ad:hoc visuals photography blog

Splash!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:47:00 +0000

One main light (with diffused beauty dish) 45 degrees on camera right. Two gelled lights (one blue, one red) bounced off reflectors and into the background to create the colour shifted backdrop.

Main light and blue-gelled light didn't go off so... red splash!
I'm taking a course on lighting. Here's my instructor and there's my fellow classmate.

Up In The Air

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:54:00 +0000

Some clouds.

Something To Make My Blog Seem Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:02:00 +0000

As the title suggests...

I realised that my camera can do black and white photos! And there's a fair amount of settings to mess around with like filters and tones. Great for those times when you want to see black and white effect straight away...

Surry Hills

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:39:00 +0000

Hello! To anyone who still looks up my blog, I'm back! I know I haven't updated for a whole damn month. It's cos I'm lazy. And unmotivated. But I'm back and here are some photos from a photoshoot at Surry Hills/Oxford Street I did with a fellow photographer a few weeks ago. I actually quite like the results. I haven't really done any "street photography" for a long time and it was really fun!

Hopefully I can pull myself together and start processing and uploading photos that I have taken in the past month and also upload Taiwan Part 2 that I promised a while ago.

Kevin's blog ain't dead and he appreciates the patience of those who suck around for updates!

If I do disappear again and you feel a need for more of Kevin's photos, I do have a microblog that I update much more often that this. It's my "Random Thought and iPhone Photos" blog and that one takes much less effort to update, thanks to Apple iPhone's wonderful App Store and Tumblr's very convenient app.

Good day to you sir/mademoiselle!

Caged Vespas

Mysterious and dark workshop

Fasinating piece of art. I think it used to be some sort of sign, but it got pulled out, leaving just the glue on the wall. This resulted with a very unintended piece of artwork.

Chinese gallery that wasn't open that day.

Oran Park Raceway Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:32:00 +0000

Found a few more cool ones from the Oran Park set. I tried to get a very dramatic effect with the one above. It didn't turn out as I wanted but I still quite like it. I couldn't really get the vignette right and I couldn't really give it a sense of speed. I tried blurring the background but it didn't look realistic. I've updated the gallery for this set as well. Check it out if you haven't!

Oran Park Raceway

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:42:00 +0000

My friend invited me to go down to Oran Park Raceway the other day. I haven't been down to a track before so I was quite intrigued by all that sound and all that technical talk. Because Oran Park Raceway is going to be demolished for housing development next year, this particular event was going to be one of the last, ever. It wasn't really a race, but rather a time-attack/time-trial thing.

So here are some photos of that day. I haven't taken photos of fast moving objects before, so it was quite a challenge to learn how to pan properly. The autofocus of D700 proved its worth and it was super fast at tracking the cars. I didn't get many nice shots in the end, partly because I wasn't in interesting positions; I was too lazy to drive up to the other side of the track. As I find more good shots, I'll post them up in the gallery. So check back once in a while if you are into cars and racing.

Straight Through

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Took a pretty cool pic with my iPhone today. It's the view straight through my 70-300 VR. Used Mill Colour app for retouching.

Featured: Buttons

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:59:00 +0000

My friend has started an Etsy store selling handmade, miniature, felt dolls. What's so special about them is that they each contain a unique button. These buttons are old buttons that have been recycled to make dolls rather than go to waste (I'm pretty sure that's what she said to me). Their hairstyles and clothing are all based on that button. I think they are very cute and stylish and I can see that a lot of hard-work and love has been put into them. They also have their own unique names too (the one in the pic above is called Daisy). Please take a look and support her (and the environment) by purchasing one! They can be used as keychains and I think they are very cute gifts for your girlfriends/boyfriends, mums and sisters or just to decorate your already overly-decorated mobile phones. Also, I think she might be making male versions and other accessories in the future, so do go back in the future if you don't find anything you like right now.

In case you missed the link: http://buttonsbyjs.etsy.com/

"In And Around The House" - Pleasant Surprise

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:46:00 +0000

What a pleasant surprise. I was bored so I picked up my camera to take some photos of the clouds and the sun on my porch, just like the ugly photo above. I thought that I could add it into that long forgotten "In and Around the House" challenge. But when I zoomed into the sun (Never look directly into the sun. It hurts a lot and it damages your eyes permanently) and played around with the shutter speed, I discovered a whole new world. The one below was a bit washed out and blown, so I messed around with the colours and added a blueish tint. Looks kinda moody and dramatic I reckon.

But the real surprise was the last two. They weren't retouched, other than a tiny bit of contrast added. The sky is all black because of a fast shutter speed (1/2000 to 1/8000), a very small aperture (f/16) and a low ISO (100). So this combination turned a sunny, blue sky afternoon into some dramatic, dark sky. They look like nebulas and star dust in space! It's amazing what underexposure can do. And because of the polarising effect of the clouds, you could actually see the shape of the sun behind the clouds in the second last photo.

Added some tonal adjustments.

Added a bit of contrast and lightened it up a little bit.

That's the sun there on the right side of the photo. That dark brown spot looks like a violent space storm.

I got these crazy colours straight out of the camera.

Mid-Autumn Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:52:00 +0000

It is the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) today! It's that time of the year when Chinese people stuff themselves with mooncakes, burn lanterns and candle wax and take a few short glances at the full moon. My sister set up a few lanterns in the backyard patio last night. I took a few photos with my iPhone and a few more with my DSLR and they turned out kind of eerie and sad. Quite strange but I do quite like them (particularly the iPhone ones)!

中秋節快樂!

P.S. By the way, this post can qualify for that long-forgotten "In and Around the House" challenge!

Self-Portrait With Sunnies

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Hrmm... Another set of self-portraits. I hope that people won't think I'm self-obsessed or something. It's just that it's quite hard to find a model who would sit there and experiment with random lighting ideas that I come up with at 3am in the morning. I hope this set of self-portraits isn't too bad! The second photo was really just an accident. I positioned myself too far to the camera left. But because of this accident I have now realised that "half-portraits" can be quite interesting too!

The retouching styles of the two are different in the level of contrast. Which retouch do you like more?

The more observant people may ask what the hell did I do to make that very prominent looking black flash gun look like just a flash of light (it seems to be floating in mid-air!). I'll keep that as a secret =)

Strobist: SB600 as backlight from behind the subject. A reflector placed in front of the subject and direct flash from the camera were used to fill in the face.

Starry Night

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Just in time!

So why stars? Because it is my birthday! And not just simply a birthday (because i normally don't make a huge fuss about my birthdays), but it is my star birthday! A star birthday occurs when the day of your birthday is the same as your age. So my birthday is on the 23rd and I turned 23 today! Only happens once in a lifetime in case you haven't noticed. So here's my starry night. You may ask if the stars were Photoshopped on. The answer is no. The effect was created simply by holding a piece of cardboard with a cutout of a star right in front of the lens, like a filter. As a result, the usual, regular circular/polygonal shapes become the shape of the cutout. Very simple and an age old technique that can easily be overused.

Star

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Why a star? It's not a very nice star I've got to admit. But you will know why soon!

Inspired By Helvetica

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:58:00 +0000

Haven't posted for a long time! Haven't taken any new photos and I've been too lazy to upload the second part of my Taiwan series. Here's what I've been doing for the past two days.

Update: Hrmm.... I searched for "Helvetica wallpapers" on Google Images and the first page comes up with one that's 90% like mine... It seems like I copied it!!! Coincidence or did I psychically copy it? Damn it feels creepy and guilty...

New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:37:00 +0000

Recently, I have been checking out a micro-blogging service called tumblr. I really like it. It is super customisable and really quick. I am going to use it to post random, daily happenings and iPhone photos because I really want to try out Tumblr. Of course, I won't be abandoning this blog. I will post the more serious stuff, longer posts and stuff on Flickr in here only.

So here's the link

Update: Changed the address to mblog.adhocvisuals.com rather than tumblr.adhocvisuals.com Looks simpler I think.

Taiwan Part 1 - Kaohsiung

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:45:00 +0000

So finally, photos from my Taiwan trip back in February. This is the first part, namely the photos from Kaohsiung, a city on in the southern part of Taiwan. Posted here are just a select few. Please visit my gallery for the rest. The layout of my blog is not wide enough, so it's kind of cutting out parts of the landscape-oriented photos. So please check out my gallery for increased viewing pleasure.

