The images you see here are some hard work over the past couple of years. The inspiration came during the lockdown period. The photos you see are reflections of broken pieces of mirrors glued on big cardboard as a metaphor for being fractured.  

Blossom

Crossing the BridgeIf you look carefully there is an upside down duck hidden in the photo.

LeilaShoot using LenBaby to create a soft and water colour effect.

A walk in the park.

I was glad that I was able to turn the ideas I had earlier 2019 placing people in my impressionist photos. One of my friends family had agreed to help me out to create the following images. The results turned so well that they look like impressionist paintings.  I have also learnt a lot from this shoot too. 

Please leave your feedback at the comments section, I love to hear from you. 

Shapes and forms are essential. They have to be recognisable. If the viewers cannot identify the objects, the theme of the story is missed. Too much wind, the image will be so messy that nothing will be recognisable. When there is no wind and the water is calm as a mirror, the point of the impressionist style is missed. Dealing with ripples on the water caused by the wind, you have to wait for the wind to settle to a gentle breeze, enough to distort the reflected image. 

Princess Bridge

Centenary Bridge
 

Light plays an essential factor in impressionist photography especially when the surface of the river is murky. Bright light will illuminate the colours of the subjects, this will reduce the amount of work in post-production. 

Moomba Festial

Moomba Festival II

Composition plays a vital role in impressionist photography. It needs to speak. I have been trying to put people in my captures, so far I have yet to get the actual images that I have in mind. By placing people in the picture, it will add another layer to the photos. 

Walking in the Park

Boat Trip
 

This is the halfway mark of the project.  I plan to exhibit at the end of the year. These are themes that I captured so far, I hope you enjoy the viewing experience.

Garden Bridge

Tree

Tree and Buildings

Tree

Walk in the park

Brick Works
I look forward to some comments from you as this is still a working progress.   

Chaos

Our first reaction to chaos is panic as we respond to the situation. Sometimes, it best to sit back and relax and wait for the water to settle. While we wait, we should enjoy the beauty of the chaotic colours on the water. These moments often shape us and mould us into better people.  

Villa by the river   Rejuvenation

Dancers

A festival of reflections interspersed with colour as two come together in a long drawn out dance of celebration, joy and delight. The subtle ripples add to the dance, creating movement, texture and a clear sense of rhythm.
 

Paradise

The Chinese characters  (桃園) in the picture are literally translated as Peach Garden. The characters have a deeper meaning called paradise. We all long for a paradise, sometimes we don't really have to look far because it is right where we are; we just don't know it yet. 
 

Cloud Pavillion

Pier 620

I rediscovered this photo two years after it was taken. I felt like it was a treasure, a hidden rock ready to be polished into a gem, buried amongst the colourful images I had taken and fighting for attention
 

Serenity

Some images sooth the soul, to me this is one of them. The tranquillity and the peace of the water helps me to settle after a busy day.  

If you do come to the exhibition, pick up one of the cards and sign the guest book. 

For those who are outside of Melbourne, Please leave your thoughts at the comments section. I'm interested in what is going through your mind looking at these images. 

As we continue our journey with theJohnston Street festival, we have the following:

The entertainers. 

The individuals. 

What is a Spanish Festival without the Latin music and the dancing? Bring on the Rumba, the Chacha, the Samba and the Salsa.  Let's celebrate. 

The joy of dancing.

Not a care in the world. 

And some who know what they are doing. 

And finally, my favourite photo. Feminity, grace and beauty roll into one. 

I enjoyed my time soaking the atmosphere there.  Did you enjoy the stories?  Leave your comments; I love to hear from you. 

There were many elements of this festival.

The heat. 

The food.

The families. 

The story of lost and found. 

and the joy of it ... 

especially the finder ... 

The stories continue in Part 2 of Spanish Festival

Leave your thoughts in the comments section, I love to hear them.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the photos. Leave your comments below. And share them with your firends if you like the images. 

Thank you. 

Just in case you think the photos above were taken from a bin with Dalmatian patterns, the photos below show you that it is actually a real building.  

Updated information

I was not sure about the information about the building until I found out the news article about the building.  The panels are in the process of being removed. I'm not sure if the panales be replaced, it should be. In case they are not, the keen photographers should visit the place and take some pictures before they are long gone. Or if the panels are being replaced, it would be even better to document the re-building process. 

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The father sent his daughter away to a boarding school, and the boy ended up marrying another girl.

The young man on his way to meet the girl of his dream and got stopped by a car accident.  

I can name a few movies like that. I wonder what if these things didn't happen?  What would the ending be? 

