Alex’s Blog

Most important thing before U attempt to take these kinds of macro shot is to ensure that your CD is dust-free. LOL

And yes, I know these “water droplets on a CD” shots have been done to death.

When U are bored and have about an hour to kill, what do U do? What I did was put on the +4 close-up filter and shot anything I could get my hands on.

Since our 1st photo outing which I had posted here was quite successful, I organized another one and this time our group grew to 11 people, thanks to LoctorMayat who brought his colleagues and also Alexandra who brought her assistant…LOL. This time, we went to shoot the Kek Lok Si temple in Air Itam which was fully lit for 15 days during the Chinese New Year.

Lanterns, lanterns, and more lanterns…

ISO3200 shot…I love my D90.

And playing with Starburst filter in Photoshop…

We also went up to the Kuan Yin statue but as soon as we reached, it was time for lights out. What a bummer. Oh well, I guess there is always a next time, or in this case, a next year.

We took my baby boy up to Berjaya Hills as part of his small 1 year-old birthday celebration on new year’s eve. Berjaya Hills is previously known as Bukit Tinggi, and is situated just next to Genting Highlands in Bentong, Pahang. In fact, U practically have to use the same route up to Genting Highlands, and take a detour and drive another 30 minutes or so before U reach Berjaya Hills.

There are basically 3 resorts U can stay in Berjaya Hills, the regular golf and country club, Colmar Tropical, and Japanese Village. My wife made reservations for a room in Colmar Tropical, which is a French-themed resort.

After settling in, we quickly took our buffet lunch at one of the many French-wannabe restaurants, and waited for the resort provided shuttle to ferry us to the rabbit farm. But before that, I managed to snap a few shots around the resort’s lake.

5 minutes later, the shuttle arrived, and we were off to go see Bugs Bunnies…:D

Besides rabbits, they also have some horses, a deer and some other farm animal which I can’t recall…LOL! We spent like 30 minutes there, but had to wait another 30 minutes for the shuttle to come fetch us. After that , we went back to the resort, and decided to drive out instead, so we don’t have to rely on public transport schedules. We jumped into the car, and headed to the Japanese Village, which also hosts the Botanical Gardens.

My handheld, slow shutter shot. I love VR.

The Koi pond in the Botanical Gardens. U can buy some fish feed for these hungry buggers. After another 30 minutes in both the Japanese Village AND Botanical Gardens, we headed back to the resort. On the way up, I stopped by the roadside to snap a picture of one of the upcoming resorts, which I also cannot recall the name…must be getting old.

Back in the resort, we went out to scout the place, which takes no more than 30 minutes. There is an “observation tower” situated right at the end of the resort, where U can get sort of a full view of Colmar Tropicale.

I also took a night short of the same scene.

After the buffet dinner at night (which was compulsory as part of their New Year’s Eve celebration), my wife and I went out to snap more pictures. One of the more interesting pictures is the drawbridge leading into the resort.

After that, we headed back to out room and called it a night. At the stroke of midnight, where were fireworks to welcome 2009, but we were too dead tired after the long drive and scouting of the place to get up to see it.

The next day, we decided there isn’t much too see, so we had our buffet breakfast, checked-out and headed home. I guess this is one place which I will not be coming again for a foreseeable future.

No no, not my blog, but my baby boy. He has reached a milestone; turning 1 year-old last week. “One”, signifying a first, I guess entitles him to a few more “firsts”. So besides his first birthday cake, his grandparents (mom’s side) also bought him his first shoes.

We also took him on a holiday to Berjaya Hills (not his first holiday actually), and as soon as I’m done post processing the pictures taken, I’ll post them up here.

Some shots taken during our street photography outing last weekend. For really great pics captured from a friend who was also in the group, U will want to head over to Alexandra’s Flickr. I guess after U’ve seen her’s, there’s really no other point to see others. LOL!

And now, some HDR…

And my favorite shot from the whole bunch, as they say, save the best for last…:D

An impromptu shot of fishing boats in Kuala Sepetang, where they serve fresh seafood.

I haven’t been out shooting for sometime now, having to juggle work and family, and an upcoming “project” which I have to spend time researching and reading on. I had a break yesterday afternoon since Wifey was out getting her hair done and my kid was sound asleep, so I quickly grabbed my camera, put my handphone and 2 plastic bags in a small Nikon shoulder bag and headed off to Bukit Hijau. This Bukit Hijau is not the one in Kedah, but the mini one near Greenlane Heights apartment.

Before I headed out to shoot, I set some challenge for this round. My good friend LoctorMayat would refer to this as No Frills™ photography, but basically what it means is no post processing like cropping, color adjustments, noise removal or any sort like that is allowed. But obviously I will resize the pictures for Internet upload purposes and that’s the only thing done to all the pictures U see here. In order to achieve this I cannot rely on the Standard Picture Control setting anymore which I have used all this while. As I like colors that really pop, I selected the Vivid Picture Control, added a notch to sharpening from 4 to 5, and bumped up saturation another 2 clicks.

To make things more interesting, I also added another rule to the challenge, all shots are to be at 18mm only, like as if I was using a prime lens instead of a zoom.

After about 30 minutes walking and shooting, I reached the peak and not a moment too soon as it started to drizzle lightly. So I quickly go grab some shots…

…and made my way down. I also took some shots which I had missed earlier.

and my favourite shot of the day…

A few things I have learned from this exercise:
1 - I am damn unfit,
2 - It’s very difficult to hold yourself steady for a shot when your heart is pounding,
3 - zoom lenses will make U become lazy, and
4 - 18mm isn’t wide enough for a really breathtaking landscape shot.

The exercise has certainly been fun and it was really a great workout. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun at the same time being kind to my body. I would certainly like to try some No Frills™ street shooting next when I have the chance. U hear that Loctor?

I have to admit, I’m a total noob when it comes to Photoshop. All I’ve been doing with it is mostly to:
1 - Crop,
2 - Sharpen,
3 - Auto Levels, and
4 - De-noise.

Well, today, with a short, simple yet effective tutorial from a friend whom I think is a very very talented photographer / Photoshopper (is that even a valid word?), I had a go at post-processing one of my sunset pictures taken during the firefly watch outing not too long ago. My objective was to make the sky as dramatic as I could without making it look fake. I spent 5 minutes in CS3 and this was the result, again thanks to the tutorial.

Not too bad for a first attempt if I don’t say so myself…LOL. Actually, I got too excited about the results I forgot to watermark the picture, and I’m too lazy to redo everything again.

So anyways, if U are interested to see more pictures of surreal skies and other beautiful, beautiful pictures, do check out Alexandra Chiam’s Flickr right away. I promise, U will not be disappointed.