Araluen Botanic Park - Perth - 4th October 2010

Finally have the time to upload these pics. The only place I love when it comes to flowers is Araluen Botanic Park, Perth. This time I was lucky to have been there in Spring. Just loved the tulips and roses! Here are some pics I'd like to share:

Applying Graduated Filter with Adobe Lightroom

Alright, here's a hint to get rid of the over-exposed areas on your landscape pictures. This often happen to me when I'm taking cloudy pictures. See the example below (A random picture I took during the drift battle at Barbagello Raceway):

Cloud area over-exposed

Why did my picture turned out like this? Well, basically it is because I wanted things on the ground to look bright enough. In order to do that however, I will have to sacrifice the brightness of the clouds. There was no way for me to control the brightness of the clouds and then create a well-balanced overall picture, unless if i had a graduated filter with me.

So how do I fix this? Not a problem at all. Firstly, I had to make sure that I set the file format to RAW before taking this picture. Why RAW? RAW files are undeveloped pictures unlike JPEGs. Using the right software, you'll have absolute control over the raw files. This means that you'll get to make all the necessary adjustments to make well-balanced pictures with raw files. Ever since I've started using RAW files, I've never turned back to JPEG formats unless I'm very confident that I'll get good compositions.

Now, the simplest steps to fix this picture.
1. Transfer the RAW file into your computer.
2. Open up Adobe Lightroom 3.
3. Import the RAW file into Lightroom.
4. Click on the Develop tab (Figure - Highlighted in orange) to start editing the RAW file.
5. Then click on the Graduated Filter icon (Figure - Highlighted in red).
6. Use your mouse cursor to drag a point on your picture from top to bottom. You'll see the graduated filter coming in (The three lines on the left of the Figure below).
7. Finally, make necessary adjustments (Figure - Highlighted in blue) until you are satisfied with the overall results.
8. If you wish to make adjustments on the overall picture, click on the Graduated Filter icon again to see more controls.

Figure: Adding Graduated Filter in Adobe Lightroom

After less than 3 minutes of adjustments. This is what I get:

Final result.

Have fun!

Drift Battle (Round 1) - 10th October 2010

General Info
Date: 10/10/2010
Location: Barbagallo Raceway, Wanneroo, Western Australia.
Event: Drift Battle - Round 1

Speechless... It took approximately one hour to arrive at the raceway. Despite that, it was absolutely an awesome experience given the chance to spectate a real drift event in Perth... I have to say though, that it was a bad day for the event as it was raining on and off causing it difficult for some drivers to perform well. And the track? It doesn't have many challenging corners for drifters, and kinda big for a drift battle. In order to get good shots, I had to move from one place to another. Tiring! I moved in between two spots only, which were near to the shades in case the rain comes in again. So yeah. Worse part of the event? No chicks! Very disappointing. Oh well, here are some of the nice shots...

Category A Finalists (Second from the left is a lady driver)

Probably the best shot of the day =)

One of the best moments!

KEA Construction team. 1 male 1 female.

Smoked!

Ooooh, the pride... AE86 rules.

A very competent driver trying his best to get enough points.

Alex's car that was modified by KYP (SR20 inside)

Ford Laser TX3 (FOR SALE)

Location:
- Perth, Western Australia.

General Info:
- Two doors
- White Color
- B8 Turbo engine (1.8cc)
- Sound system included

Car condition:
- Well-maintained

Price: N/A
- Please call 0422577605 (Jimmy) for more info and best price
- Serious buyer ONLY

Some photos (click an image for larger view)...

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Just love the design of this building. I created this HDR image by taking 3 photos, each with different exposures. -1.0EV, 0EV, and +1.0EV. You can do this on cameras that include the bracketing feature. But make sure your hands are steady while taking these pictures. I would normally use burst mode and turn on my vibration reduction (VR) on my D90. The software I used? Nik HDR Efex. Thanks to Jasni for recommending the software.


Photo Description:
Location - Not sure, but I think it's along Hay Street, Perth City.
Building - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). CBA was established in 1911.
Time and date taken - 1804 hrs, 02/Oct/2010.

Comparison of digital cameras: Nikon D90 vs Lumix DMC-FZ18

Submitted an assignment which was due 1st October 2010, yesterday. After the submission, I felt bored and needed something to help me relax after all the hard work and sleepless nights. So I've decided to take some pictures, but what? After awhile, I recalled taking a low quality of the city using the Lumix DMC-FZ18. Now that I have the Nikon D90, it's time to see whether there are significant differences between the two. These two pictures were taken from South Perth Esplanade, Perth WA.

