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Framing is one of the technique used to make a subject pop up from the image. Sometime framing also used to remove messy and cluttered background. The creativity depends on the photographer itself on how to use frame in an image.

I think I need to have a longer exposure to get a softer and calm water condition.

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A sunbird feeding its baby in the nest

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Erna & Ikhram with family members

Gallery will be uploaded soon. Keep coming!

UPDATE: Gallery is uploaded. Click here.

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Honda Stream 2008 in Labuan

What is wrong with this picture? There are the little things that can make or break a picture. In this case for the picture above, I want you to guess what is wrong with this picture I have edited. The picture is not taken by me, but by my friend. I just edit it a little bit.

So, readers, what is wrong with this picture?

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After post-processing

Developing skills means that you need to try a lot of thing and do a lot of errors before you finally get to the point where you are really learning something. This picture is a product my trial-and-error to learn about portraiture long time ago. I was learning about composition of Rule-Of-Third. As you can see the picture really fit the ROT and the picture to is nice too, don’t you think? On the camera display, the picture is perfect and everything looks nice. But when I downloaded it to my Mac, the real problems showed up. Still, I can smile because I know how to save the image and make it usable again. Do the magic with Photoshop, and walla, everything is okay. The picture is composed nicely and it is worth the extra time I poured into it to process.

If you want to have a look at the original picture, read this post in full.

Original image before retouching

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This picture is shot using Sony Ericsson W880i by my friend. In the picture there was me holding Nikon D200 with Sigma 200mm f2.8. I was taking pictures at Labuan Botanical Garden to provide sample pictures for my students as their assignment for photo shoot.

Many of the student says that they cannot take beautiful pictures because they don’t have DSLR cameras like mine (mine is only Nikon D40, the D200 is ‘Government Property’). Some say that they need a long lens for them to be able to take good pictures. So, I think I need to challenge them about skills and forget about the tools first. For me, skills is the most important thing in any field. For example, let’s look at tennis players. They all have the best racket, the best shoes and the best string, but not all of them is the best. What is best for them is just the tools, not the skills. But the best of them have the best tools and the best skills.

Now, let see if I were to give my students the Nikon D200, do you think they can shoot good pictures? I think not. What is important is the skills. If not, can you imagine how the people in 1940s (the era of World War II) can take good pictures? They have very limited tools and very limited technology at that time, but they still can get far better pictures that what we can get with all the D200, 1Ds, E410, K20D etc. I think what is limited to them is only the tools but not their skills and their creativity.

I’m not saying that tools is not important here. What I’m saying is that when we need to improve our skills, then our tools. Pros don’t use kit lens to shoot football game because they already know that even with their expertise, they cannot capture the far and fast moving object with it. That is skill. Skill of knowing what tools to use at the right time at the right place.

I like to see myself as someone who always need to improve my skills before putting the blame to the tools. I trust my Nikon D40 for now as I still developing my skills. When the time comes, I must upgrade to better tools suit my skills and my needs for better ability of the camera to capture images. Some people might say, Nikon D40 is child play, but you need to know that the first DLSR Nikon made have only 1.3 megapixel and there are no LCD monitor at the back for the user to preview their image! Nowadays, even the lowly hand phone got 5 megapixel.

To conclude this argument, I think we need to improve our skill first, then the tools.

More pictures shot with SE W880i for your viewing pleasure.

Botanical Garden Arc

Silhouette

Photographer’s Heavy Duty Slipper

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Bird at Pagayaman road

This bird was found at a branch near my work place Labuan Matriculation College. It was nearly noon at that time. My friend asked me to take my camera and go to do some bird shooting. As shooting bird is not something easy and you can find everyday, I agreed.

To get this shot, I nearly snap about 100+ shot even the bird is not moving around. This is because I want to get as close as I can to the bird without scaring the bird away.

The composition of this shot is also known as golden section, where there is something across the picture (the branch) and jointed by something in the middle (the bird). This type of composition can also work with brigde shot and any other shot that involves that two elements.

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1. Potraiture
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3. Working with fire