Life Squared

Using the Ricoh GXR has been somewhat a liberating experience. While the image quality and response are not as good as a DSLR like my Nikon D40X, I have been using it quite a bit since I bought it on Aug 31. 

Being relatively compact, I can really bring it wherever I go. I enjoy shooting with the D40X but carrying it out always causes me a headache, since I seldom go out with shooting pictures as my sole objective. In the days before the GXR, I sometimes looked back fondly on the days when I was using my Sony point-and-shoot, which I could just stuff into any bag I was using.

Novice baker Joanne's blueberry muffins :)

Currently, I'm particularly enamoured of the GXR's ability to shoot in square format natively. Of course you can take any picture from any camera and just crop it in Photoshop, but shooting it in square format directly allows you to compose the pictures the way you want it to turn out, instead of as an afterthought/picture-salvaging effort on the computer. (The RAW files are recorded in square format too btw, so that's a potential downside)

Chanced upon the colour windmill display outside Ang Mo Kio Hub earlier this week.

The GXR's option to store 3 custom shooting settings on the mode dial (MY1, MY2 & MY3) make it easy to switch to square format on the fly. I've set MY2 and MY3 to square frame, in colour and sepia tone respectively. 

As mentioned earlier, the GXR is easy to carry about, and this makes it great as a camera to take pictures of daily life.

Mushrooms at West Coast Park.

Put the two attributes together and that's how I arrived at the Life Squared project:

Life Squared = Life X Life = Life in Squares

"Life X Life" is in part symbolic of my relationship with Joanne, who is of course a big part of my life now. ;) At the same time, I also think it encapsulates my goal of living life to the max. 

Joanne and I having a pleasant little picnic at West Coast Park. 

As for "Life in Squares", besides the aesthetic appeal and relatively freshness of square pictures, I recall my sergeant-major from my Officer Cadet days during National Service, who's well-remembered by my company mates for his frequent pep talks when he would tell us to "square" things away, by which he meant put things in proper order. 

I liked that guy. He was very enthusiastic (sometimes overly though) and actually brought some nice changes to the the company after he arrived. I shall continue squaring away my life. 

Joanne prepared quite a spread! Despite eating a Mac's meal before that (because we had to hide from the downpour when we first arrived at the park), I licked up every last crumb. 

More to come...