Happy Chinese New Year!

Wishing everyone  GONG XI FA CHAI! May the year of the RAT brings you prosperity,health and wealth.

Jurong Bird Park, Singapore.

Had a free afternoon while working in Singapore and headed for the Jurong Bird Park. Since my 24-70mm F2.8 is undergoing repair I only had the 70-200mm F4 IS L so it's a good oppurtunity to get some images and it turn out to be a very productive afternoon. Getting there using public transport (MRT to Boon Lay followed by Bus 194) from the CBD was pretty easy. Entrance was SGD18 for adult. The park is a must visit place if you are in Singapore andthe highlight of the visit for me was Bird of Prey show. It was really exciting to see hawks,eagles and vultures swoop overhead the audience! View album here.

Bako National Park

Last weekend I made a day trip to the Bako National Park. Thought I' d be lucky enough to shoot (photograph) the 'orang belanda' (Dutch people) as they are locally known or the Proboscis monkey which can be found only on the island of Borneo. The trip started with a 40 minutes drive from Kuching to the jetty point at Kampung Bako. From there you will take a 30 min boat ride to the park. Round trip boat fare was RM97 for 5 person. There were 2 ladies incidentally  from Holland sharing the boat and they couldn't make out the joke asking if they were visiting relatives. Anyway it was about 8am when we set off the jetty and life jacket were provided and the boat slowed down due to the low tide and navigating through muddy waters. Once that was clear we headed to open choppy waters and can be quite harrowing and make sure you cover your equipment.  Due to the low tide we were let off near the beach and you have take off your shoes and wade through shallow waters to get to Park HQ. Entrance is RM10 per adult and there are lodges if you wish to stay overnight. There are various trails to set off ranging from 30 mins to 7 hours trail. I set off on the Paku Trail to catch a glimpse of the monkeys. There were the Silver leaf langurs and common macaques.  The 'orang belanda' were elusive and I manage to spot them along the trial but were too high up in the trees for good shots. The other types can be aggressive if they think you have food. The trails can be quite hard with lots of steeps inclines. Make sure you have good treking shoes and bring lots of water for you will be drenched in sweat. A broad brimmed jungle hat and trekking stick are recommended items to bring. I only brought my 70-200mm F4 L IS though sufficient longer lengths are recommended for birding or even a macro for other plant and insects shoot. I wished I planned for a longer stay and will bring more equiptment on my next trip to Bako National Park. Visit my album for more images.

My Latest 'L' Lens!

But not just any lens, it's a Canon  EF 24-70 mm F2.8 L USM aka the 'brick'. This is my 2nd 'L' series lens acquisition. I have always wanted this lens from the very beginning and took me a year before justifying this costly purchase, having to sacrifice my beloved EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6,my almost new EF 85mm F1.8 prime and some more. This lens is big,black and mean looking. It's the lens of choice for photo journalist and bread and butter lens for professional wedding photographers. This is also a very good lens for portraits with a constant aperture of F2.8, produces a beautiful bokeh and built like a tank. This fills the gap nicely for me from 24 mm right up to 200 mm. This is currently enough for my needs and with just this 2 lens I have my angles covered so to speak. The best thing for me other than the IQ of  this lens is the built quality. This gives me the consistency and reliability my previous lens cannot match and going to go the long term. I figured if I try different consumer grade lens and also other 3rd party offering I will spend just as much and at the back of my head still longing for this lens so waht the heck. This lens is worth every penny. There are lots of reviews online but at the end of the day you have to justify your own. View my album.

Macro Lights (DIY)

Close up and Macro photography is a very exciting way to extend your interest in photography. Bugs look like monsters and your garden can be turn into a mini zoo with little creatures that you never bother to examined before. Your watch face shows up intricate lines you never knew existed. In order for you to go into Macro or close up photography, the easiest route would be to get a dedicated Macro lens. True macro lens have 1:1 magnification, meaning that the image captured on the sensor is life size to the object. Some even goes 5:1 but alternatively there are other ways to  do close up even with your regular lenses and I have tried them both. First is the addition of extension tubes. These are basically hollow tubes that joins between your camera and your lens thus extending it. Now your MFD (min focusing distance) can drop down to 3 inches depending how much you extend your tubes. However you cannot focus on infinity and you can't use you AF. What I usually do is to to move my MFD till I get my object in focus. You'll have to crank up our ISO and have steady hands. The other way is to use close up filters which are basically a magnifying glass. Inherent to all macro lenses is slow AF and you usually have to revert to MF. The other problem is shallow DOF, so you will have to close up your aperture. Doing so will reduce the light going into the lens and you may need high ISO to stop camera shake. So you will need need to use flash but because MFD is so close on camera flash or mounted flash don't do a good job an you need a dedicated macro flash. Now that flash cost even more than your regular flash. So what can you do? You improvise,like me. All I need is to light up the area I wish to shoot and don't want it too harsh. So my contraption is using those clip on led lights and mount it on the hood. You can use as many as you want. Be forewarned that you will be walking around with a camera that looks like a weapon from Star Trek!!!!

Village House

Was recently invited to a house warming and blessing of a place simply called the Village House. This is a lodge at the foot of Mount Santubong fronting the South China Sea. Opened by my dear friends, a husband and wife team who are avid travelers and photographers as well. This is their second place after Singgahsana Lodge in Kuching town. Set is a peaceful and quaint little malay kampong, you can sip pina coladas whole day in the inviting pool with a bar just steps away. I highly recommend both these places to 'singgah' if you are ever in this part of Borneo.

Finally got my first L lens

 Yes folks, Santa Claus came early and I got myself my 1st Canon 'L' lens. L for Luxury, top of the line professional grade Canon lens. Not just any lens but a 70-200mm F4 IS USM lens, the white colored lens. I have been longing for this lens and poured through every review there is about this lens. It gets a 9.9/10.0, any better would be the holy grail for a zoom lens. Hot from the oven I got a photoshoot and what exciting opportunity to try this baby. Went straight to location and open the boxed in the car and snapped it on, boy does it feel good. I am not going to do a review because there is nothing I can say thats not been said already. I just want to say I am simply delighted and excited with this wonderful acquisition. Anyway the photoshoot is a PR shoot for an up and coming MP. If he wins the election, this lens is worth it!