canon contest

playing god :p

http://www.digitaldreams.com.sg/

Live your Digital Dream with Canon

game of life

In my secondary school days, when PS 1 was one of the more common consoles, i could remember playing games like suikoden, wild arms, musashi, monster hunter, puzzle fighter, bomberman, etc...

Anyway, i wanted to say that... and as a lot of people have said... :p Life is like a game. To me, the differences are that there are no safe points and we can't replay it. And with games, there would be guidebooks or online websites that will publish the walkthroughs (step by step reviews of how you should complete the games), tips and cheats, which would help us to complete the game in a shorter time, with lesser effort. In life, there's no such things. ... But, if it were up to you to choose, would you prefer to have this kind of guide? Or would you prefer to be independent and just depend on your own strength, knowledge and luck to get yourself through the game? To me, the criteria for choosing between these 2, would depend on whether i want to finish this game fast and with a good track record (e.g. a lot of money, comfortable life, good reputation, good ending, etc...), or, whether i just want to experience everything that comes in my way (e.g. all the failures, happiness, sadness, excitement, anticipation, suspense, etc...). But i believe that some other people would just choose, based on comparison with their peers. A few weeks ago, i remember seeing this article that reported that it was true that generally, people prefer to perform better than their peers than reach a certain target. Hmmm.... anyway, coming back to the topic of guides... ... I wonder what are the big monster bosses in my life. Are they the paper examinations that i sit for? ...Or the bad people i meet? ... Or is it just me when i don't believe in myself?

barrage of photos

28-8-06 (Thurs)

A bunch of us decided to go to school with spectacles and in black attire that day. And mj and me had a group briefing with 2 other peeps for the smrt challenge this sunday. Apart from the reading up of rules and a bit of talking cok, mj also suggested we go shopping after the event... with the top prize money of $500 per person :o ... :p

Finally some good weather after a few days of cloudy/rainy days.



During that night, i went to HBO Asia at New Tech Park at Lorong Chuan. They invited a few bloggers for the promotion of this new series "Flight of the Conchords", and my friends asked me along as a guest. I was a bit intimidated by the other people as i don't belong in the same league as them.. :s

The guy above brought us around for a mini-tour of HBO Asia.

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This is the green room.

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... i forgot which rooms were the audio room, studio, edit suite, master control room... :p

Sheylara with Timothy.


The office.





Hmmm... I enjoyed watching the 2 episodes that they screened. Although there weren't any climaxes and i can't seem to catch what they were saying because of their accents, i enjoyed those funny and witty things they say and the times when they'll suddenly start singing.

29-8-08 (Fri)

I skipped my one lecture in school today because i went to meet up 3 friends whom i haven't met in a long time.

This was the spicy noodles which i ordered.

This is Tong Long whose birthday falls on this sunday :o

This is xc.

Cedric :o




School life is so boring :s Maybe i should not have entered university, and should have started working and took up some part time courses about counselling or psychology or etc... :s No point complaining now :/

30-8-08 (Sat)

If you look clearly at the picture above, you could see a very very faint rainbow...


I'm not sure how many of you have tried to kill flies before. But you can look at the article above for some advice. If the above method fail you, you could try my almost sure-hit method. You can shoot a rubber band at it. Just pull the rubber band against your second finger with another finger and aim it at the rubber band. The closest i could get to the fly was around 5 cm. Once you got your aim, just shoot. The only troublesome thing is the mess that you have to clear if u manage to hit the fly's body, as the whole body will just go splat :s If you manage to hit it's wing, it will not be able to fly and you can use a tissue paper to collect it and you can dispose it in any way you want. ....... :p

DPT 102

Tips and tricks to help with your flash photography

First things first . . .

Your options for flash photography will vary depending on what sort of digital camera you own.

If you have a point and shoot compact camera you will have less control over your flash photography. This is because these cameras are designed to do everything for you, in one neat package.

If you own a digital SLR, your flash photography options really open up. Digital SLRs come with a built in flash the same as compact cameras. But they also have the all important “hot shoe”.

You can slide your own flashgun (if you have one) onto the hot shoe. This will be more powerful than any on-camera flash, and will also allow you to “bounce” and “diffuse” your flash too.

Don’t worry if you only have a compact camera. There are still tips here that will help your flash photography.

It’s behind you . . .

Digital flash photography – tip 1:

Ok, whatever type of digital camera you have, here’s the first flash photography tip – check what is behind your subject before you press the button.

The reason is this – any reflective surfaces will bounce the flash straight back to the camera. You’ll see a big blob of flash on your photos.

The usual suspects are mirrors of glass behind your subject. It could also be any other reflective surfaces; polished silver trophies, for example.

So to avoid this, make sure you either move your subject, or move the reflective surfaces.

Time to recharge . . .

Digital flash photography – tip 2:

Second flash photography tip – learn how long it takes your digital camera to recharge the flash.

When you take a photo using the flash, it won’t fire again until the flash has recharged. This is sometimes called the recycle time.

The recycle time varies on a couple of factors:

• How good the batteries are. The more charge there is in the batteries, the quicker the recycle time.
• How much of the flash discharged. Sometimes the flash only needs to fire at half strength. In this case it recycles faster.

It’s helpful to know about the recycle time, because if you know you are going to be taking a few flash photographs in a short space of time, make sure your batteries are fully charged. Or maybe have a spare set of batteries to hand.

Flash falloff . . .

Digital flash photography – tip 3:

Flashes, particularly on compact camera, suffer from flash falloff. This means that the flash is more powerful in the middle of the photo than at the edges.

The easiest way to assess this is to take some test photos of a plain coloured wall at night.

Take a photo of the wall standing, perhaps six feet away, then move further back and take another photo. You’ll see an effect similar to the one below:



So how can you use this to improve your flash photography? Well, once you know where your flash is strongest, you can position your subject(s) so that they are in the area that you know will be well lit.

There’s an extra part to this. You’ll also notice that the flash gets weaker the further away your subject is. Because of this, for flash photography, try to get people in groups to stand side by side, rather than behind each other.

If they stand behind each other those at the front will be bleached out (because they are closer to the camera the flash is more powerful) and those at the back will be in darkness (because the flash is weaker where they stand).

Kill the flash . . .

Digital flash photography – tip 4:

The final flash photography tip on this page – kill the flash. Switch it off. Get rid of it.

Because the light from cameras’ flashes is so harsh, you will often get better results by turning it off altogether. There are a couple of tips to help you here.

First, consider your subject. It is relatively stationary? If it is, then here’s what you should do:

• Firstly, turn off the flash
• Then either place your camera on a tripod, or onto any suitable solid surface.
• Now, because you are going to need a long shutter speed, use the self timer to fire the shutter.

That’s one tip for you. Obviously this will only work if your subject is stationary. If your subject moves while the shutter is open, they’ll come out blurred. And the shutter could be open for quite some time - about half a second would be common for an indoor shot.

Thankfully, the world of digital cameras has another solution to this area of flash photography. It’s called the “film speed”, or ISO (see understanding exposure – film speed for more on film speed and ISO).

For flash photography, try this tip. Instead of switching on your flash, try raising your camera’s ISO instead. This will make your camera more sensitive to light, and may well mean that you don’t need to use the flash at all.

---http://www.digital-photography-tips.net/flash-photography.html

DPT 101

I think i shall search for tips about digital photography when i don't have anything to blog about. :p I was always interested in taking good photos but i've been too lazy to read up on how to do it. I've always depended on luck to take good looking photos... :p

1. Warm Up Those Tones

Have you ever noticed that your shots sometimes have a cool, clammy feel to them? If so, you're not alone. The default white balance setting for digital cameras is auto, which is fine for most snapshots, but tends to be a bit on the "cool" side.

When shooting outdoor portraits and sunny landscapes, try changing your white balance setting from auto to cloudy. That's right, cloudy. Why? This adjustment is like putting a mild warming filter on your camera. It increases the reds and yellows resulting in richer, warmer pictures.

Figure 1a is shot outdoors in a mountain environment with the white balance set to auto. Figure 1b shows warmer tones thanks to using the "cloudy" setting and a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses over the front lens. (Canon PowerShot S200, Program mode)	Figure 1a.
	Figure 1b.

If you don't believe me, then do a test. Take a few outdoor shots with the white balance on auto, then take the same picture again with the setting on cloudy. Upload the images to your computer and look at them side by side. My guess is that you'll like the warmer image better.

2. Outdoor Portraits That Shine

One of the great hidden features on digital cameras is the fill flash or flash on mode. By taking control of the flash so it goes on when you want it to, not when the camera deems it appropriate, you've just taken an important step toward capturing great outdoor portraits.

In flash on mode, the camera exposes for the background first, then adds just enough flash to illuminate your portrait subject. The result is a professional looking picture where everything in the composition looks good. Wedding photographers have been using this technique for years.

Figure 3. By placing the subjects in the open shade beneath a tree and turning on the fill flash, both the boys and the background are properly exposed. (Canon PowerShot G2, 1/250th at f-4, flash on)

After you get the hang of using the flash outdoors, try a couple variations on this theme by positioning the subject so the sun illuminates the hair from the side or the back, often referred to as rim lighting. Another good technique is to put the model in the shade under a tree, then use the flash to illuminate the subject. This keeps the model comfortable and cool with no squinty eyes from the harsh sun, and this often results in a more relaxed looking portrait.

Remember, though, that most built-in camera flashes only have a range of 10 feet (or even less!), so make sure you don't stand too far away when using fill flash outdoors.

3. Horizon Line Mayhem

For some mysterious reason, most human beings have a hard time holding the camera level when using the LCD monitors on their digicams. The result can be cockeyed sunsets, lopsided landscapes, and tilted towers.

Part of the problem is that your camera's optics introduce distortion when rendering broad panoramas on tiny, two-inch screens. Those trees may be standing straight when you look at them with the naked eye, but they seem to be bowing inward on your camera's monitor. No wonder photographers become disoriented when lining up their shots.

Figure 5. How do you square up an image in the LCD viewfinder so it appears "level" when you view it later on the computer? Look for nature's horizontal lines and use them as guides. Sometimes you can use the line where the sky meets the ocean, other times you can use a strip of land as your level. In this case I used the shoreline of a mountain lake to help me align this composition. (Canon PowerShot G2, Aperture Priority exposure set to f-8, polarizer filter)

What can you do? Well, there's no silver bullet to solve all of your horizon line problems, but you can make improvements by keeping a few things in mind.

First of all, be aware that it's important to capture your images as level as possible. If you're having difficulty framing the scene to your liking, then take your best shot at a straight picture, reposition the camera slightly, take another picture, and then maybe one more with another adjustment. Chances are very good that one of the images will "feel right" when you review them on the computer. Simply discard the others once you find the perfectly aligned image.

If you practice level framing of your shots, over time the process will become more natural, and your percentage of level horizon lines will increase dramatically.

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/10/22/digi_photo_tips.html

one second

I was wondering...
Who's to decide how long is one second? What's the standard? Who's to decide how fast the digital numbers jump? Who's to decide how fast the second hand turns? Then i went to wiki it...

Under the International System of Units, the second is currently defined as

“

the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.[1]

”

This definition refers to a caesium atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K (absolute zero). The ground state is defined at zero magnetic field. The second thus defined is equivalent to the ephemeris second, which was based on astronomical measurements. (See History below.

certain moley parts = rich?

While on the train back home from work today, i observed this trend. I find that, at least for me, because of 2 or 3 friends of mine, i tend to associate male teenagers or kids who have moles on certain specific parts of their faces, to them being rich... I shall try to observe more clearly next time so as to find out where are the specific parts... :|

cheep cheep

Today, i just went to this warehouse sale that has products from Samsonite, Lacoste, etc... And it got me thinking... Do we really have to go overseas to buy super cheap clothes or accessories? And do we have to wait for shops to start their sale? ... Nope, we don't have to. And below are the few ways that i can think of, of how you can get your hands on cheaper items..

• Sale (Normal store sale. e.g. great singapore sale or clearance sales...)
  
• Warehouse sale ( although they may be out of season, they're sold at around 20-50% of the original price.)
  
• Thailand (e.g. clothes, watches, etc...)/China (e.g. everything... :/)/JB (e.g. everything except for those more branded goods such as levis...)/US (e.g. American brands like Abercrombie and Fitch would be cheaper over there...)
• Duty free shops at our airport (e.g. alcohol and fragrances, etc...)
  
• Online (Sometimes when you shop online, you may get goods that are cheaper than those that are sold in the main stores.)
• Secondhand goods (from online transactions or flea market, or friends and families.)
• Mustafa Centre (for cheaper household goods..)
  

If you have any other ways of buying cheaper goods, please tell me k... Thanks :o

journey to the centre of... town... a very short one :p

On our way back to school after watching "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" yesterday.



Drawings my P3 student did for me.


"The things 4 boys do, for a girl they like."

I feel loved when...

The Five Love Languages

My Primary Love Language is Receiving Gifts

My Detailed Results:
Receiving Gifts:	12
Acts of Service:	8
Quality Time:	6
Words of Affirmation:	3
Physical Touch:	1

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Tag 3 people so they can find out what their love language is.

Take the Quiz!
Check out the Book

... :p

lazy post

Taken from page 5 of "My Paper", quoted from Leow Ju-Len----
"The simple secret to being happy is not to have everything you want, but to want everything that you have."
"... we alone can and should control what we wish to be our sources of bliss.
I live life with the philosophy that once we stop letting othe rpeople decide what makes us happy, we would then derive joy from whatever strikes our fancy.
Ultimately, happiness need not be pursued. It merely has to be embraced."