Growing up

Ethan, weighing more than 6kg. Now he sleeps lesser by the day, being more active and wanting to be carried more often. He's not able to turn around on his own yet, pictures showing him lying on his front was positioned by us. He's trying to communicate with different sounds each day. Some shots taken yesterday after his nightly wash-up.

Mother-son bonding moments...

Don't go out when you are sick!

I was just recovering from fever (but still coughing) when I received a call at 7am this morning from a Roland Chew, (a drug/poison pusher, a camera equipments knowledgeable sifu) to go to Matang for macro. Hesitated at first but changed my mind spontaneously and went ahead as it was attractive because we were going to a different venue, not Stutong like always. Met up with the guys at a coffee shop along Jalan Batu Kawa, had coffee, kolomee and cigarettes and off we went. Matang, here I come...

Below are really tiny mushrooms (don't know whether it's classified as mushroom but nevermind, I'll just use the term for these), only 3-5mm in diameter.

Some wild flowers found along the jungle walkway.

A frog, the other fellows said I was "LUCKY" to come across a frog.

Now, here I would like to show photographers (new or pro) how to CORRECTLY use a tripod.

The footings must be extended to the minimum-required-opening (as shown above) for the tripod to withstand the camera on top of it. Using the tripod and ignoring this rule (like below, footings not properly opened outward) would prove to be costly...

...costly as in this...there goes my new (3 weeks old) macro lens.
Points to ponder: When you hesitated, do not rethink again (I had initially rejected the idea of going out to do macro as I was only recovering but because Matang was a new venue for me, I changed my mind). And when I came across the frog, I was told that I was "LUCKY" to come across a frog... hmmmmmm.

I made a call to HSBC Card Centre (the lens purchased with a credit card) enquiring about the broken lens. Was really delighted to hear that I was able to make an insurance claim for the broken piece. Was told that the insurance would cover theft and broken items (if purchased with credit cards) for a period of 30 days from date of purchase, and I got the above on 5th August 2008. Like what Canon says "Delighting you always", boy was I delighted. Maybe HSBC should use this tagline.

So, go ahead and apply for a HSBC credit card today if you don't have one YET! Toll free number is 1800-88-7088 (Free promo for HSBC?)

Our evening shots

It has been a while since we've taken photos of Ethan. This is simply because his DAD is more into processing macro shots of things like bugs, twigs (???), and those tiny tiny stuff... He's got an ever-ready model waiting for him all the time but... oh well..

Enough said, here're some pics we took of Ethan today.

Here he's enjoying being lifted high up. See the smile?

Left, Ethan 'flying' high again. He really loves it!
Right, an attempt at taking a family photo. Hmm... still need to work on it. He's not even paying attention.

We seem to be enjoying ourselves but look at Ethan's facial expression... that poor little sweet one.

Our precious little one.

Does he look like me?

Walking easy

Shots taken at Stutong (same routine) in my new Crocs. Walking was definitely light and easy. Shot these snails at close to a hundred rounds and ended with this.

Another dragon fly pic, used flash to bring out the head/face.

Couldn't find anything else interesting, I played around with backlighting and a dead twig.

And this is not dead, it's just leaves and some natural lighting effects.

Casual Shootings

Nothing to do at home, I took out my camera and did some shooting. Here you see Orange and Kayla on Jo and my leisure chairs.

Sasha in her dreamy mood.

A gift from Jo, this should be good for me to use during my photography outings. With the rubbery texture, I can be sure to walk through dry and wet land, without much problems, unlike my recent trip to Borneo Highlands where I was caught in the mud in my sneakers and it was awful to walk in a wet shoe.

Borneo Highlands Resort Day 2

Here're additional pictures that I had processed during my 2 days stay at the highlands.

moth

bee

silver-coloured spider

different angles of the view on the highlands

Borneo Highlands Resort

I went to the Borneo Highlands Resort's flower show on 12th August 2008 with about 20 other photographers. It was a long ride. Left Kuching around 0400hrs in a chartered bus, reached the foothill of Borneo Highlands and boarded a mini lorry which was converted into a carrier to bring us up to the resort. As the road to the top was winding and steep, we only managed to reach there at around 0700hrs. During the course of our 2d1n stay, I shot 6 gigabytes of pictures, here are some on the flowers which I had already processed.

Hot day for macro

Went to the Stutong Walk again for macro shooting lessons by the Learned Sifu. Again, the routine was the same, had to wake up at 6am (yawnnnnn), met up with all the fellows at Fat Cat, had sarawak laksa, coffee and cigarette and off we went. But this time I was ready - had my tripod, flash and all. It's just that the weather was a little on the "burning" side but overall I was quite satisfied with what I shot today.





Look closely, I think there's some sort of insect eggs in the larger mushroom.