Of Apple, Iphone 4, Food Blog and Video Blogging

It has been awhile since I took a bit of time away from reviewing and cooking food, and I thought this might be an opportune time to reflect on a few things.

First, I wanted to write about how I have been doing my food blogs and taking the videos and photos that you see here, and it might surprise a few of you.

Why you may ask? Well, simply because when I first started with Pauline on taking food shots all around town, we were using her Sony Cybershot compact digital camera of a few years.

Granted, it was really quite satisfactory then, and it is still a decent camera for taking photos on the run, and we are always first to admit we are not professionals when it comes to food photography, or any photography for that matter.

Yet, as time passed, we realised that using a Sony camera was quite tedious as there was a huge amount of transfers to be done, and then there was the constant need to recrop, resize and renaming the photos before they could be used for this blog.

Then in September, we both got our Iphone 4s, and things changed quickly from there on. I have always been a Mac fanboy and I was keen to see how far we could use Iphone 4 for all our shots, and we were surprised to find out that it basically could do everything the Sony camera could, and then some.

To write my posts, I use a Mac Mini at home and a MacBook Pro when I am in my office or on the go. So, you could imagine using an Iphone certainly alleviated a number of my frustrations when it came to transferring and resizing etc.

But, the biggest benefit we have had from the Iphone 4 was actually not photo related, but doing videos. Since early November, this blog has started to do a number of videos, starting with our Malacca trip, one video recipe and a lot of videos on the places that we have been to.

I definitely could not have imagined using a mobile phone to do a video blog just a few years ago, but now not am I shooting all my video on my Iphone, I am actually editing them on it as well! And all in 720p High Definition to boot.

The speed and efficiency in which the Iphone 4 has afforded me has been really incredible. Very often, I would easily finish shooting and editing an entire video right there on the spot where I just consumed my meal. To coin a very well known food blog, I am kinda ieatishootieditiupload now!

And on this topic of video blogging, I have found that doing videos of the places I have reviewed has indeed enhanced this blog manyfold. The actual realisation of the food and its surroundings is just something that cannot be expressed in just words and static pictures.

And through this video learning curve, I have now placed all my videos on YouTube for those who are interested to view them. And more importantly, I have also realised that for Singapore food, there is very little video or film done on a major scale that can be found on YouTube.

I have tasked myself to actually create a video library of the many wonderful Singapore eating outlets and restaurants. This has become like a pet project of mine now, as I have discovered that creating a 2 minute video of a hawker eatery can certainly say a lot about the food and place.

So, here I am, at the end of 2010, discovering a new and wonderful medium for my creative outlet. This whole business of food blogging, I have realised, requires a number of skill sets, not least, writing, cooking, tasting and now, filming.

Well, I certainly am not complaining about the number of chores required to keep this blog vibrant and interesting, and I certainly hope all these new additions will keep you readers coming back for more as well.

This is the Silver Chef, dangerously armed with an Apple Iphone 4!