Clifford leading the public photowalk at ClubSNAP event

I was being introduced to the public before his speech on street and documentary photography, as well as a background on Sociomedia, the socially aware media company that will be commissioned in late 2009, early 2010.

Sharing on why I started shooting. What inspires me, and about "gear whoring".

Listeners to the talk.

Getting everyone ready for the photowalk. Was kinda shocked at the turnout. About 50 people were coming along!

People all ready to roll...

Final briefing before setting out from the Singapore Art Museum.

Answering some last minute question on the Olympus E-P1.

Explaining to the group on how I would approach shooting.

Demonstrating the use of E-P1's Live View to shoot and compose.

More on the E-P1 as my "digital rangefinder camera".

More questions from the group.

Sharing again on how I would use Custom White Balance setting on my camera to play with colours with shooting street images at night.

Demonstrating some of the features in Art Filters.

Snap! And showing the group how the image turn out.

All smiles. Everyone learnt something new today.

Was a great time with everyone today. And special thanks to Vincent for shooting these images.

Remembering the humble housing board flats...

To many Singaporeans, there is nothing glamourous about owning a housing board flat (housing development board, HDB for short, is the government stat board that is in charged of public housing in Singapore). These flats are merely public housing, and they are built on the cheap without much frills that comes with it, unlike condominiums or some fancy mansions where one can flaunt their riches and lifestyle.

Yet this humble apartment flats is home to the majority of the population, and should not be ignored. It is part of our heritage and the HDB has been working hard in the last decade to try to spruce things up by incorporating environmental designers and landscape artists... funny sometimes they fail and it can be hilarious to see some of the failed attempts.

This is part of the Singaporean life story. Sometimes, just sometimes, you come across an apartment that blows you away. These days, in some prime location, a housing board flat can fetch more than three quarters of a million dollars in the open market! That is not "cheap housing" anymore.

Well, here are some images (close up macros) of the humble three room type housing board flat, public area, shot at night.

Low light photography aka night street photography

Decided it would be quite fun to try and see how the Olympus E-P1 performs under low lighting condition, especially under street lighting. It was great to be walking along Armenian Street to look at conservation buildings and finding little things to shoot. But being low light, it is hard to capture any action since the shutter speeds are typically around 1-2 seconds long and any action will be blurred. Here are some images from the night street shooting.

Shooting from a bus ride

Didn't realise that shooting from the window of a bus can be fun, though the other commuter will look at you funny, as if you are going to be sneaky and shoot them next. But nevertheless, en route to Orchard from Holland Road, I managed to get a few nice shots in Black and White from the E-P1 camera.

Ghim Moh Market

Lively little housing estate in Singapore. Ghim is tucked away between Mount Sinai and Holland Village and her famous neighbor, while well known for her restaurants and drinking hole (and the naked couple stunt), Ghim Moh is known for having great food.

This is one of those really old housing estates that was built about 40 years ago. Known a long time ago as "Siang Ni Sua" (in Teochew meaning double breast hill) there were two pleateau where Ghim Moh estate is now and it has been levelled to make way for a housing estate (together with Dover Road estate) and this was told to me by the native of this housing estate, my parents. They grew up here in the kampung (village).

Much have changed over the years of course. But at least for me, Ghim Moh estate is now my home. And I love the fact that everything is so convenient in this area. And great food is available around the clock, even at 4am in the morning.

Redhill - Lower Delta Sports Complex

How long, how long since the last time I visited this place? I remember in my primary school years, in the late 70s to early 80s, I used to play in this district, and growing up in that area. It was run down, dirty, but always a place where warm smiles greeted me together with a few grumpy old folk that made sure we kids go home before the sky turned dark.

So much has changed. Henderson Primary School is no longer around.

The burnt down "unknown school that haunts the grounds" has been levelled and built upon. The playground is gone, replaced by new housing blocks.

Instead of shooting into their direction and mourning their loss, I thought I capture whatever that is still left in my memories, and looking at them closely, hopefully to retain what is still there, to be kept in the heart for the years to come.

2009.06.20 Dempsey Hill

The overall feel of Dempsey Hill is going through yet another change as developers are now targetting a new change that will give a new "commercial and yet indie" feel to the Dempsey Hill area.

Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but I am sure changes will mean some people might feel uncomfortable with the changes and will not come back. Many of the furniture resellers are moving up north to Tago Lane and similar places to continue their business at places offering competitive rent.

Dempsey Hill, once the home of the British Army.
Still standing, still changing...