What's in the mail??

2 packages arrived, sometime weeks ago... heheh backdate blogging.

Hubby was smiling from ear to ear.
His gift for himself...

He said it's like Christmas, but better because he's getting exactly what he want! Dreamz do come true!

On the right is hubby's new Nikon lens 17-55 f/2.8 DX Nikkor & on the left is the SB900 (according to hubby it's the mother of all speed light).Had been debating whether to get Nikon or Tamron lens. Is the extra money $$$$ spent in getting Nikon really worth it?? The answer is YES!! This lens came in time for a wedding shoot and the photos all turned out so clear & crisp... no editing need to be done! I'm so impressed.

I was surprise that SB900 size is so much larger than his younger brother SB800. man... adding another 415g to the already overweight camera.
Now that hubby has these professional grade lens, he want to buy another D300 or upgrade ;) So he's letting go of his D70 with kit lens & also the AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens that spent most of the time in the dry cabinet. Anybody wanna buy it? Good deal oooooo. Message me if interested.

Wonders of Photobook

I got this package not long ago from PHOTOBOOK... my hand is there for size comparison nia

Adventures of year 2008... a photobook about our travel to Shen Zhen, Hong Kong, Macau, Bali, S'pore & KL made in 2008. It's an annual compilation that I just love to do... photo editing, designing the album layout (the new version of photobook is great), squeezing in 1 year worth of memories into a 40 to 50 pages photobook. Just upload the completed album, pay $$ and it would arrived at your door step in a few days.

Adding to my collection of photobooks... I started since 2006 with the 1st book, Journeys in 2005. It is great to have something that you have made yourself, like my pre-wedding photo album... Everyone at our wedding was taking turns to flip through the photobook and they were all very impressed and thought it was very nicely done. Before I discover the wonders of photobook, I did my own DIY photobook with printed photos & caption printed or cut & paste from mag then paste on the album which was tedious.

This album was for the 2004 Langkawi Trip, with the air ticket, entrance ticket & shopping bill etc all in the album, like collage.Another album for Sabah Trip in 2004, where I climbed Mount Kinabalu. I enjoyed the snorkeling trip to Pulau Manukan the MOST!I even got 1 album for all the local trips made... like to Damai for the Rainforrest Music Festival with the girls.I started to search about printing a photobook when I wanted to print a photo album for my cousin as a wedding gift. I found Photobook & my life will never the same again. I realized that it was a fantastic way to both store photos and present them. I loved flipping through the pages once in a while to reminiscent...I am over the moon with the photobooks that I have created. It has made me think about trying to take even better photos in the future to create more books. I got 2 magazine style photobook which I adore. And it make a wonderful gift too. I even gave it out as wedding gift to my parent & MIL & godparent each.

This A4 size magazine style photobook is cheaper compared to the hardcover photobook at RM192 for 40 pages.This is the latest photobook invoice for ~50 page A3 Hardcover Photobook and mayb my last order too.

I just finish doin the math of the $ spent printing all these photobook. Overall, I hav spent a few thousand (~RM2XXX) on photobooks. That's quite a lot of $ le.

hhmmm.... Now I'm comtemplating whether I should buy a PRINTER & DIY all my photobook or not??? Hubby seems to support this idea but he insist on getting a GOOD Photo Printer & make my money worth while. So now, I've started a TABUNG Printer as it cost a lot of $$$, hoping that my dream of owning a kick ass printer will be in my grasp soooooon.

under my umbrella ela ela...

Not 1 but 2 packages were received on Tuesday. ngam ngam we were at MIL's house when the delivery man came (on force leave mar). I had no idea what he bought this time.

Hubby excitedly open the 1st package. He was grinning ear to ear & said : It feels like getting Christmas presents :)

See his happy face... It's a Professional Lighting Supports from Manfrotto. I like Manfrotto stuff as the quality is top notch. The stands are pretty compact when folded up and are pretty stable.

