tembeling’s muse

I bought SLR because my Sony Cybershot was not able to give me good picture of my arowana. My first SLR was Canon 300D. Bought it from Syahrin Aziz. The body alone cost me RM2K plus. Can’t remember the exact amount. Apart from shooting arowana, the next ‘genre’ that I felt in love was macro.

I started with reversed 50mm. There was no Raynox at that time.It was very very hard to shoot with reversed lens. It was very very dark & I had to focus manually. Having said that one of the daisy taken with such technique accepted for the publication in Digital Camera Magazine.

I also used 4+ macro filter even earlier than that i.e. the time I had Canon 300D & 50mm lens. But I sold everything to a young college student & jumped to Nikon at the time when Nikon D70s appeared in the market. My macro stopped at using reversed lens only.

Then I moved to shoot using telezoom. I loved to go to the zoo to shoot animals.

I bought 55-200 lens than later a 70-210 f4 lens but I was never satisfied until I got myself 105mm f2.8 & 80-200mm f2.8 somewhere in 2006. I still remember, I bought them together when I went to UPM for a tennis tournament.

I also love doing CLS (Nikon’s term for wireless creative lighting system). In fact it was one of the reason I bought D70s back in 2004-2005. I wanna shoot my arowana dancing in her tank with the lighting coming from above.

Quite recently I began shooting landscape & had been to many places just to shoot beautiful scenery. Shooting animals in the zoo or waterfall in famous tourist areas become less interesting. I prefer the real nature. And the place with few people.

I have been to volcanoes in Indonesia, fierce rapids in a very remote area of Ulu Tembeling and a jungle in Raub. And you guys can see them all in my flickr or gallery.

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Canon 300D, macro, Nikon D70s, personal experience, Photography, reversed lens

What a coincidence! A fellow friend from Photomalaysia, known as Stockie (or his real name, Khairul Azhar), who is also a nature & landscape photography enthusiast, is organising a similar photography workshop but in West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, at Tasik Raban from 7-9th February 2009! Detail about the workshop is available here.

You can view his work at his Flickr.

I was told someone real professional will be involved in his workshop. So guys, those who wanna learn nature photography can join this workshop! Those who are already signup for Nature Photocamp II can still join Stockie’s programme because it will be held earlier in Feb. I believe those from West Coast will benefit a lot as the place is nearer.

I am glad that there are more and more workshop held to help people to learn this art faster & better. There are now more options for people to learn photography & to appreciate nature!

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i-Nature, nature, Photomalaysia, Stockie

That’s Ammar. The boy with the red school bag. He was just cool. No problem whatsoever. Excited when I gave him RM1.50 as the pocket money. When we were on the way home, he requested me to stop at 7-Eleven to spend the money…..I told him to buy anything within his ‘budget’. Bertuah punya anak…..He took M&M Chocolate Candy that cost me RM2.60! Ha ha ha…..

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Ammar, pocket money, school

Received complaints from few HODs about staff spending too many times chatting & not performing as expected. Now….should I ban YM from my office network?

I think I want to do that eventhough I know they can still use meebo.

Some even stream music or radio. That use a lot of bandwidth.

What say you?

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internet, office, work ethic, Yahoo!

Thanks to Dr Azian & Dr Razali for organising a seminar on Mac & Osirix……my wife was convinced that Osirix will help her on her anatomy teachings. Therefore she would like to have a Mac! So yesterday I ‘tawaf’ buildings around Bukit Bintang searching for a Macbook. First I went to two shops at Lowyat. Still not satisfied, I went to Machine at Lot 10. Not so nice fella there…..finally I went to Epicentre in Pavillion & the offer was good enough for me; a free upgrade to 4Gig RAM (with the extended AppleCare).

Now busy installing important applications. As usual, the ‘cosmetic’ & user-friendliness are impressive.

Not bad…not bad at all. But for certain software, Mac still lacks certain punch.

