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.

Aussie getaway Part II

Australia trip Autumn 2011
Chapter 2:  Sunny Sydney

After Melbourne, we took a flight to Sydney.  We flew with budget airline Tiger airway.  Tiger airway is well known for their cancelled or late flights.  To our surprise, our flight was on time.  The waiting terminal was small and crowded.  They seem to have too few boarding gates for the number of flights they have planned.  Things got a bit messy with several groups of people on different flights waiting at the same gate.  But apart from that things went according to plan.

The flight took about 1.5 hour.  I vividly remember the air hostess dressed in a tight white shirt, black pants and a thick belt with tiger skin print on it.  She yelled at passengers who have failed to have their window blinds fully open during take off.  The tiger print belt and tight shirt all sounded pretty sexy but somehow it did not really work for her.  She was quite a big lady too.

We have lots of friends in Sydney, who offered their homes as free accomodation.  We stayed with a friend who owns a city fringe apartment at Waterloo, a surburb that is a 20 minutes bus ride from city.

 The first place we visited was the iconic opera house, a must see when you visit Sydney.  From Waterloo, we took a bus to Circular Quay, which is right next to the Opera house.  Sydney was a lot warmer than gloomy Melbourne.  The sun was up high, warming up the harbour right from the early morning.

Everyone was feeling warm and happy.  A treat after few days of cold wind in Melbourne.  Happy people make good models......

My brother in law and his girlfriend went for a thrilling jet boat ride at Sydney harbour. They came back all drenched.

Very quickly came lunch time. We met up with a friend who brought us Yum Cha. The local always knows best where to go for good food.

The next day, we took a ferry to Sydney's Taronga zoo.  The zoo has  been operating for years, since 1916.  It is built on 21 hectres of land.  It is located in a surburb called Mosman.  You can drive there if you want to but we thought ferry was a good idea because it gave us an opportunity to have a nice view of the city and opera house while on the ferry, as you can see in the following photo.

The ferry made a quick stop at Fort Denison, a fort built on a small island, just north of the Sydney harbour.  It was first built as a penal site to house convicts.  Armed with canons, it was also used as a defense facility, against foreign vessels.  Today, it is merely a tourist attraction and a cafe.

Toranga zoo in my opinion was smaller than i expected. It certainly felt much smaller than Auckland zoo, which i like a lot.  The weather on that day was extremely warm.  We were dehydrated and exhausted by the end of the visit.  Highlight of the zoo trip must be seeing Koalas and the seal show.

The next day we, we spent our day at Rocks.  The market was on and buzzing with people.  We had morning tea at a french cafe called La Renaissance, tasting different cakes and tartlets.

La Renaissance has a neat little backyard where you can sit quietly, away from the buzzing crowd from  the market.  I got a cup of Mocha and a serving of Le Roi Soleil, a rich tartlet infused with Mango and garnished with golden chocolate chips, absolutely yummy.

Le Roi Soleil

I found an interesting item at the market. Have a look at the photo below and guess what it is.

If you have guessed kangaroo's testicles you are right. They bring good luck apparently. None of us bought any.

For the photo above i was trying to boost the melancholic feeling that autumn brings.  I added a hue/saturation layer, switched on the colorize mode and turns on a yellow hue. I then adjust the opacity of the layer to achieve the tone i wanted.  Lastly, i added another layer, this time a level layer. A little tweak of levels gave the photo more definition.

For the photo above, i deliberately over expose the photo a little bit.  I then added a gradient map layer, followed by a generous tweak of level adjustment to turn the trees and birds to ink black.  Here i have actually added another duplicate layer and i have done a gentle Gaussian blur on it.  If you want to create a very dreamy feel you can to be more aggressive with the blurring.  But i have chosen to go gentle on it.

I have enjoyed my vacation.  It is always hard to get back to work after such a nice holiday.  I hope you have enjoyed my photo journey with me.  Stay tuned for more of my future blog.