Completion of my wife's maternity potraits

Being a mum is not easy at all...carrying a baby for 40 weeks are something that no man could ever understand.. not only on the burdens..but the bonding that both mummy and child shares. My wife did that twice and with little complains...and i am absolutely proud of her.

On 11.12.2009 my wife gave birth to our beautiful daughter...although the waiting was long, contraction pain was unbearable...but still she hung on to her will of not taking any painkillers, worrying that the painkillers will affect our baby.

The CTG monitor shows contraction level at 120..which is extremely painful....she gave in but not all...she took a jab but not the epidural, the pain was finally over on the joyful morning of 11th of December 2009. She is now resting well at home.

Photos shown in the slides were all taken on the last few weeks of my wife's pregnancy. I love you my lovely and courageous wife and for that i swear to god never to let you endure the pain again.........unless there's a 3rd child. ;) .....will there??

Oil painting with my camera...

Sometimes seeing things and capturing them on a different point of view works wonders. Tried some high key images (overexposed images) in Parit Jawa, Muar recently. PP to Black & White.

Little about the stork captured here from Wikipedia:

The Lesser Adjutant, Leptoptilos javanicus, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is resident breeder in southern Asia from India east to southern China and Java.
This is a huge bird, typically 110-120 cm (43-48 in) tall, weighing about 5 kg (11 lbs) and has a 210 cm (83 in) wingspan. It is, however, the smallest member of the Leptoptilos genus. Its upper body and wings are black, but the belly and undertail are white. The head and neck are bare like those of a vulture. The pale bill is long and thick. Juveniles are a duller version of the adult.
Most storks fly with neck outstretched, but the three Leptoptilos species retract their neck in flight like a heron.
The Lesser Adjutant breeds in wetlands in tropical lowland. It builds a stick nest in trees. It often forms small colonies.
The Lesser Adjutant, like most of its relatives, feeds mainly on frogs and large insects, but also small birds, reptiles and rodents. It will also eat carrion, for which its bare head and neck is an adaptation.

Photos taken on 22.11.2009

Good Morning KL

It was a sleepy morning, woke up at 4:30am and traveled all the way to Kepong on an almost empty highway. Reached my destination at around 5:45am and pick up my good ol' cousin brother whom has willingly assist me in my photography task of the day. We climbed up a 8 storey building on a ladder (the only way to head up) and got the shots i was hoping for.

Photos taken on 07.11.2009

Hyperfocal Distance – Photographer’s Friend

Hyperfocal Distance – Photographer’s Friend

This is the mistake i normally make while capturing all, and i mean all of my landscape photos. DOF is extremely important as it will affect the whole picture taken. You do want to end up like me...having extremely good opportunity for the perfect shot..and miss it due to not previewing the DOF.

Mid-Autumn Festival (Mooncake Festival)

A festival celebrated by most Chinese around the globe on the 15th day of the eight month in the Chinese lunar calendar. I don't know much about the history of this celebration but what we normally practice are getting together playing with lanterns, candles, some fireworks....eating mooncakes...sometimes looking at the moon (Duh...).

Well many years have past since we last enjoyed this celebration, i still remember the younger years when my father and many other relatives, friends and even neighbors will drop by our house just to grab some time to chit chat (Sam Pat) for the adults and us?? well twice a year and as a child we can play with fire openly....what more can we do and ask for? Let's cook some grass with the candles...or maybe some dried cuttlefish....or to the extreme....burnt ANTS! hope i won't get sued with this...ants not protected one hor? Oh yeah...for my wife at her hometown...they used to get raw fish from the fridge and pretend cooking "masak masak" with it (Without mum's permit of cos!). Cool eh? How i missed those days.

Anyway, for now....it is time for my son and niece to take over the candles and lanterns from us. Just hope that they will enjoy it the way we do during the past.

Photos taken on 27 & 30.09.2009.....more to come.

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Dining at Lemon Grass Garden Cafe

We were supposed to be on a holiday break in Ipoh & Penang during the local Hari Raya celebration but due to the forecast of extreme traffics on the highway my in-laws came down to Kuala Lumpur from Muar to pay us a visit and just to get together, this also led to an evening filled with a full stomach, joy, laughter and a dance performance by my son (Video to be updated later).

