brandoneu

Putrajaya Night Photography with PEN lovers

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Hi, its been a while ! Please let me update you with whats been going on. Incidentally, this is also my first post for the year 2012. I've been hanging out with the PEN lovers for 2 TT sessions already. They're a great friendly bunch to hang out with. One day, I noticed that they had a Putrajaya night shooting session on February 11th, so I immediately took the opportunity to join in.

The first meeting point was at the Putrajaya lakeside near Pullman Hotel. You can see sifu Blu taking out his panorama kit.

Inadvertently, the main discussion topic always relates back to camera gear.

We had to wait for a while for twilight to occur. Since Malaysia is quite near the Equator, its unfortunate that our twilight period is very brief, unlike Melbourne for example.

This short period of time provides the optimum conditions for twilight photography. Wait any longer and you get a pitch black sky, which doesn't look very attractive :s

I brought along the Olympus E-3 and the 50-200 SWD lens, but the slight wind induced some camera shake. Knowing this, I just stuck to my Nikon instead.

The Putrajaya International Conventional Center, which is sadly vacant most of the time.

The beautiful Wawasan Bridge from a distance.

A beautiful view from Wawasan Bridge. From this viewpoint, you can actually see 3 bridges. One was never completed, that's why its not lit up.

That's all folks. Hope you like the pictures. Stay tuned !

Christmas 2011

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 16:01:00 +0000

Ah, Christmas is almost over. I guess I'd just like to blog about what I did this year for Christmas.

I stuffed myself silly with the freshest, meanest durians in ss2. Meet Sekn, our VIP. Without him, I simply cannot expect to be served the premium 'Musang King' for the RM 15 I paid for the durian buffet. Of course, durian gluttony comes with an undesirable side effect - high calories. I was so full I could hardly walk. Sigh..

I arrived just in time for the Christmas church service at Pantai Baptist Church, Jalan Gasing. The sermon was a little different from the 'usual' sermons of the birth of baby Jesus. Met up with some ex-OCF friends, and had some refreshments. Quite a short service - just over an hour.

Lunch was at Chawan Cafe, Cita Mall, Subang. Of course, this nasi lemak is two times more expensive than Murni ss2. Had to sit through a very long chat (yes, I was warned), before finally leaving the place around 4pm.

Tonight I was assigned to go to Mont Kiara to shoot an event for JCM Agape, a Japanese church based in PJ. They invited a bunch of folks who had impaired vision to join them for the event. It was held in the community center of the apartments, so we had to bear with the heat and humidity for a while.

I guess what struck me was the sincerity and the eagerness of these visually impaired people to sing songs of praise to God. And they could sing and play musical instruments pretty well too (eg. piano, harmonica, guitar), sometimes even better than us who have normal, healthy eyes. As the Japanese pastor pointed out - they may not see in this world, but God has opened their spiritual eyes. God has blessed some of them with families and kids with normal vision, but others are not so fortunate. This is definitely a Christmas event I will remember.

Yikes, its midnight. That's all for now folks. For those in the US and UK who're still celebrating Christmas, enjoy the rest of the day.

Cheers !

No Pok

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:42:00 +0000

I realise this post might be a bit sensitive in nature, but please bear with me

I went for dinner one evening with my brother and housemate to PJ State. We wanted some good ol' Hokkien Mee from a shop we went to a few months ago. But after we reached the shop, I realised something was amiss. The tau keh nio was wearing a cloth on her head. A family that would typically not go to a Chinese stall was sitting nearby. There was a picture frame with some calligraphy in it.

It then dawned upon me ..

...No Pok...

Oh well, we ordered our usual Hokkien Mee nonetheless. It did taste a bit different compared to the original because of the absence of lard and pieces of crispy pok fat.

Today I had lunch at D' Fish Cafe, formerly known as Chan Tong Kee. I immediately noticed the fine print on the menu cover - Halal certification pending. I then asked 'Do you still serve pork here?'

The waiter responded without hestitation..

Sorry sir, no pok

Not again ! My heart missed a beat.

So then, I ordered my usual dish - ying yong. So instead of pok, it was replaced with chicken. It still tastes as good as before. I guess the owner decided to upscale his business to attract the folks from all walks of life. Of course with the renovation and halal certification, comes an increase in price. Instead of the usual RM 5.80 with a cup of cold chinese tea, the current price is RM 6.60. Sigh... inflation...

I guess I can kiss good bye to my Char Siew and Siew Yoke combo from Chan Tong Kee. *Sniff*

Pok is getting scarce in KL. I can't expect to get it at our 5 star hotels, and only certain outlets in shopping malls serve it (eg. the 'hawker center' in the basement of Lot 10, and its friggin' expensive).

I wonder in the future ...

Can I still get lap cheong with my favorite claypot chicken rice?

Can I still get the fantastic char siew from Toast and Roast?

Will the heart-attack-inducing bak kut teh still be easily available?

And the horror of horrors...

What will happen to my favorite kolo mee without pok ?

Frankly speaking, it seems that the future of pok in Malaysia is bleak despite our PM desperately preaching 1 Malaysia to the Rakyat. I hope I can still have my favorite bowl of kolo mee (along with the rest of my favorite Chinese dishes) in the near future in peace... with pok.

Cheers.

A mini review of the Samsung Galaxy Mini

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:44:00 +0000

OK, who would've thought that a photographer like myself would put up a review on mobile phones? Well, this is my first, so please allow some margin of error if I do get something wrong. This review is obviously aimed at Android users, and not for those using the Iphone, Windows, BB, Symbian, Bada OS.

A few months ago, my trusty Sony handphone was in need of a replacement. Being the 'traditional' person I was, I thought that a cheap Nokia phone would suffice. However I was recommended to get a Samsung Galaxy Mini with the limited budget I had. So off to the shops I went.

note: Be wary of traders (in pasar seni / petaling street area for example) who try to sell you fake china made android phones. I have a colleague who also has a galaxy mini, but the screen looks worse and its wifi performance is terrible. And he got it at a more expensive price! :s

The Mini fits snugly into adult sized hands. With its 240 x 320 pixel, 3 inch screen, its hardly something I would call big. Hence it can become a little challenging when you're using the qwerty keyboard to SMS or play games with the small screen.

Below the touch screen are three dinky, plastic buttons - menu, home, and back. I guess you get what you pay for :s

The Mini only weighs slightly over 100 grams, so its very light compared to other heavier, better built phones (such as the ones from HTC). On the back of the textured battery cover, you can see a very basic 3 MP camera. On top of the phone are the USB and headphone ports.

Sorry, no brownie points for guessing what the phone on the left is ;). As you can see, the jump in screen size is quite noticeable. Of course, we cant' compare the vibrant colours of the Super AMOLED screen of the SGS II compared with the archaic capacitive touch screen of the Mini.

Not surprisingly, the Galaxy s2 is thinner than the Mini although it has a more powerful dual core processor. From this angle, you can see the Mini's powerbutton and Micro SD card slot.

