AhMahrazzi

India 22 Nov

2008-12-03T01:55:00.003+08:00

Shots in the City: Dempsey Area

2007-08-17T23:27:00.000+08:00

Images, like poems, complement each other; one brings out meaning in the other with the help of context. I hope it's the same for the photographs I have taken. The following images are shots from my own little exploration around certain places, and in this case it's the region around my church. Somehow it didn't feel like I was in Singapore. It was surreal, quiet, and completely out of character for a country that promotes itself as a lively city state.

This particular trip began at St George's Church Tanglin, an unassuming brick building located along Minden Road, where I attend church. Outside, the Singapore flag flies high. The date is August 9th, National Day, and it's about 4 in the afternoon.

Not far off, a place to sit and contemplate, part of a development project establishing Tanglin Village.

A few minutes walk brings me and a friend to an unused chapel. A board by the door states that the place is under camera surveillance, but we walked around anyway. This is the facade of the chapel from the road.

This is the interior of the chapel itself, empty save for dust and leaves, and whatever else is blown in by the wind. It's intriguing to think that this place once held pews and people, used for worship and bible study.

A little stone platform with a broken setting. I think it must have been a font once, in memory of a boy called John Bath, if you take a look at the inscription.

The silhouette of an old fashioned streetlamp, a little worse for the wear, but still in working order.

This area was left pretty much abandoned, with a few of the old buildings still left, while the rest (which were probably the old army barracks used by the Brits in colonial times) were turned into restaurants and cafes and even a gallery. This particular hut probably housed the telephone switchboards, and you can see a whole mass of wires and stuff inside.

A couple of fallen palm leaves in the rather interesting shape of a cross.

A large spider, which is probably spans the width of your palm.

Finally to close this post, a picture of something that wasn't taken on location, but in school on a rainy day. I'm not really sure why I posted it myself, but it was an attempt at capturing motion.

Clarence T, this is for you! You asked for photos, you get photos. I hope they live up to your expectations. ;) Enjoy.

Celefest 14 July

2007-07-19T19:22:00.000+08:00

For once I am uploading images on time and not too late after the event! And another first is the fact that there are so many pictures of people. Which I am not too inclined to, but it was good practice with the new camera. Again, I used mainly P mode (and Auto when I got lazy), and I also tried out the multiburst function. I know that some of the images weren't composed very well or slightly blur, but I am breaking the camera in and getting used to holding a new weight.

So, to kick it all off, pictures of Mr Chew prior to Celefest (school funfair) ...with (yes that IS a cow! It was used to dispense beer but this time it was used to dispense milk to make milkshakes) his new room mate. It has a HUGE red cow bell that makes a resounding clang. You have to grow a pair in order to ring it in the middle of the school office.

And here's Mr Chew riding the cow, as instigated by Aunty Ivy. She brought him a little blue stool and got him to climb up. It looks rather painful. Hmm. Yes. Well I bet he could fit inside that cow!

Getting acquainted with his new best friend. Heigh Ho Patches!

Hooray for Combat Skirmish! My class was sponsored by a rather wealthy person. So we could afford to employ the company to come in and organize the game, which is basically outdoor laser tag for those of you who don't know what it is. Eh heh. We have big guns. Heh heh.

Here are a bunch of 6Y people posing for a shot...their stall offered a photography service, whereby costumed figures ran about the school to take photos with people. Free cookies! You can guess what costumes were rented...

And outside the office, Ms Ros and Aunty Liza selling books of coupons. There are so many. It's crazy.

Presenting...Superman (Aqeel) and Supergirl (Ria)! Heh.

Aaaand Venom (Mark) with his good pal Darth Vader (Jackson). Join the dark side...

...we have COOKIES! Yeah. Kams is looking very, very pleased indeed. But who could blame her? She's got aaaalll the cookies!

Kevin and LH aka Spidey acting as tough guys while messing with the Combat Skirmish guns.

Ria giving a supersmile! (Pardon the bad superjoke.)

Bryan is attempting to be scary. Uh, right.

Ms Loh due for dunking! Yes, revenge, at last...

There she goes! Arms in the air as a gesture of surrender...

Teachers are real good sports when they want to be. So besides agreeing to be dunked, they also played Combat Skirmish and attempted a second childhood. I do believe many succeeded. Here is Mr West, looking every bit the part of a soldier...complete with neon sunglasses and battle stance.

Mr Chew, the best sport of them all (especially for riding the cow!) with his winning, wrinkly smile. Not to mention those kickass glasses!

Yes, he's out to make a killing today (with colleague Mr Lim in the background), and he's not talking about money! We got a teacher's team to play against a student team, and the teachers won. Go figure.

Off he goes for a respawn...looking as cool as ever, and clearly having a very good time.

Well, you didn't think Combat Skirmish was for all the youngsters did you? Bring on Dad's Army!

Mr Teo, trying to look like Rambo.

But he is very good at this! There's Mr Chew in the background, battle-ready...

Good ol' Dr Barrett. Awfully good sport, what. (He was dunked too! There's pictorial evidence.)

Apparently he spent the 15 minute game staking out the alcove by the biology labs on this floor. Still, I'm sure he had a pretty good time. He looks just like a schoolboy! Give the old boy some credit, eh?

Here's the best of them all! Dear old Mr Chen aka CCC. The general of Dad's Army, reliving his childhood. He really does look the part!

Yessir, aim for the goal...this is by far my favourite image.

That hand in question belongs to Mr R. Lim, who finally admitted defeat to a couple of schoolkids...

They'll have a job finding Nemo when he's hiding like this...

There goes Mr Teh dashing up the stairs sharpish, with opponent team in hot pursuit!

Good ol' Mr Ramesh, with his unmistakeable red shorts. Gotta love the shorts.

Here's Mr Lim again, staking out the toilets, with one unfortunate Hian Lee camping out inside.

Brothers in arms: (almost) All in red from 6X: Kev, Munjen aka Kenneth and Jums aka Ameer.

Kevin. Showing off. "Boom! Headshot!"

The Year 6 boys team...

Kevin and Mr Clarence, looking very pro and Counterstrikish indeed.

And finally, Dr Barrett being dunked! Cheers all round, Ladies and Gentlemen, for Uncle Steven has dunked the great P!

Whew.That's it for Celefest! The rest of it wasn't all that interesting to photograph since I was taking them for personal use, so for once I could omit any other informative images that I would have had to take otherwise. That took such a job uploading, now my eyes hurt. Hope you enjoyed them. More photos to come, stay tuned!

BREAKING NEWS!

2007-07-18T22:03:00.000+08:00

I have a new camera! *cheers* Bought it a few weeks ago just before the GST hike, so thanks to the government I now have a new camera. Excellent.

It's a Canon 400D, and I'm quite happy with it. Though I need to practice more... -.- I hope to put up the first set of pictures that I took with it...or rather, the first set of photos which I took proper, not just playing around. I used mostly P mode (and I'm still not familiar with Av and Tv modes) and sometimes I cheated and used Auto (heh, wasting my mother's money) to take photos for my school's Celefest (it's a funfair, for those who don't know) and they turned out okay. I tried the multiburst function too, which is very new for me considering I've been using PnS cameras all along.

And yes I know I haven't been around lately, things have been going crazy as usual in life, and as this isn't some sort of well-known blog (YET!) or anything too spectacular, it doesn't matter I guess since few people come here anyway.

Oh well. One can dream.

New Zealand Photos 2

2007-07-18T20:43:00.000+08:00

Yes, slowly does it...Archiving all these photos has been a crazy task, since:

1) There are so many
2) I've got little time to do so.

Still, I will finish this task and get all the images out here eventually...Meanwhile...well, enjoy.

15th June

On the 15th, the group went to a national park in Rotorua to learn about the Maori culture and to see mud pools and geysers and hot springs emanating sulphur dioxide.

Can you smell Rotorua? Well, I dare say so.

This first image is of a tall post attached to a traditional Maori building. It is adorned with carvings and paua shells, perhaps to tell the story of the ancestor who once lived there.

Here is a carver hard at work, creating beautiful carvings that he has to spend years of apprenticeship learning how to make.

An example of traditional carving, richly detailed with scrolls and loops. Truly amazing.

Another place in the park, which made me think of...a glade from Peter Pan's Never Never Land. You half expect the Lost Boys to come out of the bushes brandishing wooden swords and beating off pirates. That boat-like shape is a bird trap, filled with fruit and other treats in order to catch unwary featherbrains. It reminds me of a pirate ship.

Hot mud pools, bubbling and glopping. God's cooking pots!

And finally, the sulphurous hot springs! There in the background you can see a geyser shooting in the air. The sulphur-tinged rocks give the place a surreal air, as if one was on another planet. As a downside, this place really smells quite strongly of rotten eggs (yes, sulphur dioxide...urgh). I'm surprised people could get used to it long enough to settle here.

Dawn and Po Ni, sitting on steps carved out of rocks which are warmed by the hot currents beneath. Butt warming! Mmmm...

Jonathan enjoying being in a hot seat.

More images of the hot springs...right out of a sci-fi movie.

After we had our fill of Nature's wonders, we head back to where we started at the traditional Maori building to receive a traditional Maori welcome: A hakka. Here Mr Ramesh was chosen as our "chief", as he had been elected by the entire group of students, even as we were surrounded by several tourist groups. Here he is receiving his instructions about how he was expected to act as our "chief".

I don't have good pictures of the hakka as they were very blur due to poor lighting and constant movement. However I can tell you that it was very interesting to behold, as the performers danced with pois (not poise, mind you, POIS. A poi is a round white ball that they used as part of the dance) and told the audience Maori stories. Mr Ramesh (as chief) had to rub noses (as is the Maori way) with some of the performers, as a form of greeting and possibly a gesture of peace.

After that, we headed to a park where we would conduct some experiments on the water from the hot pools. Yes, more sulphurous pools! But first...a wonderful treat in the form of fish and chips! Excellent meal.

The steam from the pools caught the light filtering through the foliage overhead, and I got a few beautiful views of this, which is rarely seen in tropical zones such as the area in which I live.

A bolt of yellow in the striking blue sky.

I don't know why, but I love this tree.

A very large pond of warm springwater, cooled somewhat by the wintery air. The little black spot you see there is a tiny bird flitting over the water's surface, perhaps attempting to warm himself up.

Whoever Shawn was, his name will be here forever, carved crudely into a weathered picnic bench, one name among many names.

And a break, before leaving at last, reliving our childhoods...

This was taken after a brief shopping trip, and is a fitting final image for the day, I think.

Venice, Italy: Dec 13-16

2007-02-18T00:07:00.000+08:00

13-16 Dec

These photos are way overdue, but I have been lazy/ busy/ etc./ take your pick. BUT here they are! Enjoy, enjoy...pictures from my dream destination.

A nearly deserted campo...Just me, 3 pigeons, and an ever-running fountain...There are so many side roads to get lost in!

A church against the beautiful blue sky...There are so many beautiful churches here, each one full of history.

A look into the grey-green waters of a canal reveals soft, feathery seaweed fronds, while the sun reflects off the stark white stone.

Now...is the orange on the wall, or on the floor? Perspective, perspective...

I love shadows, and I think the lighting here is really nice. It looks like a compass point, telling me where to go.

A laughing fool...and several other masks on display from the myriads of mask shops in Venice.

Another pale church I came across on the 14th...you can see many of these with beautiful sculptures and stonework.

The sun peeking through a narrow waterway, illuminating the simple transport used by Venetians.

A little old lady out running her errands.

Rainbow flag of celebration against a cerulean sky, with a plane cloud trail high above.

Gondolas, gondolas, gondolas!

My hotel at night. This hotel, by the way, is great. Considering the quality of European hotels that is. Morning breakfast is a wonderful spread. Rooms are decently sized and comfortable, with TVs. If I could afford it I'd stay there again.

Piles and piles of colourful Italian-made sweets.

Rialto bridge and some colourful posts. If it weren't for that annoying rail in the bottom right corner, this shot would be great.

Two shadows and two pigeons. I don't know, somehow this appeals to me.

Those flying rats are everywhere. Some people say their poo brings good luck if it lands on you. Um, yeah...whatever you say. Some tourists really get kicks from letting the birds land on them. GERMFARMS, that's what I say.

They look like twin sisters out for a walk. Maybe that's me and my sis when we get old. Lovely picture, but I just wish it wasn't so dark so I could get a better shot.

Ah and it is the last day in Venice already! During the boat ride out, I couldn't resist snapping this shiny ballon-like sculpture. I am going to miss this place...I would love to come back again and explore or people watch!

Next up in my Italian journey: the grand city of Rome!

Venice, Italy: Dec 10-12

2007-02-17T09:50:00.000+08:00

My first sight of Venice was a touristy one - little did I know that I would see so many more mask shops touting variations of the very same goods! In the end, I did not buy a commercially made one, nor even an expensive handmade one, but a few blank paper ones to bring home and paint.

A random view of a building and a colourful post, one of the quirks of Venice that I am particularly fond of.

"Bloody tourist."

This is one of my favourite pictures, because it's a step in my endeavours to become a decent street photographer. I didn't even need to speak; a wave of the camera, a raised eyebrow, a nod, and voila, a picture of what could be Santa's workshop.

An abstract shot of the supports used for the walkways that are set up when Venice floods. I love the steely colour scheme and shadows. Though, I think it would be nicer cropped a bit.

Damn pigeons. But a lovely lamp post all the same.

The winged lion, a symbol of St Mark, up on a pedestal in St Mark's Square.

The store window of a Mandarina Duck outlet. Venice is full of colourful shop windows that I just could not resist capturing. Even if you don't intend to buy anything, it's still worth a look-see.

More shop windows: Christmas-themed music boxes and a costume shop featuring the Beauty and the Beast costumes.

These costume stores sell so many beautiful and elaborate costumes and accessories. Masked balls and all that seem to be a big thing here, this shop is clearly not just for tourists.

A sign to Rialto Bridge.

St. Mark's Chapel in the Square.

Glass paint oozes out of smoothly carved wood in art pieces created by an Italian artist (whose name I forget but has a very distinct style).

Rusty chains around wood pillars on a floating platform, where we waited for the vaporetti, Venice's public transport system.

A vaporetti in front of a lighthouse in Murano, where the glass-blowing industry is located. We visited several glass-blowing workshops to watch the artists at work, creating simple glass horses that were perfectly balanced or even intricate chandeliers. In one place, it took an artist more than 20 minutes just to create a glass flower to adorn the chandelier he and a partner were working on.

A reflection of the lighthouse. It's amazing what takes your fancy when you're bored while waiting for the boat.

More boredom-inspired pictures:

A view from the vaporetti: These posts in the water mark out the routes, and they even have speed limit signs on them! A very interesting traffic culture from the norm that most people are used to.

Finally we arrived at Burano, another island off Venice which is well-known mainly for its lace and colourful houses. It's a quiet neighbourhood, full of amazing photo ops if you know where to look and avoid the tourist spots. However, it's a sparsely populated place and those few tourist spots are mainly near the vaporetti station.

A rainbow street, where the boats on a canal replace cars on a street. An old man is being taken for a walk in the nice peace and quiet.

Now this is the kind of shot that I came to Burano to take! I love the simplicity and unpretentiousness of the place, and on top of that, the pride that people take to paint their homes so that they stand out, unlike in Singapore where the houses are not typically colourful.

A little cat grooming himself in the shade. Strangely enough, there are many, many cats on Burano and few dogs. I wonder why...

More home decor. Very pretty, quaint styles.

A quiet park bench for contemplation...

Time to head back home after a long day of walking (yes, Venice is all about walking), under a lovely Venetian sunset.

The Murano lighthouse in the distance...we're almost back!

This is one of the last images I captured upon return to the main island. Somehow the orange and blue goes wonderfully with each other. I just love this one.

Hope you enjoyed them, and there will be more to come as I slowly archive and annotate them.

New Zealand Photos 1

2007-01-13T21:44:00.000+08:00

11-14 June

And here we have long overdue New Zealand photos! Yes, one up for procrastination. Now I'm just going to write brief captions (or not!) so...here goes.

Nice, shiny facade of Changi Airport. I know the composition could have been better, but given the limited time, this is what I got.

I'm just going to pick the nicest photos out of the bunch...or the nicer ones as the case may be, so I have skipped a day, and will be doing several days in one post. So, this first one here is an evening view from Mt Maunganui in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty. Beautiful views, and wonderful for a slow climb to the summit in winter. Of course the sea is too cold to do anything there, but the fresh air is good, and the scenery is really worth a good look-see. This shot was taken about halfway up the hill, sometime in the evening. There's a good cafe that serves excellent hot chocolate; it's two sticks of chocolate in hot milk, with pink and yellow marshmallows on the side. And these marshmallows aren't just coloured, they're fruity-flavoured! Good stuff, good stuff.

Sprig of rosemary. Lovely thing, I still have it pressed inside my journal along with a leaf said to have medicinal properties that I picked from Mt Maunganui.

The great spillway of a dam at a hydrostation. Amazing stuff, you can hear the water roaring away inside even from the showrooms which tell you how the whole thing works and also how it was all built. We got a lovely clear sky on that day.

After we left the hydrostation, I took this photo just outside the entrance. I know it's pointing at the sun and the levels are probably all unbalanced, but you can see how the sun reflects off the water, and the patterns made by the insane undercurrent caused by immense volumes of rushing water.

By now you may have deduced that this is a geography-themed trip. So next up was a visit to the dunes, at some beach. Can't remember the name, but it was a great learning experience even if I didn't take geography. All my photos of the group at the dunes aren't that fantastic...but well.

Here is Michelle, our leader and guide for the entire trip, with dune grass and ranging poles in tow. We learned a lot from her. (Again, beautiful weather!)

Some kind of dune grass against blue sky.

Another shot pointing at the sun, but I like the way you can see the silhouette of the gull and the top half of a person. Sun, sea, sky, sand. And a little lens flare. (You may have noticed dark smudges...that's dirt on the lens that somehow could not come off.)

After the dunes, we have mudflats! Possibly one of my favourite parts of the trip.

I love the silhouette effects here. There's a sense of expanse, of infinity, and mystery.

Making it's mark on the world...I think it's a whelk.

Humans staking our claim on Mother Nature...a previously untouched landscape.

Masses and masses of sargasses. Sargasso's. No? Seaweed. Yes? Good.

To infinity, and beyond! And yet...we are all frail...

A very old car....

...and a very old sunset.

Hope you liked these, more to come over the March holidays (hopefully...)

Surreal: Everyone Knows We're Strange, Everyone Knows We're Different.

2007-01-12T15:04:00.000+08:00

Sometimes things don't look like anything. Instead they look blurry and surreal, like a dream.

Well, in case you couldn't tell, the last three are photographs of the inside of latex gloves.

And everything is seen in black and white...everything is distorted...

...through the mechanical eye.

We love you all the same.

NB: Second part of title and last line of this post are lyrics from The Feeling's "Strange".

Gimme the Song and I'll Sing it Like I Mean it.

2006-11-21T12:14:00.000+08:00

Can you read instructions?

Can you tell me where I am on the map?

Can you take me far away?

Let's go to where the memories are.

Can you see them? Can you see me?

Dreams live here too.

The "you and me" kind of dreams.

But you have to return to reality.

Sometimes you get forgotten.

People like to hide their bad habits. Don't trust everyone.

Take comfort in the fact that the skies are always, always blue.

And that there's always someone to hold you down to earth when you threaten to fall off.

NB: Post title consists of lyrics from The Feeling's song "Sewn".

Cambodia Photos: Day 7

2006-11-17T01:03:00.000+08:00

Whew! It took me a long time to upload all these, but it's still a nice closure for the trip. To start off, here are some class photos. The primary 1 and 2 photos are missing because I didn't get a chance to photograph them.

