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.