ykee's photoblog

Earth Hour 2010 at National Planetarium

2010-03-28T12:41:00.003+08:00

There was a small event held at the National Planetarium yesterday in conjunction to the Earth Hour, to raise public awareness on light pollution.

#1 Couple at Earth Hour 2010

#2 Moonlights, starlights and candlelights... but not streetlights.

#3 The hill where the planetarium located was covered in smooth moonlight.

#4 Orion in blue sky - my favourite of the lot.

Cloudless South

2010-03-18T22:30:00.006+08:00

A rare cloudless midnight is so irresistible for a star trails shot, despite that I was on a sleeping debt.

Stacked from 365*20s, that's 2+ hours of mechanically clicking the remote shuttle release button. Not much of fun.

The result is some what OK. I have no idea what's caused the wave-like pattern in the middle of trails. I might have pressed the blower too hard when blowing the camera during shooting.

Anyway, it's still nice that I can do that without stepping out from my house.

2010 Thaipusam at Batu Caves

2010-01-31T16:24:00.003+08:00

Some shots taken during the Thaipusam at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur. The Hinduism religious festival commemorates both the birthday of Murugan (also Subramaniam), the youngest son of god Shiva and his wife Parvati, and the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

Joy and pain.

Pulling hard

Through the cheek

Drummers and singer

Dance with Kavadi

Piercing

Sunny and Rainy

2010-01-18T03:49:00.003+08:00

I've got my wish granted, a glorious sunset yesterday at Pulau Ketam Jeti, Port Klang, after a horrible rainy evening at Morib few weeks before that.

Missing Meteor

2009-12-18T18:33:00.006+08:00

It's been quite some time after my last post, getting lazy is really effortless.

I went to an unknown remote place at Bagan Lalang with my newly formed star trailing group last Sunday. We knew that we were lucky because that's the day where the annual Geminids meteor shower peaks, but we only realised that we were double-lucky to pick the place and timing, on our way back to K.L.

First, the Bagan Lalang sky of the day was getting clearer while the night approaching. Secondly, after a disappointing search for a dark place at the beach area, we bumped into a near perfect place which is never in our original plan.

We were well prepared for the situation, except that none of us was aware that fog is building up on the camera lens while time lapsed and the ambient temperature dropped.

Both photo were stacked from multiple of 30s shots at 18mm, f/3.5 and ISO-400.

No, these are no meteor (although I did managed to witness some). It's just me that shot at the eastern sky, while I should be pointing my camera to the north-east. :|

The Stars and The Furious

2009-09-12T05:34:00.005+08:00

Couldn't ask for a better weather on early Saturday morning.
The photo is a merged result of 372 * 10s shots, 18mm f/3.5 @ ISO-200.

New Gear In The Box

2009-06-27T00:19:00.005+08:00

It's been quite a while since my last post, millions reasons... Anyway there is no use to regret the past, lets hope that the new lens will push me to snap more.

I have finally manage to get myself a unit of smc P-FA 50mm F1.4, with a reasonable price. The lens was assembled in Vietnam, so it definitely is a brand new unit. I guess that there is no good reason for Pentax to stop making this high in demand piece of nice baby.

The lens's design is somewhat dated, and can be traced back to the film-era; it's introduced in 1991. Well in truth, most of other manufacturers' 50mm in the same class were released during the same era. Canon's EF 50mm F1.4 USM was introduced in June 1992, while Nikon's AF-Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D was released on 1995. The Sony 50mm F1.4, which is essentially a reworking of Minolta's AF 50mm 1:1.4 RS, which was in market since 1990. dpreview.com has a very interesting comparison and review on these antics, along with the newly designed Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM.

BTW, Pentax does have a brand new smc P-DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM, but the price is way out of my budget. I can easily get myself a good unit of flash gun with the price differences.

I guess I am never a good customer for that. :)

Left: smc P-FA 50mm F1.4; Right: smc P-A 50mm F2.0.

THE Ultimate Guide to P-TTL Flashes

2009-01-15T00:44:00.002+08:00

Stumble upon this incredibly detailed guide written by Matthew Miller in the PentaxWorld forum. Definitely worth reading for Pentax DSLR users, especially if you are shopping for a P-TTL flash.

The definitive guide to Pentax hot shoe flashes and compatible 3rd-party options.

