1. I will learn how to use my camera.
I still don’t know how to use the metering to the fullest! Learn how to strobe and lighting techniques.
2. I will not be hindered by the gear I do not have.
I’ve what I need and for what I don’t have, I’ll compensate with creativity and ingenuity.
3. I will shoot in RAW
Screw JPEG. It was a mistake to turn back to JPEG.
4. I will learn how to process my shots
I’ll learn to make full use of Lightroom & learn how to use Photoshop for additional processing.
5. I will accept critiques of my work.
And I won’t accept ‘pretty/nice/lovely’ and every other one word responses. If I do, I’ll look else where for constructive comments.
6. I will set goals and be proactive about my photography career
a) I’ll master all the basics of photography.
b) I’ll learn and improve on my Photoshop skills.
c) I’ll complete a photography related book every 2 weeks.
7. I will connect with other photographers
Follow & connect with regional and international photographers. Learn & observe their techniques and style.
It’s my first trip to the East side. Being an urban person, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Miri. So here goes.
Being already late at the check-in counter in KLIA, me and my traveling partner – Jason was rushing our way to the departure hall. We were the last few to enter the departure gate but still in time to catch the plane. Phew.
The flight was about 2 hours long and the breakfast served was like any normal airplane food but there were more bang for the buck compared with AirAsia’s food. This was my first flight with MAS for years after all, the last one could be 10 years ago.
We touched down around 11AM and was greeted by Jason’s girlfriend – Wendy and her parents. Being the usual me, I was quiet most of the time through lunch with them. ‘sides, they were talking in hokkien. They took us to have dim sum at Mega Hotel in Miri Town.
Oddly enough, Miri was famous for dim sum. Dim sum was edible but wasn’t that memorable.
I made most of my research through twitter on food and places to go. It’s always good to have local knowledge than through websites. You’d never know how old/updated are those information anyways. My rating scale for food is very basic to say the least; Can eat & Cannot eat.
After lunch, we visited the only Starbucks in Miri town after bidding goodbye to Wendy’s parents. Had the usual Lemonade while waited for Wendy’s friends – Joon Yap and KuetTai to pick us up. We check-in into Grand Palace Hotel and were relieved from our heavy bags & equipment.
Soon after the 5 of us headed to Lambir Hills National Park. I slept throughout the long and windy and bumpy roads. Bumped my head on the ceiling every few minutes though.
There was a few trails in Lambir Hills and we pick the shortest because.. because they were lazy. We were searching for a waterfall that Jason came across during his research. We ended up in Latak Waterfalls.
Of course I wouldn’t go anywhere without this little fellow.
Imitation is a norm in Miri as well..
In the evening, we went to Marina Bay (why is that name so common?) to catch the sunset. We were early so we spent some time on our own taking photos and just enjoying the view.
Jason & Wendy
The sky was pretty with the strides of clouds above us a couple of hours before the sun sets.
Although it was cloudy, the sunset was still beautiful.
Taken from Jason's blog
I’m a big fan of sunsets and I do get kinda picky with the sunsets I’d like to take. That day’s sunset was great because of the location with the strong breeze from the sea.
Come to think of it, the strong breeze was annoying because lots of vapor ended up sticking to the lens. Ended up with lots of dotted shots with the small aperture.
I took one last photo just before dinner on another sea front.
Last week our team, The Hiccups (#14) submitted our entry for the Digi Pimp My Broadband challenge.
This was our entry, which won us a spot alongside another 19 teams for the challenge.
Today we completed a super challenging course which sent us breathlessly running all over One Utama. From dancing to modelling and completing challenges which tested our endurance and fitness level, we managed to finish the race. While we take the time now to catch our breaths, allow our pictures to speak for themselves
Us camwhoring whilst running!
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with It’s a Hit! Batting Cages
We headed to the Batting Cages first. Each of us took our turns hitting the balls and managed to come away with the score of 16 balls, one of them being a HOMERUN!
The homerun! by David
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with Celebrity Fitness
Next we headed to Celebrity fitness where we were required to each run 800m in the fastest time possible. The recorded time will then be calculated for an average speed/timing for the team.
We headed to the Rainforest shortly after to complete the Bull Eye! task.
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with Rainforest One Utama (THE DIGI SUMPIT CHALLENGE!)
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with Nokia
After completing the task we went to the next challenge to watch a Digi advertisement using a Nokia to answer one question. The question had to be decoded and we managed to do it in record time. After this station we ran back to Mardi Gras for a dancing competition as we had a limited time frame.
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with Mardi Gras
We had to pole dance (omg) to some music with the theme ‘Athletic’. We choreographed some warm-ups, wushu/kungfu and rounded it up with some monkeying around the poles. It was fun!
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with Swatch
Next we rushed to Swatch where we had to produce a 30-second commercial involving both Digi Internet and Swatch. We wrote a fantastic script which goes like this:
When you want to surf and work online, sometimes you have to be aware of the time as well.
With world class Internet service, you need world class timing.
You can only get great time management with Digi Internet and Swatch!
We’re The Hiccups, saying HELLO!
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with…Digi
We then ran to the Digi store for the next task! Having to log onto Digi Music to create our own playlist called The Hiccups, we added a Lady Gaga and an Akon song onto it. That was easy!!
Last but not least we headed to our last stop, Quiksilver. Once there we rummaged through a basket of clothes to model. The picture we took had to be uploaded to Facebook and tagged
Digi Pimp My Broadband Challenge with Quiksilver
Don’t we look like models?
Upon completion of all the tasks we ran back all the way to Mardi Gras to clock in. So here we are, completing our final task – BLOGGING!
Thank you Digi Broadband and Nuffnang for the wonderful opportunity to participate. May the best team win!
The Hiccups and other teams decked out in yellow, Digi rules!
They took us to have dim sum at Mega Hotel in Miri Town.
