My Digital World

This weekend, I will not go home. That is why I am blogging now.

Recently, I am very busy with setting up businesses. Today, I will go to the government agency for informing about running business. We called this agency in Dutch Kamer van Koophandel, abbreviated as KvK. Before we register, we want to know the differences in the entrepreneurship and what the best (in terms of taxes etc) one for us will be.

Who are we? We are students from TU Delft. Shabir, Zhoaduan and me want to start company. Since Zhoaduan does not understand Dutch, Shabir and me will go to the KvK. It might sound a bit rush. But currently, we find a very interesting project where we can work on for 1.5 years. To able to get that project, we think that we better represent ourself as a start-up company.

To start a company is not a minute work. A lot of preparation and organisation have to done. Besided these, Zhoaduan and me are very busy with the final touch of our first software for Kannai. Next week, I can go to Kannai to give them the software they ask me to build. Also next week, Henry will come to Holland. I have to do some preparation to welcome him. :) Tomorrow, I will go to On Yi's party. I haven't seen her for months, since she was in US and HK for internship. But, she will leave Holland soon again, since she will go to Africa for another internship.

Anyway, I have to stop writing. Since I want to give the last minutes of this week to my thesis..:P hehehe

Last Monday, the company called me for which I get the commercial assignments from. They said, they had a great news for me. The photo of the last shooting brings them a profit that is twice as much as they usually have. I am happy to hear this news, but why don't they give me some gift or money as an encouragement? :P

I really wonder whether I am doing a good job in photography. It was only 3 years ago that I started to take pictures. By that time, I realy had zero knowledge about photography. D70 with the kitlens was my first photocamera. I chose for Nikon since it seemed that D70 was a very good camera, which also was priced in my budget.

However, the pics I took, were nothing special. I am a very high demanding guy. So, I supposed that my kitlens gave crappy images. I went to visit forums to ask the guys who know where I could buy cheap lenses in Singapore. Then, I was impressed by the IR photography. Especially the series that my friend Stan took.

I joined the IR group and I learned a lot from all those guys. I know how to use Photoshop and I noticed that I was totally wrong with the kitlens issue. This kitlens really can produce very wonderful pics if you know how to operate it well.

Months and a year have been passed. I think there is no too much challenge in Landscape photography. Besides, landscapes in The Netherlands are not very impressive to me. I look for more challenge. I want to try model photoshooting, since I like to work with people. Who knows that I get paid for my shootings. And who knows I do commercial shooting for a company?

I want to start with my own business after my graduation. I have many businesses in my mind. Hopefully, all of them will bring me money. I will start with photography, since I noticed that this might be the best start, since I start to make some profits.

This week, I ask myself whether I will become successful in photography. There is a guy from my sensor group who says that he bought the digital camera because of me. He was impressed by my snapshots of dayout I took during the summer. He used to take film photos. People are interested in my PS workflow. And people asked me for advice for buying camera. It all seems that I become a real professional, which is ofcourse NOT true. I am just like many starters, holding the cam in his hands and snap here and there. There is one thing that people might think that I look like a pro. That is my equipments. They are:
1. Nikon D70 with kitlens
2. Nikon D2Hs
3. Nikon D3
4. Nikon AF-S 17-35mm f2.8
5. Nikon AF-S 28-70mm f2.8
6. Nikon AF-S 80-200mm f2.8
7. Nikon AFD 50mm f1.8
8. Nikon AFD 105mm f2.8
9. Nikon AFD 85mm f1.4

10. Manfrotto tripod (forget the serie)
11. Manfrotto 468MGRC4, HydroStatic Ball Head - RC4
12. National Geographic NGEH2, Hydrost Ball Head
13. Gitzo monopod (also forget the serie)

14. two SB-800
15. falcon eyes studio lighting and background support
16. Bowens Ringflash Pro

I leave other accessoires. But these items hurt my wallet alot!

Around the Chinese New Year, I usually can read in many internet places about horoscope. Francis posted a interesting thing about which tree you belong to. I copy a part of his blog, which I hope he is OK with it.