Grabbed my camera to the dinner and tried to capture the moments. Lighting condition was pretty bad especially without a flashgun (Still in my wishlist a 580EX-II), well tried my best and the above was what i managed to snap. Oh yeah...the food was so so...but very fresh.

Photos taken on 20.09.2009 (kewl...20092009)

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FRIM-Re-visited

Tried my luck again in FRIM, this time with the right gears and two of my friends (Vee & Gan) that tagged along for the trip. Another 1st time (waking up 4:45am for photo outing). Vee reached my place at 5:30am and i was still in the bath taking my sweet time, picked up Gan at his place and went for a very bad morning breakfast (have you tried cold half-boiled egg before?). Before that let me say thank you to Gan for showing us some great spot in FRIM.

Let's cut the crap for now and hope you had enjoyed the photos taken.

Photos taken on 20.09.2009

Never give up..gave me these..

Same day (FRIM) different time, strong will. I was thinking of giving up the day for photo shooting after that morning incident but the photography bug bit me again..this time i was praying hard for the weather to not rain and god listened and granted me the opportunity to shoot and meet some friendly guys whom are fishing at the huge dam in Ulu Yam. Enjoyed the whole evening.

Bad but knowledgeable day at FRIM

FRIM ( Forest Research International Malaysia)

Yet another solo shooting day, wife and son was back in hometown due to a short public holiday. Finally, after all the 1st attempt i made up my mind to focus on Landscape & Nature photography, so from now on this blog will be filled with more greens, sea, land, trees...and so on.

Reached my so called planned 1st destination of the day at about 10.00am and started to scout for ideal shooting spots.

The 1st photo - Dendrocalamus Giganteous. A gigantic bamboo tree originated from Myanmar and in Peradiniya, Sri Lanka this bamboo reached the height of 36 meter with an inner diameter of 25cm. The flowers of this bamboo only flowers between 50 to 120 yrs. For this one...it was planted in 1927, flowered in 1951 for the first time, and the last time was in 1988-1995.

2nd photo - Kulim. Used during the traditional days for making antidote against poison brewed from "Pokok Ipoh". You will be able to smell the strong scents of this trees when you are nearby.

3rd photo - Finally, i found the 1st location in FRIM where my pre-wedding photos was taken.

4th photo - Here comes my bad and knowledgeable day...felt a slimy yet watery sensation on my feet. Removed my sandals and that was what i saw..blood. Lesson learnt: Never wear sandals to the forest, learn about the forest be familiar with the natural habitats in there.

Packed my gears after that...and called the day off....

Photos taken on 06.09.2009

An evening with my son and wife + my maid

Here he goes, a special post for my son. It was a clear evening and i suggest to my wife that we bring our boy out to the park at Taman Jaya, PJ. My son was so exited when we reached and he gave a "wow". It was a tiring evening for him, my wife, and my maid (taking care of my son at his age ain't that easy) ;)....myself?? hahaha .... i've got all the excuses with my camera!

Photos taken on 31.08.2009

The making of my soon to accomplished pregnancy album

I am gonna create my first album with my wife, son & soon to meet daughter. This was another main reason why i took up photography. Gotta apologize to my son 1st, that i could not take good photos of him while he was born but nevertheless the album will not be possible without him. More photos will be uploaded here after the album is completed. Love them so much.

Photos taken on 19.08.2009

Looking for sunset in Muar, Johor (Wife's hometown)

After some www surfing, i was keen on getting some sunset shots myself. The opportunity came when we visited my wife's hometown in Muar, Johor and thanks to my wife for taking care of my son while i am out shooting. Reached the location (Tanjung) at about 5.00pm and scouted for the perfect spot to shoot. Well picture No.1 shows that i was not in luck to get the sun....too hazy, so changed my plan and started my attempt in long exposure...without filters i gotta wait hours to ensure that photos taken will not be over exposed due to the long exposure. Oh yeah..thanks to my good bro-in-law too for his companion.

Photos taken on 15.08.2009

A night out at Putrajaya

Photos taken on 14.08.2009. My 1st attempt on night shooting. Learnt alot that night, it was a great experience. Thanks to Vee, Kenny & Helen.