Grand Lisboa 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Framing with fronds

Sometimes, having some foreground interest helps to frame a shot with a lot of sky. I think this shot works better than just a straight statue-against-the-sky shot. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Streets of San Francisco 2

Again, shot while hanging off the side of the tram, this was taken with the camera at waist level. To get as close to the ground as possible, I didn't put the camera up to my eye (in any case, it was difficult to put it up to my eye since I was hanging on for dear life). Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Streets of San Francisco

Shot while hanging off the side of the tram, this picture was one of the only views of the bay visible between loads of large buildings. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Singing for his supper

Although it was a very cold day at the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, this street musician was quite chirpy, and sang a selection of great songs, most notably, a number of hilarious lyrics-adjusted Beatles songs, if you know what I mean. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Bird's eye view

While waiting for the tram at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, I spotted this kid who was perched right up in the nook of a tree like a bird and thought it was quite whimsical. I had a number of shots of this kid, with and without the crowd in the foreground, but I think it somehow works better with the crowd, though some people might disagree. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Going round

After they reach the end of the line, the trams are put on this rotating platform where they are turned around and sent back the other way. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Hanging on

Another view of the trams in San Francisco. Surprisingly for a litigation-happy country, passengers are allowed to actually hang on like this. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Inside the tram

What's a trip to San Francisco without taking the iconic trams? Here's a shot from the inside. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Crystal mosque

The Crystal Mosque in the state of Terengganu is the latest symbol of the state. Although the name suggests that it's made of crystal, it's in fact made from pieces of reflective coloured glass, with the tops of the minarets the only parts to feature actual crystal inlays. Apparently, the mosque was chosen as the new symbol of the state after it became increasingly difficult to see the highly-endangered leatherback turtles which were the state's previous symbol. Panasonic Lumix FS-5

That sinking feeling

This shot was taken at a Terengganu fishing village using the black and white mode in the Panasonic Lumix FS-5. I actually shot one in colour as well, but I think the B+W works better here. Panasonic Lumix FS-5

Vertical landscape

Okay, don't ask me why all the following shots are in portrait mode -- it just turned out that the best photos of my squid jigging trip in Terengganu are in portrait orientation. This shot illustrates how having some foreground interest really makes a mundane shot more interesting. Panasonic Lumix FS-5

Anchor's aweigh!

This image was actually quite difficult to shoot with the Panasonic's limited (usable) ISO range coupled with the constantly rocking boat and low light levels. I shot quite a few, propping the camera up against a bulkhead and also trying a few just handholding it. I think the sharpest one I got was with the camera propped against the bulkhead. Panasonic Lumix FS-5.

Mangrove

Nothing much to say about this shot except that I adjusted the levels and contrast to make it more striking. Oh yes, by the way, I don't know if you've noticed, but all my shots here are in 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio -- the Panasonic compact digicam I'm using is actually a 10MP 4:3 aspect ratio camera, but it has a 16:9 mode which crops off the top and bottom and produces a 7.5MP image. I kind of prefer a widescreen aspect ratio (hence the loads of digital panoramas I like to make) to the more squarish 4:3, so I shot in 16:9 almost exclusively. As you can see it works pretty well in landscape and portrait mode. Panasonic Lumix FS-5.

Sea life

This shot was taken on a recent squid jigging trip SC and I took in the state of Terengganu. The squid weren't biting much, so I took the opportunity to concentrate on photography instead. Since I was on a fishing trip, I didn't bother to take my bulky Nikon D200 with me -- instead I had a Panasonic Lumix FS-5 compact digicam to shoot with. The camera actually turned in pretty good results, although I was quite limited when it came to night shots and such. Anyway, for this shot, I held the camera down on part of the boat and shot a few till I was sure I got a sharp enough shot. Panasonic Lumix FS-5

Corsage

Chris' wedding again -- this time early in the morning as the family's preparing for the event. I took several shots like this with this effect in mind -- achieved by desaturating the background then removing the desaturated effect selectively. Since this isn't a posed shot at all, I had to work quickly to frame, and even then I had to crop slightly to the left of the frame to get what I wanted. Nikon D200, AF-S VR Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6

Father and daughter

Even at weddings, I'm always on the lookout for an interesting photo with some real human interest. I spotted this father and his baby at Chris' wedding and I knew I had something, IF only I could get a sharp shot, which was not as easy as it sounds, because of the dim lighting and the constantly moving child. Out of the 4 or 5 shots, this was the most successful -- I cropped it a little and converted it to B+W to remove the distracting colour in the background. Nikon D200, AF-S VR Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6.

Walking the line

Kids always have the most fun, no matter what the occasion or where it is. :) Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Burning Money

Like Wesak Day at the Thai temple, Cheng Beng at the cemetary in Sepang seems to be one of my regular annual photo excursions. This year, this caught my eye -- it's a life size effigy of a Honda motorcycle! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Big man, small helmet

I think the title says it all. I found this Japanese tourist in Langkawi quite amusing -- he's wearing a loaner helmet that seems to be two sizes too small. Shot at 200mm out of the window of a bus. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Umbrella girl

This was taken on a recent trip to Langkawi Island while on assignment to test a couple of Panasonic cameras. This shot is a pretty classic type of framing, though perhaps I should have framed the woman a little more to the left. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Deck chairs

A shot of deck chairs at the Andaman Resort on Langkawi Island. This was taken with the help of the wonderful Gorillapod tripod, with its legs wrapped around a railing. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR