But at a price of approximately RM9k, it’s quite an investment.

The other idea I was toying with is to get a “semi-pro” camera like the X100 below.

It’s retro feel and looks is quite impressive. And it’s performance is rather interestingly amazing, especially for a non DSLR.

Coupled with the retro ‘casing’, it completes it’s retro look.

But.. at RM3k… it’s rather pricey for a non DSLR. 

So it’s back to the drawing board.

Maybe a D3s?

That’s a 5 figure camera.

decisions!!

probably this was what she thought wedding photographers do most of the time (photo thanks to Dizzy)

There were lots of responses to that particular comment, particularly in photographers’ blogs and surprisingly, also on various other ‘lifestyle’ blogs. Interestingly there were some commenters who defended the bride.

Anyhows, here’s my thought on this issue. I actually wrote a comprehensive and detailed version but thought it would be better just to have a different version. The earlier version was rather similar to that of the other blogs. So anyways…

Here in Malaysia, you have various options for wedding photographers. Actually, you are spoilt for choice. You can choose the professionals whose chargers ranges from RM8k-RM10k… possibly more. Then there’s the those who dedicate their weekends and any free time to their wedding photography business. They range from RM1.2k all the way to RM6k. Then there’s the “I just got a DSLR and now I am a wedding photographer” photographers. Oh.. and then there’s the friend-friend photographers. The last two ranges from free-of-charge to RM400-600.

The difference? Quality of work. Dedication. Responsibility. Uniqueness. Friendliness. Dare I say quirkiness?

So how do you exactly choose your wedding photographer?

It’s rather simple actually. It’s like buying a car. You decide on what type of car you want, then you set a budget. After that, you go car hunting. You buy car mags to read the reviews. You go online to check out online reviews. Read about what other people are saying about the cars you have in mind. Then you go to the showroom, check out the car, talk to the salesman, see what offer they have. And then go on a test drive. After all that, you review your findings. What are the prices, what are the equipment offered. Does the car have the necessary required safety features? You see, when I first wanted to buy a new car, my most important requirement was that the car must have ESP or Electronic Stability Program. That narrowed down the list of cars.

So it’s the same when you choose your wedding photographer. You might want to first set what kind of photos you want. Then search for them. Ask you friends about it. Search online, in magazines. If you can, and I always recommend, that you meet up with your photographer in person. Why? to see if you can *click* with your photographer…

… like this…

.. or maybe you may find his sense of humour a bit.. erm… disturbing? or maybe you dig his quirkiness..

… (photo thanks to khai@cheekyboy)

Or maybe you might like how he is able to interact with kids???

(photo thanks to anson)

Or maybe his attention to detail/food?

(photo thanks to Stefanie)

.. oh.. and like I always say to people… a good photographer is not shy to be in front of the camera once in a while..

(photo thanks to cow)

(photo thanks to JasonW)

End of the day, it’s your wedding and your money. You decide. but remember, the wedding photographer is there for you, to capture your wedding moments which will last you a lifetime. The keyword here is “moments”. The posed group photos and such are not much of the worry since I believe there would be tonnes of camera during your special day. It’s the emotion in captured moments which will bring you back to your wedding day after many many years. I get emotional sometimes when I see the mother of the bride burst into tears as she wishes her daughter and her new son in law during tea ceremony.

“ Ah lui.. mummy love you… Ah boy.. I give you my dotter ya.. you take care of my daughter ya.. *sob sob*"

then they embrace and both burst into tears. aiyor.. sometimes really got to fight back tears…

So anyways.. I hope you enjoy my rant as my first blog entry of 2012… as much as I enjoyed posting my camwhore pictures. buahaha.

So what have I been up to?

Nothing much. Work. Come home. Chores. Computer games. Yamcha. Oh.. I did some radio thing. I previously got my amateur radio license which allows me to get on the specified frequency legally. Many people do not know that you actually need a radio license to operate a two way radio. Some people say that it’s alright and that you can use low powered walkie talkies to do a little chatting or coordinating like during an event where you need to communicate with your team. Or while in a vehicle convoy heading somewhere.

Like for example in a construction site where you need to talk to that fella sitting on that crane and coordinate where to place that 5 ton slab of concrete.

I tend to be a little “kia si” so I went ahead and got myself a license.

It has nearly been 5 years since I got my radio license. And only a couple of days back that I really got on to a repeater to have a chat with a couple of fine gentlemen. What’s a repeater? Well, it’s a bit lengthy to explain but think of it as a chat room where anyone within it’s range can tune in. I also got myself a nice little antenna to maximise my radio’s range.

(that’s not me yeah… that’s the other photographer in the funky FingerOnShutter.com)

You see, there are generally 3 types of radios. Firstly is the base radio. These are usually more powerful stuff you put at home. They look like music amplifiers with a lot more dials and buttons. The second is the mobile station, or a car radio. They look much like a car stereo. These two are more powerful, or more efficient type of radios. The third one are hand-held radios. They look like.. well.. walkie talkies. They generally have a typical output of 5watts. The other two are about 10 times more powerful… or more.

This is my handheld radio… or rather part of it. The main subject of this is the antenna, I bought this during my trip up north to Hatyai some years back. Kind of limited as it can only do a certain frequency, but it does make the radio look nicer.

Will report back more once I got more photos of the hand held, the antennas and.. oh yeah.. i got myself a nice mag-mount base for the huge antenna. In the mean time, anyone of you who has a radio license, can look me up on RKK which I usually monitor whenever I can…

Till the next blog entry… 73 and Cheerio!

Of course we have our differences. Surely we have little irritating traits which annoys each other. But when it comes to socialising and accepting each other, we accept each other with open arms.

So look deep inside you and find that Malaysian in you. Ignore the blatant lies which tries to break the bond amongst us.

Fuah.. I am feeling very emo-patriotic this morning.

Anyways.. random photos..

Till the next blog entry.

And then Nikon introduced the  D700.

Oh my! Within one week of the full frame camera’s availability, I bought it!

And what a choice!

Here one of the first test shot @ high ISO

Alan @ iso6400

24mm @ f1.8… iso2000

24mm @ f1.8 .. iso6400

all pics only resized for web.

Ah.. the wonders of a full framed camera. Pricey.. but I guess ultimately worth the price.

So, when will the successor to the D700 come along? Well, the past few days have been rather disappointing with only point and shoot cameras being announces. Still waiting for the announcement of the new batch of DSLRs.

Till then… we shall wait.

A lady friend once asked me; “Why do you need so many watches?”.

Well, I do not know why I need to many watches. Maybe I could mix and match them with what I am wearing that particular day. Actually to tell you the truth, I do not need so many watches. I just like them. Ever since I was a kid back in school when I was first introduced to the world of GShock, I have always wanted a Gshock for myself.

So my reply to her was; “Why do you need to many handbags or shoes?”

Seems like a logical to answer the question with another question. Because the answer to both questions is the same.

Some of you may know that I just only recently got myself a nice leather mechanical watch. I love that watch. It’s nice, simple and have a nice thick leather strap. And it’s mechanical, and automatic. I have always wanted a nice automatic watch. But it’s… well.. for a lack of a better word… fragile.

That’s when I wanted something cheaper, but tougher. And my childhood obsession with gshocks came rolling back.

Built tough.

Cheap also. ERm.. well.. cheaper than the leather strapped mechanical watch I got earlier. hehehe. Bang on the table/wall/chair also no sakit hati.

But having it on an extremely hot and humid Saturday afternoon is not very wise. Apparently they do have other branches, but since I have two appointments back to back in USJ itself, it would not be a very wise choice to go out of USJ just to eat Chilli Pan Mee and back. As you know, traffic in and out of USJ is like a mad house, especially at the Kesas junction. I do not know what’s the name of that road, but you all know where the USJ-Kesas junction is right?

The restaurant itself is the standard single shop located on the ground floor. Expect a queue tho. It’s mostly full with people standing around while waiting for a table. It was still packed when I left at about 2.30pm, with some still braving the afternoon heat by sitting outside by the footway.

They give you are base bowl of pan mee with all the side stuff and a half cooked egg with it’s yolk still watery. You then add the amount of friend chilli paste into it and you mix them up to your liking. The chilli is rather hot, so you got to be careful. Start with probably half a spoon before being brave and venturing into the full spoon category.. or perhaps a double spoon craziness.

Mix it up good and enjoy!

Note : Bring tissues. Lots of them.

First up, the lack of some essential applications like screen capture. Which explains why I have to physically take a camera and take shots of the screen. Not a very elegant way :S Imagine having all the right attitude of a gentlemen only to be betrayed by chewing and talking at the same time, spewing bits and pieces all over.

Anyways..

Next up : The lack of other bluetooth functions. Yes, I know, the next up date will come with bluetooth functions like bluetooth files and so on. It’s now I am worried about. Not tomorrow or next month or next year. If that’s the path you have choosen, being happy to know that it will come next update, then you should also be happy that personal teleportation is in the pipeline as well. No need to worry about missed flights or lost baggage anymore.

Sticking to the lack of something, the lack of control of certain functions of the phone is kind of a bummer as well. For instance, there’s no camera application yet because the ‘link’ to camera functions are not available to developers yet. I would personally very much like to see the likes of FXCamera for the Windows Phone. You see, I like to take funky pictures in funky colors with funky light leaks and all that… also known as LOMO photos. That’s me. But right now, I have a good mind to revert to my trusty Android powered phone just because I can take lomo photos with it.

Let’s not get into whatsapp. Well, since we have brought up whatsapp, I understand that whatsapp is not available because of the way Windows Phone handles it’s contacts. Something which whatsapp is not able to link or extract or access in order for it to work. And yeah, I also heard it’s in the pipeline.

Oh… another lack of something…

.. not being able to add custom words into the dictionary. Being Malaysian, I have a number of ‘slangs’ which makes me uniquely Malaysian. Words like ‘lah’.. and words like ‘bor’. And sometimes the ability to type in bahasa is what I want. But nope. You are not allowed to custom words into the dictionary. This means I have to let it correct the word for me, and then go back to retype the word I want. Well, maybe there’s a way, but I have not found it yet.

oh… and Bing maps suck! Excuse my French, but it does suck!

  Firstly, the icon which shows you where you are now, does not have a directional indicator. It’s a black square with a yellow circle inside it. I would very much like it to have a directional indicator,.. meaning instead of just that yellow/black icon, it wouuld be nice to have an arrow indicator to show me where I am facing. This, from what I understand it also due to some API of the magnetic directional thing not being available to the third party application developers. I can also use the compass function from HTC, which shows you a background map which rotates together with you as you turn. But I am more accustomed to a map pointing north all the time. Secondly… it does not search! That little magnifying icon at the bottom? That basically brings up Bing search which does general searches and not search the map itself. Plus there is no direction finder. Good thing there’s Gmap, a third party map application. Much better.

Having said all that, I still like the HTC HD7 running Windows Phone.

You see, it’s not about how fast your phone or what your phone can do or how many application it has for your to download. It’s all about how happy you are using your phone, be it iphone, android or windows phone. … or blackberry.

During my one month usage of this Windows Phone, the drawbacks mentioned earlier did not bother me much. I basically stumbled upon those stuff I thought some of you might want to know about it. It did not bother me much. But to be honest, the custom dictionary thing did bother me since I do sms/email with funky words. And the lack of whatsapp too.

So would I buy this HTC HD7? I most definitely would! So far it’s the bestest smartphone experience for me. But I shall wait till it’s a wee bit more mature. Windows Phone as got potential. Hopefully when they add on the other functionalities like bluetooth file transfer and custome dictionaries, it does not hog up resources and slow the phone down to a lag!

This in particular, is called Lar Yau Pau (or something like that). Incredibly tasty. Incredibly delicious. Custard Duck Yolk bun.

Ribs. BBQ baby back ribs. When done nicely, it’s incredibly satisfying.

The all time american favourite; thick juicy burger patty, done medium, topped with cheese.

Creamy sauce crabs.

Penang Char Kueh Teow.

All incredibly tasty and savoury. An absolute indulgence. But extremely unhealthy, loaded with cholesterol and what not.

I guess the important thing to know here is how to balance your diet between healthy bland food and wonderfully delicious wicked food. Well, I know that there are some health food which are tasty. That English chef… Jamie or something like that.. apparently swears by healthy delicious food. I shall wait for him to cook for me to proof me wrong. buahahaha.

In the mean time, eat sensibly

Now, notebooks. You see, when I decided to sell my iMac previously, I was in a dilemma, whether to get a powerful desktop or to  get a notebook. I decided to get the desktop instead. In hindsight, I guess there’s plus and negative points about the desktop. The plus points are that it’s more powerful, and a work horse in terms of long extended period of use at high CPU usage. Plus a large 24” monitor to boot. However, the huge casing and monitor has taken up a substantial amount of table real estate. But it’s ok, because it kind of a good gaming machine

On the other hand, a notebook will not have that awesome power which the desktop can provide. But a notebook would be neater due to it’s much smaller footprint. But the most important of all, I can bring the notebook around.

Anyways, it is ok. Because right now if I do need a notebook to bring around, I can opt for the smaller, sleeker ultra light notebooks which oozes style.

Like this Dell Vostro V130.

Nice piece of equipment. Sleek, slim, light. I guess it’s i3 ULV processor should be sufficient for standard websurfing, word processing as well as some spreadsheets. Not forgetting emailing, chatting and fbooking. So… anyways… just ranting