By , 30/06/2010 11:30 am
I’m not kidding you. That was the announcement when we reached the top of the Flyer. The caucasians around us snickered and we felt embarrassed.
Lydia and I were up the Flyer yesterday celebrating our ‘proposal’ anniversary. Yes it has been a year since I proposed to her in Paris. So we thought we’d do something we haven’t done together before. Well, and also we had free tickets. That was the main point actually. We waited till the very last moment…just before the tickets expired and perhaps get a less constructed view of the bay. As it stands, there was still plenty of construction. But we had the satisfaction of getting a free ride.
Well, here’s a view from the ‘top of the world’, a panorama assembled from 7 images in Photoshop (Click to enlarge). You can see that the bottom right is disjointed. That was due to the flyer movement as I panned from left to right.
By , 26/06/2010 12:08 pm
Today we’re gonna attempt the second part of our DIY project. Since Lydia is having her trial makeup with Samantha, the opportunists in us decided to continue to do a shoot after that. Good news: Since our wedding will be at ACM, we’re allowed to shoot inside. Yippee! Bad news: the ACM has open house today. Crowds!! We don’t really know what’s gonna happen later but we’ll take it as it comes.
We have our good friends Oon and Val to help us. It’ll be pretty much be the same setup. Camera on tripod, creative direction by me, the finger by Oon. I think we’ll have a blast! So if you’re gonna be around the ACM, come over to say hi! We’ll be there from 5 onwards.
By , 22/06/2010 2:59 pm
Ok so here it is. After fiddling with my new purchase, 100mm f2.8L Macro, I took this shot. Nothing really fantastic except I shot it at 1/15s handheld. I’d say it’s pretty sharp, with the IS working just fine. Conditions were less than ideal. Muted window light only from the back, I overexposed +1EV and used f7.1. Can’t get more depth of field without getting movement blur in the image.
And yes if you’re wondering, the bigger ring is for my finger and the other one’s for Lydia. 
By , 22/06/2010 12:37 am
Added this baby to my arsenal this evening. I shoot with mainly prime lenses these days and the 100mm range is ideal for portraits. Plus the macro part is actually the deal clincher. I don’t shoot a lot of macro photography but when I want to shoot details and food, not having a macro lens is a pain. I was using extension tubes for macro work all this while but outside the studio, it’s a pain to setup.
So new toy = new pictures to shoot. I fired a few test shots with this lens and I’m impressed with the speed. I’ve used the older non-L version before so this new lens is quite a jump. Focusing is very fast considering the elements having to travel from 1:1 range to infinity. Of course, selecting the range with the selector switch helps reduce the ‘hunting’ time.
I wished the aperture is bigger than the f2.8 though. The IS really helps in low light but only to reduce camera shake. Moving subjects would be a problem at shutter speeds as low as 1/15s. I’m planning to use this for portraits mostly and the occasional macro work. Looking forward to using this lens the next few days.
By , 09/06/2010 9:58 am
Just checking in to inform everyone that I’m still alive although my blogging is real slow. It’s no joke shooting weddings, corporate and commercial assignments over these few weeks plus planning a wedding! That kinda leaves not much time to breathe. Well, expect more pictures up on my blog soon…hopefully!
So far, I’m really glad I retired my 1D and got the 5D. Shooting with two 5Ds and not having to decide which lens to put on which camera leaves me more time to shoot. I’ve made mistakes like mounting my 35mm F1.4 on the 1D and 50mm F1.4 on the 5D. And then finding out that both are the same because of the 1.3X FOV of the 1D. Duh! Plus both 5Ds are light and gives me more maneuverability. I’m really enjoying this!
My June 26 Workshop still has space for more. So do sign up quick! Learn to use your camera’s functions well and also learn from critique of other images.
Recently I was asked if there’s any ‘cheat sheet’ for figuring out exposures. Especially if you’re not planning to do any further processing, this may help:
1. If you’re shooting white or bright objects which fill a significant part of the frame, pump up the exposure. If in Av mode, increase the EV by opening the aperture until the meter is on the plus side. If in M mode, adjust either the aperture or shutter speed to get the meter to be in the plus side. Reason being, the camera is not very smart and will try to average a scene. So if you’re shooting snow, it’ll look gray.
2. Vice-versa dark objects. Make sure you underexpose it. The image below was shot at -2EV. Without the exposure compensation, the suit will look gray and the flower completely white.
3. If you’re not comfortable and quick when using the M mode, consider using Av. I’ve met plenty of beginners using M mode and that surprised me. Personally I think the full control is good but if you want to grab quick shots, isn’t it easier to change one variable rather than two? This is just a matter of preference though. I use Av outside the studio.
Just shot a ROM yesterday in which the bride walked in with her two brothers. I felt it was a really sweet moment and thought I’d share this with you. If lighting conditions change rapidly I have to worry about both focusing and exposure reading. Here, I used Av, set at F1.8 and just concentrated on focusing. Focusing was already hard enough with such shallow depth of field. I wanted to blur out the background as much as possible.
More to come…
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