My first moon shot...Testing the Canon Extender EF 1.4x II on a EF 70-200mm F4.0 IS.
Click on the photo for the larger version...
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Moon over Malaysia
My first moon shot...Testing the Canon Extender EF 1.4x II on a EF 70-200mm F4.0 IS.
Click on the photo for the larger version...
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Ye Shanghai
Shanghai December 2007 - click for the bigger one...So why this photo from the past?
Well, I'm going back!
Ever since that rather short visit in 2007, I have wanted to see more of Shanghai. Of all the cities I visited in Asia it was the most spectacular one. Vibrant, full of surprises, developing at a tremendous pace, with so much to see and so little time. Even there I already knew I wanted to go back, for a longer stay, and now it's going to happen.
When?
In August.
I just dread the number of photos I'll be returning with...
Doorway
Entrance to an abandoned house in Melaka... The text on the door turns the photo into a bit of an ironical image, that is if you can read it...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
House and Mirror in Melaka
Click on photo for a really big version...
Mirror... click on photo for a bigger version...Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Terengganu, album
And here the second album of the trip to the east coast, Kuantan and Terengganu, the end of December 2009. Photos taken on 26th, 27th and 28th of December.Sunday, January 31, 2010
Small harbour in Kuantan, album
And here the album of the trip to the east coast, Kuantan and Terengganu, the end of December 2009. Photos taken on 25th of December.Sunday, January 3, 2010
Floating Mosque
And one more of the Floating Mosque in Kuala Terengganu.
More photos soon through the albums...
Click on the photo for the bigger version...
More photos soon through the albums...
Click on the photo for the bigger version...Saturday, January 2, 2010
Views and beach
View from hotel in Kuala Terengganu...
View from hotel in Kuala Terengganu... 
Me, in a washed up light bulb at the beach of Kuala Terengganu...
Flies feasting on a dead fish at the beach of Kuala Terengganu... I'm no fish expert but I think it's a puffer fish...Click on the photos for the bigger version...
Friday, January 1, 2010
Sungai Lembing
One of the pleasant surprises of the latest trip in Malaysia was Sungai Lembing.
Not really knowing what to expect we drove there from Kuantan. It's about 40 kilometers from there, and the drive reminded me of Borneo a bit. A long stretch of green into the middle of nowhere.
At the end of that 40 kilometer long road lies Sungai Lembing. A half deserted mining town. Once blooming and an economic hot spot with tin mining - apparently the biggest tin mine on the planet -, the town is now in decline. Closed up shop lots, some of the few streets deserted. The building style quite different from other places in Malaysia, mostly wooden houses. It felt a bit like an abandoned Hollywood set from a Western; The town in 'High Noon', right before the fight starts...
We visited the small museum on a hill at the end of the town, all about the tin mining, which lasted till 1986, when tin prices on the world market dropped and the cost of mining started to outweigh the profits.
Then we drove a bit further into the kampung area behind the town and saw some spectacular views of houses along the river side and a very long but small suspension bridge across the river wobbling up and down when walking over it...
Sadly the sun didn't corporate and photographing landscape in Malaysia seems almost impossible. The view is never clear due to the humidity. Perhaps at sun rise - I'm not a morning person - but during the day landscape pictures always suffer from this blue dispersed haze, due to the light being broken by the water in the air.
Bridge...
Bridge with motor cyclist...
Near the museum...
Typical shop lot in Sungai Lembing...
Click on the photos for the bigger version...
Not really knowing what to expect we drove there from Kuantan. It's about 40 kilometers from there, and the drive reminded me of Borneo a bit. A long stretch of green into the middle of nowhere.
At the end of that 40 kilometer long road lies Sungai Lembing. A half deserted mining town. Once blooming and an economic hot spot with tin mining - apparently the biggest tin mine on the planet -, the town is now in decline. Closed up shop lots, some of the few streets deserted. The building style quite different from other places in Malaysia, mostly wooden houses. It felt a bit like an abandoned Hollywood set from a Western; The town in 'High Noon', right before the fight starts...
We visited the small museum on a hill at the end of the town, all about the tin mining, which lasted till 1986, when tin prices on the world market dropped and the cost of mining started to outweigh the profits.
Then we drove a bit further into the kampung area behind the town and saw some spectacular views of houses along the river side and a very long but small suspension bridge across the river wobbling up and down when walking over it...
Sadly the sun didn't corporate and photographing landscape in Malaysia seems almost impossible. The view is never clear due to the humidity. Perhaps at sun rise - I'm not a morning person - but during the day landscape pictures always suffer from this blue dispersed haze, due to the light being broken by the water in the air.
Bridge...
Bridge with motor cyclist... 
Near the museum...
Typical shop lot in Sungai Lembing...Click on the photos for the bigger version...
Kuala Terengganu
Here's another photo...
Crystal Mosque...
Click on the photo for the bigger version...
Crystal Mosque...Click on the photo for the bigger version...
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Crystal Mosque
Night shot of the Crystal Mosque in Terengganu. 8 seconds exposure, 26th of December.
Click on the photo for the bigger version...
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Candles
But in the spirit of Christmas you might like this one better... :-)
Note that these photo's weren't processed with any software. The effect of the candles is as shot. A technique I read about on the Internet. Apparently this trick has been used by photographers for decades. To me it was new, just a first experiment...
Click on the photos for a bigger version...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
East Coast II, third day - album
And here finally the third day of a second trip to the east coast last year...Sunday, October 18, 2009
Elephant orphanage, the album
And here's the album of Kuala Gandah... Sunday, October 11, 2009
Elephrend
Had my Dutch friend Nora over last week. Hence the somewhat silence on this blog, I hardly had time.
Was fun to see her outside of her normal environment.
We actually never met up a lot in The Netherlands, it was more of a phone relationship. She's a colleague from one of my former jobs and after I left there we had become friends. I visited her when I was back in The Netherlands during the last two years, but this year she decided to come this way. I showed her around a bit, and she wandered the city by herself a few days when I still had to work, having lunch and dinner with her.
She very much enjoyed KL, but not so much the climate :-)
Highlight (well, for her anyway, I very much dislike organised tours) was a trip to Kuala Gandah, the elephant orphanage in Malaysia, where Nora turned into an elephrend...
Took some ok shots there, which I will show soon.
As far as I understood the orphanage takes in elephants that can't be set free in the wild anymore. Their habitats over here get smaller and smaller and when they get too close to civilisation they become a threat to humans and the oil plantations. It's the classic tale of human development making it impossible for wild life to sustain itself.
You can feed the elephants there, ride an elephant for a short round around a tree, and they even take you into the river to be dropped by these huge creatures into the water. All voluntary mind you...
I skipped all that, busy taking pictures. I'm not afraid of animals (well, all in moderation, it's unwise not to be afraid of venomous snakes or a growling tiger ready to jump you) but I sat on a horse once and I felt it for a week. Besides, I'm very much a 'better safe than sorry' kind of person, and I decided early on in life that it is best to keep some distance when it comes to trained wild animals. No matter how gentle they might seem and act, they still can trample you with one kick if they have a moody day. I know I would if I were an elephant... And since riding an elephant was never very high on my secret wish list, I just took pictures.
The bus driver of the small mini van to Kuala Gandah was a bit of a bore and kinda racist, telling his little story about how KL came about, and that set the tone for the rest of the trip... Think these outings are better done with just friends in a private car, or in a really big bus with lots of people where you can escape the guide, and wander off unnoticed...
Into the river... click on the photo for the bigger version...
Was fun to see her outside of her normal environment.
We actually never met up a lot in The Netherlands, it was more of a phone relationship. She's a colleague from one of my former jobs and after I left there we had become friends. I visited her when I was back in The Netherlands during the last two years, but this year she decided to come this way. I showed her around a bit, and she wandered the city by herself a few days when I still had to work, having lunch and dinner with her.
She very much enjoyed KL, but not so much the climate :-)
Highlight (well, for her anyway, I very much dislike organised tours) was a trip to Kuala Gandah, the elephant orphanage in Malaysia, where Nora turned into an elephrend...
Took some ok shots there, which I will show soon.
As far as I understood the orphanage takes in elephants that can't be set free in the wild anymore. Their habitats over here get smaller and smaller and when they get too close to civilisation they become a threat to humans and the oil plantations. It's the classic tale of human development making it impossible for wild life to sustain itself.
You can feed the elephants there, ride an elephant for a short round around a tree, and they even take you into the river to be dropped by these huge creatures into the water. All voluntary mind you...
I skipped all that, busy taking pictures. I'm not afraid of animals (well, all in moderation, it's unwise not to be afraid of venomous snakes or a growling tiger ready to jump you) but I sat on a horse once and I felt it for a week. Besides, I'm very much a 'better safe than sorry' kind of person, and I decided early on in life that it is best to keep some distance when it comes to trained wild animals. No matter how gentle they might seem and act, they still can trample you with one kick if they have a moody day. I know I would if I were an elephant... And since riding an elephant was never very high on my secret wish list, I just took pictures.
The bus driver of the small mini van to Kuala Gandah was a bit of a bore and kinda racist, telling his little story about how KL came about, and that set the tone for the rest of the trip... Think these outings are better done with just friends in a private car, or in a really big bus with lots of people where you can escape the guide, and wander off unnoticed...
Into the river... click on the photo for the bigger version...
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