Dear d70

Thanks to you, I could not post any pictures in time for the arrival of 2008. I know it has been a long year for you. Ever since I bought you, you have taken no less than 16000 pictures. You've been put through difficult times, under the rain, baked in the sun, exposed to gusts of sand in the outbacks of Australia, and not a moment of rest from the 3 weddings you've shot. I understand, it's tough, but dun do this to me ever again.

I've spent an hour and a half travelling to punggol, waited another few hours just for the last sunset of the year. And then you formatted my card. Without warning somemore. What are you thinking? You wanna go on strike? I know it's new years eve, but this is your responsibility. You ought to be ashamed of the Nikon badge you wear.

Now you have to force my 3 year old laptop to work OT, putting back the pieces of wadever is left in the card. He did not get a good night's sleep. People just recovered from a heart (disk) failure and you want to torture him. Naughty fella!

Now, go back into the dry box and think through what you've done. If you ever repeat this mistake again, you shall be relegated to back-up status. I'll just have to find someone else to get the job done.

A day through my window

What happens when I mentioned that I have nothing on tdy? A pail, rag and bottle-o-detergent appeared in front of me, together with an order - clean all the windows.

我不入地狱，谁入地狱？Started cleaning from 1030.. continued after lunch... till 3+. As the windows are tinted, I got a good gauge of how the sky will appear through an ND filter. And I saw a great ray-of-light phenomenon spread across the whole west coast. Camera out, naturally =)

As I continued to clean another set of windows with my Nikon within grasp, it started to rain... while the sun was still strong. My instincts (or experience, or science knowledge) told me a rainbow should be appearing anytime soon. The good thing about a window cleaner is that u get to pay attention to anything happening outside, every minute (duh). Lo and behold - a full arc appeared, so close I thought I could spot the pot of gold at the base of the arc.
I couldn't take the whole arc due to stupid HDB obstructions in front... the rain grew heavier, but I snapped on, risking my gear (or perhaps hoping to damage it so i could get a new one XD).

Rain gone, rainbow's gone, 2 more sets of windows to clean. Its already 5+ (trust me, cleaning windows manually is no mean feat). The sun was out strong, and birds began to sing. Looking out of the window (where else can I look...) I spotted birds of breeds less seen. Perhaps because I was already at the window so long, they thought I was part of the scenery. I was lucky to be this close, since 200mm is my longest telephoto available.
Finally finished all windows by 1830, and stopped to admire the scenery before me. It is interesting how good it looks when the grills are open. As the sun sets, I was treated to a red glow from the only energy source in this universe.
Did the calendar mentioned that tdy is a 吉日 for window cleaning?

With my BENRO and my NIKON and mEEeeEE

好久好久没有独自户外拍摄了。 今天心血来潮，带着为自己新买的圣诞礼物 - Benro 三脚架，到裕华园做红外线拍摄。如果没记错的话，我应该有7-8年没到裕华园了。公园里宁静的湖水，再配上细心栽种的树木，使这里成为红外拍摄的最佳地点。

单独拍摄，感觉好像在旅行。自由自在，毫无干涉地欣赏公园里的美景，也可算是人生一大乐趣。没有人在身边，就不用浪费精力做无益的交谈，不用浪费时间等别人拍照，思想也不会因别人的照片而受干扰。在这种情况下，一个人的想象力才能得到充分的发挥。大多数有名的山水摄影师，不就都是单独拍摄的吗？

当然，单独拍摄也使我感到蛮寂寞的。夕阳西下后，孤零零地回家时，我突然想找个人陪伴。咳！人生本来就矛盾。

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Omg... that took me 40 mins to write.

What is hairy in front, and bald at the back?

Opportunity
- When it approaches u head-on,
You have no idea what it is.
The moment it passes-by,
There is nothing behind to cling onto.

I remembered when I first shot this photo - a hazy afternoon, gloomy and sad. When there was a sudden break in the sky, I scrambled downstairs for this shot (see post one). It was the first IR shot I ever made, and because I planned it long before-hand, it was a success.

But just because it was a shot taken from a park downstairs, I did not treasure it, and failed to backup. A recent hard-disk crash erased it, and now it was gone.

