Photography
Project 365, 2010
Jan 2nd
It’s begun! Hopefully I update it frequently. You can see the most recent photo(s) on the left right of this site, but assuming you want to access it more conveniently, here’re the appropriate links to bookmark or subscribe to.
Project 365 once more
Dec 16th
I was just looking at the daily photos I’d taken back in 2007, and I think it might be time for another go in 2010. Sure, I often cheated when the day wasn’t particularly eventful, but the photo album still manages to evoke a wave of nostalgia in me (especially having left the UK for more than a year now). So what if some of the pictures were not strictly taken on a daily basis – isn’t it the spirit of the project that’s more important?
Besides, with the new camera and whatever meagre photography skills I’ve managed to acquire these few months, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to generate better filler than before!
Panasonic GF1
Oct 31st
Got my GF1 at last! This is actually my third interchangeable-lens camera – I’d started small with the D40 and then upgraded to a D90, but I’ve decided to abandon the DSLR format and go with µ4/3 instead. I made a small loss from the old camera (S$30), but I think that’s a pretty small price to pay for nearly four months’ worth of DSLR usage (plus the whole learning experience)!
I haven’t really used the new camera all that much yet, though I did manage to get a few shots in the camera shop and the zoo (was bringing some foreign friends around), and even with the default settings, it’s looking pretty good! Probably not as nice as with a DSLR (depth-of-field isn’t really all that shallow even at f/1.7), but it’s definitely a lot more portable!
Upgrade time!
Jun 22nd
(Yes, the camera-Nazis can proceed to laugh at me now.)
Frustrated by the lack of (cheap) fast prime lenses for the D40, I’ve just upgraded to a D90. Bought it second-hand (again) together with one such prime lens, at just S$20 above my budgeted price – since there’s still more than half a year on the warranty, I figured that was a price worth paying. I’m currently quite behind on the savings schedule, but since that’s all I’m really planning to spend for awhile, I guess I should be catching up in the months ahead.
Happily, I was able to sell my D40 at no loss to myself – amazingly, through the magic of the second hand market, I was able to try out DSLR photography for a month at absolutely no monetary cost to myself. How cool is that?
The new camera has quite a few more knobs and buttons, and while I can safely ignore them for basic usage, I’d better figure out what exactly everything does sometime soon!
Food photography in Japan
Jun 3rd
So I was recently in Japan again, and I took the chance to try out my new camera (I’ve since got a proper lens for it). I’m still not experimenting very much, but even when using the camera as an advanced point-and-shoot, the results are definitely better than pre-DSLR days. This S$500 is turning out to be a really good investment!
Yakiniku
Katsu curry
Lens compatibility
May 19th
I don’t actually have a lens for my camera right now, although I’m working on remedying that problem. Turns out the lens compatibility issue (my cheap camera isn’t fully compatible with older lenses) is hitting me harder than expected – the three lenses I’d borrowed from Kenny can’t focus automatically on my camera, and I’m not particularly good with manual focusing (as can be seen above).
I did play around with the 50mm prime lens though (since it’s comparatively easier to play with the focusing when not distracted with zooming). I managed to catch this photo which I think is actually pretty good – especially considering the fact that it was taken with manual focus. I’m finding this really enjoyable – I don’t think I’m giving up DSLR photography any time soon!
Nikon D40
May 18th
Am now the proud owner of a not-so-new Nikon D40, against the advice of my camera-Nazi friends. I think most of them don’t appreciate that I’m approaching this with quite a bit of apprehension – I’m actually prepared to sell it off again should I fail to take to DSLR photography, and at S$380 for the camera body, it’s not a particularly heavy investment.
I took a few pictures while inspecting the camera before purchase, and while it’s not particularly impressive (looks a little noisy – gotta figure out those controls soon), I thought I should just catalogue the very first picture I’ve taken on my new old camera. Hope my skills improve in the coming weeks!