Getting Wet And Dirty

Here's another post today on recent Four Wheeling activities by fellow Kota Marudu Adventist Four Wheel DriveClub Members. I really like their wellmade vehicle.
LandRover Defender 110, pickup cut. with 16inch rims,MT117 tyres, Toyota Turbo Engine, Back Air lockinga axle system,Ready for the thrill....
Huh, these tyres aren't suited for this, he should have changed it. anyway, dont look down at the tyres solely, it has B-Turbo engine with good engineering on its built... better watch out...

My Equipments Updated

What do i usually bring while on a photography trip,task.... urm, i recently updated my equipments with a camera bag. For the basic i have a Benro Tripod, ThinkThank Camera Waist Bag, Pentax K10D, two lens, a Sigma flash... and 4Gb of Memory cards... Circular Plarizer filter, UV filter... others? well ofcourse the cleaning tools for your lens and... an Anti Fungus Chemical which i ordered from the internet. I seldom buy my things from local suppliers.... Some may prefer to go to Investline.sdn.bhd to get their tools, others to CPL... bla3... and other camera dealers around KK as well. Since there are less Pentax or actually NO Pentax dealers around KK, i just buy my accesories from the internet.

Http://www.shashinki.com/shop really has a lot to offer, ranging from Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Leica... all are available with free shipping by post laju fro purchases above RM50... cool! I made about RM2000 over of ordering from Shashinki.com and i can assure you that its a 100% satisfying in terms of product handling, except that you have to wait for certain products which will require special order from manufactures, others are right to receive once you paid full your order.

I'm planing to get Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 macro, but am also thinking of getting a Pentax SMC-DA* 16-50mm F2.8 wide angle-SDM (Super Dynamic Motor). maybe someday... but soon... when im enough with budget!
Pentax... Pentax... Pentax.... i know Canon and Nikon supporters will somehow look down at pentax, but if you are a fair judge, and critical thinker, you will now why i choose Pentax, its not only about the price, its the offer... I know Pentax has its own weakness to compete with Canon and Nikon, but for those who are just blinded by popularity of these two giant brands... Pentax is one of the leading brands out there, surely not to beat Hasselblad or Leaf in medium format cameras that would cost you over 1HUNDRED THOUSAND RM... yet Pentax has built its own reputation too.... its just a matter of promotion, publisity, technology updates, improvements... and... later, you will find Pentax people shooting anywhere in Malaysia...

This is what i normally bring when im out shooting

I tell you, this batery is good, i can say its second to Sanyo Eneloop. so far as i have used it... it supplies me good power for my flash! available for RM99 only from Shashinki.com. Which includes 8AA 2700mAh bateries (this would cost you twice the price in the local Sony market, and hey, do you know that theres a FAKE SONY rechargable batteries sold in the market?)

My Duplicate Bag?

Okay, here's what happen, last year i went to Thailand, and i happen to buy a 4-way-carry bag which acts as my multipurpose bag before i purchase my ThinkThank Camera Bag. Thailand is really known to produce look-a-like products. I forgot whether its second to china or what, but anyway... while i was walking to Wisma Merdeka that day, and i eventually saw this similar bag portrayed at Kinabalu Emporium, next to Segama KFC. The bag was 99% the same as that i was wearing, Oh MY.. isnt that my bag...!!! so i went to have a look at it and, surely it was, with just a few added red stiches to maybe fashion it, and ofcourse a brand that makes it stand out... if im not mistaken, the brand was ROCKS... not sure, but you can check it out. the others... totally the same... i bought my bag for 990bath equivelant to RM99 in Thai, which was actually a 50-70 (forgot odi) discount price! That means the actuall price was around RM200 over ringgit! and Guess What? The price of the bag was around that number too! WOW, mana satu barang tiruan ni? hehehhe
Here's the bag... matching? identical? similar? hurm... atleast i bought it for RM99, and this one... huh... RM217~(i guess)

Portrait Shooting At Tanjung Aru, Sabah

I was in KK to deal with a few business yesterday and i happen to meet a friend, we were like talking for a few minutes and suddenly the idea of taking outdoor portraits in Tanjung Aru pop out... "erm, how about.... just a few minutes bah!"

The model for today is Fanny H.S, some good and close friend of mine that i meet about 5 years ago (kunun, whatever...) Ok, when we arive, it was quite hard to model her since she doesn't have any background in.. lets see... urm.. ah... Modelling and posing... But... keep in mind, everyone in this world has their own Photogenic AOV or POV (AOV-angle of view,POV-point of view)... either from sideways, front, above, bellow.. bla3... the only crucial thing for photographers to do is.. study their faces....Taking pictures during afternoon with bright sunlight above is a really big no to classic rules in Photography, but like they always say-rules are meant to be broken-Right? (hurm, i dont really agree with that, however in terms of creativity constrain.. YES!) ok,so i figure out using a flash.. (normal technique used to brighten shadows... Well, some prefer to use a Light Bouncer which can be anything that can reflects light, from white paper to... the manufacturer made ones... but i MALAS pakai... didnt have any... it was a spontaneous idea to go shooting today... 30minutes only ma.. (like what Louis say in his Blog)All of the pictures here where taken with a flash, ohps... PLUSS... i used a circular polarizer to enhance the blue colors of the sea and sky... well actually ND filter number 4 can help you alot.. but to consider my external flash syncronising speed is only up to 1/180, and to be using wide aperture 2.8-3.5 is really allowing a lot of lights that will overcast the sky... i really need to tame down the lights.. so a ND/CP filter will help.

For those who are using digital compacts, if you have along with you your sunglasses.. dont forget to put them infront of your camera lens, this will act the same in taming highlights... and remember, use FLASH... oK, CUKUP LA,Why the heck only you.. me no picture a? hurm, so i oso went posing around la... guess i have some photogenic side oso.. HAHAHAHA... Anyway, the technique used is still the same... flash, filter and... creativity...Erm, the pose looking upwards seems familiar... isnt that taught by Louis Pang before? uhu?!Okay2.. enough frisco, enough... Here you are, hope you get something from this posting... enjoy the tips and... pictures tooo, perhaps if you need more tips or sharings, you can contact me.. email? you can find it in my profile(^^,winks)

A Landscape of GASS Raintree

A simple Shot of the grassessssss... normal eyes can hardly notice its significance, but if you train them to have the artistic sense... you can get good eyeing results. A picture of the Raintree, full of story and hidden secrets of many students who once studied in GASS - Goshen Adventist Secondary School. Shoot was simply taken in Raw with a Circular Polarizer attached. did minor adjustment in PS.
Patterns and Contrast of the sky and branches does add some good lead to the eye. disadvantage is the High Dynamic Range effect that causes the dark to be more darker and the highlights to over.
Again, the contrast of green and blue sky.
See the patterns? if you are a fine art lover, i think you might be interested in this:)

Tips for Photographers On The Go

Got this wonderful blog from Bennyliew.com, its very interesting. I can assure you that what she's saying is useful coz ive been doing it too, but ofcourse with not much tips as hers... Thanks Benny for posting it at your site... now im sharing it with others too:)

Rabani's Photo Collection

See more photos by rabani on TrekEarth

Kota Marudu Adventist 4WD Club

The Best Four Wheeler of the Day... We headed straight to the Kota Marudu-Goshen river to have a look at the "playing" spot for that eve. I have been missing most of the clubs activities since early this month. This time i'm not letting go, chances should be grabed,so that was what i did. After the gotong-royong of the club members to built the new building that will act as the Clubs office, we were so eager to test our offroad driving skills.

Mr James, a.k.a Echo79, went first with his BJ40 into one of the deadly no enter spot. You know what to look out when there is only sand+water-rocks coz you surely get stucked.

(Mr James Gopori with his unlucky truck)

To race the engine more is just like digging your own tomb. so Racing the FUel Pedal is a Great NO when youre stuck on SAND and MUD.

There where about 6 vehicles who played today... one of them is mine.A Suzuki with upgraded turbo-diesel engine. Lightweight and size is always a great advantage in offroad challanges. Mr Lawrance Bingku and a friend Mr Jackin (oops,sorry if i mispelled)
Hurm, a beautiful scene of Kota Marudu River and ofcourse, my LandRover110.
I was also stucked in the Mud... Winch is always a VERY useful recovery tool.Hey, at first it was me... And now when i'm out, the other guy purposedly jump in the trap, just to have some fun...
By the way, we are not only having fun. THis is PART of our Training. We might face such obstacle in the future, by then, we are READY.
another simple obstacle.... for well trained people. Yet, if you dont have good tires... erm, its like having a nail without a hammer...
The supporters of the day...
one of the activity.. offroad 4WD drag race....

Breeze Magazine 2nd Issue

Here is an online copy of Breeze Magazine for everyone to view. Its a new magazine dedicated especially for the people around Sabah, and ofcourse Kota Kinabalu. Its feed with the most update event and information for everyone to see,view, read and gain. Right now, its on its process of growing its popularity in Sabah. The mag is for free (if im not mistaken) at the momenth.

Me? well, im just a simple collector... (duh,si frisco tembirang lagi)... okay... some of the pictures in there are my works. Try find my name in the third page if you can... photographer konon, but i love working with this magazine company... its just that i'm a bit too busy with my other commitments till i could hardly spend time for my pictures for them.

What about it? just click and have a bigger look at it. enjoy the modern design and look. You will never regret viewing it!!!

Making It Right At First Click

I ALWAYS challange myself to make my first shot right thus require me no extra work to deal with the post-processing work that most lausy photographers prefer to do. To be professional means to be able to take control of your tools and produce optimum result at a competant rate... meaning you are accurate in your job. To be professional also means people appreciate your job thus hiring you or paying you for your work. Well, the term "pro" itself can be explained in various ways... for me, i rather want less time but quality produced work.

Photos bellow are ofcourse not the "perfects" that i shot, perfect is self defined in the art world. One may criticize your work, others may value... but still, i say that "beauty is not everything, t's appreciation that matters"... so why care what others say? you convey what you have in mind, thats what artist do and they only gain acceptance when they succed in convincing others what beauty is for them...

These shoots have not been edited for any enhancement. thats what my DSLR sensor sensed when i click the shutter button. You might say its just ordinary, but to get something right at a scene is not as easy as you think it is. Your mind constantly works and if you dont get the calculations right... you'll have to do extra work on the monitor later....

Both shoots above where taken at Warisan Square at night during CNY 2008. To get these result is no piece of cake. You need trained hands and trained technique to produce sharp shoots with the lowest light available.

my tips:
1st, eat enough so that your hand won't shake (as it usually happens to me when im hungry),

2nd, dont use LCD live preview, use the viewfinder and stick it close and firm to your eye,

3rd, Hold your breath at a count of three and click, never breath while snapping since possibility of shake might occur that increase the risk of blurred pictures.

***psst, these tips apply to all camera types... not only DSLR....


These shoot was taken, in the evening. what i like about this is the colors of the sky and the tones shadows and highlights of the buildings. something contrast that makes me feels... GOOD~ what i used? a circular polarizer.. (for those who ain't any idea on what it is, search it at google-circular polarizer). Just fine tune, keep an eye at the viewfinder, notice the color change... when it comes right... you snap...

Im thinking of ordering an NDgrad filter from Cokin, but maybe next time...