Action shots

I haven't gotten much practice in shooting moving subjects because most of the time, I'm either taking landscapes or slow-moving subjects. But yesterday, I decided to try out and practice some stop-action shots and some panning shots at the park (the light was ideal for this because it was really quite dark already). What did I learn? I learned that I have to have a great deal more practice.

The stop-action shots of my wife and daughter on the swing required me to time the shutter release just as the swing reached it's peak before moving to the other direction, when the swing would, for a very short moment, seem stationary. This was easier said than done! Out of the almost 10 shots I took, only 2 I deemed to be satisfactory. The rest were blurry and not the images that I intended to capture. Of course, the rather low-light levels didn't help either. I know I could have set my camera to continuous shooting, but I figured that wouldn't help me much in developing my sense of timing.

The panning shots were a rather similar affair. I had never really practised this, and the shots that seemed okay I thought were more chance than skill. So, perhaps more practice in this area is in order.

Festival of Hope

The Christmas concert organised by my church last night was a blast! Here are a few of the pics I took during the concert. The more arty ones were taken during the full-dress rehearsal the night before as I could move around more freely. As expected, light levels were very low and I had to push my camera's ISO much higher than I'm comfortable with (started with ISO 800 but normally worked with ISO 1100). I was probably being over-ambitious but I decided not to use flash and just tried to get my shots sharp.

Of course, all pics went through quite a bit of photoshopping to remove colour-cast, noise, and increase contrast and brightness. A number of the pics are not as sharp as I'd like them to be (due to noise reduction in photoshop, and I suspect, jittery hands due to the slow shutter speed), but I guess I have to live with that. I don't own a 70-200 f/2.8!

Unless of course, someone would generously buy me one...

Bajau Portrait

These shots of a Bajau man were also taken during the trip to Kota Belud for the Tamu Besar. I just love the wrinkles and the stern disposition of this man! And he looks kinda cool holding that rolled-up cigarette.

Kota Belud Trip

Went to Kota Belud yesterday with the intention of enjoying the yearly Tamu Besar (tamu means open air market) but that wasn't to be. It not only had been raining the since early morning (so that was sure to put a damper on activities) but to make matters worse, there was hardly anything to see! We went to the tamu grounds expecting throngs of people, but all we saw were several sellers just setting up their stalls.

So, with nothing happening at the tamu grounds, we drove around Kota Belud for some sightseeing and were rewarded with some rather beautfiul scenery. Of course, we had to make do with the weather which just couldn't seem to decide whether it wanted to rain or stay dry.

Kota Belud has some wonderful scenery. Pity that Mt. Kinabalu was totally covered by clouds...

Dark clouds looming

Shots of the raging water near the small 'dam'. The water was a greenish colour which didn't look very nice. So decided to change the photo into black and white. I'd say it looks like a cracker! Don't you think?

Another take at a different angle of the same place.

Exotic Cars

Some shots I took of the exotic car exhibition called Big Boyz Toys currently being held at 1 Borneo. It's not very often that you get to see so many expensive and powerful sports cars in one place. Very nice!

The hulking Nissan Skyline! Brutal!

One of the most recognised symbols in the world


Can you guess what this car is?

Colours

Have you noticed the sunsets we've been getting in Kota Kinabalu lately? More often that not, they are absolutely marvelous! Such beautiful hues and colours. Here are a couple of photos that I managed to take the other day. God's wonderful artwork for all to enjoy!

Sabah Governor's Celebrations

Saturday, October 11 was the Head of State's official birthday. This is the first time ever I've ever witnessed the celebrations at the Kota Kinabalu city field. There was the march past from different schools, organisations and political groups, as well as dance performances, but I was only interested in one thing - the guards of the palace. So, most of the time I was absorbed taking pictures of them. Here are a several which I particularly like.

Alvin and Belinda's Wedding

This has been a long time coming (their wedding was actually at the end of August!), but at last here is a selection of the many photos that I took during the wedding of good friends of mine. I wasn't the official wedding photographer but you could say I was the 'official' groom's photographer.

The whole event was a very happy occasion, and I found the tea ceremony especially memorable. God's richest blessings on this couple as they begin their life together as husband and wife. Congratulations!

Blue hills

This shot was taken from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. I love how the blue hills of Penampang form the many layers in this image.