A new member of the family

On the first day of Lunar New Year, there came a new addition to my lens lineup. It's called the tokina 12-24mm f/4. Weighed in at 570g, and setting me back by $720, it's the most expensive lens i've bought so far. (this gives you an idea how newbie i still am)

Haven't really tried it out yet, but 12mm isn't as wide as i thought. Could have gone with a sigma 10-20mm, but anyway... I post this entry without a photo, just to keep it alive.

I guess my first outing with the tokina should come this weekend, provided it doesn't rain. I should be roaming the CBD area for some HDR architecture shots. Watch this space.

Back from CT07

My first overseas exercise, a 16 day experience in Lopburi, Thailand. I regretted not bringing my d70... but come to think of it, i may not have the luxury of time to snap keepers. Anyway, my olympus c200z spoilt along the way. Here are the pics taken by the dying camera. None of them were keepers by pro standards, but they are precious memories to me.

Edit: Photos have been removed for security reasons.

manpAcker hits the streets again

I've not been snapping for weeks. Bad weather? Heavy commitments? I dunno... thought they were just excuses for the lack of motivation.

Enough of the crapping. Here's the stuff:

The above image is the favourite from this trip. What strikes me most is the blend of both ancient and modern architecture.

I was freaking reluctant to wake up as the morning was so cool and comfy. Eventually i took the first bus down to marina bay just in time to catch the sun rise.

Its nothing spectacular. I've always wanted to catch a sunrise that has rays of light streaking across the sky. Guess its just another unlucky morning.

Nonetheless, there were quite a no. of photogs at the merlion park. Some even slept overnight! That's wad i call hardcore.



Darn sian lately. If anyone's interested in going out for a snap, feel free to let me know. (kindof lame to put this here... given the low viewership. heck) Enjoy!

a Burst of Christmas lights

A very belated visit to orchard road, i missed most performances. Couldn't think of anything spectacular to snap, i tried playing around with long shutter speeds. By chance, i found this angle pleasing.

Nothing special... the same old Christmas tree sitting in ngee ann city.

Yes, it has been a really long time since i posted a photo. Very busy processing the pictures taken during Lt Ken's wedding, and hopefully he will allow me to share them online.

Be patient.

IR @ marina south - Finally

Made it a point to visit this place during the weekend. I've noticed that it always rains in the afternoon, so i got there in the late morning.

The above picture is a composite of IR (background) and normal (sundial) pictures. The angle was inspired by a fellow CSer (forgot the name liao), but i lack the super wide lens he had. I decided to create an illusion by increasing the width of the picture, but fading out the sides... at least it worked for me.

I was quite shagged already when i shot this second picture. The weather was getting really hot.

The algae around the water didn't look special to me, until i converted it to IR. It now looks as if there were ice floating... haha. Now i know what picture to use for christmas cards this coming season.

Baby small, Baby cute!

New born babies change extremely fast, be it size, colour or weight. Their behaviour are also very erratic. To catch these fleeting moments, one has to be very patient and gentle. Creativity is also required to come up with ways to attract their attention. At least these are tips i got from today's photoshoot.

Went to visit a relative who just had their first child. It was also the first time i'm using the classic nikkor AIs 50mm f1.4. Coupled together with an Emoblitz 328 flash and "a better bounce card" combo, i was impressed by the lighting, colour and resolution of the set up. One BIG problem though... it's really very HARD to manual focus on a d70.

Conclusion: I'm going to hunt for an AFD 50mm f1.8 now.

Photo Retouching

Raining every other afternoon... soiled the plans for IR shoot. Have to postpone them for the weekends i guess.

Opened up photoshop and retouched some acceptable pics taken by a trip to china sometime ago. Credits go to my dad for taking them. (while i dangle from chinup bars in camp)

This photo a bit fake. Too much photoshop liao.


A critic would comment that the pic on the right lacks focus... What the hell... Anyway these pictures are not really my favs, so i resized them smaller.






This one might look a little better... but lacks life in the scene. Very "documentary" like. For reader's info, this is a section of a stone bridge built across the sea. Quite a feat considering the technology they had in the past. The whole bridge spanned 2.5km. I've included the last picture as a reference.

Enjoy!