Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category
Sunday, July 13th, 2014
Did you know that there is an actual town in Austria which is called “Fucking”? And less than two hours’ drive to the east from Salzburg, you’ll hit the mountain named “Loser” which is also a popular ski resort.
Pit stop at Fucking, Austria. Photo taken with a Sony A7 with Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
Fucking is a tiny miniscule hamlet about 40km to the north of Salzburg. This Austrian town is about 40 minutes’ drive from Salzburg.
Located close to the border between Germany and Austria, the town comprises a cluster of houses on either side of the road.
I wonder what else is not allowed in this idyllic town. But seriously, that’s just a sign to tell you that you’re leaving Fucking behind you. Photo taken with a Sony A7 with Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
It is so tiny that less than 200m after passing the signboard that marks your entry into the town, you see the signboard that marks your exit from the town.
I’ve driven around Europe a fair bit and passed through many one-street towns – but Fucking is one of the tiniest we have driven through.
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Tags:A7, Apple, Austria 2014, Burghausen, Carl Zeiss, Franking, Fucking, full-frame, Galaxy, Germany, GO 2020, GPS, hell, iPhone, navigation, photography, photos, PND, potd, Samsung, Sony, TomTom
Posted in A7, Apple, Austria 2014, Cameras, Events, Gadgets, GALAXY, GPS, Holiday, MIL, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, S5, Samsung, Sony, TomTom, Travel, travel | No Comments »
Friday, July 11th, 2014
The updated and easy-to-navigate iOS apps for both Getty Images and iStock by Getty Images feature an improved image search, curation and collaboration experience to help creative storytellers bring their ideas to life wherever they are.
Update (17 July, 2014):
The updated and redesigned Getty Images iOS App is now free to download from the iTunes App Store.
With improved image search, a smoother interface and a more intuitive user experience, users can collaborate with colleagues and clients to help bring ideas to life no matter where they are.
The iStock app can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store today.
Getty Images, the global leader in digital media, has unveiled a redesigned iStock by Getty Images iOS app with a more intuitive experience and smoother user interface.
“The world’s best creative minds rely on Getty Images for our unique, inspiring content and our refreshed apps make it easier to use than ever,” said Matthew Bencke, Senior Vice President, Product and Customer Experience at Getty Images.
An updated and redesigned Getty Images iOS app will follow on July 17, allowing users to embed and share Getty Images’ immense collection of the very best and unique imagery – at no cost – for non-commercial use on websites, blogs and social media channels, while on the go.
According to a report from Nielsen, in Southeast Asia smartphone owners spent more than three hours per day on average on their smartphones in June 2013 and app usage is burgeoning.
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Tags:Apps, Getty Images, iOS, iStock, photographs, photos
Posted in Announce, App, Apps, iOS, newArrivals, Photography, Photos, Software, Website | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014
Photo of the Day: We chanced upon this charming town while driving en route from Munich to Salzburg. The castle sitting on top of the hill looked majestic while the houses along the river looked so colourful and quaint.
Burghausen Castle, which has a length of over 1,000 metres, is one of the longest castle complexes in the world, sitting along a narrow ridge above the town. Photo taken with a Sony A7 with Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
We were driving from Munich to Salzburg when we chanced upon the quaint little town right beside the fast flowing Salzach River, which marks the border between Germany and Austria in these parts.
This photo was one of the first few shots that took with the Sony A7 that I had brought along for the trip.
The compact full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera did not disappoint and impressed with fast focusing, strong low-light performance and good detail throughout the rest of the vacation.
This photo was taken using the Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens, which was really versatile for both street photography, portraiture and landscape shots.
If you’re looking for a compact travel camera but still desire good image quality, do check out the Sony A7.
The route that we were driving was a bit off the beaten track and we hadn’t expected to come across any touristy places along the way.
So imagine our surprise when we drove into this charming little town that was obviously a tourist destination.
After driving across the bridge straddling the Salzach, we stopped by the river bank and snapped some photos of Burghausen and its castle from across the river.
We didn’t realise at that time that by crossing the bridge, we had crossed from Germany into Austria, and that we were snapping photos of the German town from the Austrian bank.
