What, no pics?...

Okay, I KNOW I take forever to upload pics, and wifey's breathing down my neck doesn't help. I've never quite managed to be happy about the stuff that comes directly out from the camera, something always needs tweaking.

Lest you think I'm guilty of fakery and embellishing photos, I'm not, and my tweaks are usually limited to exposure adjustments. The exposure meter can sometimes be wonky... Nikons of late have meters that seem to need a bit of manual intervention, and usually veers on the side of overexposure. Trust me, I'm not the only one who complains of this trait.

The good thing is most pics come out bright and cheery and saturated to the point of looking really punchy, and most people are happy to the point they don't notice the blown out highlights...

On another note, I've had a revamp of my photo equipment lately and there has been a lot of buying and selling of stuff in the last 2 months.

Stuff I've bought: D60 body, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Nikon 55-200mm f4.0-5.6 VR, Manfrotto 676B monopod, hotshoe mounted spirit level, Kingston 4GB SDHC Micro-SD card...

Stuff I've sold: D40 body, Nikon 55-200mm f4.0-5.6 VR (yes you read that right...), Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5, Crumpler 5MDH shoulder bag, Nikon 80-200mm f4.0 AIS...

So now all I am left with is the D60 body, Tamron 17-50 and an old Tatonka bag. All I need to get is a decent bag (thinking of a Kata).

I love the D40 series bodies for its small size. I used to own a D70, and it was very cumbersome. Similarly I really like the 18-70 lens, but ultimately plumped for the Tamron due to its large aperture. Reminds me of my old Tokina 28-70 which I used on my F80 many years ago.

Also dislike backpacks as they are large and not conducive to quick photos. Imagine to access something in the backpack, you have to take the bag off, lay it on sometimes very questionable surfaces, and then take the stuff out, and close the bag and lug it back on in case someone nicks your stuff... Very very tedious. Of course they're great for carrying lots of gear, but now that I am in the minimalist equipment school-of-thought, I can make do with a small shoulder bag.

And now, back to work on the photos... Just got back from the babies' first vacation in Cameron Highlands on Monday, and promised myself I will upload pics before the week is out!