Xpan Sunset

Due to family commitments, I had to leave the guys early and miss the much anticipated Changi sunset shoot today. Not one to be easily defeated, I phoned for pizza and organised for the Sunday dinner to be held at my in-laws' home, where I knew a good vista of the sunset was to be found. Upon my arrival, I promptly took over the command of their living room and had the furniture moved out of the way for a strategic westward window placement of my tripod and camera.

Family time, pizza, X-Men on tele and shooting time, all-in-one.

Old Bike

Old Bike
Originally uploaded by blur papa

Test.

Sandakan Sept 2007

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Tamron AF 90mm F/2.8 Di Macro

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC here I come! Yeee Har! Check out the hairs on this bee! The best thing about macro photography is that anything and everything can be a subject. Mobile phone keypads, nipple hairs , forks, bees, flowers, ass cracks, you can always squeeze out an artistic shot.

I had finally gotten my macro lens after giving Benny's Canon EF-S 60mm a good test drive. Such a good friend, I dont know what I would do if I didn't have him to let me test out stuff befoe actually buying them. I would say that I've saved quite a lot of money of stuff I may not actually need. My wife however, may have a different take on that.

Even though I had stinged (pay attention dear wife) and bought a 2nd hand Tamron (a minty minty one mind you) over the Canon EF 100mm macro and saved a whopping S$400, I cant escape the realisation that the Tamron focusses like a bloody tractor! Slow and loud. But if you would take a look at the pictures, the lens is tack sharp!

Now that I've got the equipment ready, move over Jimmy and let Rover take over.

ROVER

Impeccable Sharpness!

Many thanks to Mdm Fong Poey Kay for taking care of Li'l Luke while I was hanging out with the bees. Sweet lady....

Moon-ing

As usual, I was flipping through Clubsnap late one night and came across a "moon-ing" thread. Having quite a bit of talent in this field, I couldn't resist the temptation to re-live what I was able to do so well when I was much younger. I grabbed my camera and stuck on Benny's 400mm and came up with this shot. I did come to the realisation that there is an increased amount of scarring, and you can't really see the other cheek anymore.

Macro - Getting up Close

A friend of mine loan me a Canon 60mm macro lens for a test drive before actually having to shell out good money for oneof my own. Very decent of him. Anyway, the following is ONE shot that I am happy with after shooting countless shots around the house for a few hours. Good thing being, I didn't have to travel. It was shot while watching telly and hanging out with my wife. Now that's a hobby I like.


Tweaked it a little with PS and saturated the blue tinge a little more to give the "cold-hard-steel" feel. Hope it's decent.

And her is one for my wife. A product shot of paper flowers from a brand named Prima.

Acute Bronchitis

I was going to crack a corny joke about Lucas contracting Acute Bronchitis because he was so cute...you know how it goes. But I figured that we aren't in Amercia so being corny probably isn't cool here.

Poor Lucas had been coughing like a chain smoking old man for about 3 weeks. After 3 visits to 3 doctors, nothing improved and he did not get better in anyway. In fact, after an evening of dipping his legs in the pool, he contracted brochitis. And we found out the hard way, learning the fact from an alert doctor who observed his rapid breathing when we brought him in for high fever.

The poor puppy was so freaked by on the first day of his hospital that he couldnt even lay down for an x-ray, much less for his nebuliser treatment,
much less when he had to take meds, and much much less when they had to put an IV in his hand.



But it was Grandpa and Grandma who came to Lucas' (and ours) rescue. Armed with love and enough gifts to qualify as Santa, Grandpa simply bribed his way through all of Lucas' med taking, nebuliser inhaling and x-ray taking sessions. At the end of the hospital stay, Lucas' stash looked like he was ten and had gone through as many Xmas'es.

Grandma stood by like a rock and volunteered 20-hr shifts during Lucas' 4-day stay.

All-in-all, Lucas got used to the treatments and took it all in like a real trooper as the days went on.

Sometimes frustration did set in (both for Lucas and our family) but I'm glad the whole event is over and I pray that my dear son will never have to go through another session like that. Not as a child, and not as an adult, ever in the future.

Caleb's First Swim

An update on Caleb "Thumper" Tan. My nephew from my wife's family. Far flung relation but cute as a button and I managed to snap some shots of him at his first splash-about.

Here are some other pics of this cute fella and his papa.


And with me!


Terrorised by his friend!


Here's looking at you baby!

婆婆 is sick

婆婆 suffered a major stroke on 19/4/2007 which left her bed ridden and half paralysed. In the first few hours, tension and guesswork were unavoidable as no one (including the inexperienced doctors at Alexandra Hospital) knew the exact condition which the stroke had left the grand old dame in.

But as the days passed, everyone is more relaxed when we can see that she is still able to laugh at our jokes, cheat at a mahong game during a physio-therapy session, and play peek-a-boo with Lucas. However, her right side is still only slightly mobile, and as at 3 May 2007, she is still unable to speak. We expect 婆婆 to be discharged soon, and pray for her to react well to future therapy sessions.

Lucas brings a huge smile to her face. It is unfortunate to rely on such events, but this episode really makes us recognise that the connection between the eldest and the youngest in the family, with two generations in-between them, is such a sight to witness.

TV Addict Avid Reader

Update: Here's what Mr Lucas Liow looks like now, at 22 months. A real Le Bebe Terreur (pardon my lack of French) who is just so full of life. He loves the telly but luckily, that includes educational flicks like Sesame Street (only way to keep him still in the car, sometimes). But credit to me, I have been trying to start him on reading by passing him copies of my old FHM. He drools on the mags, and can competently say "boobies" now. Amazing kid, and sacrificial papa.

Caleb Tan - The Thumper

Here's a page to Mr Caleb Thumper Tan, my newphew in-law (I think). Chubby little fella who went through a terrible time at hospitals with all sorts of tests done to him. The episode was a real scare to his parents and all those who love him but it was God's love and mercy that pulled us through the terrible period. Here are a couple of shots of Mr Chubby Checkers before he grows too large for my lens.



Make sure you censor Mr Winnie Shnitzel jah?

深圳常平香港五日游

Yes......finally got round to a proper holiday with the boys and a visit to Shourav. 2 nights in Shenzhen, 2 nights in HK. Perfecto! Observing the 说多错多philosophy, my post on the trip is going to be very very short. Let's just say, I didn't have much time for snappies, and here are the few which I took. Enjoy!

NB: Special thanks to Mr Benny Ng and Mr Shourav Lahiri for putting up with my snoring.