Valerie's Inspiration

Monkey Beach 23rd April 2011

2011-04-25T20:39:00.003+08:00

It's been ages since I have another update in this blog of mine. A lot of things happened since my previous post during November 2010. I was shocked to see that I had abandoned my blog for so long. Sorry for all the visitor for such a quiet moments in Valerie-S Photography. Year end S'pore trip, CNY, Ai Leng's wedding and company events had been occupied most of my time. But I will share with you all my latest outing to Monkey Beach. It's the first time I join the group to Monkey Beach but I did some camping the previous one which is very exciting. The difference is that this round we take the road trip to the beach instead of my previous boat trip.

This round of road trip once again give me the feeling of taking shots which I had longed leave behind. The shots where there is no datelines or pressure is really satisfying. I hope the shots below represent some of the good ones. :) Enjoy!~

First trip to Youth Park

2010-11-06T10:16:00.005+08:00

Hehe... even the title make me so ashamed. Already 4 years in Penang and this is the first time I step into the well known Penang Youth Park. I found the weather was superb that day with the long awaited blue sky and the sunny light, my favourite! To my surprise, the park actually have different water pool for children to play on as well different playing space like the playground, skating ground, foot reflexlogy path (which is really pain to the vein @_@). I tried to experiment with the Shutter mode as well as the bokeh. Enjoy the shots!

Mean Machine 2010

2010-10-30T11:00:00.008+08:00

This october, Penang had organized a Mean Machine Expo at Autocity where it is relavant as it is a hub for all foreign cars' show house. We had a small group of 4 heading down around 4 something and the weather was startin to get cloudy in the island but towards hot and humid weather in Autocity. OMG the traffic started from the entrance towards the center of the cars exhibition. Ferrari, Lambourghini, Mini Cooper and Bettle was some of the cars which were shown in the exhibition. The crowd was massive with all the car lovers, car accesories provider was all around. The below are pictures to show all the favourites among the car showcase. Enjoy!

BlogFest.Asia 2010 - Welcome Dinner

2010-10-03T20:25:00.002+08:00

We are fortunate to be able to take part in the BlogFest.Asia which is held in Penang this year. Thanks to Kelvin for introducing us to attend this event. I brought my camera along during the welcome dinner to take some photos of the event. It was so great that they chose QEII at Tanjung Marina for the welcome dinner for bloggers from other countries. This event was meaningful as all bloggers had join in to learn more about blogging and socialize with other bloggers. Below are some photos that I had taken that night.

Wrap up with the top notch view of the night

Valerie sign out...

Cameron Breakaway

2010-09-11T15:19:00.002+08:00

This post should be posted several months ago after I had sort of a farewell trip with my buds before leaving Altera. We had an enjoying weekend without a doubt and I guess below the pics will say it all :). Cameron greeted us with a great day of sun on both days and as we planned to depart, it started to drizzle. It was a moment to be remembered and hope we will have more trips in the future. Enjoy the photos!

Our shelter at Prima Villa - Nice environment!

Pun Bing start to admire the view

Everyone start with the games - Jenga

Chee Ang: Hrm... which one to take?

We head off to Strawberry Moments for tea :)

We walked towards a market which is nearby the shop. The weather was superb!

2nd day - Off to cactus valley

Flower Boy... :p

Strawberries

A day out in the field

2010-08-23T20:25:00.002+08:00

Very long time never had such an experience of gazing out to acres of paddy field. The journey to balik pulau was quite tiring and adventurous as the road is winding plus it was under construction. The tired night before had drag to my Saturday morning with a k-session with my Altera gang till around 3:30pm and everyone decided to go back to doze off. Dragging my camera bag with another passionate photographer we decided to pull off to balik pulau as he felt like taking some paddy field photo.

We reached there around 4 something and start to hunt for a paddy field spot. Finally we saw a few spots and start driving towards our destination. The below are some photos taken there. A step closer into long time childhood. Soon realized my object doesn't seems to have much paddy photo haha... I guess I was more interested in the other plants out there. :)

Sweet Farewell

2010-08-16T21:07:00.003+08:00

To all my buds and buds... Such memorable moments which I will treasure for a lifetime. Thanks for all the best jokes and stories. Let the picture do the saying...

