mamafufu

曾經滄海難為水
除卻巫山不是雲
取次花叢懶回顧
半緣修道半緣君

Is the sun rising or setting?  Is the next moment going to be light or darkness?  Regardless what it is going to be, let’s enjoy this very moment.  Look, it is so beautiful.  Isn’t it?

Sunday mornings are meant to be slept in instead of waking up early, driving 30 miles one-way and taking portrait of flowers. This was exactly what I did this Sunday morning. Good to catch those water lilies before they are gone for the season.

This was my third times taking Polo pictures. The first time didn’t count since it was in the evening and the arena was poorly lighted plus (insert other excuses here). The second time around was okay.  It was a beautiful sunny day but still didn’t get many good action shots. I think the third time around came out a bit better with the same camera (5D Mark II), same lens (70-200mm f/2.8L IS) and similar lighting although a bit more overcast.  The differences were:

- I added a 2x extender which gave me a bit more reach with 400mm although I lost a few f stops, suffered a bit on image quality and gained a lot more noise even at ISO 800.
- I focused on actions this time around more.
- I used a monopod instead of a tripod. This gave me more flexibility on framing.
- I moved around a bit more instead of staying in one place.
- I used AI Servo AF which helped with moving objects. This is the time I wished I had an 1D Mark IV or even a 7D.
- I used continuous shooting a bit more. Again 3.9 fps of 5D Mark II didn’t cut it but did help.
- I got better with Lightroom for post processing.

Here is one of my favorite of the whole set:

Today is the Memorial Day in the US to remember the men and women who died in wars. With wars we all lose regardless which side we were in. This picture was taken in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, USA. There are over 58,261 names listed on the Memorial to remember the men and women who either died or missing during the Vietnam war. The memorial was designed by a second generation Chinese American Maya Ying LIn.

And here is the rest of the picture set.

Tea is good for the body and photography is good for the soul. The tea happens to be the new 2010 Spring Dragon Well. Absolutely wonderful with great and lasting aftertaste. Photography is still mamafufu.

Tired of seeing all the flower pictures from me lately? Here is something different and perhaps something more contrastive. Mr. Nol Putnam is a master blacksmith and is famous for the three gates that he built for the Washington National Cathedral’s Columbarium. Here is the rest of the picture set.

Larry Price: Very dramatic. I always shoot DETAILS for editorial work. These are great to help tell stories and suggest editorial direction. This is well executed, spot on.

照片攝於一個多風的早晨. 想起自己最近喜歡的一首歌. 走馬看黃花.

Attended a macro photography workshop this weekend.  This is not an Olympus commercial but I have to say Olympus makes very nice four third/micro four third cameras and lenses.  These pictures were taken mostly with the E-P1 and the 50mm f2.0 macro lens.  The system is about one third the size, weight and cost of my Canon macro set up.  I don’t think I could have done any better with my Canon this weekend.  Perhaps next one.

http://www.mamafufu.com/album/Olympus/

Larry Price: Folks, notice the “shoot-through” effect. Other foliage in the foreground smoothed out the fore and backgrounds to great effect.

To three of the greatest mothers in the world!