Monthly Archive for August, 2009

my humble attempt on photograhy

Published on August 31, 2009 in hobbies, me and stuff. 9 Comments Tags: , .

Ahh… so I’ve joined the club of owning a DSLR but I know absolutely nothing about how to use it. *woot* :P I’ve got tons to learn. TONS.

Amongst one of the first lesson learned this weekend is (thanks to a soon-to-be pro); when you get a 2nd hand DSLR and it’s all dusty when you first removed it out of the box, remember to clean not just the outside of the camera but also the inside of the camera before jumping at the first ever opportunity of taking some landscape photos, only to have the photos turned out “dirty”, filled with grayish dots on the clouds in the photos itself. It was definitely a pooper. Though Adobe Photoshop can do wonders, it’s just not the same when the dots could have been avoided.

Anyhuu, I tried out the camera later that same night (with the help of a soon-to-turn pro), and here’s one that I like – a flared candle.

candle

Comments?

I’m still loving my Holga though. In fact, I’ve converted that plastic camera of mine with a converter into a camera that can fit a 35mm film. I need to start thinking economically; the price of the 120mm film is just killing me. I can’t wait to see the result on the 35mm film.

So yea, a toast to my newly bought camera. Let’s just hope I’ll make full use of it.

p/s: I just realized that it’s September in just approximately one hour. I wonder how much longer do I have to wait for certain things to actually happen for real. My patience has been truly put to the test and let’s just say the level of patience is deteriorating. Oh well. *shrug*.

happy birthday Malaysia

Published on August 31, 2009 in me, people, stuff and thoughts. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

So, the 52nd Independence Day of Malaysia is celebrated with the 1Malaysia theme; rakyat didahulukan, pencapaian diutamakan. 1Malaysia — it’s about uniting amongst the different races in Malaysia, working as one, making Malaysia great.

You buy that? *pfffhhhtttt*

Let us just watch this video first.

Times when I was in primary school came flashing back as I watched this video. Bangsa (Race) was just a word back then. It meant nothing to us. Absolutely nothing. There were no discrimination, no racism; we were all color blind. Now that’s 1Malaysia.

Coming back to the real Malaysia, is the spirit of 1Malaysia being practiced by each and everyone of us? The person who created 1Malaysia — does this person truly understand the underlying meaning of 1Malaysia? All these political dramas that the Malaysians and the rest of the world are witnessing since the March 2008 election; are we reflecting what 1Malaysia is all about? Is this what we want our kids to learn?

I don’t quite know what plans the Malaysian government have got up their sleeves but I hope that in the true spirit of unity in Malaysia, let this 52nd Independence Day be a turning point to making Malaysia better.

p/s: Oh, and just a note to the politicians who are supposedly working on the betterment of Malaysia; the rakyat are not stupid people. We know how to think. It would be great if some of you politicians would stop making silly remarks and statements, expecting us rakyat to buy in to your BS. It will only make matters worse. Thank you.

Happy Merdeka Malaysia

a beautiful thing

Published on August 30, 2009 in love and me. 2 Comments Tags: .

It’s a beautiful thing when you love somebody & you are not afraid to tell the whole world about it.

…and to have that somebody loves you back & is not afraid to tell the whole world about it makes it even more beautiful that it already is.

————————-

don’t you think so? i know i do

just because

Published on August 27, 2009 in love and me. 13 Comments

If you love someone, you say it, right then, out loud. Otherwise, the moment just passes you by…

-From My Best Friend’s Wedding

And so I thought, what the heck.

ur-amazing2

Yes, you.

Have a good day.

lomo love

Published on August 24, 2009 in me and stuff. 10 Comments Tags: , .

I love lomo. My love for lomography have grown more and more over this past 6 months.

What is it that I love about lomo? The blurry effect, the not so red-green-blue pictures a.k.a. blunt colors, the double exposures, the overexposed/underexposed effect; basically everything that is wrong to the “real” photography (according to some people I know).

lomocollage

In my honest opinion, whether you’re using a DSLR, a semi-pro camera, a basic point-and-shoot, a worn out film camera, a lomography camera, a handphone camera or anything that captures a photo, it’s all about capturing the moment that is to your liking. No?

