Nikon Color my World

The Reality of Jesus Christ

2009-09-18T13:36:00.001+08:00

For the past week I have been watching TB Joshua on Emmanuel TV on my pc. God has anointed him strongly and imbued him with miraculous powers as a wonderful testament that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever !

For non-believers, tune in to Emmanuel TV daily and watch and observe the truth about God for yourself. And the Truth shall set you free !

For believers, tune in to Emmanuel TV for it is God's demonstration of His Love and Grace for this generation, and a reward for your faith in Jesus Christ all these years. More importantly, beyond the miraculous healings, prophecies, and preaching, ask yourself : what is the implication of what God is doing? Is this the fulfilment of biblical prophecies concerning the end times?

Those who want to find the truth may download the free version of Superinternet TV from the tucows.com site. Once you have installed the program, choose and click Emmanuel TV from the stations listed under the religious category and watch! Your life will never be the same again !

To God be the Glory !

ADDENDUM:

Some people want to know why I interrupted my regular blog entries with this unrelated content?

Well, the short answer is - it is important everyone has a chance to see and verify for himself the reality of God and truth of Jesus Christ.

I have never seen anyone with such extraordinary powers as TB Joshua ! When interviewed - he was featured on Times magazine - he said he is like any man and declared he does not heal - only Jesus Christ does. That however does not stop his followers from calling him a prophet.

You would too if you are delivered and healed from ailments such as HIV, cancer, blindness, broken bones, demon-possession, etc. Moreover, he goes on air with spoken prophecies during his Sunday worship service that is broadcast internationally. Subsequently - as the prophesied events occur and news break these are reported on the station.

The amazing thing is - for the first time in history - you can watch all the miracles on TV - and decide for yourself who is TB Joshua. For the first time you can watch and listen to those who had been healed giving their testimonies and confessions on public TV !

I know two persons living in Singapore who witnessed the miracles TB Joshua did. One testified that TB Joshua was in Singapore for a healing crusade and he was astounded to see 3 of his inmates who were confined to wheelchairs standing up and walking after TB Joshua had prayed for them! He had no doubts about the miraculous healings because he was intimately acquainted with the the medical condition of the 3 inmates. After all, they were his cell-mates !

Who is Jesus Christ? Do you believe the claims of Christ - that he is the Son of God; He was crucified on the Cross for our sins and rose from the dead three days later, appearing to more than 400 hundred people; He ascended into heaven and will come back to this world again at some future date. And finally, He freely gives eternal life and salvation to all those who confesses their sins, and accepts Him as their Savior.

Perhaps the ultimate test is for you to go see for yourself the extraordinary powers of TB Joshua in Lagos, Nigeria. Anyone who has a fatally verified medical condition - such as advanced cancer or medical condition where there is no cure like muscular dystrophy - could go to TB Joshua for prayer and healing. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

Check it out at the TB Joshua website.

Mother of the Bride

2009-01-31T14:03:00.002+09:00

Just Married

2009-01-29T22:04:00.004+09:00

Blissfully Married

Last seen in Bangkok

2009-01-19T02:33:00.005+09:00

Hey, what's she doing at Orchard Road? If you think you saw her somewhere before, you're right ! She was last seen in Bangkok ! *grin*

Beauty from LOS

2009-01-18T05:53:00.004+09:00

Thai Artiste

2009-01-18T05:51:00.003+09:00

Wedding - The Beaming Dad

2009-01-18T05:34:00.005+09:00

The Beaming Dad

Wedding - A Toast

2009-01-18T05:34:00.003+09:00

Toast to the Happy Couple

Popular Local Artiste

2009-01-17T02:54:00.005+09:00

Glamorous and Talented - Kym Ng

When will we get married?

2009-01-16T16:55:00.005+09:00

Cheers to the Happy Couple

Thai Beauties

2009-01-16T16:07:00.007+09:00

Wedding, A Joyous Occasion

2009-01-16T15:55:00.010+09:00

Wedding is always a joyous occasion, isn't it?

Showers of blessings - we don't throw rice grains anymore !

Mirth & Joy

Hey - we're getting married too!

Pre-war Immigration Building

2008-12-24T14:19:00.000+09:00

ASIAN CIVILIZATION MUSEUM

Fullerton Hotel Vicinity

2008-12-24T02:36:00.008+09:00

Cavenagh Bridge

Source: Wikipedia
Originally known as the Edinburgh Bridge to commemorate the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh, its name was changed to Cavenagh Bridge in honour of Major General William Orfeur Cavenagh, the last India-appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements, who governed from 1859 to 1867.[1] The coat of arms of the Cavenagh family can still be seen atop the signage at both ends of the bridge.

Cavenagh Bridge linked the Civic District on the northern bank to the Commercial District on the southern bank of the Singapore River. Before Cavenagh Bridge was constructed, people could only get to the two districts via a detour over Elgin Bridge or by paying 1 duit (¼ cent) for a boat ride across the river.

This bridge has elaborate suspension struts in comparison with most other suspension bridges, and is the third bridge to be built in Singapore. It was constructed in 1869 to allay the inconvenience of crossing the Singapore River by boat. It was originally designed as a drawbridge but on its completion was found to be suitable only as a fixed structure. Numerous steel rivets were used in its construction, which employed steel casting methods commonly used during that era.

Fullerton Hotel

The bridge was designed by the colonial Public Works Department's John Turnbull Thomson and constructed by the P&W Maclellan, Glasgow Engineers at a cost of Straits $80,000. Built and tested in Glasgow to withstand a load four times its own weight, it was shipped to Singapore in parts and reassembled in 1869 by convict labour before opening to traffic a year later. Rickshaws and ox carts used the Cavenagh Bridge to cross Singapore River. Subsequently, the bridge became overloaded due to the flourishing trade on the Singapore River in the late 1880s.

When Cavenagh Bridge became unable to cope with the increasing traffic into town and its low draught was insufficient for the passage of boats at high tide, the government decided to build the Anderson Bridge in 1910 to replace Cavenagh Bridge. Cavenagh Bridge was eventually spared from demolition and was converted to a pedestrian bridge, with the heavier vehicles, horse and ox carts being diverted to Anderson Bridge. A police notice, which is still preserved till today, was thus erected at both ends of the bridge restricting the passage of vehicles that weighed beyond 3 cwt (152 kilograms, 300 pounds (US) or 336 pounds (Imperial)), including cattle and horses.

Parliament House

2008-12-24T02:30:00.010+09:00

The Parliament House of Singapore is a public building and cultural landmark and houses the Parliament of Singapore. It is located in the Civic District of the Downtown Core within Singapore's central business district (the Central Area). Within its vicinity is Raffles Place, which lies across it from the Singapore River, and the Supreme Court's building across the road.

The building was designed to represent a contemporary architectural expression of stateliness and authority. The prism-shaped top, designed by the late former president Ong Teng Cheong, was similarly a modernist take on the traditional dome.

Sir Stamford Raffles Sculpture

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (6 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was the founder of the city of Singapore (now the city-state of the Republic of Singapore). He was also heavily involved in the conquest of the Indonesian island of Java from Dutch and French military forces during the Napoleonic Wars. He is one of the more famous Britons who contributed to the expansion of the British Empire.

Bronze Sculptures

Elgin Bridge

Source: wikipedia

Elgin Bridge is a vehicular bridge that spans across the Singapore River, and links the Downtown Core to the Singapore River Planning Area located within Singapore's Central Area.

The existing bridge was completed in 1929, and was named after a Governor-General of India, Lord Elgin (1862 – 1863). As this was the first bridge to be built across the river, the two roads leading to it were named North Bridge Road and South Bridge Road accordingly.

History

Elgin Bridge is believed to have existed at the place it is currently located as a footbridge as early as 1819[1], the year Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles landed on Singapore. The bridge served as a link between the Chinese community on the southern side of the Singapore River to the Indian merchants of High Street on the northern side, and was once the only place where one could walk across the Singapore River.[1]

Elgin Bridge was rebuilt as a wooden drawbridge in 1822, and was officially named Presentment Bridge. It was also known as Jackson Bridge after Lieutenant Philip Jackson who built the bridge. As it was a very narrow bridge, it was also called Monkey Bridge, as people required some agility to get across it. Its narrowness limited the number of people crossing the bridge at any one time.

In 1843, a wooden footbridge built by John Turnbull Thomson replaced the original wooden drawbridge, but it was demolished in 1862.

Elgin Bridge was later built as an iron bridge in 1862, and named after James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin who served as the Governor General of India during 1862 – 1863. The iron bridge was demolished in 1925 to make way for a new concrete bridge, but its name remained. Elgin Bridge was opened to traffic by the Governor of the Straits Settlements Sir Hugh Clifford on 30 May 1929.

Cavalari Rudolfo Nolli, an Italian sculptor, designed the elegant cast iron lamps on both sides of the bridge. His signature is inscribed beneath the lamps. Bronze plaques, each with a lion standing in front of a royal palm tree engraved on it, can also be found below the lamps.

Elgin Bridge is known as thih tiau kio in Hokkien, meaning "iron suspension bridge".

On 3 November 2008, the bridge was selected for conversation as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's expanded conservation programme.

Singapore River

2008-12-16T18:17:00.020+09:00

Boat Quay

Compare with the unprocessed original photo:

Anderson Bridge

Empress Place

2008-12-16T17:31:00.019+09:00

Empress Place Statue

Empress Place Memorial

Indochine Restaurant at Empress Place

Victoria Memorial Hall

Mohamed Sultan Road

2008-03-14T02:24:00.011+09:00

River Valley Road

2008-03-14T00:53:00.009+09:00

Raffles Place

2008-03-12T14:05:00.011+09:00

Had the Sculptor tinted the hair a natural dark brown or black color, people would easily mistake this picture to be a photoshoot of real boys frolicking on the River Bank! Surely, this is ample proof Singapore is not short of artistic talent!

Esplanade Theatre

2008-03-11T08:59:00.011+09:00

Under certain light conditions, the Esplanade Theatre has an ethereal glow that is simply breathtakingly beautiful!

Clark Quay

2008-03-10T23:58:00.011+09:00

Bugis Street

2008-03-10T23:44:00.014+09:00

Bugis Street -- which used to be Singapore's transvestite haunt -- was the place to go to for delicious food and snacks when the rest of Singapore sleeps. Few could resist the tantalising chunks of juicy beef bathed in hot steaming soup of quo tiow, especially when a huge bowl filled to the brim cost a measly S$0.50!! Those surely were the good old days of the 70s and 80s!

Now transformed and sanitized, Bugis Street today is usually identified with Bugis Junction, a totally cool and hip place for youths and families.

After walking thorugh the various levels of Bugis Junction, I was attacked by hunger pangs. I decided to go up to the Food Junction on the 3rd level, where I had a bird's eye view of the streetscape below:

The Food Junction was one of the better food courts I've patronized. The interior layout of the place was attractive, neat and clean. The quality and presentation of the food served was noticeably several notches better than at other food courts.

It was tough deciding which stall to patronize, but with my stomach growling, I quickly settled on a familiar and evergreen dish: Hainan chicken rice!!

The portion served was more than ample for one person. With a plate of veggies ($2.00), the Hainan chicken rice ($3.80) came with a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup flavored with spring onions, though a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves would give it more flavor.

Sentosa

2008-03-10T12:54:00.015+09:00

We re-visited Sentosa to see what has changed, after a lapse of twenty years -- and we were surprised! The whole place has been transformed, and now looks like a beautiful tourist island resort, right at our doorsteps!

We made a point to look out for the army barracks that served as the basecamp for our batch of army engineers, and there it was:

Now operated as a resort hotel, the above building is probably the only remaining structure of the army barracks that once stood on Blakang Mati -- the old name before it was changed to Sentosa.

Sentosa would be even more enchanting if the whole island is fully planted with the flora and fauna of the region, including giant ferns that once flourished there.

After a tiring but wonderful day at Sentosa, we hop onto the monorail to head back to HarborFront, just in time to join the dinner crowd at the Republic Food Court at the top floor of Vivocity.

Although it was barely 8 pm, most of the stalls were already bereft of food and had closed for the day.

In the end we settled for a spread of bbq'ed chicken wings (crispy & yummy!), steamed pork ribs soup (equally tasty), fried kai lan with mushrooms, and steaming hot rice.

Around the Esplanade

2008-03-10T00:32:00.017+09:00

The magnificent Merlion spewing out a stream of water... this is a sight to behold, not only because the giant-sized statue is proportionately faultless to the eye, it is a unique creation that one day may join the ranks of famous sculptures around the world.

The Merlion was designed by Fraser Brunner for the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964 and has been an icon of Singapore since then.

The original Merlion statue was built from cement fondue by the late Singapore craftsman, Lim Nang Seng.[1]

Bumboats plied the Singapore River for hundreds of years, carrying cargoes of rice, rubber, and spices on their daily trips between ships anchored offshore and warehouses that dotted the banks of the River. Today they still do their trade, only this time the cargo is boatloads of tourists from all over the world.

The Esplanade Bridge was completed in 1997. It spans 260m across the mouth of the Singapore River and has 2 four-lane carriageways and pedestrian walkways along both sides.

Going to the Esplanade is incomplete without taking in the sights of the Grand Old Lady of the Padang -- the venerable City Hall and the (old) Supreme Court alongside it.

After dark the Esplanade area lights up like a magical place with prominent buildings in the area around Marina Bay, Raffles Place and the Singapore River artistically lighted up, such as the Asian Civilization Museum at Empress Place, which formerly was the old Immigration Building:

As we enjoy travelling light, we did not bring along our tripod. Hence all the photos taken for the blog were without a tripod. If anything, the pictures showed the prowess of the Nikon D40, a remarkable little camera very forgiving on aching shoulders -- especially after a long, tiring day of photo-shoot and walk-about. The D40 with its kit lens is so light you aren't conscious of its weight at all!

Family, Friends, Personalities

2008-03-10T00:21:00.015+09:00

Predicted Two Thousand Years Ago - Matthew 24

2006-12-23T22:34:00.011+09:00

Strong winds and waves hit Thai coast Residents and tourists are stranded, while cold front in north damages crops

Dec 23, 2006
The Straits Times

BANGKOK - THAILAND has declared several coastal districts and a northern province as disaster zones following the onset of extreme weather conditions.

Pounding waves and gale-force winds struck coastal districts in the southern provinces of Surat Thani, Chumphon, Songkla and Nakhon Si Thammarat, while the cold spell from China affected the northern province of Nan.

The Bangkok Post reported that fishermen were told to stay ashore until today as waves measuring 3m to 4m were forecast in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.

Surat Thani Governor Niwat Sawatkaew stopped all passenger services to Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao resort islands, while the Chumphon provincial office ordered all boats anchored until tomorrow.

About 3,000 tourists and 4,000 residents were stranded in Koh Tao because stormy weather and waves forced the closure of ferry services.

Fuel is running low, with just enough to produce electricity for the resort island until today.

The Second Navy Region has been asked to help ship fuel or the island's tap water supply would stop without electricity.

The province's Don Sak and Tha Chana districts were affected by a powerful tide, and 4m-high waves inundated coastal properties.

Mr Rohim Saiyib, the 48-year-old village headman at Tha Chana district, said he had never seen anything like it.

'Huge waves came in so fast that we had no time to salvage our belongings. We just sprinted for our lives,' he said.

