Tioman Island Snaps 2

Really enjoyed the lovely sunsets at the place. Quite a tranquil place as the resort was relatively quiet and didn't really have a lot of guests then. A couple more pictures.


Low Tide


Gazing


Getaway


Coral on wood


Sunset Snapper


Derelict Boat


Moon at Dusk

Tioman Island Snaps

Took a weekend holiday trip to Tioman Island off the east coast of Malaysia with a group of friends. It was my first trip there and took the opportunity to take the K100D Super with the DA 16-45mm f/4, the FA 50mm f/1.4 and the DFA 100mm f/2.8 Macro.


Dash-7

Took a de Havilland Canada Dash- 7 from Seletar Airport for a short flight to the resort island where we stayed at the Berjaya Resort. Lots of snorkeling and short boat rides coupled with some time for personal photography.


Clear Waters

Decided to risk taking the camera on board the boat that we had chartered to bring us around. With 200 hp on tap, the boat made short work in getting around. Lots of spray flying but fortunately everything was kept dry in my Tamrac backpack.


Tioman Island


Reflection

Two of my friends were Nikon users, one carrying a Nikon D60 with the kit VR lens and the other a D300 with the 18-200mm VR. I was quite impressed with the D300's metering capability however the battery life wasn't particularly good. Anyway I think my Pentax held up pretty well throughout, requiring only one set of batteries for the trip.


Waiting for a ride


View from Hole 18

Anyway it was a tiring but fun time there. Certainly a quaint place for a cheap holiday getaway from the hustle and bustle of Singapore. Went snorkelling at various spots on the west side of the island, had a round of golf and lots of eating. Good fun but it was pretty hot weather and have the sunburn to show. Ouch!


Pink flowers outside my room


Palm leaves

Southern Ridges Walk & HortPark

Singapore is a small place with a dearth of places to go and unwind outdoors. So over the Vesak Day holiday my family took a good walk on a few sections of the newly opened 9km Southern Ridges walk starting at the new HortPark through the Alexandra Arches to the Henderson Waves. Didn't continue on the Marang and Kent Ridge sections but I'll try it the next time.



As luck would have it we weren't the only ones who had the same idea. In spite of the large crowds I still managed to meet up with quite a number of friends along the route. Yeah, this is a small place.







HortPark, the National Parks Board's (NParks) new horticultural creation was the focus of my macro shoot. Touted as a one-stop gardening lifestyle hub, it's supposed to be the first park in Asia to bring together gardening-related recreational, educational, research and retail activities together in a park setting. All the macro images were shot with the DFA 100mm f/2.8 Macro.





Well it is still spanking new, what with the supports for some of the bigger trees but in terms of the range of flowers planted in a limited area, it certainly has the edge over the venerable and more established Singapore Botanic Gardens. Probably the one gripe about HortPark is the presence of a couple of tall buildings flanking one side of it. Pretty imposing and to my mind it just spoils the view.





HortPark's layout includes a couple of theme gardens and to me is more a showcase of what can be done for those of us lucky enough to have a home with a garden amidst our urban jungle.





As usual, my Pentax was definitely a rare sight among many photoraphers toting Canons and Nikons. I only saw one guy chimping on his Pentax K200D, but the hilarious sight was seeing a few gearheads carrying big cameras like the Nikon D3s and EOS 1Ds MkIIIs with big lenses clearly suffering in the heat as they trooped among the long line of people along the long canopy passage. Thank God for small cameras like the K100D Super and a small 2 lens set-up...

Photos from Pentax Meet-up: Part 2

A couple more images that I took using Pentax zooms on my K100D Super. Just the day before I managed to stumble upon a FA 28-200 f/3.5~5.6 from a used computer shop for very little money. So this was a chance to try out this re-badged Tamron superzoom during the photo outing. The lens is fat and stubby and actually reminds me of a small mirror lens. Quite decent overall performance but a little weak at the extreme ends of the focal length.


Mosque Silhouette


Shop Employee


Point & Shoot


Tourist

The other lens that I brought for the shoot was the FA 20-35mm f/4 as I figured I needed something wide. This lens gives very nice colour rendition and is one that I like a lot simply because of its compact size and good optical performance.


Haji Lane Kitty


Double Yellow


Bangles


Fabric Detail

All in all a great outing capped off by some nice biryani rice and fellowship for lunch. Certainly looking forward to the next Pentax outing in the new future.

Photos from Pentax Meet-up: Part 1

Well today was the day. The long awaited Clubsnap Pentax user meet-up was a huge success with a stellar turnout to date. We came together at the Bugis Junction MRT station where we then took a short walk to our photo-destination, the Arab Street/Kampung Glam area of Singapore.


Photo courtesy of Fengwei (K20D with DA* 16-50mm f/2.8)

This area is one of my favorites because it has a unique mix of quaint shop houses selling textiles and an eclectic mix of small shops. Truly a wealth of photo opportunities: from architecture to street candids and macro amongst others. I have to say I enjoyed myself a lot and the chance to meet up with other Pentax users and familiar friends was definitely a big plus.

Some shots taken with the Pentax K100D Super and the A 50mm f/2.8 Macro, a lovely lens that has found a new owner after today's shoot.


Backlit Leaf


Rope Ornament


Red Chairs


Door Hangers


Fire Hydrant


Little White Flowers


Plant Silhouette


Fern Study

I'll post up more pictures taken with different lenses later. As you can probably tell, I seem to like macro lenses a lot.

An Old Gatepost

Came across this old gatepost and was immediately drawn to the texture and shade of colors, ingredients that make a nice B&W image. Minor post processing using Adobe Lightroom. Taken with the K10D with the FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited.