I am still shooting.

My cameras are still with me and I still shoot but I am even more selective on the photos I wish to share on the Net.  Not so much of privacy concerns but one of the reason is because of the sheer volume of photos on the Net.  Selfies, groupies,  food photos and even my wife is starting to dump photos into her facebook account.  I know its a free space to share but can at least edit a bit anot?  I see people dump over 200 photos of their travel photos with tons that are just out of focus and underexposed.   I know it has been like that ever since facebook has an easier way to upload photos in batches but it's even more serious nowadays and I got a little bit fatigued in looking at a picture on my monitor.  Which leads to the 2nd reason why I stop posting to facebook
.

My bloody printer.  :P   Ever since I got myself a serious photo printer,  I printed most of my recent works on my Canon Pro 100 and they are just simply different .  A physical piece of paper with my picture on it is 100x better then the same picture viewed on a computer monitor.

Ask those who prints their photos seriously and they will give you the same conclusion.  If you really want to appreciate your own piece of work as a photographer then just print it out,  print it large (at least 8x10), print it with a proper printer or lab, and you will know and understand why a printed photo is so awesome. :)

Slides from 2013

Some friends asked me that I have not been posting photos online for quite sometime and wondered I have stopped shooting.  Well, definitely not!  Photography is still my no.1 Hobby and I just bought a A7R didn't I? :)

I am shooting less often nowadays because mainly my subjects (the kids) are bored with my camera.  Once they see I'm holding one, they would hide from me :P.  And if I managed to get them to pose, they would make silly and funny expressions in front of it without any prompts from me.  I wonder whom they learnt that from.... tehehehehe

Anyway,  I did shot quite a lot of slides last year and only managed to send them to develop recently.  Got them back yesterday and spent a day time to "copy" them to digital.  You may view them over my flicker stream under landscape 2014.

Seasons - 4 sunsets with different moods.

I think I had not posted any photography related posts for quite some time.  The main reason is that I had not much of ideas lately and I can't find any outstanding photos to share with lately.  I had an artistic inspiration recently and here is the result.

The idea was to shoot a particular sunset with multiple shots and see if I could photoshopped later to have totally different moods and feelings.

Here are the 4 shots.  You can click on them to see a bigger version.  The 4 shots are titled

Spring - 春

Summer - 夏

Autumn - 秋

Winter - 冬

Which one do your prefer?  And yes,  all shots were taken on the same day at a slightly different location.  I took some time to scout around my area.

Dream Camera? - Sony A7R

First of all, apologies for not writing anything for the passed few months as I am getting lazier and lazier everyday in the Land of Smile :P I did had some drafts but later just dumped them as it's just my usual ramblings on our dear Singapore gahment.  Think I just get tired on my own complains and just let it be for the moment.  Maybe during election time I will be more active again on that department.  Haha

Enough about meself.  This post is about another camera (Yes, camera again... booorrrinng) that I recently accquired while I was back in Singapore.  The new Full -frame (35mm) Sony Alpha 7 R.   I got it at a special price from James of Lobangking.com.

The camera was released in late 2013 and I knew I would replacing it with my Nex-7.  I want Full Frame.  Period.  I am so used to taking film and getting the FOV of a true 35mm lens while I am shooting so it was a no brainer.  My initial choice was the normal 7 version.  Not the R version as I think 24Mp should be more than enough for me.  But when I learnt about the price of A7R that I would be paying for.  I jumped for it.  36MP is nothing much but NO AA filter.  That I am interested.

I have worked with digital medium format files before and all of them do not have an AA filter on their sensors.  The files are sharp and crisp and very very malleable for post processing.  My conclusion comes to the same after shooting with my A7R  for a month.  It's image quality is good,  very very close and to me personally, surpassed MF film in resolutions and details.  Some may argue that MF film can resolve better if I use drum scan.  Maybe?  But I have no luxuries of drum scanning in Thailand so I guess for me, this little camera is an ultimate landscape camera for me.  For shooting portraits of my family, it's a bit sharp and I need to reduce the sharpness in LR before printing them.  All the pores and scars can come out especially if I used the 135mm Sonnar.

There are some nitpicks of course.  Battery life sucks,  Loud thunderous shutter.  These I can live with as I am not that trigger happy and I have enough spare batteries around.  Shutter is not a major concern, I am used to loud mirror slaps of my Hassy last time and I don't really shoot in quiet places.  The major dislike is there is no in built image stabalizer (AS) like the Olympus and the old Alpha DSLR used to have.  I am so used to AS on my a900 so I found a lot of shaky shots on my A7R.  Still usable but it just could be better.

Dream camera?  Not really but quite close ... almost there.. :)

Never doubt about yourself

I was chatting with a photogprahy friend of mine in FB recently and he brought up the issue of going to become a Freelance photographer in SG.  He was facing a dilemna as most aspiring startups will be.  The fear of not being able to sustain financially, the fear of not able to meet client's demand and etc etc...

But the one thing that concerns me was that he finds himself a bit unworthy or his photos are not up to par.  This is a really bad thought.  How can one starts to sell his passion and proffesional skills if he keeps doubting himself that his photos can't make it?

The beauty of being an artist (photography or any other art form) is that you wish to express yourself.  In any forms and one should not create a piece or art for the purpose of pleasing anyone but yourself!  All great artist including the great Ansel Adam loves their own creation.  F**k care what other thinks!  Do what you like and share it if you like it!  There is bound to be the same people who might enjoy your photos.

Some good examples are that I hated those HDR lanscape photos.  But I never dissed them, its just not for me and those who like it WILL like it.  Vice versa, I like soft and blurry creative taken photos that those gearheads will just say its a piece of crap.  My point is that there will be a crowd that will enjoy that piece of art you create.

So stop doubting about yourself and heck care what other thinks about your work.  And if you hate your photos, then shoot something that you like or enjoy.    If not,  why are you still taking pictures then?

Day and Night

It has been some time I post something on my photography work.  Here's one I just thought of.  I just renewed my mobile contract and got myself a new phone.  The phone has some interesting effects which I tried it out.  I shot a fisheye shot of the night shot and was quite happy with it.  And it gave me a plan.  This morning I took the 2nd shot in the morning and I combined them in PS.  And here's the result.

Day and Night

Yes, it's a bit pretentious but sometimes I kind of like it that way.  :P

1st Kill of the year 2013

Not really killing something or someone but buying something new.  Yes.  Another lens to the arsenal:P  Some might asked how many lenses I really need but its just that this one is something I have been waiting for quite some time.

It's the new Sony 35mm 1.8 OSS!  OSS stands for Optical Steady Shot which means like Canon's IS and Nikon's VR lenses.  Sony A mount bodies has built in body AS system but their NEX doesn't (which is a pain in the ass for me!)I'm getting old and I like to have some anti shake system for some low shutter handheld shots.

Previously, I was using the 24mm Zeiss  which at 1200 2nd hand price tag does not even have OSS and I don't actually really like the fov of a focal length of 35mm.  I am more into 40mm to 50mm for a street camera so it was pretty awkward shooting with it.   I do like it's sharpness and contrasty colours but I have a tendency to crop the photos later as I was not in the correct position.  Moreover, the lens is sticking too far out from the body and its just make it very difficult for me to take it out or put it back into my camera bag.  That's a minor thing but the fov and OSS is the deal breaker. It was an impulse purchase and my gut feelings is that I will sell it some time later and I did to get back my money to fund this lens hehe.

After selling my 24mm, I do have a 35mm CV L39 lens and was using it as my default lens most of the time.  But it register a magenta cast on the corners of the photos whenever I shoot wide.  However, while using the CV, it constantly makes me more convinced to get this lens as I enjoy the fov of the 35mm.  The new lens was bought via a Bro Jame of LBJQK which I met in facebook and I received it just last saturday when it was finally released in Malaysia.  Immediately after collecting the lens I went to Garden by the bay to test it out and the inital results were very positive.  You can view the 1st series here.

I went out today on a street test with my friend Callan for a 2nd round and yes, I totally enjoyed it and it will definitely be a keeper!  Great way to start a year! :)

The lust for Zeiss….

The problem with getting a new camera, especially the 24megapixel monster of the Nex-7 is that you start to find the dual kit lenses for the Nex systems is a bit crappy.  Yup, it’s true.  When the sensor is that packed and dense with photo sensing silicates, the inferiority of the lens bloody shines too . 
Okay, ignore the above crappy excuse, I just buy because I simply lust for Zeiss.. LOL.
Some people might call it a brand thing but hey, all of us do it in a way right?  I remember my first Zeiss was the 50mm f/4 Flektogon (Praktica) which I bought an adaptor to use it on my A mount.  It’s cheap and although slow, it’s a damn solid lens.  I gave it away later and started to try out some other Zeiss M42 lenses.  Most of them are pretty decent at the price point and the resale value was there.  So I just bought and sell and tried various series of Zeiss glasses and so far none of them were duds.
Then came the Sony – Zeiss co-operation and I got the 135mm Sonnar 1.8.  Whoa!  That is my greatest purchase of all time for this killer lens I dare to say.  I would say a perfect score for me, especially if I mount it on my FF A900 and shoot any portraits.  I always find I need to soften the image a little just to remove some skin “defects” that should not be captured in the first place.  And it is also one of the lens that I love so much that I still hold onto my a900 too.  The other being the 85mm Minolta G, 50mm Macro and the 16mm FE. 
After the prime, I sold off my Minolta 28-135mm f/4 which I a bit regretted and got the 24-70mm Vario Zeiss.  That became my working lens for quite some time.  Mainly for events and it was a great and versatile lens.   It was also on my Dynax 7 film camera frequently when I shoot film.
The other great thing about Zeiss is the colours it renders, the T* coating is not just a marketing thing, honestly because I shoot slides very often and Zeiss lenses just gives a much boost in contrast.  Most of my shots with the most vibrant slides are from Zeiss glass.  I have compared my MF shots that I took with my Hassy and Mamiya  and Zeiss wins hands down in the colour department.  Mamiya Sekor is a bit flat but its damn sharp.   
I stopped shooting events nowadays so I sold my only zoom lens and got the lighter 24mm Distagon recently.  So far, to be honest, I have not used it extensively.  The main reason is that I prefer to shoot film with my Press for landscapes and that 24mm is a bit neglected, even my 135mm as I’m not at home in Thailand.
Anyway, back to the Nex system.  I was using some VC lenses on the Nex7 and was really very please with it.  But the widest VC I have at the moment was the 35mm Color-Skopar.  It’s good but as I have mentioned in my post recently, I am currently into wider lenses and was planning to get a wide angle VC or something to complement my shooting style on the 7.  The 16mm is good on the 3 but it just starts to suck on the 7.  Especially if I started to compare the files with my VC lenses.  So within a month of my Nex 7 purchase, I was looking through a local photography forum, looking for a good bargain of a M mount  wide angle lens.  Then, I saw a post,  Someone selling the 24mm Zeiss E-mount at a very good price with a good filter and 5 months warranty left.  On the APS-C , it will be a 36mm equivalent.  Wide enough for my taste and it has AF too.  Jump on it and it’s attached to my 7 now.
I spent only 2 days with the lens and I would say the lens is a bit overpriced at its retail street price of 1.5k  or 1.4k SGD.  It’s good of course, but just not good enough to justify at that price point.   I think a fair price would be 1k at most.   No weather seal and hood is plastic.  No optical stabilizer.  The  lens does not feel heavy and dense like other Zeiss glasses I have before.  Maybe, it’s designed that way to keep the weight down but the Aluminium body just don’t feel that it will last as long as those old Zeiss lenses .  Focusing manually is smooth and it’s fly by wire like the Fuji system but the travel is much much much better then the Fuji one..  Kudos to that part.  I still like it but I might sell it if there is a wider M mount lens available for me.  The 7 with its peaking function is really a god bless for manual focusing.  And if you shoot RAW, try this setting.  Change the Image setting to Black and White with peaking colour set to Yellow at Mid range.  Bloody bloody good.
And finally a rant to SONY, please stop making BLOODY bodies and solve your lens production issues!!  This lens is well sought by thousands but its out of stock since June in every major retail or web store!  What’s the use of coming out new bodies when there are no lenses available?  And now you are coming out a Nex 6 or 5R… WTF….
Here are some shots taken with the 24mm Zeiss and 7. 
Little India Streets

The “7” is complete!

As I mentioned in my previous post before on one of pet peeves about the 7 is the grip of the camera.  It’s just a bit tad too small for my fatty fingers so I was looking around for a case until I saw someone posted this grip at a rangefinder forum.  I followed the link and it led me to this website by Jim.  By just looking at the pictures, I know its something that is well thought off and designed.  It even sports a dovetail like plate for Arca Swiss type lens release system. 

Anyway, to cut the story short.  I ordered 1, price is a bit steep but if it helps in making better pictures, then its a worthwhile investment.

It took more than 2 weeks to arrive but it was here today!  The initial impression was that it was  very well machined and the metal feels solid. Although it was CNC machined out of a block of aluminium.  There were no rough at all along the edges on the grip.  Everything was smooth which means Jim really took the time to have it finished off nicely.

I took out my 7 and tried the fitting and it is a snug fit.  The black colour may not match exactly but the fitting was just great.  I could easily access the battery cover and taking out the battery.  However, I do have some difficulty taking out the SD card with the additional height of the grip but its not that bad.  It’s already a bit tough without the grip so naturally it’s tougher but not a big deal for me as I rarely change cards.   The speaker for movie playback or camera “beeps” is working fine too as there is a hole just beneath the speaker.  I tried low lit handheld shots and this time I could easily and confidently shoot at 1/10 with the grip.  Previously it was not even possible to do it at 1/30.  And finally as a bonus, check out this photo below..

Yea!  Its a camera lens plate too.  No need to have additional lens plate and moreover, you can still attach non Arca Swiss plate below the grip as it has a standard tripod screw threads just below the dovetail plate.

Like the Thumbs up grip for Leica Digital and Fuji X series, the Jim Buchanan Palm grip totally changes the handling of my Nex 7.  Yes, you might want to wait for the cheaper China clone but I think this grip is just worth that $99USD.  Totally!

There goes my long weekend.

I was suppose to have a long 4 day break on the day of National day. (9th Aug) and was looking forward to go out and shoot some pictures or meet up with some friends.  But during the last night shift I started to develop a flu like symptom followed by an unrelenting cough.  It got worst when I cycled home from work and I couldn’t sleep well as I spent most of my energy wheezing and coughing my lungs out.  Horrible horrible experience.  Even when my colleague called me up for an OT I rejected outright (not myself usually) as I have not been able to sleep for the past 24hrs.  I’ve drank some cough syrups and managed to get some sleep finally on Friday, spending the whole day in bed.  Lucky me, I got better today after managing to sleep non-stop for more than 6 hours.

Anyway, I was suppose to write up a short bike trip and a short review on my Nex 7 that I took with me.  The photos are over here in my fb page.   The last 2 photos were taken another day during a night cycling trip with a friend from Bedok to Marina Bay.  I would say the 7 is a great upgrade from my 3.  I was more at home with the viewfinder and the controls as they resemble more of a SLR rather than a PnS like the 3.  There is however, some flaws to the camera.  The first being the size of the camera.  It’s just too small for my fat fingers.  I have trouble gripping it and without an inbuilt Anti Shake system means I have trouble shooting it handheld at anything lower than 1/30.  I think I need to get a grip or a case soon to solve this issue.  The other major F**k up thing is the bloody video button.  I think most who have read the reviews knows what I’m talking about.  It’s just stupid to have the button so easily triggered.   I think this are the 2 major problems I have with the camera.  Other then that, the camera serves my purpose well and I am seriously considering dumping all my SLR gear if and only if they come out a Nex with FF sensor… : P 

I will try to pound out my bike trip later.  Need to rest more.

Birthday Gift–Nex 7

Those who followed me on FB or Instagram will know I bought another camera : P.  I was thinking of pampering myself this coming Aug since I had work hard for the pass few months.  Especially on June and July where I clocked a great amount of OTs.  I was thinking of getting another lens to my arsenal but was put off by that idea as I just recently acquired my 24mm Distagon and I did not find I had enough time (or purpose) using it as often as I wished   : S.  And I already have (almost) all the focal lengths I required at the moment anyway.

So I decided to look around on the web when I discovered the retail price of the Nex-7 body in Thailand was only 39,900 Baht inclusive of tax.  Now normally it’s not that attractive but this time, due to the strong SG dollars.  The converted price was less than $SGD1,600.  Way below the retail price in Singapore.  Moreover I get to have my 7% VAT refund if I buy it in Thailand. 

I decided to go take a look in Bangkok (still not decided to buy yet)which I had over 6 hours of waiting for my next domestic transit.    I already played with the camera before and I quite like it on my first impression.  Just that the price at that time was just not that attractive to me.  Moreover I am still enjoying  my Nex 3.

The “look” and “see” became a “buy buy buy” immediately when the salesman at Sony Store Paragon told me they are having an annual promotion.  10% off the retail price!  And can pay by Credit Card some more…. KNS…. I ask him about the VAT refund and he say I could claim that too…. so in the end, it’s 10% off retail and less 7%.  After my calculation, I paid $1370 for the brand new camera with a year Tourist warranty (covered in SG).   Really good bargain (The last time I asked, SG retail best price is 1700 wor…) 

I’m not sure whether the sales is still on going but for those hunting for Sony gears.. It’s a good time to visit Bangkok now.  Will post more later… Now need my beauty sleep.  Just finished my 3rd night shift and I have 4 more to go… : P

Universal Studio Singapore (USS) trip

Recently our company organised a USS gathering for our team.  I was initially a bit reluctant to go but ever since I got my 24mm Zeiss Distagon, I am dying for a chance to really test out the lens.   Entrance fee is all paid up while we have to foot all the other expenses by ourselves (not too bad as the entrance fees is already quite expensive).

Since it’s just a scouting trip, I decided not to bring my Beast with me.  I just have my A900, the new 24mm Zeiss Distagon, 135mm Sonnar and out of fun, brought along my lensbaby Composer Pro with the 35mm optics.  Initially planning to shoot some fireworks later, I brought along my tripod too.  Our team met at Vivo around 930am (I was there early with another 2 team members for breakfast) and we took the monorail into Sentosa.  It has been eons since I last visted Sentosa.  Much have changed.  Anyway, boarding the train was a hassle to me too.  The stupid gantry does not support my paywave card (only Ezlink card) so I have to manually go buy a ticket at the vending machine which bloody hell, 3 out of 5 is on service!  That is on a SATURDAY for pete’s sake!  So it was a long queue.  Anyway, we got in at around 10am and I wandered off while the rest of the gang took the Transformers ride.  I was not planning to get on any rides as my sole purpose was to shoot and scout around the area.  Later I caught up withe the gang and they were still queuing for the Transformers ride.  They asked my to join in my I saw the waiting time (bloody 50mins) so I declined and moved on.  I went one round around the park, shooting along the way and just walk and stop, looking at interesting people and other stuffs.  The park is not that big actually so I actually completed the whole park within an hour or so.  Bored, I called my friends and guessed what, they are still waiting for their ride in the Transformer Ride!  I told them I finished my walk and decided to join them, so I waited patiently for them at the cafe next to the ride.  Then it started to rain!  And it was quite heavy too…  Lucky me for not bringing my Beast! 