My complaint on apps for Mac so far:

1. The Entourage is not as powerful as Outlook
2. The VGA video cable adaptor is not provided - leceh betul
3. No free sync app for Windows Mobile (to sync my wife hTC Touch)
4. Can’t use Celcom 3G USB datacard Solved
   
5. EndNote X2 is not at term with Office 2008 that I have Will be solved - I know how already….

Update 2nd Jan 2009:
OK I finished installed what essential for general computing. A straight forward exercise. Also managed to do visualisation with Windows XP. Overall…..it is just OK. The urge to really have a Mac is not that high anymore. I prefer Windows on IBM Thinkpad. And that is what I will do after this. Reformat back my X60s & use it as my work horse.

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IBM, Mac, Macbook, Thinkpad, Windows

Many are aware the success of Nature PhotoCamp I in Ulu Dong, Raub in 8-9th Nov 2008. The event was managed by many extraordinary individuals headed by dR Ali. The photo camp was meant for newbies & it covered basic photography techniques with the application on nature photography like landscape & macro. Participants were also exposed to HDR tecnique by Mr Dashuki. Unfortunately I was not able to join the camp due to personal commitment.

This time, we plan to organise the 2nd Nature PhotoCamp deep in the jungle, the real remote area in Peninsular Malaysia, at Jeram Perahu, Ulu Tembeling, Jerantut, Pahang.

We don’t think we can bring LCD projector & computer to Jeram Perahu because it is really a remote area & definitely no electricity available. No more hostel or chalet. Everyone need to sleep inside tent. The maximum number of participant this time is only 21 persons. I can accept either 12 or 21 persons. No more, no less & no in-between to save cost. Tentative date maybe end of January. Maybe 24-27th January. 26-27th are Chinese New Year. So maybe many professional photographers are not able to join in. However, the date is not confirmed! We will finalise the date by this week. After a discussion with dR ali & boatman we will eventually bring back this outing to its original planned date, in March! Not really March tho’….it will be from 27th Feb to 2nd March 2009 (Friday - Monday). Why not other weeks in March? Because of school holiday. If school holiday there will be many weddings. The photographer will either busy with wedding jobs or attending weddings. But  Please visit this blog from time to time. My contact in Ulu Tembeling said the timing should be OK. We try to avoid rain. We hope for a hot days after the monsoon. Meaning, the streams are not shallow but it won’t be raining.

Where is Jeram Perahu?

View Larger Map

How the 2nd PC works?

For the 2nd PhotoCamp, we won’t be able to provide many theoretical input because we don’t have classroom facility while in the jungle. We will try to do a lot of hands-on instead. Sharing knowledge is encouraged.This is a non-profit programme. Everyone has to pay to join including myself & dR ali. There will be not even any special rate to anyone. What we hope is to be able to share experiences. To learn photography, ones must take a lot of picture. The best gears won’t guarantee best pictures. The more we shoot, the more we learn. No gear talk. No brand preference. No internet forum favoritism. No idol-ism (worshiping certain individual).

Organisations

I will in charge for the logistic & dR ali will be in charge for the Knowledge-Sharing sessions. Many volunteers (as instructor) are needed especially to share knowledge on basic photography. No worry, we just share what we know. In fact we can exchange knowledge.

The Programme

Day 1 - 24th Jan - Saturday
8:00 AM: Rendezvous at Jerantut (infront of Jerantut New Mosque) - Briefing I - About detail programme - Breakfast (Own Expense)
10:30 AM: At Kuala Tahan jetty - Briefing 2 - Safety briefing - Depart to Kampung Bantal using large boat (shade) ~ estimated 4 hours journey - Landscape (Wide) Mode & People (Tele) Mode
2:00 PM: Arriving at Kg Bantal - Lunch & solat here
3:00 PM: Depart to Jeram Perahu using small boats (no shade - sunglass, hat/cap & sunblock are essential)
6:00 PM: Arriving at Jeram Perahu - setup tents, gather woods for fire, acara berendam! (don’t forget to mark good spot for nature ‘business’)
7:30 PM: Solat & dinner
8:00 PM: Discussion 1 - Introduction to Nature PhotoCamp (dR ali)
8:45 PM: Free & easy (Those who are interested can try to shoot star trail)

