Photoblog and Softblog

"www.riedznan.com"

2010-04-09T20:05:00.006+08:00

Officially thanks to bloger.com for those years of free web hosting. Its time to gain new experience. The new domain is at final processing and should be ready soon.Please visit the site at http://www.riedznan.com/

Bangau Oh Bangau

2010-03-29T01:49:00.001+08:00

Success Is A Journey

2010-03-28T14:06:00.020+08:00

It is true, Success is a journey. It depends on how hard and patience to work on small things that results on big achievements. To all my friends and colleague, keep on doing the best we do, to deliver our masters skills and share the knowledge for better future generations. Good luck.

Day 3 Highlights : Beijing Olympic Stadium, Bird's Nest

2010-03-22T20:00:00.015+08:00

The construction of the stadium started on 2003 and it is officially open on June 2008 for the Olympics Game. The eastern and western stands of Beijing National Stadium are higher than northern and southern stands, in order to improve sightlines. The capacity seat in the stadium is 80,000. The entrance fee for visitors is 50 yuan. In this photo, the view of Bird's Nest from besides the lake. It is clearly seen that some parts of the water is still frozen as of the ice is melting that marks the end of winter seasons.

Day 2 Highlights : The Great Wall Of China

2010-03-21T12:51:00.004+08:00

Day 1 Highlights : Acrobatic Show

2010-03-17T00:15:00.001+08:00

Weather Forecast

2010-03-15T16:02:00.002+08:00

Forecast for Beijing

Forecast for Labuan

Beijing Facts

2010-03-15T14:57:00.012+08:00

Beijing is the capital city of China(People's Republic Of China).The city is second largest city after Shanghai, with more than 17 million people. Beijing covers the area of 16,807.8 kilometers square. The city is divided into 16 urban and suburban districts and 2 counties. The most spoken language is Mandarin. It belongs to the warm temperate zone with a semi-humid climate. Beijing has four distinct seasons with short spring and autumn although it shares the same (UTC +8) time zone with country like Malaysia. There are many interesting historical places in Beijing such as Tian'anmen Square(In the heart of Beijing), Forbidden City, Summer Palace and The Great Wall Of China. The coldest month is in January with an average -4.7℃ as for the hottest month is on July.

( source : wiki)

Beijing Tour

2010-03-14T11:38:00.010+08:00

Traveling to other country is a dream of many people. Planning is most important part and starts from applying passport, visa visit pass till the day to board the flight. There are many tour packages that offer reasonable price and as one of the example, one can refer the local tourism company at the country of their visits(http://www.islamichina.com/). Be extra careful when exchanging the RM to other currency. As from our experience, exchange the currency from Malaysia is much better compared to outside from Malaysia. Usually you will get higher value for money. As for the most major credit cards, it is accepted worlwide. The preparation of suitable clothing is a must especially if the country of visit have four seasons(Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer). There are plenty of websites broadcasting the local ground weather condition for most major cities in the world for example http://www.weather.com/. Plan the journey and look for details information about the country of visit to prevent annoying things. To all my fellow Malaysian, "Its nice to travel and learn something from another country, there is no place like home."

Photogame : Bird

2010-02-21T17:28:00.004+08:00

Mostly people would says, birding is only for nature enthusiast. Its not always true, the lesson i learned from photographing birds. Important key to master during bird photography, always learn, unlearn and relearn from the previous mistakes. This photo was taken while we were looking for egret. Instead of the egret, i get this photo. The lighting is quite poor but the background is almost plain(bokeh).

