Pulau Ketam and Lenses

As promised, I'll now present you my photo journey with Ah Fong and Cheahwey to Pulau Ketam a.k.a Crab Island. But, instead of story you the entire trip I've decided to share some important points that came to me during and after the trip instead. You can find pictures from the trip over my flickr pages as well as Cheahwey's.

I didn't bring a tele lens last time around to Melaka and it worked, because the 17-50 was all I needed. The only thing i missed was a wider lens because the sky was so nice. So for this trip, I've decided again to leave the tele at home and carry only the superwide Tokina and the 17-50, in the hope that this gives me some focus on making it work with what I have in hand (also minus the extra weight).

The first thing when I set foot on the island was how heck I should've brought the longer one. Pulau Ketam is a small place, with packed houses, lots of people, and most obviously, enough bicycles to build a cycling academy. This is the best place for street photography because there is just so much life, but I just wasn't adventurous enough to aim the locals with a slab of glass. Don't get me wrong either, I'm not saying a tele would make the job easier from far. I wish I had the tele because I see good subjects not on street level, but in the sky, the sea, and horizons. These are hard for the general zooms and the wide to pick.

Speaking of the wide angle, there are several good subjects to take. Wide angle shots work best when there is a distinction of distance between near and far. Its not for getting everything in because its going to make subjects tiny and put a lot of blank space in front and above. Maybe I've over relied on my 17-50 for most of the shots. I felt the shots I took from the general zoom was pretty snapshots and nothing more, and I wasn't trying smart on the 12-24. Of course, I missed the tele because this could take me to the boats and ships, the birds, and other stuff not within my physical reach.

I like to go near to my subjects and exploit their shapes and distances, or else I isolate them using depth of field. So I felt a bit dissapointed of myself having to resort to the safety of the 17-50 most of the time in this trip. Nevertheless, it was fun to go out and snap.

Anyone has idea for the next location?

Pack Pack Pack

After months of work, I'm getting ready to go back to my hometown. With that comes a dauntingly simple task: packing. I always felt that I got a million tonnes of stuff I need to bring, but experience tells me that most of them are redundant. For instance, the last time I packed a dozen pieces of clothes and I only wore half of it. So, its wasted space and more importantly, additional useless weight.

 

I'd usually carry no more than two bags; a backpack and a luggage, and if possible always have one hand free. The fact that I have a lappie and camera with full accessories to bring along doesn't make things easier. Last time around, I lugged my camera backpack and had to squeeze the laptop into the luggage with the clothes. This time though, I got a beltpack for the photographic equipment and now leaves me with a couple of choices.

 

So now I'm left with two choices. One, I carry my lappie backpack and try to stuff the wearables into it (which I've done it before) or two, I take the backpack plus another rolling luggage which takes significant load off my shoulders but I have to lug the roller along. Damn, how I wish I had a car and carry the entire room with me, just like what The Girlfriend is up to now. Nope, don't even ask, she lives in Johor and I'm 600km away from her hometown.

Ah, back to pack...