Singapore

At long last it was time for my long overdue annual leave.  I spent 3 of the 14 days in Singapore at a Pathology conference.  Singapore is a very small country, a city state of 581km2.  Despite having limited land, Singapore is a country that has been managed very efficiently since its separation from Malaysia in 1965 and has very quickly become one of the so called "Four asian tigers", alongside with South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.  The population is around 5 million, of which only three million are Singaporean. The rest are all foreigners (mostly Malaysians) whose expertise Singapore sees as valuable. In fact, land in Singapore is getting so scarce that they have been running land reclamation, bumping the country's land area to more than 700KM2.

I stayed at a four star hotel called Grand Park Orchard, and yes you have guessed it, it was on Orchard road, one of the busiest streets in Singapore.  The hotel was smack bang in the middle of all action, with two MRT (train) stations within walking distance, i was very happy with the location of the hotel.  The staff members were polite and helpful and the room was modern and clean. Even the bar tender who made me my CC & dry was super friendly.

In Singapore, you can see coexistence of sky scrapers and mature trees and lots of rubbish bins and recycle bins.  Singapore government has very strict rules when it comes to littering with very heavy fines.  Chewing gums are banned in the country.

I found a few swings on Orchard road. I thought that was an interesting concept.

Check out the 7-Eleven at the roadside.

Don't think for a second the weather is always warm and dry......

Like Malaysia, Singapore too is a shopping heaven.  All the labels you want.

Not to forget the yummy Asian food. The dumplings in the next photo were totally awesome.  Thin soft dumpling skin with moist mince pork filling.  Is that yum or what?

After dinner, we took a walk to Marina Bay to look at the magnificent Marina Bay sands hotel.

I found this very interesting water feature. Some call it vortex. My cheeky cousin called it flushing toilet.

Louis Vuitton boutique at the bay.

A clever Water-light show at the bay where images were projected onto a water-mist screen.

The national university hospital looked very new and it was huge.

I had a nice time. Thank you Singapore.

A little boy named Fabian

Photography is a bit like a big playground. Some like to hop on the swing, while others may prefer the see-saw. But you will never know until you have tried 'em all.  When i first picked up a DSLR, i thought landscape photography was my thing.  But i've soon changed my mind.   I have been trying a bit of everything since, from couple shoot to macro, from chinese wedding to random travel photography.  One thing i have always wanted to try is photographing babies.  Anne Geddes makes it look easy, but i knew it is anything but easy.

Finally, i have found a willing model.  On 7th October 2011, my colleague Daniela and Rupert have become proud parents once again when their little boy Fabian was born.  Very handsome little man, good size too at over 4kg.

I got all my gears ready in my bag. Right after lunch, i realised my car battery was flat.  "What bad timing", i yelled to myself.  But thanks to the guys from AA road rescue, my battery got fixed within 30 mins.

After arriving at the house and having a quick look around the living room, i knew the hardest thing would be getting the right light for the kind of exposure I wanted for the photos.  At less than 10 days old, the baby was too young to be brought outdoor.  So i had to work with whatever light that came through the windows and that was not ideal due to the shadows from the window beams and the inconsistent strength of the afternoon sunlight.  Rupert had a set of 500W spotlight but the tone of those lights was a bit on the warm side.  It was a challenge to get the white balance right when I had a combination of natural light and artificial light.  In the end, i bounced the spotlight off the ceiling and white curtains and put a big homemade diffuser against the window to soften the sunlight.

But of course, our young model was not always a willing subject. There was a fair bit of crying.  But there was no crying baby too hard for an awesome mum like Daniela.

Lesson learnt from this photo shoot:

1) Babies have minds of their own. They don't follow your timetable or plan. Be flexible with time.
2) If you are a pure natural light photographer, you may have problem getting the light your need because most baby-shoots will be indoor.  A large reflector is a minimum i think.
3) Always have the mum or dad around. Lets face it, nobody can calm a crying baby down like how a parent can.
4) Bring a macro lens for the detail shots of those cute toes and fingers.
5) A black fabric as backdrop is always a good idea to provide contrast (this will not apply for darker skinned babies).

