Some of Ricoh’s black and white setting;

After pineapple farm, we drove by Machap and visited Aw Pottery factory;

I’m quite impress with Ricoh’s macro mode. It can produce very nice and sharp macro photo with decent magnification and close shooting distance.  I took roughly 400 photos with Ricoh GX200 using LCD viewer and the battery level still showing 70% level, which is quite long lasting. At the end of the trip, I felt I don’t really miss my DSLR after all.

The calendar consist of 12 photographs taken in Kluang showing images from 7am to 8pm. Each pages can be detached easily to be recycled as postcard and bookmark. (Thanks to the brilliant design by Konghwee & Ying)

Profit made from this calendar will be donated to poor families to support their children’s education needs.

These calendars are available at Kluang Rail Coffee Station for RM10 each.

Hello everyone. This is the first time I’m using WordPress version 2.7! It’s amazing, I would say the layout and functionlity are much better and user friendly than the previous version. Thanks a lot to my brother James Pang, who upgraded the WordPress for me.

This is also the first time I’m posting a photo in black and white. I’m always amazed by a lot of impressive black and white photos that I came across all these years. The only regret is, I’m not belong to the B&W film era and don’t know a thing about dark room processing, all the techniques, chemicals and papers…  So I never know how it feels to shoot in film and the process in the dark room, the feeling of anticipation by looking at the image revealing itself on the photo paper. It might be time consuming, yet the satisfaction feeling you get will make a good compensation for that.

In the current digital era, less and lesser people know how to appreciate the beauty of black and white nor to understand it. Why black and white? What’s the different between shooting in black and white compare to colour photo? Well, black and white photo doesn’t attract your attention with its play of colour. It solely depends on its ability to communicate rather than on its appealing visual presentation like colourful photographs. Therefore, it requires more attention in composition, lighting, perspective and the context that the photographer try to present.

Here is my first attempt of black and white. I came across this simple bicycle in front of foreign worker quarters of a pineapple farm in Simpang Renggam. Of course, I shoot it in colour digital format using my trusty Nikon D80 camera. B&W conversion was later carried out in Photoshop CS2. I also attach an original photo in colour format. Do let me know, which one you prefer. Before that, I must admit that I shoot this photo because of the attraction of mixed colours of all the hanging cloth. Bear with me, as I’m yet to see the world in black and white : )

Remember, black and white photo can be powerful as well. It tells a story in both emotional and beautiful way… Hope those who interested in black and white photography can try it out often. Cheers!

p/s:

If you need extra dose of B&W poison, please visit PhotoMalaysia forum. There are plenty of veteran/expert/master that will be glad to answer all your questions.

Dear all my friends,At last I finally post something after missing for 4 months… there you go…These photos were taken in Zenxin Organic Park, which situated along Jalan Batu Pahat , Kluang (right turn from Air Hitam PLUS toll exit, 5 mins distance on the left side).Basically, this organic vegetable and dragon fruit farm is getting popular as family getaway and recreation center for the pass 2 years. It is under Ministry of Agriculture’s modern farm project in Johor.

The good news is, the entrance is free of charge : ). You can buy fresh organic vegetables and local products from its farm mart and there is a HALAL restaurant serving all types of food and steamboat. There is a 700 meter long walkway in the 100 acre farm attached to a viewing pavilion on a small hill, where you can enjoy the lush green scenery and soft breezing wind.

Rent a bicycle or take a walk around the farm to experience the farming life. Join the fish catching game, or the vegetable growing and harvesting program to get close to the nature.

The dragon fruit planted in Zenxin Organic Park is the red type, which personally I think it taste better than white type. If you are lucky, then you will get to see the dragon fruit flower, Queen of the Night which only blossom at night. Try to visit the park in the morning around 7-8am before the flower withered under bright sunlight.

I love the big trees in the organic park, and of course the photography opportunities, from macro to landscape.Zenxin Organic Park is a must stop place the next time you visit Kluang. Free tourist guide will be provided. You may call the number below for more information for reservation or to organise your own program in the park. Please contact their marketing department’s Ms Goh or Ms Lim at 07-7595196/0197738985 Fax: 07-7595193 or visit their website.

All the photos were taken using Tokina 12-24mm F4 lens, straight out from camera without cropping.

The world needs more green plants…

…was the previous internal competition topic of Photography Society of Kluang. I submitted 2 photos. Many veteran advised me not to submit this photo as the motion is too little to bring out the objective of the topic. I didn’t listen to them as i really like this photo and spent a lot of effort to shoot this, not to mention the amount of chicken fluff I sniffed in. Some even bet that this photo can only get 4 marks out of 9

On contrary, most of them prefer this pool ball photo…

Well, at the end, this pool photo was kicked out from the winning list and my chicky photo got a consolation place.

I guess it is hard to foresee what the judges want. So which one do you prefer?

At last I decided to use my Tamron 90mm 2.8 macro lens rather than left it underutilized for months in the dry cabinet. After some struggling despite merely 4 hours sleep, I woke up at 7am to catch a glimpse of dragon fruit’s flower ‘The Queen of the Night’ before it withers under sunlight.

So after 1 hour of backache, numb leg and face, I only managed to get 1 presentable photo out of 70+ (not to mention only a small part of head is sharp ). Photo was slightly cropped and sharpened. I really respect those who managed to get perfect macro photograph in terms of sharpness and composition. Without a flash light, it is extremely hard to get a sharp photo with great DOF especially when your subject keep moving non-stop! Occasionally I need to stand tall and take a deep breath before i continue…

This photo was taken in Zenxin Organic Park, situated beside Jalan Batu Pahat, just a short distance away from Air Hitam tol exit (right turn). For those who are interested, admission is free from 9am to 9pm with free tour guide until 6pm. They have nice viewing platform, halal restaurant, farm mart & botanical center, function hall and bicycle for rental, fish catching activity and lots of interesting things for you to discover. Oh by the way, the restaurant close on Tuesday although the park opens everyday. Best place for a walk in the evening.

Time may pass, seasons may change,
Words may fade but true feelings remain.

This sunset photo was taken in Kahang Organic Rice Eco Farm (KOREF). I reached there with 2 of my friends around 4pm. To my disappointment, the sky was clear without clouds. We walked a long distance from the front gate till the other end of field, passing by flocks of birds flying through the horizon, local kampung people catching fish along the irrigation channel, and of course, chasing ducks along the way! Then it was a time just before sunset, when the sun was low, the light was golden and hazy, the time we called ‘golden hour’. I quickly snap a few photos and this one is one of my favourite.