I started to get bored so I  swapped my 24mm with the 135mm and started to “snipe” some interesting people in the park (just for fun)
   

Finally the wait was over and they came out looking exhausted.  There was a technical glitch with the ride so the wait was damn long.  The timing indicating outside the ride was a whopping 120mins when they came out.  2 hours in the Q for a 2min ride……

After that we just continued on and the rain starts to stop (great timing).  They gang decided to take a ride in the Bstar roller coaster but another colleague of mine and I decided to pass and look after their belongings while they took the ride.  Bored of waiting, we went to one of the canteens to grab a bite.  We chose Indian food (as it smells great) while my boss finally joined us while we were hunting for food.  The gang came out and went to another cafe to have lunch.  After that it was just one ride after another… 

Overall, it’s a pretty good theme park and the staffs are actually quite helpful but I don’t think I will spend my own money to come in again .  Maybe it’s just me but I just find the merchandising and overall "fakeness” just not my cup of tea.  I might bring my kids and wife if they are in their early teens to enjoy the rides but definitely not now… Most of the rides are catered to adults and I don’t think it’s worth it.

I didn’t stay for the fireworks as I was completely poofed at around 7pm.  I was wearing contacts and my eyes are starting to dry up so I decided to call it a day and went home while the rest stayed to look at the fireworks.
Speaking of testing my new lens.  I would say it performs very well and way beyond my expectations.  Zeiss Distagon label is not just pure marketing but a real performer.  Very little distortions and sharp, sharp sharp!  Those who enjoy shooting details and landscapes will 

You can see the full album over here in my facebook album (no FB login required as its Public). 

Another camera bag?

Mrs Postman (my block served by this very nice auntie now) visited today .  It's not really a full camera bag but a padded insert for my camera gearI got this insert from Gmarket (now rebranded to Qoo10) .  This is the L or largest version.  If you are interested you can click here to buy it.

I would say its pretty expensive for a padded insert but the quality of the product is very good.  It's soft and the paddings are very flexible. Unlike those Made in China ones found on ebay which cost 2/3 of the price (for similar size) and those paddings are just hard like hell. If you bent one it will surely get stuck in that shape.  Unlike this one.  Very very good for my usage as most of my equipment varies in shape and sizes.

The other good thing about the insert is the outer fabric.  Its hard to explain but the material feels very good to touch and it's doubled layer with some form of water resistant coating.  Not as hard or plasticky then those China ones.  One bad thing is that it does not have a top padding like those found on ebays. But as shown on the picture, the outer fabric extends and serves as a top.  Just need to pull the strings on the side and it will enclosed nicely.  No zippers and I actually prefer it to be this way as I could access my stuff more faster and easier.

Initially I thought the bag would be bigger and I was a bit concerned if it could fit all my MF gear in it.  The main reason I bought this insert is that I planned to convert my Brompton T bag to a camera bag.  Yes, I do plan to use this setup do cycle around Singapore and take some photos. :P

The insert fits nicely into the T bag and it still have room for other thingies.  I am pleased.  Now, it's just wait to have some free time to go out, cycle and shoot... :)

 

The "little" beast

Another project I had in mind was to do with my "beast".  I enjoy shooting with it but the bulk and weight of carrying it around really bothers me.  Its actually not as heavy as my old Hassy but the huge rectangular shape of the camera means I could only use 2 of my current larger camera bags that could hold it whenever I go out and shoot.  Its a pain the arse to carry such large camera bags at certain location.  

I could remove the lens and 120 film back and pack them seperately but this means whenever I reach a location.  I need to unpack it and hang it on my neck for the rest of the day until the shoot it over.    If I need to move to another location, I need to pack it again.  Which is slow and tedious.  I can't just throw the whole damn thing into my bag and move on.

Even my Lowepro backpack can't fit the camera with lens and back properly.  It's really fustrating.  I read about converting the camera to a light weight flat top version over here and I decided to operate on my spare Super 23 body.