Rough seas flattened 20 houses and left 1m-high sand banks on the road.

In Don Sak district, a village was inundated by seawater.Residents tried to clear sand from their seafront homes before 31 families decided to evacuate.

In Chumphon, Lang Suan district, surging waves washed away 22 houses and threatened shoreline breakwaters.

Powerful waves also hit the shorelines of Ranod and Chana districts, damaging 15 seafront homes and a road.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, Deputy Governor Aruni Kulnarong said the authorities had prepared evacuation plans for the 54km shoreline from Hua Sai district along Laem Talumphuk to Pak Phanang district.

The authorities will keep a close watch until Monday. The authorities warned 200 families in Laem Talumphuk to consider evacuating their homes as a powerful storm could break over them.

In Nan, a cold front maintained its grip on 14 districts as the temperature dropped to 13 deg C downtown and 5 deg C in the Doi Phu Ka National Park in Pua district.

Nearly 150,000 people were in need of blankets and warm clothes, double last year's figure.

Meanwhile, several days of chilly, windy weather have hampered growing in orchards and farmland at Trat's Khao Saming district.

The weather is likely to cause pineapple produce to become stunted and lose its sweetness.

The lowest temperature was recorded at 3 deg C at the top of Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai, with frost found in some mountainous areas.

WEATHER MAYHEM

'Huge waves came in so fast that we had no time to salvage our belongings. We just sprinted for our lives.' said MR ROHIM SAIYIB, the 48-year-old village headman at Tha Chana district.

EXIF and Embossed Signature

2006-04-14T18:38:00.006+08:00

Canines have moods?

2006-02-09T01:50:00.008+08:00

Oh yes, the vet is treating Happy's eyes. Hope the treatment works.

Inside Siam Paragon

2006-02-09T01:13:00.008+08:00

Face Art

2006-02-01T00:13:00.008+08:00

Opening day of Siam Paragon at the old Siam Square site.

Chandee Town

2006-01-17T22:20:00.008+08:00

After 2 weeks in Krabi, we went to visit Ethan's granny in Chandee. The journey in our trusty 22-yr old Honda Civic took about 3 hours.

Chandee is one of the southern train stations along the North-South railway. As is a common occurance, commerce took root in the vicinity around the train station, and a small town and market place developed. Rubber is the main commodity of the area and most of the townsfolk are shop owners or earn a living as food vendors or rubber tappers.

The town has its charm with quaint little streets of cement, and no road dividers. Parking is free, there is no building control, so you will see 6-storey buildings next to single-storey shophouses. Anybody could simply set up shop in his own abode. Or push a cart to sell cooked food on the street without worrying about getting a licence. Tax? ...eh, what's that? Reminds me of Singapore 40 years ago!

Spy the lady sitting in the corner of the picture above? The forlorn look said it all: who will buy my veg? The veggie seller was indifferent when I snapped her picture. Seemed like selling vegetables for a living is not easy, especially when a competing stall is next to hers.

Or is it because thai people generally don't eat veggies in their daily diet? Yes, it is true! Maybe she is better off selling fish, like the lady below. The fish seller had a much happier time -- counting her takings for the day! Ahhh.. nothing feels so good as grimy, wrinkled baht notes!

The pretty gal in the picture willingly obliged when I asked if she would like her picture taken. She was in a flower shop with her mom, cleaning and bundling flowers for sale. Chandee people are indeed warm and friendly.

Natural Hot Stream

2006-01-17T22:13:00.009+08:00

A popular attraction in Krabi for locals and tourists is the Hot Stream, located about 2 hrs' drive from Krabi Town. The hot stream got its name from the natural hot water that flows to the surface from deep underground. The air was noticeably "hotter" as we walked along the path to the source.

Thumbs Up for the hot stream!

Aonang Beach

2006-01-17T04:11:00.008+08:00

While Phuket has its Patong Beach, Krabi has beautiful beaches at Aonang and Railay. Aonang is located about 1 hrs' drive north of Krabi Town, while Railay is to the south.

Krabi Town Center

2006-01-12T16:06:00.009+08:00

Maharaj Road -- pictured above -- is the road in Krabi Town. The only department store, Vogue, is located along this road. So is the wet market further ahead.

Strangely enough, almost everywhere you can see hair-dressing saloons or pharmacy stores. I wondered if Krabi people often fell sick, resulting in a proliferation of medical halls. Could there be another reason?

As roadside food vendors are very common, there is only a single air-conditioned food outlet. And that is Kentucky Fried Chicken located in Vogue department store. There is also a Swensen ice-cream parlour, located opposite KFC in Vogue.

Maybe because of the air-conditioning and the brand image, KFC seemed to be doing a roaring business, even though the menu prices are on the high side for the average thai, ranging from 50 baht for a smallish 2-pc chicken meal to 200 baht for a set meal comprising 7-8 pcs, coke, french fry, and 3-pc drumlets.

To give you an idea of living costs in Krabi: average rental for a room is 2,000-2,500 baht per month, and 4,000-5,000 baht for an unfurnished townhouse. Average wage for a local grad appeared to be around 7,000-8,000 baht per month (~S$340). However, a local grad we met told us she earned only 5,000 baht as a sales staff in Telewiz.

