Landscape Spot - Bukit Tabur

this beautiful water dam locate @ Gombak, Selangor.... 20 minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur center city

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this place may not be available after 3-4 years from now .. as the planned KL Outer Ring Road (KLORR) will cut through this Klang Gates Quartz Ridge dragon backbone citing this option has the minimum cost compared to other alternative.  which report by theStar here

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a not really a tough hike (from west), it should be ~45-60minutes hike to the spot to shoot beautiful sunrise. And it should be ~90-120minutes for the total hike ...

this hill is not tough but little dangerous or challenge, especially after rain...
i. the sharp rock
ii. deep hike, might need to use hand to hike up .. so please tight yours' tripod on the beg
iii. initial hike is deep , so slow on 1st 10 minute
iv. many hiker or visitors so be careful while moving yours' tripod
v. not advice to go raining season for non experience hiker or rock climber :D

today is my 4th or 5th times for 2010 up there and today is most beautiful so far ....

but I almost failed to hike up, ......
little too old to hike ? almost fail to repeat to climb this mountain and late for the star trail shooting (but still early for sunrise) ... not too sure why, could be not feeling well after knowing a jealous guy that can do any thing on you and I am not sure what happen ??? and what make him do so ??? ... or do I feel sad ? nope ... I am happy while with my gang ... my Jie Xi ... wife .. family ... and important thing is I still enjoy my hobby .....

life still go on for me no matter what happen .. so just ignore people that selfish, jealous ...  world still full with good peoples with right altitudes .....

I was late for the stars but still alright for the sunrise ... thanks for the friend support ... I really appreciate ... what you do for me


this moment make me forgot almost everything ....



add on


added 6th Sept 2010



more pictures will be sharing @

Bukit Tabur Series

other - what will you doing while waiting for the sunset ...

it depend on the location , some place I can order "Ikana Bakar" (Grill fish) , some I need to bring my own coffee ......

last weekend, I spend 2 places (Tg Bidara @Melaka & Jelatek @Kuala Lumpur) to spend my evening for sunset .....

so what I did .....


Saturday @Tg Bidara.. this place full with this Tiger beetle



Sunday, @Jelatek ... nothing much I can do at the corridor .. and forgot my coffee .. so




patient is important and the wait may not give you any worthy shots .. but we still chasing, waiting ... every weeks.......... this is Photographer patient ...

other - landscape not always need good weather

last friday, it was a cloudy day and rain in some area too... but I still drive ~40KM to meet up few friends for sunset shooting .... and I had plan for worst, which mean I will shoot nothing or press the shutter ......

but while I reach there, even the tide is high.... the cloud look bad ... no color on the sky but I still trying to look for a spot to get some "no so" sunset feel pictures ......

Just before the sunset, the sun did appear (20-30%) out from the thick clouds ..... and I manage to get some orange color over the dull color look sky ... and with the high tide ... I would say few worthy pictures are capture .... and I keep this with me, "it is depend how we shoot the moment but the moment show us what we should shoot"

thanks ... a busy and tired morning .. just want to share this before I forgot :D




more pictures from this beautiful place @ Pantai Jeram series

MACRO PP - When you meet a big bug (photomerge)

this is mostly sharing for MP-E65 user but it do apply for other user too when there are few occasion which need this Photomerge technique.

For MP-E65 user, one of the problem is we only have minimum magnification of 1:1 and while the bug >35mm (for Full frame user) or >23mm (APS-c user)then the object will never fit into single frame .. but we need it to be fit sometime (big is not always GOOD).... there are few suggestion

i. easy way , get another normal MACRO len which can do <1:1 (which I do it too)
ii. but sometime the moment may not allow you change len as it may leave you .....then photomerge will be better/quick solution

it is not difficult to shoot macro for pano/merger and I did a sharing once @ here. but today let me share little more on which option I use in CS..... here are the step

i. shoot with same magnification and need some cross area
   - shoot more so you can stack
   - incase miss out some portion

ii. use CS photomerge option

iii. use auto ... most of the time

iv. choose the pictures you wish to merge

v. it is done .....for few sec/min

vi. and crop away what ever area you fill you don't want or if you want the area but not able to cover (those white area) ..then you can use "clone" option to recover it.

or just crop as

then caterpillar is done ....

New Found - A Hairy Jumping Spider 2

previously I found a hairy jumping at Petaling Jaya, Selangor , Malaysia and discuss @ New Found - a Hairy Jumping Spider. But after I met this one from Kota Kinabalu park.. then the previous one become so hairless ....

I found a lantern bug but let it flew off.. then I was trying to find another one nearby ( ... :( )
... with my help of my wife and Jie Xi . Instead lantern bug , my wife found a real big and hairy jumping spider ... and I spent ~an hour on this jumping spider alone...


here are few angle to capture this beauty ...






shoot this @1:1 with MP-E65 .. I would say easily 20mm at long side


while look close

Other - Do not simply Give Up !

this is for those need some momentum to continue to their patient (for work, hobby, wish ....)

while I was shooting beautiful sunrise/sunset for pass, I experience while we had give up and almost leave the place .. and the sky just have dramatic change make the normal view become a WOW .......

and while me spend my time with my wife and Daughter @KK park in the evening (~6:30pm) the sky look just normal. while almost everyone give happy with the "ok" sunset shots ....... all a sudden the sky change dramatically ... it is like flaming red with blue ... purple .. and every is like WOW and taking picture of the beautiful view non-stop but it only appear within few minutes and get dark .....

~625pm


and we(me, my wife, Jie Xi and other visitors)  almost leaving ~640pm... the sky change dramatically


and everyone then busy again with the beautiful magic hour view (which only last few minutes)


these were from my 2010 Aug KK trip

Travel - National Park Endau Rompin, Johor, Malaysia

finally I step into this National park - Endau Rompin after years ... (my very 1st time to Taman Negara after in photography)... I would say is not really a very good trip for photography due to weather and some unplanned activities that took up our time and make us tired enough ....but I really enjoy the trip with my photography gang ... (Jason, Tan, Andy, Philip Wee and Maureen). the moment the environment make me start plan another trip there and hope it can be early of 2011.

so my advice is to plan the trip there properly, it is a big jungle and plan where you want to visit then where you want to stay .. (either chalet, camp ...)

something to plan out
i. what you going to interest to ? hiking ? camping ? photography ? for landscape , wild life, bird, macro, orang asli ... etc

from #i decide where you want to stay

i. do you need electricity
ii. do you prefer to have daily long walk (~3hours return) for different activity

there are few place to stay
i. Kg. Peta
   - a place with Chalet (not too expensive)
   - Dorm (real cheap but sharing with other)
   - electricity available
   - "cold river" water for bath
   - chalet is good for family trip too
   - Botanical garden is good for birding, macro
   - Kg Peta Jetty , saw alot of butterfly
   - Pantai Burung , good for landscape (sunrise, sunset)... might need to cross the river
   - near by the Dorm, not much thing found by this trip but do believe it may due to weather
   - Orchid Garden can find a lot of mushroom

ii. Jasin
   - another place with Chalet and Dorm
   - little far (boat ~40minutes and ~15minutes walk)
   - just like Kg Peta
   - nearer to Upih Guling (Waterfall) [~1.5hours walk]
   - Tasik Biru  [~1.5hours walk]

iii. Tg Marong
    - camp site
    - 4 wheel reachable
    - ~15minutes to either Upih Guling and Tasik Biru



 --> Upih Guling








    - a real place for wild life and macro
    - still far to Buaya Sangkut [~3.5hours walk]

iv. Batu Hampar
    - last camp site and closer to Buaya Sangkut
    - not much details
    - next planning to here

--> Upih Guling

--> Pantai Burung

--> little adventure here

--> Kg Peta

--> while on the boat

--> simply a snake









Some Warning
- mosquitoes !!!
- leeches !!!!!!!!!!
- long walk is require for most of the location
- porter is not really expensive , if you want can arrange one for daily basic


more pictures for this trip will be share @ liewwk 2010 Aug Endau Rompin
and pictures will be upload part by part due to my busy schedule


let's wait for my next visit for better experience for this great place

Travel - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Last week I make family trip (plan for long) to Kota Kinabalu (KK) and we spent 3 days at Kundasang which near Kota Kinabalu park enjoy the coldness, beauty of the Mount KK .....

and we stay in Puncak Borneo Resort which is locate ~5min drive to KK Park .. this is a highly recommend hotel , it is clean, not really expensive, the worker there friendly, food here have wide variety and not expensive....most important choose the room with Mount KK view... and this is what I see from bed while I wait up



we went
i. KK Park for enjoy the air, shoot some beautiful mountain view, macro ...
ii. Poring Hot Spring .. wow it is long drive but nothing special ....except many pretty girls around :D

after spent days @Kundasang, we went down to KK city to join a Island trip to enjoy the beautiful beaches, sea .... (Ohhhhh my phone jump into sea to dive so I end up with new phone now :D ).... We didn't spend much time in the city (only 2d1night)

but the sunset and sunrise just amazing



and my wife & Jie Xi 1st time join me to wait for beautiful sunset



the next day, I went to KK Mosque to wait for beautiful sunrise and the lake reflection is real gem for KK photographer .. it is amazing.. I end up burn 4GB memory ~1hour :D




more pictures will be uploaded to 2010 Aug KK Visit

How I Shoot MACRO - Cheaper version of Wimberley Twin Head Bracket

I was impress with my previous testing Jul 2010 as show below

Canon MP-E65 + Canon MT-e4 + Wimberley Macro twin bracket









as mentioned previously , the setup were
i. little bulky
ii. difficult to control the position as need to adjust the screws for different magnification
iii. costly (do I mentioned this ?)

but I really need the flash to be backward little bit to have better control of the light (better angle and make bigger light source)... so I am looking at alternative for pass 1month... finally I found a similar accessories to have similar setup as above but

i. 1/10 of the owimberley cost
ii. and better and easier adjustment of angle (without need to losse and tight the scews)

a twin flash clamps ...

so I have similar setup









I may not have time to test this setup this week... preparing to go another jungle for coming weekend. But will definitely share results of this twin flashes setup ASAP to you all ..

New Found - beautiful Caterpillar

finally another wish list clear .. one of the most beautiful caterpillar (even not the picture, and this found at night and it stand at real ugly leaf :D )



and thanks Jason Loo (who found it) and Andy Paul for the ID ... thanks .. and I really enjoy to shoot with you all .. learn a lot and happy ..............

ID still on progress of verify .. but is between T. iapis or T. pelea

How I shoot MACRO - Lighting result for SIGMA 150mm macro (2010 Aug)

As agree, I am sharing result of the new flash lighting for SIGMA150 Macro len as discuss in 2010 Aug - SIGMA150 lighting.

The intention is not compare lighting with my MP-E65 lighting setup but design a acceptable lighting setup for long MACRO lenses use (I use SIGMA150 F2.8 + 1.4x TC & 36mm ET).

more details for above setup can view @ 2010 Aug - SIGMA150 Lighting 1

for this setup 36mm ET + 1.4x TC + SIGMA150 @1:1 give magnifcation ~2:1 as shown below




....... so the test result
0. with only my Concave Diffuser (the flash head cone without the light Tent)

F9, 1/160, ISO100









i. a full body shot which not possible for MP-E65 and the Background color (F8, 1/160, ISO100)


ii. with only ET @full magnification


iii.plus 1.4TC


iv. full magnification front view


*** if like to view larger view 2500pix @ longer side, there is link after click the picture above

*** to show the real results, picture only raw-->jpeg with conditions
i. no sharpen
ii. no light/exposure related change
iii. the side view with 2 picture stacked (eye & body)
iv. no dodge and burn
v. no highlight and shadows change
vi. non crop
vii. all handheld shot



Overall, I am pretty happy with the results and can be improve
1. the light is not really harsh but need to fine tune with the setting
    - we can;t just use what we have with MP-E65 which have different focal length
2. background, it is so easy to get the Background color instead the MP-E65
3. it is so easy to approach the bug which almost not possible with MP-E65 or shorter len



4. something I need to work on is the highlight on the eye still strong
5. need reflective beetle to test further

How I shoot MACRO - New Lighting test for 150mm macro (2010 Aug)

 am doing quite alot of testing and still looking for time to share the end result but I feel it is important to solve the lighting for my SIGMA 150mm F2.8 which is a good range for macro but due to the distance to the object, flash use tent to be harsh so far and it only use for fill flash/Natural Light macro so far.

I make use one of my test with MP-E65 , a UV + light Tent which mentioned before @ 2010 Jul new lighting testing

I will get few good test and share the result by end of this week ...

and I just got my SIGMA180 and hope I have some time to give it a try


so for test 1 - 2 Aug 2010
i. SIGMA 150 F2.8
ii. Canon 5dm2
iii. Kenko ET 36mm  & 1.4x TC
iv. UV Diffuser  (picture below show how U.. but V still a hidden secret)

v. Light Tent with Vellum paper (previously use for MP-E65)










UPDATE .... I am trying to drawing what I going to achieve

not a very good diagram, but it show I trying to avoid direct my flash light toward the object and why I have the long "U" diffuser is to provide little light to the background.





pdate result from this setup @ http://liewwk-macro.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-i-shoot-macro-lighting-result-for.html

New Found - Harvestmen

 

Harvestmen look like a spider but there are different order (spider belong to order Araneae rather than the order Opiliones - Harvestmen). they use to have long leg move real fast while see something get close and not a easy macro model for me so far... but I finally found a friendly one (even got one having it's breakfast) ....

in chinese
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盲蛛目─在生物分類的階級屬於《動物界→節肢動物門→蛛形綱→盲蛛目》，雖然也有八 隻腳但不是蜘蛛，蜘蛛身體構造分頭胸、腹兩部分，盲蛛則頭胸部和腹部間無明顯分隔，大部分的盲蛛步腳細長，不吐絲。盲蛛依食性可分為植食性與肉食性兩種， 植食性種類步腳細長，上顎及觸鬚無明顯特化，肉食性盲蛛步腳粗短，上顎及觸鬚特化成鋏狀之捕食構造。台灣已知有28種盲蛛。

############################################ from http://gaga.jes.mlc.edu.tw/new23/9411/166.htm






another one previously found @ Malaysia




more Harvestmen click here