Kota Damansara upset

Wasp

Damselfly

The gang

I made a follow-up trip to the Kota Damansara Community Forest last Saturday and took
on the Scout's Trail.Four other guys were in the queue to look for bugs at the forest and well, it didn't turn out
as interesting as I would have expected.We spent about two hours hiking the trial and found very few insects in the foliaged area.I capped off a few shots for record purposes and spent much of my time trying to blaze a
path around the hilly jungle.Maybe the timing was a bit off and weather may have affected the insect activity there. I found a few specie of flies and some small beetles. My hope of finding large spider species in this neck of the woods seems to have faded.

May 23 Broga clean-up

Last weekend's trip to Broga was an eye opener.It dawned on me that I was totally unfit for straight hauls especially on the new hill route
created by hikers and members of the OUTBAC camp led by Dr Yap Heng Kai.He invited me to cover the Broga Hill clean-up on Sunday May 23. When we got there, the event was already over.Michelle and I made our way up the hill with our kidsThe boy can certainly pull, but at the mid-point, he was clearly tired and exhausted.I was literally fighting to gain control of my legs which was hurting due to the hard and
uneven soil.While the body was not, the mind was willing to push all the way.On certain point of the hike, I rested to gain composure and pushed on until we hit the
peak of the hill - which is roughly about 45-minutes hike from the trail head.Since the sun was scorching the soil, we decided not to stay on and ascended down the
hill with the kids.That said, there's much to be done on building my stamina. Now, my priority is to control
my weight.

Kota Damansara Community Forest

The Kota Damansara Community Forest is one place that was on my 'must go' list.After hearing much about this place from a forum member from PhotoMalaysia.com, I
went in blind and tried to locate this place.The trip itself was a small adventure.I was lost and wounded up in Section 9 in Kota Damansara. After asking around, I was told that the Community Forest was actually located in Section
10 of the township.Finally, after spending nearly an hour searching for the place, I found it and much of its
description matches the photographs which I saw on the newspapers.I found a trail head and hiked for about 15-minutes. It led to a construction site. Frustrated, I went up to a group of old-timers who were waiting for their friends at the trail. I asked one of them about the forest and his response was: "Ah? You want to hike the trail
ah? You must hire a tour guide lah.."What the fuck? From his tone, I can sense some hostility. So, I went on to check out the rest of the Community area before leaving and found two
trail entrance.The middle-aged guy I was speaking to earlier was leaving behind a paper trail and it was
then that I found out that the guys were from the Kepong Hash Harriers. What a fucking bunch of retards.Anyway, I made my way into the trail and hiked for an hour before ending up at the 'Scouts
Trail'.During my solo hike, I discovered that the forest is rich with plant life.Sadly, the insect population was small.Even the jumping spiders were just babies.On the whole, I see some potential on a follow-up outing as well as a night macro do.

Getting the Samo-mobile in shape..

The Samo-mobile had its full service last weekend.To date, I've clocked nearly 90K on the odometer and the car has given me great service.Just days before I drove it to the workshop, there was a screeching sound coming from its
wheels.I found out that the brake pads were worn out.After a routine check-up, the spark plugs too were gone.This was the reason why the car engine's timing was low.After spending three hours at the workshop, I was slapped with a bill for RM220.This is much lower that what I am expected to pay at the Perodua's service centre.The nagging cost was based on the parts replaced.With the brake pads and sparks, the total bill was higher than the usual.Now that I had the Samo-mobile done up and ready for the road, I am looking forward to
our holiday in June where we are expected to go on a long haul with the kidz.

