Shai Coggins

Yes, the pages have been completed over a week ago. But, I only managed to put the finishing touches after 52WoC’s Party #3 - when the winners put in their last input to complete the art journals.

Toni won the main art journal and shared two more words which I used for the cover: Pastel Green + Home. And her name, of course. Now, here’s a mosaic of the finished book (now packed and ready to be shipped)-

Em Dy won the smaller mini art journal. She gave the words Red + Life. And her name. Here’s the mosaic of the finished book (now packed, but still waiting for the address so I can mail it)-

Also have Amy’s pack ready to ship. And, I even added this small handmade mini blank book in the pack -

Now, I’m excited.

Yay! Finally finished the art journals. Well, sort of. I finished all the pages of the very first art journal collab project here. Now, all we need to do is proceed with our 52WoC virtual party #3 that was postponed, so that we can choose our winners. And, they can come up with their input for the covers.

Anyway, here are the last pages from the collab submissions…

Toni’s second submission is: Lemon Yellow + Happy. And, I aimed for simplicity in these pages -

Next is Chloe’s page, with her words: Sky Blue/Turquoise + Hope. Was really happy that I had the opportunity to use my blue laser mesh here -

Then, there’s Jami’s page, with the words: Maroon + Horses. This page was a toughie for me. I didn’t think I had the right Maroon material, so I just used the closest possible one. It was a gorgeous, textured handmade paper. And again, I didn’t have any horses from my stash. Then, I realised that I had these cute rocking horses charms. Good one -

And finally, there was Jayme’s words: Pink + Passion. Love the words - so this was sort of easy, fun pages -

These last pages are a mix of Jayme’s Pink + Kari’s (1st submission) Purple submissions. Tied the whole thing together.

So, there you go. I really enjoyed doing this with you all. Maybe one day, I’ll come up with another art collab project. Thanks again to all of you who participated.

Hi, all. With the 52WoC Virtual Party coming soon, I’m trying to finish the art journal collaboration project as soon as possible. So, here are the latest pages (photos aren’t good quality, but ‘am planning on taking photos of the project again when completed):

Kari’s Page (Part 2):

Kari sent a second submission for the project. And her words are: Blue + Imagination. I really like the blue patterned paper I used here.

Amy’s Page:

Amy submitted the words: Gold + Connection. I love metallics, so I enjoyed playing with my materials on this one. Including a glittery star! The ‘connection’ bit was a bit tricky. Decided to go for overlapping circles, as a way to interpret the idea of connectivity.

Heather’s Page:

Heather submitted Purple + Sunshine. Very visual. Enjoyed using an envelop here for a page. And, also used various embellishments here.

There you go. I think there’s 3 or 4 more pages to go before the art journals are complete. ‘am really looking forward to completing this project. And, finding out who gets to keep them!

Also See:

• Art Journal Collab Update 1
• Art Journal Collabe Update 2

As promised, here’s another update on the art journal collaboration project. Let me present to you the latest pages… (The top pages are for the main art journal and the bottom ones are for the mini art journal.)

Here, you’ll see Toni’s page (on the left), combined with Em Dy’s contribution. And, on the right, you’ll see the full page for Em Dy, where the words Red + Health were used. Really love red and I enjoyed creating these pages. One challenge was to figure out which reds to use from my stash. The health bit was a bit of a stumper too.

Then, on this page on the left is Em Dy + Nenette. And, on the right, you’ll find Nenette’s Burgundy + Tea. The burgundy and tea thing almost stumped me. Realised I didn’t have a lot of burgundy in my stash. I managed to find a pack of burgundy raffia and some handmade paper in burgundy with gold bits in them. Ended up with a more complicated set-up for this page.

This is still part of Nenette’s burgundy + tea page. Had to use the handmade paper on top of another paper. And yeah - I used tea stains on the page.

So, I’ve researched the best first prime lens for my D40x. I came down to two choices (and a bit): the good ol’ classic Nikon 50mm f1.8 (or the more expensive 1.4, as that bit) - or the Sigma 30mm.

The Nikon 50mm is a well-loved, well-recommended piece of glass. From most reviews I’ve read (like Ken Rockwell’s), no Nikon owner can go wrong with it. It’s one fine lens. And, the fact that you can buy it for less than $100, it’s a steal.

The one thing that stopped me from buying the Nikon 50mm as my first prime lens is that it doesn’t auto focus with the D40x. Being a newbie to DSLR photography, I knew that I still have a lot to learn and to practice when it comes to manual focusing. And, knowing that my main subjects (an active pre-schooler + a baby) will never sit still long enough for me ’til I get the focus right, I knew I needed a lens that will be easier to focus with my camera.

Enter the Sigma 30mm f1.4. It’s one of the few lenses in this range that will auto focus on the D40x. There were 2 things that seemed to be against this lens: 1) Some people have said to experience some quality issues in some copies (primarily, some focusing issues). They either needed to repair or replace them; and 2) It’s way more expensive than the 50mm (it costs around $350-450, depending on where you buy it).

After more research (a sample review), I decided that the 30mm, the auto focusing on the D40x, plus its low light capabilities made me think that it will definitely be worth the investment. So, I went ahead and purchased it.

I’ve never regretted it. It’s definitely one of my favourite lenses. I especially love it for portraiture. I can take photos with this lens without using any flash even under low light conditions.

I also heard that some people use this lens when they take band or performance photos. I’ve never tried it myself but have seen some photos taken in these situations.

By the way, the Sigma 30mm also works with Canon cameras. All the same features, except they have a Canon mount, of course.

Anyway, there are two Flickr groups on the Sigma 30mm f1.4 that I know of: this one and this other one. They’re not extremely busy, but you can find some useful reviews, samples and other discussions on this lens.

Here are some sample photos that I’ve taken using the Sigma 30mm f1.4:

As I mentioned in 52WoC #9, one of the prizes for Month 3 will be a customised art journal. And, in the spirit of community and interaction, I thought I’d come up with my first online art collaboration project.

Yes, we can all build the art journal together.

Now, how do we do that?

Well, the basic idea is just for you to leave a comment in this post telling me 2 things:
1) Your Favourite Colour
2) The First Word that Comes to Mind

I will then incorporate your 2 things in to the art journal - and include your name in the package that will be sent.

Also, I will be documenting the progress of this art journal in the next 4 weeks during 52WoC Month 3’s tasks (Weeks #9 - 12). And, show you what I’ve done to “your” page.

To make things a bit more fun, I will create an additional mini art journal based on this collaboration. So that the main art journal will be used in Month 3’s raffle. And, the mini art journal will be the prize for a raffle draw to folks who participate in this collaborative art journal project.

Some Notes:

1) Since I’m not sure how many people will participate, and I want to make sure that we have enough pages to make the art journals, you are welcome to have more than one entry in this collaboration. But, if possible, leave your second and subsequent entries every 5 or more different entries from other people. However, I’d like to limit it to 4 entries per person.

2) When leaving 2nd, 3rd or 4th entries, you can use the same prompt as above (Favourite Colour [or 2nd fave colour, etc] + Word that comes to mind).

3) Every comment you leave will give you 1 entry to the mini art journal raffle.

4) The covers of the art journal will be left for the winner of the 52WoC Month 3 Raffle + the raffle for this project.

5) If you’re not joining this collaborative project, please avoid leaving a comment in this post. You’re welcome to leave a comment in other posts.

6) We will close entries either at the end of Month 3’s tasks or when we reach 25 entries, whichever comes first.

Again, if you have any questions or clarifications, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I’m really excited to see how this project will turn out! Since I’ve never done this before, I’m a little bit nervous. But, I’d like to think that excited nervous is a good thing!

It took about 2 months to wait for my zoom lens to arrive. It was meant to be part of my original Nikon D40x kit, but apparently, there was a shortage of the Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED VR lens in Australia at one time. Or at least, that was what my camera seller told me.

In any case, the 55-200mm VR has finally come. And yes, this is now the fourth glass added to my photography gear. And, here are some sample shots:

Overall, I’m quite pleased with it. I love that even though it’s a zoom lens, it’s still pretty compact. It doesn’t overpower my small Nikon D40x. And, it’s quite fast. I love that I can also do portraits with it. I think it will especially be a good portrait lens, if I want to have a bit of space between me and the subject matter.

Well, I’m looking forwarding to testing this lens out a bit more. To see what else I can do with it.

If you want to read a more comprehensive review of this piece of glass, read Ken Rockwell’s review of the 55-200mm VR.

And yes, I’m now only lusting for 3 more lenses. Heh. But, seriously, once I get a decent wide angle lens (possibly, a Sigma 10-20mm) next, I should be okay for a long while. After all, a Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor is really more of a ‘wishful thinking’ lens. And, a longer zoom lens (Nikon 70-300 VR is sort of reasonable, but the alternative Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR is more along the lines of ‘wishful thinking’ too) - is still way out of the question at this stage.

Note: For those who’re not familiar with the terminology, VR stands for Vibration Reduction. It basically helps to remove ‘camera shake’, especially if you’re shooting without tripods. Canons, I believe, uses the term IS (or Image Stabilizer) for the same technology. While some photographers swear by this new technology, some pros like Scott Kelby actually advised against using this in his Digital Photography Book.

PHOTO COLLAGE/MOSAIC NOTES:

1. Day 61 - Project 365 - 1st Mar 08: Sailing in Glenelg, 2. Bath Time for Birds: Views in Glenelg, 3. Scrambling for Food, 4. Clock in Glenelg (Closer), 5. Clock in Glenelg, 6. 1st Mar 08: Views in Glenelg, 7. Gotta Be First…, 8. Daylight Moon, 9. Glenelg Jetty View, 10. Day 61 - 365 Days - 1 Mar 08: Natural Head Dress, 11. Day 59 - Project 365 - 28th Feb 08 : ELECTRIC BLUE, 12. Day 54 - Project 365 - 23rd Feb 08 : BIRD ON WIRES

Is it a surprise that the very first (and so far, only) book that I finished so far in 2008 is a digital photography book? Anyway, I thought I’d start sharing more about the books I read, so here’s a long overdue book review.

Title: The Digital Photography Book
Sub-title: The step-by-step secrets for how to make your photos look like the pros’!
Author: Scott Kelby

Pros:

• Plenty of good, practical tips for beginners.
• Inexpensive (got mine for free as a gift from Darren, but you can get this for around US$15. Less for second hand)
• Good photographic examples.
• Not a lot of jargon and not text heavy.
• Covers a few aspects of photography (Portraiture, Travel Photography, Sports Photography, etc.)

Cons:

• Too many lame attempts at humour.
• Doesn’t explain a lot of the basics that folks might want to learn about.
• Some samples are insufficient.
• Too many “expensive recommendations” (they may be ignored, of course ;-)).

Bottomline: Considering both the good and bad bits, The Digital Photography Book is an interesting read with enough useful information for absolute beginners in digital photography. I found that overall, it was worth reading and keeping.

Review: The book covered various topics in 11 chapters. I didn’t find the Sports Photography chapter and Printing chapter particularly useful. But, I loved some of the quick and simple tips that Scott Kelby shared in the book. It felt like talking to an annoying (but good) professional photographer. He has plenty of good tips, but some of the delivery rubbed me the wrong way. However, the best bits of the book enabled me to overlook some of the bad bits.

Anyway, if you want to get some simple, basic formulas for taking good photos without all the heavy lecture and jargon about F stops and such, then this book can be a very handy reference.

Oh, and if you’re interested, there’s already a Volume 2 to extend this book. I haven’t read that one yet, so I’m not sure what the second volume’s like. If you’ve read it, would love to read your thoughts on it.

[rating:3.5/5]

Macro photography is something that I’ve always wanted to try. And, I found out that there are 5 different ways to do macro photography:

1) Get a dedicated macro lens. (Definitely the best option, but probably most expensive.)
2) Get a tele-converter or extension tubes that will work with existing lenses. (Works with varying degrees of success, depending on cameras and lenses used.)
3) Use close-up filters. (Possible, but not really the best.)
4) Maximise the use of existing lens and just use “macro shooting mode”. (Unless existing lens has good semi-macro possibilities, it’s not the most ideal solution.)
5) Use a reversing ring to reverse existing lens. (Can work well, but will depend on the type of lens. And can be cumbersome for newbies.)

Well, after looking at the various options, I decided to go for option #1. But, since I didn’t want to spend too much money on this, I had a look around at various cheaper options. And, I found that one of the best things about the D40x is its ability to work with older, non-AId lenses.

So, I decided to get myself an old Micro Nikkor lens from eBay (Nikon 55mm f3.5), based on some recommendations from more experienced photographers and D40/x users. No, it doesn’t autofocus on the D40x, but apparently, it’s one good little old lens. And, I was told that I don’t really need autofocus with macro work anyway. And, besides, it’s a good, cheap option. I mean, there are other Nikon lenses that will work well with the D40x, but they’re way out of my budget. So, it’s the 55mm 3.5 for me.

So yeah, not only am I going to have to learn macro photography techniques - I will have to learn the very basic art of manual focusing. Scary.

Anyway, I did some test shots, and here are some results…

Manual focusing will definitely take some time to get used to. I’m not really happy with these shots, but I don’t mind sharing so I can show you that yes, I am all for just giving it a go.

Will share more findings and lessons as they come. If you’re in to macro photography and would like to share some tips or feedback, would love to read all about your thoughts and ideas.

Flickr has become a great source of inspiration for me. This week alone, I have thought about at least 9 things I’d like to do, based on other people’s photos and lives. Here are those that I thought of, based on this mosaic collage (from top left to right):

1) Create a Want Book. I love lists. I love thinking of things that I wish I have. It’ll be interesting to document these longings.

2) Remember and Make Paper Stars. I used to know how to do them. I made plenty during lessons in school. Now, I have no idea how to do them. And somehow, I want to try again.

3) Love more. It’s something I keep telling myself.

4) Get a Gorillapod (or a better tripod). See what I mean about wants and wishes? Anyway, other than that thought… this photo also reminded me to find the freedom to be silly. In public. At home, with very close family, I can be silly. But, I get all prim and proper when I’m in public. I don’t know how to take a silly photo of me. Not on purpose anyway. :-p

5) Create a word necklace. Or buy one. I always love the idea of words + art together.

6) Be more experimental with self portraiture. Let the act of taking self portraits be a journey of discovery. Oh, and yes, learn more about post processing techniques. Heh.

7) Learn Macro Photography. Something I really want to do.
Be Free. And let others be free. ’nuff said.

9) Capture Water. In more ways than one.

About the photos:
1. want book, 2. ★ wishing upon the stars ★, 3. Day 5 - 365, 4. Day 114 - It’s a Hat Right?, 5. 365 : day 10, 6. shadowland, 7. Daisy, daisy…, 8. enjoying the wind, 9. liquid diamonds

Mosaic, created with fd’s Flickr Toys.