Photography: Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2012

My last post is 20th April 2012 and today is 11th July 2012, I've been missing in action for months, and I sincerely apologise for it. Personal life has been hectic and whoever say maintaining a blog needs only a little commitment, he/she is lying or he/she has no life.

I'm trying to pull myself together and update this more often, as this blog still serve the reason why I live my life to fullest. Lots has been accomplished recently, and I will update it one by one. Here I will go with the earlier photoshooting session I done for the 4th Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2012 event. I travelled with my best friend over in the dark morning, and both of us are happy with the results. It's great that Malaysia organise this kind of international event, really successful one. Enjoy.

As it's still early, we stop by a good spot and start shooting. Very nice architectural, proud of it.

Warning: this post is very photos heavy, so might take up your broadband quota and might be a bit slow to load.

Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon 2012 is coming ...

The once in a year Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon is here again and it's scheduled to held from 15th till 18th March 2012. It's a great event for families and friends, but also importantly, it's one of the major event marked in most photographer's calendar, either professional or newbie. Whoever holding a semi-pro or dSLR camera, don't miss the chance to snap some nice colourful hot air baloon photographs as part of your collection. Shame to say that I never been to this event before, going to participate this time.

The location is in Monumem Alaf Baru in Presinct 2, Putrajaya. For those that's not familiar with Putrajaya, look at the location map in their website http://www.myballoonfiesta.com/index.html. The website is rich in content, covering all the itinerary, activities, location, and etc. I copied some of it for sharing here.


Itinerary of the event, the most interesting for me would be the Hot Air Balloon Flight and the Night Glow Show & Fireworks. But it's 8-9 hours apart, what I'm going to do there??


Event map for the day, and it clearly show where to do what and etc. Good information.

Some photos extracted from the website, just wish I can get shots like these ....

Photography: Jalan Jalan Port Dickson

Golden Palm Tree Resort, looks very nice, but the sea view is bad ...

Avillion Port Dickson, seaside benches, beautiful.

Looks like fake, but real flower around the water chalet.


Weird plant, possible waiting for blossom.

Animal farm in Avillion, male & female peacock, amazing how they evolved.

Sunset view in Avillion, romantic place.

Spices for the dinner in Avillion.

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD IF

I've been living my childhood dream of owning the dSLR for almost 2 years and as I move deeper into photography, the more I learn about the limitations of the equipment. That's why I've been researching and always longing for a new lens to replace my standard stock kit lens of AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR that came together wtih the D90. The ultimate dream lens of Nikon user is always the incredible AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED, which is priced at RM6,688 but unfortunately it's out of my reach.

After a long research and consideration, finally I grab the cheaper option of Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD IF for a price of RM1,550 that's always in my wish list. I always tell people that the main reason for using a Nikon dSLR is only because of the range of incredible Nikkor lens that's available. If you are not planning to use Nikon lens, then no need to buy Nikon dSLR. I'm ashame to admit that I just join the group of people that I complain about.

My other enthusiast friends suggest me to move on with a cheaper option rather than waiting forever saving for the dream lens. As although the cheaper lens is not as superior as dream lens, it is still by any measure a much better lens than my kit lens. With my intention to move myself into professional level, I made this decision.


Here is my new un-box Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD IF lens. This lens is special made for DX camera and the 17-50mm range is effective 24-70mm after conversion.

The main reason I made this decision is because I've already decided that I love photography and I plan to upgrade to full frame in future. This 17-50mm lens will allow me to familiarise myself to the 24-70mm range in full frame camera. The superior quality of f/2.8 will also allow me to fulfill my current desire for my wish bokeh effect that will improve my photography quality tremendously. It will be one of my important step towards my plan of turning professional.

Photography: Jom Scouting @ Macro

Got hold of a new toy, used it to take some random macro shots, incredible result. Cheers.

Photography: Kuala Lumpur International Motorshow 2010

Everyone is talking about the KLIM 2010 and of course I didn't miss the event. Fine Tuesday Holiday I packed my trusted D90 and I hop onto the LRT for quick ride to the PWTC. For this kind of event and if the venue is near to a LRT, you wouldn't want to risk driving there and stucked in the traffic for hours. If you really do not live near a LRT station, then by all means park at the LRT station and take a ride. You will save lots of time and money as well.

So here we go, mind you, this post is heavy with photos and I'm sure that's the reason you will want to click on this post blog, for cars and girls that always seems to match up so well. I tried to mix up a good proportion of both but the cars are disappointing, so I concentrated much on the girls instead. Enjoy =)

Photography: Nusajaya @ Johor Bahru

Out looking for spots to photography, and during my time at Johor, where else other that the famous Nusajaya that's rumours to match up the glamourous of Putrajaya. For those that don't know, Nusajaya is the capital of government operation in Johor, the southern region. These photographs are done up long time ago just after my post of Danga Bay in Johor. Finally got somet time to sort it up for sharing.


Nusajaya construction has started quite long time ago but progressing slowly. You will never miss the signboard around Johor directing you but you might have difficulty in locating the exact area. You will know when you arrive though, when the road suddenly become 4 lanes without any car on it, yea, all gimmick of our tax money. A good spot for photographing though.


That's my buddy who is in love with photography as well. He haven't got his dSLR yet that time, he brought together his dad's classic olympus digital cam. He is the proud owner of Canon 450D now.


On our way, a very nice sky is awaiting us. Knowing a good day for shooting. Marvellous.

Canon S90 Correct Setting

I've been going through my own blog and noticed that the photos quality from Canon S90 is not exactly good. Not really bad but it's pale in comparison to my Nikon D90. I've already set the setting of Canon S90 to vivid setting and let the DIGIC IV to do the smart part in adjusting the rest. Apparently it does not ended up very well.

I usually check on the LCD screen to make sure the final output is right, but I think the Canon S90 LCD is deceptive, There are many occasions that I thought it's good, but the result on computer shows differently. I did a quick search, nothing is mentioned about deceptive display of Canon S90. However, I think it's correctable, just don't rely on the LCD anymore. I did a comparison test below.

*if you noticed, I just photoshop my Nando's post to make it looks "presentable"


This shot is taken with my Nikon D90, I set mine to aperture priority, vivid setting and let the machine did the rest. Fabulous shot coupled with my trusty Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens. Beautiful, that's something I would want my Canon S90 to present. Let's adjust the setting to get the same result then.


Ok, first shot taken, and it's boring. I set mine to aperture priority, vivid setting and let Canon S90 do the same. Obviously the Canon S90 is not very smart. It's not bad, it set-up the white balance correctly. Just that it's not my cup of tea, I prefer something more, dramatic, like my Nikon D90.


Ok, this time I tweaked the setting to custom and boost up the saturation & contrast to maximum. I manually adjusted the white balance to give in some mood. It looks much better, but still a little off from the quality from Nikon D90.


3rd setting, as earlier setting is not very good, I boosted the saturation higher by adjusting manually on the red, green, blue settting a level up notch. The result is a little over, but definitely something need to be adjusted to get better photos with the good Canon S90.

With the new setting, I took a trial with the shot below. It's much better, that's the shot I'm looking for. Let's see how well it goes in my future shooting experience in Canon S90.

Photography: Jom Scouting

Apology

I've just realised that I accidentally throw in some filter effect of all my new S90 photos in the blog. I'm changing it out for the real quality of the S90, no wonder why it looks funny. Sorry, works undergoing.

Lenscape 2.0 - DCIM Show

A focus on photography of DCIM show is up and scheduled at Midvalley from 14th till 16th of May 2010. I think it's a must go for enthusiast photographer. Even not enthusiast, it's good to run around and sit down for the workshop that's offer for some in-sight of the techniques. Velocity Angel Search 2010 will also be featured, check out more from DCIM website at http://www.dcimshow.com/

Attached the schedule of the workshop & show timetable for your reference. Nice.

Canon Powershot S90

Finally I've decided and bought the Canon Powershot S90 for my wife. After another round of search and hands-on review of some compacts, I settled for the Canon S90. I'm going to explain why, read on.


The Canon S90 box. It's really small and it doesn't make you feel that it worth thousand over bucks, I suppose Canon is helping to the shops to save storage space, but resulted to cheap packing.

Best Semi-Pro Compact Camera for Girl

Recently I lost my digital compact camera, the Canon A570IS, that I bought 3 years ago. I almost lost it once during my hiking on the Mount Kinabalu. I brought it up to the highest mountain in Southeast Asia and on my way climbing vertically down, it slipped out of my pocket. It's going free fall from the top of the mountain and luckily, my friend down there manage to catch it! That's incredible reflexes he had there. I shouted, he looked up and catch the camera, everything in seconds, or else it would have fall all the way to the bottom of the mountain.

Since I owned my D90, I only use the digital compact camera for my work purposes. I never use the A570IS for any of my outing photos anymore, because the quality from the D90 is just too superior. However, the compactness and conveniency of the compact still far too great. I'm planning to get another compact, but this time it's for my wife. She wanted to venture into photography as well but complaining about the size and weight of the dSLR (I suppose all girls are same?). So I'm all out to find her something that's small enough but still possess the power of the dSLR.

