Hi guys! It's a friday night and guess what? I'm not out partying with my friends, but I just came home from a very long and tiring shoot! So...

Decided to do a little post today about photography assisting. It's something that I enjoy doing from time to time, helping other photographers out with their shoots and stuff like that. I think it's fun! I get to see how different people work, and see what works for them and how it can apply to my own shoots as well. I get to play with their equipment and get to go behind the scenes in places that most people normally don't go to, and see what most people normally don't get to see. Oh, and I love that the pressure is off me, but I still get to enjoy being part of a team and working in a set.

When I'm assisting, I usually try to read the photographer's mind, try to get things ready before he even asks for them. His usual tools, or if she wants a change of lens, setting up the next shot while he finishes the last, stuff like that. I usually spend the first couple of times assisting a photographer observing, just to find out what type of photographer he is. Though, sometimes there are just photographers that I can't read, for example, I have no idea whether or not he wants to adjust the props himself, or he'd like me to do it. Or what he is trying to achieve by asking me to do things that don't seem to make sense.

I'd love to assist more photographers! Please drop me a line at bizarreness@gmail.com if you're interested in hiring me as a freelance photographer's assistant. I have a quite a bit of experience, and know how to handle most lighting systems. :)

What the video to find out a little bit more! Or you know, just laugh at how horribly tired and death-like I look.



On a much sadder note: After five years of assisting countless photographers... I broke my first bulb today. I feel so utterly bad! I'm usually really careful with equipment, so this just made me frustrated at myself for letting that happen. Live and learn, I guess!

I've got a couple new members in my family today! Introducing the 50mm 1.4. I've been using Regina's lens for quite some time and I've really grown to like it. I actually like it better than the 50mm 1.2L! Could be just my preference, I guess. But since I find that this lens is a good lens to use for work and for play, it is now added to my Canon family!

But the star (and I've been saving up for a long time for this baby) is the 5DMII. She's (yes it's a girl) an absolute beauty. I've worked with many other photographers who use the MII and have fallen in love with it over time. I have heard that the 5D produces equally good, if not better images in terms of high ISO etc, but the MII has something about it...

The fact that it can take video as well greatly helps.

So yes, I will be bringing forth higher quality images to my customers! :D

Everyone knows how terrible Singapore IT fairs can be. For one to brave the crowds, the noise, the lack of space, the constant flyers being thrusts into your face... It's not pleasant. Needless to say, the last time round I actually stepped foot into an IT show was when I was in secondary school, to buy my first point and shoot camera. That was such a long time ago...

This year, I mustered up a ton of courage and tried to plan so that I didn't go when it would be the most suffocating (Friday, 1pm), just to get a new addition to my growing Macintosh family.





Meet... Squee the Second!






Look at how big the box was! I felt so cheated! The brochure said I'd be able to get a trolley and... They told me that I needed to purchase the 27" iMac in order to get a free trolley. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to lug such a big box from Suntec City Convention Center to Pan Pacific (where I had parked my car due to the lack of parking lots)?! I swear... I almost toppled over 2-3 times, and I had to stop many a time to catch my breath/rest.

But it's all worth it! Because my baby is home with me!



This is the amount of cash I had prepared, just in case the credit card option did not work!






Topping up an extra $199, these are the extra stuff that I got. The thumbdrive was from my UOB credit card. I thought it was worth it to get an AppleCare at a cheaper price. That's the whole point of the IT show, right?






Slowly placing it on my table... I need to clear my table! This requires a lot more space! Or maybe I need a bigger table...





Booting up for the first time! So exciting!





Magic mouse (which is a dream to use) and the wireless keyboard. I asked if I could changed to the wired keyboard with the number pad, but I couldn't. Which sucks... I'd like a bigger keyboard.





The whole Macintosh family!






Yuki completely miffed that I ignored her to set up my new baby. Sorry Yuki!






The one thing I really dislike about acquiring a new computer is transferring all your stuff from the old one. Luckily, Apple computers have Migration Assistant, which hopefully after I get myself a firewire, I'd be able to use. I'm going to try leaving it overnight on my network, but it's sort of dodgy, so... I wouldn't get my hopes up for that.

But in order to tide me over, there's the marvelous screen and home sharing features!







Anyway, I'm nearly done with all my installation of programs, and it'll be as though I've been using it all my life! :D I'm very, very happy, and with this new system, I hopefully can create better quality images now!