Sight to Insight

Being thankful in any situation is a positive attitude. It brings peace to the mind and rest the heart. The result is a healthy body and a smiling face. Today go about and spread the story of being thankful

Have stopped writing for a few years. Time to restart my blog. A good way to de-stress as well as remembering events.

AW (Angkor Wat) covers 402 square km. The environment is serene, covered with greeneries save for the almost all straight roads connecting the magnificent ruins from the 9th century. The whole area, now a UN heritage is flat except for another ruin up a hil where photographers jostled for a picture of the sunset. More to come. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

The bus journey took 5.5 hours from Phnom Penh. The bus was filled to the brim. The condition is slightly worse than the factory bus in Singapore. Thankfully the road though small is straight! Padi fields all around with ponds filled with lotus flowers. Many houses were built on stilt and still using dry attap leaves. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Visited Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. More majestic than the one in Bangkok. Very impressive. Lots of golden stuffs here. Lots of history and similar to that of Bangkok. Beautiful! The king was in residence today with the flag raised. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

We decided to come to know its history and culture. Our first dinner was at 123 restuarant at Queen Boutique Hotel. They all speak Cantonese! The next was Nagaworld - a casino not far from our hotel, Imperial Garden Villa. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Testing its usefulness Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

I tested the lens today, which is bought from a fellow Pentaxian. I looked at all the pictures in magnified mode, and I am in alignment with the other reviewers of this lens. This is indeed a sharp lens. http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-F-Star-300mm-F4.5-Lens.html You can get more information from the URL attached.

I am back from the China trip, and I took along my K7, Pentax 40mm f2.8, 100mm and Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6. I brought back a set of photographs. Am I satisfied with them? If yes, why, and if no, why as well? This is the start of looking backward to prepare forward. Let me start by asking myself, which photograph do I like the best that could be posted for critique at Clubsnap? There are also casual social photo which any pns could have done them. There is no need for an expensive DSLR for this purpose. There are shots which were taken in the car, as we will not stop just to take pictures. There are shots taken which were not composed properly, as they needed to be done before the people react to being photographed. Then there are the composed shots where time was given to figure out the best shot. I will like to summarize the shooting situations as the following: (1) Impromptu, (2) Intentional, (3) Interesting, (4) Memory. Impromptu is when you just want to shoot away and hoping that some...

This photo was taken with the Pentax 100mm f2.8 WR (Weather Resistant) on my Pentax K7, at the SAM (Singapore Arts Museum) where Clubsnap held its exhibition on 24-25th July. I like this lens as I had tried it twice on the previous version. It gives very strong bokeh (blur background), hence great for portrait. It also has the macro, and this is taken with the macro feature of the lens. The Pentax W90 comes with different colors, and the latest is orange. It costs about $405 with tax, and a very cool pns (point and shoot). This is good, if one is going fishing, snorkelling or into some adventures into the wild, where ordinary cameras may not be able to withstand the hard knocks. Living a good life is about able to afford the gadgets built for specific circumstances. My friend, Eleanor is now in Auckland, and will be going fishing down south, and she has a weather-proof Olympus. Ah, let us relax a bit more, as we have "weathered" half a century and seen the highs and lows of l...

Chasing technology is like chasing the sunset as a photographer. Just as you thought you had the best picture on sunset, another one with more vibrant color will overtake it. Fuji has just announced four new cameras, of which two of them were what I was about to purchase. These are the Fuji 300EXR and Z800EXR replacing 200EXR and Z700EXR respectively. The 300EXR has an optical zoom of 15x, and a wide angle of 24mm! The specifications are very tempting. Well they have not been released yet in Singapore. Given the practice that Fuji always underprices Lumix and Sony, this buy is definitely on my radar screen. Today, iPad is also released by the three telcos in Singapore. I don't believe I will go the "Apple" way. More than likely, I will be picking up yet another Samsung with Android 2.1 as the operating system. Why not Apple? Perhaps it is my non-conformist attitude or perhaps I don't like the fact, you are not allowed to change the battery, and even to put in the SIM ...

I am in the process of buying another point and shoot. I have Fuji in mind. These models are 80EXR and Z700EXR. The former is a 10x optical zoom while the latter is 5x but with a 3.5" touch scream. Initially the prices on the market were S$539 and S$449 respectively. When I check with a low cost accredited vendor, the prices were $399 and $339 respectively without the 7% GST. The pricing is rather surprisingly different. This makes the purchase even more attractive. Is the camera what I should be spending money on, or shouldn't I spend it on the Samsung Galaxy with a iFlex plan costing around S$49 monthly payment and about S$148 on the phone? Wouldn't this give me more pleasure in surfing? I have already 3 working cameras (Pentax K7, Fuji s100fs and Fuji J250), and it doesn't make sense to buy one more. I have a Sony videocam which I don't even use now! It doesn't make sense to buy another camera, come to think about it. Perhaps I should focus on the phone upgr...

Gen Y are people born somewhere in the mid 70s, and should be around thirtyish by now. Most of them in the developed countries are used to the good life style. Is this generation in trouble? Here's an article from Business Week. Think about our kids, who are part of this Gen Y. http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jul2010/pi20100715_116291.htm The Straits Times in Singapore carried a couple of articles as well on Gen Y. They are more attuned to pop, iPhone, gaming, luxury goods, pub, wine which the baby boomers avoid to plan for the future. What will the future hold for them and for us? Do we have to support the Gen Y as well from our retirement fund?

