D800E "sticky" aperture control / autofocus issues

It's been awhile since I've taken my D800E out for active duty. Given that it's the heaviest camera body in my arsenal (especially when used with an F2.8 constant-aperture zoom lens) and takes up the most space - I only reserve it for when quality absolutely matters.

I brought the old beast out for today's photoshoot (you can read about it over here), and, should I say, fortunately, everything was fine for the entire photoshoot. It was at the end after we called it a wrap, that I noticed that 2 things were amiss:-

1. I was not able lock autofocus on anything - the camera basically just kept cycling from infinity and minimum range, before stopping at infinity.
2. The viewfinder was really dark, even at F2.8.

Of course, the first thought that entered my mind was a combination of disappointment and dismay. My past experience with Nikon camera repairs had not been commendable (nor affordable).

After I got home, I systematically tested my camera to verify the problem was repeatable. Swapping lenses, found that the problem persisted, so that basically confirmed the problem was with the body itself.

Tried to remove and reinsert the battery - but that did not solve the problem.

I tried resetting the D800E, which was done by turning the camera on and then holding down both the Qual and the "+/-" buttons (marked with green dots on the body) for several seconds. Unfortunately, that didn't help either.

While contemplating if and when to send in the body for repair - I unintentionally hit the depth-of-field preview button a few times. After a couple of cycles, the viewfinder suddenly became bright again! Along with that, my autofocus ability returned as well.

Breathing a sigh of relieve, I guess that shooting at a constant aperture of F2.8, the aperture control tab must have gotten stuck as the camera stopped down while I was taking some outdoor shorts in P mode. That would explain the viewfinder being dark - which in turn was too dark for the autofocus system to work. As this is something related to the in-camera aperture control, even mirrorless cameras will be affected.

My take from today's experience - have to remember to periodically exercise all mechanical systems, hopefully to keep them from jamming up due to lack of movement.

A musical night at Heng Ann Association

It's a rarity that I attend events like these, but this one's in support of my old friend, Tee Sie Yen. To be frank, up to today, I'm not really sure of what the details of this event. It's somewhat encrypted:

I'm not one of those who can read the above without assistance from my translator....

 Nonetheless, going too were Chong FC and Sim, as well as Goh KK. At least I wouldn't be along that night. The event was organized on 11 September 2012, which was a Tuesday. Now getting to a function outside of the company on a working day at 7.00pm was always a bit of a challenge to me, partly because of my usually working hours (which extend way past the official 5.15pm company requirement) as well as the increased density of traffic at that time (main contributing factors being people leaving for home, and the 7.00pm change of shift for many factories). Well, just for that day, I was OK to make an exception.

So, I arrived on the scene straight from work at 7.00pm. I knew as Heng Ann Association, parking was limited. Either you came very, very early to get a parking spot, or park far, far away (parking illegally on the road side and obstructing traffic is against my core principles and ethics, so I won't go for that option). Of course, in this part of the world, coming early to park first in places like these will almost certainly mean you will go back last, because someone will surely come fashionably late and double park, boxing your car in. So, I decided to park my car in a well lit area roughly 200 meters down the road. A little bit of exercise didn't hurt. I was alone after all....

A bit of an advisory note while were on this topic. Regardless of where you park your car, do not leave anything of value inside. Not even something that might appear to be of value, like a bag in the back seat. These days, times seem to be bad, so there's a risk of someone breaking into your car even if you're in a well lit area with many passersby. So, I brought my company-issued laptop along for the show.

The hall was not very large, so the distances between tables was quite limited. There was just enough room for the waiters to serve food for dinner. Luckily there was something to eat, as I failed to register this when I was told about the event. A minor communication issue that turned out for the better, not that I'm complaining.

As there were only 4 of us, we shared the table #12 with a another group, which appeared to be all from the same family. The event started eventually, and it was genuinely entertaining to watch the singers, most of them appear to be above 40 years, belt out Chinese tunes. I'm far from an expert when it comes to this subject, but Sim told me these songs were from the era of previous generation (not surprisingly). They say life begins at 40, so you can really see the splendid results of hard work and preparation that the performers must have put into the show. No doubt many hours of rehearsals have been put in, and I am thankful to have been present to see the results.

