Finding Focus

Daybreak on Fogged-up Lens

2009-07-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm. 1/1600 sec. f/3.5 and ISO 200 (no flash)

About this photo: I woke up from the boat during a diving trip to see an awesome sunrise but I could not get rid of the fog from my camera lens no matter how many times I wiped it. But this was a start of a great day of diving.

Nudibranch

2009-06-30T05:31:00.000-07:00

About this photo: My new favorite creature on this blue earth. I'm gonna find and photograph as many of these beautiful creatures as I possibly can.

Colours In Blue

2009-06-30T05:12:00.000-07:00

Ocellaris clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris

(???)

Moray Eel

Batfish Ephippidae

Giant Clam

(???)

About these Photos: I really don't know the names of alot of the things I see underwater sadly.

Creature Camo

2009-06-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

Boxfish (???)

Yellow Moray, Gymnothorax prasinus

Blue Spotted Stingray / Blue-spotted Ribbontail Ray

(???)

About these photos: These creatures were really hard to spot, with the exception of the yellow moray eel which even the dive master who was with us have never seen before.

Blue Silhouettes

2009-06-30T03:54:00.000-07:00

About photos: Very blurry I know, but my camera wasn't really a particularly powerful underwater camera, add that to the fact that the visibility in Tioman's waters though infinitely better than Singapore's, isn't that great.

Boys Will Be Boys

2009-06-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

Taken with Olympus U Tough T8000, 1/60s, f/3.5, ISO 64
About this photo: My first time handling my U Tough T8000 underwater and these two boys were more than happy to be my test subjects. Can't wait to go diving next weekend!

Opening the Doors to Underwater Photography

2009-06-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

So my dad came back from Qatar a few days back and these few brief visits by him always amount to buying loads of new gadgets and stuff. This time round is no different, hearing that I was gonna go diving end of June, he bought me the Olympus U Tough (First two pictures), a rugged water proof (up to 10 meteres) camera in it's own right. But with the underwater housing which was bought simultaneously, this upcoming dive trip is gonna be the best one yet.

If you happen to come across this blog, then coming back after June might just yield some kickass (or halfassed) underwater photos!

Night Time Skyline

2009-06-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

About This Picture: While waiting for the sun to set on our night photo session, I snapped a few pictures and I think this one turned out pretty well.

About This Picture: Not really post worthy I must admit but I thought what the heck. I couldn't get better angles that night though due to the geography of the place. Perhaps next time cos there's plenty of buildings with great architecture in the vicinity.

About This Picture: The shot we waited for sunset for. In the end, I liked the presunset one above better...

A Game Of Chess

2009-05-04T01:20:00.000-07:00

A Partner

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/40 and ISO 200 (ring flash)

Ceasar Is Dead!

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/36 and ISO 200 (ring flash)

King Of Reflections

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/36 and ISO 200 (ring flash)

After Checkmate

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/36 and ISO 200 (ring flash)

Seeking Heaven

2009-05-02T05:52:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 28mm. 1/1250 sec. f/4 and ISO 200 (no flash)
About this photo: The branches look like roots, reaching up to the heavens for sustenance.

A Road To Nowhere

2009-05-01T05:28:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 52mm. 1/640 sec. f/5 and ISO 200 (no flash)
About this photo: I'm starting to love black and white photography. Went off our usual cycling route and came across this sandy track. The sand was way too loose for us to explore so I'll have to guess where this road might take me.

Autumn Dreaming

2009-05-01T05:23:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 28mm. 1/1600 sec. f/4 and ISO 200 (no flash)
About this photo: A branch that was blocking our cycling path, reaching for the water.

Memories of a fishing village

2009-05-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 28mm. 1/1250 sec. f/4 and ISO 200 (no flash)
About this photo: About the closest to a fishing village you'll get in Singapore now I suppose.

Self Portrait (Black Tie)

2009-04-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 85mm. 1/8 sec. f/8 and ISO 200 (flash)
About this photo: Was messing around with my suit, this was the best shot I got. I'm not a fan of being in pictures but I like how this one turned out.

Unlocked Secrets

2009-04-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (ring flash) (exposure compensator set at -1.0)
About this photo: This antique looking locking machanism on a jewelery box caught my attention and became the focus of my lens. You've got to admit, antiques make great photo opportunities.

Black keys

2009-04-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

About this photo: A simple collage of an old out of tuned piano taking up space in my home. Well at least the piano still has some purpose aye.

Cosmic Waves

2009-04-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 48mm. 1/1000 sec. f/4.0 and ISO 200 (no flash)
About this photo: Luck made me look up in the sky today while playing with my camera. The clouds look like a giant wave of water sweeping through the sky.

Dew

2009-04-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/40 sec. f/4.5 and ISO 200 (no flash)
About this photo: It was rather windy so I couldn't get a clear shot. Inspired by a photo I saw in a phorography book. Will try harder to get a better shot.

Cogs in time

2009-04-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/5 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (no flash)

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/2 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (no flash)

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 0.8 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (no flash)

About this photos: My dad bought me a humongous wall clock with countless gears. I was quite reluctant to hang it up. Now it's broken and this is the most use I've had for it.

Floral Encounters

2009-04-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/125 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (no flash)
About this photo: Went off track on a cycling trip and while weaving through overgrown greenery I spotted this flower accompanied by two more semi bloomed ones. Too bad I didn't have my macro lens on me.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 125mm. 1/100 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 100 (flash)
About this photo: Taken during a photo shoot of night architecture in Malaysia when I came across this overhanging flower.

Taken with a SONY ERICSSON 960i
About this photo: This was taken in a flower park in australia, we went during winter and this was one of the only flower in the whole park that was in bloom. I like how the small flowers in the background look like droplets of water.

