First Look: Tiffen ND Filter Kit

In my last test, I hoped to show that the Lumix GH3 is fully capable of producing beautiful skin tones and satisfying bokeh, at least when coupled with the Vario 35-100mm f/2.8 lens. But because they were shot under mixed lighting, the results were perhaps not the final word. One of the reasons for doing... Continue Reading →

A Weekend in the Mekong Delta

Thinh, a teaching assistant at the language center I work for, invited me to spend the weekend at his hometown, My Tho, in Tien Giang province. The city, whose economy is based chiefly on tourism, fishing and agriculture, boasts the very first high school in southern Vietnam as well as the longest bridge in the... Continue Reading →

Faces

One of the things I like most about Panasonic cameras is the way they reproduce color. The Lumix GH3 impressed me from the very first shots I made under mixed lighting in Kuala Lumpur's international airport and continued to do so in my weekly jaunts capturing street life in and around Saigon. The GM1, though... Continue Reading →

Lunar New Year Vietnam 2014

Phuong, a 21 year-old accounting major studying in Saigon, invited me to spend the Tet holiday in her hometown in Dak Lak province. Located in the Central Highlands, the region is noted for its coffee plantations and a sizable population of ethnic minorities. To get there, you have to catch a bus at Mien Dong... Continue Reading →

Sunday Afternoon in the Park

There are always loads of photographers in and around the park, especially on weekends: wedding photographers, amateurs, fashion photographers and television crews. Last weekend, I had the good luck to run into Thanh, a cameraman with VTV, a Vietnamese broadcasting network. I arrived at the park at around three in the afternoon, where they'd been... Continue Reading →

Julie’s Going Away Party and KL

Last weekend we had a little get together for one of my colleagues, who got a job offer to teach in Thailand. The following day, I flew to Kuala Lumpur to pick up the Panasonic Lumix GH3, which will probably be my replacement camera for the Panasonic TM900 I've been using for the past year... Continue Reading →

The Bridge

Every weekend, I go with a friend to a place he calls simply "the bridge", an area surrounded by tin-roofed shacks and located next to the Saigon river. A family runs a coffee shop under the bridge and locals go fishing in the river. http://youtu.be/oGdOvtH2fzo Free background music from JewelBeat.com

Vung Tau, Crane Test

I went to Vung Tau over the three-day weekend and had a chance to try out my new cine hand jib, an adjustable hand crane from the folks at Cinecity. It'll take a lot of practice to steady the gizmo, but I'll be able to get some shots I wouldn't have been able to do... Continue Reading →

30/4 Park Revisited

I recently added a new tool to my arsenal - a handheld stabilizer that goes simply by the name of Hand Held. I have no idea where it's manufactured. The Freefly MōVI it is not, but then again, it doesn't carry a $15,000 price tag either. It's elegantly crafted from brushed aluminum (no plastic!), with leather for... Continue Reading →

30/4 Park

What an ordeal it was trying to upload this video to YouTube! First of all, Apple's QuickTime only allows videos of up to 15 minutes to be uploaded to YouTube, and the clip is almost 24 minutes long. Then, when I tried using YouTube's own uploader instead, I had to verify my account, but when... Continue Reading →

Test: RØDE Stereo VideoMic Pro

Most experienced filmmakers will tell you that sound is 50 percent of filmmaking. If the sound is poor, the wisdom goes, your video isn't going to be watched. I don't know whether this is borne out in actuality however, because to the best of my knowledge, most videos posted to YouTube by non-professionals are shot... Continue Reading →

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