The main event this year

I have two months to get in shape for 'projek Mount K'.Seems like my wife Michelle is set to hike up this mountain which is the tallest in Southeast Asia.She made plans with her brother Vincent to head over to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in late June and proceed to Kinabalu Park in Kundasang which is about an hour away from the state capital.Anyway, there's plenty to consider in terms of overal physical fitness. I am going to lay off alcohol for the next two months and eat less fatty food.Get in shape because the bicycle at home is underutilised and walk the dogs even more

The main event this year

I have two months to get in shape for 'projek Mount K'.Seems like my wife Michelle is set to hike up this mountain which is the tallest in Southeast Asia.She made plans with her brother Vincent to head over to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in late June and proceed to Kinabalu Park in Kundasang which is about an hour away from the state capital.Anyway, there's plenty to consider in terms of overal physical fitness. I am going to lay off alcohol for the next two months and eat less fatty food.Get in shape because the bicycle at home is underutilised and walk the dogs even more

Portraiture of my kidz

Canon's EF100mmL F2.8 IS macro lens

My kidz

Sir Naughty

Dame Queenie

I've been using my Canon EF100mm F2.8L IS for a while.Its main function in my kit bag - is to capture bugs and its doing really well.The 100mm is a sound investment, incorporating Canon's latest hybrid image stabilization
technology.But having said that the image stabilizer works only beyond macro range.This applies to spot assignment photography where the usage of flashguns are not
allowed.Apart from being a primary macro lens, the 100mmL is also known as an excellent
portraiture glass.At the recent DCIM 2010 show, I saw at least a dozen of Canon camera enthusiasts who
were walking around with their macro lenses.Having seen its capability with the new EOS550D Digital SLR, I decided to try out the
100mmL with my dogs.I haven't been photographing them for a while and the results yielded with the 100mmL is
pretty amazing!

Breaking away in June

The kidz needs a break

Ruby's resort - she's the one with the black retriever

Some years back, Barron Low, my neighbour had asked me if I wanted to hangout at his
sister's resort in Cherating, Pahang.I procastinated for a while and decided that its best to do something this year with the kidz
since we have hardly done any travelling.Before I could get this going, the car needs to be fixed cos its starting to make some
funny grinding noise.This is a proirity on my to-do list on the weekend.I contacted Ruby and was told that there are accommodation available for the mid-June,
just barely after the school holidays.We'll be travelling with the dogs and hope they would behave.For night, Ruby is charging RM160 with breakfast which is pretty decent.So, if everything checks out okay, we'll be hitting the East coast and the kidz will have their
first taste of the South China seas.

Small shiny beetle

Beetles with metallic exoskeleton are the hardest to capture on camera.Their skin tends to reflect light and plenty of care must be taken on your flashgun's
diffuser.Some of these bugs are as small as a peanut and its difficult to get it on a 1:1 lens without cropping the image in the final result.I guess when it comes to capturing these critters, there's still much to do on my diffuser work...

Hail to the new Chief!

To date, I've survived the helm of a handful of bosses.And in journalism, you have to be able to seperate reality and fantasy in order to maintain your sanity.For me, I took the job because its the only vocation that allows people with limited qualification to develop their career.And under the powers that be, my path has been a long and windy trip.When I first joined a broadsheet newspaper as a trainee reporter, it was under one of the most powerful Group Editor and at the time, he had plenty of political backing.As time goes by, he made an exit to enable another figure head to step in. And as they put it: "You are as good as how long your political master would last.."Well, true enough, the new boss also took a bow and left the stage kicking and screaming.Much later, a younger and more ambitious leader took helm of the nation's oldest newspaper and with him, came a bunch of rag-tag mercenaries who are set to do his bidding.He too left the scene as his political master had stepped down.I will never forget this individual for two things.Firstly, he took vengeance on those who had spurned him. And to nail it on the head, despite all the good things that was said about this man, I found out the hard way that he is a fucktard.I put 15 years behind me and left for a greener pasture.That I found at my present workplace and it too has experienced some changes.A year ago, a new leader took over and placed his men on the top echelon.This included a corporate bigwig from East Malaysia and with him, a sackload of people who were strategically placed in various departments throughout the company.Now, he too had to go. And whatever that is left behind became the spoils of war.I caught wind that a new leader is on the way and he is expected to exact some changes.When he was named as the successor, I kinda took a step back.To me, this new guy didn't leave a good impression when our path crossed.I was told that he is a good boss in a weekly business publication.Well, all good things said and done, with the next transition, I guess the new guy too will bring in his cronies and for me, its just a matter of 'wait and see'.I am too far down to line to experience any unpleasant policy changes and it would be interesting to see how he holds court.

