Been awhile

Hey guys!

So yea... What can I say? Nothing much has been going on recently. I bought a Targus bag recently to replace my Lowepro bag which shows sign of wear and tear and I fear for the life of my stuff inside, so it's going to be used strictly to carry camera gear when I have to, otherwise my laptop and daily life will fall on the new Targus bag. Still waiting for my Corsair SSD to reach my U.S address so I can ship both together.

I'm still waiting for Corsair to release the Accelerator series so that I can give a speed boost to my desktop. Damn them! Why can't they release any earlier? They say in Feb will be out and it nearly the end of Feburary. Any way, Very soon, I'll be able to afford a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII! I'm so excited for it! Looking forward to getting the D800 probably next year or in 2014 so I can shoot stuff that would require a higher megapixel count as well as videos (if needed). Not so keen on the video part.

So recently, my brother got a puppy, a black Labrador to be specific. She's so adorable! But very chompy? She likes to bite, and I recently got a scratch looking mark on my left hand because of her hahaha. She's grown up since I last saw her a couple of weeks ago. This is her



Adorable and very energetic. I can't imagine how would she be like when she's full grown though =/

So yea, recently been feeling unmotivated, and well... I guess I've gotta find motivation in what I do, probably get started on those personal shoots I've been aiming for. I was at the library yesterday and I saw a book on shooting with available light and I realize that I've completely forgotten about shooting available light, since I've been shooting so much with flash, flash has become my available light. So I've decided to find a day to go out after getting my 70-200 with my F5 and D3 to shoot available light only, as little post processing as I can.

Last Saturday I also went for this event, invited by my old classmate Dylis, its called Boot To Aid. Its an event where people go for exercise and like, I guess one can call it pay? But its more of donate and all the proceeds go to SPCA. I went there to shoot since I can't really exercise and well... Its tough shooting without a telephoto lens, but I made do with my 24-70. Will see if I can upload some pictures here as well as my website after I'm done processing them.

I also aim to do a little more photo projects this year, or series rather following a book I borrowed from the library. Along with my portfolio shoot. Would be interesting to see what will I have this year. I hope that the number of photos shot a year would increase from last year. I've been given a project in my NS office and I'm quite excited to see where I can go and what I can do since some of the places are well... Not really accessible to most folks. Will link if I can!

I was recently listening to Switchfoot's "Where I Belong" and the following lyrics made me think:

Until I die I'll sing these songs
On the shores of Babylon
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

Where the weak are finally strong
Where the righteous right the wrongs
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

I thought about those lyrics, and I find that it holds true for me, and I want to see the world change for the better. Too much crap going on and if we're to survive, we have to change what we think, let go of anger and hatred, hold on to respect for each other and kindness will follow. Some food for thought





Till the next time, have a good day everyone!

Some Updates

Hey guys!

So yea... Nothing much to say since nothing much happened recently. I've decided to get a SSD for my laptop as the final upgrade for my aging ASUS F8 which should last me until 2014 when I get my new laptop. Also, I just got a new bag from Targus as my Lowepro looks like it cannot handle my daily usage soon, so I'll just use my Lowepro when I need to carry photographic gear with laptop. The SSD I got is a Corsair Force 3 180GB SSD. I also looked into SSD caching technology which apparently, only OCZ has it and Seagate with its momentus. And I learnt that Corsair is coming up with its own SSD caching set to come out in February. Its February now and still nothing, hope it comes out soon so I can get everything one shot and upgrade my desktop as well! In about a month plus, I'll be able to get my Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII. Will post my thoughts on it after I get it. And recently, my stuff came.


All my stuff



My Outdoor Research Crocodile gaiters



My new poncho, have yet to open to use yet



So interesting, Equinox printed a drawing of a terrapin



My new belt, tough like my SCDF belt, but softer in that it can bend



Those stuff were opened but my mother, then a few days later, I got my paper trimmer.


In the box


Opened



The paper trimmer not really easy to use, not sure why can't I get straight lines, but I'm sure I'll get it sooner or later. That's all for now, will update more once I have more stuff to talk about. Good day everyone!

My thoughts on the Olympus OM-D E-M5

Hey guys!

This post is about my thoughts on the new Olympus OM-D E-M5. Phew! That's a mouthful to say. Its supposedly the pro PEN despite its name being from the Olympus OM film SLRs.


What can I say... It bears a resemblance to the Olympus E-5 as well as its ancestry in the OM series. The front looks ok but I personally hate the back. Too much screen and too little buttons. I have operated the OM cameras before, while they're light and great to use, I can't see myself using them for long periods of time due to their small size which makes operation a little bit tough.



Credits to Imaging Resource


The camera has and OLED tilt screen which isn't too bad, its touch screen as well from what I've seen. It has an EVF, no built in flash (bummer, as I like to use it for wireless flash). It's not much bigger than the OM cameras and with the grip, it looks like I can hold it quite nicely. However, I feel that it won't give the same feeling as using a bigger DSLR and shoot. This camera is weather sealed and probably will be the ultimate upgrade for a hobbyist if I were shooting my family. But as an aspiring professional, there's nothing wrong with it, its just not my cup of tea.


I don't foresee myself getting this anytime soon since my old E-P1 still works just fine, though when the E-P1 is beyond repair and if this camera is going cheap, I may just get it to replace the E-P1, but just as a for fun camera when I hang out with friends, it'll never be able to replace my workhorse at the moment, but whether it will in the future, remains to be seen. I don't have much to say except that this camera is pretty similar to the flagships from Olympus DSLR line except in a smaller package. Whether I'll get it again depends on what goes on in the future. But at the moment, I'll concentrate more on photography rather than camera equipment. Good day everyone!

Thoughts on the Nikon D800

Hey guys,

So this post will just be solely my thoughts on the Nikon D800. What can I say that can't be found all over the internet? Like how the D700 is a smaller D3, the D800 is like a smaller D4, except with a different sensor. But that's just the surface, I expect there's more under the hood then I know or would actually need to know.

Having watched the short video titled "Joyride" below.



Its pretty good. The D800 seems like a good performer. Other than the video, the specs state that natively the camera can shoot from ISO 100 if I'm not wrong, up to ISO 6400, expanded ISO 50 to ISO 25,600. Very impressive. So I thought to myself "hey, 36 megapixels, won't there be a lot of noise? The D3x was rate ISO 100-1600 in native mode and expanded from ISO 50-6400, what gives?

I just saw the noise samples for the D3x at ISO 6400 on DPReview in comparison with the D3. I honestly shoot at ISO 6400 once, most of the time high ISO, I shoot at 1600 and max 3200. The D3x isn't good compared to the D3 at ISO 6400, but its acceptable to me, and the ISO 6400 for the sample D800 image looks better than the ISO 3200 sample image from the D800 but its in different lighting condition so I can't really judge, but from the pictures I saw, and how I use (ISO from 100-3200), the D800 should be good enough for me. D3 used for weddings, events, sports while the D800 used in studio (for whatever cases it is). I don't shoot landscapes though I'd probably will after I learn to drive and have money to travel.

The file size? Huge! I'm was talking to an old friend of mine who studied business and she knows nothing about cameras, so I simplified for her. She told me that I should get the D800 for the video mode since these days, as I explained to her, photographers are expected to do double duty as a videographer though I'm unsure if I'll ever go into videography professionally, but I guess she's right, save up a bit more and get the video, in addition, higher resolution which will be useful when I go back to work at my old job full time.



Credits to Ken Rockwell.com

I think the D800 looks pretty good both on paper and in its performance so far. I'll look forward to getting mine though it'll take probably a year or 2 to get mine since I got to build up my system and lighting setup first. The D800 paired with the D3 suits what I shoot nicely. Your mileage may vary.

Before I forgot, apparently there's a D800E, I haven't seen pictures from it so I can't really comment too much, but I don't want to have to deal with the images taken with a camera without a Optical Low Pass Filter (OLPF) though the images supposedly are sharper. But that's just me, I don't know much about fixing images with false colours and moire.





Like I said, I'll personally get it in a couple of years time. It suits me even if new models come out, like how the D4 is better than the D3 but the D3 suits me just nice. Sure the files will be big, but now we have 3TB hard drives, won't be soon before long that we see even bigger ones. I think this is a great camera. And the video would be a great bonus, and I know how to shoot videos, so the video part isn't a hard learning experience for me. Have a good day everyone!

Some updates

Hey guys!


So recently it has been quiet as I haven't got much things going on. Anyway! Recently some stuff came as well as yesterday. So it'll be a short entry with just some updates on what I got


My stuff from USA a few weeks back



My Under Armour Heatgear socks! Those who are thinking of buying this to wear with combat boots, please don't, it is comfortable and thick, but its extremely long for XL, its like soccer socks,so do think twice! I'd probably buy other socks that are shorter



My pens and belt, still in their packaging


The belt is 54" and its kinda long even for me, so I'd probably get a 50" next time. The pens are great despite being ballpoint!



Canon Platinum Pro a3+ photo paper. Big and heavy, can't print without my trimmer, will print when I have a good picture




My package from Hong Kong which took 3 weeeks! Nuts!



The cheap 3rd party Nikon strap, it feels good except where the webbing is. Its thin, and hard to tie it, I'll never buy 3rd party straps again, I'll just pay more for the original (I don't use the ones given in the box because it has the name of the camera)



Magic Milk straws from Vat19! Splitting them with my sister's friend! So excited to try it!




Stickr Frames, really interesting and cool especially when opened



I didn't expect it to be like a book with the stickers on the page, I thought it'll be like, hanging inside or something.



That's pretty much for my stuff. I just got a letter from MOE that I'm eligible to apply for bursary! Weird thing is, its been almost a year since I graduated and they've only sent me now. But whatever, its good cause of the congratulatory "cert" inside, saying that I'm in the top 25% of my course/stream, I showed good academic performance and conduct. I'm really proud of this cause I felt I earned it!

Nikon D800 is out and I guess after deliberating and talking with an old friend of mine who studied business, I'm getting the D800. Despite the huge file size and the need for more hard disks. The video may be needed in the future. I guess I'll shoot less spams and more quality images with it then. Besides, hard drives are now at 3TB, won't be soon before long that they have even bigger ones! I shall post my thoughts on the D800 this weekend after I look around at the specs, sample images and watch the videos. D800 for studio and landscape (whatever landscape I do, when I go overseas especially) and D3 for events, weddings and others. Both can do good in low light, but D3 for the smaller size unless I absolutely need the resolution.

That's all for now! I can't wait to get my Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII! Its coming next month! Will do my own update when I get it!