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What I am Doing Now (8 July 2022)
Nowadays I’m thinking a lot about retirement. What age to retire, how much I need monthly to survive, how much should be saved by then, etc. I’m hoping to retire early like 55 (I’m 48 now), freeing up my time to devote myself fully to my IKIGAI (Japanese word for “life purpose”). That said, it’s …
What I am Doing Now (1 July 2022)
As my ongoing effort to “go smaller”, I’m also trying to offload photography accessories that I’m no longer using. I have several of such items like my previous tripod (Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 ), Manfrotto XPRO Aluminum 5-Section Monopod , Gorillapod Focus , B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer Filter , etc. These things served me well in the …
What I am Doing Now (17 June 2022)
Once again, I’m changing the post format. 😅 Really can’t make up my mind. No more blogging, just occasional “photography life” updates only. So, recently I’m thinking about making my gear smaller, e.g. shooting with a smaller camera and possibly with a single lens only. For starters, I replaced my tripod with Manfrotto 055XPRO4 , …
Photo of the Month (April 2022)
Photo of the Month (April 2022) Photographed on 21 April 2022 at Esplanade (Singapore). I skipped POTM in March, as there wasn’t any worthy photo. 😅 For April, I’ve got one that is a clear choice (to me)! For years, I always shot this Singapore CBD view in landscape orientation, but have recently started shooting …
Featured as “Blog Recommendation of the Month” by PWS
Let me announce that my Tumblr blog Twilights + Dusks was featured as “Blog Recommendation of the Month” by PWS (Photos Worth Seeing), one of the most popular photo curating blogs on Tumblr. The featured post includes several questions about my photography, and I tried my best to answer those, as seen below. Thank you …
Photo of the Month (February 2022)
Photo of the Month (February 2022) Photographed on 18 February 2022 at Esplanade (Singapore). I shot from this spot a number of times before, but all in landscape orientation, so this was the first time shooting vertically and quite liked it! 😃 In fact, although it’s still in February, I’d say that this photo will …
Photo of the Month (January 2022)
Photo of the Month (January 2022) Photographed on 14 January 2022 at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (Singapore). I previously shot this temple in Chinatown a few times, but this was the first time I saw the temple lit up, probably because of the upcoming Chinese New Year. I shot this view from the 12th floor …
The Art of Accepting Failure as an Artist
The Internet gives an illusion that everybody can be “somebody”. It surely has opened the door for some, but the hard truth is that most of us aspiring artists (including us photographers) remain largely unnoticed for the entire lifetime even with a mighty power of the Internet and social media. Unlike sports, the art is …
Why We Shouldn’t View Our Hobby of Photography as a Competition
It’s probably undeniable that life is seen as a kind of race or competition although I absolutely despise this idea. For kids, it’s about academic grading (which school they go), athletic ability (who plays sports better), their looks (who is more popular among girls/boys), etc. As we grow older, we face the harsher reality of …
Sky Replacement in Adobe Photoshop Making Photography Become Something That Is Not
Let me ask you a question. Is this photo REAL or FAKE? This might be a difficult question, because the answer depends on what you define as real or fake. Where and Who Draws the Line of Being Real or Fake? Firstly, there is no denying that post-production (a.k.a. post-processing) is an essential part of …
LASTLIGHTS.NET is a passion project of Joey J, a Singapore-based Japanese photographer primarily shooting cityscapes with long exposure. Being an avid traveler, photography enthusiast and casual web-developer who loves all things WordPress (except Block Editor