botanic gardens - flowers galore (updated)

Nyphamaea caerulea - "Blue Lotus of Egypt"

EXIF:

• Camera: Canon EOS 30D
• Shutter: 1/2000
• Aperture: f1.8
• ISO: 100
• Focal length: 50 mm
• Mode: Aperture Priority
• Post-processing: Lens vignette, saturation and details enhancement - Adobe Camera Raw

the above picture was taken at the Amazon Waterlily Pavilion of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. attempted to capture a symmetry-ish picture, tapi takdela skema sgt kan. aaa, i suck at flowers, so i dont really know what to write bout this. haha. to appreciate this: it's quite a nice looking flower ;P

Pink flower with a yellow centre surrounded by 5 red spots (haha, i didnt pay attention to the flower labelling back then, so sape2 yg tau, sile inform ;P)

EXIF:

• Camera: Canon EOS 30D
• Shutter: 1/90
  
• Aperture: f9.5
  
• ISO: 100
• Focal length: 50 mm
• Mode: Aperture Priority
• Post-processing: Lens vignette, saturation and details enhancement - Adobe Lightroom 2 (yay! damn awesome software!)

ok, i didnt pay attention to the labels given for these flowers. the first flower pun i stumbled upon the label in one of the pics i took. hence the scientific name written in the caption. and the second one, I DONT KNOW. so anyone, please tell me if u know. haha. so, these are among the flowers in the botanic gardens of Adelaide. there were more interesting flowers over there and also from other occasions, but i'm so lazy to browse through all of my pics (now almost reached 8000+ excluding last year's collection of another 4000+), so i'll just upload the recent ones i took. aaa, people, please give me some support! why am i soooo lazy...... :|

suddenly i felt like playing boardgames plak. i wanna play Monopoly and also the utmost urge of playing Cluedo! what am i gonna do until the grad day! aaaaaaaaaaa...

---

up till now, i still cant accept the reality. i kept running, trying to defy my own belief. i wear facades, to avoid people from questioning me of my own reality...

...i think i'm getting tired...things happen, unpredictable things happened. to whom it may concern: i'm sorry for everything. i'll try to stay strong. i'll try to hold on. change is inexorable. but only time will decide, time will choose the change.

memories last forever...time will choose...

rundle mall

The White Guy @ Rundle Mall

EXIF:

• Camera: Canon EOS 30D
• Shutter: 1/250
  
• Aperture: f5.6
  
• ISO: 100
  
• Focal length: 50 mm
  
• Mode: Aperture Priority
  
• Post-processing: Kelvin scale alteration, lens vignette, saturation and details enhancement - Adobe Camera Raw

"a gold coin will make bla3 something" la to this guy. hehe basically if u donate gold coins ($1 or $2 here in Australia) will make him move and perform from standing still. i don't really remember what was written on a cardboard in front of this White Guy though ;P. he's a normal busker at Rundle Mall, entertaining people in front of the South Australian's symbolic 2 huge metal balls which are known fondly to the locals as the "Mall's Balls" or "Runde Mall Balls" and originally named "Spheres" by the artist who sculpted this modern sculpture. on to the next one...

the piggy named "Oliver" at Rundle Mall, Adelaide

EXIF:

• Camera: Canon EOS 30D
• Shutter: 1/750
  
• Aperture: f1.8
  
• ISO: 100
  
• Focal length: 50 mm
  
• Mode: Aperture Priority
  
• Post-processing: Lens vignette, saturation and details enhancement - Adobe Camera Raw

this is one of the 4 life-size bronze pig sculptures named "Oliver", and the other 3; "Horatio", "Truffles" and "Agusta". these sculptures were positioned so that they looked like rooting around a rubbish bin (as obviously shown above).

aaa, well, these are among the attractions here in Adelaide and Rundle Mall, specifically. AND not pathetically limited to these je! haha. more to come~ critics and comments are very welcomed

being preoccupied with getaways for now!

something is lost...but hoping still...

blur

i just don't feel right. i don't know. plainly don't know.

maybe it's the sign of change?

or did i hurt someone?

for some inexplicable reason, i felt empty

...

examination

why do i decide to put my finger thereeee...nampak buruk plakkkkk...hahaha anyway, my 1st paper is on this monday! uhhhh...org lain sume dah start exam lame, aku nye baru start. hadoi la...again, wish me luck for this paper, as this will be my saviour to mark up for my sh***y finance paper last 2 weeks. not as sh***y la, but i need it to achieve my Hons target class :D

EXIF:

• Camera: Canon EOS 30D
  
• Shutter: 1/20
  
• Aperture: f2.8
  
• ISO: 800 (!!! Canon FTW)
  
• Focal length: 50 mm
  
• Mode: Aperture Priority
  
• Post-processing: Adobe Camera Raw - B&W, lens vignette, contrast boost

as usual, a little babble after the EXIF: knowledge is power. knowledge hurts too. some things should be left unknown. but, for the greater good, knowing will teach you a lot of things in life. knowledge will be your candle in the darkness of nowadays deceptive civilization. keep it in balance though, as you'll need all the knowledge for preparation of the hereafter. anyway, i dunno what i'm talking bout now, so...study hard study smart!

