My Long Absense

It's been quite a while since I update my journal. I was very busy with work and also my 2.5 weeks of NS reservist.

I will be providing more write up on photography, tips and tricks in coming weeks. Stay tune in here.

Thankyou for dropping by.

Photography Tips: Making full use of your gear and system

Shopping in a retail store, usually the salesman will recommend you with many good product like the exposedisc, filters or lenses or even the latest camera. As a commercial photographer, i do not blow my budget on any gear i will spend on. Take for example the exposedisc which cost about $200 plus for a 77mm diameter disc, where i can able to mimic something which did the same effect and cost me less than 2 buck.

Make use of what you have and what you own in your camera bag. Buy only things which you will always used. Buying a lens require many consideration factors, one wrong buys, and you will regret it. As for me, i never regret on any lens I bought. Because I know what kind of photography I will usually do in my field of work.

Buying a second hand lens from someone whom you never know or meet before is a risky thing. You don't know how he handle the lens or how he take care of the lens before he selling to you. Always check for loose parts and electronic contacts part and also most important, check for any fungus buildup inside lens elements and also the coating of the lens. I will say, buying at your own risk.

Photography Tips: Shooting with one focal length

To improve your level of photography, try to shoot have a photo assignment on your own or in your group. Force yourselves to limit to a single focal; ie, 50mm. In fact our eyes are looking at 50mm f/0.

It is good to restrict yourselves to a fixed lens like the 50mm, there is how you will learn to see things from the 3rd eye. I enjoy shooting from my 50mm f/1.8, because it not only give me a good bokeh of cause if you want a better bokeh, (a f/1.4 or a f/1.2 is far better) but it's does not have any image distortion. I like to shoot food and product with my trusty cheap plastic 50mm.

Have a small photo assignment of yourselves today. Get a prime lens and shoot at a interesting subject.

Happy shooting.

Photography Tips: Cemetery Photography

Soo Chin saw something
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Creating a interesting shot not only it required a level of photographic skill and post processing skill, you need luck. Luck on the weather, the lighting and the moments of person's reaction.

Shooting at high bust give you more chance and selections of events happening in that period of time frame.

Usually how i compose my shot, i pick a subject which my friend, Soo Chin, comes into the picture. Using my 70-200mm lens, i fired away 10 frames at a roll with shutter speed of 1/500 on Shutter priority mode in AI servo focusing. Having shooting all 10 frames, i am able to select the best frames among all 10. In moments of events, every seconds counts. If you are slow, you will miss it.

To have strong contrast image, i shooting at -1/3 stops and i further push it's contrast level higher via post processing, like using Photoshop. High contrast level gives a higher detail in texture, and also giving a harsh image and mood.

Review: Canon EOS 40D

Canon EOS 40D
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

After waiting for few minutes in order for me to test out the 40D, the first impression of this new camera was feel good with holding it with your palm. It's viewfinder do look alittle bite larger, in fact it is very subtle change in size. It's shutter sound is alittle quieter then the 20D and 30D. The only different between EOS 40D and EOS 1D MkIII will be it's Live View which allow auto focus, just like the Powershot and Ixus series.

It's UI Menu do look the same. From a Canon user like myself, when I hold and shoot it, all the buttoms are located almost same as my EOS 30D with few buttoms addon, like it's AF buttom which make it look rather 1 series wannabe.

I really enjoy playing with EOS 40D and it do worth a upgrade for any amature shooter should you really want to jump into dSLR, I will strongly recommend the EOS 40D over the EOS 400D which is a little bit price difference.

Go get it now! The next shipment will be end next month.

Photography Tips: Shooting the Japanese Cemetery Park

Shooting in Singapore can be challenging as there are not much interesting places compare to other countries like Vietnam, China, Europe or the States. Often local photographers will shooting in town, Singapore Botanical Gardens, Chinese/Japanese Garden, Sentosa, Chinatown, etc.

Looking for unique places can be very challenging. To have uniqueness, one need to have a different perspective eyes of looking at things or object. Many people will tend to overlook at some things which they take it for granted, others don't be bother by it.

Tomorrow I hope the photo session with my flickr group will be a fruitful and educational one.

It will be my first time shooting the Japanese Cemetery Park at Chuan Hoe Avenue. Stay tune as I will be covering on how to create interesting morbidic shots.


Japanese Cemetery Park

Photography Theme: Lomo photography

Lomophotography is something new to me especially in digital photography arena. The typical DSLRs are unable to archive. The only solution for lomo photos will be in post processing. But again, a camera is just a tools and what it do is taking in any light onto the sensor. So in my term it is called, "garbage in garbage out".

