There are Wednesdays and there are some Wednesdays. Monday was a zombie day for me as I was up all night watching the world cup. I think everyone in the office did the same as well. Anyway, it is Wednesday today which means that there is time for a Wednesday Clicks.

• Ever tired of the Mac vs PC war going on out there amongst your friends? Well here are some bit of news to add more salt to those war wounds. Three Mac features I want on my next PC and Three PC features I want on my next Mac


• Tokina announced the 16-28mm f/2.8 lens for both Nikon and Canon


• If you think sending smses to oneself was dumb, try sending threatening smses to oneself and get sent to jail.


• Spain won the world cup, boohoo! I hate divers


• A new Star Wars Tower Defense is coming for the iPhone, woohoo!


• Gordon Ramsay, the tough guy from Hell's Kitchen actually cries. Check out this photographer who captured that image!


• Photo Mechanic 4.6.5 is now available. Check out what is new with this version here. Download the file over here.


• Fashion shoot using an iPhone 3Gs? Yup, someone has gone ahead and done just that.

Its so going to be a very very long week ahead!

After it's inaugural launch a couple of months back, I decided that I needed to send in one of my DSLR bodies to get it's sensor cleaned. One of the big annoyances I had was that previously, sensor cleaning was a free service which Nikon Malaysia provided but recently since the 1st of February, Nikon has decided to charge for it. Anyway before I head into that bit, I was fairly impressed with the new Nikon Discovery Centre located at Berjaya Times square. A huge difference from the service office located at Menara PKNS at PJ State.

The showcase area wasn't exactly ginormous or anything but it displayed quite a fair bit of Nikon's equipment as well as had some 300mm, 400mm and 500mm lens mounted on tripods available to be tested out. I could spy on several taxi drivers sitting by their cars having a smoke and they never suspected a thing. It's a pity the lenses didn't reach any of the adjacent buildings but hey, I guess this is one of the few times I ever get to touch one of those huge lenses.

Anyway, back to my purpose of heading to the new centre was to inquire on how long is the current queue it would take to service my cameras which I intend to send them in as well as send in my D700 to have it's sensor cleaned. Now you must be asking me why would I need to have it cleaned since it had a sensor cleaner in it as well. Well I kept seeing spots in my viewfinder and hence that sort of annoyed the hell out of me.

Upon arrival at the service desk, I was asked to pick a queue number. Now that was a surprise as I was the only person in line. But processes are there for a reason, I know, I implement processes in IT organizations so I do know how effective it might be. The moment I picked the number, it was already my turn so I brought my cameras to the desk and informed the agent that I wanted to have my sensor cleaned and inquired how long it would take to have my cameras serviced.

At that time, she informed me that it could take 7-10 working days so I needed to plan in my time so that I don't have any shoots at that time and send in my cameras for a thorough servicing. Back to cleaning my sensor, I saw a notice there in regards to the charges and at first I saw a price of RM20 charged. Upon further inspection, I noticed that RM20 was to be charged for cameras which are still under warranty. All I know that, in order to clean the sensor for my D700, it would cost me RM80. That was the price I paid.

Oh well, I guess ever since Nikon has outsourced their services to Futuromic, there has been definitely a lot of good praises about their quality of service. Good things don't come cheap. Not too annoyed by it, frankly I was glad it took them only 20 minutes to clean it. Now I can really consider getting a sensor cleaner myself and clean my own sensor the next time!

p.s. Even after getting my sensor cleaned, I kept seeing dust in my viewfinder only to find out that the dust is located in the viewfinder and not on my sensor. Just a point to note, the Nikon Center at Berjaya Times square can't clean the viewfinder and they asked me to go to the Nikon Service Center at PJ State.

I spent my birthday which was on the 5th of February at Joe McNally's workshop here in KL a couple of weeks back. This is of course thanks to Louis from Wedshooter as well as the Wedshooter team who made it all happen. The workshop was a hands-on as well as a full day course which grouped 15 photographers on a Friday in Shangri-La in KL to learn about lighting and get to know Joe a little better.

In case you do not know who Joe McNally is, Joe is the most amazing photographer I have met and you might have probably seen most of his work on the cover of the National Geographic magazine. He is also the author of two amazing books, "The Moment it Clicks" and the more recent "The Hot Shoe Diaries".

