This video shows how the setup is done.

And finally the end result at 30 frames per second.

The solution is to use a rubberized surface to provide grip on the ridges in the front of the filter.

Click to hear the 2 parts of the radio interview

Microsoft Photo360 Competition part 1/2

Microsoft Photo360 Competition part 2/2

John Fernandes & Myself before we started the interview

The video can also be seen on my public profile on Facebook.

I also had the pleasure of having the brand new Leica M9, Noctilux-M 50mm F0.95 and the Summicron-M 28mm F2.0 worth a total of S$30k to ‘test’ during their wedding.

I only had 1 day before the wedding to familiarise myself with the Leica digital rangefinder and the extremely thin focus of the F0.95 lens.

Started with the easier to handle 28mm.

Then I switched to the Noctilux 50mm which costs S$16k on it’s own.

Noticed the beautiful morning light from the window and got Fann to sit near it. Focus was really thin at F0.95. I could close the aperture down to F2.0 and get the necklace more in focus, but my Nikon 85mm F1.4 lens would have been able to easily do that at 10% of that price and would not achieve the beautiful bokeh (background blurring) that this image gives. At the minimum focus distance of 1 meter, the depth of focus is just a few millimeters.

If you move furthur away, focus becomes much easier.

F0.95 is too thin for fast moving events and would require the subject to remain at a certain distance for a while. Takes me about 4-5 seconds to get focused manually vs a split second on my normal camera. For the tea ceremony, I switched back to the 28mm and tested against a backlit window.

For more wedding photos of Christopher Lee (Li Mingshun) & Fann Wong (Fan Wenfang), head to http://bit.ly/christopher_fann

Performers entertained the crowd as they approached the Singapore Flyer

An interview with BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica

We watched other races in the afternoon like the Porsche cup.

Lewis Hamilton takes a lap before the race starts.

The Singapore Flyer had a cool party going on at the platform on the 1st floor with a huge screen to keep updates with the race.

Love the neon against the setting sky.

Lucky to catch the sparks .. pity about the fence.

I brought along the new Samsung ST550 dual LCD camera. And did a test in ‘Smart Auto’ mode while panning the camera. It handled balancing the flash & ambient light pretty well. I’m quite impressed.

Lewis Hamilton on his final lap winning the Singapore Grand Prix 2009.

Photography technologies and equipment have improved dramatically since then as well. I brought my D3 along with the 200mm F2 lens to the bird park one morning and tried to see if there was a difference compared to a few years ago.

During my hobbyist days, I used to start early at the Jungle Jewels aviary trying to capture the hummingbirds, honeycreepers and the elusive yellow-hooded blackbirds.  Despite Dr Minerva’s advice to start at the waterfall aviary, I still visited my old haunt the Jungle Jewels first. However I quicky realised that it wasn’t as vibrant in the mornings as it used to be and promptly headed to the Waterfall Aviary.

The birds had their first feed at about 8.45am and they took turns flying to the dish to get their food. This was easy, I just had to find a good background and set the tripod up to wait for them to come. I caught a nice shot of a Livingstone Turaco posing for the camera.

I found this pair of crowned cranes looking for their breakfast along one of the side routes and started tracking them. I They didn’t move fast, but composition was important and I ditched the tripod and went handheld for more mobility.

I headed towards the hawk aviary for the show at 10am. I used to have a lot of problems catching flying shots of the hawks during the show with my Sony F505. The hawks were so fast I had to pre-focus and trigger when they passed the focus point. I probably got only 1 usable shot among the dozens of times I was at the hawk show those days.

This time, due to a combination of experience, fast focusing camera and a fast lens, I ended up with several decent shots during the show. This was my favourite among them.

After the hawk show, I headed to the SouthEast Asian Aviary.. not too bad but I’ve shot these birds to death. So I did a very quick round.

And headed to the 11am main show which I waited for the macaws to fly through the hoops.

After the show, I walked around to the kingfishers, kookaburras, scarlet ibis, crowned pigeons, kites and had some good shots there..

other shots may be found on my facebook album.

I haven’t been to the Lory Aviary since it was ready. On the left of the entrance, there were water sprays to let the lories cool down in the afternoon sun and found a pair playing around.

I headed to the pelican chit chat and got some shots, but they were too cluttered together to get a nice shot for my taste. So I headed down nearer the lake and started shooting birds flying and landing.

Last round was at 2.30pm for the bee eaters feeding. The carmine bee eaters were too deft and too small to properly acquire perfect focus. But I was happy to get a good shot of a Blue-bellied Roller with a catch in it’s mouth.

It was really tiring.. I was no longer as fit as I used to be.. and hand holding the 200mm F2 for most of the day was no joke.. The tiring part was actually having to carry around the bag and tripod when I didn’t really use them! Next time I should just leave them in the car.

Oh… and for those who shoot avian creatures often, you’ll be familiar with bird droppings.. no surprises at all that I got them on my hands, shirt & hair.. but I had to get one on my lens!!! Note to self: Remember to bring wet tissue next time! I used to bring along, but I guess I haven’t been doing this for a long time and I’ve missed out packing some essential stuff!

I miss these shitty days!

More shots posted on my facebook album

I’ve just started a Facebook Page for Photography Classes. Please add yourself there if you’re keen on the classes.

Each class is 3 hrs each, once per week.

$240 for 4 classes: Beginners PNS (Point & Shoot) Course
$240 for 4 classes: Beginners DSLR Course
$600 for 8 classes: Intermediate DSLR Course
$600 for 8 classes: Advanced DSLR Course

These are tentative so far and will be tweaked based on response.

I’ll be collating the photography syllabus topics here.

* Intro
Artistic vs Technical Photographer
Film vs Digital

* Math
Megapixels Debunked
Pixel > Inch calculations

* Hardware
Point & Shoot
Camera Settings
Colour Modes

* Colour
White Balance

* Exposure
Modes: PASM
Aperture Priority
Shutter Priority
ISO
EV
Metering (Spot, Centre, Matrix)
Bracketing

* Focus
Depth of Field (Bokeh)
Focus Methods
Lenses
Bubble of Focus

* Composition
Rules of Thirds
Leading Lines

* Flash photography
On camera flash vs Flash Attachments vs Studio Strobes
Flash: Balancing Light Ratios
Flash: Bounce/Diffusion devices
Flash: Gels

* Working with natural light
Reflectors

* Genres of Photography
Sports Photography
Portrait Photography
Event Photography
Travel Photography
Product Photography
Night Photography
Macro Photography
Interior/Architecture Photography
Food Photography

* Studio Photography
Umbrellas, Grids, Barn Doors, Snoots, Soft Boxes etc

* Physics of Photography
Physics of Light
Quality of Light
Magic Time

* Post Processing
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Lightroom
JPG vs TIF vs RAW
EXIF