Sigh.. Photography is such an expensive Hobby

It has been about 6 months since my entry into serious photography with the purchase of Canon's 400D. Naively I thought 'Get a good overall lens, a flash...that should be it'. But no, I seem to be getting addicted. Its true they say (and I agree) that use your existing gears to the best of their abilities and not get better gears to do more but sigh... I just can't help it. Sometimes it is the necessary evil. Sometimes..

My current existing equipment includes:

1. Canon 400D (with battery grip BG-E3 and kit lens)
2. Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS lens (hope to replace this next year with the 24-105 f4L)
3. Canon 17-40 f4 L
4. Canon 50 f1.8 (this is on loan - planning a 50mm of my own: the f1.4)
5. Canon Speedlite 580EX
6. Manfrotto 055Pro tripod (with the 468MGRC2 Hydrostatic ballhead)
7. Lowepro Nova 3 AW (shoulder bag)
8. Lowepro Dryzone Rover (backpack)
9. Maxtor 300Gb external harddrive (for all my storage needds ;) )
   

And still I have dreams. My current wishlist:

1. Canon 70-200mm f4L IS (next target before Japan GT 2007)
2. As mentioned before, Canon 50mm f1.4
3. Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro (this has been put on-hold as a colleague has recently purchased this - but this is a fun lens to get)
4. A monopod (research not done on this yet)
5. That National Geographic book titled 'The Book of Photography' ( this is a good book on the history of how the different styles of photography evolved, I believe that to be a better photographer one has to also develop an understanding of how the entire field has evolved, for eg. how people like Ansell Adams, co-founder of group f/64, has revolutionised modern photography, etc etc)
   

Sigh.... this is where is seems all my salary will go to in the near future. Hope it ends on the wishlist...oh but then there is also that Fish-Eye lens, the Tilt-Shift lens and a bloody PC that has at least 2Gb worth of RAM and a decent monitor with at least 120Gb of space (so working on photoshop does not suck big time)......sigh.....looks like it never ends..

Eye on Malaysia

KL Eye Firework display, Taman Tasik Titiwangsa

Wanting to know what the fuss was all about with the KL Eye (a swiss technology Ferris wheel), me and nottyboy headed to Taman Tasik Titiwangsa straight afterwork on Tuesday the 16th of January, 2007. Little did we know there was more installed for us.

As we arrived at approximately 6:30pm (okay, maybe a tad later), we saw 1 photographer already stationed by the lake with a big (albeit old-school) large format camera. Stationing by the lake ourselves to get a good view of the Eye with the KLCC twin tower backdrop, we waited till nightfall while testing out the settings on our cameras. We were so caught up that before we even realised it, day turned to night and there were a dozen other photographers with their big-ass SLRs and dSLRs (am assuming they're SLRs ... mostly)!!

Anyway, the big treat (and also as to why there were that many photogs) was that there was a fireworks show that night!! And everyother night apparently untill the 3rd of February (more details in the doument by the tourism ministry here). Fireworks photography was said to be easy but I find it tricky, probably because it was my first time. Anybody interested can get some tips from this link by the Digital Picture.

The link to my first attempts are in my humble gallery here. (more pictures will be added shortly)

Philip Plisson

Just read up on the french photographer, Philip Plisson in the January edition of DCM. His works are simply amazing as can be seen from his uk site. He specializes in oceans and has just released a book titled....wait for it..... . . .Oceans! His site is provided in the link above and on the side panel.

KL Travelogue 01

Masjid Jamek, KL

More pictures can be seen in the humble gallery here.

Goodbye 2006

Dusk view from office of the new Gardens @ Mid Valley construction site (using the office window as my polariser ..heh )

2006 has been a realtively good year for me. Improved myself workwise but not at a level that I would hope for. Nonetheless, progress is good. It also saw my debut into serious photography with the purchase of the 400D to which I am content with.... for now. I must thank my photo enthusiastic colleagues nottyboy, fox and James for their encouragement.

Hopefully in 2007, I can fill more in this photologue with my new partner. Here's to 2007!

Singapore visitation

Made a point to visit Singapore recently due to the urgent need of a bag. Must thank Sam for letting me bunk in seeing Singapore is twice Malaysia's currency. Need to save all I can for photo equipments :) ....

Placed a booking for the Lowepro Dryzone Rover a while back from Cathay Photo in Peninsula Plaza. This place is really a photo enthusiasts dream. Cathay Photo has 2 main outlets, the other being in Marina Square. Have not been to the latter but the one in Peninsula has 5 'sub'-shops each catering for different things eg. studio, tripods, bags and accessories etc. etc. Got carried away and ended up even buying the Manfrotto 055Pro tripod (which was in the plan but the timing was early). Almost bought a ball head together with it but restrained myself.

Looks like I'll be visiting Sam again soon....fall the ball head, and to visit Sam of course. How nice of me.. :)

EOS magazine

Was recently introduced to this magazine by a fellow shutter-bug friend. Yes, I am a Canon user though I have nothing against Nikon or any other brand for that matter. Just more familiar with Canon and have not lost confidence in it ...yet (don't let me down Canon!).

Anyway, I'm digressing here. Yes, I believe this magazine if very informative for those who wish to use their err.. Canon more effectively. Great for new users, useful for the old-timers. There are plenty of technical information in the mag and techniques to boot. The only problem for those of us living (more like earning) on the other side of the globe is that it cost roughly RM$187 for subscription which publishes quaterly. But I think its much more worth it if you are a Canon user than somethling like PP (Practical Photography) which is a very good magazine mind you. The local copy of DCM (Digital Camera Mag) is a good one too (and much cheaper).

Those interested to know more can just visit the link here: EOS Magazine.

A new beginning..

I have started this new blog for several reasons:

1. Blogger does not allow me (yet) to switch my current account to the Beta version because I have a team member that hardly contributes (sorry caviar... I know you are really busy)
2. Since I am into my photographic journey of discovery, I have decided to start a new.. chapter that is more related to this 'deviation' of mine.
3. Eventually, would like to merge all my blogs in 1 URL with a template that has tabs ala mozilla's firefox style and the newer Explorer.. (have not really looked into that yet and my css and html scripting sucks..BIG TIME - does anyone know how to do that btw??)

Now one does wonder why 'emmetropic'? Well emmetropic is relating to the normal condition of the eye in which visual images are in clear and sharp focus on the retina. So it relates to the (hopefully) visual focus of my explorations and what I perceive. The reason I say perceive is because everybody has their own style and one individual's meat can be another's poison. So bear with me.

I am also using this to provide myself a place that I can link to resources relating to photography. It is by no means a complete link resource, there are other sites out there that provide a more comprehensive selection, but I will try my best to share what I have encountered. From a novice..