...................................................

i can't study! i can't concentrate! someone please ask me to study! haha...

wish me luck...

asphyxiating

i'm drowning in my own lies

the facades i'm wearing slowly worn away

why did i let 'hope' and 'faith' fade

why did i choose to surrender

i'm not what i am now

something's smothering me

the EGO had blinded me

the IGNORANCE is suffocating me

tender torture of REALITY

...asphyxiating

i can't afford to give up, not now, not when i haven't given my best, to the very end, to the very harsh reality, upon my eyes, beyond my faith and beyond my belief.

the new member

welcoming...


ahaaa...the Canon EOS 30D! i know it's a bit outdated, back in 2006 1st manufactured pun. but the 8.2MP sensor is the legendary sensor from 20D. woot. meaning: excellent low light performance, low noise at high ISO :D what else, 5fps burst speed, spot metering (new to xxD series though, starting from 30D) and a whopping 100,000 shutter life count! i'm not gonna make my own review here, so feel free to visit dpreview and dcresource for more info ;)

anyway, this is captured by my beloved E-500:

• Camera: Olympus E-500
  
• Shutter: 1/160
  
• Aperture: f3.5
  
• ISO: 200
  
• Focal length: 14 mm
  
• Mode: Manual
  
• Setting: External flash (Vivitar 285HV) bounced straight up at full power (GN120)
  
• Post-processing: Cropped - iPhoto

anyway, it's a 2nd hand camera bought off from my friend, however the shutter count is still very low (not even 10%!) hence the like-new look. i'm very happy to get my hands on one of this once monster (yeah i know, not as monster-ish as the 5D and the likes, but still on par with D200 though...).

this camera is still mainly used in the mid-end level of the DSLR owners and i'm hoping that this would be my batu loncatan towards producing better and better pictures :D by the way, that's my first lens for my new DSLR, the 50 mm f1.8 II. yeah2, it's a cheap lens, mestilah sbb duit saye dah abis kot T_T

enough babbling, wish me luck with this camera and also for my exams! cuakkkk...

please provide me escape...

life is fair

though, sometimes, things may be hard at present...worse in the past...but do hope that, it'll be better in the future...

it will, it's His guarantee towards us.

fiery CKT

the CKT stands for Char Kuey Teow...


EXIF:

• Camera: Olympus E-500
  
• Shutter: 1/30
• Aperture: f3.5
• ISO: 400
  
• Focal length: 14 mm
  
• Mode: Aperture Priority
• Post-processing: Maximum contrast, exposure edit - iPhoto

well, this photo is a bit more post-processed...i dunno what else to do today, so i went through old photos while waiting my new baby to shine ;P

FYI, that's the Swinging Bowl of Satay's owner cooking my Char Kuey Teow...in return, i took his picture la kan. haha.

he studied in Uni Adelaide prior to establishing the restaurant and ended up being a cook/owner/blogger. the point i'm trying to make IS that rezeki can be found anywhere. u may take up an engineering degree but ended up being a banker, biotech degree to an insurance worker (i dunno what's the term for ppl who sells insurance or something related to it) and so on. but yeah, He laid our rezeki long before we were born to this world. no matter what we pursue, always bear in mind, He will take care of our well-being in this world.

and for that, i believe, i can continue to survive...as long as this heart still beating, the lungs still breathing, i will strive...

love hurts

disbbkan ramai dah DEMAND suro letak photo...so...this is my first photo-blog post la. hehe. to followers (which i suspect not that many pun ;P), i would really appreciate it if you could give comments/critics/ways to improve/etc on the pictures i posted and purely chat pun bley je. huhu btw, i'm eyeing for a flickr pro acc for links of higher resolution pics, ape2 pun, i'll update it later :)

(captured in front of the South Australia Museum)

EXIF:

• Camera: Olympus E-500
  
• Shutter: 1/400
• Aperture: f5.6
• ISO: 160
• Focal length: 14 mm
  
• Mode: Aperture Priority
• Post-processing: B&W, increased contrast, high key (exposure boost) - iPhoto
  

and for the time being, i don't really have a general layout for photo-blogs yet, so, yg ni cincai2 je dulu...for a kickstart, to get the momentum, inertia, etc etc. haha. more to come!

...love hurts, but sometimes it's a good hurt, and it feels like i'm alive...
...love sings, when it transcends the bad things, have a heart and try me, 'cause without love I won't survive...

please let me through...

obskura mata

it seems like maybe some of you didn't really get what does the "obskura mata" for my blog url means...

so, here's a brief:



the word obskura was obtained from the english word obscure which means:

1. a: dark , dim b: shrouded in or hidden by darkness c: not clearly seen or easily distinguished : faint <obscure markings>
2. not readily understood or clearly expressed ; also : mysterious
3. relatively unknown: as a: remote , secluded obscure village> b: not prominent or famous obscure poet>
4. constituting the unstressed vowel \\ə\\ or having unstressed \\ə\\ as its value

(from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

while the word mata was taken from the malay word mata itself which stand by its own meaning or the eye in english.

and the artsy fart (there u go edwan) part of this obskura mata brought a meaning in simple words: "truth unraveled by the eye of the beholder"

yeah2 i know, what kind of truth? like the Transformers catchphrase la, "more than meets the eye"

the eye sees, the brain interprets, the heart ponders, but instinct may just ignore these as the world now is full of cliches, norms, stereotypes and so on...

soooo...dah pjg2 ckp ni, the aim of this blog is (gile skema) to somehow, open our mind to images of life (shadap edwan) and its contents :)

thats all for now~

hello world!

typical greeting for a first post eh?

i'm syed and this is my first post of my very first blog :)

to be exact, this won't be similar to normal blogs as i am hoping it would be a photo-blog (well, akan diselit2 with occasional rants and other stuff la kan). i will be needing all the support to keep this blog alive, hahaha.

anyway, enough said, welcome to o b s k u r a ~

and i'm welcoming myself to the blogging world ;)

later2