Photo Kit

Come into my parlour

2012-01-18T17:36:00.001+08:00

My dad's garden is seriously a treasure trove of macro subjects. This pretty little spider was only about 2mm and actually quite willing to let me sit there and shoot photo after photo. As always, it's nearly impossible to shoot a proper macro in available light, so I had an SB-600 held in one hand above the spider, while my right hand held the camera to shoot. The photo was taken with my 60mm macro lens at the nearest focus, while I rocked back and forth slightly to get the spider in focus. Getting the eyes in focus is the most important thing, and I had to shoot quite a few shots before I was satisfied. The image is slightly cropped to make the composition a little tighter. Nikon D7000, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8.

Footsteps

2011-11-28T22:12:00.001+08:00

I didn't set up this shot. I just noticed that a kid had just left his wet footprints on the sand and snapped a couple of quick shots. I'm not even sure why the footprints only had a wet outline and wasn't wet all the way inside the print as well. I kinda laugh when I look at it because of an old Archie comic that revolved around the phrase, "footsteps in the sands of time." Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6 VR

Down by the seaside

2011-11-28T20:28:00.001+08:00

Yes I'm not sure why but I'm still in a black and white mood. Anyway, I made a trip down to a seaside location to test out my 10-stop Neutral Density filter. What does it do? Well essentially, it's like dark glasses -- it makes things a LOT darker, and in a camera, this means slow shutter speeds, and the effect is that the sea is rendered as a smooth blur like this. The photo was converted from RAW and edited in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and slightly cropped. You'd be surprised how little editing there was to get it to look like this-- the major work involved removing many dust spots. The image was shot at f/32 so every little bit of dust that normally doesn't show up on wider aperture shots all made an appearance here, despite cleaning my image sensor before going on the photo shoot. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR

Fire in the sky

2011-11-22T01:47:00.001+08:00

Not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I'm a great admirer of the work of renowned B+W landscape photographer, Ansel Adams. Adams' mastery and understanding of the relationship between light and dark tones has always left me in awe and has always inspired much of my B+W work. Anyway, this shot was taken in Seattle from the top of the Space Needle. On that day, there was an amazing sunset in progress and I was lucky enough to capture this. Obviously, there has been some contrast and brightness adjustment done here (as Adams did-- his was a mastery of the darkroom as much as the framing) but the sky really was mostly like this. I'm quite happy with how this photo turned out. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Electric dreams

2011-10-31T09:48:00.001+08:00

This shot was a simple grab shot with an Olympus E-PL3 I was testing. The subject is a friend's daughter who was totally engrossed playing Angry Birds on his smartphone. Originally shot in colour, I felt the image was better served in B+W so I converted it and did some minimal contrast adjustment. Olympus E-PL3, 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6

Shinjuku Sunrise

2011-09-18T16:52:00.001+08:00

Woke up at sunrise, looked out my hotel window and saw this amazing sunrise over Shinjuku in Tokyo. The problem with trying to capture a scene like this is that you can either get an exposure from the sky and get buildings dark or get an exposure for the buildings but the sky will be too bright. The answer? High Dynamic Range (HDR), where you take two shots -- one with a proper exposure for the sky and another with a proper exposure for the buildings then join them together. I don't have any special software for doing this right now and just manually pick the areas that I want and layer them over the other using PhotoForge2 on the iPad. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5.5.6 VR

Image stabilization

2011-09-03T23:52:00.001+08:00

This is the first video I've ever posted on this blog, but I thought since I've been showing photos taken with the Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD, I might as well also show you a video I did showing you how effective the optical image stabilization in the lens is. Nikon D7000, Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD

A Day at the Zoo

2011-09-02T00:35:00.001+08:00

I haven't been to the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur for a number of years now. The last time I went, it was pretty disappointing -- animals kept in cement enclosures with very little in the way of mental stimulation. However, when o went back today, it was a completely different story -- the Zoo has had a major remodeling and the animals have now been moved into properly landscaped enclosures with a more open concept, mostly without bars, very much like the Singapore Zoo or Taiping Zoo. One of the reasons I went to the zoo was to test out the new Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD, a telephoto zoom that's reasonably priced yet offers some amazing images when used properly. Even at 300mm wide open at f/5.6, as this image is, results are really impressive with only a hint of softness and chromatic aberration which goes away if you stop down one stop to f/8. This photo is slightly cropped for balance and some contrast adjustment was made, but no sharpening. Nikon D7000, Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD

Get back

2011-09-02T00:33:00.000+08:00

One thing I never noticed about tigers until now (probably because I've only looked more at the front than the back) is that tigers have white spots on their ears! Nikon D7000, Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD

Portrait of an Orangutan

2011-09-02T00:28:00.001+08:00

The thing about shooting at the zoo is that you really need a long telephoto lens to get really tight portraits of animals. Here, again, I shot at 300mm with the Tamron, and the results were pretty good. The image has been cropped slightly on the right to better balance the composition. Nikon D7000, Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD

Lazy leopard

2011-09-02T00:24:00.001+08:00

This photo really bothers me a lot -- frankly, if I had gotten the leopard's right paw in the frame, the shot would've worked. As it is, my eye keeps getting drawn to the fact that the paw is just out of frame in this photo. Nevertheless, something to learn here apart from proper framing, is that even though I had a busy wire mesh between me and the leopard, shooting with the telephoto lens with the mesh quite close means that it'll be rendered completely out of focus in the shot, except for a slight greenish blur over the leopards back. Another thing to note is that the Tamron performed admirably when stopped down to f/8. Nikon's D7000, Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD

Fighting flamingoes

2011-09-02T00:19:00.001+08:00

I decided to go against conventional wisdom to present an image of flamingoes in full colour and instead decided to convert this shot into a more stark black and white image. I think stripping the colour away produces a more arresting image of these fighting flamingoes. Nikon D7000, Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD

Getting a tan

2011-09-01T23:38:00.000+08:00

This shot is presented unedited just to show you how good the Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD is when at it's best. I have to say that's pretty darned sharp. As for what this stork is doing, I think it is getting some sun to warm itself up after getting wet in the pond. Nikon D7000, Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD

Bokehlicious

2011-07-20T16:12:00.001+08:00

This shot only works because of the amazing bokeh -- the buttery smooth blur of the out of focus background -- and the almost painterly effect that you get because of this. I recently bought the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 which has the advantage of isolating the subject matter thanks to a shallow depth of field. In reality, if it were sharper in the background, you would clearly see the ugly wires holding up the flower pot and some other extraneous detail. With this shallow depth of field, I simply shot between two other leaves, made sure the front 3 flowers were sharp enough and blurred everything else out. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

Monochrome orchids

2011-07-19T23:37:00.001+08:00

Yes I'm still in a monochrome mood. This photo was taken with the express intention to turn it into black and white. I noticed how these two orchids are very similar in position and wanted to shoot a monochrome image to emphasize this. The image was then converted to B+W and adjusted in my iPad. Turned out pretty good I think. Since I did not have my usual 60mm macro I had to borrow my dad's Tamron macro lens. Nikon D7000, Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8

Retro couple

2011-06-19T11:05:00.004+08:00

I was waiting for my ride in Seattle when I saw this couple waiting at the taxi stand, dressed in what looks like 1920s or 1940s style hats. looks kind of sweet and I waited till their position was just right and snapped a few photos. Again, this was originally in colour, but I converted it into black and white in-camera with a virtual red filter. I was standing right behind the couple btw. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Sleeping in Seattle

2011-06-18T19:26:00.004+08:00

I've been saving this title for years, I think, waiting for a shot that would fit it! Anyway, unlike the accordion photo, this shot was converted into monochrome in-camera, using the D7000's black and white conversion feature, which is surprisingly powerful -- for example, shooting in RAW, I can not only convert it to monochrome, but simulate a red filter to darken other colours and lighten skin tones in black and white. I actually shot another version of this where the father's face is visible, but I quickly realised it would be better to focus on the kid more, so I quickly zoomed in a little closer and took this one. There are lots of split-second decisions to make when shooting a photo like this -- this photo is not cropped at all, and I had to decide at that moment not to include the father's nose and yet make sure his lips are not cut off. I was standing practically right next to the father and son, btw. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Streetside Accordion

2011-06-18T19:21:00.003+08:00

Seattle's Pike Place is a street photographer's dream, I think -- it's got lots of interesting people doing interesting things. This shot was converted to monochrome using Photogene on the iPad, with a slight contrast adjustment and a bit of cropping and sharpening. Amazing what you can do on the iPad these days. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Wesak 2011

2011-05-17T13:19:00.002+08:00

Seems like I'm here every year. I'm not a particularly religious person, but I'm at the Thai temple every year for Wesak day to take photos and partake of the excellent Thai food. :) This year, I challenged myself not to take exactly the same photos as I did in previous years, which means I'd have to actively think of new angles and new things to shoot at a place I've visited and shot for many years now. This is one of the first shots, taken at a lower angle than I did before. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

For luck

2011-05-17T13:15:00.002+08:00

This is perhaps one of the most often shot images at the Thai temple on Wesak day. These donation pots are often shot by numerous photographers and every year, I shoot these as well. This year, instead of taking a shot of the coin going in, I thought this one, of the person hoping to get a blessing by touching the pot instead, was interesting. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

The dragon's back

2011-05-17T13:13:00.002+08:00

Again, instead of the obvious shot of the dragon's head, I thought I'd focus on something else. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Praying

2011-05-17T13:10:00.003+08:00

It's interesting, but Chinese people tend to hold their joss sticks this way while Thai people tend to keep them close to their chests as they pray. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Solitary candle

2011-05-17T13:06:00.004+08:00

Sometimes taking a shot of small details that people would normally miss helps to avoid the many similar shots that popular events like Wesak day produces. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Let there be light

2011-05-17T12:55:00.003+08:00

In keeping with the challenge to shoot the same things in a different way, this time I chose to shoot the oil lamps from a top down angle by just lifting the camera over my head and pointing it straght down. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Moonshot 20/3/2011

2011-03-20T00:27:00.002+08:00

This shot was taken at the period when the moon is supposedly the closest its been in many many years. Taking photos of the moon requires the longest telephoto lens that you have, a steady tripod and spot metering. Contrary to what you might think, the moon travels across the sky at quite a speed and between each shot I have to reposition my camera or in just a minute or two the moon would be out of frame. The shot could be sharper if I had a better lens, but considering that I'm using a cheap Kenko 800mm f/8 mirror lens, it turned out ok. A bit of tweaking of contrast and sharpening to help bring out more detail is required as the Kenko tends to be lacking in contrast. Nikon D7000, Kenko 800mm f/8 manual focus mirror lens.

Welcome to New Zealand!

2011-03-01T09:40:00.000+08:00

Probably the most travel-filled month of my life, February was a month where I visited Hanoi in Vietnam and also Queenstown in New Zealand. You'll find the Hanoi photos further down. This is one of the first shots I took when I arrived on a bright sunny morning in New Zealand. Needless to say, the view is simply breathtaking. A little walk down from the hotel in Queenstown, NZ and you get this view. One of the reasons I love taking panoramas is that I naturally like to frame photos with stuff on the sides, and it works really well with panoramas. Nikon D7000, AF-S 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Lake Erskine

2011-02-28T09:41:00.009+08:00

Ever seen one of those mountain scenes with a beautiful mirror-like lake? Well I've actually had the privilege to visit exactly that in Queenstown, New Zealand. Lake Erskine is apparently a UNESCO World Heritage site that sits right on top of a mountain. In a word, it's breathtaking especially since it's only easily accessible by helicopter, and above a lot of clouds. The chopper landed on a narrow ridge on which I shot this photo. On the other side of the ridge is yet another breathtaking view:
Yes. This view. I think I've died and gone to heaven. In fact, the view is just so great it's practically impossible to shoot a bad photo. So here's another one:

Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Chopper Panorama

2011-02-28T09:40:00.003+08:00

Here's a shot I took as a panorama but forgot about until I went through all my New Zealand photos again. :D Thing is that each photo in this particular series that I took for the panorama looked like it could stand on its own so I didn't really think they were connected until I took a long look at them recently. As far as my numerous panoramas go, this is one of my favourites, as the framing is just right -- there's some foreground interest, and a nice background of mountains and right at the corner on the right, a helicopter. Doing panoramas these days has become a lot easier -- I never put it on a tripod these days and instead just stand and shoot so the virtual horizon helps keep the horizon as level as possible as I pan across. After that Photoshop CS4 does all the work and stitches it all quite seamlessly. This is a 180-degree shot made up of 5-6 shots. Unfortunately, Blogspot's resizing of photos means that you can't really appreciate the photo at the size that's ideal. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Maori

2011-02-23T18:40:00.000+08:00

This Maori was part of the troupe who performed the Haka. Just a nice portrait, I thought. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Busy bees

2011-02-23T18:39:00.005+08:00

I often hear that shooting photos of insects with a 60mm macro isn't easy as the minimum focusing distance of the lens is so close that it will often scare away the insect you're trying to shoot. In my experience though, I've rarely had such problems -- I find insects are usually so busy doing their thing that they usually ignore you even when you get really close. I spent some hours shooting these honey bees collecting nectar and pollen from the lavender plants around the hotel and I literally came back with about a hundred sharp shots. The reason I shot so many was that the bees were so compliant that I could really spend the time just concentrating on getting a properly framed shot. I kinda like this one the best because it has a bee actually with its head in the flower while in the background, you can see another one in flight. I also have this shot:

I like the framing and the depth of field in this shot because the lavender stems seem to be framing the bee nicely. Nikon D7000, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Salmon of doubt

2011-02-23T18:19:00.003+08:00

I was fascinated by this metal sculpture on the wall of the Heritage Hotel in Queenstown where I stayed. I wanted to shoot a picture to showcase the interesting (and surprisingly realistic) colours on the back of the salmon but at the same time, I wanted it to be an interesting photo and not just a record shot. I think I hit a good balance. Click on the image to get a closer look. D7000, AF-S 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Lake Wakatipu Pano

2011-02-23T18:12:00.004+08:00

This panorama of Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand is actually the same balcony view as the one below this post, except taken at a different time and of course, made up of four different shots. I always resort to panoramas because I often feel that its difficult to convey the full majesty of a place unless you get a wider view. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Happy (Star) trails

2011-02-23T13:48:00.007+08:00

I've always wanted to shoot star trails, and the clear skies in Queenstown, New Zealand afforded me this opportunity. The problem is that with digital cameras, there's one drawback -- to take a really impressive star trail photo, you need to leave the shutter open for several hours. However, with DSLRs, taking long night exposures is a two-fold problem -- long exposures heat up the image sensor quite a bit, and consequently results in noise, and on top of that, running the sensor that long, you risk the sensor being damaged from the heat. With the new Nikon D7000, I decided to risk it and leave the shutter open for a maximum of 10mins at f/8, ISO320. Ten minutes is all I dare -- my thinking is that the D7000 can shoot video for 20mins in one go, but with still images the camera needs an equal amount of time for its Long Exposure Noise reduction which uses dark frame subtraction (essentially the camera shoots the actual exposure, then closes the shutter and shoots another exposure of the same duration and removes noise from the first image by comparing the two shots in-camera). What this means is that for a 10min exposure, the camera's sensor is essentially running for 20mins. Contrary to what it looks like in this photo, the landscape was in almost total darkness and I could only focus by manually focussing the lens to infinity. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.

Welcome to Hanoi!

2011-02-20T16:10:00.003+08:00

Sometimes it pays to look down. It's been a busy month for me -- I've been traveling since Chinese New Year -- not just back home, but to Vietnam and then to New Zealand. This little bit of detail was captured in Hanoi and only about the size of a coin stuck on the sidewalk . The city had just celebrated Chinese New Year and there's some remnants of confetti or something on the ground. I realised the potential of this shot the moment I looked down and saw it. The image is slightly post processed to increase contrast and cropped a bit to keep the little red Communist heart as central as possible. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Statuesque

2011-02-20T16:04:00.002+08:00

The one thing about the D7000 is that the gamma on the camera's LCD screen seems to be set a little high. When I took this photo, it looked like the exposure was off so I bracketed quite a bit to make sure I got the exposure right. However, as it turned out when I viewed it on the PC later, the exposure recommended by the camera was correct even though it looked off on the LCD before. This is a statue at the front of t St Joseph's Cathedral, one of the few churches left in Hanoi. Converted to black and white in-camera. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Flowers

2011-02-20T15:56:00.002+08:00

I believe this is a relative of ulam raja (cosmos caudatus) that grows in Malaysia as well, although the leaves seem smaller. They definitely can be eaten though. Getting down to the level of the flowers and using a wideangle, this shot makes it look like the flowers go on forever. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Concentration

2011-02-20T15:53:00.003+08:00

I quite like this photo. Enlarge the photo and you'll see that this vendor has almost the same intense look as the painted portraits above his head. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Masks

2011-02-20T15:49:00.002+08:00

Look closely and you'll see they're not really masks but serving trays made of bamboo and painted with an endless variety of different faces. A photo like this requires careful framing, and with a bit of cropping on the side I got the very symmetrical look I was looking for. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Sandals

2011-02-20T15:47:00.002+08:00

Needs no explanation I think, except that it was shot at one of the many stores selling shoes and sandals on the streets of Hanoi

Temple detail

2011-02-20T15:44:00.003+08:00

I can't even remember where exactly I took this, but I think it's somewhere around Hoan Kiem Lake. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Kids in motion

2011-02-20T15:40:00.002+08:00

Another grab shot that turned out rather well. For this one, I knew the shutter speed wouldn't be that fast, so I panned the camera to follow the motion as best I could. The result is a photo with a lot of motion blur, which in this case, works. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Hoan Kiem Lake

2011-02-20T09:02:00.003+08:00

This shot was taken by propping up my camera on a convenient electrical junction box and setting it on self-timer. There is still a bit of camera shake, but it's acceptable under the circumstances. By the way, Hoan Kiem Lake is one of the major centres of life in the city -- in the day there's a lot of activity and people selling food and souvenirs and at night it's a make-out haven. :) The name translated means the Lake of the Returned Sword, where as the legend goes, the King was bestowed a magical sword by a giant turtle to defeat his enemies. After the successful campaign, the King, as agreed, returned the sword to the turtle here. This temple sits right in the middle of the lake as a memorial. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Cathay Life

2011-02-20T08:56:00.005+08:00

I like this shot -- it says everything. There's Hoan Kiem Lake in the background, two people kissing and a chair that says, "Cathay Life". High ISO shooting on the D7000 is pretty amazing -- this was taken handheld at ISO2500 and it looks pretty darned good considering. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Contemplation

2011-02-20T08:49:00.002+08:00

This shot was taken at Hoan Kiem Lake as well. I noticed this lady sitting by a row of trees next to the lake and fired off a couple of shots. I don't normally take note of technical details, but for this shot, I intentionally shot at the 200mm end of the lens to make the trees look closer than they are. There is of course some post-processing going on here -- I adjusted the curves a little bit, then desaturated the shot till only a hint of colour is seen. Interestingly, the shot looks as if I selectively removed colour in particular areas, but in fact, it's all in colour. The trees were so grey and the lady's bag was so red that this level of desaturation made the trees look monochrome while there's stil a hint of colour in the lady.

Water puppets

2011-02-20T08:38:00.003+08:00

Taken at the same place as the classic kitchen, this is a shot of the water puppets used in a traditional water puppet theatre. White balance here was quite tricky -- the default Auto1 white balance setting on the D7000 produced a slightly bluish shot, not what I was seeing at all. After fooling around with the settings, I found that the new Auto2 white balance (which is biased slightly towards warmer settings) produced the most pleasing result. I love the colour and lighting of this shot, although the little white sign really spoils it a bit. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Water puppets closeup

2011-02-20T08:37:00.002+08:00

And here is a closeup of the water puppets. In a show, these puppets are actually immersed in a pool of water, with the performer stationed behind a bamboo screen, controlling them via a long pole connected to the puppet and hidden under the water. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR.

Classic kitchen

2011-02-20T08:33:00.003+08:00

This kitchen is kitchen is part of an old building in Hanoi. It's actually still used even though it's more of a showcase for tourists. Because of the extreme contrast between the bright and dark areas, I decided to turn on D-Lighting in my Nikon D7000, just to get a bit more detail in the shadow areas without overexposing the bright areas. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Bevy of bikes

2011-02-20T08:30:00.003+08:00

Hanoi, like much of Vietnam, has more motorbikes than cars. It's not surprising, really, when you see how narrow most of the roads in the city are. Vietnamese do everything on their bikes, from sleeping to reading, and er...I presume other things. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Old world charm

2011-02-20T08:26:00.002+08:00

I love Vespas. I've never owned one myself, but I've always wanted one. :) This was shot in one of the oldest houses in Hanoi. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Waiting

2011-02-20T08:22:00.002+08:00

Bikes, even stationary ones, have multiple uses in Hanoi. This shar-pei (I think) is actually sitting there waiting for its bath at a small doggy grooming centre -- well to call it a centre is a bit of an overstatement as it's actually a small doorway in which three people are giving baths to a number of dogs. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Siesta

2011-02-20T08:20:00.001+08:00

Yes, that's right, people in Hanoi even take Siestas on their bikes. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Gossip

2011-02-20T07:48:00.002+08:00

Not a great shot by any means, but I think it has a "slice of life" feel, showing you what the streets in Hanoi look like, along with a nice Vespa (or similar scooter). This was surprisingly sharp considering it was a grab shot taken at the 200mm end of my zoom lens, which isn't usually all that sharp at that focal length. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Manga on the move

2011-02-20T07:38:00.004+08:00

As I've said before, people in Hanoi seem to do everything on a bike, from having a siesta to reading. The colour yellow seems to be a popular choice for Vietnamese, and can be seen on quite a number of walls. This shot is so sharp that in 100% view I can clearly make out the shojo manga that the girl is reading. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

A concerto of cones

2011-02-20T07:31:00.006+08:00

These little souvenir Vietnamese hats were on sale by a vendor on the street in Hanoi. This is almost a straight black and white conversion from the original colour photo, with a little bit cropped off the top for balance. I always have a particular fondness for black and white, and some shots, like this one, were intentionally shot to be converted to BW later. In this case choosing a wide aperture and going in closer will help to blur out the distracting background. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.6-5.6 VR

Ha Long Bay view

2011-02-20T07:22:00.002+08:00

This is a wider view of Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site near Hanoi. The Bay has a total of about 2000 islets, 775 of which are located at the core of the bay. Shots like this are always tricky -- the difference between the brightness of the sky and the sea is usually too great for a DSLR to capture all of it. What happens is that if you properly expose for the the land and the sea, the sky tends to overexpose. There is a fix for this in most photo editors like GIMP and Photoshop -- make a layer with an exact copy of the image then choose "Multiply" in the layer properties -- the result is that the layer will be used to darken the image somewhat. To lighten the areas you don't want to be darker, just use a soft-edged Erase tool and carefully erase the areas you don't want to be dark. You can also adjust the layer opacity to adjust how dark the areas not erased are. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Ha Long Panorama

2011-02-20T07:20:00.002+08:00

This is a Ha LONG Panorama, gettit? :) Anyway, what trip would be complete without a panorama shot from me? These days I'm so used to taking panoramas that I shoot off a series of shots like this without needing a tripod. Just meter for one area, set it to manual exposure and then shoot away, trying to keep the horizon level while doing so. This time I'm actually trying out Microsoft's own Image Composite Editor, which can handle Gigapixel images and will even support RAW files that Windows 7 supports. It's free and if you're interested you can get it from here. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6.

The great wall

2011-02-19T22:39:00.003+08:00

This shot was taken with the intention of giving scale to the some 2000 amazing limestone islands that pepper the whole of Ha Long Bay. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Floating sundry shop

2011-02-19T22:27:00.002+08:00

Having some foreground interest is always important in a landscape shot and I'm always looking for something in the foreground to fill a shot with. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Cave walk

2011-02-19T22:19:00.003+08:00

The thing about taking cave shots is that it's difficult to shoot something truly interesting. Walking in the cave at Ha Long Bay, I noticed the silhouettes of the people walking past this area and quickly snapped a couple of photos. I think the almost monochromatic blue silhouette framed by the dark of the cave works better than having a bunch of gaudy colours (that caves are usually lit with) included in the shot. Nikon D7000, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Tendrils

2010-12-29T15:18:00.003+08:00

Are you a landscape, people, fashion, nature or macro photographer? If you think about it, there are a variety of subjects open to the photographer if he/she just keeps their eyes open. For me personally, I'm interested in nature and macro photography.

This shot is a macro of a tendrils that my passionfruit plant puts out to help it creep up the fence. I spent a good hour shooting this with a single wireless flash positioned from the top. Lighting was simple but the trick is to angle the two tendrils in a pleasing composition. Nikon D7000, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8.

Sunset

2010-07-22T09:40:00.003+08:00

This is one of the final shots I took at Sepang Gold Coast. The sun at this point had turned into a glowing red ball and I wanted to have an appropriate background for it. I snapped quite a few shots as the sun went down and this one is one of them. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Silhouette

2010-07-22T09:33:00.001+08:00

Sometimes there's just no time to think and you have to fire off a few quick shots. This was the best in the 3-4 shots I got of this kid playing in the sea. It would have been better if there was a larger spray of water, though. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Crabby

2010-07-22T09:12:00.006+08:00

This little fellow was taken at Sepang Gold Coast -- a place with a name that sounds more glamorous than it is (it's mostly a muddy shore). What you don't get from the scale in this macro shot is that this soldier crab (Dotilla myctiroides) is maybe only about half an inch in size. As with bugs, taking a macro shot of crabs is an exercise in patience -- you need to approach slowly and crouch long enough that they feel comfortable with you. Here's a closer shot:

I just didn't like this particular shot because the crab was looking directly at me, which I think would have made a better shot. Nikon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Natural slide

2010-06-28T02:30:00.003+08:00

This was shot at the Bukit Hijau falls in Kedah. Taking action shots is almost always a crap shoot -- the only way to even get one or two usable shots is to take a LOT of photos. Out of these usable shots, perhaps only one will actually be THE one. For me this is the shot -- there's a teensy bit of cropping at the top and bottom but generally the framing is what I wanted and there's a sense of movement in the motion blur yet the boy is rendered sharp against the blur background. There are a couple of things to keep in mind to increase your chances of a good photo however:

You need to pan the camera to follow the boy as accurately as possible as he slides down. Anticipation is also key -- you need to watch where the kids slide and you need to know when to press the trigger. I don't normally put the camera on continuous burst mode because most of the time, I will miss the critical moment that happens between shots. So instead, I tend to quickly shoot off a shot or two when I see the boy pass the area I've earmarked as the one which is likely to produce a cool action shot.
The other thing to note is that in dim lighting (such as in the canopy of trees in this waterfall area), the shutter speeds tend to be slow and if the speed is TOO slow, more than likely the subject will also have some motion blur even with the best panning technique. Therefore, I increased the ISO to about 320 or so (this is the highest I'm willing to use on my D200) and got shutter speeds that were fast enough to ensure my subject is sharp, yet have a bit of motion blur in the background.

Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

New design!

2010-06-28T02:22:00.003+08:00

Hey sorry for the long periods between posts. What can I say -- life happened. The truth is that I've been as active as ever taking photos, but have not found the time to post them for awhile. However, now I'm back and although I still probably won't post that often, I'll try to put up as many as I can during my periods of inactivity at home. Anyway, as you've probably noticed, the whole website has had a redesign, thanks to some wonderful new templates on Blogspot. I'm not a web designer so I can't really be bothered to customise the site much, but I'd like to think I have a sense of taste and I know what I like. This particular template (see the designer's name at the bottom) seems to really fit my type of blog, and still keep the black border that I find important for photo display. Enjoy.

Hong Kong Beach

2010-06-28T02:04:00.004+08:00

As usual. this shot is a very atypical idea of Hong Kong -- it's a very beautiful beach with crystal clear water. Counter to what you think from the Hong Kong Tourism board adverts, Hong Kong is very rich in natural areas to visit and this is one of them. I can't tell you where this is simply because I can't remember hahaha. Shooting landscapes usually benefits from having more foreground interest than sky (although if the sky is interesting, then this rule should be reversed). Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Blur

2010-06-28T01:47:00.005+08:00

This photo is interesting because it illustrates just how much depth of field affects the image. In this photo I really experimented with different apertures to really get the effects I wanted. The question is always -- does one use a small aperture and include as much of the flower and the background as possible or do I selectively focus and choose an aperture that isolates the subject more. There isn't an easy answer for this and it largely depends on the subject matter. I had considered an aperture where each petal was rendered sharp enough, but somehow the background was then too distracting, so I settled on this one. NIkon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8. Below is a shot with a smaller aperture to render more depth of field. You decide.

Tai Mo Shan Panorama

2010-02-22T13:04:00.008+08:00

It looks like it's starting to be a yearly thing -- me going to Hong Kong, I mean. As I've said before, the Hong Kong I see is completely different from most people's idea of Hong Kong (big, metropolitan concrete jungle) -- thanks to my environmentalist brother's job, I get to experience what a large part of Hong Kong is actually like. Believe it or not, the city is actually a very small part of the whole of Hong Kong, although the tourism board would have you believe otherwise.

Anyway this panorama is shot on Tai Mo Shan in the New Territories, one of the taller (if not tallest) peaks in Hong Kong, and a very nice picnic spot. Adobe Photoshop CS4 is actually an amazing tool for stitching together images -- it makes blending and correctly aligning the various images (in this case 5 images covering a full 180-degrees) extremely simple. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't scale panoramas well and it compresses the shot into a very small ghost of the original so you can't really see how much detail and how large this shot is. Click for a larger (but still lousy) version. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mmf/4

Bukit Tabur Pano

2009-10-15T09:32:00.004+08:00

I haven't updated in awhile, largely because I've been on the daily grind of work for awhile. However I recently did take a hiking trip out to Bukit Tabur in Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur and took some photos. Bukit Tabur itself is a hill largely made up of quartz and is pretty interesting -- the moderately difficult and seriously dangerous trail means that the area is largely unspoiled even though it's smack in the middle of a housing area. The hill overlooks a lake which is a also a fresh water reservoir. As usual, when taking shots for panoramas, it's important to keep the exposure the same. As far as framing goes, I always try to frame the image by including some foreground interest, especially in the edges. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Butterfly up close

2009-07-21T11:18:00.002+08:00

Here's a tip-- much as we would all like to think it's possible, it's almost impossible to take a macro shot of a butterfly with available light. If the problem is not with shallow depth-of-field, it's a problem with the butterfly's movement, or the wind, or framing or focus. My solution for field shooting is this -- I turn on the wireless mode on my SB-600 flash, use my camera's built-in flash as the trigger, set my camera to f/16 or f/22, pre-focus, then hold the flash out and above the butterfly, hold the camera in the other hand then shoot away. Yes, this is an actual in-the-field shot. The detail is so good the scales that make up the butterfly's wing is clearly visible when you view the image at 100%. Nikon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8.

Saying a prayer

2009-03-04T18:13:00.006+08:00

Brigitte and I revisited this cemetery in Cheras to take some pictures and also to visit some of her relatives buried there. While I had been to shoot here before, I decided to try again and this time bring back photos that are different from what I had taken before. I don't think I have the previous photos on this blog, but I think I succeeded in the challenge I set myself, as the previous shots were more landscape while this series has more detail shots. Anyway a bit of info about taking this photo -- in this shot, what you have to concentrate on is not how the subject looks, but how the background appears.

Let me explain -- it's really important in a shot like this to have the background as UN-distracting as possible and one way to do this is to make sure it's as out of focus as your camera aperture will allow while keeping the subject sharp. Another way is also to look through the viewfinder and try different angles so whatever is left in the background is largely uniform, with little or no distracting objects visible. So here, I applied these two principles, using an aperture that would keep the subject sharp but the background blur, and also making sure that there were no other gravestones in the background to distract your eye from the subject.

Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Little Angel too

2009-03-04T18:02:00.002+08:00

Another shot of a similar little angel. Sometimes getting in close and removing all other elements from a shot can get you a more interesting shot. Here, I thought the angel was particularly interesting, with its dark eyes. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Crosses

2009-03-04T17:49:00.002+08:00

One way of making a shot interesting is to have repeated detail or repeated patterns. This shot again, is of a pretty mundane subject, but it's interesting only because there's a cross repeated in the background. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Little corner of heaven

2009-03-04T17:35:00.003+08:00

Framing is always critical in shots like this. As I take photos I'm always trying to get interesting angles on pretty common images. Here I placed the angel on the far left, and had a bit of the gravestone showing on the right. This image was slightly cropped to tighten the composition further. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Serenity

2009-03-04T17:21:00.005+08:00

I've been to this cemetary in Cheras before, but with a different camera (the Fujifilm S2 Pro I believe) and as always when I revisit a place, I try to take some different shots from before.

This time, my personal challenge was to take the details rather than the entire landscape, resulting in the series of photos you see here. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Hint of colour

2008-12-20T22:55:00.000+08:00

You know I realise that there are wideangle people and there are telephoto people -- that is, people who tend to prefer wideangle lenses or people who tend to prefer long telephoto lenses. I'm firmly in the wideangle category and I usually have more shots at wideangle and medium telephoto focal lengths than at the full 200mm end of my Nikkor AF-S 18-200mm.

However, occasionally, I actually do find a chance to take a shot at 200mm on my lens, and this is one of them. The two people standing there are actually way up at the roof of a building and I was on the ground. I noticed how striking the image was with the lady in red against an almost completely monochromatic background of metal sheeting. Of the two shots I took, this one seemed to me had the best composition. It would have been better I suppose if the two people were looking towards the camera instead of away, but I couldn't very well shout and ask them to look my way! :)

Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Dom Panorama

2008-12-20T22:50:00.000+08:00

As the few readers of this photoblog must have noticed by now, I'm always enamoured with doing panoramas of the places I've visited. I guess it all dates back to an article I read, when I was a teen, in Practical Photography about a so-called Hockney Joiner. For those not in the know, David Hockney is a famous British artist who also took photographs and created what is called a "Joiner" -- the thing about Hockney's joiners is that they were simply brilliant -- they didn't join properly and in fact were shot from different positions and focal lengths then joined together into a collage. The brilliant part is that even though they were put together in a seemingly haphazard fashion, they actually made sense as a whole. Very interesting!

Anyway, it was because of Hockney Joiners that I started taking photos in school and joining them up like this, although unfortunately, none of that work still survives today since it was all on film and prints and is now lost somewhere. As a result of this, I've had an interest in making joiners ever since.

While my shot of the Kohln Dom in Germany is far from being a Hockney Joiner, I really like the weird perspective this particular one gives me. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Having a nap

2008-12-20T22:45:00.003+08:00

I thought this picture was pretty cute -- the baby seems to be extremely well rested! Anyway this shot was taken at the Dom in Cologne -- the father obligingly allowed me to take this photo. D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Cologne Bierhaus

2008-12-19T09:29:00.003+08:00

On the day of our arrival in Cologne, we stopped by at various pubs for food and beer. Now I don't normally drink, but the beer in Germany is so good I really had to make an exception. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Ledge of lenses

2008-12-17T12:19:00.001+08:00

I'm pretty happy with this shot I took at Photokina in Cologne, Germany -- it's perfectly framed and exposure was good and the focus was very sharp. This isn't such a big deal normally, until you consider that the photo was a grab shot in dim lighting conditions and I only had a split second to shoot off two frames of this lady before she walked away. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's practically an ad for Canon lenses. :) Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Leafy Symmetry

2008-12-13T00:07:00.003+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates -- I recently switched my main monitor from a regular LCD monitor to a HDTV and am still colour calibrating it and tweaking it properly for Photoshop and critical work.

Anyway, here's a shot I took only a few days ago -- this photo is almost a straight conversion from an NEF of my Neem tree sapling which I'm trying to grow. The reason for this shot is that I was struck by how symmetrical the leaves of this sapling were. The standard set up here for shots of this type -- I had a wireless SB600 flash behind a translucent Ikea breakfast-in-bed table and used my favourite 60mm Micro-Nikkor for the shot. The thing about macro is that you really have to control framing, focus and depth-of-field carefully --this shot is actually as framed in the camera, without any cropping at all. As for focussing and aperture, I shot a number of images at different apertures till I could get all the leaves at least mostly in focus. Nikon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8.

Hong Kong!

2008-08-18T23:39:00.001+08:00

I recently went on a working trip to Hong Kong to test a new range of Panasonic Lumix cameras, one of which is the latest version of the high-end panorama style compact digital, the LX series. The latest model, the LX3, is a really nice camera that has been vastly improved in many ways from its predecessor. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Keeping it together

2008-08-18T23:34:00.000+08:00

One of the things that's been improved is apparently the dynamic range of the LX3 -- in this situation the camera still hasn't blown out the highlights even though there's quite a range of bright and dark here. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Down by the sea

2008-08-18T23:31:00.001+08:00

This shot was taken with the B+W mode of the LX3. As usual, a bit of foreground interest to lead you in to the photo is important in a shot like this. Panasonic Lumix LX3

They Live!

2008-08-18T23:28:00.001+08:00

It's pretty amazing the amount of live seafood you can find in Hong Kong --- from Abalone, to geoducks, mussels and all kinds of weird things besides, you can find it here. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Hong Kong abstract

2008-08-18T23:26:00.000+08:00

This shot was achieved by rotating the camera as the exposure was taken. I tried a number of different methods in an effort to take as many different shots of a common view at Hong Kong's Victoria Peak. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Train and city

2008-08-18T23:23:00.000+08:00

I managed to capture this shot mostly on automatic for the LX3. The only adjustment here is to crop off a stray arm on the right that was encroaching into the frame. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Shopping Mall

2008-08-18T23:21:00.000+08:00

This shot was taken with the wideangle adapter for the LX3. Strangely enough even though it was past midnight at Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong, the place was still bustling with open shops and people. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Coils

2008-08-18T23:19:00.000+08:00

Incense coils at one of the temples I visited in Hong Kong. Panasonic Lumix LX3

Boat lady

2008-08-18T23:18:00.000+08:00

This boat lady taking me to the restaurant has a lot of souveniers to peddle! Panasonic Lumix LX3

Casino Lisboa

2008-08-18T23:13:00.000+08:00

Not to be confused with the Grand Lisboa below, the Casino Lisboa is yet another one of the many casinos in Macau. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Grand Lisboa entrance

2008-08-18T23:12:00.000+08:00

The entrance of the Grand Lisboa casino and hotel in Macau. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Grand Lisboa 1

2008-08-18T23:10:00.000+08:00

This is what the Grand Lisboa, one of the largest casinos in Macau, looks like from the front. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Grand Lisboa 2

2008-08-18T23:07:00.000+08:00

This is a side view of one of the biggest casinos in Macau, the Grand Lisboa. The light was just perfect at this time of day -- at dusk with just a bit of light left in the sky. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200m f/3.5-5.6 VR

Poser

2008-08-18T23:05:00.000+08:00

I just thought this group of people shooting photos of this cute scruffy dog was quite funny. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Checking out the display

2008-08-18T23:04:00.000+08:00

No fancy title for this shot. Just a little girl checking out the display cabinet in the musuem near the St Paul's Cathedral facade. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Facade

2008-08-18T23:01:00.000+08:00

The ruins of St Paul's Cathedral, the main tourist destination other than the casinos in Macau. The building was destroyed in a fire in 1835 so only the facade is left -- yes there is nothing behind the facade except the floor and a small musuem of religious relics. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Building a fort

2008-08-18T22:57:00.000+08:00

My trip to Macau -- a quick stop at a beach and I found this kid playing on the black sand. Nikon D200. AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Orchids

2008-08-18T22:53:00.000+08:00

My brother in Hong Kong has recently picked up my dad's hobby of keeping orchids. Anyway both my brother and I are a little competitive when it comes to our cameras so we challenged each other to shoot a good off-camera flash photo of his orchids. This is my entry. Nikon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Ecstasy

2008-08-18T10:44:00.001+08:00

Regular followers of this photoblog (yes, all 3 of you!) will probably have seen various versions of this shot. I actually like this kind of shot and I try to shoot one in every country I've been to. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR