tK's Photoblog

New Gears in the House XXVI

2011-09-29T17:49:00.011+08:00

Sometimes I really like to buy from Shashinki.com. Its fast and convenient.

Back to the topic, my 1st tripod was severely damaged in my Sabah trip, hence I have to find a replacement unit.

I bought this tripod while I'm in Kundasang, Sabah, using my friend's iPhone 4. And when I reach home, the tripod was delivered to my door step next day.

(The tripod at its highest)

(At its lowest)

(Closer look at the Jusino AX-254C)

(One of the leg can be removed and used as a monopod)

(Carbon Fibre!!)

(The tripod legs can be reversed for easy storage)

Although this is not a popular brand like Manfrotto, but it is a Carbon Fibre tripod, which is what I dream for. Its light and yet durable.

I have not really try it out yet, but certainly it is better than my old tripod. I can now shoot low angle pictures!

Price: RM 728.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 728.00

Total spending to date: RM 16,563.03

Kota Kinabalu - Sabah Trip 2011

2011-09-24T23:59:00.032+08:00

This is a year full of trips for me.

Kota Kinabalu (KK) is located East of Peninsular Malaysia. Perhaps the most famous attraction is the Mount Kinabalu, which is the tallest mountain in Borneo.

I was hoping to snap some sunset pics near the beach during this trip, but too bad I missed the chance.

Oh well, we had some great seafood though.

(Scallops)

(Cockles)

(Clams)

(Crab)

(More crabs!)

(Lobster)

(Prawns)

For the first 2 nights, we stayed in KK town (Grand Borneo Hotel), the hotel was quite cozy and clean.

(This is how a standard room looks like)

(Sutera Harbour, a harbour beside KK Town)

(All 6 of us)

We even went snorkelling at Manukan Island & Sapi Island (no pics as I did not bring my camera), whereby Sapi Island being the best spot for snorkeling in my opinion (the current in Manukan Island is rather strong that day, making us hard to swim & less fish near the shore).

For the 3rd night onwards, we stayed somewhere near the foothills of Mount Kinabalu (Kundasang Village), in a resort named Kinabalu Pine Resort.

(I like this place so much!)

(A great place to relax but too bad the weather was not on our side)

(Relaxing)

(HDR with some strong winds = no good)

I did plan to take some pics of star-trails or even pics of milky way here, but raining for two consecutive nights......my plan was ruined!

(A short clip showing the view from my balcony)

There ware nothing much to do in Kundasang, perhaps the most interesting place I went was a dairy farm near the resort.

(The view of Mount Kinabalu's peak from the farm)

(Fresh milk!!)

The weather was quite cold though (around 13°C I guess with some strong wind). This was my first time going a trip with my secondary schoolmates, it was fun although I did not managed to take those pics I wanted (sunset, stars...etc).

Ulu Bendul 03

2011-07-31T14:55:00.010+08:00

The 3rd visit to Ulu Bendul.

Some lethal accident happened not long ago, drowning 3 kids. This that place is not crowded like usual.

(I have no idea what these creatures are, they are in a large group, and dosen't fly away when disturbed)

(My first Lantern Bug)

(Natural light shot - not really nice as it moved)

(A very common Weevil)

(I'm getting this spider [Heteropoda boiei] every time I go Ulu Bendul)

Not much interesting bugs to share today.

New Gears in the House XXV

2011-07-07T22:34:00.004+08:00

My rechargeable batteries finally failed me. The batteries was fully charged but it can't be used when I inserted it into my flashgun.

I will never trust Uniross anymore.

Anyway, It happened than Sanyo launched a new range of its famous Eneloop batteries last year, called Eneloop XX. With higher capacity (2500mAh vs 2000 mAh) compared to the old one, however, the rechargeable cycles has reduced to 500 times only (1500 times for the older ones).

However, if you calculate it, it dosen't bother me at all. Lets say you recharge your batteries once every week, 500 cycles can lasts you about 9.6 years. For the money I pay (RM65), it is worthwhile.

I bought the Sanyo Eneloop Quick Charger as well (NC-MQR03R) - RM95 and few accessories like lens rear cap.

Price: RM 175.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 175.00

Total spending to date: RM 15,835.03

Star Chasing at Bidor

2011-05-01T22:40:00.004+08:00

This is my first time doing Astrophotography with my photography friends.

Well this is certainly a new thing for me although I had tried shooting Star Trails in Bali before. We traveled from KL to Bidor during midnight and we did not sleep after that. The sky was stunningly beautiful (although occasionally some clouds blocks the stars).

(The Milky Way)

My 8mm lens failed to capture the Milky Way due to its small maximum aperture of only f/4.5
A large aperture lens (minimum of f/2.8) is essential for capturing Milky Way. Luckily Liew lend me his 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens to me.

(My 8mm f/4.5 lens is struggling to capture the Milky Way)

Basic rule for shooting stars or star trails:

- High ISO (800-1600)
- Moderate shutter speed (20-40 second)
- Largest Aperture possible
- Prefer Wide Angle Lens

We waited til sunrise and tried to capture some shots as well

Both shots are 7-exposures blended HDR.

Bali Trip 2011

2011-03-30T23:59:00.014+08:00

The plan started half a year ago. It all begins with booking tickets in the office without bosses' consent.......

(Bali here I come)

(Because of AirAsia, now everyone can fly!)

(Clear beautiful sky of Bali)

(Our 1st meal in Bali was actually Nasi Campur - Rice with mixed dishes)

(Typical strees of Ubud, Bali)

（Day 2 - On the way to Sukawati Art Market)

(The market itself)

(Arts & Paintings!)

(Portrait of Buddha)

(Hmm...!!)

(Our 1st lunch in Bali - Babi Guling with Rice)

(Ubud Palace)

(Ubud Palace)

(People heading for a prayer)

(Road to Bersakih Temple - A gruesome 1km slope)

(Finally arrived)

(Picnicking)

(HDR applied)

(The ceremony)

(The last and the highest temple of Bersakih Temples)

(I'm pretty sure the ducks are dirty!)

(Our dinner - Bebek Bengil Dirty Duck)

(My 1st star-trails photo was taken in Ubud, Bali)

(Day 3 - We started off our day with a Spa at Verona Spa, Ubud. Nice! My 1st Spa)

(The famous Naughty Nuri's Warung - famous for their Pork Ribs)

(Grill Pork Ribs - Almost perfect dish)

(Next destination - Ulun Danu Temple)

(HDR applied)

(Tanah Lot - A must-visit destination)

(It's all rocky path)

(Day 4 - Uluwatu)

(HDR)

(A group of people gathered to watch Kecak Fire Dance)

(Beware of all these monkeys)

(My friend's glasses was snatched by this monkey)

(Heading to Kuta - A highly commercialized city with lots of famous brands)

(Day 5 - Badung Market, Denpasar)

(A very localized wet & dry market. You can hardly see any tourists here)

(We had our lunch here as well - Satay)

(Bajra Sandhi Monument)

(Surfers at Kuta Beach)

(I wish I could do this one day...)

(Souvenirs that I bought)

(And a painting)

New Gears in the House XXIV

2011-03-21T21:30:00.006+08:00

1st post in 2010! And I had 0 post counts in Jan & Feb! Reason? Was too busy with my work and dosen't feel like going out on the weekends.

Finally I can take a break. I'm going to Bali this Friday ^^

And thus, a new memory card is needed.

It is only SanDisk Ultra as I am on a tight budget, guess I'm using this card for storage rather than utilizing it for speed-shooting or Full HD Video recording.

Price: RM 210.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 210.00

Total spending to date: RM 15,660.03

Kuala Kelawang 01

2010-12-25T17:46:00.009+08:00

I was so forgetful to leave my flash and diffuser at Liew's place, only discovered it when we arrived to our macro spot.

So I can only shoot natural light subjects or borrowing other people's camera.

(Natural Light)

(Wolf Spider with offspring on her back - Natural Light)

(A closer look)

(Longhorn Beetle - Natural Light)

(Assassin Bug - Natural Light)

(Jumping Spider, using liew's camera: 5D Mark II, MP-E 65mm @ 4X, MT-24 EX + DIY Diffuser)

(Using Shunfa's camera: Treehopper with ticks on its body)

Night Macro 01

2010-12-24T23:59:00.009+08:00

I got my first owlfly, too bad I couldn't get close enough before it flew. Before today, I thought owlfly does not exists in Malaysia.

(Too bad only got a record shot. didn't get a chance to snap a nice shot)

And we found many sleeping bees around the spot.

TEST: Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC

2010-12-11T22:58:00.009+08:00

After acquiring my UWA lens for a week, I still haven't got a chance to really test it in the field. Its a shame to buy a lens and keep it inside my dry cabinet and not using it, so I decided to take some sample shots of the lens

1) Lens Flare Test

The lens shows some weird flares when a light source is positioned somewhat beside the lens, approximately 11 o'clock direction, out of the frame.

(53 seconds, f/16, ISO 100)

I will be pissing off if each image of mine contains flare. Luckily, this is not the case. My second image shows no flare (see below). Anyway, this lens produces beautiful star effect from the streetlight when aperture is narrowed down.

(54 seconds, f/4.5, ISO 100)

2) Sharpness

The sharpness of this lens is awesome. The below image was shot wide open (again, you can see the flare):

(50 seconds, f/4.5, ISO 100)

and its 100% crop near the edge:

No sharpening or noise reduction as it will affect the sharpness. Pretty neat eh?

New Gears in the House XXIII

2010-12-03T22:01:00.010+08:00

My 1st Sigma Lens!

(Spherical front element and built in hood, make it unable to use filters)

Built quality is superb, feels very solid. I love the crinkle finishing on the lens body but I heard it will peel off/fade over time.

(The effect is exaggerating at 8mm as it will distort anything near to the lens and anything at the edge of the lens as well)

The only con I found in this lens is not being able to use any filter. But I have yet to try to hand-held a piece of square filter in front of it. It might just work.

Price: RM 2,200.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 2,200.00

Total spending to date: RM 15,450.03

Puchong Lake - Sunset II

2010-11-21T22:38:00.007+08:00

Woke up from an evening nap today and realized the sky is so beautiful, so I rushed to Puchong again for another round of sunset.

Too bad I arrived quite late, I have no time to think and shoot right on.

(HDR - 7 exposures)

(The magic moment in HDR - 7 exposures)

Result? Bad composition. Lesson learned - always arrive earlier.

Puchong Lake - Sunset

2010-11-17T23:37:00.007+08:00

This is the 1st time I do sunset with liewwk and gang. Can't see the sun though as the cloud is thick.

(HDR - 7 shots)

Tanjung Sepat Sunset

2010-11-07T22:39:00.007+08:00

I went to Tanjung Sepat and hoped for a beautiful sunset, but the sky was disappointing. So I decided to do long exposure seascape in Black & White (B&W).

(The beach is kinda dirty)

To obtain long shutter speed, 3 pcs of Cokin ND filters was used, total of 6-stops reduction. However, it gives heavy magenta cast when stacked, so going B&W is wise choice.

Aaron & Shin Yee's Wedding

2010-10-23T23:59:00.017+08:00

I never shoot weddings, and will not shoot weddings for commercial purpose due to personal preference. However, this is special case as the bride is my cousin. This is also the first time I add textures into my photo. I chose Black & White as my theme for the post-processing (PP) work-flow.

Note: I'm not the primary photographer thus all my shots are not up-closed and in the best position/angle.

There are some shots I missed as there are just too many photographers blocking me:
- The dress (hanged)
- Zipping the dress
- Make up
- Ring exchanging
- Kissing
- etc...

Penang Trip 2010

2010-10-08T15:30:00.077+08:00

This is perhaps the 3rd or 4th time I visit Penang. However, we decided to include Ipoh in our itinerary. Ipoh is famous for its Dim Sum & Chicken Rice. It takes 2 hours to reach Ipoh from KL if you are driving on an average speed of 120-130km/h.

Our first stop - Ming Court Dim Sum (明阁点心), 7:35am:

(Ming Court Dim Sum)
4 35 49.18 N
101 05 101.19 E
●●●●○

The taste was not bad, I would have rate it 4/5. The portion is smaller than what I found in KL, but hey, it is much more cheaper. My favourite dish would be the 虾卖 (which is a prawn variant of Siu Mai). But the Taro Dumpling (芋角) was so so. I will surely re-visit this place in future, and luckily, it is not weekend or else it will be packed with people.

It was still early after we finished our breakfast, so we decided to visit some temples in Ipoh. The first one is Sam Poh Tong (三宝洞). It was still early so not much visitors there.

(As you can see, the temple is built inside the cave)

The next temple is just next to Sam Poh Tong, which is called Nam Tian Tong (南天洞). This temple is also built inside the cave and it is much more larger than the previous one.

We head to our next destination - Penang around 9:30am.

We reached our hotel around 11:45am and we are only able to check in after 2pm. So we decided to visit Kek Lok Si Temple (极乐寺), which is a (another) famous temple in Penang Island.

(After years of construction, the pavilion is still unfinished)

(The Kuan Yin statue, made from bronze)

(one of the statue inside Kek Lok Si)

(Reminds me of Bali)

(View from Kek Lok Si)

We had our lunch in Air Itam Town, which is just below the Kek Lok Si. The famous food in this town is Asam Laksa. It costs RM2.50 now and it taste not as good as last time already. I will rate it 3/5.

(Air Itam Asam Laksa)
5º 24' 04.55" N
100º 16' 41" E
●●●○○

We head back to hotel to get check in after lunch. The hotel is quite new, but, scarce of parking space. Only 12 cars can be parked in the hotel although it has one of the few hydraulic car lift parking system in Malaysia.

(This is already the maximum depth I can park and the car is still 2 inches longer than the space, making it unable to go underground)

After some rest, we decided to get some cendol near KOMTAR. I did not save the exact location in GPS previously, I almost gave up looking for the stall. In my opinion, all cendol tasts almost the same. So I rate it 3/5 as it does not surprise me.

(Penang Road Cendol)
5º 25' 1.62" N
100º 19' 50.32" E
●●●○○

We noticed that the weather is good (very hot actually), and we decided to go for sunset in Batu Ferringhi. It was Friday and 6pm, the traffic in Penang is horrible. We almost missed the sunset by just minutes.

Too bad I couldn't get a shot where the sun disappears in the horizon. The West side of Penang Island is mostly mangroves area and unreachable by car.

Our dinner took place in Gurney Drive and we ordered vast varieties of food and we just shared them. The Fried Clam with Eggs & Tapioca (蛤煎) is nice.

We decided to spend our night with drinking game in our hotel room. It was a great night although not even half a bottle of Bacardi is consumed.

(KO #1)

(KO #2)

===== Day 2 =====

We only manage to wake up at 9:30am, due to the effect of hangover. We decided to try something special this morning. Penang is not only famous for its Chinese Cuisines, but the famous Nasi Kandar was actually originated in Penang.

It was very delicious, perhaps the best Nasi Kandar I have tried (I seldom eat Nasi Kandar though). However, it earned the rating of 4/5 from me.

(Line Clear Nasi Kandar)
5º 25' 10.9" N
100º 19' 57.27" E
●●●●○

Our next stop is Clan Jetty (姓氏桥), which is one of the shooting location of Ice Kacang Puppy Love (初恋红豆冰). The Clan Jetty is actually Stilt Houses built beside the jetty. It was one of the earliest Chinese Establishment in Penang. The largest settlement among the 6 Clans is Chew Jetty (姓周桥). We only managed to visit Chew Jetty and Tan Jetty (姓陈桥). I should have done more research before I go there. We have missed out Lim Jetty (姓林桥)，Lee Jetty (姓李桥), Yeoh Jetty (姓杨桥) & Mixed Clan Jetty (杂姓桥).

(The Chew Jetty overseen from Tan Jetty)

(The roadsigns - HDR)

(A burnt house - HDR)

Our next destination is War Museum. It is one of the few outdoor museum in Malaysia (the only one, perhaps?).

The museum was re-bulit based on a fortress set up by the British in 1930 to defend coastal as well as inland enemies. It fell to the hands of Japanese during World War II and became a place of horror where POWs are kept, torture and killed. It was abandoned in 1945 after the end of World War II and left deserted for years, until it was rebuilt into a museum 3 decades later.

The concept of this museum has drew my attention and curiosity. overall, it worth a visit. The ticket costs RM15 and I found it not cheap but still quite reasonable. They are charging me RM2 extra for taking photos and this is what I felt unhappy about it. People like me are actually promoting their museum via Blog and yet they charge me extra money?

(British and Sikh soldiers)

(The entrance of the bunker)

(Escape Tunnel, about 150cm [4.9ft] in height and 60 cm [2ft] in width)

(The remains of the equipment used in the bunker)

(Ammunition supply line)

(This is even narrower, I have to craw in order to get through it, and at the end of it, its a approx. 10m [30ft] tall ladder, I wonder who designed this)

(Top view, it is deeper than what you seen)

(This is where we get out)

(The remains of a gun turret)

(Hmm....wtf?)

(This is how the Japanese invade Malaya - via bicycle)

(Remains of the barracks)

We finish exploring the museum around 3:30pm and yet we are not hungry, this is due to the Nasi Kandar was a heavy meal. We head back to hotel and take a bath as well as getting some rest. It was a tedious day.

I suggested to have our dinner at JF Fettes Park Western Food Restaurant and they all agreed. This is one of my favourite western food restaurant in Malaysia. I will rate my dish a 4/5 as the meat was tender and nicely fried, not too dry.

(JF Fettes Park Western Food)
5º 27' 9.83" N
100º 18' 8.48" E
●●●●○

Immediately after the meal, we head to a cafe to have some drinks and hangout. This place was recommended by my Penang friend and it is one of the most famous spot for hanging out. In case if you don't know, it is a local culture that people gather in a place, order some drinks and sit there whole night chit-chatting.

Due to the caffeine in the coffee, we are not sleepy at all. We decided to go for some supper nearby our hotel. I tried some Hokkien Mee at Burma Road. It was still as tasty as the first time I tried it few years back, but less hot. Rating 4/5.

(Old Green House Hokkien Mee)
5º 25' 24.71" N
100º 19' 15.81" E
●●●●○

We went back to hotel and get some sleep. Totally exhausted.

===== Day 3 =====

We had Char Kuey Teow (CKT) for our breakfast and this plate of CKT costs me RM6.50. Expensive. But quite tasty. 3/5.

(Ah Leng Char Kuey Teow)
5º 24' 46.52" N
100º 19' 10.2" E
●●●○○

Immediately after our breakfast, we head to Air Item to buy some pickled fruits. That place is famous for its Nutmeg. Another point of interests is a street which sells shirts and souvenirs.

(Nostalgic right?)

(A pond full of tortoises)

The check out time is 12pm, we went back to the hotel and get some bath and packed out stuffs and load it into the car. After buying some famous Mung Bean Biscuit (豆沙饼), we head to Fort Cornwallis since it is still early. We did not pay for the entrance to go in though.

We finally decided to go Ipoh for our lunch. I have heard that chicken rice in Ipoh was great but I never really tried one in Ipoh before.

This chicken rice is superb as expected. I like the tenderness of the chicken as well as the sauce used The pork meatball is also nice. 4/5 rating.

(Onn Kee Ipoh Chicken Rice)
4º 53' 38.26" N
101º 5' 3.42" E
●●●●○

Our craziness dosen't end here. It was decided immediately after our lunch that we should have our dinner in Kajang. Kajang's Satay to be precise.

The satay was not too dry, tastes quite good but the skill of the cook needs to be improved. Some of the meat are not even cooked! Yuck. I would rate it 3/5.

(HJ. Samuri Kajang Satay)
2º 59' 36.64" N
101º 47' 13.35" E
●●●○○

There goes our eating-trip. Departed with empty stomach and returned with extra weight. Tired but satisfied.

Ulu Bendul 02

2010-10-02T18:27:00.018+08:00

I revisited this place for the 2nd time.

(my first Fungus Weevil - only managed to get 1 shot)

(Can't exactly tell what is this, might be a stick insect, very well camouflaged, I almost missed it)

(Another well camouflaged spider)

(Tree Frog - Natural Light)

(Tree Frog - Natural Light)

(Tree Frog close-up)

(This spider is freaky, the leg span is around the size of my palm)

(Natural Light Dead Leaf Mantis - might be Deroplatys lobata juvenile)

(Crab Spider - Thomisus sp.)

(Weird Mantis with appearance of Crickets & Cockroaches - Metallyticus splendidus)

(Very tiny stick insect, 1:1)

(very special & beautiful caterpillar)

Canon EOS 1000D + 18-55mm Sold

2010-09-25T11:44:00.005+08:00

Finally, I sold my first ever DSLR that I owned in my life. It was a decent camera but the performance could not cope with my requirements anymore. So, time to let go.

Price: RM 1,100
Discount: -
Net: RM 1,100

Total spending to date: RM 14,350.03 - RM1,100
..........................= RM 13,250.03

New Gears in the House XXII

2010-09-22T22:16:00.007+08:00

After a week of so of waiting, I finally got the colour that I wanted. Alpine Green + Black! Remember when I bought the Lowepro Bottle Bag and B+W filter from yannick? I was planned to purchase a Lowepro Flipside 400 AW that time, but too bad he only has Black at that moment.

IMO, I feel my Green+Black looks nicer than my friend's pure Black Flipside 400.

(with tripod attached)

(Tripod holder is concealed under a zipper)

(The tripod holder)

(The outer compartment)

(SD/CF Compartments)

(Lowepro's patented All-Weather Cover)

(I love the amount of padding on the waist strap)

(Inside the Lowepro Flipside 400 AW)

Price: RM 450.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 450.00

Total spending to date: RM 14,350.03

Rennie 03

2010-09-16T14:11:00.008+08:00

My 3rd photoshoot with her.

(to be continued...)

Kuantan & Sungai Lembing 03

2010-09-12T15:20:00.025+08:00

This is another trip to Kuantan & Sungai Lembing. This is a promised trip which they planned quite early (perhaps 4-5 months ago?).

As usual, our itinerary is almost the same with the previous trip where we'll stop at Teluk Cempedak first. The weather was very bad, it has beenraining whole day and the sky is monotonous.

(It is actually raining, thus, the umbrella...)

(She really enjoyed playing water)

("Are you looking for me?")

(HDR - 3 exposures)

(Converted B&W retro style)

However, there are still quite a number of people playing in the water. We head to buy some snacks and seafood (dehydrated) at Kuantan town after a brief walk at Teluk Cempedak.

(Dinner time)

The place I stayed this time is different from my previous 2 trips, it is actually a beautiful holiday resort with BBQ pit and recreational areas. Off course, it is more expensive. After having the dinner, I went for a short night macro session alone as I saw quite a number of bugs. However, due to non stop raining whole day, I failed to find any interesting subjects.

(Mayfly with missing legs)

(Shield Bug)

===== Day 2 =====

The sky is still cloudy when we went to bed last night, so we decided to wake up late on the next morning because we do not need to climb the hill before sunrise. This particular weekend is actually Hari Raya, resulted a large number of tourists flocked into this small town. I have never seen so many tourists in the last 2 trips.

While climbing the hill, we used almost 2 hours because there are too many people coming down the hill, making the only path jammed with people. We had to walk slowly and wait for other people to make way for us. Besides, I even saw my secondary school schoolmate when we are climbing the hill.

Result? No sunrise & fog due to the sun is already too hot at that time.

The weather is getting a lot better after 9am, so we decided to have our lunch in Kuantan. We head to Teluk Cempedak again to have our lunch and the weather is stunningly good. Making the sea look so clean and clear. At last we decided to soak ourselves in it. The beach today is so crowded.

(Nice sky)

(Spotted this cute little Japanese-looking kid playing in the water)

(Cute eh?)

A trip to Sungai Lembing will not be completed without trying their famous roasted pork. As expected, today is a public holiday cum weekend, the crowd is expected. I waited 1 hour to get my portion of roasted pork. As delicious as usual =)

We were all exhausted today and went to bed around 10:30pm.

===== Day 3 =====

Due to my friends need to go back to KL early, we actually did not visit any place today. We checkout our room and had some breakfast and head straight back to KL. Luckily there were no jam.

We ended this trip with satisfaction although we did not visit much places and did not managed to see the beautiful sunrise.

Lowepro Flipside 300 Sold

2010-09-08T21:23:00.006+08:00

Sold my Lowepro Flipside 300 today to a nice gentleman from PhotoMalaysia. Reason is because my gears has outgrown the capacity of the bag. I am planning to purchase a Lowepro Flipside 400 AW though for my future short trip. My Lowepro Vertex 200 AW will be used for long trips instead.

Price: RM 350
Discount: RM50
Net: RM 300

Total spending to date: RM 14,200.03 - RM300
..........................= RM 13,900.03

New Gears in the House XXI

2010-09-06T22:06:00.010+08:00

2 items from yannick this time.

1) Lowepro Bottle Bag
2) B+W 67mm UV Filter

(The SlipLock system)

(It can hold a 1600ml bottle)

(The coating appears to be green)

Price: RM 30 + RM160
Discount: not sure, but price above is discounted
Net: RM 190

Total spending to date: RM 14,200.03

Edit: After a test of this UV filter in my Kuantan Trip, I found this filter is currently the best filter I had. I experienced very minimum CA and slight vignetting only (well, both the CA & vignetting could be caused by my lens). The best part is, any water droplets on the glass can be blown away using a rocket blower and does not leave any stain like cheap filters. Highly recommended.

New Gears in the House XX

2010-08-28T23:59:00.016+08:00

I still can't live without a remote shutter. It is quite inconvenient for me to use the 2 second timer and most importantly, I can't do bulb exposure!

I bough a Phottix Cleon II 2-in-1 Wired/Wireless Remote Control from Shashinki.com and received it today. As usual, their service is fast and efficient. This gadget can be used either wired or wireless. In wired mode, everything will be same as the conventional wired remote shutter, single shoot, half-press focus & bulb mode and no battery is required.

In wireless mode, a transmitter is needed. The unique part of this Phottix Cleon II is, I can even trigger bulb mode in wireless mode! It also enables me to switch to 2 second delay from single shot using just my transmitter and I do not need to change the setting on my camera. Furthermore, I can even trigger few cameras of different brand at the same time using a single transmitter. Off course, I will need additional receivers.

For anyone who is in need a wireless trigger with bulb mode, I highly recommend Phottix Cleon II. I also bought 2 battery cases for 4AA batteries.

(holds firmly 4 AA batteries)

(even for AAA batteries, the case will hold the batteries nicely in place and it will not move)

Price: RM 115.00 + RM8.00
Discount: RM2.52
Net: RM 120.48

Total spending to date: RM 14,010.03

Putrajaya 02

2010-08-28T23:59:00.011+08:00

Went to Putrajaya with JH. Putrajaya has no excitement for me now.

TTDI 02

2010-08-28T12:16:00.004+08:00

Very tiny Jumping Spider, I have to crop extensively.

Phottix Battery Grip BP450 & Phottix Wired Remote Control C6 Sold

2010-08-27T21:29:00.008+08:00

.
Since I updated to 7D, these items has been sleeping in my Dry Box. I finally found a new owner for them.

Price: RM 200 + RM25
Discount: -
Net: RM 225

Total spending to date: RM 14,114 .55 - RM225
..........................= RM 13,889.55

Endau-Rompin (Peta) Trip

2010-08-21T23:59:00.030+08:00

This was an unexpected trip for me. I was informed on Thursday evening by Phili p. And I confirmed the trip on Friday morning. It was a 3-day 2-night trip to Endau Rompin (ER) National Park (Kg. Peta) in Johor. ER is the 2nd national park gazetted by the Government of Malaysia and its the 2nd largest national park in Malaysia. Person who come along are liewwk, Jason, Andy & his girlfriend Maureen and off course Philip himself.

We departed from KL around 5:15am in the morning and we arrived in Kluan g around 8:30am. After some simple breakfast, we continue our journey to Kahang and register ourselves at the Johor National Park Corp. (JNPC) office and wait for the 4x4 to fetch us into the jungle.

After an hour or two of bumpy ride, we finally reached our resting place around 11:30am. It looked like a holiday chalet instead of a jungle camp (well, I was expecting to camp). However we did not take the chalet because it is quite expensive, we stayed in the dormitory (hostel) which can fit 30+ person. However, we were the only guests in the dorm for both nights.

(4 of us are using Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag)

After some lunch, without wasting any time, we started our 1st macro session. However the timing seems to be wrong, perhaps due to raining season. We can hardly find any bugs. We cant even spot a single bug on a tree trunk (which is very unusual for a jungle area). So you can totally forget about exotic & rare bugs.

(Robber Fly with Prey - Natural Light)

(Damselfly - Natural Light)

(A planthopper nymph)

(Some small and cute mushrooms)

(Coral Mushroom)

We ended our first macro session around 5:30pm because we can hardly find any interesting subject to shoot. We are saving our energy for our next macro session (night macro).

We started our night macro around 8:30pm. Liew said he saw some Blue-eyed Cuckoo Bee in the afternoon and he brought us to their possible resting ground. This was my first night macro experience and I instantly found out that my lighting gear is insufficient for night macro. My torch is too dim to find any bugs. However, this night macro session was a disappointment as we could not find the bee and we only managed to find some weevil, shield bug and toads.

(Toad)

(Weevil)

We ended our first night around 11:30pm and we are resting for the next day.

===== Day 2 =====

The 2nd day was a tough day. We decided to go for a 45 mins boat ride and proceed to a waterfall named Upih Guling (I do not understand the word "Upih" but Guling literally means "Rolling"). I have learned a lesson here: Never believe what the Orang Asli (Indigenous People/Aborigines) said in terms of distance and ETA. I was told that it is only 1 and a half hour trek to reach the waterfall, but in fact, it took us almost 2 and a half hour to reach.

(The jetty)

(Let's roll!)

(Taken on the boat)

The Orang Asli need no rest and they can continue to trek the jungle for whole day. The city-people like us are totally exhausted when we finally arrived the waterfall.

(Kuala Jasin)

(Snapped this at our resting place - Kuala Marong. According to Philip, these fish are the famous 红吉罗 - Red Mahseer [Tor tambroides], which costs RM280-300 per kg alive)

(Upih Guling Waterfall)

The waterfall is famous for the unique shapes of the rocks and pothole, due to swirling water that erodes the rock in over thousands of years.

(Potholes)

There is another beautiful lake nearby which is called Tasik Air Biru, literally means Blue Water Lake. However, we were too exhausted to visit the place and we head straight back to our dorm. It was another gruesome 2 hours trek and we finally reached our dorm around 3:00pm.

After taking some rest, we decided to give another try for night macro. It seems that luck is not on our side as it started to rain after 30 mins we went into the jungle. Another worthless night.

(Almost full moon - 2 days before 15th of every month in Chinese Calendar)

We went to bed quite early (9:45pm) as there are nothing much activity we can do.

===== Day 3 =====

This morning we decided to go for a jungle walk/trek in a trail called Pantai Burung Trail, literally means Bird Beach Trail.

We were supposed to follow the jungle trail which is only 30 mins walk. However it rained so heavily last night, many of the trees has actually collapsed and blocking our road. We have no choice to get out of the trek and use the main road instead (which is a solid tarmac road). We finally reached the so called Bird Beach (it is actually a point bar, with beach-like sand, thus the name). The scenery there was not too bad, and Liew even located the Polar Star's location and keep it as a record for future star trail photography usage.

(Pantai Burung sunrise)

(HDR - 3 exposures)

We are leaving this place around 11am, so without wasting much time, we head back to our dorm and took a bath and start to pack our stuffs. We departed the place around 11am and reached Kahang around 2:00pm. After having a lunch at Kahang, we continued our journey home as the next day is working day. Back to urban life.

Bukit Tinggi 04

2010-08-14T17:45:00.009+08:00

4th visit, with Philip & Carmen.

(I found this Tree Frog sleeping on top of a piece of leaf)

(Philip found this special Longhorn Beetle - Natural Light)

(Same Longhorn Beetle close-up)

(Carmen found this Longhorn Beetle)

(Shield Bug)

(Very tiny Beetle)

(Alien-face Beetle)

(Jumping Spider with Prey)

(Flower Mantis [Theopropus elegans]- Natural Light)

(Flower Mantis - Natural Light, stacked from 4 pictures)

(Hmmm.....finger lickin' good....)

(７D + MP-E 65mm, 3:1 magnification)

Kuantan & Sungai Lembing Revisited - Day 3

2010-08-09T23:50:00.005+08:00

(...continued)

The 3rd day was a gruesome day. We had to wake up around 4:15am to prepare for the hike. We started our journey around 5am. I was so tired due to yesterday's activity (Waterfall) and my legs are pain. Furthermore, I am carrying a bag loaded with my camera gears and it weighs more than 6kg.

However, I still managed to reach the top before 6am. The weather was a bit disappointment as the cloud are too thick. I could not get a nice shot of sunrise.

We reached the bottom of the hill around 8:15am and had some breakfast. We went back to our hostel and get some rest.

Around 2pm, we checkout and went straight to Kuantan to have our lunch there. We decided to go Beserah and take some photo. Beserah is famous for the shooting location of a local movie - "Woohoo". I never watch this movie though.

It was around 6pm when we finally depart from Kuantan and head to Kuala Lumpur. I reached home around 11pm after having dinner with them. What a fun-packed trip we had. I will certainly visit this place again.

Kuantan & Sungai Lembing Revisited - Day 2

2010-08-08T23:59:00.012+08:00

(...continued)

I arranged the Rainbow Waterfall trip on the second day instead of the last day due to the time needed to venture into the waterfall. It would have been too late for us to bath, rest and checkout if I arranged this on the last day. We departed around 5am.

In order to go in the waterfall, you will need to rent a vehicle (a lorry or a 4x4). the trip needs 2 hours to get in and another 2 hours to get out. We have to travel on wheel for 1 hour, and travel on foot for another hour.

I have read about this waterfall on other blogs before this, and what they said was right. It is so bumpy that we are exhausted after we arrived the place they park the car. The 4x4 we traveled with was overloaded, resulted severe damage on the fuel tank and its suspension. The suspension coil and bars are broken. However, we still managed to reach the place safely.

