October 13th, 2008 Faris
My colleague Richard is organizing a Halloween Party in two weeks time and he asked me to take a few photos of the graveyard for his slideshow. Fortunately, there is one graveyard nearby our work place so we took a couple of minutes during lunch hour to go and see if we could get some shots. The weather was beautiful that day hence I had no excuse to refuse it. As a matter of fact, it’s been a while I wanted to take a photo of that graveyard. It’s just that I always in a rush and haven’t got time for it. Last week, I took this opportunity to discover that place with him.
So, here are some shots I managed to get that day. I converted them all to black and white to give more impact to the scenery as well as environment.
I’m still thinking whether or not to go to his Halloween Party. It’s definitely going to be extremely fun. The only problem is, I haven’t got a costume yet! What am I going to be then? A vampire with bloody teeth? Hahaha.
Thanks for tuning in people. Hope you enjoy your stay. Cheers.
Faris
Posted in Fun, HDR, Photography, Photoshop | 30 Comments »
October 7th, 2008 Faris
So what is HDR? Why all of a sudden I am talking about HDR? They are photos as well but why some people treat them so special? Some people are so eager to learn about HDR photos. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Basically, HDR has been in this world for quite a while already. It’s just that some people like me just discovered it hence got so excited when had a chance to learn it. To be honest, I have heard about it many years ago but I completely neglected it because it sounded ridiculous to me at that time. Ridiculous in terms of my capability to produce that kind of images, if you know what I mean. You definitely need skills in Photoshop in order to create HDR images.
HDR is not alien no more to us nowadays. If you go to Flickr, type HDR and you will find massive HDR photos produced by various of people on this planet. When I first saw it, I thought it was impossible for me. But then again, nothing is impossible isn’t it? Now that is so unbelieveable the HDR photos are actually on my Flickr page. I took the photos and created them myself. I thought it was very complicated until I experienced it myself. You would not believe if I say it just needs a few simple steps to create one. Certainly you need to be Photoshop literate first in order to operate the application otherwise, you will get stuck in the middle.
First thing you have to do is, take pictures. Now, when I say take pictures, it is not going to be as same as ordinary photos you always take. This is going to be a little bit different. Unfortunately, this only apply to DSLR camera or any camera that has “Bracketing” mode because in order to produce HDR images, you are required to take at least three different exposures of the same shot. It can go up to nine exposures if not mistaken. So, to ensure the photos you take are in the same position, you might want to consider a tripod to hold your camera steadily. By taking three exposures, your camera will automatically capture the original, under and over exposure.
Once you have got the images, you need a software to merge the photos. The only software I know so far is Photomatix. It is very simple and easy to use. I quite like it to be honest. If you haven’t heard or seen it before, go google to get some ideas what I am talking about. You can always edit the final result in Photomatix itself where it has a few tools if you would like to increase more tones and colours, sharpened a little bit and many more. I always do my final editing in Photoshop. I’m not saying Photomatix isn’t good. It is more like I’m used to Photoshop so, it would be a lot easier for me. Then, it’s all about your creativity. How do you want the images to look like. It’s entirely up to you.
Please correct me if I say anything wrong here. Or if anyone out there who knows better you are always welcome to add or correct it on the comment field. I also would like to apologize for not being detailed in terms of explaining how to process HDR photos. But I do hope you understand a little bit what HDR photo means. Thanks very much for reading and viewing. Enjoy your stay. Cheers.
Faris
Posted in HDR, Photography, Photoshop, Techno | 4 Comments »
October 5th, 2008 Faris
Yesterday, my friend Hafiz and I were out to Central London for a “photoshoot session”. At first, we thought it would be great if we did photoshoot in “Baju Melayu” walking around London but unfortunately, I completely forgot to bring mine. When I met him at the Green Park tube station, he was ready in “Baju Melayu”. I went to him and said, “damn… you know what I’m going to say didn’t you?” Then, I got told off by him for not bringing mine. I said sorry to him. He said, yeah OK whatever. So, obviously our plan to have photoshoot in “Baju Melayu” burnt out. Because of that, Hafiz decided to go back to his accommodation in Bayswater to get changed.
The weather was not very pleasant. It was OK in the morning with the Sun shined happily for a few moment then totally changed in the afternoon until the end of the day. It started to rain by the time we arrived at Hafiz accommodation. It was a bit annoying because I was carrying my camera and did not want to keep it in my bag. If it’s raining, I had no choice but to protect it otherwise it gets wet. Nonetheless, I just beared with the weather and continued walking since the rain was not that heavy. Luckily, the camera is also weather-proof so hopefully it won’t get jammed later on!
While walking, we were thinking if there’s a nice place to hang around for some photos opportunity. We took a bus and just went to random places. We did not plan anymore. If we see something nice, we stop. It did not take long for us to decide where to go. I told Hafiz I have never been to Royal Albert Hall. He agreed and that would be our next destination. In London itself has so many places to visit. Almost everywhere you go, there will be photos opportunity. It is entirely up to you. To be honest, although I have been here for about one year and three months, this was my first time touring London! Hence, we got excited even though the weather annoyed us a little bit. Hafiz kept doing his “freezing action” when the wind blew off.
