Portraitures of My Adorable Nieces
Often, people would suggest that one of the toughest assignment is to photograph a child, or children. To me, it is always a challenge to get that perfect, award-winning shot that many sought, but the process is very enjoyable.
During my stay in Kluang, I managed to take some pictures of my nieces and nephew. They love having their photographs taken very much.
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The priceless smiles. That’s the reason I enjoy taking pictures of kids.
Sunrise at Tasik Sembrong, Johor
After the Avril Lavigne concert three weeks ago, I travelled to Kluang in Johor by a train just to spend a few days there before heading back home.
There, I stayed at my grandmother’s place, together with my grown up cousins and their adorable children. On the second morning of my stay there, I drove to this place called Tasik Sembrong (Sembrong Lake) that I read about on the Internet. Little nieces woke up real early so that they could follow me there.
Tasik Sembrong is not a really a recreational hotspot due to its location. My cousins and aunt who live in Kluang don’t even know that place. It’s about 20km away from Kluang town, en route to Ayer Hitam/Batu Pahat, and it is just a lake with a National Service camp built right beside it. It doesn’t have any recreational parks nearby or any picnic spots for the public to spend time at, whilst the road leading into the lake is not equipped with road lamps, and it’s not tarred.
The road connecting Tasik Sembrong and the main road (Jalan Batu Pahat) is about 4km long. It was just 6.30 am when we (the kids and I) got to the junction leading into the lake. After speaking to the warong operator there, I drove in without a doubt. The whole place was pitch dark. We could see nothing but that short stretch of road ahead of us thanks to the car’s lights. There were no other vehicles and no one else there.
It was eerie. I don’t know if the kids felt the same, or they were still too sleepy to even feel afraid.
We arrived at the Sembrong National Service camp whilst it was still dark. Afterwards, I drove along the banks of the beautiful lake before stepping out to get some pictures – of the picturesque scenery and of us.
Following are some pictures of the place I’ve taken at Tasik Sembrong.
Sunrise at Tasik Sembrong.
After spending about an hour at the lake, we returned to Kluang and had breakfast at the Kluang Rail Coffee before spending some time at the playground near my grandmother’s place.
Kids LOVE playground.
Sanyo Eneloop Rechargable Batteries
I’ve been using a budget third party flash unit powered by alkaline AA size batteries (mostly Energizer), which cost me around RM 14 for four units. With the money that I’ve spent on those alkaline batteries, I could’ve bought double of what I’ve bought few days ago.
Speaking of what I’ve bought few days ago, it was the replacement for those pricey and temporary alkaline batteries.
Project 366: #19 Sanyo Eneloop Rechargable Batteries
This promotional package that consists of Sanyo Eneloop AA size rechargable batteries with 2-hour quick charger and a 4-piece blister set of the same rechargable batteries cost only RM 142, with free delivery.
Footnote: The image above was taken using an iPhone 4S; straight from phone, without post-processing except for the watermark and resizing. Amazing.
5 Awesome Fireworks Photographs of Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2012
This post contains five best images of fireworks that I’ve taken at the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2012.
Sorry I couldn’t include more, plus some are kind of incomplete because my lens wasn’t wide enough to cover the astounding fireworks. But still, I hope you’ll like them.
Enjoy! (You can view the larger resolution of the images by click on them)
#1 (Yes, you’ve seen it in previous blog post)
#2
#3
#4 (Posted this before, too:)
#5
The images #3, #4, and #5 are my personal favourites.
Do leave your C&C in the comments section, and please share this out to your friends if you like it. :)
13 Beautiful Night Photographs of Marina Bay Sands Singapore
Here’s a compilation of images I’ve taken during my five-hour wait for the 2012 New Year countdown fireworks at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Most of the images are of the same thing but comes in different colours. Enjoy! :)
The first one will be the introduction… (click on the images to view higher resolution)
#1
#2
#3
I hope I got your attention :P
Check out more of these awesome pictures after the jump.
2012 New Year’s Eve Singapore Trip
It’s been so long since I wrote a long post I don’t know how and where do I start!
I was in Singapore during the recent New Year’s Eve weekend. It was my first time there and in fact, it was my first time flying out of the Malaysia! I have to say I enjoyed being in Singapore very much, despite the approximate x2.4 currency exchange rate between MYR and SGD.
Eunice was my travel partner this time. We shared a mixed dorm with another four backpacking foreigners (read: ang mohs) at the Traveller’s Inn located at Tyrwhitt Road. It’s an awesome place to stay – clean, cozy, and most importantly, cheap. Not to mention, the owners – Mr Daniel and his wife – are helpful and very friendly! :)
Basically my ultimate aim to be in Singapore is for the New Year’s Eve (NYE) countdown at Marina Bay. I’ve once seen a picture of Singapore’s NYE fireworks on the Internet and I knew that one day I must be there to capture them too. And I’m glad I finally made it.
Our flight was in the evening, so by the time we arrived at the inn, it was already 9pm. The first thing I did next morning was to search for my new wallet at the Orchard Road. It was featured in my Project 366 earlier this month.
Being a first-time tourist in Singapore, I find that streets are like streets in Kuala Lumpur, expect that in Singapore, the streets look simpler, i.e. no confusing flyovers and multiple ramps of exits that don’t even lead you to Hogwarts. But there’s one thing that Singapore streets have, that we don’t have at streets in Kuala Lumpur.
THIS.
It’s like they’re everywhere – on the streets, in the MRT stations, even inside the MRT cars. They even play videos in MRT stations telling people to report suspicious people or bags.
Walaoeh, I don’t even-
Though to be fair, there’s a reason why Singapore’s streets are one of the safest in the world. :) And I think if the Malaysian government asks its people to call 999 if they see something or someone suspicious, they’ll need to hire a lot of hotline operators. A LOT. You know kids these days right.
Not a good idea.
Anyway, after I’ve gotten my wallet, we walked around a bit before heading back to the inn just to bathe and chill because the weather was freakishly scorching hot! It was so hot, I was sweating while bathing.
It was so hot, I was losing fat while walking along the Orchard Road.
It was so hot, okay never mind you get the idea.
We headed to the Marina Bay around 5pm, seven hours before the NYE fireworks exploded in the dark sky of Marina Bay Sands. I had the pictures of the fireworks in my head even before we were there. I wanted them so badly that I had photorgasms .
Travelling around in Singapore is pretty easy and convenient. Not to mention that its MRT are always on time and cozy. Both the train cars and the stations are air-conditioned. I can talk and compare MRT and KTM all day and get frustrated then emotionally uncontrolled over it, but the fireworks are more important.
So, Marina Bay!
Surprisingly, at 6pm, we were not the earliest. There were already many other people – with their cameras on tripod, with their friends and families and foods and drinks on mat. We walked from Marina Bay MRT station all the way to The Esplanade before I found the right spot that I wanted.
That right spot I got photorgasms from.
Stopped in between for a nice treat of Mocha frappuccino, because the place is huge and the weather was hot. I couldn’t have normal ice water, or a bottle of Coke; I had to have Starbucks frappuccino. lol.
Singapore is packed with skyscrapers.
And one thing I like about skyscrapers is that they make great night view of a city.
The Marina Bay Sands look majestic. The next time I’m there I shall take a tour up the Sands Skypark, which is located at the roof top of the three 55-storey hotel towers. I heard from Valen that the sunset view from the Sands Skypark is amazing.
Valen is a friend we met in Singapore. She generously offered me a spot just beside her for my camera and tripod because it was quite pack along the bank in front of The Esplanade even before 7pm! I later found out that she is a Malaysian who has been living in Singapore for 10 years.
She is now a photography hobbyist who has a family with two kids, living happily ever after in Singapore.
Picture of The Esplanade (the building at the centre of the picture).
The five hours of wait started. We started waiting there before 7pm until midnight for the fireworks. We literally sat down there for over five hours to wait for that epic moment. Talk about patience, we didn’t even had our dinner yet! Throughout the wait, we chit-chatted and exchanged a bit of experience, mostly on photography. It’s nice to meet someone who’s on the same channel, really – especially if you’re gonna be stuck at one place for hours.
By 10pm the whole walking area near where we were stationed was full with people already. Some sat on the stairs, some didn’t mind standing, whilst the rest sat on the floor.
Soon, the wait was going to be over. It was the moment many were eagerly waiting for – the fireworks. *queues Katy Perry’s Fireworks song*
5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1!! And the fireworks started…
…and my life was ruined, I thought.
My lens wasn’t wide enough to cover the whole scene. Nevertheless, I couldn’t bother less so I kept taking pictures and occasionally switched the camera to shoot vertically (see result here). Going through the album on my laptop later on, I thought it could’ve been a perfect shot… A perfect start of 2012. It was frustrating. But wait, I think that’s a sign…
A sign to buy a new lens!! HAHAHA!!
Unfortunately no, that’s not gonna happen soon. :(
Anyway, here’s a video of the fireworks taken by Eunice, using her Apple iPod Touch 4.
The awesome fireworks lasted for over 8 good minutes and trust me, it was hard for me to concentrate on taking pictures whilst enjoying the fireworks. It was so, SO MESMERISING. The feeling was amazing. The scene was beautiful. The fireworks were simply breathtaking.
Everything at that moment was so wonderful that it was worth every single second of the five hours I’ve spent there waiting.
Where did you spend your New Year’s Eve? I hope it was awesome too! :)
That’s me. Just being Asian.
Hope you’ll have a great year ahead!
Clouds Over the Sky of Cyberjaya on a Sunny Day
We had heavy rain almost every afternoon or evening in December. Comes January and it has been sunny since. The weather hasn’t been very friendly since New Year’s Day, and today is another scorchingly hot day! It’s 34 degree Celsius at the time of writing this post, according to the Accuweather.com.
Project 366: #5 Sunny Day in Cyberjaya.
So not used to the super hot weather! D: Wish I could enjoy a bowl of ice kacang now..
Sunsets in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
One of the most amazing things that happens every single day in our life is the sunset. There’s sunset every evening but very little people actually have the time to sit back and enjoy the picturesque scenery.
Sunset is one of my favourite things to shoot and during my holiday trip to the North Borneo in October, I managed to capture a few awesome sunset shots, which I love a lot. I’ve included the EXIF data of each image in the caption, just in case any photography junkie would be interested :)
(Please click on the image to view its full size in lightbox)
Nikon D90 + 18-70mm @ 18mm; 8 sec exposure, f/22, ISO 100.
Nikon D90 + 18-70mm @ 18mm; 1/640 sec exposure, f/16, ISO 640.
The first two images were shot in the same evening, at the jetty behind the Phillippino market, which is opposite of the Le Meridien Hotel Kota Kinabalu.
D90 + 18-70mm @ 22mm. 4 sec exposure, f/20, ISO 100.
This last sunset shot was taken from our 1Borneo Courtyard Hotel’s restaurant.
I shall update more on my travelling experience there. In fact, if I could, I’d even update on things that happened this year, probably since April, since I haven’t been updating a lot lately.
Hope you like the pictures :)
You could always check out more of my pictures at my Flickr page.