Pyong Bricole

AVOID MARRIOT BANGKOK

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:30:00 +0000

I know this post has nothing to do with photography, but I just want to warn everyone before they burned their vacation in Bangkok, Thailand. For those who have any plan to visit Bangkok, Thailand...if you looking for a nice to hotel to stay on the riverside, I would say avoid Marriot Bangkok at any cost. Even though it carry on Marriot brand, but it's so beaten up - both quality of personal and property.

I happened visited this hotel last week, and I was pretty much "amazed" by the condition of the hotel's rooms. It's old, poorly maintained (the room's light controller doesn't work properly), bathroom door can't closed properly, in one of the bathroom I even found the water leaking from the ceiling and the guy was pretty much....what a hack ! They are so proud about their garden and pool, so I went to look at it...the pool's area wooden floor is pretty much rickety blacked wooden floor I mean...come on!!! Marriot should follow a standard for 4-star hotel, at least....not a beaten up 3 stars.

To went to the main part of the city, they had provided a shuttle boat. It sounds very exotic, the boat itself looks great, but...don't try to bet your luck when it's raining. I was waiting for the boat to go back to the city center, and it's raining by that time. They had a small uncovered sitting area at the pier, so I thought better to wait at the nearby bar when I could get covered from the rain and still could see when the boat came. Believe me or not, the security guy when he saw the boat came, he didn't even bother to tell me (he knew I was waiting), instead he let the boat went away. OMG!!!

The restaurants looks good, but honestly...the quality of the food are far from the price I've paid.

So when I told their sales manager, Ludovic Gallerne, about their hotel condition, I hope he would give me some decent response why they ended up on that condition. This is what he had told me "Hey...you can't ask too much from a 19-year old hotel". That's so highschool !!!!!

Well, they are on their way to renovate one of their wing to turn their hotel from Marriot to Anantara, but only one wing....the other wing and lobby might be get some work as well, sometimes in the unknow future.

So please, for the shake of your vacation....please don't choose the Marriot for your stay in Bangkok. I mean, for its price you can find better hotel on the riverside and closer to the center.

What a gossip - Thailand underwater

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:10:00 +0000

Turn on your news channel and you will see how people have tried to spread the panic attack to their audiences...Thailand is underwater, don't go to Thailand, save your vacation, etc....
The funniest thing is I AM WRITING THIS BLOG...LIVE FROM KOH SAMED...THAILAND. And only thing I have here...BRIGHT SUNNY SKY. I just finished spent some times on the beach with my families and tomorrow we are heading to Bangkok..

For those who had planned to go to Thailand sometimes soon, my advice....don't cancel it...you will regret it. Things are not as worse as what they put on your screen at home. I mean, they do all effort to save Bangkok and surrounding area....your plane can still do the landing...ON LAND. I just contact a friend of me who's living in Bangkok..she told me that it's raining in Bangkok which is normal (now is the end of raining season) and...no flood water in Bangkok.

Vintage Propulsion

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:25:00 +0000

For this week, the theme for the project is tools. Regular tools are too common, but I can't think about any other thing until I saw this vintage propulsion sitting on one of the display of an antique shop. It still a tool even though I think it hardly works :p

Autumn is here...

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:31:00 +0000

Crispy apples ;), a photo by pyongbricole on Flickr.

Autumn is here...best time of the year :) What a pleasure to drive along the road while you have all the vibrant colors of the autumn leaves on the road side. I shot this picture at the parking lot near my place. Look yummy, isn't it? ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 12:46:00 +0000

So here are some pictures that already uploaded to the group...many more will come in coming days. ENJOY !!!!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.205550359508630&type=1

Spice

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:19:00 +0000

I've done the first theme from the my year long photography project. Theme of the week (5-11 September 2011) is Spice. We don't really have farmer market, and Switzerland is not a country which is famous for its spicy foods either. So, only way to find a "good looking" spices are by going to the supermarket. So I went to Manor Supermarket this afternoon, cause I remembered they had their spices wrapped in a cone shape plastic wrapper.....and by a chance I found a 5 épices (5 spices powder), so finally...I've got myself a DOUBLE SPICE picture for this week. YAY !!!!!!

Keep The Spirit High !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:29:00 +0000

Writing from my bed, my neck injury really paralize me these days. In 3 days, my photography projects will officially begin, and I really need to get back on my feet.

For those who would like to join in my 53-weekly challange, please click here :

https://www.facebook.com/groups/53weekly/

Rules and list of theme could be found there.

See you !!!!

