Unproductive days

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Pedestrians looking over each other's shoulders

There some days when you just feel disconnected from photography. I have found a few tricks to reset myself to get into the groove. But there are times when I know that it will be an unproductive day.

Sometimes, I would take a coffee break and pass time people watching, or if the location of the café is not ideal, I would browse through photos of other photographers for inspiration. And sometimes I would move to a different place to shoot.

Still, there would always be a chance that nothing would work and the photos turn out bad. I would decide to call it a day knowing that at least I got out and tried to shoot.

Man walking across Ray Ban advertisement

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There was a Singapore Youth Festival performance held in the atrium in front of Ngee Ann City. This lion head had either completed its performance or was waiting for its turn.

Young girls in traditional Korean costumes

Korean traditional dance? Their costumes were the most colourful and striking. The only other costume that came close was the pink tutu.

Tourists in Orchard Road looking upwards

These tourists were either lost in a moment in time as they looked up in awe at the towering skyscrapers, or they had simply lost their way.

New Volkswagen Beetle

This was an interesting roadshow. The emcee was hiding somewhere and pretending to be the car. He was talking to people who went near the car, encouraging them to get into the car to get a feel of the interiors.

Photographer taking a picture of himself

Finally, a convex mirror that is at a height where I can get a proper shot.

The others that I’ve spotted along Orchard Road are usually too high for little me.

People walking along Orchard Road

Street scene in Orchard Road with a large lens flare

Too much flair in this photo. Pun intended.

We have Danny on the left and Earvin in red on the far right. Two photographers I met and befriended while out shooting on the streets.

People crossing the street in Orchard Road

A guy with swag versus a guy lost in his own world.

Photographer shooting along Orchard Road

A fellow photographer shooting from the thigh.

Pedestrians looking over each other's shoulders

Shooting with the Leica M8 meant that I managed to snap the lady but missed out on the guy behind her. I wanted to take a shot of him too but I fumbled with the manual focus and the moment was gone.

T-shirts. Twin shirts.

They don’t look happy.

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Children chasing pigeons in Orchard Road

Child looking at the photographer

I went close compared to the other photographers. But in hindsight, I was not close enough.

Tourists wearing

Tourist taking photos with his tablet

I could probably make a series of people engaged in tablet photography.

Couple wearing matching clothing

Colour coordinated couple.

Woman shooting with her smartphone in Louis Vuitton casing

Mother and child along Orchard Road

I guess the kid is too young to wear a skull hence the monkey head.

While none of the photos stood out, I am still glad I made the effort to shoot. I told myself to be disciplined and shoot every Sunday. That meant sacrificing sleep and waking up early in the morning to take a photo walk.

Even if the day was less productive, at least I made the effort to stick to my plan and shoot. Being able to keep up the momentum and shoot routinely is important. If I were to be set back by an unproductive day, I would actually start to question my passion for photography.

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