Hey guys, decided to start my gallery here for lowyat.net forumers to view. Comments and criticism for all pictures is encouraged as i'm still very much an amateur and would like to learn from you all here.

My inventory list is as follows:

Body:
Canon 350D

Lenses:
Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 II
Canon EF-S 10-22mm + lens hood
Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS

Accessories:
Battery Grip BG-E3
Speedlite 430EX + Stofen Omnibounce
Hoya 77mm Cir-Polariser
Manfrotto 190D/141RC
2 X 1GB Sandisk Ultra 2
Lowepro EX 160

Software:
Adobe Photoshop CS2
Adobe Bridge

This post has been edited by De_Cruelz: Apr 30 2006, 10:30 AM

Following pics were taken at the Sydney fish market. They were all taken handheld with a 17-85IS on a slightly overcast day. Pics here are all a first hand experience at processing B&W.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5

ohhhh...moving on to new hobby iz it???

Hi Tunn, i've been into photography for quite awhile already but it was only last year that I managed to save enough money to purchase a DSLR

Sydney's star attraction - Harbour Bridge and Opera House



Entrance to Luna Park



This post has been edited by De_Cruelz: Oct 25 2005, 04:22 PM

A cold and foggy winter morning



A dead branch during sunset



This post has been edited by De_Cruelz: Oct 25 2005, 04:29 PM

nice harbour pic!

yo dude.. long time no see

nice pics

Hehe yes, been awhile

Thanks for the comment KVReninem and babyelf

[quote=De_Cruelz,Oct 25 2005, 04:26 PM]
A cold and foggy winter morning



i like this most... got warm feel from the sun light.. nice pic guys..

great pictures! love the dead branch

Thanks smelly! That dead branch pic happens to be the first picture I printed at the labs. Got one printed at 8" X 12"

gee..the one with the flowers and tree trunks...isn't it just stunning???
dude..how did you manage to get an effect like the flower??u arrange it in such way and then shoot it??

Thanks earthkid

The flower one is actually a bouquet of flowers taken from the top angle. The lighting was just right so only most of the top part was properly exposed. I also cheated a little by using Photoshop to burn out the other parts as I found it quite distracting from the picture.

nice shots,De_Cruelz

personally,i like #5,Harbour Bridge, and "foggy winter morning",dun know how's the "feel" in colour?

Why not try pics taken with ur 10-22mm?Or u save the best for last?

This post has been edited by myqd: Oct 27 2005, 10:40 AM

Thanks myqd! Glad you enjoyed the pics

The foggy winter morning pic looks almost b&w although taken with color. It lacked the impact so I converted it to b&w and I was really surprised how much it improved.

Now I find that I hardly take pics with the 10-22 as it is often too wide for city or walk about use. Most of the time I have my 17-85 on due to its more usable range. The Harbour Bridge and Luna Park pics were taken with the 10-22 though

Here's one taken with the 10-22 at Watson's Bay overlooking the Sydney CBD. You can see the Harbour Bridge from here

damn!your pics are speechless!Another fellow's gallery that i did not notice until now.I went over Sydney last and it was superb!Nice place for photography:) Btw,got any pic of QVB?You are loaded with ammos and add ons la:P

Hey mate! Thanks for the kind comment I've been a member for quite awhile but never really hung out at this part of the forum until recently I stumbled upon it. I posted mainly in OC United back then but have stopped spending on computer parts. I think you can guess where the rest of my earnings have gone to recently

Haven't really taken any pics in the city as everytime i'm there i'm either partying or watching a movie. Too lazy to carry around the equipment especially when the crowd can be quite rowdy during the weekends. Never thought of taking pics of QVB but I guess I will soon! Thanks for the suggestion

Anyway here's one more pic taken awhile back when I was testing the 10-22 with a Cir-Pol

did u adjust hue and saturation?your colours look very vibrant:)

very nice pics man , especially those taken with the 10-22

Yeap, played a little with contrast and saturation to get that vibrant blue. I also used a polarizer to gain more contrast in the sky

Thanks neoro_blitz! Unfortunately, I find it quite hard to use the 10-22 at times because its simply too wide. A lot of unwanted stuff is seen in the capture too

Wow... I simply love the sky!!! It is awesome!

Great Job De_Cruelz!

Hey guys, got some new pics up today!

Been a long hard week for me with 3 assignments due in 2 days and only 5 hours of sleep for 3 days. I felt like I needed a break and so we went up to Hawkesbury where the Scheyville Reserve Park is in Sydney. Got up at 5 am in hopes to get some nice warm sun light but unfortunately it turned out to be the worst day to go out for shooting.

The weather was gloomy and there was a light to moderate drizzle during the whole trip. Naturally the shots I got today were all somewhat boring and mundane due to bad lighting. Here's a few i've processed and I might post a few more later if I think they're good enough. Somehow the colored shots turned out very differently from the original RAW file I took. Anyone got any good workflow tips for processing from RAW to JPG whilst maintaining color integrity?

Anyway as mentioned above, it was a bad day for shooting but I tried salvaging whatever I had and hope you guys will enjoy them

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6

Here are somemore I just got to process. I was experimenting with different post processing and I was quite happy with the final products. They weren't processed like I normally do for bright sunny pics so I decided to overdo the contrast and saturation for some of these

#7


#8


#9


#10 - I think this is my favourite picture from the whole trip

wah!top notch quality.I really love your last nd your favourite pic.Good job dude.

Fantastic Equipment!

Awesome pics mate. Keep up with the good work!

Thanks D_Y2k.4^ and torped91!

I was quite dissapointed when I arrived at the park as it way totally deserted and looked very runned down. We were the only people there for a good 3-4km radius. For some reason I think the park isn't visited very often and there's nothing really to see there too. I guess you will need a guide to really bring you around.

Thanks again for looking guys. You make the trip worth it

I experimented with #10 and processed the background to be B&W. Now I can't really decide which I like better



What do you guys think?

All shots here taken with the 50mm f1.8 They were taken awhile back but I didn't have the gallery here so I never posted them. Anyway, here they are and hope you guys enjoy them

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10

#10 is nice man!

Nice composition...

But background blur not pretty. It is not your fault... Just get a EF50 f1.4 and see the complete background upgrade!

Some prefer to buy the Ziess / Leica 50mm, which I can hardly understand... but I think the Canon EF50 f1.4 is pretty good. Not to mention still enjoy its ultrasonic autofocusing motor.

I think it might be my fault. The amount and shape of the bokeh depends on the settings too sometimes. I'm not so sure bout this but I think in different lighting conditions you get different effects of bokeh too.

All the shots here were taken within 20 minutes before the sun set for the day. I was pretty much in a rush to try out the new lens as I just got it before I took those photos

What can I say except W.O.W !

Pictures that move my soul..great shots....

*sighs*...when can i ever get to this level of expertise?

Thanks ??!!

Practice, practice, practice It doesn't take much to get good shots. Patience, good lighting and proper technique is all required

-applause-

love no 8. the two white furry balls.. lol

-salute-

Great stuffs De_Cruelz! I love Sydney! I only spent 3 days there but I really like the place! But when you're on holiday, there's not much time to explore the town and take so many shots. Not to mention that I was using a film camera then.

Looking forward to seeing more shots from you. BTW, I think there's not so much difference in image quality between the 350D and 20D. After looking at your shots, I'm inclined to save the difference and get the 350D with a L-series. Thanks for sharing your images dude!

Thanks for the kind comments Julianne! #8 also happens to be one of my favourite pics

Thanks RAV4! I'd like to take more pics but its exam season now for me

Hopefully i'll get to go around and take more photos before I fly back to KL for the semester break.

At one point I also felt like replacing the 350D with a 20D instead. After giving it some thought I felt that it wasn't worth it as they are very similar except for the bigger buffer and extra AF points. One other thing is the lesser noise in higher ISO's but they don't really apply to me. I then decided that it would be wiser to stick with the 350D and purchase say a 70-200 f2.8 instead

Glad you enjoyed the pics!

EDIT: I actually got quite a few more pics taken at Hawkesbury but I didn't post them as I felt they weren't good enough. Maybe if I have some time i'll post process them and post it up here

This post has been edited by De_Cruelz: Nov 10 2005, 06:20 PM

Here's a pic I just snapped this evening during sunset from my balcony. Nothing really fantastic bout this picture but what I found fascinating was that mass of clouds in the center of the picture. Looks like a tornado doesn't it?

Wow Wow.....fantastic. Nice pics... This is the work of pro....
And he has show us the power of DSLR again.....

This post has been edited by wufei: Nov 11 2005, 09:37 AM

Thanks for the comments wufei. And no, i'm not a pro although i'd very much like to be

A DSLR does gives us the extra advantage and control over the quality of the pictures.

Nice pictures in your gallery btw! I think you would make very good use of a DSLR and macro lens in your hands

Well well, i'm supposed to be studying for my upcoming uni exams but I got bored. It's a really hot day today and my brain decided not to function so I went for a walk with my camera just outside my apartment.

There's nothing really interesting but here are 2 pics I took while I was out

Here's the first pic. No idea what flower is that



And here's where I took it. Converted it to B&W to make it more interesting. Contrast was increased intentionally to make the whites blow out.

OMG ... and you call yourself Amateur .....

:S

I am starting to appreciate the power of DSLR liau ....

I believe I still am very much an amateur. When I can sell photographs which are in the $300-400 range then i'll call myself a PRO

Hey guys! Haven't been visiting or taking pics at all lately due to exams I still have 1 tomorrow morning and another on Friday then i'm done!

Anyway, there were some thunderstorms in Sydney and I managed to get some pics. It hasn't been raining with lightning at all for months so this is quite a rare occurance for us Sydney folks. I should be studying for tomorrow's exam but I couldn't resist taking a few shots.

This is my first time ever at taking lightning shots so be nice










This post has been edited by De_Cruelz: Nov 22 2005, 09:27 PM

Good shot and good timing
Btw, how you managed to get the lighting shot ? long exposure or ??

those are really nice one

Hehe thanks guys! Some shots were taken at f/4 4-5 secs exposure. I experimented a little with longer exposures like 10 secs with f/8 to f/10.

The better ones are with shorter exposures so the quick blast of lightning is captured nicely without it being overexposed

tele ?

How lucky was u! haha ... I thnk the tricks is something like shooting fireworks

I used my 10-22 for those shots . It's hard to provide a scale but those lightning bolts were really bright and spreads out pretty big.

Yea, I think the method is somewhat similar to taking fireworks. I haven't tried yet but i'm guessing fireworks are best shot at 2-3 secs max exposure to get enough detail in the fireworks itself and not too much streaks of light?

I thnk so, too long exposure might not capture the shape of fire tails properly..
Not sure, not try b4....

You try n let me knw nex time..haha

Yeay, exams are finally over and i'm flying back home tomorrow!

Went to Port Stephens a couple of days ago with a few friends. Port Stephens is famous for dolphin and whale watching for those who have not heard of this place. We did see quite a number of dolphins but it was a gloomy day with heavy rain and strong winds during the dolphin watching at sea. Ofcourse, I didn't wanna get my camera wet so there aren't any good shots of the dolphins

Anyway, here are some shots I took when I was on dry land Hope you guys enjoy these

Hey bro!congratualtions on your examination completion!:D Lovely add ons yo!The clouds have given the beach a very refreshing character

I like this one. the blue sky with clouds really show some depth. is amazing..

Wow... you are many great shots! But I simply love your lighting pictures... Really great timing and great location!

Thanks for the comments guys, glad you like those pics. Most of them were taken with a Cir-Polarizer hence the nice blue skies and clouds that really stand out.

Weather in Sydney was really weird for the past few days. We had unusually lots of thunderstorms and dark gloomy skies. Maybe the end of the world is coming?

All nice pics~

Hey all, i'm back with more pics. I've been sick for the first few days since I arrived in Singapore. Must be my weak stomach that couldn't take the hawker food.

I visited the Orchid Garden here in Singapore before I got sick but only got to process most of the shots recently. All shots were taken with the 17-85 IS. Some of them may not be as sharp as i'd like them to be as the lighting condition wasn't the easiest to work with without a tripod. All of them were taken handheld and some even as slow as 1/2 sec exposure

Here are some of the shots I took while I was there

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10

#11


#12


#13


#14


#15


#16


#17


#18


#19


#20

#21: This has got to be my favourite!


Thanks for looking guys, hope you all enjoyed them!

Hey De_Cruelz, welcome back! You're Singaporean?

BTW, those lightning shots were great! I've always wanted to take some of those but our local lightning won't be so consistent to allow any such opportunity.

Port Stephen shots were nice too! Used 10-22 huh? Oh, how do you rate the 17-85 against the 28-135? My friend wanna get an IS lens so I'm helping by checking on user experience. I personally prefer 2.8 lenses. Thanks!

Hey RAV4, nope i'm not Singaporean. I'm a true blue Malaysian

My family moved to Singapore due to my dad's work. So I flew back from Australia to Singapore first then we'll drive back to KL. Can't wait to get some authentic Malaysian food and ofcourse mamak time!!! hehe

Personally I think the 17-85 IS is a very sharp lens. I can't compare with the 28-135 IS because I have never used one but I did had the same problem deciding which to go with while deciding which IS lens to purchase.

17-85 IS has the newer IS technology and allows IIRC 1 or 2 stops lower compared to the 28-135 IS. I also wanted the 17-85 due to its wider range and the fact that it was to replace the stock 18-55 lens. I have it on practically 70% of the time and use it for daily use.

I guess before your friend decides, it is best to see what other lenses he has and what kind of photography he is interested in. If it is gonna be a replacement lens for the stock, i'd say go for the 17-85. You will find yourself in many positions where you wished you had a wider lens

Cool! Drop me a note if u have time to meet up. My office is near a famous Hainanese restaurant. Chicken chop is really good with local coffee and finish off with french toast with home made kaya. Crap... I think I'll have that for lunch!

Thanks for all the info! I think he's gonna replace the kit lens coz he was asking if can get body only. Hmm... 17mm does work out to 28, which is just nice. OK, I'll advice him to go 17 then. Thanks bro!

That sounds like a good idea mate! Where is your office btw?

Yeap, 17-85 is a nice useable range and also covers the range of the kit lens which I find just perfect for my use. I have yet to hear anyone regret getting the 17-85 as a replacement for the kit lens. Plus, the IS really works too!

I'm near Dang Wangi/KL Tower/Maju Junction. And I had exactly what was mentioned above for lunch!

Hey all! First i'd like to say Happy Chinese New Year to all LowYat.net members!

May you all have a prosperous and eventful year ahead of you.

Anyway, i've just returned back to my pad in Sydney. Had a good long holiday back in Malaysia with family and friends. Took almost 20-25GB of pictures during my trips. It's gonna take a long time for me to process them all but i'll start with a few here.

Went to Sekinchan with a few buddies after seeing that PhotoMalaysia fellas had organized a trip there earlier. Too bad I didn't get to join them so I went with my friends instead. Here's a few of them that i've processed.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


Hope you guys enjoyed looking. Comments and criticism much appreciated

Been a couple of days since I posted these pics. No comments or criticism at all?

omgggggggggggggg damn nice picsssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

http://www.justin-oh.com/sekinchan/Sekinchan003.jpg

http://www.justin-oh.com/sekinchan/Sekinchan008.jpg

http://www.justin-oh.com/sekinchan/Sekinchan007.jpg

These above three really captured the mood man, you gotta lemme have them files big size ones.

Thanks for the comments smashpOp and udangstar! Sorry but unfortunately I can't give you the original ones. You're more than welcome to use the ones I posted here though.

Thanks again for looking!

de_cruelz gotta say the number 7 pic is very nice keep up the good work

Thanks for dropping by and commenting ammar

Hey, Happy CNY man!

I like 2 & 7. The wide angle feel is cool.

*Oh, forgot you have the 10-22mm! It's a really awesome lens. Need careful use with contrasty lighting so well taken here.

This post has been edited by RAV4: Feb 6 2006, 01:52 PM

Hey RAV4! Thanks for dropping by! Have been real busy with uni summer course and other hobbies(aquascaping) that I haven't been visiting this forum for awhile. Now that exams are over i'm free!

Hopefully i'll be able to upload the other pics I took during my trip back to KL and Bangkok. There's a couple of hundred more for me to review and process!

hi. personally i think the pics taken are abit too saturated. or izzit my monitor problem ?

i like pic #7 above, though i feel it's abit underexposed. or izzit my monitor again.

jz my 2 cents.

by the way all the pictures are originally taken from the camera or are they post processed by photoshop ? coz the colors come out abit too saturated for my liking abit "unreal".

no offence. jz my opinion from an amateur.

This post has been edited by shadow_dweller: Feb 21 2006, 12:35 AM

Hey shadow_dweller, thanks for dropping by!

All of the pictures posted here have been processed in Photoshop. Ofcourse, processing is done to enhance the initial capture to a level where I am happy with the final product. My monitor isn't calibrated too so i'm not sure if that's the cause.

No offence taken at all mate! I for one always prefer honest criticism rather than praise therefore making me a better photographer Thanks for commenting!

Hey guys, summer holiday is about to end here in Sydney. Had a good long holiday back in KL and now its time to hit the books again

I thought it would be a good idea to take some pics now before uni starts to pick up again. Here are 2 shots taken at La Perouse here in Sydney.

2 Fisherman waiting for the day's catch



Such a beautiful end to a long day



And last but not least, a stitch of 2 images of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House

Oh man!!! I need to find myself a 10-22 quick!!! The 1st and 3rd shot is AWESOME! I guess #1 was cropped to create the panoramic view? Hey, at 10mm, there should be quite some amount of distortion at the edge. Corrected using PS?

Keep it up dude, you're taking great shots!

http://www.justin-oh.com/unsorted/_MG_8589.jpg

ouw ouw ouw, bright bright sunlight
ouw..

Speechless....

All the pix were very beautiful. De_Cruelz, ur da man

Gotto learn some from ur pix...

Hehe RAV4, I must say that the 10-22 isn't exactly a lens that you'd use very often. At one time I didn't touch that lens for about 2 months as I had my 17-85 IS on most of the time. BUT, when you get that special moment captured using the 10-22, it makes it all worthwhile. It produces beautiful wide angle images that other lenses can't reproduce. Hard to explain but I guess you get the idea

Hi pizzaboy! Yeah, the fisherman shot was rather tricky as I couldn't blend the different exposures correctly. Those 2 guys don't sit still long enough to produce a sharp image

Thanks for dropping by viper Hope you enjoyed looking at the pics here

Hey guys, been awhile since i've last posted here in the forums. Uni easter break is coming to an end and luckily I got a chance to at least go out for one photo shoot.

Anyway, here are the pics. Comments and criticism much appreciated







Hope you guys enjoy looking

Nice landscapes there. How did you get such wide dynamic range on your sunset shots? The foreground stones show great detail, as does the clouds and the cityscape in the distance. Multiple RAW developments and then overlap + blend? It looks surreal.

i love the #2 pic with stones....the water look like midst ~ nice nice composition + sharpness

Thanks for the comments guys! I apologise for not replying earlier as I haven't been visiting the forums lately.

The first one was a blend of 2 exposures but the 2nd one is from a single image. I did all processing on the original RAW files hence able to maintain most of the detail there.

Just today I was notified of my DPChallenge submission of the 2nd pic. Came in 5th place here for my first attempt

http://www.dpchallenge.com/challenge_resul...HALLENGE_ID=488

Not bad at all! 5th place is _very_ respectable for a first attempt! Congratulations!

i enjoy..

How about this? taken from Fitzroy Island, Aus

Oh wow! Shot #2 is great! I also like #3 for the strong colours and incredible light! Also shot on 10-22?

Thanks guys!

That's a pretty nice shot hungryJack, although a little over exposed sky. Nice color tones too!

And yes, all shots were taken with the 10-22mm

sifus, how do you guys apply multiple images and combine them as a highly dynamic range image? any references that i can refer to?

Just curious, on an average outing, how many shots would you take? I am planning a trip to Gold Coast & Sydney in March and am thinking how many GBs i need. Comtemplating whether to get extra memory cards or portable drive.

awesome dynamic range on the 3 top ones... n___n b

why foreign scenary is much nicer than us?