From a photographer's perspective, as I was just a casual guest and not officially covering the event, I wasn't going to be moving around much. Plus, the lack of space between table didn't exactly help, as I don't want to be avoiding the waiters and bumping into other seated guests. So, I just had a single telephoto zoom lens used for the entire event. This meant that I could take reasonable detailed photos of the on-stage activities from where I was seated (roughly three quarters of the way to the back of the hall) just by standing up briefly to fire off a shot. Not so ideal, but an acceptable compromise given the constraints in place. At that range, a flash would have been useless, I had to rely on using high ISO coupled with F-stop of 1/2.8 to minimize motion blur.

Back to the event. At that range, even from looking at my photos on the back of the camera, it was very hard for us to figure out which one of the performers was my friend, Tee. Chong FC joked that in performances like these, everyone was elaborately dressed and with full make-up, so you'd be hard pressed to recognize anyone just the same.

Well, in the end, I did manage to meet up with her briefly, so I at least one of our guesses was correct! :)

A good exposure to public events, and a good photographic opportunity (I fear my photographic equipment has been idling away in the dry box for far too long).

Looking the part and sounding it too, these performers really went the extra mile to put on a wonderful show that night!

The entire cast of the show lined up on stage, in front of a captivated audience.

Retro look - I wonder if people really did get dressed up like this way back in the 60's and 70's?

Must bring back fond memories of youth for both the performers and the senior members of the audience....

The Nyonya/Kebaya outfit is synonymous with the local cultural heritage, and still looks fabulous when worn today.

Not to be left out, these Men in Black (and white) belt out a couple of tunes of their own.

A solo performer on stage showcasing her vocal talents to the crowd.

Red polka-dots are back in fashion, but the gentleman by the side looks "plain" in contrast.

The pink ladies - where'd they manage to get all the matching outfits?

Finally confirmed that is my friend, Tee Sie Yen, in yellow on the left. 

Puma 4x4 Club Anniversary + Charity Dinner 2012

The Puma 4x4 Club is a versatile group, equally at home be it in the remote jungles or formal dinner occasions. They recently celebrated it's 7th anniversary on 8 September 2012 by holding a charity dinner at the Lu Yen Yen Restaurant at Limbongan.

A bit of club history. The Puma 4x4 Club Melaka, was officially registered on 16 Jun 2005. The members were very active and soon, they got the attention of 4x4 enthusiasts from other states as well. As more and more members from out of Melaka were joining the club, the core committee took up the challenge to expand the scope of the club to the national level, and in 6 September 2009, the club was successfully upgraded to the Puma 4x4 Club Malaysia.

Planning for such an event was a daunting task. It took many meetings at the club house in Malim Jaya (opposite the Marco Exhaust shop), fueled by tireless commitment of the organizing team, as well as Tiger Beer.... :)

Tan Poh Huat (a.k.a. "Lau Tar"), Jackson Goh and the rest of the committee going over the minute details....

My last activity with them was at the Blood Donation drive at the 916 Hotel in Melaka Raya. As it was for a good cause, I got myself 4 seats and went together with my wife and kids. When we arrived, there were many empty tables awaiting the arrival of the dinner guests.

I almost had not time to eat, really, as I was helping to cover the event with my camera. It's always a challenge to figure out what was going on and to get into a good position to cover an event. Unlike in an open public event where you're with a pool of other photographers, for functions such as these, you're part of the photographic team. Therefore, strange as it may sound, I choose position myself where there are no other photographers. This is because I don't want the organizer to end up with what are essentially the same photos (taken from the same angle) from the different photographers. If everyone is the same, there's only need for one, so I always try to be different (in a positive way, of course).

The was of course the usual on-stage speeches by the VIP's. Not really a fan of local politics, I honestly declare that I only recognize one VIP, namely, Datuk Wira Gan Boon Leong, who was a former body builder and weighlifter. My father told me that he once pumped ironed with the Datuk in the gym back in their heydays. Even though he (the Datuk, not my father) is now 75 years old, he still has a very strong grip, as I recalled when I got the chance to shake his hand.

The dinner was officially opened that night with the ceremonious beating of the gongs by the VIP's on stage. The dinner guests were entertained by martial arts performances as well as guitar and singing. The entire event was recorded and projected onto a large screen on the left side of the main stage, so even those sitting right at the back could see what was going on. And it was a really long way to the far end of the hall - there were 100 tables set up that day, seems to be even larger than the hall at the Equatorial Hotel (area-wise not counting the height).

