Johanna and I attended Edmund and Stefenie's engagement party in Hobart. We took the opportunity to travel to the summit of Mount Wellington and around Tasman Peninsular. The Mount Wellington trip is to redeem our previous visit in October 2008 where it snowed suddenly while we were on the way up and it was so foggy that we missed the entire scenery. We only had a few hours to spare and the serene sceneries we enjoyed were definitely worth the drive.

8 May 2010

I've finally received the new EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM earlier this week, just in time for Edmund and Stefenie's engagement ceremony next week. I've always been keen to take some shots at the corridor of Melbourne GPO so I thought it would be a great opportunity to test out the new lens in the dimly lit corridor. Once again Johanna has to be my model.

The results? The lens overwhelmed me. Not only it's very sharp, it also performs very well in low light condition. f/2.8 also allows nice bokeh effect to be produced. The only caution is that sometimes the DOF will be too shallow for certain shots so I have to watch out if I want most parts of the photo to be sharp.

27 April 2010

I was so happy to have finally sat for my actuarial exam today. Now I have all my time back to concentrate on photography.

I thought I could learn some portrait shots with the cheap EF 50mm f/1.8 II while waiting for the arrival of the new EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM which I've ordered while preparing for my exam (can't wait). I spent quite a lot of time researching whether to buy this lens while preparing for exam. As usual half of the time I wasn't studying.

Johanna was my model for the night as we chose to practice the portrait shots in our living room. The EF 50mm f/1.8 II is sharp but it is quite difficult (slow and not precise) to get it focused at the right spot, which is one of the main weaknesses of this very affordable lens. So it's definitely a no no for event photography where subjects move around. Hmm... maybe my next lens will be the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM.

4 April 2010

I finally had my first go at shooting wedding thanks to Kha Khia and Peter.

It was the first time ever that Johanna and I left our Melbourne home so early in the morning - 5.30am to drive to Kha Khia's home in Clayton. It was a traditional Vietnamese wedding and I was surprised that her family converse in Teochew, the same Chinese dialect I speak. 

I was quite satisfied with the results of my first ever attempt. Since I didn't have the best lens for shooting indoor event, hence I could see the limitations especially in low light conditions. Reviewing the results prompted me to get a new lens, the EFS17-55 f2.8 IS USM, which could be considered as the "24-70" for 1.6x Canon cameras. Furthermore it comes with IS. 

Photos I've taken since moving to Australia after leaving London late 2007. Australia is a great place for outdoor activities with beautiful beaches and scenic mountains.