Vagabond’s Caravan

^ Taken by Kelvin, when he was trying out MF (manual focusing) on the 50mm.

Once again, I am overwhelmed by ChiHo’s 50mm f/1.8, and is really tempted to get myself one although it won’t AF (auto focus) on my D40. I really, really love this small and cheap glass (it’s about B$150) which delivers superb optical quality despite the fact that my MF (manual focusing) technique is still fairly amateur. The only drawback is that I can let others handle the lens because you need to practice before you can MF accurately, so yea, no photo of me to be taken with it, LoL.

Anyway, let’s get back to the gathering. Well, I reached there at around 11am, thinking that lots of people must had already been there, but no, I was the second to arrive, poor YiHuey were alone (excluding the owner, Derick) there for almost an hour, until I came, lol. I wouldn’t go into the details of what we did that day, overall, it was a very fun and enjoyable gathering, thanks Derick. =)

I was especially happy about the photos taken that day because it seems to be among my best sets, and I really really enjoy shooting candids using the 50mm, hehe! I also adapted a new work flow (particularly adjusting and correcting white balance) and a new custom settings (on my D40), and that too, helps and reduced time taken for me to process these photos. Minimum photoshop-ing were done to the following photos.

p.s: Compared to the first few events, my MF technique improved drastically.

^ Love the poses of both Derick and ChiawYee here, the moment were truly captured. =)

^ This is what candid is all about, aint it? =)

^ She looks great in this view, lovely hair! =)

^ My best diptych ever (lol), love the story captured, and I think Millie’s pink shirt gave this shot(s) some enhancement, =)

^ A low-light candid portraiture of ChiiHaw, =) I think this is the best way to frame a portrait for such a brilliant student, my idol! =D

^ Slightly blur, but still great, =) Should had brought my face to the front tho, =(

^ One of my favourite shot! Not only because the subjects are good-looking, but also due to the lighting, bokeh (background blur) and everything, I want to be in it too.. T_T

^ Superstars! =) I like YiiWen’s look in this shot. =)

^ The texture of her hair looks amazing here, like advertisement ah. =D

If you wonder why sometimes one person is clear and another is blur, well, this is due to the big aperture of the 50mm lens. Big aperture leads to faster shutter speed (as more light enters the lens) and thinner DoF (depth of field). DoF is the ‘depth’ in which subjects in a photo would be in focus, ie. appears sharp. Eg. Small aperture of f/5.6 has broader DoF, therefore, when taking photo of one person standing 1 feet behind the other, both of them would be in focus. Where as big aperture of f/1.8 would be having a thin DoF, depending of where the focus is, only 1 of the two person would be in focus (refers to 2nd photo, Derick is OOF although still appear to be quite sharp because he’s not too far away from being in focus). This is just an example tho. This effect is especially obvious when I shoot diagonally, ie. 45 degrees from my subjects (refers to 3rd and 10th photos).

I am proud of this set! Please comment! =) And yea, almost all the photos featured YiHuey, CheaXin, Millie and others, well, I shoot those who sit in good positions (where the best light lies), tried shooting others, didn’t turn out well, so I went back to them, HAHA. =D Enjoy!