2008 new year fireworks display (the moments)

macro with 105mm f/2.8 vr (the journey)

macro is a totally new adventure for me. the 105mm lens is very heavy, causing mf with hand-holding at 1:1 very difficult to achieve. the woe is getting worse when we need to stop down for greater dof, which means a very slow shutter speed at indoor lighting condition. mounted the sb600, the setup becomes even heavier so it is almost unmanageable without supporting the arm.

finally settled with a tripod, instead of hand-held at 10s exposure, coupled with manual-firing of off-camera flash, diffused through a napkin from the top position (of the 1st photo). the rest of the photos were all taken with mounted flash using i-ttl mode. an off camera ttl-cord would be ideal in terms of macro photography.

few challenges of macro photography:

1. extremely thin dof and placement of it at 1:1
   
2. tough lighting condition
   
3. hand-held manual focusing
   

after playing with my flash for a while, felt that the lacking of fv lock is very crucial, especially when dealing with event photography. a lot more ps job are required to achieve consistent exposure without fv lock. maybe it is time to explore manual flash metholodgy.

macro with 105mm f/2.8 vr (the moments)

vin's portraiture (the moments)

i weep for my country

while choices are often discriminatory
people presevered, swallow the injustice

if this is democracy
i weep for my country

with such lowness of humanity
yet people still vote with insanity

for a country once a mighty
now left with inferiority

i weep for my country....
while it sank all the way into the sea....


*pardon my grievance, this is not the usual travel/photography post*

home alone? not again (the moments)

poor wife is working late again today. she will surely be delighted when she sees this post.

105mm f/2.8 micro vr & sb600

bro smsed me yesterday confirming the purchase, now waiting patiently for it to arrive at my doorstep this coming saturday.

who took my bonus?!?! who else other than nikon.

changi broadwalk (the journey)

finally i managed to locate changi broadwalk during my 2nd trip to changi village. you can access the broadwalk via two entrance points, at changi beach club and changi sailing club. the easiest way to reach the broadwalk is by taking bus 29 from tampines interchange and alight at the bus stop nearest to changi beach club. the broadwalk is connected to changi point walk so if you want a longer stroll, start from changi point ferry terminal and walk all the way.

did not manage to spend much time on the broadwalk itself due to my afternoon nap and the day was getting dark by the time i reached. definitely i will make a 3rd trip to broadwalk for another photo-shooting session.

more gloomy days ahead, wondering when will i see a nice setting sun.

another gloomy day (the moments)

afternoon walk at kallang river (the moments)

~raymond~


~leejoon~

home alone with 50mm f/1.8d (the moments)

first portraiture session (the journey)

using the available light, diffused through my windows and curtains, i managed to take some decent shots which potray the moodiness. the mood is great, contrast ratio is excellent but subject sharpness is not desirable. sharpness issue is due to the weak available light, causing low shutter speed of 1/4s - 1/2s and unavoidable subject movement. all photos were then processed with soft filter effect to give a dreamy feeling as a workaround for sharpness issue. the other problem with weak available light is camera has to be tripod mounted, instead of handheld, which reduce the flexibility of photographer movement.

it is a good learning curve, and now i know the reason behind portrait photographer going for leaf shutter system that can sync at higher speed than 1/250s for freezing subject movement and most importantly, improve subject sharpness. as a start, i would need studio strobes so that i can utilize a higher shutter speed with my current camera system. alternatively, take portraiture only in outdoor location with bright sun light, apply blur filter for photos taken indoor or utilizing sb800 as a temporary solution.

wish list updated (16th September 2010)

as the interest progresses, new need arises and my wishlist also changes:

1. pc lens - nikkor 85mm pc micro $1700
2. fisheye lens - nikkor 10.5mm $850
3. tele zoom lens - (?)
   

what i have already gotten:

1. camera - nikon d90 $1350
2. wide lens - sigma 10-20mm $650
3. standard zoom lens - tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 $480
4. macro lens - nikkor 105mm micro vr $1000
5. angle finder - seagull 3rd generation (1x/2.5x) $60, used
6. remote - phottix cleaon II $59
7. flash - sb800 $600
8. bag - kata DR467i $118
9. tripod c/w ball head - manfrotto 725b c/w attached 484rc2 ballhead $90, used
10. tripod - benro A500 $120
    
11. ball head - manfrotto 488rc0 $60, used
    
12. dry cabinet - digi-cabi ad050 $60
13. slot in filter system - hitech gnd0.6, gnd1.2, rnd1.2, 2xnd1.2, lee cpl, lee holders and rings $1000

spending till date: S$5647

for my lovely wife (the moments)

gloomy days ahead (the moments)

expected a nice sunset yesterday but the clouds thickened nearing sunset time. didn't manage to catch any exciting photo, just sharing one of the few shots i took at changi point walk. also managed to process one photo which i left out from the last changi terminal 3 visit.