When I got wind that Joe was coming to KL, I was quite excited but a little hesitant as well as I thought that the workshops were going to cost a bomb. Frankly, it was a big sum for me but it was an investment for me. The best part was that I managed to schedule the workshop on the same day as my birthday! (Joe had five 1-day workshops here spanning from the 1st of Feb till the 5th of Feb).

Here is Louis introducing himself as well as Wedshooter.TV before introducing the man of the day.

Joe started off the session with some quick introduction about himself as well as his assistance, Drew Gurian. He then went on to get to know each of us and asked us what are our expectations for this workshop. This was good start I felt as I managed to see who the other participants were. There were of course familiar faces in the group as well.



Friends in the photography industry such as Ian, Shen, Edwin, Hafiz and Gabriel were also attendees of the workshop. Funnily, Joe mentioned that our group was the only all guy group. I can see the testosterone levels shooting up, I guess the mix and the environment was a lot more different compared to this workshop. Look at all the female participants there!

Louis, listening intently to the participants as they introduced themselves

That's Drew over there!

After the rounds of introduction, Joe shared with us some of his videos as well as showed some of his latest work which was absolutely incredible and amazing. What made me smile was that he also had a couple of photos in his portfolio which was shot using available light which was what I normally do. Joe then mentioned that he himself also continued to learn by attending workshops such as the recent one where he attended Jay Maisel's workshop in NY.



At every workshop which Joe teaches, he carries with him lots of gears. And when I mean lots, I really mean lots! Frankly I didn't take the rest as there are way too many equipment about to capture it all. But what he had prepared for us included around 16 flashes for us to use, an array of Justin clamps and battery packs, Lastolite softboxes and many many more.

I spy the Twin Towers in the LCD screen of Joe's Nikon D3s

The workshop began with Joe showing us the various equipment that were about in the workshop and then teaching us on how to use them and what the effects of using these equipment would do to an image. After trying out several shots indoor using both a white and black background, we proceeded outdoors to learn more about light shaping tools there.

We also had a journalist in our midst, Jan Shim, hailing from Brunei who was covering the workshop

Then we moved indoors for another shoot again. This time it was in a service corridor where Joe showed us how to use our surroundings to create an amazing shot. Of course Ian had to pose for the shot as he would normally do.

Then we headed out again. Here we have Joe's camera setup to tether on his MacBook Pro which was very helpful for us participants.

We even had fantastic props to use as backdrops and for our models to pose with. I wish!

After an intense session of learning how to use various light shaping tools as well as understand various light placements, the group adjourned for lunch.

More photos from the workshop as well as our own personal shoots coming soon!

Lunch was good, although I had to run some last minute errands about but what surprised me was when this bit of news was published and what surprised me even more was that I sort of expected it. This is of course thanks to NikonRumors.com who kept on publishing posts about the validity of these lenses and now that it is announced, I said to myself, "hey, its finally out".

So let's look at each lens one by one. I think I shall start with the zoom lens first and perhaps save the best for last.

AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR



When Nikon discontinued the older 17-35mm f/2.8 lens, I thought that they sort of made a mistake or perhaps was thinking of a replacement lens that is within the 17-35mm focal length. Nikon already at that time had the 14-24mm lens so that was one of the ways moving forward I guess but since Canon had the cheaper 17-40mm f/4 lens which is the younger brother of the more expensive 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, then I guess this must be Nikon's answer to that as well.

The specs does look impressive, but the biggest surprise to me was the inclusion of VR in the lens. Yes, this lens has VR (Vibration Reduction) which is the same VR system used in the newer 70-200mm VRII lens. This system allows you to shoot at 4 stops below what you might normally shoot without VR. I ask myself, "why would anyone place VR for such a short focal length lens?". But hey, after 20 seconds of thinking, VR rocks!

On top of that, it has AF-S meaning it uses Nikon's Silent Wave Motor which sums up to "super duper focusing speeds with vibration reduction". The lens is coated with Nikon's Nano treatment and it has a minimum focal distance of 0.29m which is 0.01m more than the 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. Who gives a damn about this kind of shit?

Anyway, what is interesting to me is the focal length. If I were to shoot with two FX bodies (full frame DSLR cameras), this lens would definitely be extremely useful. One of my shooting styles is to shoot with either a 50mm/85mm prime on my FX body and the 14-24mm on my DX body so that I get a slightly different range so that when I do take group shots, the group isn't too distorted. Now if I were to shoot with two FX bodies, this style would be quite tough because the 14-24mm might be too wide on a FX body and I have to get real close to my subjects hence the 16-35mm definitely comes in very very handy.

Price for this camera is currently set at USD$1259.95 which translates to about RM4330.35.

Expected release date for this lens is end February 2010, maybe later for us here in Malaysia.

AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED



Now I am very fond of prime lenses and I definitely love shooting with them and keeping them wide open to enjoy nice crisp images as well as feel the extensive bokeh out of them due to its ability to photograph things at very very shallow depth of fields. After releasing the DX 35mm f/1.8G lens and the 50mm FX f/1.4G lens, it seems that Nikon is on a roll here with the 24mm f/1.4G lens. Note, the G means that these are the digital versions of these lenses where there is no aperture ring control on them.

The big difference with these lenses is with the AF-S motor on the lens allowing the lower end models such as the D40, D60, D5000 and others to be able to enjoy autofocusing using these prime lenses. The lens is coated with the same nano treatment and it has a minimum focusing distance of 0.25m.

Frankly, I definitely see myself using this lens for my portraiture and wedding work but I am still a little sceptical on whether I really need one. You see, I have been having an epiphany lately especially when it comes to purchasing more photography equipment. The ever lasting battle of "needs" versus "wants" still prevail in my thoughts and of course the price tag is helping me decide whether I should get it or not.

Price for this lens is currently set at USD$2199.95 which translates to about RM7561.23.

This is an insane amount and I think I would rather replace my older 80-200mm lens with the newer 70-200mm f/2.8 lens first before considering getting this prime. Although I know it would definitely make a lot of difference in my work, I am still learning how to use more of my wide angle lenses. At 24mm, I already have my 14-24mm as well as 24-70mm lenses but I don't get to enjoy anything less than f/2.8 at those ranges. Perhaps I might need to try it out first, so if anyone of you are rushing to get one, do let me try playing with it :D

So aside from being an extreme gear head and avoid all forms of temptation, as how energy cannot be destroyed but only converted, I shall now convert my extreme temptations into a blog post so that I can tempt my readers out there instead.

Have a great day ahead, stop drooling over those lenses ;)

I finally gotten around to compile some of the portrait photos I have taken recently, and by recently I mean quite a while back. Anyway it was one of the requirements which Grace gave me and asked me to do which was due in January last month. Well, all I can say that it is always better to be late than never! :D

The slideshow contains some of the portraiture sessions which I shot whether it may be a couple portraiture, to a personal profile image as well as behind the scenes shoot.

p.s. Make sure that the video has fully loaded before playing it to enjoy the full experience

[xr_video id="9a4477ccb327442f8e5cea0e5f5952cd" size="md"]

Do let me know what you think of the slideshow in the comments section, thanks!

When Chiu Yen contacted me via email about a portrait shoot, I've always been communication with her. The moment when I arrived at the shoot location, I was so surprised that Poh Seong was there as well. What a small world! Poh Seong is my neighbour and I used to go to the same high school as his younger brother.

After a couple of weeks of planning the shoot and finally the location, we met in KL at the Heritage Hotel for our portrait session.

I was really looking forward to this shoot and here are some of the images that I took during the shoot.

























It was one of the fun shoots that I had and it was great to have been able to shoot both Chiu Yen and Poh Seong. I also have to thank @munz for helping me out throughout the day. She took some behind the scenes shots as well but I haven't gotten around to posting them up yet.

As my usual habit of gobbling down food in a rather quick manner, I managed to get a little bit of spare time in between training sessions and since today was a significant event in the Nikon world, I was not surprised by the announcement of the new Nikon D3s as well as the new Nikon 85mm DX f3.5G VR Micro lens. If you want to know more about these products, there is a brief hands-on review on the Nikon D3s over at dPreview.

 

What actually caught my eye was this review of the already released 70-200mm VRII lens by Cliff Mautner. I was amazed by the performance of this lens and so far after being bogged down by minimum focusing distance and slow autofocus on my already older 80-200mm lens, this is definitely very tempting but alas my ROI for this still prevents me from even having the slightest consideration of getting this lens. Maybe in the future, who knows, but of course, I have other priorities greater than just the usual gear lust.

Anyway, I would recommend heading over to  Cliff Mautner's site to check out the stunning images he took at night at 1/10th of a second to prove that the VRII's capabilities are that good. It includes also the 100% crop for those of you who are pixel peepers.

Ok, its almost time to prep for my exam later. Yes, I am currently sitting for my ITIL V3 certification right now.

Press releases from Nikon Malaysia

• Nikon D3s


• Nikon 85mm f3.5G VRII lens

I recently read a post over at Jasmine Star's blog where her husband, JD, talked about being a 2nd shooter. In case you all are unaware that I am actually one of WeddingStory's 2nd shooter and I do 2nd shoot for other photographers as well, I thought that this post came about as very real and useful for those of you out there who wants to be 2nd shooters as well.

Note that the words in "italic" were taken from the blog post on Jasmine Star's recent entry.

10. Dress Appropriately
Don't be afraid to ask the main photographer what to wear on the wedding day. Some weddings are casual, others more formal. The most important thing is to always be a reflection of the main photographer's attire and blend in with guests as much as possible. I always dress according to the Three Piece Rule: Wearing a tie/jacket/pants or tie/vest/pants...and I guess a jacket/shirt/pants works as well, but Jasmine definitely prefers a tie!

This is one point I totally agree with it. I really dislike shooters who dress so casually for a wedding shoot looking scruffy and untidy! Come on, the bride and groom are dressed so nicely and their guests are all dressed up, coming up for a shoot in your t-shirt and jeans and slippers totally makes you look unprofessional as well as you make the main photographer look bad. Unless the theme of the wedding is jeans and casual wear. But the best possible solution is to follow what the main photographer wears, no, not exactly the same (I don't wear a dress and shoot!). If the main photographer is going to be in all black, don't come wearing a chicken suit or a fluorescent glow-in-the-dark shirt (no matter how cool it looks). The keyword is be professional.

9. Same Day Slideshow
If the main photographer creates a same-day slideshow to display at the reception, make sure and find a nearby work station (i.e. chair and outlet). I usually find a place just outside of the reception so we can hear what's going on and be easily accessible.

Now this is a very subjective matter especially if the main photographer is going to show their same day slide show at the reception area rather than during the dinner event itself. Help set up the slideshow either by preparing the laptop or DVD and making sure that it runs well before the dinner starts. This can be done either with the help of the audio visual crew (usually at the hotel) and the key is to do a couple of test runs. The last thing you want is for the wrong slideshow to be played from the laptop or the DVD just doesn't work. Also, don't get too engrossed watching the slide show and feeling good when you see your photos being displayed. You might just miss the moment capturing the guest's reaction.

8. Gather the Family
It's so important to help the main photographer during family formal photos. There's a really short amount of time to execute the photos, so be sure to find grandma and Uncle Kevin (who's usually at the bar) so the entire group isn't waiting for one person.

Group shots are always the hardest especially when there is a large crowd. People will be talking and the noise levels just go insane. This is where you can definite help the main photographer to help organize the group, assist the guests by guiding them where to stand so that their faces can be captured and not just part of their ears. You can also help prepare the next group waiting to be photographed or carry lighting equipment during this time.

7. Taking Care of Vendors
During a wedding day, I usually don't have time to cultivate friendships, but I always make sure to include every vendor throughout the day. If they need anything, I offer assistance. If the vendor dinner is served, I try to make sure everyone knows. It's small things that ensure everyone feels like we're on the same team...and there's a high probability we'll work together again in the future, so make sure to have everyone's back.

Definitely a good tip, getting to know the vendors is a great way to widen your network and your connections and offering your assistance can be beneficial as well. But constantly be aware of the time you assist so that you don't forget your main job. The last thing you want to do is either quarreling with the videographer or worse, the wedding planner! Remember, what goes around comes around. A little help always goes a long way.

6. Offer to Carry Bags
I'm kinda particular about this because it reminds me of my role as a second shooter...to make life easier for the main shooter. I'm not saying every second photographer MUST carry the bags, but it's nice to offer. I always carry and maintain the main photo bag on wedding days and I know Jasmine appreciates it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with helping to carry bags! Although I definitely need to learn to balance that together with my own bags but whenever the team is moving from various locations and when the main photographer is taking portraits, offer to carry all the equipment and bags.