Given the low average wages in Krabi, we were quite surprised to see that KFC was doing well despite the high menu prices.

Can you spy the structure atop the peak in the distant mountain? That is a Buddhist shrine and temple, reached by climbing up a 1,200-step stone stair cut into the mountain side. It is said that the climb is hazardous, for the stair has no railing and is slippery. No wonder I didn't see the shrine listed as a tourist attraction in any of the tour brochures I collected in Krabi Town. A pity we didn't have time to visit the shrine, for the scenery of the surrounding landscapes would have been breathtaking !

People in Krabi

2006-01-11T16:11:00.009+08:00

These photos were shot using three different Nikon lenses. See if you can tell which lens took which picture?

The lenses used were the D70 18-70mm f/4.5 Kit Lens, the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 - a perennial favorite for portraiture, and the venerable Nikon 180mm f/2.8, an old favorite that still holds its own against the newer and auto-focusing Nikon 70-210mm f/2.8 VR.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

After Nikon launched its auto-focusing lenses, manual lenses have been relegated to the history books. Like zoom lenses, fixed focus lenses also will not be around much longer, though many will disagree.

Today's zoom lenses equal or even improved on old lenses' designs, to the extent that fixed-focus lenses are usually left behind in the dry cabinet over their newer cousins.

Zooms are an indispensable feature in photo-composition. Especially when one comes across a scene that is unlikely to repeat itself.

Answer: Pictures A, B: 18-70mm f/4.5 lens, Pictures E - 85mm f/2.8 lens, Pictures C, D, F, G : 180mm f/2.8 lens

Flowers @ Thara Park

2006-01-08T11:34:00.014+08:00

Thara Park

2006-01-08T07:36:00.012+08:00

Ethan and I decided to check out the scenic spots in Krabi in November 2005. This was our second trip, as we had spent only a day there in Oct 05 before travelling to Phuket for our flight home. Tiger Airways had commenced scheduled budget flights to Krabi in Oct 05, and we thought it might be time to explore setting up a guest-house for budget travellers in the small southern Thai resort, which is as yet uncluttered and unspoilt by too many tourist or commercial developments.

Like most places of commerce and trade, Krabi town is located at the mouth of the Tha Pom River. It was therefore natural that we first explore Thara Park along the river front, and a short walk from the town center. The sun rises from the sea at the park, presenting striking scenes for a photo-shoot.

Two small hotels are located at the park. They are the Krabi City Seaview Hotel and the Krabi River Hotel.

In 1983 we bought our first car, a 6-month old Honda Civic for S$23,500. We shipped the car to our in-laws living in Chandee, Thailand in 1993 after the vehicle permit (ie COE) had expired. Now, 22 years later, the car has more than proved its mettle and we continued to use the Honda Civic when we were in Krabi!

Maybe the Singapore authorities should consider extending the 10-year tenure of the COE system to 20 years? It is such a waste to scrap 10-year cars under the Singapore COE system.

Singapore - Krabi

2006-01-07T16:22:00.009+08:00

The confirmatory email stated ETD 11.45 AM at Changi Terminal 1. Ethan and I arrived at CT1 early, in fact too early, for unknown to all the passengers, Tiger had rescheduled the flight to 3.45 PM !! We learnt from a SATS ground staff that Tiger was short of planes, and had 24 hrs ago arranged with Valueair to use its plane. hmmm...so they had ample time to notify customers. But no warning, no email notification, not even an "excuse me" ! No, we didn't expect royal treatment from a budget airline. But some basic courtesy would have been appreciated.

With 4 hrs to kill, I decided to hunt for some photos inside the terminal building at Changi. Some shop displays attracted our attention, and we took some shots.

After 80 min flying time, we touched down at Krabi Airport -- it was a perfect landing! Everyone was happy as they strolled out of the plane and onto to the immigration counters, a short distance away.

Krabi, here we come!!

Color Profile

2005-11-15T18:40:00.010+08:00

D70, kit lens@48mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

Been busy with shooting pictures and updating my other blogs lately. Also, spent time to test some lenses and reading up on photoshop and seeing other photogs' works.

D70, kit lens@25mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

Digital photography is simply wonderful. For instance, previously I did not bother to switch color profile or space to sRGB when I posted pictures on the web. All my raws were shot using aRGB for the wider gamut. And since the processed jpegs looked ok on the web, I did not convert.

D70, kit lens@34mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

That changed when I posted the photos I took in Krabi / Phuket -- the colors had a distinct green tint to them. And also the most recent series of portraits I took of Anna and her mom.

So I converted the color profile to sRGB before downsizing and uploading to the web. And the difference is perceptible.

I don't know if it is my eyes. Is it possible the eye becomes more critical with the passage of time, as the eye gets used to digital photos on the web?

Or was it due to the D70 which had its firmware updated to the latest version?

D70, 85mm f/1.4D, 1/30@f/5.6, ISO250, AWB -2, Hue -3

I had sent the camera to Nikon Service Centre in Oct 05 for a routine maintenance check before the warranty runs out in Feb 06. And the differences between aRGB and sRGB became more apparent after the servicing.

D70, 85mm f/1.4D, 1/250@f/1.4, ISO 250, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, 85mm f/1.4D, 1/45@f/5.6, -2.0EV, ISO 250, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@52mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

November Gal

2005-11-12T23:49:00.010+08:00

Anna's birthday falls on November 17. Pictured below is her mom who flew to Singapore for a vacation and to see her favorite daughter. Both mom and daughter are very close, and enjoy travelling to places around the globe. They will visit beautiful Malacca and KL for 10 days, I think.

D70, 85mm f/1.4D, 1/30@f/5.6, ISO250, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, 85mm f/1.4D, 1/250@f/1.4, ISO 250, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@25mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@34mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@52mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

D70, kit lens@48mm, 1/60@f/5.6, ISO 250, Built-in TTL, AWB -2, Hue -3

Bad Day

2005-08-25T22:20:00.006+08:00

Urrgghhh... just found that to "initialise" the HD under XP's Disk Management control panel meant to reformat... Grrr.. Why don't they use the same word ie format instead of a different term????

That's it -- all my original NEFs, including several weeks' shoots under -processing, were lost (sigh).

I was putting together a new AMD64 3000+ using Gigabyte K8NF-9 MB and 250Gb WD SATA II HD and got flustered after trying for several days to troubleshoot a keyboard problem: kb refused to work after boot-up. It worked perfectly under bios but not after boot-up. Seemed like a bios/software driver bug.

Finally found the kb issue was due to the USB mouse driver. The kb works only if the USB mouse driver is disabled in the bios.

Lesson: burn all NEFs onto backup CDs before processing.

Update:

When my son learnt of my problem, he referred me to a nifty utility tool called GetDataBack for NTFS. I was skeptical at first, as I had not only partitioned and reformatted but also started writing files to the "initialised" HD.

Hey, after trying it out, I was surprised -- gleefully surprised -- that the tool was able to help me recover ALL my lost NEFs and music files ! Obviously it took some hours -- due to some files being overwritten -- but thankfully the files that mattered, the NEFs and music files, were all intact.

Two of the NEFs recovered are shown below. More to follow later.

Friends from Sweden

2005-07-26T02:13:00.013+08:00

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

2005-07-19T21:08:00.011+08:00

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

2005-07-16T19:03:00.009+08:00

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

2005-07-16T19:02:00.009+08:00

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

2005-07-14T16:50:00.009+08:00

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

2005-07-12T11:55:00.011+08:00

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

2005-07-10T17:11:00.011+08:00

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?

2005-07-09T19:03:00.009+08:00

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

2005-07-07T17:26:00.010+08:00

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.

Kid's Nutrition

2005-06-30T01:15:00.009+08:00

Sometimes I wonder how families cope with bringing up children, especially when both parents have to work full-time to achieve their 5C's.

How will the kids cope without their parents around to guide them? Will schools teach the kids moral values and cultural traditions? Do the kids do their homework? Who will teach them thrift, kindness, gratitude, and other character-forming values that schools do not teach?

Nagging thoughts aside, what about the children's nutrition? Do they have nutritious meals for lunch?

D70, kit lens@38mm, 1/60s@f/5.6, +0.3EV, ISO1400, AWB -3

So it was that I asked Toto, an Indonesian friend, to come up with a special spice mix that busy couples -- arriving home after a tiring day at the office -- could use to quickly prepare delicious meals easily.

She gave me a wet curry mix, said it could keep in the fridge for a month, and gave directions on its usage.

I tried the spice mix -- both wet curry and dry-fried using chicken thighs.

Hmmm...taste very good, but somehow not distinctive enough. Like other prepared spice mix one could buy from the supermart. I need a spice mix that tastes very good and yet not available in the market place.

I told Toto and Jean that if they could come up with a line of prepared spice mixes that taste distinctive and wonderful, I could structure a small business for them to handle.

Well, the search continues...

High ISO

2005-06-21T19:10:00.011+08:00

I wanted to see if noise would be an issue for the D70 on ISO-Auto under indoor lighting conditions, such as that found in the Orchard Centrepoint shopping mall. I was also curious to see how the colors would turn out under my general everyday WB setting.

To reiterate, my D70 settings were AWB -3, Hue -3, +0.3EV, ISO Auto. All the shots were taken hand-held, and without flash, except for the shot outside Centrepoint -- to contrast the afternoon daylight exposure. None of the photos were post-processed for WB, and only USM was resorted to for sharper pictures. The series of shots are shown below:

D70, kit lens @70mm, ISO 1600, 1/30s@f8

Above was shot at MacDonald's. Noise depicted was well-controlled despite the high ISO used. The color nicely captured the ambience at the time.

Concerts and indoor live performances -- which frown on the use of flash -- usually have brighter stage lighting than the above. This implies I should be able to shoot such events with the D70 and kit lens without flash, at within a reasonable distance from the stage.

D70, kit lens @70mm, ISO1600, 1/40@f/8

Candid shot taken outside Cold Storage Supermart inside Centrepoint. Nice colors to my eyes.

Note that noise per se is more clearly defined in darker areas of the photo, such as the guy's pants, and the hair of the two ladies in the photo above. Areas that received adequate light were quite noise-free and smooth. See other photos below.

Does this suggest that noise is the result (= outcome) of insufficient light photons hitting the sensor? Will a more "sensitive" sensor be able to capture more photons at the same ISO setting and produce noise-free photos as compared to another sensor? Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest so.

