National Zoo and more

Malacca’s zoo is even better. Okay, I could finally get myself to do an update, so here it is.

The amount and variety of wildlife there was pretty disappointing in my opinion. It’s not worth it going through the trouble looking for a parking spot just to look at some lethargic animals. They even display goats! How nice is that! Some animals were even sick, possibly due to the very dirty exhibits. Oh yes, something worth mentioning, they have the skin of a Japanese Giant Salamander in the Reptile House. It’s probably from a relatively small specimen, considering these things grow to about 150cm in length.

Okay, photos. Editing was kept at a minimum.

Beware, long post ahead.

I’m not sure of its name, but it probably belongs to the Bison family.

Sun Bear, native to tropical rainforests in Asia, including here.

One huge African Hippopotamus. It secretes a sunscreen called “blood sweat”, but it’s neither blood nor sweat.

Bengal Tiger. There was only one in the exhibit.

White Rhino.

Another one, looking very lethargic.

Indian Elephants reaching for snacks from visitors. Yes, I know, the piles of poop are huge.

Estuarine (or saltwater) crocs, the largest species known.

Some pretty large tortoises.

A Galápagos Giant Tortoise, the same species to that of Harriet, which was allegedly collected by Charles Darwin.

Albino python.

A Green Iguana that’s brown in colour

Another python, with nice body markings. This one’s for petting.

Two Green Tree Snakes.

Dwarf Crocodile, the smallest extant crocodile species.

The same Dwarf Crocodile. Might look more like a monitor lizard, but it’s a crocodile.

The only penguin there. Dirty glass and dark exhibit = rubbish photo. But I had to post it here.

Seal performing tricks. No Orca, dammit.

Same seal doing some pretty simple tricks. Why? Because the trainer throws the hoop towards it, not anywhere and the seal goes for it.

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For those who don’t know what I got for PMR, it’s straight As. iPod touch for that.

It’s pretty good, since it’s many steps up from my nano, although a flood of applications means rather frequent crashing. Fyi, Labyrinth (the app in the iPod) is updating, that’s why there’s a bar on the icon.

Another disturbing thing is that the iTunes store is not compatible in Malaysia, due to mass piracy here. Otherwise I would have got a couple of movies and songs

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Right, something else. I’ve been playing a lot of Flight Simulator, now that I go for ‘training’ at the integrated Learning Center and can land a commercial aircraft with both ILS and visual approaches without any problems whatsoever.

I love the realism of this simulator. You can download real-world weather with updates from Jeppesen for an added challenge. The dynamics of the aircraft is so real you’d be fighting crosswinds if there’s any on approach. You work almost like a real pilot in it. You check the fuel, monitor its usage, crosscheck it with your flightplan, etc.

Emirates Boeing 777-200LR departs Los Angeles International for Dubai International.

Here’s an update

I haven’t been taking photos lately or doing anything that needs an update. So here’s one since I had a try at taking photos of lightning last night, so here you go Malfrinko I used a black card to allow for longer exposures without getting it overexposed. Still, it’s not very easy to get a well-exposed image with bulb mode because there’s no metering available. It’s really quite like a trial-and-error situation. Gauge your exposure wrongly and your photo could turn out like this:

Underexposed. There’s a vaguely noticeable lightning streak on the right.

Overexposed. Way overexposed. I don’t know why those spots showed up. Maybe rain droplets because this was a very long exposure, but highly unlikely.

A few things to keep in mind when doing this:

• Try it indoors. You probably won’t enjoy it outdoors and there’s a chance the camera will get wet. Yes, I’ve tried it in both situations.
• Use bulb mode, because this normally requires more than 30 seconds.
• A black card works well to cover your camera’s lens to extend the exposure time without overexposing it. Covering your lens with it effectively means not exposing your sensor.
• Tripod, for goodness sake.
• Avoid a very, very long exposure. It’ll only yield a lot of motion blur.
• Because it’s a trial-and-error thing, just keep shooting. You’ll definitely get a few good ones out of rotten apples.
• Keep in mind variables when a lightning strikes. Expose according to the scene when there’s no lightning and it’ll be ruined once it comes. Try an exposure that’s biased towards the lightning strike, because it’s your main subject.
• Custom white balance. Tungsten won’t do good.

One you’ve got it, you’ll get photos similar to these.

The first ‘usable’ photo.

A 140 sec exposure will have motion blur.

My favourite of the bunch.

I used the 400D and 24-105mm f/4 IS. I find that turning the IS off on this lens is necessary if it’s on a tripod. Otherwise, it just keeps working and makes your photo look shaky.

I think I’ll try stargazing and taking photos of galaxies next. It’s really possible, just use a long exposure on a fast lens (something like f/2.8) and high ISO sensitivity.

Canon Photomarathon Asia 2008

That was last Saturday. It started at Berjaya Times Square at 7am, which was before any shops there was even open. The queue to get your t-shirt, cap and towel went from the front of the boulevard all the way back. There were over 900 participants, mind you. Everyone’s required to wear the t-shirts so, well, KL was painted red. Everything lasted 7 hours, plus uploading time, a photography talk, prize giving and all that. I wasn’t there the whole time. I was something like a street photography walkabout. You just have to go to pitstops and follow themes.

The first theme is Indulge Metropolitan. It’s either their English sucks or they just enjoy twisting the words around.

The first pitstop, or starting point, Berjaya Times Square. It’s facade is HUGE it echoes when they announce the rules and themes.

Graffiti work on a building.

Bustling KL in silhouette.

The not-so-high-rise part of KL.

Noodle stall.

Roti canai man at a shack. Alright, enough of that, let’s head over to Pavilion.

Where most participants ended up early it wasn’t even open yet. So we started shooting around the area. The guards attempted to chase us off but failed. All they can do it blow their whistles and point at us and we’ll strike back with a cheeky grin or stare.

Bukit Bintang’s filled with these posh expensive stuff.

Just keep shooting and ignore the guards. Some put on their telephoto zooms so they wouldn’t know what are we shooting.

First pitstop. The general public was wondering what’s going on. Some asked if it was some kind of demonstration and we just laughed it off.

This was my submission for the first theme. The colour wasn’t edited in Photoshop. I only messed with the skies.

Canon Goes Green, Padang Kota Damansara

Yep, I went to their tree planting event the other day, 19th October. There were a lot of people, I have to say. Everyone was in green, almost a requirement for the event. There were food, beverages, some stuff for kids, information on trees and Malaysian rainforests. No, there wasn’t anything on Canon cameras on display. This is much of an outdoor event, but I couldn’t go for their tree planting part. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Get a goodie bag at the counter before you join anything there. In it, you’ll find a t-shirt, a pen, stickers and an event info card in it.

Really, they were all in green. Canon even had stalls for you to trade your top for those provided.

Kids were given Wall-E colouring books. Some got their faces painted.

Main tent. VIPs made their speeches there. Press machine-guns away.

The professional’s definitive camera – an EOS-1D/Ds of some sort. This is an EOS-1D Mark II coupled with an EF 28-70mm f/2.8L USM and Speedlite 580EX with a Stofen Omni-Bounce EY. Notice the Gaffer Tape on the lens hood. I need some of that stuff, but I don’t know where to find them

The VIPs posed for the press with the environMENTALS, BotaniGirl, Green Grin (who left a comment here on my blog on this post) and General Green. Press machine-guns on as usual.

That’s it from me. Looking forward to the next event from Canon I’m attending, the Photomarathon, which is this coming Saturday, 1st November, at 7am and lasting 13 hours non-stop from there at Boulevard, Berjaya Times Square.

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D200AW review is up, but before that, a little one on Terragen. Then, a review on the Kata 3N1-30 backpack. This thing morphs into a backpack from a sling bag like the Lowepro Slingshot and into one with an X harness. Cool, but not as comfortable as my R-101 GDC as well as not as rugged as in the material. So, stay tuned!

2008 Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival

Went there last Saturday. Tons of exhibitors, they occupied the whole lower ground floor of Times Square. Largest booths being Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, Fujifilm and Futuromic AV. Futuromic AV is Malaysia’s sole distributor of Tamron and Ricoh. KLPF is like Malaysia’s version of Photokina. The newest cameras are on display, and so are some of the rarest ones. The one getting the most attention that day must have been this.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II. I tested it out with the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. Noise control is superior to the D3 and D700. It’s H2 ISO mode, or ISO 25600 is actually better than my 400D’s ISO 800. It may be hard to believe, but I’m really being honest with ya. Probably about a dozen people tried it out within a 15 minute timeframe, most being 5D users, including my dad. Pricing wasn’t available yet, but my best guess is under RM 10K but above RM 9K. The Canon person at MidValley also quoted less than RM 10K. It can’t be priced at the original 5D’s launch price tag of RM 15K, because Nikon’s D700 is less than RM 10K. Because so many asked about the price, they put a sign saying “No pricing, yet” or something like that. This is a beta camera, which means no testing with your CF card like I wanted. They don’t want corruption of the firmware.

Even the EOS-1Ds Mark III didn’t get as much attention. Yes, Malfrinko, this is the camera you called crazy.

I gotta say, I think whoever prepped this camera before the show isn’t at all smart. The CF card inside it can only hold one of its 21.1 megapixel photo. Which means I formatted the card about 10 times when I tested it. There’s someone watching you when you use it anyway, so there’s no chance of stealing the card. Oh yes, that’s a 135mm f/2L USM. Amazing portrait lens.

Canon booth, they had the 50D too.

Canon’s photo gallery displaying some of the finest images taken with Canon cameras. Armand Ali’s shot of a MotoGP race bike spitting fire out of its pipes is just stunning. Okay, let’s move on to the Nikon booth, just next to Canon.

D3 and AF-S VR Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 G ED. For a zoom lens, it performed far better than expected. And that D3, I just gently pressed its shutter for a moment and it clicked 15 frames or so, blistering speed…

I don’t think Sony’s booth even had any cameras… so let’s move on to Futuromic.

October 12

Alright, alright, I’m not going to rant about PMR being less than a day away, although I’m freaked out already.

Your monitor’s fine. It’s called the Orton Effect. I’ll have a tutorial on doing this in Photoshop after the exam. And that’s an L for you kit lens users!

Okay, today’s a year since I started photography, as a hobby, or more precisely, I got my 400D. I’ve learned a lot since then, but I’m still learning. It’s a neverending process in everyone after all. I had a Lumix for a few months before the 400D. It took good photos, but lacked semi-auto exposure and manual exposure. There were only scene selections.

I never heard of reflex (or SLR) cameras before that. I only knew of them as “the big ones reporters use” and “make a noisy sound when taking a photo” cameras. I was more into scale models of cars. It was only when someone on a model car forum got a 400D I heard of them and saw the image quality. So, yes, I got it precisely a year ago. If I could see things that day right now, I would probably be playing with it right now, using the full-auto mode without any creativity.

Okay, off to study in a while. Have to go about memorizing about literature in Malay once more. Looking forward to the end of the exam. Is that positive, or is it the opposite?

Kata R-101 GDC review

Kata produces high-quality bags and cases for photographers and videographers alike. Apart from Lowepro, it’s probably the best camera bag I’ve seen and used so far. With experience in military equipment, you can’t go wrong using their carrying solutions. I’ll be reviewing the Kata R-101 backpack, which is in the GDC range, apparently their top-end one. Note that this is a pretty lengthy and detailed review, so be prepared for a lot of photos.

How I Did The Test

I bought the bag in late July, it’s been used quite often since then. Therefore, this review is largely based on what I think of it throughout the usage. I subjected it to some abuse during the hike, some on purpose to test its ruggedness and durability. Of course, information on fabrics, material, etc are from research online.

Exterior

The exterior employs extensive use of ballistic nylon, originally developed by DuPont for the purpose of clothing protecting the wearer from bullet shards. The material is abrasion-resistant, which is good so the bag does not really show wear. Ballistic nylon is also tough and water-resistant. The downside? It’s actually very heavy compared to other types of nylon.

My First Macro

Sounds like some kiddie book, no? Yes, its my first time doing real macro photos, not easy.

I got the macro lens, so I did some macro in the garden (obviously). I wanna go to FRIM after PMR! But then again, knowing those ‘authorities’ there, I’ll have to almost smuggle my cameras in, which is, well, almost, if not impossible.

These photos were taken last month, I finally got around it. Spotted just a few common ones, after about half an hour scrutinizing every plant in the garden in search of tiny creatures with a heavy load on my back. Here are some of the best ones, some shot in RAW. All with 400D, 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM and 580EX II. Yes, I kind of needed the flash because sunlight was quite blocked by the overcast conditions. But, no precipitations that day, something I wanted  to have at night to shoot none other than – lightning surges! Hahahah. (still haven’t had the chance to shoot them)

Not all photos were taken at 1:1 magnification. The 100mm gets nearer Photos were edited only during the RAW converting stages, at minimum. I can’t name the insects in the photos by their scientific names, either because I just started macro work, I don’t have an insect book or simply because I have none or little interest in knowing it. You choose.

Please note – this is a noob at work play, so constructive comments and criticisms welcome (:

Some kind of butterfly I assume is common. Notice the torn wing.

Same butterfly. It flew from that spot and I followed it.

Shiny looking fly

Closer look at a different angle of the same one as above.

Bougainvillea flower. Focused on the inner pollen grain in the stigma (correct me if I’m wrong)

This needs no introduction. The one that holds its own feast with your food in the school canteen

Well, that’s all. I’ve many subjects and photographic goals (or grails…) on my list to achieve. After PMR

+ Speedlite

+ the Speedlite yestarday. That 580EX II is huge. From photos, I never would have thought it’s that big. But that’s what matters, because the bigger the flash head, the more light. And I discovered strobing can really be tough. Because we photographers do not use direct flash like reporters and have to find a proper bouncing surface. You have to estimate what shutter speed you need, the power of the flash and factor in your bouncing and diffuser. Doing full manual without a flash already isn’t easy… This, this is difficult. But the results are stunning (sometimes). Right now, I feel only about 3 out of 10 shots I take with the flash come out exposed properly.

Portraits, with the flash bounced at 75°, doesn’t look like they’re taken with the flash. That’s a real advantage. I also don’t get a really dark shadow around the subject, which I do with direct flash. The bounce from the ceiling gives such a evenly lit environment and the flash is warm-toned, which is nice (: I’ll do a simple review once I’ve learned a lot that I’ve got to. Might buy the Digital Field Guide from Wiley’s too, cause I’m really blur about strobing and have never done it before. Overall, I’m VERY happy with the flash. This one is a used, but in a condition it’ll sell as a new one, with an unfilled Canon Malaysia warranty. I got it at a price so good it’ll probably make Canon 430EX owners sob. The 580EX II comes with a polyester case and a mini stand (for stroboscopic purposes and sometimes, for display purposes).

I mentioned it’s big, no?

+ a Stofen Omni-Bounce for that great bare-light natural effect to the flash. That piece of plastic isn’t cheap though I still haven’t installed it yet, because it’s not easy to put on the flash head.

+ Uniross Hybrio AA batteries and a charger in a package called Pro Pack or something, which has a battery tester to see the power status. It’s rated at 2100mAh and seems to be as good as the legendary Sanyo Eneloops which I wanted but was out of stock. Maha Powerex, capable of super-fast recharge time, was also out of stock.

+ a FD lens – EOS body adaptor to use those manual focus FD lenses on the EOS Digital bodies. After testing, I discovered that standard FD lenses can actually be on par with today’s EF L-Series lenses The saturation and colour just as good and the bokeh is so good I’ll describe it as creamy. And I found out that the FD 50mm f/3.5 Macro plus extension tube can produce amazing macro photographs. Surprisingly, manual focusing it isn’t that hard.

Okay, last one, I SWEAR.

A Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

It’s a super-sharp, ‘true’ macro lens with a 1:1 magnification ratio. The best part, it can also be used as a portraiture lens, because a 100mm f/2.8 is similar to a 50mm f/1.4. Great, a multi-purpose lens that’s a prime. I likey. But haven’t got the time and subjects to try it out yet.

400D + 100mm + 580EX II and torn golf ball I was supposed to shoot months ago but my lights spoiled.

Okay, that’s what i got.

During the holidays, I’ve been studying, even when it’s after the trials AND it’s the holidays. Something like 2 hours a day, mostly on Math and History, where I normally suck. The determination is there, people (:

KLIA Plane Spotting

I’ve become an avid fan of plane spotting since April this year. Unfortunately, I don’t get to travel by air much so most of the time I just go by KLIA’s weather station to spot airliners in action. These photos were taken on Friday, 08/08/08. They were using Runway 14R for take-offs this time. Great. I love take-offs. Landings are a little quite because the engines are normally idle. I used the 400D and 70-200mm f/4L IS USM and dad had the 5D and 24-105mm f/4L IS USM but 105mm is a little short so no photos from the 5D here. That 70-200mm can get really sharp I can see the pilot in some photos

In the beginning, it was just the popular AirAsia Airbus A320 and Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-400 you can see anywhere. Things get more exciting, don’t worry. 14 planes took-off today when I was there. There was my favourite combination of aircraft/airline too, Singapore Airline’s Boeing 777-200ER. It’s takeoff and engine noise was smooottthhh unlike those smaller fellas. It’s also pretty big. With only 70mm on my 400D I can already fill the frame up with it as it passes by whereas with the A320, I can’t even with about 150mm. Well, here are the photographs.

The famed “Now Everyone Can Fly” planes kick things off.

Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777 (left) and Airbus A330 (right) not taking off. Probably under maintenance or in storage. I love these twinjets.

Click away for more great planes!