Why so crazy about fireworks?

[Stary]

Hi dull Starry

 

if you dislike starry fireworks u can simply just avoid these roads...simple

you must be someone who has no life..really no meaning..go hang yourself better..i feel sorry for your spouse or loved one

 

it's not suaku-ness..you do not know how to appreciate the starry sparkling arts that draws across the skies that for once you see beautiful sparks in the usual DULL STARRY dark skies

 

It's not no life....it's just practical. If there is no jam and all that, then go all you want. But why go for 5-10 minutes of fireworks and jam 2-3 hours + kena pushed around? It just doesn't make sense. It may even be hazardous to kids. There was once I was walking at Orchard during the Chinggay and I saw a baby pram overturned with the kid drop out face down. It's crazy!

 

One of my hobbies is to see stars and all that, and I don't mind driving 3 hours to Mersing (in Johor) just to enjoy a whole night of crystal clear black skies. But it surely wouldn't make sense if I start going there at 3am and reaching Mersing at 6am just to catch 30 minutes of dark skies right?

[Mean76]

wah, so serious har? kena beaten up??

[Mean76]

Sometimes it's not whether we want it or not. If your other half or your kids wants to enjoy the scene ... can you bear to say no??

 

Still I condemn ...

 

i) People who actually dare to squeeze into the crowd by taking up little slots here and there ard 830-845pm ... very unsteady. First you yourself are late and you make the whole area more clamp and you're not fair to people who went there early, some even end up sitting and blocking people's view.

 

ii) Cars that stopped in the middle or beside the lane at the shears bridge just to see the fireworks. I am surprised the TP didn't do much. But seriously, think of the poor bridge, it is designed to be used as a flyover, not as a stopping area where I think the stress load are a bit overload at that point, too many cars and lorries liao. Some think it's cool to stop there and bring their kids out and see. yucks!

 

iii) Parents ..please mind your kids and control them. yes it's a thrill to them but it's not a WWF event here ..... (no offence to the fellows parents here, Just my humble opinion). I appreciate your kids don't anyhow run and step on people's hand or knocked over people's tripod ..... and the parents didn't even apologise.

 

 

The event is after all, just a firework .....

[Silver_z]

Hahaha.... Ya man.... Even the support for using a car for functional purpose has a stronger mandate.

[Genie47]

Wah they so fierce and full of nothing.

[Genie47]

See your avatar better than see fireworks. No jam. Just log on and stim.

[Genie47]

You don't master photography. You just go ahead and take th picture. Its the digital age. Just fire away. The ammo is almost limitless unlike the film age.

 

All the talk about photography IMHO has degraded into the technology and megapixels and CCD. Look at the great photographs of old. What made them stood out? Isn't it the composition? How the subject was taken against the backdrop of an event or human condition.

 

See something interesting, beautiful, take the prosumer cam out, fire. Fire as many as you want. Transfer and weed out the bad ones or the ones you feel you don't like. That is photography. What people have missed out now is how easily accessible the craft is now. Even Picasso said that he is finished because he discovered photography. The technology makes it simple. How you use it is only the next step. How you approach your subject is what photography really is. An art.

[Ronnie]

you still need good composition and skills when it comes to photography.... no amount of photoshop, megapix or hi-end lenses will save you from lousy composition.

 

Even in the DSLR arena, there is still a huge difference between the amatures and wannabes.

 

the main misconception that the difference in DSLR and SLR is the number of shots and the preview. however, don't be mistaken that you can just 'pick up' digital photography just by practicing hell lots of shots. It's just like learning the piano... you can be very accurate with the scores and everything, but if your piece has no 'feeling'... it's useless, you've failed.

 

like i always like to say.... it looks nice, but got no SOUL.

Edited August 15, 2006 by Ronnie

[Ronnie]

Wrong....astrophotography makes an interesting subject for photography. What's the challenege of shooting things you can see with your eyes?

 

astrophotography is not the only arena for photography.

 

 

Shooting things you can see with your eyes only means that you are just taking a photo. Of course it's no challenge. Any kid armed with a camera can do that.

 

 

But can your photo tell stories? With regards to your remarks, I highly doubt so.

 

 

 

in essense, thats what seperates the amature/wannabe from the serious pro photographers.

[Genie47]

That's what my whole rant is about. Composition. Just fire away and then look for something good out of all the shots. I mean that is how we learn. First try dynamite fishing then dragnet fishing and then graduate to fly fishing.

[Ronnie]

lol.

after your dynamite fishing, u will realise no more fish for u liao

 

 

no... essentially firing away, will not do u good. serious.

 

there are f stops to consider, shutter speed, lense usage, filters if any, flashes if any and iso speed on, EACH and EVERY shot.

 

 

setting to 'auto' on a prosumer cam will not teach you all these.. and in the end, the person didnt learn anything about photography.

 

 

firing away and hope 'something good' turns up is ..... as good as trying for TO-TO la.

Edited August 15, 2006 by Ronnie

[Genie47]

I've seen shots from a prosumer cam that will shame a pro thanks to the composition. Frankly few will go to F stops and aperture and let the electronics take control or rather take advantage of how the electronics take control by forcing it to do certain things w/o actually manipulating F stops and aperture and.... I know about photography but can't be bothered with the setup of the equipment. I want to take the picture fast. Explains why before the digital invasion I used a rangefinder as compared to a SLR. I don't like big and I don't like slow.

 

The only time I take pictures seriously slow with a proper setup is flourescing cells under a microscope excited by a laser. As for real life, I cannot be bothered.