My son, Christopher, was quite active and roaming about the hall like his usual self, but as soon as the activities got started, miraculously he managed to keep still at the table. Now, I had with me my trusty SB800 flash, but to get natural looking photos, it remained in my pocket for most of the evening. Yes, I have large pockets, or rather, when in photographer-mode, I dress functionally - the more pockets, the better.

Perhaps it's the 100Plus drink that did the trick...?

The expenditure for the dinner came from the sale of tickets and sponsors, and some committees took it upon themselves to sponsors certain costs as well. All in the name of charity. The proceeds were donated to some of the local charities on stage. No mock cheques this year, though....

Towards the end of the night, the VIP's and sponsors were given a token of appreciation up on stage. At that point, there was not much more going on, so I decided to avoid the traffic jam and left with my family for home.

All in all, a great event put together with the hard work and dedication from the Puma committee. May they continue to have many more great successful events both in the jungle and back in civilization! :)

This duet act from KL. To be honest, the guy was doing most of the singing.

Datuk Wira Gan Boon Leong with the rest of the VIP's on stage for the opening ceremony.

Martial arts display in progress. Real or not, those *swords* are really dangerous.

If you're familiar with Chinese culture, you'll know that they are all shouting "YAM SENG!!!".

Martial arts training starts at a young age. The next Michelle Yeoh in the making?

A guitar duet on a shoestring budget. 2 talented girls + 1 guitar.

The guitar club brought to the event loads of talent to keep the diners entertained

Merdeka Day 2012, Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka

It's the Malaysian Independence Day (or Merdeka Day, as we say over here). It's on this day, 31 August, 55 years ago in 1957, that Malaya (later to be known as Malaysia in 16 Sept 1963) gained its independence  from the British Empire. For this we have the delegation lead by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock AND Tun V.T. Sambanthan to thank!

As usual, the Merdeka Day parade starts at Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka Raya. The path that the parade follows leads it through to the Stadhuys (red buildings from the time of the Dutch occupancy) through Jalan Bendahara, and all the way through Jalan Hang Tuah to end at Stadium Kubu (near the HSBC bank).

I was on the scene in the morning, parking my car behind Mahkota Parade in anticipation of a massive crowd and lots of cars. Surprisingly, there was a lot of empty space both on the road and in the streets all the way to Dataran Pahlawan. When I finally arrived at Dataran Pahlawan, I found the 128 contingents all assembled on the field. There was a significantly smaller crowd of both parade participants as well as onlookers this year, compared to what I saw a few years ago. In fact, there were more people lined up to watch the Wesak Day Parade. Hmm, perhaps everyone was on holiday this year, as it would be a slightly longer weekend....(?)

I had with me my trusty S5 Pro with the Nikon 18-200mm all-purpose walkaround lens, so I could focus on snapping photos. You know, these days, everyone's a photographer. Consumer DSLR models are quite affordable now, so you can see lots of people with DSLR's in hand. On the down side, it was a bit crowded where good photo opportunities were present, so it's hard to get a nice clean shot of the parade with everyone crowding the frame with their own camera. Luckily, the crowd was quite thin away from the main stage where The Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Haji Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam and the rest of the VIP's were seated, so I could still get some decent shots walking further towards the Equatorial Hotel.

One thing bad about the onlookers - they then to crowd the roads and this results in a really narrow path for the paraders. Where's good crowd control when you need it?

Technicalities aside, it was still a sizable turn out, with ~128 contingents marching if I heard correctly. There were the usual government bodies, like the Police and Fire Brigade, Schools and even private companies. All in their colorful uniforms. At the back of the parade there were some vehicles too, ranging from light armored vehicles, old vintage cars, bicycles and even bullock carts.

Fortunately, the weather was fine, and as there were only a few participants, the entire parade cleared the area by ~10.30am, so I managed to get back home in time for lunch.

Well, it's good to still see a show of patriotism these days, and I look forward to a better show for Independence Day next year. In the mean time, some snapshots of the event:-

Significantly less participants this year - lots of empty space on top of Dataran Pahlawan

The Chief Minister and the rest of the VIP's on the main stage

Sajak recital (basically, speaking with "style")

Young and old, from all walks of life, turned out to watch the parade, a testament to the multi-racial society of Malaysia

Tablets have their usefulness - note, they are not made by Apple, by the way.... :)

A dance show comprising children in various traditional attire

Malaysian Navy - always looking sharp in white

The army marches by, hope they're not loaded (the guns, I mean)

Majlis Perbandaran Alor Gajah - the most striking costume, IMHO!

Private companies joined too, like Infineon Technologies (didn't see Vishay Semiconductor this year, though)

Joining the parade were the lightly armored vehicles (still heavy though)

Honda Hybrid vehicles in the fleet as well - in line with the Green Initiative

Old is gold, and so these guys join in the parade as well

Lack of rear seats is no obstacle for them - I wonder what JPJ will say about seatbelts, though....

Senior citizens join in with their classic car (from the same era?)

The crowd was really thin, note the gaps across the road....

Hmm, not the best choice of uniforms for this parade (remember, Japan conquered Malaya during WWII) - but still funny to see! :)

For those city dwellers who have never seen bulls before - luckily there was no B.S. as the parade passed slowly by! :)

Last but not least, hope they don't run into any obstacles left by the bullock carts that just went by

The unseen heroes of the day, cleaning up after the crowd (doing a fine job - see how clean the field is?)

Out of sequence, should have taken this shot first and not last - my fault....

Online Photo Editing with PicMonkey

A long, long time ago, PC's (that Personal Computer, for the young and uninitiated) were essentially stand-alone islands. Software and data were stored either on the PC itself, or on removable media (the most famous at that time being the "floppy disk"). Thus began the hard disk race to bring the largest available amount of storage space to the end user, without costing the equivalent of a car.

With the advent of the networking and its logical evolution the World Wide Web (Internet), PC's were no longer individual terminals, but all part of a Cloud (sort of like the Borg from the Star Trek series, minus the cyborg implants and urge for assimilation). At first, only data (files, images, songs) were stored online, but as of late, we're looking at the emergence of browser-based software.

As the name implies, browser-based software runs on your web browser, either using Java / Flash / Ajax or some other platform (at the rate of software development these days, names I just mentioned would probably be obsolete very, very soon, so don't shoot me for being "old fashion" if you're reading this sometime in the near future).

Compared to traditional software where you had to install on your PC before you can use it, these run straight off from within the browser (which is really convenient especially on enterprise PC's or public PC's where you don't have administrator privileges). As no installation is required, you can make do with minimal hard disk space, or even in tablets and smartphones that don't follow the traditional "install on hard disk and run" model. Portable software, which you can find on really neat sites such as www.portableapps.com, share this advantage, but do require some footprint on your hard disk or USB drive for installation.

There are a few downsides, first obviously being the fact that you'll need a connection to the Internet. This is fine when you're at home or where they have free WIFI, but not so nice or cheap if you're using your telco carrier's data plan (if at all any). Also, some of these require you to sign up and register so you can log-in, which may be a hassle. Lastly, there's the bit about online privacy and security, but in general, even using trusted services, it's pretty much the same as with Facebook or Gmail.

Phew, that's a really long introduction to this post, which I'd like to introduce the online photo editor - PicMonkey. (!)

Funny name and funny splash page aside, PicMonkey is a user-friendly alternative to traditional photo editors. For power users, it doesn't support layers or transparency, but it's more than adequate for the typical flow of crop, filter / enhance, resize, sharpen.

PicMonkey's no Photoshop (the Mercedes Benz of photo editors), nor GIMP (free open source equivalent), nor does it attempt to come anywhere close. Rather, it's a handy tool that will allow bloggers on the road to quickly touch up photos taken on their mobile gadgets (most famous being the i- or Galaxy-).

Briefly, once you've selected your image to edit, there's quite a few options on the menu bar on the left hand side. There's the one-click "Auto Adjust" button for those who feel lazy (or feel lucky). Beneath are the main menu selections for Basic Edits, Effects, Touch Up, Text, Overlays, Frames, and Textures. I won't go into the details, but do note that each of these menus open up into several sub-options, some of which can be quite extensive. For example (see above), under Basic Edits alone, you have the option for Crop, Rotate, Exposure, Colors, Sharpen and Resize.

Those who are crazy about filters will be pleased to hear that under Effects are a huge number of filters available, and practically all of them can be further fine-tuned. Well, I'll leave it at that, as I don't intend to get tangled up in a discussion of "creative and artistic" vs "purists" when it comes to photo editing preference.