Willit can be happily ever after? 

Will it can be blessings disguised.  

I guess we'll never know. 

But I always wonder. 

RendevousMissed opportunity

Exclusive edition print available for you to purchase. 

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Love came down at the first Christmas, help spread the love.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

There's no drama like 'battery ran out' like last year. However, it was challenging to shoot the topics given, and I was not entirely happy with the shots. Some participants I spoke to were having issues find new ideas of the previous topic while shooting another topic. I was having some mental block a few times.  Here are the 9 topics: 

1. My photoMarathon entry number 
2. Survival of the fittest
3. Blue
4. Juxtaposition
5. Bird's eye view
6. Quirky
7. Food for thought 
8. My little secret
9. Underground 

Here are the photos I took:

My PhotoMarathon entry numberTook me at least 90 minutes to find this number.

Survival of the fittestYou need water to survive after a great work out

Bluehmm ... it has blue

Juxtaposition I need to look up the dictionary to find out the meaning of the word, but then it's hard to interpret that too.

Bird's eye viewLighting was a challenge and I wished I had a graduated density filter at that time to balance out the sky and the stairs.

QuirkyProbably my favourite, as people will be looking for characters or people. I was looking for the meaning so to speak.

Food for thoughtThinking that it should speak to people who are trapped in their situation.

My Little SecretWas looking for something that is not so obvious

UndergroundI think I may get quite a lot of similar pictures

The exhibition of all the participants photos will be held on 13 May 2017 for 2 weeks at Magnet Gallery.  Hughe thank you to the organisers this year again. 

As I was going through some photos I took in Melaka, I soon discovered a few more photos look near river look very abstract and some resemble some characteristics of an impressionist painting. 

I want to share these images with you. 

I waited for a boat to go pass the area in order to distort the reflections. The distortion was chaotic that you can't really recognise the original painting on the wall. 

ChaosThere's beauty in chaos if you learn to see that.

This one, on the other hand, was less chaotic in which you can actually recognise the original artwork on the wall. 

Dancing LadyShowing the diversity of Malaysian culture

The upside down Chinese characters means "peach garden", it has another meaning - paradise. Wonder I should flip the image? What do you think? 

Peach GardenPeach gardening can also mean Paradise

This is my personal favourite. It soothes me when I look at this image. 

SerenityA soft reflection

This has slow becoming my other favourite, as it resembles some impressionist characteristics I wanted to achieve. 

Impressionist Melaka #1 Only when I revisited the catalogue that I found this.

Another building that resembles the Chinese heritage of this town. 

Rainbow cottageBelieve to be a Chinese restaurant

I love to hear what you think about these photos. Leave your comments below. 

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Following the red-scale film photo-shoot I did in George Town, I continue to explore the beautiful city of Melaka. Here are some of the photos I took. It was a very hot and humid day and I've got one day to capture some images.  

Morning ReadingA typical recycling chair that is still popular. Morning TeaRelaxing atmosphere for some newspaper reading

To fully exploit the characteristics of red scale film, is to overexpose the shots. I tend to overexpose the film by 2 stops. And the film requires a lot of sunny to get the vintage look. Sometimes, when the person is in the shade, it tends to be a little difficult to get that vintage look.  Unlike digital photography, you can review what you have just shot, this is film photography, you have to wait for the film to be processed before seeing the result. But this is also the fun of it. The anticipation of seeing the results. 

Mamak storeThis a hawker store, probably been here for many years past down from generation to generation.

And when it's really dark, the blacks tend to be grainy. I need to research the 'grainy black' issue, more learning to do.  

Morning reading IIIs this a shop or a house, or both?

Photo shootBest place to combine some nostalgic scene and modern fashion.

When the there's a lot of light, the result can be quite surprising. 

River Banks

Rent a bikeNo license required, I think.

DoorsWonder what is the history behind the doors? Fishing shopEverything you need for your fishing trip to river Melaka.

Worker at St Paul'sRegular maintenance job to keep the heritage listed place clean and tidy. Room with a viewInside the St Paul's church Maintenance worker at the St Paul's Taking a break

Curious look of a boyVisitors from around the country

Afterthoughts: Not sure if my expectations have changed, I'm a little bit more satisfied with the results compare to when I first saw the images came back from the developer. What was your first impression?  If you come back to the blog after 2 months, will the impressions change? Love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below. 

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Fried Chicken StoreThis could be a family business

Steam Boat - pick your favourite and cook them in the pot of boiling soup. I wonder how long the old man been on this business?

