The Yat (One) And Only Journey…

Langkawi Trip – Part 4, Island Hopping – Pulau Dayang Bunting Geoforest Park and Eagle Feeding [Day 2]3

Back to my Langkawi trip, the first day ended with a big smile on our face, thanks to Fat Mum..

On the second day, we got up quite early in the morning for our activity, island hopping..

We set off at a beach nearby Awana Porto Malai Resort, where you can see lots of boats parked at the seashore..

*The bitch beach*

The island hopping includes the Lake of Pregnant Maiden (Pulau Dayang Bunting), eagle feeding at Pulau Singa Besar, and also beach visit at Pulau Beras Basah..

Pulau Dayang Bunting, is an island that surrounded a so-called lake of freshwater in the middle of the sea..

*Life jackets*

When you are in the middle of the sea, it’s better to be cautious even if you know how to swim..

Who knows, as like what you always watch in movies, your legs might get cramped or something..

Or too much or scientific facts are not good too..It’s easy to float in the sea because of the saltwater but you won’t float if you don’t know how to swim!

*Lake of Pregnant Maiden (Pulau Dayang Bunting)*

That long stretch of hills is the famous Pulau Dayang Bunting, where you can really see the shape of lady pregnant lady..

Why it’s a lady and not a man you ask? Can you see the boob shape right below the chin? Hahahaha..

Then on the way to the Pulau Dayang Bunting, I think I found a new island..

*Bearbrick Island*

See this island, isn’t it look like Be@rbrick? Yes it does look like one..Don’t defy it..

I bet not many people notice this island..

*Dale and the few other passengers boarding the jetty*

It took us somewhere 10-20 minutes to travel from Awana Porto Malai to the Pulau Dayang Bunting Geoforest Park..

I never thought Pulau Dayang Bunting to be a geoforest park..I thought we’ll be playing around the beach side..

*Pulau Dayang Bunting Geoforest Park*

The island has been exploited and turned into a tourist spot..

The developer still managed to maintain the habitat (I’m not sure how much of it) and promote eco-friendly environment..Keep the island clean!

*Welcome to Dayang Bunting*

It wasn’t quite a lucky day as it rained  very early in the morning..We had to take cover under the toilet..

Much more of the lake and the eagle feeding after the jump *jumps – toink*..

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Posted: Photography, Travel & Places

Langkawi Trip – Part 2, Bright Sky At Awana Porto Malai And Sunset On The Beach At Pantai Cenang11

After we stepped down at the airport, it’s a wise choice for us to look for room from the ‘agencies’ at the airport..

There are tonnes of them shouting at you and basically their prices are almost the same..

Else, you can always rent a car first, then drive around Pantai Cenang to look for a hotel/motel/resort/chalet that you feel comfortable with..

*We rent a Potong Proton Saga*

Since we arrived Langkawi quite late, we decided to not waste much time anymore, we rent a car, rent a room, and even paid for the island-hopping package with the very same agency instead..

We got ourselves a Proton Saga..Wanted to get a Nissan Sentra, if only we have more people, like 4 or 5..

We chose Malim Resort as it’s just in front of Cenang Beach (Pantai Cenang)..

If you want something more comfortable or could accommodate more people, you can check out Aseania, Landcons, or the nice Awana Porto Malai..

*My current header image*

As you can see, this is my current header image for my new blog layout..The effect is still lacked a bit coz the paddy field doesn’t really look that wide..

The camera should’ve placed furthere away to the back..

This is a paddy field in between airport and Pantai Cenang..

*Our room at Malim Resort*

After Dale and I had settled down in our room, we decided to go out to take a stroll before dinner..

Equipped with our guns DSLRs, we drove around Pantai Cenang and airport area..

We ended up at Awana Porto Malai Resort due to its nice sea view with a bit of islands under the bright sky..

So here I’m sharing some of my favourite photos..No major post processing been done..Only resizing and watermark..

*One of my fave photos*

This photo actually looks quite symmetrical with the natural cloud shape, the two yachts, and the island..

*Deep blue sea*

My camera was set to aperture-mode (A-mode), I’ve been playing with its shutter speed to adjust a photo’s brightness..

By taking advantage of that, I’ve focused on different area to get  a mid-range shutter speed, then pull down the size of the frame to make the photo looks as shown..

As much as I want to share the whole folder, I can’t be serious to make a long post full of photos..Maybe I’ll upload into my Facebook soon while you enjoy with the few photos here first..

Continue on for sunset at Pantai Cenang ahead..

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Posted: Photography, Travel & Places

It’s Krrunch Time, Get Playful22

Been very moody lately because I’m still jobless..Was suppose to start my internship like a month ago but now I’m still unemployed..

Where has all the company goes to~?!?!?! Why are they not hiring?!?!?!

While I was window shopping in Cold Storage the other day, I saw this new flavor, Dill Pickle Extreme..So I bought it..

Believe it or not, the taste is very sour, much sour than McDonald’s burger’s pickles..

If you have fetish on McD’s pickles, do try this..

*Now you see, now you don’t*

It’s so good that I have to fight for it with my sisters who love sour food, a lot~!!!

*It’s good yo*

Sour food lover, this is the ultimate food for you to Krrunch Krrunch..

*Krrunch time FUUUUUUU~!!!*

The Pringles was so good that I really had a Krrunch time with it~!!!

As you can see I was doing the Hard Gay pose and it was Krrunch time FUUUUUUUUUU~!!! *raise hands up in the air and profusely shaking crotch*..

“It’s Krrunch Time, Get Playful”..Or rather, “It’s Krrunch Time, Get PlayFUUUUUUUU~!!!!”..

If you too want to have a Krrunch time, check it out HERE..

Posted: Photography, Ramblings

SONY Alpha Tutorials For Beginners – Yuin Yin Light Gothic Studio Shoot13

Few weeks back, we Alpharians (Alphanatics) did another private photoshoot session with another friend, Yuin Yin as our model..

The theme was Light Gothic, as suggested by the model herself..She was inspired by the manga cum anime and even a live-action movie adaptation called Nana..

Nana Osaki, the protagonist in the manga, is a vocalist for for a goth rock band called Black Stones and the character is played by Japanese singer Mika Nakashima in the live-action movie..

Okay enough of fun facts..We used the studio in SONY Style, a SONY sales department shop in The Curve which has its own studio..

A white backdrop has been used to create a contrast with the model’s outfit of dark and gloomy theme, the goth..

In this entry, I’ll explain more on how I got the photos and how I set the settings in my camera as well as a bit of fun facts here and there for the beginners..

Also, it’s a bit of introduction to the SONY Style Studio, which in this photoshoot was the second time we’ve used it..

So without further ado, here’s the photos and a bit of story-telling..

By the way, most of the photos I’ve already post-processed (PP) aka photoshop on the curves and levels to sharpen its image..

*#1*

This photo is shot at aperture of F5, shutter speed of 1/20″ but with ISO 800..

With the help of studio lights and studio flash the noise is not that visible to the naked eyes..

Of course, with a slight bit of post-processing (PP) on the curves and levels to get this photo..

*#2*

This photo it seems like I’ve cut-off the background but it’s not..Like I said, the backdrop is white color so by lowering the shutter speed and with the help of high ISO, the white areas will become more white..

In photography term we usually call it over exposed or in other words, burned, pecah, bao kong (broken light), or anything else that sound similar to it..

This photo used almost same setting as photo #1, shutter speed at 1/20″ but F4.5, ISO 800..Slight post-processing (PP) to sharpen the image as well..

*#3*

Some beginners might ask how to get the blurry effect just like the photo above..It’s very easy..The way to do it is just like compact camera’s macro mode..

In compact camera, by switching on macro mode, you just have to do a close up shoot and you’ll get the blurry effect..

In DSLR way, just zoom-in your lens and focus on one point on a close-up range..If you focus on the front part you will get the blurry effect on the back and vice-versa..

The blurry part in photography term is called bokeh, which actually is a Japanese word..

*#4*

Another bokeh effect..Usually to get the bokeh effect, any range further than 35mm will create the bokeh effect depending on your focus point and your close-up range..

*#5 – Emo-fied*

The original photo is quite bland and not as sharp..As usual, a bit of post-processing on the curves to increase its brightness and lower the levels to increase its contrast..

The settings for the photo above is 1/6″ for shutter speed and aperture at F5.6..Focal length is at full 70mm on my kitlens for this close up photo..

Of course, with the Super Steady Shot (SSS), an Image Stabilizer function which is built-in in a SONY Alpha DSLR camera body, the chances of getting blurry photos are lesser as well, even at low shutter speed..

*Photographers at work..Kevin, Wingz, Alvan, and Ethan*

Other than the two studio lights that you can see, we also use SONY flash guns, those big flash lights that you usually saw attached to the camera body..

All of the photos above, none of the studio flash nor SONY flash guns were used..

More simple tutorials for beginners when you read on..

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Posted: Photography, Sony

Sony A200 DSLR Test – ISO Performance19

Ever since I bought my camera, SONY A200 DSLR on 9th May 2009, I’ve shot nearly 8,000 photos, or I should say used up 8,000 shutter count in 4 months..

From that amount of photos, I have a lot of bad photos that includes blurry photos, white balance testing photos, and also shutter speed testing photos..

From those tests, I’ve never thought of doing a performance test on my camera..

So from now on, I’m going to do some performance test with it as a guidance for myself and anyone who wants to explore in SONY Alpha DSLRs, or just plain DSLR..

It is strictly warned that it’s just a very brief guide to DSLR noobs and those trying to get their hands on a DSLR as based on my knowledge ..

I would not say it’s a tutorial as I’m not qualified enough for a tutorial..It’s just a simple test on my camera..

My SONY A200, equipped with its kitlens, a SONY 18-70mm, is sufficient enough for beginners like me, but I’m looking forward to expand my lens range already, after shooting for 4 months..

First off, I’ll test the most basic and easiest performance of all, the ISO sensitivity..

ISO actually stands for International Organization for Standardization, yes, it’s the usual ISO that we commonly know of, such ISO 9001, ISO 9002, etc etc..

As for camera’s light sensitivity, it is based on ISO 5800 for measuring the speed of color negative film..

Okay, enough of geek facts..Let’s get down to real business of SONY A200 ISO performance test..

*ISO 100*

From here you can see the photo is considerably sharp as I’ve cropped it from its original size of 3872 x 2592, a full size of from the 10.2 megapixels body..

As you know, low ISO only works with good lighting and I took this pic with -0.3 BV (brightness value), shutter speed at 0.6 second, and F5.6 at 40mm focal length..

*ISO 200*

When I pumped up the ISO to 200, the photo seems a bit grainy (noise) already but it’s still okay when you are in low light condition..

Aperture stays at F5.6, focal length 40mm, -0.3 BV, and shutter speed 1/3 second..

More on ISO 400 and above..

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Posted: Photography, Sony

Sin Yee Outdoor Portrait Photoshoot10

PHOTOSHOOT FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~!!! *raise hands up in the air and profusely shaking crotch*..

Okay this album has been kept in my folders and Facebook album for quite some time and I’ve forgotten to post it up in the blog..

The photos had been taken, *click click click look at the date on the album*, exactly 2 months ago..LOL~!!!

It was my first experience in doing an outdoor portrait photoshoot and this time we got Sin Yee to be our model..

At first I thought she’s a shy type kinda girl but hey, I never thought she would be that active..

Shooting her is definitely fun and it brings laughters to everyone else because she’s a noob and yet she’s very good in posing!

*#1 – What’s that over there?*

This is actually quite a candid photo where I caught her off-guard..It turned out to be quite nice..

*#2 – Sigh*

This photo’s bokeh damn nice..LOL~!! Very vivid indeed..

*#3 – Fun*

The balance lightings are thanks to the few SONY flashes that we used to light up the photo due to the moody weather..

*#4 – Behind the scene*

Now that I look back at this photo, I just realized that I’ve made new friends to 2 more Alpharians..

More interesting shots ahead..

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Posted: Photography