D70, kit lens@18mm, ISO900, 1/60s@f/5.6

Centrepoint Atrium

D70, kit lens@31mm, ISO1600, 1/60s@f/5.6

Prima Deli at basement

D70, kit lens@18mm, ISO1000, 1/60s@f/5.6

Passage way to foodcourt behind Centrepoint

D70, kit lens@31mm, ISO640, 1/60s@f/5.6

Highly successful Peranakan pastry outlet established by Indonesian chinese migrant

D70, kit lens@31mm, ISO720, 1/60s@f/5.6

Shot a photo in the direction of daylight coming in from the far end..

D70, kit lens@31mm, ISO720, 1/60@f/5.6

..then turned around to snap another photo! Found that AF-C and AF-ON works well for me.

Overall, I am pleased with the noise performance of the D70 at ISO 1600. Noise seems well-controlled at this ISO up to 8x10" prints -- which serve my needs pretty well. I also believed my +0.3EV exposure compensation helped in producing pictures with noise well-controlled at ISO 1600.

For bigger prints without flash I would use a faster lens. Or wait for sensor technology to develop to a point where noise-free pictures can be produced at ISOs up to 3200. Which may not be far off.

Colors produced by my general everyday WB settings seem fine to me under the mixed lighting conditions at Centrepoint. The colors reproduced -- in particular the light quality -- seemed to capture the ambience of the places at the time the pictures were taken, at least to my eyes. Although some photos could benefit from a bit of WB fine-tuning in post-processing, WB was not tweaked for this series of photos.

D70 - Initial Setup

2005-06-19T19:12:00.012+08:00

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60s, f/8

Killiney Post Office

Newcomers to the D70 are often dismayed with their first pictures out of the Nikon D70. "Why are the pictures so dark... And the colors so dull and drab?"

It need not be so.

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/160s@f/8,ISO800

Bakery that is popular with the growing expat community in the area

In digital photography, white balance -- and an understanding of it -- is critical to getting good colors. Since the quality and quantity of light ie color temperature varies from location to location, you need to change and finetune the WB setting appropriate to your shoot.

For an introduction to white balance, click here.

For a more in-depth treatment, see Moose Petersen's excellent article on WB at nikondigital.org. He recommends you don't use auto WB, but experiment and set your own appropriate to the location. He has found for instance that Cloudy -3 comes closest to his everyday shooting color temperature / WB needs.

A WB setting more appropriate for our tropical sun is provided below. I use the following as my general everyday D70 setting, and has been pleased with the results so far:

White Balance: AWB -3
Hue: -3
Saturation: Normal
Sharpening: None
Compensation: +0.3EV
Color Mode: Ia (sRGB)

Sharpening is set to none because the in-camera sharpening -- owing to a small buffer -- is weak compared to NC or PS. For this series, Quality was set to jpg - fine, large and color mode to Ia.

Below are some photos taken at Killiney Road under the 4 pm sun with the above settings:

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60s, f/8

Killiney & Somerset Road junction

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60 sec, f/8

A family clinic at Killiney Road

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/125 sec, f/8

Killiney Road view of Comcentre

D70, kit lens @22mm, 1/200s, f/8

Killiney Boutique & Spa

D70, kit lens @70mm, 1/320s, f/8

More businesses springing up in the area

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60s, f/8, ISO640

Pho Vietnamese Restaurant, Pho is a condiment for soups that is most popular in Vietnam

D70, kit lens @48mm, 1/250s, f/8, ISO200

Perfect kaya toast and egg breakfast at the popular Killiney Kopitiam

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/30s, f/8, ISO1600

Orange Lantern -- afternoon lull

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/250s, f/8

Pre-war Mitre Hotel being refurbished -- will it be retained as a charming motel?

D70, kit lens @70mm, 1/100s@f/8, ISO200

Devonshire & Killiney Road junction

White Balance

2005-06-10T17:17:00.009+08:00

Most people have problems getting accurate white balance for interiors, especially under artificial lighting. As I love shop window displays, I decided to go to TSC Shopping Mall at Orchard Road to take some shots of the window displays inside TSC and try my hand at correcting white balance under artificial lighting ocnditions.

Now, most shop and window displays are attractive due to the special lighting arrangments used to bring out the merchandise featured. Using flash on the camera, I feel, would destroy the carefully arranged lighting setup created by the designer. Hence all my shots in this series were taken without the use of flash.

My settings were: D70 with kit lens, AWB -3, Hue -3, +0.3EV, Auto ISO, Matrix metering, Aperture priority, AF-S and AF-ON. Raw format was used for the quality. Pictures were processed in NC and PS for white balance, noise and sharpness.

High ISO Noisy?

2005-06-07T17:15:00.009+08:00

I wanted to see if noise would be an issue for the D70 on ISO-Auto under indoor lighting conditions, such as that found in the Orchard Centrepoint shopping mall. I was also curious to see how the colors would turn out under my general everyday WB setting.