As year end approaches, I decided to compile my best landscape photos taken this year into a 2008 calender. Browsing through the pictures on my blog, I came to realise that this, together with many other IR shots, were one of the best landscapes I could have had. Perhaps due to the trouble of setting up such a picture, each shot was elaborately planned, resulting in almost 80% keeper rate (thats a lot!). Omfg.. all the original IR shots were lost.

In my bid to retrieve at least one picture, I waited for a gloomy afternoon, and went down to the exact same location for a re-shoot. To my horror, the table is already partly damaged, and a large tree to the right uprooted sometime ago.

Moral of story - nothing is permanent. Backup all pictures you like if you haven't already done so. What is gone can never be retrieved again.

Through thick and thin

Such is the value of love

Am I going emo again? Maybe... but one thing is for sure - I've settled upon a favourite black and white conversion process. Be prepared to see more BnW pictures in the future. To me, monochrome removes the distraction of colour, forcing the viewer to focus on the mood. This in turn makes it more engaging.

Emotions gone wild

This is a scary and dangerous thing, as we tend to commit mistakes in such situations. It isn't exactly healthy too. I'm saying this because i just witnessed a wild party during the SPH Txy internal camp. People just went mad, fueled by music and occasional SIA planes flying over. Studious looking people can gyrate so hard as if to shake their pants off, girls screaming non stop as if they have whistles built into their throats, boys behaving like girls and vice versa...

Ok, I admit this is just a very moderate campfire party night. I know there are much much worse cases. But the thing i couldn't understand is, how come people can get so high? Is our society getting so stressed people must resort to such activities to let lose? Or issit because we are born at a time where upholding our moral values is no longer as important?

Wordless Wednesday

posted on a Thursday

Grey days

Yet another RANT

I've finally come to the last wedding pictures for this "season". As usual, I'll do a de-brief of things I learnt.

Where I failed:

• Too tight crops of subjects. I was a little too desperate to capture certain expressions, so much so that I zoomed right into their faces. Not only does it look weird to have 6mpx worth of a face, the picture also fails to tell a story. Why did this person laugh? Why the funny expression? An excuse I can come up with is that with a small and dark viewfinder, I tend to zoom in more closely to look at the expressions. Crap, another excuse for a d300.
• Too much tilt shots. This is getting out of hand. An occasional tilt adds life to the set, but overdoing it resulted in a hap-hazard presentation. Stupid. In my tries for the perfect tilt, I screwed up many shots that would otherwise be ok. In addition, having too much tilt shots also shows that i lack maturity and proper composition skills.
• Poor focus. Can't be helped, I'll get the solution should a new wedding assignment draws near.
• Not observant of light. Mounting a flash results in being totally insensitive to light. I should also learn to add more direction to where my flash is bounced, but have to watch where I blast it at.
• Bias towards family members. I shot so many pictures of my relatives I find them sick. Should have paid more attention to other people. I still lack professionalism.
• Lazy. Somewhere into the dinner, I felt tired and began to think I've got enough shots. But the truth is, the later into the night, the livelier the crowd becomes, and the more opportunities there are. Haiz.

Where I improved:

• Expression. Of course as I mentioned I get too tight expressions, but having expressions is still better than none at all. At least there is a little more variety compared to previous weddings.
• Exposure. Although I have no fast lens and hot bodies, I do have a good flash, helping me nail the exposure for the bread and butter group shots. I need to develop a way to flash without getting reflections from glasses though. An option would be off hand lighting, which is cumbersome.
• Workflow. I learnt to be more organized in picking out the better pictures and developing them, saving time (as if i'm in a hurry...lol)

Enough said. To the average joe, my pics might look ok, even great. But I know where I stand - NOOB

Should I just stop here?

Another rant post, without photos. Weather isn't spectacular, and i'm not really in the mood to shoot anyway.

Almost done editing photos from the penang shoot. Thinking through what i've did so far, I'm forced to ask myself this qn: Should I stop?

I'm a cheapo. I keep holding back my purchases despite knowing how much they can help me improve. I keep thinking that I can shoot like a pro without the need for pro equipment, so long as i develop proper skills. All these because I know I will not go pro, and my equipment will never pay for itself.

Conventional, photojournalistic, documentary shots are now not much a problem. But they aren't challenging. Any bloke owning the right gear would nail them. To go beyond and shine, i'll really need to pump in big bucks.

