Underwater

At Pulau Perhentian Besar. First attempt at underwater photography with a proper camera casing. Free diving & photography is definitely not easy. Find subject, dive, control breathing, fight current, aim, shoot... a lot of hit and miss.

Was fun.

Low lights...

DSLR...

DSLR...

Compact f1.8...

Hot air balloon

Skimming the skies by hot air. A lot of fun which could either be therapeutic or scary but quite some work is involved before we can get to the fun part.

Arrival on site. Wide open spaces is essential.

Testing your propulsion system, err just like turning on your kitchen stove to make sure its alight and there's fire to heat the air that will carry you up.

Lay out the huge balloon and blow air into it using a fan - or you could try huffing and puffing into it...

Once the balloon took shape, put the vent cover in place.

Make sure the vent cover is securely in place.

Check and double check and start the flame to heat up the air. Lighter hot air will rise...

See, its rising and starts to climb vertically up. All aboard, well two or maybe three thin persons.

And we are up...

... and away.

Open spaces

Road pictures taken at speed - only the first road picture was taken from behind tinted windscreen.

Low Light D700

More low light shot from the D700 and flare from the Sigma.

Dusk

NT [click on the photo to see sharper image]

Nikon D700 - White Balance

Auto WB.
5000K WB.
Tungsten WB.
White Balance is a pretty tricky yet important thing that sets the tone of the photo. More often than not it boils down to personal preference. Most of the time I just leave mine on Auto.

Nikon Service

Dear Sir/Madam;

Its almost two weeks since you replied to my email and I have yet to hear any news from Nikon Malaysia. Can you please help. The holiday season is approaching and I am without my D700.

apandi

1854hrs. 23 December 2008.

On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 10:48 PM, Nikon Malaysia Tech Support <mysupport@nikon-asia.com> wrote:

Recently you requested personal assistance from our Nikon Asia Technical on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may re-open the case within the next 7 days.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

Subject

D700 - one month already...

Discussion Thread

Response (Nikon Malaysia Tech Support)

14/12/2008 10.48 PM

Dear Mr. Noor Apandi,

Thank you for contacting Nikon Asia Technical Support. Your case has been forwarded to us. We will assist you from here.

Your case has been forwarded to Mr. Paul Lee and he will be assisting you on this. He can be reached at 03-78093688 ext. 621 or Paul.Lee@nikonoa.net

Thank you for your support on Nikon Products. We hope we have addressed your concerns. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Dear Paul,

Kindly revert to Mr. Noor Apandi at 01x-xxxx78 or xxx@xxxx.my regarding the status of his camera.

Thanks

Regards
Lee
Sales & Technical Support Executive
+603-78093688 ext. 653

Customer (Noor Apandi Osnin)

14/12/2008 03.42 PM

Dear Paul;

My D700 with faulty Quality/ISO button was sent via J One Camera Service on 13/11/08. It has been a month (was told that it would take about 2 weeks) that I am unable to use it. Can you please expedite the repair/service. The body number is 209xxxx.

Was also told by Jason that there's only one technician able to service the D700 ! If this is true then Nikon need to buck up as either there's too many faulty D700 or the sole technician is working too slowly. I apologise if this sound harsh but the longer I have to wait the more frustrated I am getting.

Your assistance and attention is much appreciated.

Regards;

apandi

To be fair, it was the end of the year, still one and a half month [sent 13/11/08] to repair a brand new camera and a new model to boot is a tad too slooooooowwwwww. However, I was pacified somewhat as this morning [31/12/08] a nice fellow from Nikon - Chong - I believe, finally called with a peace offering, the use of another D700 while mine is being repaired. Have to decline as I am not in Kuala Lumpur.

Am still waiting...

Night shots - twin peaks

Twin Peaks Resort, Kuah Langkawi.

Masjid Jalan Othman

Some internal shots of the newly refurbished mosque on Jalan Othman, PJ.

Meeting food

Attended a meeting in Melaka recently where the usual two type of kuih accompanied by tea/coffee was served. Except, in this case its three type, two sweet and one savoury. The kuih served is generous in proportions such that even the organiser was pleasantly surprised. The caterer will most likely get future contracts from them. Taste good too.

G9 in low light

Not bad actually, especially the first one at ISO 100 and long exposure. The second one's white balance is off I think.

Beach

Just some shots by the beach.