No Relation

I took my very first lens out for some shots during my routine walk with my dear at the MBKS park, yes it's the Canon EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-F5.6 or better known as kitlens. Current generation of cropped EOS camera are equipped with a better version which has Image Stabilizing functionality. The 5D kitlens is actually the Canon EF 24-105 F4 IS which also happens to be an L lens, :). Anyway there is no relation whatsoever here, I'm actually bringing the lens (18-55 non IS) out for a stroll to see whether I can depend on it on my upcoming Hanoi trip. The image only start to look a bit sharp when stop all the way down to F8 to F11. I'd probably will replace this with the Tamron 17-50mm VC when fund arrives.

Shot of my backyard water tap with the Raynox DCR-250 mounted on Canon EF 50mm F1.8 with Sunpak PZ42X fired from the camera hotshoe.

This Old Man

The eyes of a person will always be the window to the soul. One that governs us with deep empathy. This old man had a life full of hardship since he came from China with nothing but a small bag on his hands. Being alone in a foreign country without any relatives or money is probably not the "By Choice" type of migration we're currently accustomed to, but in the 1930s that's call "Trying to make a living". He came here to work as a barber and it had been his lifelong profession since. It never was about the profit from his barbers-manship, it was the only thing that dignified him as human being. He cut my hair since I was a toddler up until I was about 26, as I've switch to a more modern hairstyle. As he is getting frail each day, I would always try to find time every weekend to meet with him. Seeing him in person always cheers me up because he the last 1st generation of my family member left that I get to grow up with. A great person who loves nothing but his profession as a barber. When his profession finally ends, we are all he has got left and the only ties to fallback to.

Who is he ?

He is my Grandfather. A candid snapshot of him with the Canon EF 50mm F1.8 as he is very camera shy.

Going Low and Reflection

One of the most intriguing point of view in photography is shoot as low as possible. It doesn't mean shoot with low picture quality setting but actually shoot from the knee and below. You'd be surprise how things actually look like from this kind of low angle perspective. Shooting from eye level has its uses, mostly employed for street style shooting where the essence of the photograph is the people and the way we look at them from our normal view. Shooting from knee below are pretty easy these day even with DSLR because most have Live View equip. For those using the previous generation of DSLR and SLR, we can actually go to the ground to take picture or use an angle viewer for hassle free low angle photography. For someone like me who could care less about shutter lifespan, I'd always shoot blindly when it comes to low angle shot because my camera doesn't have Live View and I don't have an angle viewer.

Another interesting way to capture photography is to focus on the reflection of your intended subject. You'd be surprise how the surrounding element actually can frame the subject's reflection within the view point. I went to try out both way of photographing just now at MBKS park. Since I'd always go there everyday after work (except Monday) and also during the weekend, its a great place to test those two technique because of the man made pond there. My 400D color space seem to be getting duller and duller by the day, I'm not sure if it's going to KO soon or not. If this 400D died, my next replacement will probably be a 50D or 60D (if it comes out by then), 7D is too pricey for a crop factor body in which i believe adding a few more K you are far better off with the 5D Mark II. All shots below are from the Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II lens.

Simulated Macro On Plant

Macro usually means life size subject on the camera sensor or 1:1 ratio, when I said simulated macro it actually means it's just an enlarged portion of the subject through various means such as using an extension tube, front lens extension glass such as Raynox DCR-250 or even a close up filter which is usually denoted by +1, +2 or etc. A dedicated macro lens is really nice to have if you can afford it or macro is your main interest in photography but for a general shooter like me, something close to macro will suffice.

I had the Raynox DCR-250 with me today and clipped it in front of the Canon EF 50mm F1.8 lens for some simulated macro action. Considering how shallow the depth of field is when using such extension, the AF just wouldn't cut it in situation such as this, manual is the way to go here. Ample amount of light is crucial to avoid cranking up the ISO which will introduce too much grain in final photo, although those grain are only noticeable if you pixel peep on a monitor screen, when printed on a standard 4R it's negligible. I seldom print my photos, with the last one actually came from my previous camera, the Canon Powershot S3 IS. A picture depicting a leave overlayed by the sunlight at Bintulu. Total processing for that photo is about RM 35 (11R if not mistaken) and RM 60 for the anti-reflective solid wood frame. That was my first and last ever printed photo from a digital camera. Pretty odd when I think back about it, forking out so much just for a photograph.

Lovely Sky

MBKS New Park

Stood Still

Kenyalang Market

Unique Timepiece

Show Detail @ The Hills Shopping Mall

Product Shot

Trying some product shot using radio triggered flash mounted on a umbrella softbox. Lens used is the 50mm F1.8 with the configuration of 1/100 @ F8 @ ISO 400

Random

Self Portrait

18-55mm F3.5-F5.6

Wear & Tear

It's been like quite a while since I started photography and one day wear and tear on the mechanical portion of the camera will come to a screeching halt. First my on camera pop up flash no longer able to pop up and will display error if it is unable to pop up in 3 clicks. What I do now is just to try to pull it out before the 3rd click.

Same goes for my 3rd party made in china battery grip. Although the grip itself still can sustain a long shooting day, the rubber look a like portion of the grip starts to peel off. If it was using real rubber, things like this would never happen. Like the saying goes, you get what you pay for or you pay peanut, you get monkeys.

I've been wondering about upgrading for quite sometime now. Unfortunately I was taken a back at what my dear told me the other day. That my composition have suffered as of late. When I check back, she was right. My best photograph came on my first year and subsequently it deteriorate further. Was it my passion starting to diminish ? Because of this, I withheld further upgrading until I can work on my composition and re-energize that passion again. For photography that is. :)

 

Football

A game of local football at Jubilee Field with the 55-250mm IS.