Ultra Wide WC-E75 PowerShot G12!

By now you guys should have realised I love my Canon G12 (I raved about how good the little point & shoot is, here!) and I also adored ultra-wide angle lens!

Sadly, as you know; the G12 is a compact camera with a "fixed lens"; meaning, you cannot change the zoom lens that came with the camera.

Canon do made a add on conversion lens for the G's but they are mainly the telephoto variety. If you want ultra wide angle add on, you will have to go to third party manufacture or Nikon!

Of all the wide angle conversion lens ever made, Nikon's WC-E75 is, as far as I know; optically, the best!

Shot with my G12 and Sunpak RD2000 bounced.

Bounce Flash For G12

Way back in 2009, in "Bounced Flash and Bake-Off"; I wrote...

I dislike using flash in my photography, but most indoor lighting condition are not really bright enough for even illumination.

Direct flash can cause even the most flattering photos to turn out bad, direct flash is harsh and highlight in photos are "burn out" and lack detail.

If you are serious about your photography, the first technique you must learn is how to BOUNCE your flash!

Sadly, virtually all the smaller, so called "point & shoot" cameras came with tiny, fixed flash that you cannot tilt and bounce! Even if it can, the output is just too weak for that purpose.

What you need then is an external flash that is equipped with a movable "head" which you can tilt and turn to direct the light up or sidewards.

What is the advantage of bounced flash then?

Holly-Bolly-Welly WHO??

Well, Evangelical broadcaster Harold Camping has predicted a massive earthquake will strike the earth, 6 pm; NZ time; unleashing the Apocalypse, first to hit New Zealand, then around the world.

It is now 9.30 pm, we are still here ;) SUCKER!!

Another shocking news, albeit smaller in scale; is on the front page of the Saturday Dominion Post!

Drove Your VRX AMBULANCE Lately?!!

I think this news should win the "You gotta be kidding!" award!

No, I am NOT kidding ;)

Heading in our local newspaper today...

Cars registered as ambulances to save cash!

The news item went on to report:

Motorists are claiming their vehicles are ambulances to save hundreds of dollars in registration fees.

The problem is particularly bad in Otago, where 230 ambulances are registered, nearly as many as in Auckland, where there are 10 times as many people, the Otago Daily Times reported today.

A Matter-Of-Fact-Spoke-Person of the New Zealand Transport Agency media manager Andy Knackstedt said he believed there were only 40 genuine ambulances in Dunedin.

He believed, but he is NOT sure; there might be MORE? ;)

"I guess it comes down to people's willingness to falsely register their vehicles." DUH!

The REAL Wellington Free Ambulance (WFA) provides free to the patient, ambulance services in the Wellington Region of New Zealand.

Eye Dotting In Wellington

According to Hung Kuen Net...
 
New Southern Chinese Lions must be blessed by a traditionally ceremony called the Hoi Gong (开光 eye opening/dotting).

Traditionally a new lion should not be used if it hasn't gone through the Hoi Gong ceremony.

According to the tradition if the lion is used at any kind of event without being blessed or awakened it will bring misfortune and bad luck.

"Dotting the Eye" refers in particular to the Chinese tradition of painting in the eye of the Chinese lion before the start of the lion dance to awaken the spirit of the lion.

Hoi Gong is a traditional ceremony to bless and awaken a new lion or in a more traditional concept bring down the spirit of the lion from the heaven and give it life. In other words this ceremony signifies the existence or birth of a new lion into the world.

New dragons and lions...

The WCSCC (Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre) Cultural Group have a very active Dragon Troupe.

傻瓜机 - Camera For The Dummies?

Many moons ago, when the first auto focus compact camera hit the market; Chinese consumers coined this "auto everything" point-and-shoot camera, 傻瓜机 (shǎ guā ji)!

Translated, 傻瓜机 literally meant "Camera For The Dummy" ;)
Just like the very successful "For Dummies" series of instructional / reference books, the P&S compact cameras enjoyed immerse popularity!

But unlike "For Dummies" books where you actually learn to do or operate something, the shǎ guā ji taught you nothing; after all; it is just a point and shoot where you just point it at your subject and click the shutter to get a technically perfect picture!

Mind you, not all point and shoots are shǎ guā ji; there are advanced version of the shǎ guā ji, the like of Power Shot G series which are popular even among the pros.

Unlike the "everything auto" of the shǎ guā ji, the "advance" family of P&S came with various adjustment and setting, just like their larger brethren; the DSLR.

Funny Royal Wedding Pix NOT!

One of my friend in Singapore point me to this "The most Hilarious picture from the #RoyalWedding "

This picture is at http://twitpic.com/4r3mes.

Personally, I don't find this funny at all; this is yet another case confirming that "Camera Sometime Lies" ;)