Mulan

This is what happens when you leave two girls alone in the office with cool lamps and a nice camera.

Hearty

A couple weeks ago, my friend, Ann-Marie and I met up to go for a symposium on women's heart health.  I'm not usually the type of person to turn up for symposiums voluntarily (four years of covering them at 9am as a journalist cured me of that inclination), but Ann-Marie is concerned about health issues and I thought it would be a good chance to hang out with her, so I decided, what the hell.

And actually, I had a blast.

We checked our blood pressure (normal, I'll have you know), learned that we need to be doing yet more exercise and got to try out healthy food that a chef made in a cooking demonstration.  

I even made a new friend.  His name, believe it or not, is the wildly creative "Hearty".

Afterwards, we got to catch up over a not-so-heart-healthy meal at Cedele.  I know I should be grazing on kale chips and almonds, but honestly, what is the point?

I went for caramelised banana pancakes (amazeballs) and Ann-Marie had the big breakfast set with brioche.  We talked about her upcoming travel plans, her wedding (I'm a bridesmaid!) and since I'd brought my 35mm out, she was kind enough to ask me to hold forth on the benefits of lenses.  We've known each other for over 13 years now and it was nice to catch up and spend some quiet time together.

Ann-Marie is also a pretty sporting person, and after we had stuffed ourselves, she very gamely participated in photo-taking practise across the road near the Chopsticks monument.  Even though I used to admire the Chopsticks monument when I went for dinner at the old Satay Club with my family, I've never actually been to the base of it and I was surprised to see how big it was.  The top looks deceptively skinny.

She wore a printed navy dress with gladiator sandals and a coach bag, and she was a very easy model to work with!  I felt like Nigel Barker going "look here.  No, here.  Yes.  Eyes down..." and she just good-naturedly played along.  (Has anyone ever wondered whether Nigel Barker really IS a "noted fashion photographer"?  I barely see him doing anything except ogling girls from the panel.  A quick google shows me that there are more photos of him than by him and that his wife is Chinese.  Stay bald, Nigel, stay bald.)  Anyway.

I was even more casual with the tote that my friend Sook had made, jeans, sandals and earrings that my mom fashioned the night before.  She was just on a bit of a black kick, and now everything's coming up turquoise. 

Thanks for hanging out babe and I hope you enjoy the photos!  May we meet soon... maybe with healthier fare this time!

Aesop

Last week, after a swim at Amanda's place, I realised I'd forgotten to bring my moisturiser.  In her usual generous fashion, Amanda let me use her favourite moisturiser, Aesop's Geranium Leaf.  The smell absolutely sold me - deep blend of something fresh, herbal and slightly minty.  People had recommended Aesop to me before, but I didn't know that it was available locally.

Later on, we decided to run out to the Aesop store in Ngee Ann City to do some serious toiletry shopping.  The three things I spend a lot of money on in life are coffee, toiletries and stationery.  I don't wear makeup, branded clothes or shoes and last paid for an expensive purse four years ago, so I spend the bulk of my money on slightly more temporary vices that I use every day.

Aesop has a beautiful corner in Ngee Ann City where they will offer you mint tea and massage samples into your arms.  The products aren't cheap, but they feel so rich and luxurious that I couldn't resist.  

I normally like only two types of smells - fruity smells and dessert smells.  The Aesop scents, however, are reminiscent of the complex bouquet that you get in a spa.  When I close my eyes, I feel like I'm lying on a table waiting for a hot compress to be smoothed over my back.  

And so, I succumbed.

I got the Preen set, which came with four products that I saved over $30 on in all.  The pouch is made of a soft, felted type of material that will look quite dapper in my suitcase, should I travel.

Each Aesop set is blessed with a bird mascot and is put in a printed canvas drawstring bag which can double nicely as a slipper or underwear bag for travelling.

Inside, the lotions come wrapped in soft canvas.

The set came with a Resurrection hand cream and hand wash.  The Resurrection scent is replete with mandarin rind that smells more earthy and grounded than the floaty citrus of its pulp, rosemary and cedar.  The combination is like baked, herbed oranges and it is positively decadent on the hands.  Sometimes, I use it on my feet before I sleep as well.  Amanda got the same hand cream and we spent several bimbotic minutes every day grinning like idiots and nourishing our hands together.  

Since I have no need for such a giant bottle of handwash, I'm using it as a concentrated shower gel, and it works well.

There are also the Geranium Leaf moisturiser I loved so much and a matching body cleanser.

Separately, I got a calming shampoo that breathes cammomile and sage for my problematically dry scalp.  Because I've been swimming a lot and using shampoo away from home, I can't quite tell how well it works yet, but if it turns out to be a miracle product, I'll let you know.

The shop lady plied me with free samples to last me a little while.

You may also have noticed that the packaging is full of quotes and sayings.  That was the last thing that excited me - everything from the boxes, ribbons in the pouches and the walls in the shop is lined with poetry, with insight, with special, thoughtful words that would make for great gifts to loved ones. 

I kept turning up messages as I opened my box.  There was even a poem hidden on the inside of the cardboard where a more excited person may have missed it.  By some miracle, it seemed to speak to me.

I know it probably makes the brand seem more aware and meditative than it actually is, but it works.  It's a gimmick, but once in a while, there are gimmicks worth paying for.

Still missing

Source: http://www.dearmichaela.com/2012/02/age-progression-2012.html

We all have our soft spots.  

My friend Ann-Marie feels very strongly about children who have gone missing, who are unable to find their way home.  She follows many of their stories closely, reads about updates and keeps her eyes peeled.

Given that yesterday was Mother's Day, she requested that I share a story that she really cares about on this blog in the hope that the right someone, somewhere might see this.

 I think she overestimates the readership, but every little helps.  And if I were a lost child, even a child forty years later, all I would think about day in, and day out was finding my family.

Michaela Joy Garecht was kidnapped in 1988, when I was just a few years old.  Her mother, Sharon, has never stopped looking for her.  I'm not a mother, and I cannot imagine what it must be to lose a child.  But I know what it is to feel alone.  And maybe somewhere out there, Michaela knows it too.  

If you have some time to spare, you can read the whole story here or on the Facebook page here.  Maybe you are the right someone, somewhere.  And if you aren't, maybe you know someone who is. 

Test drive, long lens

Again, a layman review more than anything else.

This long lens is one of the more basic ones out there and I imagine that anyone stumbling upon this will be worrying about whether they should even get one in the first place, so I'll talk a bit about why I'd even want to shoot with such glass as well.

I first started thinking about something with more zoom when I realised that the concert range that I got with the kit lens was pants.  The Canon EF-S 55 - 250mm seemed like something within a price range that would allow for experimentation and at just below 400grams, it promised to be quite serviceable indeed.

I took it out for a walk on the beach a couple of weekends ago and quickly came to realise that rather than just zooming in more or even adjusting to work with a new lens, shooting with telephoto zoom requires learning a new kind of thinking altogether. 

In the beginning, I struggled with it a little bit but I quickly started to recognise, and relish, the advantages that come with such equipment.

To start with, here are some nonsense test photos to demonstrate range:

At the widest angle possible, without any cropping whatsoever.

At the 250mm end, without any cropping.  You can see how I've honed in on the little sailboat in the picture above.  That's quite a lot of range I wasn't getting before!  The lens isn't particularly sharp on the longest end, but it's acceptable for me.  If you crop the photo, you can even read the words on the ship's sail.

In terms of following moving objects:

This second one is a... shall we say... 15 per cent crop of a plane photo on full zoom.  Again, sharpness is compromised, but you can clearly see it's an SIA plane and the word "Airlines" spelt out on the side.  Given that the plane was taking off at full speed and I was attempting to track it through the viewfinder, I'd say I'm pretty pleased with the performance of this baby.

So first of all, the things I don't like about a zoom lens.

Even with its plastic construction and narrow body, the 250 started to weigh quite a bit around the neck.  The muzzle sags and bobs in quite a cumbersome way.  And the length of the barrel also means that I'm left feeling like it's going to bang into things and I am extra paranoid when walking around in crowds.

I'm not fond of the difficulty with focusing on the long end.  At such close range, every little movement is amplified and the slightest shrug of a shoulder or twitch of a hand escalates into focus sliding completely off the face or even out of shot.  For very distant subjects, focus will be particularly miserable because there isn't a single eye (or detail for that matter) to latch onto.

And of course, at the end of the spectrum, the amount of light via aperture is nonsense (f/6.5 at the highest).

That said, here are all the reasons why these arguments don't matter to me anyway:

1)  That little bit of extra zoom can be key even for slightly hard to reach places.  (I would never have been able to grab that first picture of the kite stuck in the tree without it.)

2)  There are so many situations (concerts, museums, the zoo) where I get stuck behind a velvet rope or mosh pit barricade and this glass is perfect for that.

3)  Most important for me though, is that when you are as green and meek as I am, it's very difficult to sneak shots of people without them realising it or without feeling self-conscious.  Suddenly, in public places I can take pictures of scenes of life and without disturbing the subjects at all - the photography equivalent of watching random strangers through reflective sunglasses.

Case in point:

I was probably about fifty metres away, watching this adorable little boy splash in and out of the waves.  In good lighting, you can easily dial down the shutter speed to get good pictures of motion and water as well; I love that the surf is about to crash into him.

That jet of water, frozen in time, is a perfectly sufficient standard of sharpness for me.

