Saturday July 27,
2013
I was at work in the
drizzling morning on
Saturday. A
lady wanted to
consult me about her
old Jack Russell who
had difficulty
breathing and the
abdomen had started
swelling for a few
days.
"The dog is old, no
point spending much
money treating him,"
her 65-year-old
father kept
reiterating. I was
quite irritated by
his repetitions.
"You and I are old
at over 60 years of
age," I said to this
man. "Does it mean
that when we are
sick, we should be
put to sleep?"
That was the message
he was transmitting
to his daughter.
His daughter said:
"This dog has been
with us for 10
years. I will not
euthanase him just
because he cannot
breathe normally and
is sick. My dad 's
intentions are to
save my money."
To lower medical
costs, I did not ask
for X-ray of the
chest and heart. A
blood test and
examination of the
abdominal exudate
would be done.
"Don't use sedation
on this dog as he
may die," I said to
my assistant Naing
as we muzzled this
biting Jack Russell
and held his four
legs. He was much
weaker since he had
been panting
probably for more
than a week. I
inserted a 19-G
needle into his
umbilical area and
extracted around
1000 ml of
blood-tinged fluid
with 20-ml syringes.
The abdominal
swelling reduced
considerably in
size. Then I gave an
injection to remove
the excess fluid.
The dog stopped
panting as the
abdominal swelling
was gone. He just
looked much alert.
"His abdominal
swelling will
return," I said to
the owners. "He
needs to be on heart
medication for the
rest of his life."
The dog peed at the
waiting room and
went home looking
like a normal dog.
He was given heart
disease medications.
By then, it was 12
noon and I had to
rush to the Palm
Room of the
Singapore Flyer to
attend a talk on
digital printing by
Stephen Loh.
This was the 2nd old
Jack Russell with
ascites within a
short period of
time. Many
veterinary events
seem to occur in
pairs recently.
There were cost
considerations for
the first case too.
That dog seems to be
normal after
abdominocentesis as
he did not have
recurrences and is
on oral
chemotherapy. The
owner WhatsApp his
flat abdominal
images to me
recently. Both Jack
Russells are much
loved by the family
members but the
budget prevents me
from more detailed
lab tests like
X-rays and follow
through to come to a
definitive
diagnosis.
TALK ON THE
DIGITAL PRINTING BY
STEPHEN LOH
How to print your
photographs and sell
them at $700 or
more? It is not
possible for most of
the approximately
100 amateur
photographers
attending "The Art
of Fine Printing"
talk by Mr Stephen
Loh of
www.lyricalmoments.com.
Stephen is a
professional wedding
photographer and
shares his
experiences
generously. He does
around 40 weddings a
year for clients who
want more than just
the mass wedding
photographs and can
pay for his
services.
Here are some tips
from him:
1. Always use RAW
files. Hard drives
are so cheap
nowadays. He also
uses tripod, light
meter and lighting.
2. He uses Manual
mode, except for
focus.
3. He never uses
Hue/Saturation which
I used a lot as this
affects the tonality
of the images. For
me, I use a lot.
4. He uses more
Photoshop features
than me e.g. dodging
and burning.
5. He uses
multi-layers and
flattens them before
presenting them to
clients so as not to
reveal his working
steps which take a
long time to
develop. I guess it
is like vets who
don't reveal how
they operate on
difficult cases.
Veterinary surgery
is much less
complicated and
time-consuming than
professional digital
photography and
photo-shopping, in
my opinion. New
software must be
learnt. But both are
skills to be
mastered in a
speedy, efficient
and accurate manner.
Take your time to do
it but don't spend a
lot of time because
there are overheads
to bear, unlike the
situation for
amateurs.
6. He calibrates his
monitor which is a
simple Dell monitor,
not the expensive
ones. He uses
luminous 90, not 130
for good results.
7. He saves in
Adobe RGB files,
not CYMK as Adobe
RGB has a lesser
gamut of colours.
Therefore, less foul
up when printed by
the corporate
owners. He prints
his own wedding
photographs rather
than out-sourcing.
8. The Art of
Selling Fine Prints
to wedding clientele
- make it an
experience for
clients rather than
just giving them a
CD. Examples of such
marketing include
the Japanese tea
ceremony and selling
of luxury handbags.
Let the client sit
down and have a
drink or food before
direct selling.
Spend some time with
them viewing the
prints. Clients who
want cheap and good
are usually
corporations.
9. Perception of
professionalism. Be
presentable in
dressing in
tailor-made clothes.
No necessity to wear
branded suits. Vets
ands staff may need
to wear uniforms to
project a
professional image.
10. Niche marketing
to the creative
group who will refer
others to him. He
does some corporate
work too but these
are low cost
quotation clients.
He has international
clientele to shoot
wedding photos. For
amateurs, it will be
a tough business
making a profit in
mass wedding
photography as there
are too many
competitors.
11. Resources.
www.luminous-landscape.com
has much tips to
offer according to
Stephen.
Conclusion:
The ink-jet print
are now acceptable
for international
photo competition as
they produce high
quality prints. I
doubt amateur
photographers can
afford the latest
Canon printers if
they don't print
much.
It is important to
attend talks by
experienced
photographers. This
free talk was
organised for
ClubSNAP members
limited to 100 on a
Saturday afternoon.
There appeared to be
100 present. Most
participants were
men. I am registered
as a "dormant"
member of ClubSNAP
and got the email
invitation the day
before the talk!
TOA
PAYOH VETS