1) Fast lens. At least a 2.8 zoom, or go for primes. I can contend myself with the flat flashed images, or go get some primes to shoot the really outstanding mood shots. The cheapest 2.8 zoom retails for 600++, and good primes will cost in excess of 1k.

2) Hot body. Either a d300, or get a canon 40d. I've seen how much a hot bod can help nail the shot. Not only with their fast fps, the superior AF system and low ISO noise will give me lots of advantages. Pros can laugh, quoting how they one-shot-one-killed in many situations, but they end up sporting a d2/1d series anyway.

3) Stable tripod. Call me a cheapo, but i'm still waiting for the super steady ballhead tripod retailing below 200 bucks.

But being a cheapo, I'm reluctant to spend. I don't want people to think I dunno how to prioritise my needs, buying exotic equipment just to get photos that don't earn money. It's all about satisfaction. It's just a hobby. Maybe I should just forget about all these and contend myself with normal pictures any tom dick and harry would get.

Verdict - No D300, No more weddings!

It may sound really extreme. There are pros out there shooting d200 weddings, and maybe some d100/d70 pros as well. But in my case, i couldn't be more pissed than missing so many shots because of a body.

Smiles, kisses, handshakes, laughters; the very moments of joy and jubilation that defines a wedding reception all took place spontaneously and without warning. To me, it's like walking into a battlefield. Everywhere i turn, there's a scene crying to be shot, rare and precious memories waiting to be captured. I cannot fail. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

While I am still far from psychic, I expect my equipment to be at least be as responsive as myself. When I point it at a face, it should lock focus, ok, at least try to achieve focus. But NO. The cam900 system took 0.5sec to START moving the focus, and then another 0.5-1sec to lock focus (if it managed to lock at all) This is like a gun that fires a sec after u pulled the trigger. I'm be better off dead.

The lower resolution of the cameras doesn't make them the ideal choice for group shots as well, especially when the iso1600 noise obscures the fine details.

Fortunately, Nikon's D300 seems like its made specially for the job. With its d2-beating AF system, and noise comparable to a Canon, it is the ideal and most logical upgrade for me. Sadly, very sadly, it retails for SGD2700, and it's unlikely to drop price anytime soon. Looks like i'll have to turn down wedding assignments till i saved up enough for the new toy.

Bond - Beginning of the end?

The utmost commitment,
to stay as one till the lights go out.

How heavy are those rings?

Interior Architecture Photography

This is one aspect of photography where tripod is really important. And i really lack a quality one. (in fact my present one is so jialat i have fridge magnets stuffed into the legs to prevent it from slipping) Anyway, just saw some pros' works and they seemed to utilize subtle HDR for more pleasant highlights rendering, so here's my take on a landmark site at the upcoming terminal 3.

3rd try, no major improvements

Taking a break off the post processing of photos from my 3rd wedding assignment, held at Fullerton. I was better prepared than before, in terms of equipment as well as exposure. However, as i looked through the files i brought back, it struck me how little i improved. Perhaps I was not properly briefed on what's going on, perhaps because there were pros around and i did not want to get in the way, perhaps the lighting condition was so bad my cheapo equipment could not cope, perhaps.... the usual 101 excuses. Now for the debrief...

Biggest changes since the previous assignments:

1. Better flash control. This is no doubt due to the more powerful (and expensive) SB800 being deployed, able to light up the whole room. Also because of more experience with flash during my SYD assignments, I was able to make the flash look more subtle.
2. More ambient shots. Fullerton hotel was so grand, the interior so well decorated that I couldn't stop myself snapping away at little details and textures. These pics work well for "fillers", but are not the money shots.
3. Natural light. I'm lucky to have a borrowed D50 body with me. Its iso1600 produces much richer and cleaner pictures than my D70 noise machine. I realised that I never went below iso800 for the whole of the assignment! However, this is still not enough to capture natural light shots during dinner reception. A check with the pro showed that he is shooting ISO 3200 (on a canon 40d), at F2!!! That is a wopping 2-4 stops of light ahead of me. Pro tio si pro... got money to buy fast lens and good bodies. Perhaps one day when i get a d3...
4. More closeups. Yes, the bazooka is out again. It got me lots of smiles and expression shots that i could never achieve before. However, even the bazooka is not fast enough for the damn dinner room.

