Way Up North...

Ok... I'm still a wee bit bleary and tired after traveling on planes for 24 hours.

Two transit flights later, I've landed safely at the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Don't Skimp On That Filter

This certainly was a relief...

Never underestimate the significance of getting a UV filter for your lens.. I was glad that this protected my lens.

How did this happen? My "free" Canon bag strap broke earlier and it fell on the ground. The impact caused the crack.

Anyway, planning to get a Hoya UV filter to replace this.

All I can say is *PHEW*!!!

Improving My Skills

Yes, it has been a quiet start to February here...

Besides being busy with my twin nieces (who are at such an adorable age now in their "toddlerhood"), I've been going around shooting the various CNY decorations around the malls. Those pictures are not ready yet as it's still stored in my camera. I'm a bit lazy to edit the photos for now.

I've been studying the articles in my photography magazines in a bid to improve my skills and learn how to use the DSLR settings more effectively.

Certainly, I came across a lot of books, articles and online resources and forums to learn about photography but nothing beats having to apply what you've read or learned when you're out there for a shooting session.


I picked up this guide from MPH a couple of weeks back for only RM19.90. It has a lot of great tips for folks who have just picked up their DSLR or pro-sumer cameras. There are some basic principles in the guide to get beginners started, which is useful after you've gone through your camera's manual. ;-)


Since books are a tax-deductible item, I've gotten myself a few books last year... One of the important books I've gotten is the field guide for my camera which is great for me to learn more about my gear to set it accordingly.

I love the book about light by David Prakel as it gives me an idea on how light affects the photos that we take. The pictures in the book are truly inspirational.

Anyway, I still like my online forums and resources (especially PhotoMalaysia), where you get a lot of tips, critiques and advice from the many sifus there.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to improve my skills so that I will do less editing and more in-camera processing, i.e. setting the camera right before taking a shot. It's not hard when I want to take objects or landscape but when you're at an event, getting the settings right for your camera and flashgun can be quite a challenge!

So... In the spirit of my alma mater's motto - Ancora Imparo (I am still learning)

50mm Fun @ Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafe

Hope that everyone had a great break over the long weekend.

I still have loads of photos to process as I took a short trip up to Bukit Tinggi...

I had some 50mm fun some weeks back when I met up with EV to discuss about the Raya holiday break. I brought my camera and laptop to do our research.

My 50mm which is a prime lens has a very lovely "bokeh" despite having a f-stop of only f/1.8 but it was a steal at RM350 from Canon!

I've been to this cafe previously but never had the chance to try out the desserts. So, this time round, EV and I decided to have a late lunch together with some cakes...

I believe this is the cappuccino mousse cake which was a tad bit dry but quite good. I may be wrong as I can't recall if we ordered tiramisu or the mousse cake.. Hmmm...

The green tea cake was quite good. It came with the red bean paste or azuki bean paste which is slightly sweet to complement the slight bitterness of the green tea flavour.

Before our desserts, we had a small lunch, where I ordered the Black Pepper Chicken Chop which was pretty good. The portion is a bit small for guys but for gals, it is just nice. ;-)

I had some potato craving... (aii.. carbs.. my nemesis) and so, had to order the side-order of potato salad.

I didn't quite like it as it had too much mayonnaise and not enough chives. The various garden greens is a great complement as it took up most of the mayonnaise. EV liked it though.

All of these photos were taken with my 50mm lens. This means that in order to take these photos, I had to maneuver the items as well as my position in order to take the photo. This certainly is teaching me how best to compose my photos.

Anyway, practice makes perfect... My previous post was done with my 50mm lens as well... ;-)

I would recommend those who are starting out with photography to have in your "arsenal" a good prime lens, and the 50mm is a good buy.

I'm still targeting either the 60mm or 100mm macro lens but both lens require significant amount of investment...

My 50mm Experiments

The project I am working on has sort of stabilized but I'm still facing some sh*tty stuff from the client. The work is done but they expect to sign-off on a ZERO-defect application. The problem is, some of the defects were caused by the client's poor understanding/confusion... In short "USER PROBLEM". (^^)

Not letting the sh*tty stuff get the better of me is an uphill battle and I'm so glad that the weekend is here for me to recuperate. Less, I go crazy and berserk in the office...

Some weeks back, I was playing around with my 50mm lens and got a few shots... AND I got some willing models too...

I just love the bokeh this lens provide and under low-light conditions like the indoors of my house, the low aperture still provides sharp images. Shot taken at F/2.5, 1/25 sec, ISO-200 (Shutter priority)

I like this photo of Snoopy as she looks as though she is peeking through the shadows. She looks like she is glad to be in the shade. - Shot taken at F/1.8, 1/25 sec ISO-100.