Tips for birding :

1) Keep quiet

2) Look around and pay attention to nature sounds

3) Examine and prepare the shots

4) Evaluate the photos( sharpness, composition and lighting)

5) Trash all unwanted photos and you'll save more space for future shots

The Year Of Tiger

2010-02-21T11:06:00.003+08:00

Birds Of Labuan

2010-02-15T19:49:00.003+08:00

Birding - Part II

2010-02-10T19:08:00.002+08:00

Birding

2010-02-09T22:59:00.007+08:00

Birding requires patient, and the most important thing is preparing the hide. This photo was taken in Ganggarak, W.P.Labuan. If i got one of those giant millimeter lens, it will be more easier. Its a fun and exciting activities to capture the moments of bird in flight. I think i should focus on the action part rather than taking a still photos of bird. Its not about how fast you camera fps, when you get the timing right, then the photo will speaks itself. Happy birding folks.

Photo Game - Rule Of Third

2010-01-25T08:13:00.001+08:00

Photogame : Final Destiny

2010-01-22T17:52:00.002+08:00

Hardworking Bee

2010-01-17T19:12:00.001+08:00

New Year Lunar Eclipse

2010-01-02T22:02:00.003+08:00

2010 marks a very interesting nature phenomena as the first partial lunar eclipse was observed by many people around the globe. In this picture ( ISO 400;f8 at 18mm), the moon is in the early stage entering the "Umbra"states in which the darkest shadow of earth falls on the moon surface. The eclipse started at 1.17 am till 5.28 am (source : Angkasa Malaysia). Happy new year 2010.

Pekan Semporna : Day 2

2009-11-21T11:56:00.004+08:00

The usual scene early in the afternoon at Pekan Semporna, the kids are happy doing the jump dive to the open water. They smiles to people passing by, and it shows how grateful they are. In this photo, the kids getting ready to dive in the clear water in front of Dragon Inn, Semporna.

Omadal Island : Day 3

2009-11-18T23:12:00.004+08:00

Semporna : Maiga Island (Day-4)

2009-11-16T13:25:00.005+08:00

Typical view of Bajau Laut women preparing things to transfer to other house. Most of the daily house chores is done by the women, while the man are busy with fishing and harvesting at the sea.

Women Of Maiga Island, Semporna

2009-11-09T07:34:00.004+08:00

The palla'o women looking at the sea.

Traditional Life : Kampung Bangau-Bangau ,Semporna

2009-11-05T10:12:00.002+08:00

Automotive

2009-10-27T16:09:00.003+08:00

Panorama : Labuan Commonwealth War Memorial

2009-09-28T10:22:00.002+08:00

The picture is a result of 12 photos stitch to create a panorama view. Using manual exposure to get the balance of lighting and perhaps in future ,should consider shooting vertical to get more space and leaving more head room in the final photo. Every year during the first sunday in November, there will be a ceremony to honor those who have fought during the war in 1945. Locals and foriegn visitors, mostly the war veteran groups would gather and mark the remembrance day.

Photo Game - Fill Light

2009-08-09T15:10:00.011+08:00

In this photograph im trying to capture the subject using available lights and with the setup of home made reflector ; to fill in the shadow area falls from the main lights. Im facing the difficulty to obtain the perfect lighting angle and to position the reflector(Must buy one).

Ramadhan-The Month Of Fasting

2009-08-08T14:00:00.002+08:00

King's Visit To Labuan F.T.

2009-07-31T19:59:00.010+08:00

DYMM Al Wathiqu Billah, Al-Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Almarhum Al-Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah Al-Haj ; the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or King, of Malaysia. The King is in Labuan for working visit till 2nd August 2009. Daulat Tuanku.

Mount Kinabalu

2009-07-21T08:06:00.006+08:00

The view of Mount Kinabalu from Kundasang valley

Time lapse of Kinabalu from Kundasang Valley

Labuan Rugby Open 2009

2009-07-10T00:06:00.009+08:00

A player is trying hard to loose from his opponents. Its an adrenaline pumping games played by 15 players for each side and usually divided into forward and backs. The objective of this game is to pursue the opponent end of line by touching, grounding, kicking to get score. It may looks harmful and risk being injured. Though its a formally known main sports event. Rucks and maul, the end line invasion, tackle, scrum and line-out just to name a few words used in rugby sports.

