Concorso d'Eleganza della Villa D'Este

A quick view around the Concorso, in the beautiful shores of Lake Como, Italy...held annually in the Villa D'Este in Cernobbio, this event is the premier vintage car event. with beautiful and magnificent vintage cars being shown. I am attending this event for the first time, on invitation as part of the Press Group of A. Lange & Sohne who are the newest sponsor to participate in this historical and very important vintage car show.

Below is a 3 panel stitch of the general area, where the cars are being shown and the judges parading the area...asking questions of the owners, prodding for the restoration or preservation virtues of each automobile.

More pictures of the cars soon...

Leica S2 walkabout impressions

The Leica S2: impressions from a walkabout

Just a quick walkabout to give an impression on the Leica S2. I am preparing a longer report and review of the Leica S2 system on my watch shoot, but in the meantime, just quick impressions. Note this is by no means a review. And just quick impressions.

I was at Orchard Ion, amidst the Christmas lights, so this tribute photograph to the large Cartier shop. This is a 3 panel vertical landscape stitch with the Summarit-S 1:2.5/35 mm ASPH.



The first impression when I started to process the files are that the camera's AWB is awefully good. It seems to get the white balance spot on, even with mixed and difficult lighting conditions.

Inside ION is an example...the cafe just outside the Miu Miu store. Note the wall of light on the Miu Miu store, and the intricate texture on the wall is intact. This lighting condition is quite tricky. The dark cafe, backlit. Also with Summarit-S 35mm.



Strong halogen on a mannequin. The spot light on the mannequin is at least 2 stops above the rest of the store. Lens is the Summarit-S 1:2,5/70 mm ASPH.



One of the best aspects of the S2 is the rear LCD is very nicely done. Crisp, sharp, and able to give a much better impression for focus confirmation and colour rendition than the aweful LCDs on the Hasselblad H system.

The interior of L'Atelier by The Hour Glass. Mixed lighting. With the showcases much brighter than the environment. Summarit-S 1:2.5/35 mm ASPH.



The 35mm Summarit is quite sharp, and relatively distortion free...for a lens this wide...it is very impressive. The following are photographed taken hand held:



The form factor of the S2 is very DSLR like. Indeed feels about the same as the Canon 1ds3, or Nikon D3, though the lens are considerably larger. The walkabout ability is certainly a very nice feature of this camera.



And a quick watch photograph...with the APO Macro Summarit-S 1:2.5/120 mm is not a true macro...it focuses down to only 1:2. I would consider ability to shoot at 1:1 a requirement for macro.

The MTF specifications of this lens is amazing...almost theoretical.



Cropped image shown above. Single image, no focus stacking. Renders detail nicely, but perhaps I need to investigate a bit more, but it would seem at f/16, there is some diffraction.

p.s. Thanks to Leica Singapore and Christopher Lee for arranging the camera. A more detailed report, in conjunction with Chris will be done up later.

Jungles in Singapore?

I recently was inspired by the work of Clyde Butcher and have started a series of photographs to depict the jungle scenery in Singapore...wait a minute, did I say jungle in Singapore? Is there one?

Well, there are spots...which when carefully framed, may be nice subjects to depict the dense folliage which may be a jungle...I have just begun this journey, and am looking for more locations to photograph these. Here are my initial two shots.



By nature, these locations are often very dark. I attempted to do a HDR with the Hasselblad...not entirely successful, I think. Though I did manage to bring out some shadow detail, the entire scene is rendered rather differently. And I ended up preferring the non HDR shot, shown below.



What do you think?

Inspired by Ansel Adams, similarly titled photograph, Ferns. Click to open to larger 1920 wallpaper sized images. But please be aware of the copyright issues...by clicking you acknowledge and agree that you will only use the image for personal use, and will not edit it in any way.

Giant Sequioia at Mariposa Grove

The Giants Sequioias at Mariposa Grove is one of the natural wonders of the world. Nestled at southernmost tip of Yosemite National Park, Mariposa Grove is a treasure of the Sequioias.

These magnificent trees, can grow up to several hundred feet, and at Mariposa, two of the largest trees in the world reside.

The challenge of photographing this magnificent grandeur is different from the vast expenses of the Yosemite or the Grand Canyon. But because the trees grow in a forest like environment, shooting distances are much nearer...and even with my HC28, I am not able to capture the entire tree without pointing the camera up.



Or just shoot the foot of these magnificent plants:



The Grizzly Giant, is the oldest tree in the grove...some 34,010 cubic feet (963m3) of wood.



