30 Jul 2010 Photowalk Submission
 |  Category: HDR, Photos, Worldwide Photowalk  | Tags:  | 6 Comments
Fly-by

Fly-by

It took me 2 days to decide between 2 photos to submit and it came down to this one. I know that the walk is not a competition in any way but one still needs to submit the best work right? Once again, I found that the noteworthy shots were nearly always the ones that I toiled over. In this case under the blazing hot sun, pointing the camera up and praying that the sunlight won’t fry the camera sensor. There were a handful of birds, mostly pigeons and crows, loitering the sky and waiting for one to pass the appropriate spot took awhile.

Do also check out the fabulous work of fellow walkers around the world in the event’s Flickr group.

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29 Jul 2010 The River Jungle Marathon 2010
 |  Category: Marathon  | Tags:  | 7 Comments

My wish to run another marathon before TNF in October was granted with the organization of the 1st River Jungle Marathon happening on Aug 15th, basically just 3 weeks away. Training has been poor, no surprises there, which is why such long training runs (this is branded as a social run of 42-43K in distance) are important at least to me, to keep the motivation up.

The key features of this marathon are:

  1. It’s limited to just 50 runners
  2. Finishers get finisher’s t-shirts and certificates
  3. Refreshments along the way
  4. Untypical route. We’ll be running close to the countryside.
  5. Long hard climb in the middle of the route.
  6. Pace groups and support cars – safety in numbers
  7. Non-competitive
  8. Supported by Camelbak and Excel

Because we’ll be running along the village roads, we’re encouraged to bring along our hydration systems. Not only will we reduce wastage and throwaways, it provides me the chance to put on the Nathan again.

For more info or to register, just head on to the official website.

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29 Jul 2010 Faces from the Photowalk
 |  Category: Kids, People, Worldwide Photowalk  | Tags:  | 4 Comments

Sometimes you’ve just gotta be lucky to be in the right place at the right time. There I was perhaps spending too much time trying to “see” more into the train station setting when a Malay couple walked into the nearly empty station with their baby boy. Apparently they were there to have their family portrait taken in view of the upcoming Aidil-Adha celebrations. There were about 3 other photographers around the area, so I didn’t know which one was their contracted shooter. Anyway, there’s nothing like a cute baby to draw the attention of the lenses. For a full minute this boy was at the center of attraction.

 

That was because a tourist family walked right into our frame! This tourist family was beautiful, Mom and Dad were a handsome couple and so were their pair of kids. Thanks to these gracious sets of parents, another clicking frenzy ensued. I regret not shooting more of the babies because the shots I had weren’t tack sharp. But check out the last one on the adorable girl – when my steadied hands showed what an amazing lens the 135 prime is.

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28 Jul 2010 It’s Not About The Length
 |  Category: Videos, iPhone  | Tags:  | Leave a Comment

Would like to share a short movie with you. Once you click on the Play button, hit the Pause and let the download complete before viewing it. Don’t forget to turn on the HD option. It’s just a 5:12 short movie but it’s nothing short of impressive especially after viewing the behind the scenes footage.

iPhone 4 film – “Apple of My Eye” from Michael Koerbel on Vimeo.

I know nuts about video and probably commit too much panning action as any amateur out there but I can see that shooting with a device with a thin and light form factor as the iPhone 4 presents some similar challenges as you would get if you’re filming with a hydrid HD DSLR such as the 5DMkII. To stabilize the camera, you need some form of external support, be they Magic Arms, clamps or Zacuto rigs.

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27 Jul 2010 Photos from the Photowalk
 |  Category: HDR, People, Photos, Street, Worldwide Photowalk  | Tags:  | 4 Comments

It’s been a few days since I completed the post work on the photos made during last Saturday’s photowalk and I thought it’ll be nice to post some here. The quartet spent most of our time around the train station, so you’ll see most of the shots centered about that area.

Abandoned axle and wheel

The KTM (Malaysian Railway) administrative building.

Click to view larger photo

Am still in the midst of deciding which photo makes the grade for submission to the photowalk site. I’m presently torn between 2 (not shown here). Both received the thumbs-up from my wife and well, I can’t make up my mind. I have 4 more days to come to a decision.

I’ll share more photos across several posts, so stay tuned!

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26 Jul 2010 The Power of Smartphones For Photographers
 |  Category: 5800, Gear, Photos, iPhone  | Tags:  | 4 Comments

I confess. I don’t have an iPhone. That makes me a complete noob when it comes to taking photos with one and using the various apps. What I have and love to bits is the iPod Touch. It’s my go-to gear for listening to music, watching videos on the move, and playing games while waiting in line to be served. I can now add image editing to what I use it for. Specifically, editing images taken using my cell phone. To do that right now, I’ve to go the roundabout way, since there’s no camera on the Touch (soon to be changed if rumours of the coming update of the Touch is to be believed).

So, here’s what I do. Firstly I get the images from the Nokia 5800 to my Mac’s iPhoto via Bluetooth. Since I sync the Touch to the Mac once every 2 days, the images gets transferred to the iPod album. I then fire up the iPhone app on the Touch, called Camera+ (USD1.99, introductory price) for post-processing. Camera+ is an amazing app as it allows you basically edit (exposure correction, cropping to various aspect ratios, built-in shooting) add cool filters, effects and borders before opting to upload to popular social media sites. Certainly tedious but it’s fun and encourages one to keep shooting without carrying even a P&S camera. It also produces arty looking shots. Until and if I get an iPhone, this is an excellent option for me. The shots you see in this post were shot using the Canon S3 and 5D and already resident on my iPod. So I’m using them as the first set of test shots, to experiment with Camera+.

