Steven’s Selection of Landscape Shots

I don’t know what better title can I give to this post. Lol.

I’ve been quite a landscape person since I started my photography journey over two years ago. And along the way, I’ve befriended landscape photography sifus/enthusiasts, whom I’ve gained knowledge and various insights from on the said subject. Landscape photography will always be my favourite as compared to other types of photography mainly because of the opportunity to be close to our beautiful planet Earth and to capture the beauty of the places and scenery.

In the spirit of blogging and keeping this humble blog of mine alive, I’m sharing a few landscape photos that I have shot over the past few months. They’re all my favourite shots to date.

#1 Sunrise at Cyberjaya lake.

I don’t remember when did I take this shot. I woke up early that morning so I could catch a glimpse of sunrise in Cyberjaya. As you can see, the sunrise wasn’t all beautiful due to the clouds, but I managed to take a few shots and post processed it to bring out some details in the sky. To be honest, this isn’t an excellent shot either with the dark bridge and buildings. But the one thing that I like about this image is the peace and serenity that I can feel by staring into it.

It makes me feel calm.

#2 Lightning strike

This is by far the most ferocious lightning that I’ve shot – not sure if it’s right to place it under landscape category though. Chasing lightnings isn’t easy but it could be fun and rewarding. Of course, I didn’t spend my time chasing and capturing them. Towards the end of last year, like every year end, it rained heavily on daily basis. Thunderstorms and flash floods often occur in Kuala Lumpur. And with Cyberjaya being located less than 40km away from KL city centre, we do get a fair amount of thunderstorm during that time.

Believe it or not, the above photo was taken from the window of my room. It was a rainy night and I noticed the nonstop lightning strikes in the sky. So, I set up my gears by the window and started shooting. When I checked back, I was so happy when I noticed this amazing shot. I cropped it into an almost square-size photo during post-processing stage because the left and right sides were actually blocked by the concrete of the apartment building and the window of my room.

Like I said, it felt.. rewarding. :)

#3 Sunset in Cyberjaya, from my apartment

I forgot when I shot this, but it was definitely in 2012, according to my watermark. One evening I was mesmerised by the beauty of the clouds formation. So, I took out my camera, set it up on a tripod at my apartment balcony and started taking a few shots of the beautiful scenery.

This image is a combination of three bracketed images, IIRC. I post-processed it using the HDR technique in order to bring out details of the clouds as well as the otherwise shadowed apartment building. To be honest though, I think it’d be much nicer if there’s no apartment building in the frame. :P

#4 Sunset near Cameron Highlands

This image is a more recent one. During my sem break I was in Ipoh, where my sister is working. So one day we decided to take a break and chill in Cameron Highlands. This shot was taken on our way back to Ipoh from Cameron Highlands. We stopped by the roadside when we noticed this beautiful sunset scenery – that’s why I don’t have the name of the place, cos it’s basically nowhere.

The following shot was taken at the same spot.

#5 Sunset at the hills

I like this version better. It’s a zoomed in version, where my intention was to focus at the intensity of the orange sky and the top of the hills that looked as if they’re fading away in the orange mist/haze.

As you might have noticed, the sky closer to my side was filled with dark clouds. I cropped most of them out of the frame and give this photo a wide-angle look. Lucky for us, the rain only started to fall after we’ve arrived in Ipoh that night; or else the road down the hill would be really hazy and dangerous.

#6 Sunset over Pura Batu Bolong

Pura means temple. Pura Batu Bolong is an ancient temple in Bali, Indonesia. This was taken last May, when my family and I visited Bali. I like this shot very much. The silhouette temple and people, the setting sun, and the orange sky – what a breathtaking sight. You should visit Bali some time to see if for yourself :)

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There you go. Six landscape photos I’ve shot in recent months that I love most. There are of course other photos that I love too, but I’d bore you for sure if I were to include everything in this post. Lol. I’ll be compiling other types of photography that I’ve tried soon, so if you like this post, do come back for more! ;)

P.S. all of the images in this post (in fact, all my landscape shots) were taken using a Nikon D90 and a 18-70mm (D70s kit lens) at various settings. Yes, the legend is true – kit lens can do wonders too! :)

Andrina’s 23rd Birthday at Ben’s Publika

Last Sunday was Andrina’s 23rd birthday. We had a little gathering at Ben’s @ Publika for dinner before chilling and watching Man Utd vs Liverpool at The Social.

Lots of photos to follow.

That’s birthday girl Andrina and her boyfriend of seven years, Ewen.

Group photo of the attendees, excluding me.

We ordered plenty of food and shared among ourselves. The food at Ben’s are pretty good.

This was the piece of steak Ewen ordered. It was served with fries and black pepper sauce.

I forgot the name of this salad. But it wasn’t my favourite. Lol.

The spaghetti cabonara. Delicious pasta but a bit too thick for my liking. Maybe it’s because I had the following (see next image) before trying this pasta.

The Ben’s Cheeseburger on Sesame Seed Bun was what I ordered. The beef patty was soooo good. You should totally try it!

There were a few more dishes I didn’t manage to capture cos I arrived a little later than them.

Now, some photos of the people who were there.

Hello Andrina! :)

Hi Carmen.

Everyone, this is Apple.

The ever stylish Sean Toh.

And the boss, Ewen.

Who spent time and effort organising this little birthday dinner.

Aaaand he settled the bill. So THANK YOU EWEN!! HAHAHA

The couple.

The couple 2.

Andrina, Sean, and Carmen sharing some jokes. Dirty jokes. Haha!

The besties.

Sean and his usual antiques always crack us up.

Ewen actually ordered six pieces of cakes for dessert and requested the restaurant supervisor to bring them out on a plate as a surprise ‘birthday cake’. Unfortunately the staff screwed it up a little there but yeah, we still managed to get the ‘cake’.

We sang happy birthday song to Andrina and tasted the cakes.

Birthday girl and her cakes. :)

The couple and the cakes. Haha!

And here’s a proper photo of the cakes. They look absolutely delicious, don’t they?

Lemme tell you: the tiny one pointing to the north is the best. I can’t believe I remembered the name incorrectly. I think it’s the Chocolate Truffle Torte, but never mind. The main point is that the whole piece of cake was made of dark chocolate and it was served with a small glass of milk.

Being a chocoholic, that’s basically the only piece of cake I enjoyed. Lol.

By the end of the dinner, we took a group photo and headed over to The Social (just opposite Ben’s @ Publika) for some white wine to wash down whatever we had earlier. Plus watching the Manchester United vs Liverpool game.

2-1. Glory glory Man United! Haha :D

12 Things I’ve Done in 2012

It has been quite a year. I don’t always do this, but I’d like to walk-through the past twelve months, and identify twelve highlights of the year. Of course many things happened throughout the year – good and bad ones, but I’ll just highlight twelve of my favourites.

1. I took photographs of fireworks at Marina Bay Singapore during the first few moments of the year.

That was my first time shooting fireworks. Turned out pretty well, I suppose.

2. I received my first ever paid photography assignment earlier this year.

It was an engagement function of Jonathan and Connie, who are now happily married. :)

3. I photographed Avril Lavigne, Wang Lee Hom, and Gary Neville.

Gary Neville, the former Manchester United defender, was at Sunway Pyramid for a Mister Potato roadshow earlier this year. Fans had the opportunity to get up close with the football star.

Wang Lee Hom, the Taiwanese international star, was flown to Malaysia for the World Vision 30-Hour Famine Countdown event in August. He made a 30-minute cameo at the Shah Alam Malawati Stadium before flying back to Hong Kong.

Canadian artiste, Avril Lavigne’s last stop for her Black Star Tour concert was at Stadium Merdeka of Kuala Lumpur, in February. Over 14,000 fans attended the concert that lasted a little more than two hours.

4. I ran a lot and I signed up for 9 running events in total, but attended only 7 of them.

Energizer Night Race, Standard Chartered KL Marathon, Men’s Health & Shape Putrajaya Night Run, Adidas King of the Road 2012, PJ Half Marathon (DNS), Nike We Run KL 2012, Putrajaya Night Marathon (DNS), Allianz Penang Bridge International Marathon, Newton Challenge Malaysia 2012.

*DNS means Did Not Start.

This photo was taken at the Nike We Run KL 2012, in October. I have to admit that it wasn’t the most enjoyable run I participated this year.

From left: Energizer Night Race (15.5km, April), SCKLM (21km, June, first ever half marathon), Adidas KOTR (10km, September), PBIM (21km, November), Newton Challenge (12km, December). Did not receive a finisher’s medal for Men’s Health & Shape Night Run as it was limited to first 500 finishers only – I finished at #506 :(

And Nike only gave finisher’s tees instead of medals.

5. I was one of the participants at Bersih 3.0.

Duduk bantah: Tens of thousands of civilians who rallied in Kuala Lumpur were denied access into the Merdeka Square by the DBKL and the police force, in April. It was a peaceful rally until certain quarters of the protesters clashed with the Federal Reserve Unit officers and the police.

I missed out the Bersih 2.0 so I knew I had to be at the third one.

6. I went to this favourite place of mine called Pulau Perhentian. Twice.

In March, I went on a solo trip to Perhentian Island just to chill. I was then joined by my friend Soo Hong. It’s a lovely place – one of my favourite place on Earth. In July, my room mate and a uni friend followed me back to Terengganu and we made a short trip to the same island. We were on really tight budget cos we didn’t bring extra cash and had to order cheapest foods and share drinks for three days! It was fun and good experience nevertheless.

7. My family and I had our first ever family vacation in Bali.

Bali is such a wonderful place and there are so many things to explore. Our five-day stay was certainly insufficient. You should plan a trip to Bali if you haven’t been there. :)

8. I finally got a smartphone – a Blackberry.

Always connected ever since.

Then this annoying question was often directed at me: Why Blackberry?

9. I hiked Broga Hill for the first and second time ever.

First time was with Go, Suyen and his uni friend.

Second time was with Yen, Ghee, Jean, Jean’s colleague, and Yen’s colleague.

I don’t think I’ll be back for third time soon. Lol.

10. I was flown to Borneo for work right after my examination, like a boss.

Examination ended at 4pm. I left the exam hall and retrieved my bag from the car before getting on the cab that was waiting for my friend and I in campus. We went straight to the airport and boarded the plane. We returned to Cyberjaya on the following evening.

My job was to setup some audio stuffs and give a presentation on the Microsoft Windows 8 upgrade offer. I got really nervous after I realised I was short on time. :(

It was in Sibu of Sarawak actually. Borneo sounds more ang moh mah. Haha!

11. I participated in a futsal tournament for the first time in many years.

It was back in my hometown. Made new friends as I only got to know the team mates on the morning of the tournament. We broke through the group stage and only managed to finish as quarter-finalists. I did not start the Putrajaya Night Marathon because I participated in this tournament – it was totally worth it.

12. I purchased new (proper) tripod for my photography needs.

Hmm. I don’t have a proper photo of my new tripod…

Here’s the photo of its box and specs. Just imagine it’s a beautiful tripod with a Manfrotto ballhead. Haha! :D I love my new tripod.

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Also in 2012, I bought a few pairs of shoes. But I always buy shoes, so not worth to mention. Hahaha! I’ve also created a simple photography portfolio site and watched Harimau Malaya in action at Bukit Jalil Stadium during the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 games.

So, yeah. That’s about it, I guess.

It wasn’t that bad a year after all, I suppose. :)

Last Sunday of 2012

I marked the end of my (running) year this morning at the Newton 25KM & 12KM Challenge 2012. I took part in the 12KM category. I met Jean there, together with her colleagues.

The event was held in Bandar Kinrara 5, near the Giant Bandar Kinrara. It was actually a rather small and simple running event – no huge ass booths for sponsors (only a few canopies) like what we’d seen at the KL Marathon and Penang Bridge International Marathon.

The 12KM route was rather tough as it involved a lot of uphill runs. I started running solo after a few KM, leaving Jean behind. Lol. IMO, there were sufficient water stations but I didn’t see a lot of medics on stand-by – only a couple.

The route mainly covered roads in Bandar Kinrara – a huge housing area in Puchong, therefore there were less vehicles. Plus it was 7am on a Sunday morning. I mean, who would be up and about apart from us crazy runners.

I hadn’t run for over two weeks due to hamstring injury. Good thing I recovered in time for the run and with minimal training (only 4KM in past fortnight, with a couple of futsal games), I managed to complete 12KM (though Endomondo app tracked only 11.88KM) at 1 hour 14 minutes and 33 seconds (unofficial time). The last time I did a 11.8KM at Men’s Health & Shape Night Run, it took me 1 hour 17 minutes 20 seconds. Slight improvement, and this run was much more enjoyable cos it was a morning run.

I dislike night runs.

The finisher’s medal looks nice, doesn’t it? :)

Malaysia 1-1 Thailand & Busy Week Ahead

Went to the Bukit Jalil Stadium to support Harimau Malaya last night for AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 semi-final. Ended up a tie at 1-1. Second leg will be played in Bangkok on coming Wednesday. I’m not commenting on the game but it was so close to kill it and to make it easier for the Tigers during the second-leg. We must win in Bangkok, which will be tough, but all the best to Harimau Malaya!

On another note, very glad that Manchester United won the derby game against whoever last night. Van Persie’s sublime winner was world class. I reckon football fans will agree with me on that, especially the neutrals.

This week is a busy week – three tests in three consecutive days. Thank God I didn’t get what my coursemate ‘av gott’n – three tests in one freaking day and two of those are overlapping. After finishing the second test he’ll need to rush to the third test because the latter would have already started by the time the former ended. Crazy!

I have plenty of facts and theories to memorise for all three tests. And tonight there’ll be a photo-shoot for some committee members. Must wrap it up quickly, I swear. Yeah, that’s all of the crap from me today. Hope your week will be awesome as mine, or even better.

To wrap up this post, here’s a photo we’ve taken after last night’s game at the stadium.

I got the “Malaysia: Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku” scarf for ten Ringgit before the game.

And I’m itching for the jersey T__T

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