The light streams through the tree tops makes things interesting...



We were told these trees do not have a natural lifespan, some are already some thousands of years old. They only get destroyed by humans or die because they are struck by lightning and burn. We see evidence of this quite clearly around the park.

Moser Perpetual: a more detailed study of the finishing

I photographed the Moser Perpetual 1 some time ago...the photographs appear here.

As a followup, this is a detailed look at the movement, showing the salient features of the quite excellent finish:



Zooming in on the escapement:



The entire esacapement, can be unscrewed at the ends of the bridge, and removed. Moser provides service centers with pre-poised, balanced, timed and adjusted escapements, so field replacements are possible. Click on the image for a 1920 pixel wide image.

And to show off the sharp curves, and fine anglage finishing, here is a closeup of the bridges. Note also the beautiful jewel within the gold chaton with screws holding the chaton to the bridge.

View from the Pinnacle: The Singapore skyline

Encouraged by the results from the Chinatown photographs, I visited a friend who lived in The Pinnacle - Singapore's highest HDB block of flats. From the skybridge, linking the 5 towers at level 40, I took these photographs.

Minutes before sunset

A few minutes before sunset, a wide pano, stitched from 10 vertical panels using the 80mm standard lens. The cityscape is still bathed in daylight. Click on the image for a much larger one, 1080 pixels high to appreciate the detail captured:

Dusk

Barely 25 mins later, darkness settled on the city. Using the 28mm lens in landscape orientation, covered the entire city. I cropped the top and bottom to create a panoramic aspect ratio.



With the camera turned into vertical orientation, I made this with the 28mm.



And finally, on the deck, with the city skyline as the background and the lazy deck chairs on the foreground:

Chinatown Singapore: evening photographs

After the recce trip, I went back one evening to Block 335B, and took these photographs. All with the HCD4/28 wide angle.

First, from the same vantage point, 24 floors up in the block



and from the same direction, but from the 16th floor



What do you readers think? Which do you prefer? Any thoughts why?

I should have taken these photographs at dusk, when the last dying rays of the sun will still provide some illumination, and lift the red roofs with some lighting. I may go back and shoot that.

Anyway, since I was in the Chinatown area, I walked around and shot these with the H3d-39 and HCD4/28 handheld:



Shot at ISO800, and converted as medium jpegs in Phocus, and exported as bw to Photoshop CS4 to tweak levels, very slight sharpening and reduce size further.



And finally from a street corner. Click on the image for the bw version, and tell me which one you prefer.

Hong Kong skyline: view from Kowloon

The Hongk Kong skyline...of the central business districts of Central and Wanchai from Tsim Tsa Tsui in Kowloon is certainly one of the most beautiful in the world.

It is highly accessable from the Kowloon side...an esplanade, leading from the Star Ferry Terminal in TST to the Avenue of the Stars provide an excellent vantage point for photographers to try and capture the beauty. And at precisely 8pm every night, the skyline's lights are coordinated in a dance to music. The music can be heard on the airwaves on FM radio, and the spectacle of lights and lasers accompany.

The vantage point in Kowloon is about 1.5km from the main lights, so many lens options will work. Here I have a two panel stitch, shot about 8pm, taking in the Central area



Taken on another day, but earlier, just as the sun was setting at about 6:30pm, a multipanel stitch, covering the area from Causeway Bay to the Wanchai Hong Kong Convention Center to the Central area:



The shots were taken with the HC 50-110 zoom, set at 80mm. My pano rail is just slightly short of the being able to rotate the lens at its entrance pupil, hence you see the slight distortion on the left side of the photograph, as parallax error causes CS4 to see the waterline as slightly curved.

Detail of the IFC tower:



Photographed just beside the Star Ferry terminal at TST, I used the zoom at 110mm setting, with a slight tilt up to cover the building. When viewed at full resolution, the detail captured is quite amazing. I can almost see the people working in the building through the IFC's windows.

Hong Kong: 1881 Heritage Building

Apologies, I am getting behind on blogging...was in Hong Kong, now trying to catch up.

In the meantime, here is a two shot stitch with the HCD28 of the new 1881 Heritage Building which used to house the Marine Police Headquarters during the British Colonial days:



More later.

Fallen trees: Yosemite, CA

Fallen trees are a fairly common sight in the Yosemite Valley. Something I don't remember seeing much, living in the tropics.

Here are two, in tribute to the landscape of Yosemite.

The first, I felt was better conveyed when rendered in black and white.



This was photographed on the way to Yosemite Valley, about 2 miles before reaching the gateway entrance as we drove from San Francisco.

Metering for black and white is slightly different, and requires a different visualization from colour. I usually only shoot in black and white when I want to emphasize textures...especially differing textures of the subject and its environment. In this photograph, the tree showed a pronounced twisting of its trunk, probably established during its formative years, before it was likely to have been struck by lightning or broke in high winds. The contrast to the bare trunk and the lush surroundings is stark. Even though this photograph is rendered black and white, the leaves just behind the trunk almost leaps out as greenery. And even though I had not used a graduated ND filter, the sky was captured with deepening tones.



The next tree looks like the same type. I photograph this not too far from the first trunk. The same twisting is also seen on the trunk. But rendered in colour, the effect is different. Altogether less stark, and emphasizing less on the textural differences but more on the hue and colour tone. I shot this using the hyperfocal method...where placing the lens at its hyperfocal distance will allow everything to be in focus from half that distance to infinity. Note the entire trunk is in focus. As are the nearest point, about a meter from my lens to the mountains in the background.

Scenes from Yosemite

Some more photographs from the Yosemite trip.

As we were waiting for the sun to set at Glazier Point, for the glowing golden light to magically appear, we sat at our positions, waiting. Waiting. I thook this shot.



I intentionally framed such that the people in the foreground are visible...with their multicoloured clothing contrasting with the landscape. As it turned out, the light was begining to turn golden as it hit the Half Moon surface.

Somewhere along the valley floor, the Merced River runs, and an old stonebridge...well, known as StoneBridge...runs across it. I took a very short hike down to the river level, and captured this shot.



As the light was coming from the other side of the bridge, I metered to place zone 5 at the rocks which form Stonebridge. And allowed the exposure to be determined from there. This pleasantly resulted in the lighted patch of the under-side of the bridge at zone 8, and still left enough detail in the submerged river bed next to the rocks in the foreground.

And driving round Stonebridge on the Valley Loop, we came across El Capitan Meadows, with the Merced River in the foreground.



My feeling as I came across this scene is the cool, lush and refreshment the water provides, in contrast to the looming, slightly forbidding El Capitan in the background. I metered to place the face of El Capitan in zone 8+, allowing it to be very bright in the photograph, but still retaining plenty of detail. The rest happen to fall into the zonal range of the camera, allowing me to capture even the deep shadows in the foreground right with good detail.

Scenes from Singapore: Marina Bay Part 3

And a bit more spectacular:

Eight panel horizontal stitch with HC2.8/80. The camera is mounted on the Manfrotto macro rail, set such that the point of pivot is exactly at the entrance pupil of the lens...as defined by Hasselblad to be 79mm in front of the sensor position at infinity focus. Focus is set manually, as is exposure. This shot from one of the pods off the Helix Bridge.



The full resolution photograph is some 1GB in size, and will easily print to 8 m width without loss in resolution. Stitching done in CS4.



Seven panel horizontal stitch using HC2.8/80. This shot just outside the concourse of the Shoppes at Marina Bay.

A single shot using same lens showing the Shenton Way skyline.

Scenes from Singapore: Marina Bay Sands Part 2

Followup to the Marina Bay recce trip using the LX3, here are some pictures from the Hasselblad shoot.



Later that evening, feeling more gung ho, so attempted aAhand held shot of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Note to self, don't shoot the Hasselblad handheld.



Inside view of the Shoppes:

Scenes from Singapore: Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands...supposedly the most expensive hotel ever built to date, and a grand prize contributing to Singapore's GDP this year. All shot with the miniscule Panasonic Lumix LX-3 camera. This is a recce trip to visualise camera angles for a Hasselblad shoot later. No larger pics available.



On approach from the East, a double helix bridge leads into the complex:

Closer view of the three towers, one hotel:



The shopping area within is quite vast, and chock full of luxury stores:



The building features a skygarden. Entry for non hotel guests is by an entrance just underground. S$20 per entry.

The view was magnificent, I can imagine it looking spectacular at night. However, they don't allow tripods at the skygarden. Might be a challenge for the H3D to do night scenes.



Another view of the city...the Esplanade area:



The Singapore Flyer



Looking down onto the highway.



The view towards the Marina Barrage:



And the infinity pool atop the sky garden. Pretty cool, access for hotel guests only.