If you do purchase this phone, I would heartily recommend that you get these few essential accessories :

decent screen protector,
silicon phone case
8gb sandisk Micro SD card. I found out that the supplied 2gb SD card didn't have enough space to install my apps, songs, pictures so I purchased the 8gb for RM 50. Try not to remove the SD card from the phone as this will desensitize the contacts and make the card less responsive.

The Mini comes out of the box with Froyo (Android 2.2). I have since rooted it to Gingerbread ( 2.3.3) which offers several improvements, such as this screen capture function by just pressing the Menu + Back buttons simutaneously..

For those who are still new to the concept of rooting your phone, I can assure that it can be a fun process if you're into these kind of geeky activities (even though it voids your warranty). It gives you many advantages, such as the option of overclocking your processor to 800 MHz instead of 600 Mhz for better performance.

There are many alternative OS out there if I so decide to flash the Android OS, such as Cyanogen Mod. A friend told me that Cyanogen is only 'slightly' faster than Gingerbread, so I'm holding off this update for a while until I'm sure it can bring some noticeable improvements.

This is my default home screen appearance after I unlock my phone. I'm currently using the 'Go Launcher' app together with the 'Honeycomb' theme. You can also place various widgets on your own screen (eg. weather, news, google search). Nonetheless,the widgets will also consume more memory from your system resources.

As compared with the stock launcher, Go Launcher offers more customization and easy access to apps. For example in the app page mode, I can immediately have access to recent and running apps. The apps also auto arrange themselves alphabetically instead of leaving an empty space in the stock launcher.

Another great launcher is Launcher Pro. Although the level of customization is less than Go Launcher (aka. bland), it is extremely fast and responsive.

Due to the very limited specifications (only 160 MB internal memory and 384 MB of RAM), resource management is very important. If not, the phone might become slow and lagging after some time.

The Market is your 'best friend' for Android, because through this portal, developers are getting ready thousands of apps for you ;) . This is the home screen where you can view the top paid and top free apps.

As for apps to maintain phone performance, I usually download these free apps from the Android market:

Android Assistant is an all-in-one app which offers some useful tools such as cache cleaner, file manager, app 2 SD, and batch installer. Instead of having several applications, you can just download this app and save some RAM and resources.

ROM toolbox is another great app which offers an insane amount of customisation for your android OS. You can modify your 'Sysctl Tweaks', CPU speed, Change your LCD density, freeze your unused apps, etc etc.

Best of all, this app is free even though they have a paid, pro version.

Another app which is similar to ROM toolbox is Titanium Back up. Unfortunately, all their tweaks which are available in the free version of ROM toolbox is only reserved for their paid version. It also requires that you have a rooted phone.

Another free app which I've just downloaded is System Tuner. However it doesn't look as user-friendly as titanium and rom toolbox.

To enhance battery life, try Juice Defender. I don't have any stats on how it saves my battery, but it should work for most people.

Another app you can consider is Advanced Task Killer to deactivate apps that hog your memory and cpu. It is an extremely light app (just 97.44 kb to download), and you can set it to autokill instead of manually having to kill the apps.

Some users debate the usefulness of task killers as the android OS automatically manages the RAM when the app becomes too heavy. I however try one to halve the amount of RAM each app uses in ROM toolbox. If you'd like to try this, go to Performance / build.prop tweaks/ and halve VM heap from 64 m to 32 m. This halves the maximum amount of RAM each app uses. I cannot be sure about this, but I 'feel' this tweak speeds up my phone a little.

OK, hands up for those who don't like free games? ;)

Rovio's Angry Birds has a huge world wide fan base due to its simple gameplay. Unfortunately I couldn't play the game very well on my mini because the processor and RAM were limited. Ouch :(

For those who like strategy war games, you can try Tower Raiders 2. You have to build many different types of towers(eg Canon, freeze ray, laser, mortar) to stop the enemy from stealing your crystals. The gameplay can get repetitive after a while, but for those who can bear with it its worth a try.

This is an angry bird variant where you shoot cute bunnies with the limited amount of arrows that you have.

Help the mouse find the cheese and smack the dreaded cat to the heavens ! Try to avoid the bees from stinging you.

I love my android news and for that, I have my Pulse News app. It can also download a summary of news from other providers, such as the New York Times, Time Magazine, BBC, etc.

The camera is very basic. It doesn't have autofocus and flash. It holds a sufficient amount of detail in good light with decent, natural colours.

The camera isn't good in low light and for shooting objects near to you (since its focussed at infinity). You can still get a picture nonetheless, albeit not a very good one.

There are third party camera apps available on the market. My favourite is the vignette app. The retro effects are pretty darn cool ! Mind you, they look heaps more original than the art filters found in today's mirrorless cameras.

Conclusion

The Galaxy Mini is a great phone for those who would like an introduction to the Android system. You can download tons of apps from the Market, and for those who are daring enough to root your phone, there are a few apps you can try to increase phone performance.

But the joy stops here. After a while, I got frustrated by the limitations of the phone because of its limited CPU speed, internal memory and RAM. I tried to reformat the phone regularly, but it didn't seem to work. :s

If I were to start again, I would probably try a mint HTC desire (or if you're lucky, a Google Nexus One) which you can get for a little over RM 600 from the LYN forum. It has a better touch screen, more power (1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon chipset), better build quality (unlike the light plastic stuff we get from Samsung) and more internal space as well (512 ROM, 512 RAM).

Hope this review has been informative and helpful for you. Hope to hear your feed back soon. Cheers!

A birthday dinner

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:58:00 +0000

I miss being able to shoot for myself. Shooting what I like, without any preconceived ideas, and being worried about what others say about the stuff I shoot. As such, these are just a collection of images I've shot during a recent OCF gathering. Nothing fancy, just a group of friends coming together for dinner at a local restaurant.

I'm a big fan of quantity vs quality, as well as the cheaper the better. Although the Jap food was satisfactory, the Klang bak kut teh I had the following morning was heavenly.

IGEM 2011 & Eco Model show

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:22:00 +0000

I had the privilege to attend the 2nd IGEM (International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia) at KLCC on the first day of its launch.

This is the Eco Lifestyle booth showcasing some dresses using environmentally friendly fabrics.

Some familiar faces from the Eco Model Search. Please view this page for an official press coverage.

Group photo with FMM President YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Mustafa Mansur.

Listening to a briefing by the materials designer.

Your local organic fruit store. The seedless grapes and raisins were delicious, I kid you not !

Proton's green city concept. As always, some concepts in Malaysia just don't take off because of our government's red tape.

I wonder what spy cameras have to do with this conference.

Eco friendly Porch, but not so friendly price tag.

I love this cool tree planted right in the center of the booth.

Their products are very well designed. I would buy them instantly, if they weren't too expensive.

