An afternoon at the playground

All taken on G11.

Look here..

I didnt do it.

Quit staring at me...

400D 50mm1.8

In his own world.

400D, 50mm 1.8

In Awe...

G11

Love my cousins

G11

Love my ice kacang

G11

Love my cake.

Canon 400D + 50mm 1.8

The G11

I have had the G11 for 4 days now and have shot about 150 pics. I must say that the G11 has exceeded my expectations for a point & shoot digital camera.

The simple reason why I rate the G11 so highly, apart from its amazing lens, is that it suit my needs.

1) It has a hot shoe to fit my 430ex speedlite. This is major plus point especially shooting in low-light indoors. I would never use its built in flash as I hate the harsh light.

2) I have control over the camera. Yes, shooting in auto mode or P mode will give excellent shots but I like to be in control of how I want the shots to turn out. I mainly shoot in AV mode and Manual.

3) Easy accessible control at your fingertips. Another feature i love is the exposure compensation dial which sits right on top of the camera.

4) Minimum aperture of F2.8 at wide angle. I was a bit put off when reading on the G11 features that you can only get F2.8 at wide angle of 28mm. I found myself shooting at wide angle most of the time, something I rarely do with my 400D and EOS film cam

eras. Mind you even if I zoom in at around 50mm

at F5.6 the pictures are still incredibly sharp.

5) RAW. I shoot in RAW all the time as i do not see the point of shooting jpegs in digital cams as I won't be able to the necessary adjustments in post process. However, I have yet to experiment the G11's capabilities in converting to jpegs.

6) Macro mode. I love this! You could bring the lens as close as 1cm to the object. Nice bokeh too.

What I don't like on the G11 so far...is just the OVF (Optical view finder). It is simply hopeless. And yes at ISO 800 noise is apparent.

My last thoughts on G11 for now.... An experienced photographer like me would appreciate it more. It would not be suited for just anyone. For beginners I'd suggest going for the canon S90/S95 or Panasonic Lx3/Lx5. Enough of the talk..lets see some pics.

Brilliant outdoor shots

at F.28 with speedlite flash

at F2.8 with speedlite flash

With speedlite flash

With speedlite

In Macro Mode

Taken with speelite flash

A new era begins!

I finally got the G11! Just in time for Hari Raya.

This is quite a big step. It may look like a step backwards after mastering DSLR I'm now going back to point & shoot. I feel digital photography would be moving to smaller compacts camera. This can be seen by the micro 4/3', which are slowly making an impact in the market.

Consumers who buy to own a DSLR so they can look like pro-photographers are now finding out that carrying a bulky camera and lens may not be so practical after all.

I can't wait to experiment on the G11.

Selamat Hari Raya Alls.

Just when you thought....

Cameras are now about technology and going one up on the competition. I have to accept the fact that camera producers will churn out new cameras almost on a yearly basis as technology evolves.

Just when I wanted to get the powershot G11, rumor has it that canon is coming out with a G12 with a CMOS sensor. What does this mean? A compact camera with a DSLR sensor! That too me is the ultimate compact camera. Dang!!

I am betting canon will improve the viewfinder and if the G12 comes with minimum aperture of 1.8 I am sold.

Time to dust off the old blog again...

One of my cousin bought a panasonic GF1 with the 20mm lens. I'm telling you the camera and lens are awesome! That little time I had fiddling it was enough to convince me that digital cameras should be made in that perfect size. Something I can carry around easily. Although it wont fit in a pants pocket, a pouch would do the job. The problem is the price and that news of a new camera from panasonic. They have already announced the LX5, which had great reviews about it, rumour has it they may replace GF1 with a GF2. Well lets just wait and see. The LX5 seems a good buy too but I have already decided to go with the canon powershot G11. Yep.

These are not taken with the G11, it was taken on 400D with 50mm 1.8. Some shots taken around the place i live.

My Fav pic...

The Powershot G11 it is...

After months and months of reading online reviews and comments on the Panasonic GF1, I have arrived at a conclusion that this M4/3 system is way too expensive. The price is equal to an entry level DSLR.

