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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Everyday Portraiture with Edwin Lay

I attended another photography course at Alvin Leong's Academy of Photography. This time it's a talk by Edwin Lay on basic everyday photography, which is basically what I've been looking for (since I practically take photos on an everyday basis, and my photos are nowhere near those shown on the advert for this talk).


So, this is Edwin Lay. This photo is kinda blur and I didn't bother taking any better photos of him simply because I was too busy jotting notes. This everyday photography thingy is not as easy as it looks!

So how was the talk? Well.. the best part, for me, was that I get to learn lots of cool new stuff that I didn't think that I'd learn in a course like this, i.e. how to pose, for instance (I thought we'd just be clicking our heads off, or something). Anyway, back to the course. For a supposedly 5-hour session (the program was supposed to start at 1 pm and end at 6pm) it is a superbly jam packed session with lots and lots of simple basic knowledge (that you are supposed to know, duh!, but you didn't know, apparently). And for another thing, we didn't end our session at 6pm. And no, we did not end early either. Our session ended somewhere around 7.30pm (surprise! surprise!). And it wasn't because we were overly inquisitive students who had lots of questions to ask. I think the session ended late because Edwin is such a committed teacher who'd wish to impart as much knowledge as possible onto our teeny, photographer-wannabe brains.

Another surprising part on the session was that we had an outdoor photography session and an indoor photography session. So we get to feel how it's like capturing candid photography (which I majestically failed at, due to my self-conscious and super-shy nature, rightttt). Really, it's not easy when you're walking at the sidewalk and minding your own business and everybody's looking at your DSLR looking as if they think you'll be whipping your camera around and start taking candid photos of them at any second (which was my main intention anyway) but can they just be cool about it. It's not everyday that people want to take candid photographs of you, can't you just accept that and follow in the footsteps of Kim K or Paris H for a while?

So these are some photos taken from my outdoor session..

No, this lion is not trying to be candid. It's just made to look like that. I think this is my best candid photo of the day *cheeky grin*.

I tried taking his candid photo many many times, but at the risk of being accused as a stalker (no, I do not have a crush on this guy, I don't even know him) I decided to leave before he starts whacking my head with his video cam.


This is a participant of our session. I know where I got this photo wrong. I'm supposed to use the rule of thirds and she's supposed to be a lil' bit more to the left. The one that I took (that complied with the rule of third had my subject blurred, not as easy as it seems, that is).

Anyway, I left that course with my knowledge and hope to put in practice all those tips and tricks that Edwin has taught me. I came home with added knowledge, a certificate of attendance and a photo of me (which looks totally cool, I must say) as a memento of our studio session.

Can't wait for the next course that I'm planning to attend, travel photography which will happen somewhere in October this year (if I'm not mistaken). Anyways, if anyone of you out there is interested in photography classes, just visit Alvin Leong Academy of Photography here.

Cheerio!


xoxo Fashionista in Action xoxo

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