How to manipulate your images in an intuitive way by using Puppet Warp

This is one of the very powerful tools in Photoshop. I like perspective warp but my version doesn't support unless I subscribe to CC.



Click here for a written script on this topic.

Calibrating Your System - Skin

If you have 40 minutes to spare in order to learn something about photography, click on the link below and enjoy!

Butterfly photography

I personally found that it is very difficult to take nice photos of insect because they never stay still. The major problem is that they keep moving or they fly away very easily.

I was pleasantly surprised that butterfly stays still during mating. I can approached them until I was only 1 foot away.
The above photo was taken using my 200mm macro lens, aperture F/36, shutter 1/60s, ISO-400 using my Nikon D600.
A back light was used in the above photo. This means that I used my off camera SB910 flashgun almost directly opposite the camera.
Click on the photo above to view a much larger image.

How to Shoot Firework Photo

In view of the new year countdown, and the beautiful firework display, below is a guideline on how to shoot firework.

1. Use a tripod
2. Be on site early to secure a good spot
3. You may use landscape or portrait format. The choice is really yours
4. Exposure setting:
   For digital compact, use firework mode if there is one
   
   For DSLR: Use B mode if available. Shutter will remain open as long as the shutter release button remain pressed. A good way is to use a black card to cover the lens. When firework goes off, take off the card and put it back on as appropriate.
   
   Set Aperture between 8 to 16.
5. Use the lowest ISO available
6. Focus - use manual mode.

After a few practice, I hope you get good pictures. Otherwise, fine tune the setting.
eg, if too bright, set Aperture to a higher value

Graduation Photography

Recently my friend's daughter graduated from Curtin. I was privileged to be able to take just a few of their pictures to celebrate this extremely important event and also marking a major milestone in life.
Below, you see just two of the photos.

The photos were taken just outside the graduation hall. I have to turn this into "studio style" shooting, perhaps with the hope that the result is even better than those taken in studio.

Nikon D3, F/5.6, 1/160sec, ISO-1000, Metering: Pattern

Chinese International Photography Competition

Award Placement:

1. One Grand Award (US$5,000 or equivalent value of equipment/travel service)
2. The following awards are offered for each category (News and Global Events, Society and Humanity, Nature and Landscapes):
• One Gold Award (US$2,000 or equivalent value of equipment/travel service)；
• Two Silver Award (US$1,000 or equivalent value of equipment/travel service)；
• Three Bronze Award (US$500 or equivalent value of equipment/travel service)；
• Ten Honorable Mentions awards.
Act now and read more from the official website:
http://photo.ntdtv.com/en/index.html

Submission Deadline: September 15, 2010

Digital art

Nowadays, it is so easy to manipulate digital images. The only limitation would be our own skill, technique, tools and our visual ability.
This photo was taken at Brighton Beach in Miri after the sun had set. It was quite dark and exposure was quite long. I have digitally altered this photo, making it more colourful. I welcome your comment.

Louis Pang is coming to Miri

Louis Pang, the renowned photographer from Sabah is coming to Miri to give photography courses. Check out his web site:

http://www.inspireplus.tv

Portrait

Enjoy... Please leave your comment, if any.

Landscape Photography - Eastwood Valley

These are some photos taken at Eastwood Valley Country Club and Golf Course. Please tell me which one you like...
No. 1
Camera: Hasselblad H3D ISO 50 80mm
No. 2
Camera: Hasselblad H3D ISO 50 80mm
No. 3
Camera: Hasselblad H3D ISO 50 80mm
No. 4
Camera: Hasselblad H3D ISO 50 80mm
No. 5 Nikon D3 F/2.8 1/8Sec 24mm
No. 6
Camera: Nikon D3 f/2.8 0.62 sec 24mm
No. 7
Camera: Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/3sec 24mm
No. 8
Camera: Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/5sec 24mm EV -0.7
No. 10
Camera: Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/2sec 24mm EV -0.7
No. 11
Camera: Nikon D3 f/2.8 1.3sec 24mm EV -0.7
No. 12
Camera: Nikon D3 f/2.8 0.62sec 24mm EV -0.7
No. 13
Camera: Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/2sec 24mm EV -0.7
No. 14
Camera: Nikon D3 f/13 10sec 24mm EV -0.7 ISO 100
No. 15
Camera: Nikon D3 f/13 8sec 24mm EV +0.3 ISO 100
No. 16
Camera: Nikon D3 f/13 8sec 24mm EV 0.3 ISO 100
No. 17
Camera: Nikon D3 f/13 10sec 24mm EV -0.7 ISO 100
No. 18
Camera: Nikon D3 f/13 8sec 29mm EV -0.7 ISO 100

Lilies through hires camera

I have the opportunity to take some lilies through my high resolution 39M pixels camera.
They are reduced in size for easy viewing. Actual jpg file is about 24Mbytes. Raw format is 50+ MBytes. So, what can you see...
I cropped the picture above to show just the bee. Unfortunately the bee was fast moving and it appears to be slightly blur. Click on the photo to show the actual size.
A cluster of lilies ... This lot was in the middle of the pond. I crop out the center flower to show actual pixel size...
Click to show the actual size. I cropped the flower to 800 pixel.

