Sunday, April 27, 2014

Le Carved City: Paris trip part ii




If you've read about the first day, I will assure you that the next few days in Paris were much better. We had planned out a list of places to visit beforehand, and despite having to shift some things around to suit us better once we were there, we managed to visit everywhere we wanted to and even had the last half day free. Of course we went in search for food with that extra bit of time!

Most of the places we visited were the typical touristy ones, which despite being cliches, we wanted to see them for ourselves. So here are the photos I took. 

Black and white postcards with scenes from much older days on the stands which I was so tempted to buy.

We took the metro to the station just outside Arc de Triumph and proceeded to walk down Champs Elysees all the way to the Louvre. 

Roadside crepe stalls


The sun was blazing all the time and when it reflected off the white gravel, we had to have our eyes almost permanently squinted. As Wenkai and I sat under a few trees' shade while we had baguettes for lunch, we stared out at the sunbathers basking in the middle of the park and I wondered out loud how they managed that.

I am just at awe at how graceful these sculptures have been carved despite being made of stone. 

Most places had never-ending queues, and the Louvre was the same. 

Girl looking for her family

I realised that I probably should have waited till the man, whose head can be seen as large as life here, had past, but then I figured that more would have only come to replace his. Oh well, crowded touristy places.

Pretty sure it was one of the only things most people came to see.

Girl sketching a sculpture opposite her.

The lock bridge. 

Roadside artist.

Saint Chapelle, where the stained-glass work was a world wonder itself.


Here's to more travels and more photos to come :)

Monday, April 21, 2014

thoughts on shooting

A while ago, I saw someone post up what I suppose is a quote which stated: shoot less, think more. It appeared on my newsfeed and I paused my scrolling to ponder that for longer than I normally do with most other things I see, and back then, I wasn't too sure what to think about it but now I do.

It hit me a while after seeing that, and I realised that it is in fact one of the most destructive things to do. To shoot less and think more. Because to shoot less not only robs you of practice and the chance to learn and develop your style, but thinking more usually does more harm then good especially when it turns enthusiasm for a thing to self-doubt regarding your abilities to create. And the thing is, there is no real right or wrong to creating. We all create to the best of our abilities at any given moment, but we nevertheless develop and refine our skills with more practice. And more practice means spending more time with something.

I suppose what I'm doing here is mostly stating the obvious, but if it makes you realise the simple reasons behind me disagreeing with that quote and makes you go out and shoot, create and have fun more often, then I would have encouraged the life in you to grow. So many of us, myself included, spend so much time on social media these days, and so much of it is unnecessarily spent. I am now taking a break from social media for a few days, at least, to work on finishing my dissertation, but I felt the urge to write this. It is perhaps a bit contradictory, considering that I am sharing my thoughts in this, but we do not have to share everything. If it is the pressure of what others would think of your work that you worry about and not create, then you are going about it the wrong way. Share what is comfortable to you, or what you want to when you'd like to move out of your comfort zone, but seriously, stop thinking so much and shoot more. Shooting more doesn't mean that you take a photo of everything you ever see, it doesn't mean that you have to take photos of that which doesn't interest you. And not thinking so much doesn't mean you go about it mindlessly. Take some care, but sometimes we need to learn how not to take ourselves so seriously too.


Below are some photos I took while location scouting with my group mates before we shot our short film. I'll be sharing the second half of the Paris trip post soon, as well as some photos I took of two gorgeous sisters when we went on a photoshoot a few days ago :)

Journeying from town to town.

Kathleen trying to take some photos of a location we were going to use.

The backyard of the house we shot in.

All those late night journeys where we squeezed in the back of the car, tired but still somehow, singing.