Inevitability

2009-03-30T01:24:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/500 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (no flash)

About this photo: Taken near sunset a day after earth hour. It is as though the industries are setting the atmosphere ablaze.

Permanance

2009-03-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/4.5 and ISO 100 (ring flash)
About this photo: This is actually an inscription on a replica of the One Ring, greatly magnified of course. LOTR geeks will appreciate it better.

All that glitters is not gold

2009-03-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/100 sec. f/3.3 and ISO 100 (ring flash)

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/100 sec. f/10 and ISO 100 (ring flash)

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/100 sec. f/3.8 and ISO 100 (ring flash)

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king

-J R R Tolkien

Winged Feathered and Smelly

2009-03-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/50 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (no flash)

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (no flash)

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/100 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 400 (no flash)

(Specs. Unavailable)

About these photos: Taken during a Jurong Bird Park outing. I'm not a fan of photographing animals but these are the few photos that I thought came out ok.

Ewok village

2009-03-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm. 1/200 sec. f/3.5 and ISO 400 (no flash)

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 75mm. 1/125 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 400 (no flash)

A scene from Jurong Bird Park.

Smth old, smth new, smth borrowed, smth BLUE

2009-03-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/15 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 400 (no flash)

About this photo: Totally random shot while at Jurong Bird Park. I like how it looks like a really good coloured drawing.

DMC4 - Dante kicks ass!

2009-03-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

Final Fantasy X - Yuna

2009-03-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Flora

2009-02-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/5 and ISO 100 (ring flash)
This miniscule plant is as big as the head of a match stick actually.

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/5 and ISO 100 (ring flash)

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/51 and ISO 100 (ring flash)
And this is inside a yellow flower so you can appreciate how miniscule it is too.

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/57 and ISO 100 (ring flash)

Night Sky Backdrops

2009-02-04T22:55:00.000-08:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 28mm. 8 sec. f/4 and ISO 100 (no flash)
Some Bridge in Malaysia

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 13 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 100 (no flash)
A beautiful Mosque.

Taking pictures of buildings isn't really my cup of tea. So don't think I'll be taking that many more of these.

Magnified Still Life #01

2008-12-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/576 and ISO 100 (flash)
The chain dangling from the ceiling fan.

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/57 and ISO 100 (flash)
An old china cabinet handle.

Frosting On Cupcakes

2008-12-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/51 and ISO 100 (flash)

Taken with a MICRO NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8 lens at 60mm. 1/200 sec. f/51 and ISO 100 (flash)

Rings volunteered from the photographer's mother. No rings were damaged in the shooting of these photographs.

Water Works

2008-10-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)

A drop of water falling into a bowl of... well water. Took ages to get this right and still not quite there yet.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)

I seriously need a macro lens. After a lot of time and a really wet kitchen, I got these sub average shots.

Makeshift Garden: First Outdoor Venture

2008-10-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
God knows what fruit this is but it's the only one in my corridor garden.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
I'm no good with flowers but this one looks sweet... sort of.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
About this picture: It's a plant, deal with it.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Tiny sapling. (I'm not a plant person so forgive any errors in the subject jargon)

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
I can't begin to explain how wierd this plant is.

Both taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Thou shall not eat from this tree.

Around The House

2008-10-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)

Living Room Curtains

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
A different part of the same curtain.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/200 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Fake plants, don't know whether it's evident or not.

Beginnings - Almost Macro

2008-10-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

I did not record down the shutter speeds and apertures for the following shots.
Furthermore they were manually resized due to me not installing any editing software yet thus picture might suffer from resizing errors. (Originals were too large)

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/50 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Just a test shot to determine the depth of field (DOF).

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 135mm. 1/50 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Virgin shot from my brand new D80. Dad took it but I kinda like it.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 90mm. 10 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
My first attempt at macro photography (not quite there yet), took 5 tests with different settings and a tripod before I got this. (Original size)

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 120mm. 1/50 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Honeyed cornflakes. Unable to get any closer due to the .45metre min restriction.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 120mm. 1/50 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Again, too far for macro photography. This is as close as I can get to the coin.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 120mm. 1/50 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Quite uninspired I think but I like the colour.

Taken with a NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 125mm. 1/50 sec. f/5.6 and ISO 200 (flash)
Meat on fried bee hoon noodles. Now I'm hungry.

NIKON D80 D-SLR

2008-10-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

I've taken up a new hobby recently ever since my dad bought me a new camera about a week or so back. A beautiful D80 SLR 10.2 megapix camera.

Funny story, the camera was intended for my dad, he wanted to hand me down his D70 which personally I think is was a marvelous piece of technological hardware... God knows how many years ago. But the night he bought it, he suddenly told me, you can have it I'll stick to mine. Of course the day he bought the latest Nikon flash, he had second thoughts about letting me have the D80. Haha

I'm more into macrophotography and sceneries than taking pictures of people however. Sadly the kit lens' ration is 1:3.5-5.6 meaning the largest I picture I can get is 1/3.5 of the actual size of the picture and since it's not constant, if I zoom in all the way (which I need since my lens has a minimum operating distance of .45metres), I'll only get 1/5.6 of the actual size. And for macrophotography you'll need at least 1:2.

For those who are lost, never you mind. My dad is bringing back his lenses from his place for me to use. Heh heh.

Quick snaps:

Back view with camera display and flash display switched on.
AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED kit lens
D80 body with kit lens and lens hood
Back view D80 body w lens and SB-900 Speedlight flash
Body (control panel)
Same as #1
Camera plus assessories.
Front view.
Bad picture.

Let the fun begin.