Hafiz taught me a lot about HDR photo. He is also pretty good in photo editing so, today was the perfect time for me to learn as much as I can by experimenting and taking a bunch of photos. For the very first time ever, I shot a few photos in a different exposures. For those who know about HDR, you have no doubt about it. In order to create HDR photo, you need to have a few different exposures for the same shot you take. At least three exposures. Bear in mind, you may probably need a tripod to enable you to get steady shots unless you have very sturdy hands to hold the camera from shaking. Of course, it’s not done yet. Once you have got the shots, you need to edit it in a special software to merge the HDR photos. I wish I could explain it details to you here but it’s just too complicated for me. You can google it up though.
Both of us did not plan to get masterpiece shots anyway. We just wanted to have fun and experience something we might not be able to do it anymore. I always say to myself, I’m going to miss all this when I go back to Malaysia next year. The places, weather, people, cultures - they’re all going to be history. Well, at least I have been given this opportunity by HIM the Almighty to feel how is it like to be in another place. To experience many things. To be able to see and improve myself by looking at others and realize how weak I am, how I need to change myself in terms of way of thinking. Therefore, I’m very grateful because I have been blessed with many good things in my life. Shouldn’t I sigh even if something bad happen to me because HE knows better.
By the way, after a long walk from one place to another, we both thought we needed some energy in order to continue the journey. Hafiz said his tummy was rumbling. Yeah, me too. From Royal Albert Hall, we took a bus to Oxford Circus. It was jam packed with vehicles and ocean of people. We were stuck in the bus for a couple of minutes. Even in the bus itself it was full. Hafiz got a chance to sit next to a girl at the back of the bus. He was looking at me standing near by the door and grinned. I ignored him. Then a few minutes later we jumped out of the bus and walked towards kebab shop. We had lamb doner. Man, I’m telling you it was so delicious! We did not speak until both of us finished eating. You can view a photo of me with lamb doner HERE because some of the photos are with Hafiz.
Now we were “fully charged” and ready to rock again. Our next stop will be St. Pancras International to get a train ticket because Hafiz is going to Loughborough tomorrow to meet his long lost friends. He’ll be going back to Malaysia on Monday so, this probably our last day meeting. To end our journey for that day, we headed to Tower Bridge. It was dark, raining, windy and cold when we got there. But for the sake of getting night shots of Tower Bridge, we dared to stand in the middle of the rain holding the camera and took as many shots as we can. The best part was, Hafiz did bring his tripod and he has been carrying it throughout the day but did not realize he left the plate in his apartment. He was too smart wasn’t he??!! But we managed to get a few shots using hand held though. Both of us had fun anyway. It was worth it.
If you would like to view more photos from yesterday, please logon to my Flickr. I wish him safe journey to Malaysia and thanks very much for everything. It was very pleasant to have you here buddy. We shall do it again with more adventure whenever you’re around!
Last but not least, I would like to wish Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Happy Eid) to all out there who celebrate this season. I hope it is still valid and not too late. Hope you enjoy your stay. Thanks very much for reading and viewing. Cheers.
Faris
Posted in Fun, Outing, Photography, Travel | 13 Comments »
August 5th, 2008 Faris
I had tummy ache yesterday & today! I don’t know about tomorrow but I’m hoping the pain will go away because it really hurts my tummy! I didn’t have lunch today because I wasn’t hungry even though I didn’t have breakfast. It sounded a bit strange but that’s what happened this afternoon. One of my colleague brought some chocolate orange cheesecake and owh it was beautiful. It happened after I had the cheesecake and a cup of coffee and all of a sudden my tummy started to go crazy. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming the cheesecake (tolong jangan marah aku Yusrina hehe). Probably it’s just my tummy. *Sigh*.
Anyway, today I would like to share with you unedited and edited photos. Well, obviously you can see it straight away can’t you? But before I move on, there’s a story behind it. That is actually a photo of a friend taken in year 2005 if not mistaken. So, basically I was digging up some old photos from my CDs and couldn’t believe I still keep this photo. Thought I had lost it long time ago because I remember that was the last time I took the photo using this camera Fujifilm FinePix S7000 before sold it. We were about to go to the camera shop when I took a photo of him.
What surprises me, although it’s just a prosumer camera but the quality of the photo is excellent and I really love how it renders the colour to look natural yet vibrant, and its sharpness isn’t bad at all. Note that none of the colour correction has been done except the healing brush tool in Photoshop 3 which I used to remove the pimples and scars on the face that’s all.
Hope you enjoy your stay and thanks very much for tuning in! Cheers.
Posted in Photography, Photoshop, Portraits | 6 Comments »