Old concept - save paper by printing on both on both side. But with todays emails and internet phones, our reliance on paper should be even less, right?

The eco concept can be taken as far as designing a whole Eco city, as what they're attempting to do in China. Lets hope this venture can help to clear some of China's air pollution.

The Hibikii booth had a rather 'interior design' concept, which was interesting. I can imagine the wiring took ages to assemble.

Rain water collection.

Blue scope steel.

An aerial view of the hall from the top deck of the Dulux Pavillion.

Some backstage photos with th eeco models.

Its show time!

Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir,Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan yang ke-11.

Signing the guest book at the organic fruit store.

Pn Sri Anita, Tan Sri Mustafa walking alongside the Yang di Pertuan's wife.

Signing another guest book.

That's all for now folks. Hope you've enjoyed this 'mini coverage' of IGEM 2011. I just wish I had more time to discover what this exhibition had in store. See you next year!

Happy 8th August

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:04:00 +0000

The number 8 is an auspicious number for us Chinese because it means 'prosper' or 'wealth'. I guess thats why a lot of folks came to my shop today to take their passport photographs even though it is a weekday. And I reckon a lot of marriages happened today too in KL.

I've been reflecting a little by watching some videos on youtube about relationships. Some content spoke out to me, such as this:

The old line 'angry people always say things they don't mean' is counterbalanced by the equally old line that only when you are angry do you dare say what you really mean. Unfortunately, most of us also have a fairly total recall of things said to us in anger.

That's all I've to say for now. Good night folks.

Life gets blurry when u don't know your way

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:31:00 +0000

I've had a thing for taking photos on my smart phone recently, especially those with the free camera apps. Even if they're technically incompetent, they allow me to express freely and conveniently without having to go through the hassle of Photoshop or Lightroom, especially if I don't have a laptop at hand.

I came home exhausted around the stroke of midnight. I expected a nice, pleasant conversation, but it ultimately backfired. Things that were bad became worse.

I thought I had done things a little right by reading articles and watching video tutorials about this matter on youtube. I guess the timing just wasn't right. And my mind .. well.. I was too impatient to bulldoze through the whole thing. Sigh..

That's why I guess this picture speaks a lot about what I'm feeling at this point in time, at 3.25 am on August 4, 2011. Life gets blurry when u don't know your way. Sometimes if you're lucky, you've got someone beside you to guide you on to the right path. If you're on your own, you have to be responsible about your own fate.

Good night everyone.

Eco Model Search 2011 Day 2 [part 1]

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:15:00 +0000

My oh my. Nearly a month has passed since Eco Model Search 2011 began, and I have not continued blogging about it for AGES! I hope to finish everything up before the finale of the event which happens next week.

Today, the Eco Models are going out on a short excursion to KLCC with some orphaned kids. And to adhere with the green agenda, they will be walking, hence the sandals and sport shoes. Its also a good excuse to shave off the extra calories from all the yummy food at Makan Makan Restaurant.

The kids were quite excited to meet up with their new found friends.

The kids are being paired up with the models. Only the girls get to hold hands. For the boys.. well.. tough luck.

Twins who're about to be *separated. Just for a few hours. =)

I was moderately sweaty when we reached KLCC Park around 11am.

From the official Eco Lifestyle handbook the models taught the kids green concepts, and how they could possibly use readily available eco-friendly products to give back a little to mother nature.

I'm not sure how much the kids understood from the eco models, but they did seem to enjoy it at least.

Oh yes, there's definitely an eco agenda here.

Anna giving her kid some make up tutorials.

We gathered at the entrance of the Suria KLCC shopping center for a short photo and shouted '1 Malaysia' to the amazement of all the other shoppers.

Our lunch treat was on the Full House outlet on Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. But in order to get there, everyone had to sweat it out by walking in the sweltering noon heat. At least our stomachs were ready for lunch by the time we got there.

This looks yummy! :)

So whats on the menu? Spaghetti in cream sauce with basil seasoning and cherry tomatoes

The ice lemon tea was very refreshing considering the afternoon heat.

The cakes were quite tasty too.

Jujus and Pn Sri

We all love Fullhouse.... Yeah!

We assembled back at the hotel lobby.

It was suggested that the models give the kids some catwalk sessions. And so they did, happily.

Future models in the making? Who knows..;)

Thats not all of course. The afternoon was just getting started with a presentation by Justlife Shop.

Among the topics covered were the health benefits of having an organic, eco friendly, vegetarian diet.

The young plants look so vibrant and green!

Justlife in-house chef Jimmy Tan demonstrated how to prepare some healthy food. He hopes to inspire others with wholesome cooking with simple and healthy recipes made with fresh ingredients.

You can literally see the chlorophyll goodness swimming around in the fruit and vegetable smoothie. You need quite a powerful blender for that, of course.

You need to get used to the taste, but its very pleasant once you consume it.

Tossing the salad after adding some fresh orange puree for sweetness.

The good thing about salad is that it doesn't overwhelm your stomach and body. The fibre and healthy stuff in there helps to keep your body from feeling hungry too.

The eco models were invited to try out a meatless diet for two weeks.

Joan posted up images of her daily vegetarian diet for each day of the two weeks. Impressive!

Everybody go wild with Justlife, Yeah!

If the salad from Justlife didn't make them full, not to worry. The chefs from Makan Makan Kitchen were ready to show the Eco Models a thing or two about cooking vegetables. All three kitchens (Malay, Chinese, Indian) had a the same ingredient - organic cabbage all the way from Genting Highlands. Hmm.. sounds a little like Iron chef, doesn't it?

It should be noted that some of the participants do not have much (or any) experience in the kitchen, hence the knives could be pretty dangerous.

Some girls in the Indian kitchen had teary eyes because they had to cut the onions!

Approved !

The chef showing the right way how things are done.

I love organic vegetables!

There you go.. stewed vegetables in cream broth.

The Malay kitchen finished the quickest. Oh well.. small portions cook faster it seems.

Masak beramai ramai (Cooking en masse) in the Indian kitchen looks like a lot of fun.

In the chinese kitchen however, things look much more serious with the large woks and steam rising from the stirfried vegetables.

The vegetables in the Indian kitchen look yellow because of the tumeric ingredients.

Savoring the cabbage dishes cooked in all three kitchens.

All the models are required to do a catwalk during the Gala Dinner, hence the intensive catwalk training.

Having a good, straight back is imperative. The coaches taught the models how to stand against a wall with their arms outstretched. Seems rather torturous to me, but that's the price for being a model.

I'm trying to 'like' this, I really am! :p

Doing the catwalk together.

A view from the room at the end of the day. The eco models certainly accomplished on day 2. Stay tuned for day 3.

Cheers !

[You may view the photos from day 1 here.]

The Olympus PEN trio

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Olympus Malaysia recently announced a user gathering last weekend at Sunway Giza to commemorate the launch of their new PEN series, namely the EP-3, EPL-3 (PEN lite) and EPM-1 (PEN Mini). Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the gathering because I had some assignments.