Protestant Cemetery, Penang

2010-07-12T10:50:00.002+08:00

Another weekend in Penang, looming around town after lunch finding for a spot for photography. I used to have an idea to take some creepy photos of the cemetery and everytime passed by the cemetery near 32 Mansion really attracts me to visit it someday. This was the day 4th July 2010. The lighting was good and the surrounding is serene rather than creepy, to my surprise, this cemetery lays the great Francis Light himself. Putting some idea in mine on what kind of picture I was finding, I was able to captured these. Adding some post processing with graduated tint, b&w, high saturation, soft focus and photoshop sketching effect on one of the photos. Hope you enjoy them.

Resort World, Sentosa

2010-07-05T21:15:00.002+08:00

As promised the ever longed post. Been a lazy bum lately to process my pic with all the changes around. Thinking about future, options and life. I had only able to spend 6 hours in Resort World with a day trip from JB to S'pore. The trip included a lunch at Resort World with the whole trip costing SGD10. It's kind of worth it from my perspective as the transport and meal were included. I only realized it is quite troublesome to travel from JB to S'pore without your own transport as you need to go to the custom for entering n leaving S'pore where the queue was "WOW". I can't imagine those daily travelers need to go through it everyday.

Sneak peak on coming post

2010-06-27T22:59:00.002+08:00

Photo of the week

2010-06-20T23:36:00.002+08:00

Botanical Garden 7th June 2010

2010-06-14T20:52:00.004+08:00

Botanical Garden

Profile picture of a bee

Discovering the beauty of nature

2010-06-08T19:50:00.004+08:00

Recently visited Penang's butterfly farm which situated near Teluk Bahang. With some impression of Melaka's butterfly farm I did not expect much. To my surprise, the butterflies are everywhere and you can even lead the butterfly to your hand. It's a great experience and shooting them weren't easy. They do not stay in one place long, and taking close-up shots need trial and error with the aperture. There were a lot of failure but it seems that there are some lesson learnt. This is the first time I encounter butterfly eggs which look like small buds hanging on the vine. Below are a few of my favorites.

Butterfly Egg

Larva (Caterpillar)

The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia)

Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus)

Yellow Glassy Tiger (Parantica aspasia)

Common Lime (Papilio demoleus)

Clubhouse

2010-06-06T12:35:00.002+08:00

This shots were taken in company's clubhouse. A great place to hang out after work with the pool table, board games, Wii, Astro and darts.

Cuties portrait shot

2010-06-05T22:56:00.003+08:00

Recently fell into taking picture for soft toy and decorations, below are some random shots taken in different places. Just sharing, hope the pictures will brighten your day.

Lian Nee's Hami

Snowman

Lammy

Random shots around Penang Town

2010-06-05T22:47:00.002+08:00

Some random point and shoot around town during a boring weekend.

一个人的爱情

2010-05-28T22:43:00.000+08:00

最近看了一本书，述说着几个不同个性的人面对这一个人的爱情。我第一个问号就是这世界上会有称的上一个人的爱情吗？单相思不是每一个人都希望会发生在自己身上吧。那一种想要理所当然的霸占另一半，每天拥有幸福的感觉，真的这样容易吗？书里面的恩却不是那么幸运的女生。从她认识爱情这两个字，她常常困在自己的幻想世界里，对爱情的热诚和渴望，如此的浓烈。因该是少年时期的活力与冒险，让她很快就陷入了人生第一次的仰慕错认的是爱情，对象是身边的同学。学生时代的爱情，犹如情窦初开，那么的纯真的喜欢。这一段一个人的爱情，最终收藏到毕业典礼，连对方都不知道的ending。

三十岁的恩，回想起这一段故事，傻傻得笑了。当时单纯的喜欢，是多么的无忧无虑，人生还有一大段的前程。不应该为了他而改变什么，大家走的路都不一样。面对着充满希望的世界，大步大步的走，没有一丝的顾虑。如果，这发生在三十岁的时候，一个人的爱情又会如何呢？她还会把感情受起来吗？她会选择放弃还是勇敢的追求呢？时间久了，面对着一段又一段的感情，恩觉得好累。累得已经把心封闭起来了，不想再为了爱情搞得泪汪汪，陷在泥糟里，挣扎着。

Life Random Pics

2010-05-15T15:57:00.002+08:00

It's another Saturday after one week of work. The day was drenched with a heavy rain and it seems to brighten the humid weather in Penang. The sun after the rain is truly a bliss and the below sight tells the story. Playing with HDR and monochrome image.