The first model that came into my mind is the Olympus PEN E-P1. This camera is been so famous that I've been hearing about it all the time especially its Micro Four Third Sensor. I did another search and found some other equally good compact that fall within her criterias. They are the Canon S90 and Panasonic Lumix LX-3. Of course that other superior compacts like Canon G11 and Panasonic DMC-GH1/G1 also catch my attention.


From right to left: Lumix GH-1, Olympus PEN E-P1, Canon G11, Lumix LX-3, Canon S90

What should I choose for her? Here go the selection process. I only have a budget of RM1,500 because if I spend any more, it would already can afford an entry level of dSLR. I'm not ready to spend more than a dSLR but still getting crap quality photos. Immediately the Olympus PEN E-P1 and Panasonic DMC-GH1/G1 is out of the game. Both these cameras are superb in quality near matching to the dSLR but the price is almost RM2,000-RM3,000 that can easily get a medium level dSLR like my D90.

That left me with the choice of Canon G11, Canon S90 and Panasonic Lumix LX-3. I quickly run into local shop and play with the camera because the second main criteria is the size of the camera. By just looking at these cameras through the glass door, I know my choice would be Canon S90. Let's look at some dimensional comparison:

112 x 76 x 48mm @ 375grams - Canon G11
109 x 60 x 27mm @ 265grams - Panasonic Lumix LX-3
100 x 58 x 31mm @ 195grams - Canon S90

With a quick glance, the S90 seems to be as big as the LX-3 but the thickness dimension reported for LX-3 is actually wrong. It only show the body thickness and the bad thing about LX-3 is that it's lens is extruded from the body and cause a little non-handbag friendly, which is not mentioned. I think the LX-3 measured at least 37mm in thickness.


A side to side comparison between the Canon S90 with the Panasonic LX-3. Little different? Wait till you hold them on your hand.

Of course that as a dSLR owner, I cannot be deciding just purely on size, because rules of thumb in eletronic world is that smaller means lower quality. I dig further for a quality comparison of Canon S90 and Panasonic Lumix LX-3.

Specification of Lumix LX-3
10.1 megapixel with CCD sensor of 1/1.63"
Leica DC Vario Summicron Lens of 24-60mm (2.5x zoom) with aperture of 2.0-2.8 - very impressive!
Shutter Speed 60-1/2000
ISO range 80-6,400
Burst mode 1.88 frames/secMovie capture of HD 1,280x720 @ 24fps
3.0" LCD with 461,000 pixels
Battery Life 380 shots per charge

Specification of Canon S90
10.1 megapixel with CCD sensor of 1/1.7"
Canon Lens of 28-105mm (3.8x zoom) with aperture of 2.0-4.9
Shutter Speed 15-1/1600
ISO range 80-12,800
Burst mode 0.94 frames/sec
Movie capture of 640x480 @ 30fps
3.0" LCD with 461,000 pixels
Battery Life 220 shots per charge

In all the important aspect that I compared, LX-3 just kicks the little S90 ass everytime, except the ISO range, which is not very important for such a small sensor. There is a lot of similarity between LX-3 and S90, and it's rumour that Canon copied the LX-3 design and launch the S90 for head-to-head competition for that market share. But still I will probably go for the S90, why?

1. Canon S90 28-105mm is really important especially for travelling. The 24-60mm offered by LX-3 is definitely insufficient although the lens are much superior in low light situation. But I'm looking for overall performance here, and the 60mm capped by LX-3 is making the decision easier.

2. The size of the camera plays a big role in my decision as it's meant for my wife and the light weight with much smaller size is the main attraction while losing a little on-paper specifications to LX-3. Remember handbag friendly that will make sure she will use it and take all interesting photos that she wanted.

3. Me and my wife are SCUBA divers and underwater accessories plays a part here. Canon S90 original underwater casing (up to depth of 40m) cost approximately RM850 with warranty of 3 years while I'm not sure if I can find anything for the LX-3 in Malaysia. Even if you are not a diver, having the underwater casing will also allow you to get some interesting photos during snorkelling and beach side activities. My quick search around the web show the LX-3 underwater casing cost almost RM2,000-RM3,000 from reputable brand like Nautica!

4. This is a rumour and based on web review, that the LX-3 has more noise than the S90 in low and even base ISO. Both cameras can stretch up to ISO400 for usable photos but ISO800 is possible if taken in RAW and photoshop manually. With most of the photos to be capture in good light of base ISO, noise is not acceptable and I'm not sure why LX-3 make that mistake. I will need to clarify, but I will take other professional reviewers online opinion for now.

Both the compact are within the same price range of almost RM1,500 and both are great compact. I'm still lingering around my mind on which to choose but I will reveal later. Any other recommendation and help are welcome! Cheers. =)