New Year Fireworks

I think fireworks are Standard Operating Procedure to welcome in the New Year regardless of where you are in this world. In Kuala Lumpur, there were many, many fireworks displays just as the clock struck Midnight.

As soon as I heard the "wheee, boom, hiss, Boom, boom" of the fireworks, I ran to get my Canon 400D while the Lovely Wife and my son watched the explosion of colours from our window. My daughter was exhausted and had already fallen asleep - so sound asleep in fact that the noise failed to waken her. I'm still not certain which fireworks spectacle we were treated to but suffice to say that it was one of the smaller ones.

These are some of the shots I managed to capture of the fireworks display. It was rather hard timing the shutter to coincide with the explosions but for a first effort at capturing fireworks, I am really, really pleased!







I used a full manual setting for my shots and set the exposure at various times ranging from 0.5" to 2". I only wish I had a larger zoom to get more detail. The pictures here have been cropped of course!

Once again, Happy New Year everyone!

Macro shots, Diopter Filters and Flowers in my Garden

I'm having so much fun with my new camera! I'm able to take shots like never before and sure, I'm still learning how to get the most out of the camera, but I think my photos have improved tremendously.



I was brought up to believe the old proverb - "A poor workman blames his tools". But it must be said that having the proper equipment greatly improves things! Then again, I don't want to or rather can't run down my trusty Powershot that gave me great pictures for the last 6 years. However, one thing the Powershot couldn't do very well is take close up or macro pictures. More often than not, I had to stand far away and zoom in - sometimes even resorting to digital zoom and thus sacrificing resolution.




My 400D takes amazing close up shots - even with a flash. The flash adjusts itself by using TTL (Through the Lens) metering and adjusting the amount of flash required. This means that I don't get glary shots or flares.



I was contemplating getting a macro lens to improve my closeup picture taking. Unfortunately, after spending a bomb on my 400D, I can't quite afford the macro lens yet. What I did decide to do was to spend a 100 bucks (that's in Ringgit) on a diopter filter. A whatopter? A Diopter.



Basically, this is a magnifying glass type of filter that greatly magnifies the object. (That's why it's called a magnifying filter!)These filters are measured in diopters, and funnily enough are the reason they are called dipoter filters. (Okay, okay, I'll stop trying to be funny)

Diopter Filters come in +1, +2, +3, +4 and +10 and the diopter indicates the refractive capacity of the lens. What this means, quite simply, is that the higher the diopter, the greater the magnification. You also have negative diopters - for reduction obviously.




Magnification and diopters are related through this simple formula

magnification = dipoters/4 + 1

This means that a +2 diopter filter will give a magnification of 1.5 based on this calculation

magnification = 2/4 + 1
= .5 + 1
= 1.5

I bought a +4 Diopter filter so using the same formula above, I get a x2 magnification.

Bear in mind that a diopter filter only magnifies at a close distance, unlike a zoom lens. Just like a magnifying glass only works at a close distance and if you looked at an object a distance away, it would be all blurry.





As a result, using Diopter filters means that your depth of field is severely restricted and becomes very, very shallow. You may also find that your autofocus doesn't quite work as well. Neither does the flash metering, so the best is to use good light for diopter shots - and macro shots in general. Increasing the aperture number (i.e a narrow aperture) can also give you slightly more Depth of Field.



All the pictures you see here have been taken with a +4 Diopter Filter at Close-Up mode on my Canon 400D. I love it!

Saturday Feast and more fun with the Camera

Since Merdeka was on Friday, we had a long weekend. What better way to enjoy a 3 day weekend than to have a cookup! This time, the lovely wife did the honours while I supported her by clicking away with my new toy.

I've realised that it's far easier to capture nice photos when you can concentrate on taking the photos while someone else is doing the cooking, and not have to worry about wiping your hands before handling the camera or worrying about something burning. Yet, I have to admit, it's not as much fun as multi-tasking! But no complaints here as I really enjoyed playing around with the camera while my lovely wife cooked up a lip-smacking meal.

This is what she made

Spicy Fried Chicken which I have named Angelina's Spicy Fried Chicken

Yau Mak with Garlic and Oyster Sauce

Crispy Ladysfingers or Crispy Okra

My son also reminded her that "yesterday you promised to make me Honeydew and Sago" and so she made that for dessert.

After all her hard work cooking, and mine taking photos, we both relaxed with a nice cool glass of Vodka and Cranberry Juice!

Apple Pie and a new Camera

Last weekend, we were supposed to be somewhere to do something but the kids were really tired and as a result Highly Cranky! I decided to go alone to do the something somewhere and while I was away, the lovely wife took it upon herself to cheer up the kids with some of her fabulous Apple Pie.

The kids were still in the Ratatouille (the movie and not the food) mood and so they decided to decorate the pie using our cookie cutters for the leftover dough. In case you can't figure it out, the top most figure is a mouse while the bottom is a heart. Thus you get Mice Cheese Love. Don't ask me why my wife didn't put it in the proper order of Mice Love Cheese but I'm sure there is a logical explanation that involves the bright ideas of two wide eyed kids!

Anyway, the smell of luscious Apple Pie greeted me as I walked back into the house and the crankiness of the two kids had loooong disappeared. It's amazing how the promise of dessert - and especially Apple Pie - can act as comfort food.

The pie was supposed to sit to rest for about an hour or so but the impatient, beady little eyes of the Apple Pie Vultures caused us to cut the pie almost as soon as it was out of the oven. I must say it was certainly delicious.

The next day, we were out shopping and I decided I was going to buy myself a new camera! Yes, I had had my own beady little eyes on a Digital SLR for the longest time. After using my trusty Canon Powershot S30 for amost 6 years, and having wanted an SLR for almost 25 years, I finally decided I was going to splurge and get myself the Canon EOS 400D. Yeah, say what you want, but I have a soft spot for the Canon.

So I brought home the 400D and decided I was going to test it out straight away on another slice of Apple Pie. That way, I also got to have another piece on the excuse that I was actually just testing out the camera. I should have used the same plate setting but I was really just too lazy. So these are pics with the New Camera.




I think it makes a world of difference having a good camera and I'm hoping my photos will improve tremendously. Or maybe I'll just have to accept that I need to hone my skills a lot more and it's really not the camera that is causing bad pictures......

Whatever it is, I loved my wife's Apple Pie and I love my new Camera!