Goldfish Photography ~ 留金歲月

快照留住了即將流失的時刻。

A Good Snapshot Stops A Moment From Running Away. 

~Eudora Welty

In those days of the film camera, Goldfish photography was more than a challenging feat - it was also extremely costly as the films were expensive. Moreover, the photographer could not preview the outcome of the shots and had to snap more photographs and develop them all, hoping that there would be a few good ones.

One of the most avid Goldfish photographers in Singapore is none other than Alvin, who is never short of Goldfish models from his club members. Rain or shine, he would be braving the elements in the open almost every weekend,  either cursing the unaccommodating weather or the uncooperative Goldfish that turned away from the camera or pooped at just the critical moment.

The advent of digital photography technology made it much more cost effective, time-saving and easier to compose and archive the photographs compared to the olden days. However, new technologies does not alter the fact that to take good photographs of the Goldfish, the photographer needs to have lots of patience and a good feel of the subject. This is also true for any photographer attempting to specialise in any subject matter, for without understanding the appreciation of the subject, it will be difficult to deliver the "wow" factor in his/her photography.

Though I have learned much about Goldfish photography from Alvin, unfortunately, I do not have as much patience and time for studio-style Goldfish photography. I am still eagerly awaiting his new set of studio photographs that he had promised to update in the Vermillion Goldfish Club website. Stay tune to the Vermillion website by following the club's new twitter updates!!!

Photos:

1. Alvin and his weekend pass time.

2. One of my first attempt in studio photo taking in 2005 - over exposure in some parts of the picture.

3. One of my favourite Butterfly Dragon Eyes - it is relatively easier to set up and shoot top view pictures of Goldfish compared to side view pictures.