Nice walk at Sungei Buloh Wetlands

I brought my family to the Sungei Buloh wetland on the boxing day. This place was once a prawn farming area and is located near Kranji (Northwest of Singapore). This nature reserve has been opened more than 20 years ago and is a great place for birds and nature watching.

Since it's opening, there has been some extension (Kranji Coast boardwalk) and improvement on the park. The park is kept as natural as possible. The weather was great that day as usually it was hot and humid. We had a great day and saw quite a lot of migratory birds, insects and even a snake crossing the path.

Images produce by Xpro1 27mm and 55-200mm.

Storks feeding

Mud Crab 

One of the many hides for observation

Grasshopper

Caterpillar 

Aerial view from the observation tower

Panoramic View (the opposite buildings are from Johore Malaysia)  

View of the mud flats pattern 

Main Hide of the park

A morning shoot at Labrador Park

After Christmas, I decided to explore the Labrador park at the south end of Singapore. Hoping to get a sunrise shot, I packed my 12mm and 55-200mm for the outing.

Waking up at 5am, I usually had a cup of cofffee before I make my trip there. Reaching the area 30mins earlier before the first light is important. Looking out for interesting angle and direction of sunrise are crucial too. Knowing your equipment is also important as you do not want to waste time struggling to setup your tripod and equipment in the dark.

For sunrise or sunset, I will also set the camera to RAW mode, iso200 or 100. I usually do a this the night before. Aperture setting is always between f8-f16. Exposure is usually 60sec to 30secs depending on the light and it changes very fast within the 10 mins after first light.

After the sunrise, I drove down to a nearby Hort park (around 1km) from the Labrador park to try on some macro subjects. I use the 55-200mm with 8mm tube. I didn't try extreme close-up as I forgot to bring the Raynox 250 and the 12mm tube.

The session ended around 830am as the light become to strong and I head for a simple breakfast (coffee and toast) before going home to spend time with kids and wife.

Vegetarian Lasagna making

Today is the Christmas Eve and my family was invited to a dinner gathering. My wife volunteer to make a dish and rope in my kids to help prepare the dish. I just record the preparation using my Xpro-1 and 35mmf1.4. The photos were all developed using my own Preset colour from the Lightroom 5 software.

Phuket trip Thailand- Xpro1 and XF1

This is a sea activities island and a great place for family bonding. Keeping things simple and light, I brought the Xpro-1 and 35mmf1.4 plus the compact XF1.

My family stayed in the MovenPick resort at Karon beach. The staff from this resort are very friendly and the service is top notch. There are 4 swimming pools to choose from and the distance from the beach is just across a 2-lane road. Food and foot massage places are easily accessible and is not over crowding. This beach area is much suitable for family compared to the Patong beach which we were there in 2013. Movenpick was our second stay and the last time we were there was in 2011. That time, my kids are still very young and I was carrying my X100 classic. Those time, the pictures from the X100 still remain in my mind. It is by far the best compact camera I had.

This time, as I was carrying the Xpro-1 and 35mm, it does feel much bulkier. A 27mm on the Xpro-1 should be a better choice. I put all my stuff in the small Ona Bowery and is good to go.
The XF1 was mainly used in the sea activities as if there is any "accident" that can cause damage to photo equipment, the XF1 is much cheaper. This compact has a 2/3" size sensor and is a respectable size compared to the other compact like LX7, canon G12 etc.

We booked a day tour to the off-shore islands which includes snookering and sea Kayaking to the caves.


Here are the shots from XF1 compact

Here are shots by Xpro-1 and 35mm. The low light monster.

The XF1 compact is great for outdoors and good light situations. The Xpro-1 w 35mmf1.4 is great from street night shoots and low light situations.