Frosty The Filter

A frosted glass wall on a fine-dining restaurant in Brunei creates a moody but enticing hint of what lies inside. Look out for these real-life visual ‘filters’. They are rare and are especially effective when the etched lines or gaps provide a contrasting plane of focus.

Tip: If you are using a kit zoom lens, stand as far back if there is room and zoom in. Keep your camera level and dead center without tilting up or down. This reduces wide angle distortion such as slanted parallel lines and curvature effect significantly.

Frosted

Yummy Seafood Noodles, Anyone?

Japanese plastic food is something I always marvel at. It is an artform itself. The Japanese calls it ‘Sampuru’ which is a cute corruption of the English word ‘Sample’. I suppose it is popular because in many places, tourists wouldn’t try anything from the menu unless they can see a replica. This one I photographed through a glass display window of a restaurant in Resorts World Sentosa Singapore.

Yummy Seafood Noodles, Anyone?

In The Rainforest, No One Can Hear You Scream

You can go equipped with heavy-duty winches, knobby tyres and a 500 horsepower engine. The sneering rainforest takes no prisoners. It will swallow your shiny 4wd vehicle into a giant mudhole and spit it out as colourless vomit, if you are lucky.

Sometimes torrential rain, floods or mudslides sweep away the vehicle before one can even grab the camera bag. It has happened before and will happen again. This is the nature of the merciless monsoon and tropical terrain. And it is these risks and challenges that attract international participants from as far as Russia and the USA.

The torturous journey for men, women and vehicles in the annual Rainforest Challenge (RFC) makes tough but interesting photography subjects. I try to follow the gruelling expedition whenever schedule allows. Here’s looking forward to this year’s coverage with the new all-terrain Olympus OM-D 🙂

In The Rainforest, No One Can Hear You Scream