Bukit Tabur Pano

I haven't updated in awhile, largely because I've been on the daily grind of work for awhile. However I recently did take a hiking trip out to Bukit Tabur in Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur and took some photos. Bukit Tabur itself is a hill largely made up of quartz and is pretty interesting -- the moderately difficult and seriously dangerous trail means that the area is largely unspoiled even though it's smack in the middle of a housing area. The hill overlooks a lake which is a also a fresh water reservoir. As usual, when taking shots for panoramas, it's important to keep the exposure the same. As far as framing goes, I always try to frame the image by including some foreground interest, especially in the edges. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm f/4

Butterfly up close

Here's a tip-- much as we would all like to think it's possible, it's almost impossible to take a macro shot of a butterfly with available light. If the problem is not with shallow depth-of-field, it's a problem with the butterfly's movement, or the wind, or framing or focus. My solution for field shooting is this -- I turn on the wireless mode on my SB-600 flash, use my camera's built-in flash as the trigger, set my camera to f/16 or f/22, pre-focus, then hold the flash out and above the butterfly, hold the camera in the other hand then shoot away. Yes, this is an actual in-the-field shot. The detail is so good the scales that make up the butterfly's wing is clearly visible when you view the image at 100%. Nikon D200, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8.

Saying a prayer

Brigitte and I revisited this cemetery in Cheras to take some pictures and also to visit some of her relatives buried there. While I had been to shoot here before, I decided to try again and this time bring back photos that are different from what I had taken before. I don't think I have the previous photos on this blog, but I think I succeeded in the challenge I set myself, as the previous shots were more landscape while this series has more detail shots. Anyway a bit of info about taking this photo -- in this shot, what you have to concentrate on is not how the subject looks, but how the background appears.

Let me explain -- it's really important in a shot like this to have the background as UN-distracting as possible and one way to do this is to make sure it's as out of focus as your camera aperture will allow while keeping the subject sharp. Another way is also to look through the viewfinder and try different angles so whatever is left in the background is largely uniform, with little or no distracting objects visible. So here, I applied these two principles, using an aperture that would keep the subject sharp but the background blur, and also making sure that there were no other gravestones in the background to distract your eye from the subject.

Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

Little Angel too

Another shot of a similar little angel. Sometimes getting in close and removing all other elements from a shot can get you a more interesting shot. Here, I thought the angel was particularly interesting, with its dark eyes. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Crosses

One way of making a shot interesting is to have repeated detail or repeated patterns. This shot again, is of a pretty mundane subject, but it's interesting only because there's a cross repeated in the background. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Little corner of heaven

Framing is always critical in shots like this. As I take photos I'm always trying to get interesting angles on pretty common images. Here I placed the angel on the far left, and had a bit of the gravestone showing on the right. This image was slightly cropped to tighten the composition further. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR

Serenity

I've been to this cemetary in Cheras before, but with a different camera (the Fujifilm S2 Pro I believe) and as always when I revisit a place, I try to take some different shots from before.

This time, my personal challenge was to take the details rather than the entire landscape, resulting in the series of photos you see here. Nikon D200, AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6VR