I am late in posting this post in conjunction with Tiger Blogfest 2010 which is schedule to be on 19-23 April 2010 as I was too busy with my jobs, but for myself, helping these marvelous animals should be done all the time. This is the reason that I still publish this post although it is late.

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family and the largest of the four “big cats” in the genus Panthera. This magnificent cat can grow up to 3.3 metres or 11 ft in total length and can weigh up to 300 kilograms or 660 pounds. . (Extracted from www.wikipedia.org).

Sadly, this magnificent cat is facing extinction from the face of the Earth. Non-stop killing in the early date for its’ skins for decoration has dwindle the population of this cat. Although efforts are made around the world to save the tiger, but continuance human ignorance, such as illegal hunting and forestation have become another threat to the continued existence of the cat. Nowadays, children are still able to see the tiger in zoo or in protected area supported by local governments. If we, human beings or so called homo sapiens, continue to be ignorance, the future generation will only be able to see the tiger on the television screen, of which the video was taken ages ago, or from the printout. Let us come together to stop illegal hunting and uncontrolled forestation. “When the buying stops, the killings stops”, this phrase is definitely true as when there is no demand, there won’t be any supply and it will help to stop illegal hunting of this magnificent cat.

Therefore, I would like to share with all my friends here some photos which I had taken of this magnificent cat at Lok Kawi Zoo in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah back in June 2009. Hopefully after seeing this magnificent cat, you can also help by contributing some efforts in keeping this animal on the face of the earth.

Photos were taken with Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-300mm VR


The Tiger taking shelter under the shadow from the heat.


Hidden Tiger behind the bush, the distinguish eye still in sight.


The Tiger with it's specific icon at the back.


The distinguish stare of the Tiger.

In addition to it, I would like to share this short and meaningful video from World Wide Fund for Nature ("WWF"). Through this short video, you will be able to know what is the population of this Tiger left in this world.


In conjuction with:

Found this photo while I filter through my external hard-disk storage. It was taken in year 2009 at Tanjung Aru Beach. I still remember that that day I am aiming for another sunset shot but the weather doesn't show a good sign of a nice sunset. So my friends and I decided to take a walk around the beach area and came across a bunch of breakdancers practising. At first, I was just standing there watching them practising and when I turned to the beach, I saw a silhouette of a person walking in between the sun and me. Pulling my thought together, I decided to ask three of the breakdancers to perform a hand-stand for me in front of the sun. I was carrying my newly bought Nikon D3S with Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 for the sunset but this combination allow me another chance to take this photo, which I named it "Silhouette Breakdancers In Action". This photo was post-processed to clone out the person standing at the beach and no other post-processing was made to it.


17mm, f/8, 1/800sec., ISO-100

Looking forward for another chance to capture more of breakdancers action.

High ISO testing

Nikon D3S + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G

This testing was done when I was on my way home and I came over a bush fire, so I decided to put my new Nikon D3S to it's high ISO testing. Although it isn't a very good field testing as I forgot to switch off the High ISO Noice Reduction, but it turns up we can experience that how effective the High ISO Noice Reduction helps in eliminating the noise while the ISO-12,800 was used to take this photo.


70mm, ISO-12,800, High ISO NR On, 1/80 sec., f/2.8, Auto WB
(No photoshop editing was made to the photo above)

From the photo above, no noise is clearly visible even on the dark or black area, where normally noise will first appers.


Cropped image from the above photo

From the cropped image, as above, only very slight noise can be noticed on the bright and dark/black area. From this, we can see that the high ISO of Nikon D3S still produces very promising picture quality. Nikon D3S is really famous with it's high ISO capability and it is why it is worth to be invested.

I got my Nikon D3S in February 2010 and doesn't really have time to study and test that DSLR camera in detail as I was busy right after I got it. Everything turns better after I moved to another job and finally, have the time to really bring the D3S and test it. Also, I am lucky that my friend, Samuel Choy bought the new Nikkor 70-200mm VRII and have the chance to borrow his lens to use it together with the Nikon D3S. Here are some of the test shot which I hope will help others to understand the real power of Nikon and will aid those who are interested to invest in any of the equipment that I have tested.

A look of Nikon DSLR D3S

Image extracted from www.nikon.com.my. Photo courtesy of Nikon.

The first I wish to share is the combination of Nikon D3S with the combination of 70-200mm VRII. You may noticed that I am using ISO-1600, which is too high for an outdoor shoot. The reason is that I was doing a indoor shooting which is fairly dark and when we noticed this Komodo Dragon, I rushed over to the spot to take the pictures and I was using Manual mode. Unnoticed by myself, I just adjusted the shutter speed for a correct exposure and snap the shot. Only till I got back home, I noticed the ISO reaches 1600. Anywhere, it still can test the sharpness of the new Nikkor 70-200mm VRII and also the image processing of Nikon D3S.


Nikon D3S + Nikkor 70-200mm VRII @ 200mm, F/2.8, ISO-1600, 1/2500sec., EV+0.7


Cropped from the above image

Only contrast level were slightly adjusted on the above pictures, no other photoshop technique were done.

Although a 100% cropped was made to the original photo, the details of the Komodo Dragon still stay intact. With the enhancement of Nano crystal coating on the new Nikkor 70-200 VRII, it really helps in capturing all the details of subject. So, there is no worry for a photographer to stand far away and took a photo of the subject and crop the photo as sometimes due to certain limitations, we are unable to approach the subject in a near distance. With the introduction of this new Nikkor lens, it certainly enhances the capability of the photographer to take nicer pictures.

It cannot be denied that the new Nikkor 70-200mm VRII has a slightly reduction in the focal length compare with the old Nikkor 70-200mm VR, but the sharpness given by the new Nikkor 70-200mm VRII is definitely surpass the reduction in focal length. With only a slight increase in the price compare with the old Nikkor 70-200mm VR, this lens is definitly one lens worth to invest.

Heaven Light

Mother Nature always has it's own beauty and it changes every seconds pass by. When a scenery pass by, it is impossible to get another 100% similar scenery again and this is the very reason that I like landscape photography. Heaven Light is one of the scenery that I have been wishing to take and finally, I've found the chance and able to capture the Heaven Light on the way to Kellybays, Tuaran for a one day workshop. I would like to take this opportunity to share here.



The Heaven Light and The Mount Kinabalu



Close-up view of the Heaven Light

Mei Hui & Vincent

Have a photo session with two of my friends, who happens to be couple. Both are very friendly and lovely to be working with.