I love people watching and watching people take their children to the beach for the first time is adorable.  (That background blurriness is not so bad either, yes?)  I got to observe everything quietly and unobtrusively (some of the parents even waved at me), and sitting patiently in the sand, I could take my time waiting for the perfect moments.

There was something beautifully peaceful about watching life go on around me and trying to freeze bits in my own special way, without having to close in on the people involved. 

Looking through a longer lens also lets you pick out special details that would've otherwise gone unnoticed.

It was a special afternoon for me.  More and more I'm starting to appreciate the solitude photography allows.  No one bothers the person who remains hidden behind a camera and the world is yours to build within a frame of your own choosing.

At about six, I got up to go home and then realised that I wasn't far away from the wakeboarding pool.  I ended up sitting with a tree root up my butt for half an hour, really pushing myself and gripping the 250 till my wrist cramped up.  Capturing movement with such a narrow field of view is really challenging for me and I ended up with more than a few blurred out duds or unsightly grimaces.

I worked on getting picturesque sprays of water and waiting for the wakeboarders to lean just the right way and as the sun started setting, I managed to get some shots that I really enjoyed.

The guy in the last two shots was particularly exciting to photograph.  A pity he was also the fastest.

In short, if you are looking for a cheap telephoto, the 55 - 250mm is absolutely something to consider.  I can see it working very well in all kinds of distance-causing situations and since no one is likely to shoot dark, indoor shots on the 250 end anyway, lighting is a very minor problem.

More than anything though, I've found a lens that will grant me many meandering, golden afternoons of watching life unfold, even if it's from far away.

Scook's Raining Deulopbi tote bags!

My good friend Sook is a fashion designer and in her spare time, she makes quirky things by hand (which you can check out at the Scook Facebook, here.  Right now, she's offering cute Mother's Day Cards).  For Chinese New Year, for example, she customises ang pows and she makes cards for all occasions.  My favourite project of hers though, are these cheerful Raining Deulopbi tote bags that made recently.  

I met with up her for dinner a little while ago and ordered two - one for myself and one as a present.  Each of these babies, believe it or not, is $12.  Because there was a little bit of delay in the shipping, Sook generously threw in a third one!  (So one is going my friend Ann-Marie and the other is going to Spyke, whenever I meet her, as a birthday present.  Happy Belated Birthday!) 

The bags came beautifully packaged and they're limited edition so each one has a number.  I'm not sure how many she has left, but the one I unwrapped is number 50.  

Inside, there's a little card with Scook's information and the number of the bag that you've got.

I love designer bags as much as the next girl, but I'm also a huge sucker for cute cotton totes.  When Uniqlo gave out their totes with all the country names on them (remember those?) I faithfully carried one to work for weeks because it was so fuss-free.  I just think that using a soft cotton sack as a handbag lends a bit of an artsy, rustic air to anything that you're wearing.  Plus, they look nice even if you bash them about a bit.

I have to say that these bags are really comfortable to carry.  The straps are flat and wide enough to sit on the shoulder without cutting and the bag itself is so light that I can tote my DSLR about quite easily.  It's nice not to faff about with straps and buckles sometimes.

The only thing is that the some of the seams on the inside of the bag might not be completely finished (though they are sewn tight, don't worry) so one of mine started fraying slightly.  But I got out my Fray Stop and applied it to the edges and we were good to go!  By the way, I strongly recommend buying a bottle of something similar - you can use it for any handicraft, at weddings and for quick fraying solutions.  This shop is in Singapore so the product will ship in two days.

Thank you so much for the bags, Sook, and for all these years of friendship.  

PS All these photos were taken on the 55mm end of my new long lens.  As you can see, in good lighting, it will do as a 50mm prime equivalent with a lot less softness.  I test drove it at the beach later that day, photos to come!

Tea for tea

I guzzle coffee on a daily basis and have been wanting substitute drinks that will mean less stress on the system. 

After this morning's swim, Amanda and I hit town for a quick lunch before work.  Since we were so near Takashimaya, we decided to make a snack run in the food hall of the departmental store.  I haven't been there for such a long time that the presence of the little Harrods in the corner took me by surprise.

I had been planning to buy some teas for a while and settled on a couple of flavours that I wouldn't easily tire of.  The Taylor's Blackberry and Elderflower (which I'm drinking now) is a beautiful purple, fruity and not too tart.  Harrod's White Tea on the other hand is a more mellow, balanced flavour with the slightest hint of pomegranate.  The open box scented up my whole bag.

The best buy I made though, were those chocolate chip and raspberry cookies.  They were half off on quick sale.  At $3.90.

The saleslady told me that they were expiring in July but said, with a look of concern that there were many cookies in the box and she wasn't sure that I could finish them on time.

Before I could stop myself, I said, "HAH!" explosively, and chortled my way out of the shop.  Clearly, she doesn't know me.