Vacation Photos - Shantou China (Dec 2010) - Part 1

Decided to share some China vacation photos here. Well... it happen on December 2010... around 1 year already. I really miss those days. Will go there again when I have the time and chance.

Anyway, I was staying with my uncle who was a native in that village and the whole family welcome myself and my mum to their home warmly.

And this is me... at night on the first day... Really a lousy self portrait... I have no support or whatsoever and so had to rely on my own self's hold and the IS that Canon had in its lens.




ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/11



On the first day there, I really didn't take much photo (any photo actually). I am tire... whenever I took a plane, I will become very tire. I hated flying... but it is the fastest and most efficient transport nowadays. So... too bad.

On the second day, we decided to go out to shoot around the village.

This is one of my favourite shot. I was standing back as I shoot this shot using my 18-55mm lens... and at its widest angle.





ISO: 200
S: 1/160
A: f/10


Everything is totally different from what I am used to seeing in Singapore. It was a village and it was a nice place to be in. There are domesticated animals all over the places.

This dog caught my eyes... it was thin and it was tied up. I feel sad for it (not sure if it is a she or a he). Anyway, I hated to see people mistreating their pet... and the sad look on the dog really hit me right in the face.

I wonder if it's master would feel good if someone tied him up and leave him at the door without food.

ISO: 200, S : 1/160, A: f/10


Well... dog is not the only animal we saw... there are chicken, goose and even one or two pigs (large pigs).

The geese is cute... I cannot imagine that in the next few days, some of them will end up in my stomach. That thoughts make me sick.

But I cannot seemed to be able to stop thinking of drumsticks and goose wings....

I am a babarian it seemed.

                  ISO: 200, S: 1/15, A: f/10

A curious pig looking up at me... pointing my 40D at her face. Well... that pig is huge... very very fat...

For the pig shot, I need to set a smaller aperture to get the whole of her in focus. Although the nostile was still abit blur but that was motion blur because my shutter speed is very slow.


ISO: 200, S: 1/50, A: f/10


Well... after seeing the geese and the pig... myself, mother and my nephew, make way to mom's old house.

Actually I hate taking straight up shot. It is boring... so I purposely wait till mum and nephew walked up and was in my frame before taking the shot.






ISO: 200
S: 1/400
A: f/7.1

I climbed the stair to the 'second' storey of the house. I remember going there when I was little and had visited my Uncle.

Well... the scene is the same, but I am much older now... and I think there are more houses (modern looking one).


ISO: 200
S: 1/400
A: f/13

ISO: 200, S: 1/400, A: f/13

Well I had not been a very accomplish landscape photographer, but whenever I take landscape shot I always like to inlude something of contrast to the main subject. In the above photos, I chose the scene to give a contrast of the roof of the houses and a mountain in a distance. The mountain is frame to give a very blurrish outlook that show distance.

And this is mum. It is not really that cold. But we are from the tropical country and so we are not used to the cold weather. Actually mum is born in China, but well... she had been in Singapore for more than 20 years. And so was not accustom to the weather anymore.

                                                                    ISO: 200, S: 1/200, A: f/9

ISO: 200, S: 1/250, A: f/13

Well, who says that you must have eye contact with your subject when you take a shot. It is up to you to compose and frame your shots. The above is taken purposely with me staying behind to capture the moment when mum and nephew walked infront. This is to show that we are heading forward... and the narrow passage way opened out to something wider at the end... symbolizing hope and a bright future.

Well... that was basically for the morning of the second day of my travel. Didn't take that much photos but was pretty tiring as I am up very early in the morning. We will make our way to the small temple later that day. And it was a great view too... not that the temple is very grand or large. But it is old and even at a smaller size, it still command respect.

ISO: 640, S: 1/60, A: f/3.5

Well... since I am not a great fan of shooting items as a whole, I like to focus on certain objects and make that my main subject, rather than getting entire building down.

ISO:400, S: 1/60, A: f/4.7

ISO: 1000, S: 1/80, A: f/5.6

Well... all these are very uniques statues and carving, and almost unique to the Chinese culture which I am proudly being one.

I would have very much like to see or remember the temper before people started building ugly metal hut and cover over it.

ISO: 200, S: 1/60, A: f/5.6

Well... and this is where people burn their paper money... an offering to the diety/ deities. I would believe that the structure is almost or as old as the temple itself... It make me wonder... how many generation of people had been burning their offering all these years.

ISO: 200, S: 1/125, A: f/5.0

This is almost as whole the temple as I have trying to take and capture everything in my frame. The result is quite alright and I am happy with my work.

