Krabi, Thailand Day 1

These coming posts will be about a trip to Krabi, Thailand in 2013. What can I say about Krabi? A great place, great people and suitable for families with children.I will try to remember the place we visited, the experiences but most importantly, let the photos speak for themselves. I believe few things have changed since it's already 2015.

 Nice looking interior of the Hiace. Our transport from the airport to our hotel. We stayed at Ao Nang and not Krabi town because it's nearer to the beach and water activities!

 We stayed at Haleeva Sunshine, Ao Nang. It takes a good 15 minutes walk to the beach area but this hotel provide good service and cheap. However, they don't provide lifts.

 Yes, you can go around like that, but I recommend that you wear a helmet for safety reasons and to avoid trouble with the authorities.

 Efficient and fast!

 Motorcycles are abundant. Affordable rental prices and it's the best method to move around Ao Nang.

 There were tailors everywhere. Read online that the workmanship are good and cheap as well.

I ended day one with this! Khao Niaow Ma Muang. Love them to bits! Day 2 coming!

Milkyway at Kokol Hill, Sabah, Malaysia

I finally managed capture some milkyway which I have tried but failed miserably before. Last Sunday, my friends and I drove up to Kokol Hill around 2 in the morning. Kokol is situated about 30 mins from Kota Kinabalu.

We stopped and started shooting nearby a communications tower which is situated just before the top of the hill. It was windy and slightly cloudy that morning.

I took my small camera, placed it on a tripod and hoped that it can perform on par with its bigger siblings which my friends used. :D

 f2, 15 sec, iso3200

  f2, 15 sec, iso3200

Then we drove up but couldn't find any suitable locations we drove down. Be careful when you stop especially when a house is near as dogs can be quite a nuisance. I can swear some of the dogs teamed up and tried to chase us away. 

  f2, 20 sec, iso3200

  f2, 20 sec, iso3200

 f2, 25 sec, iso3200

So far I'm satisfied with my shots and definitely will go up again very, very soon. It's quite near to my house anyway. :D 

An interesting appetizer with galangal, asam and anchovies.

Recently my mother in-law prepared something interesting that is perfect as an appetizer. What you need are galangal, buah asam, anchovies, red chillies, cooking oil and sugar to taste. There's no exact amount for this recipe. It is up to you whether you want more sour taste from asam, hot from the chillies, sweetness from the sugar, 'sweet' and 'spicy' from the galangal or the saltiness from the anchovies.

 Skinned both buah asam and galangal. 

 I used small anchovies. You can also use anchovies that has been cleaned. Pound them using stone mortar as well just to get them soften.

Next step. Pound the galangal using stone mortar. Some may prefer to blend it but i prefer to maintain its crunchiness. 

Slice buah asam into thin strips. 

Stir-fry anchovies using a small amount of cooking oil. You just want the anchovies to be brownish in colour.

When the anchovies is done, place it into a bowl and mix them with galangal and slices of asam. Reminder, there's no exact amount here so the taste is up to you.

Put in minced red chillies and sugar. 

I think mine has too much anchovies. Some extra galangal and asam. 

Done! Great for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it tastes good with plain porridge! 

Portrait session with RX100M2

The main reason why I bought the Mark 2 over Mark 3 is due to the hotshoe. I love playing with lights and obviously Mark 2 is the only one having it from all the RX100 series. Unlike its Alpha brother however, RX100s do not support wireless flash out of the box, or with its pop-up flash so I used triggers instead.

A friend who is an up and coming local singer asked me for a photoshoot when I was in Kuching for Christmas last December. We did a similar shoot for his first album previously and I used my a77 with two flashes personally I think we did great. Found a great location and using the two Sony flashes fired wirelessly I was able to capture nice photos of him.

All photos taken with a77, 35mm 1.8 and two Sony flashes with the help of the morning sunlight. 

Then, last December he requested for a night photoshoot. I had already sold the a77 and my lenses so I borrowed Pixel Soldiers trigger and receivers and a Yongnuo flash to use with the RX100. I wished I had another flash unit but none was available so we had to make do with one.

Personally I'm not satisfied with the shots I took because of the time constraint and we didn't have much time to recce for more places. I do think another flashgun will bring more 'colours' to these shots. There's still time for another photoshoot anyway and I do hope I can do more with the little cam.

Sunset at Tanjung Lipat, Sabah, Malaysia

Sabah is blessed with great sunsets with an abundance of places to get wonderful colours in the evening. It is an opportunity as well to test the RX100 Mark 2 and see what it can deliver. I seldom go out nowadays because most of my time are for my baby girl. Together with my good friend and fellow Sony shooter Fareez, we head out to Tanjung Lipat one fine evening.

I have not purchase a filter kit for my camera. Sony does sell a snap-on filter kit which costs RM 99.00. Thought of getting that but since I think I will only use it occasionally, I put the purchase on hold.

Without a proper filter kit, what did I do? Handheld filter of course! I put the camera on tripod and held the filter in front of the lens. I borrowed the ND10 filter. The RX100 however only allows aperture up to f11.

f11, 10 sec, iso 100

 f10, 8 sec, iso 100

 f8, 10 sec, 1/1125

f8, 10 sec, iso200

Played around with the filter and got multiple-exposure alike! 

Months with the Sony RX100 mark 2

I have been carrying around the RX100M2 and I must say I am very happy with the purchase. I do miss the ability to have longer or shorter focal lengths when using my old a77, but portability and great image quality in the pocket is what I looked for now.

Wish Sony would implement the multi-axis LCD like in the a77 or a99 but that would be overkill haha. ISO control is good for a compact.

 Chandelier

 Promenade Hotel Kota Kinabalu

Complaints? Nah. Most of it will be from the user point of view. :D

The new shooter..Sony RX100m2

Lately...or for quite some time I don't have time or opportunities to take photos and share it in FB or here. Apart from time, another reason that contributes to that is the fact that I'm a bit lazy lugging around my DLST. I go out a lot, but most of the time without the camera and only equipped with phone. And I find it quite a hassle to take photos of my baby while another hand holding her.

So I decided to sell off my a77, lenses and flashes...and go small. Small as in the pocketable RX100m2. It was either m2 or m3. Longer zoom, hot shoe versus bright lenses, shorter, no hotshoe. Since I think I'll be using that for portraits as well, I bought the m2. Love the wifi sharing function. Very useful after every school events.

I lug it around all the time. Who knows something nice might pop out. Photos during Christmas trip holiday were nice as well. Will share that later. For now, need to read the manual again. :D.