Impossible panorama

The reason I call this panorama impossible is because if you look carefully, the perspective is impossible to achieve with any lens. This 3-image joiner was done with a lot of help from Photoshop. I shot these pictures of sunset at another temple in the Angkor complex called Phnom Bakheng with the intention of turning them into this digital panorama. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Easy does it

These two men mimicking each other's movements as they gingerly make their way down the very steep steps of one of the towers at Angkor. Believe me, these steps are very narrow and very steep -- it scared even me when I climbed up and down them! Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

In Prayer

A lot of Cambodians were at Angkor Wat while I was there, praying and making offerings probably in honour of the recent Cambodian new year celebrations. Nikon D70, AF-S 12-24mm f/4

Dressed up

I presume these statues were decorated to this degree because of the Cambodian new year which started just a day or two before this. This is the Hall of 1000 Buddhas, which, as the name suggests, used to contain many Buddha statues. Unfortunately, most of the statues have either been destroyed or plundered and only a few still stand today. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Buddhist Monks 2

Another slightly closer view of the Buddhist monks at Angkor taking a break from the crowd. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Buddhist Monks

There are always a few monks wandering the various temples at the Angkor complex. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Split personality

More wall detail at Angkor Wat. This is apparently called an Apsara. Nikon D70, AF-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Offerings

Two devotees making offerings at one of the Buddha statues inside Angkor Wat. The inside of Angkor Wat is actually surprisingly empty as most of the statues have been stolen over the years. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Angkor detail

The carvings in Angkor Wat are endlessly fascinating, though if you take pictures of all of them they will start getting boring to all but an archaelogist. Nikon D70, AF-Nikkor 28-105mm f/4

Girl and puppy

This girl with her puppy may look cute, but she's actually a member of a legion of beggar children from hell -- if you even look at them or take pictures, these children will follow you for a surprisingly long way asking for cash. Nikon D70, AF-Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5

Angkor 2

Another shot of Angkor Wat, this time with a little bit more of the foreground. Nikon D70, AF-S 12-24mm f/4

Angkor Wat

Yes, I've just come back from Siem Reap in Cambodia! I was there many years ago to interview Angelina Jolie on the set of Tomb Raider (shameless name-dropping!) and I've always wanted to revisit it again. This is the standard postcard shot of the temple -- most people take pictures of this view of Angkor Wat. Nothing to shout about, although it's a pretty nice picture. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

LCCT

A view of the new Low Cost Carrier Terminal taken with my friend's excellent 10.5mm AF Nikkor lens. If you're wondering what I'm doing there, this shot is the prelude to my Cambodia trip. It's so wide you get a 180-degree angle of view! Nikon D70, 10.5mm AF Nikkor

Bug shot

After all that, I still had time to take some of my favourite macro bug shots. :) Nikon D70, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Time out

After throwing paper around, the kids even have time to play a few games on their dad's mobile phone. Wonder if they're playing DigDug? LOL. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Graveyard shift

Yes, that's one of the kids walking on the grave. Check out the vibrant colours in this shot -- the light was really nice that day and the colours just pop! Nikon D70, AF-S 12-24mm f/4

Paper offerings

The whole process of Cheng Beng involves scattering paper offerings on the grave as well as burning paper money for the deceased to use in the afterlife. As usual, children enjoy making a mess and will be the first to volunteer throwing paper everywhere. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Sepang Cemetary

Woohoo! I'm back after more than a week of my ADSL line being down. Anyway, this shot is a panorama of several shots I took for the Cheng Beng at a freind's place in Sepang town -- that's a small town near the KL International Airport)-- ie the time of year when people honour their parents/relatives by visiting their graves and giving offerings. Although the shot is seamless, the joint is nevertheless visible here because I forgot to set the camera in Manual mode and lock the exposure, resulting in the shot being more difficult to join together especially in the sky area because the brightness was different from shot to shot. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Infrared lake

This shot was taken a while back at, believe it or not, the lake in Kelana Jaya. This was taken with my Cokin infrared filter then converted to Black and white. The cool thing about infrared filters is that they turn skies black and leaves white. The Nikon D70 is also pretty good okay camera for infrared photography because the sensor is actually reasonably sensitive to infrared. Pretty cool. Nikon D70, AF Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Abstract goldfish

I took this photo a long time ago, but I recently took another look at it and realise that it might be a very nice wallpaper for your PC. This shot is actually shot under the purplish light of the aquarium in the fish shop. No exposure adjustments have been done and only some stray pieces of ...er floating stuff have been photoshopped out. So here it is. Try it! Fujifilm S2Pro, 50mm f/1.8

Caterpillar tracks

This shot is presented here unadjusted, taken using a Panasonic TZ1 compact camera. This is yet another leftover shot from my trip to Sydney's Bondi beach and is presented here to prove that you can take a nice shot even without a whizzbang advanced camera like my Nikon D70.

Walking the bridge

A shot taken in Sydney Harbour, with a Panasonic Lumix TZ1 compact digital camera, then slightly cropped and selectively turned black-and-white. I kind of like this picture with the strong grey and black hues set off by the slight colour of the flags.

Sunset

What could be more appropriate to close this series of shots than with a sunset picture? This is a pretty regular shot, taken just outside the balcony of my brother's quarters at the farm.
Nikon D70, AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8

The REAL Hong Kong

This is a digital panorama -- stitched together from 4 shots, it covers a nearly 180-degree angle of view. Amazingly, even though it's only about 20minutes away from Hong Kong city, most people in Hong Kong never see this, and I guess it's these people who help to perpetuate the myth that Hong Kong is one big sprawling concrete jungle. In actual fact, so little of it is actually populated. Don't believe me? Check out Google Earth. As usual, Blogspot resizes this huge image into a small thing even when you click on it for a larger image.
Nikon D70 AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Top of the world

This beautiful view can be seen right from the top of the hill that the farm is on. This is about 400metres or so above sea level. If you click on this picture and see the larger version, you'll see some terraces on the mountain in the distance -- according to my brother, the terraces are ancient, hewn into the mountain hundreds of years ago by farmers. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4ED

The source

This small clear pool is the source of the stream that runs through the Kadoorie centre. Most of this area is jungle with low trees -- a little less dense and tall than a Malaysian forest because it's relatively colder. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4