HENNESSY VSOP Discover Confession of Pain

I am so glad when a photography session turns out as good as it has this time. Though this was a small job, the condition of the place gave well to some interesting compositions. I've also had the opportunity to try out some dynamic lighting and focusing. Without a doubt, I love the final mix of colours.

My Profile, Picture and Technique in UK published photography book

Woah... so happy!!!

On Tuesday, I went to the local Post Office Package handling division to pick up my package. I had an inkling of a feeling what it was gonna be so I very rajin to go all the way to Jalan Chan Sow Lin in Kuala Lumpur to pick it up during lunch time.

And lo and behold... a pack all the way from UK.

Got back to my office and like a little boy opening up a Christmas present, I extracted the contents of the package.

3 copies of "Guide to Extreme Lighting Conditions in Digital Photography" by Duncan Evans.

The write up was quite cool. Although I thought they were just going to use my picture, so it was interesting that they quoted me and the technique I used word for word.

Happy days!

Trip to Bukit Tinggi Resort

Drove up to Bukit Tinggi on Saturday morning. Something that Winnie had planned for us since two months ago. It was an enjoyable trip as the last I had been there was during the Valentine of 2004 with Winnie before Celeste was born.

We did book a two room suite at the Colmar Tropicale, the French quarters but then our initial plan of having my bro and sis tag along did not realise as they were out of town. So, Sly and his friend Mayat (don't ask hehehe...).. tagged along.

Little Celeste had so much fun. I think this trip allowed her the most interaction she ever had with animals. She got to pet rabbits, horses, doggy, swans and fishes...

Pimp My Lens

Just like watching those shows where they break down a perfectly normal and new cars and totally redesign the finishing just so it ends up "not the normal", I suddenly decided I was gonna do something about my 70-200mm's ugly black hood. Normal is simply not enough.

So following the tradition of pimping rides, I walked into a car accessory shop and got myself an RM8 vynil car sticker. The best design they had was in the form of flame design, and I thought the red and yellow contrasted well against a black background.

Then I came back home, rolled up my sleeves an got to work. The had been die cut, so that makes it easier cut out, well, half the job is done anyway. Sticking is trickier as being a semi-perfectionist, I had to make sure the sticker goes down both sides symetrically.

Ended up spending 2 hours, re-trimming the stickers individually as some of them were joined to the larger part of the design.

In the end, I got what I want. Actually even the vynil gloss of the sticker gave quite a good 'feel' to the hood design. Though I'm not sure how long it will last, stuck onto the hood like that. Hehehe...

Oh well, I can always wait till it spoils and replace it with another design!

Mommy and Little Celeste!

Mommy and Celeste enjoying a light moment, reading together.

New Lens : Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-f4.5

Alright! I've sold off my Canon EOS 30, Sigma 18-125mm, and Canon EF24-85mm for a total sum of = enough money to buy a sharp Sigma 17-70mm. It was my first idea to get a 17-40mm f4 L lens but I've weighed both the pros and cons... I could do with the additional 30mm. The magical number which bridges across to meet my 70-200mm f4 L lens!

Despite the aperture not being constant, it features a f2.8 at the widest, better than the 17-40mm's f4! And if I had the 17-70mm's focal length at 40mm, I bet I could get at least an f4, on par with the 17-40mm.

I'll just have to face the fact that the 17-40mm is still the sharper lens, but what the heck the 17-70mm is damn sharp too! I guess it's like comparing a samurai sword and a razor blade. Though I may not shave myself with a samurai sword, both cuts like nobody's business... hehehe.

And btw, the 17-40mm retails for RM2100 (second hand) and the 17-70mm at RM1300 (new). So, no more questions I guess...

In addition to this, I'm selling off my Canon 420EX flash, faithful but lacking somewhat in customisable features. And the overpriced 580EX is on the way... Well, what got the ball rolling for this was the fact that I visited Digicolor and wonderful shop which sells cheap China-made accesories and bought a transmitter and receiver for my flash and was instantly hooked when I tried it on my camera. Instant magic. Can't wait to try out some more. But the 420Ex didn't allow me to change the f stop settings...

Wedding Anniversary

Coincidently, today's our 3rd wedding anniversary. Woah... has it been this long? Our little girl is now 1 and half years old. I guess it has been. You know, I am so touched that my wife have not asked for so much of me. Funny enough, that makes me feel guilty all the time.

Well, I took her for her favourite Japanese Buffet at the new Shogun Restaurant, a sister restaurant to Saisaki. And she loved that. Have thought about what to buy for her but for her that's not very important. And guys, believe me, this is a tougher request as it only means that you need to work harder at showing her how much you love her. No tangible item in this case can replace that.

3 years down the line, and I still have to get the hang of being a good husband and a good daddy to my little girl. It'll come to me...*love*

So sleepy!!!

Aiyah... you know it lah... me and and a couple of million people in this timezone. World Cup insomnia... Stayed up till early this morning to watch Zidane head butt an Italian player... Hahaha! That was hilarious, much more interesting to watch than the Italian winning the world cup. I think 80minutes of the game has gone to his head. What a way to finish the World Cup, by being sent off in the last 10minutes of the game. Oh well, I guess he's bigger than the game.

