C for Canon. Canon for Power.
The Canon EOS 350 Rebel XT Digital SLR is no dandy charlatan. Take one look through its 55 millimeter SLR lens, and you'll know what I'm talking about.
As you could've guessed, I try and carry my camera around wherever I go. I walk a lot, and as I do, I find a lot of things interesting. It isn't always possible to click them all. But click I do, just not with my camera. You see, our eyes and brains put together make up the world's most powerful camera there is. Such precision, such contrast, such resolute quality. Tell me, which Japanese company can match that? Not even Canon, let alone Nikon, comes modestly close to our organe de la vision.
My history with photography isn't that lengthy anyway. I started by fiddling with my dad's Nikon, and that would always leave him wondering why there were no people in the pictures I took. In fact, taking pictures of people can be one of the most boring things to do. "Stand there, turn a bit, smile, hands outta the pockets, say cheese, click." How more repetitive can that get? But taking impromptu pictures of people, or even portraitures, now those are totally different areas of specialization.
I guess it depends on why people click photos in the first place. Some simply want to chronicle their events and happenings. If that's the motive, fine.
In my case, it's purely a creative or artistic pursuit. I intend to travel a lot in the next coming decades, and my Canon I hope will be my dear companion during all the voyages I make and all the travails I go through. Why I photograph is a question oft-asked. It's such a cool hobby; besides, it's so easy! All it takes is a little bit of practice and guided training.
I try to see things differently than others do. I try to see colors, shades, tones and everything a common passerby wouldn't notice on first glance. If you've ever met me in person, the first thing you'll probably notice is my extreme myopia. I admit, my eye power is quite high on the diopter scale, but let's face it, that's the way it is. I can't do much about it.
However, give me a chance to put those lenses on my nose, and my eyes instantly turn sharp as a saw. With the cornea as smooth as cotton, my retina wakes up to get all pepped up for the action. The visual neurons in my brain become as impressive as Schumacher behind the wheel. The irides open up wide in salute of all the light pouring in. Both the aqueous and the vitreous humor start bubbling like water in an aquarium. My pupils stretch, alert as a cobra. And of course, the brain. Hundred thousand parallel threads are invoked within a second's notice to fire up the world's finest image processor.
Now on top of all this, add another pair of brilliantly crafted Canon lens, and the result you get is this telescopy of mine.
"There is a grandeur in this view of life...
from so simple a beginning,
endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful
have been, and are being, evolved." —Charles Darwin
Why I decided to call this corner of my website 'telescopy' has eluded many a wise mind. During the wonderful days of summer 2004, I used to spend one hour a day reading a section from an astronomy textbook The Universe, by William J. Kauffman. This was part of an attempt to a) further my study of astronomy and b) improve my expository skills. My favorite chapter out of the whole textbook was the one entitled 'Light'. The chapter was about telescopes, lenses, CCDs, and all the cool stuff. Modern telescopes of course don't use lenses anymore; they specialize in the use of millions of parabolic reflectors, commonly known as mirrors or mirror arrays. By the time I was done with the chapter, I had developed a keen sense of interest for optics.
The purpose of any telescope is to magnify distant things that are too small to the naked eye. In a way, this photoblog of mine does the same thing. It scrutinizes minute things up close so that we can develop a sense of appreciation for all the wonderful things around us. Faces, colours, flowers, stars, leaves, you name it!
There's no end to Nature's bounties.