Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Favorites - 2008

My favorites pictures of 2008.. in no particular order









Monday, December 29, 2008

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Greetings from Dublin.. Happy Christmas everyone!!!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Panto!!!

i couldnt wait for this day. just finished my exam, so im back with my camera and crappy pics :P
KK told me there will be a panto that nite, so i just tag along. i use this chance to learn and gain some experience. the lecture hall was dark and it was very hard to focus. since the only fast lens i have is minolta 50mm 1.7, i have to juggle up between 3 lenses i brought along.

the 50 is the brightest and easiest to lock focus, but the length is not very practical. then i tried to use 55-200, but its definitely to dark, and slow focusing. i end up using my sigma 10-20.athough the range is quite limited it still the best option that night. i wish i could get my hands on at least tammy 17-50 2.8. or maybe i should just wait until zeiss 16-35 2.8 to come out.

i was not very impressed with the result. my technique/skills/creativity sucks. meaning i still have more to learn. my equipment was limited and the lighting was bad. i had to do extra post-process unlike usual. i dont particularly like post-processing coz i'm not very good at it and also i would prefer to get the the best possible outcome straight from camera.

so enough talking.. time to share the pics. any comments, critiques and tips are welcome. although i dont think anyone will be reading this :p

oh yeah, btw.. the panto was hilarious. i couldnt stop laughing.. i blamed that as well :P







Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Botanical Garden, Dublin


Last Sunday, with a few people from DUPA, we went to have a day trip at Botanical Garden, Dublin. We met at Trinity front arch around 10am and took bus 83 to our destination. There, Kevin has already waited for us and off we go.



It was actually a perfect opportunity to try out the raynox 250 macro adapter which i acquired some time ago. i thought it was gonna be a walk in a park.. but it's not!!!


i found out the depth of field is very shallow and any slight movement is magnified 1000 times!!! (nah, im just exaggerating here). to overcome this i had to use smaller aperture i.e f8,11,16 and high iso (400, 800, 1600) to increase shutter speed. although the result is not up to the standard, im still quite satisfied with it.



i also got a chance to shoot/snap some wild squirrels. it was a long ago since my last visit to the zoo, i would say its my 1st time to shoot moving animal. they moved quite a lot. there was only a fraction of second to compose your shot. if you are not alert, then they will be gone from your viewfinder before you know it. sekejap ada, sekejap tak ada.



i mainly used sony 55200 for the trip. have to change between manual and auto focus because of af hunting. but im still quite satisfied with the result. need to start saving for 70-300 ssm G :p


Saturday, November 8, 2008

GOOOAAALLLL!!!!!

yeah!! 2-1, Arsenal beat ManU at The Emirates. 2 goals from Nasri seal the deal. I already know what im gonna have on this year Arsenal jersey.

ps- the goal from rafael is awesome!!

Friday, November 7, 2008

TCD MedDay!!!!

-the MedDay poster at Arts Buliding-

It was a veerrryy long day... I was up at 6am and getting ready. No idea the bus only run around 650 am. I was 'forced' to wait out in the cold for 40 min :( ..

When I arrived, number of students has already left, with buckets and balloons, for their annual routine - The Medday. This year the funds raised will go to the Centre of Cardiovascular Risk in
Young People (AMNCH) and Acute Stroke Services (James).
-the Breakfast-

I hit on the street with the orange tee and Orange (sony alpha) weapon.. After a while, I went back to take the picture of the committee members. It was great but still im not really satisfied with the pictures. The lighting was not so good in the morning. A bit cloudy (but still freeezingg cold) so i have to resort to artificial light - my one and only f58. I wish i could have done this in proper studio setting.

-the committee-

-street collector having fun-



Sunday, November 2, 2008

Trinity Med Cup 2008

Santry, 1st Nov - Its a chilly morning after the halloween. "What better way to get rid of the halloween hangover than voyaging out to the wilderness of wind and rain that is the santry sports ground??" -quote from The MedDay Comittee-
-wait..this is not 16a!!-Believe it or not, this car fits 5 adults !!!
Observe the technique -warm up session-
-the ball, the grass, the enthusiasts-
The only self-portrait of the day.
-and the battle began-
the champion -4th in a row-

more pictures @ my flickr...

Friday, October 31, 2008

What a THURSday...

I decided to renew my immigration card today.. Was there quite late (9am) and the queue was insane as usual. -363- that's my number. "Come back at 5" . Damn...
I came back at 330. I know was early so I went net surfing at nearby internet cafe. Around 430 I went back in, and still... 100++ to go. If i know this gonna happen, i might as well get some food, nap whatever and come back at 7.
Finally, they called my number.. 745 PM!! and had to wait another hour to finish processing.
Was waiting for bus and saw this very nice playbunny in pink glow :) very nice... i dont know why.. it seems that nothing went right. The bus only came 30min later.
Back at home.. i cant unlock the freakin door. Give me a break!! I was stuck for around 8min and it finally gives in to me. What a day for me.... ::sigh::

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Ring the bell!!!

I couldn't remember when was the last time i hear my house bell ringing.

Have u ever experience waiting for your parcel/packet to come from as early as 8am only to find that delivery notice in your mail box? I guess most of us have.