ISO: 200, S: 1/60, A: f/3.6

One thing about travel photography was to shoot subjects that are interesting... and well... different from what you are used to in your country. Well... that is precisely what I am doing all the time when I am there.

ISO: 200, S: 1/125, A: f/6.3

Well, it might not be anything special to some of you, but that tractor is very interesting according to myself. I have never seen the like of it in my country... and it is a very noisy machine... so noisy that you actually do not need to have a honk... no one could miss it when it was travelling your way.

Hmm... thats it for day 2 of the trip. I have plenty of fun... and I know mum had too. She is new to the E-PL1 at that time and so she need some used to. Anyway, I used her E-PL1 for the photo taking of the temple and the trackor and that is when I love the E-PL1 more. It is light and easy to use and it is very sharp and with good colour contrast. The only problem I had with it was that sometime its metering is purely out...

It doesn't have to be sharp!

Yea... I have been hearing alot of people exclaiming that they want their photo crisp and sharp (or sharp and crisp, whatever). Anyway, if all photos are very very sharp... you might as well buy a one dollar postcard and thats it.

Think of it this way, sharpness of a photo doesn't necessary means that it is a good shot... I had always preach about getting a picture with some depth in it... and when I say that, I means, the photo must be somewhat different from other, tells a story of itself, or was unique in its own way... but do note that having a lousy out of focus shot doesn't mean it is unique in itself and is a good photo though. Confuse? Lets have a look then,

(Heavy downpour but still need to get there)

ISO: 400
Shutter Speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/4

(Running in the run... but still sexy)

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/320
Aperture: f/6.3

(Love in the rain)

ISO: 160
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5

As you can see from the above photos, none of them are extremely sharp... nor are they intended to be extremely sharp... or sharp even. Taking the first photo as an example, the blurriness is purposely intended that way so as to emphasis on how heavy the rain was... You basically cannot make out much of the person... but that is what make the picture interesting. My subject is not clear... all you see is someone there... with an umbrella and a blur figure.

Another example of blurriness that is good is for showing of speed or movement as seen in the undermentioned photo.

ISO: 400
Shutter Speed: 1/500
Aperture: f/6.7


If the bird is very sharp... you wouldn't feel that it is actually running or moving.

Blurriness can also be made use of to create creative shots... as seen,

ISO: 320
Shutter Speed: 1/5
Aperture: f/4


Well... for this shot, I purposely choose a lower shutter speed and move my camera up and down to create a blurred overall pic. It is a creative shot that might not appeal to everyone, but I kind of like the effect... instead of having a very sharp and crisp photo that you can easily find in postcards.

Finally, do not be afraid to play with different effects and do not be afraid to experiment.You do not need a very very sharp and detailed photo to make them excellent. Make use of everything you can for the shot. And blurriness is one good tool to use too.

What I use when I am in the field?

Well... I tried to keep my setup as simple and lightest as possible...

First off... when I say, "In the field" I really mean when I am going to shoot wildlife photography... or animal in captivity.

I have not done a great deal of them lately, mainly because I am lazy... but what I normally take is as follows,

1) EF 300mm f4L + kenko x1.4 tele-converter
2) EF 70-200mm f4L
3) EF 100mm f2.8 macro
4) EF 50mm f1.8 II
5) Kenko x2 tele-converter
6) Opteka 500mm f6.2 mirror lens (not use anymore)
7) Sirui R2004 tripod + K20X ballhead
8) Manfrotto 680B monopod




ISO: 400
Shutter Speed: 1/60sec
Aperture: f/10
Flash: used (off shoe)


Note that if I was to take macro shots, I will definitely use my external flash too. But at this present moment, the flash was already being utilized to take this photo, so I cannot show it. Anyway, the flash I use is the Yongnuo YN565EX flash with diffuser.

Anyway, this is a light setup and don't expect to go very far... for wildlife photography, many professional would have scoffed at this setup and they would prefer a 600mm and above lens. Well... I do not have that budget and so... yeah.

If I was to use my x2 tele-converter, I will lose all AF capability as was a trend in Canon if your lens started off lesser than a f4 aperture. That is one reason I seldom use the x2 tele-converter... anyway, pic quality will deteriorate pretty much so I don't like to use it, unless I have no choice at all.

Of Tripod and Monopod

I have quite a few tripods and one monopod now... The tripods I used most was my Sirui R-2004 tripod and the free Canon tripod (good one) that came with the EOS 7D. I also have some cheapo tripod that was given to me free from past purchases of DSLR and mirrorless.

