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.

Have 14mm will travel.

This Fourthird standard is confusing. Lenses marked 14mm gives only 28mm Field of view.

Here, a part of the Kuah town, Langkawi

This quiet town and lack of traffic make panorama shooting a breeze.


II also did a 360 deg panorama at one of the 2 observation platform in Langkawi.

Other than the malformed guy in the picture (actually he moved) it would have been perfect. Be warned..that picture is huge.

From Langkawi, it's back home to Selangor. in April 07, was my first of my many trip to F1 circuit in Sepang.

The Earth is round but that horizon is not that curved..it's exaggerated...Ok.. I accidentally tilted the camera at the two ends of my panorama. Could have corrected it in another software but it looked too nice so I left it as it was

More later..

What did I learn?

Well, What Did I learn?
If you look at the last picture of the last post, you will notice that the guy in the foreground appeared twice. It got me thinking.Can I mimic a double exposure?

Yes, It's possible.
There are many ways you can use panorama and this is one of them.

 

Multiple exposures!!! 

This is getting real fun from an error.

Cheers for today.

All things Wide.

When I started dSLR photography, the first lens I got was the wide angle lens. ZD 11-22. Actually that was the only lens I could afford. I know nothing of f Stops, Aperture and etc etc..(which till today still a mystery to me). Arm with that lens and the 2 kits that came with my E-330, I went to Jiuchaigau, mentioned in the first post. Shot some wide shots there but I did not really like the stretching at the sides. This normal when using wide lenses. Hence the love of Panorama Photography was born..in me at least.

Quit that boring stuff...lets look at pictures of my travels..
Still at Langkawi,

This is taken on a boat heading out to the islands to see fishes, If you shoot fast enough, I found that I could still do a panorama.

A boring few months followed until that PutraJaya's fireworks in  August. I think that was the first time Fireworks were held there.

Shot from where I was seated before the fireworks started.

Late that year, I learn something  that panorama photography can do.While having a TT with a group of photographers,

 

 I could actually do a group shoot using this panorama technique. There is no need for a wide angle lens when in limited spaced environment. Just do a panorama.

Another thing I learn also late that year while I was having a holiday in Chengmai.

More on this in the next post.

Cheers for now.

Journey

From Kota Kinabalu, I journeyed to Langkawi, March 2007. This is a beautiful island full of places for one to practice photography and to relax.

The sandy beaches

to

Beautiful mountain

Which comes with a Sky bridge

Since then I have been back to this lovely island twice.

Yes, I love to travel and see places. another thing you will notice is all the pictures are Panoramic. Almost all the panorama you see here are stitched with the help of the Panorama software from Arcsoft. It is one of the easiest software to use. This remarkable software was introduced to me when it was bundled with a digital camera purchase. It's now in it's 5th version.

Cheers for now.

Starting today...

My digital photography journey.

It all started when I was blessed with a journey to Jiuzhaigau, China in 2006.

 

A 5 picture stitching of one of the many waterfalls there.

That was followed by a trip to Kota Kinabalu. Sabah.

 

A 7 picture stitch of the Sutera Harbor

In December of that same year, Singapore

Flamingos at Singapore's Bird Park.

February of 2007,

Itching to learn more of photography, I visited PutraJaya, Malaysia. This wonderful place became one of the few places I will be visiting in the coming years.

Sunset at Seri Wawasan Bridge, Putrajaya, Malaysia

The Red mosque taken from the Seri Wawasan Bridge

 And the Seri Wawasan Bridge from the directon of the Red Mosque