Kuraman Island

2009-06-29T02:37:00.010+08:00

Sometimes people need a breaks from daily routine. Even a professional photographer does take a break and try new experience and it can be done in so many ways. Make the life around us as subject from as little as macro. Its not a bad idea to shoot activities done and capture those life meaningful moment and share with everyone. Here's what i did with my peer colleague. A trip to Kuraman Island, developed by Perbadanan Labuan on 2005 as one of the tourist attraction with a beautiful and open clear water. The island measure about 5.2 hectare and also famous home to several bird species. Some of the spotted famili are egret and kingfisher. Not to mention its a favorite spot for fishing activities. A short 20 minutes trip by boat could cost around 40 per each person. For travelers, chalet accommodation is available upon request. I would strongly recommend people to visit this island.

The catch : ( Pari, Kerapu, Londu, Luping, Yu batik , Ikan Putih, Jenahak, Ikan Tanda, Ikan Pisang-pisang ) in local name.

How To : Online Apple Store

2009-06-12T14:09:00.013+08:00

Do we still remember the last time spending hours of time looking for an item in shopping mall just to ended up being confused and frustrated. What if the item we need is available through online store. Is it safe and reliable? Nowadays mode of payment in online stores have developed to make the ease of payment. Using credit cards, bank transfer and paypal is some of the popular services offered. In theses recent years, Malaysian people have been going through new method of shopping and thanks to the development of ICT infrastructure with more advance technologies. There are lots of merchant store in the internet that offers wide variety of shopping item. Bare in mind to check the security of transaction before making any payment. Here's the example of local online transaction from the Apple Store. The key feature of most online purchase will be a step-by-step guide to complete the order.

1) Choose item from online catalog

2) Creates customer account and login to secure connection

3) Billing and shipping information

4) Payment verification

5) Order summary

Most of the online store provide order tracking number for customer to keep track of the shipment. Online store like e-bay is different in terms and conditions. The seller and the buyer meet at online e-bay listing. Buyer will agree to purchase the item from seller and the transaction of payment is made. One of the interesting feature from online store such as customer wishlist (eg: www.shashinki.com) is quite useful. People can browse through the item and add them into cart ( sometimes call basket), saved item can be review for future changes. Customer may click on the wishlist button for as many as they want and keep it for sometimes before deciding to buy them. The pros and cons of online purchasing is well known, nevertheless the trends of shopping will continues.

Rezeki

2009-06-07T14:55:00.001+08:00

Sembilang

2009-05-10T21:20:00.001+08:00

Kayak LISC' 09

2009-05-05T00:50:00.004+08:00

Beach Rugby

2009-05-03T20:47:00.004+08:00

A rugby player picks the ball for the throw.

Over Exposed

2009-04-25T07:29:00.004+08:00

Long exposure sometimes lead to overexposed subject. To make sure the foreground and star trails appear is quite hard especially when there is a source light coming from the subject. It is a little bit over exposed but still maintain its shapes and so reveal the subject with the star trail as background. This photo is a result of 10 stack photos with approximately 1 minutes exposure for each take.

Yellow-vented-Bulbul

2009-04-24T12:13:00.003+08:00

Water Supply Interruption

2009-04-22T13:25:00.002+08:00

Well its kind of a news at Labuan recently when most of the places are shortage of water supply. Rumours said the in charge person of developing piping in Labuan have difficulties. Well as for today (this post) its been a week and the problem has been resolved. No matter what happens, the birding and photography must continue.

Kingfisher

2009-04-20T18:47:00.003+08:00

The Gazing Sundbird

2009-04-18T17:52:00.003+08:00

There are moments when i feel shooting small subject is hectic and tiring but it pays to wait. Some of the regular basis i learned so far through capturing wild and nature.

1. Be at the place before the subject appear; so that we are prepared.

2. Keep low profile to animal; don't wear striking attire.

3. Don't wait too long; but the longer the better.

4. Bean bag, monopod, tripod, just name it ; could be packing kilo's to backpack.

5. Be patient to wait for the right moment and click the shutter.

6. Keep on hiding ; keep your eyes open , alert for nature sounds.

Star Trail

2009-04-15T14:56:00.002+08:00

My attempt to photograph the star trail with the pine tree as foreground subject is near a failure due to small movement of the tree branches. I should find something more stable but looks nature. The polluted skies makes it even harder to get a good lighting and perfect ambient. Camera setting is ISO100, F3.5 ;18mm focused at infinity.

X-Trail Marks The Trail

2009-04-11T14:50:00.001+08:00

The Hidden Valley

2009-04-09T19:47:00.001+08:00

Sunbirds

2009-03-31T21:22:00.000+08:00

It is about time to venture into new area of photography. A wise word of wisdom "think out of the box". So its finally here at Labuan , i started photographing birds. Its kind of passion and compliments at the end of the day. Some of my early experience in this arena; get bitten by bunch of bad mosquito, get stuck in the mud, not enough focal length and even no bird to shoot. Its like making a day in action for bird's photography. However its really a nice moment to capture especially when it comes to sunbird families.

The Animal Kingdom

2009-03-28T19:39:00.000+08:00

Star Trail Photography

2009-03-21T18:58:00.000+08:00

I still recall the time during light trail photo shoot. The longer the light trails the better it is. Its time to shoot something similar to it. As basic understanding ,star is one of such huge subject that is close to billion light years distance from the earth. The famous "Polaris" or known as Northern Star is 430 km light-years from earth. It is used during ancient time as navigation purpose and continues till today with more sophisticated mechanics. There are some tips to get started for Star Trail photo shoot. What i did was to make sure the equipment is fully charged , a stable tripod and determine the exposure time. I Chooses the lowest possible ISO100 and turn on the camera Noise Reduction function to avoid unnecessary grains. Making sure the camera is set to shoot using 'bulb' and if i have those remote buddy to control the shutter release it would be much easier. A tips from my experience; get some foreground subject into composition to support the star trails. Have fun trying out.

My Friend's Wedding

2009-03-15T02:31:00.001+08:00

Portraiture

2009-03-01T20:47:00.001+08:00

H5T34 MAC or PC

2009-02-14T02:11:00.001+08:00

Guess where is MAC ?

Labuan Paintball

2009-02-07T22:37:00.000+08:00

Seconds before being shot...

You can run and you shouldn't hide too long or risk ended the game being shoot. Thats the fast and heart pumping adrenalin game, introduced recently in Labuan. During 14&15 february 2009, the tournament of Labuan Open 2009 will begin and it marks the first ever tournament being organize by professional paintballer in this province.

Going Natural

2009-02-01T12:12:00.001+08:00

What you see is what you get. In this photo outing, going out to shoot natural life is not as easy as one thinks. Im feeling lucky during that day when the bird or known as "Burung Pipit Uban" is just warming up for the day. I grab the DSLR pack with 200mm lense and shot it from within close range about 2m. I call it the day.

Water Village

2009-01-19T14:17:00.000+08:00

Bebuloh Laut village scenery after the sun is below the horizon. It is one of the water village made famous known for its 'belacan' among the local people. Its is about 10 minute ride from the main town to reach Bebuloh Laut water village.

Light Trails

2009-01-17T11:08:00.000+08:00

Capturing light trails is always being part of the excitement in photography. If one were to decide for a photo session of this kind, i recommend to choose the busiest road in town. The purpose of this shoot is to capture lights from moving vehicle and as long as it goes and along the way it leaves the mark as lines created. I choose the lowest ISO and with manual mode on DSLR set to capture at exposure time more than 15 seconds. To add some point of interest , the rule of third may applies to non-moving subject. Its really a great experience to tryout.

