You're a Star!

When it comes to star jumps... there's no better option than the NTU ACES Cheerleading team. With three back-to-back national cheerleading championships, these guys are without a doubt the best in the business.

Upon chancing on a photography competition organised by Budget low-cost airline Jetstar titled "Perfect Star Jump" The requirements are simple enough: An eye-catching star jump image.

A phone call and a couple of weeks later, Jessilyn, Ian, Mun Chun, Kelvin and I were sweating it out at the NTU Sports and Recreation field doing (the cheerleaders, not me) countless basket tosses.

All-in, we squeezed out 34 frames (and a couple more test shots) before calling it a day. The cheerleaders would have gone on for a couple more tosses, but I was on the verge of collapsing from heatstroke... =P

Edit: Unfortunately this image did not make it into the judges shortlist. But the enthusiasm shown during the shoot is something that I'll always remember.

- KP

En-lighten-ed

2008 has been another tumultuous year on the photographic front.

Some thoughts: -

The shock waves generated by the debut of video-enabled DSLRs are slowly reverberating but have yet to hit home. Nevertheless, the transition from film to digital will pale vis-a-vis the leap from still to motion pictures.

“Strobism” is in full steam and sticking a light off-camera is getting passe.

Slowly but surely sensor sizes are converging towards 135 format. In the not too distant future, the thought of using a sensor smaller than 36mm x 24mm (or paying the obscene amounts for the privilege of using one) would be a really bad joke.

On a more personal level, Polaroids are going the way of the dinosaur – thank goodness Fuji is still in the thick of it with their excellent Instax integral film.

With that, here's looking at an exciting (for better or worse) 2009. May we all lead a more en-lighten-ed year... =D

Polaroid madness

Only... it isn't taken by the ubiquitous Polaroid, but, may we dare say, something better.

The Instax mini camera by Fujifilm was an instant (haha) hit at a recent lunch ROM reception. Combining the gratification of digital photography and the "feel" of film, the results are sharp and colours vibrant.

Guests intuitively pen their well-wishes on the credit-card sized photos and the newly wedded couple receives much more than a photographic record to relive that special moment of their lives.

For couples or anyone interested in the spontaneity of instant photography coverage, do give us a buzz!