Deep fried chicken and meat ballsYoung man preparing more food. Would you like ketchup? Food purchased normally be served in a plastic bag

Freshly char grilled satay cooked in front of youThis is how satay is cooked in South East Asia, char grilled instead of deep fried in Western country.

The multi cultural PenangA variety of food served here from different ethnic background. Multi cultural Penang IILocals buying their favourite snack

Sugarcane juice storeThe boss is working hard juicing sugar cane on a hot night Jack fruit storeCouple preparing and serving the food

Here are some of the shots on the red scale film processed and scanned by Hillvale: 

A younger Trishaw driverJalan Sehala means one way street.

Popular spot for photosThis is one of the very popular street art spot for tourists.

As I mentioned before, it was a very ambitious project, too ambitious that I have overestimated the results. Not all the images turned out to be the ones I had in mind. Again, there are lessons to be learnt here - How to chase the light when shooting red scale film. 

This shot below was shot at direct a bright sunny day. I wanted my images to turn out like this and this is the nostalgic look I was after.  Overexposed by 3 stops, maybe? 

Post boxMy favourite shot of the red scale film

However, I am still quite pleased with the overall results of the shots.  

Tourists reading mapsTourist checking out map to their next destination in town. Love lane Couple checking direction on iPhone.

Staircase and photographersStreet art inside the camera museum

What do you think about the red scale film? Can the same effect be recreated through post processing? I would love to hear from you, please leave your comments below. 

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Pulau Tikus is also known for its wet market. The locals will have their breakfast and shop for grocery after. The price of the food is very affordable and very delicious. One can almost relax and enjoy the food and the atmosphere.  It does not look like a tourist spot at all as most tourists would want to have their complimentary breakfast in the comfort of their air-conditioned hotel. However, if you are here for more than a few days, why not take a taxi or Uber to Pulau Tikus for breakfast and enjoy the real local flavour.  

Local fruit storeLocal fuits for you to choose from

Fragile goodsThe delivery requires motorbike skills and speed wihtuth breaking the eggs. Gas tanks for hawker stores

Kueh storeVery very afordable price here

Curry MeeThe best curry mee in town endosed by celebraties.

Roti CanaiMaking customers' order

Upon returning to Melbourne, I have already missed the food in Penang. I will definitely go back to George Town again for the food, the atmosphere and the scenery. 

One of the interesting scenes around the old town is trishaw riders. It was a very popular means of transportation back in the good old days. These riders left their homelands to come here in search for a better life as it was almost impossible to make a living back home.  Some earned their living and moved on to a better job, some remained the same job for years. Now trishaws are mainly used by tourists who visit Penang as many would prefer to use taxis and buses. The industry is facing extinction there is no young blood to replace these ageing trishaw riders. So when you are in Penang next time, seek them out, enjoy the ride and tip them generously. 

Waiting for customersEarly morning, trishaw drier eating for potential customers

Trishaw driver on little laneTrishaw can literally go anyway Lunch breakTrishaw driver near Chew Jetty

Touring Penang on TrishawOne of the best way to see George Town

Catching up on the newsTrishaw driver taking a break on a hot day

Taking a break on a hot dayThe weather in Penang can get very hot during the day.

Popular spot for trishaw driversWaiting for early birds tourist across a popular shop

Love to hear from your experience in Penang, leave your comments below. Thank you. 

Here are the images that I captured at Piccolocino. 

AngeloThe cafe owner greeting customers when he's busy making coffee

Customers ordering coffee Customers waiting for coffee

Vanessa Friendly greeting face

Post cardsPost cards sent by customers having holidays overseas

This is one of the photos taken near the entrance of the cafe, as I mentioned before mix light source is not as impressive as having only tungsten. 

AngeloI was able to get this photo as Angelo was not behind the coffee machine.

Angelo and new staff member - FabianaAlways a happy working environment '

This is my favourite shot so far. Which one is yours? 

Having a break and checking updates on FacebookThis is one corner of Piccolocino cafe

To see more photos, just click on any of the images you will be taken to the gallery. Once again, thank you for visiting my website. Love to hear your comments and feedback. 

While doing the photo shoot I was facing a "technical issue" in which my camera took a long time to write the image into my CF card during the long exposure. Every time I do 30 seconds long exposure the camera takes almost 30 seconds to write the image to the CF card and I cannot click the shutter while the image is being written into the card. I took in a total of 18 shots during the 15 minutes of fireworks whereas my friend took about more than 50 shots. I later found out that my "technical issue" was a custom setup to reduce noise during long exposure which takes longer to write the images into the memory card. I have set the feature to disabled for the time being. 

