Other Hobbies

Photography

I have been taking photographs since I was 12. It all started with a Kodak instamatic plastic camera and later to film SLR. I've since progressed to digital SLR photography and my first digital SLR was the Nikon D50. The D50 is served me well for three years and I recently traded it in and upgraded to a Nikon D90.

I mainly use the D90 with my Nikon 18-200 VR lens. The VR feature of the 18-200mm lens allows me to hand hold the lens down to 1/8th of a second and that's useful in low light situations. I can take much more natural looking photos without having to use the flash.Nikon 18-200 VR

Close up of the Nikon 18-200 VR lens. VR really helps to keep the image stable in low light conditions.

I've also gotten my hands on a Nikon SB-600 flash with a third party diffuser.

An external flash is really leaps and bounds better than the built-in flash!

The D90 is sweet, with 12 megapixels and very low noise at high ISO.  Definitely one of the best cameras I've used.

Here are some shots:

For travelling light, I have a Canon Ixus 70. It is very portable and handy and it's resolution of 7.1 megapixels and 3x optical zoom are useful. I do find that the flash produces quite a bit of redeye that needs editing out. This model has now also been replaced by Canon with newer models, but the Ixus 70 is still serving me well.

Canon Ixus 70

Here's a few shots taken using the Ixus 70:

Fire Engine meal at Sakae SushiOrchids SingaporeCamerons 2007

Videography

I have recently purchased a new Sony Handycam, after my DV tape handycam expired after quite a few years. The HDR-SR11e shoots in AVCHD format HD and has a 60 GB hard disk. Video quality is great and a breeze to transfer to the computer via USB. So, far I am editing to DVD format as I don't have a Blu-ray player (although my LCD TV is "HD Ready"). Editing AVCHD format is very processor intensive and I've recently had to upgrade to a Quad Core CPU to makes things move a little faster. I'm currently using Pinnacle Studio 12 to edit videos.

Sony Handycam HDR-SR11e

Teaching Buddhist Hymn Singing At BUBS Dhamma School

I have been teaching kids how to sing Buddhist Hymns at BUBS Dhamma School for the last 3 1/2 years. It's a lot of fun to learn the Buddha's teachings via song. As a result of our work with the BUBS DS, we are coming out with a song book, Dharma Tunes Vol. 1.

Here are some photos with the students:

Learning Dhamma the fun way, by singing!BUBS DS Hymn Singing SIG 2008BUBS New Centre Ground Breaking Ceremony

I have a few more hobbies so keep a lookout as I add on more sections!

 

  

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