To reiterate, my D70 settings were AWB -3, Hue -3, +0.3EV, ISO Auto. All the shots were taken hand-held, and without flash, except for the shot outside Centrepoint -- to contrast the afternoon daylight exposure. None of the photos were post-processed for WB, and only USM was resorted to for sharper pictures. The series of shots are shown below:

D70, kit lens @70mm, ISO 1600, 1/30s@f8

Above was shot at MacDonald's. Noise depicted was well-controlled despite the high ISO used. The color nicely captured the ambience at the time.

Concerts and indoor live performances -- which frown on the use of flash -- usually have brighter stage lighting than the above. This implies I should be able to shoot such events with the D70 and kit lens without flash, at within a reasonable distance from the stage.

D70, kit lens @70mm, ISO1600, 1/40@f/8

Candid shot taken outside Cold Storage Supermart inside Centrepoint. Nice colors to my eyes.

Note that noise per se is more clearly defined in darker areas of the photo, such as the guy's pants, and the hair of the two ladies in the photo above. Areas that received adequate light were quite noise-free and smooth. See other photos below.

Does this suggest that noise is the result (= outcome) of insufficient light photons hitting the sensor? Will a more "sensitive" sensor be able to capture more photons at the same ISO setting and produce noise-free photos as compared to another sensor? Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest so.

Centrepoint Atrium

Prima Deli at basement

Passage way to foodcourt behind Centrepoint

Highly successful Peranakan pastry outlet established by Indonesian chinese migrant

Shot a photo in the direction of daylight coming in from the far end..

..then turned around to snap another photo! Found that AF-C and AF-ON works well for me.

Overall, I am pleased with the noise performance of the D70 at ISO 1600. Noise seems well-controlled at this ISO up to 8x10" prints -- which serve my needs pretty well. I also believed my +0.3EV exposure compensation helped in producing pictures with noise well-controlled at ISO 1600.

For bigger prints without flash I would use a faster lens. Or wait for sensor technology to develop to a point where noise-free pictures can be produced at ISOs up to 3200. Which may not be far off.

Colors produced by my general everyday WB settings seem fine to me under the mixed lighting conditions at Centrepoint. The colors reproduced -- in particular the light quality -- seemed to capture the ambience of the places at the time the pictures were taken, at least to my eyes. Although some photos could benefit from a bit of WB fine-tuning in post-processing, WB was not tweaked for this series of photos.

Killiney Road

2005-06-03T00:13:00.012+08:00

Newcomers to the D70 are often dismayed with their first pictures out of the Nikon D70. "Why are the pictures so dark... And the colors so dull and drab?"

It need not be so.

In digital photography, white balance -- and an understanding of it -- is critical to getting good colors. Since the quality and quantity of light ie color temperature varies from location to location, you need to change and finetune the WB setting appropriate to your shoot.

For an introduction to white balance, click here.

For a more indepth treatment, see Moose Petersen's excellent article on WB at nikondigital.org. He recommends you don't use auto WB, but experiment and set your own appropriate to the location. He has found for instance that Cloudy -3 comes closest to his everyday shooting color temperature / WB needs.

A WB setting more appropriate for our tropical sun is provided by David Chin. Those without prior background in digital photography would find his approach to the D70 camera settings highly commendable.

In Singapore, I use the following as my general everyday D70 setting, and has been pleased with the results so far:

White Balance: AWB -3
Hue: -3
Saturation: Normal
Sharpening: None
Compensation: +0.3EV
Color Mode: Ia (sRGB)

Sharpening is set to none because the in-camera sharpening -- owing to a small buffer -- is weak compared to NC or PS. For this series, Quality was set to jpg - fine, large and color mode to Ia.

Below are some photos taken at Killiney Road under the 4 pm sun with the above settings:

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8

Killiney & Somerset Road junction

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8

Killiney Post Office

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/60@f/8

A family clinic at Killiney Road

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/125s@f/8

Killiney Road view of Comcentre

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/160s@f/8,ISO800
Bakery that is popular with the growing expat community in the area

D70, kit lens @22mm, 1/200s@f/8
Killiney Boutique & Spa

Pho Vietnamese Restaurant -- Pho is a condiment for soups that is most popular in Vietnam

D70, kit lens @48mm, 1/250s@f/8, ISO200

Perfect kaya toast and egg breakfast at the popular Killiney Road Kopitiam

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/30s@f/8, ISO1600

Orange Lantern -- afternoon lull

D70, kit lens @18mm, 1/250s@f/8

Pre-war Mitre Hotel being refurbished -- will it be retained as a charming motel?

D70, kit lens @70mm, 1/100s@f/8, ISO200

Devonshire & Killiney Road junction

Available Light - White Balance

2005-02-28T19:11:00.009+08:00

Most people have problems getting accurate white balance for interiors, especially under artificial lighting. As I love shop window displays, I decided to go to TSC Shopping Mall at Orchard Road to take some shots of the window displays inside TSC and try my hand at correcting white balance under artificial lighting conditions.

Now, most shop and window displays are attractive due to the special lighting arrangments used to bring out the merchandise featured. Using flash on the camera, I feel, would destroy the carefully arranged lighting setup created by the designer. Hence all my shots in this series were taken without the use of flash.

My settings were: D70 with kit lens, AWB -3, Hue -3, +0.3EV, Auto ISO, Matrix metering, Aperture priority, AF-S and AF-ON. Raw format was used for the quality. Pictures were processed in NC and PS for white balance, noise and sharpness.