Life Through My Eyes...

CISS - Continuous Ink Supply System

2009-07-24T23:43:00.006+08:00

People who are unaware of this thing have to be aware of it!!!

I'm not promoting it actually, and i just bought it yesterday for my HP K550.

Guess why i bought it? - MY HP K550 DOESN'T PRINT black and white documents with 90% full Black cartridge even if only ONE of the colour cartridges are empty. It's a lame marketing strategy employed by not only HP, but also other printer manufacturers.

In this case, I would have to buy an original replacement cartridge which costs RM78 per cartridge.

I was scouting the net for some cheaper alternative cause all the 3 colour cartridges were empty and i'd have to spend RM234 even if i only wanted to print documents in black and white and I came across CISS which is basically a reservoir containing 100ml per ink, kept beside the printer which continuously supplies ink to the printer. Refills need to be only poured into the reservoir and the refills of 100ml per ink costs only RM10.

For my printer the whole set, (plus inks and cartridges) was only RM127!

The price of CISS ranges from 60 - 3xx for different printer models.

So if you're thinking of replacing your old cartridges, give CISS a try! =)

Pics after the jump:

If you see properly, i have made a hole(which looks messy) for the CISS tubes so that i can close the cartridge lid completely. This is only an option and you can just leave the lid open if you'd like.

SUKSES '09!

2009-07-24T23:25:00.003+08:00

SUKSES is more like FAILURE to me. I didn't manage to win any medals this time round. LOL!
Time for some pics:

Had nothing to do during the break. Presenting my arrows, as my sexy models =)

This is what happens when your arrow "hantam-s" the wall! I'm keeping this at home as kenangan manis semasa latihan SUKSES. Lol.

Pangkor Trip 2009

2009-05-17T15:42:00.013+08:00

Great place, Great Trip! Great Food!
Took me months to post this. Haha. Anyway, better late than never!

Pics after the jump:
P/s : I'm lazy to add captions.. xD

The Resurrection: My Blog!

2009-03-07T12:17:00.003+08:00

Hello people..

The reason for the lack of updates in my blog (for such a long time) was because my old pc was dying! (burnt hard disks and a overheating processor). It was an old computer and the cost of repairing it would be approximately the same of getting a new pc. So, i got myself a new pc! =)

You can expect frequent updates to my blog after this!! =D

Look after the jump for pics:

Everything is brand new except for the casing.

Sony Alpha Convention 2008!

2008-11-17T19:12:00.022+08:00

I should have blogged about the Sony Alpha Convention approximately a month ago! Was busy studying for the final term exams (kononnya la tu..) so I end up posting now instead. The α Convention 2008 was the first convention for Alpha users ever and it was held at Le Meridien, Kuala Lumpur. For this convention, Sony invited 8 distinctive personalities to talk about various topics such as fashion, architecture, portraiture, automotive photography, unique compositional tips, digital workflow and even tips on building your own wedding photography business and handling the everyday life of a professional photographer.

Places were limited to 400 participants only and I was lucky as i registered early enough to secure myself a place. Once again, just as any other Sony events, this was also free of charge, not to mention that the 400 of us received a Sony Alpha Shooting Vest which makes you look like a suicide bomber when you're wearing it. Besides that, 1000 laptop sleeves were also given away to everyone (including walk-in customers and even foreigners who were staying at the hotel) who completed and handed in the survey forms which had about six super easy questions. Sony went to great lengths to set up the Convention hall and display booths and you would be surrounded by black softboards highlighted by an orange alpha logo as you take a walk along the corridor of the Convention hall. Sony also launched its flagship DSLR model - the A900 and that very much explains the elaborate decor. 3 shooting booths, 3 superbikes plus models (2 Harleys and 1 Ducati) were set up for us to shoot. It was my first time shooting models by the way. Be patient as the pictures might take a while to load. =)

The Place:

The crowd, getting themselves registered.

A view of the stage from outside the convention hall.

George, right before the launch of the Alpha A900.This was during the launch of the Alpha A900. These poster-sized (25m by 5m) were taken with the Alpha A900 and printed using an Epson printer.One of the many showcases which had products from the Sony Alpha line-up.

Following pictures were taken at the shooting booths:

The 3 shooting booths.

Models and Bikes:

The Red-hot Ducati:

The not so hot, somewhat uncle-ish looking Harley:

Pictures of the first model with a Ducati 1098S:

Pictures of the second model with the Harley:

Lots of "buayas" trying to get a good shot of the models and bikes.

Pictures of the third model with another Harley:

Shots of FOOD!:

The following were taken at Al Nafourah
(A middle eastern restaurant located on the 6th floor of the Hotel):

Some kind of dessert. For your info, this was taken with wireless flash and it somehow darkened the top part of this picture where people were actually having their lunch. (Cool eh? XD..)

This was just outside the restaurant, right beside the pool.
The same picture again, taken with a slower shutter speed this time.
(The lack of tripod explains the blurry pic and i regret not bringing one)
Me, stalking couples! LOL!

The following pictures were taken at the hotel's very own restaurant:

(A buffet lunch set for an adult would set you back RM72!~
However, all the meals were sponsored by dear SONY!)

Alpha kakis who were on the same table with me.My dessert. Marshmellows dipped in white and dark chocolate! Mmm.. Yummy!
(No flash was used and that explains the slightly blurred out pic)Some kind of dessert, taken with wireless flash.Some kind of dessert once again, taken with wireless flash.

Automotive Photography - Hands on Shooting session with Darren Chang:

This is the only shot that i showed Darren and he described it as SPOT-ON! (Yay! Haha)

Different angles of the Harley.
The Harley Is really Huge, and i mean HUGE!
The Harley has a curvy fuel tank.The Massive Engine on the TERROR-ON-WHEELS!Just in case you're wondering, the 1250 means that it's 1250cc!
Classic looking front.
Huge Twin-Disc Brakes at the front.Shots of the SEXY exhaust pipes.The Harley is belt-driven.
Shots of the rear of the bike.
The bike has a really FAT rear tire.

It was the best convention (the very first that i have ever attended in my life). Had lots of fun, learnt lots of new things.I didn't regret a single bit for not being able to study for my exams the day after. Anyway, i hope to be able to join future events held by Sony! and not to mention being able to afford the Alpha A900 which costs a whopping RM9999!

~The End~

Beginners Digital Photo Editing Workshop

2008-10-06T20:43:00.011+08:00

I attended the beginners Beginners Digital Photo Editing workshop organised by SONY at SonyStyle KLCC yesterday. After a long and tiring journey through KTM and LRT, i discovered to my disappointment as soon as I got there that my laptop's cd drive was malfunctioning and i was unable to install the Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 which was supposed to be used during the course. (bad luck.. haiz)

Anyway, The Denise (the trainer) was kind enough to provide a desktop for me to use as she said hands on learning is supposed to be better. Thanks Denise! Course went on for four hours and during the last few minutes, Denise was kind enough to give us some additional info. Thanks again, Denise. Learnt quite a lot of things. There were only 8 of us including me and I was told that almost 20 of them had registered, but failed to turn up - typical Malaysian attitude, they register as they wish and just don't give a damn if they can't make it because they're not paying a single cent for the workshop. You should charge them atleast RM10 SONY! Only then will they realise.

Since I was there, i decided to purchase the polycarbonate cover for my Alpha's LCD which was RM50, kinda expensive if you ask me. Well, all in the name of protection. Haha.

On a side note, I'm lucky to be one of the ones who is actually going to attend the SONY ALPHA CONVENTION which is going to be held at 10-12 October at Le Meridien, Kuala Lumpur - this coming Friday till Sunday. Final Term exams starts on the 13th. OMG! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I guess I shouldn't waste it. LOL! There's a really long list of names for those who are in the waiting list.

Will blog more about the convention later.

Caleb's Birthday Party '08 !!!

2008-09-29T14:39:00.005+08:00

Mega was the one who made Caleb celebrate his birthday party this year (according to Caleb, he has never celebrated his birthday before - his first time.. woohoo! xD). Thanks Mega xP. We (Me, Han Ren, Mega, Kuben, Shin-Yi and Cher Ee ) were unsure of what to get Caleb for his birthday and after a whole day of planning on friday where most of the teachers were not present, we decided to get him a badminton racket. Time passed by so quickly before i realised that it was Sunday afternoon. Realising this, Kuben and I rushed to Jusco, Bukit Tinggi to get Caleb's new racket. After a few hours of careful browsing, we finally settled down for a racket. I planned to wear a long sleeved shirt, and after persuading dear Kuben to wear a long sleeved shirt, he finally got himself a shirt which somewhat looked kinda formal to me. Anyway, it was also Kuben's first time wearing a long sleeved shirt (lots of first times eh? lol..). On the way home, i received an sms from miss Shin-Yi saying that both Cher Ee and she couldn't make it because Cher Ee's mum made her go to her grandma's house.

Kuben's mum helped us wrap the racket in an oversized box that made the present look somewhat bigger than it actually was. (lol, thanks for wrapping it for us auntie!!) Once Han ren, Mega, Kuben and I were on our way to Caleb's house, I received a call from Caleb and as usual, I decided to kacau him and i told him that the the four of us terpaksa FFK (read: Fong Fei Kei, direct translation: let go aeroplane) because we wanted to attend a party which was supposedly organized by Cher Ee. LOL! Anyway, once we reached Caleb's house, we greeted his mum and dad. Then we were ushered to the dinner table by Mr.Caleb, personally. Haha. Too bad I was busy eating and I did not bother to take pictures of the food. There was fried meehoon, chicken curry, Domino's pizza, Lemonade (only limited to 1 jug for the 6 of us and it ran out very fast..lol), two bottles of F&N Orange and a bottle of Coca-Cola. After finishing my meal, I decided to get shutter-happy and I started clicking away.

Here are a few shots at the dinner table:

Birthday boy is smiling away happily. Haha

Han Ren's lips look as though he's kissing someone. Woi, dreaming of SF kah??! LOL!

Mega is irritated because i asked him to look at the camera of instead of fighting with the pieces of chicken in the curry.

Mr. Kuben has been watching too much of Bond movies. He's holding his imaginary guns made out of his hands. Speaking of Bond movies, when on earth is that Quantum of Solace gonna come out?

Caleb's younger brother, Marcus was kind enough to pause his game and pose for this shot.

Group picture at the dinner table. Too bad i couldn't be in the picture. Look at Mr. Bond's aka Kuben's raised eyebrows. One of the reasons why i snap a few shots instead of one.

The group picture again. But this time, Kuben's raised eyebrow syndrome has somehow been corrected. Haha.

After dinner, the six of us decided to take a walk to digest all the food we had just consumed not very long ago and i decided to bring my camera and tripod along. I used the streetlights as my main source of light.

Here are some shots captured during our walk:

The glowing orb in front of Caleb's house.
No, it does not glow in the dark, unlike the massive three-tonne mineral orb in Genting's Gems of the World museum. Haha. It's just a light.

The 5 monkeys planned to wave in the air earlier.
That is why i look so "sesat" as I was setting up my camera and the tripod. I used the 10-second self-timer for this shot and came running to pose, only to realise that we were supposed to show our backs and wave crazily in the air. LOL!

Group picture again. This time, I'm in it because I used a tripod and left my camera in the middle of the lonely road.

Group picture once again. This time i look so awkward tryin to be short. Those sandals that I'm wearing belongs to Caleb's dad. Haha.

I was asked to take a picture of this unoccupied house which was on the same row with Caleb's house just in case we might discover any irregularities in the picture which might be caused by something paranormal. As though we're some kind of paranormal investigators or something. Haha.

A picture of the drain located near the school.
I somehow kind of like this picture although it makes no sense.

We walked to Jerald's house to pay him a visit, only to discover upon reaching that Jerald had gone out and wouldn't be back any earlier than 11pm. The six of us - all guys, just rang his bell and his maid opened the gate for us without questioning who we were or what we wanted. She then told us that Jerald had gone out. Jerald, ask your maid not to open the gate for strangers la! I mean, we could have been a bunch of robbers. Just imagine. The world isn't a safe place anymore!

On the way back to Caleb's house, Mr. Bond decided to get a stick of sugar cane and pose as though he is about to bash up a bunch of bad guys. Haha.

Once we were at Caleb's house once again, we decided to play some games. The first game was getting the worms out of the mud. I was the one who suggested this game to Caleb. Haha. Anyway it wasn't really fun as Caleb, Sherran and me were the only ones who played. The objective of the game is to get as many worms out of the mud with only your mouth. In this game however, the mud and worms were replaced with milo and gummy worms. Caleb was the first to go, next up was Sherran and by the time it was my turn, The milo was kinda soaked with both of their saliva. Eww.. xP

Setting up the stuff together. However, the three chickens (Kuben, Han Ren and Mega) who were not sporting chickened out.

Caleb was the first to play the game. The motion blur of his head shows how fast he was moving. Haha. Slow shutter speed was used instead of flash and it resulted in the motion blur of his head.

Sherran's turn. This time I used the flash instead. I hate the pictures in which i have to use the built-in flash as the pictures turn out kind of harsh.
(I really need an external flash!! anyone willing to sponsor? lol..)

After Sherran, it was my turn, however there are no pictures to show me playin this filthy game. Haha. We went indoors as it was time for Caleb to cut the cake. What is a birthday party without a cake after all? Haha.

The birthday cake without candles. It is a birthday cake even though there's nothing written on it. Haha.

The birthday cake again. I love the way the glow of the candle highlights the cake. Looks so yummy! Mmm...

Caleb and his twin brother cutting the cake together.

Caleb is feeding Mega who believes he could "fly" by stretching his arms out! LOL!

Kuben aka Mr. Bond is fooling around, trying to place a cherry on Sherran's head.

After the cake eating ceremony, oops, cake cutting ceremony, we sat down for a game of BINGO!

Here are the models for BINGO! They look cute don't they? Haha.

As everyone was playing BINGO, little Marcus was busy playing games on his PSP.

One by one, everyone started to leave. And before we left, we made Caleb unwrap the present that we gave him.

Caleb and his twin brother getting ready to unwrap the present together.

They're both ripping the wrappers apart.

Caleb posing with his new racket. Chong Wei in the making. Haha.

It was a wonderful party. Thanks to Caleb and his family!~
Got back home around 12am and I started editing the freshly taken pictures. Conclusion: If I am going to have to cover indoor events like this, I really must have the external flash *hint - cobra aka HVL-F58AM - hint* If only any kind soul is willing to sponsor me RM1150 in cold hard cash. Haha. Anyway, I finally finished editing at 2.30am and went to sleep at 3am.

~The End~

Btw, If any of you people are organizing any party/functions/events/etc, give me a call k? I would be more than willing to cover the event for you FOC (read: Free of Charge). However, if you're gonna expect professional quality photos, look elsewhere because I'm just a beginner and I just wanna gain some experience.

Sony Alpha A200 DSLR Review

2008-08-24T22:38:00.000+08:00

It's gonna be a rather quick review..

First, lets have a look at the spec sheet.

Sony A200 Basic Features
>10.2 MP Super HAD CCD delivering resolutions as high as 3872 x 2592pixels
>3.88x Kit lens, 18-70mm (27-105mm equivalent), f/3.5-5.6
>Optical viewfinder
>2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD Screen
>ISO Sensitivity: 100 to 3200
>Shutter speeds: 30 seconds to 1/4,000 second
>Compact Flash Type I, II, Microdrive
>Lithium-ion battery
>Dimensions: 5.2 x 3.7 x 2.8in (133 x 95 x 71mm)
>Weight: 22 ounces (625g) with lens, battery, and card

In the Box
The Sony A200 ships with the following items in the box:

>DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom lens
>NP-FM500H rechargeable battery
>BC-VM10 battery charger
>Video and USB cable
>Body cap
>Shoulder strap with eyepiece cap and Remote Commander clip
>Instruction manual
>Software/USB Driver CD-ROM

Now, we'll get to the pros and cons of the camera:

What I liked

-Well built, easy-to-hold body.
-Eye-start Autofocus starts up the autofocus system so that it is ready before your eyes are matched in the viewfinder.
-Super SteadyShot sensor-based stabilization reduces blurry images regardless of any lens mounted.
-Auto pop-up flash.
-Support for wireless flashes.
-Fast autofocus.
-Good shot-to-shot times.
-2.7-inch "Clear Photo" LCD which has an anti-reflective coating for easy viewing in the sun.
-Built in Anti-dust, with a static-free coating on the CCD's filter that is shaken each time the camera is powered off.
-Very fast USB transfer speed.
-Great battery life - up to 750 shots on full charge.
-Battery is "InfoLithium" type, allowing camera to provide real-time battery life info.

What I disliked
-It feels a little "plasticky" although the inner frame is clearly metal.
-Pop-up flash doesn't go very high and casts shadows on pictures with lens hood attached.
-Infrared sensor activates AF system when you don't want it to, like when it's hanging around your neck.
-Flash must be raised for AF assist, which casts a few strong strobes of light which might irritate people.

Pictures after the jump:
(pics are of low quality because they're taken with a handphone camera)

My First Post!!

2008-08-23T23:42:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone!!

Ermm.. First and foremost, this is actually gonna be a photoblog (although i might use it as a regular blog once in a while). You would basically tend to see more pictures than words. A picture paints a thousand words after all. I created this blog because i got a DSLR camera recently to cater to my new hobby - photography! well it's not new actually. It's been quite a while since i had developed my interest in photography. I did not have a DSLR back then. 20.08.2008 (a double match eh?) was the date i got my brand new Sony A200 DSLR camera. And just in case you guys are wondering, DSLR means Digital Single-Lens Reflex. One of my fren refers to it as the "Big Black Camera".. LOL.. Anyways, wait up for my review of the camera!! soon..

p/s: You can expect super slow updates unless i really have some pictures/events/etc.