Joshua

Today I actually brought along my 350d portable casual set-up to shoot some photos of my cell. However, I realised the church actually installed some event photographers so there was no need to shoot seperate photos of my cell, I can probably just get them direct from the photographers themselves. I wound up potting about one or two but I only liked this particular one of Joshua. The rest were quite boring. I also made errors shooting the super simple anyhow pose shots, as I always do for some reason. DOF errors, handshake, ya da ya da. On hindsight I should have brought a flash unit, but I was lazy, oh well.

Anime Review: Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid

With this review, I conclude the 3rd and (final?) season of the FMP series. The ending was left rather open-ended and there are definite distinct possibilities that this is the final season after a long 3 season run, based on the Gonzo press release. The next anime I shall be reviewing is an anime more suited for the ladies, but fun nonetheless to watch; Ouran High School Host Club by Studio BONES.

Title: Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid

Studio: Gonzo Animation

Episodes: 13 + 1 Special (The Captain's Day off), 21 minute run time, except for the special, which is about 40 minutes

Category: Action Comedy, With romantic elements. Mecha-based.

Synopsis: In TSR we see a return to the roots of FMP, the battlefield and the story continues on from where Season 1 left off. There is some slight overlap in the explanation of the experimental Lambda Driver, the ambivalent piece of weaponry that relies on human emotions to work. The Lambda Driver enhances attacks as well as acts as a shield by amplifying human emotions and translating them into energy. However, extremely strong human emotions are required and it is thought to be impossible to control emotions in such a manner. For this reason, Sgt. Sagara struggles to come to terms with the Arbalest, the experimental Arm Slave he has been assigned to pilot due to his incredible piloting ability. To him, a weapon that isn't consistent cannot be relied on. The irony is that until he learns to trust the Lambda Driver, it can never work for him. Sagara still juggles his missions with school work and as graduation year draws near, he has to study with increasing fervor even while on missions. In a bizarre twist, Sagara is suddenly recalled from his mission to protect Chidori, a Whispered and this brings him to a realisation of his feelings for her as well as his need for her. In the meantime, following Gaul's death, a new brutal terrorist emerges with a small contigent of special Venom-type arm slaves, which are also equipped with the Lambda Driver. Amidst the hole created in his spirit from having to leave Chidori, Sgt. Sagara must discover how these terrorist pilots are operating the Lambda Driver and he must face his toughest challenge yet in defeating them.

First Impressions: I was expecting a lot from the final season of FMP, given how much I enjoyed the first two seasons. It delivered instantly. No surprises.

Art: Remains similar, scroll down to take a look at the previous seasons
4/5

Characters: By far, the characters in this season receive the best treatment. With a good deal of exploration and also the filling in of several previously ignored loopholes in the previous season. The characters are now as complete as can be.
5/5

Storyline: TSR has the most plot twists in it amongst the 3 seasons. It keeps you on your toes and is extremely welcome. Nothing of spectacular brilliance though.
4/5

Ending: Though rather expected, the ending was emotively charged and provided a good climatic tie-up to the whole story. It was a tad rushed though, probably due to the fact that it was only 13 episodes.
4/5

Overall Impressions: The relationships are very well balanced with the Mecha aspect in TSR, as opposed to the first season, where Mecha fared a little too strongly and in Fumoffu, where there was far too little Mecha. The scriptwriters at Gonzo probably finally got it right after the first two seasons swung too strongly to either extreme. There are quite a number of repeated information bits, especially about Black Technology and the Arbalest, but this is understandable or viewers who just watch TSR straight will have no clue about what's going on. It is highly possible to watch TSR on it's own without having watched the previous two seasons and still enjoy it greatly. Though short, the plot and character development is quite self-contained. Very good. The only problem was that it was too short and it just whizzed by like the wind.

Additional Notes: The violence is still there, but it isn't overly much. As a point of interest, the opening theme(Minami Kaze[South Wind] by Mikuni Shimokawa) is highly enjoyable.


This series rocks! Go watch it!
*All the anime series I review here I have on hand. Feel free to contact me if you wish to borrow it. Unfortunately, for admin. purposes, I have to limit this offer to people whom I know on a personal level.*

Photographic Lessons/Workshop

Based on some requests, I'm thinking of conducting some photographic workshops for people thinking of taking up photography or seeking to improve their skill level. Off hand, these workshops will all be focusing on photographic techniques(you have to input the creative bit yourself) and will cater to each individual's needs. My purpose for this post is to check out the response for such workshops. Please indicate your interest by dropping me a mail at stimphoto@yahoo.com.sg, or to my personal mail if you prefer. If I'm able to get at least 3 students, I'll go ahead with the production of course work and a proper programme and schedule, based on my availibility due to NS commitments.

There are no prerequisites at the moment other than a genuine desire to learn and also the possession of a camera with full manual control. I don't care if it's film/digital, professional SLR, point and shoot, but the camera must have full manual control over exposure settings.

Lomo adventure

Borrowed Wellington's Action Sampler and ran a roll of provia through it and x-processed it to give the wonky colours you see here. Heh, to be frank, I was a little dissapointed at the results, but considering the exposure is fixed(it doesn't vary no matter the light!), such a catch is pretty good heh. I realise now though how expensive lomography can be because every shot is a hit and miss, but it's great in that you never really know what you're gonna get, what shots are gonna succeed and what are not for purely technical reasons. Splendid! I had so much fun and excitement shooting the roll that I probably will get myself a lomo too, though I'm looking at a lomo Frogeye(underwater version) or Horizon perfekt(panoramic model). I apologise first of all to those whom I promised your photos would be here and they're not. It simply means your photo was either overexposed or underexposed. I kept everything that could be seen. Unfortunately for some, the lens wasn't as wide as I thought, which is why my face features in all too many pictures. It could even be a self-portrait series. Interestingly enough, none of my pictures with JC screwed up, even though I took the most with him. It's a miracle in itself haha! Honestly though, I unrealistically thought that I would get images of everyone, even though they were blurry, I forgot completely about the lack of any bells and whistles on this thing and the fact that auto exposure(or even manual exposure adjustment) didn't exist on the camera! Complete basic stuff, so ya, I apologise if your photo didn't quite come out. I was using slides as well so there isn't any room for exposure error. I might try using negs the next time and X-processing it using software, but that wouldn't quite be as fun would it? Though it would be 1/3rd the price. Heh. Anyhow, here it is. Might look like a collection of shit to some of you, but hey, I like it! Oh well, definitely not for serious work!

Click on the image to view, I couldn't get blogger to put up the full size here.

Anime Review: Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu(Season 2)

Since I recently reviewed the first season of Full Metal Panic!, I thought I'd might as well review the whole 3 seasons consecutively for a better perspective. With regards to the blog design, I'll be borrowing an Action Sampler from Wellington tomorrow. It'll take me some time to shoot the slides and get them cross-processed so the left column should be up some time next week. I'm excited to see how my first lomo-shot and cross-processed film will turn out so that ought to be an interesting exercise for me as well. What is cross-processing, it involves deliberately processing slide film with the wrong chemical(C-41) instead of the proper (E-6) chemical. This gives you out-of-this-world wonky colours and crazy contrast, which is an effect I'd like to achieve traditionally, rather than through software, for once.

Title: Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu

Studio: Gonzo Animation

Episodes: 12(there are actually 16 episodes, but some are two 10 min episodes fused together), 21 minute run time

Category: Action Comedy, with romantic elements

Synopsis: In guarding Chidori at Jindai High, Sagara is forced to go undercover as a high school student. Unable to adapt to regular civilian life and plagued by constant military over-cautiousness, he creates tons of mad-cap adventures for Chidori and the other students, developing the bitter-sweet romance between them that he remains constantly clueless about. Matters are complicated as Tessa, a 16 year old captain at Mithril, a mercenary organisation that Sagara is part of, and also Sagara's commanding officer, continues her unabashed romantic pursuit of Sagara. Hilarity ensues as Sagara struggles to fit in and to balance his duty with school.

First Impressions: The first minute in itself blows you away, literally. Solid first impression.

Art: The art is the same as the first season. No change.
4/5




Characters: The characters remain the same, but don't come out that well in this season unless you've watched the first season. As I'm rating single seasons and not the entire 3 seasons, I can only give fumoffu middle marks. You won't get the characters completely if you don't watch the first season, not very good. Minor characters are also sidelined completely.
3/5

Storyline: Extremely funny, but there doesn't seem to be any real progression or theme. Episodes just seem to be one mad-cap adventure after the other and inter-relation is poor. Fumoffu could well be a collection of OVAs, if you were to look at it that way. The bonta-kun storyline seems to be just playing for laughs as well, as enjoyable to watch as it is.
3/5

Ending: Gonzo probably couldn't find a good way to end this and the scriptwriters probably got bored of random funny events, which is probably why fumoffu only runs for 12 episodes. There isn't a real ending to fumoffu, which is quite expected considering the story wasn't quite going anywhere.
3/5

Overall Impressions: The storyline does not continue from where season 1 left off, but rather it focuses more on the school life at Jindai High School. The relationships between the key characters, especially between Sagara and Chidori, receive a much greater importance in this season as compared to the previous season. Other smaller characters like Kurz Weber and Melissa Mao are limited to small cameo appearances in this season. The storyline is rather irrelevant and not very deep, but of the three seasons, fumoffu is probably the most mad-cap and insane of the lot, and consequently also the funniest. It's totally over the top physical humour, which you may or may not enjoy, but is also somewhat heart warming in parts, though not as much as the first season due to the notable absence of seriousness and drama in this episode. The Whispered storyline is not mentioned here, and the Arm Slaves make cameo apperances at best, which makes fumoffu somewhat of a standalone season in itself. I suspect the creators of FMP at Gonzo just wanted to have a ball with the characters on this one; good for us anyway! You may, however, be slightly lost if you watch season 2 without knowing a bit about the backstory from Season 1 and some things might not make sense as the backstory isn't explained again. Insider jokes might also be lost on you if you do not watch the first season first. If you're not one of those keen plot types that take the story seriously, this is definitely a must watch.
3.5/5

Additional Notes: Contains some level of violence and gore, as is typical of gonzo animation. However, this is not excessive and is sparingly used in this series.

PIME 7: The art behind photography part 2.

This is of course still a photoblog and I will continue to provide photographic tips that I think will be helpful to all of you. This is a continuation of PIME 7 from the 12framejourney blog and will cover a) Making great shots in boring locations and b) Planning your shots. As a side note, you might notice that the left side of this blog is still a little empty, mainly because I don't really have anything to put in there right now. I thought about it and realised I don't have anything suitable, or rather that I find fits into the overall design of the blog. I was initially thinking of making the design 100% anime related, but I feel that I should put in some elements related to photography as well(ie. some of my images, thanks Xu for the reminder). After thinking for a bit, I decided that I should shoot a series solely for the purpose of creating a sidebar for this blog's design and after some thought, I got the creative juices going and I know exactly what I want to do now. Generally, I will be procuring a Lomo Supersampler and having some fun with all of you; my friends! Heh. I'll probably have to get it done after my exams, maybe? Yes, no, I don't know hehe. The sooner the better? Maybe before, hmmm. Think 36 cross processed fun rubbish shots. Sweet. Well anyway, on to PIME 7.

3. Making great shots in boring locations
Typically, what I like to do is to make great shots in "boring" Singapore, because anyone can make a gorgeous photo of Mount Fuji, but can you make an equally powerful image of East Coast Park, for instance? The obvious answer is you can, but it is not as easy as making the gorgeous photo of mount Fuji. The problem with shooting images of tourist attractions(think Esplanade) is that EVERYONE has the same photo, because undeniably, it looks great at certain angles. In making my personal image of the Esplanade, I spent 4 months searching for a fresh approach before I finally found it. No one did it before, but consequently I also spent much more time looking for such an angle.

