The CircuSoc (Circus Society) performers from my uni during their practice @ the Physics Lawn. Had a blast shooting em.. (strobist info: 2 strobes at equal power...1/8 i think... one on left, one on right & equal distance from performers). Click here for more from that series.


Been obsessing over photography for the better part of the week since the Circusoc shoot last last monday. Lights are addictive... O_o" On a good note though.. my gel filters swatchbook just arrived today!! FREE... and delivered right to my doorstep *bless those boys at at the local lighting store*. Got a shoot with some contemporary dancers this afternoon at a little church studio in Newtown. Praying for amazing natural light and a great time with them - can't wait!

Looking to be a good day today. The sun's out, i have an orange cake in the oven *mmsss* and at the last minute managed to borrow a set of wireless flash triggers.... *happiness*....i'm such a geek ;p

Oh well, updates later. For now - tra la :D

Labels: Australia, conceptual, photography, Sydney, UNSW, Weird stuff

The BOX - Pen sketch + Photoshop rendering (for my recent summer course)

I complain a lot about having to do hand drawings..
but truth is.. i secretly like it.

It scares me like crap when i think about having to draw stuff manually.. it just seems so foreign to me which is strange seeing as i've been doing this for a few years now... some people find sky diving and bungee jumping scary... sit me down in front of a blank sheet of paper with a pen, a ruler and a 2-day deadline and i pretty much get the same feeling.

Call me weird but i still don't feel comfortable with people looking at something i've made or drawn by hand.. i'm fine with showing photos and computer graphics and other more 'processed' stuff like that but something hand-made and hand drawn.. just seems so... personal.. so blatantly human.. and raw.

I don't post my work up much here. Only the ones that scared me upon starting them and made me happy that i did attempt them once it's all finally over.

I suppose it's true that the things in life that scare you the most are often the most worthwhile - and they don't even have to be big things.. just little ones faced everyday, one little freaky feat at a time.

Labels: renders, sketch, UNSW, work

The Afternoon After - the design studio arvo aftermath...

I love brown paper packages all tied up in string.. and the excitement upon opening to see what they bring!

In a good mood today as you can tell. Semester's not over yet but at least hell week is. Ooh.. and my parcel arrived! I got me a brand new Ricoh Caplio R6 digital camera that i won in a photo contest *whee*.. it's nice and silver and shiny and small enough to fit in a purse or pocket. Haven't decided whether i want to keep it as a spare pocket cam or sell it. Whoo-hoo first real photo comp. i've won *happy dance*

Reviews bout the little Caplio seem pretty good. If anyone's interested in buying it from me, drop me an email ;) ...for now, it's still sitting pretty in its little box, smiling eagerly at me.

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Speaking of competitions.. one of my blog readers (ooh i've been dying to say that..) dropped me an email about this kwel competition open to ALL MALAYSIANS. Yeap, it's that easy, if you're Malaysian and you have creative ideas, you can join it. Details as follows:

What: Postcards Competition

by Who: Apostrophe - a m'sian-based creative organisation aimed at encouraging all things creative back home in good ol' tanah melayu.

How: just draw, snap, cut, stick, paint or click up something creative based on the theme of "1:30pm" then send it in to them via email or MMS (for digi users). Go check their website for details.

Why should i join: Winners get an all-expense paid trip to Bangkok and a Sony Ericsson hp.. *woo-hoo*

When: It's on now but closing date's coming up soon on the 16th of Nov, 2007.


Oh yeah, you can enter as many time as you want too (i love that.. it's so hard to pick your faves to submit). Entries can be individual (single) submissions or sets of up to 5 images under the same title. get working people! There can never be too many arts initiatives back home.. and whenever one comes round i get pretty psyched.

Anyways, i'm bookmarking apostrophe - i like.

Labels: Australia, black and white, conceptual, photography, UNSW, work

There is nothing that reveals a person's real personality and maturity more than
spending an intense, stressed and sleep deprived 2 days with them in studio...

There is a strange thing that happens when you chuck a bunch of stressed out, sleepy people in a studio together, lock the door and throw away the keys.

Sometimes, it's absolute magic and people who seem generally subtle and subdued pleasantly surprise you by stepping up to the plate and holding their own under pressure. Other times, one gets to witness the rather spectacular transmutation of a perfectly capable human being into something quite the opposite.

