Would love your comments...

Hi! Would very much appreciate your comments - do look through the blog (click on the '2008' of the archives section on the left) - and tell me what you like or hate about the pictures. Sometimes I have specific questions on certain pictures, so do share your thoughts and opinions and help me improve. Thanks!

Walk the dog 2

Walk the dog

From cyjs photoblog

Green, red, white

From cyjs photoblog

Life on a wing

From cyjs photoblog

Cello

ISO: 800 Exposure: 1/8 sec Aperture: f/5.6 Focal Length: 250mm

Cameras are not usually allowed at a concert so this is a kind of a rare shot. To avoid disturbing others or the musicians, I discreetly used the live view and shot in silent mode. Being totally unprepared, the other shots were all too slow and blurred. This is the only presentable one - a closeup of the beautiful wood of this cello.

F/1.8

Got my hands on the 50mm F/1.8 lens and I really like the shallow DOF effect and the sharpness.

From 2008_09_30 Adele and Loretta

I took just one shot of this salad and it actually looks better than in real life!

From 2008_09_30 Adele and Loretta

Another experiment shooting food.

From 2008_09_30 Adele and Loretta

The focus is a little off on this one, but I like the detail in the sand. There was no sharpening added at all.

From 2008_09_30 Adele and Loretta

But what I really like on this lens are the portrait shots. Everything in the background thrown out of focus. It's so nice to be able to focus the attention like that, and the 80mm equivalent FL is just nice for portrait work.

From 2008_09_30 Adele and Loretta

I captured this shot just as we were walking at a shopping mall. The colour of the wall just complimented her clothes and the highlights in her hair added depth.

From 2008_09_30 Adele and LorettaISO: 800 Exposure: 1/25 sec Aperture: f/1.8 Focal Length: 50mm

For night shots, I found that the fast lens was somehow not fast enough, such as this shot at ISO800. The auto-shutter speed was 1/25, which was very slow and introduced lots of motion blur (had to sharpen it in photoshop). Will use shutter priority next time to try to freeze the action and reduce camera shake.


I've noticed some issues with focusing and reading from the web, it seems that others experience this too. I need to experiment more, but for critical sharpness, I will try switching to manual focusing coupled with Live view mode to see what I can get. Despite all this, based on the portrait shots and the $100 price, I really like this lens.

F1 Night

A belated post.. had not had time to post photos recently, but I had a chance to experience the thrill of F1 engines 2 weeks ago. It was great. I had the lucky opportunity to take in some sights and sounds from the rooftop of the Asian Civilisations Museum, but unfortunately was not close enough to get any good pictures of the cars. At full zoom, the pictures were either too blurry or too dim to use. What I have are some other sights:

From 2008_09_26 F1

Decided to use a square format here, showing the grandstand and the Singapore Flyer

From 2008_09_26 F1

The Esplanade roof against other buildings here makes for a beautiful urban pic.

From 2008_09_26 F1

The only shots I could get from my vantage point were stuff like this.

From 2008_09_26 F1

Some other views from the night...

From 2008_09_26 F1

And a lovely view of the lit-up Cavanagh Bridge and Fullerton Hotel.