Writing

Writing a book is not as hard as I imagine it would be. Especially if you really like the subject. Plus there are 1700+ shots with EXIF information to help me remember the time-line and stories.
Anyway.. at last I bought Peter Turnley's Parisian and Ara Güler's Istanbul. Talk about astronomical prices. If they ever decided to reprint the books I shall whack them on their heads XD But I guess its pretty much justified because they are both accomplished photographers. Ara Güler is a Magnum Photographer, and a friend of the late Henri Cartier-Bresson. I wish I knew about him prior to my vacation to Turkey last year. I'd visit him in his cafe. :(

PS: Ara Guler's is out of stock now. I bought the last edition on Amazon.

Beauty

I went to the OMM concert on Saturday. All I can say is I was flabbergasted. I think it was the first time I watch a full orchestra five rows away from the stage. The richness, and variety of the sound. The unity and intensity of the artist. Its just.. superb, a feast for the ears! Can't wait for 2012 concert! Among the best scores are Star Trek, Ben Hur, Star Wars. John Williams rocks! I would definitely put him as one of the best composer in the 20th century.

When I think about it, I would shudder to imagine what heaven would be like if we have such a beautiful music even in this world. And one can pursuit just a single sensory experience in a lifetime, whether its music, photography, or culinary, and still found wanting*.  I shall recommend C.S.Lewis sermon titled Weight of Glory to read.

*Europe should be a good place to get all three ;-)

My humble attempt at landscape ;)

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a Hopeful New Year!

Major events in 2010
- Went to Turkey, my first 10 hours away holiday!
- Found out mom is sick.
- I got baptized! On 26th December no less! (after years of hesitation)

I still try to get my act together though.

This year realized that I have to set a clear goal, and work hard on it. Otherwise I will not achieve anything in my life.
So my 2011 goals would be :

- More travel.. Japan, Italy or London.
- Better job, the one that I can use my talent in
- Get a wife maybe? :P *cross fingers*

And the three years Oracle ERP project implementation will not go live this year. It might as well canceled. Millions of dollars have been spent so far. So now I understand why those 'Change Agents' get paid pretty well, and why change management is hot.

Anyway.. welcome 2011!

Impressionist Style
Credit to FotoSketcher

Christmas!

I hope its not too late to share about Christmas. Quite a busy period with all the Christmas activities.
Hoping you (and me) for better year in 2011!

Season's Greeting

Mini Christmas

Ballsy

Obligatory Turkey :)

In Search of A Perfect Picture

I've encountered few issues over these few days. First of all, dusty lens! Just found out  that the Voigtlander I just bought have dust on the inside. But actually this is normal for any lenses. I thought it was the dust which caused spots on my shots, but turns out that it is the sensor itself caught dust. Now I must clean the sensor myself.
Then there's the autofocus problem on my Tamron. I suspect it was the PDAF algorithm since CDAF is perfectly fine.

Given the experiences, I come to a conclusion that, like life, there is no perfect lens (and photographic forums around the internet confirm this. Amen) But there's always a good news at the end of it, right ? Right ?! Yep! I just bought the carbon fiber tripod that I need (not want.. I swear :P), and the second GM firmware for my iPad runs without getting a WiFi problem anymore.

New Lens! Voigtlander Nokton 58mm/f1.4

I just got a new lens last week. I was very excited because of the technical review at photozone rate this lens as one of the best lenses. Sure enough after I try it, the lens produce stunning images!

Even everyday objects came out beautiful. Its a manual focus lens in Nikon F mount, with aperture control and metering. I think its a bit overexposed for my liking though.

On my Nikon :)

See.. the lens produce nice images that just leaps at you. I had to sell my Voigtlander Classic 35mm to fund this lens. Nevertheless.. I have no regret :) This lens is highly recommended. Its sharp wide open, nice OOF and good color rendition. Cmon, what else would you ask for ? ;)

iOS 4.2 for iPad

Can you say Folders ? Multitasking ? Yaay!

I took the plunge today and install the unofficial release of iOS 4.2.

And yesterday I got Bloomberg app for Android, plus an iTunes voucher to buy paid apps on the iPad.

Some screenshots to enjoy

Folders

Multitask