Hokkaido Photos

Going to Hokkaido on a late-Autumn season was a conscious decision. Admittedly, we missed the snow-white winter beauty or the flower-fielded summer romance. What we got was cool weather, fun tour group, and a 7-day journey that will stay with me for a long time to come.

I'm actually not too bothered about getting great scenery or great food. What I look for in vacations is "experience": it can be good, bad, hot, cold, beautiful, ugly, quiet, noisy, happy, sad. But what really happens in vacations is that you experience something different from your routine life, and that's good enough for me. The more important question is: how much are you willing to pay for the experience to make it unforgetably meaningful?

Going to Japan is a premium experience, compared to, say, Bangkok. And for a lower price, you get to enjoy similar experience by visiting Korea. And for an even lower price, Taiwan is a great alternative.

Before it all becomes a distant memory, I quickly reviewed the vacation photos and picked the more significant images to share online.

Don't you feel like sitting at the chair whole day?

A mountain path to Hell's Valley

A tree stands alone

Reflections

The tranquil view of Lake Toya. It's so easy to take great pictures. All you need is a camera and be there.

Sunsetting lavender fields

I decided to use flickr to host these images because flickr seems easier to present my images in a journal fashion, allowing me to write my thoughts on the images and tag notes against specific areas of the images, so that you get to appreciate the images as I see them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chestertan/sets/72157608470920788/

A more comprehensive and non-descript presentation of the 300+ images I choose to show can be found in the following site. Just in case you are interested to see a more complete picture of my vacation.
http://photosg.com/v/hokkaido/ (dead link)

I love this photo taken by my wife using the Fuji F31fd, who caught me in the act of photography. A proof that great photos need not require expensive cameras. Thanks, love.

Back in Singapore

Just a quick note that I am back in Singapore. 7 full 24-hour days of visual experience for me. I left home last Sun on 19 Oct 3.30am and returned back home this morning at 3am.

I brought the Nikon D90 review unit to capture the beauty of Hokkaido, thanks to T3 Magazine Singapore. The DSLR performed well, although it lacks many hardware buttons compared to D300. Image-wise, the D90 default processing looks better, and the 18-105mm f3.5-5.6 VR kit lens is sharp enough for casual photography. Shooting at ISO 1600 produces equally great images as long as you don't compare with lower ISO settings. The video function is useful, but it's not easy to zoom, focus, and start/stop the recording handheld. There is definitely room for improvement in how DSLRs handle video recording.

I'll post some photos and write more about the trip after I finish sorting the 1300+ photos I took with the D90.

Leaving for Hokkaido

My sister's wedding lunch is a 12-table affair at the Fullerton Hotel. Great opportunity for the wedding couple to spend more time with the guests, which was the exact intention.

Here are some of my favourite moments:






More images can be found in my Flickr album here.

I'm off to a 7-day vacation in Hokkaido. I am glad to have this break because so many many things have happened in my day-to-day life that I have no time to pause and enjoy life. Office work, photo projects, music stuffs, Mayenne. Actually, I doubt I will have a relaxing time there too since it's a guided tour and so the itinerary should be rather packed.

Sometimes, all I need is time to do nothing - and yet not feel guilty. What do I mean by that? Well, for instance, while I am holidaying now, my office workers have to cover my duties, my photo clients have to wait a little more to get the photos, and Mayenne will not see Daddy (and Mummy) for a while.

And while I appreciate having breaks, it does not mean that tasks will go away. When I return to Singapore one week later, I'll have to catch up on office tasks, on editing photos. Not to mention a little poorer from the holiday spending.

But really, at least it's a break away from the routine, to experience new cultures, to appreciate new scenery, and most importantly, have a break. All the daily tasks can wait. After all, I might have to do them for the rest of my life.

Looking Forward to Vacation

I never felt I needed a vacation that much.

I felt totally overworked.

I can't complain, for I need to get the job done.

For today and tomorrow, I am attending a seminar on Team Working. Although many concepts sound familiar, it's a good excuse to refresh yourself without going for the same course again. So although it might sound repetitive, I appreciate the time and space offered during the context of the workshop to take a step back from the work stress and regroup my thoughts and perspectives.

I just collected the latest Nikon D90 from the T3 Magazine office, and I'll be bringing it to my vacation to give it a good review. Initially, another friend agreed to lend me his Lumix LX3. This camera has been getting rave reviews for its 24mm wide angle coverage and f2.0 aperture. Not to mention sharp images. Unfortunately, my friend had to withdraw the loan as he has a last-minute overseas trip.

Meanwhile, I've completed editing my sis wedding photos. Posted some on my facebook account. I'll upload them on my flickr account when I regain some breathing space.

David Foster and Enya

Good things really do come in pairs, don't they?

2 of my favourite music personalities, David Foster and Enya, are releasing albums in November.

David Foster is a 15-time Grammy award winner. If you don't know him, that's ok, as long as you know the albums he produced, the songs he composed, the superstars he lifted to stardom. From Celine Dion to Chicago, from "The Bodyguard" to "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", from Josh Groban to Michael Buble. These are just some of his creations.


In November, he will release a special tribute album called "HITMAN: David Foster and Friends". It contains live audio and video recording of his hit songs performed by artistes made famous by his songs. Plus, he'll release a biography that talks about his 40-year career.

Enya, on the other hand, is releasing a Christmas-themed album, called "And Winter Came". Make no mistake, the 12-track album contains original songs except 2. While I am not really excited about her upcoming album, it will be good to check out whether her style has evolved since her last album.

Douglas and Racheal: Wedding Day 9 Oct 2008

Racheal is my office colleague and I am privileged to be chosen to capture her wedding day moments. Her husband, Douglas, is a charming gentleman. During the wedding banquet speech, he described how the first time he met her and he thought to himself: she would make a beautiful bride. Neither did he expect that she would be his bride.

Reminds me of the first time I met Racheal myself. I remembered very vividly that I met her during a project meeting. When I saw her, I thought to myself: she would make a beautiful photographic subject. After the meeting, I asked her whether she was interested to take portraiture images. Although she agreed, we never did manage to do it. Neither did I expect that she would eventually ask me to shoot for her wedding day. It was definitely not by chance: she saw my wedding portfolio as well as another colleague's wedding photos which I took, and that probably forged her decision.

Before she left for her honeymoon tomorrow, I sent her these few photos for her preview.





OK, gotta get back to process my sis wedding photos now.

PhotoFunia

http://www.photofunia.com/ is a site of photo fun. Load any personal photo and watch it merge into a template image provided by PhotoFunia. Fancy appearing on a VOGUE magazine? Or on a boutique window display?



After nearly 2 months of projects, I finally got a breather. I'll be spending some time editing photos from my sister's wedding and my colleague's wedding. If I have extra free time, I will look through the hundreds of photos I took of Mayenne and share it online. And I'll be heading to Hokkaido for a 7-day vacation, spending on grossly-strengthened Japanese yen. Office work is driving me totally nuts, and I am losing my inspiration to be creative.

Congratulations, Sis!

28 Sep was my sister's big wedding day. It has been a long wait for our family, and for our extended family. The last wedding the family clan had was in Nov 2001 - mine.

As my dad commented, marrying off a daughter is a much more rowdy affair, because all the fun happens at the bridal house. And indeed we did.

I wasn't the official photographer, so I had the liberty of capturing the relaxed and candid moments that would otherwise slip by.

more at flickr

Though I wasn't the official photographer for her wedding day, I was asked to do her bridal photobook 2 weeks before the wedding. My shy brother-in-law requested not to publicise the photobook online, so here I shared some detail shots and of my sis who is more than happy to share her joy.