Fortunately, an Olympus rep turned up at my shop today to showcase the 3 latest models. It was indeed a joy for me to see the three models side by side. The 5th generation Micro 43rd mirrorless cameras are finally here!

L-R: PEN Mini + 14-42, EP-3 + 12/2.0, EPL-3 + 14-150

The PEN mini is indeed a sight to behold despite being a mock up unit. Simple and elegant in design, despite sacrificing some functionality that is evident in the flagship EP-3.

It looks cute on the back too. There's an EVF port for the VF-2 below the hot shoe. A movie record button is to the right, while a four way control and integrated thumbwhel is evident below it. Sleek, nice and simple. I like it!

The PEN lite packs in the same 12.3 MP high speed MOS sensor as its bigger EP-3 sibling. Indeed, manufacturers now are racing against the clock to create the smallest mirrorless camera in this market segment.

The amazing thing is that they've managed to make the PEN mini body fractionally smaller than their best selling compact, the XZ-1 (sans lens of course).

Sporting a sleeker and smaller body than its predecessors (the EPL-1 & EPL-2), Olympus have finally attempted to produce a M43rds body with an articulating screen.

On the camera top plate, everything has been jam packed yet still retaining its functionality - a pop up flash, hot shoe + EVF port, mode dial, shutter release button, and ON/OFF button.

The PEN EPL-3 tilting screen is great to get alternative angles for both photo and HD videos.

Look at how tiny the EPL-3 is in your hand. Cameras have gotten so compact nowadays.

*Look, it extends!* Offering an awesome 28-300mm equivalent field of view, this lens is a general purpose superzoom great for travelling purposes.

The EPL-3 and EP-3 with their body caps off, showing the new Truepic VI sensors inside their tiny chassis.

The first generation PEN had numerous Autofocus issues. Its good that the engineers in Olympus have worked non stop to create a truly amazing camera in autofocus. Although I am yet to fully comprehend the title of the 'World's fastest Autofocus' in this camera, I'm pleased to report that the autofocus speed and accuracy has been noticeably improved, rivalling even the most popular entry and prosumer level DSLRs today.

The implementation of the 3" 614k OLED touch screen has been wonderfully executed. You can even tap the touch screen to instantaneously take a photo. The touch screen isn’t as good as an Ipod, but its getting there.

The EP-3 - exposed! ;)

An internally placed pop up flash is better than having nothing at all. Great for reducing contrast and lightening shadows in harsh light.

Here are some full resolution JPEGs from the EP-3. The new sensors in the PENs are a far cry from what the 43rds and M43rds system started off with.

I hope I'll be able to give the new PEN cameras a trial run if there's a loan unit available. In the very near future, come what may, the future photographer's work horse will be an Olympus PEN instead of the full frame monsters that some of us use.

Cheers.

A copy of the article is also available here on a newly launched website, the Zuiko Followers.

Eco Model Search 2011 Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:12:00 +0000

A week ago, I had an awesome opportunity to be the official photographer of the Eco Model Search Competition as my company was one of their sponsors. It was held in the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Ampang from 27-30 June. So while the memories are still fresh in my mind, I'd like to some blogging about it ;)

Spontaneous photos are fun. Yeah! :)

Doubletree kindly provided all the facilities required for the event, such as their premium suites, meeting rooms, and even food! :)

It was a rainy morning that day - thats why no people can be seen wading in the pool.

The makan kitchen on the 11th floor of the complex has an extensive selection of dishes to suit from. I had quite a lot of meals there (thanks to them for sponsoring the meals too), and I can say the food is quite good.

Eco Models enjoying breakfast.

The schedule's really packed over the next few days.

The first session was by Shoeville. They sell *Shoephisticated and exclusive branded shoes from Brazil*, and they're quite comfortable too (of course the models told me that. My feet would have never fitted into their shoes)

This eco model search is the pet project of Pn Sri Anita pictured here.

The Shoeville ladies had a great time explaining their products to their enthusiastic audience.

As expected, the photos taken from their I phones and blackberries are immediately uploaded to facebook. And my Nikon D3 can't even do that! :s

Shoeville discount vouchers makes everyone happy. :)

The models had the opportunity to try out the heels in preparation for the photoshoot and catwalks later in the week.

Everyone *smile* for Shoeville! :)))))))))))))

Guess who popped by in town for a group photo with the girls ? ;)

The next session was by Living Nature, a New Zealand company that manufacturers all natural cosmetic products.

The presenter claimed that the chemicals used in current day cosmetics might have long term effects for our skin.

The presenter explained that during the exfoliation process through using one of their products, the participants skin may experience more sweating than usual because the product removes the blockages in the skin pores caused my other conventional cosmetics.

Trying out facial products is fun! :)

Fun group photo with the Living Nature presentation team.

Lunch at Makan Makan Kitchen. I was still pretty full from the buffet breakfast earlier, so I couldn't make the most out of the extensive buffet spread.

Next up was a brief make up course by Kai Academy. They also happen to use Living Nature products.

"The way how you shape your eyebrows is very important to deliver the look you want to portray".

Its great to be the only thorn among the roses at times :)

The girls tried on attire by Pink Jambu.

I love the Nikon 85/1.4D for portraits. The shallow DOF and bokeh is amazing!

Pn Anita, a veteran model thought the contestants the basics of cat walking.

Some had official training, while others needed to do somework to get to the desired level. Nonetheless, it was an eye opener for most.

That ends my post for Day One. Stay tuned for Day Two.

Cheers, and Good night!

being raw

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:38:00 +0000

Spent time with a pal yesterday. Though we don't catch up that often, but everytime we do, its a refreshing thing.

He has an uncanny, raw passion for life. He can joke with you, but poke you at the same time.

He can be funny, but really damn serious at the same time.

He takes no prisoners. I guess why he isn't liked by some because he is being so real instead of being fake and pretentious.

I sought his advise yesterday as a senior but at the same time our minds are at the same frequency.

Perhaps it wasn't the advice that I was looking for, but at least I started to become more refreshed an inspired to do something bold.

We started talking about work. Then he challenged me with something uncanny.

You must put on my best attitude and smile at work. Give my all - 200%

What? You must be joking

Yes, just do that.

Then, just as they thought that that you are coping so well and being so dedicated, drop the ball, and leave.

Huh?

Do that with an open mind. But do not expect anything.

You came to work at this place, expecting to learn everything from A - Z. But you didn't. Perhaps you didn't learn A, B, C, but have learnt everything else from D to Z, minus a few letters. See the bigger picture. That you have grown this past year.

I was chatting with a few friends about you too.

Really?

Yeah, and I've told them how much you've grown over the past year. Just by looking at what you've written on your blog.

After you returned to Malaysia, perhaps you were a bit shaky and didn't know what to do. But now you do, and you have a vision, and a purpose.

