Viewing Life Through The Lens

Instant HDR

2010-09-11T22:58:00.003+08:00

Woke up early on 1st day of Raya and headed out hoping to get some sunrise shots.
But turned out to be terribly cloudy with no rise in sight.

Dug for my polarizer and Cokin graduated filter, and the result...

Instant HDR straight out of the camera.

31st of August

2010-08-31T09:49:00.012+08:00

It is the 31st of August today, and it is a very important day.
So important it made it into the history books. Every year, without fail, people celebrate.

The LORD bless you and keep you,
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you
the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Numbers 6 : 24- 26

Happy Birthday Mom.

I'm sorry Malaysia, you come second.

Happy Merdeka to you too.

The Correct Exposure

2010-07-18T20:44:00.004+08:00

As photographers, be it a hobbyist or a working pro, you cant help but to pursue one key element in the building blocks of photography. Just what is the correct exposure?. Everyone's talking about it, magazines, forums, professionals, bloggers. Exposure is what makes and break a picture.

To 'gauge' the correct exposure, just look at the exposure meter in your viewfinder while taking a shot, and the histogram after taking a shot. If you don't know what the exposure meter looks like, I'd suggest you go back to your user manual, or just search online.

Or if you are a total knob. here is what it looks like.

Courtesy of www.dpreview.com

Ideally, you would want the metering to fall right in the center. As that is the perceived "correct" exposure.

But hey, here's where it gets all complicated. We are humans, and naturally we interpret things that we see differently from others. Your camera is made to "think" that thats the correct exposure. But you have the creativity in you to correct that.

Here's a classic case and point. You take your camera out for a walk on the beach and you come across this beautiful sunset. You raise it up to your eye, make sure the exposure is correct, and you depress the shutter. Taking a look at your view finder..

Errrr.

What happened!? its all over exposed, you cant see details in the clouds and colours are washed out. It is totally different that what you eyes saw.

Now why not increase your shutter speed by 2 to 3 stops?

"Correct" Exposure.

There. Looks a whole lot better don't you think?. I don't know about you, but this definitely looks better to me rather than the "correct" picture interpreted by the camera.

Here's another scenario, You see a nice patch of green and a beautiful sky, you proceed to take a picture of it. Once again relying on the camera's "correct" metering...

Most of you would just walk away with this shot.

Now how about using a higher shutter speed to under-expose the picture?

Under exposing by 3 stops and hitting the flash to illuminate the foreground.

Much much better.

So in short, there is NO correct exposure. The correct exposure lies within the person behind the camera. Don't be caught up in too much technical terms and jargon. Just take loads and loads of pictures, and learn.

Perhentian Island

2010-05-25T22:07:00.008+08:00

Here's an island holiday worth going if you are within the reaches of Malaysia. Make a trip to the east coast, take a 1 hour boat ride and step off to paradise.

Art of liquid levitation

Row row row your boat gently down the the crystal sea

Anchor me out of harms way

I'm not odd, just not as refined.

Under the boardwalk down by the sea is where I'll be

After a whole day of lovely warm tropical sun, evening arrives to wrap up the day like icing on a cake.

A cheat shot. - Off camera flash to the foreground

Serenity

The star dances with the night lights.

If this all sounds a bit vague to you, the next 2 picture will pretty much sum up the entire thing....

Absolute bliss

Click here for the full panoramic image. blogger isn't too panoramic friendly

A feathery congregation

2010-05-07T21:32:00.005+08:00

Went on a road trip one fine morning and got lost while looking for the place. So made a detour and ended up at the bird park.

And first thing that greeted me was a friendly and inquisitive (very) cockatoo...

I can see my reflection from that device that you are pointing at me...hmm.

motion of cleaning

On the way out, I was greeted by a trio of really cute owls...

*blink blink*

Overall. It wasnt bad. It's worth a visit if you haven't been before...

Things you find around your house

2010-04-29T21:28:00.004+08:00

I'm sure all of you out there often find small little things around your house that you weren't aware it was there it was there at first. And you go like "Oh, where did that come from?".

Well.. here's what I found in my house today...

A mother cat that I saw a few days back

.....with a litter of...

oh-dear-what-am-I-going-to-do-with-them

Anybody interested in adopting cats?

before my dogs come back from their 'vacation'...

Is supporting Earth Hour

2010-03-27T20:32:00.003+08:00

Shotbyming is once again supporting Earth Hour.

Turn off those lights for an hour to vote your support in creating an awareness that really matters.

p/s: Typing in the dark is really really not healthy for your eyes.

Riding the time machine

2010-03-21T21:51:00.004+08:00

Step right up to the time machine. It is not a machine that takes you back in time.
But a machine that is timeless .

It did not absorb the modern entities or cultures as we did since its introduction in 1920.

Once it is activated, it will take you 20 minutes to reach your destination.

Welcome aboard Penang Ferry Services.. where everything you see seem to be in black and white.

Taiping Zoo

2010-02-19T23:20:00.002+08:00

One gloriously bright Saturday morning, I traveled down to Taiping hoping to capture some good shots at the Zoo.

Ive got sunshine

I arrived so early.. the cats were still sleeping.

"I think i've seen you before"

Simplicity

I'm not fat. I just happen to have lots of loose skin

Fortunately, I arrived in time for the feeding sessions.

Catch of the day

That was when I found out how they fed hippo's.

"Ahhhhhh~"

Gong Xi Fa Cai !

2010-02-13T20:40:00.002+08:00

Gong Xi Fa Cai to all my friends and readers.

May you be blessed with health, wealth, and not forgetting happiness this year.

Sigg of Switzerland

2010-01-17T22:29:00.003+08:00

And so I had spare time on my hands and was bored.
Took out a Sigg bottle of mine and had some fun with it.

Popped on a coloured film on the flash for that touch of red.

A day at the beach that ended with something hard

2010-01-09T20:43:00.005+08:00

Being a beautiful day.
I went to the beach for a day that ended with

Hard....

Rock....

Beach...

Hotel...

John Lennon overboard

A refreshing name to a familiar face.

Welcome Twenty Ten

2010-01-01T12:26:00.003+08:00

Happy New Year everybody!
Goodbye 2009, and Hello 2010.

Looking forward for another year of challenges, and of course, pictures!

Late by 2 Months

2009-12-27T21:09:00.005+08:00

This entry is late by 2 months..
This is also the last entry for this year..I will try to give my blog a minor cosmetic updates going into 2010.

Anyway, back in October, I flew down to Singapore to attend a concert.

The first thing that I did when I arrived, I....

Hit the Zoo!

"Excuse me, but I'm NOT part of the exhibit"

Curious Otters

"I swear I have a human twin in this world"

"Blek! you missed the feeding session"

Later on at night, I hit the streets for some hand-held action.

The world's local bank

The Fullerton Hotel

Colours of the mundane

On the following day, I.

Met one of the Autobots. he had 3 eyes. called Flyer

Snow Crabs unlimited

The Famous Merlion

Over and Under

Not quite

Missed the train. Dang.

Wheelock in Funky Hue

ION Ochard

It's such a hectic place. get me out of here.

Enjoy =)

Rings of Happiness

2009-12-21T00:09:00.001+08:00

Krispy Kreme part 2!

mmmm... Sweet, sugary, fattening.

The Best Concert Ever

2009-11-28T22:33:00.002+08:00

One Man, One Guitar, One Stage, One Performance, Absolutely mind blowing!

Tommy, I will be there for your concert in 2010!

M is for Magic

2009-11-02T20:07:00.004+08:00

It is not a pretty paper weight

It is the new Apple Magic Mouse

Enjoy =)

Attitude with an L

2009-10-18T22:31:00.002+08:00

A Quick lousy down-and-dirty product shoot

Its the Dell Latitude E6400

Enjoy =)

Infrared in 10mm

2009-10-09T20:10:00.003+08:00

Tested my Infrared filter fitted onto an Ultra Wide 10mm lens.
The results?

"I will guide you home"

"welcome home"

"Lead me Home"

Right...
If only I had the money for IR filters, I wouldn't have to post process these.

Enjoy =)

Beneath the Bridge

2009-09-22T21:41:00.004+08:00

Lighting the way

Are you coming or going

132kv makes the conventional 240v look so puny

Turn now

Enjoy =)

Hyperspace

2009-09-12T10:36:00.003+08:00

Ever wondered what if you could hyperspace in your car.
I reckon it will look like this....

Enjoy =)

- W I D E -

2009-09-09T21:01:00.002+08:00

Borrowed an Ultra Wide 10-20mm from my mate for a walkabout around Penang.

Insane saturation from the 90.

Iconic?

Reaching up

Pathway to Holiness

"Post" Processing

Enjoy =)

Scaled to 1/500

2009-08-19T21:29:00.004+08:00

Bondi Icebergs

Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach

Redang Island

Phi Phi Island

Phi Phi Island

Enjoy =)

Film Superiority

2009-07-10T22:11:00.005+08:00

Going with the digital craze now, everyone seems to have forgotten about film.
Is film ever going to be obsolete? No, I dont think so.

Taken on with Fuji Superia 200 on an Nikon F80.

Not the greatest shot. These were taken when I started photography. Taken with Program mode.

Life was simple.

You don't have to tweak white balance/Compensation/ISO/Saturation/brightness/bla bla bla.
Just load up the film, and you're off.

Taken with Kodak 400 (if I recalled correctly). Notice the Greenish tint.

Pointing into the sun. with no blown highlights. Can your digital do this? I dont think so.

And yet, exposure and colour was just spot on.

No blown highlights, no dust, no noise... those are the wonders of film.
And, best of all, you will learn to compose your shots better before pressing the shutter.

Looking for truly hassle free photography... this is it!
If you haven't tried, I would suggest you give it a shot. You'll love it.

Enjoy =)

Mansion of the Babas & Nyonyas

2009-07-08T21:24:00.004+08:00

I never had the chance to blog this series.
Mainly because I misplaced the pictures.
Found em back and here they are. The Pinang Peranakan Mansion.

"Air Well"

"Tiffany of the old"

"Schneider Kreuznach"

"Go Green from the 19th century"

"120kg tops"

Enjoy =)

99 Islands under the sun

2009-06-23T22:18:00.008+08:00

Over the weekend I headed north to Langkawi.
Here are the few shots I took while I was there.

Nissan March. Our ride for the days there. Awesome little car.

"Less is more"

Laman Padi (Paddy Museum)

I'm not really sure of this shot. It looks really crap.

"Palm Sunday"

Pulau Daya Bunting (Lake of the Pregnant Maiden)

Pulau Beras Basah

And no island getaway will be complete without sunset shots..

"The Pier".

No I lied.

Because the weather wasn't good, and I didn't want to wait for the sun to set at 8pm, I had to manipulate the White Balance and contrast to have a "Sunset" shot =P.

Black Sand Beach

Birds at the Bird Park.

Albino Squirrel.

Yoga duck.

Lazy Ass (pardon the pun). Its supposed to be Lazy Jack =P

Horny Peacock.

Enjoy =)

Trojan Horse...

2009-06-16T20:59:00.004+08:00

*Sniff Sniff*

This horse is a cross of a cow.. see the spots?

*sniff sniff*

Red-hot-shoe

If I went a bit earlier or stayed a bit later, I would have more shots. But I was too lazy nor am I hardworking enough to stay.. so...

Enjoy =P

Brands of Sorts

2009-05-09T18:43:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since I posted on this blog. Here's a little something to start it off.
A quick 5 minutes with my little compact in my bedroom ;) ..

Enjoy =)

Earth Hour

2009-03-28T21:15:00.002+08:00

shotbyming.blogspot.com is in support of earth hour...

...
..
.

Nothing to see larrr.. lights are off what.. haahahahhaa

It's Going Slow

2009-03-21T23:48:00.003+08:00

Things have been going real slow this month..

It's Mine!

2009-03-01T21:56:00.002+08:00

Grrrrrrrrrr~

Enjoy =)

I Thought.....

2009-02-15T22:22:00.002+08:00

I thought it was my lucky day...

When I found these lying on the walkway of a shopping complex

Not 1...but 3 Movie tickets!!!

NOT~!

Why wasn't it some English movie....

Damn.....

Temple of Supreme Bliss

2009-02-04T21:22:00.006+08:00

aka Kek Lok Si.

Whatever this means.

And let there be light...

Enjoy =)

Little Old Penang Walk # 3

2009-01-26T15:30:00.004+08:00

First and foremost. Happy Chinese New Year to all. May the year of the ox bring prosperity to you and your entire family (at least that is what they always wish you =P )

Here's another part of my 'Little old penang walk' series which i've covered here (#1) and here (#2)

I took a walk down Beach street on a fine Sunday morning. Penang didn't look this good to me before.

It has a resemblance of a shocked face

Business not as usual

Enjoy =)

Everything Blue

2009-01-22T21:02:00.005+08:00

Welcome 2009. Here is the first set of pictures to start the year off.
It was a glorious day out. With glorious blue painted on the sky... I knew I had to do something about it.

That is when inspiration hit me. Everything blue.

Enjoy =)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2008-12-23T18:51:00.001+08:00

2008 is coming to an end and before you know it, its going to be 2009. Time sure moves fast.
Before you know it, its going to be 2010..But... before that happens.

To my dearest friends. Thanks for being such great pals.
Cheers to another year of great friendship and even greater pictures.
Look closely..your pictures IS up on the tree. lol.

Have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year to all ya'll out there.

Enjoy =)

Colours in Motion

2008-12-20T23:08:00.000+08:00

Not the greatest tho...

Enjoy =)

From The Digital Dark Room

2008-12-12T18:31:00.006+08:00

Turn your shots around by using simple techniques in the digital darkroom (aka Photoshop)

This is the shot (that we are going to use in this post) before post processing. Boring, plain, vanilla, you name it.

In this example, I want to light up uncle Francis Light.
*For some stupid reason the images gotten blurry after saving it with MS Paint. Fantastic software. So I will try to explain as detail as I can without getting too technical, and also I'm too lazy to recapture every screen again*

Load up your picture (duh) that you want to edit using your preferred editing software (i will be using Adobe Photoshop)

Step 1:

- Duplicate the base layer you have so you have 2 layers.

Step 2:

- I want to bring details to uncle Francis. So,
- Select the Base Layer and adjust the Shadow/Highlight (Image -> Adjustment -> Shadow/Highlight

- Adjust till you feel its bright enough.

Step 3:

- I want to make the sky more dramatic.
- Select the 2nd Layer (which you have duplicated earlier), and adjust the curves (Image -> Adjustment -> Curves)

- Adjust till you feel its appealing to you.

Now that we have the base layer and the 2nd layer ready, I will want to have (the bright) uncle Francis stand in the nice-blue-sky as in layer 2.

Step 4:
- To begin, select layer 2 (the one that I have adjusted the sky). Work on layer 2, do NOT touch layer 1.

- Select the brush tool (on the left toolbar) and set the Mode (on the top toolbar) to 'Clear'

Step 5:

-Carefully trace the silhouette (or the object that you are having) of uncle Francis to expose the bottom layer

And you will end up with,

Taaaddaaaaaa

Done. in 5 simple steps, you have made uncle Francis Light stand in the light (so to speak)

Before and After

Enjoy =)

Little Old Penang Walk # 2

2008-12-09T21:05:00.005+08:00

Fort Cornwallis

Beauty low down

Clan houses of the Jetty

Enjoy =)

Flower Power

2008-12-04T20:42:00.003+08:00

Lonely Droplets

Morning Dew

Doesn't this look like Pokemon's Victreebel?

Field of serenity

Enjoy =)

Butterfly Flutter by

2008-12-03T21:43:00.005+08:00

Enjoy =)

Gama Sunset

2008-11-28T22:30:00.001+08:00

Enjoy =)

Silhouettes..

2008-11-17T21:01:00.002+08:00

Silhouettes Silhouettes Silhouettes....

Enjoy =)

Little Old Penang Walk

2008-11-10T22:10:00.002+08:00

Captured in this post are images from the past of Penang...well..almost.

Optical illusion - hole on the ground?

Vee-Dub retro

Closed for business

"Adult Pole"

The window of yesteryear's

Details of old Penang

Enjoy =)

Destination : Melbourne - Day 13

2008-10-26T00:20:00.003+08:00

Finally the curtains on my travel series will come to a close. Day 13 is the last day of this very enjoyable trip.

We started the day off in the CBD, and worked our way around till the sun went down.

Seagull : "Maybe if I go closer, he will freakout and leave the entire grub behind *smirk*"

Officer : "HAHA!"

Name Fail!

Federation square

Melbourne city skyline

Rushing for time

I did not have much chance to do night shots of melbourne. So I was determined to grab a few before leaving. I had only 10-15mins to spare..and here goes.

Crown Casino

Yarra River by night.

My apologies for dragging this for so long.
But trust me.. Over 2000 photos, 213 posted, thousands filtered out.... it really takes time.

I hope you guys enjoyed it =)

Destination : Melbourne - Day 12

2008-10-24T22:36:00.002+08:00

This is the 2nd last day of this series (finally!).
The day was generally good. we were welcomed by mixed skies today. But weather seems good.

Took the usual walk to the train station.

Ended up at the CBD and started from there.

Carlton Gardens.

Warm colors of winter

Suddenly it started pouring on us, and since the Museum was next to the gardens.
We decided to give it a try (and to seek refuge as well)

The skeleton of a whale.
*If you cant view the full size. please click here*

We retired for the day, with a warm cup of drink at Koko Black.

Enjoy =)

Destination : Melbourne - Day 11

2008-10-22T22:18:00.002+08:00

Another gloriously sunny day with bright deep blue skies above us.
Took a walk to the train station in the cool 11 degrees weather.

After walking around the city, we decided to try out the Melbourne Gaol.

We were arrested and placed into the Penitentiary

The Cells.

In the cell... Nobody can hear you scream.... let alone see.

Authentic Graffiti by the prisoners.

Ah Suey. Guess he didn't make it...

The rope which was used to hang the prisoners....

Darkness looms even in the afternoon.

After a good 2 hour spent in the Gaol, we continued strolling the streets.

And we ended up with..

KRISPY KREME~ Another mission accomplished.

Man were soooo f****** goooood.. Although i find a couple of em extremely sweet

They were so good, I ended up buying another 2 boxes over 3 days...

Enjoy =)

Destination : Melbourne - Day 10

2008-10-13T21:09:00.002+08:00

Another great day ahead. Nice sunny day, with temperatures at a cool 14 degrees.
I'm hitting yet another Zoo today. Healesville Wildlife sanctuary. Its about an hour and a half's drive from Clayton.

Made it in time for the 'Birds of prey' presentation. It was really awesome. You'd be surprised that they are not as birdbrained as you'd think they might be.

the 'love' owl =P

Dingoes.. not dogs...don't cuddle one of these.

Theme : The meaning of life

Peek-a-boo

Cuddly Koala...again.

Enjoy =)

Destination : Melbourne - Day 9

2008-10-11T20:59:00.003+08:00

Going into my second day in Melbourne. The day started off with glorious sunshine all the way! (yay). Weather was chilly at about 14 degrees.

True blue skies.

Queen Victoria Market

We headed to Melbourne Zoo after our breakfast.

Puffy-cuddly-lions

Timon the Meerkat.

Guessed they learned a thing or 2 about begging for food.

Hibernating happily.

The "Emu". lol .

Australia's icon.. the 'Snobbish-faced' kangaroo.

Cuddly wombat

Another of Australia's icon..Cuddly Koala. Ok....they are all cuddly~!

New Life from Poo..how inspiring.

Enjoy =)

Destination : Melbourne - Day 8

2008-10-01T17:44:00.002+08:00

After a week long in Sydney, next stop is Melbourne.
With the disappointing weather in Sydney, I'm hoping the worst for Melbourne as well.

1st stop. DFO. This place is so massive, I spent like a good 4 hour in there.. and we're barely half way through.
*If you cant view the full picture on your screen. Click Here*

Later In the Night, my friend took us to Hog's Breath. And boy do they serve great steaks.

That's all for today. More to come.

Enjoy =)

Destination : Sydney - Day 7

2008-09-25T22:07:00.003+08:00

Day 7 started off with mixed reactions.. Partly cloudy and partly sunny.
Nonetheless, it was a good day. Temperature again was about 17 degrees.

We took a drive to Botany Bay..

Full 180 degrees view.
*If you cant view the full picture on your screen. Click Here*

Then over to the National Park...

The place where people come to commit suicide...

I guess once you hit this.. you're definitely a goner.

They serve fantastic fish & chips for the price you pay.

After that we continued across the harbour bridge to Manly.

Manly beach. It wasn't really Manly.. I don't see hunks around >.<

I'm not sure what happened but I don't have other pictures for the day...Oh right we went to the casino.. couldn't grab any pictures there...

My Sydney trip ends here... but join me next... I will be heading to Melbourne! =)

Enjoy =)

Destination : Sydney - Day 6

2008-09-17T21:54:00.005+08:00

Woke up to a bright sunny day! Finally! after 5 miserable gloomy days...
The day was great (did I say great again?). With constant temperature of about 16 degrees.

Hopped on a train to Bondi Junction.

And being a good day, we did the..er..."walk" (something like that).

We spotted this chinese family picking 'siput'

Bondi Icebergs.

Windows XP wallpaper. lol.

The sun looks mighty big over here.

Before you know it.. its dusk... And we barely did anything...

Time flies when you're having fun...
Oh, Before I forget. Here's a panorama of Bondi I took.

Bondi in Panoranic view

*If you cant view the full picture on your screen. Click Here*

Enjoy =)

Destination : Sydney - Day 5

2008-09-11T22:41:00.003+08:00

After a hectic week last week... lets continue on to Day 5. Day 5 kicked off with a better looking day. Partially cloudy skies but it looks promising. Temperature was at an average of 16 degrees.

Woke up to my cousin's Weimaraner grinning at me.

Hi Sam. =)

We took a train down to Townhall (again) and proceeded from there

the QVB

Walked towards Sydney's famous Hyde Park

Heading towards St.Mary's Cathedral.

These statues won't ever make their appearance in Malaysia.. Its Naked.. Not Halal~!

Even their Chess pieces are huge.

Center Point Tower.

Unfortunately, they were renovating the cathedral in preperation for the Pope's visit while we were there. Couldn't get a 'clean' shot of the exterior. Seems that it has been under construction for so long... Then I found out why...

Sleeping on the job eh??

Stone carvings on the frame of the door to the cathedral.

Art Gallery of NSW.

This is supposed to be art..

After a good 2 hours in that place, we headed down towards Woolloomooloo (I didn't make that name up).....and... ..we got lost..

After a few tries.. we found it!

The famous 'Harry's Cafe de Wheels'. Their dogs and pie's are really good.

Woolloomooloo harbourside

Later in the evening, I told myself that I needed to go to Milson's Point for 1 critical 'mission' that could make my entire trip worth it.

Darling Harbour at night.

Waited 1 hour in the cold for the ferry, traveled 15 minutes to Milson's point, by the time I got there, My fingers were practically numb... Spent a good 40mins outdoor in the cold (it wasn't funny anymore after 10 minutes).. But boy it was worth it.

Milson's Point aka. Luna Park

Took another freezing ride back to Darling harbour

Jewels in the night.

It was a crazy idea.. going blindly without any directions and risk getting stranded in the cold... but I would do it again when I'm there next time. It's just too good to miss.

Enjoy =)

Bye Grandpa....

2008-09-04T11:04:00.008+08:00

Hi Grandpa..Hows heaven? I bet its beautiful. Say hi to grandma for us.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the
house of the LORD forever

(Psalm 23:6)

You will be deeply missed by all of us.

Destination : Sydney - Day 4

2008-09-03T10:58:00.002+08:00

Here comes Day 4. Weather wasn't great either. Heavy clouds lingered on top of us, but no rain was in sight..which was good. Temperature was at a cool 16 degrees.

Took a bus to the city, Penang should learn from these Aussies about managing bus services..they are spot on time.

1st world toilets are so cool. they look so majestic =P

We headed to 'Sydney Wildlife Park'. It is just next to the Aquarium we went to on day 3.
Upon entering we were greeted with....

Aaaaccckk! here comes the 2 nutcases that will snap anything and everything~

Reptile section.

Black Widow spider. One of the most poisonous spiders in the world.

Tried to get this Frilled neck lizard to flare.. but no avail..he just ignored us and acted cool.

Abstract theme : Separating truth from lies.

We came here hoping to see Koala.. but then..

They spend like 20 hours of their day sleeping.

Wallabies

Kangaroo's... Sheltering from the rain.

Laughing Kookaburra... They are the cutest and puffiest birds ever.

Then we found out... Koala's will look like this when there's no food..

This is what they look like when there's food.

Next we headed to the 'Butterfly Sanctuary'

We spent a good 4 hours in that place.. Was it more worth it compared to the Aquarium? my answer? YES.

After that we took a walk around Darling Harbour.

A very very very weak attempt of a Darling Harbour shot.

To end the day, we went over to Lindt Chocolate Cafe.

This chocolate drink is gooooood.

Mmmmmmmm ~ Rich Swiss Chocolate with creamy milk...

Time to head home...

Enjoy =)

Destination : Sydney - Day 3

2008-08-27T21:19:00.002+08:00

This is the worst day in the entire trip. Rain started about 3am, continued down till 9am the next day..non-stop!. Which made the day very gloomy and very cold. The rain brought the temperature was about 15 degrees.

With nowhere to go, we decided to grab a 2-in-1 pass that allows us to access the underwater world and the Wildlife park at Darling Harbour.

You can see how uninviting is the sky.

We decided to hit the Underwater world first..

NGEO photographer wannabe

Australia's very unique, Platypus~ (which is a pain to snap, even with a lowlight lens!)

I'm kicking myself silly for not having a polarizer at that time..check out the reflection off the water!

They look a lot like dogs...playful and cheeky.

Center of attraction

by now you must be wondering "Why does it look like the ones you can get back here?"
My answer? Other than the Platypus...its basically the same as any other Underwater worlds.

Despite the similarities, we spent a good 3 hour in that place poking touch-pool critters and marveling at the size of their wildlife (they are seriously twice as big as compared to the ones back here.).... was it worth the money? I would say... "Okay-lah".

Day 4 would be much more interesting.. Promise!

Enjoy =)

Destination : Sydney - Day 2

2008-08-20T21:53:00.003+08:00

2nd Day in Sydney. The weather doesn't look like its going to be awesome. The day is cloudy, with little/no sun, and temperatures of around 17 degrees.

Took a nice 30 minutes walk to the train station to catch a train to the CBD.

Choices choices..

We stopped at 'Town Hall' station and proceeded to walk randomly, target was the harbour down at 'the rocks'

The Queen Victoria Building aka the QVB.

Hear say this up class shopping center is owned by a Malaysian company...

Yes. Restored and owned by Ipoh Limited~!

How I wished I had an ultra-wide or a fisheye lens for this shot.

Wet wet wet..

Anti Slip....rightttt...

If you're wondering what the above shot is, those are state-of-the-art-anti-slip-surface....my ass~!. They were so slippery, they couldn't even grip my wet rubber shoes! I almost tasted Australian tar for a moment there.

After wondering around the city for a good 3 hours, we finally arrived at 'the rocks'.

I bet everyone that visited Sydney would have been here. Its one of those 'tourist attractions'.

To wrap up our day, we headed down to the iconic Sydney Harbour bridge, and the Opera House.

Again, how I wished I had an Ultra-wide angle lens for this shot.

Jewels in the sky.

After freezing our asses off for 2 hours in the chilly winter night for those shots, its time to head home

Join me for the 3rd day next.

Enjoy = )

Destination : Sydney - Day 1

2008-08-15T12:05:00.008+08:00

Its pretty much an unplanned trip. We got fed up of planning..and since Jetstar came along...we jumped at the opportunity.

We decided to just get the tickets, told our aunts and friends "We're Coming!" and well... the rest of it pretty much made up as the days go by.

First stop : Sydney

And being a jinx, you can expect we brought the rain down under with us (it happens every time!). It was supposedly the worst storm that lashed Sydney, the last being a few years ago. Winter + rain.... how lucky...

Enough crapping, lets get on to the pictures.

The ever famous Bondi Beach.

Waffles anyone?

180 degrees view of the skate park
*blogger is not Pano friendly, to view the full picture. click here *

Surfers throng Bondi 365 days a year (i think)

Fancy surfing in the bleak of winter?

I don't get Australians..what's the fun freezing your ass off surfing in the middle of winter?
And the best being this...

?!

Clad only in a pair or swim trunks.....Hello Uncle...don't you feel anything shrinking? Or did you have a whole gallon of Vodka prior to this?

Sun sets early during winter.. and by 5, it looks like this:

Lots more to come...

Enjoy =)

Lets turn back time...

2008-08-15T00:03:00.005+08:00

Lets turn our calenders back to 2 months ago, where I had the best vacation...

9 hours away....

That almost left me deaf with the screams of the jet engine...

please remind me NOT to sit behind the wings next time....

Stay Tuned....

Power Redefined

2008-07-10T23:20:00.003+08:00

It's been almost 2 months since any new entries were added in.
Here's something to kick start it again.

Enjoy =)

A stroll in the gardens

2008-05-24T00:00:00.005+08:00

I haven't been updating my blog for almost a month now. Been busy with work and other stuff.
Well here is a series I took couple of weeks ago.. yes.. at Penang's Botanical Gardens.

Charged up the morning with a cup of coffee

Off we go

My personal favorite =)

Thanks May Ling for your Sigma 70-300. I'm hooked =P

Enjoy =)

Lazy Day Out

2008-04-27T22:30:00.003+08:00

What do you do on a lazy Sunday morning?
You whip out your camera and start taking whatever that catches your attention.
Trying out a small series of abstract photography.

I should have taken this at a better angle.. this just looks... boring.

Enjoy =)

My New Old

2008-04-02T22:15:00.003+08:00

Im Back! after a month long of 'soul-searching' and a site revamp.

Let me introduce...my new old.

From Fuji to Nikon... what model is it?

Ring any bell?

If you guessed D80.... you're wrong.

cause

Its only a D70 =P

Attached with my new found love. Nikon 50mm f1.8.

enjoy =)

The Heart Is Ever Changing

2008-02-19T21:19:00.007+08:00

We had sweet memories together, You were hugging me where ever we went. I will never forget those times where you never failed to impress me with your beauty. And not to mention those wild sessions when you just hit-the-right-spot with me.

But this was bound to happen someday. The heart is ever changing, and now...

It is time to pack up.

Trust me, with Super CCD, 10x Zoom, Low Noise, Excellent Picture quality..It is really hard to let go.

Until I can get a cam to replace this baby, this blog will be on hold.

Hopefully I can get a revamp done as well.

Stay Tuned =)

Gong Xi Fa Chai

2008-02-07T16:18:00.000+08:00

To all readers out there.

Gong Xi Fa Chai aka Gong Hei Fatt Choi aka Happy Chinese New Year.

Its the time of the year again.. to reunite with our families, eat all those goodies until we loose our voice.. and also...to RAKE IN ANG POW's~ Waahahaha. XD

And take these 4 days to rest and recharge our batteries to the majority of us that needs it.

Sorry for the low quality pics. These were taken with my phone.

Enjoy =)

Most Fattening..

2008-01-27T20:51:00.000+08:00

TGI's caramel-coated-almond-topped-ice-cream-wedged brownie...

Enjoy =)

Having fun with Mr.Moon

2008-01-14T20:59:00.000+08:00

While looking at the moon, I decided to have some fun with it.

You can either take normal-boring-old shots like these:

Or be abit more creative with long exposure to get effects like these:

Or put ur cam on BULB mode and shake it around..and you will end up with results like this.

If you get really good you can sign your name

Enjoy =)

What's in a Name

2007-12-29T21:55:00.000+08:00

This blog will work best if you understand hokkien =P
Here are the impromptu shots taken while I was walking the streets of Phuket.

U eat this.. u will 'Gai'

Mobile phones and 'services'

Porn Suck?

THIS is definitely not mine~

PS, I didnt know u had a hotel there..lol

You even had your own signature dish! Bo Chia us!

Enjoy =)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2007-12-24T17:10:00.000+08:00

Merry Blessed Christmas to all out there.

2007 is coming to a close. Whats your 2008 resolution?

Enjoy =)

Penang Island Jazz Festival

2007-12-14T22:16:00.000+08:00

Here is my late entry of the Penang Island Jazz Festival.
I've been busy past few weeks, didn't have the time to edit the photo's and blog.

Venue: The Bayview Beach Resort Garden, Batu Feringghi, Pg.

A silhouette I found interesting

And it kicks off with...

Performance by Bob Aves Jazz Group

Featuring Grace Nono (wife of Bob Avis)

Witty and amusing performance by..

Leonard Tan (aka The man with many voices) & BeanSproutz (local)

Jazz masterpiece by..

Anke Helfrich Trio (Germany)

Martin Gjakonovski on double bass.

Dejan Terzic on drums

And Anke Helfrich herself on Piano.

Guitar solo by..

Paul Ponnudurai

and vocal quartets by The Idea of North

and boy were they fabulous.

Short entry.

Enjoy =)

Destination : Phuket - Part 4

2007-11-30T23:21:00.000+08:00

4th part of my 'short-vacation-series'.
Around Patong beach area.

Doesn't it look like Batu Feringghi in Penang?

We have trishaw's, they have Tuk-tuk's

Walking around Patong during the day time is really diffrent from Penang. Albeit the roads are dusty, it certainly aint that Humid.

Soi Bangla street. The wildest street in Phuket by nightfall.

Bangla Muay-Thai stadium. Where 'real-fights' takes place every night.

Local delicacies aka. Thai Food.
As long as you stick to the 'average-joe' restaurant, you can be assured of a low price (its not so low lah actually... about the same back home)

Phad Thai. Thai Version of Char Kuey Teow - 30baths

Beef Noodles - 40baths

Thai Chicken rice. Taste the same back home - 30baths

Tak Thim Crop. Thai Desert - 30baths. Very nice.

4 course dinner at Kaab Gluay- 360baths.

Highly recommended. Located next to Andaman Divers in Patong. Kaab Gluay means Banana Leaf.

And not to forget.. Road side Delicacies.

40baths for a stick of 4 grilled giant squids in original Thai chili sauce. Very nice.

Shopping In Phuket.
Penang, if compared to Phuket....is very.... Outdated. Reason?

Central Festival. One of the many complexes in Phuket.

Jungceylon. The newest shopping mall in Phuket. And its huge.

Sino-Phuket. A section of Jungceylon.

Silang Boulevard? Another section inside jungceylon. Translate to hokkien and you will get "Damn/Deadman's Boulevard".

Even Robinson's is there, 2nd Branch already..dont play play. Malaysia just opened its 1st branch in Midvalley >.<

Musical fountains. Inside Jungceylon.

Musical Fountains doubles as a unique stage to project a 15 minute long animations onto a 'mist-screen'

Alright. After all that crapping. Thats pretty much the end of this mini-series.

Time to head home..

Enjoy =)

Destination : Phuket - Part 3

2007-11-25T16:55:00.000+08:00

Here is the 3rd part of my trip. Yes, pretty long winded I know..but no worries.. It's going to end. 1 more part after this.

Phuket looks very similar to Penang..From the beaches.. to even the towns!

Something about Phuket (or Thailand for this matter) are their "super-high-tech" transformers and junction boxes. They look & sound like they are under a lot of stress.

These transformers will actually BUZZ! With blue spark on the contacts too!

Somebody please call the technician.

During our stay there, we decide to pay the aquarium a visit..
Costing only 100baths (rm10) to enter.. it was well worth the money.

The hallway looks like those zombie infested labs in Doom3.

Langkawi’s underwater world didn’t even have these! And they charge rm35! (350baths)

They Even have a tunnel..how cool is that for 100 baths.

Can see live-feeding sommore.

Next stop, we visited the famous Wat-Chalong temple.

My first experimental HDR picture. Looks like some Citadel from Half-life.

The 3 buggers won’t move out of the way.. so I had no choice but to post them up here =P

Even the Cats looks like the temple’s color.

Meow?.

After sundown, its time for Fantasea!. It is sort of like a phuket-version-of-disneyland with their daily shows. A must visit if you have never been before. Why? Cause they have the ability to train chickens!

The palace of the elephants. Nicely carved out of stones.

They didn’t allow any sort of device that could record videos or take pictures within the performance auditorium, so no coverage there.

1 more part! Stay tuned.

Enjoy =)

Destination : Phuket - part 2

2007-11-15T21:56:00.000+08:00

Here's where I left off in my previous blog.
Phi Phi is a small island located south east of Phuket.
Although the island is small, is pretty up-to-date..

(Astro)^red™ you can find satellite dishes here.

Phi Phi has developed itself into a mini township of its own.

Frankly speaking, there’s nothing much to do here. If you are a fan of diving, you will be delighted to know that there are gazillion shops here providing dive trips.

Hippo Divers?

If you’re ~~prone to drowning~~ not into diving, you can always do like what their four legged pals do..

They are like this ALL over Phuket/Phi Phi

Or you can eat..

Their version of pancake. Its actually crêpe with choice of your ingredients (this is banana + nutella)

After half a day spent at Phi Phi, Its time to head back to Phuket.

