Semi-Frozen Mountain Stream - Swiss Alps

D700 70-300mm @ 135 ISO200 f/8 1/250

It is cold... These thin gloves allow me to operate the camera while keeping my hands from freezing... The camera is cold too... To get close enough, there was a patch of fresh snow 30cm thick to cross... Nice exercise... The reflection in the stream is a mountain that is receiving the first sun rays of the day.

Chamois & Kid In The Swiss Alps

D700 70-300mm @ 165 ISO200 f/5.6 +0.7EV 1/60

The camera bag followed me for this trip to Saas-Fee in the Swiss Alps. A first morning walk was extremely rewarding with the encounter of a herd of chamois. They were curious and let me approach them till approx. 15 meters. The kid was shy, seeking protection behind its mother.

To ensure the correct exposure of the snow, slight positive compensation was required. Saas-Fee being located at 1800m altitude, temperature was around minus 6 deg C. Problem was condensation on the glass of the view finder. Best is to use an eye cup to avoid the photographer's breath to cloud the finder. Furthermore, battery was used 3 time faster than when used at higher temperature. I had kept a second one in a warm pocket close to the body but did not need to change it as I still had three bars after 100+ shots!

Explosion of Lights - Singapore

D700 24mm ISO200 f/16 1/8

If you walk into the large Christmas tree in front of the new Ion building, look up, a surprise awaits you.

Lady Reindeer - Singapore

D700 50mm ISO200 f/2 1/15 handheld

An easy shot. I could not resist to post it though.

The Floating Xmas Trees - Singapore

D700 50mm ISO200 f/2 1/60

When I saw these floating Xmas trees within the modern metal and glass structure of Wheelock Place on Orchard Road, Singapore, I could not resist taking the shot.

The Spirit of Xmas in Singapore - Lights on Scotts Road

D700 70-300mm @ 70 ISO200 f/16 1/2

An evening trip was organized to try to catch a little of the spirit of Christmas in Singapore.

After some testing, it appeared that a white balance set at 4'500k gave relatively pleasant colors. The car trailing lights could have been lengthen by extending the shutter time. This would however have been at the expense of having a few sharper vehicles and passer-byes on the frame.

The Pagoda Flower

D700 500mm ISO400 f/8 -0.7EV 1/250 tripod

The Pagoda Flower can be found in secondary forest where the canopy is breached and allow some sun to reach the ground. The 500mm was used for this shot as the plant was located out of reach.