Cemoro Lawang at First Light

We were up on a hill called King Kong hill way before sunrise. We got there around 4:15 am and hiked to the viewpoint area. It took me about 15 minutes to bring my gear, pick a spot, and set up shop. It looked disappointing at first. But as the sun rose and got higher over the hill, the fog lifted and we got to enjoy some amazing views. Limited to Giclée print and only for 50 copies. Introductory price is only for the first 25 prints. First come, first serve. Size: 30" x 60" (762 mm x 1524 mm).

Jakarta from the East

Jakarta is not all big and tall buildings. The commercial areas are surrounded by residential zones, with no transitional area in between them. Limited to only 50 lustre black and white prints. Introductory price is only for the first 25 copies. First come, first serve. Size: 30"x 120" (762 mm x 3048 mm).

Rain Drops Falling

Day 129: I just got done with worship practice and was figuring out what to shoot. It was late, I was sitting in the car on the parking lot, and was not happy with the shots I got for the day. I figured I should revisit the rain drops on a windshield idea, but with a twist. I purposely made the picture out of focus and took bracketed shots of three. I made an HDR photo from the three shots, but chose the middle shot to post. I will make a canvas print of this one.

The Sun Is Coming

I took an overnight trip to Bandung with my sister and her husband. We hiked up to the top of this big hill before sunrise. The view of Bandung and Lembang was amazing from up there. This is the view of Lembang before the sun came up behind the hilly horizon. I used a flashlight to paint the grass on the foreground. I thought it would look better than just a silhouette of grass blades. Beyond the grass is a good 100 foot drop off. I was inches a way from the edge of the cliff.

It's Worth the Cold

I just got a new filter kit and decided to use it for the first time. It was a 2-stop soft graduated natural density filter by LEE Filters. The photo was taken on top of a look-out tower at the visitor center during the Christmas season. It was cold and windy evening and the sun was just setting.

Sunset at Port of Saumlaki

The group I was traveling with graciously enough to let me scout for a good location to make sunset photos. We got here on day 3. So, I didn't want to waist their time further and disappoint them. That is also my motivation to make decent photo out of the opportunity. I did take some photos on previous locations, but it didn't turn out great. Ironically, I didn't bring the tripod a long. It was a long day. Started with chasing the sunrise, walked around the village, the hike after lunch, and eventually the sunset. We closed the day with a birthday party. Oh, parties don't start until after 8 or 9 pm there.

Christmas Tulip

Blowing Snow

Day 23: We did not expect any snow today, but the wind gust picked up and blew the fresh fallen snow, from yesterday, around. Another inch of snow predicted overnight. I live in the winter wonderland a.k.a the frozen chosen. Happy Valentine's Day.

Family Gathering

Stripes

Day 5: A view I saw at work.

Cold But Beautiful Sunrise

Day 25: On my way to work this morning, just about to get in to the car, lots of thoughts ran through my mind: a college friend passed away, first MBA class this evening, life in general, etc. I was thinking to wait and to take some shots after I got to work. I am glad I did not. Sometimes I don't understand faith: On one side, I am wondering why is it so hard to stay in this country, it takes a lot of effort and money. On the other hand, I see this beautiful sunrise and I believe that the sun is coming. I could not see the sun, but I saw the light and I know it's there. Farewell Tommy. Rest in peace.

Sanford Hospital

Day 29: Sanford tone mapped. Another result of Photomatix, but this time with 3 bracketed shots: +1, 0, -1 stops. Hand held. I was at the hospital to visit friend's, Jere and Marcy, newborn baby boy. A handsome little one. Of course, I took some pictures of him, but I reserved them for the parents. I do print my own photos for friends and family. Reminds of this verse: Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:1-3 I should count my blessings, instead of my misfortune. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Light Diffraction

Day 160: Went out to eat supper and saw this light. The picture turned almost exactly to my visualization before I made the shots. My inspiration was Nippon flag. The only thing that I wish I can do better is the blurriness. It was dark and I had to pump the ISO to 1600; still was not enough. I could use a faster shutter speed. I received the I-20 form (foreign student paper) from USF. I am ready to finalize the appointment with the U.S embassy in Jakarta to apply for a student (F1) visa; I am flying out in a week.

Fly Away

Day 249: Another great weather today. The sun was shinning, no clouds, and barely any wind at all. My sister and the kids just got home and told me that there was a hot air balloon flying above the house. I was a little hesitant since I took some pictures of a hot air balloon flew by the house about a week back, but I eventually went outside anyway. To introduce a different twist, I used a different lens for this one and put the CPF (circular polarizing filter) on. I took several shots with various compositions, focus points, and apertures. I like this one the best. Let me know what do you think. The leaves are on the foreground. I was shooting through branches of leaves.

Traveling Jayme

Day 34: Jayme will go to Cameroon for two years as part of her mission to do God's work in Africa. She were there about one year and a half a go for three months. I admire her courage answering God's call, willing to take the big step, and being away from family for a long period of time.

Club Scene

Day 88: Started my day earlier than usual. I took part of an advertisement video shooting crew that will run starting the second half of May for the whole state. It was a new experience for me. I'd never been in a commercial shoot ever, either still or motion and learned a lot. I brought my camera with me and took a few behind the scene photos. I took the photos between takes, since some of the scene were shot with audio. I did not want to waste a take because my shutter release got recorded in the audio track. It was a fun learning experience to go through. Thank you very much, Doug.

Please Don't Leave

Day 145: I babysat for a friend of mine. I took this picture as the parents were just about to drive out of the driveway. We ended up had a great time: played with the neighbor and being outside. The boy and his sister ate supper, played, and went to bed on time. No kids were harmed in the making of this photo.

Maple Tree in Motion

Day 277: This picture is of the same tree from yesterday's, but with different weather condition. The wind gust was really bad today, so my thought was to capture the motion of the tree swaying blown by the wind. Initially, I used the 50 mm at @ f22 and ISO 100; the shutter speed was still at about 1/30 seconds. It produced a photo of a blurry tree; it looked like an out of focus picture. I changed the lens to 18 - 200 mm at @ f22 and ISO 100 and had the circular polarizer on. It slowed down the shutter speed further, although not enough to create an image similar to what I had in my head. Finally, I played around with the zoom effect: basically pull in or out the zoom level while taking the picture. I done this before but without using a tripod and I don't really like the result. I like the result this time. Maybe it is too much; I should try the technique again at faster shutter speed.

The Milky Way from Lauran

We happened to have a power outage on several evenings in Lauran. During the early outage, I took the camera and the tripod out since I could see a hint of the Milky Way while we were on our walk home, while the power was still up. I found out that I could see the Milky Way much better while setting up the camera. It was quite cloudy and windy, so some clouds was obscuring the scene. It took several tries. I finally got the shot and it was from 6 foot (2 meters) in front of the house we were staying. It was one of many beautiful moments we had during our stay.

Don't Go Too Far

I don't usually stop on the side of the road and take photos randomly. But today is a good day to break that habit, I guess. I was on my way home to call it the day and had been contemplating to make a photo, since it has been a few weeks since I published my last photo. I took a deep breath, made the turn, and parked the car. Life has been going fast lately; work has been busy and tons of things to do. It doesn't take much to find something beautiful. I don't have to go too far; just need to slow down and look around more. I'm glad I stopped and took a moment.M

Flying Machine From the Past