Twas The Light Before Christmas

Every year in December, cariocas (natives of Rio) gather at Lagoa Rodrigo, a lake sitting between Ipanema and Corcovado (where Christ The Redeemer stands), to take in the sight of a giant beautifully lit Christmas tree.

The special feature of the tree is that it floats on the lake, creating a magical reflection of dazzling lights on the water surface. The idea was initiated by a private company, who designs and constructs it every year for the people of Rio.

The great thing about this simple act of giving, is that everybody - whether fortunate enough to be born in the upper crust of society or living a harder life in a favela - has a Christmas tree to call their own.

After staying in Rio for a week, we were convinced that we would be perfectly safe walking through Ipanema's streets at 10pm to the lake, and headed out to see the tree in its full sparkling glory.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, why are you so far away and so difficult to photograph without a tripod?

After gazing at the tree for a good 10 minutes and watching the various lighting designs twinkling in the dark, we whipped out our torchlight and set to work lighting up the skies around us.

The tree was too far away so we created our own tree, right in front of us!

Just to remind ourselves where we were....

My Spanish teacher in Singapore said after seeing this pic, that 'Rio' is the name of a woman. So Dan had better watch what he writes...

There were some life-sized wooden cut-outs of capybaras (the biggest rodents in the world, which look like giant guinea pigs) at the Amazonian Bar near where we were. We thought they looked rather un-festive sitting there in the dark - so we accessorised them.

It was suppose to be a fire-breathing unicorn-capybara. But it looks like it's wearing a party hat and blowing on a party streamer instead. Well, the poor thing had a broken hind leg, so whatever makes it happy.

We turned one into Rudolph by giving it a shiny nose and antlers. Dan made it happy by drawing in a proper hind leg for it, despite the original wooden leg being broken.

Not quite the picture of an angel despite the wings and halo

And with that, we wished everyone at the lake a Merry Christmas in advance in light graffiti and walked back to our inn at midnight - safe and sound!

I tried to write "Christmas" in full but screwed up. Dan did a better job here. Merry Christmas to all our readers!

Nature Calls

San Carlos de Bariloche in the Argentinian Lake District is known as the Little Switzerland of Patagonia - beautiful calm lakes, cosy cabins made of wood and stone, ice-cream shop counters showcasing a rainbow of mouth-watering flavours and rows of gourmet chocolate shops.

Nestled at the foot of the Andes, Bariloche is a popular winter wonderland with plenty of skiing opportunities in the nearby mountain tops. In summer, the sapphire-blue lakes offer boating adventures and people head to the lush green mountains for treks and picnics.

But what has the place to offer on a dreary drizzly cloudy day in November?

The perfect setting for photographing waterfalls!

We had planned to take a local bus to one of the lakes lying south of our hostel to visit a small set of cascades, which we were told were accessible by a short trek though the woods along the lake. Contrary to our usual prayers for sunny days, clear skies and NO rain, we were quite pleased to wake up to a wet morning resplendent with thick grey clouds.

Reason being, to get good photos of waterfalls, you need low light, either in the form of cloudy skies or tree cover. Sunny days don't make for good pictures, as the strong sunlight bounces off the white waters of the falls. Coupled with the fact that you need to lower the camera's shutter speed to create that silky smooth texture of the flowing water, overly strong lighting results in overexposed pictures.

Rain, however, doesn't feature in the formula. In fact, it tends to splatter a few irritating droplets on the camera lense just as you've composed your photo, gotten it in focus and are about to press the shutter. But in the Lakes District, rain makes a frequent appearance, so with our hoods on and our picnic lunch packed in waterproof bags, we made our way to the lake and into the woods.

The natural scenery in Bariloche is beautiful. But on a rainy day, the whole place just looks wet and grey. So this entry is about getting up close with nature on the trail that we took in the woods. It was nice to linger and take our time to examine water, wood, leaves and flowers in close detail, instead of trying to get that perfect postcard shot of the lakes.

We came across a gurgling shallow stream, the water just skimming over the stony bed

The divinity stick lead us to more water...

... in the form of a small waterfall

Examining some wet wood along the way. Quite taken by the ripples on this one.

This trunk was knobbly. A few of the bumps look like little eyes peering out from the tree.

Made of many thin layers on the inside

Going for the wet look

Following the stream, we got to the main attraction - a two tiered cascade - after about an hour. Or maybe two hours? It was not a long trail but we were really taking our time, absorbed in capturing details in our photos - I didn't once glance at my watch.

Treading carefully on slippery stones to get to the foot of the lower cascade

My camera lense got totally wet from the spray even though I tried to shield it with my hand. The result - a lovely dreamy watercolour effect.

Downstream from the falls - trying to capture a spot of sunshine that managed to creep to the stream through the cloud cover and tree canopy

Once or twice, during our stay in Bariloche, the sun decided to make a brief appearance. Unfortunately, we weren't on the much anticipated Seven Lakes Drive, nor on a mountain peak with an expansive view of the surrounding lakes when the sun showed it's face. On one rare sunny occasion, we had just alighted from the bus after a quick visit downtown and were actually on the way back to our hostel!

