Christmas Carols on a Rainy Night.

It was a good time catching up with friends and making some new ones. Also took my brand new Canon EOS 50D camera on its 2nd social outing today (the 1st was a wedding of a colleague) . Anyways, it was a good chance to try out the flash metering system, which I must comment is a whole lot better that the 400D.

It was a rainy night, had been raining the whole day. After dinner and Christmas carols, we went out to the neighbourhood to watch the houses of neighbours who had decorated their properties with lights and moving dolls. Some of them with mechnical movements depicted scenes of the birth of Jesus.


The really fun thing however, besides taking photos of food and people and basically giving the camera a good try out, was the fact that I could take the camera out in the light rain and basically give this semi weather sealed camera a good try out. I also then hone my skills in handling myself and this camera at night, in the dark and in the rain.



We sure had a good time with the food and company. Plus I got to chat with a budding photographer who had just got his first external flash. Gave him a few tips on how to use bounce flash and how to avoid shadows below the eyes. .... use a catch light.

Friends & The Passion of Photography

Ran into a friend and fellow photographer today while out on lunch. We had a good few minutes chatting and what a refreshing chat it was. We caught up on what each other was doing in areas of our lives and especially on what we've been learning in photography and the paid jobs we've had the opportunity to do and how we got those jobs and how much we change and so on... basically sharing business know-how and sharing about our lives.

You'll understanding why I found that chat so refreshing when I put things into perspective. You see, last week I had a really bad experience with a fellow photographer and friend, whom I have known for a few years. But lately, he'd become dodgy and basically keeps to himself especially when it comes to a lot of the freelance work he does. His attitude seems changed and he now "keeps all the cards close to his chest" so to speak. While on the other hand I have always kept him in the loop concerning a lot of the shoots I do and what I've learnt out of them.

Whats more, while I'm basically straight talking and share a lot of my results from the photography and camera tests that I do and I often lament the equipment that I use and complain where I feel they are lacking, this photography friend of mine seems unable to accept what I say and even called me a "fanboy" the other day. Which seems strange because while I often complain about things I find in brands other that the one I normally use, I often give hell to the brand of camera that I do use when I find that something is amiss. Simply because I like to have high expectations.

I think that when you share what you know with people who are likewise open and forthcoming like yourself, one gains from the other people's experience and knowledge and other people gain from yours. I feel like a fool when people just take and don't share anything in return. So that's why when I met my friend today, the conversation was so so refreshing. Unlike getting questions and queries dodged from that other guy, this friend of mine was really nice forthcoming and told me straight up what he knew.

Most of us are not dumb, we weren't born yesterday. We are kinda able to tell if someone is being upfront or dodgy. While I can smell a rat when there's one. I can also smell the roses when they are around. The roses is what makes photography interesting, fresh, and helps keep my creativity. I guess the lesson I've learnt is for me is to find and keep the right kind of friends and colleagues. The ones that help you maintain your passion.

Brilliant Video on the Nikon D3x

This is BRILLIANT. Absolutely brilliant. You have to watch this. It had me laughing so hard, I haven't laughed so much on a subject like this before. MUST WATCH.

HERE.

Skyhigh Dinner

A few weeks ago, we had a gathering of photography club members at Skyhigh restaurant. It was a thank you, the first of its kind since the club was started. For many of us it was a long overdue gesture to show appreciation for the many dozens of hours many of us put in in supporting the club, its activities, and also offering a free service to the many clubs, societies and official university activities.

The bill for the dinner was of course taken up by the club's coffers.... so needless to say, we ordered up a riot....



And where the club members go.... the gear gets brought along too:


Feeling the ambience:



By the way, except the first photo, the all shown here are taken with the new Canon G10. Incidentally, it was the smallest camera there that night, wasn't an SLR and the one with the highest mega-pixels. Of course, the G10 also offers excellent image quality for a camera with a sensor its size.


Did I already mention these were taken with a G10?


I love my new little camera.
...

Best Business Practices for Photographers

A free online e-book has been put up by Amazon on AmazonOnlineReader. Entitled, "Best Business Practices for Photographers." It helps photographers fine-tune their business and shows them what they should be focusing their attention on. It even includes a chapter on how to balance your life with your passion for photography and how to make it all work with you.

The e-book is even searchable. You can search it or simply read it from cover to cover. I hope to spend some time reading it soon and I'm sure there's much to learn from this book.

The D3x - Priced beyond market reality?

Well, Nikon's newly announced D3x digital SLR camera is really causing a storm on the internet. With its US$8000 price tag, people like Nikon expert Thom Hogan, all-round photography expert and ex-CEO of IT companies Michael Reichmann and photography clown and maverick Ken Rockwell are all basically saying the US$8000 price tag is out of touch with reality.

Nikon is trying to be like Canon to milk the market with a US$8000 cam. Problem is they are a couple of years too late. Tough luck.

Having said that, here are the Nikon D3x sample pics from Nikon.

They look really good. I'm not just talking about the exposure and color rendition... but look at the corners and edges.... there's almost no distortion or corner softness to speak off.

Canon better be coming out with some good lenses to do some justice to the new 5D Mark II. That new lens plant better be churning out good glass next year and Canon's QC had better be up to scratch cos we're getting our bums kicked here. Nikon's overall market share grew by 333%.... gosh. I wonder if Canon lost market share....

Thought I'll post this before the Canon 5D Mark II Becomes Available...

Here's me trying it out at an exclusive launch back in October 2008... pretty ZZZzz now.... so going to sleep.

And here's another with the Canon EF 200mm f2.0 L IS Lens. According to Chuck Westfall of Canon USA, it has an advanced IS that can be left on while on a tripod. The IS even compensates for mirror bounce. In terms of image quality, this is possibly Canon's BEST Lens bar none. An altogether fabulous lens I must say.