Photography Fun at Little India and Merlion Park with the New Nikon 1 J1

Last Wednesday (4 Jan), the folks from Nikon invited me to try out their new Nikon 1 J1 camera at an interesting photography event. [NOTE: All images in this blog post are powered by the Nikon 1 J1]

Together with seven other Singapore bloggers (Melissa, Adrian, Clara, Holly, Sabrina, Celeste and Peggy), we met with three bubbly Taiwanese photographer/ bloggers, Jenny, Karren and Xiao Bao who flew in specially from Taiwan.

Here are the links to Karren’s portfolio:

Blog: http://karren309.pixnet.net/blog
Photography Portfolio: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/s101050
Flickr Album: http://flickr.com/santa019
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KarrenKao

The three of them are planking enthusiasts as well as avid photographers and models for strange, but fun poses. They were on a mission to plank at selected iconic locations in Singapore and we went with them to Little India and the Merlion Park to join in the fun.

The first stop at Little India was at a quaint little colourful Chinese house – Residence of Tan Teng Niah. Jenny and Karren changed into brightly coloured Indian saris while Xiao Bao taught us how we can make use of the fast auto focus and the continuous shutter of the Nikon 1 J1 to take amazing motion shots like these:

The Nikon 1 J1 offers two of world’s best features for capturing all the perfect moments in life. The camera is equipped with the world’s fastest autofocus and the most focus points in the world.

The phase-detection AF embedded in the newly developed sensor will track and capture fast-moving subjects in sharp, crystal-clear focus while the focal plane phase-detection AF with the world’s widest area coverage of 73 points recognises the moving subject as a plane to ensure that images are captured accurately.

With these two features, I was able to create some really cool animated GIFs like these:

Impressive isn’t it?

The world’s fastest autofocus delivers the world’s fastest continuous shooting. The camera can continuously capture images at approximately 10 frames-per-second while the AF constantly tracks the subject and keeps every element in razor-sharp focus.

Motion photography has never been so easy!

Best of all, the Nikon 1 J1 is simple and intuitive to use, balancing the portability of a compact camera with the high image of a DSLR.

Next, we were taught how to make use of the 2.5 times slow-motion video function to record sleek videos like these:

Stylo-milo slow walk effect

Slowly turning and face the camera

Matrix-style prata tossing

Prata switching

Simple, fuss free, no editing needed. Again, impressive! There are even default music tracks that can be recorded together with the HD video.

From the Peranakan house, the two Taiwanese ladies moved on to playing with roti pratas at an open field beside a coffeeshop – with Karren tossing a prata towards Jenny who will dodge, Matrix-style.

I was able to capture many priceless photos of the prata landing smacked on Jenny’s face and other Matrix-like kungfu shots. With the Nikon 1 J1’s SMART PHOTO SELECTOR mode, it would be next to impossible to miss any photographic moment.

When shooting fast-moving subjects, it is difficult to keep them within the frame or you may miss a fantastic photo opportunity due to the subject’s unpredictable movements. With Nikon’s SMART PHOTO SELECTOR, all you have to do is push once on the shutter-release button and it will automatically take 20 shots at a high speed of 30 frames-per-second. What’s more, it will automatically select the most spectacular shot from the series of shots taken!

Moving on from Little India, we headed to the Merlion Park where we can get a clear view of the Marina Bay cityscape alongside the puking Merlion. Once there, the Taiwanese trio surprised us with a whole arsenal of bubble making tools.

Our mission there was to play with bubbles and take some cutesy shots in the process.

By now, I was really wowed over by the Nikon 1 J1. Check out these beautiful bubble shots:

To round up an eventful day of photo shoots, Jenny and Karren changed into a Jack Sparrow and a princess costume respectively. With their costumes, the pair enacted a wedding proposal with the Merlion in the backdrop as a photo opportunity for us.

Thereafter, they did their signature planking, right beside the Merlion:

The Taiwanese trio is really sporting aren’t they?

I admire their high energy level throughout, in spite of the hot weather and all the “hardships” they have to endure to create the perfect photo opportunities for us. From lying on the heated and dirty concrete floor and getting smacked in the face by an oily roti prata in Little India to getting drenched by the puking Merlion at the Merlion Park; the trio were always gamed.

In case you think they are just regular nut jobs with nothing better to do, Jenny is a medical doctoral researcher while Karren is a qualified doctor who gave up her job in medicine to practice photography. Don’t play play.

The day ended with some light snacks at a Vanilla café. There was a lucky draw to win a brand new Nikon 1 J1. I usually suck at lucky draws, but for some reason, it was my lucky day. I walked away with a spanking new Nikon 1 J1! What a great start to 2012!

The Nikon 1 J1 is available in five colours and there’s a whole range of Nikon accessories to add-on, ranging from body cases to telephoto zoom lens. I will be checking out and buying some of these soon.

My most sincere thanks to Nikon for organising such this event and the friendship made with Jenny, Karren and Xiao Bao, as well as the other Singaporean bloggers, most of whom I already knew.

Look forward to more amazing photos on this blog, powered by the new Nikon 1 J1 from now on. ☺