Well, i am pretty free tonight, might as well take a few pics of my phone with my high end camera! haha!

introducing the nokia E75, it makes and receives calls, it sends and receives SMS’es. it plays music, takes pictures, connects to the internet, has GPS and wifi. it does video calls and can also act as a modem. supports push email and also supports web based emails too.

on this rainy night, do i have any complaints about this phone? well yes i do! what is it? well… it’s not exactly the phone, but it’s my stupid service provider, it keeps getting me disconnected, every time i successfully get connected, and almost instantly i get disconnected. THANK YOU MARXIST!!! Grrr!

my E75… normal phone laaa!

slides open to have a full QWERTY keyboard. kinda useful

has a 3.2 megapixel camera WHAT!!? 3.2 ONLY!!? MINE HAS 5!!!

so who cares if you have 5 6 or 10 megapixels. it’s just to take basic pictures and such. more pixels mean bigger sized files and more noise. less is more. overall the phone is ok, it used to have a tap to silence function, but that function got deleted after i updated its firmware, apparently the function has been silencing alot of calls when it’s in your pocket. but heck, we don’t need it then, we don’t need it now.

i think, my taste has gone to hell. but you gotta admit, they do look funky…

Well, it was indeed time to change my wallet, it’s been like what? 5-7 years ago i had this wallet, and after years of usage, it has started to smell, and of course inevitably it started having strange markings on it as well. well, who wouldn’t if you happen to be stuck at some fat guys thigh (with very tight jeans) for 7 years.

yes, it’s started to smell a bit and it seems like it has contracted cancer…

and of course i have started to look around for wallets, well, they looked pretty much the same, black, leather, holds your standard amount of cards, in short boring. so, being a fan of crumpler’s… yes i am a fan of crumpler, don’t ask me why, they look pretty cool to me.

oh yeah, the 5 million dollar home, my camera bag

oh yeah, the sinking barge, this holds my laptop and my cameras, a perfect solution if i am working and travelling

i too have the bees knees, but forgot to bring it back at my quarters at melaka. i usually use it to carry my clothes and stuffs (one weeks worth). in short, they’re well built, look funky and quite practical… and so… i got myself a wallet from crumpler.

introducing, the man child, it’s for the man who’s still young at heart but too shy to show it…

funky logo, oh, that’s my wife back there. nice bokeh, eh?

my wife says it looks ridiculous, but then again, you’re talking to a guy who owns a pair of rainbow coloured socks.

tell me, do i look good or what?

Whoahahahaha! :D

......

WHOAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

the problem with shooting film is, you have to wait till a roll is finished, and also, being film which is a not so popular medium these days. it is rather hard for me to find a proper photolab which develop your films. it’s still easy for me to develop C-41 films, but much harder if i need to develop black and white or E-6 based films. i was thinking of developing them myself, but i didn’t, mainly because it's like going to another road which requires to splurge out more money. hey, the films alone are already quite expensive (but i don’t really mind). but to develop them yourself, sheesh, you need to get chemicals, dark room, trays, and whatnot. and oh, at the digital age, nobody really print out their pictures anymore, you need a scanner so that you can “show off” your works online. like what i am doing now. heh. and also, me being cheapskate and also having a very helpful friend, mr. shutterbutter aka kkho usually helps me send my films to develop then he helps me scan them as well. with a downside of course, kkho is a very busy person and scanning of films, takes quite a little while. by the time he’s got it scanned i don’t even remember what and why i shot that picture already. but then, it’s like also a surprise for me too, because after so long, you only remember you took this shot, “oh, i did that shot at somewhere and somehow! hoo-boy!”

my medium format shots are still under par, i am a bit embarrassed to show them, the composition for medium formats are a bit hard to get used to, because it’s square. i will continue to shoot until i get some “presentable” ones. but in the mean time here are some shots of mine, these, i think are shot using ilford films, HP-5 or Delta you ask? i don’t remember actually looks the same to me anyway.

lately, i have done some street shoots at Jalan Pudu, i must admit that it does has its charm. but what caught the most of my attention was this particular restaurant there. it’s called Sek Yuen Restaurant, it has been there before the independence of malaysia, and it has an special character to it. me and kkho visited this restaurant 2 times, the first time we visited was just to cool down after alot of walking, all we did was sip tea and of course, shoot pictures at the restaurant, but come opening time we were asked what did we want to eat. we made a hasty retreat because none of us was wanted to eat as i was about to go and meet my wife. but we did come back the second time this time with jelly ikan. and of course we took some more pictures and we had a meal there. the food there is of course wonderful, you gotta try out its sweet sour pork and it’s pipa duck. the rice, is steamed, it’s soft and fluffly compared to your average rice cooker rice.

