When I was in Penang... 27 - 30th Sept 2010

I had a 3 day conference at Batu Ferringhi, Penang.  I took every opportunity of my free time to photograph any beautiful elements that I see.

(Left) This was taken during dinner at the hotel lobby. My interest in candles never fades.

 

This was the view of the sunset at 7.15pm - from my room's balcony. Nothing like a good view of the cove.

Minutes after the shot above, I finally get the shot that I've been dreaming to get. The orange sky as the sun sinks into horizon. It was such a good feeling to witness such vibrant colours.

 Both of these pictures (above) were taken zoomed in using my telephoto converter all the way from the balcony.

It was my last day in Penang, there was a bit drizzle in the morning and and gloomy clouds over the cove. The colour of this shot is 'as-is' without any filter! It was taken at 7 am.

It was my luck and definitely a bonus when a rainbow appeared an hour after! It was my very first time to witness a full semicircle rainbow which I was able to trace both of its ends! Too bad, there was no leprechaun around with a pot of gold. Hehehehe...

Playing with water

f/8.0    1/250sec   IS0-400

This is actually my THIRD attempt to capture "water drops" using the lamest technique which is a dark bowl of water in the sink. Yet again, I am not using any SLR camera, but after reading photography magazines, and also some cool websites on photography, I learned new tricks! With the help of Macro setting, continuous shots, flash, and of course increased ISO, I finally managed to get this shot. Definitely, with some post editing with colours (which also was discovered later) and depth manipulation, I grew more fond of editing and capturing more water drops at different angle. Things that I discover  : 'what else can my camera do?', exploring the photo-editing software,  and of course learning it from the pros.

I left the tap - in between running and dripping

Yes, indeed, it was not easy to capture a nice dramatic water drop shot (which I agree with the pros). I've tried many times to capture the 'drop, drop, drop' but I kept on missing the perfect micro-second to get that 'splash' effect after the drop. VERY FRUSTRATING INDEED! When I finally HAD the shot, the picture was out of focus. Wow, it definitely takes a lot of patience and perseverance to capture art. But what the hell, this is only my THIRD ATTEMPT. I am definitely not giving up to get the PERFECT SHOT!

second attempt

The 2 pictures above were my second attempt, but it was still at beginning of learning process. I manipulated a lot with post-production, with noise clearing, vignetting and increase depth (greatly). I did not use macro, and was trying too hard to get the drops in focus. It did not cross my mind at all  to use macro in a low light bathroom. Well, hello, 'learning' over here?

Do check out my other photos on flickr :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darcaenazalea 

The Vines

24th January, 2010 : According to wikipedia, A vine in the broad sense refers to any climbing or trailing plant. This particular vine was growing from my house's rooftop, trailing down the windows until the house below. It was a point of time when the house was actually 'infested' with vines (one type in particular) for awhile, which later dried out and no longer 'infesting' till this day. These pictures were taken through the window at 8-9am in the morning, capturing the sunrise as her rays fall between the leaves and branches of the 'giant' tree in front of my house.

Dark and Gloomy

f/6.3 - 1/1250 sec

f/4 -  1/2000 sec

13th Aug 2010 : I just came back from work that day. The rain had just stopped but the dark clouds were still visible in the sky. There was this one tree (probably in its own autumn) right in front of my house (yes, I do admire whatever view I have from my house!). With the dark clouds as background, that tree just stood out, probably in relation to the mood of the day too. Dark and gloomy.

f/3.5   -   1/320sec   -   ISO-80

This was taken moments before the previous two shots were taken. I was lucky enough to capture the plane in between the 'dead' branches as it passed by the sky.

JULY - It's time for the wolves to howl...

 1/5sec    f/3.5

It's funny how I kept on getting great view (and hopefully shots) of the sun and the moon just from my house. This was taken last month, right outside my living room window. The huge akasia tree (i think it's akasia.. not too sure) gives that eerie look as the moon peeked in between the branches and the leaves. It was 9 pm at that time, shots after shots I take, until the moon was no longer as eerie, as it rose up in the clear sky. It gives you that feeling of anticipating a wolf might be howling any time now, does it? Well, there were faint sounds of dogs barking when I shot this. I guess that's as close as it gets when you are living in a city.

1/4 sec   f/3.5

Rosy Periwinkle indeed..

Pink Rosy Periwinkle.

Catharanthus roseus

It was taken awhile ago, October 2009 at my old house in Pahang. We have moved out from the house, but remain it as our lodging, just to have a reason to still visit the peaceful east of Peninsular Malaysia. We seldom go back to this house. However, despite being left abandoned, it was wonderful to see that the life around the house still continued living, giving the house a life of its own. I encountered this single beautiful Periwinkle that grew in the drain. It was a rare thing to see.






other periwinkles :

my garden
redzlan.blogspot.com

My confession of appreciation.

Bunga Kantan / Torch Ginger


Etlingera eliator

4th July 2010 : It was a sunny afternoon, but was a bit cloudy, though with no indications that it was about to rain any soon. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of my mum's red kantan from her mini-garden. Only a day like this, with unlimited light source that I am at best enjoying my hobby of photography. Probably with an extra 'drive' from my mother, as she nags at me almost everytime when I'm home, to take some nice photos of her flowers.

f/6.3,1/320sec ; f/6.3, 1/125sec ; f/6.3, 1/80sec.

It was then as well I managed to experiment with my camera, using the manual mode. Finally I learn to appreciate better the different depths of aperture and shutter-speed manipulation during a full light source from the sun. Thanx to my dear friend, Azleen whom is already an expert with these manipulations, I would not have budged from my comfort zone with my semi-pro camera set at Av mode. She convinced me to learn how to handle my semi-pro like an SLR, even though my baby has its own limitations.