5 Things to Know If You Have a DSLR (and consider yourself a photographer)

this post is meant for people new to SLRs and people who share the same opinion about 'photographers'. i have written quite a few entries before about my annoyance toward wannabe photographers. but each and every one of them was left unpublished. i hate posting negative posts.

i know people have heard of this before, but i just wanna say it: 'owning an SLR (digital or not) does not make you a photographer'

ok enough with the negativity. i am starting to feel like an elitist jerk who thinks that i am better than everyone.. which i am not, not entirely. maybe just a little but i prefer to deny it. just to be clear, i like photography, mostly about the design aspect of it. so i don't care much about the tech and the proper use of lenses etc. as far as i'm concerned, even someone with a compact camera can snap awesome pics. i am only a hobbyist.

if you just bought an SLR, or planning to, or maybe have it but still feels a little weird (or perhaps shy to use it in public) when using it, i suggest practice and understand what all these mean :

1 - the correct way to hold an SLR
once i saw this malay drama on tv and her character is supposed to be a photographer or something. then picked up her dSLR, and held the camera like a n00b. tsk tsk tsk

2 - learn the SLR basic functions
ISO, aperture, shutter speed, light meter, and the most important of all (and also the easiest way to identify wannabe photographers).. focus. i think focus is the most important because a blurred picture is a complete FAIL. if photography is a language, then focus would be the proper grammar.

3 - learn the photography basics
composition (balance, rule of third, point of interest, negative and positive space, depth of field), lighting (using flash, not using flash, reflectors, natural light), colours (colour temperature, white balance, understanding the colour wheel helps a lot too), and bracketing.

4 - read tips, look at inspirations, practice, practice and practice.
i am sure a lot of SLR owners are already doing this. to be good at it (or everything else anyway), a lot of practice is needed. if you're using dSLR, make sure you have a lot of disk space and keep all the photos.. but by all means delete all the out-of-focus and ugly-as-shit ones. if you are using film, keep the negatives in a safe place. and tips, although it does not sound important when you have been taking pictures for years, are always a good thing. i still read photography tips before i go somewhere to travel. it's like a revision and sometimes, you come across simple tips that you never heard of.

5 - learn the advanced techniques
ok this part is not really important, but will help you improve. but start this only when you have mastered the basics and have done these things :
- sunrise and sunset photography (with silhouette)
- light trails
- panning and zooming effects
- multiple exposure
- marco photography

when you have done these successfully, most likely you have enough experience in photography. so move on to the more advanced things like:
- panorama (and vertical panorama)
- extreme macro
- HDR
- tilt shift photography

i think tutorials and examples of any of these techniques i mentioned are easily found on the net. lots to read right? yes, but it is a lot of fun too. just don't do everything at the same time.


omg this has become a long post. no matter. if you have read it i hope, in any way, it has been beneficial and not too much of a waste of time. again.. i'm no photographer. so all this are things i know about photography from reading, uni, internet, mags, and friends.. and blogs too.

and owh.. there's lots more photography techniques out there too. obviously.

^_^

tentang Vintage Ads Malaysia

what makes an advertisement effective is that people will still remember it after even 10 years. and i hope we remember it because of the good things not the bad.

so i spent some time (and my limited download limit) to look for the ads that i remember and hoping that someone somehow did upload the vid on youtube or anywhere of equivalent. the first few titles were easy to find.. proves that the advertisement is indeed memorable and successful. the last few were unfortunately not available but i'll list it anyway.

so here's the ads that i remember most
counting down to my most favourite vintage malaysian advertisement (that i can find online):-

5 - Fernleaf

4 - KFC - 'Thats Where I Want to Be'

3 - Maggi

2 - Axion

1 - Trojan

it was a little hard to chose between the Axion ad and the Trojan ad but i decided that i love the Trojan ad better and i remember the words better than Axion's.

the ads that i tried to look for online but did not manage to find it are :
i) Follow Me talcum ad
the one where this guy was in his room (VO 'ku merindui mu') and his girlfriend came over to his house,rang the doorbell *dingdong* and his mum answered the door and says something like 'something.. something dah datang' can't remember the names. do u remember that one?

ii) KFC - Lets Go to The Zoo
yes that song. Lets go to the zoo, there's lots of things to do........ i think that's what is says.

iii) Malaysia Airlines ad
i don't remember when and any VO of it. neither the song. the only thing i remember vaguely is this massive futuristic looking plane (or a mothership? floating island?) the shape of MAS logo. it that a real advertisement or just a fraction of my imagination? i don't know




anyway, a quick thanks to those people who uploaded these wonderful ads. especially the person or people behind the channel 'abangcantik' (*facepalm). i am very grateful of all the vintage ads you uploaded

^^

My Top 5 Treat List

behold.. my longest post so far!

Self-Reward
rewarding myself for a personal achievement used mean buying gadgets and computer stuff.. which are normally expensive. i think the last one was the PSP that which is now modded, upgraded and partially hacked.. i still use very frequently.

now that i am married, the rewards for myself come more frequently but cost less money.. like buying ice cream or a simple candy bar, whereas the rewards for my wife and myself as a couple are more expensive but less frequent like trips and vacations. this year we've been to places around Australia^^.


Part 1 - The Treat List ^^
however, just for the fun of it, i'll list mine. no harm in fantasizing abt awesome over-the-top stuff rite?

#1 : All Day IMAX Extravaganza.
4 titles out of all my fav movies isn't too hard to choose from. i'll choose one animated film to watch in the morning. at noon probably a local (malaysian) movie. after that i think i'll watch an action thriller and maybe a romantic movie at night. if i'm gonna spend a day watching all these movies, at IMAX cinema.. i'd insist my wife to come with. no way i'd do all this alone. thats epic sad!


#2 : A Photography Trip!
i'm no photographer but i studied art&design and photography was one of my major subjects. i has been a while since i went out for a photography assignment. so if i have a chance, i'd like to go to a clean tropical island with lots of colourful trees so i can enjoy staying there and generally snap away. again.. no fun going on a holiday without my wife rite?

#3 : Getaway in the City
the idea is to minimize travel time but go on a vacation anyway. so i always imagine this (told my wife about it so many times but never managed to properly pull it off).. stay at a very cool hotel, nearby. if i live in KL.. maybe spending a weekend at Palace of the Golden Horses and just stay there. enjoy the room and services. lepak at the pool. and yeah just escape from the city (right outside there is a roundabout that is pure madness).

#4 : Ultimate Computer Station (featuring the Dell Inspiron 13)
basically the build will have at least 8 gigs of ram, one (or two if it is possibble :P) of those Core i7 Intel processors, +watercooling system, a top notch RadeonHD series graphics card, dual monitor display.


but wait.. i can have a bulky desktop or.. i can treat myself with the very stylish and not too geeky Dell Inspiron 13 instead. the spec is almost as high.. but with a lot more stuff! wifi, bluetooth, LAN, card reader, all those little-things-u-need-to-buy-seperately-when-u-build-a-desktop stuff.. u name it! it is the epic blogger equipment for blogging on the go. if a bloggers' block is a huge badass dragon all bloggers fear, the Inspiron is the epic weapon with +1000HP, +100% ATT and +250% DPS to help slay the dragon.

i particularly got my eye on the Obsidian Black model...*drools*

now all i need is an epic table. the roccaforte gaming desk to be exact! awesome!!! and of course i might need a good air-condition for the gaming room.

and finally..
#5 : A Week in Disneyland!
i've always heard abt how awesome Disneyland is. i dont know if it's true but i would wanna do that once in this lifetime.

i love cartoons and at 27 i still enjoy watching cartoons. even my line of work that i chose is cartoon related. i hope one day i can produce my own cartoon that i can really claim to play a huge part of.

but anyway, imagine spending a week in disneyland. it is gonna be fun; surrounded with disney's famous movies & animated characters, educational (for me), awesome rides, taking pictures, 'lepak'ing and relaxing at the hotel, playing the games there. OMG it's like most of the previous fantasy treat in one single trip.


i hope i don't ever wake up from this dream. T_T


Part 2 - The Why
nuffnangers probably realize that this is part of nuffnang's contest. and the prize is a Dell Inspiron 13 (x3). how awesome is that? for bloggers not with nuffnang and tempted with the prize.. why not join up?^^

if i win the Inspiron i wanna do all sort of stuff with it. the usual la daily blogging etc etc i dont have to list the obvious. but as always i like to customise a little bit only. so i'd find a way to make it look like this :

then if people see me blogging at some kopitiam they'll come over and say hello lah ^^ (or most probably just ignore me and think im creepy).

if anyone asks i would proudly say i did all the graphics on my Dell Inspiron 13.. a present from Nuffnang ^^. hopefully by then i'd be a bit more famous blogger than right now. no not a celebrity but just a cool kusut blogger


owh.. BTW. FREE RM100 coupon for ALL blog readers^^. not from me.. it's from Dell.

coupon* code 7ZQVQF2RLZRKW3, RM100 Instant Cash Redemption on Inspiron 13 Laptop (S510701MY)
(coupon expires 10th Nov 2009)

5 Useful Photoshop Skills for Bloggers

bloggers normally have some sort of photo editing software installed on their pc. well if they dont, they should.. really. because posting photos on blogs is awesome and makes the blog look a lot less boring. and quit stealing other people's bandwidth and upload your own lah!

these are the basic Adobe Photoshop knowledge that, in my opinion, is extremely useful for bloggers. and please excuse me but i still use PhotoshopCS (the first cs not the latest version)

Skill #1 - Cropping
depends on what you want to use the picture for, cropping is a good way to reframe your pic. if u're uploading a profile picture/avatar, it is always good to crop out the access details and focus more on the subject.. your pretty/handsome face.



How..
- click on the Crop icon
- click and drag to select the area you wish to keep
- double-click to finish cropping.

Tips..
holding down 'Shift' while selecting the area will keep the selection stay as a box (not rectangle). perfect to make avatar that requires box image (example. 125x125)


Skill #2 - Colour Balance
especially scanned images, the images look blueish or (especially old photos) will look yellowish.



How..
- find the Image>Adjustments>Color Balance... or press 'Ctrl+B'. (could be different in CS4 but i dont have CS4 so i dont know. sorry :P)
- now if the photo is yellowish, drag the slider away from Yellow towards Blue. play around with other colours till u're satisfied with the colour.


Tips..
everytime we treat a photo, it is extremely easy to get carried away and ended up a very fake photo instead of a beautiful photo. the trick is to do only subtle treatments and remember, less is more.


Skill #3 - Brightness/Contrast and Levels



How..
to adjust Brightness/Contrast..
- find Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast...
- play around with the two sliders to get your preferred look and feel.

to adjust Levels
- find Image>Adjustments>Levels.. or just press 'Ctrl+L'.
- adjusting levels is a lot like brightness/contrast. it makes the image bolder and crispier.. if done right, it'll make your image better.

Tips..
always remember which part that is black must remain black (not grey) and the details in brighter areas must still be there when u brighten it up.


Skill #4 - Adding Your Watermark
one of the easiest thing to do.. but need a combination of skills to make it look good.



How..
- select the Type Tool (the one to add text) and click on the image,
- type in your watermark (your URL for example).
- press 'Ctrl+Enter' when done..
- edit your text via the Character Palette.

Tips..
fonts play a huge role in making a good looking watermark. find free fonts online.. and find something thats clean and clear. IMO never use Comic Sans :P. resizing the text with 'Ctrl+T' and drag the selection box would make things easier. and use the change the layer Blending to Overlay or Soft Light or whatever you think looks best.


Skill #5 - Save for Web, Resizing
when you upload an image, you're uploading images for a monitor display.. not printing purposes. so images that is 1024x768 is already considered huge. larger images will only allow other people to download your image and use it as prints, edit it, whatever.. most of the times without your consent.



How..
to Save for Web..
- go to File>Save for Web..
- a Save for Web Window will appear. your image will be displayed and above that image are tabs Original, Optimized, 2-Up, 4-Up. click on Optimized.
- select file type in the Presets drop down menu and select JPEG High (if you want pretty, better quality image) or JPEG Medium (if you dont really need the details).

to Resize
- find the Image Size tab or the right side
- type in the desired image size. i would always limit the longer length to 1024px. normally images around 600px-ish is sufficient.
- click Apply when done.

now click on the 'Save' button to finish saving for web. located somewhere on the top-right area of the window.

Tips..
always use this to save pictured that you want to upload. it will speed up the loading time of the page. and help you avoid losing readers just because your page loads too slowly or just not 'download efficient'.


Extra Tips..
now, every time after you are done editing your image, always ask yourself these questions -
'did i go too far?'.
'does it look RTM-ish?' (RTM = malaysian tv1 and tv2. no offence to those stations.. ur content have improved but ur designs are still not so 2000-ish)

have fun ^^

5 Reasons Why I Will Not Visit Your Blog Again

my take on this issue.. top 5 list of things not to do on your blog. the view of a guy blogger who tries to visit as many blog a day, as quickly as i can, with least downloads possibble.


#5
Animation Overload
by animations.. i mean moving images (gifs, flash ads, autoplay flash videos, etc). if only there is a button to freeze-frame all the animations. it is annoying when u're trying to have a light read but all this things are moving on the page. worse.. some blogs took the time to make sure ALL images on the blog is animated. even their signature have twinkling stars!!!


#4
Great Wall of Texts
i'm no book worm.. and when i read, i'll probably read word by word. i dont like missing some parts and assume what happens on those parts that i skip. so wall of texts will take too much of my time and i kinda find it inefficient to spend too much time reading something thats unimportant to me.


#3
Ads Takeover
everytime i visit a blog with too much ads, i'll wonder what the blogger really is trying to do. if the answer is blogging.. then make it look like a blog and not like the classifieds page of a newspaper. if u wanna sell stuf.. go be a salesperson. i believe good blogs have a good balance of ads and content.

note: exception for those blogs that sell stuff.


#2
Autoplay Annoyance
mainly.. music. but sometimes videos autoplay too. i know i can pause it.. but it will still buffer/load. it is such a big offence to me that the moment i realize theres other audio playing on my computer, i'll instantly click that 'X' button. if i remember which blog it was.. i'll remember not to visit it again. if i dont, that means that that blog was uninteresting AND annoying. grats!


#1
Massive Image Uploaders
worst offender.. even for a photography blog. please resize the pic.. by doing that, the filesize is decreased making the blog's loading time faster. uploading a huge pic only allows cheap, bad intentioned people to copy the images, print it out and make money out of it without u knowing it.


some things that people normally view as 'bad ethics' in blogging that doesn't bother me much include :
- camwhoring (i find it entertaining :P)
- dark (or loud) background colours/images
- last update is 12 months ago
- boring blog titles
- grainy/blurry image posts