Yesterday I also bought new batteries and charger for my Canon Speedlite. I chose Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries. It has been proved in quality & durability. My friend has compared Eneloop with other brand, you can read his review here. I’ve also used this brand on my pocket. Since 2008 until now, Eneloop batteries on my Nikon Coolpix L14 still perform excellent power.

My Canon Speedlite uses 4 AA batteries. So I bought 4 plus the big charger. Despite I’ve Eneloop charger, my old charger only has 2 compartment. So to charge 4 AA batteries, I must do it twice in a row 🙁 To avoid that, I choose the charger with 4 compartment like you see at the picture. The charger is fast when perform its jobs. Highly recommend gadget.

Finally today I’ve 2 new toys. I’ve just bought two Canon accessories for my Canon EOS 1000D. They are Canon Lens 50mm f/1.8 II and Canon Speedlite 430EX II. I bought it from here :  http://daldigital.blogspot.com. The site belongs to Mr Elyudien. I bought my Nikon Coolpix L14 last year also from him. Very good seller. He provides the delivery services. Just order the goods from him and he will deliver it to you…in Jakarta area for free. Mr Elyudien give the competitive prices. For the price and delivery service, Mr Elyudien is very recommended seller.

Ok back to my story about new toys, I think both of them are excellent. The 50mm lens is a standard lens for DSLR with cropping factor 1.6x like my EOS 1000D. Some people say 50mm lens is a portrait lens, very suitable for take human portrait. I like the maximum aperture of that lens, f/1.8 is wide enough to taking picture in low light (combined with high ISO as well). With big aperture, it’s possible to create the nice depth of field when taking portrait picture. In other words, I can isolate object and let the background be blurred. Canon 50mm is the cheapest Canon’s lens. It has fixed focal length, just 50mm. To get zoom in, simply just walk ahead close to the object 😀

The second gadget I bought is Canon Speedlite 430EX II, it’s Canon’s mid range external flash. I’m very amazed with Speedlite’s capabilites. Although my Canon 1000D has built in flash, it cannot be compared with the external flash like 430EX. With external flash, I can bounce the light to the ceiling or to the wall. Using internal flash, I must satisfied with direct light into the object. Sometimes using internal flash will make the object too bright and has the shadow behind it. For example, if I want to take picture of my friend that sitting just 2 meters away from me. Suppose the room has not enought light for photographic purpose, in other words I must using internal flash. Using internal flash the light with directly strike to my friend’s face. The result will not good enough. Ken Rockwell give very nice example to compare the photo taken using internal flash and with external flash. With external flash, I can set the light to strike the reflector first before hit the object. With bouncing technique, the lighting will looks more natural. After tried my Speedlite this evening, I was realize what Ken Rockwell mentioned in his article, lighting is the most important technical aspect of any photograph.

Few weeks ago, I just want to buy 70-200mm lens. The big one, that can zoom over hundred metres. Lately after read some article, I changed my mind. Which one I need more, big zoom lens or a external light. For infrequent photographer (maybe not photographer…just photo enthusiast), when I can used the big zoom lens? It might be usefull if I use it at zoo or when go travelling. So I think it’s more usefull if I buy something that I can used in any situation. Any situation that I might attend, any situation that has more possibilty to happen 😀 Should I bring 70-300mm lens just to take photo in dinner party? Absolutely not. Most of the occasion I attend was happen in indoor room. So spend the money to buy external flash is wisely than buy big zoom lens. But not wise enough compare to saving my money :)) But who’s care?

Ok, I’ll stop long story now. Thinking what to buy next…hmm….buy a battery grip? I don’t think so =))

In my head, photography concept is just simple concept like this : SEE, IMAGINE, & SHOOT. You see something interesting, you imagine how good is that in the frame, and finally you shoot it. Don’t believe my concept, I’m not photography expert…just ordinary people who like to capture & documented everything.

The model in the picture above is a middle age man on Mekarsari Tourism Park. I saw him yesterday on flying fox arena, he was walking around bring his camera like I did. There is something interesting about him, I take his picture in candid mode 🙂 (if you see this post, sorry to publish your photo Sir…but your expression was good to be captured).

A quiet evening….

Painful loneliness.