Two weddings attended in 2011 – that’s a way better record than the recents years put together. As one gets older, your friends and peers around you get married and settle down. Yesterday was my colleague Alphonsus’ turn. It was a grand event, held at the Cathedral of the Good Shephard, Singapore’s oldest Roman Catholic church. Plus, many other colleagues joined in the celebrations, and it was good to mingle outside of the work setting.

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I was there as a guest and not an ‘official photographer’ of any kind, so my 24L lens got to get out of the house. Just as well though, as the church was somewhat dark. Most of the photos your see above are taken with the 24mm, except for the long tele shots. The thin depth-of-field is great, but sharpness and precise focusing become something to be mindful of, as they could go wrong very easily. It’s definitely something I want to improve on.

While I no longer shoot weddings as a job these days (except on special occasions), prime lenses do come in handy a lot. Unless you set up lots of room lights or strobes, those prime lenses with f1.4 or larger will provide dreamy looks under natural lighting. What I’m lacking right now is a 85mm prime, which I hope to get soon so that I can get some unique and beautiful portrait shots!

It’s no often you get to be on top of the world. At 56-57 storeys tall, the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Skypark might just be one of the highest (if not the most) observation decks in Singapore. It could possibly be eclipsed by the Singapore Flyer, but I’ve been on the ferris wheel before, and I don’t think the view matches the one here.

Up there, you’re living the high life. You can see almost everything, from the skyline, the Esplanade, Fullerton Hotel and the Singapore port. Of course, the now famous rooftop swimming pool for hotel guests is also a draw. Who wouldn’t want to swim on the edge of the world?

Hotel guests swimming on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, with the city skyline in the background

To prepare for this photo excursion at night, I had brought a few different lenses with a good range from ultra-wide to long, giving me the ability to shoot different thing. Naturally, I had also brought a tripod (a cheap, light one for easy carrying) otherwise those long-exposure shots would look rather ordinary. MBS doesn’t normally allow tripods on their Skypark, but they made an exception for our tour this time.

What I didn’t really count on was the considerable gusts that would rock my light tripod, thus shaking the camera. Thankfully my tripod allows me to hang my bag as an additional weight to make it more stable. I can’t imagine anything I would do differently if I went up again. Maybe try some tricks with flash, but I wouldn’t be keen on it unless I came up with a concept first. Fast lenses are very important, so make sure to bring something with at least f2.8, even if you have a tripod!

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In all, I really enjoyed this complimentary trip up the Skypark (thanks to Phish Comms), especially during this “i Light” festival at Marina Bay!

Twelve exclusive flavours of ice cream. Hundreds of fans. A group of photographers. Mix and shake well because that’s what we had yesterday during the Ben & Jerry’s Chunkfest 2010. Held on the big field along Marina Boulevard, the annual event faced the Singapore city skyline and the newly opened Marina Bay Sands casino and hotel.

Now who isn’t a big fan of ice cream? Although not my absolute favourite, Ben & Jerry’s has some of the nicest and whackiest flavours of all the ice cream makers. Strawberry Cheesecake, Cherry Garcia, and Banana Split are just some in my top ten list. Want to see the flavours that were flown in specially for yesterday’s event, check out the photos below!

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A very young crowd was there and plenty of girls too. No surprise, since I’m sure they love ice cream a lot! If you didn’t want to pay S$5.50 for a small scoop of ice cream (and I mean really small, not like the gigantic ones in the U.S.), you could form a team of four and take part in their eating contest. Racing with 19 other teams, you have to be the fastest to finish 20 scoops of B&J ice cream! I like ice cream, but not that much!

It was quite a sight, though too bad it wasn’t scorching hot otherwise it would have been a huge driving force for them to gobble down that ice cream. Overall, I had great fun shooting and making new photographers. Now that I’m aware of this annual Chunkfest, maybe I can go back again next year.

Another thing I noticed in my five days in Japan was the prevalence of train travel everywhere. The overhead cables and the multitude of train tracks just adds an air of nostalgia to the place, as though everyone is still living in colonial times.

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Even though I was only there for about a week, I can take a whack at what makes this mode of transport so appealing.