Despite my camera's "limitation" that night, I was able to get some shots with some post-processing cleaning up the smokes. 

Here are some of my images:

After learning about turning off the long exposure noise reduction feature, I've decided to reshoot the fireworks the second time. This time we got a little closer to the bridge and I was able to more shots without waiting for the camera to write into the CF card.  However, the landscape position suffers from framing the image properly as the lens I was using has a fixed focal length and the legs of the chair were blocking the tripod legs. Not until I change the camera to portrait position, I manage to get some shots which I am quite happy with. 

Here are the images took the second time, the week after the first shoot.  

Love to hear your feedback, please leave your comments below. 

These images were taken using my film camera Canon AE-1, it does not have the capability to spot metering.  That means when I took the pictures, I have to ignore the light meter reading from the camera and took a risk of an educated guess to set the exposure.  Yes, I did not follow the "rules" given by the camera light meter, technically breaking the rules.   

Waiting Waiting on train to arrive

Home timeSouthern Cross station at peak hour

It doesn't have to be in focusNarrow gap between 2 buildings bridging 2 streets

Any thoughts?  

I have always wanted to try pinhole photography. A pinhole camera is a very simple camera with a tiny hole less than 1mm in diameter. With such a small aperture, the amount of light is little and it requires a very long time to expose the film or digital sensor.   

My first attempt at pinhole photography was with the Lomography Diana F+, it has an aperture setting of 'P' which stands for pinhole. At that time I was guessing the exposure period and it turned out that most of the shots were either overexposed or very underexposed. 

Wire FencePinhole photography, where almost everything is in focus, almost.    P.O BoxesPost boxes in front of a block of apartments Vespa in front of cafeAn Italian icon

After some looking around, I found a smartphone app that calculates the exposure time for the pinhole camera. I decided to push it further by using a slide film and cross process the film. Cross processing is the film development process in which a positive film, i.e. slide film, is processed with the negative film chemical, i.e. C-41, resulting in high colour saturation. There were some light leaks in this roll as the film was not rolled tightly in the spool. It's one of the characteristics of Lomography.  

Flinders Street StationSlow shutter on pinhole By the YarraLight leaks when I tried to wind the film, apparently it was not tight enough and light got in.

Federation Square Quiet day at the square

I recently bought a pinhole lens that fits into my Canon EOS cameras (both digital and film) and I am currently working on gaining more control on making the pictures to match the images I have in my mind. In other words, I am practising with my digital camera. So, watch this space. 

1. My PhotoMarathon Entrant number
2. A piece of a whole
3. Hope
4. Well rounded
5. Intimacy amongst strangers
6. Reflection
7. Under the Covers
8. Art of the City
9. Frivolity 

I walked 14.7km today around the city looking to interpret the topics into photographs. It was challenging and stretched me in many ways. The battery that I charged the night before failed on me when I was looking to short topic 6. Surprisingly, I was not in panic mode. I went to a camera shop to buy one and the sales person was kind enough to charge the new battery for me. Very grateful indeed. 

My PhotoMarathon Participant NumberIt took me a long time to finally get the shot. A piece of a wholeLove the basket of the bike parked outside of state library. HopeA street performer earning money to put food on the table. Well roundedVespa, is famous for its versatility and is very round too. Photo taken outside of Magnet Gallery. Intamicy amongst strangers. Taking photos of mother and daughter in the arcade. Under the coversForgot to turn the autofocus back on. Art in the city.Sculture and the city in the city. Frivolity I need to look this word up. It was me who was doing this. The only photo without the human element in it.

Big thank you to the team who organised the event. I look forward to seeing how every participant interprets the topics at the exhibition in 2 weeks time. 

• Green => Purple 
• Red => Brown 
• Blue => Cyan 

Normally, infrared film requires an infrared filter, however, this film is able to handle both normal light and infrared. The overall effect is as if you place a purple filter in front of the lens. I was a fan of Lomography back then, ordered a bunch of films but didn't use the film for shooting until recently. 

I decided to try this film out at a photography meet up. I had an idea of shooting the film with ISO 100 expecting the morning sun to cast a lot of shadows.  However, the weather on that morning turned out to be very cloudy and I changed the ISO setting to 400. This film can be shot at 100 - 400 depending on the situation.  There are a lot of the images taken with this film focusing on bringing out the purple by shooting the trees and lawns but I tried to avoid the cliche as I want to see how far I could push this film to do something different. 

I could not believe my eyes when I got the images back. There are so different and out of ordinary and the colours are just very different as if someone accidentally spilt some purple tint paint over the pictures. I hope you like the images presented here: 

Andy Warholtaking picture of a poster

Andy Warhol's poster for his exhibition. 

Evan Walker BridgeGoing across the river

Degrave streetMelbourne's beautiful laneway DeliverySomething for the salad

DeGrave street is one of Melbourne's attraction and it's also street photographer's dreamland. Lot's of stories to be captured. 

Peace for FranceWait, it's does not look like a French flag.

The purple chrome film has turned the French into Italian. 

ArcadeBeautiful arcades retaining it's vintage look

Laneway CaféStreet café on Melbourne's laneway

Tram stop Waiting for tram

1000 Pound Bend CaféDeciding what to eat for lunch

Artist at workArtist painting the Last Supper

My favourite image of the entire roll of film. While walking across Princess Bridge on Sunday and waited for a long time for the musicians to play music and the sun to cast shadows on the pedestrians. 

Overall I am very happy with the results of this particular shoot. Yes, I can nitpick some of the images here, but I don't mind showing these mistakes. They will help me to learn to see better next time.  Tell me what you think of the pictures? Leave some comments below. 

This time, I loaded my camera with Adox Color Implosion film. It has the 70's look with a bit of grainy look. I pushed the film to increase the contrast of the images. According to the Adox website, this film is "an experimental film design to give unpredictable results".  As the name suggests, implosion is the opposite of explosion, that means less colour on the images to give them a "vintage" look. One may argue that post production can simulate the "vintage" look, however, the unpredictable results are "organic" and cannot be produced easily. The film developer which I sent my film to has to outsource the development to another place which does push development which takes longer than the normal turn around time. Part of the experience of film photography is the wait and anticipation of how the images will turn out to be.  Here's what the images of Color Implosion! look like: 

This time, I was shooting around Melbourne city capturing some stories as well as trying out on different subjects.  

Morning Catch upOutside of barber shop on Degrave street Platform 4After peak hour at Flinders Street station

Light and shadows on Swanston StreetMorning sun

And the dead shall rise firstAn old car parked on the driveway waiting to be resurrected.

Looking for the sunA favourites seedling plants in summer

I also went to shoot some photos at the Moomba festival in Melbourne. It's an annual event that held during Labor Day long weekend in Melbourne along the Yarra river in the city. It has watersports activities, rides for the kids, food, music, parade and others. I shot some photos using different cameras in the past. But the memory's lane is reliving the experience using the camera.  

Waiting for friendsKilling time looking at smart phone while waiting for friends to arrive. Brazillian DrumsLatin percussion jamming session at Moomba Spectectors Couple watching water skiing on the Yarra riverbank Poetry in motionFollow the text and you'll be moved Free parking for the familyMum and dad chose to ride to the city along the river.

It was difficult to shoot as the light was strong and harsh, with the limitation camera's shutter speed up to 1/1000 seconds I have to choose my shot carefully.  I have realised how difficult it was to focus without the help of autofocus technology and have to constant looked at my lens to adjust the aperture. When you do this you would have missed the moment. However, I am very pleased with the results that when I got the scanned images from the lab. The light meter is working perfectly and most of all the camera is sealed tightly so that no light can escape. Here are some of the images captured that day, I hope you enjoy these images as much I do.   

Friendship beyond bordersFriendship brings two different cultures and backgrounds together.

Getting readyPerformers getting ready to be on stage

What's next?

I've recently purchased a camera from eBay. It's a rangefinder Yeshiva Electro 35. I've loaded a roll of film - Color Implosion and working on it. I'll post some once I finish the roll. Yes, it takes time and patience to shoot film. 

• The light meter is not working, meaning that photos may turn out too bright or too dark. 
• There are some light leaks in the camera, meaning the camera is not properly sealed properly, or the sealed has broken, and a tiny bit of light got in. 

The last time I used this camera was more than 20 years ago. It was a very long time. The equipment has been damaged. I also found out that the film that I was using for this shoot has some beautiful emulsion. (I can't believe I used that word, emulsion, sounds like a big word.) The film I was using was Lomography CINE 200; the film was released with the limited number. I managed to get hold of a few rolls and wanted to make the best out of it. The reason why I chose Canon AE-1 was that I could get full control of my shot.  Little did I know that the camera was faulty. It wasn't 20 years ago. Yes, the camera needs a service and repair.  

I've managed to find some shots that have less damaged. Yes, some good shots were ruined by over exposed (though I've tried to get the lab to compensate the development process) and light leaks. 

Lesson to take home: 

• If your film camera is old, have it serviced and repaired. 

Hopefully, after I get my Canon AE-1 repaired and serviced, I will shoot with the same film again.