The story of “Teaching dslr basic? never thought I’ll be doing this”

2009 November 12

Assalamualaikum all. Today is a wonderful day, I won for the second time the Oscar for best 50second presentation during our BNI United chapter meeting. I was in a slump for several weeks. Im asking for the wrong referrals (or sometimes the way I ask is not good). So I decided to buck up & fight for the oscar. Armed with an accomplice (tq sister Ann!) and 3 pictures of the Greg+Daphne wedding, I deliver the presentation with confidence. TQ United for the warm applause. Now I should stop before my nose gets too big…hahaha

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Back to the story…

In September I organized a mini class for basic dslr. 6 people attended. I held it at the studio. 2 hours of theory & abit on the practical. But the shooting element was missing…to learn to shoot, we must go out and explore new possibilities. So 2 weeks ago, I organized another class. 2 people attended. I wanted a small audience so that I can concentrate on the teaching. In other words Its a kind of experiment.

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The location is a nice lake garden in Shah Alam, not many people (just a lot of mosquitoes since that morning it was drizzling)

I touch on…
- different features on different model of dslr (pro, amateur, beginner models)
- P, S, A, M mode
- Shutter & Aperture concept
- Metering
- Take perfect exposure using all of the above
- Basic composition
- Lens differentiation, quality & usage

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Man uses a D90 with a 50mm lens

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While Basyirah uses a D40+kit lens 18-55mm

After 1 1/2 hours of getting the settings right, we do some landscape & portrait works

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Different ways of shooting a portrait using 50mm lens

And these are pics I took while I let them explore the area…

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I’ll be organizing more class starting in January. Watch this space. Its gonna be fun and affordable!

The story of “16 years after”

2009 November 8

Assalamualaikum all. Sorry for the 2 weeks hiatus from writing in the blog. A lot happened. Busyness is taking over. Today is my editing day, relaxing and watching the movie Che part 1 on my lappie.

3 days ago I got a call from an old classmate. So old I didnt even remember him. Fitri wants to organize a reunion of the batch 4 boys of SRI Hira’ of Batu Belah Klang. I spend 5 years from standard 2 – 6 at the school. Form 1 till 5 I was in SM SSAAS near my house in Section 2 Shah Alam.

Our standard 6 class consist of around 20 students. All boys. If I can remember they are….. Iqbal (ketua kelas), fadhlisham (class bully…hahaha), Falah (golden voice), Khidir, Hanif (A Hafiz & a doctor), Suhaib (petronas engineer), Firdaus, Fitri, Zainor (Awie look alike), Amru, Behtash (Class joker, cohort of Fadhlisham), Nik Azmi (newspaper supplier for the class), Umar Faruq, Zaid Zakaria, Zaid Sahak (my best friend, class artist), Wan Abdul Rahman, Ruzaimi, Saiful Bahri (Siam boy), Asyraff (my nemesis back then), Ahmad Khalil. Shahar & Asri left us after standard 5.

I love school. Sometimes the studying is boring, but the friends, school activities (martial arts, camping, trips, stage performance – I was one of the school singer :) ) keeps me glued.

These boys are a real gem. We talked about things we do at school, fadhlisham remembers everything…including the time we all kena denda, playing war games in the nearby woods, description of each n everyone of us…good times indeed.

I choose Kedai Kopi 2 at the Shah Alam Lake because of it’s quiet atmosphere, unlike a mamak. We also enjoyed the Piala Malaysia Final & the Man City vs Burnley match until around midnight.

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Falah towkay Kopi Janda n lembu kambing calling up the lost guys

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Shahar, sama2 diploma di UiTM dulu

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Zainor rahman. Awie look alike..rambut tak pernah pendek masa sekolah

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Khidhir & Fitri

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Suhaib

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The story of “Belum-Temengor Photo Expedition”

2009 October 25

Assalamualaikum all. Today is my birthday and I’m here with my friends at Belum Rainforest Resort on the last day of the Photography Expedition @ Belum – Temenggor. Around 34 of us photographers (mainly from Photoskool forum members) and 3 models spend the whole day shooting yesterday.

MK Land was the main sponsor and they support everything from the transportation, Boat ride, guider, food, accomodation & prizes. Institut Darul Ridzuan were also involved.

The main objective is to collect pictures of the flora & fauna offered by Royal Belum Rainforest. We are to submit 3 best photos from these categories namely: Flora, Fauna, Landscape, Resort & Poster. Special jury awards are also given. Here are some of my best pics…. (btw full set are found at my flickr page HERE.

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The resort

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First place winner, Resort category…special birthday present!

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Summer fields

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Upside down Ladybug

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Spot the monkey

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Bored during the long boat ride, I shoot the water droplets by the boat side

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This bloodsucker sucked my blood for about an hour…so fat already..hahaha

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Pet monkey of the orang asli

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Beautiful smile

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Beautiful laugh

Our poster designs….we did it in around 6 hours…sleep at 3.40am yesterday :)

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Receiving my prize from Tan Sri Datuk Mustapha Kamal, Big Boss of Kumpulan Emkay / MK Land

A big shoutout to all my team members Alidahlan, Ajak, Ray & Yus.

Congrats to other winners especially big winner Setiawan (2 wins) & Jidin (3 wins)

The Story of “Greg & Daphne”

2009 October 21

Assalamualaikum all.

After all the necessary editing works (in addition to other matters that I need to settle), here are the first part of photos from Greg & Daphne’s Wedding. From Sri Petaling to the PJ State Church.

I didn’t plan on writing much coz the pictures tells a thousand words. Full set of pics are HERE.

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Beautiful Dress

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And the smiling bride

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As well as nails done by her sister

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Daphne’s parents put on her veil

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While she waits for her husband to arrive

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Lily, Macy & Amecia had a great time

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Greg’s arrival, and the ensuing torture session

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The family before going to the church

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The Story of “Good, bad & ugly”

2009 October 15
by amrufm

Assalamualaikum all.

I am a human being. I experience ups & downs in life. The past week its more of bad, bad, bad, ugly, ugly & a sprinkle of goodness in it. But I know myself, I always see the good side of it. I will overcome the bad & ugly patch in life and comeback a stronger man.

Viva!

Ugly thing – My phone swims in the Janda Baik river……so now it is being kept under ICU at Kedai Handphone….maybe next week I can get it back (kena repair..huhuhu). All my sms, 800+ numbers & appointments are inside…..double huhuhuhu

Bad thing – I did an obstacle course on Saturday without stretching, then sakit2 badan for 3 days…ouch!

Bad thing – After getting back from shooting+teambuilding event my motor battery kong…..hv to repair

Ugly thing – Also I develop symptoms of dengue fever, quickly rush to clinic & get my medicine. Eat every 1 hour, drink lots of water and rest at home. Luckily it was a normal high fever…but still money goes out…triple huhuhu

Enough of all the doom and gloom. I’m sure you don’t wanna read all those in my blog rite?

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Well I’m proud to say that I’ve tackled my first Chinese wedding. Preparations + church ceremony on Saturday, wedding dinner + slide show presentation on Sunday. The bride+groom+bridesmaid loved it! That really makes my day. Even though my right leg feels like its gonna falls off during the dinner (cramps). Thanks Fariz for being such an understanding partner throughout the event. Years of working together helps too!

The pictures are still in Lightroom. I’ve sorted half (shot nearly 2000 pics). I’ll show them later.

The video is here …….

Disclaimer: The pre-wed in the beginning is not mine ok!

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Another good thing is the Tri-Chapter teambuilding event last weekend (10-11 October).
Held at Camp ABC in Janda Baik. A mere 40 mins drive from KL through MRR2, Gombak, Karak & Genting Sempah. The air is cool, water is fresh, serene & calming to anyone who wishes to getaway from the city.

BNI United, Synergy & Rainmaker are the 3 chapters who took part. And more than 100 members participates with United the biggest contingent (around 40 members).

Me & fariz arrived after Greg & Daphne’s church wedding. We missed the morning quiz but I was quickly roped in for the speed obstacle course. My group (the green group) gets 2nd place.

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Fariz’ team the red team

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Ice Breaking session

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Improvement Session with coach Murphy. Very stimulating & inspiring!

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These guys were almost sleeping few seconds before I shoot this..hahaha

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United chapter contingent with our new pose!

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That’s me after successfully completing a question of “Win, Lose or Draw”. Our team gets 2nd place, losing out due to an extra points round…we were jointly leading before that round….

Our green team shows incredible team spirit & never say die attittude. Amongs the members are Eddie, Dawn, Alan Ng, Freda, Alfred, Donald, Alan, Kevin & others

The event that really boost our marks were the penultimate “Miss BNI”

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Our Eddie were transformed into Edie, An “Ah Kua” from Hatyai. With her great boobs & great looks, exceptionally well engrish, she captured the hearts of the judges!…hahahaha

Even though I’ve got more great pics & videos that’s never gonna be here on the internet..kekeke

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The United gang again….must do sign already..

- Datuk Adnan is the operator of Camp ABC. He is also one of our chapter member
- Food is superb. 6 times a day. you’ll be fat in no time :)
- Even staying in tent is comfortable. The toilet, surau, hall, dining etc are clean, well maintained & spacious

More pics HERE

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And last but not least…the Nikon D3s is here…

D3s

Drool….

Same as D3 but ISO from 200-12,800!

Video somemore….huhuhuhuhuhu

Previews at Dpreview.comHERE

I’m just waiting for second hand D700 or D3 going around cheap hehehehe :)
No need to be an equipment slave