There are some rules about Lomo photography to keep in mind;
1. Take your LOMO everywhere you go and whenever you go.
2. Use it any time - day or night.
3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it.
4. Shoot from the hip.
5. Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible.
6. Don't think.
7. Be fast.
8. You don't have to know beforehand what you've captured on film.
9. You don't have to know afterwards, either.
10. Don't worry about the rules.

Canon Media Storage M80

My experience with my new M80 is a very pleasant and delightful one. Not only it mean for my RAW files previewing, it can watch video files of mp4 and avi and also digital audio files.

The overall chassis is make of the same material as my EOS 30D, magnesium alloy. It have a large hi def LCD display and also a CF and SD card reader which my Powershot able to make full use of it. As for battery type, Canon have did a great job by using the same type of battery in my EOS 30D camera.

The down side for M80, well it's took a long period of time to open up a full length movie file. Guess it 's not really mean for watching vids than storing and previewing images.

M80 is workable in both macosx and winXP platform. Cost of this hardware is on the high end price for a storage media.

My rating for M80 is 4/5.

Motivation for better picture

The Big Walk
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

At time you may found out that you have run out of ideals, concepts, creative juices and motivation to have a right shot or a good shots. Don't worry about that, it's part of life in the world of creativity.

I used to bump into corners where I have doubt of myself and my capabilities of a good creativity person and a photographer. I run out of ideals, concepts and also lose of motivation.

Sometime, it is good to have something to keep you going and push on. Listen to morale boosting talks or read a book on motivation or happy music tunes. Share your problem with your senior, mentor or your love ones is vital.

Have a positive mindset of being criticise on your work. Accept feedbacks on mistakes which you made on your shots, try to change your style or your way of shooting. Learn from the real professional, learn from their way of shooting and their workflow. You can try to mimic their style but do not copy all. Have you own style and theme.

Look at the bright side if you got negative feedback. You can never please everyone.

I have a very good motivation song which I will like to share with you. It's by The Polyphonic Spree, Light and Day.



Lyric:

Light and day is more than you'll say

Because all
My feelings are more
Than i can let by
Or not
More than you've got
Just follow the day

Follow the day and reach for the sun!

You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're done
Just follow the seasons and find the time
Reach for the bright side
You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're nuts
Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun

Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're nuts
Just follow the seasons and find the time
Reach for the bright side
You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're nuts
Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

Canon EOS 40D

The new Canon EOS 40D will be replacing the prosumer flagship, EOS 30D in coming September 2007.

Having it's new technology of the DIGIC III processor and the ICS (Integrated Cleaning System) which inherit from the EOS 400D. Beside of having DIGIC III, ICS, the body is slightly bigger than it predecessors EOS 20D and 30D. And with a 3" LCD Live View which bare the same feature as the Canon EOS 1D MkIII.

Burst rate have increase by 1.5fps. It's UI menu system is the same as the EOS 1D MkIII too and a increase in it's view finder.

EOS 40D is worth upgrade for any EOS 20D or EOS 30D shooter. As for me, I will rather have a leap to the 1 series.

Cleaning the CMOS sensor

There some best practices in cleaning the sensor. One of method which i always do it on the field or in my room will be the exposing the sensor facing down ward.

This way, you will have minimum dust particles that will fall back into the sensor while you blow it using your blower. This method can be apply on both indoor and outdoor.

Changing lens on a windy day can be tricky. Never open up the sensor facing upward or sideward. Dust particles will easily caught inside the shutter windows and onto the sensor.

Should you really need to change a lens during on such event, always face away the wind direction when you open up the lens to change. And always face the sensor downward to minimum dust particles that will fall back into the sensor.

Canon EOS 1D Mk III

Speaking about sports photography, the Canon EOS 1D MkIII is a better choice for any extreme or high speed sports photography genre. It have the nice 10fps shutter speed with a 1.3 crop sensor which is the upgrade from it's predecessor of Canon EOS 1D Mk II.

I have personally tested out this camera on the Canon Road Show at East Coast few months back and it made me feel that I should get a professional level camera any sooner as I love to shoot in high bust rate and of cause, I love sports photography.

The weight of the EOS 1D Mk III is much lighter than it's predecessor and have a built-in integrated sensor cleaning system like the EOS 400D. What make this camera so unique to all Canon's camera is that, it have a DIGIC III duo processor which allow it to handle such a high speed bust rate and a precision auto focusing. It's view finder is so much bigger and clearer than my EOS 30D.

All the long I have been wishing that I will have a live view LCD screen on my EOS 30D which my Canon Powershot A700 has. Now, for the very first time, the EOS 1D Mk III finally have one. But it will be on manual focusing rather than auto focusing.

As for MegaPixel, this baby is a 10.1MP which is almost same as the EOS 400D. And able to shoot in very high ISO setting with low color noise. Which make it my next camera upgrade next year.