The roof of a subway station. It was quite beautiful.

A place selling this seed/fruit thing that makes your teeth all red and has the properties of tobacco and weed. Something like that. These stores were everywhere!

The view from my hotel room. It was on the 63rd floor I think.

The wind was so strong they looked like they were dancing about, which I didn't really successfully capture.

I thought this looked kinda funny.

Stay tuned for Part 2 (Taipei) of my Taiwan trip!

Lonesome Old Town

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:49:00 +0000

I remember I took this on a tripod but it was so slanted I had to rotate it clockwise 4 degrees to get it straight. This resulted in the need to crop lots of the lower part of the photo, which I'd rather keep. I don't think I am patient enough to use a tripod.

Recently, I have begun experimenting with alternate ways of processing photos. I would cool down the photo and then warm it back up again. This gives it more of a cross-processed film-look I think.

Monstrous Oyster

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I ate a huge oyster tonight. I guess the meat wasn't that big, but that shell was gianormous. I've included a New Zealand mussel shell and a typical Chinese restaurant tea cup in the shot for size comparison. It didn't taste that nice though.

Flagpoles

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:31:00 +0000

A photo I took a few months ago. I really liked it back then when I took it and was going to post it straight away. But somehow I forgot about it until now. Better late than never!

I originally intended this to be in colour, but the black and white made it look really dramatic, so went with it instead. I still like the colour one more though. So why did I post this one? =/

At The Bar

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Rendez-Vu

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:44:00 +0000

I got you in my heart, I got you in my head
Your magic, it surrounds me
Let's make a rendezvous

Originally it was some sparklers on a birthday cake at a party I went to. I decided to add something to it, so I did a separate photo where I painted light with a torch in the dark and overlayed it onto the original birthday cake photo.

--A song by Basement Jaxx

iPhonesampler

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Just downloaded this iPhone app called Quadcamera that imitates the Actionsampler, Supersampler and Oktomat. There's built in Lomo-like effects and you can also adjust the delay between each shot. Pretty cool. The shots above were done in Bondi Junction Westfield, minutes after I downloaded the app. Lots of fun!

Two more with just the normal single shot with Camerabag effects.

St. Mary's Cathedral

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:21:00 +0000

Didn't realised I JUST missed the tip of the cathedral...

Pathway To The Light

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:55:00 +0000

This was actually a ceiling.

I am still trying to get the gist of getting great shots with the iPhone and processing them properly. I think I am always overdoing the effects because it's just too easy. This one is definitely over-saturated and too contrasty.

Vibrating Strings

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Leung - ad:hoc visuals) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:46:00 +0000

How do you light a subject in this way AND show motion blur at the same time? It is impossible (well, I think it is anyway with my lack of lighting gear). So this photo was actually 8 images combined together to mimic the movements of the strings.

I couldn't get a slow enough shutter speed to see the movements without too much ambient light falling on the actual fretboard and the background. I hope the movements are realistic and obvious enough. I should've used a few more shots to blur out the movement, but that would be way too much Photoshop work. I don't think I'm using my flash efficiently enough, as it kind of burnt the ghetto cardboard grid while doing this photo. I was blasting it at 1/2 power shot after shot, trying to get the lighting and position of the guitar right. After a while, there was this burning smell and I was so scared I fried my flash =O

I don't know why, but I'm always getting inspirations and ideas really late at night, so I'm always shooting stuff at 3AM in the morning...

One more thing, some people thought that my Strobist photos like this and this and this, ones with spotlight-like lighting and black, empty spaces, were achieved through Photoshop. Well they aren't. The original images look just like the ones you see on my blog, except maybe the colour and/or contrast were modified. My Photoshop skills are actually quite poor, so there is no way I can achieve such effects through Photoshop.

I am actually flattered as it shows that my lighting skills have improved so much that my lighting effects look fake =D I should post some of my originals someday and go through what kind of processes and modifications I actually do in Photoshop.

Strobist: Gridded SB-600 placed on the guitar (on camera left) aimed along the fretboard. Manual at 1/2 power.

Wow, didn't realise I wrote so much for this post!