Misty Cameron Highlands - a short video clip

I have been using the Sony a7R3 for some time now and has since traded-in my a7ii. Yup, sold everything including my battery grip. Although I have been missing some of the features which originally got me interested in the Sony a7ii, the a7R3 has some unique features of its own. One of those features is the S&Q (Slow & Quick) feature.

The video clip above is taken using the S&Q feature, 1fps for a total of 20 minutes. In the end, it only gives me less than a minute long clip.

Yes, I am not new in producing video clips, but I am STILL not good at it. 😜 But I hope you will like it.

A processed photo of the day before at Sg. Palas Tea Plantation, Cameron Highlands.
© 2018 Edward Chen

The scenery in Cameron Highlands can be breath-taking one day and extremely dull in the next day.

Have you been to Cameron Highlands, Malaysia?

Some Photos of The Rufous-backed Kingfisher and more

Hulu Langat is one of the popular places for cyclists, probably due to its location near the forest reserve where the traffic is not as heavy as in the city. There are also eco-camps in the area where tourists stay in huts next to small rivers and waterfalls.

Here, after consulting my anonymous friends on the location of the bird, I had the opportunity to see for myself the beautiful Rufous-backed Kingfisher, 4th type of kingfisher on my list. 1st - white-throated kingfisher (everywhere), 2nd - Black-naped Kingfisher (Tanjung Karang), 3rd - Collared-Kingfisher (Tanjung Karang).

Edit: I actually saw the Collared-Kingfisher before my trip to Tanjung Karang. Stumbled upon an old photo of it which I took at Pantai Jeram a couple of years ago.

Rufous-backed Kingfisher. © Edward Chen

Collared-Kingfisher and more... Birding Trip to Tanjung Karang Selangor (Part Two of Two)

Continuing from Part One...

As I took shelter in the warung (eatery), the locals (I should have taken a we-fie with them as they are super friendly) told me about the birds they usually see in the area. They mentioned the raja udang (kingfisher) being commonly spotted around there. But they mistook the bee-eater as one of the kingfishers. Egrets are common across the river, and so are eagles.

Then one of them called for me and pointed into the trees.

Not one, but two collared-kingfishers !

© Edward Chen

Birding Trip to Tanjung Karang, Selangor (Part One of Two)

Some new birds are added to my collection of photos on my recent trip to Tanjung Karang... 😄

It's a cloudy forecast on a Monday morning, rain seems to be coming soon. However, I went ahead with my plan to Tanjung Karang since I've already planned for the trip after my birding trip to Kuala Selangor last week.

Tanjung Karang is located about 15 kilometers away from Kuala Selangor, or 15-18 minutes away. The drive in the morning is smooth as usual, since most cars are headed towards the opposite direction.

I arrived first at Bukit Melawati. Scouted for a few minutes to see if there's any special bird hanging in the nearby trees. I just saw some swiftlets and lots of juvenile Asian Glossy Starlings in the trees. So I headed to Tanjung Karang after a few snapshots. It was already raining.

Juvenile Asian Glossy Starlings. © Edward Chen

Upon reaching the rural area of Tanjung Karang, I spotted a Black-naped Oriole with a bountyin its beak. But it flew off once I moved my car to get ready for the capture. 😭

Nearby in the same tree was a black Koel. It was watching me all along and wasn't startled by my presence unlike the Black-naped Oriole.

Birding Trip to Bukit Melawati and Taman Alam Kuala Selangor

As the morning traffic towards Kuala Lumpur is usually terrible during weekdays, I decided to travel to Kuala Selangor instead for my birding activity this morning. It took me around 46 minutes for a 41KM drive. Initially I decided to go Hulu Langat, but it's 74KM and more than an hour away due to moring rush hour. I will save that for another day. 😄

Driving to Kuala Selangor is a breeze. There is not much traffic as most people are headed to the opposite direction or they are just transporting within the small towns along the way.

Upon reaching Bukit Melawati, I saw a couple of cars and a few joggers near the lighthouse at the top of the hill.

Bukit Melawati Lighthouse. © Edward Chen

2017 Thaipusam at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur

Drawn by the contrasting colours and interesting rituals performed during Thaipusam, I have been visiting the Hindu Temples during this celebrated day almost every year.

As the temple is usually crowded and traffic is heavy, it's sometimes best to take the train from the nearest KTM Kommuter station to Batu Caves.

I took the 630AM train with a friend of mine, Gilbert, at the Subang Jaya station and reached Batu Caves after nearly 2 hours. (Yes, it's quite a long ride.)

I was using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera attached with the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens, and also brought along the Olympus 45mm f1.8 lens as well as the Olympus 75mm f1.8 lens in my pouch. 😃

Here are the photos taken...

A Bug's Life, Macro Photography During the 2017 Chinese New Year Holiday

Chinese New Year is a time when I usually travel back to my hometown Ipoh to visit my friends and relatives. If it's possible, I would see if there is time for photography as well. For the past years, aside from family portraiture, I have taken photos like street photography, landscapes, and also architecture. This year, macro photography came into my mind.