Briefly, I've found PicMonkey to be simple and straightforward to use, plus the web address (www.picmonkey.com) is easy to remember.... :)

Some additions / improvements that I hope to see:-

• Ability to load image from URL or screen capture. Currently I have to either save to desktop or Print-Screen and save with Irfanview first).
• Resize algorithm could be improved. Currently looks bad after shrinking.
• Ability to select folders when saving images.
• Ability to publish photos to Twitter / Facebook, etc.. Personally, I don't use this, but I'm sure the are many people out there who would love to have this feature.

Well, that's all I have for now. PicMonkey is a nice complement that allows me to update my blog while on the road without having to return home for photo-editing. Of course, it's not the only online photo editing software out there, but for me, my advice is to pick one and stick with it once you're happy. Anyone out there care to share their experience with PicMonkey or any other online photo editor?

8GCC Annual Dinner 2011 at Saloma Bistro

Time flies when you're having fun - and even when you're drowning in a sea of endless work. At least while I'm still in the first quarter of 2011, here's a short post about the recent annual dinner of the 8th Generation Civic Club (or 8GCC for short), held at the Saloma Bistro in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

A short recap of 8GCC's previous annual dinners:-

• 1st Annual Dinner - 23 Jun 2007 - The Ivy, Asian Heritage Row
• 2nd Annual Dinner - 11 Oct 2008 - Republic, Sunway Pyramid
• 3rd Annual Dinner - 31 Oct 2009 - Rama V (Fine Thai Dining Cuisine)
• 4th Annual Dinner - 8 Jan 2011 - Saloma Bistro, Kuala Lumpur

Well, it looks like 2010 was a busy year for all of us, as the 4th *annual* dinner actually took place in 2011. Looks like there should be one more dinner later this year, as theoretically 2011 should be the year for the 5th annual dinner.

Now, anyone who has driven in KL would know that GPS assistance would be minimal, due to the tight and twisted network of roads that permeated our capital city. Besides, with detours as a result of ongoing construction projects, as well as the SMART tunnel (which goes underground, essentially cutting off the satellite signal) could have proven challenging in the worst case scenario.

Fortunately, I did not travel alone - as I joined Bro Fendi (Afryna) and Osman. Together, our three-car convoy made it right on time at the Saloma Bistro, at the heart of the city.

Looking around, besides the fact that there were probably around 80 to 100 Honda Civics, the KL tower and Petronas twin towers were visible, not far away from our location.

There were a few familiar faces and old acquaintences, like Bro Kenneth (Netken), Phyrus, Mike (former club president) and White Wizard. Finally met up with Bro Estima too. Unfortunately, this year, I did not manage to catch up with Desmond and Leon, though.

As you can imagine, a buffet-style dinner for such a huge crowd resulted in a long, long line of hungry people. But then, there was probably no better way to serve so many people and still offer a variety of food, while keeping the price (due to service charges) down.

No 8GCC event would be complete without the usual *auto show*, which this time round was divided into Type-R and Non-Type-R categories. Just looking at some of these cars, it's amazing to note the extent of which some people will go to in modifying and customizing their rides. Though there was not really much variation among the cars (after all, a FD1 looks like an FD2, and worse still, practically all Type-R's were white), there were some, like the owner of the "Ayumi" Civic, who went beyond the typical civic modder.

We arrived fairly early - with plenty of light, it was easy to capture the details on some of the rides on display. As night falls, the cars did not fade into darkness, as on came the neon lights and LED, which transformed the parking lot into a light-and-sound show!

And of course, there were 4 hired models (in red and white attire, not to be confused with the rest of the participants) to help complete the night (what would a full-fledged car event be without models?).

Well, after the dinner, since my two convoy-mates weren't staying the night in KL, the three of us headed back home (Melaka was just ~2 hours away). Even at that late hour, KL traffic was still bustling, but once we hit the Sungai Besi toll plaza, it was smooth all the way home.

It was another successful event pulled off by the 8GCC committee (mostly those from the Central Region, who found it most convenient logistically). Though my old-time / core Melaka team were no longer by my side (Takashi, Hanne, Nick, Ah Wei and Kenjiez), I felt happy to still be a part of 8GCC culture....

More photos HERE