2009, busy and a blur...

This photo sum up the year 2009 in my life. Busy as an ant, and a little blurry as everything fly past.

To achieve a sense of movements, a slow shutter speed was used. Panning at the speed the ant was moving, created a blurred surrounding, but kept the ant relatively in focus. A touch of flash helps to frozen the movements too.

Haha… above is what an artist would write. Hiding behind jargons.

The reality is… I just got my new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and exploring macro photography. This is actually more difficult than I thought it would be.  First of all, to achieve 1:1 macro, the subject would need to be about 30cm form the lens. This is difficult, if the subject is a living being. I don’t fancy going within 30cm of a big hairy spider.

Besides that, to achieve any meaningful depth of field at 1:1 macro, you have to close down the aperture to F22 or smaller. This limit the amount of light that get to the sensor. In bright daylight, the shutter speed needed at f22 is so slow… Then I ran  into problem with motion blur and camera shake. The Image Stabiliser (IS) technology is wonderful, this lens has a 4 stops IS, which will help with camera shake, but motion blurness continue to be a problem.

Conclusion is… I would need more gear:) Need a dSLR that have better image quality at high ISO (5DMkII or 7D will do), and the Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX too. Haha… never ending want. Need to work a few more extra shifts to fuel this expensive hobby.

Peace can exist only in the present moment. If you are not living in peace at this moment, you will never be able to.  If you truly want to be at peace, you must be at peace right now. Otherwise, there is only “the hope of peace some day”.

~Thich Nhat Hanh~

At peace….

Hello my friends, this blog is not dead. This blog is just recovering and healing. Will be back online soon.

Celebrating yet another UNIBUDS graduation… Photos from Tze Shen’s graduation. Taken a while ago, finally uploaded.

Tze Shen's Graduation at UNIBUDS stall.

More photos here…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chenghiang/sets/72157622387042765/

Introducing the 30th UNIBUDS EXCO

29th and 30th UNIBUDS EXCO

Link to more photos from UNIBUDS 30th AGM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chenghiang/sets/72157622339845547/

Added 2 new Otocinclus to my aquarium, one of them is nearly dead within 1 hour.  I am sure it will be dead by the time I finished this blog post.

The sense of helplessness, as I watch one of the newly introduced Otos turned belly up. Even though I am trained to resuscitate  newborn babies, facing a oto who decided to turned belly up,  I am helpless.  Can’t do CPR, can’t give adrenaline… can’t do anything. Instead of just watching it floating up-side-down, with occasional twitch, I have decided to retreat to my blog.

I have got no answer to more than a few things happening lately in life. Some situation, I could only faced it helplessly. After putting in the effort,  the outcome is far from encouraging, I am not sure what else I could do. Probably nothing, but definitely have to keep my dignity and integrity.

This world is imperfect, there is suffering.

*did some research. Otocinclus seems to be all collected in the wild.  So no more otos for me. Wild fish should stay wild.  Maybe I should just be  keeping  a few tank breed guppies.

Is this the end?

There were signs all over, that this is probably not for me. Some said that I ignored the signs. Maybe I am just insensitive, or maybe I was just too focus, too target  orientated that I miss those signs.  Often the doubts that arise were quickly suppressed by  any positive signs that I could find. Reassuring myself, all is on trek, and I hang in there.

If you loose sleep over something, it is probably not for you.

It felt like The End,  at least it is the end for now. Giving myself sometime… need a rest, there is still a long way to travel.

PS You ask me to go by my gut feelings, and I did.

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5/10/2009

PS. I have pulled out from the paeds cardiology interview. It is the end… at least for now.

Finally my first ever photo exhibition is up and running! This is exciting milestone for an armature photographer. Comments so far from colleagues in Sydney Children Hospital (SCH) have been great.

Turning the long corridor in the hospital into an arts space.

Hangging the photos. Photo credit, Renny Toh

Link to the official website of this exhibition at Collections Australia Network  (Australia’s cultural heritage collection online).

http://www.collectionsaustralia.net.au/exhibitions_item/1307

Click the above link for more details on this exhibition.

Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, one of the photos on show

For preview of the photos on exhibition, please visit my Flickr site. These are low resolution photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chenghiang/sets/72157622334929836/

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This is the unedited version of the Artist Statement accompanying this exhibition.

Swapping the Stethoscope for a 400mm Lens

Dr Cheng Hiang LEE MB BCh BAO, DipPaed (UNSW)

Cheng Hiang is my name, but I am better known as LEE among my colleagues and patients. I was born in Malaysia. After graduating from Belfast Medical School, I underwent further clinical training for a few years in the UK. Currently, I am a Registrar in Paediatrics, based in Sydney Children Hospital.

My instinctive love for peace and serenity has rather spontaneously drawn me closer to the vastly unscathed exquisiteness of the Australian nature. I am particularly enchanted by the attractiveness and wide variety of the Australian birds. Whilst each creature has its uniqueness, birds are distinct not just for their beauty but their entertaining behaviours and delightful songs. Bird watching thus provides an effective avenue to unwind especially for those living in a stressful urban environment.

While watching these fascinating creatures, there have been moments which were really exciting and thrilling. Capturing those moments in photos not only facilitates recollection of the happy times, but enables sharing of such joyful experiences with friends and family members.

Avian photography could be a challenging endeavour. Birds are highly mobile; they often fly off instantaneously if being disturbed. Over the past few years, I have learnt that, birds are like children – if approached quietly in a non-confrontational manner, you are likely to be able to get close enough for a good snap-shot.

“Swapping the Stethoscope for a 400mm Lens” is a collection of my photos of wild Australian birds. Most of the photos were taken locally around Sydney; some were taken while I was working in Canberra. The photos were taken on a Canon 350D, with a 100-400mm F4-5.6 L IS lens.

Sydney Children Hospital has provided me with excellent training and support, especially during the preparation for the FRACP exams. “Swapping the Stethoscope for a 400mm Lens” is a fund raiser to show my gratitude to Sydney Children Hospital, its staff, patients and their families. Thus, all the proceeds from the sales in this exhibition will be donated to the Sydney Children Hospital Foundation.

“Swapping the Stethoscope for a 400mm Lens” is an environmentally responsible project. No bird was harmed during photographing. Most framing materials were reclaimed from junk yards and then tenderly restored as photo frames for this exhibition. Even though some of the frames are not in a pristine condition, I hope the beauty of their imperfection will be appreciated.

You can never take the same photograph twice;

Neither can you have the same feeling by viewing the same photograph twice.*

May you enjoy this exhibition!

*A photograph may seem the same, but our mental state fluctuates every moment. Our appreciation and interpretation of the photos is very much influenced by our state of mind. Therefore it is unlikely that we would have the same feelings while looking at the same photo at different times. Inspired by the teaching of Impermanence.

Failure today… does it means failure tomorrow, failure forever?

due to the beauty of impermanence, there is potential for change.

Even failure is not forever…

Midnight, home after a long evening shift, as I opened the front door of the rented apartment, there was a sense of emptiness arising in me. That sense of something is missing.  I have been living overseas alone for the past 10 years. Thankfully always surrounded by good friends, but at times it is still a very lonely journey.

Elusive

The Simple Girl, who would walk the path of life with me, remains elusive.  I could only put in the effort to get to know you… the rest is beyond my control.