The reasons I chose the 23 over the Universal is 2 fold.  Firstly,  I could only shoot film on it and I tend to use the camera more like a view camera rather than a Rangefinger.  Secondly, it has a bellow which I find it to be more useful in shooting as a view camera.  I would have more control over the perspective I want to shoot.

The mod was quite simple yet destructive.  I unscrewed the top and removed the RF unit block.  It has only 3 screws holding onto it.  I then removed most of the levers and parts left and then here the tough part.  The front metal frame holding the glasses for the RF window.  The glasses were actually glued to the frame so I use som flat tip screwdirvers and tore them off.  I kept the RF block and the various screws, springs and levers as spare parts for my Universal.  I then send the camera to a local metal workshop and asked the guy to cut off the top part of the camera for 20 baht (I gave him 50 baht after the did a fantastic job of filing off the sharp corners.  

I then took some modelling epoxy clay and filled out the holes on the top to prevent light leaks.  Then I just painted over the exposed metal with black paint from my leftover model paints.  Viola!  A much smaller, squarer and lighter "Beast".  

Comestically, the top part still looks a bit wierd.  Maybe later I will look for a piece of aluminium to cover it up but at the moment, it sure is a lot neater to pack in my bag.  I could even fit it in my Thinktank 35 Urban Disguise!

Lastly, I took 2 old cheap and underutilzed Chinese lens plate (markins compatible) and screwed them on the side and bottom, Making it convinient for me to attach it to my tripod.   This modified 23 will surely be deployed very often soon :)

 

Pentax Espio 160

My mum passed me this camera when we moved to the new place.  It actually belongs to my late father whom used it for their travels.  

No issues with the camera, initially I thought there might be fungus or hazing in the elements but on closer inspection, it was fine.  

I actually took it out recently while I was back in Singapore and shot a roll of Tmax with it.  You can see the results over here in my FB album. Surprisingly good results.  No exposure failure although it was totally automatic in metering.   There were however, some shots with focusing errors as there is no way you can really know if you're focusing on the correct subject in the small viewfinder.

The zoom is crazy... 38mm to 160mm... Not too sure about the max aperture though.  I guess its a slow f6.3 or more at the tele end.  The built in flash automatically pops out when you power on it.  There is a dial to turn off the flash or set it to red eye.  Very basic stuff.  The best though is that it has a bulb mode!  Quite wierd to see such automatic cameras to have a bulb mode.... 

Overall, its actually quite fun to shoot with it.  I spend a whole month in April shooting with it and managed to finish the roll and brought it back to Thailand to develop and scan the negatives myself.  Its now back in my dry cabinet and it might see some action some other time.    This is the first project I mentioned about in my previous blog.  Developing and scanning the results of this little camera.  More to come later.

Two fuzzy eyes doing a double.

I've known Ndroo, the owner of fuzzyeyeballs.com  (and a lot of uber cool toy cameras) many years ago while I was still teaching part time photography in SLCC.  I think we got to know each other because he was looking for a a Pentacon CZJ Flektogon 50mm and I gave one to him.  I just sold my Kiev system and it's a lens I bought cheap over ebay.  Anyway long story short,   we still have not actually met in person.  

One boring day in Thailand.  I just messaged him in FB to see if he wants to do a double exposure with me.  For those not too sure about film photography.  A double is actually I shoot the roll first (slight underexposing each shots) and then pass the finished roll to him.  He would then reload the film and shoot again.  Hence, the term doubles.

We have no idea of what each other is going to shoot so its actually a hit and miss game.  :P  Anyway, the results is out and we have a pretty cool shot! (the one you see above) .  You can see the rest at his website.   

So now I will be waiting for his roll....... which I think it might take some time because he has a lot of backlog to clear.. hehehehe...

Tree

Just a short post before my return to Singapore.  These 3 photos were taken digitally some time ago but I only recently decided to show these before I return.  Its taken with my 8mm Peleng Fisheye lens on my A900.  The subject was actually my jackfruit tree in my garden.