Homemade Bayonet Mount Adapter Ring for Pentax K-mount Reversed Lens

2008-12-16T04:23:00.001+08:00

Such a long name for a simple device. Good thing is: the name itself is pretty self-explanatory. It served only one simple purpose: to protect a reversely mounted lens's rear optics/base from dust. It's meant to be used along with a reverse adapter ring, which holds the lens to the camera body via its lens filter thread.

Nikon has a BR-3 widely available for this, while Pentax (I am not sure about other manufacturers) doesn't have such offering. The only option for me is to make one from scratch. Spyglass from the PentaxWorld forum suggested that I could drill a hole on a rear lens cap as mini-hood, thus came the idea to add a step-up ring to it and make an equivalent of BR-3.

Below is my steps in making the bayonet mount adapter ring. I'd suggest one to buy if available, as the drilling step could be dangerous, and it might be much economical in total. BTW, these steps are generic to all SLR lens mount.

Materials & Tools

A bayonet mount type rear lens cap. You'll need either the after market type (top) or the original (left, with extra flange). Avoid those cheap soft plastic push-in rear lens cap (right, mine came with the smc P-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II, aka kit lens), they are not fit for the purpose.
A 49-52mm step-up ring. Larger size step-up ring might be too large to be glue onto the rear lens cap.
A high speed power drill, with a cutter for rigid plastic. Spyglass recommended this, while I used what I managed to borrow from my friend - a high speed tile cutter.
An 8" half-round file.
Transparent/non-coloured fast-dry epoxy glue (AB-glue). Avoid Superglue at all cost! Superglue will leaves white marks when dried.

That's all you'll need for making the adapter ring. Generic steps as followed. I assumed that you posses the required knowledge and skills on using the tools mentioned, i.e. how to use a power drill, how to file, and most important of all - keep yourself safe!

Steps

1. Remove the center piece of the rear lens cap.

1.1. Use the power drill to make a series of holes. Few things worth taking note:

Even an after market rear lens caps is made of rigid plastic - they are really hard.
You might want to begin with doing some test drilling on the middle part of the cap.
When start making hole, drill the cap with its logo facing DOWN, as shown in the test drilling photo.
When you are trying to enlarge the holes made (to connect them), flip the cap over and drill it slowly and carefully, especially if you are using your hand to hold the cap.

1.2. Use a half-round file to worn-away the horn-like remaining. The aim is to make a perfect round - as close as possible. You can leave some small space next to the cap's perimeters. The file is very effective tool, be careful not to overdone it.

2. Clean and wash the rear lens cap with clean waters. Dry it.

3. Mix the epoxy glue. The instructions of the fast-dry epoxy glue that I used said it will dried in 5 minutes, so I have only 3-4 minutes of working time.

4. Apply the mixed epoxy glue onto the top of the cap's perimeters. The aim is to have enough glue to hold the step-up ring to the cap's perimeters. Excessive glue are not necessary helpful and can be ugly.

5. Align and glue the step-up ring to the cap, with the 49mm (male filter threads) contacting the cap's top.

6. Done! Let the new adapter ring for about 16-hour (the epoxy glue that I used needs 16-hour to be fully hardened).

A finished product should like like following. One should be able to screw any matched filter to the glued step-up ring.

Here's how the whole setup (a reversely mounted lens onto the DSLR body using a reverse adapter, while the rear lens mount is covered by the newly made bayonet mount adapter ring with an UV filter) looks like.

If you read until this line, you deserved to make one yourself. Have fun! ;)

Festive Bokeh

2008-12-14T19:35:00.002+08:00

Time flies. It's Christmas time and 2008 is getting its end. I wish you have a better year ahead.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.

Fairy Dance at The Pavilion KL

2008-12-08T18:54:00.003+08:00

I was hanging around in the Pavilion today and was lucky to meet a group of dancers/models doing some dancing and posing for a photography session for the public.

I really need a flash gun.

Dawn and Sunrise

2008-12-03T14:21:00.005+08:00

A side of my house is east facing, which grants me unlimited free views of sunrise every morning, which is great, as sunrise never fails to surprise me with its varieties of presentation.

I hope that you enjoy watching them too. The content will be updated from time to time.

Outdoor Macro With Reversed 50mm

2008-12-01T03:57:00.007+08:00

A while ago I wrote about how to do macro with 2 lenses, it's fun but the whole setup is just too heavy and too cumbersome to be used in outdoor, not to mention the focusing distance can be impractical for outdoor shooting.

I made a compromise on the magnification and settled for a reversed 50mm which attached directly to the K200D body, via a K-mount reverse adapter. The whole setup is light and easy to use. One just need to:

Reverse-mount the 50mm lens (or any other lens) - preferably a cheap older prime lens with manual aperture ring.
If the lens does have an aperture ring, set it to a big aperture, i.e. f/2, f/2.8, f/4, etc. Else you have only one choice: which is to stuck-in a small paper block and open the lens to its widest aperture.
Apply exposure compensation, i.e. +1 to +2 EV. The image is quite dark without that.
Turn the focus ring on the lens to infinity, and stick with it. Move the camera forward/backward to focus.

All following photos were taken from the Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park. The place is worth a visit, highly recommended.

50 mm, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, f/2.8, +2.0 EV
smc P-A 50mm F2.0, reversely mounted.

50 mm, ISO 800, 1/60 sec, f/2.8, +2.0 EV
smc P-A 50mm F2.0, reversely mounted.

50 mm, ISO 400, 1/100 sec, f/2.8, +2.0 EV
smc P-A 50mm F2.0, reversely mounted.

The rest of the photos can be found from my flickr, including those capture with the smc DA 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED. Only the 1st nine photos were taken with the reversed lens.

Halo and Tower

2008-11-26T17:25:00.005+08:00

27 mm equiv, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, f/22, +0.3 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

A halo (ἅλως; also known as a nimbus, icebow or Gloriole) is an optical phenomenon that appears near or around the Sun or Moon, and sometimes near other strong light sources such as street lights. There are many types of optical halos, but they are mostly caused by ice crystals in cold cirrus clouds located high (5–10 km, or 3–6 miles) in the upper troposphere. The particular shape and orientation of the crystals is responsible for the type of halo observed. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion, similarly to the rainbow. [wikipedia]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(optical_phenomenon)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22%C2%B0_halo

KLPF '08

2008-10-22T04:59:00.001+08:00

I certainly enjoy the event throughout the weekend. Talks are quite nice although still has rooms for improvement.

The event boasted with a model shooting competition, which attracts quite some numbers of fellow photographers. I hide myself with the not-so-pro gadgets far far away when taking the following shot. :D

300 mm equiv, ISO 800, 1/80 sec, f/6.3, 0.0 EV
smc DA 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED
Post processed in GIMP

The rest (few) are in my flickr.

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

2008-10-13T02:52:00.001+08:00

I've been to the Singapore Bird Park and like the experience. I am glad that the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park is able to offer similar experience back in Malaysia.

Love is in the air.

75 mm equiv, ISO 1600, 1/640 sec, f/4, 0.0 EV
smc P-A 50mm F2.0

The eye.

300 mm equiv, ISO 800, 1/30 sec, f/8, 0.0 EV
smc DA 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED

Concentrating hard.

300 mm equiv, ISO 800, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, 0.0 EV
smc DA 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED

See the slide show in my flickr.

Chinese Opera

2008-10-06T02:16:00.001+08:00

My friend invited me to join him to catch some Chinese opera photos, which was held near by his house. The opera was part of the activities carried out during the Nine Emperors' Birthday celebration (a Taoism event), on first nine days from the ninth month of lunar calendar.

I have never really watch a Chinese opera all these years, except from a TV screen. The overall experience is quite nice.

Chinese opera plays usually are adaptations from folks tales. But I have no idea which story that they were playing in this.

225 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/80 sec, f/5.6, 0.0 EV

This is the second part of the play, and all I know is that the hero gets injured during a war.

300 mm equiv, ISO 800, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, 0.0 EV

An adaptation from "Flirting Scholar" (唐伯虎初遇秋香).

300 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/60 sec, f/5.6, 0.0 EV

An adaptation from "Butterfly Lovers" (梁祝). The play depicts that Liang Shanbo threw the wedding biscuits presented to him, after realised that Zhu Yingtai was ordered to marry another guy.

110 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/125 sec, f/5, 0.0 EV

My favourite out of all photos taken during the day: A classical musician in Chinese opera. Aren't him supposed to play Erhu instead of violin?

240 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/30 sec, f/5.6, 0.0 EV

All photos was taken with smc DA 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED.

Click here for the slide show. (Contains some violence scenes).

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

2008-10-03T00:00:00.007+08:00

I always wanted to shoot this building, and finally I made it. The number of visitors are surprisingly low for a public holiday, but I am more than happy for that. ;)

The building was designed by A.C. Norman and built in 1894-1897 to house several important government departments during the British administration. A.C. Wikie has more on this.

Click for a larger image.

Stitches of 5 * 27 mm equiv, ISO 400, f/3.5
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

This shot is taken earlier.

27 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/25 sec, f/8, 0.0 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

Bukit Tabur

2008-10-02T13:14:00.006+08:00

Not much to show on the scenery captured, none of them pleased me. Here's the only few presentable photos, and they has been heavily post-processed. I guess I must find a day to revisit.

Posing on moss-bed #01

27 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/250 sec, f/7.1, -1.0 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

Posing on moss-bed #02

Cropped from 36 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/200 sec, f/7.1, -1.0 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

Taking a rest. Resized only. This is much closer to the actual environment.

48 mm equiv, ISO 400, 1/125 sec, f/7.1, 0.0 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

Destination Nowhere

2008-09-28T23:59:00.003+08:00

A typical Chinese temple usually has these decors on its root. Strange thing is they seems like heading nowhere, other than flying away to the sky. If you wonder what are they, the first one is a little guy riding a cock (sounds a bit... better not go there ;), followed by a kylin (Chinese unicorn), then probably a phoenix, a lion and lastly a dragon.

Cropped from 46 mm equiv, ISO 100, 1/8 sec, f/10, -0.7 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

The Anti-ISA March

2008-09-27T22:25:00.004+08:00

It happened on the evening of 27-Sep-2008. News report here.

Click here for slide show.

82.5 mm equiv, ISO 800, 1/3 sec, f/5.6, +0.3 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

Office Evening Skies

2008-09-23T20:58:00.005+08:00

Something not uncommon from my office's window.

#01

27 mm equiv, ISO 100, 1/3 sec, f/6.3, -2.0 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

#02

27 mm equiv, ISO 100, 1/2 sec, f/10, -2.0 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

#03 - Taken from the same spot, but portrait softened in Paint.NET.

Poor Man's Macro Rig

2008-09-22T04:48:00.001+08:00

I've came across a magnificent spider shot in flickr recently, and realised that the reverse-lens macro technique being described by the photographer is universal and applicable to every SLR (digital and film) out there, possibly bridge camera as well.

After some readings on the topic, I am convinced that my little Pentax can do the same with just the only 2 kit lenses that I have, albeit both of them are zoom lens.

While a reversing ring that join both lenses is optional, yet it's very handy and much practical than hand-holding the 2nd reversed lens.

Some important notes:

Manual focus is a must.
It's much easier to focus by moving the camera, instead of using the focus ring.
Use a folded paper block to fix the aperture control level on the 2nd lens (the one being reversely mounted) to its largest/widest setting. The example shown is applicable to Pentax's K-mount lens only. Other manufacturers' mount should have similar level/control, except earlier lenses which has manual aperture control built-in.
The subject must be strongly lighted.
The flash on camera body will not be able to help. Just turn it off.
The DOF will be extremely shallow; so expect to see a blank blurry screen in your viewfinder during earlier attempts. Try move your camera closer to/further away from the subject slowly. Practice makes perfect.
At the smallest aperture (f/32 in my case) for the 1st lens (the one that being installed onto the camera body), the photo taken shown some strong vignetting.
Be patience.

Some extra notes for using 2 zoom lenses together:

Set the 1st lens to its furthest zoom end, and focus to infinity.
Set the 2nd lens to its widest end, and focus to the closest distance.
The longer zoom lens should be the 1st lens, while the shorter lens to be reversely mounted as 2nd lens. This is to avoid vignetting.
Vignetting will be visible if you widen the 1st lens and/or zoom the 2nd lens.

Additional reading:

Reversing Lenses for Macro Photography by Phil.
Reverse-Lens Macro Photography [tutorial] by Stephen Elliot
Macro Photography - Wikipedia

Here is my latest attempt with the reverse-lens macro on an electrical shaver.

ISO 800, 1/4 sec, f/5.6, +0.0 EV
smc DA 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED &
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II (reversely mounted)

Yet another macro practice shot

2008-09-21T04:57:00.003+08:00

Apparently a static object makes a wonderful subject for macro practices.

ISO 800, 1/25 sec, f/5.6, +0.0 EV
smc DA 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED &
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II (reversely mounted)

The coin's diameter is 19mm.

82.5 mm equiv, ISO 800, 1/160 sec, f/8, +0.0 EV
smc DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II

Practice Shot - Macro!

2008-09-20T00:20:00.001+08:00

It's badly composed and wrongly focused, but I am thrilled. Can you imagine, I can get macro (read: 1:3.6) with just my 2 kit lenses. :)

Wonder what the object was? Click here.