Some say your horizon has got to be straight when taking landscape photos. Some say that your photos have got to be sharp to a point where the pores of a person can be seen when the picture is blown up. Some say that the color blue of the sky has got to be a certain blue for the picture to turn out right. Some say the photos have got to follow some bell curve color thingy as calculated by the camera. If all fails to follow these simple rules, the photos are wrong.

Says who?

So what if the pics turn out to be a little blury? So what if the blue is not the right blue? So what if there’s a little flare in the picture? If everyone followed the rules, then everyone should be taking the same type of photos, right? Does that mean photography is a form of science where there’s a right thing for every type of picture?

To me, photography is an art. Art is something very subjective. Art is not 1+1=2. Art is nowhere near that. Some may like it, some may not. But who’s to say if that piece of art is right or wrong? What matters is the person who is making that art loves it (well, unless you’re making a living out of it and your clients have a certain expectation as to how they want their pictures to turn out…).

:) I’ve shared lomography photos with lots of people and I must say not many like the look of it. It didn’t matter to me, coz I love it big time. To me, it’s about seeing something beautiful through those flaws.

Oh well, it’s just me.

Pondering about getting a DSLR — so I can do all the wrong things in photography. :P

<3

Published on August 23, 2009 in love and me. 2 Comments Tags: .

loveu

A part of loving someone is wanting to be there for him for the rest of his living years, wanting to grow old together.

Will it ever happen?

————

One can only wait to find out.

Although, in much curiosity, how much longer can one wait?

<3<3<3

moonflower

Published on August 22, 2009 in stuff. 8 Comments Tags: , , .

There’s a reason why the flower of the dragon fruit tree is called a moonflower. It blooms to a full bloomed flower only when night falls and witters away by the time the sun comes out.

Last night, I was lucky enough to witness a full bloom moonflower over at a friend’s house and the flower looked awesomely beautiful.

moonflower2

Ain’t it a beauty?

moonflower1

I didn’t have a proper camera with me, so I’m grateful my camera phone didn’t fail on me yesterday.

I’m amazed by how something so beautiful bloomed for only a mere 12 hours or so. And it has to bloom only at night. I’m just glad I’ve got the opportunity to see a moonflower for real.

If only I have a DSLR.

feeling the pinch

Published on August 21, 2009 in life, me and thoughts. 2 Comments Tags: , .

Is it me or has the cost of living increase in Malaysia? I’ve been feeling a little tight lately and my spending pattern has not change much. In fact, I’ve been spending a whole lot lesser than before. However, I cannot help but have this feeling that I am not saving enough for the future.

Well, I have some of my thoughts illustrated in this little graph I drew.

living-costHere’s what I think. On average, all typical working human would have a wage that increases in a linear form over time; at least for people who are in the rat race (me included). However, taking into account the increase of the rate of inflation, the cost of living for an average human increases exponentially. There will come an equilibrium point, where the wage is equivalent to the cost of living; up to this point, we will have no problems supporting our life.

However, moving pass that equilibrium point, with the cost of living continuously increasing at an exponential rate, a working person with his or her wage increasing only at a linear rate will eventually fail to support his or her cost of living, struggling to survive. The increment in the wage is relatively too slow in comparison with the increment of the cost of living over time. Perhaps the exponential part has been exaggerated a little too much. Nevertheless, I believe this is somewhat happening, no?

I may be wrong, as I’ve made a lot of assumptions when making this argument. Perhaps some of us don’t feel it and it could be because their wages are increasing at an exponential rate similar to the increment of the cost of living. For others (me included), I believe my wage is increasing linearly, which could be the reason for me to feel the pinch of being tight now.

At this juncture of my life, I’m not exactly making any major investments yet. I’m saving as how I’ve been saving 5 years ago; for the future. But, I’m definitely feeling the pinch. I should probably think of ways to make this pinch go away, or at least make my wage increase exponentially.

Oh well, it’s just another of my 2 cents.

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