Tag: travel photography

History Of Travel Pics

History Of Travel Pics.

A new tray of slides are loaded to MyCen Hotels. Since the last update, I have added cities with hotels at discounts such as Hat Yai, Macau, Manila and Yangon to Deals Finder.at http://www.mycen.my/hotel-deals-finder/

A Little History:

Slide film were cut up and mounted in plastic or cardboard mounts. They were then loaded intro a carousel tray to project onto a screen at home. Before the advent of video, it was a popular way of screening a corporate AV show with soundtrack and synchronized slide changing with multiple projectors. One slide gets jammed and the entire show goes haywire.

Screening of slides was popular with travelers in the West. The travelers will arrange all the slides and invite friends and neighbors to view a show in the form of a travelogue. Poor selection and repetitive subjects left audience bored and in tears. A such people used to fear neighbours going for a holiday. Today, social media takes over the role of the loathed slide projector.

To be honest, I hate it when SOME people go on a vacation too. Why would I want to look at your passport cover or a boarding pass? Or a parked airplane on the tarmac? Assholes, get a freaking life or partner to talk to and wait for the plane to land at your destination. It gets worse. The first thing such people do is not to look for a cab. They look for a place to rent a portable wi-fi modem to torture their Fb or IG followers.

The same idiots will bombard you with a selfie or wefie every 3 second, probably without taking in the sights. Ask yourself this? Why would I like to look at the toilet bowl in your hoteI or endless lattes at cafes? I want to gain insights and knowledge about a landmark or new city. Sadly, a few decades later, travel pics are more boring than the dreaded slide shows.

Transparency film can be the types that used E6 processing or Kodachrome which included processing in Australia. They were not very popular locally as they were more expensive. And what humans will wait 2 weeks to see the results?

Veteran photographers friends such as Cy Leow, Rian Maelzer and Lee Hong Leng will remember the good old days. Lee will. He operated a E6 processing lab in Jalan Alor.

#slide #e6 #film #mycenhotels

Going Home For Raya

I started on this journey on Federal Route 1 on March 29. I have since covered Rawang, Serendah, Ulu Yam, Rasa, Kuala Kubu, Kerling, Kalumpang, Hulu Bernam, Tanjung Malim, Behrang, Slim River and many tiny places in between.

To tell the story, I visited quaint little towns, rustic villages and wandered through dusty roads and jungle trails. Camped in tents, stayed at dodgy ‘rumah tumpangan’ (lodging houses) but also at comfy hotels, chalets and motels. Met friendly and warm people from all walks of life.

In between, I have also traveled back to my home base in KL several times to replenish and to attend to paying work. Where possible, I try to continue again the next day. Quite tiring but it kept the sense of adventure and exploration fresh in my mind.

I’m going to take a short break to visit the Ramadan bazaars in KL that I love, break fast with friends and make way for the many cars in the upcoming exodus. Will continue with the road trip where I left off after the Hari Raya holidays.

Another reason I need the break is that I must make my new website catch up with the daily pics. Before I can finish adding some of the missing older ones, I ended up acquiring even more new pics and stories to manage.

Nevertheless, the website gives it the much needed interface of systematic sorting, categorization and tagging of subjects befitting an epic travelogue. And unlike Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, topics are easily searchable and there are related links in every article or post.

Look out for more unique images and stories of awesome people, nature, animals, food and places on the route after the break. We’ve only just begun.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/320 sec.

Sungai Bil Waterfalls

The calming sight and soothing sounds of the river belie the ferocious battles that was fought beside it during the Second World War. The road outside was littered with casualties from the British Indian Army attempting to thwart the invasion.

It was on this road that invading Japanese tanks rumbled through in its drive to capture Singapore in the south. This was the old road going north or south until the tolled-Slim River highway was constructed in the 1960s.

74 years later, the actions of the brave men are mostly forgotten or ignored. The river that bore witness remains as stoic as the giant, mossy boulders.

The stoical stance lessens the pain of indignation, I guess. Its banks are now littered with styrofoam boxes from disregardful picnickers.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 50, f22, 1/2 sec.

Ulu Slim Hot Springs

Just when I arrived at this secluded hot springs, a damn tour group came charging in. These package or group tours are getting out of control.

The tourists are herded everywhere. Before they can enjoy the steam, the tour bus driver was already sounding the horn. What’s the hurry? Next stop; Moo Cow Frozen Yogurt or what?

I wanted to take a dip but that tour leader or tour guide in the middle wasn’t too friendly. What’s with staring in this area, anyway?

The hot springs at Ulu Slim is nice in that it wasn’t turned into an ugly cemented pond or worst, proclaimed as a spa, as with many other exploitable hot springs in the country. I like that it remains a (free) natural pond within an idyllic country setting.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/250 sec.

Laundry Day In Slim River

When I saw this house from across the road, I knew the dark planks will play tricks on the camera’s exposure reading. It will overexpose the picture if there is no manual intervention.

Photography Tip: Make your brain an important part of the exposure metering process with street photography. I anticipated a -1 EV compensation. I was already rolling the EV compensation dial before bringing the camera to eye level.

This is where the high-resolution WYSIWYG electronic viewfinder of the Sony A7R (or any good mirrorless camera) is superior to an optical viewfinder.

You can fine tune the exposure (and white balance) precisely without bracketing, firing several shots or chimping by the roadside.

Judging via the viewfinder alone, I dialed it further down to -1.7 EV. The pre-estimation saved time as the road where I walked was narrow, the traffic busy and therefore dangerous. I must get it right with one take and as quickly as possible.

On the road and without a calibrated monitor, I don’t like to mess around with RAW. As such, it is important the JPEG is spot on and ready for upload from location, without further adjustments.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f9, 1/250 sec.