Matcha Macarons

Made some matcha macarons today!

They're the best that I've made in forever and mmmmm :)

[All photos taken using the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens on the Nikon D7100 body]

Long Exposure Photography I

Had a bit of fun with some glowsticks and long exposures.

Was a first attempt, so not the best, but it was a good practice :)

I'm hoping to do some more in the next week or so, and hopefully they'll be better :D

These were just practice ones, with the aid of my two little helpers.

[All photos taken with the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens on the D7100]

Cambridge Checkpoints 2014

Oh yeah thought I'd mention it here

But two of my photos are going to be on Cambridge Checkpoint books for 2014!

(sadly I lose the ownership of both of them and also I get nothing in return except pure pride and self-achievement but oh well)

HAHAHAHAH yeah... uhm. Yeah that's kind of it. Well.

HL's Photoshoot

[All photos taken with the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens on the Nikon D7100. Edited in lightroom and photoshop]

Had the lovely opportunity to go for a fun photoshoot/fun day out with my friend, HL :')

Went exploring around with her in the city, and really just improvised on the spot.

[For more photos, click here]

This being her first ever photoshoot, and this being my second, we were both pretty lost (it's been almost a year since my first photoshoot!)

and not to mention that we both kinda suck with navigating the city.

Went around Hyde Park, and then to Starbucks (may I recommend the green tea/matcha frappuccinos!) and then to QVB. Later went to dinner with her at Mizuya and late night shopping at Kinokuniya but that's another story, not suited for here. TANGENT.

It was super duper fun and reminded me just how fun portrait photography really can be.

Also, the weather was so good!

The day before was a sweltering 41 degrees, and the day after was also really hot and dry (the kind that makes you turn into a hermit living in an air-conditioned shell, eating ice-cubes to survive the heat), but the day we had the photoshoot was alright!

She even managed to wear a denim jacket for heaven's sake.

((Though, by late evening it was sort of a bit on the cloudy side, but if I can take portraits in rainy weather [like the first time] then I feel like I can take on any weather at all. But maybe not a cyclone))

All in all, it was a really nice day out and I really enjoyed it! It felt good to relax a bit for an entire day (despite the stress load and work load that keeps piling up...)

Not sure when I'll do my next shoot, but I've got a little bit of product photography planned for the New Year for someone, and then it's off to do some travel photography down in Melbourne!

Jelly Photoshoot

Got a little bored and had a tiny photoshoot with jelly.

Yup. Best subject matter in the world.

It's odd how I enjoyed taking photos of the jelly than actually making it, or looking forward to eating it...

Anyway, thought it was pretty fun.

[Taken using the Nikon E series 50mm on the Nikon D7100 body]

Stress-relief Photography

Sorry for the lack of posts recently; my exams are coming up (starting tomorrow!) so I haven't had much of an opportunity to take photos etc.

But as soon as exams are over, I'm sure some will pop up :)

Also having a little photoshoot planned for the end of year holidays HEHEHE

Man, I haven't done portrait photography in aaaaaages. This'll be fun.

Alright, so I had a bit of stress on my mind after doing a math paper, so I thought I'd release some of it and take a break to take some casual photos of whatever I could find around the house.

Just a creative break.

So I thought I'd put the photos here too, just as an update!

[All photos taken using the Nikon E series 50mm on the Nikon D7100]

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E lens Testing

Someone lovely got me the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 E series lens and right now I'm pretty much loving it.

It is kind of hard to manual focus, especially because my eyesight is really... it's been really flexible(?) recently and that makes manual focus really difficult-- I used to be pretty good at manual focus, too :(

But the adjustable aperture and nature of the images is really nice :)

I love the quality of the photos :'D

So I went out to lunch today with a friend for a catch-up session and decided to test it out :) 

Mind you, there aren't many shots, because there was kind of a greater focus on catching up and talking, rather than photography, but I tried to test it out a bit.

Still gotta get used to the lens, but I really like it so far :)

Definitely would consider getting more.

[All photos taken using the Nikon 50mm f/1.6 E series lens on the Nikon D7100. Photos edited in Lightroom]

It also looks so neat :D

Stopped by at Happy Labs!

Went out to lunch at Hana Hana :D

And then some nice (and expensive) desert

Candles

Some old photos, but I stumbled across a new method of photo editing so I thought I'd give it a shot by editing some old shots really quickly.

It's not the best; took me a few minutes, but I thought it was pretty cool and easy to do :D

For reference, I watched this video to learn this technique: here [link]

For the record, one day I want to try taking photos of flour! Hopefully the colour run will provide something of that sort, but I'm not sure how I'm going to protect my camera... LOL.

Sydney Zombie Walk, 2013

[All photos taken with the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens on the Nikon D7100. Edited in lightroom]

Went out with a friend to the Zombie Walk, but of course, we explored the city a bit as well :)

Mmm haven't had frozen yoghurt in ages. 

And all these books :'D I just wanted to sit there and read them all

 Using google maps because both of us have the geographical navigation of a blindfolded marshmallow

Amazing street art!

Then we headed off to Happy Labs, which was just eye-candy and literal candy everywhere :'D

Finally reached Hyde Park for the Zombie Walk!

Then headed off to Darling Harbour for some play time :P

Theeeeen finally off to dinner at Wagaya and then headed off home

Long day, full of walking and fun times :)