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Point and Shoot

Published on February 4, 2013, by in Photography.

In preparation for the trip to Taiwan in September that I’m going for, I’ve decided to work out a new workflow for my photography short of bringing out my entire laptop, dslrs and travel items. As such, I’ve turned to my iPad to reduce carry weight (and value loss in the case of thievery or foolery on my part)

I’ve ordered a SD to iPad card reader for File transfer and though it has yet to come, decided to first test out the work flow.

Using the app Photoforge2, I’ve been editing photos taken off a Canon Ixus 125 HS during a trip out with Leon and Loretta as we went to Singapore’s Bugis area for a photography outing. More thoughts about the camera and workflow after these pictures.

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The above photos have been exported at different resolutions for the sake of experimenting with how this affects the image and it isn’t much. What I found with the camera was these

1. While off the camera images tend to be soft, this can be fixed with the app’s sharpen function. Generally this is not something I like to do, but will do for the sake of visual aesthetics.

2. Bit depth on the camera is terrible, when I add contrast or saturation to the images via the app, the worst of worst results appear. This may be due to the color profile I’m using not being the cameras native profile. Shall experiment more.

3. Even at its longest focal length, the camera is unable to create much, if any, bokeh. Heck, you get better bokeh on the iPhone 4 and above. (Maybe even the 3GS too)

4. The workflow reduces the weight of carrying a laptop, dslrs, lenses, charging cables etc etc by about 80% and the loss of the ability to shoot better quality images. I might end up using a dslr and the iPad instead of the point and shoot. The reason I don’t want to use the iPhone as my camera is the lack of optical zoom.

5. While photoforge2 offers the ultimate amount of control, it’s lack of easy to use filters on my decent-but-not-best photos may be the reason I use other apps.

The road to Taiwan is a long one, at least where my photography is concerned but one that I think will lead me to be a better and more productive cameraman.

Jaspas

PS: here’s a more experimental photo using filters from the app.

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THRILLERRRRR THRILLERRRRR NIGHT

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On documentation and Behind The Scenes

Published on January 25, 2013, by in Stuff.

I’ve always wondered whom BTS videos and documentation are for. Until today.

I was on a shoot with my buddy Eugene and I have just got to say that the learning experience was one filled with much surprises. I’ve never thought that I would enjoy a shoot as much as I had today. Whether it is the general video capturing experience, he kindness as a host or even running to location under the impression that we were late, all those memories are ones that I will look back to with fondness.

Thanks for the amazing experience Eugene!

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It’s been a long time

Published on December 16, 2012, by in Photography.

I like the iPhone.

Oh wait. No.

I LOVE THE IPHONE.

Not just for its classiness or interactivity, wide reach, and capacity. More so for its camera. OHHHHH IT’S CAMERA.

Here’s some of the work I’ve done with it…

Jaspas’ iPhoneography

Do leave a comment to let me know if you like something. Hehe.

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Epic Red VS iPhone

Published on November 30, 2012, by in Stuff.

I’m not very sure how the iPhone is supposed to stand any chance against the Epic Red, all things held constant, but god damn that’s some shitty iPhone work.

The problem with bringing all the lens adaptors, convertors and such into a shoot using the iPhone is that you really need to know how each individual part is going to affect the image. The usage of the 2X telephoto conversion lens for example causes the image to go extremely soft, and not in a good ‘bokeh’ shallow DOF way. Just balls out soft
:|

That being said I thought the film, at least the original Epic Red version, was a pretty interesting one.

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Thieve’s Market

Published on November 24, 2012, by in Stuff.

In 2011, I got myself obsessed with Singapore’s thieve’s market.

“What is that?” I hear you shout out. Well thieve’s market is a place where people are free to peddle their used goods. Things there range from household appliances such as rice cookers and fans to the more bizarre items such as used poker cards, buddha status and even actual working telescopes.

I found myself drawn to queer nature of the place, it’s cultural significance as a place where things deemed unfit for usage go to get a second life. This phenomenon is even echoed in the people peddling their items there, some of which are ex convicts, others running from debt collectors and even those who have opted out of the ‘normal’ life and seek shelter in this small piece of land.

What amazes me the most, is that this sanctuary is right at the outskirts of one of Singapore’s busiest district.

When the opportunity to create a documentary about the place arose, I quickly jumped at the chance and decided to give it a go. What became of my efforts, and a collaborator, Clayton Lee, was a slow, but hauntingly beautiful attempt at capturing what the place is essentially about.

This film we created was eventually picked up by the guys at Gadling.com and perhaps is one of my proudest achievements to date.

You can read the article, and watch the video here

J

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What if Money Was No Object – Alan Watts

Published on November 21, 2012, by in Stuff.

A video that resonates with my belief system. So powerful and inspirational, whilst being so sad.

I dream of one day being able to make a living simply by performing, teaching, and practising the art of cardistry. I’m gonna chase this dream. It’s gonna be difficult. I will have to crawl through the mud and dirt and endure the insults and backstabbing.

