Portraits: Khym Ready To Party
Portraits no. 5 for 2010. Got to work with the lovely Khym in the following sets of photos. Real easy to work with as she would provide multiple poses for each spot whether she’s standing or sitting. I’ll let the photos do the talking rather than word too much in here.
Chinese New Year 2010 Celebration
The 2010’s Chinese New Year was slightly different compared to the previous few years. Different cause this would be the 1st year I am able to celebrate Chinese New Year with my kids and it’s also the year I have to rush between work, short holiday and work.
Even on the 1st day of the New Year, I had to spend a bit of time to do some work. It’s all good at the end anyway as we still manage to go through the customary visits to my Grandmother’s home in Gunung Rapat, lunch at my uncle’s place followed by more visitation to other relative’s place before completing the 1st day with a steamboat dinner with family and friends. Oh yeah, the mahjong and black jack session helps too. (more…)
Portraits: Linda @ The Fight Club
The 4th series of 2010 has Linda in a little Muay Thai action. She is not a professional fighter nor is she one who know about Martial Arts but she was willing to learn and adjust when I request her to do a particular pose or do a particular movement/gestures.
Can’t expect the poses to be perfect like I said before but nevertheless still good for a person who never fought before. (more…)
Portraits: Linda
3rd set of 2010 introducing Linda. Simple shoot using natural lights shot using the Nikon D300. I adjusted the levels on these photos again after I migrate all my stuff from my old notebook to the new one.
Looking at the photos after I extract them out of my old computer, I realized now why a lot of people say the photos I posted are slightly over-exposed. I guess the screen on my old notebook had been deceiving me and when I adjust the Levels, I adjusted it according to what I see on the screen. I even asked @StrippedSteph a few times when I was editing whether it was ok judging from the what we see from my computer.
Well… after migrating to this new notebook that has a properly calibrated screen, I realized that either that screen is fading in screen life or it was just designed like that (even though it’s already at it’s brightest). I’m no expert in photoshopping and no expert when it comes to all these color mumbo jumbo but hopefully, there will be some improvement when it comes to the contrast of the photos.
Yes, there’s only 3 photos from this set. I’ve posted the rest to my Flickr account so do feel free to comment on the above photos.
These Children taught me the true meaning of Never Give Up
About 2 weekends back, I had the chance to observe and interact with a group of children with intellectual disabilities. These children were basically born with Down’s syndrome but to me, these kids truly are quite special. Yes, unlike normal children, they take a longer time to comprehend things, even things as simple as opening the door. But having worked with some before during my college days and now with this group. I know that just like every other child out there, they try their very best to do everything that was given to them.
In this case, it’s swimming. You must be thinking, “Why the heck are you, a guy who can’t swim is doing working with a bunch of kids at the pool?”. Well, the one that’s doing all the swimming are these kids, I’m there to observe, encourage and help motivate them. Simple right? (more…)
Apple & Job launched the iPad
After all the hype and the suspense leading up to yesterday night (Malaysia time), Apple finally launched their very own Tablet PC. Aptly named the iPad, it’s what most netizens would call an enlarged version of the iPod Touch/iPhone.
For people like myself who spend a lot of time online using their iPhone, this would be a tempting new ‘toy’ to play with. After all, it comes with a bigger screen meaning you can read/view things without constantly scrolling left and right to read texts on websites. The iPad will also be giving Amazon’s Kindle DX a run for it’s money as the iPad is able to give readers the chance to view materials in full color compared to the Kindle’s non-color, limited function device. The 16GB model is only USD$10 more than the USD$489 kindle too! (more…)
Portraits: Sweet Lynnette Chua
Like the previous post, less words, more photos. A set of portraits I shot of Lynnette, the 2nd portrait session of 2010.
I think I’ll start a countdown down how many portrait session I’ve shot to see how far I could go for 2010. (more…)
Portraits: Cute Sophia LuvsBerries
Less words, more photos as I share with you some portraits of Sophia. The 1st portrait session done for 2010.
The Laid Back Moments in Bali
AS you know from the previous post about my trip to Bali, we actually took time out in the morning of our 3rd day to do our own thing. So at 9am, we gathered our stuff and head off to the beach to have a stroll and check out the beach along Legian.
After spending about 2 hours at the beach, we headed back to the hotel to relax by the pool before our tour of Bali resume at noon. (more…)
Guided Tour around Bali Part 3 of 3
Day 3 of our tour was quite a short one. We skip the morning tour so we could relax by the beach and the pool before we head off to the tour that was planned for us. The tour operator picked us up at noon to bring us off to Lahbagga Restaurant for lunch overlooking a vast paddy field plantation.
Guided Tour around Bali Part 2 of 3
The 2nd day of our holiday in Bali saw us heading to a Batik factory to see how they produce batik clothes, it was an interesting moment for me as it reminds me of how I used to do this in school as part of my art syllabus. There were also a shop located in this place where you can buy some locally made batiks which none of us was bothered with.
We continued the tour by heading to a traditional Barong and Kris Dance where a traditional stage performance tell us a tale of Good vs Evil. It was a blast watching the performance and the performers I believe are so used to having tourists with cameras that they know where to look for us to get the shots we needed. (more…)
Guided Tour around Bali Part 1 of 3
It was the New Year, just 4 days into 2010 and we were on the way to the Airport to catch a flight to this little island west of Malaysia. Initially, I was supposed to head over somewhere else for a job but since that was canceled, here we are, off to a nice getaway before the start of the 2010 rat race (for myself).
We got into the AirAsia’s flight to Bali and landed at Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport at around 1pm. From there, we head over to Haven Hotel where we checked in, relaxed and get ready to head over to our 1st tour. (more…)
Portraits: Who’s next? Lynnette? Sophia?
While my computer’s crawling along getting my Bali photos resized, I’ll just post this ‘teaser’ up for you readers to have a choice. These was shot before my Bali trip so most of it is edited before the trip. Now, take your pick, who you want to see next?
Lynnette is the one on the right and Sophia’s the one on the left. So vote now, who’s sets of photos would you like to see next? (more…)
Portraits: Ai Li The Forest Angel
The 1st Portrait for 2010. This set has taken me some time before it sees the light of day. Here’s 5 of my favorite from the shoot.
Sights & Sounds of Vientiane, Laos Part 2 of 2
Here is the continuation from the previous post on the place I’ve visited in Vientiane, this place I visited was located on Lane Xang Avenue with it’s entrance facing Ho Phra Keo, it’s the only temple to survive the Siamese invasion and popularly known as Vat Sisaket to both locals and tourist. The Vat or Temple holds several thousand statuettes of Buddha of various sizes while funeral urns was placed along its walls.
Sights & Sounds of Vientiane, Laos Part 1 of 2
One of the captivating aspect of Vientiane, Laos is the beautiful architectures, I am not talking about their modern buildings but the beautiful temples and monuments that was created very very long ago that still survived til this day. Some people asked me whether it’s advisable to take a tour package to visit all these places and my advice would be, Yes, if you want a structured tour of Vientiane and not getting lost. It would be the safest way to travel and see the beauty of this city. Personally, I prefer to get take my own time to see these places and to keep my cost low, I rented a bike for the duration of my stay there.
A brief background on the city,Vientiane is known locally as Viengchan with a population of 600,000. It’s a city where you won’t find much towering sky scrapers. It is a change especially coming from a country where all you see when you look up towards the sky are tall buildings. Currency used there are Kips (their local currency) but you can also use USD at the shopping centers and restaurants. Do note that Kips are worthless outside of Laos so change only as much as you need or remember to change back to USD or your local currency before leaving the country as you won’t be able to trade the Kips outside of Laos. If you kick off your tour, most important thing to have even when you have a Tour Guide with you is to arm yourself with the maps! It’s not that the Tour Guides are not reliable in Vientiane, it’s about taking charge of where you want to go and what you want to do. After all, you paid for it right? As for those touring by themselves, it’s about not getting lost and know where you are going. The maps really helped me a lot in planning my trips. Be prepared for a very long post with a lot of hi-res photos after the jump. (more…)
Off the Beaten Path in Vientiane, Laos
In this 2nd installment of my visit to Vientiane, Laos, I’d like to bring you back in time, in time to the age where modern technology has yet to have it’s influence to the way of life.The place I’m talking about is called Dane Song, about 30km from Vientiane on the Luang Prabang Road. My initial plans to go there was to visit some of the caves near Dane Song (advisable to go there with a Scrambler bike as you won’t have a comfortable journey moving about with an underbone motorcycle or more popularly known as ‘Kapchai’ in Asian countries.)
About 22km after I left Vientiane on the Luang Prabang Road, I turned off at Ban Hua Khoua (it’s just a small 2 lane road so follow the arrow as you can easily overshoot that junction). Turning off the main road towards Dane Song is like heading back into the past. 3 Decades in a so called modern city known as Kuala Lumpur was thrown out the window as village with zero modern technology (except for the huge satellite dishes) start to appear. (more…)
Setting Sun over Mekong River
The 1st set documenting my holiday in Vientiane, Laos. I am not touching on the places I’ve visited for now but share with you some of the beautiful sun sets I’ve seen along the Mekong River on the 4 nights I was there traveling.
At certain parts of the river, the Mekong was so dried up that we can practically walk on the river bed and that is exactly what I did. The locals have made some small path that allowed them to go down to the riverbed to play and that’s exactly what I did as well after finding such a path. Getting the sunset from a high ground was nice but being in the middle of the river and getting closer to the beauty of it was just breath taking. (more…)
The Work Experience @ Vientiane, Laos
I know I don’t write much about my line of work/business and I prefer to keep it that way, after all, this site is about myself, not what I do to earn my keeps. But once in awhile, I do come across some stuff that I’d love to share even if it’s about my work.
For those that knew me, they’d have known the industry I’m in, for those that don’t know me, well, let’s just say that some think that I print money for a living. Anyway, what I’d like to share here is just a small part of my work experience while I was at Vientiane, Laos, covering the SEA Games that was held there. It was the first time this country is hosting a major sporting event, it’s my first time after a long while since I was involved in a job that spans many countries. It was truly an experience I’d remember. (more…)
SEA Games 2009 Mixed Doubles Tennis Finals
Went to watch the SEA Games 2009 Mixed Doubles Tennis Finals between Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn, Sanchai Ratiwatana and Thailand’s Varatchaya Wongteanchai, Sonchat ratiwatana. It’s a game where brothers battle against each other with their respective partners with Tamarine and Sanchai coming out on top (winning the Gold) at the end of the day.
I won’t bore you with a game by game analysis so here’s some photos from the tournament. I didn’t get the watch the other Tennis Finals as I had to be off to the broadcast center to prepare for the closing ceremony of the SEA Games. (more…)
Firing Range @ SEA Games 2009
This was shot at the Shooting range where the Finals of the Air Pistol was being held, as I don’t understand what is going on, I could just only stand there and wonder aloud why there isn’t any loud bangs when they fire.
One thing that I feel is lost in the art of shooting in the modern era of the sports of Shooting is the actual shooting, nowadays, we see these shooters just standing there, looking at the target for ages, lift up their weapons, take aim and then place back at the table and before we knew what happen, points was already scored. I mean, like where’s the actual “BANG!” and recoil of the weapon? (more…)
Sunrise Over Mekong River
This shot of the Mekong River was taken at 6.30am over 9 exposure and merged to create a HDR photo. Just sharing this photo of the River taken from the bank on the Vientiane side while I go through the rest of the photos taken throughout my stay there.
Hopefully you’d like I have in store, til then, have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and have a wonderful New Year!
The 25th Laos SEA Games Opening Ceremony
It’s the 25th SEA Games and it’s held at Vientiane, Laos. Even though the games had started some time back, the Opening Ceremony was only held last night (9th Dec).
The opening ceremony started at 5pm local Lao time with songs and music but officially started at 6pm with the two MCs counting down with the crowd in the National stadium. (more…)
We Built This City
The following series of photos, I decide to turn into a little short unprofessionally edited video. Instead of just a normal set, I decide to turn the photos into tilt-shift but due to the fact that I’m poor and don’t own such lens, I have to fake it all through photoshop. Here’s the end result.
What do you think? The photos was shot, edited and made into a movie over a period of 3 months. But if you were to calculate the hours spend, I only spend an hour each week I work on the photos. Hopefully I’ll be able to capture some using a proper tilt-shift lens and compare the result between one that is photoshopped and one that is straight off the camera.