We started to walk on foot and we actually have to cross several rivers. We were lucky that leeches didn't turn out. We reach the water fall around 9:30am. The journey was more tough than what I expect as we have to climb some rocks in order to reach the waterfall.

(Vertical panorama of the waterfall - 3 shots)

I was so lucky to found a Tiger Beetle (and I expected to encounter some interesting bugs, that's why I brought my macro lens and DIY diffuser).

We reached our hostel around 1pm. After taking some rest and bath, we decided to drive around Sg. Lembing. we visited the suspension bridge and noodle factory as usual, and this time we even went to the Sg. Lembing Museum which I never went before.

The place is quite attractive as we learned about the history of Sg. Lembing. The Museum is formally PCCL (Pahang Consolidated Company Limited) Manager's House.

We ended our day with another round of steamboat (yes, it was yesterday's leftovers).

(To be continued...)

Kuantan & Sungai Lembing Revisited - Day 1

2010-08-07T23:59:00.014+08:00

Here I am again, Kuantan & Sungai Lembing. Since it is not the first time I came to this place, I will not explain much on Kuantan & Sg. Lembing. More details can be seen here.

Our itinerary for the 3-day trip: Kuantan > Sg. Lembing > Kuantan > Kuala Lumpur

As usual, we started our journey early in the morning after breakfast, approx 8:45am, and we reached Teluk Cempedak around 11:40am.

(HDR - 7 exposures)

We enjoyed much in Teluk Cempedak although the weather is quite bad and the water is muddy. The photo we took look grayish and flat. We even went to the gulf beside Teluk Cempedak - Teluk Tongkang. The place is full of rocks and it is actually quite beautiful.

After spending half day in Teluk Cempedak, we head to Carrefour to buy our dinner - steamboat (Hot Pot)! The last time I went into the wrong mall, ended up in Giant instead of Carrefour. I finally had a chance to visit my outlet in Kuantan.

We finally reach Sg. Lembing around 6:30pm. It rained so heavily that we could not see anything more than 5m away. After checking in, we start to bath and prepare for our dinner. However, we experience several time of electricity disruption, making preparing dinner difficult.

(This room appears to be bright is actually due to my bounce flash)

This is the first time I have steamboat with the aid of car light.

We call this car-light dinner (instead of candle-light dinner). Besides steamboat, we had some roast pig too. Our Sg. Lembing Trip will not be complete without it.

Anyway, we actually had fun dining under car light. We went to bed around 12am and luckily the electricity has resumed.

(To be continued...)

TTDI 01

2010-07-18T21:43:00.008+08:00

This is the 1st time I use 7D for macro. Result is not as good as I expected. Probably is due to my lighting set-up. I need to improvise it.

However, the convenient of 7D is there, There are many aspects that I like in 7D when I shooting macro. One of them is the ability to change the focus point by using the joystick and doing it without referring to the LCD screen, and therefore I do not need to take my eyes off the viewfinder. Another is the lovely 100% viewfinder! Not to mention the lovely 3" LCD screen that I can use to check whether my focus is spot on (Well, my 1000D's screen looks awful and it is not convenient to check the focusing of objects).

(A tiny damselfly - about an inch long)

(Huge Robberfly - about an inch long)

(Another Robberfly)

(Shield Bug?)

(Male Ant-mimic Spider - Myrmarachne plataleoides)

(Female Ant-mimic Spider - Myrmarachne plataleoides)

(A dragonfly eating another dragonfly's head)

Not much special found today in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI) Park.

New Gears in the House XIX

2010-07-17T12:34:00.005+08:00

I have been using my 1000D since 532 days ago. I have gained a lot of knowledge through that camera, and it is time for me to move on.

I finally decided to purchase my EOS 7D today after much considerations of my current shooting style and needs. Another option was EOS 5D Mark II. However, due to several reasons, I picked EOS 7D instead.

The body costs me RM5,150 and the 8GB SanDisk Extreme CF Card costs me RM200. I wanted to buy the Phottix Cable Shutter Release but it was out of stock.

Price: RM 5,150.00 + RM200.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 5,350.00

Total spending to date: RM 14,114 .55

For my own record:
Last shutter count as at 17/07/10 = 14,972
Days of using 1000D: 532 days

New Gears in the House XVIII

2010-07-14T20:06:00.006+08:00

This EF-S 18-135mm lens is for my upcoming body - Canon EOS 7D

I am planning to sell my 1000D and the 18-55mm kit lens, together with all the related accessories (battery grip, cable shutter release...etc)

I bought this 1 month old lens from someone at Photomalaysia Forums.

Price: RM 1,100.00
Discount: RM 200.00
Net: RM 900.00

Total spending to date: RM 8,794 .55

Pantai Remis

2010-06-27T19:21:00.003+08:00

I planned a dinner with my friends at a restaurant nearby Tanjung Karang, we stopped by at Pantai Remis (nearby Kapar) to have some pics of sunset. However, it was very cloudy and we can hardly see the sun.

Bukit Tinggi 03

2010-06-21T16:39:00.009+08:00

(Assassin Bug - Natural Light)

(Flower Mantis? - Only managed to get this shot and it fled)

(A Sleeping Bee)

(Wasp stand like a Mantis)

(Longhorn Beetle)

(Ant-mimic Spider)

(Very tiny Tree Frog)

Not much bugs today, guess its not the season.

Ulu Yam 01

2010-06-18T19:56:00.005+08:00

Its Ulu Yam this time with Phillip Wee. That place is famous for its "Lor Mee" (some sort of noodle, not my liking) and recreational waterfalls.

(Orb Spider?)

(Jumping Spider)

(Ant-mimic Spider, Myrmarachne sp.)

(Wasp-mimic Fly)

(Robber Fly - Natural Light)

Ulu Bendul 01

2010-06-12T21:13:00.005+08:00

Went Ulu Bendul with Master Liew (liewwk) and Philip Wee. Got to know few friends like Shunfa.

(Natural Light, I like this picture)

(Female Ichneumon Wasp laying egg)

(A very tiny spider - heavily cropped)

It started to rain around 2pm. Lucky my new bag is equipped with AW Cover (rain coat). Love it.

Water Drop Photography

2010-06-06T16:58:00.009+08:00

I wanted to try this since I got my macro lens long time ago. However, due to my laziness, I never tried one until today.

The set up was simple, but for first-timers, it's a little tricky. It may not be as easy as it seen.

The theory is the same with Smoke Photography, you'll need a tripod, an off-camera flash & preferably a macro lens. I used the same technique to focus on the water drop, pretty much similar to what I did in Smoke Photography. You will need to hold a pen/stick or whatsoever on the spot where the water droplets touches the surface, then use your camera's manual focus to focus on the pen/stick, and you're done with the focusing part.

I use an aperture of f/16 + 1/200, flash power set to around 1/4. I used some white paper to bounce my flash towards the water droplets and do not point the flash directly on the water.

After almost 30 minutes of set up, I'm done with it and start my shooting session.

Because the container I used is red in colour, thus the water droplets appear red. I'll just stick with it.

What about this 3-Colour Collage? I bet it'll look nice on big canvas prints!

(This is my set up, sorry for the pic quality)

i-City Revisited

2010-05-27T12:53:00.003+08:00

Just re-visited this place with a friend. The last time was too crowded, so we decided to come on weekdays night. The traffic is a lot better.

Anyway, its a beautiful night with full moon.

New Gears in the House XVII

2010-05-26T15:33:00.004+08:00

Although this is not 100% a camera gear, but I only use this solely for Photography purpose (backup & storage), so it should be counted as a part of my photography spending.

The capacity of this 3.5" external HDD is 1TB. This capacity is still quite a bit of "dream" and difficult to obtained by home users few years back when we are all still using HDDs lesser than 100GB. This shows that the advancement of technology.

(Internet Image)

In my opinion, RM308 isn't expensive for this capacity and it comes with 3 years warranty. Sweet.

Price: RM 308.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 308.00

Total spending to date: RM 7,894 .55

Langkawi Trip

2010-05-16T07:30:00.012+08:00

This was my first trip to Langkawi. This island is famous for its duty-free status. After a long and gruesome work for months, it is finally a chance for me to relax myself.

We reached Langkawi at 8:30am, Sunday. Below are the places that we have visited.

Day 1

(Langkawi Cable Car)

(View from Langkawi Cable Car)

(Tanjung Rhu Sunset, note that the walking path to the opposite island is disappearing due to rising tide.)

(Tanjung Rhu Sunset)

Day 2

(Fish Feeding @ Pulau Payar)

(Dataran Helang - Eagle Square)

Day 3

All shots were taken with my 1000D + kit lens only as I am not able to carry too many things on board, not even my tripod.

The 3 days weather was not very good with occasionally light rain. Due to the grayish sky throughout the day, this set of pic was quite heavily post-processed to bring out the colours.

Sigh, after 1⅓ years of photography I still come out with crappy pictures...=(

New Gears in the House XVI

2010-05-15T17:00:00.005+08:00

DCIM 2010 was a big disappointment. Last year's is better if you asked me. The booths are not interesting & the stage is too small.

Anyway, I went DCIM 2010 is to buy a tripod for my friend. I'm helping my friend's girlfriend to choose a decent tripod as his early birthday present.

On the midst of looking around the booths, I spotted this "might-be-neoprene-material" camera strap, MIC off course and it costs only RM15. So I will give it a try since it is not too expensive and I am looking for a more comfortable strap. I just hate the original Canon strap where it causes neck pain after long hour of using.

Test Result (27/05/10): Not really good if compared to straps like Op/Tech USA, the strap is slightly narrow. A wider one will feel better.

Price: RM 15.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 15.00

Total spending to date: RM 7,586 .55

New Gears in the House XV

2010-05-09T14:14:00.021+08:00

I am so excited because I finally got my dream bag - Lowepro Vertex 200 AW! Although it cause a big hole on my wallet, but I feel it is worthy.

The bag was purchased from yannick - a trust worthy merchant of camera accessories & bags, well known for his good service (and price off course) & genuine goods.

(I only found of recently that the buckle has a built in whistle for emergency purpose. Nice one)

The bag is only available in this colour. The water resistant YKK zippers is my favourite part of the bag. It has a laptop compartment that can fit most 15.4" screen laptop. I have just tested the bag by filling up my full gears + tripod + 15.4" laptop, it weighs an astonishing 10kg (22lbs). This is certainly beyond most of the airline carry-on weight limit. However, I should feel quite comfortable walking around with 10kgs load with me due to the superb harness design (I have yet to prove this).

Nevertheless, this bag looks quite promising. This is the reason why I love Lowepro bags.

PS: I'm well prepared for my upcoming Pulau Langkawi, Sungai Lembing & Terengganu Trips!

Pros:
- Very large compartments for camera, lenses & accessories
- Superb built quality, topnotch material used.
- Extraordinary adjustable harness. Very well disigned.
- Excellent weight distribution, compared to my Lowepro Flipside 300.

Cons:
- Relatively heavy (3.32kg)
- Bad design on internal accessories pouch (translucent pockets). They are too small. Should be combined together and form a bigger compartment.
- No water bottle pocket
- Only one colour available (though not a problem for me)
- Expensive

In conclusion, this bag is a beauty, I'll rate:

9.8/10 for the Craftsmanship (material used)
9.0/10 for the Outlook (the design)
8.5/10 for the Performance (the capacity etc)
7.5/10 for the Value for money
Overall: 8.7/10

Price: RM 950.00
Discount: RM 200.00
Net: RM 750.00

Total spending to date: RM 7,571 .55

Shah Alam i-City

2010-05-01T23:59:00.000+08:00

This was my first visit to this spectacular place. The LED lights here are awesome! However, I think I picked a wrong day to come here. It was Labour Day and it is crowded like nobody's business.

So I decided to focus more on my friends rather than the scene.

I will return to this place some day in the future, perhaps weekdays.

Bukit Tinggi Revisited

2010-04-24T18:07:00.015+08:00

Insects today are 80% less compared to last time I visit this place, and I don't know why.

Anyway, the main protagonist today - weevil:

(Ericydeus lautus)

Which colour do you prefer?

(Dicromantispa sayi or Leptomantsispa pulchella? Oh my...)

And yes, my new DIY Macro Rig test result is......FAILED.
I'm not satisfied with the lighting. Will consider to change the material of diffuser later on.

New Gears in the House XIV

2010-04-21T23:09:00.003+08:00

This was an unexpected purchase. I bought it off from someone that I knew. The reason I grab it is because it is cheaper than market price and the item is basically brand new.

This dry cabinet will be useful when I eventually expend my arsenal of gears.

Price: RM 740.00
Discount: RM140.00
Net: RM 600.00

Total spending to date: RM 6,821.55

DIY Macro Rig II

2010-04-03T19:50:00.003+08:00

This is my new DIY Macro Rig since Sept 2009.

After working with my previous rig in the field for few months, I have (or wanted to) made some improvements based on few factor:

1) Power Drainage
2) Quality of Light
3) Weight & Size

After few considerations, I come out with this:

Although I have not really tested it in the field, but I can already feel the improvements on #1 & #3. It costs more than 3 stop less power to achieve the same output compared to my previous one. And it's obviously smaller and lighter than my previous one.

I will post more field test updates soon. Stay tuned.

First Macro Outing with liewwk

2010-03-27T18:14:00.010+08:00

For those who don't know liewwk, pls click here.

Today was my lucky day as I learned a lot from him, from shooting to post-process (PP).

That place I went was lovely. Unlike other macro spots that requires "hunting" around, the place I went have plenty of bugs and they are waiting for you to shoot them. Impressive huh?

(Wonderful looking moth, focus stacked from 2 photo)

(This frog is very tiny, shot at 2:1)

(Weird looking moth)

(Huge cicada, size of my palm)

(1st try on natural light macro)

（2:1 magnification using MP-E 65mm)

First Win

2010-03-12T20:00:00.011+08:00

After 405 days with DSLR photography (officially), I finally won my first ever price through photography.

The shot was not planned. It just happened that I saw it, and shot it. The result was satisfactory so I decided to submit it to the local Digital Camera Magazine (DCM).

After several months, as usual, I bought an issue of DCM, flip through it and saw my shot in it. The moment is memorable and what I felt is just indescribable in words.

(The shot that published in DCM)

(Original photo)

This shot won me a Tamrac Adventure 6 (5546) Backpack.

UPDATE: I have redeemed my bag on 19/03/10. The bag is too small, impractical to use I would say.

(Built quality is so-so, I'll give 6/10 as the material used is very normal)

(Front view)

(Rear view)

(Side view)

(Main compartment. I can hardly fit anything in. Note: 18-55mm on the left, Tamron SP90mm on the right)

(Front compartment. Note: Sony Ericsson k810i on the right)

(Top compartment. The width of the top compartment is around the length of 580EX II)

(For size comparison purpose)

I wonder how much could I sell this impractical bag for?

UPDATE: Sold the bag on 18/04/10 for RM200.

Price: RM 280.00
Discount: RM80.00
Net: RM 200.00

Total spending to date: RM 6,421.55 - RM200.00 = RM 6,221.55

Model N

2010-03-07T22:22:00.005+08:00

Promised her not to reveal her identity and I can only show those less erotic pictures.....so, enjoy!

New Gears in the House XIII

2010-02-28T18:38:00.010+08:00

Finally received my Cokin Filter Set from Shashinki. I has been a long wait since the filters are out of stock.

Below are a list of items that I ordered.

1 x Cokin H250A ND Graduated Filter Set, consists of:
1 x Cokin P Series Holder
1 x Cokin 121L GND2
1 x Cokin 121M GND4
1 x Cokin 121S GND8

Additional:
1 x Cokin P152 ND2
1 x Cokin P153 ND4
1 x Cokin P154 ND8
1 x TianYa 58mm Adapter Ring
1 x TianYa Filter Case

FYI: TianYa is a cheap imitation of Cokin P Series Accessories from China. I only choose to use TianYa Adaptor Ring and Filter Case as it has nothing to do with image quality. Filter wise, I still use genuine Cokin System.

(Cokin H250A GND Set)

(With 58mm Filter Ring)

(With Cokin P Holder)

(With GND Filter)

(Can hold up to 3 filters and 1 circular polarizer)

(Additional ND2, ND4 & ND8 Filters)

Will post some sample if I have chance to try it out.

Price: RM 446.00
Discount: -
Net: RM 446.00

Total spending to date: RM 6,421.55

Garden Macro

2010-02-06T17:28:00.014+08:00

I always complain about my backyard, though its not too small, but I can hardly find any interesting bugs.

Due to laziness to go out of my house, I've decided to find some bugs to shoot in my garden.

Here are some:

(two very tiny beetles mating - gotcha!)

(Not 1:1, the butterfly is too sensitive and active during that hour)

(Note the hidden beetle!)

(Yellow-winged Darter - Sympetrum flaveolum)

What a lucky day filled with different bugs & insects (normally you can find so much bugs in my garden).

PS: Inconsistency of border & signature is due to my laptop spoiled halfway when I'm processing these pics. I have lost my signature's template =(

Bukit Gasing Macro

2010-01-31T16:22:00.003+08:00

This is not the first time I visit this place. The previous trip I failed to hunt some interesting insect, thus I did not share the photo.