This is the primary 3 class, the one YM and I taught. You may notice I am not in it...well that's because I was taking the photo. The ones the other teacher took were far too blur.

The primary 4 class...

The primary 6 class...

The primary 5 class...

More candid photos of the kids! Final final chance to take them...my Cambodian angels. Just looking at the photos makes me miss them all over again.

Such vitality, such spirit! And to imagine these children live in a country whose history is rife with suffering, as has been documented in the Genocide Museum.

Entrance to Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, which was a school-turned-hall of horrors.

Graves...

Preserved cells showing the conditions under which prisoners suffered and were tortured. Black and white photos on the walls of each cell depict the state in which the cells were found, with the bodies torn beyond repair. The prisoners were chained to this metal frame for torture, and only had a small canister for a toilet (see 2nd photo).

This wooden frame was used to hold climbing ropes for the children's PE, but was later turned into a dunking device, where prisoners were suspended in large containers of water as a form of torture.

Photos of those who died in this concentration camp are housed within the halls of the museum. Men, women and children alike died brutal deaths under the Pol Pot regime.

Another day gone, closed finally by a spectacular Cambodian sunset that betrays the cries of the dead.

And so ends the Cambodian series. I hope it was informative in some ways (though I did not intend for it to be an entire travel guide for Cambodia), and most of all I hope you enjoyed browsing. I hope to put up the New Zealand photos as soon as I have the time and patience, so look forward to that and more of my daily shots! (:

Cambodia Photos: Day 6

2006-11-11T20:38:00.000+08:00

Here we go. Nothing much for day 6, just a few more photos of the kids and the classroom (I'm sure you can tell the difference) so I'm not going to comment much...Just enjoy!

Ok that was it! Told you it wasn't much. Well, hopefully more photos up soon! There's a couple more days worth to come. Oh and I've also added some links on the right so that it's easier to look at each day's photos without having to go trawl the archives. Yeah.

Cambodia Photos: Day 5

2006-11-08T22:28:00.000+08:00

Hope you enjoyed that video! Here we go, day five pictures WAY overdue. Muchos apologies. Exams, school, blahblahlazyblahblah. Yes now on with the pictures. (Note to self: be more selective! I edited this post so often just to do that.) Most of them will be of children again, because the only times I really got to take photos was during recess or when I had a bit of spare time during activities.

Here're kids from my primary 3 class. The mischievous looking one at the top is Joseph. The little monkey in the centre is Pitou! He doesn't like taking photos much, so this is a rare one that is actually clear. Even then he isn't looking directly at the camera but well...I can't remember what the other names are...it's been a while. I need to go refer to that list... And this photo needs cropping.

The three...

...um, FOUR musketeers! They're so cute with their identical haircuts and the heights at a gradient...

These two are very photogenic and enjoy taking photos very much. The one on the left is from the orphanage, and the one on the right has amazingly bright eyes. The size of this photo doesn't do them much justice, but as you can see, they are really Cambodian angels.

Wait for it...wait for it...that's right, I got their names...L-R: Savuth (sa-VOOT), Somnang, Joseph! YESS. Haha. Cute kids.

This girl...I'm not sure what her name is because she isn't in my class...but she is from the orphanage too, and whenever I take photos of her she never smiles. That is, unless she's playing with the other children. Which is a little sad...you wonder what her childhood must have been like.

A primary five boy, if I'm not wrong. He was taking me around the schoolyard so I could take photos and I got this nice one. It looks like he's peering right through an invisible window. Actually he was holding on to a hanging rope. Friendly chap.

Happy kids!

They specially posed in a bunch for me to take this...

Mei Sugaya (daughter of a Japanese missionary) and Ouk Ratama, from the primary 3 class. Really sweet girls.

This photo just says: =X

The little clique from the primary 3 class...and a friend in the background who was making funny faces in the camera...I wonder if she knew I captured her in it too...Anyway. This was just before the art lesson when we got them to make themed drawings.

I don't know what this pose is supposed to be, but it looks like some WWE thing that these kids were into...at least that was the impression I got. Nevertheless, you can tell that they are vibrant spirits.

Another pose in front of the water pump (now apparently unused).

The drawing class! Two themes: "My Best Friend" and "My House". Plenty of creativity here, as you can see Joseph and Piakedey (pronounced pii-kuh-dai) did a joint drawing! You can't tell from the photos but these are really detailed drawings. (And behind you can see the recorder fingering chart that we used to teach them to play the recorder...)

And this is Phanit (fa-nit), from my sister's class, after school. He looks a little worried here, maybe it's because he knows it's almost the last day that we're going to teach them. This was the last chance I had to take so many candid photos of the children.

Well, that's all for today, and you know there's always more coming soon!

2006-10-12T20:33:00.000+08:00

Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)

Watch.

Be amazed.

Spread the love.

Doing it AhMah style

2006-09-05T22:41:00.000+08:00

Photos have been in a slump recently, but I've been picking up my camera more often now and trying to improve myself. Hopefully it shows. I'm just sorry that I haven't been updating as often as I'd like...this project has been delayed for such a long time due to school and what not...but then again, priorities...*rambles* Back to the photos!