Pursue that purpose the Brandon Eu Way. No one can do it for you, except yourself.

I thought you wouldn't last long at your workplace, with the crap pay, and indifferent colleagues. But you did.

You have proved yourself just by that and not like a piece of cloth flying in the air wherever the wind blows.

I guess a bit of encouragement can go a long way to make your day. I'm still reeling myself in from what I've been experiencing the past few days.

Thanks pal.

Hello my old friend. Welcome back.

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 23:21:00 +0000

All of us make mistakes in life. We will make them anyway whether we like it or not, because we're all just human.

Some mistakes are forgivable, some aren't. But they all have consequences. And when you do a crime against someone whom you really care about, the consequences are disastrous.

Its like the shepard boy who cried wolf. When he tricked his villagers the third time to come to his aid, the wolves really came and wiped out all of his sheep.

Of course, we can always try to justify ourselves. We can talk and rant until the cows come home, but it won't work. The mutual trust ain't there anymore. The person who was the closest to you, is suddenly the most distant.

At times, you just don't realise how precious something is to you, until it is really, really, gone.

You miss the moments and things you do together. Suddenly there is no more laughter, and you start thinking why you have more time in your hands.

My mom always told me, hold something with an open hand. If you clench your fists too tightly, you'll only hurt yourself.

Some wounds are just a nick on the surface. But some wounds will last a lifetime and have roots that are connected to the core of our hearts.

The wounds will eventually become vague and blurrier, because our brain remembers what we want to remember and stores away what we want to hide from our past.

Some researchers say people who block out unpleasant memories or issues may enjoy short-term gains but emotionally detaching themselves causes long-term consequences. They try to protect themselves by covering up things. But as always, this is life. We can control something, but not everything.

My name is Brandon Eu. And today, I would like to admit that I am proudly and regretfully, an imperfect human being.

Ouch~

And thereafter a long, lingering, S i l e n c e

Nothing moves. Nothing breathes. No laughter. Gloom. Blurriness. Darkness.

Hello my old friend. Welcome back.

Persatuan Fotografi Selangor dan Kuala Lumpur 61st anniversary dinner

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 14:38:00 +0000

On June 1st, I joined my colleagues for a dinner hosted by the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Photographic Association at Pavilion, right at the heart of Bukit Bintang.

Your sincerely holding a pleasant glass of chilled beer.

My jovial 'sifus' (Teachers)

The VIP for the event was the Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Donald Lim.

I was just a casual photographer at the dinner, so I didn't get too many shots this time. I was waiting for Datuk Lim to raise his head, but he was clearly just reading from a rehearsed speech written by his secretary (as most government ministers do). Oh well.. keep moving :s

Popping the champagne.

Yaaam Seeeng! (its the chinese equivalent of 'cheers'). Usually repeated thrice, and you shout as loud as you can to 'show' your support.

While I was busy taking the photos, my colleagues left a small 'decoration' on my plate. How flattering ;)

Messed up the white balance a little here..

Dancing along with a hokkien performer on stage is fun :)

The old chap from Unitex who drops by our shop every evening.

The finale of the show girls that evening.

That's all folks.. see you next year~

What is important?

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:47:00 +0000

The views expressed here are personal in nature and are not intended to be conclusive. Please read on with a pinch of salt.

Facebook (fb) is a great thing. It makes the whole world smaller.. much smaller that we can now know a person intimately without even meeting them in the first place.

But then again, many of our 'friends' on fb just stay as friends there while we don't get to meet them in person although we're in the same vicinity. Heck, I don't even have my housemates' fb even though they're just staying one floor above me.

Some of the most successful men that I know don't have time for fb.

My boss for example. He doesn't have a profile on fb, but he has many contacts in the business and political arena so that he can sustain his empire for generations in relative luxury. What comes before fb? Money of course. He is very competitive and seeks out the most successful and efficient staff to further improve the business.

How about a successful photographer who doesn't fb much? Cliff Mautner is one I admire. In fact, I believe that he is so busy shooting (and of course while enjoying the process) that he admits that he doesn't have much time to fb or to blog. And he's getting better with every job that comes in the way, sans the tacky fb advertisements that some photographers have employed to win more fans. Of course, I do not deny that fb is a successful tool to reach out to your clients, but I'm sure your images will speak louder to your clients as compared to the number of 'likes' that you have on your fan page if you are that good and have numerous awards under your belt.

Sometimes, we can get too carried away by the little things in fb. I've seen lovers quarrel on facebook and tell things which are a little too private to let loose on each others walls. Workers have been fired because they've said a little too much about their boss although their boss is their 'friend'. Kids write on their walls about how awesome the party they attended was while their parents snoop on them and find out the truth. Oops.. you're busted big time. Or sometimes you state some controversial statements that don't go well with some people until you get hundreds (or thousands) of hate mail/comments. And the list goes on and on.

If someone deletes us as a friend on fb, we fire back with a whole salvo of questions asking why on earth did we 'unfriend' them. Its sometimes as serious as, if I unfriend you on fb, we will not be friends forever. Its like in kindergarten last time when I (jokingly) said to some of my playmates - "I dun wan friend you anymore", while the next moment we're gleefully playing police and thieves. By golly, I haven't even met the person in question before, and he goes out all offended just because he unfriends me on facebook.

*Actually, thats not so bad I guess. There are cases in Malaysia where an SMS is a valid excuse for a husband to divorce his wife. And poor wife is suddenly dumbfounded not knowing what to do. Jeez, what are marriage certificates for in the first place ? :s

Frankly speaking, nowadays I've not much time for fb; not that I intend to do so. There are much more important things in life to take heed of. How can I still fend for myself in such a big city (Kuala Lumpur) with limited resources while still being able to put food on my table despite the rising prices of goods? How can I market myself so that I stand out from the gazillions of photographers out there? What is my purpose in life? I've been quite busy with some assignments recently until I'm quite exhausted when I get back. I have no desire to get excited on facebook. I just need to chill and have some rest. Maybe shoot a bit more and enjoy the sun and fresh breeze. Have some delicious 'bak kut teh'. And most importantly, spend time with a special someone thats close to my heart.

I recently read an article about an experiment conducted on a family which had almost no communication at all. They took away the TV, radio, computer, handphones from all the members of the family for an entire week. And yes, that probably includes fb. As a result, the family grew closer in a week without all the distractions as compared to the years with which they only spoke to each other for a maximum of 5 minutes a day.

Yeap, there are definitely much more things in life to do other than fb. In fact, I'm doing it right now, such as writing this blog post instead of being on facebook. And I made the effort to call some friends whom I haven't managed to speak to in a while. Messaging each other on fb doesn't really seem personal to me somehow.

Cheerio, and have a good night.

The Vivitar 28mm f/2.8

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:40:00 +0000

Yesterday, I received a Nikon F4 film camera from a customer who wanted to get rid of his stuff. Along with it came a splendid made-in-Japan manual focus Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 wide angle lens. [In the background is the iconic Dayabumi tower, situated near Padang Merdeka in the center of KL].

All images were taken using large basic jpegs with the Standard picture control. Sharpening +6, D lighting OFF.

Yeap, this is the lens in question. It gives a focal length of 42mm on DX format cameras, or 56mm on 4/3rds cameras. This isn't the first manual lens I've tried though. The first was a Minolta 50mm f/1.4 for fourthirds mount. I got the opportunity to review a trio of Samyang lenses too, despite being reluctant to return them, especially the Samyang 85/1.4.

[taken with my lovely Tamron 28-75. I love its semi macro capabilities].

It has 6 traditional aperture blades which stop down to f/16. The bokeh isn't as spectacular as Nikon's newest wide primes, but it does the job sufficiently. [Sorry for the marks on the metal mount.. I'll clean it later :s]

Even the cheapest 18-55 kit lens nowadays trumps the Vivitar with respects to image quality. But there's one thing that the Vivitar can attest to - its impeccable build quality. The focusing ring is smooth and well damped, while the aperture ring functions well. I can't expect more from a lens that I received for free, can I ? :)

There are colour coded marks on the depth of field scale, which is good for estimating the plane of focus for manual focus lenses. You focus the lens by turning the textured focusing ring near the front of the lens. I wished the ring was a bit wider though.

If you're stumped on what to shoot, you could first start by looking for a cat. The Japanese have a very pleasant aesthetic of capturing a cat in its environment. As you can see, its rather poorly emulated here by me. :s

From this image, you can see there is some complex barrel distortion at the bottom periphery of the image. Its not perfect, but I'm not complaining about it. The lens vignettes too at maximum aperture.

Most cats would readily approach you once they've established that you don't have any hostile intentions.

Looking up at Menara DayaBumi, which literally means 'Force Earth Tower'. Hmmmm...

A 28mm is good for taking moderately wide angle photographs without the excessive distortion from a 14mm lens.

This little lens has a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:5 when used at its minimum focusing distance of 23cm. It was a great feature of the lens during its debut.

Of course, we can't expect this lens to be as bokehlicious as a 50/1.8 lens for example, due to its wider focal length and slower maximum aperture.

A rather gloomy evening over KL.

You can see almost all the optical limitations of the lens in this image - noticeable vignetting, loss of sharpness and contrast in the center while the edges just turn into mush with loads of coma.

Motorbikes in an alley.

Playing with old manual focus lenses such as these give me more satisfaction than AF lenses, because I have to take the time to slow down, think, manually focus and compose the image while at the same time fiddling with the aperture ring for the correct exposure (though I find myself using f/2.8 at most times). I would not have the desire at all to manual focus on my Nikon AF-D lenses, because the tactile feel sucks compared the smooth, oiled focusing ring on the Vivitar.

Hmm.. I seem to be getting a hang of manual focus lenses faster than I thought I would. Hopefully a Nikon 50mm f/1.2 AI-s lens will drop down from the heavens one day ;)

Cheers.

Dormouse

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sat, 21 May 2011 15:07:00 +0000

I guess the title today speaks for itself. Wikipedia states that these rodents "are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation."

Its been nearly a year since I moved to the big city of Kuala Lumpur to seek experience as a photographer. In one sense, I've succeeded. I know more Photoshop, have some experience in shooting various events (ranging from corporate functions to kindergarten concerts) and selling cameras. Of course, there's a whole photography world out there that I'm yet to know.

Unfortunately in this period of time, my passion in photography has declined so much so that its hard for me to take a picture.. any picture except for job requirements. I was recently at a park near Paramount Garden LRT. There was a whole scene of life unfolding before me - seniors doing tai chii, kids jogging with their parents, some men fishing. But there was no desire at all to capture what was in front of me. I let it all pass by.
In fact, I have been letting the world pass by for too long. My peers have succeeded in the careers and some have already settled down. My photography buddies revel in the fact that they can go for outings and do model shoots as they like while I have to work on weekends (Yes, I'm working tomorrow in fact).

But where can I move on to? I don't know yet. Or rather, I'm not looking hard enough.

I recently had an interview at a medium sized commercial photography studio. After handing my paltry portfolio to be looked at by one of the directors, I wasn't surprised when he said nothing really impressed him. After all, he's been there and done that. After studying photography in Australia, he went on to work in US for quite some time before returning to KL.

He posed me some very important questions. Among them - "Can you handle the pressure working in a stressful environment under tight deadlines?". The working hours can vary greatly. Sometimes I may be working several days in a row with 3 hours of sleep, or go to work at an ungodly 2am to prepare for a sunrise shoot. Its all part of the job anyway. (Hmm.. this is beginning to sound like a doctor's work schedule, or some underpaid, overworked workers in neighboring Singapore).

I wasn't afraid to admit that I know close to zero regarding commercial photography. After all, what I've learnt so far is nothing compared to what others are doing. In the studio, I only know the concept of two studio lights at even power. Its frankly boring, flat lighting. Nothing compared to the gadgets that commercial studio has - huge octabanks, strip lights, Elinchrom power packs. And no... they're not some cheapo China brand - they're Broncolor, Elinchroms. Not to mention the cameras. Are you complaining that your D700 or 5DmkII is pricy? Consider the Hasselblads or the Mamiyas - one of the latest bodies cost at least RM100k!

The director tried to be as encouraging as possible, but at the end of the day, he asked me to prepare myself for what lies ahead if I was really serious about his offer. "You're frankly too young to understand all of this. I don't blame you though, because I went through this before". Well, what a bummer to hear that as a photography enthusiast for the last 4 years while even owning a pro series SLR :(. Time to eat humble pie.

I've been hibernating like the dormice for way too long. While I'm in my little shell, the world has moved on. Times are getting tough. I have to motivate myself to move on, and go further than what I can see with my 2 humble eyes. I love being a photographer, but I do not like where I am now.

During the past month, I've done some reading. Of some interest to me was a book written by Pastor Kenneth Chin of Acts Church Subang Jaya, entitled "Chin Up". It was amazing to read how God came through for him, his family and ministry in times of dire need. But God isn't a God of Blessings all the time. Ps Chin, like all of us had his tough times too. If I was in his shoes, I may have given up. But in spite of everything, he managed to pull through. Of course, his mid life biography is only possible after all the good and bad experiences that he has encountered.

Will I still be a photographer 20 years, or even 30 years from now? I don't know, but I hope my patience and hope will continue to bring me forward. I'm quite lost now. As they say, "God can't help you unless you help yourself."

Bonjour.

Petaling Street, 3 April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:32:00 +0000

Its been some time since I last did some serious street shooting. Fortunately Robin called me out for a shoot last Sunday.

Fortunately, we got to have some Bak Kut Teh for dinner first. Tasted quite good, and relatively affordable too.

A typical street side restaurant that serves Chinese stirfries.

Petaling street is home to the average Malaysian (aka. overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, jobless). You'll find no frills here as compared to the modern shopping centers (eg. Pavillion) in Bukit Bintang. There is graffiti and rubbish displayed openly beside the streets.

A traditional 'ais kacang' machine.

The main street of Petaling Street is pretty cramped once the traders have set up their stalls. Its pretty hard to walk, and you have to be really careful to avoid your personal belongings from getting stolen.

Not sure what Rowan Atkinson would say about his favorite toy being liberally displayed at shops along Petaling street.

Can choose but please do not press.

The average Malaysian Chinese family having dinner.

Super cheap counterfeit sunglasses, anyone?

This place is a haven for foreign tourists, especially caucasions. They really seem to like this place although its dirty and very hot.

Yep, alcohol rules here without interference from Jakim.

Can't remember when was the last time I went out with my parents for shopping. Its been a long time indeed. Oh well..

The Ramli burger man.

Waiting for a bus to go home after a night of shopping.

Not sure what the tots are thinking about as two immigrants stare at them. I'd be really scared I reckon.

Drinks anyone? Notice the Mr Bean bear in the gentleman's hand.

Velly velly cheap one!

If you're new to Petaling Street, you'd probably be like this tourist... Lost!

This is what happens if you don't have a good filter on your lens. Unfortunately these cool effects disappeared after I removed the filter from the lens. Boring!

As we arrived in Pasar Seni, we were treated to a traditional dance performance. I hope this performance has succeeded in attracting more tourists to the Pasar Seni night market!

For the Kuda Kepang dance (which originates from Indonesia), the dancers supposedly have to be in a state of trance and be 'possessed' by the horse spirit in order to dance well.

I wrote once about KL being a city of dichotomies, where the affluent and the poor coexist together in a fragile state of apparent harmony. This is where the real heart of Malaysia lies, not our obscenely clean shopping malls!

Thats all for now. Good night everyone.

Nikon 10th Anniversary celebration at Midvalley

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:56:00 +0000

*I apologise if some of the images look dark. These are jpegs straight from my camera.

I finally had the chance to go to Nikon's 10th Anniversary celebration at Midvalley yesterday with a friend. Being formerly acquainted with Olympus users, it was an experience for me to mix around with the Nikon gang. This is Nikon's first DX sensor professional camera, the Nikon D1, released on June 15, 1999 - The Nikon D1.

Although it has just a 4 MP sensor, the D2Hs has a reputation for extremely high image quality and excellent detail rendition. It also has a high speed burst rate of 8fps - great for sports shooters and journalists.

Ah... thats my camera - the D3, Nikon's first professional full frame camera. Didn't realise that the design is that old now - 4 years...

Nikon increased the megapixel count from 4MP to 12 MP in the D2X series, with the D2Xs offering many small improvements over the original D2X.

As you've probably noticed already, since Giugiaro took over the helm of designing SLRs for Nikon, they have looked roughly the same, with minute modifications here and there which do help the resultant user experience.

Yep, the D3 is one big block of magnesium alloy metals.

Customers were able to try out a 'limited' selection of Nikon cameras, such as this D300s with the Nikon's newest 35/1.4G. I can say that the AF on this lens is pretty quick and silent.

I've seen something like this before on the forums but not up close - A carved up D3 and 14-24 lens. At least they had the guts to split something worth RM 21k.

Nikon users went in full force with their best cameras and big guns, such as the D3s with the 24/1.4G, and I also saw a limited edition white 70-200 VR1. Yep, this is a camera expo so why not bring along what you've got and get noticed?

Several international / Malaysian photographers also exhibited their work, but I reckon some of them are too small to be fully appreciated. Perhaps this is due to copyright issues, or the Epson printer there couldn't print out something larger in size.

There was also a free sensor cleaning service for Nikon users. At first, I was a little hesitant, but I finally sent it in for cleaning and got it back half an hour later. Well done Nikon.

Of course, there were also some Nikon models but I couldn't shoot them because of the limited time I had at the expo.

Nikon's newest flagship.. the D3s. Usable iso 12800? Oh yes. By comparison the 1D mark IV is 1 stop less sensitive because of the smaller sensor size and more megapixels.

Nikon's most pricy camera.. the D3x. If you'd like more megapixels for cheap, get the 5D mk II and pocket the extra money for some nice L lenses.

That's all for now folks. Cheers.

Woof !

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:37:00 +0000

I sold a Canon 600D to a customer who owns a pet grooming establishment today. As we were talking, I told the customer about the loss of a customer's dog (which I kind of elaborated yesterday). True to my intuitions, it was very hard to find a lost dog, especially if its a purebred. He gave the following reasons:

1. If the dog was found in another person's house, the person would've tried to return it to its owner.

2. Purebreds, especially house kept ones are not very good in their sense of direction, having being kept in their owner's house for all their lives. Once they escape, they almost immediately loose their bearings, and wander further and further away from home.

3. There is a market for purebreds as pets to unsuspecting buyers, or more sinisterly as breeding stock (Fortunately the Chinese folk in Malaysia don't find dog meat very appealing). The latter occurrence would be more likely if the dog was female as it could give birth to several generations of pups which are worth a lot in the market.

______________________________________________

The first dog that I could remember having in my life was a long haired, dark brown mongrel named 'Duffy'. Duffy and her sister were given to my late grandpa as pups. After I was born, my mom took her to our home and she has remained with her ever since. She was a nice dog with a nice temperament, but she was always ready to bark when strangers approached our home. I still remember the day when Duffy passed away. My mom told me when dogs were going to die, they would do so away from the sight of their owners. She wanted to get out of the house, and so we opened the gate for her. After going out for a while, she strangely came back and lay in front of our gate. And there she lay for about half an hour, until she finally passed away. We packed her in a large box, and carried her to the bush at the end of the road. Boy was she heavy. We dug a hole with a 'cangkul', and put her in the ground before we covered her up.

We had another black dog named 'Dickter'. Somehow, all the misbehaving dogs in our house had 2 traits - they were black, and could contort themselves so well that they could squeeze between two iron bars. We didn't need to let Dickter out. He let himself out, and always made it home punctually for dinner. After gobbling the food, he would let himself out again.

Unlike Duffy who passed away peacefully, Dickter had a tragic death. He was out one day a few meters from our house when a car knocked him down. The owner then swiftly drove away. My parents and I ran out quickly to survey the extent of the damage. Alas, it was too late. We dragged him back into our home promptly. After a short while (about 20 minutes I think), the driver of our car was asking around the neighbourhood (including our own house!) about the whereabouts of our late pooch. Mom told him we haven't seen him around, and them he left. I remember mom telling me later that he might have come back to take our dog and cook him for dinner! Oh well.. considering that we Chinese eat anything with its back towards the sun, I guess it was true. We buried him afterwards at the same spot.

______________________________________________

BTW, the mutt in the image above is named 'Pug' for obvious reasons. She has a soft bark (and you have to be really close to hear her), and she's afraid of heights. I look forward to take photos of her puppies soon.

Cheers.

When its quiet

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:16:00 +0000

Its getting dark and I've just had some nasi lemak ayam for dinner at the local mamak store. Feeling a little full, I take a walk to the playground in the middle of the neighbourhood. It is silent, save for the sound of children playing on the swings while their dad sits quietly at a chair reading his newspaper.

A breeze of cool air is so refreshing after being in an air conditioned environment for the whole day. The playground and adjacent basketball court is quiet. Children and their parents are eating dinner at home while having fellowship at the table while their grandparents are watching chinese drama on TV.

The tasty aroma of stirfried food, the clangs of cooking utensils, and cries for a customers order can be heard from the food outlets. A jogger passes by slowly , presumably trying to burn a few calories before having dinner afterwards. The harsh light emitted my passing vehicles shine brightly into the night.

I take some time to reflect upon the various occurrences that happened today.

A friend described to me that a lady is distributing flyers to passersby nearby my workplace, desperately trying to get hold of her lost dog. (The poor mutt escaped from her house because she forgot to close the gate). She came to our shop yesterday afternoon, distraught and teary eyed, seeking help for a flyer to be written up for distribution. Her boyfriend of course was less sympathetic, wondering in his mind why on earth is he being ignored just for the sake of a dog. Of course, yours truly had to be involved, and I had to take some time off from my regular work to design a simple ad for her. Seeing such a sad soul, it is indeed hard to be truthful to her. The chances of finding her dog once more are very slim, despite the generous reward offered.

________________________________________

I also posted on my facebook status that I "just had a close encounter with the long arm of the law by selling a camera to a police officer. He was being difficult at first, but fortunately nothing happened. Whew..."

A few friends were confused as to what I was trying to say. Let me elaborate. Because my colleague and I were a bit late to serve this 'top brass' police officer of a certain race, he called us derogatory phrases like " You will not be around in 7 days if you ignore me" and " You think you are so rich, that's why you're not serving me?". Its as if we were freshly caught criminals undergoing interrogation in a police station. His comments are wholesomely inappropriate, especially when he is in full uniform.Such is the repulsive behaviour of our royal malaysian police, who are supposed to adhere to the motto "tegas, adil dan berhemah (firm, fair and prudent)". No wonder so many unwanted things can happen when you're in police custody, even though you're not officially charged for a crime. :s

Of course, I'm not generalising the whole force, but some certain individuals who think they're superior to us just because they are at at the top of the food chain as compared to the common citizen. I pray that I wouldn't have to go through this ever again.

________________________________________

Such is my day on 28 March 2011. Good evening everyone.

Cheers.~

27 March 2011

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:41:00 +0000

The week's almost ending. I finished work early today, so I took a little walk around the neighbourhood with the Samyang AE 14mm f/2.8.

Note: Some of the images in this entry are photoshopped, so it doesn't really count as images straight from the camera.

I haven't managed to use the lens much at all, so it was quite fun to explore new creative possibilities with this lens.

This is the worst flare result I could extract from the lens, by pointing it directly at the sun.

The ultra wide field of view distorts space to the point where it can be a bit unsettling to view the image for long periods of time.

This is what happens if you don't take care of your Perodua. The car on the right is just a few years old but yet it looks like it came out from a scrap metal workshop! :s

This image illustrates the complex moustache shaped barrel distortion that the lens gives. Hence, this is not a very good lens for architectural subjects.

The minimum focus distance is 0.28 m, which is pretty remarkable.

I hope all of you had a good weekend.

Cheers.

PJ ss 17 night stalls

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:54:00 +0000

My brother and I had dinner at the Petaling Jaya ss17 commercial area earlier. I also managed to take a few shots with the Samyang 85mm f/1.4.

We don't always eat at places like this because of the dubious nature of how the stall owners maintain the hygiene of their food and eating utensils (as they do not have a proper shop and running water). So, we choose to be safe rather than sorry later.

The roti canai mamak stall.

This stall sells pretty decent Chinese desserts such as tong sui.

Behind the desert stall is a series of rickety tables and chairs for you to sit down and have your meals.

The not-so-mobile roti man (bread man)

I guess I was a bit cowardly to go right up to the subject with a wide angle lens. Hopefully I'll have the guts to try a more direct approach next time.

cheers.

Good ol' days

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:07:00 +0000

During the good ol' days in summer, a bunch of us from OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship) would hang out at Aunty Kiat's house for a summer barbecue dinner, and nintendo wii thereafter. [Btw, I uploaded this to facebook on 28 nov 2009.]

Fast forward a year later, Aunty Kiat came back recently for holidays , so we met her at Wang Chiew for dinner yesterday evening.

Sweet and sour pork ribs.

Fried bean curd

The last time we met was in the middle of Chinese New Year, so it was nice to see familiar faces again of the returnees in KL.

Fresh steamed patin flish. Tastes great~

3 blokes from the land of the hornbills

Managed to have a few shots done with the Samyang 85/1.4 too. I love the bokeh and shallow depth of field at 1.4 :)

Back in those days when I was the 'unofficial' OCF carlton photographer, I always tried to get a group photo after every event. Our minds are finite, and we tend to forget things that happened a long time ago. Photos help us to remember them in seconds :)

Happy Friday everyone~

new kid on the block

noreply@blogger.com (brandon) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:17:00 +0000

So I managed to get my hands on a relatively affordable Made-in-China Nikon AF-D 50mm f/1.4D lens. Although its not that new, the glass is pretty pristine. There are heaps of photos online about how the lens looks like but today I'd like to talk about a few properties of this lens.

First of all, its sufficiently sharp at the center at f/1.4.For optimum sharpness, stop the lens down to f/2. Edge resolution peaks at f/4 and above.

As a matter of fact, the DX-only Nikon 35/1.8G lens is sharper at the center wide open as compared to the 50/1.4G. I wish Nikon had produced a FX lens with the same optical properties as the 35/1.8G at that same affordable price point.

The autofocus speed of the 50/1.4D is pretty fast - at least 2x faster than the 50/1.4G lens from infinity to close-focus.

I guess you know what I'm about to mention here. The seven bladed aperture blades produce heptagon shaped out of focus highlights, which aren't very pleasing to see if you're used to the rounded highlights of its cheaper cousin, the 50/1.8D. You can also notice some vignetting at the edge of the FX sensor.

The heptagon highlights become more prominent as you stop down the lens.

With the Sarawak elections around the corner, I can't see how the our government is making good their promises to the people, especially in light of the recently released video by Datuk T.

As with other large aperture primes from the film era, purple fringing is quite significant, especially at areas where contrast is quite high.

With a minimum focus distance of 0.45m, this lens isn't suited for macro photography, but it should make the food on your table appear sufficiently delicious.

Thats all for now folks. Have a very good evening.

Cheers.