this was shot at a Sek Yuen restaurant Jalan Pudu

moments later, his fellow co-worker decided to play around with him

one of the cooks at the restaurant, he didn’t smile much at the begining, but he eventually smiled a bit

my favourite chef in action, now that he is accustomed to my presence.

one of the patrons there

one of the cooks preparing the crab balls, aiyah! not the crabs testicles lah!

a closer look, don’t know how that scratch appeared on my film.

all prepared for business

Back when i started photography, this is my first D-SLR i have ever owned… holding it sure brings back old memories. it’s been a while since i used it, i popped in fresh batteries, and voila! it still works. one fantastic workhorse if i must say. i think i will get it serviced and cleaned up and use it for one of my outings for old times sake.

ahh, the good ‘ol D50

the standard “spasm” dial

the “screwdriver”, one of the more appreciative features for entry level D-SLR’s. the newer ones don’t come with it.

An old friend indeed, it has weird funky colours, i think it has to do with the color space settings, but i am not so technical anyway. all i know is that it gives of funky blue skies!

FM2n fitted with a 50mm F/1.4, and of course a PB-6 bellows in between 

Here’s my first review, i am sorry, i don’t have anything to review, because i can’t get it to fit into my D300! apparently, it seems that the battery grip is in the way, so you can’t mount it properly. what’s a bellows for you ask? it’s a contraption for you to  get a higher magnification, it’s something like a poor man’s answer to a macro lens, reading it’s features, you can actually get 11X magnification out from it. 11X! now that’s a lot man!

the slider is built rather sturdy, the bellows is made out of somewhat durable plastic. but i suppose that it is its weakest link for this device. i did use one frame for this device, but i think i got the incorrect focusing screen for it and focusing is really hard for me. so i guess i will have to wait for the spacer to arrive.

oh, it fits well on my FM2n, i guess this technology is indeed for the 80’s!

Finally, since august 08 till now, it is indeed a tough time for me, but finally, the project is coming to an end. the project has been an uphill task all the way, i am glad i managed to survive through it anyway.

one of the welders onsite, he’s dressed like it’s like apocalypse has arrived

And now, with a free mind, i have more opportunities to think and blog about them. i have been away for that long i guess. been shooting alot on film. to me it has 2 benefits. it does make you think alot more before pressing the release shutter, and also, since my collection of lens are primarily prime lens, this will enable me to appreciate more on each focal length. and with this, i realised i am not much of a zoom guy anyway. i usually walk closer to my subject and to shoot them. oh i was talking about film, am using a FM2n a very good workhorse. very reliable, and no batteries required. well, except for the 2 small batteries to assist you in metering. but it will still work nevertheless if the batteries run flat. it is fun to release oneself from the wonders of technology. this camera has no autofocus, and it has no aperture priority and such. it is full manual. you do the focus, the metering yourself. oh, you can’t even change your ISO midway. i can’t explain it to you, but in short it’s fun.

the ever reliable FM2n

I’ve been thinking alot on my style of shooting, it is as usual been going one direction, it’s getting worse. friends tell me i am doing ok, but i think otherwise. perhaps i need to put more respect into my own work. one must appreciate oneself before others appreciate you. i also noticed that i don’t do alot of photoshopping. my friends call me a purist, but it’s ok for me as i don’t like to think up of dreamy stuff. i like doing documentary shots. weird effects of photoshopping ain’t going to help.

visited a charcoal factory at kuala sepetang, these are the shots which i came up with

a lighter moment at the charcoal factory. a worker pinning down a dog resting under the cart. (agfa vista expired @ iso 400)

  a worker doing some de-barking on wood before sending it to the kiln to get it roasted.

a kiln, where they roast the logs to turn them into charcoal

after 10 weeks of roasting, they’re then broken down in pieces and packaged.

i visited here on a sunday, i suppose not many people was working. but it was hot there, and the workers are exposed to the charcoal fumes for a long time, it’s a bit hazardous to health i guess.

not many people are willing to be photographed anyway, got a good bollocking as well