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Author Archives: 2konbla
Day Three, Been
Youth ’08 Day 3, the 20th of January 2008.
Interview with Melody!
“Funny” dance competition.
Mascots have fun, too!
The winner was the one with the loudest cheering. Not sure how he got it. JFK covered him.
I submitted my photos to a contest. Didn’t win.
Sometimes you don’t know the truth until it is projected to you on a screen.
Diana who is cute and accidentally blue!
Hannah Tan who is H_T!
Sailor moons.
Nice shades.
Joel Neoh (left) and Dennis Lau (right).
This band won the battle of the bands. Yes that’s the same mascot-grinder!
“You all is rock!”
S.B.V.
I got a free Alpha Shooting Vest at the Sony Alpha Convention 2008 held at Le Meridien Hotel, 10th-12th October 2008. But instead of pictures, here are two videos for those who are not assured that this is an amazingly practical bag!
How to wear the Alpha Shooting Vest quickly (and how to remove it quickly!)
If the video does not load, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GSDMMS9iLY
Another video – how much can you put in an Alpha Shooting Vest?
If the video does not load, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pZvBAJPlCE
The sequence of what I took out:
1. Small flash (Sony HVL-F42AM)
2. Fisheye lens (Peleng 8mm F3.5 circular fisheye)
3. Big flash (Sony HVL-F58AM)
4. Prime lens and teleconverter (Minolta 50mm F1.4 and 1.5x teleconverter)
5. Medium telephoto (Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan)
6. Extra SLR body (Minolta Dynax 7)
7. Super telephoto (Tamron 200-400mm F5.6)
8. SLR camera with standard lens (Sony Alpha 700 with Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 DT)
Pictures of the vest itself will come later! 🙂
I Have To See
11th April 2008 – the IFTC (International Fashion Training Center) fashion show! I chanced upon this while in Sg. Wang Plaza.
Fortunately, I had my Vivitar Series 1 28-105mm F2.8-3.8 with me, a fast-focusing lens with good bokeh. I spotted this Sony Alpha user using a Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm F2.8-4; I told him that I had the Cosina rebadge of his lens!
So yeah, classic lens LCA. She looks plasticky here.
I think that’s a Nikon F3/F4?
105mm was enough to hit the top of the stage…
…and yet, catch a few models on stage.
At 50mm. Those with 70-200mm lenses in the crowd would not be able to get this, if they were on an APS-C body and standing where I was!
Even looser at 35mm.
The VS1 handles highlights very delicately (unlike my Zeiss!)
As long as they were at least 1.5 meters away from my lens, all was well.
I have to say, I quite like their designs…
…and the models they got to model them in!
This was quite something… usually events in the concourse area of Sg. Wang Plaza would not make me pause to see what it was about.
Will she marry, or is she still on the fence?
Props to props.
“Please sir will you give me a distinction?”
Every other photographer was on the other side – not this uncle, diligently getting the best angles unlike the sheep that stood on the other side.
Day Two And Three Too
Youth ’08 Day 2 and 3 – interview sessions with JFK on the 19th and 20th of January 2008.
“Lu tau saya mana mali? Ipoh mali!”
Yep that’s Point Blank of Poetic Ammo.
“Lu tau saya keluar TV?”
Yep that’s Ash Nair of Malaysian Idol.
And Rachel Tan, a former Miss Chinese International, has got an expression.
Tengku Zafrul Aziz talks about money as Zaibo scrutinizes him, wondering, “hey haven’t I seen you on TV before?”
Yep, he was one of the judges on reality TV show The Firm, and the CEO of Tune Money.
“Haaa patutlah!”
Oops sorry dude I forgot your name!
JFK doing a give-out-prizes-bit downstairs.
And here’s the winner of The Firm – Joel Neoh! He also founded YouthMalaysia and he stands tall. (Next to JFK, even a wonder! But one must take into account the perspective distortion given by the Sony 11-18mm F4.5-5.6 DT lens…)
Azah of 3R!
Joanna Bessey.
Choy Wan in a more relaxed pose. She was quite worked up during the interview, heh.
JFK versus the Altimet. (Yes, careful selection of focus here.)
The power of the Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan!
Nope, don’t remember your name, either!
Apparently I forget names that go with pretty faces.
So if I bump into you and you go “hey remember me?” and I’m like “uhhh yeaaah uh wait what’s your name… I know it… it’s…” then you might be pretty enough for me to forget your name.
Next day, with Azura Zainal!
Andrew Westwood (former Xfresh TV host!)
Juliana Sophie Evans (who I last saw in KAMI The Movie. Great movie! Loved the scene where the runner and the customer finally met…)
Yasmin Yusoff, through my Minolta 50mm F1.4 + 1.4x teleconverter + 2x teleconverter for a nice soft portrait-y effect. Helps conceal lines!
Justin goes wide-eyed.
Zubira, one of my favorite classic rock-and-rollers!
Dennis Lau wonders what’s up with the expressions. Yes, that’s a life-size BlueHyppo.
Another distraction – Hannah Tan!
Uh… oh and there’s Douglas Lim in the middle. Almost forgot about him. Heh.
She came and left rather abruptly, though she was to have more stage time later as an emcee.
Tweaked the hues a bit on this one.
Mula Meredang
And now for some shots from the company trip in Redang (anywhere from the 27th February 2008 to 1st March 2008.)
“How long more will this ferry take?”
At last! (Okay this was from the resort next door…)
We went straight for the beach…
…where some got sand-based enhancements.
Victory!
Some of us found love.
Some of us found our way onto the rocks.
Some of us would rather camwhore on the rocks.
Some of us become camera ads.
Rames contemplating a shot.
Me taking a jump shot with 2 wireless Sony HVL-F56AM flashes. Picture taken by my product manager. Spot me in the corner, and spot an unsynchronized colleague!
Spot me in the middle bottom, a little inch of my head. Yes I took that Heroes picture that you see on smashpOp‘s blog.
They can jump, but this can fly!
100% crop using my Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan. It was very far away!
A squirrel and what he thinks is a wooden acorn.
A squirrel outside my window in a more natural position.
A camwhore in a natural position.
Yes, that’s natural light and the light fall-off is from the roof so it was already there!
A tinge of green in the Alpha’s Kelvin WB setting did the trick. (Yes, even the Alpha 200 has Kelvin WB with Color Compensation Filter, real nifty.)
Elsewhere, the camwhoring continued.
…all the way into the night.
Technology brings light to darkness.
A bunch of them disappeared, and we found them in the next resort watching a Chinese band.
Mmm hmm.
I spy a longing.
Charades, with the theme being movies.
It’s getting late so I’m going…
Alright then it’s time to head into the chalet!
More here:
Habis Meredang
Walking Around Work
And now for some random crops from around TPM!
I love penumbra – the part where a shadow fades away. It’s quite like the bokeh of shadows!
Birding with the Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan. I think this was a crop, 25% of the image width.
Same here!
This should be a 50% crop.
And this is not a crop – it’s the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm F2.4. Bokeh is pretty good. Sometimes.
But what I love, is how it makes a perfect normal angle to an APS-C camera like my A700!
It gets real tight and close…
This close.
Feelin’ lucky?
Light Painting With The Kit Lens As A Snoot
You can do light painting with a flash that can be set to manual power. How?
First, turn off all your lights!
Put the camera on a tripod with a 10 second timer so you have time to grab the flash and start painting. I set the flash at its maximum zoom (105mm for my Sony HVL-F58AM) at 1/8th power and pressed the Test button around the subject, pretending to be stage light.
50mm F8 ISO800, 25 seconds.
Whoops that’s overexposed – let’s stop it down a bit more.
50mm F11 ISO400, 25 seconds.
Ah, that’s better! However, I accidentally got the flash head in the shot. Supposing I wanted to simulate smaller stage light, I’d need to snoot the light (in other words, shrink the size of the light.)
50mm F11 ISO400, 25 seconds.
How did I snoot it?
Using a Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 DT kit lens with a rubber hood attached! Alpha mount lenses by default close down the aperture blades when not attached to a camera. Thus, when the lens is at 18mm, it is at its darkest aperture of F22, where its opening is 18mm/22 = 0.818mm wide!
If you’re using a different mount lens, make sure it has an aperture ring so you can set the aperture manually. Canon EF/EF-S lenses have electronically controlled apertures so they cannot be used.
I hold the snooted flash with the rubber hood in my left hand, and my right hand on the flash to press the Test button.
You may want to experiment with different power settings on your flash as well.
Pesta Mandi Jen
OHAI! WELCOME TO PESTA MANDI JEN!
SPLASH FAIL.
Side splash.
Diagonal splash.
Full-body splash.
Shampoo ad splash.
Defence +1!
Sai si Fattien.
Tag you’re it!
Main belakang splash.
Stairway to splash.
More than a bukkit of splash.
Swerve hedgehog swerves splash!
Tall, tall splash!
Wanted splash.
Splash him!
Slow=motion splash.
Liquid metal splash.
Neck splash.
Eri so cuuute!
Rames: “I want Thaipusam splash also!”
All shots cropped from the Peleng 8mm F3.5 circular fisheye set to F5.6 with a 1.5x teleconverter, around 1/25th of a second shutter speed with ISO1600. 27th September 2008, what a record!
Interwoven View
Youth ’08 Day 1 – interview sessions with JFK one 18th of January 2008.
He was my ex-boss and founder of Xfresh, which once had the tagline, “Malaysia’s Premier Teen Community“. Ah, the good ol’ days!
Razif Hashim (who looks all the more evil after Jarum Halus.)
Indie film director. His name escapes me!
Reshmonu.
Oh hi *falls under shiny eye charm and forgets your name too*
Atilia!
Juwita Suwito.
All singer-songwriters have unique names, I’ll tell you that.
Nabil of Mentor and JFK, former host of Mentor.
All shots with the Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan (except the first shot, with smashpOp‘s Sony 11-18mm F4.5-5.6 DT.)
Ooo, Melissa Campbell!
Sweet sixteen! (At the time this was taken.) So she’s still a minor at time of writing.
“It’s okay Johnathan Putra, I’m sure she has an older sister…” Han Sen consoles.
Here she looks a bit like Su Ann!
Cat Farish.
All shots from this interview set were taken with Nic Chan‘s beautiful Sony Carl Zeiss 135mm F1.8. The tonality and glow that it gives faces is simply amazing!
I spy…
And here, she looks a bit like Suet Li!
I find this angle to be rather interesting for interviews.