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

Waterworld!

Yes, during an 8-hour stopover in Los Angeles, I had time to visit Universal Studios, and boy was it a lot of fun -- I didn't have time to see everything but I got to watch the Terminator 2: 3D, Shrek 4D and Backdraft shows as well as the Jurassic Park and the Mummy rides as well as this one, the Waterworld show, which only happens twice a day. As you'll see from the next few photos, this show is one of the most interesting live-action shows I've ever seen. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Waterworld denizen

This guy at the Waterworld show in Universal Studio LA is quite funny -- his job, before the show begins, is to douse the audience with buckets of water. No joke! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Making a turn

You know, I was really sitting pretty far away from the action but thanks to the 18-200mm VR I had, I managed to really fill the frame with all the action. This panned shot is not super-sharp, but it's actually not too bad considering that it's darned far away and the action was so fast. Sometimes, I spend so much time concentrating on the shot I actually don't get to watch the show much! hahaha. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Flying high

This is not a well-framed shot in my book but I just had to post this because it's absolutely the highlight of the Waterworld show in Universal Studios LA. What you're looking at is a full-sized model of a plane that's being LAUNCHED off a ramp and free-flying towards the audience! Amazingly the plane will land in the water just about 15feet short of the audience. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Jumping the gun

Some of the stunts at the Waterworld show in Universal Studios LA are pretty amazing -- just check out the water scooter jump and how it's narrowly missing the stuntman on the right! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6VR

The end of Waterworld

The whole Wateworld show at Universal Studios LA ends with a bang, and lots of pyrotechnics. Just a note here about shooting these kinds of photos -- I know some people believe you can only shoot action by using a super-high burst mode but let me tell you, I've never used the continuous shooting mode on my camera. Instead I rely on being able to anticipate when the "moment" is going to be. Contrary to popular belief, I find this method actually produces more keepers than if I used the 5frames-per-second my camera is capable of. BTW click on the photo to see the larger version to fully appreciate the beauty of the fireworks! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Not Venice

This isn't Venice of course but The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. Nikon D200. AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Go to the light!

A shot of the interior of the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Life (Wall), flashing before my eyes

I don't usually post work related photos here, but this one I took at CES2008 was nice enough to post here. Yes I was recently in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show and what you're looking at here is Panasonic's phenomenal Life Wall display, which is a HUGE (you're only looking at perhaps 1/5th of the wall here) interactive wall-to-wall display that not only changes your wallpaper, but allows you to interact with the display with gestures and make video calls, surf the Net, etc. The Life Wall is actually just a study in modern electronics, and you're not likely to see it in your home anytime soon. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Lovers in the fire

Every hotel in Las Vegas seems to have some kind of show or other. This one is in front of the Mirage Hotel and it's a volcano that erupts every hour or so. However, in taking this photo, (again with the help of the gorillapod) I realised that the flames coming out just happened to look like two lovers looking at each other. And guess what -- there's a Beatles Love poster in the back! Sometimes luck is on my side. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Fire in the hold!

Amazingly, this scene happens every few hours in front of the Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas. The show starts of with two pirate ships -- one full of women and the other full of men -- meeting and then having a battle, with cannons and all. There's lots of singing and pyrotechnics and in about 20mins it's over and then starts again in a few hours (I believe at 7pm then 10pm). This shot was only possible with the help of the wonderful gorillapod, a tripod with bendy legs which I had wrapped around a railing! Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Fire in the hold II

This is what the ship looks like without the fire. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Ghosts of Mars

Obviously not the best photo I've ever taken, but I was just fascinated by the interplay of light on the canopy of this huge tent in Las Vegas -- not sure about the location, but this place has a whole bunch of factory outlet shops. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Beijing!

I recently visited Beijing on assignment covering China's preparations for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. It was a short trip and I only had one day off to visit the Forbidden City. This is one of the few shots of Beijing I have which is not of the Forbidden City -- captured while traveling on a bus. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Self-portrait

A reflection of me in one of the modern barriers in the Forbidden City. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Ross in the jungle

This is the editor of a tech magazine in Singapore, shot against the interesting mural at our hotel in Beijing, China. I just thought it looked pretty cool. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Seeing red

Apt title, don't you think? I'm always on the lookout for shots with contrasting colours when I walk around anywhere -- this was near the entrance to the Forbidden City. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

All along the watchtower

Apparently, this hill with the three pagodas was where Kublai Khan's palace once stood. The palace was demolished on orders from the Emperor after the Mongols were finally driven out of the Kingdom. These pagodas were built on top and overlooks the Forbidden City from the South. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Wall detail

Nothing much to say about this shot, except that I was incredibly anal about getting it properly centred in the shot. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3,5-5.6 VR

Roof guardians

A closeup of the ornamentation the roof of one of the many buildings in the Forbidden City in China. Apparently, the more guardians there are on the roof, the more important the building is. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR