Friends from Sweden

I had dim sum with Anna and her boyfriend Matthias at the Crystal Jade at TSC Shopping Mall today. Both are from Sweden. Anna is doing her MBA at James Cook campus at Spring Singapore while Matthias is visiting. Both met at Ericsson, the giant Swedish electronics firm, better known as a producer of mobile phone sets.

D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/60s@f/4, ISO1250, +0.7EV, AWB -3

Don't they make a lovely couple? Seems that +0.3EV is about the max I should use as +0.7EV doesn't do much in reducing unwanted noise. For evenly lit scenes like this I should probably have gone for 0EV instead.

After lunch I went to the NLB on the Fifth Floor of TSC and borrowed 2 books about photographers and their studios. The info may be useful if I should decide to set up a studio in Melbourne in future.

D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/50s@f/5.6, ISO1600, +0.3EV, AWB -3

Wonder whether image would be sharper with the Nikkor f/2.8D 17-35mm (or 17-55mm) ?

When I left the Library, I found that it was raining. The weather was cool due to the late afternoon shower. Light was rapidly getting dimmer, and so I snapped some pictures during the walk home.

D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/60s@f/8, ISO1000, +0.3EV, AWB -3

A circular polarizer would be useful to control the reflections on the glass panel.

D70, kit lens@44mm, 1/60s@f/8, ISO720, +0.3EV, AWB -3

This one was shot at FL= 44mm, although most were below 35mm. For my next purchase, perhaps I should give more weight to the Nikkor 17-55mm over the 17-35mm? Or maybe I should consider the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8? Best if Nikon comes out with an 18-70mm f/2 lens !!

Poetry of the Soul

When things were getting better
They just got bloody worse
And now I’m thinking to myself
I’m under Someone’s curse
I don’t know when it happened
Or what the hell I’ve done
But to this Person I’m really sorry
And say: You’ve definitely won.

For I have been to hell and back
And really felt so sick
This curse You’ve gone and put on me
Just hasn’t missed a tick
I have been cursed with my stomach
I have really been in pain
I have taken things to make me better
But things are still the same

They say I have dysreflexia
And that it happens to people my age
But I just can’t help feeling
That I’m a victim of Someone’s rage
My bladder isn’t working now
Like it used to do
And if You’re reading this poem
Is this curse down to You?

If it is, You have to know
This makes me hot and cold
I can’t sleep or eat or drink
Now I’m feeling really old

I lie awake at night just praying
That it will go away
I didn’t think this would last so long
Hoping it would be gone in a week or a day
But here I am still suffering
A condition I don’t understand
And I know no matter what I do
It is in Your hand

So I am asking, no I’m pleading
Release me from this curse
And any damage I may have caused
I will fully reimburse
I can’t take back what I’ve done
Or what I’ve gone and said
But please now have some pity
On me lying in my bed

My hands held high up in the air
I say OK You’ve had your fun
But now it's time to end this curse
For that damage is really done

This curse that I am going through
Will last with me forever
It is a storm cloud overhead
As I roll and ride this weather
But I hope to see the sunshine
And feel its warmth once more
So lift this curse You’ve put on me
For I just can’t take it any more

This really is a heartfelt plea
So I ask You and implore
What I’ve done I am truly sorry
Anything I’ve done I so regret
For You have taught me a valuable lesson
One I won't ever forget



Ian was a promising, young English lad of 17 when he had his motorcycle accident. One glance was all it took for him on that fateful day. He turned his head to glance at his friends as they passed him on their bikes. And the next thing -- he hit a stationary truck by the roadside.

Ian today is confined to his bed -- for the rest of his life. He is 36 and has been in-and-out of hospital countless times. His life always hangs by a thin thread.

Recently his condition took a turn for the worse: his latest medical crisis is a condition called dysreflexia -- a condition when his body goes into uncontrollable spasms and the blood pressure goes dangerously high due to involuntary activity of the nervous system.

Despite haivng pain as his constant bedfellow, Ian learns to keep his mind off his suffering through writing. He writes his poems on his PC keyboard -- painfully and painstakingly -- using his mouth, striking each alphabet key-by-key.

His poems are beautifully crafted -- his literary talents obvious. The words don't come from someone practiced or trained in the art of semantics or English prose. His poems often tell of his struggles with pain, anger, sadness. Sometimes self-pity.

This is poetry straight from the heart.

It is Poetry from the Soul.

You may wish to visit his website:

http://www.geocities.com/big_red_one_67/Home_Page.html

Borders

After shooting many photos under high-ISO conditions, I noticed that noise seemed to be more noticeable in dark and underexposed areas of the photo. Does this mean that if sufficient light is given to the darker parts of the scene, noise may become less noticeable?

I therefore set the D70's exposure compensation to +1.0EV (aka exposing to the right) and went to Borders at Wheelock Place to take some indoor scenes under available light conditions, shooting without flash and hand-held.

The results of my short experiment were somewhat inconclusive: noise was still noticeable in the darker areas of the photo despite the +1.0EV. Could it be that the D70's auto-exposure mode made some adjustment to over-ride and offset to some degree the +1.0EV exposure compensation, as some on the Net have suggested? If this were so it would make the D70's exposure compensation feature of limited value, wouldn't it? More experiments on exposure needed to be made to see if this is the case.

Generally, I think setting compensation to +1.0EV was a bad idea. This was because most of the time I encountered indoor situations where bright halogen and/or flourescent lighting was used to brighten up the interior. This resulted in washed out highlights that could not be recovered in pp.

Worse, I forgot all about the +1.0EV setting when I walked out of the building and continued with some street shooting, examples of which are shown in the pictures below. Really bad idea!

D70, kit lens@22mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, iso560, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/160s@f/5.6, iso200, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/80s@f/5.6, iso200, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@31mm, 1/60s@f/8, iso720, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/50s@f/5.6, iso1600, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, iso900, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@27mm, 1/250s@f/5.6, iso200, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@29mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, iso1250, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, iso320, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, iso320, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, iso360, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@22mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, iso360, +1.0EV, AWB -3



D70, kit lens@18mm, 1/640s@f/5.6, iso200, +0.3EV, AWB -3

Workflow

Thus far I have not decided on my final workflow.

Sometimes I go the route of raw-->jpeg instead of raw-->tiffs (practicality vs quality) but pending finality my usual (tentative) workflow is:

- Copy raw files off card onto drive.
- Sort, Delete and Rename / Catalogue image files using Nikonview.
- Open selected raw files from Nikonview into NC.
- Process raw in NC for WB and USM. CA if needed. Save in TIFFs.
- Post processing in PSCS2.

In its latest iteration, I found PSCS2 now essential to any digital darkroom. Many of my photos taken under the huge dynamic range condition of the Singapore sun would not have made it, if not for the Shadow/Highlight adjustment facility provided by PSCS2. See examples.

This is the tentative conclusion reached after using the latest iteration on my recent photos. Didn't have time to reach the manual yet, as usual :D

NC is indispensable for WB adjustments and initial sharpening. WB adjustments under NC is so straight forward and easy that there is simply no other substitute software for me to adjust WB.

JPEGS vs TIFFs

Although tiff is supposed to give better results in pp due to its 16-bit mode (more bits ==> more info), I am unable to see any visible difference between JPEG and TIFF images on the screen after post-processing. For practical reasons I will probably go the route of raw-->jpegs.

Would tiff-processed files show a difference on prints? Dunno.

I have not gone into prints yet, preferring to wait for the final verdict on the Epson 4800 -- especially whether it is prone to nozzle clogging that afflicts EPSON printers. Pete Walsh in his excellent blog mentioned he has had no issue with clogging so far.

Now, if clogging is an issue, I would need to ensure I have sufficient stock of worthwhile photos to print, so that I could keep the 4800 busy printing at least once every 4~5 days (or longest interval ~ 1 week, I was told) to keep the inkflow line free of clots.

Addendum: Wait a minute! What was I thinking? Since the NEF is only a 12-bit image file, what is the point of using 16-bit tiff as storage format in the workflow? Or am I missing something? Think I will stick to jpeg henceforth.

Singapore Croissant

Hey -- what were we doing at Casuarina Road on Tuesday July 7, 2005?

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/800s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2


What else -- what all Singaporeans like to do when they have some free time -- snack on the best food.

Casuarina Curry Restaurant arguably makes the best roti-prata in Singapore :

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/5.6, ISO220, +0.3EV, AWB -2


Chris was the gracious host for lunch. "More than 30 flavors" was what I overheard the waiter tell him of the roti-prata as I fiddled with my D70 trying to figure out why it couldn't focus!

And if you wonder how I could take the first 2 photos shown above when the camera couldn't focus -- simple: those were taken after lunch! By then I had found that the lens' aperture switch was unlocked, leaving the camera's auto-focus mechanism deactivated.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/80s@f/2.8, ISO800, +0.3EV, AWB -2


Golly -- they had finished all the roti-prata before I completed taking the photos!!

Luckily there's something left on the wall. Hey, Greg, pass me some bananas..

All satiated, we had a wonderful lunch. Funny -- the best flavor for me was actually the plain old roti-prata, altho' the mushroom flavored one was yummy too.

It was still a hot, sunny day. All the people seemed to have headed for the beaches..

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/800s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2


We decided to head for Greg's house. Vince and Chris were waiting for me to get into the gleaming Toyoto Camry:

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/250s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2


And a Garden of Eden greeted us when we arrived at Greg's house in Lentor Avenue:

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO560, +0.3EV, AWB -2


The beautiful multi-colored koi is worth a tidy fortune. Come back in 10 years for a wonderful koi meal, anyone? Always had deep-fried garoupa and carp with sambal blachan whenever I went to Jakarta -- simply delicious!

Not to worry, Greg -- probably not yours anymore, as you would have sold your house and moved to Perth, right?

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/400s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2


Nice neighbourhood view from the koi pavilion in Greg's garden.

The lush growth of the plants and shrubs lend an air of tranquility to the garden:

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/125s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2


Vince has always been a dream husband for any gal -- that is because he places top priority on pleasing his wife and kids. He is a family guy, hard-working, thrifty and an excellent dad and husband. Always dependable, I have never seen him lose his cool!

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2


Problem is, I think he tends to worry a bit too excessively -- even when he has no reason to. Maybe that's why he frowns so much.. lol

Hey Greg -- isn't that a tongkat ali growing in the background? Chris told me you got it from him to grow in your Eden some time ago.

Chris, on the other hand, is the live-wire amongst us. Never a dull moment with him around, he is always making others smile. Wanna know what he said about the melon... ??

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/720s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, no flash


Ever the generous guy that he is, Chris holds the melon 'ha-mid kuah' that he kindly bought for us to try. It is a very sweet melon imported from China.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/5.6, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash


Amongst us, Greg arguably has the sharpest intellect. He is known as an innovator, most at home with the latest geek things. Here he demos the Kodak digital camera.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash


Jack is the scholar amongst us: he likes to excel in everything he does! He is a generous, warm-hearted kind of guy, always ready to take on challenges of any kind. He revs up slowly, but like a mercedes-benz, once he is on a roll, there's no stopping him! Neither could anyone overtake him.

No wonder Jack was a 1969 Colombo Plan scholar. And today a successful engineer-businessman turned fund manager. And his engineering business? He left it to Angie, his more-than-capable wife. Lucky guy!

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash


Actually all my friends are bright guys with lots of talent. All of them produced kids who also have their genes, the children either inducted into gifted-kid programs run by the government and/or subsequently winning scholarships to study uni locally or overseas.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO200, +0.3EV, AWB -2, fill-in flash


I wonder if the next generation will enjoy friendship that is as long-lasting and enduring as ours is ?

Nikon AF 24mm f/2.8D Nikkor

I bought my Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D in 1994, if I recall correctly, when I bought my Nikon F90.

Then internet access was not yet widely available-- Singnet was just starting commercial operations, Pacnet undergoing trial. And getting info, especially on photography, was very difficult and time-consuming.

I therefore bought the 24mm Nikkor "blind" and without benefit of any pre-advice or knowledge of its performance. In those days people buy cameras and lenses on the strength of the brand's "reputation". And no one in my circle of photography friends tested newly bought lenses -- after all, didn't we buy a Nikkor?

Today getting info and knowledge on photography is simply a matter of joining a photography forum. Digital photography is hugely popular, spawned no doubt by a confluence of happy events: internet, weblogging, forums, dropping digicam prices, etc in a virtuous circle.

And I read that the 24mm f/2.8D Nikkor was one of the better lenses made by Nikon! Lucky for me!

However, with the Net disseminating info so rapidly now, and photographers sharing experiences with their newly bought camera and lenses, it soon dawned on everybody that buying branded stuff is not an assurance of quality. Reports have emerged on several forums about QC issues affecting several branded products: Nikon cameras and lenses, Canon, Sigma, Tamron, etc.

I thus decided to take my 24mm Nikkor for a walk-around, to see if I have a good copy.

The pictures below were shot at f/8 mostly. Other photos taken with the same lens at bigger apertures are shown under the blog title "Singapore Croissant".

My tentative finding : lens is sharp and contrasty. In future I will use this lens opened up to as large as f/4, with f/5.6 appearing to be its sweet spot!


D70, 24mm f/2.8D, 1/30s@f/8, ISO1600, +0.3EV, AWB -2


D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO800, +0.3EV, AWB -2



D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8,ISO500, +0.3EV, AWB -2



D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, ISO900, +0.3EV, AWB -2




D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, ISO400, +0.3EV, AWB -2



D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, ISO1600, +0.3EV, AWB -2

Dusk at Orchard

Dusk is a special time at Orchard Road. You see many people hurrying home after work, clutching their brief cases and handbags, quickening their steps to get ahead in the queue for buses or taxis.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, ISO320, +0.3EV, AWB -2


Dusk is also the time when the sky is most beautiful, coming aglow with the colors of sunset, with the street lighting just switched on..

D70, kit lens@35mm, 1/500s@f/7.1, iso1000, +0.3EV, AWB -3


The shops are not crowded at dusk, for everybody is rushing home.

Jewellery stores and book-shops, amogst others, are quite empty during the evening rush-hour.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO500, AWB -3


NLP in practice? The store seems to believe in pitching to the subconscious, using full-sized display ads of beautiful women adorned in equally alluring jewellery. Hey, man, what're you looking at?

D70, kit lens@22mm, 1/40s@f/5.6, +1.0EV, ISO1600, AWB -3


You can leisurely browse at book-stores at this time. No one is there to quibble with you if you decide to read a book. But most will take it easy at the many al-fresco cafes and watering holes along the Orchard shopping belt.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/8, +0.3EV, ISO320, AWB -3


Dusk is also the best time to drop into your favorite department store. No crowds to jostle and hustle with.

I never failed to be amazed at the modern-day "koyok seller" in department stores. Forget your sales or marketing seminars or whatever you learnt at uni -- these practitioners will teach you a thing or two about hard-sell and effective pitching. Heck, they can even get an eskimo to buy a freezer from them! Reminds me of the time they sold big ticket Travel & Hotel Stays to friends of mine...

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/40s@f/8, +0.3EV, ISO1600, AWB -3


But almost everyone is heading home! All engrossed in their thoughts. What will I cook for dinner?

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO320, AWB -3


The pedestrian mall along Orchard is wide and spacious. A pleasure to stroll, to watch and to see others going by. A place to see and be seen!

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO450, AWB -3


An avenue of luxuriant trees add to the charm of the Orchard shopping belt.

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO1250, AWB -3


Singaporeans don't like to waste time. Why not cross the road when there is no traffic? And no cop around to catch you for jay-walking?

D70, 24mm f/2.8D lens, 1/60s@f/7.1, +0.3EV, ISO900, AWB -3


The last stretch before reaching home to a warm dinner!

Primes or Zoom lenses?

Sharpness in a photo is always very important to me. Hence I often have a prime as my everyday walk-around lens. The zoom lenses I have had simply could not compare to the primes in terms of sharpness or contrast. I therefore did not shoot very much with zooms in the past.

However, since using the D70 with the kit lens over the past 1-2 months, I now realized one important benefit of using zooms: they help tremendously in my photo composition!

I found for instance that I shoot many more photos with the zoom as my walk-around lens than with the Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.4D, my previous favorite. And at f/5.6 the sharpness and contrast of the kit lens is comparable to the 50mm prime.

The zoom makes me take more photos perhaps due to the way I shoot: the view must first attract my attention. I then try to capture it with the D70, turning the zoom until the viewfinder either approximates the original view that I first saw or makes for a better composition. With a prime I simply would not shoot if the viewfinder did not give me the same perspective as the one I originally envisaged.

Also, is it just me, or do any others have the same experience -- that my 50mm does not give me the same perspective as my unaided eye, so that I don't shoot if what I see through the 50mm lens on the viewfinder is quite different from what I had seen without the camera? Despite the prevailing opinion that the 50mm lens is supposed to give a similar view as the unaided eye?

Sure, people often cited zooms for convenience over primes -- convenient as in replacing several primes covered by the zoom range, lighter weight, ability to shoot a photo opportunity that probably will not wait for one to change the prime to another more suitable.

For me, convenient as in helping me compose and take better photos. That is the only reason I need now to purchase a zoom over a prime.

Especially when these days zooms offer higher sharpness and contrast than previous generations eg the 70-200mm f/2.8D ED-IF VR and the 17-35mm f/2.8D, both of which have very good sharpness and contrast, and are comparable to the primes.

Photos that Inspire

They come from all walks of life: engineers, students, educators, medical workers, etc. But they all share one passion in common: a love for photography. And the ability to take photos that make one sit up and take a second look, a long second look.

These are the photos that make me gasp! And I wish to share them with you -- with kind permission from the copyright owners.

Hopefully they will inspire you to go out and take great photos too!

Enjoy!

Frosty the Cat by William Vogt of Boston, Massachusetts, USA

D70, 85mm AF f/1.4D, iso200, 1/40s, f/1.4, AWB, aperture priority, no flash

Let's hear how Bill took the photo and learn what he did in pp:

"The photo was taken with a D70 and the fabulous Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 lens. I took it under natural light in my living room and it was quite dark. No flash was used. I took a series of photos (now deleted) but settled on this one as it seemed to be the best with respect to exposure and sharpness. The histogram was quite skewed to the right (dark), but I was already at 1/40 sec at f/1.4 and didn't want to chance any blur by shakey hand holding. I kept the ISO at 200 on purpose, I didn't want any noise.

So... the image was post processed in Photoshop CS2. Adjustment layers for Levels and Curves really did the trick. His eyes were quite dark so I used a dodging and burning action called Paint With Light to brighten the eyes and bring out the color. I also used Photoshop's Surface Blur filter to help smooth out any noise that did show up (there wasn't much, anyhow). I sharpened at the end of the retouch. I don't use USM, but Focus Magic and High Pass set to a blending mode of Soft Light in Photoshop on separate layers so I have complete control of the sharpening. I really don't like Unsharp Mask for sharpening."

He also mentioned he focused on the cat's nose (great tip!) due to the Nikkor 85's shallow DOF at maximum aperture.

Bill is a nuclear chemist by profession. You can see more of Bill's works at www.pbase.com/wvphoto

Aside from the sharpness and excellent composition, what makes this photo endearing to me is the way the colors combined to produce a very relaxing and soothing effect on the viewer. The creamy white fur and pink ears of Frosty harmonizes very beautifully with the creamy bokeh of the photo. Wonderful shot! Thank you, Bill!


Please check back for more inspiring photos to come!

© Copyright : Please note that all images carry the copyright of their respective owners and shall not be used without their permission.