All Blacks VS Japan

What was the most embarrassing thing for you?  Wardrobe malfunction at the wrong place and wrong time? Walked in on your housemate while he was "occupied"with the girlfriend? For me, it was none of the above.  For me, it was the fact that i have lived in New Zealand for a good 10 years and i had never been to a rugby game.  All of you must be saying in your head, "Shame on you DK".  Rightly so i guess.  Rugby is such a big thing in this country.  Here in New Zealand, rugby is not just a sport, it is a religion.  A religion that people of all ages and races believe in whole heartedly.  To be honest, until today i still do not understand half of the game but i decided i must go to a rugby match anyway, especially when the Rugby world cup is here in the country and the All Blacks are playing.

I was after the ABs vs France match at Eden park stadium but the tickets for that game were sold out long before i even thought of buying.  So i decided to hit "The Tron" (Hamilton) for the ABs vs Japan match.  A friend of mine got the tickets, front row tickets for $160 each. I was thinking we were overcharged for the tickets but the very moment i saw where we were sitting it all became clear.  We were at the very first row.  $160 suddenly sounded like a bargain.

The stadium was packed.  It was a sold out match.  Most of the crowd seemed to be wearing black, presumably ABs fans.  It was another chilly night in The Tron but the sight of the packed stadium and excited crowd channelled that little bit of warmth to everyone there.  At least that was how i felt.  I was extremely excited, not just because it was the first time i was at a match, not because i was at the front row but because i had my DSLR with me, ready to capture all the actions through the 70-300mm VR lens.  I am not a huge fan of sports photography and certainly have very limited experience in that field of photography.  The only sport event i have photographed in the past was Heineken Cup tennis tournament.  I was quite happy with the images i have captured from that tennis game, giving me a false sense of confidence with this rugby game.  It did not take me long to realise i was wrong.  Very wrong.

I am not about to write an full commentary on the whole game.  There are plenty of blogs and websites for that.  Since this is a photoblog, i will be talking about what i have learnt from my attempt to photograph a rugby game.

The game started with the famous Ka Mate Haka.  Then it was all action from there on, and the beginning of my problems.  The ABs were wearing black jersies, not the easiest colour for the Auto focus to catch.  Then it was the speed of the game.  I was sitting at the side of the field and had to lock focus on players sprinting from my right to my left towards the try line.  Everything happened so fast, i found myself too slow with tracking the players.  I started with a single AF point mode but soon decided i could not cope because i was too slow in tracking players manually.  I then switched to the Auto-area AF mode.  The result was slightly better.  However, when it came to massive tackles where players threw themselves onto each other, locking focus on the right person became a bit of a hit and miss story with Auto-area AF mode.

Another problem was the light.  I did not have a pro lens with f2.8 aperture.  My 70-300mm comes with a variable aperture of f4.5-5.6, not exactly a very bright lens.  I cranked my ISO up to 1600 but still struggled with getting enough light to my sensor.  I was reluctant to bump my ISO any higher due to noise.  I had to compensate with lowing my shutter speed and that certainly compromised the sharpness of some of the shots.  That frustrated me a little.  Later on i was advised that i would have been better off dialing the ISO up and clean up the noise in post-processing.  Lesson learnt.

Here are a few of my shots.  Most of these have been cleaned up a little bit with Photoshop.

Ka Mate Haka

And of course we can't forget about the loyal fans.......

Beer & Waffle

Another warm day in Auckland.  It made spring felt like summer.  Warm sunny weather always makes me crave for cold beer.  Hui and i headed down to Mission Bay, a place we haven't been for a while.  There is this Belgium bar called De Fontein.  Apart from a variety of Belgium beer, they also serve some awesome mussels. You have a choice of grilled and steamed.  Yum....

