Wet and Salty!

That's exactly what's happening these days outside of radio land for me.
If I'm not in a swimming pool teaching, I'll be out in some open sea photographing the underwater world.
Just did a shoot in the depths of the Sulawesi sea, diving Manado, Lembeh Straits and Bunaken for about a week or so and got some really interesting stuff in what they call Manado as the Mecca for macro photography.
Also had an interesting experience of documenting a fish fight for territory.
Here are some of the pictures:

Suckerrrr!

Just some time back I was saying how there's no end when it comes to upgrading your digital cams and look what happened...,
I've been sucked in just like everyone else (well, at least some of us) into upgrading!!!
Decided to hog off my 30D for a 40D...heh,heh!

Well if its going to make me feel any better cos I had to dish out another 1K+ for the 10.1mp camera is that the previous was having a bit of trouble with the shutter release.
C'mon, that's a good excuse to trade it in, isn't it?
Now all I got to do is what for the underwater housing by Sea & Sea to be released soon which again would see me looking for a buyer for my existing rig :-D

To be honest, my dua sen worth of the latest midrange release by Canon is definitely worth the wait.

All the 'bells & whistles' they've thrown in has definitely made a vast difference in picture quality as compared to the 30D.

Verdict on my purchse- No regrets!

Here are some test shots I took and mind you, all these images are untouched by Photoshop except for crop purposes.
Tadaaa...!

Nice & Cheap!

Well not exactly true to the title, considering the fact that I'm poorer by about RM1,800 but if it had been an original Canon lens, it would have cost me probably three times more!
Yeah, that's Canon for you...

So what's my point?
Aaaah..., what I'm trying to get at is I've concluded that sometimes for an 'ori',
a third party lens can do the job just as well if not better.

See I've always wanted to 'shoot' super wide angle scenic underwater shots but couldn't for the simple fact that digital cameras have the 1.6 crop factor where a 15mm lens will eventually give you a 28mm or so in actual coverage.

But the Tokina is specially designed for Dslr in mind just like the EFS lenses in Canon or AFDs in Tamron. So one day I stumbled upon this and decided to give this lens a go, and voila! I was blown away with its performance.

Tokina 10-17mmm fisheye

Never underestimate the 'ori's!!!

More of my pics at www.richardngphotos.com

Will it ever stop?

Just when I thought it'd be sometime distant before Canon launches yet another upgraded version, I was wrong...
Got my Canon 30D slr just last year same time in September and now they've come up with an upgrade to the new 40D in just one year. Sigh!

So here's the scoop on the latest release due to launch nationwide this week at about the same price as the 30D, retailing for about 4k plus.

The EOS 40D, headline improvements are a more robust build with weather-proofing, ten megapixel CMOS sensor, DIGIC III and 1D style menus, 6.5 fps continuous shooting, three custom user modes on mode dial, 3.0" LCD monitor, Live View with optional mirror-drop auto-focus, larger brighter viewfinder with interchangeable focusing screens, much shorter viewfinder blackout and a quieter mirror mechanism, a all new AF system with all nine points cross-type with F5.6 or faster lens and a new optional combo vertical / WiFi grip.

Key features

• 10.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• 6.5 fps continuous shooting, max. burst 75 JPEGs
• New AF system with 9 cross-type sensors
• DIGIC III processor
• 3.0” LCD with Live View mode
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System
• Clear and bright viewfinder
• Customisable Picture Style processing parameters

Underwater Photographers like me would be happy to know that Sea & Sea (Japan) has decided to produce the housing and its currently in its designing stage and would be available sometime in Spring '08.

To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question!

See How They Grow

Either they grow up so quickly or time is definitely flying by at the blink of an eye.

Baby Marissa is 8 months in a couple of days, and I'd hate to think I too am coming closer to yet another birthday!

On a happier note, we discovered she's gotten her very first 'whitey' out recently and since then have been showing off her tooth. What a cutie!

Sentimental Reasons

Those good ol days!

Can't imagine it has been a good 11 years on MixFM and been hosting the 'original' Mix Breakfast Show with Shaz for 9 years!

How time flies indeed and all these years, so much have happened in our lives (me & Shaz) with us getting married and then having our own family and all. But the best part is we're honoured to be able to share part of our lives with our listeners.
There are also moments of our life that we shared behind the scene as we grew, lending support to each other as good friends.
I remember those days where I'd pour out my hurt to Shaz cos my girlfriend left and vice versa.

We also shared part our lives 'on-air' and one I'd never forget to this day is when I got married and there was this girl who sang 'Till There Was You' for me & my wife and she sang it so well. Thank you!
Not forgetting when Baby Marissa was born, thank you all for your wishes and love.

I suppose all good things has to come to an end and to me it has been nothing short of sweet!

Maybe one day, if Shaz is still up to it...

Garden For Baby M

Thanks to our new neighbor whom I got inspired to finally do something about our little garden after eleven years of having 'lalang' as part of the garden. Well in all honesty, the 'old' garden was not all that bad except it needed a new turf and some colors besides green and browns (cos of dying plants deprived of water).

So when our new neighbour got theirs done, I took the chance to ask for their pricing on re-turfing and stuff. The only thing I've always hesitated on getting professional help all this while was that I'd get ripped off. Surprisingly, they had a good deal and that started me on this gardening idea.
Plus, I was also thinking more for Baby Marissa when she grows up she'd need to run around and all. So this would be the perfect time to look into my gardening project again after years of neglecting it to the snails, ants and insects.

Now after about five weeks later and poorer by about 1k thrown in for new 'Phillipine' grass, flowers and all, its really nice to see a decent looking garden and I ust say it feels good to the eyes.
Watering the garden can also be quite calming and a good time where I get some 'quiet' moments to myself just listening to the sound of splashing water.

The only thing I'd have to be consistent now is maintaining it!


But heck, there's always the nursery nearby if they should wilt on me.
For now I'll just enjoy the smell of the green grass.