Rusty looks very intense here as he concentrates on destroying on what seems to be an indestructible burger toy. LOL!!

Anyway, I'm learning to use Manual mode for this lens as there is so much I can do with this lens.

Some Gears...

This is somewhat of a filler post as I'm still doing some post-processing work on some pics I took over the weekend.

Anyway, I got this "pressie" some weeks back as a surprise. I never expected to get this thing but now that I do, I believe that I will have to put the gift to good use. And posting about it is one of the ways. LOL!!

Yeap, it's my new DSLR lens - Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 MkII!! It's one of the cheapest lens to get out of the Canon range and a good addition to a budding gear collector.

With an f/stop of f/1.8, you can imagine that the aperture setting is wide enough to capture some really creamy bokeh pics like this:

I took this photo with nothing more than my fluorescent table lamp as the light source in my room at 1/8sec!! Of course, I didn't use f/1.8 but at such low-light conditions at ISO 100 or 200, this lens was really amazing!

As my first prime lens, the focal length of 50mm makes this useful for taking portraits due to the optics involved, i.e. less moving parts. Hence, the quality of the pics taken are often a lot more superior to those taken with zoom lens.

I've actually had my eye on the 50mm compact macro lens but when I saw the price tag of RM1XXX, I'd figure that I can temporarily set aside my love for macro while I build up my basic skills. So, I'm quite content to play around with this for a while. (^.^)

Nevertheless, my gears list grows everyday... And I plan to get the following:

• 1 spare battery
• "Walkabout" Zoom Lens - 55-250mm/18-200mm
  
• External Flash
• Wide Angle Lens for those lovely architectural and landscape shots - 10-22mm
• Filters - Neutral Density, Circular Polarizer
• A solid camera/laptop bag
• A steady tripod (least important as I got one free with my camera)
  

Yes, some friends remarked that this is an expensive hobby but it's a very fulfilling one for the soul but not the hip pocket, I'm afraid.

Early Christmas Present

First of all, my hearts and prayers go out to the people and their families who were affected by this morning's landslide at Bukit Antarabangsa. May God watch over you during this hour of need. It just amazes me that 15 years on, we have not learnt our lesson about hillside development.

Anyway, on a slightly happier note; I got my AIPO Dry Cabinet this morning! Yippee!!!

Don't worry, the box will be recycled. Should Rusty be naughty, he will be shipped off to Obedience School! :-P

I had my eye on this cabinet ever since I got my camera in October. After some enquiries and research, I decided that I would get this cabinet. I was thinking of using a Lock-n-Lock box with some Thirsty Hippo and silica gel to store my camera. However, being the lazybum that I am, I know that I will forget to change the Thirsty Hippo and silica gel after a few months. **sheepish grin**

I was very lucky to have chatted with my friend online about this cabinet a few days back and found out that he was going to buy some cabinets in bulk with his other friends. He convinced me that the 48 litre was quite a worthwhile buy even though I don't have much gears to store for now. So, I managed to get my box with some discount!! \(^.^)/

The cabinet comes with a small LCD window which will indicate the humidity and temperature of the air within the box. Yes, the dry box does come with a power cord. It is also important to note that the box needs to sit in a well ventilated room too.

It sure looks small and cute...

After I got the package, I noticed that the cabinet is not very large. From the picture above, you can tell that the box is about 1 sq ft in width. Besides my gears, I can also store my other important documents such as my certificates too. 

If you want more information about this, do check it out at Shashinki.com.

Yeah, I know it's a bit extravagant to get myself an early Christmas present but this will be a gift which will last a looong time.

Bubbles...

It has been nearly a month since I've started my journey into photography with my DSLR.

Well, I've just done a bit of comparison between my Nikon 5900 and the DSLR. Now, it's an unfair comparison since the DSLR can do a little bit more than a little point-n-shoot. However, my little 'old PnS was one level below the pro-sumer range of Nikon cameras some years back. ;-)

Macro shot of some bubbles...

Another shot of the bubbles...

Both pictures have been taken at a slightly different angle and from the colours, I've adjusted the white-balance of the photo before I took the shot.

Can you guess which one was taken with the DSLR and which one with the Nikon 5900? (^___^)

You can try to enquire the EXIF data but I believe that has been wiped off when I edited the photo to put in my usual "trademarks".

Anyway, another question; which one do you like more? :-P

Crappy Shots from a DSLR Newbie

I finally took the plunge... Went Canon instead of Nikon. *MUAHAHAAHHA*

Noooo.. You didn't??

Well, it made sense 'coz most of the "sifus" (experts) in the office were Canon DSLR users. So, that means learning about the camera and trying out equipment so much easier. Sometimes, it is hard to be that lone voice in the wilderness.

So, am I saying goodbye to my 'ol Reliable? HELL NO!! It's a great camera and although the MPs were not high, it had a lot of features I could play with which is important in my DSLR adventures ahead.

Anyway, here are some shots. I've saved the EXIF info as well. After so many years of editing my shots, I realized that the EXIF* data was loss!!

*EXIF - EXchangeable Image Format

Tried to get as close as possible without being stung...

For now, I'm trying to learn to play around with the different settings and my garden is my photo "studio" for now. Of course, I have 2 willing camwhore victims to play as LIVE subjects too. But, it's hard telling two Jack Russells to sit still while I fiddle with my settings.

I'm learning to compose my pictures as well. This is a skill which needs to be honed. It helps to have some inspiration and drooling over looking at other brilliant photographers' works is making me "work" harder at my skills.

I've decided to learn a little bit on *HDR techniques to my photos too. Somehow, the slippers here look a bit eerie after I've darken some tones. Yep, these days, besides being able to take a good photo, you need to know some post-processing techniques as well.

*HDR - High Dynamic Range

Anyway, will be posting some other photos up whenever I have the time. ;-)

Artery Clogging Dinner... Yeah!! It's REALLY That Good!!

OK OK.. For the last couple of posts, I've been putting up pictures of sinful food. I can't help myself.. LOL...

I just can't help myself...

Anyway, my Nikon 5900 is starting to act "funky". I've been messing a lot with the focus mechanism so much so that it doesn't focus the shot properly now.. :-(

I came back home from another grueling day at work. It is grueling when your boss sends you mixed signals about work. It's soooo frustrating but I'll rant about that another day... Or maybe, not at all!!

My aunt, i.e. my mom's brother's wife from Perth who recently came down from Perth bearing meaty gifts. The lovely pork bacon and now, the seriously delicious scotch fillet beef (a.k.a. rib eye) were from here. My mom had a reminder SMS from her to cook the beef and so, she decided to grill it for us.

Grilling is so much easier now that we got ourselves the grill pan from my mom's last trip to Thailand. We grill fish and meat on it and it has that nice BBQ grill marks without the hassle of the messy BBQ.

I'm a carnivore... It's in my birth signs.. i.e. DRAGON + LION = Ultimate Carnivore. (^____^)

So, I told my mom that I would like my meat... ahem... MEDIUM WELL. Yes, that means... a bit of blood still left in the meat. This means that my meat will be really tender when it's cooked.

Me: Is it done yet? I like my meat medium well.. *slurp*
Mom: No.. not done yet, I just put it on the grill. It'll need about 5-10 minutes to cook.

Me: Wahhh.. So long. I don't want well done-le. It'll be like eating stone. Besides, well done meat is hard for me to digest.
Mom: Don't want to eat blood-le... Eeeee...

Me: Hehehe... 5 minutes on each side enough or not?
Mom: Nooo.... LONGER!!!

Chinese food is rarely eaten raw or semi-raw. We just have this aversion to seeing a lot of blood in our dishes... I may be wrong but this is the impression I get from the older generation.

For some of us who are lucky enough to explore the many types of food out there, we may like raw food like sashimi or the Italian style carpaccio (raw beef), we would certainly relish the freshness of the meat eating raw or semi-raw.

My bro-in-law commented that in places like Canada, they prefer to eat their beef either Rare or Medium-Well as they find that if the meat is well-done, the beef is just too difficult to digest and cause you to feel very bloated after a meal. I do agree with him after seeing a friend struggle with a Porterhouse steak which was 21ounces in weight!!!

After learning to eat my meat cooked at Medium Well, I find that I don't get that bloated feeling after a good steak meal. Of course, eating meat cooked at Medium Well means that you're running the risk of getting worms or food poisoning.. ewww.. However, if the outside of the meat is cooked well, you shouldn't have such issues. :-)

Anyway, here's a parting shot of the meat after I cut it with a semi-blunt knife.. Notice that I've used the word "semi" several times here? LOL!!!!!

OK.. Aside from the red meat, I had my portion of vegetables, i.e. double the portion of the meat serving. So, it's a healthy meal after all.. I'd guess?? (^____^)

Canon Expo Anyone?

Its just after lunch. I'm a little full but yet hungry - have not decided what I'll be - hungry or full. LOL!!!

Anyway, just a quick reminder to all you photo geeks/gurus out there.

The CANON Expo @ KL Convention Centre is from today, 23rd Oct to 25th Oct 2007. More details here. (^ ^)