Light trails

We decided to go for light trail shooting after we couldnt find a nice spot for night landscape yesterday. Went up to a flyover to shoot the traffic coming from the bridge to Jelutong Expressway, but well, let just say.. the photos didnt come out to have the WOW effect.. so, that's it..

While im in the car, with the tripod attached, i use the newly bought wireless remote and set bulb shooting and let it open for few minutes. It captures road lights, CNY lanterns and displays, road signs, anything that lit up.. here's 2 results that i like :P although it's shaky for sure..

Here's another one with more lights as we approaching the town :)

Prado & Lassie, the Doberman Pinscher

Cant believe it myself too, owning two huge Doberman Pinscher now. The male (rust & tan) have MKA certs while the female (black & tan) dont have. Her parents have though. Nvm.. i love them with or without certs. It doesnt matter, they are my newest best friends! Got them from a guy called Ivan, who post the ads in mudah.com. He is going overseas, so selling this pair of Dobes. Got it for Rm1.5K.. sounds reasonable isnt it? hehe.. i bring them back using the Toyota Unser, and covered the cushions and floor with lotsa plastics and papers.. lots of saliva during the trip! Ewwww.w... Must bath them soon d.. very doggy smell!

The male is pretty tall though, and quite intimidating. I hope i can establish myself as an ALPHA and correct his behaviors while he is still young. I don't think i can overpower this dog if it gets uncontrollable and overly aggressive. Must get him through all the obedience and training asap! hehe.. The female is ok, although abit noisy.. real noisy and playful too!

Just bought them new collar and leash today, and it cost me Rm120! So expensive nowadays. Tmr going to get 20kg dog food, ceramic bowls.. and waiting for the Clicker to arrive so i can start training and correcting their behavior fast! hehe.. im alittle scared actually.. :(

Sunrise @ 4 Pillar, beside Lebuhraya Lim Chong Eu

OK, another early wake and attempts to nailed some sunrise shots. Woke up at 5am, had McD Big Breakfast before getting to the site for a wonderful sunrise! Alot of friends came, which it was fun! Here's what i managed to capture that morning :P

Dim Sum~Food photography

Never really did alot of food photography before,just a few, but well, i'm back! Will try to shoot some nice foods from all over Penang, and hopefully, the world in the future.

We had this Dim Sum somewhere near UMNO Building in Penang. The place are famous for Steamboat at night though. Here's a shot of Xiao Long Bao that we ate. Hehehe..

The Clan Jetties, part 2

Woke up at 5am to go to the jetties and wait for sunrise. How dissapointing it is when u see this!

But well, it doesnt rain.. so we stayed and tried some shots using Cokin ND filters (thanks to Chuppy)

So here's 2 version of what i got that morning;

Will definitely go again and try to nail some shots of the beautiful sunrise! :P

Nikkor 16-35mm F/4 Nano - First Day Test Review

Another dream comes true when finally, i bought AFS Nikkor 16-35mm F/4G ED VRII N lens! Cost me close to RM4K, but believe me, it's worth every cent! The sharpness of this lens is superb, with Nano coating and Vibration Reduction, it claims it's place and replace my kit lens, the cheap and cheerful 18-55mm which i bought for only Rm400. 10 TIMES DIFFERENCES in price, let see if it could deliver 10 times better photos in the future XD (ok it's not fair to the kit, it's all up to me, the person behind the DSLR isn't it :P)

It looks good on my big and trusty Nikon D200 plus grip. Handles very well, and it's pretty long too. Doesn't look like a ultra-wide angle lens to me. Hehe... Anyway, it just feels good! Finally found a good replacement for my kit lens which serves me for over 2 years and will continue to serves me well in macro photography in particular (all the shots you've seen in this blog, 90% comes from the kit lens!)

Minutes after purchases, i went around Penang for some testing. Visited the famous Penang Clan Jetties for a short while as it is getting dark. Manage to get some shots, particularly with the HDRs attempt. Love's the range of 16-35. Very useful as a walk-around lens. The VR works pretty good under low light condition.

Here's some shots from the Tan Jetty:

and here's Chew Jetty;

needed some directions?

Stay tune for more photos to come in the near future! Nikkor 16-35 F/4 rocks!

Kalimantan Samurai, the Sphaerichthys vaillanti

One of my favourite fish ever! Got them few months back and finally, they grew up and colored up just like what i saw online! Simply amazing and unbelievable at first. I've left with 7 pcs out of 10pcs, with 2 confirmed pair right now, and some misc unknown :S

They've been courting since last week but no results in brooding yet :( Hope for the best!

Here's some photos:

The magnificient female Samurai! Look at the coloration!

And here's the male, with his breeding dance, showing how big his mouth can be to brood eggs.

The pair, female are alittle shy though..

Wish me luck in breeding this amazing labyrinth! :P

Breeding Parosphromenus nagyi

Finally succeeded breeding my 2nd species of Parosphromenus, the P.nagyi from Kuantan, Pahang.

The breeding pair is housed in 1ft tank, ph 5 (tap water mix with rain water) and peat granules added. Temperature were constant at 28C. The pair are fed with mosquitoes larvae, daphnia, and artemia twice daily and finally, i was rewarded with few batches of eggs and fries in 2 weeks period! Cant believe it!

Here's some photos of the fries and pair, albeit blurry ones.. :(

Hope i can manage to raise all to maturity and continue to conserve this species in captivity. The type locality and natural habitats of all Parosphromenus are threatened by development and forest clearing. Such a sad sad issues..

CTY Betta Fish Competition 2010

December is full of events isnt it? CTY organized another Betta competition, and this round, it manage to pull an enormous entry of over 500 fishes! That is such a good sign for the hobby in Penang. I've manage to take some photos of the winning fishes, but, sorry guys, am not so good in capturing the betta.. still learning :P

We have this Grand Champion, Orange Crowntail! Nice!

And here's some winning fishes..

And here's a shot of my friends, from the left, Q Betta Team, Rosdi (BSM President), Niwit (Judge of the day, from Thailand) and Ming Yuen (qualified judge and SuHo.. LOL)

Penang Flora Fest 2010

Again, here i am, visiting the famous flora festival held occasionally in Penang Botanical Garden. All the floras, especially orchids and adenium, and bonsai, are attracting thousands of peoples from all over the country. I'm there almost every show to see what's new, to photography some flowers and not forgetting, buying some home :)

Look at this Nepenthes, unique isnt it?

I bought this home, only cost Rm20.

Lovely orchid! Kinda expensive though :(

My cousin and lil brother, 2 fatty in da show.. haha..

Mum bought Hoya, RM35 per plant - actually it's a mix of 4-5 different colored Hoya. Nice isnt it? hehe..

And look at this giant adenium! Stunning!

And more orchids!

It was a nice show nevertheless, with some location shifting to the new part of botanical garden. Oh ya, the Giant Water Lily (Victoria amazonica) pond is almost ready! Cant wait for it, the largest water lily in the world is coming to Penang! hehe..