Philips ‘+’ Project hopes to Improve our lives

Have you ever feel strongly about something close to your heart.
It can be thinking about how we can improve our lives, make things better, or simply put a smile on someone else.

Daddy is talking about Philip’s “+” Project, an initiative to ask Singaporeans to touch our hearts and ask “What Matters”, and do something about it.

To quote from Philips “+” Project :
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The ‘+’ Project by Philips underlines our commitment to improve the quality of people’s lives in Asia Pacific. Through the ‘+’ project, we aim to work together with you, your community and other stakeholders, combining insights with expertise, technology with funding to face these challenges and make a real difference to the quality of lives of you and your loved ones. We call this meaningful innovation.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Look around us, can we make something better? Philips have shortlisted a few ideas to pick our brain. What matters to us? Is it our family, friends, community and loved ones?

–> You might be interested in some of the research spinning off the themes, or maybe the survey results.

How does the survey works? . ..(Daddy forgot to mention the $10,000 carrot)

1) Click for Philips “+” survey
2) Fill up the survey form, then vote for one of the Five ideas. Philips will pick winning idea in December
3) Philips will work with various stakeholders, + Philips technology know-how to realise your idea

Singapore is the third country in Asia, after Indonesia and Thailand. Drop by to view how communities have benefited.

One of the “Parenting and Family” questions, was about breastfeeding support in Singapore. Daddy was motivated to talk about breastfeeding and husband’s role.

The husbands can definitely do more than washing milk bottles, and EPL can wait:p

No more What IFs, make your voice counts.
Click to start your survey.

More updates on Philips “+” can be found :
http://www.philips.com.sg/plus
— Tweeter hashtag #SGPlus

Tripod recommendations for newbies

Why do we need a tripod (三只脚 三脚架)? What can we do with a tripod?

Our family needs a tripod, because we love to take family portraits, and Daddy sometimes love to take night shots (Clarke Quay and Marina Bay).

** click the photos below to link to our Fanpage albums.

Family potraits look more complete when the “photographer” is inside :p
(Click for our tripod experiments here and here)

What can we do with tripods? Maybe you love Sunrise or Fireworks?

We have to determine why we need a tripod first. Is it nice-to-have or a must-have?
Daddy heard tripod brands like Manfrotto, Benro, Gitzo, and Sirui. Even the Tripod head comes in all shapes, sizes, and price !

(.. by the way, someone corrected Daddy, Tripod in Mandarin should be 三脚架, not 三只脚 haha )

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
This is Daddy’s tripod requirement :
– Our photos are makeup of 60% portrait, 40% landscape (ie we need a portable tripod)

– It would be ideal if tripod is sturdy and less than (1kg). Carbon Fibre is light and more expensive, while Aluminium is cheaper and heavier. Even though tripod weight might be only 200gm difference, it makes a lot of difference over a 5D4N holiday.

No wonder our porter Boon Yi is grumpy.
(Factor in your camera weight, eg Daddy’s D5000 and 18-55 lens is almost 800gm)

– Tripod extended height? Taller people do not wish to hunch. If tripod is too short, we might not be able to take decent firework shots (heads will be blocking our camera). (add 15cm for our DSLR height too)

– Sturdy. When the wind blows, you want the camera to be stable on the tripod, period.

– Traveller’s tripod are designed to be compact, thus height will be limited (below 150cm extended). But traveller’s tripod are light, and can fold down to 30cm ! (example Sirui T025)

– After you know more about tripods, set a budget (Carbon fiber would be $300 and above). A good tripod should last us 3 to 5 years. You do not need to buy a $1000 tripod, instead get one which allows you to learn. Maybe consider second hand tripod? Daddy was using the humble Nikon kit Tripod from day 1, but still manage to take decent photos.

– Ask questions, and hands-on the tripod from your photography buddies, get to know the design benefits of each tripod. Please bring your camera along, for a better feel and assessment. It is quite intimidating to go tripod-shopping, when you are clueless !

– When you go shortlisting for tripods, this chart will always pop up. It describes the Tripod attributes.

– The tripod head is always underrated. The correct Head will allow us to swing the camera to our desire and not buckle under strong wind! (For leisure photographers like Daddy, a ball head will be sufficient)

Daddy’s tripod requirement list is by no means comprehensive, everyone will have their own requirements. Do share with Daddy, if you have more tips. ( thank you Geng Hui for the orientation)

It does not mean only DSLR users need a tripod. Any camera can do with a tripod to improve stability.

Disclaimer .. Because we got a Sirui, so Daddy is bias about Sirui’s six years warranty. Our tripod and head combination is “Sirui N1204 + G10“.

In case you are interested for more Fun, do a time lapse 🙂