Artistry In Motion

A Lambo whizzing around town just before Covid descended on this island state with vengeance back in 2020. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The Last Supper

A porcelain portrayal of Christ’s last supper with His disciples before His crucifixion. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken at an indoor bazaar and so the lighting wasn’t that good. At ISO 1250, the shutter speed was a mere 1/40 second. Thankfully, things turned out okay.

A Ferrari In The Grand Canyon

A Ferrari zipping around town here. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Well, not really … but the background did make me think of the canyon. Captured with the camera placed almost on the ground and tilted for that little extra drama.

Small Talk At Dusk

Village kids watching the sunset together in the Riau Islands. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was captured with 2/3 stop of positive exposure compensation to light up the kids but ended up with the sky being on the bright side lacking details. Sky details were restored in post through tweaking the mid-tones.

Another way of doing it would’ve been to photograph with an ND grad filter attached, not the round type but the square or rectangular one. With the latter, you could adjust the height of the filter to darken just the sky region.

Raining Coals

Paul Cocksedge’s “Coalescence” stunning visitors in the Old Royal Naval College in London. Photo credit: Sarah Chua.

The lighting around this spot was rather dim. The Leica had to push up the ISO to 3200 to get a shutter speed of a mere 1/30 second. As a result, noise level in the shadows came up to some 20 odd. This was very conspicuous at actual size but seemed to look fine at this size.

Waiting For The Tide

Fishermen getting a hard-earned break before the next tide in the Riau Islands. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

A High Climber

A young cat finding itself on the roof of a coastal hut in the Riau Islands. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The exposure was biased 2/3 stop brighter for this capture because of the bright sky behind the cat. Despite that, the cat had need to be brightened further in post.

Joy To The World

Elaborate Christ’s nativity porcelain set at a Christmas bazaar. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Understated Pass

A Mclaren cruising around town in the mid-afternoon sun. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The Leica compact used for this shot wasn’t my preferred gear for sports/action. But when caught in such a situation, I would fall back on zone focussing and panning to get my shot.

The Last Defenders

One of the last classic Landrover Defenders seen around Orchard Road. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The grey landrover was captured against a bright and colourful backdrop. Brightness and contrast were then further tweaked in post.

Layang-Layang In Tanjungpinang

Locals flying kites (layang-layang in Indonesian) at dusk in Tanjungpinang. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The sky was originally still a white patch even after the sun had set. Some darkening in post brought forth its colour details.

Oncoming Superwhite

A McLaren Atura Supercar in the city centre. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

I would break out in cold sweat photographing such a scene in the film era. It entailed placing the camera on a tripod in the path of an approaching car, pumped the zoom lens, snapped and quickly jumped out of the way. Thankfully, it’s now the digital era. Things could be done more leisurely. You would even have the time to try a more dramatic composition. Here, the camera was held low and tilted to add a little drama. The spoiler: zooming blur was added in post.