirds principle I shared with her. Not a bad shot I must say. Well done Jewel!



Jovin was having a great time playing with her 8mm f4 fisheye lens. It was not easy using the fisheye lens effectively. Not many people like the 'fisheye' look. For me, a fisheye lens (if used correctly) is one of the best way to get creative in photography. The fisheye lens helps shooting in confined spaces. The Cloud Forest was perfect for the lens. Pictures can be better but Jovin had lots of fun. That's important!






Mommy was also lending her support. My wife Jo is quite a good photographer herself. She has the 'eye' and she started to be interested in photography way before me. How perfect can my family be??? A photographer's dream...Ha Ha...


 

Jim and his angels!



My girls quarrel a lot at home like most siblings. When they had their cameras with them that day, they 'shot each other to death'!




Always check your shots after you have taken them! My girls were taught to have the habit of checking their pictures for composition and clarity. Well, there are different schools of thought on this. Unless you are doing street photography or any photography that needs you to capture critical decisive moments (i.e. if you check your pictures after shoot, you may miss these decisive moments), I would advocate that you always check your shots.




As night falls, it was a good time to share with them the principle of Light. Shared with my girls how to take advantage of surrounding light when taking pictures at night.



Some handheld night shots taken by Jovin in the Flower Dome. Shared with them the importance of a tripod when taking pictures at night or low light conditions. Unfortunately I did not have a tripod with me because I did not expect to stay till this late!


Jovin called the shot below an "Accidentally Creative Shot". Cool!


Well, it was a great day for my whole family. I'm sure my girls enjoyed themselves and learnt a lot about photography. I am looking forward to better pictures from them soon. 

We had fun together as a family. :)


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