Picking a more mundane subject like a random beach or park forces you to think creatively and to find ways to bring out the beauty of the subject. As I said before, every subject has an element of beauty in it, and it's up to the photographer to "see" it. Nevertheless, do not force yourself to see, for only inspired photos can be truly great. If a trash can is simply a trash can to you, do not try to make great art out of it, it won't happen. However, as a disciplined photographic exercise, try this; Lock yourself in the bathroom for 1 hour and using that time, produce an image every minute. Every image must have a different subject or approach a subject from a different angle. This will help you to develop your "seeing" eye for photography. Under no circumstances can you give up during this exercise, or the whole experiment will be rendered void. Force yourself to churn out the images. The late Henri Cartier-Bresson used to shoot 1 roll of film a day, but left many of them unprocessed. The whole point is to sharpen your photographic eye through practice, such that you "see" much, but you only photograph what is great.

Fundamentally, there are 4 things that are usually present in all great photographs in some combination or other. Most of the time, there are at least 2 out of these 4 things that are present in them. 99.9% of the time, there is at least 1.

The first thing is Colour, or in the case of black and white images, contrasting tones. Contrasting colours/tones help to create vibrancy in images and this is what first jumps out at someone when they look at an image. It creates initial impact. A flat image, simply put, is boring and does not grab your attention in the slightest. What good is brilliant composition if the person will just gloss over it before looking at it in detail. This is generally what creates the wow factor. Contrast aids in creating "drama" in an image, simply because the image looks more 3d.

The second thing is also related to drama, and that is perspective. Great images often offer a unique perspective, that people normally overlook. This also aids in grabbing attention and creating impact. To have great perspective, this is often limited by your personal creativity, for this will determine how far your personal perspective deviates from the norm. For instance, a high perspective can make your subject look vulnerable, or curious, while a low one can make your subject look imposing. A photographer must thus decide what perspective would bring out his/her intentions best and use that perspective. There are dozens and dozens of different perspectives that can be used, which is why sometimes photographers buy a particular lens for a specialised perspective that the lens gives. I'm a great fan of the diagonal fisheye perspective, which exaggerates distance between objects, but others swear by a compressed telephoto perspective, which compresses subjects and makes them look more flat. Personal likings will develop, but ultimately, there will be occasions where I feel that another perspective works better. You can therefore never be constrained by a single perspective and knowing the right one can often turn a drab photo into a stunning one.

The third thing is shape. Often, shapes are present everywhere in our world. For instance, the roof of a house may be a triangle, or windows may be squares or rectangles. Shapes often can be used to great effect, but this largely depends on the photographer's ability to see these shapes in the first place. Consider the image below, can you spot the triangles therein?


Circles?


The last and final thing is patterns. Patterns occur everywhere in our world as well and, like shape, it is up to the photographer to locate them. Patterns, like shapes, are often good subjects of interest or complement a drab main subject well, bring out the contrast between the drab and the dynamism of the pattern. The image above also contains a pattern in the background if you look carefully. This helps to bring out the dull white flowers of the plant well via contrast.

4. Planning your shots.

There is definitely room for dynamism in images and often, this is what photography is all about; reacting to situations to capture the "decisive moment" or "moment la decisif", as coined by street shooting master Cartier-Bresson. However, great shots can often be planned as well and this often results in the "perfect" image; presenting the subject at it's best and showing clearly what you, as the photographer, wanted to bring out of the subject.

For those of you that have accompanied me on "sunset" shoots, you would know that I arrive at the location 1 hour early, find the best composition and park myself there until the right time when the light is best. I then snap several images as the light changes and usually go home with a grand total of 1 image. This is planned shooting. I decided on the subject, and sometimes composition, beforehand and went to the area specifically to shoot a single image when the light was the best. Such planning enables you to achieve more focus with your images. However, you must have a clear vision of what you want. There is no "see what can shoot then shoot lor" in photography. This makes mediocre images. Great ones are usually planned for or captured by quick reaction brought about as the camera becomes an extension of the eye.

