BlogMunch

Separate ventures for the year…

(Credit: NDH) 

As I was saying last time about renewal of my old domains, I finally did renew the domain that I think worth keeping. In addition to that, I bought three new domain for three separate ventures for the year.

I got round to buying the domain (.com) for my actual name. Which if you do a bit of research, you should know the name of the domain. Since I am taking up digital photography as a hobby, I will be using that domain as my personal photoblog. Those one photo a day type.

I did some research for the right template for this photoblog. I find that Wordpress very few themes specially for photoblogs and to set it up properly requires various plugins and customizations. As per all Wordpress blogs. The research led me to Pixelpost. This is a blog software specifically for photoblog. Although like Wordpress, it has addons and templates to choose from, its vanilla install is fully capable to  display your photos as a professional photoblog. Highly recommended.

For my second and third domain, its much more simple. One of them I would like to make a Single Serving Site (SSS). Click on the link or google it to learn more about it. This type of site I first heard about in the podcast for stackoverflow.com. I am not even sure why I listen to that podcast as I know nada about programming. But the eleven episodes cover a lot of concepts and I really learn alot. Quite entertaining too. Anyway, I want to built a SSS as I want to try out web app development. I am always curious about programming and a basic SSS should be good practice for me. We’ll see. I will link it here if ever I finish it. Expectation alert: My SSS will not scored high on originality.

Last one will not be a surprise. It will be another BANS domain. This time, I will concentrate on this one site and develop it fully before I move on to make another BANS site. That’s what I found after one months of testing BANS. You NEED to promote your site properly to expect any traffic.

There, this will be another busy year before another round of domain renewal comes around.

Upgrade my Photo Equipment…Part 2

Well, the last picture from my previous post is a bit misleading. Obviously it is a Sony DSLR. But from this DSLR body, there are 3 Sony models. Namely, the A200, A300 and the A350. The difference between them is the megapixels and Live View.

During the IT Show in March, I got very interested in the in the Sony A series. I got a feel of it and the shutter really click with me (pun intended).  I test out the Live view that is getting rave reviews on the web. It works great. It is almost like using a compact camera. For those who don’t know, it is quite difficult to get live view on DSLR because of the mirror. So Sony solved this by adding an additional sensor for the live view.

But since only the A350 and A200 is out then (I would really like the A300, best of both worlds), I decide to get the A200. First, I would like to train myself to use the view finder. Second, I don’t need the 14 MP on the A350. Lastly, with the extra money saved, I am able to buy the A200 with the 2 lens kit. The 18-70mm and 70-300mm.

As this is not a technical review, I will leave out all the other tech stuff for other professional reviewers. Just a few thoughts after using it for a couple of months.

As Sony have eaten up Minolta, now all Sony DSLR are compatible with all the previous Minolta lens. The BBB (buy, buy, buy) virus has infected me to buy a third lens. It’s the 50/1.7 prime lens.My favourite lens now. It’s a bit slow focusing and at wide angle, its soft, but at 2.8 above, I got great portraits of my kids.

The in-body image stabilization (Super Steady Shot) works so well that I never off it while shooting. It allows me to take sharp pictures at 1/30 shutter speed. Another feature that I use often especially during the middle of the day where shadows are cast is the D-Range Optimizer (DRO). It helps to open up the shadows while keeping the highlights. Just take note not to use it in high ISO range, the noise is really bad. Speaking of high ISO, I am able to get good pictures for printing at ISO1600. Below are 2 pictures I took while bringing my kids to the Zoo.

Overall, I am glad to upgrade to the A200. My F30 is not able to keep up with my kids and now the A200 can. But with them speeding up day by day, I am sure within the next 2 years, I will need to upgrade my equipment again.

See you then…

upgrade my photo equipment…Part 1

You might have wonder what I am up to these few months that I stop blogging. Well, I sort of take up photography. Not that I have my virgin camera for the first time, but I bought a DSLR (Digital Single Reflex Camera) to upgrade myself from the amateur photographer to an enthusiast photography.

I own the legendary Fuji Finepix F30 (look at some of the reviews and pics from dpreview if you  don’t believe me) before my current DSLR. Fuji abandoned the megapixels race to create this neat little camera which have excellent high ISO performance, normally only found in DSLRs.

Looking at my snaps, even the ISO 1600s is usable if you are only printing 4R photo. The noise control in the F30 is so  good that its ISO 400 looks like most ISO 100 pics for all camera at that time. Sadly, Fuji cannot withstand the the lure of the megapixels race and have since produce higher megapix camera (F50fd) that is not as good as the Legend.

So the next step up will be a DSLR. If you have read any information on choosing a DSLR, most would have recommend the big 2. Nikon and Canon. The reason is not mainly of fanaticism (though each group is quite protective to their brands), but of adaptability.

It is often said, when you buy a DSLR, you are actually buying into the family. All the different types of lens, flashes, remote control, teleconvertor, etc. Especially the lens. This is an area where the second hand market is very important. If you search carefully, you will be able to find mint lens floating around ebay less than half the price of the new ones. And they are extremely usable.

At the period which I decide to buy a DSLR, budget is important to me. So some of the models I look at is:

• Nikon D60
• Nikon D80
• Canon 450D (not out at that time)
• Pentax K200D
• Olympus E-510

It so happens that there is a IT Show in Singapore at that time, So I was able to hands on on each camera to have a feel. After dancing around the area, guess which DSLR I am holding now? Here’s a picture of it. More on it next time….

The Art of Photography

I am an amateur photographer whose subjects are normally my two twins’ kids. So I am trying to improve my photographing skills to take better photos. My weapon of choice is the Fuji Finepix F30.

Most of the online tutorials focused on the post-processing part of the digital workflow. Although I admit that there are useful skills to be learn in post-processing digital photos and can produce wondrous results, it is just too time intensive.

Designing a Photograph: Visual Techniques for Making Your Photographs Work
Bill Smith

Approaching Photography: ‘A Seminal Work…Revised and Updated’
Paul Hill

These are two books that I borrowed from my local library and I devoured them within one week.

“Designing a Photograph” first focuses on concepts of looking at a photograph to study what makes a photograph tick. A few tips that I like include:

1. Selective focusing to isolate a subject,
2. Subject/background relationship to define the photos,
3. Grouping of elements by similar shapes.

The second part uses visual exercises to teach you to LOOK before you SEE. As I am mostly photographing moving children, exercises like:

1. Viewing different angles to find a fresh perspective,
2. Moving in closer to the subject to subtract out distracting background,
3. Using motion to get a sense of speed and drama.

help me get fresh photos of my kids instead of the same old dull angle I took every time.

“Approaching Photography” inspired me differently. It offers you the ‘language’ of photography. And what a beautiful language it is, almost like a poem. All the photos chosen by the book communicated to you emotionally. I think the take-home message for this book is beautifully summarized in the first sentences of the book’s introduction.

“Photography is not about focal lengths, film speeds and f-stops, it is about images: what you point the camera at, what you include within its viewfinder, what image you make into print, and what context you place that photograph in.”
Paul Hill

I have learned a lot from these two books and I hope to be able to apply them.

Now, where are my test subjects?

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