(A weird insect)

(A closer look. Looks like an alien to me)

I heard that its a good place to shoot macro. But I still could not find enough bugs for me to shoot in Bukit Gasing.

Panning 02

2010-01-30T15:24:00.002+08:00

It has been so long (almost a year) since my last panning practice.

All shots @ 1/40s, f/9, ISO 100

Any improvements?

BRP Can-Am Spyder

2010-01-24T22:51:00.001+08:00

Comming soon...

Macro Outing

2010-01-17T22:11:00.004+08:00

Location: KL Orchid Park

Just few shots to share:

(100% crop)

(stamens of Hibiscus)

Studio Macro

2010-01-01T17:45:00.006+08:00

This is the first time I bring an insect to my "mini studio".

My mom found this bug outside of the house and she knew I'm into macro, so she hand it to me.

This beetle is exactly the same species that I shot few days back. Learning from the past experience, I have to shoot this insect in an confined room to prevent it from flying away (I only managed to take 2 shots last time and it flew).

I'm using f/18 + 1/200s all the way this time. The lighting was satisfied as long as the bug's body is not reflective.

I'm not sure the exact ID of this beetle, but it seems like very similar to Figeater beetle (Cotinis mutabilis)

Don't worry, the beetle was not harmed during the shooting and I released it to the nature as soon as I finish shooting.

Happy New Year 2010

2009-12-31T19:25:00.011+08:00

I was so excited to shoot some fireworks today. However, luck is not on my side. This was the first time I shoot fireworks and we picked a wrong spot. The firework is so pathetic that we cant even see clearly.

(Look at the tiny little firework blocked by some building)

(This was my initial composition, I was expecting the firework to come between the KLCC & KL Tower)

It was a mess after I saw the first firework came out from the wrong place. I quickly re-composed my picture without having anytime to re-adjust my focus and shoot right away. The result is? Bad composition, bad focusing and I forgot to shoot in RAW.

Luckily we arrived that place earlier, so we decided to shoot some night scene of KLCC. Well, this is much more better than my firework pictures.

(Shot this hand held)

(Same, hand held)

New Gears in the House XII

2009-12-27T21:38:00.007+08:00

Actually this is not "gear" if you take it seriously, its just an accessory. However I will still register under this heading since its a spending on photography accessory.

Anyway, back to topic. I bought a hot shoe cover (Nikon BS-1) to protect my hot shoe to prevent bad things from happening again. It is a Nikon accessory because Canon do not have this piece of accessory, so, no choice.

One of the disadvantage is you cannot activate your built-in flash when its attached, I seldom use the flash anyway, so it's ok for me.

Price: RM 18.00
Discount: RM 3.00
Net: RM 15.00

Total spending to date: RM 5,975.55

DIY Macro Rig

2009-12-26T16:55:00.006+08:00

My macro lighting set-up is far from perfect, I have to do something to improvise it. Without a budget, you can try this:

It costs almost nothing except a small piece of aluminium foil. Before I have this reflector, the maximum aperture I can have is f/11, any smaller aperture will cause insufficient light (or any smaller aperture with slower shutter speed will cause image blur). Now I probably can stop down until f/16 or even f/22 to achieve more DOF while maintaining my shutter speed.

However its raining when I completed this, I will try the effect when I have a chance.

UPDATE: Here are pics taken by this set-up on f/16. I finally can stop down to f/16 or more while retaining 1/200s shutter speed.

(100% crop)

As you can see, the lighting is better than last time, however, the major problem is the reflection, it is a bit too strong where some of the details are blown out. I still need to fine tune my set-up.

Seafood @ Tanjung Karang

2009-12-25T23:29:00.009+08:00

I would say this play worth a try.

"爽乐乐河边海鲜卡拉 OK" - what a weird name.

Anyway, here are some of the pics:

(Mantis Shrimp - Before)

(Mantis Shrimp - After, can you see the difference??)

Man I gotta say I LOVE this dish, it was my favorite dish. The only seasoning used is salt and it taste splendidly delicious. It costs RM 2.50 per shrimp, not so cheap but its worthwhile. After all, this shrimp is not cheap seafood either.

(Barramundi a.k.a. 石甲鱼 - So so compared to the mantis shrimp, but still tastes quite well)

Besides the 2 dishes above, we also ordered 2kgs of Crab, 1 plate of mini octopus, & a plate of clam (looks like we forgot to order some vegetable!).

The bill came out at RM189.30 for 6 persons, average RM31.55 per person. Still OK for a meal of fresh and tasty seafood in big portion (compared to KL area).

Some pics of the scenery around the restaurant:

For food hunters, I will provide you a coordinate:
3° 23' 59.55" N 101° 10' 15.88" E

Damselfly & Others

2009-12-20T14:40:00.018+08:00

It has been ages since my last macro hunting. I have decided to return to my old place to hunt some dragonflies. However, I found no dragonfly today but damselfly.

This beautiful little Common Bluetail Damselfly (Ischnura senegalensis) was the only damselfly I found today.

(100% Crop - Look at the ommatidium in the middle!)

Is it cute isn't it? As a comparison to dragonflies, damselflies are much more co-operative and less sensitive. However I have no place to move my body to frame for different angle shots.

Here are some other bugs:

(I accidentally spot this well-camouflaged spider when I'm shooting the damselfly)

(I'm not sure what is this)

(Same goes here)

I seriously need a good flash set-up for my macro works. The pics here are poorly exposed.

The Theme is Supposed to be Summer...

2009-12-05T16:20:00.008+08:00

The theme is supposed to be summer, however, due to the bad weather & lighting, I have to shoot in available light only without using reflector (it will have no effect even you use it). Thus I changed to theme to something similar to autumn's low angle & diffused light.

The Group Photo:

Special thanks to the organizers & models =)

Bad Day....Bad Day!!

2009-11-29T20:48:00.007+08:00

I will always remember this day...this is the day where my hot shoe spoiled and I cannot trigger my flashgun!!!

Anyway, back to the point. This is my first try on Thematic Portraiture shooting and I'm very honored to be in part of this session.

The theme was "Joker", more to the dark side I perhaps. Before this day I have no idea what I'm going to shoot as I joined last minute. I believe this is resembling the Joker in the Batman Movie - "The Dark Knight".

Special thanks to our Model & Make-up Artists. =)

------------------------

UPDATE: Camera sent for repair on 07/12/09, taken back at 10/12/09, hot shoe replaced. Good service there, Canon.

Dragonfly

2009-11-27T23:51:00.006+08:00

Getting near to a dragonfly may seem hard because it is quite sensitive to movements around it. However, if you study the pattern of their behaviour, it is actually one of the easiest insect to get 1:1 magnification.

Today is my first try on photographing dragonflies. I have found out some tips:

1) Look for small streams, they like to be there & rest on small branches & leafs that sticks out.

2) Even they fly away, they will still return and land on a few particular spots. Stand near the spot and wait.

3) Exploiting their behaviour in #2, I found that I can actually create movements on purpose (such as swinging my hands in front of them, they will fly away, but eventually return). Do it a few times, they will find no threat from you and will not response much to your movement. This is the time to get close.

But today is not my day, I have forgotten to charge my batteries for my flashgun. After trying a few shots, my batteries are finished when I'm about to get some really close 1:1 shots.

This is the best I can get for today:

(Not 1:1 yet, I'm still studying and observing their behaviour when I took this pic)

I also found this interesting insect moving on top of the surface of the water:

(I'm not very sure the exact scientific name of this creature, but it is from the Family of Gerridae)

This dude moves extremely fast and its very hard to get a shot of it. The worse part is, it moves constantly. It floats on top of the water using surface tension.

I also found this tiny spider on my car's windscreen when I'm about to return:

(My batteries fully drained, so I have to rely on ISO1600 + built in flash to get this pic = bad result)

New Gears in the House XI

2009-11-26T19:54:00.005+08:00

This is my first time dealing with Shashinki. Shashinki is Malaysia's largest (according to them) online photography shop.

Remember the old imitation "Lenspen" I bought few months ago? Well the tip of the brush is spoil. So I am planning to buy an original Lenspen from Shashinki. I also bought an Hot Shoe Spirit Level used for landscape photography. This is useful especially in doing panoramas.

Their service is good. I paid the bill on Tuesday night, & received confirmation on Wednesday morning, receive the goods on Thursday afternoon.

Price: RM 29.80 + 28.00
Discount: RM -
Net: RM 57.80

Total spending to date: RM 5,960.55

Smoke Trails Photography IV

2009-11-14T21:40:00.004+08:00

Its a rainy day again. As boring as usual, I play on one of my old projects again - Smoke Trails.

