微距摄影 (Macro Photography)

最近发现身边的朋友同事们不是爱上高尔夫球就是迷恋上单反摄影。T就是其中一位已达退休年龄，却沉醉在单反摄影爱好的同事之一。

辛苦工作了大半辈子，孩子们都已长大成人，现代人在退休后却不可无所事事，所以一群有着相同嗜好的发烧友一起研究摄影，周末结伴到户外大展拳脚捕抓美丽的镜头，何尝不是一种心灵上的维他命？

T虽非专业摄影师，其多数作品却让我看了有心旷神怡之感，就像置身于大自然般有着一股清新气息。以上相片就是T的其中一张作品，T最近拿去参加比赛，希望它能得奖。。。。

T的户外摄影，并非每回都有成果。有时到达目的地时天不作美下起雨来就得班师回府，有时为了捕抓某个镜头在等待了大半天之后仍旧无功而返，耐心是不可或缺的先决条件之一。人生不也是一样吗？

被T的佳作深深吸引，我也买了第一副佳能微距镜头，希望有朝一日能拍摄出有水准的作品。。。。

I noticed lately that most of my friends and colleagues who are approaching their retirement age either are golf or photography enthusiasts. T is one of them who spend most of the free time doing photography.

Even though T is not a professional photographer, but most of his macro shots are really spectacular and stunning they make me feel so refreshing and exhilarating as though I am standing in the wild nature.

The photograph above is one of T’s recent photo shots that he entered into a bio-diversity photo contest. I hope that he will win something….

Deeply influenced and motivated by the great works of T (and some others as well), I yesterday bought my first Canon macro lens- EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. Hopefully me too, will be able to produce some reasonably good macro photographs of bugs or wild flowers………

Remarkable Google

I remember when I started using Internet search engine, my preference was clear and it was Yahoo search engine. I do not quite know what were the main reasons but I guess it must be due to the popularity of Yahoo at that time. The Yahoo home page was well organized with news headlines complete with nice images and sometimes, video clips. We could do leisure surfing and find out what’s new and what’s cool at that time.

Over the years, Google was slowly but surely overtaking Yahoo in terms of popularity. Today, I find that the products and services that Google provides really are remarkable. Without realizing it, I am now actually using quite a number of services provided by Google.

I first tried out Google search engine when my secondary school mates set up a Google Group to enable the old boys to share and communicate with a common platform. After that I started using Blogger to blog, then later I signed up for a Gmail account. Google search become my default home page and I love the degree of customization that the user can do with the I-Google. I almost totally stop using my Streamyx’s e-mail account, as the G-mail is so convenient and reliable.

Other Google services that I am using now include Picasa Web, You-tube, Library, Docs, Alerts, Android, and Reader.

One point worth mentioning that I believe has huge potential to spur further growth of Google is the open concept adopted by Google and also a concept called cloud computing where all the programs and user’s data are not stored in the user’s PC, instead they are stored in Google’s online servers hence are accessible from anywhere in the world with Internet access.

Other than the Android phone that I have to pay for the phone, all other services are free of charge at the moment.

The only concern that I may have of using too much Google services are that if Google is to charge for the services (then we will have to pay for them), and if Google’s servers are severely corrupted then all our online data might be lost.

Technology, if suitably adopted and utilized, could actually make our life much better.

Note: I still consider Yahoo as an excellent Search Engine but my personal preference now is undoubtedly Google’s package.

手足情

女儿任性被母亲骂了一顿后，弟弟陪着还在哭泣的姐姐收书包。有时弟弟坏蛋被罚打手手，女儿则会趋前抱着弟弟按抚一番。这种情景，让做父母的看了非常窝心。

反之，姐弟俩若争吵不休大打出手，或争风吃醋互不相让，就让父母看了忧心忡忡，深怕姐弟俩伤了和气影响手足情。

让兄弟姐妹之间建立雄厚的感情，互助互爱是所有父母的愿望，但欲达成所愿却让不少父母大费心思。

如何让孩子觉得父母不偏爱一方就是其中一个难题。买玩具礼品等给孩子都要卖两分，称赞的话语也要考虑双方感受，尽量做到大公无私的境界。如何赏罚分明却不伤害到任何一方心理也是个学问。

育儿这段路程，有酸甜苦辣，有不知所措，也有满心欢喜的时刻。。。。