Lights - Camera - *Chik Chak*

Had to go and pick my brother up from some Japanese restaurant in town...
But we arrived a little earlier than expected...
So we had to wait for him to be done...
Good thing I brought my camera along...
Managed to get/do some really nice shots~

Here are the shots that I managed to grab~

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*note*
Pictures are all unedited unless specified...
Pictures have also been resized thus causing a drop in photo quality...
Original photos are much sharper...
Click to enlarge...
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Nikon D90 w/ AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens, 5.6 seconds at f/10, ISO 400

Probably the most successful heart shaped drawing that I have ever done...

I have finally done another shape besides the heart shape!


After picking up my brother...
We stopped at this traffic light...
I looked to my right and saw a perfect shot to take~

It's a view of the KLCC between two buildings~

Nikon D90 w/ AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens, 1/8 seconds at f/4, ISO 400

The angle of this shot wasn't that nice though...
But taking this picture from inside a car means I have very little room to move about...
I was so tempted to just jump out of the car to get a better angle!
Ah wells...

Maybe I should come back to this location another time~
That is if I can remember where it is!
*lol*

Managed to grab this shot later on...
This is my favorite shot from that night...
Nikon D90 w/ AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens, 1/8 seconds at f/5, ISO 400


That's all the shots that I took last night...
Not a lot of photos but I'm very happy with what I managed to photograph~

OH~
On a side note...
I've decided to name my D90 Nikki~
*hehehe*

Ciaos people~

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Quote of the day:
"The viewer must bring their own view to a photograph..."
-Fay Godwin-

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Flash Update no.2

My D90 has grown bigger!
Bought myself a battery grip~!
Whooo~!

This battery grip is not an original product by Nikon though...
The brand is called Phottix...

Model of the battery grip is BP-D80

Here is my own review of the BP-D80~

Functions of this battery grip is exactly the same as the original Nikon MB-D80...
No complains there...
The shutter release button and the rubber grip doesn't feel as nice as Nikon's but that is not important...
The AE-L/AF-L button doesn't feel very nice also...
Other than that...
I'm very satisfied with the BP-D80~

And did I mention that ALL Phottix products come with a one year warranty and it's a 1-to-1 exchange~
*woots*

I only decided to buy this after reading some reviews about it...

Phottix is a highly recommended third-party brand by the way...
Lots of positive reviews on the net...

Now all I need is a second battery then can have longer shooting time~

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Quote of the day:
"A picture is the expression of an impression..."
-Ernst Haas-

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Floral Photography

My dad bought me a photography magazine...
It's the Digital Camera Magazine (Malaysia)...

This magazine has lots of tips and step-by-step image editing instructions...
It's quite cheap too...
It can be yours for only RM9...
I'm considering buying this every month from now onwards...
Lots of great tips for an amateur photographer like me~

The May issue featured an article - "25 Best Tips For Stunning Flower Pics"

I used some of the tips there when I was shooting some of my mom's flowers...
Do note that for some pictures you'll need to enlarge them in order view the full details...

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*note*
Pictures are all unedited unless specified...
Pictures have also been resized thus causing a drop in photo quality...
Original photos are much sharper...
Click to enlarge...
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Pic no.1
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/25 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 250

Tip: Compositional Skills
Placing the subject slap-bang in the middle of the frame rarely works well and can result in a flat boring image. Composing with the subject off center according to the rule of thirds can instantly give your images a professional look. Flowers need room to lean into the image, not out of it.

Pic no.2
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/15 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 250

Tip: Just Add Water
It's possible to recreate the look of a dew-covered flower by careful use of a water spray. Adding a few drops of water can really help to bring your flower photographs to life.

Pic no.3
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/30 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 250

Tip: Watch Your Backgrounds
The background that you choose to photograph a flower against can either make or break the final image. A plant photographed with a soft, uncluttered background can stand out; a distracting, messy background can easily ruin what could have been a great shot if you'd thought a bit more.

Pic no.4
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/50 seconds at f/6.3, ISO 500

Tip: Experiment With Flash
Used in moderation, flash can help you produce impressive images, but be careful not to overdo it. A burst of fill-flash can help reduce contrast in an image by increasing light levels in shadow areas. A small ring flash can be used to produce a shadowless close-up images.

Pic no.5
Nikon D90 w/ Nikkor 18-105mm AF VR lens, 1/20 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400

Tip: Shoot In Manual
If you'd rather take control than let your camera decide everything for you, then shoot in Manual mode. Shooting in manual enables you to choose the aperture and shutter combination that you want. Checking your histograms will show you if you need to change a setting in order to produce a correctly exposed image. Bright flowers can fool your camera into underexposing, so shooting in Manual and checking histograms can overcome this.

Source of article:
Lee Beel, "Spring Flowers", Digital Camera Magazine May issue 2009

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Hope that short excerpt has helped some of you in your flower photography...
I only reposted 5 tips because most of the rest required photography equipment (e.g. Macro lens, reflector, etc etc)...

Do give me some feedback about your thoughts on this post...

Here are some other miscellaneous shots that I took throughout the day...

Playing around with the Picture Control function...
Less saturation gives a dull feel to an image...
Great for taking emo shots~ *lol*

More saturation gives a brighter feel to an image...
Great when shooting colorful objects...
Just make sure it is not over saturated...


That's all for today...
Might be going with a friend for a photography outing later...
All depends on whether he is free or not...
Hopefully he can make it la...

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Quote of the day:
"It's a necessity, not an accessory"
-LensPen-

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Lights - You Just Gotta Love 'Em~

Made another new set of Bokeh filters...

A few of the shapes didn't really work out...
It was either poorly cut out or too big...

But there is one shape in this set that I really like~

This looked the best out of the whole set...Haunted Baskin Robbins~

Musical Baskin Robbins~

Confused Baskin Robbins~

Cube-ish Baskin Robbins? *lol*

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Got myself a DigiKlear LensPen...
I won it when I went to Mid Valley last Saturday~
(more about it at my personal blog)
LensPen is a cleaning tool that cleans your camera lens effectively without damaging it...

I tried it out myself and I have to say...
It's quite impressive~
Works so much better than the cleaning kit I bought~
More about it here...

A word of advice though...
Should you want to purchase a LensPen...
Make sure you get an original one...

Though "pirated" ones are much cheaper...
Would you want to have your camera's lens(es) damaged?
I don't think so...
It's gonna cost you alot more to repair/replace the lens...

The LensPen is not some super expensive item...
It quite affordable...
You should be able find it in any camera shop...
It costs around RM38...

The one I'm using is designed for cleaning LCD screens...
But it works just as fine on my camera's lens...

Click here for a flash video of the different types of LensPen, how to use it, how it works, warning about imitation LensPen products, etc etc...

Here is a closer look at my DigiKlear LensPen...

On this end is the brush that is used for wiping off dust...
It can be retracted...

And on this end would be the cleaning tip...
It can wipe of smudges and/or fingerprints...

You can read about how the LensPen compares to other lens cleaning products here...
It's towards the middle of the webpage...
You can't miss it...

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Here are some pictures that I took a few days back...


Was browsing through one of my friend's blog and I saw some really interesting pictures that he took...


I tried it out for myself...
Couldn't get it at first...
Then my friend told me that I needed to use a *rear-curtain sync flash...
And voila~

Success!
(these were just test shots so don't expect anything great)

*"Rear-curtain sync" is a flash mode(?) that sets the flash to fire just as the shutter is about to close. The flash mode(?) normally used is called "front-curtain sync" which fires the flash as soon as the shutter opens.

With that short fun fact...
I shall conclude this post...

Ciaos~!

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Quote of the day:
"My camera is my third eye..."
-Julian 'Jules' Chong-

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