See Hour | Photography

Chinese Opera Show in George Town

2010-07-12T10:20:00.004+08:00

There was a series of Chinese Opera shows held in George Town, Penang. I went there for three nights, for photographing the colorful performers.
During first two nights, I dare not to go up to the back stage to shoot. I just stood close to the stage and shoot, but those shots are not not I wanted to get.
I wanted something close, I wanted to get close to the performers. At second night I saw one photographer went up to the back stage, and shoot on the stage (at the back). That really enlighten me and gave me courage.
Anyway, at last, at the third night, a few performers from the team that performing that night are quite friendly. I talked to them, and finally asked for permission to go on the back stage and shoot.

I mainly shoot with Canon 450D + Canon 85mm f1.8. One of the shots is from Canon 50mm f1.8, one from Canon 10-22mm, and one from Panasonic GF1 + 20mm f1.7. After this stage shooting experience, I like the Canon 85mm f1.8 even more :) :) And I wish I have a 5dmkII...
Browse through the shots below, and you can see the sharpness and bokeh that Canon 85mm f1.8 can deliver. Just that, chromatic abrevation / purple fringing is really a minus for this lens.

I arrange the sequence of the photos following date of picture taken. First night and second night shows are the same, from same team. Third night show were from another team which combined of Malaysia, Thailand and China performers.

Most of my favourite images are from third night show. :) 50 photos shown here..

--------------------------------First night-------------------------------------

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/400. background is a bit messy..

85mm, f1.8. iso200, 1/800. focus on her eyes. I got a few continueus shots of this, a few of them OOF..

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. almost all of the performers like to smoke.

10mm, f3.5, iso400, 1/6. not many audience. a few more peorple came later, but still not many.

85mm, f1.8, iso1600, 1/100. she was shocked when saw me pointing camera at her. Image is too noisy until color is broken, so I had to turn it into black & white. I want 5dmkII..

85mm, f1.8, iso400, 1/100. as i mentioned, many of them smoke. 5dmkII...

85mm, f2.0, iso100, 1/400. this is very sharp.. 85mm f1.8 rocks!

85mm, f1.8, iso1600, 1/80. this reminds me of Hong Kong night street. 5dmkII....

85mm, f2.0, iso400, 1/80. she came to watch the show, stopped in front of the spot light..

--------------------------------Second night -------------------------------------

85mm, f1.8, iso200, 1/80. he doesn't like being photographed..

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/160. nothing much..

85mm, f2.0, iso400, 1/250. this is at the back of the stage. she is saying hi to tourist.

85mm, f2.0, iso400, 1/125. make up in action.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/60. another make up in action.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/640. penang food hor liao!

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/250. beating a gong.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. so this is the photograph that went on the back stage to shoot. It then encouraged me to go up there too at the third night.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/800. very sharp.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/160. sorry, I don't know what's the musical instrument called..

--------------------------------Third night -------------------------------------

85mm, f2.0, iso100, 1/800. George Town celebrates its 1st UNESCO world heritage anniversary.

85mm, f2.0, iso400, 1/200. He never noticed me..

85mm, f2.0, iso400, 1/400. I wanted to shoot the red shirt man. He told me one picture Rm10..

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/400. I asked him for a close-up shot. Not really working well here.. He comes all the way from China to Malaysia to work as a Chinese Opera performer. He doesn't earn a lot here. Just wanted to get out of his village to see the outside world.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/160. foreigner likes the show..

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. I asked another guy for another close-up. I like this one. I asked him, can I take photo at the back stage? He told me to go ahead.. yeah~ He is a Malaysian.

50mm, f1.8, iso400, 1/80. The first shot at the back stage. Like this :)

GF1 + 20mm, f1.8, iso100, 1/40. So this is how the back stage looks like.

85mm, f2.5, iso200, 1/200. How dare you come onto the stage!

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/400. Who gave you permission to come up here! hehe, my favourite :)

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/160. I would love this one if the focus point drops on her right eye.. too bad..sayang..

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/100. He was waitting for his turn to go out. Very concerntrated. See the bokeh at his another eye? My favourite :)

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/400. I can tell from your look that you are bad guy..

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. See the love tattoo on his arm?

85mm, f2.0, iso400, 1/100. I had to use manual focus to focus on the person in the mirror. AF always focus on the mirror, but person in the mirror gets blur. My favourite :)

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. Another close shot.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. Yet another close shot :)

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/160. These are the words that are shown on the LED board, for audience to watch.

85mm, f2.0, iso800, 1/80. Sorry, don't know what this musical instrument called..

85mm, f1.8, iso800, 1/100. f1.8 made low light shooting possible. But again, iso800 causes too much noise. Had to convert it to black and white. My favourite though :)

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/400. Like her facial expression

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/250. Like this expression too

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. Little girl wanted to perform on the stage too.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/200. Dark background.

85mm, f2.0, iso200, 1/400. My favourite :)

85mm, f1.8, iso800, 1/800. I like this :) She was happy that I photograph her.

85mm, f1.8, iso800, 1/50. Doing make up.

85mm, f1.8, iso200, 1/250. I like the bokeh. f1.8 still sharp. My favourite :)

85mm, f1.8, iso800, 1/50. She forgot dialog on the stage, so she had to keep reading to memorize the next part.

85mm, f1.8, iso800, 1/100. Finally... I think he is abnormal..

About myself & my photography, & why I start blogging again

2010-07-09T22:34:00.009+08:00

It has been 8 months since my last post! It was mainly because of I am lazy to write. Yes, I am really not good at writing.
Anyway, I have been thinking to continue photo blogging. This is because I have many to say about my shots like:

how I take the shot,
story behind the shot,
difficulties of taking a shot,
doubt about photography,
my like and dislike of a shot,
how can I do better,

This is mainly for my photography diary purpose, so that I can refer back to them anytime. If I could make some friends here, who can give me some useful comment to clear any of my doubt, or how I can do better, then that would be a bonus :)
About myself:
I use the following gears:

Canon 450D
Panasonic Lumix GF1
Panasonic Pancake 20mm f1.7
Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 USM
Canon 50mm f1.8
Canon 85mm f1.8 USM

About my photography:

Below are the photography field that I am currently interested in:
1) Long exposure seascape, blue hour, star trail

I feel comfortable to shoot nature. I love advanture, explore new photographic location.
I mainly use Canon 450D + Canon 10-22mm for these. Usually I use a few filters too (Cokin GND, Hoya polarizer, Hoya ND400)

2) Interesting people on streets & animals

I feel not comfortable shooting strangers as I am affraid of them. But I wish I could capture the beauty of people.
I like to use Canon 450D + Canon 50mm f1.8 & Canon 85mm f1.8 for these. I also use Panasonic GF1 + 20mm f1.7.

Below are a few of my favorite shots from each of my gears:

Canon 450D, Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 USM, ISO100 | f16 | 14mm | 1/2 sec

Canon 450D, Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 USM, ISO100 | f11 | 10mm | 79 sec

Canon 450D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO400 | f1.8 | 1/80 sec

Canon 450D, Canon 50mm f1.8, ISO200 | f4.5 | 20 sec

Panasonic Lumix GF1, Panasonic 20mm f1.7, ISO160 | f2.2 | 1/30 sec

Panasonic Lumix GF1, Panasonic 20mm f1.7, ISO100 | f1.8 | 1/30 sec

Canon 450D, Canon 85mm f1.8, ISO1600 | f1.8 | 1/100 sec

Canon 450D, Canon 85mm f1.8, ISO200 | f2.0 | 1/250 sec

Penang Bridge

2009-10-28T22:31:00.006+08:00

I would feel uneasy if I don't go out cik ka cik ka within a week. Last weekend I was attending a friend's wedding hence didn't have the chance to photograph. So on Tuesday after work, I went to Penang bridge underneath cik ka cik ka and I got this....

If you find it romantic, then you could bring your love one to have picnic over there... hahahahaha

Added some tone for this.

Kampung Sungai Burung @ Balik Pulau Penang -- a sneak peek

2009-10-22T22:21:00.002+08:00

The place in Balik Pulau that I have been to is called Kampung Sungai Burung. It's well known for having wonderful sunset at the fishing village and amazing paddy field. Too bad that I have killed most of the shots due to my bad skill, and not knowing well about my equipments. So many of the photos have got severe vignette (dark at the corners), or over-exposed. I could fix under-expose but there is nothing much I can do for over-exposed photos.. Hence I can't show you all the beautiful scenes of Sungai Burung, but only a few sneak peeks.

Anyway, I tend to re-visit the same place again and again at different times because God always paint differently everyday for every places, and I enjoy capturing the painting of God :) Hence I am waiting for the sunny days to come, so that I can go back to visit Balik Pulau again and hopefully be able to bring back many more beautiful views.

Here you go the few shots that I left.

1) Green grass, blue sky, white cloud, mountain, and cows.. These are what you can always see at Balik Pulau

2) and people riding motorbike too. Most of the people here are friendly. They tend to throw me a smile when see me taking photos arround

3) I like the places here so I swear I will be back! haha

4) BEX1543..For years, she has taken me to the west, to the east, to the north, to the south... to mountain, to seaside, to kampungs, to cities.. No matter where would you end up in the future, you are in my heart forever.. :)

5) There was no big round sunset on that day because too cloudy. So I only manage to get this. Heavily photoshoped :p

6) Finally, I see cat at every fishing village :)

-the end-

Thanks for viewing.
Checkout my Flickr Album

The Morning View of Deepavali Day

2009-10-18T13:56:00.007+08:00

This day I woke up at 5.30 o'clock in the morning. After washing, and breakfast (Cintan mee and a cup of coffee), I grabbed my gears and I am on the road, heading to seaside along the Penang Jelutong Highway. It was my 3rd time going there to take sunrise view.

The 1st time I been there, I managed to get some sunrise view, you can see it here. The 2nd time, I woke up at 5.30am also, went there with my housemate motorbike (riding motorbike on the highway is no fun..no next time..) but the God didn't give me sunrise..it was too cloudy. Anyway, I still wander around to find some good spot for my next visit. It was that time when I met these two little cuties.

Alright, back to topic. When I reached the destination, whoa! There was a group of about 7-8 photographers standing by over there already. Got guys and girls.. I didn't join them as I had been to that spot already.. the view there is so so only though :p. Don't know how many people have been taking sunrise view from there already. Google it and you will see. I love to explore new locations, see views that not many people have seen. I think this is one of the joys that photography brings to me..

Alright, enough crap. The sun was about to come out, so I quickly grabbed my gears and ran to my stops! Yeah, the whole process, I was really rushing, running, shooting, kelam-kabut-ing, sweating, and not to mention slipped on the slippy wood and fell.. All in all, when I go back and look at the works, after some polishing on it, I think I am quite satisfied with the final work. At least got some improvement lar.. Must thank to the grad ND filter :p Ok, after you see the photos below, you may say, like that also satisfied ar.. But hey, that is how my current standard can go mar...let me self-syok lar.. :D

Okok, really enough talking crap! Let's check out the pictures!

1)

2) Zoom-in view

3) Penang Bridge

4) A mini fisherman's dock :p

5) Typical sunrise view. got a flare at the top. caused by the reflection from filter I guess

6) Another typical sunrise

7) This looks a bit weird. Not exactly like what I wanted it to be..

Alright, that's it. Not many, cause my failing rate is very high.. haha :(

Thanks for viewing. Check out my Flickr album too. Have a good day.

My new Hoya CPL Filter...

2009-10-17T00:10:00.001+08:00

It's cracked!!!~ T_T wuwuwu...

I was sitting on the bed. After I had attached the filter to the lens, I put my camera back into my bag.. I didn't notice that the bag was unzip, then when I stood up, the camera slipped out of the bag and dropped on the floor! I opened up the lens cap and there I saw the broken pieces. I was so worry about my lens which is the most expensive part! I quickly detached the filter and check my lens, luckily it is still OK without a crack on it... The camera body is also alright.. Phew...although the filter is broken, but I feel really relieved because my lens is still there...Thank God..

Anyway, RM190 is gone...Worse still, I bought it just 2 days ago and haven't start using it for my landscape shooting!! wuwuwu... T_T

The One Tree

2009-10-11T09:42:00.000+08:00

One Tree Hill in Penang...called Satu Pokok Bukit..

In case you haven't seen One Tree Hill

Random (1)

2009-10-10T09:36:00.005+08:00

1) Low Tide

There are times in life when we are at low tide..

2) Spider

Spiderman is enjoying its meal.. geli..

Make Out

2009-10-10T01:09:00.011+08:00

I thought they are a couple…

Here is the story...

White : “hmm..hmm..hmmm..”
Brown : “ah..ah..don’t, someone is watching.”
Me : “….”

White : “hmm.. cameraman, go away..hmm..”
Brown : “ah..ah..”
Me : “…”

White : “slurp…”
Brown : “ah..stop it.. he is still watching us..ah..nice..”
Me : “wah, use tongue, must learn..”

White : “hey you, go away, don’t disturb us.”
Me : “…”

White: “I am warning you!!! Go away!!!”
Me : “…”

White : “goooo away!!!!! Ah!!!”
Me : “ okok, sorry boss…”

Story end...

Actualy they are not a couple, but mother and son..
Feeding..

Mother looking cool..

Just now very fierce... now you see the innocent eyes..
he was afraid of me..

--the end--

There are more in SeeHour Flickr Album

Penang Fisher Village in The Morning

2009-10-03T23:08:00.000+08:00

This is the fisherman village along the Jelutong Highway.
I started taking photos over there at 7 o'clock in the morning..

1) Start with sunrise view..

2)

3) The bridge leading to dock

4)

5) Then I met this fisherman brings back the fishes he caught

6) Don’t know what fish are these..

7) Someone rears dogs over here..

8) I am so proud of myself that I didn’t get panic when they bark at me..

9) Dogs on the land meet with dogs in the sea…

10) Someone comes to collect fish I guess..

11) Fisherman on the boat. Background is the Penang bridge..

12) Alright, I like this B&W..

13) Fisherman, his village, Penang bridge..

14) There must be a lot of tires at every fisherman village

15) Don’t what fish are these.. geli..

Alright, that’s it. Thanks for viewing..
Check out my Flickr album
SeeHour Flickr

Bahau 20-09-2009

2009-09-27T16:15:00.000+08:00

Everything at my home..
My home has father, mother, brother, dog (Xiao Hei), fruits like coconut, mango, pineapple, sugarcane, guava, papaya, chili, banana (not shown), lots of flower, lots of insect and mosquito, lake, motorbike, car,..etc

Here you go:

1) Father also likes to take photo.. very IN

2) Take photo in the morning

3) Father feeding fish

4) working in the lake

5) This is the lake.. father and uncle made..

4) Ever seen lotus leave with this big size?

5) Xiao Hei.. very old already

6) He always see us come home and leave home...

8) Mother in the morning.. still wearing pyjamas...

9) She always work in the kitchen.. she is a businesswomen too..

10) Mother made bird nest (yen woh~)

11) My superbike! It used to accompany me back in my secondary school life and university life..

12) My big bro passed it to me after he graduated from secondary school

13) Yeah, Yamaha sport kia, don't play play

14) Time makes everything get old... see the lamp..

15)Alright, fruit session, first one is papaya

16) Sugarcane is a fruit?

17) Really got coconut wan....

18) This is called Apple Mango.. Don't know why.. apple shape maybe..

19) Funny thing about this guava is that, we cantonese call it as "chicken shit fruit"..

20) See the pineapple

21) Flower..

22) Mother's garden

23) Another garden...

24) Alright, end with a wish to everyone.. be safe and take good care of yourself while you are away from home..

There are 22 more pictures in my Flickr album.. You may take a look at the slide show below for complete set and larger size.

Thanks for visit...Good day..

Penang 5-09-2009

2009-09-10T21:57:00.000+08:00

I took this somewhere nearby where I currently stay (Sungai Ara, Penang), to try out my new camera and lens..
These creatures are huge.. I felt scared when I get close to them, they also felt scared as I was getting close to them.. So we were affraid of each other...