Twilight Zone

2009-01-16T11:02:00.000+08:00

Capturing scene ini low light condition is something worth the experience for every photographer. Me and my friends gather for the photo shoot "twilight". Some of us forgot to bring along tripod. Here's the tool we need for low light shooting. Be prepared for the session and check the backpack for items like types of lense (wide or medium) depends on the final image desired. I was lucky to have a steady tripod in handy for the shoot. What we did is to be at the scene ten minutes earlier before sunset. Its a good practice and makes us prepared. During the shooting, sunset is around 6.15 pm at Labuan and for most of the twilight photography, 20 to 25 minutes after sunset will produce the considered twilight. As the founder of Digital Photography School quoted "Dont shoot the sunset instead take the pictures long after the sun has set"( source : Darren Rowse, The Twilight Photography Tips). This photo was taken by using ISO 100 , f11 with exposure time range from 15 to 25 seconds. With some raw editing i get this picture. There are things to consider for future shoot. Distractor like trees and moving object should be out of the composition as they get blurred for sure. That is what i learned from Sifoo Syed Nasir. Nevertheless i enjoyed the day.

The Wedding Of Erna & Ikhram

2009-01-03T21:13:00.000+08:00

December Rains

2008-12-10T00:42:00.000+08:00

I still remember last time when my friend ask me to go outdoor photo shoot during rainy day. I ask him "What could possiblly be done" since the weather condition and the tools (camera) is too sensitive even a single drop of water. This photo was shoot during a rainy day of Hari Raya Aidil adha. Im trying to shoot the rain droplet that runs down the grape leaf in front of a house. As we look closer , a reflection of the droplet is kind of unique and only last for several seconds. In December this year most of the state in West Malaysia was covered with rains from morning till late afternoon during 1st day of Aidil adha 2008. The long rain condition also causes flood and land hill slide at certain areas. Thats December Rains.

Photography is about motivation.

2008-10-25T14:12:00.000+08:00

The outdoor photography is always fun and enjoyable. What makes it more interesting ? Recently i learned from a good friend about automotive photography and we decided to tryout some extreme action in photography. I knew that by choosing to photograph the SUV in action is quite ordinary, we decided to make and add on to bring some impact to this picture. Thanks to Syed Nasir for his generous sharing on this picture. He also told me in a simple word for motivation so as to further the understanding and skills in photography.

Sometimes we have to watch and learn from the master,

Most of the times admit and learn from our mistakes.

Colorful is Happiness

2008-10-19T20:24:00.000+08:00

Taking picture in streets is a best activity during past times and especially for travellers, backpackers. All that we need is a camera and with some keen interest on certain subject. My friend gave me an idea to photograph any streets attraction and i come up with the photo taken during a short walk at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur. I found it quite colorful and did bought some of it for snacks. According to the stalls runner, it could takes as long as 2 weeks to prepare some of these wonderful dessert.

Choosing The Right Tools

2008-08-25T12:19:00.000+08:00

Taking pictures is easy as click. Mostly from my experience ordinary person do take photo in an event of family members gathering and occasional event. People would not bother of the tools used for photo shoot as long as the pictures are taken and saved. Back to those days where everybody is depending on 135mm negative film for photo event, its really a pain to wait untill the roll have completed and ready for develop. Its quite a long process compare the the tools and technology of nowadays digital camera. Just click the camera and image is ready for printing, saving or export to other digital format. Of course the larger the pixel capability of a digital camera the more it will produce better pictures. Digital Camera price range from hundreds to thousand depending on the specification. For example a pocket camera is easier and practical for any person who likes taking photo without having to understand the photography in details. Like wise most advanced photographer will choose Digital SLR for better control in terms of painting the pictures with light. So for all of fellow out there, do not be shy and feel doubt of the brand or types of camera used in photo shoot. Just take the camera, ready and action.