Day 2 - 25th Jan - Sunday
6:00 AM: Solat
7:00 AM: Go to Lata Irak- Photo Shootout 1- Landscape Mode (esp. slow shutter, bracketing)
9:00 AM: Breakfast (at Lata Irak)
10:00 AM: Free & easy
12:00 PM: Go back to Jeram Perahu
13:00 PM: Lunch & solat
14:30 PM: Photo Shootout 2 (Jeram Perahu) - Macro Mode
16:00 PM: Free & easy
7:30 PM: Solat & dinner
8:00 PM: Discussion 2 - What we have learnt?
8:45 PM: Free & easy

Day 3 - 26th Jan - Monday
6:00 AM: Solat
7:00 AM: Photo Shootout 3 - Landscape Mode (around Jeram Perahu)
8:00 AM: Breakfast
9:00 AM: Go to Lata Menderu (bring all luggage) - Photo Shootout 4 - Landscape & Macro Mode
12:00 PM: Lunch
13:00 PM: Head back to Kg Bantal
17:00 PM: Check-in at Dali’s Guesthouse & Solat (Jama’ Takhir)
18:00 PM: Briefing 3 - About Kg Bantal
18:30 PM: Photo Shootout 4 - People, Landscape Mode (around Kg Bantal)
20:00 PM: Dinner & Solat
21:00 PM: Discussion 3 - What we have learnt?
22:00 PM: Free & easy

Day 4 - 27th Jan - Tuesday
6:00 AM: Solat
7:00 AM: Free & easy (try go around the kampung & shoot the morning scenery)
8:00 AM: Breakfast (Own Expense)
9:30 AM: Depart to Kuala Tahan using large boat
12:30 AM: Arriving at Kuala Tahan - Debriefing - End of Nature PhotoCamp II

Who can join?

Anyone who want to learn & to share knowledge. Nobody is superior than anybody. All can be learners & all can be teachers at the same time. Male & female are allowed to participate but female participant must come with their mahram & they MUST bring their own tent. No un-married couple allowed for whatever reason. This is to avoid fitnah.

Fee

I have calculated the cost for the entire workshop & everyone need to pay RM400 for all the followings:

1. Boats - all boats
2. Meals - 8 meals in total - 2 breakfast (at Jeram Perahu), 3 lunch & 3 dinners
3. Accommodation - tents & lodging at Dali’s Guesthouse (however you are encouraged to bring your own tent if you prefer privacy

Other expenses not covered:

1. Parking fee at Kuala Tahan - RM5-10 per day (last time we parked near the Police Station)
2. T-Shirt (optional)

Those interested to join this PhotoCamp II please contact me (019-9888-292). I’ll give you my bank account number. You need to pay full amount for confirmation of place for this camp. I also need the followings:

1. Full payment
2. Full name
3. IC number
4. Contact number
5. Contact number for any emergency

No refund will be given but change of name is allowed. If the trip is canceled for whatever reason, we will refund you the full amount.

What to brings?

1. Torchlight
2. Matches or lighters
3. Rope (optional)
4. Knife or machete - no need to be the long sabre - we are not going to war!
5. Insect repellent
6. Tent (optional for men, mandatory for female)
7. Tidbits (for own consumption - but sharing is better )
8. Suitable shoes or sandals - there will be a lot of water splashing
9. Towel
10. Sleeping mat (updated)
11. Sleeping bag (updated)
12. Raincoat (updated)

You don’t have to bring backpack. Simple sling bag should suffice as we won’t be trekking any jungle. But preferably bag that repel water. Those who want to fish can bring your own fishing rods. Don’t ask me about the bait because I know nothing about fishing.

