Sometimes, you just have to get over it..

Just in case you are thinking that this blog is dead, I’m sad to say it isn’t. Ha. I was just blogging on another more informal blog (you should know where to look if you know me enough).

This is 黃金瀑布@九份. Rainy and misty afternoon. Limited time. Wet lens. Had to hide under an umbrella to shoot this.  Just a customary shot. Could have been a lot better if time + weather were on my side.

I may not have the time + opportunity to come back for another try, as it is 1.5hrs away from my school by public transport. Sometimes, you just have to get over the missed chances, and look ahead so you don’t miss other chances that may come by =)

Face off!

I believe there are still many people troubled in deciding between a micro 4/3 (or other mirrorless interchangeable lens) camera, and an advanced compact. I’m lucky enough to be holding on to one of each here, and here are my initial impressions after an evening’s walk with them.

帥哥美女

It’s been some time since I shot portraits seriously, and to be honest I was a little nervous about taking this assignment. The requirements seemed high, given that the previous shoot (by another photog) had some photos that didn’t really met the expectations of the editor. So I’m supposed to be here to clean up.

Luckily, the models are mostly quite photogenic and friendly. Of course, thanks to Jiayin being my assistant for the day, if not I’ll be limping much worse at the end of the day.

However, I was told that the editor did some merciless crops to my images while publishing… Oh well, now I know why the other photog didn’t bother to shoot properly.

Samsung EX1 – 1 month onwards

It’s been a month since I bought this toy. In light of the launch of new serious compacts, notably the Panasonic LX5 and the Canon S95, how do I feel about the EX1?

That’s life..

You can’t have everything in life. And there’s no point too..

Blue

Samsung EX1 – f/1.8 1/20th iso400

The ugly duckling grows up…

If there’s anyone wondering why i’m so particular about my camera shooting RAW, this is the post for you.

Adobe has finally released camera raw 6.2 (albeit a release candidate) to the public, and my Samsung EX1 is officially supported. What a coincidence for me to google for ACR 6.2 and jump to the download page literally minutes since it’s release (faster than dpreview’s announcement!), but tt’s another story.

Above is the comparison between an out of camera jpeg, vs a jpeg converted from RAW, on the deadliest subjects ever – foliage. Samsung’s jpeg engine is still far from mature, and lacks the crisp, saturated look of Canon’s jpegs (go see the G10’s output to see what i mean). Even at base ISO, fine details and textures are smeared away, and the remaining detail over-sharpened. Doesn’t do justice to the mighty Schneider lens and the Sony sensor it has. The metering tends to overexpose too, which is good for skintones but bad for nature stuff.

Switching to RAW, and a veil of NR is lifted to reveal the awesome-ness of this lens/sensor combination. Bloody sharp.. I’d say =)

Will you?

if I were to wear a YOG shirt and ride my bike on the lane…

A worthy companion

Ideal compact – When one has shot DSLR (and larger) cameras long enough, this term will start appearing in the back of your mind. Nope, I’ve not found THE ideal compact yet, but I’ve got something close enough =) [long post. Beware..]

昙花一现…

It may have brightened up the night sky, but how long can it sustain?

Path with a view

My new observation: Rainy morning = clear blue skies in evening.
It’s been a long time since I’ve shot such colourful sunsets at Pandan reservoir lately.. this shot came just in time for me to try out a number of new processing tools.

No emo no emo kk? =)

Fortress in the City

5 exposure HDR, processed a little more aggressively for the controversial, HDR-ish look.

Been rather busy with work these days.. No time to shoot beaches… yet. ha.

Soft and delicate…

I’ve never really felt Singapore’s beaches were worth treasuring, as there is nothing much there anyway, given all the land reclamation going on. But when i heard of the oil spill which left the East Coast and Changi beach covered in oily sludge, I suddenly had the urge to visit all the other beaches before they are affected too. They have never meant so much to me before..

Being a major petroleum refinery, Singapore is highly susceptible to oil spills. The beaches are lifeless enough without all the sludge, and all it takes is a couple of oil spills to finish them off.

Pointing and shooting

Shooting with my E72 never fails to surprise.. Being “free-and-easy” encourages me to walk more, and explore more angles. There is no pressure to create good pictures, but when I make a pic i like, the sense of satisfaction is just as strong.

Colour on the E72 is rather poor though.. and lacks the punch and contrast of a proper camera. But with some processing, I doubt anyone would notice it.

The nameless

Been trying hard to find new perspectives from the short mini stretch of “beach” at West Coast Park. It’s naturally a delight to find new spots, though the environment isn’t what i’d call friendly.

Gorilla comes to life

With the addition of a head, the giant monkey is a lot more maneuverable and usable now. Above is the first shot that demonstrates the capability of the new tool. Taken in JB, on a trip that a tripod would be too bulky and unwieldy for me to take along. Click on the see it in action…

SYPA aftermath

This is a rant post. You have been warned.

Change

The blog has been rather dead for a while, just like it’s lifeless author. But it’s all set to change, as holidays are here and I’m itching for shoots again!

This is a rather major facelift for my ageing template. New header, colour schemes, and slight changes in layout. Also added are lytebox plugins to enhance the image viewing experience. Only the previous post (the SYPA submissions) has this enabled though, as i’m lazy to make changes to previous posts. Rest assured that future images will have this feature enabled.

Some parts of the blog are still under construction, especially the pages. So please be patient =)

A learning process

My first time taking part in a competition (SYPA) seriously.. and the first time I had to print some of my favourite images. There’s a lot to learn from the process.. the selection of pictures, the editing, proofing and finally printing. Click on for the whole story…

How many hours of sleep is 1 mark worth?

According to my calculations… at least 10 hours per mark… maybe more. Thanks for understanding. =)

漂亮的日落，却只能一个人欣赏，好遗憾。。。

Monkey business

 

Which way’s up? In case you are confused, you are looking at an upside-down image. Yea, my D70 just got a new lease of life – as a stuntman. Ever since it sprouted legs it has been trying out all sorts of weird poses at home. These legs aren’t cheap, considering that they are already OEM products, but are pretty solid, capable of handling even the d300+80-200 combo. It takes some experience to get the legs in the strongest position though, and i’ll need to find a suitable ballhead for this contraption. It isn’t easy making fine composition adjustments when u’re upside down.

I’m already considering the smaller sized models to hold up my flash, and in case i get a compact camera, provided a decent one is available.

好久不见

好不容易有机会遇见的景色，却在刹那间消失。。。 很遗憾，我错过了。月亮太高太亮了，四周的光线却越来越暗。。。

Hmm.. 下个月再见吧!

=)

The day…

Conflicting interests… While I looked forward to this day, I dreaded it too.. How will today pass?

*fingers crossed*

Feb 2

Long time no blog.

Took a new route home today, just to have a look at some of the new buildings (that are not meant for undergrads obviously…) Snapped this with my E72 (inspired by a Windows 7 wallpaper).

Problem with hand-phone pictures… they are so compressed banding is very obvious once you start adjusting (take a look at the sky). Also had a hard time anti-aliasing the over-sharpened edges. In short, this picture went through quite a bit of photoshop.

Just as an update to my loyal readers: I’ll be away for Chinese New Year from 16th to 22nd Feb.

Back to mugging….

Pandan Reservoir will never be the same again…

Will I change too?

For better or for worse?