5. Get Water
Here in Southern California, peak wedding season is during the hottest time of the year, so keeping ourselves hydrated is very important. I always make sure Jasmine has a cold glass of water waiting for her: 1. Before the ceremony; 2. After the ceremony; and 3. After cocktail hour. Usually these are the hottest (and most stressful) times outdoors because there's so much juggling going on for her. Every time she finishes her glass, she's recharged (and in a better mood!).

Water is very important especially when you work in Malaysia where humidity levels are usually off the charts. I usually like to buy extra bottles of mineral water before any shoot which helps keep everyone hydrated throughout the day. Its not guaranteed that you might have easy access to water all day so preparing water beforehand is really useful and helpful for the team. Just over last weekend I had to thank Nigel for constantly bringing water for both me and Grace. It was godsend!

4. Smile
Jasmine usually has to remind me of this one...and when she does, I usually give her a sarcastic smile. In all honesty, I know she's right. Jasmine reminds me that guests are looking at us even when we don't realize it and we're a reflection of the bride's desire of have us document her dream day. If we look hot, unhappy, tired, or annoyed, it'll be a poor reflection on our brand. I'll admit is sometimes hard to smile after hearing We Are Family...I've got all my sisters with me! for the thousandth time that month, but I then smile knowing Jasmine's probably off dancing with the DJ! (just kidding...i had to throw this in here!)

Constantly be happy, a good impression to your guests as well as to your clients (ala the bridge and groom). What JD mentioned above is absolutely true, do you want to be known as the "grumpy photographer" around? Smile!

3. Find New Angles
Don't shoot over the main photographer's shoulder! When I first started shooting with Jasmine, I shot behind her and captured--basically--the same photo as she did. Okay, just not as cool. She finally explained that she didn't need another version of her photo...she needs an entirely photo of the same moment. I'll admit this is harder than it seems, but I know she appreciates creativity and a different photo from the exact same moment.

Being a second shooter might depend on your level of skill and what the main photographer would want you to capture. Sometimes I have been given the tasks to take all the official shots, meaning the cake cutting, pouring of the champagne, capturing the official shots of the tea ceremony where I have to get everyone in the shot whilst the main photographer will capture the artistic shots. Other times I get to do both so its good to find different angles, different locations. For example, if your main photographer is shooting downstairs, why not try to take a shot from upstairs (only if that is available but you can change the context to a low and high angle).

2. NEVER PASS OUT YOUR BUSINESS CARD
One of the first weddings we photographed together, we had another photographer tag along with us. The night was flowing nicely until I overheard the third shooter pass his/her business card to a wedding guest...and passed his/her studio name along. I can't explain how rude this is. On a wedding day, a second and third photographer is just that...an accompanying photographer to the main photographer's studio. If a guest asks for a business card from a second shooter (which happens often!), the second shooter should always pass along the main photographer's business card. Period. The end.

I've actually experienced this quite a number of times before where I have been second shooting for another photographer and when the guests seen some of the photos especially after the slideshow was shown, the one thing I always ensure is that you carry cards of the main photographer around to pass it. If you don't have, kindly tell the guest that you will get back to them with the card (which is what I do most of the time). Giving your own card really does portray you in a very bad light.

1. Leave Ego at the Door
This one doesn't need much of an explanation as it's more a rule for life in general. Just remember, as a second shooter, your number one goal is to shoot the best you can and make the main photographer's life easier...even if it means missing the best photo opportunities at the wedding. Yes, everyone prefers to shoot the bride getting ready, the bride and groom portraits, and getting the First Kiss standing in the center of the aisle. But chances are, it ain't gonna be like that. So own what you got and make it work. In the words of my main photographer and mentor, "Just be FABULOUS!" ;)

If you got an assignment to do, make sure you can complete it to the requirements that were given to you. I know everyone wants to create those beautiful shots but if your job is to help carry bags, swap lenses and carrying lighting equipment, do it well and don't sulk. If your job is to take group photos and get the photos printed, do it to your best ability and with the right ATTITUDE!

With all of my comments, I believe that every one of us is constantly learning and it is through the right ATTITUDE that we can excel in what we hope to achieve.