Which parents do not wish the best for their kids? Which kids (teenagers) ever understand their parents? Hence the arrival of the generation gap. While the parents work to fill the barn with grains for a stormy future; the kids pass out the grains to demonstrate their pride in having what their contemporaries may not have. This same phenomenon is like the Chinese saying of wealth will not last three generations. The first generation painfully work hard and save to grow the wealth. The second generation appreciates this hardwork and continues to grow but use the wealth cautiously and educate the next generation. The third generation does not see the hardwork, but that they have more than sufficient to use and lose their hunger to find food. Eventually they lose it all through laziness and extravagance. The Americans spend more than they earn to sustain the growth economy of developing and emerging nations. They owe the rest of the world about thirteen trillion dollars. Here is the live ...

Happiness is a mental exercise. It is twist and turn of events that influence this state of mind. Now I am happy, and tomorrow I can be unhappy. Why is this so? Why can't I be happy always? Unlikely that this will happen, because it takes pain to understand joy and fear to understand bravery. There is night and day and like the harmonic motion, there will be ups and downs. The challenge is whether I can smile when I am down, and laugh when I am up. In the mental exercise, can I twist and smile; turn and smile as well? Am I able to accept the "unpleasant events" and let that emotional turmoil goes away to let time heal the wound? Like a stream flowing down, am I able to flow along with it, instead of resisting the current?

Before I go onto an photographic journey, whether on purpose or part of a bigger event; I ask myself what theme do I want to focus on. A DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) is different from a PnS (Point and Shoot) compact. Whoever decides to use a DSLR does not stop with its kit lens (offered by the vendor) but will purchase many more lenses to suit the occasion and accessories. One is likely to purchase an UWA (Ultra Wide Angle); zoom (eg 70 - 300 mm), and perhaps even a macro. Accessories like tripod, monopod, flash, filters are common tools and they all are fighting for "space" in the camera bag; yet another accessory. Since the last entry, I have now gotten into the habit of preparing my bag for any trip. My favorite lenses are my Pentax 100mm f2.8 WR, F 300mm f4.5, 40mm f2.8 limited and of course a kit lens 18-55mm. I have a couple of other zoom, alongside with my UWA, Sigma 10-20mm. I am lazy when it comes to tripod and monopod, but at times you just have to have them fo...

A couple of HP alumni mentioned about folding bikes, exercise, and alumni meet up to me. It did not take me long to decide that the idea was good and aligned to my life goals. I did some research on folding bikes and to my surprise; this is an exploding industry, as more people become more environmentally friendly. It was reported that the OCBC Cycle 2101 (March) in Singapore this year drew 9500 versus 5000 cyclists last year. The Taipei Cycle exhibition is one where bike enthusiasts will be happy to attend. The magazine, Spin Asia is a must read to have a better appreciation of this industry (http://www.motorculture.com.sg/page27.html). I decided to purchase the Birdy Touring (http://www.birdy.com.au/) which has 24 gears (3 x 8) to allow me to have more flexibility to build up my stamina. I like the idea of the monocoque frame and the discounted pricing by DigiNexx helps to come to the decision. Since April 9, I have been using the Upper Thomson, Venus and Old Upper Thomson Road. I tr...

Today must have been the saddest day of my life. It is too difficult for me to express the pain of a father. It is nevertheless a learning moment and a moment to sit still and behold the passing of time. I leave this writing as a memory for me to return one day.

Sigma 10-20mm is an ultra wide angle (UWA) lens, with an angle view of 60 degrees. It can focus up to 24cm, which is less than a feet for those who are still thinking in British system. It has a 77mm diameter filter thread. The result is that the Pentax K7 pop up flash will not work as the light will cast a shadown of the lens onto the photo. The Pentax 540AF is the top of the range of flash. A direct (90 degree) flash will provide a poorly lighted photo on the side of the photo. After some experiments, a 180 degree flash to the ceiling bounced back the light, and the picture now is more acceptable. However, it will need a reflected ceiling. I will need a diffuser, if I were to shoot direct. I have not tried this yet as I don't have one to start with. I find that using the Auto mode of the flash is better than P-TTL (Through The Lens). I need to remember that Sigma is a 3rd party lens, and it meters using the "center weighted" and not the 77 segments. Photography is all a...

Ah, another photo-opportunity will arise, when my family and I go back to Subang Jaya to celebrate the 60th anniversary of my brother-in-law. Indeed, we have come a long way from the 50s; where we were born just after the Second World War. My mother and my mother-in-law tell me about the hardship, the atrocities, the fear and the hunger in the 40s. The baby boomers of the 50s are indeed a very lucky generation, despite the lack of many modern amenities. Despite all that, we survive and thrive and arrive into the 21st century. It is an achievement for many of us, to have live and bring up the next generation. Celebrating this achievement is both meaningful and sending a message that we will continue this great journey of life. How can I use the camera to capture this celebration? His kids have decided to hold a big dinner and ensure he has the fish which he likes on the plate. There will be a table for fourteen members and hence will be tight in space. This environment will call for my ...