Day One - Kobe

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The company holiday bonus was a 4-day trip covering Kobe, Kyoto and Osaka.

Too short.

You arrive in Japan and you would be wanting to stay another day despite the cold winter. It hit -3 degrees when we were there.

Kobe was the first stop, and the tour only covered the Sake Factory and the Hanshin Earthquake Institution. At least we did get to spend time in the city with some urban sightseeing and coffee. It was probably better to visit Kobe in October when the Kobe Jazz Street Festival was on.

As much as Kobe is well known for its beef, we didn't get to sample any..

a Shinto street arc

typical Kobe street scenes

the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution

the view from the hotel room - the massively busy Kobe port can be hinted in the horizon

typical Kobe street scenes

Japan Prologue

Just got back! - here's a preview from my recent Japan trip:

kyoto

osaka

kyoto

..photos will overflow soon.. :)

Worshippers 2

Nununu I Got Some Apples..

Just got this today from Nikon Club Singapore :)

Dear Celes Geronimo,

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that your image (Street blues) and (Worshippers) has been selected by our editors and it will be displayed in the Editor’s Choice Gallery. We have also rewarded you with 300 points!

To view your image in Hot Shots, please click on the link below:

http://www.nikonclub.com.sg/pages/gallery.asp?page=1

Keep up the good work and we hope to see more of your images being displayed in the Editor’s Choice Gallery (and hopefully you will leave our editors dumbfounded too)!

Yours truly,
Nikon Club Singapore


Hu da lally! :) The images selected were:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/celes/2229181072/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/celes/2237940441/

Fell

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Rarindra Prakarsa

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Great lighting photography by Rarindra Prakarsa :)
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Telok Blangah

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cat guards in the temple

more here.

MC-04

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POEA SUCKS.

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Chinatown Random Shots

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colorful chinatown

How to Do Exposure Bracketing..

.. with a camera that doesn't have any?

Answer:

1. A good tripod
2. and tips from this site.

light frame: (note the overexposed gate area)

dark frame:

blended result:

..and a few more shots:

detail closeup (no post editing)

Ok.. the last 2 images weren't blended, it's just a single shot, but still with the tripod :) Just wanted to see how sharp the results are..

I am quite satisfied with the stability (of the tripod).. even while shifting exposures manually there is minimal shifting in the images.

Nikon D60

Yup it was announced already.. the new sibling of D40, the D60, which I was anticipating to fill in what the D40 SHOULD have - a built-in AF motor, and an AE bracketing feature. It could stay with 6MP for all I care -

Disappointingly none of these made it to the D60. In fact there is no difference at all, if there is, very subtle.. an anti-dust system, 10MP, and some other features which I don't give a shit about.

They even look exactly the same.

A real letdown.. dunno if that new EXPEED (same as the D3 and D300) processor makes a difference though.. We'll see.

I think Canon's leap from EOS 400D to 450D was more significant.

For now - zero excitement about this "update". If you can call it that. For D40 users, a significant upgrade is still the D80 or the D300 (if you've got the money to throw away).

Similarly when the D40x came shortly after the D40, I'd keep my fingers crossed for a possible D60x.

Stacked Cats

from oddplanet:

Enzo's Bike (Quad-ike)

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Time for first times - this time, Enzo's first bike :)

Nikkor AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm

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Travelling with several lenses can be annoying - it is too cumbersome to be carrying and changing different types of lens for every situation - landscapes, closeups, portraits, etc. What's more, those repeated changing of lenses will only increase the amount of dust in the camera sensor. Which is why I got this:

It is the Nikkor AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm, a perfect replacement for my 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses. The only setback is that it lacks VR (vibration reduction) which is important for focal lengths reaching 135mm (if the camera zooms to a very far subject, camera shake is more visible). Otherwise use a tripod. Which I did - paid for it - so might as well use it eh?

The other option I had was the 18-200mm, which has VR, but steeply priced at SGD1200 (it was SGD1800 last year). The 18-135mm is priced at SGD650 - but I got it for only SGD400, with a free UV filter thrown in by David of Alanphoto. Why the price cut? The 18-135mm is the kit lens for the D80, and while at the shop, a customer wanted to buy a D80 camera body only, but the store only had the D80 kits. So I offered to get the kit lens and the other customer can have his D80. On camera kits there is usually a price difference, in this case SGD150, and that's what I got. :) I just love good deals.

So from Funan, on to Padang, where the CNY festive lanterns are on display:)

Osaka and Kyoto, here I come :)

Shophouses

.A shophouse is a vernacular architectural building type that is both native and unique to urban Southeast Asia. This hybrid building form characterizes the historical centres of most towns and cities in the region.

BTR Temple in Semi Fisheye

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Uncle Plays the Harmonica

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