My main objective was to have something light and convenient to carry around. The GF1 and its interchangeable lens was my first option. The price though was a major obstacle. I don't believe in spending over 3k for this camera. Might as well I buy some good lens for my SLR.

So the next best option is the Canon Powershot G11. Sure it comes with a smaller sensor, but I am confident that in my hands we'll see some great shots.

So the G11 it is..

The Day my 2 year old son tried to strike a deal with me!

Getting my 2 year old boy to go to bed is a daily challenge. Although, sleepy he will find excuses to delay the whole process.

There was one night when he refused to wear his pajamas. He would wriggle his body when i tried to put on his pajamas. Then he asked for his milk. Knowing this was my chance to bribe him, I said "you put on pajamas, daddy make you susu". Without any hesitation, he paused, looked at me and said "wear pants then susu ok". Cheeky...a lawyer in the making perhaps.... :)

Elhan is 2.

I was sitting watching tv the other day and realized that there was this little man sitting on the floor focused on arranging the little green army men before running a tank all over them. It was a weird feeling but at the same time I was in awe to see how fast you have grown.

One year ago, you could not walk yet. Now, you can run, jump and even summersault on the bed. Your favorite game on the bed is to pretend to be shot then you would fall dramatically complete with sound effects and all.

There are so many memories in my head right now of the past one-year that I just do not know where to start. So I’m just gonna list them down.

- You had your first haircut from me. The first time was ok but the second…well lets just say it looks better now.

- You had your first trip to the zoo. You enjoyed looking at the animals. I don’t know how much of it you’re gonna remember but Mummy and Daddy was so exhausted that day.

- You are into guns, cars and tanks. You have so many of them.

- You are still into music, your current favorites are 21 Guns by Greenday which you must listen to before going to sleep, and Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson

- You can sing Burung Kakak Tua, Rasa sayang , Rain go away, and Lagu 3 Kupang.

- You favorite snack is peanut butter sandwich, grilled cheese, honey stars and now Coco crunch.

- Your fav drink is apple juice.

One of the best times was when Mummy had to go to Bangkok for 3 days. It was just you and me for that whole 3 days. You were such a good boy which made it easy for me to handle you i.e. feeding you, bathing you, changing you and best of all going out to the mall. We spent hours in Toys r us. From the smiles and attention we got, you are definitely a babe puller.

With me pointing the camera at you constantly, you now know how to hold a camera. Seeing me with the big camera in front of my face, you too wanted to try it out. Since the camera was too heavy for you to hold I gave you mummy's digital point and shoot camera, which you took and held it up in front of your face. I guess you still don't understand the concept. But I'm sure in time you will.

We are so thankful to have you in our lives. Sometimes we wish you would just stay a 2 year old.

Need to get out there.

I have had enough of sitting in front of my laptop, going through hours and hours of online photography sites. No point of admiring those excellent photos and going " I wish I could shoot that". I need to get off my butt..

This picture was taken with my Nokia E75. It is a view from my client's office on a bright clear day.

This was taken on another day when the rain clouds started to form. Could see the sun rays peeking through.

The Thing about Digital Photography

I started my love for photography more than a decade ago during the film negatives days. Life was much simpler then. I would concentrate on getting the right exposure while making sure of composition. I would have jot down the camera setting in a little notebook. Sometimes just making do with a mental note. Then the negative was sent to the lab and I wait in full anticipation. When I get to see the results it was mostly mixed feelings. 90% of the time my shots were good and great, while 10% would be off, either exposure, composition or people with eyes closed. The ones that didn't make the mark was simply ignored. Learn from my mistakes and move on.I embraced the digital era reluctantly. Got my first digital camera in late 2006. The Canon 400D, which I still have and use. Even with digital, my goal was to get exposure and composition spot on without any need for post processing. But when I shoot in RAW, I tend to have this "tidak apa" attitude. If i get anything wrong can adjust in post processing. It came to a point when I was doing post processing in all my shots just to see how I can improve or get better dynamics.

Yes, with digital I can shoot 500 pic in one go but after reviewing and post processing I end up with probably 50 shots that I'm happy with.

Another thing is that every tom dick and harry carries a DSLR nowdays. Some have never shot on 35mm SLR before. Most of the time are spent on post processing.

