Of flowers and... sucky skills...

So, this will be the final flower series from Sentosa. The scary thing is.. I have no more photos to show after this! :(



But oh well, I'll worry about that later. I think Malaysia should learn something from Sentosa in terms of organising a floral fest. I went to one last year near the Titiwangsa lake and it wasn't even close to being this impressive.

I am sure with our diverse flora in this country, we will be able to do a better job. Maybe the Putrajaya version is impressive. Must remind myself to make a visit there.



And I wish the above shot was more centred :( Lousy skills get lousy photos.



And I wish I can take red better. It just seems to... blow :(

Flowers and more flowers!

Well, Sentosa Floral Fest is quite a nice place to be. There are lots of flowers if you are interested in shooting flowers. As for me, it was a good practice ground to see what I can do with flowers.

It will mostly be pink flowers because well, pink rocks! :) And also Sharon likes pink.



Flowers are quite interesting subjects, especially when there are lots of colours. It just seems to scream "Take a picture of me!" It is not easy though and I think my shots were very generic.



And last of the err similar to pink colour. Fine, it is purple but it also looks a bit pinkish. Doesn't it? :P

Tomorrow: Non-pink flowers?

Stopping by..

Just one post for today which is quite rare actually :P I was at the Sentosa Floral Fest and this was my favourite shot of the whole day.

I don't think I have done better even when I was having a macro lens. Then again, I could have gotten more details with a macro lens. Submitted this to Dreamstime for stock photo and got rejected but oh well, personal satisfaction still ranks the highest on my list and I am personally satisfied with this shot.

Tomorrow: The rest of the flower shots...

My lil trip to Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot is probably one of the most visited attraction in Bali. It is like the place to go if you are in Bali. Went to Bali and didn't see Tanah Lot? Then, you didn't go Bali! :P

To view the large version of the pano above, go here.



Then I had fun with the fish-eye lens here. Pretend you didn't see the cable streaking its way there. The cable is not there. Do not look at it. I repeat, do not look at it.



Behold my power! I bent Tanah Lot! Mwahahaha! Bow before my might! *ehem* Sorry, Chinese New Year cookies sugar rush does that to you sometimes.



I discovered my other talent, painting. How's my skills? Any good? :P



I spotted monks leaving the temple, and well, who can resist not snapping monks? Their orange costumes against the dark, gloomy background seems to work quite well.

Next week: I am out of materials! GASP!

My lil trip to Bali

As you all know, I recently went to Bali for a lil holiday and of course, a lot of photo taking. Ended up not taking that many pictures but enough to blog about.

We stayed at a villa in Penatih and the view was totally awesome. Waking up to the view of paddy field stretched before you is something that I can certainly get used to. As long as I don't need to work the field :)



The above is a panoramic shot of the view I can see every morning but it is far too small to see on this blog. If you are interested in the larger version, it is here. There is unfortunately ghosting due to poor merging by yours truly :(



The following day after our arrival, I arranged for a bike tour of the countryside of Ubud. It started off well enough, with breakfast overlooking Mount Batur. Quite an impressive sight even though it was very misty.

Again, the above is a panoramic shot. So large version can be found here.



Of course, the cycling tour was more intensive than I thought it would be. 2.5 hours on a mountain bike and on a bumpy road was certainly not easy. But the sights more than made up for the tough exercise.

Along the way, you pass Balinese villages and you get to see the everyday people of Bali. And lots and lots of beautiful green paddy fields.



Even on a Sunday, these people are hard at work in their farms and when you think about it, you don't get no day off for farming. Like gardening, but more intensive, since your livelihood depends on it.



But no matter how hard it is for them, they never fail to flash you a friendly smile. The children run out to say hello and some even attempts to high five you. If you are more adept at riding a bike than me, you can return some of those enthusiastic high fives.



And when you get to see sights like this, why worry about the 2.5 hours bike ride eh? There is always the van :P

Next up: I go to Tanah Lot

Singapore with new toy!

If you were expecting to see lots of Singapore, sorry! :P Truth is, this post will only be on the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple located in Singapore. I didn't really take much shots of Singapore itself. And of course, this is with my new toy! 35mm f2! Which is fast replacing the 105mm as my favourite lens.



I was impressed with the temple as it was so clean, so well maintained and pretty much quite different from other Chinese temples around this region. No intense smoke smell and air conditioned! :P



And of course, no offending "No Photography" sign which means I can go snap happy. The only place that I can't take photos was at the actual site for the Tooth Relic. No bother as I was more interested in everything else in that temple anyway. I also saw framed up shots of a recent photography competition held at the temple and saw some excellent shots.



And would you believe my luck when... they had a ceremony while I was there! And they even have a observation floor. This is what I call awesome! Everything seems to be planned for people to capture the moments.



Trigger happy Nick went all nuts with the 35mm and the 105mm as I needed the reach from the observation deck of course. I was grinning from ear to ear with a few shots that I am happy with.



All in all, a good day and I was sure glad my sister decided to stop at this place after our dim sum breakfast. Yet to edit the dim sum shots so I guess that won't be the next series.

