Winners and Losers ~ 輸家贏家

有贏家，有輸家，還有還沒學會如何面對輸贏的人。

There are winners, there are losers and there are people who have not yet learned how to win or lose.

~ Les Brown

This year, I did not manage to win any prizes in OARS but I was very happy because the members of the Oozeki Ranchu Club have made big progress in the grooming of the TVR. Overall, the skills of grooming the Tosais are much improved compared to previous years. It was quite an achievement as most of the fishes were acquired and groomed from black baby (BBR) stage.

Though the Oozeki Ranchu Club is a small club, we are fortunate to have very passionate people in the club consistently organising the show for the pass 10 consecutive years. Besides the thrill of improving our skills through competitions, the joy of this Ranchu hobby is also about forging truthful friendships with people from all walks of life, sharing the hobby with friends whom we learn about the hobby together and working as a cohesive team to realise our dreams. In this aspect, I reckon that the one similarity of Ranchu and friendship is not about the quantity but of quality.

Due to heavy work commitment, I have only managed to set up the breeder tanks last week and mix the breeder Ranchus together. This year's breeding is going to be a bit later than the previous year as I have just missed the window of opportunity for a few good spawns. 

 
Year 2010 had also been an exciting Ranchu year in Singapore with many new faces coming into the TVR hobby, triggered by the shows organised by the hobbyists and commercials here. In time to come, the local hobbyists would be spoiled of choices when it comes to selection of Ranchus. 

As we learn to appreciate the TVR, let's not forget our families who have made sacrifices of their time and space for our Ranchus, and also be appreciative to our fellow hobbyist friends whom we have shared and learned about the hobby together. Good fishes will come and go, but good friends stay in our lives. In years yonder,  the conscientious would eventually lament the tragic of not having a couple of bosom friends in our life journey.

Pictures:

1. Some male seed fishes for year 2011.

2. Some female seed fishes.

New Year Resolution ~ 新年的決議

砸碎決議的是懦夫; 設立決議的是傻瓜。

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling;
He who makes one is a fool.

~F.M. Knowles

 

Shiny scale Dragon Eyes Pearlscale (瑩鱗珍珠龍)

My dwindling postings over the weeks underscores the hectic schedule I have been through. My apologies to avid readers who are looking forward to my postings. With this posting, I would like to wish all a belated Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. 

It has been a very busy year with many changes in my job and family responsibilities that it is compelling for me to address other priorities in life. So much so that it becomes rather unorthodox for a Goldfish fanatic to miss all the junior Tosai study sessions (MIFY) in the Oozeki Ranchu Club this year. Regretfully, I also missed the ASRS which coincides with the day I flew back from a long overseas holiday. My immediate priorities was to perform emergency water change for all my Goldfish ponds. My apologies to my friends who were trying to look out for me in the show.

Wrapping up a great 2010 for Goldfish breeding, I am looking forward to the 10^th anniversary of the Oozeki Ranchu Club and its 10^th Oozeki Annual Ranchu Show on 1^st January. Do come down to our free road show in Hong Lim CC on New Year’s Day from 12pm to 3pm.

The beginning of the New Year also marks the start of my TVR breeding season. Time and space permitted, I hope to breed one more generation of the Pompom Dragon Eyes Pearlscale in tandem with the TVR before the Aquarama 2011. 

Shhh... I am keeping my New Year resolution a secret :)

Pictures:

1) Shiny scale (瑩鱗珍珠龍) Dragon Eyes Pearlscale - a difficult colour to stabilize.

2) An extremely rare Dragon Eyes Pearlscale with 4 pompoms bred in 2010.

3) One of the 2010 Tosai going for the OARS.

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.