For about RM7, you have in your hands a powerful editing platform. If you own an iPhone, not only will you bypass the tedious process but  you’ll also unlock the shooting options of the app. Yup, you can use the app to take photos, enable the grid view which aids composition and there’s even a stabilizer function to cut down on camera shake. I now understand why the iPhone is so popular among photo enthusiasts – there are loads of very affordable apps, great integration with the computer and stands as a powerful shooting, editing and posting platform. If you’re already an iPhone user, or just simply interested in seeing what Camera+ can do, go to the application website here or Lisa Bettany’s site, Mostly Lisa, to see for yourself the app in action.

If you don’t want to part with RM7, there’s the Photoshop Mobile version which is less powerful. Photoshop Mobile is free and you can’t get cheaper than that. Besides it works on the Android smartphones too. A little bit more expensive is Chase Jarvis’ Best Camera iPhone app which is totally cool. Another happening app is the TiltShift which simulates a selective focus lens. It’s also a very affordable app and I consider it an essential if you have an iPhone. For USD0.99 there’s the FX Photo Studio for you to play around with. Do not discount the USD0.99 Perfect Photo app where you can control the Hue, Saturation, Contrast, Shadow, Highlights and Noise Reduction of your shots. If you’re curious, ZD Net has a list of Top 10 iPhone camera apps on their site.

Here’s what I think and I don’t want to get into the iOS vs Android debate here. Anything that puts me in the position to shoot often, shoot everyday without the form factor, edit and share all within the same device is an awesome proposition.The apps are very very affordable. You don’t have to download your photos to your computer to enjoy them. Even if I need to sync up with the computer, I can do so without 3rd party apps to convert or act as a bridge between my Mac and the phone. It’s game changing and with an increased opportunity to shoot, one can only develop his vision and composition. To me, the iPhone is the perfect all-in-one platform for the creative person.

The Android platform is something of a rapidly growing giant just waiting to pounce on the nervous iOS. It is still raw and is not quite there yet. The apps are still relatively limited and more expensive than those in the iTunes Store. Interface and usability wise, it’s a mixture of power and mystery. Mystery because it’s not as intuitive as the iOS. But the power part of things is very intriguing. There’s a learning curve to it. The HTC’s user manual is 400 pages, while a kid can instinctively use any iDevice without coaching. I’ve seen this with my own kids. They just know how to use the iPod. For non-Apple users, here’s a tidbit. The Big A prides itself by not having to include a manual. That’s saying a lot.

Hardware wise, the Android machines have a lot going for them too, being much cheaper than the iPhone. Build-wise is not too shabby either. There’s not much to say about the iPhone prior to the Death Grip and antenna debacle. In my opinion, it’s reputation have now somewhat been tainted but I’d like to think that it’s something the company has to remedy or consumers have to accept and workaround with.

I’m a latecomer to the smartphone arena. I’ve not been able to justify one. At the price the iPhone 4 is expected to be selling  for, I’ll have to think of it as beyond a phone. It’s a HD video cam, a reasonably good compact camera, an multimedia editing platform, a voice recorder, scheduler, multimedia player, podcast aggregator, GPS, social media tool, gaming machine. Yes somewhere in there is a phone too! Having said that, my mind is pretty open. Other than the interface and integration to my imaging and computing workflow (which is a top consideration for me), I’ve been impressed with the Android OS and devices. One day, deciding to go with it will be a no-brainer. Since I’m not buying either now, my eyes are peeled for developments in the next 3 to 5 months!

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24 Jul 2010 Short But Interesting Walk
 |  Category: Photos, Worldwide Photowalk  | Tags:  | One Comment

For shortlisting

For shortlisting

It seems like roti telur bawang [Wikipedia] and teh tarik [what it is | video] are becoming my pre-photowalk breakfast of choice. CS Wong was kind enough to pick me up at 8:15pm from the train station, since the car was needed for my wife’s marketing duties. A quick drive to the city and a slow and easy walk to the Central Market already yielded some photos, even before breakfast was had. James was already waiting at the agreed spot and soon after, Haza arrived. We chatted with fellow walkers and once we were done, we decided to take off towards the train station where I felt we would be spending the most time, which turned out to be correct. There was just so much to observe and capture that we took 2 hours just for that section. I packed light, the 50/1.8, 24-105/f4, 135/f2, some spare cards and a spare battery stuffed into the ThinkTankPhoto Skins attached to the Pro Speed Belt. You couldn’t tell from the photo of me below right? That’s why I just love the ThinkTank gear!

From left: James, me, Haza and CS Wong. Photo courtesy of CS Wong

From left: James, me, Haza and CS Wong. Photo courtesy of CS Wong

I managed a whole range of photography – from portraits, horizontal and vertical panos, close-ups, street, architectural and HDRs. For the first time, I utilized all my lenses I brought along. In that regards, I’d say that the outing had been fruitful. Now to select a couple of worthy ones for submission!

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