Fantastic 14 mm!

A friend pop in to my work place to see me and being a very enthusiastic photographer himself, we somehow talk about our favorite lenses!

I told him he is so lucky to own the latest Nikon 14-24mm f2.8G ultra wide zoom, I lament when I was with the media; my favorite lens was the Canon 14mm f2.8 ultra-wide.

I was thus shock that he reckon the 14-24 was a terrible lens and is "not very sharp, hard to compose; the sales guy said it is because of the curvature of the lens!" He also believe an ultra-wide is no good for landscape or scenery shots!

Where he got those misleading notions from? As far as I know the new Nikon 14-24 is the BEST rectilinear ultra-wide, even when you zoom to it's 14mm range; the lens is virtually distortion free! Straight line remained straight! Who ever gave my friend those "fact", SHAME ON YOU!

In parting, I promised I will post some of my best 14mm shots...

"Lost Love", the Canon 14mm f2.8L.

Cream of Ice Cream!

I notice on my FaceBook that an ex-Star colleague is in Vancouver and she love ice cream, I asked her if she knew about this joint in Vancouver that serves 218, yes; TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN flavours of yummy Italian Gelato ice cream...

From a local paper, and I quote:

"Tucked away in an industrial corner of East Vancouver where Venables Street crosses the railroad track (1033 Venables Street, 251-3211) is an Italian ice-cream factory and parlour to make the Roman gods droll.

According to owner Vince Misceo, who is from Bitritto in southeastern Italy. La Casa Gelato has more flavours available than any rival establishment in the world."

Adios Sri Intan!

In May this year I wrote about "the most authentic Nonya cuisine in New Zealand".

I was talking about Sri Intan Malaysian & Vietnamese Cuisine at Lot 11, 945A New North Road, Mt Albert, Auckland.

Sad to say, last week I was informed by Charles and Janet that they are closing Sri Intan effective 11 Oct! To all their fans they are offering special $250 a table for ten which showcase TEN of their best Nonya dishes!

Adios Sri Intan, you will be missed!

May The Force...

Just finish watching Star War Episode 3 on TVNZ, still interesting after all this years!

The special effect packed movie remind me of my meddling with digital effect many years ago.

I wrote an article titled "Of Sky Fire, Think Outside the Square and Double-Scans", like the epic movie, I think it is time for me to repeat that article!

Sky Fire - May The Force Be With You!

WOW !

WOW, an iconic art event in Wellington announced its 2009 winners last week.

What is this WOW?

WOW stands for World Of Wearableart, it is a show like no others; it's official web site described the show as, and I quote:

"Step into a world where art and the human form combine, where dance, music an lighting tell a story of the body as a canvas, where the lines of fashion and art blur and merge as one."

I never attended a WOW show, not that I cannot afford the $150 ticket; I did not go because I am NOT allowed to take pictures during the show. So I don't see the point of going. ;)

We were at the FREE Air New Zealand sneak preview at Frank Kitts Park last Saturday, sadly; the 30 minutes show was lack lustre and the FIVE MINUTES sneak preview costumes were a far cry from what to be expected of the real show!

Great Old Glass! Nikkor 105/2.8 Micro

In April this year I wrote about an old manual focus Nikon zoom, the incredible Nikkor 80-200 f4 that was used to capture Dr Mahathir's iconic picture, I still try to use that lens on my D300 DSLR whenever I can!

Going through my arsenal of old Nikkor lenses lat week I noticed the long unused 105 f2.8 micro and I wonder how this second edition lens fared in 2009!

After all, Nikon has now put in auto-focus and VR in their latest edition; as far as I know the lens elements are now different too. Why, even Ken Rockwell reckoned the new version as; and I quote - "For all-around use as a general-purpose tele, this 105mm is Nikon's best yet."!

Tip Toe Through The Tulips...

Remember the song? All these beautiful bloom are at the Wellington Botanical Garden, SPRING has arrived!

How do we know spring is "in the air"? Believe it or not, on that day (1st September); the air was especially crisp and COOL... I did not say COLD.

We know spring is here when the BIG FAT bumblebees starts to circle the flowers to satisfy their sweet teeth (do bees have teeth?).

It is only in spring that tulips are at their full glory at the Botanical Garden... so I took out my digital camera which has been in hibernation all winter and head for the garden.