Nikon P300 + 40% sepia tone processing

Nikon P300 + 20% monochrome tone processing

Steamed mussels with Lobster Bisque brandy broth

Nikon P300 + green tint

Rugby world cup Part 2

SATURDAY


10.9.2011, second day of RWC.  Things have quiet down a little, but there was still a small crowd at Queen's wharf.  Since we have missed out on Friday, Hui and I have decided to have a nosey at Queen's wharf and see what is the fuss all about.

It was a warm sunny day.  First thing that caught our eyes were a big white Rugby ball and a huge screen broadcasting live games.  Then i saw the CLOUD.  To me it was just a white enclosed corridor with lots of mega screens in it with a few bars serving cold beers.  It certainly did not look like something that costs more than 9 million dollars.

After a night of shooting fireworks with my DSLR last night i got a bit tired and lazy of lugging a big old camera around town.  So i brought my relatively new Nikon P300 point and shoot with me for a change.  It is pretty small, about the same size as a Canon S95, also cladded in black plastic.  The two major differences between the two cameras are the smaller CMOS censor in my P300 vs Canon S95's larger CCD sensor.  CCD sensor drains the camera battery like there is no tomorrow, leading to a poor battery life.  The battery life in my P300 is much better thanks to the more energy efficient CMOS censor.  The downside is the smaller size of CMOS censor costs the Nikon some points when it comes to depth of field and image noise.  Another difference is the maximum aperture, f1.8 in the Nikon and only f2.0 in the Canon.

Here are some photos taken at Queen's wharf, using the Nikon P300.

Giant Rugby ball

Some of the photos here are straight out from camera while others have had some minor curves adjustment done to them in Aperture 3.  Considering the P300 is a sub NZ$400 point and shoot camera, i reckon the images are pretty good.

Rugby World Cup weekend Part 1

The seventh Rugby world cup is here.  This time, this international event is hosted by nobody but the most rugby-crazed nation, New Zealand.  The last time New Zealand hosted the Rugby world cup, they won the tournament.  Is that a sign or what?

When China hosted the Olympics, they built the "Bird nest".  What have we built in NZ as the RWC host?  We have The Cloud.  The Cloud is a purpose built temporary structure that can home 6000 people.  It is shaped like a twisted corridor, white in colour, hence resembling a long white cloud.  After all New Zealand is supposed to be the land of long white cloud.  Sadly, once you start googling The Cloud, you will find all kind of sick comments on this 9.8million structure. Some said it looks like a piece of used condom. Some say it looks like a giant tape worm.  I prefer to stick to a piece of fluffy white cloud.  What's in the Cloud? There are numerous large screen TV broadcasting all 48 games LIVE. And of course what is a rugby game without a bottle of cold beer? There are plenty of temporary bars selling beverages of your choice.

Outside the Cloud, there are more big screens for people who can't fit in the Cloud.  And there is also the home coming Giant Rugby ball.  I did not know this until now but apparently this giant ball is quite famous and is very well-travelled.  It has been sent to places like Paris, Tokyo, London and Sydney since 2007.  The ball is 25meters long and can accommodate 220 people at any one time.  Once you are inside, you will be treated to a 10 minutes audiovisual show promoting New Zealand's clean and exciting face of tourism.  Admission is free during the RWC.

FRIDAY

RWC 2011 opening falls on the 9 September 2011, a Friday.  The opening act starts at 7:30pm and the kick off at around 8pm.  I did not go to the games but i tried to get to the Cloud. I said i have "tried". That basically means i didn't make it.  I worked 'til 5pm on that Friday. By then the Queen's wharf and the Cloud was already packed to its maximum capacity. In fact it was so packed that the authority had to fence off the whole place and refuse further entries.  Thousands of rugby fans flooded Quay street.  I was carrying my Nikon DSLR and a tripod.  I didn't think setting up my tripod in the middle of a fully packed street was a wise idea.  Why carry a tripod then you may ask. Fireworks!  Not just a few seconds of it.  We are talking at least 3.5 tonnes of fireworks set up at several spots in the CBD, including skytower and on a few barges on the harbour.  I have never photographed fireworks before but i do know it is not an easy job.

