Saturday, January 31, 2009

Slow Sync Frog


Nikon D40 @ 200mm, ISO200, f8, 6 sec
The same frog from yesterday but taken with slow sync flash.  Slow sync usually results in warm tones but it was very peculiar that I got a blue hue.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Frog


Nikon D40 @ 200mm, ISO200, f8, 1/60 sec
One of the benefits of living in a village is the wildlife.  I shot this right off the balcony using a tripod and on camera flash.  The macro performance on the lens performed quite well, click here to see the 100% crop.

I am currently sorting the pictures on my computer so there will be a lot of old pictures uploaded to the photoblog for now =)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Teddy


Nikon D40 @ 42mm, ISO200, f4.5, 1/500 sec
Well, Chinese New Year is over... I feel bloated from all those binging, just like this teddy bear.  A belated Happy Chinese New Year to all =D

This bear was shot a month after I got the Nikon and I was testing the effect of flash bounced off the ceiling.  Not bad eh?

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Dragon Dance


Nikon D40 @ 31mm, ISO200, f11, 1/500 sec.
In Chinese mythology the dragon reigns over water. There is an old wives tale saying whenever a dragon comes out (here in the form of a dragon dance), it will definitely rain soon after.  Looking at this picture, it is hard to ignore that fact o_O

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Offerings



Nikon D40 @ 18mm, ISO200, f5, 1/100 sec.
The offering table presenting tea, alcohol, roasted pig, chicken and an assortment of fruit and candies.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Paying Respects



Nikon D40 @ 18mm, ISO200, f7.1, 1/200 sec.
Paying their respects to the temple. I've been calling them lions in the past few posts, but they are actually unicorns (look at the tiny single horn on the head).

I almost gave up on this picture because the white balance problem was hard to fix, but an article helped me tackle it. I am still not very good at getting perfect results based on the guide, so after overcoming the harder parts, I eyeballed the final tweaks to get the result I wanted.

Check out the great article here.

Click here to see the original picture.


Friday, January 16, 2009

春到人间



Nikon D40 @ 36mm, ISO200, f20, 1/500 sec.
This was why the lion climbed all the way up the pole, too bad I was standing at the wrong angle =/ Didn't catch the prosperous words on the scroll, only "春到人间" (literally translated as "spring is upon us").

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Amazing Lion Dance Performers



Nikon D40 @ 18mm, ISO200, f16, 1/500 sec.
This was the height the performers scaled, amazing isn't it? There was no safety harness so it was a very skilled and dangerous feat. The people on the ground sat on the "legs" of the pole to stabilize it. This was my favourite picture from the shoot, I wish I had a wider lens though.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Happy Lion



Nikon D40 @ 70mm, ISO200, f14, 1/500 sec.
Finally reached the top!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Still Climbing...



Nikon D40 @ 32mm, ISO200, f13, 1/500 sec.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Climb



Nikon D40 @ 26mm, ISO200, f11, 1/500 sec.
These two has my utmost respect, you will see why in the next few days ;-)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Altar



Nikon D40 @ 62mm, ISO720, f5, 1/60 sec.
The altar of idols.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Prosperity



Nikon D40 @ 26mm, ISO200, f5.6, 1/125 sec, bounced flash (ceiling).
They said the God of Prosperity (财神) inhabited the lion temporarily, so everyone rushed to touch its head for good fortune. Pretty soon the lion was overwhelmed with the crowd and tried to shake everyone off by dancing.

Friday, January 09, 2009

New Year Greetings



Nikon D40 @ 18mm, ISO200, f8, 1/250 sec, bounced flash (ceiling).
Time flies, it's almost Chinese New Year again. To get in the mood I am going to post lion dance pictures I shot at a temple celebration last year, enjoy! =)