Important Note : New Features On Aylwin’s Photography Online Portfolio
Greetings viewers !
I am pleased to announce two new features being in-corporated into Aylwin’s Photography online portfolio.
1. A new Cover Page has been done up for easy viewing of my collection of pictures.
As time went by after starting this portfolio of mine under the WordPress software, there were some feedback regarding the viewing of the various categories of pictures. Some would like to only view the scenery collections while some maybe portraits and so on… And in order to view them, most of the time viewers are required to scroll through others categories (and pages of older entries) of pictures as well (which can be a turn off sometimes due to the searching and scrolling time wasted). Well, I would like to offer my sincere apologies for that and have been brainstorming of a way to make things easier for you viewers.
About two weeks ago, I was dabbling with some settings in the WordPress software and the categories function as well… and found a “break-through” ! Hahaha… Maybe some of you would have already known about this, but it was a first for me. So there and then I began on building up a Cover Page for my online portfolio.
Now I am proud to present you with a new Cover Page for Aylwin’s Photography at www.mysacredhaven.com ! For those of you who are regulars to my portfolio, you would have noticed that you normally would type in this URL address http://aylwin.mysacredhaven.com (sub-domain) and not http://www.mysacredhaven.com (domain) to access this portfolio. The reason being that I have other stuff on the main domain name itself. Now, I have solely dedicated the whole domain to my online portfolio.
Therefore… Do remember to bookmark the new Cover Page at www.mysacredhaven.com if you have not done so !
Please remember to leave this page open so that you can view a different category as and when you like. Each time you select a category, a new window will be opened for your viewing.
*Ps. Do note that the “Home” button on the top of the navigation menu does not bring you to the Cover Page. I am still currently working on that “bug” !
2. A multi-track Music Player has been installed on the Cover Page as well.
Music pieces were carefully selected to suit your viewing experience.
Currently there are twelve songs in the player for starters… but even then, I believe these twelve songs should last for your entire viewing session. As this player is on the Cover Page that will always be opened until you finished viewing various categories… the songs will be played continuously and looped. If at any point of time you wish to stop the player, please do so on the Cover Page. As seen from the above picture, the player is located at the bottom of the Cover Page.
A question you might ask after viewing the tracks in the player… why all named as “Mystery Songs” ? Well… I have a reason for doing that intentionally. It will be revealed in due course !
Please feel free to leave the Cover Page opened while you surf the net or check you email as you can still enjoy the music.
Alright ! That’s all the updates for now… Take care and cheers ! 
Tags: Cover Page, Landing Page
| Posted in » Architecture, Fashion, Miscellaneous, Monochrome (B & W), Pets, Portraits / Poses, Products / Objects, Scenery, Uncategorized, Weddings | Important Note : Purchasing A Backup Canon EOS 400D Body !
Well… To some of my friends… I may be either crazy or super RICH ! But I can tell you frankly that I am neither ! =)
The reason why I purchased another camera body, is taking it as a backup in situations where my main camera. the EOS 40D, fail to function normally (a.k.a. “up the lorry”). Since I have been offered paid projects and have already started working on some of them, I no longer feel that having one camera body is sufficient. To simply put it, I do not want to experience missing “THE MOMENT” (whether it is a pre-wedding shoot, or fashion shoot, or product shoot) because my camera failed at that very same moment !
So how did I proceed with purchasing my backup camera body ? Simple…
1. Since I am using Canon or third party Canon-mount lens, the answer is simple… Get another Canon EOS camera body.
2. Next thing is to consider all the resources that I already have… Eg. Batteries and Memory Cards (CF). After doing some research, the model 400D came into mind as it uses CF Memory Card and also uses the same batteries as my point-and-shoot prosumer Canon G9.
3. I advertised on Clubsnap Singapore and within minutes… I had a few offers. One caught my attention as the seller was telling me the camera body is only 3 months old and still have another 12 months warranty. Price was within my budget of S$550, so I made an arrangement to get it after verifying the mint condition of the equipment.
Here’s a picture of the Canon EOS 400D.
Now with a backup camera body… I feel better when I am out on photography assignments… especially important projects like pre-wedding shoots.
Important Note : Upgrading Of Camera Body… To Canon EOS 40D !
Although I have owned my 1000D for a few short months (since last September 2008), a feeling of wanting to own a better camera body has always been itching within me. Trust me… It is usually very hard to fight off that feeling ! The main aspects which I will be looking at for this upgrade are the FPS, Spot Metering, faster Shutter speed (1/8,000) and lastly a more solid weather-sealed camera body.
As of two weeks ago… I started my research into a new camera body from Canon. Why not consider other brands like Nikon (you may ask), the reason is simple… I still like the lenses I own and they are all of Canon mount. For those of you who are considering getting a Digital SLR camera, please do your research intensively before you decide on the brand. It is sometimes quite hard and painful (in terms of investment) to shift from one brand to another.
There were only two obvious choices for my new upgrade. The Canon EOS 40D or the new 50D (which will replace the 40D eventually). From my research, there were lots of debates online from photographers all around regarding which is a better buy. Canon EOS 40D is already is “legend” in its own way and with the introduction of the new 50D, it makes the buying decision even harder. Rather than listing all the specifications here, let me just summarize some of the more important specifications (advantages) which the 50D has over the 40D. Note that the difference in price is about close to SGD500.
- Megapixel - a full 50% more than the 40D
- AF micro adjustment for up to 20 various lenses
- New Digic 4 processor
- New 920K resolution 3″ LCD screen
- New expanded ISO range of up to 12800
Well… So what do you think made me turn around and decide on 40D instead (after seeing all those new specifications on the 50D) ?
Hahaha… Actually I decided just based on one major factor ! The Megapixel ! Yes… The more megapixel, the better it is. But, one must also consider the pixel density on a APS-C size CMOS sensor. The denser the pixel density is on a sensor, better optics are therefore required to capture all those details onto the sensor… in the case of Canon… the “L” lenses ! Trust me, they don’t come cheap ! As for the lack of the four new improvements, they were not a necessity for me !
There were many tests and reviews mentioned online about the testing of both camera bodies using normal lens and the Canon “L” lens. In the test where both bodies were mounted with the normal lens, the image quality of the 40D surpassed that of the 50D. On the other hand, when both bodies are mounted with the “L” lens, the new 50D took the lead in image quality.
I finally decided that I am very satisfied with my Tamron lens and Canon normal lens (and will not be moving to the “L” range in the near future)… therefore I happily purchased my new 40D body… Soon I will be going around snapping pictures and uploading them here for your viewing.
Important Note : Now That We Are In The New Year 2009…
… There Will Be Some Changes That Will Take Place !
Firstly, Happy New Year to my viewers… Sorry for the belated wishes as I was a little busy from the last week of 2008 till the 1st week of 2009 ! It was a great end to 2008 (having the privilege of doing a bikini and casual outdoor shoot), and a wonderful start to year 2009 (started with yet another bikini outdoor shoot) !
Looking back at my “journey” from the time I first owned my Canon EOS 1000D till now, I have done some reviewing and have decided to include some changes to the way my new sets of photos to be posted from 2009 onwards !
1. I will be focusing more on the composition and framing of the subject in the photo. I will be taking a more “daring and risky angle” where certain parts of the subject may be cut off, and not presented in full.
2. I have just started exploring the photo editing and touching up functions in Adobe Photoshop. Functions like Vignetting, Colour Curves, Healing Brush and more… So from now on, I will make an effort to edit or touch up all the shots that I will be posting on my website.
3. I have added a new watermark to my photos ! 
Based on the above 3 points, I hope to bring to you better and more impressive shots in the days to come ! Do bear with me for now as it will take time and practice for me to achieve my objectives.
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