But I will succeed.

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Update on the Cardist Critique + The Simple Pleasures

Published on November 11, 2012, by in Stuff.

For the past two months or so I’ve been doing this web show called the Cardist Critique. It’s basically an online stream in which I critique other people’s cardistry videos and give tips as to how it can be improved. Occasionally I’ll even talk about my own videos (usually bashing it as I don’t need to worry about bruised egos and such) and give videography tips.

I have, however decided that I am going to put the show on hiatus. There just isn’t enough interest to keep a show like this going, much less flourishing and becoming a valuable asset. I’m not saying that it never will be, I’m just saying that the time is not right.

I’ve figured out what I need to change in the show in order to increase its appeal and reach amongst the cardists, but these changes cannot be implemented over night, and rather than doing a half assed job, I’d rather put the show on hiatus till I sort things out.

http://www.facebook.com/events/173423322795460/ You can watch the last episode by following the details listed at this event. :)

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Kooti Kootis are a traditional children’s toy that were popular in the 1960′s or so. The objective of the game is to get your Kooti Kooti, a small plastic figurine, to land on your opponent’s and by doing so you gain ownership of his Kooti Kooti. Today, Loretta was walking by a show and saw a 21st century variation of the popular toy. Seeing as they only cost 50 cents, she bought a packet. This is what the wrapper looks like.

Not your old school Kooti Kooti

Back design with abandoned website address.

 

Contents

The modern variation is basically exactly the same as the old one except for the form of the toys and that each Kooti Kooti has a ‘power value’ listed on the back of the toy. If your Kooti Kooti’s power is for example, 10, whilst your opponent’s is 640, you would need to win him/her a total of 64 times (640/10) to defeat his Kooti Kooti, and gain ownership of it, whilst he only has to defeat you once.

Talk about ‘pay to win’.

Well, considering that each pack of the toys costed us only 50 cents, my addictive personality kicked in and… well… I’ll let the picture do the talking.

Considering how much fun we had sorting out the Kooti Kootis and playing with them (read: Tossing them around), I would say it was $16 well spent

Loretta and I then talked about the possibility of making a short video with anime styled dialogue and special effects, it’s something I would love doing when I have more time for personal endeavours.

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Emptiness and Fulfilment

Published on November 8, 2012, by in Life.

There are times I’m putting all my effort into school and all I can think about is the future.

About getting out of school.

About doing something that is truly motivated. Not by grades. Or school. Or a shitty fucking paper degree.

But by passion.

It’s funny how an institute designed to help people with their future, makes me crave a future without the institution itself.

What is in your future?

As I do my school related work, I dream about a future where I’m working at a convenience store.

As I do my school related work, I hope for a world where I love what I do.

As I do my school related work, I pray that what I choose to do when I am out, I love, I embrace and I feel.

I truly need some fulfilment, to push me through these rough times.

Only seven months to go.

Jaspas

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Today I took a test…

Published on November 6, 2012, by in Life.

I’ve historically been worse at multiple choice questions that I am at essay writing and as when I found out that the test format was 3 pop quizes of the multiple choice type… I freaked out.

Oh nooooo.

But we then marked the papers, and then I got back a paper from 2 weeks ago and…

I PASSED!!!

15/20, 15/25

WAHAHHAHAHAHA

Jaspas

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Hello World

Published on November 5, 2012, by in Stuff.

Hello you!

My name is Jaspas and in this photo I’m riding a snail.

When I got off the snail, it screamed about equal rights between snails and man.

As a kid I was always into games and playgrounds. My parents were strict and rarely let me out to play with the other kids. Either that or that I was too obsessed with video games to go out with the other kids around the block. Heh. Either way I was a game enthusiast.

Now that obsession with games manifests itself in the form of cardistry and photography.

DSLR’s are cool, but a film SLR was used in capturing this photo. That’s the old man’s happy face by the way.

I do photography because I love the process, not just of taking, compositing, and editing photos, but learning the systems and pushing existing systems to go where they were not meant to go. What do I mean by that?

Take for example the iPhone. A wonderful compact camera known for its amazing image capturing capabilities at a single focal length. But add an olloclip to the mix and you’ve got 2 more focal lengths to play with. It’s not much but it helps a lot. These 2 extra focal lengths do get extra distortion but thats a discussion for next time.

 

iPhoneography, now with 100% more distortions, mmmm, delicious!

Another example would be using a CCTV lens on a micro 4 thirds camera to create a soft distorted look. It’s a beautiful look that gives a romanticised view on the subject. The snail photo above is an example of this technique.

Cardistry on the other hand is something different altogether. It’s the beautiful and artistic handling of cards, a passion that I’ve had for over 7 years now. It’s easier to explain via video than it is with words, so here’s a video I shot over the last weekend with two Singaporean cardists on an iPhone. Enjoy!

credit
© JaspasONLINE