First, it’s communal. It’s like being put into a social experiment, where different walks of people are forced into a box and they are observed for their reactions. Sure everyone does their own thing, but even that can be a lesson in social behavior as well.

Second, it’s romantic. Just the chug of the wheels below you, the rushing scenery, and the rumbling hum, it gets people to fall in love with travelling. Since trains connect the various cities in Japan quite extensively, many natives probably use it for inter-city travel.

It’s calming. It takes you away from the world’s trouble for that time. Your mind drifts and you’re allowed to ponder about life or whatever that matters to you. For once, you don’t have to feel guilty for spacing out!

Lastly, it’s fast and cheap. Even without the bullet versions, trains are still fast and a good way for mass transportation. Yes planes fly faster but they’re more expensive and you have to deal with airport security, which probably loses the time advantage anyway. With trains you just hop on, zip, and then you’re there.

When I went to Japan for a leisurely 5-day trip, I expected to be awed by historic castles, temples, and the beautiful Japanese girls. What I got, however, was a spitting machine. I’m referring to vending machines, the kind that everyone knows drops a can of Coke or a bar of chocolate when you put coins in.

But here in Japan, they take it a step further. These machines are everywhere, and they sell all kinds of things. Starbucks and MacDonalds, at most, will have one at each block. With vending machines, it’s one in front of each shop or goods store. They come in different colours, sizes, and even form (see photos below).

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It’s like a self-service nation in a country where they pride themselves for their superior service. I find the paradox fascinating. Check this out: you can buy cigarettes from a vending machine, and supposedly the machine wireless scans your ID card to see if you’re old enough to buy one. Then there’s the sign: “These drinks are free in an emergency situation” like an earthquake or other natural disaster.

Discovering little unexpected treasures is what makes travelling so exciting. The topic may not make for exciting photos, but they still can be documented, and it perfectly suits my photojournalism training. Here’s hoping that I get to travel more and frequently so that I can discover little secrets like these for my camera to capture.

University of California (UC) Berkeley’s campus is so quaint and comfortable that it rivals my alma mater — University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Berkeley has all the qualities of a university town, with the perks of a large, funky city (San Francisco) just a train ride away.

Spending a whole day in the Berkeley area was all part of my 3-week visit to the U.S. I had always wanted to visit this campus that is much spoken of in America and around the world, for its good academic program and liberal mindset. Five years ago, I didn’t even bother applying to Berkeley, because I knew my chances at being selected was so slim. That’s how competitive the place is.

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Everything was so lush, and it was a glorious day to boot. It was almost graduation time, and the peak of spring, so everyone on campus looked like a happy book. I can imagine studying here would be a very fulfilling experience.

From a photographic standpoint, I tried capturing the essence of the school, the clean transport, iconic buildings, and just the campus culture of having fun. I hope you can see that in the photos above! One day I hope to be able to go back to California, San Francisco, and Berkeley!

Here’s something I’ve never been part of – cap tossing at the end of the Officer Cadet School’s (OCS) commissioning parade. These few seconds are like flower toss by the bride in a wedding, only it’s amplified joy by a hundred fold. My brother was among those who ‘suffered’ the tough training for 38 weeks. Their reward: a 2nd lieutenant rank that will command authority in much of the Singapore Armed forces (SAF).

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Being able to be present for this grand event is one of the plusses of coming back to Singapore. I had missed his passing-out parade from Basic Military Training last year (which is another important date) so I feel grateful to be here and help him take photos. The stands were packed when we got there (late) so we settled for third row from the bottom.

From a photographer’s standpoint, it’s wasn’t too bad as it gave me some elevation over the cadets and it allowed a diagonal line of sight to my brother. I didn’t bother moving away from my seat apart from going down to meet him.

Most of you probably don’t know that I didn’t make it to become an officer during my own military stint many years ago (I’m only a sergeant), even though I wanted it bad and worked my ass off. Some things — especially in the army — were just beyond our control. So having seen my brother go through the ‘shit’ and come out as a respectable officer, it really does make me proud and happy to see that he achieved what I could not. There’ll be many bigger and brighter rewards awaiting him in the years to come, accomplishments that my days gone by have failed to materialise.

I love my brother.

Jocelyn makes an early appointment at Hairshion in Southfield, Michigan, as she prepares for her big wedding day. The ceremony was later held at the Lakeland Manor at St. Claire’s Shores. About 150 guests turned up to witness and take part in the following reception.

Buca di Beppo with the Canon 7D from Ted Chen on Vimeo.

A few weeks ago, I declared video to be the next big thing, and every photojournalist/photographer would need to add the new dimension of motion to their repertoire. Then I took the big (money) step to purchase one of the latest hybrid DSLRs, which can capture both quality images and full-HD video.

And yesterday, I brought that Canon 7D on a lunch trip to Buca di Beppo. The Italian restaurant is famous for its family-style portions and vintage decor. While I have also been building my audio equipment list, this set up was still short of ‘professional.’ I had no rig, everything was hand-held and manually adjusted. For sound I had the Zoom H2 recorder, which I’ve had personal experience using while I was at Columbia’s journalism school.

Shooting video is tough. Extremely. You have to predict motion more so than photography, and visualize how every small clip is going to be put together in the end. Then there’s audio. In this video I cheated a little by having background music, despite recording all the ambient sound within the 7D. Sure I could have used the Zoom to record audio, but only for ambient sounds. You’d have to put the Zoom really close to whoever’s speaking to get a good signal. Plus, I was also in the middle of eating the sumptuous food at Buca di Beppo!

As far as video shooting went, I shot everything from the same spot, choosing carefully what I wanted to capture and using selective focus. Keeping the camera steady while filming was a little bit challenging. What I’m really pleased is how the 7D performed at ISO 3200. The video is still cleaner than many other camcorders out there. It won’t beat the 5D2, but I am sufficiently pleased. Besides I really need the better auto-focus and frame rate of the 7D. Once I had the source video and audio files, I put them all together in Final Cut, adjusting the color balance and a little bit of the gamma.

From here, I hope to produce more videos, while slowing expanding the video rig I have. There are way better options for audio out there (like switching to XLR inputs), but right now the Zoom works well enough for me. Also, I need to try and get everything right in-camera while shooting. It’s much easier than tweaking the settings (such as white balance) in post-production.

That’s it from me! Check back on the website often to see if I have new videos up!

Taking video with the Canon 7D at the Italian Restaurant Buca di Beppo

So maybe ‘legendary’ is a little overstating it, but Spencer Platt is one of the most established photojournalists out there today. This photo happened earlier this year, while I was still in New York, and had arranged to tail the Getty Images photographer on one of his daily shooting assignments. The whole ‘operation’ probably lasted no more than two to three hours, but it was a humbling-yet-nourishing experience seeing him work and simply chatting over coffee.

Image courtesy of NPPA

Memories of this day rushed back as I read his “Notes on the Field” on the latest issue of Digital Journalist, a monthly, online magazine. Looking at his shocking photos of Somali refugees in Kenya, I was reminded of his photos taken on 9/11 and in Beirut, one of which won the high honor in the World Press Photo awards. His photos are technically simple, yet they convey brutal truths of the world to anyone who views them. My interactions with Platt also gave me hints that he’s a straight shooter — he behaves cool and collected, but he’s fully aware of reality around him and in the world.

I believe that’s why he’s traveled to Lebanon in wartime, and now to Kenya. When he hears about an social issue that needs to be covered, he goes. It’s a noble characteristic that I admire greatly. Photojournalism was my original intention when I turned a pro shooter, yet I find it so difficult to cover what needs to be covered, without the insurance, the backing of a media organization. Perhaps the biggest challenge to a photojournalist is to have the courage to dive into the middle of the ocean on your own, with all your gear and no life jacket.

Right now I’m leaning on other genres of photography to make rent and keep my refrigerator full, but I still harbor ‘fantasies’ of being a full fledged photojournalist. I rely on inspiration from great photographers. Spencer Platt’s one of them, and I’m honored to have met him, even if I never quite reach to his heights.