I'm not anti DSLR or digital, I want the fun back into photography. Now we have the camera doing all the thinking for you.

Anyway, I took some indoor shots of mundane stuff around the house...it turned out I got some pretty good black and white shots.

Garlic Basket

Pan on stove

Clay pot

Things I hate about Facebook

1. If you update your status by saying : "zzzzzzzzzzz" baik tak payah!

2. People sending me chocolates, hearts, hugs, coffee etc....WTF!

3. Quoting text from Quran....so what's your point?

4. to be continued.....

Lenses wish list

I used to be a wedding photographer. I reluctantly started when my best buddy trusted me to take his wedding pictures. Remember, this was in film days. I had my fav EOS 50e and the 35-80mm kit lens. I wouldn't know the results until i had the films developed. It turned out my pictures weren't that bad, in fact according to my buddy it was better than the bride's pro photographer. That got me inspired.

I was now confident of doing weddings. I had fresh new ideas. I wanted my pictures to tell a story. And so I did one wedding after another. I did mostly Malay weddings but fortunate enough to cover a church wedding and a Hindu temple wedding. I then upgraded/invested in new lense and flash. The 24-105mm and the 540ex. I was enjoying it. The challenge of getting that perfect shot, the satisfaction of seeing the results. But it all got too tiring.

I had a day job. My photography job was just on the side. Some clients wanted the "normal" (boring) wedding photos, some where unhappy with my photo journalistic style. I then lost that mojo I had when I started out. My shots were turning out flat. So I decided it was time to give up.....just as I did all my gear got stolen. So that was the end of it.

Now, I found my mojo. I'm back into the love game with my photography.

I always believe in "its not the camera, its the person behind the camera". I have always made do with average gear from the camera to the lenses. I now realise for me to go up a level, I would need better lenses. What i mean by "up a level" is my skills. So this is my wish list for now...

The 50mm 1.4, I already have the 50mm 1.8 but this one is faster and would be ideal for low light. Price RM1,500.

The 35mm 1.4L. An awesome lense from the L series. Best for wider indoor low light shots. Price: RM5,300....perghh!

First lets clear all the cobwebs and dust in this blog.

I have not blogged because I have nothing to share with the worldwide web. Not so much nothing more like nothing interesting to say. Yeah sure there's been issues in the world, local political scene, idiotic Ministers and idiotic Malaysians but its just not worth my time. I have better things to do.

Lets talk about cravings....yeah cravings. I have a new craving, its the Panasonic GF1 (shiver). After researching online for about a month, I am now convinced that the new way to go for digital cameras is the Micro Four Thirds system. The leading brands are Olympus with their EP-1 and EP-2, Panasonic with the G1, GH1 and Lumix GF1.

I really don't mind lugging around a knapsack with one film SLR camera, DSLR camera, Flash and a couple of lenses. But with the M4/3 system, I would be carrying a little less. Imagine a compact size digital camera with SLR capabilities, exchangeable lenses... woohoo. It is the way to go I tell you.

In one professional photographer's website, he was so amazed of the picture quality that he predicted the death of DSLR by the end of this decade.

Anyway, I have been reading so much on photography recently that I stopped to realise we malaysians especially almost all the time take pictures indoors. As a result of being forced to use flash, the pictures comes out stiff and blown out. I have perfected the technique in on camera flash. I use the bounce method of course with high ISO and fast lenses. Now, I have decided to put away the flash in my dry box and shoot without it.

I have to get out more and shoot outdoors with God's given natural light. So in the next few postings I will show the results. In the meantime here are some...

Outdoors pictures. see how nice it looks. This was taken on film SLR with a fast lens.

My favorite picture of all. This is my niece. Taken on film SLR with bounced flash to my back. I cannot remember the aperture but looks like somewhere between f2.0 and f2.8

This picture was taken from light coming in from balcony. No flash used here. Au naturale.

This picture was taken with the on camera flash bounced to my right. I like the natural look to it. Of course did some adjustments in post processing.

This was taken with the flash pointing backwards. It doesn't look like flash was used at all. That was the idea.