Hard to say Goodbye

Posted on December 12, 2011 by allen

SAYING GOODBYE: One of the pups are being adopted, while the other says goodbye from the cage. SSPCA often encourages pet adoption to the public, hoping to find a loving home to these lovely animals, be it cats or dogs.

I recently visited one of SSPCA (Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Sarawak’s charity sales, in conjunction to the event, they also had a few pets for public adoption. SSPCA Sarawak encourages public to adopt these animals, who are in need of a loving shelter and care. If you are thinking of getting yourself a pet, do give SSPCA a visit, they have plenty of cats and dogs for adoption. I almost wanted to adopt one myself, but I couldn’t take in another pet at the moment.

MEOW: This beautiful cat still awaits for adoption in the cage. I think she (or could be he) looks really beautiful, and elegant.

INNOCENCE: This beagle-like pup was really adorable, I almost gave in and brought him (or her) home.

MY FM古晉台慶之燦爛序章

Posted on December 4, 2011 by allen

MY FM, one of many radio network operated by AMP Radio Networks, has established their Kuching chapter for a year already. They decide to celebrate their one-year birthday in style, by staging a show for their fans and listeners at Stadium Perpaduan, Kuching. Among the celebrities who marked their appearance at the show include Nicholas Teo (張棟樑), MY FM DJ/Actor Jack Lim (林德榮), MY FM DJ/actress MeiYan (顏薇恩), MY Kuching DJs AiSing (愛心) and Amelyn and many more. I was able to get a VIP admission ticket to this show, thanks to a friend.

Here is a preview of what I had captured from where I was able to access, mind you I was not holding a photographer’s pass.

MY FM古晉台慶之燦爛序章

One of the student performers for the night.

MY FM 古晉DJ愛心(Ai Sing)地演出，劇中飾演Ah Boy。

他們究竟在討論些甚麼呢？－自《MY FM古晉台慶之燦爛序章》，2011年12月2日。（左起：阿弟(MY FM古晉週末DJ Addy飾），阿Boy(MY FM古晉DJ愛心飾), 阿蓮（MY FM DJ 顏薇恩飾），阿成（例外人Rambo飾）。

Sarawak Regetta 2011

Posted on September 19, 2011 by allen

Sarawak Regetta has become an annual event on the calendar year for Kuching, and it could only do all good as it attracts people from all around the word. I was glad not to have missed the water action on the conclusion day for the event.

I am always thrilled to be able to capture sport actions, it must have something to do with my addiction to sports channel (i.e. ESPN, Starsports) since young. Equipped with only 70-200mm f/4L USM, I was pleased with what I have captured on the day. I didn’t have any special passes, and I didn’t have lens which have long enough reach to capture the action up close!

I still have to crop this images out, despite that the equivalent reach on my cropped body (EOS 50D) is about 360mm. Otherwise, I will be struggling to get a decent composition.

Stars of Florida crew put up a great show at the Sarawak River at the Sarawak Regetta Event which concluded on Sunday.

There are a few more to come from the event right after this. I shall spend some time to sort the final images before posting them here. So, please stay tuned for more updates.

Picture of the Week

Posted on June 29, 2011 by allen

DJ Mari Ferrari @ BarZing, Kuching.

It’s been a while since my last shooting at a club scene. I’ve gotta admit, I’m getting a little rusty already!

I think that my EOS 50D is somewhat limited when it comes to photographing club scenes. Pairing 50D with both EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, and EF 50mm f/1.8 II, the former doesn’t give me big aperture to play with lights, while I have problem focusing at times with the latter. I think things would have been improved if I could pair my 50D with a 50mm f/1.4. That should give me aperture wide enough to capture interesting light, at lower ISO sensitivity.

While shooting with 50D, I always try not to push the ISO setting beyond 1600. I find the noise level is not eye pleasing at all, and also that the noise level also depends on what lens you are using. If you’re shooting with a lower grade lenses, then the noise on your image can be really nasty! Due to that, I’m restricting with very little things to play with.

Last but not the list, I hope the lighting setup around the DJ console can improved a little. Maybe we can put a small, warm spotlight focusing on the DJ. That maybe able to balance out the overall lighting problem, and hopefully eliminating the nasty color casting problem.

If you all have tips to share on photographing club scenes, please do share with me here if you don’t mind. Cheers!

Flipflops Beach Carnival — The Finale

Posted on May 21, 2011 by allen

This is a long overdue closure for Flipflops series. I wanted to get this done with before I left for my KL trip, but I wasn’t in time. And, I was quite tied up last week, since my return from Kuala Lumpur, so I had no choice but to futher delay this entry.

Most of these shots came from Day 3 of the event, I spent almost the whole day at the beach, till I got ‘burnt’, really! I had sunburn on my skin, and thankfully I’ve recovered now. Anyways, here is the series of beach activities from Flipflops beach carnival. Events Horizon did a splendid job in organizing this weekend event, and hopefully it’s gonna be bigger and better next year! Also, this entry sees the first appearance by Simple Viewer plugin. I thought it’s easier for me to showcase the photos, especially when I have a collection of 20 images or more. For most of the images in this series, I shot with 70-200mm, and only a few of which was shot with an ultra wide.

The tele zoom focal length gives me extra reach, especially when it comes to watersports and those beach activities. Not to mention, the perspective that you get from a tele zoom, it’s just fantastic. You’ve just gotta love it. Even though my tele zoom is considered a budget tele zoom (EF 70-200mm f/4L, it is the cheapest among its class in Canon), I am loving every bit of it. It performs well especially under great day lighting.

Nemo in the air

Can I help you?

I guess this is some beach skateboard, I don't know what it's called. Anyone?

Skating on the beach.

Preparing hot ai balloon

Hot air balloon rises to the air.

Getting ready for the race.

Panning with Ultra Wide.

Panning with an ultra wide angle can be hazardous to the photographer! That is because with an ultra wide angle, you can go really up close to your subject. And, to get the shot above, I was just probably a metre away from my subject! When handling shot like this, you’ve also gotta be careful with the light source. You could easily include your own shadow into the frame, and we do not want that to happen, unless it was intentional composition. I tend to make that mistake.

The halo effect from the morning sun.

Beach Volleyball.

I am thrilled with sports photography, as I often follow sports like basketball (NBA) and football or soccer (English Premier League or FIFA World Cup). I always dream of having the chance to shoot at the court side of a world class event sometime in future. Beach volleyball is something new for me. It was my first attempt in shooting that sports. The only time I encountered this sport was through Olympic Games, or Asian Games where they live broadcast on TV, and of course the photos released by International news agencies. Beach Volleyball is pretty unique, I kinda like how the players’ movement and the sand’s movement combined to show the the momentum of the sports.

A talented designer and photographer — Andy Phe

Waiting for their ride

Feeling the excitement.

For the last shot in this series above, I hesitated on wether I should hop on to the boat or not, before jumping on board to have this unique view of a banana boat ride. I almost got my gears soaked in sea water! It was just that close! But it was quite a thrilling experience. Shooting from a speeding boad is very hard, as you had to deal with the splashing waters, apart from getting the shots right. I tried a few settings whilst I was on board, tingling with Shutter Priority mode and Aperture Priority. For some shots, I fixed my setting to Manual. Aperture Priority works best in this case, as the light is constantly changing due to boat’s movement, and all you need to do is to fix the aperture size.

For the rest of the images, please refer to the Simple Viewer frame below:

[svgallery name="110417_FlipFlopsBC_Beach"]

Click on the caption for an enlarged view of the images.

I’ve also uploaded the rest of the images here in my FB page, click here for the Flipflop Beach Carnival — Beach activities album.

Flipflops Beach Carnival 2011: Rave Party

Posted on April 23, 2011 by allen

All eyes were on the Rave Party by the beach on Day 2 of Flipflops Beach Carnival. The rave party featured some international DJs, namely DJ Devina of Jakarta (featuring Live Singer Leeya), DJ CO2an of Australia, and DJ Davide Succi of Italy (featuring Live Guitarist Theron Welch of USA).

DJ Boyguth got the night started, entertaining the crowd despite the light rain. The downpour didn’t slow the mood, in fact, it actually boosted the party mood among the party goers! As they prepare for the night, there were some bar tournaments going on. Beer drinking competition, where most beer drank in given time, as well as fastest time clocked were contested.

Rain and mud did little to spoil the party, as the matter of fact, it seemed to have boosted the party mood. On the other hand, I had to stay dry, under the shed, as I wouldn’t want to risk my gears under the rain. I risked it once during the year end countdown concert, and that would be the last time I do so. None of my lens, nor my camera body (EOS 50D) is weather sealed.

So, here are some shots from the Rave party. It seemed happening to me, what do you think? How did you like the party?