Looking Back...
Looking back...years back when I started my hobby in photography, there's a website I frequent - www.photosig.com; an inspiring site which kindled my interest to explore photography in greater depth. Click on the Photosig URL on the right to access. Visit the site with caution, not because of its adult content but because of the saying - Photography, one of the quickest way to financial ruin. ;)
With my first digital camera Olympus C730UZ on hand - a birthday gift from my elder sis and brother-in-law, I started roaming streets capture pictures of sceneries, people, plants, insects; basically anything that was of interest to me.
Posted a number of images on Photosig, mostly far from interesting and technically flawed. Extracted few decent ones, this one is my all-time favourite.
A long exposure abstract shot underneath the bridge next to Esplanade on a cloudy night. Heard someone won top prize in a photography competition last year using a similar shot. Should have participated it myself!
Some of the comments I gathered for the above shot in Photosig.
"Hello Jason, I think this is a very interesting photo. The colors seem to add a lot to the shapes, and the less noticed curved shapes seem to blend toward the more vivid colors. The sky showing through brings everything together. I would say it`s a pretty good effort, regards" - Jim
"A very enjoyable abstract. Very powerful in composition and so simplistic yet rich in interest. One for the wall. Regards" - Toby
"Very original image! Very nice work! This definitely works as an abstract, that's for sure! I like the tonality that you have applied overall as well. I'm not really sure what I could say exactly that would explain why I'm not giving you a perfect rating; there's just something slightly too dark about it all, but there's nothing that you could really change too much on the other hand either. (I hope that makes sense...) keep up the good work! Thanks for sharing." - Kevin
The memory card supported by Olympus C730UZ is XD or Smartmedia. A 256MB Olympus XD card which supports the panorama feature of the camera cost a whopping $300(almost half the price of the camera) at that time. Unable to afford it, I have to settle for the cheaper alternative without the panorama feature - Smartmedia. Smartmedia cards comes in the size of 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128MB maximum. Why only 128MB maximum? Design flaw. The thickness of the filmsy material restricts it to no more than 128MB.
In Yahoo Auction(SG), I came across a guy selling a panorama-enabled OEM Smartmedia card. Curious on how he did that, I start searching the internet for information on how to enable the "hidden" feature. After nights of research, the so-call hidden feature can actually be revealed by corrupting the card's partition table and reformat it using a specific model of Zio! card reader and downloaded software - by tricking the camera to recognise the card as Olympus-made by changing a value in the partition table.
Holding a note scribbled with the model number and component code of the chipset in the reader, I went hunting for it. After 2 days of search, my effort paid off. Found it in one of the shop in Sim Lim Square. Bought the last piece @ the price of $48 and anxiously rush home to try it out.
All hooked up with driver installed under Win98, next is the moment of truth. By clicking on the program's "Corrupt Partition" button, either I save myself $200 or $100 down the drain. No risk no gain, I pressed the button without much delibration.
Viola! I have with me a self-made panorama-enabled Smartmedia card. Some of the shots using my DIY panorama Smartmedia cards.
Taken along the pavement opposite Boat Quay, I named the above shot "Colors of the Night".
More shots extracted from my photo archive in Photosig, all shot using my departed trusty old friend Olympus C730UZ.
Top last 2 images were captured in Sentosa, shot using special effect filters attached to the front of the camera lens. One filter system I still have it with me over the years is the Cokin Filter System.
Hoya Prism 3 Pass and Star-Cross filters were used to achieve the above cloning and star effects.
So long my friend...Olympus C730UZ.
What are the must have filters?
1) Ultra-violet filter(multicoated) - protects your camera/lenses front lens element from fingerprints, dust and scratches. Cheaper to replace this piece of glass than your camera lens. Multicoating is to prevent flare from external light source bouncing off the filter creating overexposed area, works just like the multicoating on spectacles.
2) Circular Polarizer - held at an angle of 90 degrees from the ray of the sun, it intensifies the blue sky and greeneries. Making nature scenery more saturated in colour and improves the contrast. Another usefulness of it is to cut reflection from glasses or any surface that reflects light. One good example of this usage is to shoot someone wearing spectacles. Circular polarizers are required for auto focus cameras for the focus and exposure modes of the camera to operate correctly. Linear polarizers work well on all other cameras. Take note that polarizer removes 1.5 to 2 stops of light.