So please, Mr. Mailman/woman etc.... put yourself in your customer's shoe. The bell is not just for show. It defeats the purpose of having the xxxxxx bell. Ring once or twice than go ahead.. leave your curse letter there.

...enough ranting...

Had nothing much to do in the evening. It gets dark pretty early these days. So i decided to went for a basic photography talk in my college. It nothing much, just basic things like aperture, shutter speed and exposure. At least, got to see new faces. Since i came back after summer, i can count with right hand finger alone.. people using Alpha. In Ireland, the Sony DSLR range as not as popular as Canon or Nikon. The shops here mostly stock C n N stuff. I cant even find battery grip for alpha. They have some lenses and flashes at Argos, but way overpriced.

..ooopss, looks like the ranting still goes on :P

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC

As promised, here's some sample pictures.. enjoy...
-Stephens Green Park-

-Grafton Street-

-Book of Kells-

-Molly Mallone-

-light trails-

More pictures @ my Flickr..

Saturday, October 25, 2008

UWA!!!!!!

Do not mistaken.. i'm not crying nor sad. I was bored. I decided to go out to check on tripod prices. It was raining. I braced myself in the rain (its not that heavy) waiting for the bus. After about 10 mins dancing in the rain, the bus finally arrived. Again, when i arrived at my destination, the shop was closed. So unfortunate. since i was using the new rambler smart card anyway, what the heck.... i just get another bus to the town. I went to few camera shops to check out tripods and bags. I do not bother to have a look at lens coz shops here dont stock many alpha mount. Even if they were, its xxxxxxx expensive. Since my effort was fruitless anyway, i decided to have ago. Since this shop are having sale for their lens, i just asked
me: Do u stock sigma for sony?
guy: Not sure, which one?
me: hmm.. 10-20 maybe?
guy: dont think so...

As i was about to leave, he called me and told me they had one in stock. I asked for the price and then walked away. I made some thinking (and calculating of course) along the way. And the result...


UWA!!!! I couldnt resist the temptation. Yes, UWA stands for Ultra Wide Angle, Super Wide or whatever u called it. I went home with the sigma.

Some quick review ( i had no chance to test it since it was raining outside)....

It comes with lens case, petal hood (i like..), rear cap and front pinch-type cap. And dont forget the lens.

The lens case feels nice. Cushion-like padding at the bottom (front) and styrofoam at the top (mount) part.

It has 77mm filter diameter which is normal (huge to me since i only have experienced 55mm kitlens and 49mm km 50mm). Very narrow filter thread. The front element bulge a bit, i'm not sure whether it touches the cap while its on. Since i have no filter to try on, vignetting is not an issue so far (inside my room).

The weight is just nice (470g). The focussing is ok (no HSM on alpha and pentax mount). The distance scales are carved on the body( which i dont like), unlike the Canon n Nikon version. During the auto focusing, the manual focus ring rotates (which i dont like). So make sure u are holding it at the right place while auto focusing.

The angle covered (10mm which is 15mm on 1.5x crop factor) is something i could only wish i had earlier.
The zoom ring is quite tight but will loosen after a while. During zooming, the barrel extends abit starting from 14mm. The f-value goes up quite fast. 10mm = f4. 11mm f4.5. So make sure u have enough lighting if u want to bring this inside.

Performance wise, i cant comment since i haven't got a chance to bring it out. My first impression, i love the angle, the size, the hood and the extreme wide (did i mention that?).

What i dont like is the rotating focusing ring while AF, no HSM (i wonder why the RRP is the same as other mount which availabe in HSM), the front cap is very close to the front element (i think its the same for every UWA) and the distance scale.

I chose this lens instead sony 11-18mm because of range and price-wise. Since both of them are for APS-C sensor, i wont lose anything so i go for a cheaper version. I hope alpha mount will have faster and constant aperture UWA lens in the future coz i almost definitely gonna get that...

Sample pictures will follow later. And i hope my next toy will come ASAP :P

Friday, October 24, 2008

Good bye...




Today, is my last day at Summerhill Surgery. To be honest, I was a little bit sad. "Patah tumbuh hilang berganti".. chewahh!!It has been a great experience. I hope, the next one will also be an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Good bye Summerhill..

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Summerhill...

Finally, it's here.. first time nak gi peripheral ni nervous gak. macam 1st time nak fly lak. sampai kat busaras pukul 8 pagi. 1st bus pulak pukul 9.45.



it was boring being alone. thank god i bring my life saver - my breakfast :P . I had my breakfast in the bus while listening to music.


The ride took about one hour. tapi pening jugak. tak ramai dalam bas, 8 peoples at most. since, it was my 1st time, i dont know u need to request stop. bile rase2 macam dah lepas je summerhill town tu, i decided to ask the driver. he stopped but told me summerhill was the last village. :(


this is the place where i got off. Summerhill Celtic Training Field. So, i walked back up the road into the center (it was alsmost 1km). I stopped to ask at the Summerhill Pharmacy.. looks like i actually missed it on my way to the center. Jalan a balik. around 500m, i finally arrived at my destination.
No wonder i missed it. It looks like a house yet its not.

The staffs and doctors are very friendly. im happy i got sent here although at first i was complaining since im all alone here.

The 1st week was over and i cant wait for the 2nd week. yeehaa!!

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