City of Lights

The City of Lights in our very own backyard!

It’s really astonishing that I-Berhad created it’s very own City of Lights within the city of Shah Alam! Since it’s opening late last year, many travelers on the main federal highways were astounded by the multi-color lights of the trees that seems to sprouts out of nowhere overnight!

One day it’s all concrete in semi-darkness of construction and next, it’s Christmas in the air! The wonders of these attractive lights drove many curious visitors to the very heart of the latest development – I-City… me included!

The 1^st visit was out of curiosity as I drove around in circle trying to find the entrance into this amazing place.  Arriving just before sunset on this very hot, hot day – it’s was really a sight to behold as the setting sun provided an amazing views complimented by the colorful lights from the trees!  And as darkness descends, I saw that they were really, really sad looking plastic trees that were hooked with lights, not exactly convincing enough with its fake looking leaves.

Not what I expected to see as we have an abundance of the real stuff all around us, it’s depressing to realize that we city folks do find amusement in this fake wonderland. 

On the other hand, if we do find ourselves in need of an excuse to get out of the house. Then maybe, you may want to take your camera along for some photography. Even though I am not a fan of this place, I found myself making a ‘bee-line’ there for the 2^nd visit which were a total disastrous decision as the place where jam-packed with visitors.  And I find myself obligated to visit it for the 3^rd time, as I accompanied my dear folks for a stroll in this very ‘fake’ park. Surprisingly, they were rather surprised and fascinated by the beautiful display of lights.

In the end, I guess in our busy lifestyles we always miss the day so much so that when darkness falls; this fake wonderland do actually provided a fantasy world of make-believe for most of us…

Cape Rachado Lighthouse in Port Dickson

There are always some mystery that surrounded a lighthouse wherever they stand at every coastal line.  It’s a great relief that some of these historical sites are protected from natural state of ruins.

In some fishing island, lighthouses are the guiding light that brings the fishermen back to shore. And over the years, it has become a watch tower and serves many other functions till today.

Cape Rachado Lighthouse or Rumah Api Tanjung Tuan is one of the country’s oldest lighthouse which were built by the Portuguese in the 16^th century. Dated back to 1863, this lighthouse is no longer a vantage point for sailors or watch tower for warships. Today it houses a gigantic –looking revolving Radar used by MEASAT for communications and transmission purposes. 

There is always a story behind every historical site, and here’s one local folklore for Cape Rachado . The local claims that Hang Tuah, a legendary Malay warrior of the 15st century, acquired his strength and knowledge by meditating at Cape Rachado. The legend says that his footprint was left embedded in a boulder, and that it can be seen to this day. 

Cape Rachado has been restored to its majestic-looking colonial architecture of white concrete structure.  Located across the Straits of Malacca and Sumatra, Cape Rachado is a strategic place for the annual migration of preying birds or raptors especially the honey buzzards. Today this lighthouse serves as a conservation area for the migrating birds during their annual winter migration from June to September.

BUKIT TINGGI RESORT

It was a gloomy Sunday afternoon as we leisurely made our way up to Bukit Tinggi Resort in Pahang. It’s roughly about 45 minutes drive via the Karak Highway and finally up a rather winding road up to the Resort.

The weather were holding on quite well as I was expecting it to rain any time. But nevertheless, it didn’t and occasionally we still catch some sunlight.

Our 1st stop was at the Japanese and Botanical Gardens, where we had to make a 300m hike up a steep path. After making up to Mount Kinabalu, this is what you could say ‘kacang putih’ or maybe not….

The Japanese Garden was as expected, lots of greens and several Japanese huts, garden decors and pebbles pathway aligned all the way through the garden.

Next stop, the Botanical Garden, it’s really a well-planned landscaping with an open air ‘Green House’ where you will find many different species of flowering plants. It’s a rather vast garden as you ventures deeper into the large landscapes. The pathway reveals an abundance of trees, plants and exotic flowers that grace the pathway all along the garden.

The last stop is the French-themed village, Colmar Tropicale with its French architecture that does not impress me much. As it finally rained, we find ourselves scouring for shelter and found a quaint little bakery for some coffee and cakes.

What I find interesting about this place is definitely, the cool weather that was such a relief from the hot and humid in KL City.

The trip turned out to be pleasant enough as were the photography experience. It’s a recommended place for leisure photography session with not too much expectation unless it’s well-planned out. You will find many interesting locations that suits your photography needs.

Raymond Lam Fung @ Arena of STARS

I and some of my photographer friends were invited to shoot for a concert at the ARENA of STARS at Genting on 19 December 2009. Little did we know that it was a celebrity concert by Hong Kong based actor and singer, Raymond Lam Fung! He is well known in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Canada and even in the US.

Here are some shots of the concert which we enjoyed very much as the stage set up were very challenging indeed for any photographer. It’s even trickier as there were massive arrays of lasers, neon and spotlights throughout the stage performances.

Basically, shooting concert is an amazing opportunity to capture some great images. It can be a real challenge to work with the constantly changing stage lighting especially with its different colors.

Rule One

The first rule of thumb when covering any concert or stage performances is never use the flashlight. Not only will the constant flashes annoyed the audience, it will also affect the performers on stage. A flashlight will also instantly kill the creative atmosphere or ambience stage lighting.

Rule Two

Use a high ISO of 1600 with the widest aperture possible and

changing your shutter speed as you go along.

Rule Three

Of course, stick to manual mode as the stage lighting condition can change so drastically.

Such constantly changing lights can drive your camera metering crazy

so it’s better to have manual control.

Rule Four

You don’t need a tripod or even a monopod.

If you have the luxury to move around to shoot the concert, it’ll hinder your freedom.

Rule Five

For sharp and clean image, remember to keep your shutter at 1/250

or faster to capture your subjects on stage.

Rule Six

RAW is the name of the game!

Shooting in RAW will help you eliminate the problem

of the constantly changing light conditions, it helps tremendously with WB later.

Rule Seven

Always carry two cameras with you, one hooked with a zoom lens of 70-200 f2.8

and the other either a wider 17-40 f2.8

keep in mind the crop factor if it’s not on a full-frame camera.

Rule Eight

Compose and frame your shots carefully,
always anticipate the next steps

and be alert or ahead of what’s about to happen.

Don’t shoot like a ‘machine-gun’ which I notice is the trend of a new digital photographer.

The shutter sound can be extremely annoying to the audience too!

So these are my golden rules for shooting a concert or stage performances. Of course, it’s always different method with each photographer so you should find your own way and decide what’s comfortable to you.

'My Water Moments' with Sony TX5

I just simply love photography, and I find my subjects practically anywhere and at anytime. Sometimes, it can be a leisure stroll in the park or most times a day trip out to some ‘exotic’ location.

Many times, I find myself indulging in my favorite past time in the weirdest occasion. Sometimes, it’s in some unlikely situation where you find yourself quite prepared indeed to capture some interesting shots. Though not expecting any good outcome, the results really surprised me.. a lot!

I’m talking about underwater photography! The mere mention of underwater photography one would think of big huge underwater casing and external professional-looking strobe-lights! You start to imaging photos of beautiful deep-sea creatures and corals beneath the waves….photos which mostly belonged to the realm of skilled divers and photographers.

Fret not; the latest technology in digital imaging has brought this capability to the reach of users who simply wants to have fun underwater but minus all the expensive equipment. Just take a look at the latest Sony Cyber-shot TX5, wow – no one could believed that this little camera is not only capable for taking picture on land, you can actually take it down into the pool!

Yes, believed it! The TX5 can submerge into the pool as deep as 10’ under. What’s amazing also is that you can take it to the beach and no worries but this little baby is dustproof. There’s more, it is also shock proof meaning it can within an accidental drops from as high as 5’ height.

Now, that’s really a ‘WOW from me for a camera that so slim and tiny in size for having so much ruggedness in it.

Briefly, the TX5 is a 10mp digital camera with Sony’s very own technology of Exmor R CMOS sensor and BIONZ processor. It can cover up to 4x zoom range and has a 25mm wide angle point of view. I loved the Red body but don’t mind the Black or Silver all 3 colors oozes with charms!

That’s too much talk about these little cameras, now it’s time to share some photos of

‘My Water Moments’

It was a hot and sunny day, so off to the nearest pool to cool ourselves down. Photographing kids have always been a fun thing. So it’s important that the photographer must join in the fun. What’s more having such a great opportunity to do it in the pool makes it even more challenging and tricky!

Actually, the secrets is just let the kids do their stuff and just play along with them. In the end it’s them that actually provide you with all the fantastic candid poses which can never be achieved if you tried to pose them. After a short while, they started to devise some ways to keep themselves longer under for me to capture their amazing aquatic poses.

This little underwater camera can really be such a joy to have in the pool or even in the sea. Imaging just having these great photos taken in the pool, you have a bigger pool out there in the big open sea.

All the images turned out fantastic, color reproduction beautiful with the blue of the pool in really brilliant blue….

It’s definitely a great fun to share  ......

'My Water Moments' anytime and any place.

Carmen – Untold Story!

A famous story of a gypsy woman called Carmen.
She’s a gutsy and free-spirited woman before her time

People called her a wild woman except for those that knew her..
Born into extreme poverty, Carmen lived a life that she only know best..

A life full of trickery, lies and deceit
She knows no love and she knows no mercy,

Her beauty and charms is her way of survival
She falls deeply in love and yet very quickly out of it

Cravings for excitements and adventures constantly
Her lovers are abundance and no one matters except herself.

Can she truly remain faithful to one lover?
We pity the poor man that thought he’s won her heart!

Alas, when she get bored, he’s no more..
Carmen is what is she is, a woman full of passion

No man can have her, only she will have them.
Carmen cannot understand why?

As she lies there in her own blood
Why did they want to hurt her?

She only loved and only wanted to be loved!!
In the end, Red is her favorite color......

\