If you want to read another article written by another assistant, I was quite lucky when today's guest blog on Kelby's blog was from Drew Gurian, Joe McNally's assistant. Check it out in the link below.

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/6458

With a new blog design, I guess its time to post up some photos. Digging through some of my photo archive, I found some photos which I shot a couple months back. Joshua has been one of my best friends and we go a long way back. Having also both studied in the UK, he was always a great host whenever I visited him in Coventry. This time, he came back to Malaysia to propose to Adeline and she said "yes!".

Although both Joshua and Adeline had a tight schedule here in Malaysia (he's working in the UK and she's working in Singapore), I had to make do with the little available time they had. Although the two of them were in Malaysia, it didn't mean that they were in Selangor. The short time before church started was the only time they could spare. Nevertheless, the 35 minutes we spent together was well worth it!

Here are some of my favourite shots from that day.







Joshua is a talented musician and he plays the drums and the piano. Check out his blog over here.







I know Joshua quite well and to be very honest, he seems to always like to put his hands like that against the wall. Even when he is thinking to himself. I guess it was meant that Adeline could easily charm him from that angle :)





I secretly took this shot after we were done and they wanted to see some of the results of the earlier shoot.







Last but not least, a group shot of the four of us having lunch after church.

Joshua and Adeline, congratulations on your engagement and I can't wait for your wedding next year. Although I won't be shooting it but I am glad that I can be part of your wedding next year as one of your groomsmen.

Its Wednesday today and you know what that means, more interesting links out! I have for one thing learned recently that it takes friggin a lot of discipline to work and study at the same time. Anyway, before I skew off even more, let's check out what is new this week.

• I know everyone is waiting for the iPhone 3.0 OS to be release for their iPhones. Well this isn't really a link but here are some links to some new applications which will be launched as well. Tweetdeck for the iPhone (YAY!) and MapQuest is releasing their alternative software to the GoogleMaps.


• I posted in last week's Wednesday Clicks about a video which theBackPackr created for the McDonald's competition to win the iPhone. Guess what? They won the challenge and are now proud parents of the iPhone 3G.


• There are rumours of a leaked press material for the upcoming Nikon D300s. I am not too sure myself if it might be real.


• If you wanted to know more about Adobe Lightroom and how to maximise your workflow, Jon Low, a professional wedding photographer of IdealWedding has just the right answer for you. Thanks so much for sharing Jon!


• Check out Timothy Tiah's blog post on his holiday to Phuket. For those of you who are curious on just who Tim is, he is one of the founders of NuffNang which is a blog advertising network. One of the reason why it's up on this week's WC is that there is an interesting link in his blog post I found, it was in regards to a travel agency which handled his trip, PYOTravel.Com. I checked out the site and it definitely has very cheap prices. Site booked marked.

Before I finish this post, I would like to remind you that there are 3 ways you can eat "pan mee".

The first way, which is the most common one is to eat it in the form of a noodle soup.

Image source: Eating Asia

The second way is to eat it in the form of dry noodles with an accompanying bowl of soup.

Image source: Eating Asia

The third way, which I think this new restaurant is trying to revolutionize, is to eat it frozen.

Dang, chilly "pan mee", do you top it up with ice cream?

Anyway, this is another branch of super kitchen's chilli pan mee which is located in SS2, near Ang Kee restaurant and further down from Kayu Nasi Kandar behind Lim Mee Yoke restaurant.

Okay, so I missed out my weekly Wednesday clicks and this time, I am back with more interesting links. I have been sort of isolated from most of the social media networks at work because Facebook has been banned and I only can check Twitter via the web which is quite hard at times. Anyway, enough about my troubles, here you go.

• If you can view YouTube whereever you are (I can't view YouTube at work), check out this video. Totally awesome especially if you love Taylor Swift's Love Story as well as Cold Play's La Vida Loca. I love the dynamics of the song, just beautiful.


• ShootFest 001: The Wedding is coming (6th and 7th June) and I will save a post just to explain a little more about what it is.


• Something I may have written before but I am writing it here again, if you don't know what Nikon DTown is about, check it out here. It is a website which shows episodes of Scott Kelby and others giving tips on how to use your Nikon DSLR and even with guest appearances from Joe McNally teaching about using flashes.


• There is a new NikonSchool.com website out now. Check it out if you are free.