I learnt a big lesson: No matter how up ur skills can be, equipment matters! I also lack the experience, unable to anticipate moments of rich expression. The pro (ckuang from 39east) was ALWAYS there when people were smiling, laughing and shaking hands. Call him a psychic. Patience... Now i have to quickly finish my processing, and prepare myself for the 2nd wedding reception shoot in Penang, by the same couple. I'm feel honoured to be flown overseas just to shoot, and it'd better be good.

A photo worth bashing for?

Deep in the fields off edge-field plains, there lies a large lalang cluster...

Together with a friend, we spent 30 mins bashing through the thick foliage only to find that most of the lalangs were unripe. Just as I felt pretty contented with a couple of closeups (shame...), I turned my head and spotted this grand rainbow. Phew... I knew this picture will save the day!

Tips for anyone else willing to venture to this spot: Wear long pants/jeans. If u are NSman (yes i am!) or NSF (hang in there!), go ahead and wear your combat boots. Thank god I did, else you'll have a nice chocolate shoe for dinner.

Wordless Wednesday

The park I grew up with

This is the park I frequent from when I learnt to walk, to run, to cycle, to skate and now - to drive. It is a place I cherish, for it brings back fond memories of the countless times I visited.

Twenty years since I first set foot on the greenery, west coast park has undergone so much renovations that hardly any area was left untouched. The shores reclaimed, the playgrounds built and upgraded, even the birds come and go. Fortunately, the gleeful laughter from children never left. It's such a joy to watch them play.

Ups and Downs

Life's Like That!

Yes, this stunning bokeh can only be produced by one lens in my current arsenal: The bazooka. Went on the first walkaround in the playground with my new weapon, and my intention was to train myself in freezing the fleeting moments of joy on young faces. I learnt a big lesson.

Walking around with the "big black thing" seems to have the same effect as strolling with an M16 in a civilian world. People stare at you. Even kids can feel it's presense. It's hard to be discrete, harder to get the shot without people turning away. Singapore is still a very conservative society.

Wife pastry

Find me a wife as sweet as this...

I'm so glad I'm finally getting better in lighting up food. Many people use window/natural light for such shots, but I had to resort to artificial lighting given the cloudy/rainy weather these days. My tripod isn't serviceable enough for long exposures as well.

This shot is a combination of 3 great "projects" i made recently. The first being the umbrella system, which consist of a cheap $2 umbrella i've been using all the while (without noticing the silver interior till a few weeks ago, shame...), mounted to my dying tripod using cable ties (talk about DIY). Shadows casted were very close to natural light, given its super large surface area in relative to the subject.

The second is my light tent, made from toys and tissue. Cost me nothing. Delivers studio-quality light.

Third is my soft box, a 4.5 x 6.5 inch contraption made from mooncake box packagings (yes, including the translucent grease proof paper). Doesn't make a difference for portraits, but a hell lot of improvement for food sized stuff.

Here's the final setup:

Anyone wanna sell stuff online?

Clearing off before my long awaited ORD date, I find myself with lots of free time for some handicraft. I've always wanted to try a little product shoot, taking pictures of little things around the house. The best way to achieve even lighting would be a light tent. One can either buy a ready made one, or if you are game enough, DIY one. It costs me nothing for this light tent, maybe just 2 hrs of construction. (i admit i made use of old toy sets, so i'm not exactly starting from scratch)

I'm currently obsessed with snapping stuff around me. Will be trying some creative lighting effects too. So anyone wants to sell items online can look for me to put ur stuff in the best light =)

My camera is hungry

But i'm a noob at food photography. This picture doesn't do my mum's cakes justice. My next project: a light tent for food/product shots. Who wants to sell stuff on ebay?

The stuff dreams are made of...

When I bought the tokina back in February, I'd never have thought of another big ticket purchase for the rest of the year. However, life is unpredictable... or should I say my lust is uncontrollable. This is "hopefully" the final addition to my arsenal.

Every photojournalist has 3 main lens - known as the trinity. For Nikon FX format, they are: 17-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm VR. They are the bread and butter of any working pro, and cover 99% of the situations. Previously, I only had 12-24mm (~18-36) and 18-70mm (~28-105). What's more, they are all significantly slower at f4 or f4.5. I had to resort to the MF AIS 80-200mm f/4 for any range shooting/portraits. This is a serious handicap. I needed a tele zoom desperately.

To make matters worse, my uncle whom is getting married in Nov has requested me to shoot his wedding. My evaluation of previous assignments revealed that I had been seriously lacking close-up expression shots, which only a tele could provide. I initially thought of renting a pro lens (80-200mm f/2.8) just for the occasion. It costs $30 a day... which would add up to $180 for the assignment (including some overseas shoot). Not really worth if you ask me.

Buying a tele would be a better solution. My choice was between 55-200mm VR, 70-300mm VR, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 and nikon 80-200mm f/2.8. I almost purchased the 55-200, as it is the ideal travel zoom for amateurs, being light and pretty sharp with VR. However, being slow at f/5.6, I was afraid i couldn't get any sharp action without resorting to pumping ISO. Ditto the 70-300. This leaves the sigma and the nikon. Sigma is cheaper, and supposedly faster focusing. If i get a sharp copy, it would be well worth. But being 3rd party, there might be compatibility issues. It also doesn't hold its value as well.

I began trolling the net for any good bargains of used sigma/nikon, when this deal struck me. This baby costs only $1000! A new one retails for 1.6k... which means I could probably buy and sell and still make money! It's insane! Condition wise, there are a couple of user marks, but purely cosmetic. Optics are excellent... sharp as a tack. Focusing was surprisingly fast and accurate for a motor drive lens. In case you are wondering, this lens is easily as fast as the kit 18-70mm.

This is the first pro-caliber lens I own. Made of aluminum alloy (maybe stainless steel?), it is solid and heavy at 1.3kg. It would probably take some time to get used to the weight, but hey, i'm still young! In case you're still unclear, this is the legendary Nikkor AFD 80-200mm F2.8 ED. Hehehe.

MAF food

I decided to mark my mid autumn festival with a food shot of the signature delicacy - Moocakes. The setup was lame... I had no square white plates in the kitchen, so i used tissue paper instead. Absorbs oil from the mooncake too... and disposable as well.

Time of our lives

The world spins around you,
A kaleidoscope of Emotions.
Best of friends re-unite,
Reliving the time of our lives.

Thus is the spirit of the MAF

Let there be lights!

This might well be a revolution in my photographic life. First, the "discovery" of the SU-400 remote flash mode hidden withing my SB800. I now have 2 lights, the first being on camera, and a second, the flash. This allows me to side/back light me subject, with the on camera for fill. However, the built in flash is still very much restricted as it is.. well.. built in. Direction is still flat

And then, after digging out my old Emoblitz 328, I guess I hit the gold. This little $50 gadget has a built in slave trigger, allowing it to be triggered remotely! Now i can have lights on different axis of the subject, creating eye popping imagery I'd never dream before. One catch though: The emoblitz has no manual mode. I gaffer the thyristor to let it fire at full power, varying only the distance to subject.

The only things I lack now are hands. I'd probably go hunt down for cheap light stands and umbrellas.

Iridescence spotted

While this is not totally uncommon, it is rare to spot one so big and obvious. I resorted to handheld HDR to capture the full range of colours present.

A day without f/2.8

I've always been tempted to get myself the tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, given its affordable price and exceptional performance. Yesterday made this temptation even more so. I was practically struggling to get sharp enough photographs, working in dim lighting and high ceilinged indoor conditions. Pushing my iso to the top, i still have plenty of blur shots, from motion and noise reduction. My sb800 worked hard as well, trying in vain to light up an auditorium. This is a pretty pitiful situation.

Until iso6400 is readily available and usable, i would get one of those f/2.8s... probably in the near future.

Blistering Barnacles! The D300!

The d200 is a great camera, and I confess I wanted it as a replacement for my d70. When I heard of the imminent d300 launch, I was hoping to snatch up the d200 at cheap second hand prices. However, my mind was quickly changed when the d300's specs were revealed.

This is one hell of a cam. It is everything better than the previously top of the line d2Xs, at half price! I was pleasantly surprised at how generous Nikon has been, allowing the greater mass to have a taste of cutting edge features such as 51pt focusing, 8fps speed and Live-View, at a not so high premium. If my d70 decides to kick the bucket, this butt kicking machine will be my next target. (anyone wants a new kidney? Just kidding)

The feature list of cameras released this week is so extensive I could write a GP essay out of them. However, it is always the case of who's behind the cam that makes great pics. After serious considerations, I would like to list out the must have upgrades for my d70 replacement:

1. Noise control must be a big leap from d70, enabling ISO 3200 pictures with as little noise as my current ISO 800. This is very very important. I have no money to stock up a cupboard full of f2.8 VR lenses, and i wouldn't want to carry trumpets for holidays. Indoor takes up a significant percentage of my work, and while i suck thumb with my current ISO 800, I can always visualize how much better they will be if i have access to noiseless ISO 1600.
2. Big and high res LCD. The one on the d300 (3 inch VGA!!!) is worth drooling over, while the current 2.5 inch are acceptable. But the 1.8 inch behind my d70 is a cause of many of my mistakes, as i cannot accurately determine my exposure (and sometimes composition) just by looking at it. Most of the time my shots need lots of leveling, which only worsens the noise of the image. I'm sick of it. (maybe i suck, but big screens will definitely improve my workflow)
3. More and better focus points please. 5 pts (or even one) is enough for landscapes, but how am I expected to track action while composing? I have to keep the subject in the center, resulting in very cliche pictures.
4. Big viewfinder. I'm sick of the d70 viewfinder being so small. Even the d40 is years ahead in this expect.
5. ISO display in viewfinder. As much as i'd like to use auto ISO, I want to know what it is doing. Don't expect to shoot a once in a lifetime pic only to realize it is smeared with noise from ISO 1600. I'll kill myself.
6. Ergonomics and control. Built quality is very good on the d70 already, but not ergonomics and controls. Stuff like AF-C and auto focus modes can only be activated in menus, which is so slow i reckon i lost a dozen shots because of this. The d200/d300 ergonomics is SUPERIOR, with individual knobs and dials. They are also weather sealed, great for someone like me who loves to shoot outdoor and landscapes. Hopefully, the rubber grips on d300 has stronger glue applied.
   

With regards to high fps shooting, wireless networking and live view, it is not a must have.

My d70 might be crippled now, but it still works. It might even take years before I find a good enough excuse for a d300. Enough of rants and more photos.

Smoked by China

I take back my comments on the Spanish performance yesterday. The China display made it look like it's spring again. True, there are over hundred different fireworks on display, but where did marina bay go?

Fortunately, with photoshop and experience I had yesterday, I came up with a different strategy to counter the problem. It served me well for most of the shots.

A mess of sparks, flames and smoke

While many would find the musical fireworks display put up by the Spanish a mesmerizing experience, this is certainly not the case for the throngs of photographers who lined the coast along Marina Boulevard. The fireworks were by no means symmetrical, and the bursts were heavily stacked. A huge cloud of smoke also threatened to engulf the marina bay skyline.

Photoshop saves the day once again. I brutally edited the pictures, developing a work flow that might classify my pictures more as a digital art than photographs. So long as they look good, who cares?

The subtle knife

A tribute to the trilogy by Philip Pullman which I just finished. Very interesting and original storyline. Worth a read.

Birthday Blues

I'm not expecting anybody to remember my Bday. Nonetheless, I still took off from camp just in case somebody remembers and insists on kiwi-ing you-know-where. Took myself for a trip to NLB to visit photo exhibition "eye e city". I'm inspired on how a normal photo can look like a masterpiece if one has enough pertinent stories to go with it. (no offence, there are some really nice ones on show as well)

Took to the streets the moment the sun begins its final decent. Immediately realized that Bugis is a very vibrant and distinct area and is really worth more trips down to bring out the local flavour.

Silent Saturday

Greying alone

Will it happen to me?

Woman in gold

Woman in Gold

Illusionary and Forbidden,
Someone my life might just end without.

Blue and Barren

Life

An illusionary light rests on the horizon,
Promising warmth and joy.
But those who tries to reach for it,
Will just drown and die.

Tea Time

The golden sun climbs over hills,
carefully baking rolls of lush greenery.
Cool wind peels away stress and sorrow
and freshens one up for the day ahead.
What better way to embrace the moment,
than savoring a cuppa rich English Tea?

Lightpainting

Lightpainting

I'm very sad to say that most of the photos were blurred, due to poor judgment of manual focusing. (with the exception of the group shot, which i uploaded at full res) I've resized them for web use.

Starry Sky

This has to be one of my favourite pictures. The big bright moon was behind the observatory, creating the glow in the sky. The observatory was lit by streetlamps though, making it obsessively red i had to adjust saturation levels.

The night sky is crystal clear in SA. Galaxies are clearly visible, and the place is so deserted light pollution is minimal (unless the moon comes out) Apparently that's why there are 2 observatories in a village the population of 300.

Snapped this picture with a tokina 12-24mm, with the setup dangerously propped by stones (maybe bones) i picked up around me. The camera dropped once (no serious injuries though). The picture had better be good.

Lights at dusk

There is always one important advice when it comes to landscape photography: Patience. Wait for the golden moment, which is usually during dawn and dusk. This is the moment when the colours of the sky are most intense.

It struck me how contrasting the sunset in South Australia seemed. One side of the sky was red with fury, blazing as if a phoenix just made a crash landing. The other was a moody purple, with a rainbow of red, yellow and blue. It was a wonderful sight, and well worth the dinner i missed for the photographs.

Shot through an 80-200mm f4. Colours straight out of camera!

This looks pretty much like a rainbow...

This is the part of the sky in between the red and blue. Wonderful colours i must say!

Outback in SA

Shan't mention what i've been doing in this bone-dry, fly infested land, with hardly any soul 129000 sq km around me. Any Singaporean male (or their girlfriends) would have guessed.

Nonetheless, i took the risk and brought out my full kit of photographic toys. No regrets... even though my d70's on/off switch came back faulty. The scenery was simply stunning. Never would one find such lighting conditions in this wretched island of Singapore. The strong sunshine made the "ray-of-light" phenomenon almost an everyday matter. On other occasions, the sky could be so blue i wondered why i needed a polariser. Its a totally different land.

The above is the first picture i processed when i returned. Granted it may not be the best picture yet, but it sure got a seat in the "best shots" folder on my hard disk. Watch this space as i bring more and better photos taken from South Australia.

Wedding in Kuantan

Wedding #2 Coffee Table Layout

Another special opportunity for me to learn, a wedding of my relative. Unpaid... of course, given the amatuerish pics i took. Anyway, i decided to make a quick debrief to myself.

Biggest mistakes:

• overuse of wide-angle, resulting in obvious distortions
• Constant underexposure resulted in obsessive noise during PP. May be due to underpowered flash though
• Lack of focus on capture of expressions and mood

Improvements over previous assignment:

• More accurate white balancing
• Better lighting for group shots

Personally i'd rate it a $250 job... compared to $150 for the previous wedding. When will my next wedding opportunity come?

Somebody kill me!

I burnt a hole in my pocket, splurging on the most advanced flash unit nikon has ever made: the SB-800. It's hell ex... at $520 (a new one costs $620) for a xenon tube people will think you are SIAO. Some time i will make my equipment pay for themselves.

I figured i will be shooting more events, and realised the weakness of the SB-600 after the previous wedding shoot. It just isn't powerful/accurate enough. I have to levels up almost every pic and ended up with a whole lot of noise. Hopefully the new flash will solve the problem.

The worst part of this purchase is... i want more stuff! I'm now awaiting the new 55-200mm VR, and eventually i should go for the tamron/tokina 16/17-50mm f2.8.... and eventually i will be begging on the streets with a sign that reads "will shoot for food"

Overseas wedding shoot

My second wedding shoot ever since i bought my d70. Taken in Kuantan, Malaysia, for my relative who isn't really particular about AD wedding pictures. I tried my best, but results aren't as good as i thought.

Biggest problem is lens changing. Taking my tokina out in the field for the first time, i sort of overused it and had much more "overview" shots compared to closeups. This is directly opposite to the first wedding shoot back in december. I also had a hard time anticipating when to change lens... i missed a lot of smiles and potentially nice portraits when my tokina was on. This is a major failing factor. (and that's why pros have 2 bodies)

Have to be thankful for the tokina though, as i couldn't possibly catch the grandeur of the wedding (held in a huge temple) without the wide FOV. I also managed to "widen up" the small room where the bride was making up, with the wide angle's optical characteristics. I'm not going to post those pics yet as i've yet to obtain permission.

To sum it all up, the shoot got all the necessary pictures, but nothing really spectacular.

A casual shot with the tokina at the beach: