Photography

Ping was at a photography workshop this Saturday. Ping learned her photography skills from dad, starting with the super huge manual Canon that we had a long long time ago. When Ping got her first digicam (Canon S410), Ping knew some of the stuff that you need to adjust like the ISO, exposure and of course, flash/no flash options. Ping never took the time to figure out the new features that come with digicam.

At the course, Ping learned about white balance and the effects function. Took a photo of the Red Cedar River on the walk back to Ping's car using the vivid effect. The one on the left is taken with no effect while the one on the right is taken with the vivid effect. On such a cloudy day, Ping always have trouble capturing the right contrast between the green leaves and the blue of the water. The vivid effect sure does a really good job with it.

The other thing that Ping learned from the workshop is the white balance. The indoor lighting in US are typically yellow light. Sometimes it makes the subject unnatural. Ping typically use flash to offset the yellow lighting but sometimes the flash is way too bright, especially if taking a subject at close distance. There is one function that can be selected to reduce the yellow lighting. This is the white balance function. The photo on the left was taken with auto function while the one on the right is taken with the fluorescent function. The fluorescent function is like adding a fluorescent light to the subject. Looks better right??

After the 'lecture' part, we went out to take some photos in the botany greenhouse. That was the first time Ping went into the greenhouse. They have quite a lot of stuff with various theme. Ping's favorite is the tropical theme - reminds Ping of home!! Caught quite a few interesting stuff...

A Monkey cup! Ahboy, remember the one we found at Tasik Kenyir?

Banana!! Not one of Ping's favorite fruit though...unless it is pisang goreng from the roadside vendor on the way up to Batu Feringghi!!!

Morning glory @ Bunga seri pagi (牽牛花). It reminds Ping of bunga telang. Wonder if they use the morning glory to make the blue seri kaya kuih or not.

Carnivorous pitcher plant. （食蟲植物）Haven't been seeing this as often in M'sia. Might have to go deep into the tropical forest to see it. Definitely not in areas like Penang National Park since we didn't see any while we were there.