My window in the morning, all covered in condensation.

Shoes. And a mic cable. In school. Yeah.

My emo feet in black and white socks.

A frangipani flower on the sidewalk.

My glasses...I like how the angle of the light makes the shadow larger. Like the light is opening up the eyes (glasses). Geddit?

School canteen in the morning light. This one focuses more on the light than anything else...I like light. (:

Fairly strong afternoon light can often add a lot of definition to photos, from around noon to 1pm. This photo is of pruned trees looking very sad.

The wall of my mother's house (which was being rented out at the time I took this photo). Sunlight makes textures stand out.

Cookie looking sleepy in the ambient light, with a book I haven't managed to finish.

Flowers...in the twilight and in the daylight. I'm feeling stingy on comments today.

Well that's all for now...more to come as always, just a matter of time. There's terrible backlog I tell you. And there's the owner of this blog who's also terribly lazy and/or busy. :p

In the Secret...

2006-08-10T23:41:00.000+08:00

In the secret,
In the quiet place
in the stillness you are there
In the secret in the quite hour I wait, only for you
Cause i want to know you more.

-In the Secret, Mercy Me

I know I haven't updated as much or as often, but it would be lovely if you could leave comments or tag. Anyway! On to the pictures. But first, a little explanation about the quote...

I just like it.

GOTCHA. Haha!

In the quiet...God's there. Everywhere. This post is more or less about the secret places, hidden things that you can only see if you know where to go or at the right time. Well okay, so some of them are more like general shots in chronological order, but that just makes it easier for me to upload them.

I have decided to entitle this photo "In the Linelight", for obvious reasons. At a certain time of the day when the lighting is just right, you can see the patterns on the walls formed by the louvred shades.

St. Georges again! Gotta love the old rustic charm of brick buildings...

This is a back way around my church which I've never really explored. The proliferation of mosquitoes might just be a reason to not do it too often...

Grungey sinks just below those metal stairs you see in the photo above. I have a certain fondness for grunge...it's got a kind of character to it; the idea that it's seen better days, the vestige of a history, albeit a short one. I don't know if it's been used recently, but well, I personally really like this photo...The light really adds to the grungey feeling too...

And since I'm feeling chatty (and high!) I might tend to write a bit more here than I usually would. This one doesn't have much really...it's just my camera on longer exposure taking the ceiling of St G's during an evening service. Or seminar. Can't remember. I lay it flat on the PA box so there's NO camera shake. Hooray! So what you get is a pretty light/shadow show.

This was taken at a friend's house...refurbished area of shophouses-turned-residences. I like this skylight...Although I fancy the photo might be a tad darker than I'd like...

A shot of one of the homes in the vincinity...I liked how the paint job matches the sky, which is the primary reason for taking this photo.

And another shophouse in classic black and white...

A shadow puppet by the window at the abovementioned friend's place...

The main focus of this photo is the reflection (as you might have noticed), not the camera. The extra little mirror ruins the photo a bit, but well it wasn't meant to be all that artistic. I just liked the reflection.

Well, that's all for now, there's more to come, hopefully I won't let this blog stagnate again...

Cambodia Photos: Day 4

2006-07-20T08:33:00.000+08:00

Okay! Day 4. I know this is definitely a bit out of date, but then photos are timeless, so you haven't really missed anything. Anyway, this is a photo of the children playing at break...they use the lines on the ground for some kind of game, but I didn't stick around long enough to figure out how it was played.

My primary 3 class students! They love the camera...one of them kept saying, "Teacher! Teacher!" then, "Maine! Maine! Photo." And making the action of taking photos. They're so cute...they couldn't really pronounce my whole name so they shortened it to "Maine".

Another photo of the game at break...This particular one has my primary 3 students in it, the previous one were just some random kids...

A rather smudgy picture of clear skies...a worm's eye view from the courtyard. I don't have Adobe Photoshop at the moment so I can't get rid of the smudge...Pity.

Shot of part of the Centre...it was hot and sunny, ideal for taking such photos.

Left: Chomran, right: Veasna, both from the primary 3 class. Veasna happens to be from the orphanage as well.

At the orphanage again...this is during snack time when they take out some food and have a break.More photos of the children...

Light falling on one of the toddlers...I don't know his name, but he looks sad, and worried.

Baby Lisa! The littlest one of them all...(ok so there WAS a baby, but it makes her sound cuter so there.)

I think this next boy's name is Meng. He drew me a flower...these children really love drawing. Anyway, here he is doing quite an impressive handstand against the wall.

YM and his new little friend...

Steph and her hidden masseuse...a primary one boy who refused to have his photo taken.

Baby Lisa and another girl whose name I don't know...happy little pair, very sweet. It's sad to think that they have no parents...

And of course! A group photo...

That's all for now, I know I haven't been updating much lately but well there's work, and work. There's SO much to upload! Grahh...

Bits, Bobs and Buildings

2006-07-12T17:52:00.000+08:00

Been lazy with submitting photos yet again, but I lead a pretty twisted life. Oho. More random shots and whatnots for your enjoyment, please.

Firsties...shot of a lamp at my church, lovely old thing. I mean, the church and the lamp. Both. Yeah. Proud member of St George's Church Singapore, 16 years and still going strong.

Some random shot of pretty morning glory in the neighbourhood near school...

The dwarf looks so happy! It's cute, especially in the sunshine.
Sun shining through this pathway at school...it's back near the back entrance to the General Office...
Stacked yellow canteen chairs...
Shadow on school stairs leading to hall...
And our lovely cross under a beautiful blue sky...

Seven's a number of completion in the bible, so I'll end here for the moment! There's PLENTY more, so be patient!

Cambodia Photos: Day 3

2006-07-04T13:47:00.000+08:00

Alrighty. Looking through I don't think there's much photos for Day 3, primarily because we spent so much time playing with the children at the orphanage. In the morning we would have teaching responsibilities; pity there are so few teaching photos! Oh well. This is Savuth (pronounced Sah-voot) busy at work, so I just got a shot. At that time I still didn't know his name, but now I'm pleased to say that I now know most of their names. Go me! Haha.

Righty-o. This is the front of the Centre, looks really spiffy even though it's not very big. Hooray for minimalism!

This is a candid (fluke) shot I took just before we visited Cornerstone orphanage. That there is one of the primary one boys peeking at these visitors from Singapore. I love how it turned out, especially since I'd taken it blindly. It would be nicer if it was bigger and clearer though, but blogger shrinks it, darn, and well if you take photos from inside a moving bus you can't expect much.

Two sweet little Cambodian orphans! I want to go back and visit them one day...

This is Ruth, the Japanese woman who runs the orphanage. The children call her mummy, so cute! The little girl there is Liza (Lisa? Anyway.) and she's so adorable! Very quiet at first, but she can be quite social if she gets to know you.

And our star, little Naomi! She's a very active child, and quite boisterous too. She loves to dance and sing...Cute right?

That's all I've got for Day 3. We were all so tired out from playing with the kids (getting on in years, we are) that we didn't do very much for the rest of the day. At least, I didn't take that many photos. Well there are plenty more of those to come, so just sit tight!

Cambodia Photos: Day 2

2006-07-03T21:42:00.000+08:00

Okay, after that long period I have finally gotten down to uploading photos...apologies, I'm just lazy. Anyway, this first photo is of Buddhist monks at the killing fields we visited. Let's see, it's the Cheung Ek Genocidal Centre. It sounds grammatically incorrect (it's not a centre for genocide! More like a centre to exhibit the cruelty of genocide...but I suppose that's too long so...) Some American tourists (or at least they're western) were taking photos with them. Mr B said, rather incredulously, "Who wants to take photos with monks?" Ask them, I suppose.

A photojournalism-type photo of this...vehicle (no idea what it's called, but it looks like a tuk tuk). Caption would be: Driver taking a water break on a hot day. Yes. Sounds just right. I just liked how this shows a natural action taking place, along with something of cultural interest. He's in it for the money, like most of us are...

This was taken with emphasis to the reds and blues that showed up really well in the hot, sunny light. This is a coffee shop outside the Russian market, but it has NOTHING to do with Russians. Stephen (you'll get to see him later) said that one of the explanations he's heard is that it's derived from "rush in" when people rush into the market. ...Feasible, I suppose. (By the way, it's TERRIBLY hot and stuffy in there. Fit for shopaholics and locals only.)

See the laughing guy on the left? Yes, that's Stephen. He was a great guide to us while we were there. The table in the background was where (L-R) Joel (with what was perhaps his third ice cream), Denise, Daniel and Steph were enjoying ice cream. And on the extreme right? Who else but our Mr B? I love the entire candidness of this shot.

This is how they sell rugs! All around the place you see colourful woven rugs made of strips of what could be scrap cloth. All this, plus the girl on top, was piled onto a motorcycle and driven through the semi-crowded streets. It's amazing what Cambodians can put on a motorcycle.

Ah. And here's a common sight along the banks of the Mekong river...locals hawking their wares such as lotus seeds, carrying them on their heads. A novelty for a city dweller like me. And for them, a norm. Interesting are the ways of man.

Little girl in blue shorts ran down the steep concrete-lined banks to a waiting boat...I just thought this was an interesting shot.

Another decent shot of the river...

Homage to madness, this one. I did actually purchase this girl's wares: less than US$1 worth of fried cockroaches, crickets and black beetles. Yummy. They smelled of old, soggy fries that have been refried in old oil.

I didn't touch any of it.

Seems like I have a lot more photojournalism-type photos up here today...Anyway. This is another shot of locals...a general store. The little boy was running around in his birthday suit, but was thankfully censored by a crate of water bottles.

Ah. We finally come to the last photo of the day. A scenery one, thank goodness! Nothing much to say here, just enjoy.

Righto...there's PLENTY of photo fodder left, loads more stuff to upload here. The rest of the Cambodia shots, for one, and for another the New Zealand shots. Did I mention I took 1000+ photos there, mostly scenery? I'm going to drive myself crazy updating this blog. Not to mention stray shots I take everyday...and the stories behind them. Whew!

Cambodia Photos: Day 1

2006-06-16T17:36:00.000+08:00

Since I have a little internet access (here at this lodge in New Zealand- refer to diaryland entry as linked below) and a bit of time on my hands, I thought I might put up those AhMahrazzi photos here. Of course I won't put them all up because it will take too much time, but I'll go by day and see how many I can get up here at a go.

Day 1: 3/6/06

This is the view from inside the bus when I first saw the centre. Yes, we did stay in a building that housed a school...

The facade of the building, a converted hotel which now houses a school (pre-school and primary), guest rooms, and a church.

The lovely 'view' outside my window...

Looking up from the courtyard on a sunny day...

This is the landscape surrounding the first orphanage we visited. Very "The Grass is Singing" landscape, no?

This is the top of the swings at the orphanage...

Some random but lovely clouds...

A macro of the thatch, which is just interesting to look at...

More pretty thatch. one of my favourite photos. I like how the blue stands out against the black silhouette. The only annoying thing is the lens smudge which I can't seem to get rid of even with my spectacle cloth. And I'm too lazy to go and remove it with Photoshop...at least until I install it that is.

A wall and this blue thing which I have no idea of it's function...I just liked the lighting.

The wonderful combination of shadow and sky...last photo for today!

I hope you enjoyed that. It's been a little tedious uploading all these photos...and still 7 days more photos PLUS New Zealand. My little portfolio will be quite full!

Games Day

2006-05-30T12:42:00.000+08:00

Games Day was held on the last day of school, and I managed to get quite a few nice shots because of the nice, sunny weather. Almost typical of one of the photographers I watch on deviantART, http://scaber.deviantart.com. An inspiration of sorts, in a manner of speaking. Here are a bunch of random shots... Lovely greenery and sunlight.

This was taken in the tennis court...

I love this shot...the tennis ball...

Notice the focus on locks and barbs and fences. How insecure the human race has grown, such that we need to lock each other out...and lock ourselves in! How we cause distrust and fear among each other that we might resort to this. It's strange how we behave...how we have come to this. And all these standing so innocently in the sun...silent and bold, while the rust bubbles and blisters their painted surfaces until they crumble to nothing, or are replaced anew to lock our anxieties in.

Make Hay When the Sun Shines

2006-05-29T21:24:00.000+08:00

Today was very hot, but very sunny. Hardly any clouds, which meant perfect lighting for taking nature photos! It was a rather productive day, and the strong sunlight lasted for quite a while so I was able to get some nice photos with perfect lighting, even indoors.

This is a beautiful one of some hibiscus...the red really turned out well. I'm trying to reduce the amount of manipulation I do on a photo to zero so...

And the next one here...all these were taken on the way from school. It's interesting what a neighbourhood has to offer...The sun really brings out all those colours...Normally the bougainvillea would have looked a bit more bland, but the sunlight really brightened it up.

I rather enjoy taking photos with particular focus on the light...it happens to be a favourite factor of mine. Here's another photo, this time taken at Holland V when I was there for lunch. This board has always been of particular interest to me, because this cobbler must have a dedicated clientele to put it up, even with a phone number and illustrations!

And then there's this traffic light...while waiting to cross the road I tried this interesting perspective. Coupled with the blue sky, I think it looks rather interesting.

Oh yes and there's my constant effort to get decent shots of my school. Like these, which were taken just as I came back from lunch. Our school is small but then it does look very nice. By now it's quite familiar so...no longer cold like I thought it was...

Got a nice little pink lens flare there...no manipulation I assure you. Oh and here's an interesting one of the flag pole...looks almost as if it isn't there...

Then I came home and tried out some still life shots...I found a seed on the floor which had probably been blown in by the wind and I had some fun with it. The light was still good by then so I had some interesting shadows.

I also arranged some shells and sand to get some nice shots...these have been sitting in a plastic bag on my desk since a long time ago, and I've been aching for an opportunity to get good shots of them. They're my beach treasures...Simple, yet how beautiful it is...

There's always more where that came from. Next post, I'll have stuff I took on Games Day and maybe some other random rubbish. I might pull out some old photos as well, blow the dust off a give them a bit more time in the limelight...

AhMahrazzi out!

AhMahrazzi

2006-05-29T19:16:00.000+08:00

ah mah + paparazzi= AhMahrazzi

Welcome to my photo blog! I normally use deviantART, but I wanted a place where I could conveniently upload the photos I took every day. Better than a website, which would be terribly arduous to maintain with layout and everything. This is seperate from my usual blog and writing blog because it's purely for photos and comments of my own. Each blog has it's own significance and use, and I hope you enjoy them all.

Not all the photos are the kind I would upload onto deviantART, but I thought it would be nice to have a sort of photojournal, in a manner of speaking, just for posterity. This is a gallery of sorts. A gallery of my life, what I see in this world that is beautiful to me.

I hope you can see the beauty through my camera, the eye of my world.