While i much prefer working with people who can up their game when it matters the most, there is also something important that can be learned from working with the later - perhaps something more relevant to both you and the other person as well. After all, part of the learning process in uni is about trying things out in order to discover your strengths and weaknesses as a person - and there is no better way to reveal them than through high-pressure situations like these.

Being under such focussed pressure draws out the most primal instincts in a person. It is during that time that one stops over-thinking or trying to logically analyse things and starts acting instinctively. Some instinctively rise up to the challenge and some don't - it's a simple test of character that still surprises me every time.

Me and design studio - it's a love-hate relationship.

It's my 8th time doing this now..
and yet there is always something new to learn.

Labels: Australia, black and white, conceptual, design, photography, UNSW, work

'Performing Geometry'.. a random class exercise last semester.. I really can't remember which way was up and which which way was down.. twas 15 minutes of flipping, stacking and entangling loads of tables *phew* - fun tho.. beats sleeping in afternoon lectures...

It's been a Goldilocks day today..
everything was just nice enough..


Twas' productive enough

leisurely enough

healthy enough

sinfully yummy enough

weird enough

normal enough

sunny enough...

Just right.


Nothing spectacular.. just your regular staple nice day.
The kind you can never get enough of ;D

Labels: Sony Ericsson K610i, UNSW, Weird stuff, work

"We are all, in a sense, in a constant state of 'becoming' rather than 'being'. "
- Harry Stephens

I was in my Theory of Form class today and of all the things that Harry said, this statement struck me the most. Life in a state of flux is, ironically, life at a constant.

The idea that our 'being' (as in 'existing') is inextricably linked to our 'becoming' (constant state of change) is amazingly fascinating... with that in mind, people then are not so much finished works of art as they are works in progress.. completely incomplete if you will.

I've been quite into this idea recently.. quietly watching life unfold.

One of my favourite times of day is walking down the main walkway in uni when the sun is setting. Watching the sky sink from a brilliant blue to a golden haze, i can't help but wonder why it is that people only want to see the end product.. if only we appreciated the beauty of the works in progress, we would see the whole sunset not just the dark night sky...

Labels: Australia, conceptual, emo, photography, sky, Sony Ericsson K610i, Sydney, UNSW

"And i find it kinda funny, i find it kinda sad, the dreams in which i'm dying are the best i've ever had..
i find it hard to tell you, i find it hard to take, when people run in circles it's a very, very mad world..."




For some strange reason, this song has been stuck in my head the whole day. A classmate of mine used this song for a photo presentation and it just stuck.. i'm not in a depressive mood, no. It's just sorta.. contemplative. Like taking a step back and looking at the world and realising that it's a really, really surreal and strange place. We are a peculiar species.. we keep thinking we're so different from each other and yet we share habits, thoughts and emotions that are so similar that sometimes i wonder why we ever saw a divide in the first place. In a rather floaty and thoughtful mood lately. I think the combination of lack of sleep, long walks barefoot all the way home, some long conversations and too much tea & coffee has brought on a strangely sedated state of consciousness.

It feels like i'm dreaming when i'm awake and sometimes it feels like i'm more awake when i'm dreaming... this might actually work out for the better though. I've got this really interesting assignment where i've got to study my dreams and translate them into a collage of sorts *fun*

Anyways, i've been spending too many nights in uni on my 3D Max project (remember the white one i loaded the other day?). FINALLY, i'm done with it... a total of 30+ rendering hours later and this is what that model looks like now... i'm quite happy with it since it's taken me long enough to try to figure the program out :)

And now, i am going to go sleep. zzzZZzzzZzz....... enjoy.



The lounge-ish area.. sunshine through the window *whee*


A close-up view of the cocktails, bottle and candle holders i modeled.. had some fun playing with the depth of field in this shot... i love my pink cocktails!


An overall view of the bar area..


A closeup of my bar area (*whee* handles handles handles*)...


I love the reflections on my shiny black glass bar top :) this render took 7+ hours to render *ugh*... O_o"

Labels: 3D Max, bar, emo, lounge, self-reflection, UNSW, work

"Hugging has no unpleasant side effects and is all natural. There are no batteries to replace, it's inflation-proof and non-fattening with no monthly payments. It's non-taxable, non-polluting, and is, of course, fully refundable.." - Anon.

I need a hug.

For some strange reason, i woke up this morning and just realised that it's been a while since i've had a good hug...

Allow me a moment to brood..

Taken with my SonyEricsson K610i cameraphone @ O'Week 2007

Labels: Australia, black and white, emo, hug, O-Week, photography, street photography, UNSW, urban life