 

For regular daily photography which I must say is mostly encountered, I will choose a prosumer. Its cheaper, it fires up fast compared to DSLR and if you know how to manipulate it w/o going to the F-stops and aperture and......it will take pretty good pictures.

[Ronnie]

oh. i'm more into taking things close up and portaits.

 

prosumer does have limitations... you cant snap on a wide angle lens or fish eye lens or macro lens, which happens to be all my favourite.

 

 

thats why i said, most will be just doing casual "taking pictures" and not into serious photography.

 

 

as for 'shots shaming a pro'... its just a matter of what and how.

 

 

and yes, i like to take photos of the wings of the humming bird in mid flight... if there's one prosumer cam that allows me to do that from a far distance, yes i will consider that camera seriously.

 

else to me, prosumer, is just the bridge between a P&S and a video camera. It can not be compared with even a SLR.

 

i for one, am glad DSLR came in cheaper now.

I used to have a SLR with manual everything, even flim wind. it's hell.

 

 

(and so sorry for the OT.... )

Edited August 15, 2006 by Ronnie

[Genie47]

Certainly have its limitations but not many people want to take pictures of humming birds. I use the G2. Bought way back. Dropped twice, bashed around a lot. Still clicks but I must say the start up is really slow.

 

Right now, I just wish someone will give me a Chinese-made replica of a Luftwaffe issued Leica 35mm rangefinder complete with swastika and Luftwaffe coat of arms. I heard you can get it for 50 bucks. Good to display at home to fool visitors.

 

"Ooooh.... a German Luftwaffe Leica....coool"

[Cursor]

These thing about photography. It doesn't mean that anyone who armed with a camera (may it be P&S or SLR) must come out with a award winning masterpiece.

The very basic idea of photograpy is to take a snapshot of memories which you see with your eyes. It is the real thing you encounter.

To have a snap shot of what you thinking in your brain is "painting". Which will never be be able to be replaced with photography.

And for sure each series of photos that you taken with your camera will be able to tell a story. And it will be your very own story. Cos you are there to witness the event and take the shot. Good or bad, interesting or not is not the issue, cos the years pass and you will be reminded of these stories again when he saw the photo next time. That is main reason of taking photos.

 

As for fireworks, no matter in which countries. As long as there is a major fireworks displays, there will sure be crowd and traffic jams.

While I was in UK, there is this event which they set off fireworks in River Thames. And the crowd there is no better then in Singapore. In fact, I felt they are worst.

Touring in Paris, there are some fireworks displays for New Year Eve Nite at a few major landmarks (not just 1 location). I was at Eiffel Tower, it was packed with human at every location which the tower can been seen! But I felt worth it! One of the best display! And 15 mins before and after the fireworks, the cars horns sound like crazy!

Asia countries also have this same problem. Chinese New Year Eve nite in Hong Kong at "Avenue of Stars" at Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. I can't even find a place to take pictures, and stuck in the middle of the crowd, I want to come out also cannot. Then 2 days later I went down again to wanted to take some nite scene place. Better but still crowded, there is no fireworks just their daily displays of "A Symphony of Lights". A displays which is shown everyday also draw so much crowd. And most seem to be local.

 

So these had got nothing to do with Singapore and Singaporean. It is happening everywhere.

[Turbonetics]

watching fireworks helps to relieve stress and make us feel relaxed...

 

sure or not? after that the jam and everything make me even more stress leh

 

hey,if u r not there to see fireworks,u shd be prepared for the jam and shd try to avoid those places nearby or go by other route...

but if u r there for the fireworks,u shd be prepared for the jam...out of the 4 fireworks,i went to see 3 of them..

one of the time i was stuck in the suntec car park for 1 hour...my car a/c spoil...damn bloody hot...but i did not blame the fireworks...

[Turbonetics]

How do you place worth?

 

Like Turbonetics said, "to each his own". You may think it's not worth the trouble, but those who enjoyed it thinks it is. Similarly, you probably had sacrificed for things you appreciate that others don't.

 

How to place worth? simple. 5-10 minutes of thrill, but takes 2-3 hours to get there and back. Not to mention the frustration in the jam. That's a losing proposition. You and the kids spent more time in the car or get pushed around the crowd far more than the time to watch the fireworks. Never understand why people choose to do that.

 

Why not drive them to Msia, buy a pack of fireworks, and play until dawn at your own leisure? When I was young, that's what I do. You can even choose your own fireworks.

 

 

i dun think one can stuck in the jam for 2-3hours...

the most i think is only 1hour plus...but thinking that the next fireworks wld be on 31st Dec 2006...

the jam is still worth it...at least to me...sometimes its fun to squeeze ppl...

btw,those fireworks that can be bought in MY are for kids lah...

they are totally different man...the last fireworks had one part whereby the fireworks was on the river...cool...

Edited August 15, 2006 by Turbonetics

[Magnakai]

my 2 cents worth..

 

girls --> think fireworks is very bew-tee-full and lo-man-tick

boys --> best time to sian the girls

fathers and mothers --> die die have to bring their kids to watch, if not they will lose out, coz in case the teacher ask them to write a composition on fireworks, they will sae ' huh? lao shi, fireworks is wat arrr? ' typical kiasu syndrome.. other people bring their kids watch, we also muz... if not wait will suaku

grandparents --> bo bian have to go take care of the grandkids when they start running ard and the parents are busy watching the fireworks themselves

children --> "i also duno y muz come here.. so hot, crowded, noisy..boom boom boom..i stay at home watch tv or play games in aircon room better"

 

yea.. i din go.. i read abt the crowds.. i sian 1/2