Casual Photography Group First Event

I have setup a Photography group in Sydney on Facebook. The aim of this group is to provide a place for photographers, models and make up artists to communicates and setup event. Our Facebook group is <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/groups/192649784192508/” title=”Casual Photography Group Sydney” target=”_blank”>here</a>. Our first event was held on 6/4/2013 and it was a “Red riding hood” theme. If you are in Sydney and like to join small photo shooting with us, please feel free to join our group. Model : Ashleigh Make up :...

Causal Photography Group

My friends in Hong Kong are always able to get a group or photographers, make up artists and models come out for a photo shooting event. I want to do the same in Sydney. As a result, I have setup a Facebook group (by invite only) for Photographers, Make Up Artists and Models to join. We can than setup monthly photo-shooting event and eventually move to a weekly event. Our first event will be on 6/4/2013 (Saturday) and the theme of the event is “Red Ridding Hood”. Stay tuned for the photos. If you are in Sydney and would like to join our facebook group. Please free feel to contact me!...

New Photos are coming

I have been busy with my work and not able to upload new photos to my photo album. Recently, I have went to a few photography events and I have taken some photos. Just did some touch up of some of the photos. I will upload them to this blog soon. I have also found some old photos with celebrities. I will pick a few and open a new Category call “People”. Stay...

Tasmania – A beautiful place

I was working in Tasmania for two week in March. During the lonely weekends, I went to the Mount Field National Park and the Scotts Peak Dam for some photos. It is a nice country area which I suggest people going to Tasmania should place a visit to those areas if time is permitted. You can see something very different which you don’t normally see in an overcrowded city. Please stay tuned for the new photos I have taken in...

Best 5 Travel Compact Digital Cameras! by Felix Ng

I have hand picked 5 different digital compact cameras for readers wishing to upgrade their existing gear. The 5 candidates are: (not in order of preference) Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 Pentax Optio W90 Canon Powershot S95 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V Samsung DualView EX1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 (Best street price $598~$648*) *Prices based on genuine Australian Stock, not grey imports from overseas Photography enthusiasts who require a compact digital camera that provides excellent build and image quality are naturally drawn to the LX-series. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 is the latest model and sports a 10.1 megapixel high-sensitivity CCD sensor teamed with a new 3.8x optical zoom Leica DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens that ranges from 24mm wide-angle to 90mm at the telephoto end, with a large f/2.0 aperture making it excellent for low-light performance and achieving background blur. The good: Excellent raw photo quality; sharp, bright lens; compact and comfortable design; complete set of  manual control. The bad: JPEG processing is a bit weak. The bottom line: Despite its shortcomings, notably its weak JPEG processing, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 delivers an excellent all-around shooting experience – fastest in its class, fully featured, and capable of shooting very nice photos. Pentax Optio W90 (Best street price $359*) As PENTAX’s 11th generation waterproof digital camera, the rugged, adventure-proof Optio W90 is ideal for any environment. Waterproof up to 6 metres, shockproof up to 1.2 metres, dust-proof and freeze-proof (-10 degrees Celsius). It is built to withstand rough treatment wherever you’re shooting. Sporting a 12.1 megapixel sensor and 28mm wide angle 5X optical zoom lens you can capture high resolution images from landscapes to distant subjects. The good: Outstanding design; excellent feature set and shooting options for its class. The bad: Short battery life; no optical or mechanical image stabilisation. The bottom line: The well-designed Pentax Optio W90 offers very good photos and performance at a reasonable price for a rugged pocket camera. Canon Powershot S95 (Best street price $466*) Packed full of features, the Canon PowerShot S95 is the next generation in the popular S-series. Featuring a 10.0 Megapixel High Sensitivity CCD Sensor, 28mm f/2 wide angle lens with superb low light capabilities ensures you get true to life shots. Coupled with HD movie recording and full manual controls makes the PowerShot S95 the perfect compact, creative photography tool. The good: Attractive design; capable of producing very nice photos; complete set of manual controls; solid 720p video. The bad: slow, with subpar battery life; no low-compression JPEG option. The bottom line: DSLR shooters looking for a sidekick camera will find the Canon PowerShot S95’s high quality photos and a full manual feature controls a worthy companion. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V (Best street price $361*) Capture stunning low-light 10.2-megapixel images and sweeping panoramic views with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V featuring an “Exmor R” CMOS Sensor. Catch fast action shots with up to 10 frames per second shooting. Full HD 1920×1080 AVCHD Movie Mode (compatible with PS3™ game system) combined with Optical Active SteadyShot and a 25mm equivalent wide angle 10x optical-zoom G Lens allows you to take captivating images. With inbuilt GPS and compass functionality to map your memories.  The good: Speedy shooting performance; compact, lightweight design; plenty of fun, useful features; very good low-light photo quality for a compact camera. The bad: Soft photos, videos; limited manual controls; GPS takes time to power on and off. The bottom line: The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V has shooting options for solving common snapshot camera issues, but some users still won’t be thrilled with the results. Samsung DualView EX1 (Best street price $400*) The Samsung EX1 is a very good camera –...

How to choose the right camera for your budget!

When you shop for a new camera, what is the deal breaker for you? Is it the colour of the camera; the brand; the resolution (mega pixels) or will it be the price? In this [multi] part series, we will examine 10 different important aspects in choosing the right camera for you! Part 1 : [mega pixels / image resolution] Do you choose their camera based on the amount of megapixels that is advertised on the camera? Many believed that the more megapixels has, the better the quality of the pictures taken – well, that is not quite true. The number of megapixels is only one aspect relating to the quality of a camera, or the actual quality of a photo it is capable of producing. Factors such as camera sensor (CCD or CMOS) and the optical quality of a lens play equally important roles. Besides the sensor and lens, 4 other most common elements that determine the quality of photos and prints are: Good lighting of a subject Proper focus Image clarity (image is sharp without blur that is often due to camera shake or incorrect shutter speed) Shooting at the highest resolution and quality camera setting If you buy a digital camera with too few megapixels for your printing and editing needs, resulting prints will become degraded (fuzzy, or pixelated).  The same will also happen if you enlarge a low resolution photo into a larger print, or a digital image that is cropped too much. When buying a camera, do not let a salesperson push you to buy a digital camera simply because of its high megapixel count. We have provided the chart below for you to decide the number of megapixels you need. Besides, buying a camera with an average megapixel count can save you money. Before purchasing, keep the following in mind: the maximum print size you plan to make if you do a significant amount of cropping when editing Finally, remember to set your camera to it’s highest megapixel and quality settings if you print large photos and want to maintain fine detail. These days memory card are relatively cheap and there are no excuses for not using the maximum quality setting because your “memory card [size] is too small!” Here are my recommendation for choosing the right megapixels sizes for quality prints (when printing at a photo-centre, not inkjet printer): MP Will give you GOOD quality prints at: Will give you BETTER quality prints at: Will give you BEST quality prints at: 1 MP 5″ x 7″ (12 cm x 18 cm) 4″ x 6″ (10 x 15 cm) Wallet 2 MP 8″ x 10″ (20 cm x 25 cm) 5″ x 7″ (12 x 18 cm) 4″ x 6″ (10 x 15 cm) 3 MP 8″ x 10″ (20 cm x 25 cm) 8″ x 10″ (20 cm x 25 cm) 5″ x 7″ (12 x 18 cm) 4 MP 11″ x 14″ (28 cm x 36 cm) 8″ x 10″ (20 cm x 25 cm) 5″ x 7″ (12 x 18 cm) 5 MP 11″ x 14″ (28 cm x 36 cm) 11″ x 14″ (28 cm x 36 cm) 5″ x 7″ (12 x 18 cm) 6-7 MP 16″ x 20″ (41 cm x 51 cm) 11″ x 14″ (28 cm x 36 cm) 8″ x 10″ (20 cm x 25 cm) 8 MP 17″ x 22″ (43 cm x 56 cm) 16″ x 20″ (41 cm x 51 cm) 8″ x 10″ (20 cm x 25 cm) 10 MP 20″ x 30″ (51 cm x 76 cm) 17″ x...

5 Simple tips on Night Photography! by Felix Ng

Night photographs express a special something that cannot be seen in normal daytime photography. Whether it is a photograph of a moon and starlit sky over a windy deserted beach, the excitement of a downtown cityscape when the lights go on, or just a picture of you and some friends in front of a favourite hangout, nighttime photos, when done right, are sure to attract attention. However, even for experienced photographers, nighttime photography can be a tricky situation. Photos often look unfocused, blurry, or lacking crucial details, and many may not come out at all. There are some tricks, though, to taking spectacular nighttime photos with your digital camera, tricks that can be explained yet only completely learned through practice. Tip 1: Use Long Exposures The key to successful night photography lies in a long exposure. I am talking about exposures measured in seconds. When a long exposure is used, more light is allowed into the camera, allowing the details in your night photo to be captured. The problem with using long exposures is that you may shake the camera, resulting in poor pictures. To prevent this you need to use a tripod. I prefer to set the camera on timer mode to minimise the amount of vibration or movement on the camera when I press the shuttle release.
 Tip 2: Try to Capture Motion Photography with a long exposure can always give you many creative options. This includes capturing motion. For example, have you ever wondered how those professional photographers shoot pictures of trails of car lights as they zoom down the highway at night? It’s all due to long exposures. Try to keep this in mind the next time you’re taking a night photo – you don’t have to restrict yourself to still objects.
 Tip 3: Play with the Aperture In addition to shutter speed (which determines exposure time), you can play around with the aperture size of your digital camera. There are two basic and simple scenarios here; with a long exposure, try to use a small aperture to avoid overexposing any stationary lights in the frame. On the other hand, if you set a short exposure, try using a larger aperture to avoid any motion in your shot.
 Tip 4: How to Use the Flash As a general rule, I turn the flash off when taking night photos. There are some exceptions though – one specific example I can think of is trying to shoot a subject in the foreground, with motion trails of car lights in the background. In this case, bring along an external flash unit and shine it on your subject manually. Set a long exposure, then have your subject wait until the picture is taken.
 Tip 5: When to Take Night Photos When’s the best time to take night photos? I usually like to take them during dusk when colours and details are easier to capture. I’d recommend that you do some research on the evening before the photo shoot. Decide on the location, then come back the next day to take the photo at dusk.
 Hopefully, this article has taught you some tips on taking better night photos. The important concept to remember is that a long exposure is need for good night photos. This means you need to keep you digital camera really, really still. Once you understand that, the quality of your night photos will definitely...

My Photography Gear

Most of the photos I posted in this web site were taken by my Canon 5D Mark II with the Canon 24mm – 105mm F/4 Lens. As a new starter in photography, I don’t have much experience and I am still learning how to take good photo. I hate using photoshop as a result, most of the photo you see in this web site are all directly taken from the camera without further process it (apart from resize to a smaller format). There are some Photos which I did futher process using HDR. However, again I don’t know how to use PS, I did those HDR photo via those one-click program. It is expected nothing look nice or great...

My Photo Album is online

My Photo Album is for my friends who love photography to upload nice photos here and share with...