Guan Yin Ting: The Camera in Mum's Hands

I'm lucky I have a mum who actually understands (albeit a little dated) photography.

I actually shot this, but mum told me where to frame so I guess the credits go to her.

While many of my budding photographer friends have to hide their newly bought SLR from their parents, I am quite proud to say my first SLR was actually paid for by my mum.

I wasn't spared the fun of having to play hide-and-seek with the camera though -- mum and I hid the camera for a couple of months before dad found out about its existence.

I was expecting the worst, but since he left his camera in China accidentally (and the Panasonic compact cost more than half the price of a new Nikon D90 body) I guess he couldn't be too angry at us without blaming a bit on himself too.

So here are a few shots taken by my mum at Guan Yin Ting. I've already put some of my best ones up, and now it's her turn for the limelight.

All the photos here are out-of-the-cam -- no editing at all.

These photos look nothing like mine, right?

HDR Attempt No. 2 -- Guan Yin Ting

No elaboration needed -- the title of this post is self-explanatory.

The original exposures of the HDR image.

Multiple shots with my D90.

Over 2 hours of tweaking.

Three separate software programs on two operating systems.

Two HDR programs.

Two tone-mapping editors.

Three different tone-mapping algorithms.

Three layers of overlapping images with different opacity.

Individual editing of specific parts of the image.

Countless failed attempts.

Finally, I present... 回头是岸 (Hui Tou Shi An).

A tone-mapped HDR of Guan Yin Ting. Note the ghosting around the leaves and the flags at the top-left corner.

Guan Yin Ting, Klang

One comment: Malaysia is sure hot!

A tone-mapped non-HDR photo.

Guan Yin Ting is this Buddhist temple in Klang, recently renovated.

A rather elaborate sculpture on the roof of the temple.

Honestly, I've never heard of this place until the day my mum asked me to bring that D90 for a walk.

If you were to visit Klang, you wouldn't blame me -- the two rather magnificent mosques in Klang town centre overshadowed the temple.

The temple is really a beautiful place, but surrounded by busy roads, a roundabout and a flyover, it wasn't as peaceful as the one in Cameron Highlands.

Another non-HDR tone-map.

Nice place to shoot, nevertheless.

For some reason, I really like this shot. This is how temples are supposed to be like.

Portraits

Certain past history has made a rather large impact on my love for photography. If you've noticed, I rarely take portraits of people -- next to none at all.

But I can only avoid taking portraits for so long.

Maybe it's time to suck it up and move forwards.

Shot this photo at a Pasar Malam with my sister's encouragement. I wouldn't even have bothered to pick up the camera if she weren't nagging me and pointing out how cute and innocent the girl looked. One of my very, very few portraits, including the bad ones.

Everybody has a new year resolution they may or may not ignore over the course of the next 12 months. What's yours?

The Angels

Many thanks to my sister for the cute (and a wee bit obscene) little angel.

Minli: So this angel is thinking 'Hmmm... Nice ass!'