30. Career Tips: Getting employed in a job you want

Getting a good job is very difficult for young veterinary graduates without experience as there are more competitors nowadays. My advice is to beef up your experience by working in smaller clinics. Hard work and contribution to your industry take up a lot of personal time e.g. charity work. There is long hours of work too. 

There will be graduates who have good connections and network from their parents and friends. They are fortunate. During interviews with prospective employers, you will get no or negative feedback. Look at negative feedbacks as learning experiences, rather than be discouraged. 

 

29. Photography of vegetables in a supermarket tip.

 PHOTOGRAPHY TIP by Dr Sing Kong Yuen. Where do you focus in this case?

I focus on the broccoli in the centre of the view. I use single central focus on my DSLR Canon EOs 90D Camera, using P Mode.

This photo has been cropped as the bigger photo shows apples on the upper side. So the mid point of the photo where I focus on the brocoli will be not at mid point in this image. 

Practise makes perfect. I do not know whether this image is acceptable by www.shutterstock.com yet. 

Is asparagus a vegetable, a fruit, or an herb? Have you wondered too? 

Often seen as a sign that spring has come, asparagus is a delicious addition to many springtime dishes, including salads and veggie-filled frittatas. 

Asparagus (left, bottom) is a nutrient-dense perennial vegetable that grows in temperate climates around the world.

UPDATE IN 28 FEB 2024.

As I read more photography magazines, the most recommended tip for good images is to use the AV Mode as you don't have to worry about the changing lighting environment. I find this to be true.
In the above supermarket photo, I should have used AV, f/11, ISO 400 and auto shutter speed to get a better shot. 

Borrow and read photography magazines to acquire more sophisticated digital imaging skills. There is no short cut to being skilful as mentors only have limited amount of time for you.  

28. Adversity in Life - Peter Sage's talk "How to become your best when life gives you its worst".

 

16 Jun 2022. I recommend highly that youngsters watch this TED Talk.

How to become your best when life gives you its worst by Peter Sage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4svF7J6MWg

1. He wrote a story in prison that is not about the person. He wrote "Mud or Stars." Two persons behind prison bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars." 

Your environment never define you, you define yourself. 

2. He wrote a book to raise the prisoner's mindset to give them hope, rather than skills set (to become better criminals).

CONCLUSION: Everyone will experience adversity in life. Look what you can learn and become than what you can lose.

MORE INFO:

www.petersage.com

www.youtube.com/petersage007

27. Why should you acquire digital imaging skills when you are young?

 DIGITAL IMAGING SKILLS

Acquire digital imaging skills through daily photography. You will find such skills very useful in your career and daily life. To do that, you have to be convinced that these skills are valid for your future. 

1.  DSLR CAMERAS OR HANDPHONES. Handphones are good but DSLR cameras give much sharper close-ups and zooms. Whichever you use, the important thing is to practise photography daily and process the photos to be good.

2. DOCUMENT your best photos in a blog for later references and to monitor your experiences. The reason for using a blog is that it has a 'SEARCH' function for your few thousand articles written over the year. 

3. Earn a PASSIVE income from photography. I started posting my best images at www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets in Sep 2019. As at 14 Jun 2022, I have sold 1,064 downloaded images and 5 videos, earning US$326.15. If you are calculating, this amount is not worth the time spent as I have earned US$0.30/download! But I don't have to worry about maintenance, marketing and getting payments. 

My buyers are global. This is passive income which depends on the quality and type of images buyers WANT. My wildlife photos do not sell as there are much better ones from competitors and I am a beginner in wildlife photography.

4. Digital skills TO SHARE YOUR PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE.  I started around 25 years ago for my professional veterinary case studies and record the images in my website, www.toapayohvets.com when the world wide web or internet started. The webpages started as grey and white, but now, you get colours. Prospective clients view your case studies as you take time to share. 

CONCLUSION. PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS. Use the ‘P’ Mode as a beginner. Later, you will learn to use the Manual and other modes. For the birds shown as examples in this blog, I use the Canon DSLR EOS 90D, 18-200 mm lens. 

P Mode, AF, single point focus, continuous mode. Hand-held, bright 9-11 AM sunshine helps get good pictures. Focus on the bird’s eye.

SOME EXAMPLES OF MY WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BIRDS ARE AT: 

https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2019/02/3444-male-red-breasted-parakeet-pink.html

DATE OF PHOTOGRAPHY: 22 May 2019

Singapore Wildlife – Two or three Ring-necked parakeets flew by the Lentor Loop area. They ate pomegranates outside the two houses.

DATE OF PHOTOGRAPHY: 14 Jun 2022

Singapore Wildlife – One Ring-necked parakeet at Lentor Street's substation roof.

P.S. THOSE WHO WISH TO BUY SOME OF MY LARGE IMAGES

Large images for sale at Shutterstock

www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets

26. You can take excellent photos using your latest handphone!

To: Young People

I encourage handphone owners to take a photo a day...not of themselves but of life around you - and learn how to take beautiful photos like this seaman who does not see his family for 9 months. 

Now he is on 3 months' leave. When the money is spent, he goes to the seas as earnings are around US$3,500 per month. At home, he may earn US$200 per month if he gets a job.

This handphone photo was sharp as shutterstock rejects blurry photos. Its size is less 

than what is required, so I add a white border around it to make up for the size.


The handphones below are NOT ACCEPTED by shutterstock
as they are not focused! 

25. How to take a sharp image of The Merlion.

ADVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE – PHOTOGRAPHY TIP.
How to get a sharp image of the Merlion statue.

16 Jun 2022
--------------------------------------

PHOTOGRAPHY TIP from Dr Sing Kong Yuen

FOCUS on the eye of the Merlion

Bright sunshine at around 10.30 AM, Saturday is a favourable factor to get sharp images. Tourism has increased since land borders are open from 1 Apr 2022.

I focused Canon DSLR 90D on the eye of the Merlion and got this sharp image of the statue. "P' mode. Lens 18-200mm

Lean on a pole or some support, if any, to get sharp images of the eye.

A surprisingly sharp image of the Merlion - can see the black of the eye.

MORE PHOTOS OF THE MERLION AND TO BUY PHOTOS: www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets

I take photos every day. At least one photo of the sceneries, street photography, buildings so that

I can better my skills over the last 10 years. Now I use Lightroom and Photoshop mainly. Such software was not so sophisticated 5 years ago.