Then hubby proceed to open the 2nd package, which is slightly longer that the 1st package.

It's an umbrella ela ela ela.

Ta-da... it's actually a shoot through umbrella that has a detachable cover on them, one side of the cover is black other side is silver. So in all they are 3 in 1.According to hubby, the photography umbrella gives him a greater level of control over the lighting in a photograph. Umbrella diffuse a light source without compromising it's directionality. It is mostly used in portrait photography to provide a more natural look.

Me: But you have difusers. Won't the diffuser do the same trick??
Hubby: Diffusers don't work as well, as they don't spread the light enough. That is where the umbrella comes in: the light is spread across the whole diameter of the umbrella and not a 5 inch diffuser. Of course, I could just bounce off walls or ceilings, but it is just not as controllable as umbrella & flash combo.

With this "mini stimulus package" that hubby unleased, he added more toys to his collection with a really good excuse.

It's called Knee-Con

Our Humidity Control Cabinet (also called the Dry Cabinet) where we store our camera gear is running out of SPACE!!!

YUP.
Hubby got another TOY.
In a bid to stimulate the economy on his part.
Nikon AF-S 70-200 f/2.8 VR
Last night the seller shoot hubby in the face with this comment after hubby spent a few minutes testing the HUGE lens.

Hubby: man... my arm hurt... it's so heavy
Seller: It's TIME for you to get in shape man!!!
Me: hahahhahaha

Then the seller ask hubby some Q as he was 30 minutes into testing this piece of expensive telephone pole, at least to me it is as it look so DAMN BIG & LONG & HEAVY.

Seller: So what type of photography are you into? Weddings? Landscape?

Hubby: hmm... anything & everything
Seller: Any reason you want this lens?
Hubby: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Me: HE JUST WANT to OWN IT.
Seller: I understand. Dream Lens eh?
Hubby: Yeah.

When we went Hong Kong shopping for this lens (as it was cheapest in HK), IT WAS SOLD OUT every freaking where. Hubby left HK with his dreams shattered. He vowed to return someday for this baby. But now, DREAMS can come true with ONLINE SHOPPING.

te-hee... using his trusty h/p to take images of his new baby...

I knew the 70-200 was a bit bigger, but nothing prepared me for this, weighing ~1.5kg! The sight of it still made me tremble a bit.

My Professional Looking Photographer hubby...

As his last toy, the D300 cost an arm & a leg, this new lens (xiao hei wu) cost him another arm & leg, his left ball & an ear too, so he is limbless & half deaf & half sterile now. As I know his shopping list is still very loooooong, and I might need his right ball someday, to ease him financially I'm promoting his photography services.

NOW OPEN for BOOKING.
1st come 1st serve.
Willing to TRAVEL!
Weddings, Outdoor, Portrait or even NUDE are most welcome!

Don't miss out!

Expanding our family

In addition to our expanding family,

please welcome the new comer in our home...

a NEW baby...

our precious...

a new phase in life...

a whole new experience...

High expectation in place...

Making our life more colorful...

After a looooooong consideration...

We finally decided to have this baby!

Yes... Although economy is still bad...

But u r so worth it....

More accurately it's what Hubby want. Man! they are never satisfied. But I totally support hubby's decision as I think it's a good investment. Capturing memories are an important aspect in my life.

It came in a box... hmmpp... look so ugly...

let me cherng it up... There! a new function of my lingerie...

Will the real Nikon D300 pls stand up... pls stand up...The manual consist of a freaking total of 440 pages o_O"Came with the photo editing software Capture NX

So handsome!

can't wait to see hubby create magic with this new baby

B.O.S.A.N.Y.A Saturday ku

Had breakfast at Mdm Tang, Pertanak. As usual I'll order Beef Kueh Tiau, RM4.80, hubby had Special Beef Noodle Rm6.80. I think the beef noodle here are better than TaiPei 101 or Crystal Jade. Whacha think? Any other place in Kuching that serves yummy Beef Noodle?? The only other place that I hav Beef Noodle is Lam's Place, but that's the sweet type, which by the way is my fav la...

There was a Cat Exhibition at tHe Spring... tons of cats, ok lar...2 row of cages, some filled with cats with super long hair & mostly are obese, really. And a lot of people went with their BIG ASS Camera (dSLR lar) and squeeze into the crowd to take photos of these ROYAL PET, as in the cats don't give a S^&t what's happening around them, they just sit quietly and start to NAP. The most is they stand up to STRETCH & go back to their relax position... That's why I like DOG better... THEY R SUPER EXCITED when given the attention!!!
CAT ar... NO GIVE FACE punya.

A trip to tHe Spring without buying something is a CRIME... according to Faith's Book of Law. And must buy something related to CHOCOLATE. As I've had TIM TAM overdose lately, I got cookies instead... CRUNCHOCO from Taiwan... a very light & crunchy cookies with nuts. It comes in a NICE BIG metal BOX suitable as a gift.hmmm... the photo above just don't do the BOX justice, so I decided to take another photo of it. See, veli the "English" look le... most suitable for my afternoon High Tea ... muahahahha... It's only RM9.90 ...and NO, it does NOT expire in 2 weeks time, but on 30th Dec 08. Every time I tell ppl got cheap stuff immediate they think it's near "EXPIRY DATE"... hai...Any1 tried the RED banana before??? yea... I a.k.a mountain turtle saw it the 1st time today. Bein the loyal me stick with the same old yellow banana lar... looks more natural.

Shopping for CHEAP DIGITAL CAMERA at TOP Photo at Padungan. All our NIKON cameras owned are bought there except for D70. Camera lens, tripod, flash SB22s, 600, 800 & SUNPOD (for storing CAMERA), all got it there too. The Tau-kei like hubby as he DON'T BARGAIN... (I think most man don't know HOW-TO bargain) usually he will volunteer give discount... so nice the tau-kei.

When you see these kueh-mueh at our home during the weekend, it can only mean 1 thing... BULAN RAMADAN is here. The nearest "Pasar Ramadan" to our home is at Tabuan Jaya. Although it's still 6 hours to "BUKA PUASA" the stalls' operator has started to prepared their satay & ayam pangan le...

yea ... i know...my life SO E.X.C.I.T.I.N.G >.<

muahhahahahhahhha AS IF saja...

Nikon love us love Nikon

Let me tell you why...

1st Camera : Nikon Coolpix 885the 1st Digital Camera that I bought with my puny $alary in year 2002. As a reward after starting to work for 3 months, hubby was not even working yet. Bought this as a toy for hubby. At ~RM1600, it gives me a 3.2 Mp, 3x optical zoom and a 1.5" LCD display. The hand grip is just the right size to fill my palm and the rounded edges are a snug fit to my shutter release finger. I have had some very sharp shots with good colors, but there is too much red in a lot of shots. I was lucky the shop owner wanna buy it back from me after using it for less than half a year although with a lo$$.

2nd Camera : Nikon Coolpix 4500Bought in year 2002 too, but at that time hubby & I were working already. At ~RM2400, it gives you a 4Mp, 3x optical zoom and comes with a 1.5" LCD display. I loved this camera as it offer a twisting lens design. And and a magnesium-alloy body. And and and macro shooting down to 2cm le. The Coolpix cameras have had this macro capability as one of their strong points & the Coolpix 4500 continues the tradition. Richly saturated colours and a shallow depth of field on macro shots were NO problem to achieve.

3rd Camera : Nikon Coolpix 5200Bought in year 2004, ~Rm1200, gives me a 5.1 Mp, 3x optical zoom and comes with a 1.5" LCD display. It only weigh 180g. The camera also features the same stylish grip design as the other cameras in the popular COOLPIX range. An easy-to-operate compact digital camera just a perfect gift for my DAD. This lucky camera has gone to more places than me, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Melbourne, Singkawang & Angkor Watt that even I've not been there.

4th Camera : Nikon D70Hubby bought the dSLR in year 2005 at Tokyo, Japan ~RM 4000, gives you a 6.1 Mp. Hubby even got a better lens (AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm VR) once he spotted it at Kuching's Top Photo camera shop for RM 3000. All I know is that hubby can shoot GREAT photos with this baby. I'm always intrigue to shoot with this camera but I'm too lazy to learn to fully manipulate this little baby.

5th Camera : Nikon Coolpix L16

I bought this today, for RM398 & it even came with a 1 gig SD card. Again as a gift for my DAD. U know why?? Nah, the Coolpix 5200 is still working fine, but I always noticed how my dad had a hard time looking at the LCD screen to take photo & view the photo after taking them as the LCD screen is so damn small. So this L16 is an even more PERFECT GIFT as it has a 2.8"screen. And also an upgrade to 7 Mp & a more sleek look.

Coolpix L16 'HUGE' 2.8" LCD screen:

Compared to Coolpix 5200 'TINY' 1.5" LCD screen:

Hopefully with this Nikon Coolpix L16 'Lifestyle' camera, my dad will be a happy snapper, who wants easy pictures without the messing around...

Another feature that attracted me was L16 takes 2x AA batteries. Means that power replenishment is everywhere. Bought 2 rechargeable battery + charger too at RM55, a bit pricier as the battery has a slower discharged rate. It claimed that even after 1 year, 85% of power still remained when not used.

By now, you should have noticed that every camera that we bought is a NIKON. Hence the title, NIKON love us love NIKON. And will continue to do so for a long time.

Your C@mera DO NOT M@tter

Some1 asked " If I got a 8 or 9 mp camera, can I make a good pictures with it?"Cameras don't take pictures, photographers do. Cameras are just another artist's tool. It's entirely an artist's eye, patience & skill that makes an image & not his tools. A camera catches ur imagination. No Imagination, no photo, just crap. Just about any camera, regardless of how bad or good it is, can b used to create outstanding photo. The quality of a lens or camera has almost nothing to do with the quality of images produce. The less time & effort u spend worrying about ur equipment the more time & effort u can spend creating great images. The right equipment just makes it easier, faster or more convenient for u to get the desirable results. Buying NEW gear will NOT improve your photography. The camera's only job is to get out of the way of making photographs. Leica, schemeica... The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what u r seeing.
But, you hav to SEE. Andreas Feininger (French 1905-1999), said " Photographers -- idiots, of which there are so many -- say,"Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great photographs" That's the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It's nothing but a matter of seeing, thinking, and INTEREST. That's what makes a good photograph. And then rejecting anything that would be bad for the picture. The wrong light, the wrong background, time and so on. Just don't do it, no matter how beautiful the subject is." So why do the artists whose works you admire tend to use fancy, expensive tools if the quality of the works is the same? Simple:
1. Good tools just get out of the way & make it easier to get the desirable results. Lesser tools may take more work.
2 They add durability for people who use these tools hard all day, every day.
3. Advanced users may find some of the minor extra features convenient. These conveniences make the photographer's life easier, but they don't make the photos any better.
4. There's nothing wrong with the best tools, and if u hav the money too blow why not? Just don't ever start thinking that the fancy tools are what created the work. Buying a great camera doesn't mean u can create compelling photographs. Good pianists can play on anything and a good photographer can make great images with a disposable camera.

p/s: Get the BEST camera that SUIT u & r willing to spend. Don't worry too much. U can create AMAZING photo with just about any camera....

**Hubby took these photos and are not altered or enhanced with Photoshop. They're just as they are, straight from the camera, a 4 mp Nikon Coolpix camera (point & shoot).**