Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Sunday, March 9th, 2014
Photo of the Day: The River Safari in Singapore has a wonderful enclosure for squirrel monkeys, where visitors are allowed to wander freely within the enclosure and view the primates up close.
It’s also ideal for photographers looking to shoot portraits of these New World Monkeys.
Due to their smaller size, they are less bold than the larger macaques and steer clear of the visitors to the enclosure. Here’s one of them peering from behind some leaves. Photo taken with an Olympus E450 with 40-150mm kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
The squirrel monkey comes from the tropical forests of Central and South America, living in the canopy layer, and eats fruits and insects.
Here’s a squirrel monkey looking me in the eye, from the safety of the tree branches. Photo taken with an Olympus E450 with 40-150mm kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
These monkeys are actually slightly larger than squirrels but are smaller than the regular macaque that we’re more familiar with in this part of the world.
(more…)
Tags:animals, monkeys, Olympus, photography, photos, potd, River Safari, Singapore
Posted in Gadgets, Olympus, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Singapore | No Comments »
Friday, February 14th, 2014
It’s Valentine’s Day today. This year, it coincides with Chap Goh Meh – the fifteenth and final day of the Chinese New Year – which many consider the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Here’s wishing all lovers a most romantic day/night!
Lots of lovey-dovey couples here, in the form of hugging salt and pepper bottles. I took this photo at the Hakaniemi Market Hall in Helsinki, Finland in summer. There were plenty of such charming craft stores for tourists and local Finns alike. Taken with a Nikon D600 with AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
In many places in the world that celebrate Valentine’s Day, boys buy flowers, chocolates and gifts for their girlfriends, wives, mistresses or lovers.
Actually, marketing practitioners should examine this so-called unique Japanese culture more closely.
Apparently, the practice has its roots in 1936 as part of the advertising campaign of chocolate makers in Kobe, but has captured the imagination of the Japanese populace such that it is widely practiced today.
Those chocolate makers must have been laughing to the bank, having created nation wide, recurring demand out of thin air.
Brilliant!
Sometimes the girl reciprocates.
In Japan, it is the girl who buys for the guys.
I know – because I received plenty on Valentine’s Day when I was in Japan.
The tradition in Japan is for girls to buy white chocolates (called giri-chocos – 義理チョコ) and give them to the guys.
This does not happen just between couples that are in a relationship.
(more…)
Tags:Finland, Finland 2013, Hakaniemi, Helsinki, holidays, Japan, NIKKOR, Nikon, photography, photos, potd, travel, vacation, Valentine's Day
Posted in Finland 2013, Holiday, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, travel | No Comments »
Friday, January 31st, 2014
It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year. Happy New Year to all the people from cultures that celebrate this traditional festival! And to all Chinese around the world, Happy Chinese New Year!
Auspicious red horse bringing good tidings as the Year of the Horse arrives in Chinatown in Singapore. Taken with Samsung GALAXY Note 3 phablet camera. Cropped and captions added in Photoshop CC.
It’s customary for Chinese to give out Ang Pows during the Lunar New Year.
These are red paper envelopes containing money that’s given to relatives and children.
“车水马龙” – 正好形容本地牛”车水”迎接”马”年新春的盛景(包括这些灯”笼”及马路上的交通长”龙”)。上星期与家人一同闲逛牛车水,到处人山人海,车水马龙,洋溢着迎春的气氛。这枚照片, 利用 Samsung GALAXY Note 3 手机手持拍摄。
It being the new year, you’re supposed to use crispy new notes in these red packets.
“今天是大年初一，在此恭祝大家：新年快乐，万事如意，身体健康，龙马精神！” – 科技点心（微薄）
I had to go on a little round-the-island this year to exchange for new notes, because I found that – unlike some past years – the ATM machines were dispensing old notes.
(more…)
Tags:Chinatown, Chinese New Year, Galaxy, holidays, Lunar New Year, Note 3, photography, photos, potd, Samsung, Singapore
Posted in GALAXY, Holiday, Note, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Samsung, smartphones | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 29th, 2014
Olympus has announced six new cameras and lenses, including the OM-D EM-10. These will be available from February to April 2014 onwards. All prices are yet to be announced.
Olympus has announced a slew of six cameras and lenses, including the much anticipated OM-D EM-10.
A short description, price and availability of each camera/lens is summarised below.
| Olympus OM-D E-M10 |
Available from February 2014 in Black and Silver. |
- Premium ultra-slim stylish body.
- Excellent image quality due to traditional optical and advanced image processing technology.
- Large, bright Electronic Veiwfinder (EVF) offers quick response time and clear visibility.
- 3-axis VCM in-body image stabilisation mechanism brings out the very best in every lens.
- 81-point FAST AF and 8 fps (TBD) max high-speed sequential shooting.
|
| Olympus OM-D E-M5 (Elite Black) |
Available (bundled with M.ZUIKO Digital ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO) in March 2014. |
- (more…)
|
Tags:cameras, lenses, MIL, Olympus, OMD, Singapore, Tough
Posted in Announce, Cameras, cameras, Compact camera, Gadgets, gadgets, Lens, MIL, newArrivals, Olympus, OM-D, Photography, Specifications, Zuiko | No Comments »
Monday, January 13th, 2014
This launch is part of the latest WeChat upgrade – which also offers users with new animated stickers, group chats upsize of up to 100 members and more.
WeChat Games – a place where you can challenge your friends with fun and addictive games while you’re on the move.
Gaming gets social with the Singapore launch of WeChat Games! Pit yourself against the best around your neighborhood with WeChat’s location-based service, find competitors nearby and beat the top scorers.
“The new WeChat upgrade opens a whole new paradigm of mobile social networking with the enhancement of existing features and introduction of WeChat Games which provide greater social interaction and sharing with their friends,” said Louis Song, Country Manager, Singapore and Malaysia, International Business Group at Tencent, the company behind WeChat.
You can now challenge your friends to a host of WeChat Games and gloat when you beat them with new animated stickers from the Sticker Shop. And the fun doesn’t stop there.
You can also share your life through pictures and personalised captions with StoryCam for WeChat – a photo app by Tencent.
Spice up any conversation and get your friends laughing by sending them stickers from the WeChat Sticker Shop.
For a start, check out the following games on WeChat Games.
Tags:Android, Apps, games, iOS, photos, Singapore, Tencent, upgrade, WeChat
Posted in Android, Announce, App, Apps, Entertainment, Events, Gaming, iOS, Photography | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
The new entry-level DSLR from Nikon has 24.2 megapixels, 13 special effects modes, and a retractable kit lens. Price TBA. Available probably in February.
The Nikon D3300 will be available in three colors (Black, Red and Grey) with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G VRII kit lens.
The Nikon DSLR is targeted at first time DSLR users, with its easy-to-use interface and Guide Mode, which provides tips and step-by-step guiding information along the way.
Top view of the new Nikon D3300 SLR.
(more…)
Tags:announce, availability, cameras, compact, DSLRs, DX, launch, lenses, Nikon, photography, price, Singapore
Posted in Announce, Cameras, cameras, DSLR, Events, events, Gadgets, Lens, newArrivals, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Specifications | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 1st, 2014
I was just chatting with an Indian friend who works for an MNC yesterday and I remarked that New Year’s Day must be the most prolifically declared public holiday in the world – even more so than Christmas Day.
As we step into the first day of 2014, here’s wishing everyone a great year ahead! Taken with a Nikon D600 with 24-120mm lens, at Suomenlinna, Finland.
He agreed but duly informed me that in India, it was not a public holiday since the country observes the New Year at different times of the year, depending on the local calendar.
(more…)
Tags:greetings, New Year
Posted in Events, Finland 2013, Holiday, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 25th, 2013
Merry Christmas to all who celebrates X’mas!
Santa had a chat with Justin on his lap when we visited his “hometown” in Rovaniemi over Summer. He gave Justin this little toy at the end of the chat and it’s become one of Justin’s most prized possessions.
This is a little toy car that Santa gave to Justin when we visited Santa in Rovaniemi, Finland during Summer.
Now it’s the children’s most cherished ornament on our little Christmas tree at home.
Tags:Christmas, greetings, Xmas
Posted in Events, Finland 2013, Holiday, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 10th, 2013
If you use a Nokia Lumia phone and love taking Selfies, Nokia has recommended these four FREE apps for you: Instagram Beta, SophieLens HD, Nokia Glam Me, Phototastic.
Four Nokia Lumia apps for those who love to take selfies.
Check these out by following the links on your phone.
Instagram is now available for Windows Phone! Instagram is the perfect place to post all of your selfies!
Tags:applications, Apps, Instagram, Lumia, Nokia, phototastic, selfie, smartphones, Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Phone 8
Posted in App, Apps, Lists, Lumia, Nokia, Photography, Software, Windows Phone 8 | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013
The new Canon EOS M2 compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera incorporates Hybrid CMOS AF II for significantly enhanced autofocus (AF) performance. Available in black or white, the EOS M2 goes on sale in Japan in mid-December. Price TBA.
*The images in this article are from Canon.
The white EOS M2 (left) with EF-M22mm f/2 STM lens, and the black EOS M2 (right) with EF-M18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens.
The EOS M was first released in September 2012.
Its successor – the EOS M2 promises image quality on par with EOS series of digital SLR cameras but in a compact and lightweight design.
EOS M2 versus EOS M – according to Canon Japan.
Compared with its predecessor, Canon claims that the new EOS M2 realises dramatically improved autofocusing performance and now incorporates built-in Wi-Fi in a body that is approximately 8 percent smaller in volume.
(more…)
Tags:cameras, Canon, DSLRs, EOS, Japan, lenses, MIL, photography
Posted in Announce, Cameras, cameras, Canon, DSLR, EOS, Gadgets, gadgets, Lens, MIL, newArrivals, Photography, Wi-Fi | No Comments »
