Nikon body cap: BF-3A vs BF-1A

Did you know that the front Nikon teleconverter cap (BF-3A) is not the same as the Nikon body cap (BF-1A). It is deeper! It (BF-3A) can act as the body cap but not vice versa. That is, BF-1A doesn't fit Nikon teleconverter. It is because the front element of Nikon teleconverter (1.4x, 1.7x and 2.0x) protrudes out at the front. The good thing is that the front element is a concave lens hence if you try fitting a BF-1A on a Nikon teleconverter, it won't scratch it. To set the two front caps apart, BF-3A is grey colour while BF-1A is the usual black colour.

From now on, if I need a spare or replace a Nikon body cap, I will go straight to a BF-3A. Be careful, most ebayer only sells BF-1A, the normal black front cap.

Fly me to the moon

This is my latest attempt on the moon. Sorry, it is a cropped image. Couldn't fill the whole frame with my camera... It will take a huge 1600mm lens at least. Anyway, it is great to see all those little craters. One of the best thing about photography is this: it enables you and me to see and appreciate the wonderful world around us, the creation of God.

Did you know that our moon is actually really bright? Can you believe that this photo was taken at 1/500 second, f/8, iso200. Never use automatic setting (well, unless the moon can fill the whole frame with your lens I suppose...).

Sustainable Living Festival - Fashion Parade

Got an email from someone I met at the Sustainable Living Festival wanting the cat walk pictures I took. I am pretty surprised and happy! Thank you Steph.

I have said that they are not really that great. The models weren't pros but they were beautiful. The condition was challenging, I had a small space to work behind another photographer, there was little spotlight on the backlit floor (thank God for my flash). But the biggest problem was me forgetting to use continuous focusing. Combine that with narrow DOF created lots of back focused pics. OK, I will post a couple here. You can be the judge of my work. They have been digitally enhanced. FYI, the festival was held at the Federation Square in Melbourne in February.

The most amazing thing for me about this festival is not so much the photos. This friend I was helping to shoot pictures for, is the daughter of the an amazing woman. She owns this company in Laos that employs women in Laos; teaching them to make things like scarf and garment out of silk. This gives them a good way to make a living because otherwise they might take up prostitution instead... They are really great quality and good looking stuff. They are hand-weaved together, not machine made. The mum, Mrs Kommaly Chanthavong, is actually a noble peace prize nominee! How cool is that?!

To find out more, go to Laos Silk and Craft.

Melbourne Zoo

Went to the Melbourne Zoo today to prepare for a work function. The weather was great despite a little rain in the middle of the day. Temperature was 27 degree celsius. The most challenging part was that my colleague and I were accompanied with his family including 2 small kids. This means I couldn't take my sweet time (well, I have to keep my mind on the job I was supposed to do as well... heehee.) But I must say they were really beautiful kids and they provided added photo interest on top of the animals.

I love this lion, it was not noticed by most, it was away from the "main stage" and I had to lean over the fence fully stretched to catch this great shot (sorry for blowing my own trumpet). Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I wish the wire fence doesn't show up completely so it can be mistaken as a picture taken in the wild. Well, it is not that obvious in this small shrunk down picture... Anyway, I am not going to remove it digitally so you get the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

My first HDR photo

This is my first high dynamic range photograph. Took this at Tuki, a trout farm on Easter Friday. The scenary is to die for! Can't say HDR imagery is my kind of picture but it seems to work in this case and added plenty of punch and interest. For the complete set of pictures, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/david.lisa.ng/TukiTroutFarm until it is taken out of public access.

Australian F1 Grand Prix

Just want to share with you a picture taken at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday, 14th March, 2008. Click on picture to view a bigger version. I love all those gravels in the air. I am sure this is a view not shared by the driver nor his team... Sorry for those dying to see pictures of pit girls. There were few on Friday at the general admission areas. Perhaps they were hidding in the corporate box with the rich and famous, enjoying air conditioning on what was a very hot 40 degress celsius day. I will post a pic I took at the Loreal Fashion Festival for your enjoyment. oops, did I say that? I mean for you professional comments.

Here is another one of my favorites. It is slightly cropped on the right to take out the post in the way...

Loreal Fashion Festival

Here you are.. the Loreal Fashion Festival. This one was taken at the City Square, Melbourne during a very short (15mins) public fashion display. So many (including myself) stayed back hoping to see some more action only to watch the staff dismantle the stage, sound system, etc..

This is my second fashion shoot after shooting at the Sustainable Living Festival for a friend. Yeah, I know there are lots of development areas but I have improved lots from my first attempt already. I was stupid enough to forget to use servo focus in my first attempt. Lots of pictures came out back focused as a result. Some heavy post-processing was involved to fix up those pics before I could give it to my friend. Lucky she was easily pleased.

Thank you very much to the ladies who graciously gave me a few inches to stand to get this great view. It was actually a difficult spot. The sun was just above the top edge of the pictures. Nikon has done fantastic to keep the flare from appearing in my pictures. I didn't even use a hood, as suggested by Ken Rockwell.

First post

Hi all,

This is my first blog. I love photography and would like to share my work with you. Appreciate any comments. Thank you and I hope you enjoy my work.

David

PS Sorry, I have back dated this post to include some older pics that I would like to share. The real birthday of this blog was 23rd March, 2008.