So, I contacted my friend, Markus Kam, a macro sifu based in Ipoh, and met up with him (and another friend, Ms Lim) on the third day of Chinese New Year for some snapshots at a nearby forest reserve.

Armed with my macro kit comprising of the Olympus OM-D E-M1, the Olympus 60mm macro lens the Olympus FL-600R with a Gamilight softbox attached, I went into an area adjacent to the forest reserve at Kledang Saiong, Ipoh.

It's not my first visit there as I am still recovering from mosquitoe bites from my previous visits just a few weeks ago. 😢 Those little mosquitoes are really poisonous! 😓

The Gamilight softbox isn't intended for macro photography, but I do not have a dedicated diffuser like the Canon and Nikon photographers since there isn't any commercially built for the Olympus FL-600R flash. One choice is to buy and use a new macro lens on either my Canon 7D or Nikon D800E. Then I can get a proper one (diffuser) from Markus since he builds and sells them.

Anyway, here are some of the findings.

Places to visit in Malaysia: Fonion Cultural Resort (峯年文化聖城), Melaka

I had the opportunity to visit a newly opened (since 9 September, 2016) cultural resort in Melaka, Malaysia after a visit to the Malaysian Academy of Han Studies with a group of primary school teachers. It is called 峯年文化聖城 or Fonion Cultural Resort.

It is interesting to see the place filled with structures which are with a glance, resembles to those usually found in Chinese temples or parks.

Photos are taken using the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Kowa Prominar 8.5mm f2.8 MFT lens.

龙龟

Visit to the Malaysian Academy of Han Studies 馬來西亞中華文化教育中心, Melaka

As a member of the parents and teachers association of my daughters' primary school, I had the opportunity to visit the Malaysian Academy of Han Studies in Melaka two days ago. It was part of our initiatives to expose the teachers more to the teachings of Confucius called dizigui 弟子规, which is widely practiced to instill discipline, filial piety and good practices as a human being living in harmony with others and the environment.

Many people, including teachers, have the common misunderstanding that dizigui is only for young children. In fact it's applicable for people of all ages. 

We must not stop learning, and of course must not stop being a good human being. We all have the responsibility to take care of ourselves, our parents, our children, our friends, our colleagues, our community and our environment, the planet earth where we all live in.

Below are some snapshots taken using the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the Kowa Prominar 8.5mm f2.8MFT lens or the Lumix 14mm f2.5 lens.

The beautiful circular courtyard

A quick visit to Zoo Negara, Malaysia's National Zoo

I just had a quick visit to the national zoo today. I had very little time to take photographs of the animals as I went there with a group of primary school children this round. So, I brought along the Olympus OM-D E-M5 together with the Olympus 12-50mm kit lens only. I expected myself to be taking more group photos and just a few animal photos.

Below are photos of some of the animals.

Bangkok: Sea Life Ocean World

During my trip to Bangkok, my friend, Joy, brought my family to visit Sea Life Ocean World, one of Bangkok's tourist attractions at the city centre. Located within Siam Paragon shopping mall, it's easily accessible using the BTS. It's just next to the Siam BTS station.

It opens daily from 10am until 9pm. As we reached there in the evening near 6pm, we got the "Late Savers" tickets for foreigners at 645baht each adult and 515baht for each child (originally 990baht for adults and 790baht for each child). 

All photos are taken using the Sony A7 ii with the Sony Zeiss 35mm Sonnar f2.8 ZA lens.

A huge lion fish swimming in the aquarium.

Natural Joy Vision at Young Place, Sukhumvit 23, Bangkok

My family was invited by my friend, Urapa (Joy) Watanachote, to her eye clinic, Natural Joy Vision, in Bangkok. It's located in a small business area at Sukhumvit 23, which is near the Interchange 21.

Her guru/consultant, Dr. Amajith Swain, showed us the way to the clinic one fine morning.

We took the light rail transit in Bangkok called 'BTS' and exit at Asoke station in Sukhumvit. We walked through Interchange 21 and then followed him to Young Place.

Map to Natural Joy Vision

Using the Telezenitar 135mm f2.8 APO Legendary Russian Lens on Sony A7 ii

I have the Telezenitar 135mm with me for more than a couple of years now. To me it's a sharp and fast medium telephoto lens. The only "weakness" is that it's a manual focus lens. I used the lens on my Nikon D800e (the lens is in Nikon F mount) and after a few uses it ended up in the dry box until I even put it up for sale. (It never got sold as I had reserved it for a friend who eventually didn't buy it.)

Retrospective: Using the Nikon AFS 70-300 VR lens adapted to the Olympus OM-D E-M5

*This is one of the blog entries written in retrospective based on my recollection of the events which took place earlier. 

I went to the zoo in an outing one day. As I was curious as to how the Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR can perform with the 2x cropped sensor of the Olympus, I brought the lens along with me. 

© Edward Chen

Below are some of the photos taken.