Archives August 2021

Insaeng Selca

My friend Robin from Busybody SG recently started a new self-photography studio at Henderson Road called Insaeng Selca and I decided to check it out over the weekend.

The concept is very simple. It is a small studio space with 2 cameras. One camera allows the standard monochrome (black and white) shots and another camera is for double exposure shots. You are handed a small remote to activate the shutter and there is a small screen for you to preview each shot you have taken. There are no limits to the number of shots that you can take, as long as it is within your 15-minute photo-taking timeframe.

Once you are done with the photoshoot, there is a monitor beside the counter for you to choose your prints. We selected 3 of our favourite shots to be printed in 6R size.

From personal experience, I arrived at the studio without much ideas for the poses so my advice is to get inspiration for your poses before actually heading down for your shoot. Otherwise you may end up wasting precious time during your 15-minute photo-taking session thinking of what poses to do next. I also recommend wearing contrasting colours so that the photos will look better in monochrome.

The double exposure shots are entirely up to your own creativity. It took a couple of test shots before we managed to figure out how to get the best out of the double exposure effect and this was our masterpiece.

For bookings or more information, you can refer to their Instagram or Facebook page.
https://www.instagram.com/insaengselca/
https://www.facebook.com/insaengselca/

Common Man Coffee Roasters

It has been more than a year since we were last allowed to travel and I am slowly running out of things to do in Singapore. Having explored the great outdoors, from hiking in Sungei Buloh, to riding the Amazon River Quest in River Safari, to kayaking in the Kallang basin, it is time to start hiding indoors and I started by signing myself up for the Essential Coffee Knowledge class conducted by Common Man Coffee Roasters.

The class is not conducted anywhere near their cafes, but rather they actually have a classroom-styled space tucked in the old aging HDB estate at Chin Swee Road. The place is not difficult to find, just a very short walk from Chinatown MRT, past the State Courts premises.

The class starts early, at 8:30am in the morning. I was the first to arrive and was offered a cup of coffee while we waited for the other 3 participants. (There is a cap of only 4 participants for each class due to safe distancing measures.)

I had the pleasure to share this class together with a much older couple and that played a part in making this class more interesting. The older gentleman was asking a lot of questions, so the instructor couldn’t just read off the powerpoint slides. The instructor had a bit more explanations, and at the same time we got to sniff and sample the different kinds of beans.

The academy offers quite a number of different topics and courses, so I foresee myself coming back soon.