Helen and Rosa - Photoshoot at Tun Fuad Park

Sorry for the long absence. As usual, I have been busy with work, not forgetting I have acquired some new (or rather used) ,interesting items that will help me in my photography journey. One of the highlights was, after almost three years using a netbook, I bought myself a new laptop. Never thought editing photos and videos would be this easy and fast.

Anyway, this is another photoshoot organised by a few members of Sony Alpha Kaki Photo (SAKP) in Facebook which I am a member and is based in Kota Kinabalu. It's an active, I mean really active group comprises of mostly Sony Alpha camera users, but welcomed other brands as well.

This particular session was held at Tun Fuad Park, and I used Nex with Carl Zeiss 50mm. Reflectors were used because it was very hot and sunny.


Rosa.


Helen.












Carl Zeiss wide open.








Captured with Nex's Toy photo feature.

These subsequent photos were taken with Nex's High Contrast Monochrome feature.







I did mentioned that SAKP is a very active group, and as far as I can remember, there are plans of back to back photoshoot session starting this week. I do hope I will have the time to blog about all those. Till then, happy shooting!

Finally, my photos in a magazine!

After a very tiring week, finally I have time to complete a short post. I was busy juggling my time for a science carnival where my school participated and the School Prefect's camping at OBS in Kinarut. Luckily, came some great news to cheer on coming this week.

For the recently concluded Sabah state level science carnival, my school participated in some of the competitions and I was in charged for the Solar Car Race with three students. It was the first time the carnival is held here, and the first for my school as well.









To cut the story short, we came second! Not bad for a slow car during the early stage of the competition. More on that in my next post.

The next good news is that my photos finally being published in a Brunei-based travel magazine can biG or Borneo Insider's Guide. I have five of my Serikin Market photos in their latest edition magazine. You can check the online version here. The feeling of seeing your photos being published is awesome, especially for a hobbyist like me.

Busy...

Phew...I have been busy with work this past few weeks...with little time to spare for photos let alone hanging out with fellow camera kakis. These were some shots that I managed to take. All taken around Ujana Rimba Park with the Carl Zeiss Jenna.









Besides that, I'm busy installing/updating/implementing apps for my leisure and work on my iDevice.




:) Loving it!

Nex - 3, Carl Zeiss Jenna 50mm f1.8 m42, Nex firmware v.4

20th June was a nice day for me and my photography journey. Not only I have gotten myself a 'new' lens, but Sony released the new firmware for Nex and SLT series cameras. The new firmware brought along some photo filters and the much awaited 'peaking' function. Peaking helps manual focusing easier with manual lenses. What it does it highlighting the in-focus' area with selectable coloured 'areas', in this case it can be yellow, red or blue. Those with a collection of old, legacy lenses can just get right adapters and enjoy the image quality that comes with it.

I myself have been experimenting with old, manual lenses for quite some time but I'm still unable to determine which lenses to get. I tried m42's Hanimex 58mm f2.8 and the Vivitar 135mm f2.8. Both are good lenses, but somehow I'm still on the edge until...the Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.8 came along. A good friend put this lens for sale, and without any hesitation I quickly closed the deal with him. Lucky me it's a M42 mount and reasonably cheap! Sorry for the photos of my cam, taken with my mobile HTC snapper.




Nice black colour with some brushed metal on the aperture and focus ring.





The new firmware also comes with photo filters; namely Toy, Partial (Blue, Red, Green and Yellow), High Contrast Monochrome, Posterization (BnW and Color), Pop and Retro and High-Key.


Notice the yellow mark in the middle of the screen. This marks the area in focus when peaking is activated.

Time to test out the photo filters with the Carl Zeiss Jenna 50mm f1.8, most of them using f4.


Partial Yellow.


Partial Red.


Partial Green.


Partial Blue.


My car tweets using Toy filter.

A series of photos using four different filters.


Toy.


Pop.


Retro.


High Contrast Monochrome.


Pop. Love the IQ from this lens.

Jennifer at Kuching Amphiteather (Nex-3 + Vivitar 135 f2.8 M42)

This portrait session was done during Gawai holidays. She's a friend of a good friend, and a nice gal to work with. The initial plan was to have her to wear a Bidayuh's traditional costume, but we changed to a casual photoshoot because the costume wasn't available at that time.

I used the Vivitar 135mm f2.8 a lot for this session to get that nice bokeh background. Eventhough the Nex's screen is clear enough to determine sharp focus, but the amount of time taken to achieve that sometimes a bit cumbersome for me. Pity Jen that she sometimes has to stay in one position a bit longer just to wait for me to get the focus right. But, that's about to change soon as Sony will released a new firmware that comes with 'peaking' function. That particular function will help focusing with manual lenses easier. I will write about that once I installed the new firmware this June 20th.



















135mm on Nex's APS-C sensor is tight, and I don't think I would use this lens often for portraits if I do own one. Most of the shots I got are from the waist up. A 50mm would be suitable, and that's why I just gotten myself another m42 lens, the Carl Zeiss Jenna 50mm f1.8. Can't wait to see how it performs.

One-half of Ethnic Transmissions

I'm proud of my ex-guitarists from my old band. From a humble beginning, they have progressed and are now well-known in Sarawak's local Iban music scene. Just before Gawai, both of them performed some instrumental numbers in a local gig at Miri, where, after that, the organisers again invited them as a guest performers for a battle of the band competition happening today.

And they were asked for some high-res photos where I came in handy. :D Besides, I seldom shoot band photos so this is my opportunity to learn.