According to his post, I belong to a Fig Tree, since I am born in between Jun 14 to Jun 23 - Fig Tree. For the Fig Tree, it is said that:
Fig Tree (Sensibility) -- very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, sexually oriented, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great intelligence.

There are some things that are true. These are "hard worker when wants to be" and "enjoy children". But who don't work hard when they want? Who do not enjoys children when they bring them to this world? Horoscope is sometimes nice to read, but I do not trust it at all.

On the internet, I found another horoscope:
Monkey

General

This is going to be a wonderful year for you. As you are already in a better position compared to others, this will be a good time to make your dreams come true. Not only will your plans materialize, but you will also enjoy greater popularity. People will give you the support that you need and even strangers will be friendly towards you. Although in general you will be in a good position for great advancements, you will need to be aware of your own behavior and how others might react to you. You should always remain humble and modest. It will be best not to participate in gossip corners and not to speak poorly about others. Should you not have anything good to say, it will be better not to say anything. Where you might have upset or offended others, they will not be able to get back at you directly. But it will be returned to you many folds later when your popularity subsides. It will be better not to make any enemies now. Another possible danger that you will face this year is the sudden crises that will arise. Hence, it will be critical for you to be prepared and have contingency plans should things take a sudden turn for the worse. Not only will this give you greater assurance of success, others will also be deeply impressed with your foresight. You might fall in love this year if you are single. This will also be a good time to strengthen your relationship if you are already in one. As your popularity will be on the rise, avoid entangling yourself in a messy situation. Try to stay focused on your relationship and not create misunderstandings. Be careful of health issues that might strike without warning. You should roll up your sleeves and get ready to reap the best out of this year.

Career

Your career is filled with many golden opportunities and you will be able to get support from the relevant people easily. This will be a great time for you to shine through with excellent performances. You should try to take this opportunity to implement major plans that you have been shelving. You will do exceptionally well if you are in project teams, sales or giving presentations. Apart from your extraordinary performances, your strong popularity will earn you more credit than you think and will be able to push your career to great heights. Many people will enjoy working on the same team or project with you and they will even volunteer to get matters done for you. Though everything will seem to be moving in your favor, it will be important to have contingency plans because challenges will tend to arise in the most unexpected ways. This might ruin you or cause setbacks to your plans. Apart from this, you will need to continuously remind yourself not to get carried away while you are enjoying the recognition and support, because you might accidentally offend or upset others without knowing. Though these people whom you have offended or are upset with you might not confront you directly, they might do or say things behind your back at a more vulnerable time. Hence, it will be best to stay humble and modest while you reap the fruits of your success as this will enable you to have prolonged success.

If you are in business, your business will do well. This will also be a good time to engage in activities to promote greater publicity for your business in order to get more exposure. You will find that people will tend to enjoy doing business with you and your business will take off. While you will do very well in business, it will be important for you to stay cautious and keep an eye on details. The challenges that will appear this year will be quick and sudden. Being able to have good contingency plans will help with business continuity and will also leave a very good impression of your business to others and this will further improve the reputation of your company. While you will be doing very well, you should not be abrupt to others, no matter who they might be or how busy you might be. In the business world, there is no fixed definition as to who your clients will be and who your vendors will be. When you shut the door to others, you will be at the same time closing doors for yourself. Hence, always stay humble and modest. You will also need to be careful of what you comment upon.

Wealth

Your wealth luck will be good. There will be indications that you will have salary increments. If you are in sales or earn via commissions, you will do well too. This will be a good year for you to make double, triple or multiple times your average wages. Keep what you will reap for a rainy day should you be able to optimize your good fortune. Though your wealth luck in general will be good, you will not want to take unnecessary risks or make impulsive decisions about your finances. It will also be best not to place all your eggs into one basket. This will be because there will tend to be many sudden crises that might crop out from nowhere and this might wipe out your earnings within a short time frame or might even put you into debt. You should always do your homework and take only calculated risks and should not be overly reliant on your intuition.