Lets head home.

Oh yes, before I forget, here is a panoramic view of Phi Phi’s beach.

180 degrees view of the beach. please click on the above link to view. The page is too small to display =P

Stay Tuned for Part 3.

Enjoy =)

Destination : Phuket - part 1

2007-11-14T18:50:00.000+08:00

For my recent short vacation mentioned before, here is the entry.
I was at Phuket for the first time, and for sure, it won't be the last.

The island is 1 hour's flight away from Penang.

We took the 'budget' airlines, Firefly. I must say, it was quite a flight. Not just because I get to 're-live-the-feeling' of flying in a Fokker50, but also experiencing the thrill of whirring propellers churning out 2500hp each.

tip of penang island

Arrived at Phuket International Airport at 6:15pm, and proceeded to our hotel located at Patong Beach.

Patong Bayshore. Our hotel.

On the 2nd day, we took the tour to Phi Phi Island. Unfortunately, the weather in the morning was on the cloudy side, which in turn made photography rather dull.

Maya Bay. If we swam to the shore of this beach, we will be fined 500bath >.<

Water here is crystal clear, on par with our very own Pulau Redang. although I would think Redang's water is clearer.

The diffrence is, the waters here is surrounded by limestone hills which provides breathtaking views.

Viking Cave. It is loaded with birds nest & gunpowder to blast anyone that trespasses.

longboat of phi phi island.

powered by makeshift engines. I assume its from old trucks and lorries.

That's all for now. More to come.

Enjoy =)

Packed and ready to go

2007-11-08T21:35:00.000+08:00

This is my necessary preparation for my short vacation.
from left: SPF 50 sunblock, SPF 8 tanning oil, SPF 50 sunscreen lipbalm, and Dicapac Underwater camera case.

And oh, not to mention...the ever soothing....Aloe Vera Gel....

My New Toy

2007-10-27T19:13:00.000+08:00

Today i bought myself a new toy. Or rather, a handy companion..
This companion can position itself on almost any surface.
It climbs, it twirls, it curls, it stands, it hangs...and it fits into a bag for you to carry almost anywhere...

introducingggg..... Gorillapod..!

I Had always wanted to get my hands on one of these.
I can use it on places where placing a conventional tripod is impossible..
like this...

Or Curl it around railings or tree trunks like this..

The invasion of the Spider Cams!

Enjoy =)

Compact camera's do great pictures too

2007-10-20T22:08:00.000+08:00

Hope this will be an inspiration to many.
Compact camera's do great pictures too.
These shots were taken with a Panasonic FX-01.

Know your camera well, and most importantly, which setting of 'White Balance' to get the correct color tone. Setting it on 'AUTO' wont help all the time, under certain lighting (eg: Tungsten), manual calibration is a must.

Explore beyond the menu's. It might just surprise you what a gem you have in your pocket.

enjoy =)

The day I waxed my car and it rained.

2007-10-13T23:03:00.000+08:00

Despite the rain after the hard work, something good came out of it.

The water beaded off the car's freshly waxed surface creating a formation that just screamed for attention.

enjoy =)

Penang International Lantern Festival

2007-10-08T22:37:00.000+08:00

Went over to Auto-City to have a look at the Penang International Lantern Festival yesterday. (sorry ah Chang, missed out your bday =P I owe u a meal when u get back). The festival is held from Sept all the way to December 07.

Upon hearing"Lantern Fest.", you might expect it to be like this:

..
.
.

But no.

Instead, it turned out like THIS:

HELLO KITTY and FRIENDS!!

Don't laugh! I know its Gay! >.<

FORTUNATELY there was other lantern in the form of various animals.

still want to pay a visit? =P

.
.
.

p/s: does the above pic look like Goodbye Kitty instead of Hello Kitty?

Enjoy =)

Stop #3 : Cameron Highlands

2007-10-04T22:04:00.000+08:00

From the hustle and bustle of the city, I now bring you atop to the ever popular Cameron Highlands.
The cool inviting air and the serenity of on top of the hill is a must for us Malaysians who yearn for a cheap-and-cheerful getaway.... ~~bla bla bla.. yea whatever.~~

Haven't been up this place since I was 6-7 years old. So its time for another visit, with my camera.

First thing we did when we reached the highlands, we had... Brownies, and Scones =P

Of course the prime business of the Highlands.. Tea.

Also the other farming industries includes.. Vegetables.

And what other tricks does this Highland offer? Strawberries of course...

Look at em, aint they beautiful?

Enjoy =)

Stop #2 : Sutera Dancer's

2007-10-02T21:17:00.000+08:00

Couple of months back, we attended a performance by the Sutera Dancers (directed by Ramly Ibrahim) on top of Penang Hill. The cool night breeze coupled with the serenity of the surrounding was a perfect setting for for this fine presentation.

Unfortunately, the dim, and colored lighting wasn't friendly towards my camera. Guess it was a 'for-your-eyes-only' thing.

Enjoy =)

First stop: Penang Butterfly Farm

2007-10-01T18:57:00.001+08:00

Here's the thing, I've stayed in Penang for so many years, I've only been to the butterfly farm once, that was when I was 12? So 10 years later I'm back, with my camera and here's what I got.

Enjoy =)

Fresh Batteries loaded on 01/10/2007

2007-10-01T11:42:00.000+08:00

Let see how long can my set of batteries last this time. I tried blogging previously and i got bored of it. I'm trying a different approach this time. Minimal Talking. More Pictures.