Updates

Apologise again for not updating my blog, almost 6 months have passed. My shooting session has seen a drastic drop since my dengue stunt, probably due to the nagging from my mom and gf. Alot of things had happened since then.

My dad passed on in Sept (20th Sept 07) due to some complications after a minor operation.

I have also started up my planted tank again + apistogramma (abit more in awhile), also took up fish photography. I also gotta a new DSLR body (Canon 40D) just yesterday, hopefully with it, I will start my engine back to what I always wanted to do.



Have added a few new species to my list of butterflies, finally seeing some movement in numbers haha.

(these days blogging with blogger.com is kinda of PITA, uploading image don't always work and the format changes each time an image is upload, looks like I have to find another place)


Butterflies

Plague with unwholesome experience?

First, I had my ACL reconstructed in my left knee, then I got into the car accident and end up breaking my back and finally, DENGUE!!!! What the hell!, doesn't mean I work in Aedas, I had to be bitten by a Aedes mossie.. What luck I must say I have, must have done something really wrong in my past life.

The first Sunday of July, while lying on my couch, I suddenly felt feverish out of the blues. Took my temperature and 39 degree.. *faint*, went to the doctor the very next day, GP suspected dengue, so I took an inital dengue kit test, where they prick you on the fingers, swap the blood on some tester and look at the kit for a positive or negative sign and turned out negative. Relieve I was, went back, took the medicine and rested for 2 days, but it wasn't turning for the better, my fever was still present, although it went down to 37, so again, I went back to my GP and got another 2 days of rest. Apart from the fever, I had a really bad headache that just wouldn't go away, beside that the usually body aches, but it wasn't that bad as described in the papers. Well, after the 5th day, I decided I should get my blood tested, went back to wait for the result and about 6pm, my doctor rang and needed to see me... I was like "OMG, defintely bad news". and I was freaking right, the test came back positive for dengue and my platelet count was at 77k, a normal person will have 140k to 400k+ count. He wrote a letter and urge me to get admitted into a hospital.

I went back, packed some stuff and left for NUH at 10pm+, the whole admission took almost 2 hours in a freaking cold A&E room. There I was for 3 days, hooked to a IV drip, took no medicine. Eventually, my platelet count went up and I was allowed to leave. Surprisely, I didn't smoke on the first day, but the second day on, I sneak out to the balcony area and took a few quick puffs.. luckily, I chose a 4 bedded ward :). The experience was really shitty, after coming back, I still felt sick as ever. My colleagues sent me fruit baskets and even my IT vendor. So nice of them... my fridge was packed to the brim with fruits... hahaha

I only turned for the better, after return to the work a week later, first day back was a crap but second day on was back to normal. I also went for another blood test, recommended by the hospital. My platelet count went up to 300k+ but at the same time, the enzyme from my liver was abeit high as well. Supposed to do another round of test next week or 2.

I must say, the whole dengue thingy took almost 2 weeks + to recover. Paranoid as we all humans are, my mom bought mossie sprays. keke. Well, another thing to add to my list of plague due to photography. I probably rest for a while before I head back shooting once more.

btw, I bought a samsung 37" R81 LCD... so sweet and couple with a PS3... haha sweeter than sweet man, the graphics rocks. Currently have Ridge racer 7, Resistance: Fall of man and NBA 07. my PSN account is SSNG, so add me in

before I got sick, I went to Alexander hospital (no, I didn't get dengue there, probably judging from the calendar, I believe it's either Toa Payoh town park or the dragon boat association at Kallang) So without further delay, time for more pictures.... I supposed

Word of wisdom and the first installation on how to photograph a butterfly

I came up with something today on the bus back from Toa Payoh Town park. Don't asked me why, because I don't really know why. Perhaps, reflecting on some of the usual excuses some photographers make when you comment that it should have shot a certain subject from the other side or maybe to go down lower to get a better in focus subject. So with that in mind, I came up with these words.. keke

"You are the determinant between a good and bad shot, after that, you can blame it on your equipments"

Considering the effort one makes when you push the shutter, people tend to fire freely since we are in the digital era, without having to develop films, we lost the ability to properly compose a photo before pushing the shutter. I'm guilty of some trigger happy incidents myself, not because I shoot everything that is anything but rather shooting for keepers. Since my accident, my skill level has dropped drastically. When I used to a one shot, one kill routine, but now, I lose that touch and getting more out of focus photos. I, personally feel that each one of us can determine how each shot will come out, before we fire away, we should always think about what we what to achieve.

Here are some of my consideration when photographing butterflies, I will break down in several posting, each post will talk about 1 topic. Do remember I always use an external flash, either for filling in the lights or brightening the background and subject.

1) choose a good background

A cluttered background 'steals' attraction from the subject, if you have to shoot, would you prefer something of a nicer background (example, smooth green background). Likewise, what background we intend to achieve also depend alot on the subject, if the subject is dark, then having a background equally dark wouldn't bring out the subject. So, naturally, the easiest way is by contrast, a white subject with a dark BG or a dark subject with a light BG usually works. But there are certain situation like white subject on green BG still works as well. I, personally like pastel colours for my shots, so sometimes, instead of a all green background, I add a out of focus flower in the background, it adds to the composition and makes the background a much interesting addition to the photo. But avoid highlights or hotspots, these always draw attraction away from the subject, same as in a cluttered background, depending on the severity of it, you derive the same distraction.

Having the right background usually is the breaker of all photographs. Sometimes, we need to do alittle abit of housekeeping, removing unsightly twigs, leaves or branches in the way. Having a small swiss knife with you is quite handy at times. But of cause, please do so discreetly, especially when you are in a nature reserve or a park, you wouldn't want to end up getting summon for break a twig or a branch or seen trampling on a row of plants. Over the years, I have seen some neat methods used, like using strings to tie branches that is in the way. There are clamps sold commercially for such purpose as well, but they are abit pricey. I found some clamps in the popular bookshop in Bras Basah, which I think get the job done. But sadly, I never tried using them.

Other ways to achieve a better background, includes having fixed a 'background' behind the subject. This proves difficult, especially when the subject is skittish. So, I suggest taking a couple of shots before you decide to do something stupid. Muhahaha... So far, we have found that a towel or a large leaf comes in handy for a background. Unlike, those who shoots in the studio, or in a controlled environment, we sometimes trek a distance, so what we carry along for our outing is kept to the minimal.

Now on how your aperture can affect your background. Remember the bigger the aperture, it blur-er the background gets. (example a background shot at F5.6 has a blurrier image than compared to the same shot at F11) But do remember about the depth of focus, at a given distance + the length of the lens, (the closer you are to the subject, the thinner the DOF will be). For those who don't know what DOF means, it is the depth/area in which everything within this depth/area is in focus. For butterflies, I do suggest at least using a F8 to F11 (that's the sweet spot for my Tamron 180 macro), only at certain situation do you require a blurrier background, this is when you choose a bigger aperture (a small F-stop). Do read up on DOF.

Apart from aperture settings, there is the shutter speed consideration. If you are still learning about your camera, always take a shot, preview and adjust your settings. My main shooting mode is always set to Manual, this allows me to adjust each component separately.

I notice most photographer tend to get harsh lighting on their subject during low light environment. This can be corrected, either adjusting to a lower shutter speed or increasing the ISO speed. (note that you have to compensate for your flash as well). A slower shutter speed allows more light to be capture, hence a brighter background. I don't entirely believe the metering on my camera, so preview a shot is always a good practice, although I don't practise that anymore. How do one know if the lighting on the flash is too harsh on the subject? My practise is, look at the shot, if the lighting on the subject is overpowering or over-lighting the background, then I would say the lighting is too harsh. I have heard photographers using an secondary flash unit to brighten the background, again this is not always possible. Unlike subject that doesn't move much, butterflies on the other hand doesn't always stay at one position. Sometimes, we do not get much opportunity to do such setup. Alternatively, use a bounce card, it can help brighten the background.

Background is really up to each individual preferences, as long as you can convince yourself that you made a good choice, then stick to that decision.

here are some pix I took at TPTP

Wet day today

It's raining cats and dogs outside, luckily, I decided not to attend the outing at Pasir ris park this morning. Will be a whammer to travel all the way there and not doing any photography due to the sucky weather. Aedas is organising some dragon boat activity at the end of the month, giving me some opportunity to do some photography, should be fun. Work as usual is busy busy busy, nothing much happening for the last few days, as long as nothing fails, my job will be smooth sailing :)

As for my legal case, still awaiting the report from JB, taking too long, really hate the waiting, because everything is riding on that report and nothing can be done without it. Yesterday, I got to see a plastic surgeon for my disfigured tummy, according to the doc, it is not a simple operation, because of the hernia and developed after the first operation, it is uncertain what they did inside me, possibly screw up. Hernia is a bulge developed when there is a previous surgery done on my tummy, the weakened tissue/muscle/stomach wall tears up, allowing my gut to protude through. After some reading up, it is called Incisional hernia, the surgeon suggest I go for more test to determine the condition of my digestive system. He basically gave me 2 options, having the hernia untouch, just removing the skin layer on it, push it back into the stomach cavity and pulling my stomach muscles together and stitiching it up. The other way, will be cutting me open, rearrange the organs and make sure they are not tangled together. My guess is if the latter is chosen, I will be lying in bed for 1 to 2 weeks without food again, but as long as they leave my digestive organs intact, then it will surely be fine. For me, I'm ready to go under the knife again, being at this state for almost 2 years. I just want to get on with my normal life, just another wishful thinking on my part. Don't think it will change anything for me, just trying to make things better, is good enough for me. Also, I'm thinking of giving up smoking for good, so decided to take the opportunity for my next surgery to get it done. Prior to my surgery, I intend to cut down on my sticks. Unlike previously, I didn't had any withdrawn syptoms, simply because after the first operation, I was drugged for a few days straight and after an experience like that, smoking would be the last thing on my mind.

Since my last posting, I decided to increase my photography outings, my back is holding up really good. My next appointment at NUH is scheduled on my birthday. Tomorrow marks the 2nd year after my accident. Time flies, perhaps a good thingy. Only time can heal my wound and memories of it.

time for some pix again

enjoy

SS

new posting + new addition to my collection

Yalloooo people

Managed to add another 1 species to my collection, finally moving again :) presently at 207.

Nothing much has happened lately, Jin bought a samsung I600, quite a good buy, faster than my HP ipaq :(

Notice my photography has drastic dropped in standard, can't achieve like those in the past (before my accident) getting more wasted shots than those keepers. Kind of depressing at times, wanting to trash the whole lot.

ok, here is 1 of the usable shot for today

Exam blues and more bitching and more pix

Looking at the date of my last post, I feel kinda bad not updating my blog. As usual it's the exam period, this time round 5 modules *faint*, but it is gonna be over soon, my last paper is on wed and darn it, my exam always have to fall within a public holiday. Why can't NUS just avoid these precious holidays we get. Sometimes I feel that they never take into consideration the hardship of part timers and how we have to juggle with our working life and still complete the course in the same time. This term was kinda of slacking, for me that is. No mood to get things done, no mood to do my assignments, but still it was done. No politics this time with that a$$, last mentioned in my blog a while back, but this time round, another a$$ has emerged from the ashes, an old a$$ for that matter. haha

After our last construction tech presentation, I heard from Jamie that Yong and company had been talking about us during their Building services project meeting, Jamie was in their team. I don't really care if they talking about us or boast about how good they are, all that shit. I supposed they had intention to let us know, thru the use of Jamie... from what she mentioned, Yong and co. was boasting on how good they presentation was, and how screwed up, our's had gone. Still don't understand what's the boasting is about. Project scope wise, I think we picked a much better subject to talk about, comparing to their reclaimation project, HA!, I though too highly of them (Yong) sometimes. Reclaimation is all about cover and fill, what's there to talk about.... DUH!!, if you put in equation on how the reclaimed land mass is used for buildings, such as in the marina bay or east coast area, thats a much better topic. Best of all, they took a freaking 1.5hrs to talk about land reclaimation... talk about wasting time, after they long and boring presentation, my guess was the lecturer was getting impatient.. who wouldn't

But all well and ends well, we had our day :) and it was SWEET!, having our last presentation for building services on cold and hot water services. I'm proud to say that we did a far (i think should be two far) a better project. The day, the project was announced, Yong impatiently chose their choice/subject, which is HDB *boring*, thinking that he might have something up his sleeves, contacts with someone in HDB and obviously looking that his kanchiong old self, thought they had something worthy to do. It turns out that the presentation was taken off the lecture notes, so much for a project... their presentation was utterly a repeat of the lecture on cold and hot water system. Seriously, I don't need another lecture on the subject. If I really need one, I will ask the lecture. Shamelessly ripping information, diagrams off the notes is something an idiot should know not to do. If any of the dumb a$$ from that team is reading this, please for god sake, provide drawings to illustrated the water system, not using photographs. If Yong and co. would have be nicer and asked for drawings, perhaps we would have given them some. One more thing, please read the project specification. Plans and Sections showing the distribution!

remember those are laugh first, laugh last. I respected Yong initially, but now, another down the drain... how come people just can't be humble. After 4 sems, I truly found some real friends and some people I have no problems working with. Too bad azhar left the course though.

back to my other life :), my photography has been a drastic drop in standard, not only do I have problems focusing, my hands shakes!!!!!!!! due to school work, I don't really have time to spare as well. My legal case has turned out so far, smooth. The court has ordered the defendent to pay for my compensation over the case. But for now, I still need the medical report from the JB hospital, which that, I can also seek a local specialist advice on my digestion problems. I hope not too long. I want to get my tummy fixed. so i can enjoy going to beach resorts once more.

here are some new pix, don't expect too much from me please

Vivarium

Forgotten to post this during the new year, so take it as a backdate post lor. I setup 2 vivariums mainly for my orkets aka jewel orkets.. spent quite alot just on them over at WL.... I think have to control myself, skool starting tomorrow, RATZ!!!! and early feb = almost 5k for skool fees again, worst, again 5 days of classes... really crap lor

show some pix of my vivariums first, only a week old, things looks fine, plants growing


This tank is in my room, looks kinda messy with all that plants hanging in the tank. But no choice, some of them requires cool temp to spike (spike means producing flower stalk) also the humidity is good for the Phal and Den. the Phrags at the left side cost me 100+ alone. they freaking count each growth as a plant, I think $15 ea. I chosen the healthier ones, but those have like 5 to 6 shoots alone *faint*




here is a clearer photo, I also added a 12v dc fan to improve circulation within the fan, I'm considering turn the fan the other way around and suck air from the tank instead of blowing, I think it might reduce evaporation of my already pathetic water body in the tank

This is the other vivarium, in my living room, more water this time. I wanted to add more stuff and idea but realised it wasn't easy and I require more planning. So, next time I need everything to be planned for on paper before I start the project. Mom say she don't mind another tank. So my next vivarium will be at least a 2footer vertical or a 3ft.. hmmm... I defintely prefer a 3ft, imagine 90cm of vertical space for the plants.. meaning more orkets, wahaha

anyway, these 2 tanks run on only pumps, not filters and the lights only comes on at night till the next morning. Also the tank in the living room has 2 pitcher and a venus fly trap, I don't know much about upkeeping them, so have to experiment and see how they are doing. I don't really feel like asking people in the plant forum.... I'm a practical person who like to try and experiment myself first hand and do adjustments. Obviously, a more expensive lessons, but I prefer to take the hard way around things most of the time.

new additions to the family

yeah, more orkets.. went for an outing with my fishy friends, some of them want to get jewel orchids for their vivarium. Then went to SBG with my mom. SBG hold a monthly plant sale at the visitor centre at the first sunday of every month. Was surprised to see a crowd there today, didn't know they were so popular. But strangely, as discussed with Choy aka a fishy mod in my forum. I observed that there were many gh3y into this hobby, Choy commented that gh3y likes gardening. I don't mean to be rude about it, but there were many at SBG today. What's up with that, association of gh3y with orkets gives me the creeps. If anyone like to enlighten me on this discussion, feel free to leave a comment. Honestly, I have nothing against them, but I do feel that they tend to be more sensitive, more petty than any typical women. Is it me or are they also extra Kiasu. I was picking up some plants today at the WL's booth today, deciding whether to get a bulb., then came 2 of them pointing and whispering about the plant. The moment I decided not to get, one of the 2 rush to pick it up and walked about with it. Perhaps, it was a good buy, or maybe a rare species.. who knows and I don't really care. What bothers me is the Kiasuism they exhibit.. a little bit of singaporean's KS behaviour and a woman's touch of "better grab it before someone takes it".. oh well, I guess its just part and parcel of life and we have to live in harmony. To set thing straight, I have nothing against gh3y, I respect them for who they are, but I prefer to keep my distance between them. Their action simply gives me the chill, reminding me of someone is my previous company.

I loan the 50mm macro from Benny, I think more suitable for plant macroing, shorter length = more flexible for small aperture and shutterspeed. But benny mentioned that the EFs 60mm macro could be a better buy... now I'm thinking of adding a shorter macro lens to my collection, what you guys think?

ok, picture time.!!!

(ps. is my blog so boring? how come no one post one!!!! and the formating for blogger suck big time leh, everytime I upload a photo, it sent it to the top and add spaces for no reasons... nevermind, I will just do more deleting and backspacing, sigh!)