High fibre diet for polar bear

A camera-shy polar bear had enough when a group of photographers persisted in taking his photos and out-stayed their welcome. The bear charged towards the group which scattered into the safety of their vehicles, leaving their tripods unguarded on the ice. The polar bear then grabbed a tripod and made off with it, which greatly amused the photographers because he happened to pick the most expensive tripod - a  flagship carbon fibre model from Gitzo.

Credit Image: © National News/ZUMApress.com

Either the bear had good taste or he was told to go on a high fibre diet. Read the full report here.

Pimp your camera!

Think your camera is not bling enough? Can't bring yourself to glue some Swarovski crystals onto your camera? There's an easy way to pimp your camera and give it some personality! Check out the Gariz (not Garish fortunately) metallic plates for your camera! I think the stick-on for the compact cameras do look quite classy, although some people would probably think you stole the camera from P. Diddy himself.

The stickers for the DSLRs look quite daft though. But don't stop at your compacts - Garish, sorry I mean Gariz has stickers for mobile phones as well (yes, including the iconic iPhone). Just don't show Steve Jobs what you did to his precious...

Check out the Gariz website for yourself!

New Nikon 200-400mm f/4 launching soon

Nikon is set to launch a tweaked version of its 200-400mm f/4 VR by end of May. Featuring the same optical configuration and Silent Wave Focusing as its predecessor, the new AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II looks to deliver the same optical performance and speed. However, Nikon improved its stabilization ability by incorporating four-stop VR II image stabilization, and the new lens will benefit greatly with Nikon's Nano Crystal Coat lens coating for reduced ghosting and flare.

It will come at a price though. The AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II is expected to cost nearly US$7000, which squarely prices the lens out of reach for most but the most hardcore (and well-heeled) photographers. Who would buy such an expensive and huge lens? Nature photographers and sports photographers will certainly appreciate having the option to zoom at the super-telephoto range, as well as a relatively bright aperture of f/4 and enjoy the superlative performance of this ED lens as well (it has 24 lens elements in 17 groups with 4 ED elements!).

What other alternatives do you have to this Nikon? Perhaps you can look at the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8EX DG APO HSM instead, with its bright f/2.8 aperture and much more economical US$4200 price tag.  Add on a 1.5x teleconverter and you''ll have almost the same focal length range as this Nikon. You'll not get optical image stabilization (VR) with the Sigma though, which is a really useful feature on such a super-zoom.

Hong Kong and Vietnam gallery added!

Hi folks,

It's been a busy time for me, but hey... photography remains an important part of my life! These photos of Vietnam and Hong Kong were taken quite some time ago, but I've not shared them in the public domain as a collection yet...

The contrast between Hong Kong and Vietnam can't get any further... the slickness of the former British colony stands out against the war-ravaged past of the former French colony. The fast paced lifestyle of Hong Kong pits one another into working faster and harder than the person next to you, so you can really feel the buzz in every street of Hong Kong.

The charms of Vietnam appear immediately as you leave the airport, with quaint French styled houses lining the roads. Because each house is taxed according to the land area occupied, houses in Vietnam are built on narrow strips of real estate, and total floor area is maximized by building more levels. The Vietnamese are toiling hard to rebuild the economy after decades of war, and results are starting to show in the cities. But the charm of Vietnam remains in many parts of the country, and it is difficult to imagine such a beautiful country and wonderful people being embroiled in such a long era of conflict.

Visit my new photo galleries of Vietnam and Hong Kong at www.nelsontan.com (click on the Gallery section). Leave some comments here on how you like the photos as well!

A day in the life of New York City

Check out this amazing video of New York City by Sam O'Hare. Sam did the entire project shooting on a Nikon D3, and that's all you need to know for now. So please watch the video before you continue reading!

Done viewing the video?

How did you think Sam shot the sequence? Most people would imagine that Sam fitted tilt-shift lens to the Nikon D3 and set it to record video, and then speeding up the video clips in post-production to achieve the effect in the video. But that would not be special, would it?

Sam O'Hare actually used a Nikon D3 for this project, shooting 35,000 NEFs at 4 frames per second! He then painstakingly combined them in post production and output the files as 1080p video set to music. If that wasn't crazy enough, he wasn't shooting with a tilt-shift lens. Sam actually shot with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 lenses for all of the shots. The tilt-shift effect was all done in post frame by frame!

This is madness!
Madness? This is NEW YORK!

Photoshop CS5 - so what's new?

Photoshop CS4 was not all that hot, and Adobe knows it as well. Many photographers have criticized the software giant of churning out new versions of Photoshop too quickly and increasing the prices, without significant improvements in the versions. Worse still, Adobe received the short end of the stick by refusing to integrate RAW support for newer cameras such as the Canon EOS 5D Mk II for Photoshop CS3, in an apparent move to "convince" customers to upgrade. As far as we know, sales of Photoshop CS4 was not as spectacular as Adobe wanted it to be.

Now Adobe is back with Photoshop CS5. Has the company wizened up to the consumer's requests and are they listening to feedback? Well, it's difficult to say for sure without running through the software, but based on the list of new features, the new Photoshop CS5 certainly looks very interesting for those of us on the previous versions of Photoshop. Rob Galbraith has a nice summary of the new features in CS5, so be sure to check it out!

DSLR video used to film 'House' season finale

The status of DSLR video quality has been elevated to the next level with the breaking news that the entire episode of the season finale of the primetime medical drama series “House” was filmed with a DSLR. In an interview, director of FOX broadcasting Greg Yaitanes said that they used the Canon EOS 5D Mk II with 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses to film the season finale to achieve a “richer look”.

Greg loves the shallow depth of field of the EOS 5D Mk II, and felt that such a way of shooting is “the future”. The crew was shooting on 24p format and found the compactness of the DSLR ideal for filming in tight spaces. Most of the shots were done handheld or on a small format, instead of the traditional video stabilizers. Watch for it!

Montage photo seminar and contest

2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the Photographic Society of NUS. Throughout our 40 years of journey, photography has become an integral part of our lives. It connects us to our past, our heart, our community and beyond. It preserves the moment, allowing us to walk down the memory lane. It exposes the heart to raw emotions. It provides a platform to focus on issues close to us. Holding a camera on our hands simply charges up our lives.

What does “connect” mean to you? Establishing relationships? Communicating? Or something else? Let your creative juices flow and interpret the theme in anyway you want! Be wacky, be witty, be exciting! Pick up your gears, press the shutter and reconnect yourself with the wonderful world of photography.

Montage Photo Seminar
5th June 2010, 1330 - 1830 hr
Suntec Singapore, Meeting Rooms 303 - 304
$6 (Student), $10 (Public)

Visit the Montage website at http://www.montage.sg to find our more information about the Montage Photo Seminar and competition!