Brass Bells

Prayer bells at the reclining Buddha temple.
Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Buddha

More reclining Buddha. Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Buddha's Feet

Taken at the second largest reclining Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand.
Nikon D70, Nikkor 12-24mm AF-S

Little prayer

A cute little statue in beside the door of the reclining Buddha temple in Bangkok, Thailand. Nikon D70, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Red Elephant

Elephant detail in front of the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. Nikon D70, Nikkor 12-24mm f/4 AF-S

Street crossing

Just a dude crossing the busy street in the middle of Bangkok.
Nikon D70, AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8

Speed demon

My attempt at trying to capture what it's like to careen around in a 3-wheeler cab -- the Tuk-Tuk -- in Bangkok, Thailand.
Nikon D70, AF-S 12-24mm f/4

Ayuthaya

One of my usual Dutch angle shots...sometimes you just can't fit everything in until you tilt the camera in a funny way. Testing the new Panasonic DMC-LX1, the first compact digital camera to shoot natively in the 16:9 format

Not-so-little drummer boy

A cultural show at the ruins of Ayuthaya, in Bangkok, Thailand. Testing the new Panasonic DMC-LX1, the first compact digital camera to shoot natively in the 16:9 format

Mahouts

The Ayuthaya elephant ride tour in Bangkok, Thailand. Mahouts are elephant wranglers and riders, btw. Testing the new Panasonic DMC-LX1, the first compact digital camera to shoot natively in the 16:9 format

A Mahout in Ayuthaya

One of my favourite shots taken at Ayuthaya...could have been better framed, but I was bouncing on top of a moving elephant at the time. Testing the new Panasonic DMC-LX1, the first compact digital camera to shoot natively in the 16:9 format

View from elephant's back

I just love a 16:9 aspect ratio... gives you so many possibilities for framing. Testing the new Panasonic DMC-LX1, the first compact digital camera to shoot natively in the 16:9 format

Tourists

I don't know why I like this shot, but I do -- maybe it's the framing, maybe its the contrast, or maybe its just the girl's expression in front. The ruins of the old Siamese capital in Ayuthaya, Bangkok, Thailand. Testing the new Panasonic DMC-LX1, the first compact digital camera to shoot natively in the 16:9 format

Ice skater

The international ice-skating championships in Sunway Pyramid recently. I took this shot with an eye to turning it into B+W -- here cropped a little and slightly toned to look warmer. I was quite taken by the symmetry of the shadow.
Nikon D70S, AF Micro-nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Weird architecture

A so-called 'Dutch angle' shot, i.e. a shot framed unconventionally. I framed it like this because I liked how the roof angles just fit into the corner of my shot at the top left. The plant added foreground interest to an otherwise plain wall. This building is apparently a now-rundown campus for an Islamic centre which for one reason or another has now been left empty for 5-6 years now. It's apparently modelled after the Alhambra in Spain, even down to the Inquisition-style chairs inside!
Nikon D70S, AF Nikkor 18-35mm

Shell, shocked!

Another shell shot, this time using my wireless SB-600 flash blasting INTO the shell, lighting it from the inside.
Nikon D70S, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Spiral tower

One of those pictures that worked well in both B+W and colour. Decided on colour in the end because I kinda like the subtle colour of the shell. No special setup or technique here -- I just shot handheld in available light up at this shell which was sitting on a shelf.
Nikon D70S, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Shell shot

A closeup of a shell taken at a restaurant recently. One of the few times I actually used the Depth-of-field Preview feature on my camera. I wanted the tip to be sharp enough and yet gracefully blur in the background. Slightly cropped and turned into B+W
Nikon D70S, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8

Pacifier ain't workin'

I don't really like children, but I like to photograph them! Haha. Taking pictures of children is a skill in itself -- I just patiently followed my nieces around, shooting pictures till I got what I wanted. This is a picture of the younger of my two nieces. The most important thing when taking pictures of people is to have the camera focus on the eyes -- people can acccept blur anywhere but the eyes. Click on this picture to see the large size version -- it's so sharp you can actually see me in her eyes. :)
Fujifilm S2Pro, AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

Sparklers

While I'd normally say that you can pretty much take a good photograph with any camera, but in this case, this sort of photograph is only possible with a DSLR or a film SLR (or more advanced prosumer digicams). This is because only these cameras offer a "B" (Bulb) setting which lets you open the shutter for as long as you want.
This picture was actually a 6-second exposure, and the camera was locked down on a tripod. I asked my niece to write her name with the sparkler. At the end of this exposure, I provided a burst of flash to illuminate my niece. Voila!
In case you're wondering why it's called "Bulb" mode, it's actually a throwback from the days when film speeds were something like ISO6 and cameramen had to always use a flash in every shot otherwise run the risk of taking an exposure which could last several minutes.
Bulb mode of course refers to the flash and in this mode, the shutter would remain open and the exposure would actually be taken when the flash went off. Remember, since exposures could have been several minutes long even in daylight, ambient light would make very little difference in the final exposure so leaving the shutter open was okay. With film speeds being so fast these days, Bulb mode is relegated to only night exposures. By the way, in the old days, you had to replace every flashbulb after just one burst -- I still have one of those in my father's collection. Fujifilm S2Pro, AF Nikkor 28-105mm