While there weren't spectacular vistas to capture along the dusty road in our quiet residential neighbourhood, there was still beauty all around us to enjoy.

Peachy pink buds just waiting to blossom

Fresh green leaves with delicate veins

Turning translucent in the sunlight

Rain or shine, it's nice to lose oneself in nature once in awhile. If not all the time.

It Was All A Blur...

We've been traveling for 8 months now and almost every single day, we take our cameras out with us and photograph our journey along the way.

Back home, I'm not one who totes around a small digicam in my handbag. So this is the longest time that I've had a camera stuck on me almost 24/7. (Who knows, I might just get addicted to having a camera on hand, even when I revert to my real life and clockwork routine *yawn*) Many times a day, I find myself assessing the environment and wondering whether to whip out the camera (which is in reality, a rather cumbersome combination of neck straps, bag straps, clips and zips) to snap a photo.

The natural scenery that we come across on our trip is simply awe-inspiring and magical - it really doesn't take much to capture the beauty of a place. We try to do more than just snap a conventional photo, which really doesn't convey more than "been there, done that". We explore new angles, toggle with shutter speeds, tweak exposure settings. But fatigue and boredom do set in. I get bored with the photos I take when they start looking the same - same style, same angle, same textures, same feel. Sometimes, I literally cannot tell the difference between one lake photo and another. It's the same with photos of mountains.

That's when you start losing inspiration, thinking "it's just another lake", "it's just a building", "it's just the city". Then you get lazy and find all sorts of excuses not make the effort to get a good photo. Too crowded. Too hot. Too troublesome. Too dangerous. Too rainy. Too dark. Too bright. Too tired. The sun is not in the right position. My camera sucks. My lens is too wide. My lens can't zoom so far. And so on.

And sometimes, in trying to get that perfect photo, we forget to have fun with the camera!

While in Ushuaia, Dan recalled taking a picture of a porcupine fish while diving in Lembeh (Indonesia) a couple of years ago. Trying desperately to focus on the puffer, which was merrily sailing past his eyes while the current was sweeping us forward, he trained his camera on the subject and snapped - while both man and fish were still moving. The result - a small wide-eyed ball of spikes looking as if it was high on Speed and blasting light years into space!

Our friend Sue Anne commented on Facebook: "Oh i like this! A little lone fish struggling to keep up in the mad rush hour...kinda like me in HK!"

With this thought in mind, we re-discovered our cameras - by thinking of them as new toys, rather than fragile digital machines. We didn't bother with getting the "correct" settings, or framing the subject spot-on, or calculating the perfect composition, or nailing that prized waterfall photo (which nobody looks at after a while anyway. Images are short-lived.) We didn't moan about needing more sophisticated cameras or new expensive equipment to get better photos. It didn't matter that the skies were drab and rainy.

And look what we came up with!

First experiment: twisting the camera as you press the shutter.

When used on a human subject, this technique creates a surreal time-warp effect, as if a person is stepping out from another world through a portal.

"My name is Purple Peter, from Mars they don't come sweeter, I've come to see what's going on on Earth."

To achieve the effect, you need to slow down the shutter speed. This can be done even on some good quality point-and-shoot cameras, like Dan's Canon SX200 IS.

Greetings from the future *deep bow* Take me to your leader

Trying to keep the image clear and sharp at a specific focal point, while the rest is a whirling blur, can be a bit more challenging. You have to hold the camera super steady. It's fun trying till you get it right though!

Still a little off focus. But good enough for William Tell to aim and spear that apple (and, gulp, me)

No humans were involved or shot in the following experiments:

Making a plant look like a windmill

Swirling some leaves around

Sometimes, I didn't even have a specific subject in mind. The results? Abstract art! And very nice art too, with lovely natural colours and soothing wispy textures. I would decorate my walls at home with it!

Forest colours take on a whimsical twist

Of course, you don't have to do the twist all the time. Instead of turning the whole camera, I tried shifting my zoom lens back and forth as I pressed the shutter. That simple move added a whole new dimension to the photo!

Taken while zooming out: Dan getting vacuumed out of this world and into another

Taken while zooming in: Dan being surrounded by a quivering energy field

When I tried it on moving streams and waterfalls, it made the water movements incredibly powerful and dynamic. Poweerrrrr up!

A small unimpressive waterfall is transformed into a powerful gushing terror

An ordinary pebble-filled stream now commands your attention

These are only a couple of fun techniques that we accidentally discovered while moving our cameras around while snapping a shot, instead of being so fixated all the time on keeping them still.

Intrigued and inspired to play around more with my camera, I surfed around and found a couple of websites with some tips on how to take creative photos. While some of them do require a special type of lens, or high-quality equipment, there's no harm trying out some of the methods and seeing what results we can get with the tools we have on hand.

After all, photography is meant to be fun and experimental. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Critters of Colombia

In our busy lives, we rarely have the chance to observe the smaller world around us. Well, smaller by size, but much, much larger in population.

I suppose this is one of the reasons why I love diving in places like Mabul/Sipadan and Lembeh. We have the chance to observe tiny creatures without the distraction of work, commute and questions on where to have lunch.

We spent exactly a month in Colombia, of which the bulk of it was spent in Bogota studying Spanish, waiting for the wife's laptop to be fixed and getting mugged.

Then we were pleasantly surprised by what the rest of the country offered us in terms of adventure and natural beauty.

I wish I had more good shots of the little friends we met there, but not all photos turned out well. Ah well, in Ecuador, we are supposed to be going to a town that's famous for butterflies and birds. Let's see what we get there. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of this short post!

The thought that it might be poisonous never occurred to me, until a 10-year-old boy became concerned when I told him I had a frog on my hand. Tsk! Ignorant Singaporean!

Bottoms up!

I was expecting it to plant a flag any moment

Isn't it a little warm to be wearing a fur collar?

Idiot refused to transform. Stuuuuupid.

Funeral for a Friend

On 14 July 2009, I bid farewell to a friend who has been with me through thick and thin over the past few years.

The passing of my Oly (short for Olympus) 5060 was nothing short of spectacular. We had kayaked to the middle of Mosquito Bay (in Vieques) in the total darkness of a moonless night to see the bioluminescent plankton in the water. Oly was safe in its underwater housing. We slipped into the water, to better agitate the plankton and make it glow.

Despite the inadequate lighting, I was hoping against hope that Oly could pull off a miracle and give us one good shot for the blog.

All of a sudden, Oly seemed to go into a seizure. The view-screen became especially bright in the dark of the bay and even when I switched it off, the light wouldn't go. With a cold chill in my heart, I held it up to see if perhaps the underwater housing had flooded. I couldn't see anything. And then Oly's flash fired right in my face.

Once.

Twice.

I was blinded by the sudden flashes, and it was all I could do to find my kayak and put Oly back in. I figured that since I couldn't switch Oly off, and I didn't want to disrupt the tour further for others, there was nothing much I could do. I would check on Oly later.

It turned out that Oly was indeed flooded by the brine. The underwater housing had lost its integrity and allowed the water in the bay (which was 10 times saltier than that in the sea) to flood and ultimately kill my camera.

When we got to Bogota, Colombia, we held a short ceremony to commemorate the life and times of Oly.

Oly surrounded by its closest friends - clockwise from front - batt-charger, batt, strap, bag and lens cap. Underwater housing was too ashamed to attend.

Oly was introduced to me during my time with SriLankan Airlines by Cassandra Dragon from Asian Geographic Magazine. This was all the way back in November 2004, when I was preparing for a big dive trip to Maldives!

Since then, Oly 5060 has helped me capture numerous memories, with its swivel screen and wide angle lens. I have had to explain to so many people that Oly 5060 is neither a point-and-shoot camera, nor a DSLR. Oly 5060 straddles the fine line between these two classes of cameras, known as a prosumer camera. Of course, with DSLRs now hitting and going below the SGD 1000 mark, this class of cameras are all but extinct.

I wish that I had access to all the other pictures on my other trips, parties, outings, etc. Unfortunately, I had backed up most of those pictures at home to clear space for my HDD before this trip.

With what I have left with me, I will let Oly's output speak for itself.


Oly dived!

Stonefish at Sipadan - poionous and well-camoflaged!

A shy mandarinfish hiding in the corals at Mabul

Oly was fun!

Kungfu Frisbee at Sentosa!

Read this post for the story on this pic!

Performing Prince's hit single - Purple Brain

So cool that Elvis the Pelvis has turned blue

Oly swivelled!

Going close to the ground to catch a quartet of ducklings in Boston

An over-my-shoulder shot of a fly-fisherman in the Adirondacks, because they didn't look very friendly

Oly loved to get close to nature!

Face-to-face with a grasshopper in Moganshan, near Hangzhou

Taking in the hue-view of a flower in Salt Lake City

Fascinated with these ball-like flowers in Boston

Getting some grass in New Windsor, because grass was easily available in the USA

Oly had a flair for the dramatic!

Catching the ethereal dance of a jellyfish in the Monterey Bay Aquarium off San Francisco

Capturing the amazing power of a statue with a glowing groin in Denver

Fireworks over the Niagara Falls

Braving the stormy weather in Harbour Island, Bahamas

The magnificence of Captain Speedo in Eleuthera, Bahamas!

Oly loved me, my wife and my friends!

The wife and the gang o' divers in Pulau Aur, Malaysia

Sniggering at Canon not being used for this pic at Bryce Canyon

Giving me my favorite (non-pornographic) picture of the wife in the Nassau, Bahamas

Oly, though many cameras in the market have surpassed your capabilities in the last 5 years, I will cherish and remember fondly the good times we shared.

Taken by Oly's successor

Rest in peace, my friend.