Even for street shooting, the great masters often pick a background and wait for exactly the right circumstance to happen before they release the shutter. Walking around is actually a bad photographic habit, but many photographers, including myself, are often guilty of it because we lack the patience to stay at a particular spot for hours on end, not knowing when, or if, the right circumstance will happen. I have only just begun to wait for the right moment in my street shooting, but that is why I am still very much an amateur. Singaporeans are especially guilty of this, because of our hectic lifestyles, our photography is hectic as well. It can't be rushed. This is fundamentally a limitation of photography, unlike oil on canvas artists, we cannot create from scratch, but rather can only modify an existing scene at best. Though we can modify it greatly, we cannot create what doesn't exist at some level in the first place. Thus, we must wait for what we want to happen to happen in reality before we can capture it. Patience and vision is therefore the key to great imaging.

I hope all this helps, keep shooting!

Anime Review: Full Metal Panic!

This will kick off the first of the Anime reviews, and all following reviews will be in this format. Just skip the post if you're not interested in Anime, there is also photo stuff on this blog.

Title: Full Metal Panic!

Studio: Gonzo Animation

Episodes: 24, 21 minute run-time

Category: Action-Comedy, with romantic elements. Mecha-based.

Synopsis: There exists a special breed of humans known as the Whispered, who have new bits of information pertaining to undiscovered technology in their minds. Every Whispered has a different bit of information; some have more, some have less. This information, called Black Technology, is being aftered by everyone from terrorists to this secret mercenary organisation called Mithril. Mithril has thus far maintained control over new Black Technology, and hence they possess equipment that is advanced by about 10 years or so as compared to current world military armaments. Mithril seems to be like a UN of sorts, maintaining order and peace, and also protecting their own interests. Enter Sagara Sousuke, a 17-year old Sergeant in Mithril. He was raised on the battlefield, having grown up as a child rebel fighter in Kazakhstan, but he must now learn to live a life of a high school student as he goes undercover to protect Chidori, a Whispered, from getting into the wrong hands. A military expert, he is adept at all sorts of weaponry, especially piloting the powerful Arm Slaves, but struggles to come to terms with a regular civilian life.

First Impressions: The action starts out pretty quickly with FMP! and doesn't leave you deciding whether to watch the next episode or not, it impels you to. We jump straight into the lives of the characters and also the scene is set for the rest of the series; Sgt. Sagara receives his assignment to protect Chidori Kaname, a Whispered. Solid first impression.

Art: I'm a fan of Gonzo art, so this get's top marks. Characters are well detailed and emotions are well reflected. Frequent use of traditional Japanese anime emotions like the famous drop of sweat. [-_-"]
4/5. Very Good





Voice Acting: Well done, convincing at all times, but by no means incredibly powerful. Suitable for the light-hearted nature of this series.
4/5. Very Good

Characters: Well developed 3d characters. Interactions between the characters are also kept real, though the medium of exaggeration can be overused at points. You tend to fall in love with the characters after awhile, especially as they develop. Some minor characters could be better developed, but that's why they're minor characters I guess.
4/5. Very Good

Storyline: Compelling stuff, with hardly a dull moment. Characters are well-developed and explained.
4/5. Very Good

Ending: The first season ends well, but leaves loose ends, as most anime series do. Some of them are tied up later in FMP:The Second Raid. Probably simple marketing.
4/5

Overall impressions: I really loved watching this anime, although I started with the second season, FMP: fumoffu, which focuses more on high school life and is exceedingly funny. This one, though still humourous, deals with less fluffy issues and can be quite poignant at points. There is certainly much more drama and a stronger story-line. This is a must watch to discover the back story of Sagara and also to track the development of Sagara and Chidori's rollercoaster relationship. Compelling. There are some cliches at points but nothing out of the ordinary for Japanese animation of this genre. Highly recommended top-notch stuff.
4/5

Additional Notes: Contains some level of violence and gore, as is typical of gonzo animation. However, this is not excessive and is sparingly used in this series.

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