The Austrian village on the other side of the river is called Ach and is so tiny you won’t find it if you do a search for it on Google Maps, although it’s actually marked on the map.
View of Burghausen Town across the Salzach River. By driving across the bridge, one crosses from Germany into Austria. Photo taken with a Sony A7 with Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
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Tags:A7, Austria 2014, Burghausen, Carl Zeiss, castles, full-frame, Germany, photography, photos, potd, Sony
Posted in A7, Austria 2014, Cameras, Events, Gadgets, GALAXY, Holiday, MIL, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, S5, Samsung, Sony, Travel, travel | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 14th, 2014
More than 4,000 fans from around Asia showed up at Shaw House in Orchard Road to catch Hugh Jackman, Fan Bingbing and Peter Dinklage walk down the blue carpet for the South East Asian Premiere of the latest installment of the X-Men movie franchise.
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) takes a selfie with a throng of fans behind him. Photo credit: Twentieth Century Fox.
The show was an engrossing watch from start to finish, and was candy galore for X-Men fans to oggle at the huge range of mutants past and present, although, some only appeared for a short glimpse.
Fan Bingbing (Blink) taking a selfie with her fans. Photo credit: Twentieth Century Fox.
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Tags:entertainment, Fan Bingbing, Hugh Jackman, Lido, movies, Peter Dinklage, Premiere, reviews, Shaw House, Singapore, TCL, X-Men
Posted in Entertainment, Events, events, Lifestyle, Performance, Photos, Review, TCL, Tickers | No Comments »
Saturday, April 19th, 2014
Good Friday is observed primarily by Christians to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Cavalry.
For Christians, Good Friday is a time for reflection. Photo taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3 smartphone at Pasir Ris Beach, Singapore. Photo credit: John Tan.
The year of the crucifixion is estimated to have occurred in AD 33.
A Christian friend of mine says that Good Friday is a time of reflection on what his saviour had done for him.
Good Friday is a public holiday in many countries, including Singapore.
Tags:beach, Christians, photography, photos, potd, seaside
Posted in Events, GALAXY, Holiday, Note, Phones, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Samsung | No Comments »
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.
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Tags:animals, monkeys, Olympus, photography, photos, potd, River Safari, Singapore
Posted in Gadgets, Olympus, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Singapore | No Comments »
Thursday, February 20th, 2014
The Extreme Sailing Series is in Singapore as the first of 8 international venues for some 260 races this year. 12 teams will be vying to be leaders over four days from today till 23 February, at the Marina Bay.
I joined the SAP Extreme Sailing Team as a guest in their 40 Catamaran during one of the races on the opening day to experience the thrills and challenges of extreme sailing.
The participating multihulls racing against the backdrop of the Singapore skyline at Marina Bay, as the sun sets at the end of a successful first day. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.
With things happening so fast and with so many variables changing at the same time, it is easy to see how SAP’s data analytics is an invaluable tool in helping the teams and the coaches squeeze as much performance as possible out of every race.
Established in 2007, the Extreme Sailing Series is into its eighth year.
In 2012, SAP became the Official Technical Partner of the Extreme Sailing Series.
For the results of the first day of racing in Singapore, check out the report here after the eight races.
You can also check out the race leader board and visualisation of how each race unfolded based on SAP analytics here.
As in other complex competitive sports such as Formula One racing, a multitude of factors contribute to the success of a participating team.
These variables can also make it confusing and daunting for the spectator to follow and fully appreciate how the race is unfolding.
This is because there is simply too much information assaulting the brain of anyone trying to fully understand why a team they support is falling behind or why a rival is pulling ahead.
The SAP Extreme Sailing Team, with the Singapore Marina Bay Sands hotel in the background. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.
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Tags:analytics, Big Data, data, enterprise IT, Marina Bay, races, sailing, SAP, Singapore, sports
Posted in Big Data, Enterprise IT, Events, events, GALAXY, Note, Photos, SAP, Software, Sports, tablets, Technology, Visits | 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.
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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.
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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 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.
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Tags:greetings, New Year
Posted in Events, Finland 2013, Holiday, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD | No Comments »
