Spring Is Here...

Spring is the time where flowers bloom and birds chirp. Can't get any bird shots so I went to take the easier one of the two...

Took these at the public garden just opposite the flat in Southsea during Spring time...

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 35 f3.5 Macro lens.

Bishop's Palace Garden, Chichester, UK

Being in an overseas assignment provides the opportunity to explore small treasure troves around that country which you are in. With time at your side, mostly weekends or holidays, you get to do exploration not able when you are with a tour group or even on a short holiday.

I had the opportunity to visit Bishop's Palace Garden in a cathedral city called Chichester in the UK.

It was the start of spring time and some of the flowers are blooming. However, it was not as colourful as I expect it to be. Maybe my timing was not ideal but I tried my best to make the most out of this visit with some pictures that I took below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 35 f3.5 Macro, ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II and Helios 44-2 58 f2 lenses.

Bali, Indonesia

I took a trip to Bali, Indonesia with mom-in-law, wife and her 2 friends end of September 2010. It was my first time there and have spent 3 nights. We stayed in Ubud, away from the bustling area of Kuta to enjoy a more relaxing trip.

We got ourselves a driver for the trip and he brought us around the island and visited a few places such as Tegallalang to view the layered paddy fields, Kintamani to view the active volcanoes of Gunung Batur and Gunung Agung as well as Danau Batur, Uluwatu, Sukawati, Tanah Lot, Royal Palace and last but not least to good food around Bali.

The weather was not that good during the trip as it was very cloudy the whole day and poured heavily at night. We only got a bit of sunshine in the morning before noon. However, the atmosphere of the trip was amazing with great location, relaxed surroundings and excellent company.

I would make another trip there again in the near future...

Kuta at night

Typical road in Bali

Layered paddy fields at Tegallalang

Side view of the layered paddy fields of Tegallalang

Luwak Coffee in green pot with other types of coffee and tea

Gunung Batur and Danau Batur

Uluwatu

Uluwatu in a different perspective

Dirty Duck

Sukawati

Offerings

Babi Guling

Royal Palace

Everybody on the trip at Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot up-close

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II lens.

MyChiaroscuro Hutan Lipur Gunung Ledang Outing

On the 17th of October 2010, MyChiaroscuro had its biggest outing yet. The destination was Hutan Lipur Gunung Ledang at the Melaka-Johor border in Malaysia. There was about 30 of us from all parts of Malaysia and Singapore as well. We even have a member who flew in from Sabah just to join this event!

Everyone was armed and prepared for the challenge posed by the location. Weather-sealed camera bodies and lenses, tripods and macro paraphernalia. During the trip, it was a great opportunity to enjoy what 100 million year old nature had to offer. Wonderful lush green jungles with beautiful and majestic waterfalls on the side of a mountain.

The outing started early in the morning and ended in late afternoon as most need to travel back to their respective homes. Breakfast was great with ice-breaking activities and it continued during lunch as well as this outing was huge compared to previous others. Everyone had fun, which was the most important factor, as well as picking up photography skills, poisoning each other with gears and not forgetting the wonderful natural surroundings.

And one last thing, there were 2 units of E-5 on test during the trip...

 

 

 

The rest can be found here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II lens, ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 lens and off shoe FL-50 flash via FL-CB05 flash cable.

Macro @ FRIM

FRIM located in Kepong, Malaysia is the location for a macro outing held recently by MyChiarosuro forum led by member Benten. It was a great outing with fellow members Benten, simplyrobin and mwky. All armed with macro lenses and off shoe flash equipment. I do not have a macro lens so I made do with an extension tube, manual focus and lots of back ache. The effort was not wasted as I was rewarded with the pictures below.

The rest can be found here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk II lens, EX-25 extension tube and off shoe FL-50 flash via FL-CB05 flash cable.

National Flower

Come 31st August, Malaysia will be celebrating its 53rd birthday. Therefore, it would befitting to capture our national flower, the Hibiscus, in a show of patriotism. Well, sort of.

Image taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 14-42 f3.5-5.6 lens.

Busy Bees

Bees are wonderful living beings, especially the bumblebee. Just look at them buzzing away doing their work collecting pollen. It is a pain though to photograph them, especially when you are doing close-up photography.

Photos taken using Olympus E-510 with ZD 40-150 f4-5.6 lens and EX-25 Extender.