New Nikon Compact with built-in Projector

Believe it or not, Nikon, the innovative Japanese camera maker finally put a projector in the camera itself!

The Nikon Coolpix S1000PJ has a whole string advance features.

• 
  
  Sharper results with five advanced Nikon image stabilizing features
• Nikon’s Smart Portrait System with Skin Softening
• Intelligent automated shooting modes that promote carefree shooting
• Quick Retouch
• 2.7-in. high-resolution LCD monitor with anti-reflection coated cover
• 16 handy scene modes for optimized shooting in various settings
• D-Lighting
• Active Zoom
• Auto Sort and Favorite Pictures functions
• Four movie modes with sound
• Time zone function for easy setting of multiple locations
• Approx. 36 MB of internal memory
• Hi-Speed USB connectivity
• Projector:
• Brightness : up to 10 lumens (Measurement, measuring conditions and method of notation all comply with ISO 21118.)
• Image size : 5 to 40 in
• Throw distance : approx. 26cm to 2m (10 in. to 6 ft. 6 in.)
• Endurance (battery life)*5 : approx. 1 hour
• Resolution (output) : VGA equivalent

Price: ??? I have no idea.
You know what I am going to use the projector for? Probably as a torch light! So make sure that you have a "white image" in the memory stick! I hope you understand what I mean.

White Balance

I seldom take my photo in Raw format but there are occassions where it is good to have it in raw. The main reason why I don't want raw is because of the file size and also, I don't really see the needs of it. We can argue about this but again, what is the point? I am too busy to tweak photos. I prefer the final result coming from the camera rather than the digital darkroom. So, one area I have to ensure proper setting is the white balance.
Looking at the following two photos, it is a little difficult to decide which is a nicer photo.
With raw format, I can always tweak it if I change my mind. But I don't bother. This photo, I set it to "Auto" white balance.

This one, the white balance is set to "cloudy". See, one is bright red and another is more bluish. Which one is nicer? I know that there is a difference in opinion. No one is right.

I heard one pro who said that he can't understand why we paid for advance technology and yet we want to perform manual adjustment/setting. Just set everything to "Auto" but you do need to ensure that the correct "Auto" is selected.

39MP - what can you see

I experiment with medium format camera today with a resolution of 39MP. So, exactly what can one sees other than a huge File? The full resolution picture is reduced to this...
... 1024 pixels across. This is reduced (resized) on purpose as I don't want to waste my limited free space on blogspot. (Click on the above picture to see a bigger image).
... the edge of the wall which I cut it out to show full resolution. Click on the image to see the full size. Your comments are most welcomed.

White balance

When I was using film in the good old days, I don't remember struggling with white balance. In fact, it was unheard of. Perhaps it was because we use black and white film most of the time. Even when we use colour film, white balance wasn't a concern or are we just totally ignorant about it?! With digital photography, we have to know something about white balance.
In this picture, I let my camera handle white balance automatically. However, under the strong sodium light, the white balance went crazy! So, if you cannot get it right and you don't like the colour, make it into black and white.

On my Nikon D3, it is possible to preset white balance very easily. I just need to press the WB button, toggle it to PRE, use a piece of white paper and snap a shot under the light... and it is done! And the above is the result. Suddenly all the colour appears!
However, in certain condition, the automatic WB on the camera is pretty accurate as in this picture.
To be continued...

Photoshoot at UK Fun Fair

Taking night photo at the recent UK Fun Fair located at Boulevard Miri car park can be a big challenge if you don't have a fast camera. This was because all the games were either rotating or shaking at a rather fast speed. I hope you enjoy the following photos...
Nikon D3 24-70mm F/2.8G lens, 24mm, 1/80 sec fF4.5 EV:+0.3 ISO 2000 No flash.
Nikon D3 24-70mm F/2.8G lens, 28mm, 1/250 sec F2.8 EV:+1 ISO 25,000 No flash
This photo is perhaps the most difficult to take. I have to compromise noise for higher speed. Many shots were taken to determine the speed in order to freeze the action.
"Mum, please get me on" is as if what this boy had to say.
Nikon D3 24-70mm F/2.8G lens, 70mm, 1/60 sec F2.8 ISO 25,00 No flash
Nikon D3 24-70mm F/2.8G lens, 56mm, 1/200 sec F2.8 EV:+1 ISO 1400 No flash
This is another rather difficult shot due to poor light.
Tip: In order to take a clear photo of your child(ren), make sure that the camera focusing is set to single point and point the tracking point on the face of your child. Make sure that focusing is on "C - continuous) mode.

Bintang Megamall at night

This is Bintang Plaza taken tonight while I was waiting in my car for the traffic light to turn green.

Nikon D3 F:55mm 1/60sec F/2.8 ISO 2500 EV: +0.3

Ever wonder why the light was so "diffused"? Well, it is caused by my car wind screen. As my car is an old one, the screen has micro scratch and thus the diffused pattern! Whether or not it is nice, I leave it to individual. Sometimes I like it, and at times I dislike it.

Modern lens

Sometimes, we could get very passionate about the lenses we have. Fortunately, I have limited fund to play with lens and I only have one lens (24-70mm) for all my purposes. Sometime, my fingers do get very "itchy" and would like to buy fish eye lens or tele lens. But thanks God that I found no money when I opened my wallet. I have serious problem in justifying for them because they will be under utilised. So, poor case for justification to buy additional lenses means no new lens for the time being.
During my early days, ie, in the early 70s', I only had fixed lens, ie, 50mm or 105mm or 200mm. I was really itching for a zoom lens. So, I remember buying a zoom lens from Tamron. I like the result when I fixed it to my German made Rollieflex camera. But at the end, I still go back to my "prime" lens because I find it impractical to change lens in the field, ie, on duty.
Ok, today, my plan is not talking about the past but to talk about the "nano coated" modern lens I have from Nikon.
I read from their web site about this new technology:
"Nano Crystal Coat is an antireflective coating that virtually eliminates internal lens element reflections across a wide range of wavelengths, and is particularly effective in reducing ghost and flare peculiar to ultra-wide-angle lenses. Nano Crystal Coat employs multiple layers of Nikon’s extra-low refractive index coating, which features ultra-fine crystallized particles of nanometer size."
So, I brought my camera out for field test on Saturday and pointed it into the bright afternoon sun.
Camera: Nikon D3 with a AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens. Flash was not used.

The huge sun was right at the corner, and true to its claim, I could hardly see any ghost and flare with this type of shots. However, there are three "spots" clearly visible next to the sun.

In the good old days, we had multi layered coating and we could never take any decent photos like the one above.

So, do you think it is worth the money for the new high tech lens? Check out the price and you may faint! Perhaps, the price will drop when it is getting more competition.

Warning: Avoid pointing your compact camera to the sun for too long or you may damage your sensor. If you are using SLR, you may damage your retina. So be careful!

Event Photography

Perhaps the most challenging photography is trying to take event with the ambient. By this I mean, to capture the situation "as is" without any additional light, eg, flash light. The situation is becoming even more challenging when the spot light keeps changing in colour and brightness. I would say that it was mostly impossible to take good photograph in such situation until Canon and Nikon both came out with their highly sensitive full frame sensor.
To take photo with such an ambient light, I will need to do some experiment. Consider this:
1. The light distribution is random and will cause the light meter go crazy!
2. The people or subject also move in random and varying in speed

To counter item 1 above, I adjusted the EV or exposure compensation. This is different for every performance and therefore different setting.
To counter item 2 above, I set focusing to single point and locked into a particular subject I wanted to follow.
Next, wait for the right moment and press the shutter release.
Below are two photos taken at an event in Boulevard carpark Miri on 29 March 2009

Camera: Nikon D3 with a AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens. Flash was not used.

Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/1250 sec ISO-1800 EV: -2.7 70MM no flash.

As this was my first time taking real action under some colourful spotlight, I have to experiment. Initial shots were blur because the shutter speed was too slow until I crank it up to 1/1250 sec. Only then I manage to "freeze" the action. Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/1250 sec ISO-1800 EV: -2.7 70MM no flash.

The two photos above were not retouched other than cropping and resizing. There is no noise/grain visible.

One thing I like about this kind of show is the "cloud" effect. If you are in luck, the combination of the "cloud" and light can add a lot of "life" into the photo.