WH Yeo Photography

Portfolios: iPhone

This gallery expresses freedom of imaging. With no clients expectations to meet and no need for large fine art prints, I can really let mysenses down and just be free with the iPhone. All post-processing was done within the iPhone with the app, Camera+. Photoshop was just used for resizing for web usage.

Was walking back home when I noticed the road was void of cars. Never took a shot of this road despite having left about a million shoe prints since I was 5. Got down low, aimed and took a shot. Antique effect in Camera+ was used.
   
Stooped by the drain trying to get a good angle of these climbers on the fence, I was terrorized by the mosquitoes whizzing past my ear. 5 shots later with a few bumps on my skin, I was out with this processed image.
   
Walking is a great way to get the iPhone working. One late evening, I was rushing home to get to dinner when I saw this lone tree standing out from the shorter ones around it. The light was still not that low that noise will be an issue but to be honest, as long as there was enough light for the camera to work, I will shoot it. That's what is great with working with the iPhone, it is liberating.
     
  
The sun was getting low in the sky and that meant nice backlighting was everywhere. Exposing for the leaves meant the sun will be a total burnt out object but I need the leaves and that is what I care about. Flare? Not the least bothered.
   
Trees in Singapore are abundant. Every street in Singapore are lined up with these giant shields of light and plenty of them have been around for decades.
  
Walked past a cafe and noticed the reflections off its tables. Moved the phone around till I had a variety of coloured reflections. Actually there are only 2. The orangy light from the tungsten bulbs in the cafe and the bluish light from the overcast skies outdoors.
     
  
The brakes were still wet from the hosing they had but it was more of the metallic feel that caught my eye. Got down to my knees and chose my point of focus/exposure, post-processed using the Super Emo effect. Weird naming but the look is amazing.
   
Worthy images are truly omni-present. Walking out from a bank, I saw the sun being reflected in one towering block of concrete. Tracked back a few metres and got the flare effect that to me, works well with the chosen post-processing technique.
   
The receipt machine stood out amongst the dried foods. It worked as a foreground, something I always look for when shooting wider angles.
     
  
Lines by a road junction are great subjects and I stop by them as often as I can to grab shots. In this case, a speeding car would have added some impact.
  
The pair of shoes were on sale @ the Thieves Market, sort of like a flea market except the outdoor roadside stalls are mostly manned by the elderly.
  
Brought the girls out for a shoot and saw these secondhand eyewear on the cheap. Reflections are great and I could have done better here. But the point of shooting with a iphone is being spontaneous, if you are checking and reshooting and vice versa, then you are restricting yourself too much. Let everything just flow.
     
  
Weird to see golf clubs being labelled as "professional." Where is the amateur series? Even that will be too much for me to handle, the only things I know about the sport is the ball has to be go into a hole in the ground and there is a term "birdie" in it.
   
I was trying to frame the reflections of the buildings when she jumped in, splashing water all over. The droplets landed and created the ripples right in front of shoes.
   
The sunset was amazing and I was cursing myself not being at the right place at the right time. Walked to the side of the road, saw the framing that the trees by the side could give me and grab a couple of frames. Camera+'s "Vibrant" technique was used in this case.
     
  
The Esplanade, one of the wonders from the architects. The sharp roof panels have been known to be really hard to clean.The location was excellent but I needed some depth to the image. There was no good foreground and I decided to make use of the phone's size and got it close to a trash bin. The hole mimicks the shape of the building but is never meant to demean the structure in any way.
   
There are times when you just need to look a little harder. The light was bad and harsh. There was a never ending stream of people wondering around when I chanced upon this stacks of chairs. What a relief.
   
Look down, peer to the sides and gaze upwards, that is the key to grabbing all the opportunities that is presented to you. I do not do much cityscapes but in this case, the contrast between the dark and light areas was just too appeaing not to get a shot.
     
  
The lower light levels meant that the shutter speed (which is automatic) will be slow. Motion will then be captured as a blur which was great. Did not have to wait long for the joggers to come by and got ths enthusiast coming by the camera.
   
What in the world has this image got to do with Wacom (the leading brand in graphic tablets)? Well, splurging on a Wacom Wireless Ituos 4 just 10 minutes before left me on a high and I was a bit more hyper than usual. Stepped out of the convention hall and noticed the lines of the building. All I needed was a single vehicle to go past to make the shot. Given that this was a really busy road, it was easier said than done. I had to wait out in the scorching sun with the Wacom clasped between my legs.
   
The jogger went by and I had the shot in the bag. From far, I saw these 2 well-suited corporate guys heading towards the tunnel. Aimed, focus and fix exposure, got it. Now, if only the iPhone had a fater framerate at fulll resolution.....
     
  
I always love looking up at the skies and think about how the weather and light will be. There are times when extra elements will be present and here I was at a residential housing estate. The lines were intriguing and fortunately, the clouds were not too burnt out and details could still be made out of them.
   
Photo for April 2011: SingaporeI was staring out the studio's window when I noticed the cars exiting the carpark. A couple of shots later, I was still unlucky in my timing and at long last, patience partnered luck and the last take got me this. A perfect silver-coloured car came by and I knew right away that the final image will make a great monochromatic image. The Edit function in Camera+ brought up the Ansel effect and a few seconds later, the image was saved and ready for viewing in the Camera Roll. Could I have done the same thing with Photoshop? Sure I could but that would require me to download the image, open up Photoshop, set the Curves and Channel Mixer and resave it and load it back into the iPhone.
  