Spiders of Bukit Nenas

An ant mimic jumping spider found on the foothills of Bukit Nenas

Orisima Ichneumon - elegant and graceful

A brown lynx spider posing for the camera

While we on our bug population census taking mission of Bukit Nenas, I stumbled upon
some really cool spider species.The area is teeming with spiders and during my three-hour search there, I landed at least
five different species of arachnids.There were jumping spiders and orb weavers and the most commonly found specie of
jumper is the Orisima Ichneumon.This colourful spider guards its lair jealously from invading hoards of ants and other winged
insects.

Spiders of Bukit Nenas

While we on our bug population census taking mission of Bukit Nenas, I stumbled upon
some really cool spider species.The area is teeming with spiders and during my three-hour search there, I landed at least
five different species of arachnids.There were jumping spiders and orb weavers and the most commonly found specie of
jumper is the Orisima Ichneumon.This colourful spider guards its lair jealously from invading hoards of ants and other winged
insects.

DCIM 2010

Me with Derrick and Kurt

Master Kurt during a hands-on session at the EOS interactive booth at DCIM 2010

One of the highlights at the DCIM 2010 show which was held recently at the Mid Valley Megamall was a talk on Macro Photography by Kurt G.After leaving Bukit Nenas, Derrick, my macro outing buddy and I decided to head over to the mall and attend the show.This is also one of the most popular consumer trade show where photography enthusiasts can try out the latest hardware and also use their skills and talent to capture some models from the DCIM Velocity Angels show.Some hot chicks were vying for a beauty pageant title there, but our key interest was the equipment and talk.Finally, after loitering there for two hours, we had our cameras cleaned for free and a front row seat for the talk by Kurt.On the whole, the show as interesting because most of the industry people were at hand to sell and showcase their trade.

Bukit Nenas Eco Park - City Forest rebranded

The Bukit Nenas Eco park is a place where I would deem as a 're-packaged' destination for nature lovers in the city centre.This is perhaps one of the oldest foliaged area with rich variety of flora and fauna.TS Ching, one of my macro outing buddies had checked it out earlier and came up with some really amazing shots of the insect population there.I managed to convince him to organise a day trip to this place on weekend.We had plans to take as many photographs as possible on location and head off to the DCIM 2010 show later in the day.Results? Well, there is a healthy spider population of jumping spiders and orb weavers and what suprised me was the absence of larger huntsman or even the Malayan tarantula.But then again, I might be wrong as the dense vegetation here, especially some really old trees would be the perfect domain for the large spiders.Hopefully, I would be able to round up the gang and check out the Jelutong trail which leads to Jalan Ampang where the Bukit Nenas cable station once stood.

Professional photography

A lot has changed on the photography scene since I left the field for good more than 17
years ago.My scope was limited only to Press photography which is now known as 'photojournalism'.Nowadays, anyone who picks up an advanced-level digital SLR would consider
themselves as 'professionals'.In my line of work, you are a professional when you get a monthly salary slip for doing only
one thing: taking photographs.And the role of a photojournalist is to capture and record important events, which in turn,
becomes a part of our history immoratlised in images.

While having lunch with my colleague who is the photo editor for The Star yesterday, one of the editorial artist came up to him and asked for camera pricing.

Coming straight from her mouth, she said that a professional photographer is a person who owns a good set of equipment and knows how to use it.

And in her case, she needs to get a full-frame camera to live up to the mark.

What the hell was this person talking about?

The meaning may be misconstrued as the word is commonly abused.

I walked her through what defines the word 'professional' in photography in my scope of work and what it meant otherwise.

The role of a photojournalist in Malaysia's mainstream media is to mainly cater for the news
pages.Some even specialised in sports and feature photography. These are the professionals
who have their work featured everyday to the millions of readers who depended on the
newspaper for news as a knowledge base and entertainment.I don't consider freelancers and serious hobbyists are professionals because they don't
have the credentials to back them up.Yet, they can yeild professional-quality photos that can rival that of any photojournalists. But
that don't make them full-time professionals.With the internet age, virtually anyone can showcase their work. Whether amateur or
professional quality, the world wide web has changed the way professional photography is
seen.You can splurge a big sum of money on professional cameras and lenses and present
your work by publishing it on-line.And what do you get out of it? Bragging rights.But as the old-fashioned way dictates - only published work on print are given the due
credit and recognition.

Then again, I am speaking from experience and from the general context, I may be wrong.

The EF lifesize extender

We all learn from mistakes.And the shortcoming which I had experienced was the fact that the Canon EF 50mm F2.5
compact macro lens is only capable of handling large bugs when it comes to close-up
photography.To fully utilise the lens, an optical converter must be added to give it a 1:1 magnification
capability.This incurs additional cost and no one in the region actually stocks the converter.So, the only way to enhance its focal length is by adding an extension tube.The 50mm lens dated as far back as 1987 and is one of the oldest macro lenses that is
still in Canon's inventory.Compared to what's available now, its clumsy and its outdated electric motor is noisy when
you engaged autofocus on your camera.Image quality wise, the EF 50mm compact macro lens can yield some satisfying shots.I tried it on some dragonflies and managed to score some really good photos.Despite its age and shortcomings, I will keep the lens for product shots due to its short
focal length.The 50mm would serve as a back-up lens when my full frame camera body arrives.

Well, lucky for me, Roger Dinh, a fellow Suspect from the USN had given me his EF lifesize converter.

Since he sold his macro lens, the converter was lying around. He made an offer to give it to me which I gladly accepted.

I plan to test the EF converter and macro lens tomorrow at Bukit Nenas.

Canon EF 180mm F3.5L

When I first saw the Canon EF 180mm F3.5L macro lens at the Photo Malaysia member's
night some time back, I never gave it a second look.I wasn't even interested back then and realised that when I delved deeper into macro
photography, there are subjects that can be photographed only from a safe distance.Whether it works on bees, there's only one way to find out.The Canon EF 180mm F3.5L macro lens is also one of the heaviest around weighing in at
1.09kgs.And word has it that the background blur on this baby is much better than lenses that are shorter in focal length.To rub salt into the wound, the EF 180mm F3.5L lens carries a street price of RM6.25K, making it one of the most expensive close-up lens around.

This is also an older lens without Image Stabilization or the new Hybrid Image Stabilization technology.

Canon EF 180mm F3.5L

When I first saw the Canon EF 180mm F3.5L macro lens at the Photo Malaysia member's
night some time back, I never gave it a second look.I wasn't even interested back then and realised that when I delved deeper into macro
photography, there are subjects that can be photographed only from a safe distance.Whether it works on bees, there's only one way to find out.The Canon EF 180mm F3.5L macro lens is also one of the heaviest around weighing in at
1.09kgs.And word has it that the background blur on this baby is much better than lenses that are
shorter in focal length.To rub salt into the wound, the EF 180mm F3.5L lens carries a street price of RM6.25K,
making it one of the most expensive close-up lens around.

This is also an older lens without Image Stabilization or the new Hybrid Image Stabilization technology.

Encounter with the snow white crab spider

Close-up of the white crab spider

A mother and its spiderling

One of the big surprises that landed on my work bench on Monday night was a white crab
spider.These critters are hard to spot and usually lurks around areas with lots of flowers and the right environment for crab spiders are in garden parks.While I was searching around with my Fenix TK-40 high powered LED flashlight, I spotted
a white coloured spider that fits the bill.Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I clipped off the branch where the spider is resting
and took it back to my house and set up a rig to photograph it.My Canon EF100mm F2.8L IS lens would not be able to handle it because the spider
measures about 5mm in length.To get a proper shot, a 2x - 3x magnification lens would do the job.That was when I rigged up my MR14EX ring flash with the MPE-65 F2.8 macro lens.This takes close-up photography to the next level as it is able to capture the spider's facial
features.I have been told that any images that are shot about 3x magnification would be harder than
the usual.Flash Exposure has to be compensated to one or two stops higher.Getting the spider in focus itself had proven to be a challenge.The MPE-65 has a narrow focus band and there are textbook techniques on getting it right.So, I had to focus the subject on 1x and slowly rotate the lens barrel to 3x.The focus lamp on the MR14EX flash did help a lot in getting a focus lock and the rest was
history.I managed to squeeze a few shots, but after looking at the images on my post processing
software, the details are not sharp enough.From this point, I have to work on my focusing and its never easy to zoom in on the
spider's eyes which is roughly the size of a pin head.That said, more work on the focusing and more outing in search of the colourful crab
spider.

Encounter with the snow white crab spider

One of the big surprises that landed on my work bench on Monday night was a white crab
spider.These critters are hard to spot and usually lurks around areas with lots of flowers and the
right environment for crab spiders are in garden parks.While I was searching around with my Fenix TK-40 high powered LED flashlight, I spotted
a white coloured spider that fits the bill.Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I clipped off the branch where the spider is resting
and took it back to my house and set up a rig to photograph it.My Canon EF100mm F2.8L IS lens would not be able to handle it because the spider
measures about 5mm in length.To get a proper shot, a 2x - 3x magnification lens would do the job.That was when I rigged up my MR14EX ring flash with the MPE-65 F2.8 macro lens.This takes close-up photography to the next level as it is able to capture the spider's facial
features.I have been told that any images that are shot about 3x magnification would be harder than
the usual.Flash Exposure has to be compensated to one or two stops higher.Getting the spider in focus itself had proven to be a challenge.The MPE-65 has a narrow focus band and there are textbook techniques on getting it right.So, I had to focus the subject on 1x and slowly rotate the lens barrel to 3x.The focus lamp on the MR14EX flash did help a lot in getting a focus lock and the rest was
history.I managed to squeeze a few shots, but after looking at the images on my post processing
software, the details are not sharp enough.From this point, I have to work on my focusing and its never easy to zoom in on the
spider's eyes which is roughly the size of a pin head.That said, more work on the focusing and more outing in search of the colourful crab
spider.

Back to class

Personal development is a good thing.And you are never too old to learn.I welcome such an opportunity to pick up new tricks in the trade and was given a chance to attend a
six-day copy clearing and editing workshop.This is divided into weekly sessions spanning over half a month.What made it interesting is the fact that I knew the trainer, who is the best in the field.He came highly recommended by an old friend of mine who is employed as a training manager in
the country's oldest English daily.In the first two sessions, I learned a lot about things that are majorly overlooked.And the point driven was the fact that most journalists are so used to what they see everyday, their
eyes become shielded from common mistakes and cliches.This was part of the personal enrichment that I was hoping to gain and I must say that I am glad to be
a part of.To me, it takes a lot of guts to actually own up for making a mistake, learn and move on.I think the trainer made his point too when he told the class that he was not there to solve problems
faced by reporters on day-to-day matters.What felt right, was the fact that he was there to teach his students on how to deal with copies and
employ the proper word usage.With two down, there are four more classes to go. That said, I am looking foward to the future sessions.

A surprise find in Bukit Gasing

Rare find: Caponiidae Curtana

The Macromaniac team at Bukit Gasing on Friday night

Teamwork: our guys working on capturing the Caponiidae Curtana spider

My macrothon outing ended with a trip to Bukit Gasing.After leaving Bukit Tinggi, TS Ching and I headed to Raju's restaurant at Section 5 in Petaling Jaya. We got there about 5pm and had an early dinner.I noticed that the food and service at Raju's really sucked.What was more appalling was the fact that one of the food handlers actually tried to warm up a piece
of fried chicken in the microwave oven after taking it out straight from the frying wok.I rejected the order and continued with some conversation with Mr Ching.One of our regulars Derrick came later. He told us two other guys were supposed to link up at the Hutan Pendidikan entrance, but later, we
found out that they were no-shows.Master Kurt joined in and after we were done with our meals, we moved on to the trail head.Since we were early, there was enough ambient light for us to hike in to the tower trail.We shot our way in and found some really interesting bugs.There were tiger beetles, spiders and a couple of butterflies at the beginning of the trail.The fun only started after dark when we rigged up a perimeter with lights and worked around it.I was rather disappointed with my Black Diamond Apollo lantern because its NRG powerpack had
yielded only an hour of light.Lucky for me, I had my back-up lights: the Surefire Aviator A-2 and my trusty Fenix TK-40.Having spent nearly two hours in the jungle, the find of the day was a two-eyed spider from the
Caponiidae family.This rare creature was thought to be a mite, and everything that we saw defied our very
understanding of spiders.I managed to squeeze about five shots on my Canon MPE-65 lens that gave it a 2x magnification.The results were satisfying and we named our find Caponiidae Curtana in honour of Master Kurt who found the rare spider.

In total, we spent about 18 hours on two locations and its a worthwhile trip because we were rewarded with so many cool bugshots!

Macrothon - Bukit Tinggi, Pahang

My first Rhino Beetle

Long horned beetle

Team Macromaniac: Samo, TS Ching and Master Kurt

Friday was a packed affair.I left for Bukit Tinggi in Pahang as early as 6am in the morning and rounded up my macro shooting
kaki TS Ching and Master Kurt.We had a good start and the weather was excellent.This was my second trip and follow-up to the hilltop resort and I found that many things has changed.The entrance fee has been revised from RM10 - RM12 and security guards are place at the
Japanese Tea House entrance.I had a hard time with a Nepali who refused to allow my car into the park.After dealing with the idiot, we decided to walk to the botanical garden at the park.It was quiet and we had the whole place to ourselves.There were plenty of beetles and bees around and I had a blast shooting at least three different
species of long horned beetles.We worked till 3pm and shot off to Bukit Gasing for a night macro session.

Model release

This picture was published today in my column. Was it wrong to use a shot of a family having their makan?

Here's something that came through the email:

"Dear Sam I happen to be an avid reader of your column - basically because food is one of my favourite topics!
However, I got quite a shock when I saw my photo in today's article! My family & I were indeed
enjoying our banana leaf lunch that day. But I would never dream of my picture being splased all over
the country doing that - harmless though it is. For reasons known only to me, I do NOT want to be
seen doing that. For many others, I guess it would seen like an 'honour' to be 'featured'...but I beg to
differ! Even if I were one of those eager to be seen, I would think that The Star would have the
decency to seek my permission first. After all, we were not seated that far away, judging from the
photo! I'm also in the publishing line - and I'm wondering how come The Star publishes photos of people
without permission? We're very careful with getting permission before going ahead with publishing
photos. With permission granted, we then acknowledge the persons involved. Does being the top
English daily give The Star the 'right' to do such things?? I'm seriously peeved and hope I get a good explanation? RegardsEvelyn"

I replied to the person with an apology.

No harm intended and if you can see the shot, its basically a family having makan in a restaurant.

Generally speaking, I do not need anyone's permission to run a photo which shows part of the outlet.
The picture used was not in any way, bad publicity for the subject. That was not my intention. Let's see how things would develop from this point.

The luxury of time

At the hill yesterday

A cute jumper

Close-up of a fly

Time is a luxury that I don't have.To manage it, I have to work ahead and plan every second, minute and hour.And in photography, the credo 'practise makes perfect' is like a religion.I managed to get some time off yesterday to head out to Bukit Gasing and practised my
close-up shots.Lucky for me, the weather was good enough to yield some bugs as my main subjects.Right now, I am still struggling to get a decent focus and exposure with higher magnification
shots and at the same time, improvise my close-up flash diffusion techniques.It became clear to me that if you have a narrow focusing band, the only way to get things in
perspective is a pair of steady hands and the eye for details.With insects, this is a challenge. Nevertheless, there's still plenty of room for improvements and with time as a factor, all is
not lost.

Incompetence

A funny thing happened while I was making my way to the men's room.I bumped into one of the former desk man who got transferred to an on-line portal a coupla
months ago.He said: "Eh, you guys covered that sinkhole story right? Did the reporter get her story
through the phone?"I told him that she did exactly what was told and managed to string up the event that led to
the incident that happened on a Wednesday evening at Jalan University."Aiyah! You guys missed so many things lah! Bernama had the story in full," he exclaimed.What he didn't know was the fact that Bernama carried a follow-up based on the story which
was published.And to rub salt to the wound, this was the same guy who gave me a hard time when KL was
hit by a series of tremor.Ironically, he also worked in the country's oldest daily and actually carried on his old habits to
the present place where is employed.Known for being incompetent, the guy was finally thrown to a section where there are very
few workers.I guess that the best way to deal with such a character is to completely ignore him.