Enough of this French old man... alright I was up till 2 am furiously trying to finish two articles for Click! Magazine. Having a third magazine to write for really puts a test on my focusing skill. Yeah, may seem easy enough, but doing it after a hard day's work, having little Celeste to play with and then getting too sleepy to do proper writing, is quite a task!

Get a copy of this from the newstands guys, and tell me how much I suck at it... hehehe..

Ok ok... tonight got to start working on articles for the other two... more fun!...

Jasmine and Chee Hong's Wedding Shoot

Whew... just completed a 2 day wedding shoot over the weekend. It was Jasmine and Chee Hong's wedding shoot. Included church ceremony on Saturday, a formal shoot at the Shangrila on Sunday morning and a dinner reception in the evening.

What made this shoot extra interesting was the fact that the bride and groom had decided not to do a formal wedding studio shoot and took on the services of myself and fellow photographer Vignesh to do a formal shoot on Sunday morning.

Those of you who know me, knows that I specialise in event photography and not portraiture. So, it was an extreme surprise even to myself as to how well the pictures turned out. I know I'm not suppose to expose the pics before the bride and groom had their share of the surprise but 2 pictures as a little sneak peak shouldn't hurt.

Dinner with Dad

Had quite a nice dinner with Dad this evening at Hartamas Square. Even little Celeste came along.

Celeste Drinking and Driving

I'm ashamed to say we've never taught Celeste not to Drink and Drive. Now I am worried what she will grow up to be like...

Celeste Camera Mischieve

Celeste contemplating what to do now she has my lens cap...

"Muahahahaha.... today Daddy's lens cap, tomorrow his NEW LENS! Muahahahaha!!!!"

Celeste having fun in the bath

Visited Dad at the hotel, where Celeste got to her usual mischievous ways with the bath tub... This girl is not SHY... hehehe... wish I had thought about installing a bath tub at home too.

Father's Day

Brought Dad to a nice little restaurant called "Mum's Place" in Damansara Perdana for dinner. Mpph.. a real double celebration seeing as I'm a father as well... hehehe.. Dad arrived today from Miri just in time for this nice occasion.

Why does it always rain when you are having fun?!

This is like the third time I've happily packed my camera and lens and driven out on a bright sun shining afternoon in excited anticipation to take some beatiful pictures at the park. When I get there, take out my camera, the lighting and thunder starts not unlike a calling from the sky of an impending doom!

*sigh*

Okay first it was my balcony on Friday evening, then the Bird Park on Saturday, lastly at the Tugu Negara monument on Sunday. It's not even the freakin' monsoon season...

*chill*

My 70-200mm f4 L Lens

Look at that background blur...

Pretty impressive considering it's only bounce flash illumination.

After getting the lens I kept thinking whether I should have gotten the EF 75-300mm f3.5-5.6 USM IS lens.

Weighing the pros and cons...

My 70-200mm f4 L Lens
PROS

• It's an L Lens meaning professional quality (red striped)
• It's white (may be a con too cause will get too much attention if you are at a low profile event...)
• Sharpness simply excellent
• Solidly built
  

CONS

• f/4 meaning slow (but only by one stop)
• mmpph... what else? none? that's how good this lens is, I guess.

The EF75-300mm f3.5-5.6 USM IS Lens
PROS

• has IS (Image Stabilisation) ... *sigh* ...
• has an additional 100mm length

CONS

• aperture changes from 3.5 to 5.6
• NOT an L Lens
• front element rotates!
• front element extends outwards!

So I guess the main emphasis counts the most, right? Despite the pros and cons of the above. My emphasis on getting a professional lens is IQ (Image Quality). My new lens may not have IS or an additional 100mm length, but hey it's nothing a monopod and a 1.4x extender can't solve.

Nothing is wrong with both lenses, but I've read enough reviews on them to know that, if you can afford, always get the better item! (even if it may not have everything)

Hehehe... now I feel better.

Dedication to Posting Blogs

Okay... for the final time, I've got to get more dedicated at posting in my blogs. Everyone else seems to have very cool ones with lots of information and juicy details. But, then again guys don't gossip as much, right? Ok ok... it's not about gossiping. I'm just your friendly fellow blogger who just happen to love photography, so I guess my blog should have lots of pictures in it.

Bird Photography

Took my 70-200mm f4 L for a test run at the Bird Park on Saturday (Well, that was before the rain came). I must say, it gave a whole new meaning to this sort of photography compared to when I first had the 55-200mm amateur lens.

Here is the gallery of images : CLICK HERE

New "L" Lens

Wohoo!!! Just got myself a new lens. It's my first "L" lens.


For those of you who are photographically illiterate, that's "L" for professional lens. Don't ask me why it's called L though. And it's white! No question about its identity when I go shooting with it.

Size does matter!

Well, I may not have the biggest, but it certainly beat having a puny Sigma 18-125mm and trying to zoom in on an action in the middle of a sea of professional white lenses during an event shootout.



And no question about sharpness lah... it's so amazing. Here's one of the first shot that I took with a simple bounce flash. Safe to say I was busy counting the number of hair Winnie had on her head after taking this picture. (The second pic is a 100% crop from her brow).

Hehehe...

Putrajaya at Night

Putrajaya at night is heavenly beautiful. Many people, especially tourist fail to enjoy this sight as everyone leaves before nightfall. I shot this from the Putrajaya Convention Hall, before pausing to catch my breath, for having held it throughout my shot. Isn't it like a runway?