Musings

Last month I wrote an entry reporting that while Hannah’s all me in mannerisms and general looks, her eyes take after Ling’s. Well, here’s proof – got Hannah to pose with Mommy, with Ling making her laugh.:)

Looks like Hannah could eventually inherit Mommy’s crow-eyes too!

Taken using the 50mm f1.8 again (but gonna switch back to my usual 24-60mm f2.8 after this) yesterday night after her 7:30 pm feed.:)

If there’s one thing I miss on portrait lenses, it’s optical stabilization in low light situations typical of a restaurant. These were taken (badly) this morning during a brunch at Swensens @ Compass Point, and if you’ve been there for a meal, you’ll know how dim lighting is there. I didn’t want to drive the ISO beyond 800 (need… full… frame… DSLR!), and I didn’t want to shoot with a wide-open aperture either. So at f2.2 – the most I was willing to risk, and ISO800 – and at 1/20s exposure times, half of the shots had visible shake, and that’s not counting the fact that Hannah herself rarely remains still – now also got subject motion to contend with. It’s only now when I realize how spoilt I’ve become by optical stabilization LOL.

Hannah with her favorite past time when we’re out of home – chewing on her toy.:) 

These next were taken at the level four Kopitiam at Hougang Mall with warm lighting in the food court. Had to adjust tint levels and temperature, and even then the results still look a little off.

My first Nikon lens from 1985 was a 50mm f1.8. As those of us who’re amateurs in photography would know, this 50mm focal length lens is especially appropriate for portrait shots. While I did pick up my first zoom lens – a Nikkor 70-210mm a couple of years later out of my own pocket money – I spent more time with the 50mm taking portrait shots of my ACJC classmates than the zoom. Those pictures weren’t all good of course (though a couple turned out very well, including one of this classmate I was interested in back then!), but there were a lot of valuable lessons that I learned from trying out, and also from a fellow ACJC enthusiast back then, who today has his own photography studio.

Fast forward to 25 years: I’ve bought a second-hand 50mm f1.8 AF from a colleague in July 2008 but funnily never really used it much with the D300. I like the Sigma 24-60mm f2.8 lens better, what with its small but tremendously useful zoom range, and that it’s tact sharp after I had it calibrated at the Sigma Service Center. Either way, I took the 50mm out for a Sunday spin with Hannah as the test subject. And here’s the outcome after about 90 frames later – split into two posts. This one below was taken at home in semi-low light.

Yeah I’m all rusty, and I made a couple of noob errors. But the next couple taken at Hougang Mall turned out better.:)

Hannah was found reaching for the guard railings of her cot after her bath over the weekend! Though you can see that her fingers are grasping the railings very tightly so that she can support her weight, it’s still pretty scary – because soon enough she’ll be able to climb over the railing itself.

With Matt coming to stay with us again next month in his third visit to Singapore, we’ve been chatting a lot about camera gear and equipment. He’s picked up a Nikon D90 and the 35mm f1.8 lens for this trip. Ling’s quipped that I’m a bad influence on him in this regard.:)

On my end though, I confess I’ve been looking still at the same lens that’s remained on my radar for more than a year now: the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR (brief blog entry about it nearly a year ago here):

It just costs a royal bomb that easily jolts me back to reality: the older iteration of the lens’ USD1949, and the newer one an even fatter USD2334. Way, way, waaaayyyy too much for what I’ll ever care to pay as an amateur for a lens, no matter how excellent optically and versatile it is.

There’re far less expensive third party options though, like the Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 which costs a modest USD770…

… just that it reportedly focuses pretty slow – a non-starter considering what this lens is specifically best intended for. A slightly better choice is the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 at USD799:

But while the Tamron and Sigma each cost just slightly over a third of what the Nikon lenses cost, neither of them are optically stabilized – which is a downer. Now, if only both manufacturers offer the same lens with that, it’d be a killer lens! Matt pointed to me the other week a discount 10% coupon for Sigma lenses at Amazon. I just need to wait for the two events to coincide, then it’d be a hard offering to pass up.:)

Hannah’s like me not in just the physical resemblance; unlike her mommy, Hannah’s an early riser like daddy! She’ll frequently be up at 7 AM whether I wake her up or not. In fact, before infant care, that she was awake at this time each morning allowed me to spend a bit of time playing with her before heading to work.

She’ll often begin the day by baby-talking and cooing to herself. Saturday weekends are more special though since that’s the opportunity to have an extended play session with her. After a semi-absence of Hannah pictures during the first two weeks of the year and our resolution not to miss these growing months of her, here’s a series of pictures taken this morning of Hannah playing, or rather licking, cups on our bed.:)

All taken with the usual Sigma 24-60mm f2.8 with the SB600 + diffuser pointed at the ceiling.)

Hannah has come a long way by way of getting fed solids. When we first fed her solids 6 weeks ago, the experience was similar to rummaging through a dumpster… it was more a mess than nutrition!

But the experience today is a lot quicker as Hannah’s learned how to accept food, and it helps that she seems to like what Ling prepares for dinner. These pictures here were taken during yesterday night’s dinner, and the dinner was fish porridge.:)

Taken with diffuser + bounced flash off the ceiling, and the Sigma 24-60mm at f2.8.:)

Here’s a selection from the other stack of pictures I took of our baby girl yesterday. Since the last week, she’s become about adept at propping herself up on her bed and sitting upright on her own. On a couple of occasions we’ve found her doing just that – sitting up and baby-talking to herself.:)

Ling’s been letting her get onto the marble floor at home and letting her learn to crawl a bit too. She’s comfortable with it, and seems to be trying hard to learn where her little hands and feet should go in order to move from one spot to another.

It’s all quite exciting to watch: her eyes squinting and lips sucked in concentration. She can already manage crawling for about a feet or so too.

Videos to come soon.:)

The flight to Kumamoto City on the 12 December was packed with Japanese high-school girls. From what my Japanese counterpart remarked when I was at their college, at about this time of the year, as many as 20,000 of their students will be in this region for vacation, a safe holiday, and to escape from winter and to enjoy the strong Yen currency versus Asian currencies.

The flight back to Singapore 9 days after that date was quite the contrast: it was an at-most one third filled flight, with mostly Singaporeans comprising the passengers with just a small number of Japanese travelers. Fukoaka Airport is more a transit point for persons visiting other spots in Japan (if any), and also for business travelers. So, I had the row of seats to myself, which made it possible to take my last series of pictures on the flight back itself.

Like the one above: the Japanese ground crew actually wave to departing airplanes! Just like what you saw in those old World War II films.

Our plane was fourth in the airport pattern: three planes landed in sequence before we were cleared for immediate take-off.

Just a couple of seconds after wheels-up, and before the plane did a 180 degree turn to head south towards Singapore. It was a late morning flight at about 1030, but the weather was still really murky.

There was an interesting cluster of super-high rise office blocks in what looked like a spot of reclaimed land. The place looked like a business park of some kind, and still under construction.

And lastly, Kyushu from about 5000 feet I think. Huge urban sprawl and the many hills on the island.

There’re several other pictures taken but of clouds, and on landing approach passing over Indonesia. Quite a stunning view, and the pictures are here.:)