Top the chart in filter manufacturing is no other but B+W. Accept no substitution especially for Canon L lenses! ;)
With my first digital camera Olympus C730UZ on hand - a birthday gift from my elder sis and brother-in-law, I started roaming streets capture pictures of sceneries, people, plants, insects; basically anything that was of interest to me.
Posted a number of images on Photosig, mostly far from interesting and technically flawed. Extracted few decent ones, this one is my all-time favourite.
A long exposure abstract shot underneath the bridge next to Esplanade on a cloudy night. Heard someone won top prize in a photography competition last year using a similar shot. Should have participated it myself!
Some of the comments I gathered for the above shot in Photosig.
"Hello Jason, I think this is a very interesting photo. The colors seem to add a lot to the shapes, and the less noticed curved shapes seem to blend toward the more vivid colors. The sky showing through brings everything together. I would say it`s a pretty good effort, regards" - Jim
"A very enjoyable abstract. Very powerful in composition and so simplistic yet rich in interest. One for the wall. Regards" - Toby
"Very original image! Very nice work! This definitely works as an abstract, that's for sure! I like the tonality that you have applied overall as well. I'm not really sure what I could say exactly that would explain why I'm not giving you a perfect rating; there's just something slightly too dark about it all, but there's nothing that you could really change too much on the other hand either. (I hope that makes sense...) keep up the good work! Thanks for sharing." - Kevin
The memory card supported by Olympus C730UZ is XD or Smartmedia. A 256MB Olympus XD card which supports the panorama feature of the camera cost a whopping $300(almost half the price of the camera) at that time. Unable to afford it, I have to settle for the cheaper alternative without the panorama feature - Smartmedia. Smartmedia cards comes in the size of 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128MB maximum. Why only 128MB maximum? Design flaw. The thickness of the filmsy material restricts it to no more than 128MB.
In Yahoo Auction(SG), I came across a guy selling a panorama-enabled OEM Smartmedia card. Curious on how he did that, I start searching the internet for information on how to enable the "hidden" feature. After nights of research, the so-call hidden feature can actually be revealed by corrupting the card's partition table and reformat it using a specific model of Zio! card reader and downloaded software - by tricking the camera to recognise the card as Olympus-made by changing a value in the partition table.
Holding a note scribbled with the model number and component code of the chipset in the reader, I went hunting for it. After 2 days of search, my effort paid off. Found it in one of the shop in Sim Lim Square. Bought the last piece @ the price of $48 and anxiously rush home to try it out.
All hooked up with driver installed under Win98, next is the moment of truth. By clicking on the program's "Corrupt Partition" button, either I save myself $200 or $100 down the drain. No risk no gain, I pressed the button without much delibration.
Viola! I have with me a self-made panorama-enabled Smartmedia card. Some of the shots using my DIY panorama Smartmedia cards.
Taken along the pavement opposite Boat Quay, I named the above shot "Colors of the Night".
More shots extracted from my photo archive in Photosig, all shot using my departed trusty old friend Olympus C730UZ.
Top last 2 images were captured in Sentosa, shot using special effect filters attached to the front of the camera lens. One filter system I still have it with me over the years is the Cokin Filter System.
Hoya Prism 3 Pass and Star-Cross filters were used to achieve the above cloning and star effects.
So long my friend...Olympus C730UZ.
What are the must have filters?
1) Ultra-violet filter(multicoated) - protects your camera/lenses front lens element from fingerprints, dust and scratches. Cheaper to replace this piece of glass than your camera lens. Multicoating is to prevent flare from external light source bouncing off the filter creating overexposed area, works just like the multicoating on spectacles.
2) Circular Polarizer - held at an angle of 90 degrees from the ray of the sun, it intensifies the blue sky and greeneries. Making nature scenery more saturated in colour and improves the contrast. Another usefulness of it is to cut reflection from glasses or any surface that reflects light. One good example of this usage is to shoot someone wearing spectacles. Circular polarizers are required for auto focus cameras for the focus and exposure modes of the camera to operate correctly. Linear polarizers work well on all other cameras. Take note that polarizer removes 1.5 to 2 stops of light.
Top the chart in filter manufacturing is no other but B+W. Accept no substitution especially for Canon L lenses! ;)
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