Archive for Photography

Canon 500D and Nikon D5000

// November 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Photography

One of the simplest joys I have is photography. Whether it’s capturing the stillness of a landscape, the intricacies of a historical relic, or the lively activities of a busy street, taking photos is one of the things I love to do the most. While you don’t need a really good (and expensive) camera to start taking pictures, it’s nice to have at least a basic DSLR if you’re ready to take photography a bit more seriously.

The top two DSLR makers are of course, Nikon and Canon. I regard both with equal respect since they both have been in the business longer than I’ve been on earth (meaning: they both have been making cameras long enough to know what they’re doing). If you’re looking to buy your first DSLR but want to take a step above the lowest entry level models, the Nikon D5000 and Canon 500D are both great options to consider:

Canon EOS 500D/Rebel T1i

Nikon D5000
Sensor 15.1 Megapixels 12.3 Megapixels
22.3 x 14.9mm CMOS 23.6 x 15.8 mm DX CMOS
Dust Reduction Filter vibration at power-on Airflow control system
Anti-static coating Image sensor cleaning
Software-based dust-removal Software-based dust-removal
RAW Yes Yes
Movie HD (16:9)
1920 x 1080p 20fps,
1280 x 720p 30fps		 1280 x 712 24fps,
640 x 424 24fps,
320 x 216 24fps
SD (4:3)
640 x 480 30 fps
Movie Duration Maximum 29m 59sec or 4GB

(which ever comes first)

 Maximum 5 min (1280 x 720), other resolutions 20 minutes
Movie Format QuickTime MOV AVI (Motion JPEG)
Sensitivity Auto (100 – 1600) ISO 200 to 3200
ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800 Can also be set to ISO 100 and 6400 equivalent
Shutter Speed 30 – 1/4000 30 – 1/4000
Continuous Shot 3.4 fps 4 fps
Memory SD/SDHC SD/SDHC
Focus 9 focus points 11 focus points
Tilt and Swivel LCD Monitor No Yes
3.0″ TFT LCD monitor 2.7″ TFT LCD monitor
100% frame coverage 100% frame coverage
920,000 pixels 230,000 pixels

Spec-wise, both cameras are pretty much equal. They’re equally priced too at around P40000 for the body and an 18mm-50mm kit lens. It all boils down to your personal preference. You’ll have to visit a store and try holding both to see which one feels better on your hands. One thing’s for sure though, you can’t go wrong with either of these cameras.

Mai Khao Beach Phuket, Thailand

// September 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Photography

I took these pictures during my recent visit to Phuket, Thailand. Located in the northern part of the island, Mai Khao is one of the more secluded beaches there. I think the place is really beautiful and serene.

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Flower power

// July 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // Photography

My official task for this year’s team building is to be the photographer for the day. While I took loads of candid pictures of my co-workers, I’m not posting those here. :-)

But before the main activities started, I had some time to take a few pictures of the flowers around the resort. Here are some of my non-edited shots…

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Random pics from my trip to Singapore last year

// June 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Photography

This is way overdue. I was just looking through my photos folder and found some pics from my Singapore trip last year. Since I was just visiting some relatives and didn’t really go to touristy places, I didn’t take my camera with me everywhere. Here are two pics out of the lousy bunch. ^.^

singapore-flyer

I took this pic while I was on the Singapore Flyer. It was expensive and only lasted a few mins. Most of my pictures were noisy since it was very dark and I didn’t use a tripod. This one was the diamond in the rough. I love the glowing blue lights.

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singapore-bp

Here’s a skyline pic of Bukit Panjang. There’s the BP mall at the leftmost part of the pic. I didn’t really follow the rule of thirds here but what the hell it looks pretty good to me.

Fake Infrared Landscape Pictures

// April 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Photography

I love how infrared photos look… they just seem so serene and misty. Check out this photo gallery of awesome infrared photos by Jeffrey Klassen to see what I mean.

I took a lot of landscape photos using my digital SLR during our trip to South Korea. I would have loved to take authentic infrared photos but I don’t really have the equipment nor the time to do so. I checked the internet for Photoshop tutorials that could mimic the look of infrared photos and found this tutorial. I tried it out on some of my photos and came up with the post-processed photos below…

Nami Island

Mt. Seorak

Jewel in the Palace

What do you think? I know they’re not as good as Jeffrey Klassen’s photos but they still look pretty cool right? You may also view the other pics from the trip at my South Korea 2009 Flickr set. I’ll try to post more pics when I’m not so busy any more. :-)

Cherry Blossoms at Mt. Seorak

// April 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // Photography

I’ve already mentioned this on my Twitter account but I think it’s worth mentioning again: our trip to South Korea was awesome! I had so much fun and took loads of pictures. I’m still in the process of sorting through all the pics but I already want to share a few shots of my favorite plant/flower/blossom, Cherry Blossoms. We came just in time to witness them bloom and they were beautiful.

Of course I’m no professional photographer but I think these pictures look great anyway. I’ve also uploaded these in my Flickr account. There are only three pics right now but I’ll post more pictures soon!