Relationship

For singles, there will be a high possibility for you to fall in love this year. It will be good if you continue to participate in social activities so that you will know more people and will have more choices as to whom you will like to develop relationships with. If you are attached or married, this will be a good time for you to further strengthen your relationship. You will be able to enjoy good times together and there will be chemistry between each other. Even if you have been in a relationship for quite a while, this will be the time to rejuvenate your relationship. Your busy schedule might cause some tension or become a hindrance to your relationship. It will be important for you to manage your time well so that you can establish your career while enjoying your relationship. Your strong popularity might attract unwanted attention from third parties. If you are already in a relationship, it will be wise to stay away from these potential problems of risking your relationship for something that will be temporary and not lasting.

Health

You will also be prone to illnesses that might strike unexpectedly such as heart attacks or strokes. It will be important for you to take care of your emotions as laughing too hard or being too angry might cause such health problems. The challenges that occur will be rather harsh and sudden and will be a shock to you. Hence, it will be important for you to bear this in mind and try not to engage in activities that will put your health at risk. It will help if you try to calm yourself down and remind yourself that your health is important. As you are quite popular this year, it will be very common for people to ask you out to catch up and have a drink. If you drink, you should have someone drive you or get onto public transport. Avoid trying to drive home yourself as you will also be prone to accidents this year. Be cautious about traffic rules and stay focused on what you are doing and be especially careful of your safety by not attempting to cross roads while on the phone or trying to run across roads without looking at traffic.

People

There will not be too many people problems because your popularity will be strong. People will enjoy your company and will want to be part of the activities that you participate in. You will attract people and will leave a good impression easily and will also get the support from people without much effort. Due to these advantages, you should try to make the most by being diplomatic in the way you deal with matters as well as with people. You will be able to earn greater recognition and will be rewarded with greater popularity and success. On the contrary should you get carried away and start to treat others badly, although people might not confront you directly or gossip behind your back, they will start to distance themselves from you. When you are in a more vulnerable state or when your popularity starts to fade, they will not pass up the opportunity to bring you down. Also, you should avoid participating in gossip corners. It will be easier for you to make friends and have long lasting relationships this year. Thus, you should try to make the most of this year.

Source: www.jmine.com.

It seems like that I have a good year ahead. The most funny thing I read is about my relationship. If that is true, I think you should buy a lotto this win to win the millions. If you don't, I will do. ;)

Anyway, I feel a bit bored this weekend, since I am writing my thesis all the time. I also lost the feeling to write something "interesting" on my blog.

Oh, today, my mom asked me to take pics of our whole family. But I miss one of my brothers. So, our family members are not completed at all. Below, I took a picture of my two younger brothers and my mom. Do my brothers look like me? I do not think so...

I am a step further into my photography business. I had a lot of discussing with Shabir and Zhoaduan about my photography and photography related businesses. To start up a business is not very easy if you want to play everything very safe. Why do people want to play safe? Because they are afraid of losing money.

Now, I spend really a large amount of money on camera equipments. I order the Bowens Ringflash to hope I will get fashion shoots for companies. Apart from the ringflash, I also need to buy a generator, which is really costy. On top of that, I bought this Friday my first full frame camera, which is the Nikon D3. Ya, I planned to buy Nikon D3X before it announce to be official. But when I check the current reviews and the price, I moved a step back. So I pick up the D3.

The Nikon D3 is so much different from the Nikon D2Hs. Both are pro. But Nikon D3 is at first sight heavier. I checked the weight at dpreview and indeed, the D3 is much heavier than the D2Hs.

However, in terms of the image quality, the Nikon D3 really, really and really rocks! Although I have no time to do a serious shooting with this brandnew camera, I show you a shot I took when I am in the living room.



I will post more pics of the D3 if I get the chance to shoot. :)

This week, I had a New Year's dinner with my department of where I do my thesis. Joyce asked me to take pics at that evening. All the pics can be found at my multiply account. Or simply, click here.

I do like alot of events such as having dinner with everyone or doing activity together. I think in working life, this kind of activity will be less nice. My life is getting more and more serious, since it is time that I take care of my whole family. I am not sure if I will become successful, but if you won't try, you never get the chance to have success.