Focus Stacking

2009-11-14T13:48:00.007+08:00

Focus Stacking is extremely useful in macro works. as I mentioned before, the Depth of Field (DOF) in macro photography is so shallow that even 1mm of movement makes huge difference.

In order to get maximum DOF, theoretically we must use the smallest aperture possible. However problem like diffraction & lack of light (exposure) arises when you use the smallest aperture. You still get maximum DOF in smallest aperture, but you don't get the sharpest picture.

The other solution to this is focus stacking. Take several pictures with different area of focus of a close up object and blend the pictures into a single picture, only keeping the focused area.

Here is an example:

(focus #1, look at the arrow, that area is out of focus)

(focus #2, look at the arrow, that area is out of focus)

After focus stacking:

(look at the 2 area previously pointed by the arrow, they are now sharp & crisp)

Bear in mind that there are still other areas in the picture is out of focus, they can easily fixed by stacking the 3rd and 4th picture and so on...

In this example, only 2 pictures are used.

Tutorial:

1) File > Scrips > Load File into Stack. Choose the source files, tick the "Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images" check-box.

2) Select the most bottom layer, turn off visibility all other layers. Add a layer mask for the bottom layer and use Brush tool (B) to paint out any area that are not sharp.

(The visibility of other layers have been turned off, the visibility is indicated by the eye icon)

3) Repeat step 2 for other layers. Only work on 1 layer at a time and only turn on visibility of 1 layer a time.

(the visibility of first layer is turned off)

4) Reveal all layers, if the picture looks OK, flatten and crop out the edge. Adjust Curve, Saturation and finally Sharpen the picture.

Rennie @ Putrajaya

2009-11-07T23:56:00.013+08:00

This is the 2nd time I meet Rennie, she is becoming more and more beautiful now. My first try on night portrait.

Lesson learned: use safe shutter speed.

Housefly (Musca domestica)

2009-10-31T17:07:00.005+08:00

Well everybody has seen this type of fly in their house, but seeing them up close is not common.

Here's a closer look (100% crop):

Although I hate them for being dirty and bringing diseases to us, but I gotta say I like their eyes. Magnificent~!

Adding Rainbow!

2009-10-30T22:14:00.010+08:00

Here's a simple one.

Before:

After:

It is very simple to make this in Photoshop.

1) Open an image. An image with plenty of sky will do.

2) Click on the "Create New Layer" icon on the bottom right corner (just beside the bin).

3) Select Gradient Tool (or press "G").

4) Select "Special Effects" (second from the bottom) from the Gradient Picker drop-down menu. Select "Append" if Photoshop prompt you something about replacing the gradients.

5) Select "Radial Gradient".

6) Place your cursor on either side of the horizon, hold down Shift and drag your mouse pointer towards another end of photo. The releasing point is where you want the rainbow to appear. Try few times to get the optimum result.

7) An artificial rainbow should appear, and it looks fake. Select "Screen" blend mode instead of "Normal" (there is a drop-down menu under the Layer tab, beside the "Opacity" and "Fill" on your bottom right).

8) To make it more realistic, apply some blur by choosing Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the amount according to your taste. I normally use a higher value (I.e: 60+).

9) The rainbow now should look like this:

Its still fake though.

10) Select the gradient tool again, choose "Foreground to Background" (1st one) again. Select Linear Gradient (beside the Radial Gradient).

11) Add a Layer Mask (3rd icon from left, beside the "fx" icon).

12) Now hold your Shift and place your mouse pointer on the horizon of the landscape. Pull upwards to make the bottom part of the rainbow disappear. You may need to try few times to get the most natural result. You can always reduce your opacity if your rainbow looks too saturated and fake.

13) Your rainbow should look like this:

14) Press Ctrl + J to duplicate the layer, set the opacity to around 75% in order to add more vibrance to your photo.

15) Flatten your image and save.

Tips:

- Use brush to tidy up (after Step 12) any unnecessary rainbow that appear in your horizon.
- The direction of rainbow will look natural when it is bending outwards the source of light in your image. Bending inwards will look fake.
- If the rainbow looks too think, you can always use Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T) to squeeze it smaller.
- Select a scene/picture that will most probably have a rainbow in it. For example, my tutorial picture is actually not very suitable as it is very hard to see rainbow during sunset.
- You can duplicate the rainbow and make "double rainbow" effect.

New Gears in the House X

2009-10-24T16:47:00.005+08:00

I finally got what I needed - A wireless flash trigger.

This item is so hot that each time I visit the shop, it is sold out. Well this time I confirmed the stock availability with the boss before I even go there.

The package I bought is 1 transmitter + 2 receivers. And it is bundled with some sort of cord that I do not know what is it for. The receivers runs on 2x AAA Batteries (per receiver) while the transmitter runs on A23 Battery.

(This battery holder can hold AAA Batteries, CF Card & SD Card too)

The boss is a nice person, he even gave me a free battery holder for my AA Batteries (used for my flashgun).

Price: RM 160
Discount: RM -
Net: RM 160

Total spending to date: RM 5,902.75

Firts try on Macro

2009-10-24T16:45:00.005+08:00

Since last week I bought my macro lens, I never really had a chance to test it out. So I have decided to take it out and play around with it.

(1:1, slightly cropped)

(1:1, no crop)

(1:1, slightly cropped)

(Not 1:1, as its too far to reach)

(1:1, slight crop)

I do not know why after uploading to photobucket, the photo are not so sharp. Perhaps they compress it?

Focusing is again, very hard and I have shaky hands. Anyone have a cure for shaky hands?

Penang Trip

2009-10-18T10:50:00.002+08:00

I went Penang with 3 of my friends on last Friday (the next day being Deepavali). I had to took a day leave for this trip.

Basically nothing much to see here as I do not shoot that much. And most of the photo contains my friend's faces so I will not show it.

(The famous Air Item Laksa)

(Very delicious Fish Ball Noodle in Pitt Street)

(Famous Cendol stall near KOMTAR)

(Air Itam Dam)

(Statue in temple)

(Shot this on a ferry, heading back to mainland)

New Gears in the House IX

2009-10-11T13:16:00.012+08:00

This is my first 1:1 macro lens and first non-Canon lens. Lets welcome my 3rd lens in my lineup - Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di 1:1 Macro!

I bought this from a nice gentleman in the forums. This lens is highly rated for its sharpness and reasonable pricing.

If you wanna read the reviews of this lens, click here.

Thanks Alfred for treating me a cup of coffee and paying my parking ticket. =)

Here are some pics I have tried out just now:

(A dieing insect)

(1:1 size, no crop)

(100% crop)

Macro Photography is damn hard to master. You will need a lot of practice and patience. the DOF is so shallow that even 1mm movement will make big difference between "got it" or "miss it".

Price: RM 1,100
Discount: RM 100
Net: RM 1,000

Total spending to date: RM 5,742.75

Canon Photo Marathon 2009

2009-10-10T17:33:00.017+08:00

Canon Photo Marathon is one of a major event in Malaysia's photography industry. This competition is open to public irregardless of what camera brands the participants are using. However, Canon users can join for FREE whereas others has to pay RM30.

I joined this event is only for the fun of it. I have never think of submitting my works as this would take whole day. Besides, I get a free T-Shirt and a cap.

I arrived the venue (Sunway Lagoon's Elephant Walk Entrance) around 7:20am. The event kicks offs officially around 10am. So, we basically wasted some time sitting there and waiting. However there are some gains...

I got to test some lenses on my 1000D. Canon set up a booth in front of the stage, providing participants to touch and play with some of Canon's newest and top-line camera bodies and lenses.

(This was shot using my 1000D body + EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens. The range of the lens is cool, but its too heavy an the IS dosen't seem to help much on slow shutter speed, i.e. 1/60s and below)

(This shot was taken using 1000D body + 70-200mm f/2.8L USN [non-IS] lens)

While waiting, I spotted this guy is shooting video using 5D Mark II (some sort of pimped up version + some unknown accessories). Well I know nothing about videography.

The 3 themes for today are:

1) Splash
2) Red
3) Shooting in Progress

I basically feel these themes boring. We are required to wear the T-Shirt throughout the event. So, this is what you see:

So I ended up hanging around inside Sunway Lagoon and exploring various parts of the amusement park. My favorite is off course the Wildlife Park. It's a mini zoo basically and I got to shoot some birds in close distance. I only have kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS) as a zoom lens at this moment.

(I came across this funny monkey behind a glass, showing weird pose)

(Chick in drain)

(Flower Palette used to feed butterflies)

(World's longest suspended bridge @ 428m)

(How's the view?)

(My favorite shot of the day - Silhouette of a Pirate Ship)