.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

Well I don't know if I'd call myself a photographer yet...but I've just passed my second year in photography..

I got my Nikon D70s on June 7th 2006, 2 years ago last month. I had some cameras before that, an old Olympus mju 35mm film point and shoot and I got my first digital camera in 2001 (which cost me a fortune) - the 3.2 megapixel Canon Powershot A70.

It did me well and most of my earlier pictures on this blog were from that camera.

I'd say I started photography properly when I got the D70s, before that I'd just started exploring what I could do with with the A70 and was starting to find it's limitations in terms of speed, noise at high ISO, accurate white balance and fine tuning controls. I decided against getting a bridge or prosumer camera and to go straight for a dSLR.

My choices at that time were the Canon 350D, the Olympus E-500 and the Nikon D70s.

I hardly got chance to use the camera, and had only just bought my first lens other than the kit lens (A Tamron SP90mm Di Macro Lens)...and my camera was stolen only 3 months after I'd bought it.

That was heartbreaking to say the least...by that time I'd completely gotten the photography bug though so I couldn't give up...I had a choice to make between getting the Nikon D80, which had just been released or the higher model the Nikon D200. I went for the D200 for various reasons (solid build, more accurate metering, CF card rather than SD and so on) and I have to say I've never regretted the decision.

Anyway here are a few of my personal favs I've taken in the 2 years since I've gone from complete noob to slightly less noob.

With the Nikon D70s

With the Nikon D200

I've had a stranger buy one of my pictures though, I've been published in quite a few magazines and national papers, I'll have a spread in FHM August, I've shot a major musical event and I've recently seen one of my pictures on a billboard! I've got a lot of unpublished stuff, so perhaps I'll make an effort to get it on my blog. Also of course we started Shutter Asia to expand my learning and network of photographers for outings and trips - so far it's been great!

It's a start!

I've still gotten a long way to go though, only 2 years into photography...probably another 23 years to go before I get any good Most things take at least 25 years to master reasonably well.

Apparently the most beautiful mosque in Malaysia and of the most photogenic mosques in the World! Quite an accolade for humble Kuala Kangsar.

We took a trip out there on the second day of our outing as it's fairly close to Sungai Siput, we reached there with the beautiful early morning light hitting the sides of the golden domes.

It was breathtaking with the pure blue skies. I hope I've captured some of its' beauty here.

Basking in the light

Long Shadows

Powerful Symmetry

Beautiful Minarets

So Peaceful

Beneath the Sun

Pure blue

Reaching Heaven

It was a splendid place to visit really, if you are in the area do check it out. Early morning or late afternoon would be the best times.

As someone aptly said - this is not urban decay..It's just Jakarta.

Majestic Large on Black.

Not really..

But guess where I was?

Can you?

I have to admit I know Selangor Valley pretty well, and I've never even heard of this place, let alone been there.

Europe indeed, was a hectic day, need to sleep now...and *sigh* back to work tomorrow, why can't I get the whole week off!

Had a pretty busy few days...need a holiday after that, Mom is having a good time.

Some of her New Zealand pics are awesome, trying to persuade her to blog her trip.

Oh yah, feel free to tell me how awesome my pic is!

After our walk I suggested we headed up to the top of the hill to catch the sunset over the bay, here I captured some of my favourite pictures of all time, including my number 1 all time favourite!

A couple I took from the car window on the drive up.

The Moors

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Well after lazing around on the terrace all day we went for a walk along to the harbour and down towards the beach (the opposite direction from Butlins!) to get away from the people and get a bit of fresh air and exercise.

It was a nice walk, along by the harbour, the lifeboat station and down along the beach.

Quay Street - Minehead

Moored in the Harbour

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Ah finally back from Dubai, my sleeping pattern is a bit screwed though because of the 4 hour time difference and the 7 hour overnight flight..

It'll get back to normal soon enough I guess..

Well yes, finally I'm back! Dubai was...hot and sandy and it makes me fat as you can order everything under the sun there without moving your ass off the sofa...Pizza, fried chicken, chinese food, arabic food, indian food, iranian food, lebanese food, groceries..basically whatever you want. And the portions are all huge!

We managed to grab a couple of days off towards the end and relax, we planned our trip out and went for a Dubai Desert Safari the day before we came back.

I recommend the Desert Safari to everyone, it's an amazing experience, if you are ever flying with Emirates, just stop over in Dubai for a couple of days, check out Jumeirah, perhaps the Mall of Emirates and do the Desert Safari, that's enough

The Desert Safari includes sand duning (driving fast up and down sand dunes in a massive jeep which feels like it's about to turn over!), a camel ride, belly dancing and a bbq in the middle of the desert, oh yah and some shishas!

It costs between Dhs 150 and 280 depending which company you go with (that's equivalent to the same amount in RM as the exchange rate is 0.99 = 1) and is worth every cent!

You leave for the safari about 3-4pm as it's too hot before that, and it's a good time to head out and catch the sunset on the dunes.

After quite a long journey and a quick stop at a buggy place (you can take a buggy on the dunes for Dhs100 for about 20 minutes and get sunburnt for free), which none of us took up, we hit the dunes.

The driving is crazy, it's fun, it's like a rollercoaster, up and down, sliding sideways down sandunes in a heavy 4.5 litre Toyota Landcruiser GXR.

You stop off a couple of times to admire the view and take some pictures of the dunes, it's a beautiful peaceful place and is suprisingly windy.

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So a few days later I headed back down to town to capture the cathedral again with my sturdy tripod and the correct ISO setting..sadly it was closed by the time I got there, but do enjoy these pics of the Riverside.

We started off customarily with fish and chips sitting on a bench by the river watching the children playing and people feeding the swans and pigeons.

The kids were really enjoying the fountain.

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Hmm nothing like a lovely fat pork chop covered in stuffing and some lightly boiled vegetables!

The stuffing on top means the pork chop rind goes super crispy but the meat itself stays moist and juicy!

The left over boiled potatoes were turned into potatoe salad the next day and served with some super fresh premium pork pie, DELICIOUS!

After that I headed into the cathedral with my new el-cheapo telescopic tripod to try out some HDR, I forgot to change the ISO down from 500 though...AGAIN so they are a little bit grainy.

Still some nice ones though, enjoy!

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