Place: Clouds over Java

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Clouds over Java - why I love window seats

f/5.3, 1/640s, Off Camera i-TTL Fill Flash, Tamron 1:1 90mm macro lens, Nikon D80

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I travel a lot on my job, and wherever I can, I always choose a window seat. Being a frequent flyer makes it possible for me to actually ask for the actual seat I want.

All this while, I would sit next to the window and gaze outside. While much of the time, there isn't all that much to see, once in a while, you do get some extremely interesting sights, like clouds. Clouds are a favorite of mine, thanks to the fact that they are never alike - no two clouds is the same.

They opportunity to photograph them only last for a few seconds, and with my previous Nikon point and shoot, it was just too hard to get good photos. Either I couldn't turn the camera on in time, or the camera's autofocus will think it is smarter than I am (and often focuses on its own reflection on the window).

Nowadays, I travel with my D80, and it is constantly in my hands, ready for a photograph at a moment's notice, except when it's mealtime, or when I'm sleeping.

Here, I share with you a few photos I took on my way home from Jakarta. Hope you'll enjoy it.

Addendum: After some research, it appears that the cloud formation best resembles a deformed Lenticular Altocumulus cloud. Here are some examples

Again, this being an experimental layout, I'd love for any comments not just on the photos itself, but also the layout. Do let me know how I can improve you experience while you're reading my humble photoblog. Thanks in advance !

Place: Penang

Rainbow

f/8, 1/100s, D80




New and Old ?

f/8, 1/60s, D80




Facade

f/8, 1/500s, D80




Lorong Madras

f/8, 1/80s, D80




Pay up !

f/8, 1/80s, D80




Thinking inside the box

f/8, 1/30s, D80

One of my favorite places in Malaysia is Penang. The historic Georgetown, with buildings in various stages on neglect and disrepair on one hand, and on the other, beautifully restored, and sometime garishly colored, is one of those places where time has stood still in some corner and got turbo-charged in some others.

I recently had the good fortune to visit Penang, and I set out to capture some of Georgetown in photos. As I always do, I had an objective for my little walkabout / photoshoot. I wanted to capture bits and pieces of the feeling of being in Georgetown.

I am not a street photography kind of person, and I'm not very keen on capturing people, so I knew I wanted to capture objects - street signs, buildings, and other things that embody Georgetown in my mind.

Photoshoots in urban settings means a lot of walking, so comfortable shoes and clothes are the first order of the day. Also, you may want to choose a time when the weather is more favorable, perhaps avoiding the hot afternoon sun, both because it'll be really hot, and also because the light is too harsh.

And of course, a telephoto lens with good wide angle and decent zoom is important. The 18-200 VR from Nikon is perfect for this. I'm still saving up for that, so I used the 18-135 kit lens instead. The lens gives me the ability to take good landscape or panorama photos when required, and the zoom allows me to pick up subjects from afar, without being too 'in-your-face'.

'Rainbow' is a favorite, although the photo itself is nothing to shout about. The horizon isn't even straight ! I like it because I don't see rainbows that often !

'New and Old ?' reflects Penang the way I see it - old temples, mosques and churches set in an urban environment with apartments and condos.

'Facade' captures the quintessential Penang imagery - that of old shop houses. Some of you might be asking about the deep blue sky. I didn't use a CPL filter to get that. I realised that if I use a slow shutter speed against a clear blue sky, the blue turns out in a very dark shade. To make this work for this photo, I had to find a facade facing the sunlight, else I would underexpose the facade since the shutter speed was set to 1/500s.

'Lorong Madras' was begging to be photographed. It stood out instantly when I saw it - a green sign against a bright red background.

'Pay Up !' sets two parking meters against a crumbling wall in the background. I really like the fact that I managed to capture the texture of the wall in the background.

'Thinking inside the box' is a scene I caught at the New World Park food court. While having lunch, I noticed this young girl being placed in a box while her mum busies herself preparing food. She was awfully adorable, and was the center of attention of a number of people around her.

Place: Wat Phra Keow, Bangkok

Details from Wat Phra Keow

f/8, 1/200s, D80

I love this photo from Wat Phra Keow, Bangkok, otherwise known as the Grand Palace to the tens of thousands of visitors who gawk and marvel at it each year.