Spec of camera (source from www.dpreview.com)

Max resolution : 3888 x 2592
Low resolution : "3456 x 2304, 2816 x 1880, 1936 x 1288"
Image ratio : w:h 3:02
Effective pixels : 10.1 million
Sensor photo detectors: 10.7 million
Sensor size: 28.7 x 18.7 mm
Sensor type : CMOS
Colour filter: array RGB
Sensor manufacturer : Canon
ISO rating : "100 - 3200 in 1/3 stops, plus 50 and 6400"
Zoom wide (W): n/a
Zoom tele (T) : n/a
Digital zoom: No
Image stabilization : No
Auto Focus : Yes
Manual Focus : Yes
Auto focus type : TTL-AREA-SIR with 45-point CMOS sensor
Normal focus range : n/a
Macro focus range: n/a
White balance override: 8 positions & manual preset and 3 memories
Aperture range : n/a
Min shutter : 30 sec + Bulb
Max shutter : 1/8000 sec
Built-in Flash: No
Flash guide no.:
External flash : "Yes, hot-shoe & sync"
Flash modes : External
Exposure compensation : -3 to +3 EV in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps
Metering : "21 area eval, partial, spot (center, AF point, multi-spot), center-weighted average"
Aperture priority : Yes
Shutter priority : Yes
Focal length: multiplier1.3
Lens thread: Canon EOS EF mount
Continuous Drive: "Yes, 10 fps max 110 JPEG or 30 RAW"
Movie Clips : No
Remote control : N3 connector
Self-timer : 2 or 10 sec
Timelapse recording : "Yes, by cable and PC"
Orientation sensor : Yes
Storage types: "Compact Flash (Type I or II), SD/SDHC card"
Storage included : None
Uncompressed format: "RAW, sRAW"
Compressed format: JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
Quality Levels: "Fine, Normal (can have ratios programmed)"
Viewfinder : TTL
LCD : "3.0 """
LCD Pixels : "230,000"
Video out : Yes
USB : "Yes, 2.0"
Firewire (IEEE 1394) : Yes
Battery / Charger: Yes
Battery : Canon Lithium-Ion & double charger
Weight (inc. batteries): 1335 g (47.1 oz)
Dimensions : 156 x 157 x 80 mm (6.1 x 6.2 x 3.2 in)
Notes Live View: available

Photography Tips: Shooting Firework

Team China
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

What will many amature photographers will usually do for a firework like these, many will just shoot from the frontal view from coastline, bridges or as close to the firework display venue.

Many have shot very nice firework displays, smokeless scenes. But such firework display on a nite scenes are all boring and uninteresting.

What will you see during such a moment?

People and some activities.

Yes. You will see such moments of people clusting around, some sitting on the grass plains, some trying to shoot the displays. To have a perfect fireworks display photos. It will be interesting to include all these moments together with the fireworks display.

Photography Critic : The Lone House along Still Road

The Lone House along Still Road
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

The method and style are well execute but this is not a prefect shot.

The main reason of not having a prefect angle and shot, I'm shooting it from a moving car. The background apartments spoil the theme and it's morbidness.

Photography Theme: Calmness before Storm

Calmness before Storm
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

The main focus of this picture are the 2 kids playing by the beach as the background focus is the coming storm cloud.

With such a scene not to miss, high contrast and low lightning control is vital. To boost up the mood of calmness before the storm, rules of third comes into the picture. 70% on the sky and 30% on the beach.

Grains and Desaturation is always the style on my work.

Photography Theme: Gloomy morbid road

Gloomy morbid road
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Some photographer will not rather take chance to shoot under rain.

I will say, do not take chance for granted. Moment do not last forever, if you missed it, you missed it.

Take for instant this scene, a road.

It is just a lonely road with not much subject to it. It was heavily drizzled with very overcast sky and dark rain cloud. I was traveling inside a moving car.

What i want to show my viewer will be a dark, gloomy creepy scene.

Most shot can be digitally enhance. Thanks to digitally imaging magic of photoshop.

All you need to work on, will be low color theme, i will used the term, desaturation. Where you lower down the vivid colors from the scene and you tweet it. Grainy effect was introduce to add it's mood and feel to the scene.

I don't use color filter, because, filters were used during the days of film but to the modern technology of digital photography, all filter effects can be achieve from post processing.

Added to this, I present to you, my own photography style which i called "Morbid Desaturated".

Let's do all things new from now

After listening to Albert's advise, I decide to have a brand new way of blogging my weblog from now.

I will be covering all about photography and why i capture it and now i process it this way.

Watch out, stay tune in my weblog. For I will be talking all about photography.

I hope you guys, benefit from it.

Tomb Wall of Fort Canning

Tomb Wall
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Took a short walk around Fort Canning after my junk food lunch.

Good moody weather with overcasting sky.

Alone in Office

Alone in Office
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Seem like many not in office. Some MC, some on leave? Geee... what a perfect weather to be highly decompose on my cozy bed.

The 7th Month

Offering to the dead
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

It's begin today. The faithful burning offering to their dead ones.

Padang

Padang
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

It was a fine clear sky and hot afternoon. I took a slow walk across the padang towards Marina Sq for a solo lunch.

Flickr Interestingness

Flickr Interestingness
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

The "Hope" shot was featured in Flickr's interestingness page for the very first time. Thanks to all who like it.

New York New York

New York New York
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

It's our monthly "Pay-Back Day" lunch and today we decided to hold it at New York New York.

Dusk Time

Dusk Time
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

How strange, why there are no one playing basketball at this time of the day? Usually I will see many boys playing here.

My Indulgence II

My Indulgence
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

After a heavy lunch, comes our Indulgence of sugar intake. Yummy!!! Ice Cream and Brownies!

Lone flag

Happy National Day
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Independent's Day is just round the corner. Ways to display your love of your country by hanging the national flag on your windows.

As i walk around my apartment, I only saw a handful hanging their national flag outside their windows.

Aftermath

After
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

The aftermath was overwhelming. I finished off every bits within 2min. I don't remember how it taste like??? Hmmmmm

My Indulgence

Before
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Here comes the oily shit which i about to partake. Yammy!!! OILY FOOD!!!

Way for Lunch

Way for Lunch
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Don't know what to eat for lunch, decided to take a walk to the ex Malaysia embassy for some oily shit

Too much Gears of War

What the.........!!!

Apparition

Eric Apparition
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

As i am posing myself infront of my friend's camera. Suddenly my friend pointed out something dark on my right. As i turn around, this is what he manage to capture. Yeah, I am indeed shock. All of us grab our gear and ran away.

Human Tetris

Oh My Goodness, they have nothing better to do!

Old Temple

Old Temple
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

After a good lunch, I took a walk along the street and came across this old temple which was featured on TV last monday.

Cecil

cecil
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

I din't know Uncel Cecil also have his own Court. Hmmmm interesting, can imagine how rich is he.

Men at work

Men at work
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

2 men covering the whole hotel. They are the man!!!!!

Back Door

Back Door
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Just on my way to meet Karen for lunch, i bump into this back lane.

Way leading to the stage room.... or rather a back door.

Confident

Confident
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Took a walk up the hill. I saw a group of girls were ready for this moment. After waited for 15min, as the capsule took off, all i can heard across the hill were "AHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh.........!"

Guess all the girls in that capsule freak off. Hahahaha

Temporary Police Post

Temporary Police Post
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

After staying here for so long, we finally got ourselves a temperory police post.

My first firework shot with my 30D

Originally uploaded by Edgedale

This is my first time shooting fireworks with my EOS 30D. Shot was taken at One Marina, infront of the NTUC building with my old friend and his girlfriend.

Life

Life
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

The power of God is really incredible. Life still can be make it even on the most impossible place.

NDP Parade Ground

NDP Parade Ground
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Did a lunch recee of what I may be shooting for the fireworks for tomorrow. When I reach the location, the sky was like drizzling. Whole place was very groomy and moody. I wonder if tomorrow is gonna be like these, how will the fellows at the platform gonna watch the parade under the rain? And what if this happen on National Day?

Reefwake Fest

Reefwake Fest
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Fill with adrenaline rush, as wakeboard surfer perform their best stuns.

This shot was a well praise from photographique, flickr and POTN forum.

Lines

Lines
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

If life is all about being straight like lines, life can be boring.

Fisherman Wharf

Fisherman Wharf
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Good lunch with my colleague at Fisherman Wharf. Food wise is economic price.

Coffee Time after Lunch

Coffee Time after Lunch
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

Today's coffee doesn't have my smiley face on it. Very disappointed...

Mass Orgy??????

Mass Orgy??????, originally uploaded by Edgedale.

Everyday i have been walking pass this sculpture and wonder what is this??? Promoting the language of love, sex, or mass orgy????

Clark Quay

Clark Quay, originally uploaded by Edgedale.

It's a cloudy and drizzling afternoon and I am on my way to meet my wife and son for lunch.

Unusual Places of Singapore

Unusual Places of Singapore, originally uploaded by Edgedale.

A lonely corner in Orchard Road.

Took a walk while waiting for my wife for her weekly spa massage. And i discover some interesting location for fashion shoot.

Rainny Day in Town

Rainny Day in Town
Originally uploaded by Edgedale

The weather seem all screwup. It suppose to be hot and dry with many bushfires and hazy. Where are they now???

Anyway, i'm heading to Raffles City for my lunch.