Good morning 晨之美 - 7th June 2013

It has been long since I last went for a sunrise shoot. Can't remember when was the last time but the thing about sunrise is that everything changes quickly, if you're not prepared, then prepared to come back again next time, and that is if the weather is kind to you. :) 

I've learned a bit more about my new camera from this trip. Things about white balance that alters the colors of the sky, more manual controls of my camera to grasp of and of course taking nice pictures. 

I think it turned out okay. :) 

P/S: click on individual photos for a larger view. 

Penang floral festival 2013

It turns out to be an annual event or at least for the past few times that I'm aware of.

Brought mum over this time and became assistant photographer for her, she would point her finger at a certain flowers and I would snap them back for her.

Then she bought a few pots back to the house...

Japanese garden?

Dropped mum nearby and while waiting, snapped a few shots near a so called "Japanese garden".

Tranquility, sure there was sunlight but shortly after... dark clouds were all over us. It's soothing and a bit cooling with breeze here and there. I went and sat down on a swing. 

It daunts on me how simple happiness and relaxation can be at times. No need expensive gadgets, no need fancy toys. Just simple, pure, joy. Just like what I used to play with when I was a kid. Children these days grew up with not so conventional entertainment anymore. iPad, smartphones, etc. 

It's best to preserve some balance. 

exploration

Finally managed to grab my filter. Now I can shoot with better confidence of not breaking or scratching the lens. 

Snapped a few during lunch, in the office and after as well. :)

little guy from TW (macro)

bloody hot weather out there as usual, almost blinding

At Johnny's today during lunch

none other than my fav Hokkien mer for dinner

There, wrap up the day. phew. only that I have another calls at night to attend to...

Fujifilm X100S

the main attraction itself 

with the lens hood + adaptor, I gotta get this and put in a 49mm filter, else I don't feel secure using this

this freaking thing is not cheap at all, costs a pop

Well, I have been in the market a compact camera. I've observed quite a few.

It started with Nikon's 1 system of interchangeable cameras. Well, I didn't opt for it because it didn't offer the level of controls that I demanded. I was looking for full manual control without much fiddling with buttons toggles here and there. Both V1 and J1 didn't fit the bill so I kept looking.

Then I went and checked out a few m 4/3 cameras from both Olympus and Panasonic. They're all really attractive but then something daunt on me. There were 2 major concerns. If I go this route, what happen to my D90? Am I gonna just sell it and switch to this? Well, I might but this is not something I'm prepared to do at the moment. Not now, I still feel pretty confident with dslr although their size and weight is what drives me to look for an alternative smaller camera. So I didn't went with any interchangeable lens cameras.

And then there was Panasonic LX7 which had a good reputation based on past models of the same line. LX-7 features bright f1.4 lens and some really cool features like really nice macro and movies capabilities. The price was pretty attractive too. And hot on its heels were Olympus's HZ-2, although clocked in at a much slower but still respectable f1.8 lens, it offers more controls which were much more customizable compared to LX7 but a tad bulkier, probably because of the flip out LCD panel at the back.

Sony's RX100 was almost the next pick if not for the pricey tag of RM2k+. It was almost THE compact for me.

Then, I came across Fujifilm X100. I didn't notice this before but went on and read more about this camera. It certainly is not "compact" in any stretch of the imagination. But yet, it really caught my eyes. It's a fixed lens camera, not even zoomable but the quality is absolutely stunning. It features a large APS-C size sensor which explains a lot about the quality of the photos it takes and then it has another killer feature, retro looks. Who can argue with that? haha, I know I couldn't. Well of course look alone doesn't sell a camera to me.

I read about the new upcoming models the X100S with some improvements to the quirks people are having with the older models and seeing the projected price, it's around less than RM1k difference, I think the upgrade was justifiable, so I held on and waited for it.

Some of the key points that made the pick for me was :-
1) compact camera of non changeable lens (no more future investments needed
2) compact enough for me to carry almost daily and everywhere compared to my bulkier dslr
3) retro looks!
4) excellent image quality
5) full manual controls for both aperture and shutter speed
6) full HD video
7) a choice of optical view finder/electronic view finder that would come in handy

Price was not cheap for this but then if I can use it as much as I used to use my D60 and early D90's days, it will come to justify itself in no time. :)

Look for more pictures here as I test this baby out.

早安，晨之美！

好久没拍日出了

记得当年比较年轻的我，和一班朋友约好周末的早上追日出。今天早上放了闹钟，爬起床，刷个牙，然后就开车去到附近的海边，等日出。

应该是近期来，朋友们，包过我在内，被工作搞得非常累。周末都不想提早醒。就算是醒了都是赖床比较过瘾。

今天，我列外。

Kek Lok Si Temple - Penang - Chinese New Year 2013

So we made our way to Kek Lok Si temple after our dinner.

We anticipated that although there would be crowd, still it would not be as much but turns out that we were so wrong!

It was sooooo crowded that we couldn't even secure a spot (was around close to 8pm) and had to park further down and walked back. Well, shouldn't be a problem for me and Calvin. I brought lesser gear, nowadays didn't even feel like bringing my camera bag. Just a regular trusty laptop back pack and a bottle of water. Seriously, either I'm getting old or dSLR is getting heavier by the days.

It has become an annual event, at least for myself and a few friends. This year, since it's so last minute and only spoke about it briefly with a few folks. Decided to just go with Calvin. Bok couldn't make it as he had to attend night calls.

Without further ado, I'll let the pictures do the talking.. enjoy

the red and yellow lights emitting from the lanterns never ceased to amaze me even though I've seen it many many times, it's just magical. As you can see, very crowded which is a surprise. It's Valentine's and this would be the last place I thought couples would spend their time with. No offense though, it's still a great place to visit. Just a bit too crowded for me. 

on our way there, marching...

up the staircases, a few stalls are still open. there are some pitch black section without any lights on them. thankfully, nowadays a lot of ppl carries around a smart phone, a little bit of flash will illuminate the dark path. Otherwise, pls bring your own torch light as it can be very very dark and long section. 

prays for health, my kinda wish. 

lanterns blanketted the whole place

the Kek Lok Si Pagoda, my main attraction for this year as last year we seemed to miss it. We didn't climb up though this year

fake LED flowers

caught a glimpse of water droplet on the center of a lily petal, but low lights, very hard to stabilize for the shot

fresh flowers, I think it's the same batch every year

infamous Guan Yin statue right at the top of the attraction, it's very huge. Again, never ceases to amaze me, it's big and magnificent looking.

That's it folks. Done for 2013. Perhaps we'll go again in a larger group, perhaps we won't. But as for my own, I've done it for this round.

Next round, perhaps next year? perhaps a year after that. Who knows? Embrace the moment that is now.