Snap your cakes and eat it too

Carrot Cake (42.6MP)

Here is an image of a carrot cake which I took recently. I documented the setup below. It was a fairly simple setup done with just one SB-600 set to manual mode at 1/2 placed on the right triggered via SU-800 with white paper placed on the other side to soften the shadows.

I depended a lot on the ambient light coming from the window on the right. I add-on an additional light to complement the ambient light. Notice that I bounce the flash and let the spill over light from the flash enhance the ambient light. This would also help preserve the details of the white icing which could be easily lost.

p/s: I forgot to mention that the carrot cake image actually consist of 30 images stitch together turning it into a 42.6MP instead of a 12.1MP. How cool is that =).

Su-800 and Sekonic L-358

If you are planning or have purchased a light meter and thinking that it would be best friends with the Nikon SU-800 think again. Apparently the signals that SU-800 (yes you heard me right) transmits to other slave flashes under CLS fools the light meter and all you get is "E.u" which means under expose and I thought this issue was only when you use a SB-800 / SB-900 / pop-up as a commander. Going to scour the net for a resolution while waiting for a response from Sekonic on this. I have a strong feeling there is no workaround. Sigh.

p/s: will post further reviews on the L-358 later, but base on the feedback, specifications and price this is the one to get. Key features includes weather proof, pocket wizard module so you can trigger your pocket wizards via this baby, and last but not least flash in percentage contribution to ambient light (very neat).

Some updates and stuff

Photo by Edwin Tim

Apologize again :P for not updating as frequent as I would want. Been busy with stuff such as attending the Nikonian Discovery Center Launch, editing pre-wedding pictures due this coming Saturday (faint) and an iMac purchased from Machines =). Will get down to some orbis ring flash test on stills this coming weekend and probably review the Sekonic L-358 light meter if time permits.

For those planning to invest in a Nikon DSLR should probably hold of till end of this month. There are rumours going around the internet on two possible new bodies being introduced by Nikon. They are the D3000 which is "targeted" to replace the D40 / D60 and the D300s which is "targeted" to replace the D300. Just google these two bodies and you should find loads of links. In the mean time have a nice work week =).

Orbis Ring Flash

Got the Orbis ring flash from Singapore since there is nobody selling it here in Malaysia. The conversion rate from Singapore to Malaysia would still make it cheaper getting it there as oppose to ordering it from US. Will be testing this baby soon. Stay tuned for some shots in the meantime here are some un-boxing images.

Da box!

Contents inside

This is the only manual you will ever need.

With an SB-900

Back view

SB-900 slotted in (its a tight fit as compared to SB-600)

Let there be light. Triggered via Nikon D700 on board flash using CLS

UV Filters are not created equal

I did a personal test a while back and documented the results here. Some of my findings on B+W and Hoya filters were similar to the tests conducted by this site. Anyways, this site provides an in-depth look at some of the popular UV filters in the market and how well they perform in 3 areas (light transmission, flare and vignetting).Have a look at the results for other range of UV filters here.

Side projects with L'oreal Mok

Sorry if I have not been updating the blog much. Been tied up with work, weddings, commercial and side projects hehe. Anyways will update as much as I can. Here are some shots from a recent shoot which I did with L'oreal Mok (That is her real name).

One SB-600 triggered via SU-800. You can see the SB-600 light coming in from behind her.

2 x SB-600 triggered using SU-800.

2xSB600 one behind her, another pointed at a reflector. The catch light in her eyes were from the flash hitting the reflector. All flash were triggered using SU-800.

One SB-600 triggered using SU-800. You can see the light placement in the first black & white image on top.

Canon 500D vs. Nikon D5000

If you have not taken the plunge into the DSLR world and was considering to go with either one of the above entry level and you like to read all the facts and figures well this one may be your cup of tea. DXOmark recently did a sensor performance comparison between the two you can check out the review here.

The conclusion to the test was:

"The Nikon D5000 sensor obtains exceptional results for low ISO settings and outperforms the Canon EOS 500D sensor in Dynamic Range and Color Depth. When ISO increases, however, the differences become smaller, but the Nikon D5000 still maintains a slight advantage."

Intuos 4 arriving this week!

For those of you who missed the announcement here, it looks like the product is now in Malaysia. The pricing on wacom malaysia website looks promising. If you have not seen it you can click here. I called the local distributor and according to them the product should be in stores this coming Saturday so look out for it =).

Rest and Relax

Had a busy weekend. Was tied up with one commercial shoot, one wedding shoot and tons of images to post process. I miraculously found some time for dinner with my wife and her sisters. We had dinner somewhere between Bukit Tinggi and Genting. It was crowded but the food was good. Here are some shots.

The Place

The company

The food

My wife sisters son "Eddie" picking his nose....PRICELESS =)

Rhea Lim

My personal Fave =)

We had a productive weekend. Its a little bit different from the portraiture work which I am used to. Since I am shooting for commercial stock photography I am limited by my ISO range and had to use flash as oppose to natural lighting which I had been accustom too. Anyways had a lot of good commercial worthy shots.

Ipoh Street Shots

From lightness to darkness in black and white. Some street shots from Ipoh in black and white.

JLP Wedding Photography Workshop Day 2

Images taken from day 2. Sorry I don't have any classroom images with me :( but do enjoy the image :)

This shot would not have been possible without the other photographers. Thanks guys!

JLP Wedding Photography Workshop Day 1

Jim Liaw Photography conducted a workshop together with Nikonian Academy on "Secrets of an International Wedding Photographer". It was two days filled with fun and adventure. Here are some shots taken during the event.

My personal favorite

Pei Pei Reworked

Decided to take a break from work and engage in some rest and relax by re-editing some old pictures. One of the benefit of RAW are the controls it provide you when you post process. So found a stash of Pei Pei images which I took some time back and blended it with some post processing techniques which I had picked up along the line. Enjoy.

Wake up and smell the coffee

Reminds me of that Maxis Billboard Ad

The weekend has come to and end. I do not know about you, but I sure had a productive one. Since Monday is around the corner, I have some muffins to cheer you up and some coffee to keep your Monday blues at bay. So don't forget to take a break every now and then, god knows we all need it.