HDR1

HDR2

Warm Version of the Ori Photo

Monochrome HDR

Black & White

Creative Artz...

2010-04-25T15:10:00.002+08:00

It seems been ages since I updated my blog. :p Personally had been off with some work and not up to push for constant photography creation. Recently became Jenny Sun Photography fan and got informed about a new give away of a Diana Lomo Camera. The assignment was to create a photo with the words "i love lomo" and incorporating lighting (sunlight, candles, fairylights etc.) as a pre-requirement of the competition. The competition is ending today and top 5 best will be selected on Monday for a public voting. The highest vote will win the Lomo. With lots of ideas running wild, I head out to get my crafts supplies on Saturday and went back to work on my ideas.

I started to create a mini studio for the project. The process was tough to get to the studio done and even cut my finger quite deeply, the sight of the blood gushing out and thinking Mama mia!!!. But after seeing the creation completed, it's worth it after all. :p Below are some shots on the 2 creation.

Lighting with mobile phone white light and torch yellow light under dark condition

Direct sunlight

With shadow effect from the sunlight

Glass tint paint with sunlight

Final submission

Weekend escapade

2010-03-28T22:09:00.003+08:00

Weekends always come and go so quickly. In 48 hours always seems to be so precious and they had to be used to max without leaving any regrets. I bet some of you might agree with me. Some prefer to sleep, hang out in malls, catch a movie or have a short trip to places. Mine will be staying home and cook some new recipe or hang out with colleagues/friends. Weekends are great time to sit down and talk through the night discussing every interested topics to get to know each other more.

Last weekend, a few of us went to Sigi's Grill and Bar for a drink. Kai Chieh, Pun Bing, Chee Ang, Stephanie and me sat down at the pool side and start to discuss about stuff. From attitude, surrounding to gossips hehe... It's really relaxing as the whole way we have some cold jokes from Chee Ang and Kai Chieh to heat up the atmosphere before we reach there. Oh boy, the journey was never boring. Hehe... Below are some shots taken in Sigi's. As we reached rather late, only the outdoor bar was opened. Pun Bing ordered the grapefruit juice, I ordered the watermelon juice (no alcohol for me *_-), Kai Chieh ordered the Irish Black Coffee (coffee + whiski + sugar), Chee Ang had a Mocchiato (forgotten the ingredient but lots of mint and lime with some alcohol), Stephanie had the Frozen Black Irish (kahlua + baileys). Top notch for Stephanie's drink as everyone agreed. :)

Today, I prepared my own dinner with some ingredients bought during afternoon trip to the grocery. Wanted to try some new recipe, I picked up some ingredients like capsicum, tuna, ham, butterhead lettuce, canned mushroom, fresh herbs like parsley and rosemary, brought some cream too. I was finding for double cream though but it seems difficult to get any around bayan lepas area and the light cream is not cheap at all. The ingredients is actually up to what you fancy, from sausages, egg, olives or peas and carrots. The outcome was ok but not superb, still need to practice more to get the "Voila" taste.

Steps:
1. Boiled a pot of water and add 2 tea spoon of salt per serving. This is a good tips I learnt through cooking show where the salt will add some flavors to the pasta before you mixed it up with your ingredients and sauce. Cooked till it is around 85% of the time labeled on the pasta pack, as you'll still need to cook the pasta with your ingredients later.
2. In frying pan, put some olive oil and put in your ham and capsicum, fried till your ham is slightly crisp. Add in mushroom and tuna (optional) and fried for a couple of minutes.
3. As the sauce starts to thicken, add in some oregano if you happen to have, as it adds some aroma to your pasta. Next, you can add in your pasta and mixed it till the sauce is clinging to your pasta. Lastly you can add some vegetables like lettuce or peas. Oo.. not forgetting sprinkle some black pepper/salt for flavors if needed.
4. This round I missed to add in some cheese to the sauce though, less cheesy. You can opt to put some Parmesan cheese after dishing up, the cheese will melt due to the heat of your pasta.
5. Pasta done!