• A little bit of political news on what is happening now as I am typing out this post. A political activist has been arrested under the Sedition Act.

To be honest, this post has loads of Nikon stuff and I will definitely try to limit these single-brand focused type of posts. Heck, i love Canon's 5D Mk2 for its amazing 21MP of pure joy as well as Canon's 50mm and 85mm f/1.2 L lenses. Although there are rumours that Nikon will be releasing their latest AF-S 85mm f/1.4 as well as the 28mm f/1.4. Definitely going to be some sweet lenses but after my recent purchases, I am flat out broke.

I can't believe it that I actually went a whole week without any updates and I really dread to see two Wednesday Clicks post back to back in my blog. Nevertheless, I will try updating my blog a little bit more but of course I have been completely busy over the entire weekend.

The Pikom PC Fair was a dissapointment for me, mainly because I expected too much for it and of course the extremely packed exhibition halls as well as countless sales people trying to push flyers in my face to sign up for their broadband/mobile/laptop promotions and coupled with the huge amount of stalls selling printer inks, I guess it was just too much for me. Still, I managed to walk away with a wireless keyboard+mouse set from Microsoft.

Anyway, here are this week's clicks.

• Here are 6 direct marketing tips for wedding photographers at the Digital Photography School site.


• Zack Arias gave an awesome account of how he did a group shot of photographers at Gulf Photo Plus. He must have been nervous because he had to photograph photographers such as Joe McNally and Chase Jarvis. Awesome and mind blowing group shot ever!


• No surprise here as rumours have been floating about for a while now but Nikon has released their latest DSLR in the form of the D5000 and a new wide angle DX lens in the form of the Nikon 10-24mm DX lens. The first preview is up at Dpreview and check out this site for some videos made by it.


• Apparently in Denmark, photoshopping an image may be a taboo.

A short post this week but I am totally up to my neck with work to complete and goals to accomplish.

Munz managed to convince me to go for the DCIM event at Midvalley over the weekend on Saturday evening by bribing me that she will pay for dinner. To be honest, I didn't really have much expectations for it because whilst I was at a workshop with Munz on Saturday afternoon, I left some comments on Facebook and most of them were quite negative with friends mentioning that it was quite dissapointing. Hence the reason why I didn't want to raise any hopes and just head over there and check it out.

Upon arrival, I managed to catch Zung finishing up his talk on Wedding Photography and also saw Jon, Joseph and Peter at the event. I guess all the Kwannon users were there previously giving their talk on their experience using the 5D Mk2. After having a quick chat in the seminar room as well as wishing Zung a very happy birthday, Munz and I headed in to the main exhibition hall and was greeted by this.



There was a huge Nikon booth in the middle of the area, next to the stage where there was a fashion show or something.



Canon also had a huge site with an area where you can test out some big guns.

The first place I actually stopped by was neither of those booths but more towards that of DG Color and Direct Photo as Jon had very smartly poisoned Munz into getting a monopod. It was very cheap hence I know that it was a great bargain.

The next booth I stopped at was of course the Nikon booth because they had the D3x for display and we could actually test it out. Check out the prices below!



Now that is definitely the amount you can put for a downpayment to get your latest BMW 3 Series. I tried shooting some test shots with the D3x using the new 50mm f/1.4 AF-S lens but I wasn't that impressed with the sharpness. I guess perhaps with the sheer number of people trying it out, it could have been damaged or perhaps shooting at wide open @ f/1.4 will always give you soft images. But then I see the Canon's 50mm f/1.2 shots at f/1.2 to be crisp and sharp, that really makes me wonder a lot!



Don't ask me what that crack is, I think it was a piece of stuff that was on the lens of my iPhone camera.



Of course I also couldn't resist checking out some huge ass lenses which were also on display. It is definitely not everyday that I can molest a 400mm f/2.8 lens as well.

By the time we headed out of DCIM and towards Gardens for dinner, I realised that it was almost time for Earth Hour. Fortunately we managed to finish our dinner in time but a little way past the 8.30pm mark and behold, Gardens was totally lit up and the lights were bright! Then of course I spied this poster here which was supposed to bring awareness and here you go, decorative lights were brightly shining as well.



On a more positive note, most of the food shops around me had their lights turned off and that most of their customers were eating with candlelights which sort of made it romantic in a way.