Skyline @ Singapore

I got a chance to take pix of Singapore skyline during my holiday vacation in mid Dec. I've never taken pix of a skyline before this. So this was my opportunity to take some. I took the pix sometime around midnite and after.

Even though I really wanted to take a lot of pics, I just couldn't. Well, of course bcoz of shopping and limited time. Me and my companions went to Sentosa Island but we were really in a hurry and we came late and the weather wasn't good. We also went to snow city but no cameras allowed.

Maybe next time I will try to take pix of skyline during "golden hours". Anyways, I put some pix below:


Left: Taken at Esplanade Park, Right: Esplanade


Taken at Elgin Bridge

World AIDS Day 2007

The World AIDS Day 2007 was organised by Brunei's AIDS Council. It was held at ICC, Berakas. The guest of honour was the deputy minister of the Ministry of Health.

This event is to make us remember and be aware that AIDS (or HIV) should not be taken lightly as a normal disease. From the latest statistics, the number of people infected by HIV in Brunei is increasing even though the number is still quite small, which is between 5-10 people this year. Who knows the number may again increase next year.

My biggest challenge was taking pix at low-light areas. There was no other choice than using high ISO settings. I did use the flash but not all the time. Pix without the flash are sometimes better, which also depends on the situations (e.g. distance, etc). Zooming in also causes the aperture to get smaller which means slower shutter speed and arrgghhh....shaky pix. Unless the lens has a fix (largest) aperture and much better if there is Image Stabilisation (IS). But now I can't afford to buy any of them. I should wait for a few years to get one, maybe.

Taking A Break

I haven't updated this site for a few months now. Same goes for my other sites. Just nothing interesting to post here at the moment and no pictures too. Plus, I'm just too lazy and too tired and no time to organize / edit my pix. No idea what pictures I should take too. No progress at all. Well, never mind that. Just check these cool photo sites if you have the time. I found these sites a few months ago anyway.

Daniel Zain Photography
Ansel Adams Gallery
G.Hjöll's Flickr Photos

Butterfly

Just wanna post a pic of a butterfly. Took this pic about two weeks ago.

BASE Week

Been so busy with BASE Week (7th-10th of Sept). The first day was only for preparation and setting-up booths. The opening ceremony was on the 8th and the closing was on the 10th. Just enjoy the pix.

Prison Break (Season 3) - 17 minutes preview

Not yet aired but the preview of the 3rd season is available in season 2 DVD package. I guess I can only watch it online hehe.

Prison Break saison 3 Episode 1 VOSTFR Preview 17 min
Uploaded by Acathla55

Komodo Dragon...hehe

I think this belong to 'monitor lizard' or 'komodo dragon' group/family. The name in "Biawak" in malay. I don't know much about animal species or families though. Took some pix of it at my backyard. It was wandering around to get some food. Its favorite food? probably chicken (alive ones hehe). I used my telephoto zoom lens. I'm not sure if its safe to get near to it or otherwise I would lose either my arms or my camera hehe.

Pesta Sukan

It was the closing ceremony for the inter-school sport event and held at Stadium Negara Hassanal Bolkiah in Berakas. It was sunny when I arrived there and then oh no....it rained!! Bad weather...I know. Not good for taking pix. I didn't want to risk my camera. Why did this happen?? Ok never mind about that! It stopped after about one hour. Then the ceremony started at 2 pm as soon as it stopped raining. Here are some pix before the ceremony started:


Left: Silat, Right: Police Cadets Band


Police Cadet Girls

The official ceremony started with marching by the cadets


Left: Girls watching a performance, Right: A Performance by Police Cadets

Then it was followed by a series of final-rounds such as 100m sprint, 4x400m relay and more...


Left: The first final-round, Right: Watching


Left: Ready, Set!, Right: Supporters


Left: Some participants, Right: Run Girls! Run!


Left: Jump! Right: A 4x400m relay

The weather was fine but....again it rained! Arrghh!! This really was not my favorite part. The the rained didn't stop for the rest of the event, including all the performances and marching.


Left: Young Jelitawan, Right: Aerobic Performance


Left: Aerobic in the Rain, Right: Closing Marching

Heroes - Season 2 Preview

If you are big fans of the TV series HEROES, you should watch this:



I can't wait to watch the second season.

Sunset at Pantai Jerudong

Silhouette Sunset

Just another day at Pantai Jerudong. Took some pix as usual. Actually a few days ago.

I'm not good at taking sunset pix. One thing I know, its getting darker and darker so it means we cannot use the same camera settings all the time.

Sunset at Jerudong Beach

I read from somewhere that we can use filters to get different kinds of effects. My current display pic at MSN messenger is showing a pic of the Sun during a sunset. Damn! its perfect and it shows the circular shape of the Sun. I'm not able to take any pix as nice as that one. I wonder how people can take breathtaking pix of sunset. I really wanna learn that.

I took some pix when the Sun was almost below the horizon. I was able to see the shape at least hehe. Maybe because of this time its not too bright as before. I added some text to the pic below and edited it a lil bit and here is the result...(anyway, it looks just ordinary)

The Last Sunset

Tanglung @ Padang SOAS

This is held once in a year, at night, and as expected... sooo many people come to watch this event. Firstly, "kereta berhias" (parade procession) and then followed by tug of war competition. Also fireworks show at the beginning and ending of the event. Congrats to G-16 of Jerudong for winning the tug of war competition.

For me, taking pix at night is quite challenging. Not having enough light means the shutter speed becomes slower. I'm not an expert but here are my camera settings (read this if you are beginners! hehe):

- Highest possible ISO (1600 or 3200)...disadvantage? noisier pix!

- Large aperture size (meaning small F number e.g. F2.8-F5.6)...don't have small F number? well.. it depends on the type of lens (large aperture size means more light can enter the lens) But for fireworks, do not use a high ISO cause it may spoil the background.

- Shutter speed? hard question eh! no definite answer for this. If you carry a tripod or monopod, a longer shutter speed is not a problem. But if not available, keep you camera steady and close to your face to prevent shaking. Try with different shutter speed first (between 1/15 sec to 1/150 sec) then stick to the speed that shows the right exposure and "not blur" images. But this is not as simple as it is.

- If possible, set the camera to "manual" setting...why? to maintain the F number and shutter speed.

Anyway, the above settings are actually to remind myself...sometimes I forget about it too. My skills are still not good enough to be a good photographer but i'm always learning and trying to improve.

left: kids having fun, right: Bruneian participants in a tug of war competition

left: Fireworks show, right: A pic of His Majesty


left: Bruneian "tug of war" group photo taking, right: kids in action


left and right: kereta berhias


ermm....dunno what to call this pic hehe

BASE Essay Competition

It was held at Sekolah Yayasan today. As usual, I went there just to take photos. Never been to this place before and it's quite different from other schools.