By the time my wife and i got ready and had dinner it was just after 7pm.  Most of the good fireworks viewing spots were already packed with people.  I tried getting to Parnell Rose garden but that area was so crowded that i could not find a parking.  After 15 mins driving in circle i gave up.  When i was turning back heading back home, i drove past a very small but slightly elevated park land at the end of Parnell.  This was purely by chance.  When i was driving pass i saw a few people standing there staring at the sky tower in the distance.  That became our fireworks viewing spot for the night.  It was a cold night.  While i was setting up my tripod, Hui got two cups of coffee.

Crowding building up closer to 8pm.

The fireworks started right on time.  It started with small dull sparks but slowly built up in momentum and climaxed with a few big blasts over the harbour.  Sadly, from where i were i could not see the ones from the barges clearly.  It was a very still night with not much wind.  Without the wind, the smokes lingered in the sky after each blast, making everything a bit hazy.  Not ideal really.  There were a few trees in front of the park, obstructing the view.

You can see the hazziness created by the smoke.

LESSON LEARNT

1.  Scout for venue early and pick a spot with unobstructed view of the firework. Be there early.
2.  The presence of water will enhance the vibrance of the colour of the photo (reflection of the firework can be very attractive).
3.  Bringing tripod is a good move.
4.  Bring cable release or remote. If you don't have any, use timer mode to open your shutter.  This can be tricky due to the timing of the firework.
5.  Best aperture is between f8-f16.  For my photos above i used f11.
6.  Overly slow shutter speed may not be the best idea.  Fireworks can often be brighter than you think.  You will end up with an overexposed photo if you open your shutter for too long.  I have done mine with around 10 seconds.
7.  Turn the auto focus off and focus manually.
8.  Wear something warm if you are heading out on a cold night.
9.  Have lots of fun!

WaterMan

We have all heard "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...Superman".  If i am a superhero, people will go, "it's a fish, it's a Merman, it's .... Waterman".  It sounds almost like i am dreaming of becoming Aqua-man.  It is not like that. Let me explain.

I have been rather pre-occupied the past few months.  A lot has happened during this time.  I have sold my house in Hillsborough, but that was not an easy job.  The house market in Auckland has been so sluggish, the house took a while to sell.  And just when i thought it was finally done, a pipe in the automatic dishwasher broke and apparently that happened just prior to the settlement date, at least according to the real estate agent anyway.  The outcome? Major flood in the house.  It was a two stories dwelling with the kitchen on the top level and a guest bedroom directly underneath.  I moved out from the house almost a week prior to the settlement date and had no idea what was going on in that house since then.  According to the realtor,  the water leaked everywhere, soaking through carpets, ripping right through the floor and through the ceiling and made a mess in the downstair bedroom.  Luckily i had house insurance covering all the water damage.  All i had to do in the end was to buy the new owner a new dishwasher.

My wife and i are now renting in Remuera, one of the top surburbs in Auckland.  We are still thinking of moving to Australia in the future, hence the decision of not buying a house for now.  We spent a few days unpacking and settling into our new nest and were feeling quite happy with the location of place.  There is a little creek running along the side of the road with a small bush and wetland  next to it. There are always ducks and Pokekos at the water edge.  Remuera township is just a nice 15 mins walk away where you get a few nice cafes.  Best of all, my workplace is only an easy 5 mins drive or 30 mins walk away.  We are paying $550 per week, which is pretty reasonable for a big-gish three bedroom in a top Auckland surburb. Well, at least that was what we thought until a series of "water-accidents" happened.

In the 3rd week in our new rental home, one night just before bedtime, i was feeling hungry.  I went to the kitchen for a piece of toast, only to see water running from the kitchen ceiling into the pantry and streaming onto the kitchen floor.  It was close to midnight, too late to ring anyone.  So i placed several buckets around the kitchen to collect the dripping water and cleared out the whole pantry.  It was a frustrating situation considering we have just spent days unpacking.  We subsequently found out it was a bathroom pipe that has burst in the neighbour's house upstairs.  It took them close to two weeks to fix the problem.

Sounds pretty trivial and uninteresting so far?  There is more.  It was a Wednesday, 3rd August 2011.  A rainy Wednesday night to be exact.  New Zealand is generally a very wet country with high rainfall during this time of the year.  It rained straight through the night that Wednesday.  There is only one off street car park at our house.  That means one of our cars would need to go on the street.  And as you know, the lady always gets the pick.  My wife gets the nice carport while i parked on the street.  The rain poured heavily on the roof and the tiles on the courtyard, making a hypnotising drumming noise.  I slept soundly that night until a frantic siren from the street woke me.  I looked at the clock, it was almost six in the morning.  It was still very dark outside.  The rain has faded into a light intermittent drizzle but it was freezing on the street.  I contemplated for a while and decided i should go have a look on the street, especially after my recent experience of having my car stolen.  Once i stepped out the door, even before i managed to locate the source of the siren, i knew what was wrong.  The answer was right in front of me.  The siren was not from a car crash and there was no dodgy character on the street to suggest a theft.  What i did see was a tarmac cladded road that has been transformed into a river.  The overnight rain has turned the benign little creek across the road into a furious river spilling muddy water onto the road, causing a flood.  I had a Subaru Legacy, boasting 240 horse power from a 3000cc natural aspirated boxer six.  Sounds like a beast of a car.  But surrounded by the water, this lion of a car looked like a helpless pussy cat trapped on a driftwood floating in the middle of the sea.  The water soaked up half of the wheel, beyond the level of the lower border of the door.  I knew that meant bad news.  I went back in, hopped out of my PJ and into my shorts and a pair of slipper.  Ignoring the cold, i stepped into the water and waddled carefully towards my car, being a bit wary of what i could be stepping on in the muddy water.  I opened my car door and saw water pooling in the footwell of the driver seat.  I knew i had to do something to "save my car".  I started the engine and with a slight gurgle, the engine fired up.  I drove slowly down the road and parked my car at the end  of the road, where the it was dry.  That was pretty much the end of life for my car.  She did not survive the water damage.  After a careful examination by the panel beater and insurance assessor, it was thought the water damage was too extensive and has affected the cables and possibly the car's computer (ECU).  The worse thing was that the water from the creek came from the sea.  Salt water translates into corrosion and rust in the future.

I bid my car farewell and could not stopped pondering my recent run of bad luck.  The interesting thing was every time something bad happened to me it had something to do with water.  I have had various theories offered by colleagues and friends.  Some said i must be a Merman in my last life.  Some said i must have angered the sea god.  Some said i may be a descendant of Poseidon.  I couldn't decide.  Is Merman better or does the son of Poseidon sound more cool?  After a quick google i found out that the Greek god of the sea Poseidon was a bit of a player who has fathered countless children with different woman.  According Greek Mythology, one of his sons is a Merman and his name was Triton.

Anyway, i thought i'd share some photos of the flood.  They were taken one hour after i have found my car in the water.  By that time the rain has stopped and the water was starting to recede.  These were taken in semi darkness with my Nikon P300 point and shoot camera.  I did not want to use my D90 DSLR, in case i drop it into the muddy water on the road.  I thought that was a fairly reasonable concern considering my recent luck with water.

Portland road flood August 2011

Moral of the story?  Show some respect for water.  They can be gentle and pleasant most of the time but not all the time.  I now keep two pairs of gum boots at home so that i don't have to get stranded at home when the road gets flooded.