The Grand Palace has been visited so many times, seen by so many people, and photographed times over, sometimes even I get bored looking back at my previous photos from there. I'm sure most of you have seen photographs from Wat Phra Keow, if you haven't been there yourself. Personally, I've been there at least half a dozen times, if not more (I basically stopped counting).

The challenge with visiting a place so many times is that you sometimes get the same angles, and end up taking photographs looking no different from your previous visits. This visit, I made a point to look for unusual angles, and to find different points of view through the lens.

Also, since I visited Wat Phra Keow with my girlfriend, the danger is that we could both end up with similar looking photos, a common occurance when you have a group of people photographing together. I was quite determined not to have that happen to me.

This, as well as the photo on Wat Arun, represents my seeking different angles to common places. After all, when you put a lens between your eyes and the subject, there is no limit to how differently you can perceive the subject.

Additional Note: I didn't really mention why I love this photo so much. Visiting the Grand Palace leaves most people awestruck by the scale and majesty of the place. However, it's the small parts that make it all up. The whole facade is constructed tile by tile, one piece at a time, and this photo captures so much of those tiles which collectively is the beautiful facade.

Place: Bangkok

Wat Phra Keow by Night

Olympus mju 410, Night Mode

This photo started it all. It was this photo which got me hooked up to digital photography for good.

Wandering around Bangkok on the day after Songkran in April 2005, I was quite disappointed when all the partying that was supposed to have happened had already died down, so I was walking about near the Rattanakosin area in Bangkok taking random pictures.

I've always been told by friends I have an eye for photos, but this one triggered a desire for me to learn more, to understand techniques and to cultivate photography as a hobby, not a mere way to capture my travels.

I really didn't have any tripod - I was putting my old Olympus mju on top of a traffic signal control box at the intersection across the street from Wat Phra Keow, and used the wireless shutter trigger, while using Night Mode to get this photo.

I really had some idea how this shot became what you see, but I couldn't reproduce it, and it got me interested in learning the techniques.

The light is from a couple of passing buses and the Bangkok traffic. The steady background really is a result of putting the camera on the traffic control box, which is just like mounting it on a tripod.

I hope you all like this photo as much as I did. I was hooked to digital photography since.

Series: Bali Sunset

While going I was doing some housekeeping and posts migration, I came across my collection of Bali photos from my 2005 Bali vacation.

That was one of the defining moments in my photography journey, a point in time when I came to discover my passion for taking photos. Some of the photos which I took looked really impressive then.

Looking back now, with a little more technical knowledge, I realised that I've unknowingly taken some 'technical' photos with my trusty ol' Nikon Coolpix 7900.

In a change from the other photos on this blog, there will be no technical information. Just enjoy the series here on Bali's famous sunset.

Curtain Call

Moz's notes: Taken at Seminyak beach (also known as the beach next to Kuta) on the final night in Bali, this photo was deliberately taken to counter balance the clouds and the sea. I was really timing it so that the waves at the bottom and the clouds would balance each other. It took a few tries, but the result was worth the extra shutter clicks.




Tanah Lot Sunset

Moz's notes: The famous Tanah Lot is probably the most photographed spot in Bali. A temple built on a small rocky outcrop just off the beach, it is inaccessible during high tide. The sunset from this place is really hypnotic, but most tourists see it from west of the temple, where they just see the sun setting into the sea. I'm sure it's nice, but nowhere as dramatic as this - seeing the the sun setting with the silhouette of the majestic temple. To get a good spot, I waited there for a good 2 hours ! Talk about patience !

Play time !

Moz's notes: A bunch of children having a good time. What better subject for a sunset photo?

Gazing at Beauty

Moz's notes: The previous few days at Bali, the sun sets were spectacular, yes, but the skies were devoid of clouds, which really adds a lot of drama to the sunset. So, I was really hoping for a little bit of cloud on my last evening in Bali. My wishes came true, and a most beautiful sunset came about. No wonder people can't help but gaze at the beautiful end to a most happy day !

Bliss

Moz's notes: I have unknowingly applied the rule of thirds here - both horizontally and vertically. Looking back at the archives, this is the first time I've done that - my previous photos were mostly center aligned. Back in the days when you can only take 36 photos per roll of film, I guess it was more important to align your pictures properly so that everything is centered. Digital had allowed the freedom of experimentation which gives rise to 'creative' shots.

Kuta, Legian and Seminyak may not be the best beaches in the world, but gazing at the sunset, they are second to none, and I miss Bali lots just looking at these photos. I'll be back !

Places: Bronte Beach, Australia

Solitude at the Beach
f/5.6, 1/800s, Nikon D80, Post Processed Velvia effect

When in Australia, one thing that you should do is to take advantage of the great outdoors.

I was out at the Eastern Beaches Coastal walk, doing the famous hike between Bondi and Coogee during the weekend, even though the usual Sydney sunshine wasn't always there to warm the chilly winds.

The walk takes one from Bondi through to Coogee through some nice beaches and great ocean views. This photo was taken at Bronte beach, when the sun peeked through the looming rains and gave me one of the few opportunities to take a decent photo.

I did some post processing to the photo - I used the channel mixer to try to create the Velvia effect. Velvia is a type of film from Fujifilm, famous for deeply saturated colors suitable for outdoor photos.

I think it would have been a lot nicer if the lady walked straight, instead of turning away from the surf at the last moment. And even better if she was walking along the surf, but on a cold day like yesterday, I don't blame her for turning back to the beach for a cold blanket !

Place: Morib

Fishing
f/4, 1/500s, Nikon D80

On first look, this man appears to be just one of the many coastal fishermen you see along Malaysia's beaches. But look carefully -- there is a shoe somewhere in the sea ... and that's what he's actually fishing for! How did that shoe get into the sea in the first place -- remains a mystery !

He's really fishing for his child's (not in picture) shoe, which has dropped in somehow into the Morib sea. Using a borrowed rod from one of the fisherman, I doubt he would have succeeded in fishing the shoe out - those images of fishing lines snagging up old boots are probably stuff you really just see in cartoon strips !

Place: Ayutthaya

Chedi
f/8, 1/400s, Nikon Coolpix 7900

Ayutthaya is one of my favorite destinations in Thailand. Cut out Pattaya. No Phuket for me. Ayutthaya is the place to be in.

It's the capital of the old kingdom of Siam before it was looted and sacked by the Burmese after a long drawn siege. The old ruins reminds one of the times past, and the whole place just has a very peaceful air to it now. Walking in Ayutthaya is just like taking steps back in time, with plenty of ruins to savor, and plenty of good food around as well.

This is a picture taken at the Phukao Tong, also known as the Central Chedi, which is an Thai tower built on a Burmese foundation. It's a little out of the way, so it doesn't get as crowded as some of the other ruins do.

It was here that I learnt just how important light is in photography. The tower has 4 faces just like this, but the other 3 are no well lighted by the setting sun. So, I walked around to this face which was facing the setting sun to take this picture. The bonus is the great sky in the background.

There are few shots that remind me of Ayutthaya on its own. This is one of them.

Place: Seminyak, Bali

Coral washed ashore at Seminyak, Bali
f/5.9, 1/457s, Nikon Coolpix 7900

This photo isn't new to some of you - it's my profile picture. Taken at Seminyak Beach in Bali, this is, in my opinion, my best Walk by Shooting result.

It was my first day in Bali, and I was soaking in the atmosphere, and the cleaner air (it was the haze season in Malaysia at that time), and was taking random pictures on the beach. This piece of dead coral stood out in the dark volcanic sand on the beach, which prompted the picture.

All these time since I've taken this picture, I've always been on the lookout for similar shots, but without a similarly satisfying outcome. I hope one day to be able to chance upon a similar find.

Answer for the previous post: It's the vines of the long bean plant. I just happened to notice one particular vine had this very interesting spiral, which is pretty unique, since most are frayed, and are rarely in the spiral you see.

Place: Iconic Landmark

Icon
f/8, 1/300s, 24mm, Nikon Coolpix 7900

It doesn't take a lot of guesswork, if any, to know what building this is, and where I took this picture. The Sydney Opera House is truly an icon, with its simple lines conjuring images of a ship with its sail in full glory.

Taken from a ferry cruise around Middle Harbour, as the ferry was pulling out of Circular Quay, I had to find myself a position on the right side of the ferry, as my fellow tourists jostle for a shot of this iconic building.