Perth City and Swan River view from South Perth Esplanade.
Date - 01/10/2010
Time - 1849 hrs
Camera - Nikon D90
Aperture - F/7.1
Shutter Speed - 2.5 seconds

Perth City and Swan River view from South Perth Esplanade.

Date - 14/06/2010
Time - 0555 hrs
Camera - Lumix DMC-FZ18
Aperture - F/5
Shutter Speed - 5.0 seconds

Notice the differences? Just look at the aperture size and shutter speed settings on the Nikon D90 and compared them with the ones on the Lumix DMC-FZ18. Then compare them based on clarity and the amount of highlights (over-exposures). After this comparison, I realised that the quality of a digital picture DOES depend on the quality of a camera in terms of image sensor size, processor, lens type, etc (technical specifications). Need I explain further? Do some research, and test different types of cameras if possible. You don't have to own one to test. Take it as part of a selection process before you purchase a camera for yourself. I chose the Nikon D90 because of what it has to offer me in increasing my photographic skills. And do remember that sometimes we do need to enhance (edit) digital photos once in a while to make them look perfect (attractive, white balancing, composition, bla bla bla), or almost perfect. Professional photographers would normally take a picture once and that's it, it is perfect! They seldom use photo editing software to enhance their pictures unless they have to. As for me, a beginner and still learning, I often use Photoshop to balance up my pictures. When I tend to be lazy, I would just process my RAW (NEF for Nikon) files and stop doing anything further. Oh well, time for bed. Till next time, g'night and have fun taking photos!

Is the MacBook/MacBookPro/iMac suitable for everyone?

Sadly, the answer is NO. Wanna argue? Bring it on! But first, let me finish before throwing negative comments at me…

So many people have been complaining, "Apple's products are so expensive!!! Why?! I want a MacBook!" and for some, "I want a MacBook Pro!"

Now, let's see whether the above complaint on price is reasonable. Consider the time and effort Apple's employees spent to make high quality products. Two obvious factors prioritised by Apple in satisfying their customers are: durability and usability. Why durability? Apple aims at making products that can last long in the competitive market. Why usability? Well, wouldn't you want to have a computer which is powerful and yet very easy to use?

That's not all! Consider the quality of materials Apple uses for their products. Previous and latest Intel-based MacBook Pro series were designed to handle every single task in computing (well, at least that's Apple's vision). Well, how is this possible? Engineers at Apple Inc. always aim at getting the best hardware suitable for their products. Take for example, one would ask, "what is the best graphic card that we can install on this MacBook Pro model? Can it satisfy most of the changing requirements in software advancement in the long-run?". Hence, the engineers will begin to analyse which is the best graphic card that is suitable for that particular MacBook Pro model. They will also analyse other hardware requirements, bearing in mind that every hardware element must be high in quality, durable, and compatible with a wide-range of software.

Previously, only MAC OS platforms can run on Apple computers. Thanks to Intel microchips, users can run many different operating systems on Apple's Intel-based computers. Some examples: MS Windows Operating Systems and Linux. The "BootCamp" feature makes it easy to switch from one operating system to another. It gets even better, just use a virtual machine software (such as VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop) and there is no need to restart the system, thus saving time.

Figure: Running MAC OS X and Windows XP at the same time using VMware Fusion.

So…! again, why are MacBook Pro laptops expensive? Because they were designed to meet Apple's vision in quality standards. Some even say that Apple products are only for VIPs. Well, not really. The prices on Apple products are still reasonable because of their compact designs, performances and features. Therefore, they are actually "affordable" products. Don't just judge a product whether it is affordable or not because of its price. Instead think about whether or not it's worth paying for a product's quality :)

Compare these two cars: A Nissan Skyline GT-R35 and a Lamborghini Murciélago. Which one do you think is more expensive? And why is that?

Don't ever, EVER complain that Apple's MacBook Pros are expensive in your country (compared to their prices in the U.S.). Don't forget about these things: tariff and delivery costs.

OKAY, let's get back to the topic. Before you plan on getting a MacBook Pro or any particular Apple computer/laptop, ask yourself this, "Is this product suitable for me?". There are few things to consider before purchasing an expensive Apple computer/laptop for no reason(s). It all depends on what do you really want to do with the computer. If you are a programming engineer, you'll be able to work on any platform. So using a Mac shouldn't be a problem for you.

If you intend to use a computer only for chatting, social networking, and internet surfing, then there's no need to get a Mac computer. If you are a professional photographer or movie editor (or both), then get an iMac or a high-end MacBook Pro laptop. For a non-Apple computer, you could still use Microsoft Windows for multimedia projects, but most of the multimedia tools developed for MS Windows are not easy to use compared to the ones designed for MAC OS. Don't trust me? Try it yourself.

Lastly, is MAC OS really the right operating system for you? The number one reason why majority of customers buy MS Windows operating systems is because they want to avoid compatibility issues. Not many are involved in programming MAC OS. Even in IT courses, students are still being taught to program in MS Windows environment. Apart from that, many applications were programmed to suit MS Windows systems. For this reason, many software companies try their best to develop applications for both MAC OS and MS Windows OSs. However, not all of them are compatible in MAC OS due to the lack of professionals to program the language. For some companies, they specialised in creating software for MAC OS only. Still, not all of them are free because not everyone knows how to program in the unique language, due to the fact that majority of programmers were trained to develop software for MS Windows systems.

So think about it… the MAC OS is not really that suitable for everyone after all, particularly among those who require to work using applications that are designed to work on MS Windows platforms. It is not wrong getting a MacBook Pro, but what's the point of getting it if you know that you are not going to utilise every single feature of the MAC OS and discover its full potential? Besides that, MacBook Pro and other Mac computers were designed to maximise the performance of MAC OS, whereas for other operating systems, it all depends on the availability of drivers and whether or not these drivers can maximise the full potential of the hardware elements. For example, the wireless signal on a Mac computer is higher when running in MAC OS compared to MS Windows (when running in an isolated environment without the use of a virtual machine). Even though there are virtual machines out there developed to enable MS Windows to run in MAC OS, the performance of the MS Windows will be decreased due to shared use of hardware resources.

Final conclusion(s)! Think of what you want to do in computing before buying a computer/laptop. Don't buy a MacBook Pro (MBP) just because it's one of the best laptops in the marketplace. Instead, get the MBP if you are determined enough that you can carry out most of your tasks using the applications and features in the MAC Operating System. Also, it would be important to continuously find ways to yield the full potential of your Intel-based MacBook(MB)/MBP/iMac e.g. using Windows/Linux/GoogleChromeOS on your Mac, sharing information between MAC OS and Windows in a networked environment, remote assistance from Windows to MAC OS etc. Remember, do not spend your money on something for nothing, especially when it comes to IT technology. Do provide comments (negative/positive or both). Cheerio!!!

Copyright acknowledgment note:
Apple and its products (MAC OS, MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac) are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Google Chrome OS is a registered trademark of Google.
Lamborghini is a registered trademark of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.
Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Microsoft and Microsoft Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Nissan is a registered trademark of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
VMware and VMware Fusion are registered trademarks of VMware, Inc.
Parallels is a registered trademark of Parallels Holdings Ltd.
Any other names used may be trademarks of their respective owners, which I fully respect.

Beginner...

So here I am, an outdated guy, trying out what's so interesting about blogging.

Oh well, I have nothing much to say right now. So lets start by introducing myself aye?

The name is Nicholas. Birth date? 17th June 1982. Yes, I'm a Gemini. "Two headed snake!" That's what they always call me. Birth place? Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia. Moved to Puchong (Selangor) in 2002.

What's my occupation? Well, I'm still a student, sadly. Pursuing Master of Science in IT currently@Murdoch University, Perth WA. Couldn't get a part-time job because all the slots were unavailable. I'll try again after the finals for this semester. I hate this course! All I get to do is research... research... and, well you know what's next. And friends always tell me that, "Nick, you'll miss this when you get a full-time job in the future!" And I'd go, "Oh REALLY?!"

Most of the time, I would sit in front of my laptop, being busy-body on the number one social networking site: Facebook. No, I don't do mySpace or Twitter. Other than that, I play FB games such as Farmville, Petville, Mafia Wars etc etc etc. I do love PC games, too. Especially the NFS series. Apart from all these activities for kids, I also like taking pictures of all kinds (except those involving blood and porno stuff ewww).

Well, that's all for now. I'm not sure what else to "blog" about. The reason I start this thing? I'll post stuff about my life, activities etc... but also topics related to my studies. In case I need some help or comments from you folks aye. Alright then, better get back to my assignments! Toodle-loo!