What's up tomorrow? Food actually.

Size doesn't matter...

Size doesn't matter, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Love knows no size. I guess I found this amusing. The height difference cannot be more apparent than this couple. Someone said that it might be not a real "couple" but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

After all, we all want to look at things positively, don't we?

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

Vietnam's Leonardo Da Vinci

Vietnam's Leonardo Da Vinci, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Vietnamese artists are very talented people. Extremely talented. Its a pity they have to earn a living by copying the work of others.

Walking into one of these art shops, you will be impressed. Very impressed. The quality level is one that you will willingly pay for. Too bad I didn't have enough money then.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

Affectionate couple...

Affectionate couple, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Another interesting moment I observed during my walk around the park is quite a peculiar way for Vietnamese couples to show their affection. I could see a few girlfriends squeezing zits for their boyfriends.

Such a strange way of showing affection. And in public too. Seriously an eye opener.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

"Desperate Housewives" - 20 years later

"Desperate Housewives" - 20 years later, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

I was walking around the park in Hanoi hoping to capture candid shots and well, I wasn't disappointed. Street shooting is still probably my second fav photography after macro.

The candid moments, the funny expressions and the challenge to actually find something different in something so ordinary. I guess thats why its one hobby that has stuck with me for so long.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

The waiting game..

The waiting game, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Another interesting culture that you never see here is motorcycle-cabs. That is right! Since the easiest way to travel in Hanoi is via motorcycle, its only natural there will be 2-wheel version of a cab.

Natural wind, possibly no jam, and the ride of a lifetime. What more can you ask for?

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

Must have been a good day

Must have been a good day, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

One of the biggest market in Hanoi is the Dong Xuan market. We were supposed to go there to shop while I was hoping to catch some shots of a busy market but we were so late that they were closing by the time we reached there.

Took a quick walk around and captured this shot. She certainly seems happy - either from a good day of sales or she is just glad that a hard day's work is finally over.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

Masters at work...

Masters at work, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Back to Hanoi after that wonderful journey on Halong Bay, I think some of my best HDR work came from Halong Bay.

This time around, more street shooting to give you an experience of Hanoi. If you are wondering if those guys are getting a haircut in the open, then yes, you are correct.

Barbers in Hanoi doesn't like paying rent I guess so they all operate out on the streets. Hang the mirror on the wall or tree and they are opened for business.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

The evening is calm...

The evening is calm, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Another HDR of the extremely beautiful Halong Bay. This time around, instead of the bright orange sky, I tried to capture the blueish hue when the sun is about to fully retire for the night.

It is a calm evening and then you realise there is nothing much to do except to sleep. :)

Taken with Canon Powershot G9 and HDR with Dynamic Photo HDR.

An art maybe?

An art maybe?, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Continuing with some more Halong Bay shots, and also playing with HDR again, this is another sunset at Halong Bay.

It was quite unfortunate that the islands were blocking the setting sun from my view but at least I still managed to get shots like this. Makes me a happy man :)

Taken with Canon Powershot G9 and HDR with Dynamic Photo HDR.

Halong Bay - A Dreamy Bay

Halong Bay - A Dreamy Bay, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

As I posted earlier in my blog, Day 2 was when I spent my time in Halong Bay. I will share a few more shots of Halong Bay here because well, I just post processed them recently.

This is a shot from the pagoda at the top of an island. My colleagues were swimming at the bay but I don't like swimming so up I went. Like a scene out from some Chinese kungfu movie eh?

Taken with Canon Powershot G9 and HDR with Dynamic Photo HDR.

More than one a day...

She can probably churn more than one a day..., originally uploaded by nicklwc.

For those who visited my Flickr, this blog is probably a slower way to have an update on what I am shooting. But then again, this blog serves to express more on what I shoot, so bear with me.

For darthbaboon, go see my flickr and take care of your new son. Watcha doing online anyway? Someone needs a diaper clean. :P

This is one of the girls working in a handicraft factory that we stopped along the way. The factory employs orphans, handicapped, and under-privilege kids to work at the place and teaches them handicraft making skills.

The factory also states "no camera, no photo" but obviously they are not going to stop someone with a D40. So I snapped away happily. Couldn't snap any final products though but that wasn't my intention anyway.

The moment I stepped in, I knew I wanted to capture shots of the people working there.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm.

The conventional grave...

The conventional grave, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

But of course, don't think that all Vietnamese cemetery only have flower graves.

There are graves that are more familiar to us.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm. HDR with Dynamic Photo HDR.

The flower grave...

The flower grave, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

On the way to Halong Bay, we passed by a Vietnamese cemetery. This is the first time I saw what they called the flower grave.

Definitely a peculiar sight to me.

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm. HDR with Dynamic Photo HDR.

On the way to Halong Bay...

On the Soviet bridge, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Day 2 was actually mostly spent at Halong Bay which I have blogged earlier.

Of course, on the way there, there are stuff to be seen as well. The advantage of sitting right in front on the bus? No one blocks you when you want to take a shot. :)

Taken with Nikon D40 and 105mm. HDR with Dynamic Photo HDR.