The Moment It Clicks.
Since I can't kick, I shall click.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Canon 70-200 f2.8L Lens Thermal Flask for sale!
Price: S$80. Contact me at 91273166 if you are keen to buy!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Now to win a Leica!
Well this time round, there will be judges to determine the winner, so no more crazy-going-around-asking-for-facebook-likes.
Here are my entries.
Photo Caption: Dig and Sniff
Country photo taken: Singapore
Date of capture: 9 April 2011
Camera used: iPhone 3G
Entry Title: Help Me?
Photo Caption: Help Me to Help You
Country photo taken: Singapore
Date of capture: 14 April 2011
Camera used: iPhone 3G
Entry Title: Yearning
Photo Caption: I Miss My Family
Country photo taken: Singapore
Date of capture: March 2011
Camera used: Canon 550D with 85 1.2L
My favourite is the second picture. I've seen this uncle around near AMKHub area. For this shot, I was waiting at the traffic junction when I spotted him, seated on the floor with legs open wide, as if to attract and invite people. It was difficult to miss and he had this expression on his face that I had to capture. So had to quickly take out the 3G and after all the slow launching of the Camera, I managed to get the right angle and shot after 4 attempts. The phone can really push the limits of my patience.
I certainly hope my entries can make it all the way. But I'm sure there'll be other excellent entries as well I can't wait to see them.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What a trip to Wembley.
Never mind the days before the match. That is barely an experience compared to the match day itself. Anybody can fly to London and do all the shopping and sightseeing. This is the Champions League Final between FC Barcelona and Manchester United, the latter being my religious team, as any of my friends and relatives can testify to. Having always dreamt of watching United play live in England, the knowledge of having the chance of being at Wembley for the Final is nothing short of mind-boggling.
Earlier, Melvin, Steven and I visited Old Trafford.
An awe-gasmic experience, with the live view of Stretford End and all the history encompassed in the stadium museums.
We would pretty much prefer to be there on a proper match day itself, but we’ll take that for now.
Left footers United!
Next up, Wembley. The mood was slowly building up on the train journey with hordes of Barca fans (mainly from Spain I guess) and United fans singing and chanting in the Tube stations being seen and heard. There was no animosity though, everybody from both sides were still being very amiable, smiling with one another and cheering and so on.
The walk to Wembley Stadium was just amazing.
From Wembley Park Station we could see the crowd to the stadium. It kind of reminded me of the scenes at the Royal Wedding, just that this time round, we would be part of the contingents.
Not everybody there was lucky enough to have tickets for the match. Several eager souls were seen holding up cardboard signs asking for tickets.
No way was Melvin and I going to let go of ours. The festive spirit had carried through from Hyde Park to the stadium as well, official merchandise shops etc were set up around the stadium.
We then entered the stadium 2 hours before kick-off.
Might seem ridiculously early but we wanted to get into the mood of the event proper. We only got a small bite and that was supposed to fill our lunch and dinner. The Barca fans had come in early, and they could be heard from our side. I must say their chants were impressive, both in volume and coherence. Soon enough, the players arrived in their coaches and later appeared on the pitch for warm-up. That was when things started getting exciting, even before kick-off.
When the team starting line-ups were announced, there were boos for every Barca player and cheers for United players (from my side anyway). The 2 hour prep time seemed to fly by in an instant.
Right from the whistle, nobody could sit well in their seats. Any movement near the penalty box, everybody would be on their feet, anticipating a goal or what nots. The United fans were really going at it, jeering and gesturing towards the referee at any decisions going against their way, booing and cursing everytime Busquets went down, except for the one where he got whacked in the head by the ball.
It was so surreal. Leo Messi on the ball, on the pitch, literally before our eyes. And he was lightning quick, seemed even quicker than if we watched him on the telly. He was a constant thorn in our side, nutmegging even the likes of Vidic. Soon enough, after several gilt-edged chances, they eventually converted one. Soft one I’d say, our defence got dragged all over the place. Pedro 1-0.
But such is the character of United that we had to equalize that as fast as possible. 7 minutes after Pedro scored, some neat one-touch passing found Rooney within 15 yards from the goal and he put it past Valdes.
No amount of Image Stabilization would contain the fury of the celebrations.
That was when I erupted, no joke. It was unreal, surreal, but very real. Everyone around me jumped up and down, screaming and cheering away. I did the same, but times 2 or times 3 their intensity, while trying to record the celebration on and off the pitch. 1-1.
I was shaking. Having had only a small bite for lunch, I was supposed to be hungry. But I was “full”, with butterflies in my stomach. Every now and then I kept thinking to myself, “Damn, am I really here?” I couldn’t believe it. The game was playing out in front of me, in Wembley.
Second half. Having equalized, we thought we’d have the chance to win this. But the Xavi-Iniesta-Messi carousel went on again, and soon enough, we conceded another soft goal which I thought van der sar could have saved. Minutes later, Villa curled in a superb effort to make it 3-1. When that went in, I was distraught. I didn’t order this. There was still 10 minutes left, and I was praying for the spirit of ’99. That didn’t happen, with Barca’s superb possession football starving us of any chance of attacking at all.
Final whistle. Barca ecstasy, United gloom. Once again, we lost to Barca. Twice in 3 years. Somehow, I wasn’t disappointed much. United lost to the better team. Barca deserved their 4th European Cup. After watching the trophy presentation, we dragged ourselves out of Wembley Stadium and back to base.
It was a great experience while it lasted. Even after reaching the hotel, I’d still think back on the match and stadium and reflect on how fortunate I had become. Even though we lost.
Quoting Sir Matt Busby:
“I never wanted Manchester United to be second to anybody. Only the best would be good enough.”
I’ve come to watch United play, albeit to a defeat. But my next target would be to return to UK again, best would be Old Trafford, to watch United win a game. That might be good enough.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
It's another General "Like" Election.
It's been my ultimate dream. Two of the best teams in the world, Manchester United and Barcelona in the Champions League Final at Wembley.
Singtel Mio Stadium is having a crazy fanatics contest at http://miostadium.com/contests/crazyfanatics. The photo entry with the most likes, wins a trip for 2 to the Wembley showpiece on 28 May.
Guys, time to do some "Liking". Please like this photo on http://miostadium.com/contests/crazyfanatics. Extreme right column, fifth from the top.
Thanks guys, each "LIKE" brings me one step closer to the Wembley dream.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Canon 70-200mm F4L IS - Does it POP?
For this special occasion, I borrowed the Canon 70-200mm F4L IS lens from a friend. Some may ask, why not the f2.8 one?! Well, since the parade was in the day (which actually turned out to be a scorchy, sunny morning), I did not need the extra stop, and hence the extra weight. The f4L IS weighs 760g while the f2.8L IS weighs double at 1.5kg!
Here's some shots taken at home before heading to the parade.
Ok let's cut to the chase - the performance of the lens.
The parade was held at The Float@Marina Bay, aka the Floating Platform. Guests like me would be sitting about 150m (might be wrong due to my unconvincing agar-ation) from the actual parade ground. Another way to guesstimate the length is that, anyone with a 50mm prime or 15-85 zoom lens would have trouble getting face shots of the soldiers in the parade. I was well-armed with this 70-200 lens.
There was some waiting time before the parade started (well what's new anyway about waiting to rush and rushing to wait). Guests were slowly but steadily streaming in and filling up seats.
After a few minutes, the whole parade was just about formed up and it was time to spot my cousin, which was in the company furthest away from the guests.
Here's another shot, this time of the parade commander saluting the Reviewing Officer.
100% crop
Now I'm sad I'd have to return it tomorrow.