Oh dear. Another year have passed and I am back here. It seems that it's becoming a yearly affair that I drop by this blog of mine to update.

Let's see. What have I done so far since Aug of 2012....

I have since sold most of my 4/3 gear and have started into collecting stuff for my micro Four third. The lighter and smaller camera makes it easier to lug around. But it have it's drawback. I cannot get pinpoint Auto focus. It's not a problem when shooting landscapes but when shooting portraits, it can be real challenging.

Went to AniManGaki 2012. No wide stuff only pretty faces..

Also went to the Beauty & The Beast @ Sunway Lagoon. Got to try out the nice primes that I got.

Done with the Zuiko 45mm /1.8 lens. Pretty impressive tiny lens and the details were superb.

A year have passed.

It's been more than a year since I came in here.

Since then, this is one from the walkabout with the Pen Lovers.

A beautiful Victorian fountain that's found in front of the Sultan Abdul Samat Building.







As they prepare for the Chartered Bank Run

Will try to add more when I have the time

Something is not working..I think I am getting photographers' block again. There is no urge to take out that camera and shoot.

My pathetic outing at SUPER GT.

 

 Did not give me the inspiration to shoot.

With catches like this, it's really demoting ..

 

Did a vertical panorama on this model there.She was kind enough to stand still for this pose.

Wide

Is panorama shooting hard? This have been asked of me many a times. To me, it's not. All one needs is to follow the basic principles in photography.

1) Rule of the Thirds. Yes. It's the basic rule. Leave that out only when you are comfortable in breaking the rule.

2) Have leading lines into the photo to give it depth. What's the point if it just one that looks like a layer cake? FLAT!!!

3) Have either interesting subjects inside that captivate the imagination of the viewer.

 

A simple panorama but the colors and the humans in the picture makes one feel that you are there. You can see the ROT being used and the walkway leads into a feeling of depth.

Full size picture

This is a 360 deg view that was shot in Sutera Harbour in Kota Kinabalu  The day was really bright and the sun was shining directly on to the lens. I added a ND filter before shooting this. you will notice some wavy feel in this picture as I rotated the picture wrongly. 

Being new in Panorama photography then, I rotated the camera via the tripod mount. This is so wrong. I was wondering why it was wavy and the horizon is not straight. (BTW, that what my 2nd take. The first take was done handheld and it worst) I had the camera already on tripod and I had check the level before taking yet I got this wavy feeling.. What went wrong?

So it was time for Mr Google to help. I found that rotation must be done at the Nodal point. What is this NODAL point? It's the point that Light enters the camera Some call it the cardinal point.

Then WHERE is this point? Simple. The front element of you camera lens!!! That's where the light enters the camera. All you need to do is to rotate using that and it's going to give you the maximum ease in stitching and if you keep your camera straight from end to end, it will have very limited distortion.

This is shot with the Olympus xz-1 and the place is Melaka river. I had no tripod with me, so it was just a box and a pillar.

 Another shot that I used a pillar as my support. this is almost a 180 deg shot. Place, Pearl River in Guangzhou. I shot this at the time of the Asean games. Camera used is the Olympus  E-PL1 with a Lumix 20/1.7

More on this to come in later updates.

SUPER GT

Was back in Sepang after a 2 years break.

A long walk in.

A view of the track and Hillside

A view of the Paddock

Two by two...

Sorry for the distraction. Back to my history and Journey.

My first time going to the Sepang F1 track in 2007. I already started my journey of hardware WANTS. It's not items I needed but it's WANTS. On top of the  11-22, 14-45, 40-150, I bought that EC14 and Sigma 55-200.

Green horn at shooting moving cars,

 

 So what do you get? Cars parked on the track!!! BTW, I think that was shot with the 40-150 with the EC14 or it could be the sigma 55-200 The Focal length in the EXIF reads 199mm

After 1 whole day of trying to get something, I gave up.

So I shot WIDE. From the hill stand overlooking the F1 circuit.

And I also shot the race crowd

 

and from the C1 hillside looking over to the Grandstand

It was an experience that draw me back there in years to come.

Brenizer bokeh Method

What's that?? My super duper 14-150 lens is practically useless in getting any bokeh. I learn from this brenizer-method. Easy enough if you combine the Panorama to it...PROVIDED the subject don't move.

This is a 3 picture stitch.

Oh yes, This is the Launch of the SUPER GT at Empire Shopping gallery in Subang.