Sunrise and its splendour 1...

Salam and hi to all,

A few days ago, during one fine morning on the way to work, I found this nice spot to capture sunrise scene. Thus, this morning I woke up and left the house a bit early than usual (I would go out to office a bit later since it was not that far away from my house).

I packed my gears (the camera, etc) together with my trusty tripod. I set out to the place with an anticipation of a good capture. Unfortunately, there was less cloud to begin with. The sky was a bit to bland in light-ish blue colour thus the whole scene was a bit 'dull' and had less details to capture. 

I had checked on the internet on the how-to of capturing a sunrise. However, if I had captured a good image of sunrise myself on then I can confirm on the camera settings to be used.

This was not a completed mission. The search will continue...

Till next time, wassalam and good bye.

To catch the moon 2...

I have given it a go for the second time. Let us see how clear I can capture the moon which is glowing nicely tonight. My friend cum mentor, Jasmadi has captured his own version of the moon and it was a good shot. Kudos to him. I feel that I need to give myself another chance. Below are two photos of the moon I have captured tonight.

Camera Settings: 126mm focal length, 1/250 @ f11.0, ISO 100  

126.0mm focal length, 1/250 @ f11.0, ISO 100

Water and its effects. On a small and controllable scale...

Salam and hi to all,

For my next small photo shoot project, I have chosen to capture water and its effects in a control situation (ie. in the kitchen sink. :-) ) A setup that I think is manageable to all of you (like me, budding photographer with rushing adrenaline to find and capture beautiful images). The items needed for this project to work are those that you can find in a kitchen. We would need a glass (a bit tall ones to ensure more freedom to compose an image vertically), a mug lid (like those used by the Chinese/Japanese in the movies when they drink their tea), black cloth or maybe non-reflective cardboard for adark background and of course, an unlimited supply of controlled running water (water tap in the kitchen) as our main subjects.

Next we would need out trusted tripod and a flashgun. A wired shutter trigger can also help us take the shots comfortably while improving brightness with a diffuser which in turns may produce sharper images. You may want to lower one of the tripod's stand/leg to balance the weight of your camera plus a flashgun. The photos below  shows how my gears are set up: (please do not mind the kitchen. It is a bit messy at the time. Sorry).

Then, we would need to configure our camera. For this project, I have chosen the 'Manual' or 'M' mode. In this mode, I can control shutter speed, aperture value as well the ISO speed. These are the basic settings that I have used:

• Shutter speed : the highest (1/250)
• Aperture value: f5.6 ~ f6.0
• ISO speed: ~ ISO1000

The first photo below is one of the early batch of shots. 

The next few photos are taken after I have added a darker background in order to have clearer and more detail image compositions. (Thanks to my wife for helping me out. I love you, darling)

Using the mug lid as a base for water splash effect.

I like the reflections shown through the bubbles.

These are some of the best shots I have got from the whole 1 hour of standing behind the tripod and my trusted camera.

Try it our and I hope you all have good or better results/images than mine.

Until next time, continue to capture beautiful images and good luck. Wassalam and good bye.

To catch the moon...

Salam and hi to all,

Well, tonight's project would be about the moon. How to capture the moon? Through trial-and-error, I have managed to 'catch' the moon. The moon is at its 3/4 size tonight. Using my trusted kit-lens EF-S 18-135mm IS, I have spent about 1 hour 30 minutes focusing on the moon and trying to 'capture' it.

The result is not that great. Below is my best take out of a batch of photo I have taken tonight. The photo has been cropped from its original size (18 mega-pixel resolution)

Even after it is cropped, the moon looked too small and lacked detail. After doing some reading from the links below :

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/moon-photography-made-simple

http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/other-digital-photography-technique-discussion/94836-how-capture-moon.html

I have realized that I would need a much longer focal length lens (as mentioned in one of the article - minimum focal length is 200mm) thus my kit-lens does not qualify. Below is an example of photo taken by a photographer in the article mentioned above using a prime lens of 400mm focal length.

(The photo serves as an example only. It's credits and copyrights are wholly owned by inkista)

Well, at least I have tried. Maybe I would repeat this little project some time in the future when I have the appropriate telephoto or super telephoto lens needed to 'capture the moon'.

Until next time, wassalam and good bye.

Slow shutter and its effect...

Salam and hi to all,

I went to an photo session outing together with my wife and son. The place of choice was Putrajaya, central administrative hub for Malaysia.

It has some of the most unique buildings in the country with architectural theme ranging from the intricate beauty of Islamic arts and culture, administrative-look and design of the western world to creative and contemporary design that many have to love and appreciate.

All the photos placed below are my first attempt on using the slow shutter under the manual mode of my Canon EOS 60D. I understand that I need many more attempts and learn more about the effects that I should be able to produce and the mistakes that I should not repeat in the future.

However, your honest comments/or appraisals are very much appreciated.

Till next time, wassalam and bye.

Upgrading my Canon EOS

Salam and hi to all,

After using my first DSLR camera (Canon EOS 500D) for awhile, I realized that I needed more. Thankfully enough, at that time, I had enough money stashed away for an upgrade project. The game was set. The research was given a 'go'.

Countless hours and 'almost' sleepless nights had gone through searching and reading from reviews and forums for the right DSLR camera replacing my not-that-old-yet-trusted Canon EOS 500D. The old camera had opened my eyes to the expanding and evolving world of digital creative photography. Adding a new one, would only hoped to further this still-freshly-found motivation and interest.

Coming from 3 digit Canon EOS (ie the '500' in EOS 500D), many had said that it was a logical step to get better hardware among the 2 and 1 digit Canon EOS cameras. The specifications and prices of said cameras would then be the deciding factors. The one digit Canon EOS camera can set me back around RM5500 and more (body only) plus a few more thousands for the lens. The one camera  I started to have great interest in was Canon EOS 7D. 

In-depth review of Canon EOS 7D can be found here.

It was introduced a few years back in late 2009. The hardware specifications are fantastic with 2 integrated DIGIC 4 image processor and a full frame coverage photo shots through the viewfinder while the ISO level can reach up to 12800. It is a 18 mega-pixel shooter covered in sturdy magnesium body signifying its status as a semi-professional level among Canon EOS camera line-up.

However it was just too costly to me. I was stricken by it. I knew if I waited a bit more and perhaps save some more money, I could get my hand on one unit of that camera and called it my own. On the other hand, I found that there was another Canon EOS camera revealed fairly recent (late 2010) which has an articulated screen. The camera specification was tuned akin to the Canon EOS 7D. It was a Canon EOS 60D.

In-depth review of this camera can be found here.

After reading more about this fairly new camera, I felt that this was the camera for me. The articulated 3.0 inch screen is invaluable in many photo shoot situation. Many has praised its inclusion with this camera stating extending its value to be a more multi-angle shooter. Although Canon has placed this camera for serious enthusiasts category, it's specifications are slightly in-favour of replacing a quite old semi-pro level Canon EOS camera, which was Canon EOS 50D.

EOS 60D is a 18 mega-pixel shooter with a single DIGIC 4 image processor and able to record 1080p video out-of-the-box. However it is not a full-frame coverage photo shots through the viewfinder. It is cropped at 95% coverage. Meaning, the result photo will be cropped about 5% at all sides from what you see in viewfinder.

Thus, with large sum of money in my hand and a peace of mind (knowing I had made up my mind) I went to Boeing Photo Sdn Bhd (located inside the Mines Shopping Centre in Seri Kembangan) and purchased the camera. I 'almost' jumped with joy knowing that they had the unit I wanted with kit lens 2 (EF-S18-135mm IS). When arrived home, I went into the internet and had the camera registered with Canon Malaysia Online Registration. 

My road to further discovery in the world of digital creative photography had just been paved with solid assurance. A few accessories were needed to complete my photo-taking experience. I will write more on this later. 

Till next time. Wassalam and good bye.

My First DSLR...

Salam and good day to all,

My first camera DSLR was a Canon EOS 500D with kit lens 1 (EF-S 18-55mm IS). I bought it out of my rising interest on photography and one other personal reason. The camera was a great joy and an excellent introduction to the wide world of creative DSLR photography. The possibilities of taking great photos was then in my hand. However, using compact or point-and-shoot camera can enable one to take great and memorable photos yet it lacks the 'punch' and 'kicks' of going further into the world of creative photo captures and compositions.

Link to in-depth review of this camera can be found at: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos500d/

Thus, whenever I had the chance, I would be taking photos and learning how to catch great moments through the viewfinder of the my Canon EOS 500D. Only then I realized there are more to taking photos than just squeezing the shutter release button.

There are things that I have to be aware of, for example ISO meter, aperture value, exposure compensation, shutter speed and more. The more accurate you are at measuring and setting them up, the more accurate the colours and lighting present in the photos. I started to think that photography is not only about the emotions and the precious moments that you see in front of you, but it is also about capturing the right amount of lights and colours to make your compositions/photos meaningful and appreciable.

I think I will be more mature in photography as I experimented more with my camera settings and shots. The more you use it, the better you will become.

That's all for now. Wassalam and good bye.