Google Chrome Blazes!

This morning, I read on the Straits Times about the new browser by Google called Chrome. Upon reaching the office, I installed it on my office laptop and tried it.

And my, it simply blazes!

Websites load so fast! The window is so clean and clutter-free, maximising the entire window to display the web.

I was surprised how a web browser can improve surfing speed. All along I thought it depends on the bandwidth of the Internet. While the webpage source code does affect somewhat, I didn't know that Chrome could optimise the performance so well.

Do I care what bells and whistles that Chrome has or has not compared to Firefox or IE? I don't. The primary purpose of a web browser is to browse the web. Period. Chrome does it so quick. At least for those websites that I frequently visit.

After 5 minutes, I am sold.

Photo Montage - Kevin and Fynn

This is the express photo montage I did for the wedding couple on Sunday. I knew Fynn during Iris' wedding in Oct 2006. She and I stayed over at Iris' JB home to receive the groom the next day, so we had a memorable time. I was glad she asked specifically for my services after so many years.

The best men is totally sporting during the sabo. One of the bridesmaids even commented that when the same trick was used on previous weddings, the best men refused to do the tasks. Kevin's best men are simply the best: they did every task without a wince.

Playlist Update - Leo Ku "Xi Huan" (Favourites) 喜歡

It's been so long since I added new songs to my playlist. But recently I have been receiving a lot of feedback from friends and site visitors about my playlist, and how they actually visit my site everyday and play the playlist on their PC.

And since I have not done any new songs or arrangements for the longest time, I dug up some of my old tracks that was unpublished.

This new track was once a very popular song on the Mandarin Charts. Leo Ku was a cool-looking actor and an okay singer. "Xi Huan" is a commercially successful song and I arranged this in New Age instrumental style as requested by the album producer. This track, together with "I Believe" and 14 others, was never published.

For those who inquired about the availability of the Mandarin songs, it's currently unavailable anywhere in the world - except on the IMEEM playlist. You cannot purchase it because these songs are cover versions meaning I have to pay royalties to the original song publishers if I want to make it commercially available (not the case if they are unpublished original compositions). We have to respect commercial laws so that people can continue create music for all to enjoy.

Thank Goodness My PC Broke Down At The RIght Time

Today after ballet class, I came home and switched on my PC. Before I even got to see the Windows startup screen, I heard a loud bang and a flash coming from the PC's power supply unit (PSU in short). The PC then went dead.

My first thing that came to my mind: did the PSU blow? Then I thought: now I can't do any work. Then I realised: thankfully it didn't occur tomorrow.

Why not tomorrow? Because I have a wedding shoot and the couple ordered the Express Montage.

Actually I have a spare PC, but obviously it will run slower and therefore less efficient.

My next worry was: was the mainboard blown as well? Previously I've had bad experience with the mainboard's capacitor blew up.

I thought through and decided: what the heck, let's replace the PSU first and hope that the PC works.

Then I thought: where shall I buy a new PSU? Sim Lim? Yah I could, since I'm free.

But is it worth the trip? Why not get it at the computer shop at the nearby town central.

So I removed the PSU, put it in a plastic bag, and walked to central. After a brief chat with the shopowner, I bought the top-end Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 460W at $75. I might be able to get it cheaper at Sim Lim, but that's the price you pay for convenience.

I never knew why the PSU blew out of nowhere. But am I glad that it died on me when I least needed it. I actually have 4 wedding assignments in the next 30 days, including my sister's wedding event, so I cannot afford to miss a beat.

I have also upgraded my second harddisk in my PC after hearing some weird noises coming from the harddisk head. Harddisks are a dime a dozen - $105 to be exact for my WD SATA2. Data is priceless, so it's better safe than sorely (pun intended).

Speaking of upgrades, I went to COMEX yesterday, and strangely, there were less crowd than the PC Show in June. While I was there, I grabbed a special Anti-virus offer for existing subscribers, traded in my rechargeable batteries for a new set, and bought the Sandisk Extreme IV 8GB CF card. I really shouldn't have bought that, especially when I already have the Vosonic VP8860 to backup the files on the go. But I found that the Nikon D700 is extremely picky on slow CF cards. If the camera takes a long time to write to the CF card, it will slow down on the playback review function. I could have gotten a 16GB Transcend CF card for the same price, but there is difference in the write speed. Speed matters if I want to backup CF cards with the Vosonic, especially with large-capacity memory cards. A 120x-speed 4GB card takes about 15 minutes to backup, so imagine a sluggish 16GB. Bleah.

Yesterday was also the first time I brought my camera to snap at event girls. Actually, it's only for 2 event girls - Huirong and Zoe. What's so special?

1. They are my regular MSN buddies for years.
2. They are working together for the same company.
3. They work for Nikon, my camera brand.

Haven't met Huirong for almost 2 years. The last time I saw her in person was for the Domus photoshoot. She saw some changes in me, because she never saw me since then. But to me, she looked the same, because she's always updating her photos in her blog.


