Comments on: A Peak At Singapore Istana and Some Labor Day Messages http://www.wailoong.com/2008/05/03/a-peak-at-singapore-istana-and-some-labor-day-messages/ Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:22:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Wai Loong http://www.wailoong.com/2008/05/03/a-peak-at-singapore-istana-and-some-labor-day-messages/#comment-796 Wai Loong Sat, 03 May 2008 16:43:57 +0000 http://www.wailoong.com/?p=389#comment-796 Hello INK! Really appreciate you for dropping by! I'm surprise that you respond fairly quickly too! :) Indeed, security at the Istana open house is amazingly tight and I see no less than 20 uniform policeman and at least 10 plain clothed police officers scanning the public and watching out for who might look like terrorist to them. There's no problem if you plan to carry your DSLR into the premises. All you need to do is to declare it when you are being screen past the security X-rays. Honestly, I'm a dummy to professional photography. Quite dramatic, but it's quite true. I currently own a compact camera, Lumix DMC-TZ3 from Panasonic. I believe it can't do the popping effects like you did using special lens. Of course, if you can make things pop out using ordinary compact cameras, I'll be the first one to pick up that tip! :) I'm currently evaluating web hosting services from Namecheap.com (also with domain registeration) and I plan to try out other services that offers PHP acceleration on a cheap LAMP configuration. Apologies, I'm a technical person and if you want clarifications, I'm glad to elaborate! As for CAPTCHA, you can supplement it with Askimet and WP-SpamFree. I dropped CAPTCHA because I didn't like the idea of asking people to type in a hard to read turning number. I'm certain that you're enjoying blogging with Wordpress like me! I look forward to put up an article or two to share some of the plugins or tricks I use, and hopefully that will make blogging a much more fun and enjoyable thing for all! :) Hello INK!

Really appreciate you for dropping by! I’m surprise that you respond fairly quickly too! :)

Indeed, security at the Istana open house is amazingly tight and I see no less than 20 uniform policeman and at least 10 plain clothed police officers scanning the public and watching out for who might look like terrorist to them.

There’s no problem if you plan to carry your DSLR into the premises. All you need to do is to declare it when you are being screen past the security X-rays.

Honestly, I’m a dummy to professional photography. Quite dramatic, but it’s quite true. I currently own a compact camera, Lumix DMC-TZ3 from Panasonic. I believe it can’t do the popping effects like you did using special lens. Of course, if you can make things pop out using ordinary compact cameras, I’ll be the first one to pick up that tip! :)

I’m currently evaluating web hosting services from Namecheap.com (also with domain registeration) and I plan to try out other services that offers PHP acceleration on a cheap LAMP configuration. Apologies, I’m a technical person and if you want clarifications, I’m glad to elaborate!

As for CAPTCHA, you can supplement it with Askimet and WP-SpamFree. I dropped CAPTCHA because I didn’t like the idea of asking people to type in a hard to read turning number.

I’m certain that you’re enjoying blogging with Wordpress like me! I look forward to put up an article or two to share some of the plugins or tricks I use, and hopefully that will make blogging a much more fun and enjoyable thing for all! :)

]]> By: INK http://www.wailoong.com/2008/05/03/a-peak-at-singapore-istana-and-some-labor-day-messages/#comment-794 INK Sat, 03 May 2008 16:05:04 +0000 http://www.wailoong.com/?p=389#comment-794 Thanks for visiting my website! I found your post on what's inside the Istana very interesting too as I've never gone in myself. I must make it a point to visit one of these days. Just curious, did you see anyone else inside taking pictures with a DSLR? I'm just wondering if that's allowed considering how paranoid people are today about security. As for that "special DSLR lens", I was using an 85mm f/1.4 which is really suitable for portraits as the large aperture (f/1.4) and moderate focal length (85mm) really help to isolate the subject from the background, thus making the photo "pop". Let me know if you're curious to know more and I'll be glad to elaborate. :) Oh, and yes, I'd love to hear about your experiences with other web hosts if you do decide to switch. I'll probably be making some updates on how the Brinkster Linux hosting is getting along too though no news is good news! On the CAPTCHA, it's been surprisingly effective for me as I don't get any spam at all with this plug-in enabled. I guess if my blog were really popular, I'd have to beef up security. :P Thanks for visiting my website! I found your post on what’s inside the Istana very interesting too as I’ve never gone in myself. I must make it a point to visit one of these days. Just curious, did you see anyone else inside taking pictures with a DSLR? I’m just wondering if that’s allowed considering how paranoid people are today about security.

As for that “special DSLR lens”, I was using an 85mm f/1.4 which is really suitable for portraits as the large aperture (f/1.4) and moderate focal length (85mm) really help to isolate the subject from the background, thus making the photo “pop”. Let me know if you’re curious to know more and I’ll be glad to elaborate. :)

Oh, and yes, I’d love to hear about your experiences with other web hosts if you do decide to switch. I’ll probably be making some updates on how the Brinkster Linux hosting is getting along too though no news is good news! On the CAPTCHA, it’s been surprisingly effective for me as I don’t get any spam at all with this plug-in enabled. I guess if my blog were really popular, I’d have to beef up security. :P

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