Recently I have been a bit choosy in posting my photos as I find most of them a bit unsatisfactory for my taste.  Its also one of the various reasons why I have not been shooting as much lately.  Another contributing factor is the weather over here. The hazy and overcast weather over here in Maesai prevents me in getting out to shoot.  Yes, the bane of all landscape photographers like me, bad weather.

My 1st initial reactions to the shots were just like... Yeeww... a bit too pretentious.  Funny thing is that I kept opening up the series ( I took about 9 shots in total) and it slowly grows on me.  Why?  No idea but I converted one of the shots to Black and White and it turn out pretty cool.  Here's the photo, click on them to see a larger verion.  Hope you like it too :)

 

Still shooting.

Photography I meant.  :P  I had a dry spell a few months back but I was back shooting.  Selectively, of course and rarely shooting with my DSLR.  I am a bit surprised by myself actually as I had hundreds of shots taken with my "Beast" on instant film and I had not taken the time to scan them.    I also have taken some slides and black and white film but again, I scanned them and find them a bit depressingly bad so I did not post them.  Well except for this series I just completed with HP5+ pushed to 800.

I actually threw all my rules when shooting and developing this roll.  I didn't even bother to check the tempreature of the developer and just dump it in... surprisingly still can get the photos.   Very grainy and lots of watermarks on the film too...  You can check out the series over here in my FB album.  :P  

I also recently completed a roll of expired Velvia 50 which is to be doubled later by ndroo of Fuzzyeyeball.com :). Hope the results will turn out well.

Anyway I will be back in 2 days time.  Work will commence on the 15th but I need to sign the contract on the 12th.  

Angry Birds in Mae Sai

I bought a table top Angry Birds toy in Singapore before I came back to Thailand.  The first thing I unbox the toy, I knew I am going to have some fun with it.  Not playing with it with the kids but to actually shoot it.  The modelling of the toys were pretty good so its worth the price (about 40 SGD).

Anyway, wife's good friend was back from Bangkok yesterday to hide from the flood situation which is plaguing the city (I think you should know by now..)  She's a very close family friend so wife and the kids went to her house to meet up and play with her daughter (about 2 months older then my boy).  That means I have the whole morning and afternoon free!! Yeah!!!

Took the birds out and whipped out my camera to shoot some photos with it in the garden.  I spent more time posing them rather than shooting.. hehe.. Took about 20 shots but only picked 12 out of the 20.  Good practise session after such a long break from shooting still objects...  Think I need more practise...

Rest of the photos are in my gallery.  Do feel free to browse through them :)

Day trip to Wat Rong Khun

Since my girl is having her school break (1 month).  We took a day trip to the famous Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai last Saturday.  Its about an hour drive from our home and its a beautiful place to shoot.  I didn't bring my "beast" as I have 2 kids and I guess I don't have the time to be serious with landscapes or architecture shots anyway. 

It's a bit funny but it was the first time I've been there actually.  I have heard and saw the temple from far (on the bus to Chiang Mai) but never really set foot on it.  I've seen tons of photos of the temple and promised myself to visit there.  And I was in awe.  Really in awe because its a very very beautiful piece of art (building) just in front of me.

The weather was kind to me too.  Its cloudy but still have enough sunlight to brightly illuminate the temple.  Its still under construction though :P  (I've read that it already took more than 15 years so far to build the temple but it's still incomplete.  You may google it and read more about the temple and its wierd artist who conceived this.

Anyway, the rest of the photos are here on my facebook account.  I didn't take much as I was just admiring the whole site :P.  Camera I brought along was my trusty Sony A900 with 24-70mm Zeiss and 85mm Minolta G.  After shooting so much with crappy toy cameras and hazy viewfinders of the "beast" :P, the 900's VF was a fabulous reminder on why I bought this camera in the first place (besides being a FF camera).  Think I will start to use it more often besides copying slides...

For those interested in getting there. Here's a map of the location.

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