Advise about camera gears

Water is the enemy for our camera stuff. So bring whatever protection necessary. A lot of battery also required because there won’t be any electricity at Jeram Perahu. Tripod is a must. Else how to shoot slow shutter unless you bring a bean bag. You don’t have to buy a new macro lens for this photocamp but having one give you huge advantage. Else just settle with a macro filter or add-on macro lens. A tracing paper & thick paper is necessary if you wanna learn to DIY special macro lighting system from dR Ali . Else just buy R1C1….ha ha ha

Communication

Based on my recent knowledge about Kg Bantal, there will be no telephone network there except Maxis. No phone coverage beyond Kg Mat Daling. Definitely no coverage at Jeram Perahu.

Disclaimers

1. All photograph taken during this workshop is yours & we don’t have any right to use any picture without your permission
2. Participants are responsible for your & your belongings’ safety - but I’ll give a copy of our name, IC & contact number to the local police
3. We have the right to change the date & the itinerary of this programme but we will do our best to inform all participants involved
4. We are not able to pay honorarium to the instructor because this is a non-profit programme

Fuhh….what a long blog!

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Jeram Perahu, Jerantut, Luarbiasa, Nature PhotoCamp, Pahang, photocamp, Ulu Tembeling

Let’s talk something else than hajj….

Met with few Kuantan Luarbiasa rhodong over a TT yesterday. We started discussing about what to bring to Dieng. Altogether 16 people were already confirmed to go;

1. me
2. Ali
3. Jasni
4. Alphaman (Big’s friend)
5. Big & wife
6. Wanoridz & wife (uDa)
7. Nizam & wife
8. Dome
9. Aji
10. Mizi
11. Badang
12. Syahrin & wife

Dieng is a highland. Maybe colder than Cameron Highland or Genting. Temperature maybe around 12-15C. So what to bring:

1. Jacket - no need to be too thick
2. Glove - thin one should do just fine
3. Socks
4. Suitable shoes - sandal is OK if you can stand the cold
5. Snow cap - preferably something to cover ears
6. 3 pairs of cloths should be enough I think
7. Torchlight

We are not going to climb any mountain by foot. And we are not going to camp. Therefore no need to bring any tent or sleeping bag. Those couples may need to pay a bit extra (just a bit) if they wanna stay with their wife because for bachelors like us, we will be staying 3 persons in a room usually. But I am not too sure about that.

I estimate the total budget excluding shopping & tickets to Borobudur per person is only 1,000,000 Rp (around RM320-250). I hope I will not have to ask additional Rp from you guys. The ticket to Borobudur usually about 10,000 Rp. Me, Ali & Jasni might not go in. Been there twice already.

As for camera gears, we will be shooting landscape, street & people. So you can figure out what gears to bring. I may just bring a wide angle & a tele. And of course a flash & tripod is important. Yup, you can bring charger together with the adaptor. I know dR ali will bring his macro lens & the fancy lighting system. So those who wish to shoot Indonesian spider can follow suit.

Please remember to bring these important documents:

1. Passport - valid passport - please check the expiry date
2. Photocopies of passport - some even colour photocopied & laminated it
3. A photocopy of the flight ticket - usually not required but better to bring
4. A photocopy of the insurance - not really necessary in Indonesia

For Kuantan guys, we will be departing to LCCT on Monday 9th Feb early morning (before Fajr). Most likely in 2 cars. Maybe we can park the cars at Badang’s house in Taman Melati & then take Aliran to Sentral before boarding bus to LCCT. Dome will be coming from KT but I guess he will go a day earlier & stay at Aji’s house. Jasni will be travelling from Muar. Syahrin & wife will be coming from KL with Aji & Dome. Make sure be there before 10AM ye guys. Our flight will be at 1:55PM. Max weight for luggage is 15kg. So preferably bring less than 10kg. In case you wanna buy few kilos of purwacheng later

Addendum: Check previous posting for detail.

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Borobudur, Dieng, Indonesia, Java