Also I bought myself a second hand Manfrotto 680B (3249B) monopod. This monopod weigh almost as much as my R-2004... but it is very very sturdy and I loved it alot... as a weapon, a walking stick and a support for my camera.

Alright... many would have asked me, why so many tripods?

The reason is simple, I don't have a light stand, and so my tripod double up as my light stand for me to hold my flash.

It is an important addition since recently I have taken into learning off shoe flash techniques, and the tripod is good for this purposes.

I have two flashes - a Yongnuo YN 565EX and a Canon 430EX II, and these flashes can be used for off shoe flash.

I am not saying that everyone needed to be like me... but it would be good that you actually invest in a good tripod and ballhead to being with.

I did, and I love my setup... they let me do almost anything... the only setback I can see is... the constant backache I will be suffering when I carry my setup out... they are not light...

Dogs Photography

Dogs (or pet generally), like kids, will not keep still when you are shooting photos of them and frankly, you do not want to shoot a dog that is very quiet, sitting or lying there without any motion or expression... well... you will be better off shooting a statue.

Anyway, herewith, I would attempt to touch on some aspect of the dog photography in my very limited experience. I have not yet try the servo or continuous shooting of the dog. You can actually treat them like how you would do panning, slower shutter speed, but follow your dogs through.

Of course you need a lens that is very fast in acquiring AF, or it is very difficult to get a sharp shot of your moving pet.

Well... to say the truth, my lenses do not acquire AF very fast, thus I did quite a bit of manual focusing, which sometime is faster than the AF itself. And normally prefocus in a certain area and when the dog came into view, I shoot.

But in good lighting, focus can be quite alright though.

Well in this shot, the lighting is terrible, my 70-200mm f4L lens had a problem locking on focus. So I generally manual focus the entire shot. I knew the pup would be running up the stairs from around that area, manual focus to the area and when she came, I just shoot and pray it hits.


ISO: 400
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/4

Another thing about your pet... is... try to shoot at a lower angle, so that you can face it directly... like what I do with the pic to the left. In that pic, I use a external flash to light up the face and to aid in my focusing. However I twist the flash away from her face and use a bounce card to soften the glare, so as not to give too harsh a lighting and to make her uncomfortable.

ISO: 400
Shutter Speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/4

 Now, I did mentioned that you would not want your dog to be too still... it would be like taking photo of a statue. But sometime when your puppy or matured dog is still, it can also be quite a piece of art, if you know how to shoot them well.

Using what I have... the dog slacking on the ground, leaning onto the leg of the chair, her reflection on the marble floor and stuff like that to achieve the effect I want and make an interesting pic.

Note that for this type of shots, you would not want to use the flash. First it will break the lazy nature of the slacking dog... and it will consume the reflection.

So in bad lighting, pump up your ISO to achieve the fast enough shutter speed.

Taking photos of pets, your shutter speed must be fast enough.


ISO: 2000
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/4

Like I have said before, try to keep your camera aimed at eye level to your puppy, dog or pet. It will be more dramatic... and if you have to be laying on the ground, so be it.

For this shot, I am on the hot ground, positioning myself for a shot... as it was a blistering afternoon and my miniature bull terrier is sunning herself.

She seemed quite interested at the 7D pointing at her... but make no effort to come after the cam.




ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
Aperture: f/5

Okay, this shot is done with me standing up, so I can get her entirely in my frame.

And it works, it also show her whole body and how she slack when sun tanning.

Herewith, I keep my aperture small, so that I ensure that I have her totally sharp in my frame.

ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/11

Like shooting in the field or taking any photos... you must tell a story with your photo.

In this shot, my bull terrier miniature was looking into the kitchen whereby her food was being prepared. It tell a story of the dog being hungry, greedy or was just waiting longingly to be fed.

That very picture, tell lots of things... and it rising questions too... so I like this pic alot.



ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/13
Aperture: f/5.6


Also in dog photography (pet photography), your dogs have very funny expressions... capture those expression as much as possible.

The puppy is playful... and it is the type of expression that I wanted to take. I have been waiting for her to do it... position my camera and shoot.

Of course this photo is taken in good lighting and so focusing is pretty fast... but even then, I have risen the ISO value up pretty much to ensure that I have a fast enough shutter speed.

ISO: 3200
Shutter Speed: 1/640
Aperture: f/4

Because puppy are moving pretty fast, if your speed is anything lesser than the equivalent of the speed she moved, you will get blurred pictures, so to ensure your relatively sharp shots, rise your speed up as fast as was possible... and sometime it will reach 1/1000 sec, you do what you can.

Shooting animal is like shooting human being... facial expression is important... and sometime you do not need your model to be looking at you. Sometime you want her to look the other way.




ISO: 3200
Shutter Speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/5


Well... for animal shots, it is the same... the only different is... you cannot command her to look the other way... or it would either be too unnatural or you need professional training of the dog to do it.

So in the above photos, I was laying on the floor for quite a period of time, waiting... then shoot when I saw that the puppy is looking other way. And it show the white of her eyes... making the entire photo interesting... as if she was ignoring me.

In conclusion, there are many ways of taking dogs photo... not all of them require the dog to be running around and jumping around. Dogs had expression of their own. Capture those expressions and you will be successful.

Update on the Quick Review for Olympus 50mm f1.8 OM and Sigma 28mm f2.8 Mini Wide II

I have promised to give a photo on how these lenses looked like, and here it is,

From left, Sigma 28mm f2.8 Mini-Wide II, Canon EF50mm f1.8 II, Olympus 50mm f1.8 OM, Industar 50-2 50mm f3.5


In this series of photo, I am attempting to show the size of the lenses with a EOS 40D as references.

You can almost see the tiny size of the Industar 50-2. The biggest of the range is actually a Sigma 28mm f2.8 Mini Wide II.

Then the plasticky Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II, followed by the Olympus 50mm f1.8 OM.

Note that all the above lenses are some of my favourite lenses that I used all the time... even if most of them are manual lenses. But when I am taking shots of flowers, they are adequate...

All photos taken by my EOS 7D with 70-200mm f4L lens and some of them are shot with flash (YN565EX).

Travel Camera

I have seldom go on photography trips overseas... clock it up for being too busy with work and stuff like that. Or just plain laziness. However I did went on official business trips to China via Hongkong.

On these trips... I will not bring any of my DSLR and large lenses... too heavy and too crumblesome. Plus I don't want my vendors to think that I am there to take pictures of their factories... Seriously I am not. So I normally use my E-PL1 with a m.Zuiko 40-150mm lens.

The picture quality of this camera is extremely good... having a m4/3 sensor that is very much bigger than a normal point and shoot camera. The only issue I have with this camera is it is not really as good as my 7D in handling high ISO pictures. Noise level is alright, but the picture look very artificial.

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/8
Aperture: f/5.6

The camera is nice... it had inbody stabilization and I can shoot at pretty low speed and still get quite a good and relatively sharp pictures.

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/80
Aperture: f/5.6

Although this camera had all the manual control... but it is not as simple to use as my DSLR and focus can be pretty inaccurate... not to mention controlling of the exposure is really difficult and tricky especially when you are trying to shoot something quickly.

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Aperture: f/5.6

And sometime it take some luck... some of the shot is pretty well exposed, others is just out.

However in the hotel, I am able to get pretty good shots when I am not rushing things and had the time to properly expose my shots.

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/13
Aperture: f/4

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/13
Aperture: f/4

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/15
Aperture: f/4

ISO: 1600
Shutter Speed: 1/5
Aperture: f/4

For the above shots, I like my shots to have some level of grains on it... so I am okay for the relatively high ISO speed.

Of course when I am there, I will not pass up the chance to shoot some sunrise photos.

ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/320
Aperture: f/4

ISO: 500
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/8

Well... by just taking the photo of a sun and the sun alone is boring, so I included somethings into the frame to achieve a more interesting picture. And I never put my sun right in the middle of the photo, so as to give it an impression of a sun rising upward.

Just outside my hotel there are some really old and broken houses... and these make a good picture in my point of view, and so I took two shot of it... make it black and white (to give it an impression of being old).

Zooming in to the damage give a more emphasis feel to the damage.

ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/4
F/5.6

Zooming out to give a more complete feel

ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/4
Aperture: f/4.0

For the two photos, I have quite a low shutter speed and the first photo was taken at a focal length of 150mm, thus it is really difficult to hold still even with the very good build in image stabilizing system. Therefore I am using the wall and the window ledge as a support for me to shoot. The resulting picture is very sharp and up to my expectation. I would have added some grains to the photo to give them an old look, but I find that would be a bit overkill and make the entire photo quite fake.

In the end the trip is pretty good. I accomplish what my company had sent me out for, and I managed to take some good photos with the E-PL1... even if most of the photos taken are in the hotel room only... however if you know how to look and what to look for, you will get some really nice photos.