53 Weekly Photography Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:03:00 +0000

Why not. At least, I will have something to distract me for the next 53-week :). I found the list of themes from one of the digital photograpy school starting from September 2011 - August 2012. Anyone bother to join me in this challange ?
September : 5 - Spice, 12 - The Kitchen, 19 - Autumn / Spring, 26 - Tools
October : 3 - Colors, 10 - My Neigbors , 17 - On The Shelf, 24 - Memories, 31 - Texture
November : 7 - Wind , 14 - Music , 21 - Gathering, 28 - Beyond Reach
December : 5 - Smiles, 12 - After, 19 - Winter / Summer , 26 - Oldness
January : 1 - Newness, 3 - Cold, 10 - Breakfast , 17 - Macro, 24 - Tired, 31 - Sleep
February : 7 - Body Parts, 14 - Romance , 21 - Spirit, 28 - Vegetables
March : 7 - Underneath , 14 - Spring / Autumn , 21 - Planning, 28 - Fools
April : 4 - Excitement , 11 - Work, 18 - Growth, 25 - Trees
May : 2 - Mother, 9 - Up, 16 - Anger, 23 - Temptation, 30 - Looking in
June : 6 - Party, 13 - Father, 20 - Swing, 27 Lighting Experimentation
July : 4 - Red, White, Blue , 11- Family , 18 - Summer / Winter, 25 - Time
August : 1 - Water, 8-Shadows, 15 - Peace, 22- Defeat , 29 - Sunset
I curious, how long I could survive this long list of photo themes ;)

Sun Kissed Vacation ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 22:15:00 +0000

Summer 2011 - Croatia with Compagnie du Ponant, a set on Flickr.

so......I've got tanned from my last vacation ;) 1 week sailing around the adriatic sea...I could say, this is one of that most "summer" vacation I ever had. Believe me....you won't believe how lucky I am ....bright sunny day for 9 days in row, stunning coastal view, crystal clear water - I even had chance to swim around at the falls of Krka National Park (Sibenik , Croatia), and best of all, very special new friends.

Happy Birthday My Pirate Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:37:00 +0000

My pirate boy turned 5 on Sunday, so I've used the opportunity to take some pictures of him in his pirate costume in my mini studio. The boat that he sat on made by his sister, Regina, using a shoe-box, she added some pictures on it.

We got honk by the train conductor ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:09:00 +0000

C53K0271, a photo by pyongbricole on Flickr.

We took this picture at an abandoned train station, Julien pretended to get the train ride for free.

La Saint-Jean - fête médiévale

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:55:00 +0000

La Saint-Jean - fête médiévale, a set on Flickr.

I am back.....!
It's been a while since the last time I passed by to say hi to all of you. Time flies, now we already in the middle of the summer 2011. 3 weeks ago, I attended a Medievale Festival near Lake of Gruyere (Fribourg, Switzerland), and here some snapshots that I would like to share with all of you.

I am back

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:57:00 +0000

Novita, a photo by laperlenoire on Flickr.

I am sorry for being away for so long. It's been a chaotic moment for me since there are so many things to do and I wish I could have more 36 hours a day. Well, here I am, back to the community, with a new idea to get involve in my photography activity, be a model myself.

When I get involve in both sides of the camera, it actually helps me to create unlimited possibilities poses. Before I only demanding my model to pose what I think will looks good behind camera, when I am in front of the camera, actually I could imagine more things. Like for example when I took this picture (this picture was taking by Julien), I told him how I would like the angle to be taken....and I imagine myself behind the view finder, and at once....voila....I've got this picture exactly the same as the one I had in my mine.

Concert at Grimisuat - 19 February 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 21:52:00 +0000

This is the one of my favorite song from our last night concert at Eglise Paroissiale de Grimisuat (VS).
Hallelujah (the french version of the one written by Leonard Cohen)

Almost Unforgotten Bali (Most beautiful moment in Indonesia)

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:14:00 +0000

Just came back from Bali last Thursday. I was a tiring trip, considering I took 30-hour flights to stay only for 5 days, but worth it. I had a chance to be upclose personal with a glimpse of Indonesia's almost forgotten life - Petani di sawah (translation : farmer on the rice field). The last decade, when people talk about Indonesia, first picture I had was Jakarta the Cosmopolitan.

I saw this farmer somewhere at Sidemen (eastern Bali), I was doing my small "walk" on the rice terrace and he was there, right in front of me, working on Sunday afternoon. This was typical image we had seen on Indonesian local TV station back at my Primary's years, but later on, everybody tend to forget how the rice on their plate had been produced - isn't that sad?

I had some people asked me how to make this type of picture. It's actually quite easy, first, I edit the picture with my Adobe Photoshop CS4 extended - I put the picture to almost black and white, gave a bit sepia tone on it, add the scratch and dust to give the old feeling. What make it different is actually I add an mask from my digital scrapbooking elements collection as a layer to my edited picture. It was the mask which gave the folded mark on the picture. And by the end, I just flatten the image all together. As simple as that.

Image information : I took the picture with my Canon EOS 5D mark II using Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6L USM IS

Are you ready for Valentine's Day ?

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:02:00 +0000

It's about 2-week from now, but honestly, I am not ready...at all. But my website does :) Before leaving for Bali coming Thursday, I update my website, so it's ready for the coming Valentine's day.....

New face of PyongBricole-dot-com

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:28:00 +0000

If you could only have 1 lens with you, which one will it be?

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:20:00 +0000

The answer certainly different from one to the other. Mine is Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM - the very one that I used during my last trip to the artic circle area. With its "big" aperture, it has helped to solve problem to take picture on the bad-light condition. I had all the liberty to take portrait, landscape even the famous northern lights with it without have to give up too much on the ISO and noise on pictures.

Here are the example :
- Portrait

- Landscape

- Random objects

- AND THE FAMOUS NORTHERN LIGHTS

For more pictures you may visit my website : PyongBricole

*_* Novita

I did the artic (again)....

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Hi guys,

If you wondering where were I for sometimes, guess what, I just did the Artic (again)!
But this time, I traveled a lot lighter - only my camera (Canon EOS 5D mark II), tripod, remote control, and Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM - only lens I took with me.

I am on my way to work with pictures that I took from up north, but since I took more than 2500 shots, I hope you will understand if it takes me sometimes before I finish with them.

But for the moment, here is a little souvenir from Bergen - HOMEMADE POSTCARD made by me with all my digital scrapbooking things that I have around my computer. I hope you'll like it.

I promise, later on, I will give you tips about "IF YOU COULD ONLY HAVE 1 LENS WITH YOU" ... and of course gallery picture of my trip (when I've done with them, of course *_* )

Cheers,

Novita

Happy New Year....

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 21:18:00 +0000

Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me,
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!

Quoted from William Arthur Ward

Dear all,

I would like to thank you for all the time you've spent here. It's been a great joy to share so many fabulous things with all of you. And now, come the new year, 2011, and I hope it will be just another bright year for everyone. Wish you all a great year ahead.........HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Sincerely,

Novita

Teaser of Christmas Concert at Chermignon, Valais (Switzerland)

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:44:00 +0000

hi guys :)

here is a short teaser of the Christmas concert I had last night. I , the one of the front row *_*, was singing for alto

Hope you guys like it...and....HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!!!!

Christmas Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:48:00 +0000

Sharing = Gaining More

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:10:00 +0000

My mom has told me once, when you shared your knowledge, you actually learned more than what you've given. That's the reason I made this blog at the very beginning, to share what little I know with you guys.

When the year's end approaches, I would like to tell all of my readers. 2010 has been a great year for me, and I hope yours too, and I would like to thank those who are willing to spend sometimes to take a look and read on my blog - share my passions and listen to my stories.

Thank you for all yours supports.....

Sincerely,

Novita

Welcome to my cupboard, Canon EF70-300mm f/4.0-5.6L IS USM !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 21:03:00 +0000

Goody !!!! My cupboard got a new comer from Canon today. Introducing, the newbies from Canon, EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6L IS USM. This new guy supposes to replace it's older brother, the EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6DO IS USM. Unlike his older brother who was made to be a "low profile, yet all powerfull in term of range lens", this new guy prefer to shine out in the public (it won't be good for my future paparazi shot...).

So, I arrange the three lenses (you can see the picture below) for you, so for those who haven't seen this lens yet, at least, you could picturize the size of it when you put it side by side with the older version of Canon EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6DO IS USM and the all mighty Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8LII IS USM

note : picture above was taken with Canon EOS 5D mark II + Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM. Please be aware that I add the "vignette" on this picture in purpose, it's not that the EF 50mm f/1.2 is having problem (I had a guy who thought my serie L lenses all having problem with the "vignette, guess he doesn't have a "retro" sense in editing hahahahaha)

Long story short. Why Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6L IS USM is a "BUY" ?
- Of course it's all about better maximum aperture. When you put the lens for the range 70mm to 100mm, you can have your aperture at f/4.0 instead of f/4.5 with the older version.
- Minimal range of shot with this new guy is 1.20 meters (about 4 feet) compare to the older version's 1.4 meters ( about 4.5 feet).
- The new EF 70-300mm is become a member of the "L Family", so it's been made with better protection against the humidity (and other extreme weather condition).

So...if you are looking for a christmas present for someone who love photography or maybe for yourself....you still have about 2 weeks left....and you may want to consider this new comer.

Have fun,

Novita

Me with my Canon EOS1D mark IV + EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6L IS USM

Words for my dentist.....(just for fun, please don't take it seriously)

noreply@blogger.com (Novita) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:06:00 +0000

I went to my dentist this morning, nothing serious, just a regular control. This is the least expected day of the year for me. I scare to death to a dentist, and I believe I haven't mention that my sister is a dentist ;) on her graduation day, I've told her..."you can forget that I will be visiting you oneday." LOL