The other 2 Nikon girls, Zylia and Claire.
I was kindda awkward hanging around the 2 girls. Passers-by might think I was trying to get fresh. I really wanted to capture some journalistic images of these 2 girls at work instead of the usual pose-and-smile snaps, but I didn't bring my tele lenses and if I really did, I probably will look like I'm really trying to get fresh with these 2 girls. After 15 minutes, I decided that I have stayed long enough to receive unwanted attention, and bid the ladies adieu.

These are as far as I could get.

Photo Story: The Final Ember

It all started with this photo...

(not shot by me! It's a reference photo)

Many months ago, I found this photo in an online photo forum. The model bears an uncanny resemblance to Zoe, a model friend. I showed her the photo and she was excited to see an alter ego.

When I saw the photo, I interpreted it as a girl who is sickly depressed. Immediately I decided that if I were to do a shoot with this feel, it would have to be a story of a girl who is stricken with a disease and is dying. The story would capture her emotions and how she spent her dying days.

I never really went on to actually write out a script, until (you guessed it) I got hold of the Nikon D700. In a desperate bid to fully utilise the camera before I return to T3 Magazine, I once again showed the photo to Zoe while planning for the other portraiture shoot with Emi. That stirred her interest once again and from there on, I quickly drafted the story.

This story was shot in less than 4 hours, and I consider that an achievement, having considered the number of scenes we have to cover. Admittedly, the execution wasn't perfect. In the midst of the shoot, I kindda blanked out, not able to visualise how to capture the last moments. The only thing that is perfect is the weather: it was raining the whole morning, giving the desired gloomy atmosphere.

Of the entire photostory, the only scene that is executed as what I had visualised was the falling-stairs scene. I knew exactly how it should turn out. The outdoor shoot was also quite as intended. So is the letter-writing scene.

Make-up was also a challenge. I need the look that make Zoe look sickly yet not ugly. I had a hard time convincing her to uglify herself especially in the final few scenes. The "wet" scenes weren't captured as intended partly because I was concerned about her getting totally wet. Plus, the bathroom wasn't in a good lighting and size to get it done.

Being the first time doing a ficticious photo story, the process was more challenging than I thought. For instance, I need Zoe to get into character, very much like doing drama. Thinking back, I probably should shown her the concept or script and walkthrough the expected expressions for each scene. Without that process, we ended up having little giggles and losing the mood.

But still, Zoe did a stellar job in portraying that elegiac feel. If she lacked the spectrum of expressions, blame it on the photostory director, me. It really wasn't easy juggling as the director, photographer, props and lighting designer, and what-not. It was a good try, and there is always room for improvement in my next project.

Click the image below to view the photostory.

Flickr Mirror Link

Before I sign-off, here's how the photo I imitated turned out:

Baby's Ill

The weekend was busy with a half-day photoshoot and the rest of the time with Baby. She was ill after the MMR vaccination on Thursday. Her temperature went on a roller-coaster ride, hovering around 37.5 degrees. Personally I don't think that's a concern because most docs we've consulted say that you should be concerned more with the baby's behaviour more than the baby's temperature. If baby has higher-than-normal temperature but still behaves normally, that's fine.

Mayenne's condition compounded with the recurring running nose. Previously it was blocked nose so we were frantically trying to clear her 'gold'. This time round, it was runny - just like ol' Daddy. Problem is, she doesn't know how to blow her nose, so that probably irrirated her. She hasn't been eating well over the weekend, and we don't know whether it's her fever or her nose. The only recourse is to feed her the fever and flu medication, but it didn't help and she got fussed up and cried, thus increasing the mucus in her nose.

Sometimes, I wonder whether we should leave her symptons alone since she was not particularly behaving sickly. If we force the medication, she would turn upset and all the "sickly" symptons would surface.

Some people feel that baby should be left to build her own anti-bodies against the common illness. Others feel that medication must be administered to fight the viruses.

All I know is that whichever option we take, it is always for the baby's best interest. That's more important than trying to insist which is the better option. After all, there is no scientific proof to claim which is really better, and that is the situation that we will have to live with for many generations - until proven. It's just like determining whether mobile phones causes brain cancer.

The D700 Experience Continues - Emilia and Zoe

Because of the Nikon D700 magazine review, I have planned more shoots that I ever had in the past week. Justifiably-so, because I do not think I will really buy one.

Not that it's no good. It's fantastic, that is why I am creating opportunities for me to experience the technological marvel. But I feel that the FX format is yet to mature. Specifically, the 51-area sensor is not spread across the entire FX frame, something that puts me off because it shows that Nikon is cutting corners and deploying the same AF sensor as the DX format.

And after Deon's shoot, I am holding back more, because I get to find out that my current Capture NX and Lightroom do not support D700 RAW image processing. Both software just released new versions, so it is very unlikely they will release an update for the old software. Therefore, if I do purchase D700, software costs have to be factored.

So for the shoot I did with Zoe and Emilia yesterday, I used both D300 and D700 interchangeably. For shots where I get sufficient light to shoot below ISO 400, I use D300 (so that I can process my RAW). For shots that the D300 loses in noise, I switch to D700 (RAW+JPG Fine). Where I require wider coverage, I shoot with D700 and 24-70mm. Where I require zoom, I couple D300 with 80-200mm.

Out of 1000 shots, here are 2 images taken (I think) with D300.