It had been sometime since I had blogged anything about running and therefore you should have known that my running had taken a backseat these days. For my work, the pressure is mounting which would explain all my late night working and I am evaluating my current position against the salary offered. I believe that with my current skills, I should be able to make it in Singapore where the salary scale is way higher and like all the Malaysians living in JB, I am prepared to travel every morning at 6am just to get across the causeway. Anyway, this may only to likely happen somewhere in 2008 after my current company had stabilised.
On my weekends, I had been helping my gf a lot on her ACCA exams (I’m a CIMA final Level student, so I am somewhat qualified to do so he...he...) which she will be facing this coming June. She commented that I am like a drill sergeant asking the soldier to march like nobody's business. Anyway, I just told her this is the only way to study in professional courses and I kept on drilling into her mind that professional courses are all about concentration and commitment to study. There are no other alternatives.
If I were able to find sometime left, usually I’ll just run off to any nearest scenic place to hone my photography skills. Anyway, I had taken an about turn in my choices for photographic equipments where instead of further investing in digital photographic tools, I had reverted to analog tools. Meaning, I am shooting photographs using a 35mm Film SLR instead of a Digital SLR. Just last Saturday, I had invested in a Sigma APO DG 70-300mm zoom lens f4-5.6 MACRO (capable of even seeing your nose hair from distance of 15ft) and the remarkable thing about this lens is that it is forward and backward compatible (ie. suitable for digital and 35mm film SLR's). Not only that, I had bought a Canon EOS 500N SLR (35mm film) from my brother to match this lens. I had done this with hope that it will improve my composition skills. I am now currently drooling over the Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 APO DG EX lens which is also capable of forward and backward compatible. This is the Pro version lens where the f-Stop does not change throughout the entire zoom range. It is priced somewhere between rm1500 to rm1800.
I know it is strange that with the widespread availability of technology, I choose analog imaging to learn photography but I guess it is the right thing to do. Without the convenience of digital imaging (unless you scanned your photo's into digital form) the photographer had to get things spot on (like exposure, composition, colour, framing, story, mood etc) before the shutter button is pressed. In that way, the skills of the photographer is more or less preserved while for amateurs, they are forced to learn the essential rules in photography and if pictures are awful, it is our fault of not getting things right in the first place. For the past couple of weeks, I only knew how weak my skills were when I began shooting 35mm films. With exception to colours (it depends on which type of film a photographer uses) all the rules with regards to photography had not been adhered to while not to mention, the pictures were uninteresting.
Anyway, it is the 'kick' factor of shooting a 35mm film and the need to improve my skills that had prompted me into investing in these accessories. The Field of View (FOV) in an FILM SLR is simply larger compared to any DIGITAL SLR's in the market (with exception of digital cameras like Kodak Pro SLR/c [discontinued], Canon EOS 1Ds-MkII and Canon EOS 5D) and when a lens like 70-300mm is fitted into an SLR, this is the true distance that you will get. Unlike a DSLR, there is FOV cropping factor (depending on camera model) and when any type of lens is fitted (with exception to specifically designed lens for DSLR ONLY) the images appear to be 'smaller' because the 'size' of the sensor (the medium which is used to capture image) is not as large as the 35mm film where a typical sensor size can range from diagonally 5mm to 28.4mm in contrast to the 35mm of a film.
On running wise, I had only begun to train for the upcoming Penang Bridge Half and I am not hoping for any smashing result rather, I just want to complete the course. I had gain weight (there is too much TLC from my GF) and my training schedule is somewhat stale where everyday it is the same 1hr run. However, from this week onwards, I am slowly edging towards the 1 1/2hr run and I am getting a new pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 10. Mizuno Wave Rider is still the best shoe I had used so far and I am not planning to change to any other brands as yet. Already, I am feeling the rush from this race as most probably, it had been quite sometime since I had entered any races in Klang Valley. Well, will post more during the coming weekends on what's happening in JB here. See ya.
