sangsara.net

  • Going to Tokyo Again, Figuring Out a Camera Configuration

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    After all that, seeing a single color photo just fires some pleasure center in the brain, so I don’t know… maybe I’ll change my mind again.

    But if anything, going black & white will free me from the temptation to do this to every photo.

    0010358__under_construction

  • 8tracks Mix: Hiphopotamus

     I recently rediscovered and am enjoying 8tracks.com, an easy, free, and legal way to share mixes online. Even if you’re not into that, it functions as an excellent community-driven radio site. There are even good iPhone and Android apps for tapping into it.

  • In mobile photography, "Instant takes precedence over Perfect"

    1:24:36 PM Ci’en Xu: Was up last night posting Berlin photos.

    1:24:51 PM Ci’en Xu: Sometimes it feels like in this day and age, editing is more redundant.

    1:25:03 PM Brandon Lee: How do you mean?

    1:25:56 PM Ci’en Xu: I remember the days when Flickr was kinda like a big social network, and people were more obsessed about the rules of photography and how you edited them, etc.

    1:26:17 PM Ci’en Xu: I guess now with mobile, instant takes precedence over “perfect”.

    1:27:06 PM Brandon Lee: Yeah you’re right.

    1:27:31 PM Brandon Lee: Which is why I like Mattebox… it kinda makes you feel like getting it right in-camera is important again, and maybe even enough.

    1:28:02 PM Brandon Lee: When you leave everything to the phone to do automatically, there’s always the sense that you must insert yourself into the process, and that can only happen in post.

    1:28:19 PM Ci’en Xu: But I still like editing, even if just to let you linger on your photos for a little while longer.

     

  • Bintan x Mattebox x Camera+

  • The Starbucks at Rochester Park

  • Dreams & Reality exhibition, National Museum of Singapore

    Visited the National Museum today for this joint showing with the Musée d’Orsay. I’m not the most art-obsessed gallery goer; my girlfriend fondly remembers the d’Orsay as her favorite in Paris, I remember its gift shop. Still, some very nice work is on display till February, so drop by if you can.

  • Jon Gold on the Lumia 800 and WP7

    Jon Gold bought a Lumia:

    Metro is undeniably gorgeous but I still can’t form an objective opinion about whether the phone as a whole is good enough to replace my iPhone.

    The facts say it’s good enough. My heart says no.

    I just can’t rationalise living outside of the Apple safety net. 80% of the population probably can, and will love a phone that smokes Android.

    This is how sort of how I feel every time I see Windows Phone. The smartest people I know say it's good enough, worth trying, better than Android. I'm sure they're right but it feels wrong in my gut. Is it down to being too different to what I know, and it just needs time? It's easy to point out a few of Microsoft's bold design decisions and where their intended use cases don't apply to my own needs, but in the end it's about how everything feels.

    But it's hard to ignore that with Nokia behind it, "Windows Phone 7.5 Mango" now has a bit of a chance, and it's one of the most interesting platforms to study for mobile design projects. The dilemma reminds me of the days when I shuttled between Nokia and Sony-Ericsson phones, where every phone switch demanded learning a lot of paradigms from scratch. With the iPhone being good enough that I haven't switched away in four years, I've felt free of that ritual. It's been comfortable. But the curse of curiosity is that I know I'm going to do it again anyway, and work just becomes the latest excuse.

    (via Daring Fireball)

  • Presenting: Object Magazine

    ObjectMag.com

    I started a new site a few weeks back because I had a few vacation days and not much more to do than sit at home playing Batman Arkham City. The concept had been settling for awhile, without too much direct thought. Armed with the knowledge that I often take pleasure in evaluating things, and recommending said things to friends sans qualifying statements, I decided a blog about five-star, must-have products was going to have legs.

    It’s made with Posterous and a theme by Cory Watilo, with an Amazon affiliate store attached so I can keep as many of the featured items together in one place ready for purchase (and also because the thought of playing storekeeper sounded fun). I initially ran into some trouble with an unusual Posterous bug, but a complaint on Twitter later, and I had a direct email line to support thanks to one of their VPs, Rich Pearson. That was a great customer moment; just thought I’d mention it.

    So, Object is dead simple. Just three main post types.


    Features: Product reviews with big, full-width photography that I try and do myself. Usually with my Ricoh GR Digital III.


    Perceptions: Stuff I don’t have yet and haven’t tested, but which look promising. Using photography found online and in press kits. I put these photos together in one carousel-based gallery instead of spreading them out.


    Radar: Upcoming products. Photography as above.
    It’s a side project, and work has been keeping me pretty busy. Nevertheless, I’ll try and have new content up on a weekly basis.