The clouds were shrouding the sky at a rapid rate. From a clear sky just less than half an hour ago, it was now total gloom. I was glad for it though as foul weather or rather foul skies has always provided the much needed drama which is otherwise absent in plain blue skies.
     
  
The work was done and as tired as I was, the clouds were an amazing sight. Post-processed with the "Ansel" effect which has a very high contrast, every wisp of cotton stood out nicely.
   
Honestly, there have been umpteen occasions where I was cursing under my breath that I was either stuck in traffic or was without a proper piece of kit to make some images. But do we really need to have that 2.8 lens or that full-frame camera all the time? No.
   
Not really sure whether the water was warm really but the yellowish sand and the dried marine plant caught my eye. A warming effecf from Camera+ enhanced it even further. The most difficult thing for this? Timing the incoming surf!
     
  
One of the more famous mosques in Singapore, I was on a recce when I chanced upon this angle. No doubt it has been aimed from for many times before but I just wanted to have my own shot. Converted using the "Ansel" effect in Camera+ which gives a more contrasty effect compaed to the "Black and White."
   
My attention span is definitely not known to be one of the longest and even so when I know that my job has been done and all I am waiting for is the time to leave the location. On this day however, I was doing some portraits for a magazine and the writer was getting some superb stories from the interview. I was just that wee bit distracted and got the camera out for just this shot. Looks like the shutterbug still prevails all.
   
Knowing the in and outs of lighting is keyto becoming a better photographer, even if you are just striving to become a better mobile phone photographer. Along the backalleys of Arab St in Singapore, delightful graffiti and wall of colour are in abundance but it was this play of light and shape that stopped me in my strides.
     
  
The 2 young ladies were in front me, chatting away and provng with each word, the widening generation gap. I was bored out and looked down and saw their similar poses. The distortion must have been the way they arc their limbs beyond what is normal.And yes, I do know them and were bringing them out for what they will learn as a recce for a location shoot.
   
Photos opps are everywhere but a great photo not only comes from the subject but alongside with visualisation of how the final product will look like. For this photo, I was rushing up the hillside on my way for a meeting when I saw the white puffy clouds in the sky. Set against the contrast of the trees branches which were more and more gaining a resemblance of firewood, ready to roast the marshmallows. The coloured version was not going to be good due to a lack of contrast but a monochrome will work well. All that thinking happened before sliding the unlock function on the iPhone.
   
After the previous shot, I was on the roads when the marshmallows in the sky were gaining in numbers. Found a lamppost and got a shot. No good, there was a stretch of trees on the horizon. I needed to get the camera tilted up even higher so I walkted to the next lamppost and looked up. Perfect.
     
  
CAP, Convenient Architectural Photography. Well it certainly is a fitting term when I got this shot from the window of a bus. As you might have guessed, only a single shot worked since the bus was moving and I was fortunate the exposure was pretty even throughout the image.
   
Early morning bike rides during the weekends are great. Heavy traffic is not an issue and on the more deserted roads, I can slow down or even stop by the roadside to grab shots. This particular morning, I rode onto a small field with some old trees and just went wild with the phone....liberating.
   
Was on a bridge when I saw the sky, construction fencing and roof of a busstop. The colours just popped out so well with the harsh sunlight, proving that one can really shoot throughout the day.
     
  
The late afternoon sun was still pretty high up in the sun. Light was not as soft as I wanted it to be. Exposed for a spot near the reflection ray and the background buildings went into darkness.
  
The insurance provided by the ample bolts will soon be a forgotten sight here in Singapore. In June 2011, the railway that has been around for eons will be closed. The railway track that goes from the southern tip of Singapore and into Malaysia is now a priority for photographers.
   
One of the hundreds of thousand pieces of wood that holds the railway tracks together. The pebbles are to allow expansion of the metal track.
     
  
Depth of field in this gallery seems to be non-existent. 2 things you can do to rid that assumption. #1: Get as close as possible to your subject and focus on it. The higher the magnification rate, the less DOF you have. #2: Use the DOF effect in the app to make it more obvious. I would however love the option of "painting" in the blur though.
   
The single mass of vapour was standing out nicely in the evening sky. Walking past a tree (that I have to at least once a day), I framed it up with the branches at the bottom of the frame. The sun at the bottom left provides a dose of flare that I feel provides some contrast.
   
The title's meant for the food. 10 seconds later, a huge chunk of the sandwich was between my molars.
     
  
An early morning sun provided the nice soft warm light and long shadows. The effect would have been totally different in a couple of hours.
   
Small sensors equate to noisy images. Shooting in well-lit conditions is one way to avoid that. But when the light is low and you are presented with an appealing subject, why in the world should you care?
   
Winter in Tropical Singapore. That was how I felt when I chanced upon this dried leaf on the twigs and weeds.
     
  
The ice was looking good in the backlit conditions. Moved the phone in to its closest focusing distance and shot to my hearts content. Ice did melt but it can be refilled any time so no worries about that.
   
The night was wet and slippery. Thanks to the new shoes that needed some breaking in, I had to take my steps slowly. Intrigued by the warm tungsten street lamps and their reflection on the wet concrete roads, I lined up the manhole with the tiled pavement and squeezed off a few frames.
   
I must have looked totally weird white scrutinising the glass of water. If only they saw this image, they would have thought otherwise...hopefully.
     
  
Leaves were scattered after the rain and the wooden platform served as an observation deck as I scoured it for interesting compositions. Was still having to get used to the focal length of the phone camera, thankfully there was "liveview" to help that. Leaves were found as they were, el natural.