A close up shot of the capsicum seed after I cut it

Ingredients

End result

暧昧- 序

2010-03-21T23:19:00.001+08:00

凯杰最新的贴写了以下的感想，突然我也有一些想法。。。

“喜欢有你在身边的感觉。有你在，任何事情都变得有趣。很想知道你是否也有同感？

不管发生任何事，都想与你分享。唯有与你分享的喜悦才算喜悦。很想知道你是否也有同感？

很想了解你的一切。有时候会因为得知了一些关于你的讯息而莫名其妙地感到开心。很想知道你是否也有同感？

有人说，超越友情，却未到爱情，这阶段是爱情里面最美丽的。彼此情投意合，却还未表明心意，唯有互相猜想对方到底对自己是否有意，自己是否在自作多情呢？

偶尔觉得我们很合得来，很有默契，我心里想什么你都能懂，我们的心是如此靠近。

偶尔却觉得我们有距离，冷场出现在我们之间，我不太了解你。

在爱情里，身高不是距离，年龄不是问题，语言不是障碍，是真的吗？

暧昧，是爱情的萌芽，还是寂寞撒的谎？很想知道你对暧昧的见解……”

暧昧，可以像是一幅油画，两个人打情骂俏的过程，让他们即将步入的爱情故事里，增添了不少色彩。暧昧，可以是一个危险游戏，它换来的只是短暂的幸福，过分的寂寞和心痛。

“超越友情，却未到爱情。。。”唯有集起一股勇气，赌一把吧！爱情是要用心和action争取的。超越友情，却到不了的爱情又怎样呢？该放弃还是继续守着这一段情意？

“在爱情里，身高不是距离，年龄不是问题，语言不是障碍。。。”这一个我到是觉得蛮有道理的，爱情需要的是两个人的共知，感情的呵护才能开出的一朵花。如果没有了感情，身高、年龄又能为这一段情带来什么？物质上的满足不能让人的心继续的感动、感觉到幸福。心动是心意和动作创造出来的梦幻组合。

1st Magazine Publication

2010-03-18T21:51:00.003+08:00

Today in my wildest dreams that I see my own photo inside a magazine. I was so excited that I broke the news to my family and closest friends. Sorry for bragging but I'm ecstatic. This round I didn't expect much to get pick but I guess after a long run of submission finally it breaks through. I'll work harder to improve myself, still thinks I'm a half brainer in the settings or utilizing my camera. Hope there'll be more to come.

Ori Photo

Devotion
This scene was shot during the recent Thaipusam celebrations in Penang. The piercing hooks and small tins hanging off every inch of the skin had given me a memorable experience with respect to the devotion shown by the devotees towards their faith and beliefs.

First commercial photography

2010-03-13T23:37:00.003+08:00

I had an opportunity last weekend to help Kai Chieh to take his new "wife" for a photo shooting. Hehe.... everyone was excited who his new wife is, just scroll below lo hehe... It's his new HP Pavilion dm3, new slim laptop from HP. This is a fun shooting as laptop is a new object for me. Below are some shots that I found which exceed my own expectation.

more information from his blog at KC world.

Further pics from the decoration of the place is at a small and cozy cafe, Tea Boutique.

Thaipusam 2010

2010-02-01T22:08:00.005+08:00

This year I had a chance to visit Penang's Thaipusam event as my DSLR missed the previous one. The weather was HOT but the place still packed with a lot of devotees and tourists. Thaipusam had been a big celebration which last for several days in the town area. I did some quick snap to note down one of the most happening events in Penang. I totally loved the colours, the crowd and the rich culture that the event had potrayed. I hope you enjoy the photos if you haven't get the chance to experience and I would recommend everyone to join the event at least once. The experience is unforgettable.

Happy Thaipusam!

EXTREME Colours...

2010-01-12T20:13:00.002+08:00

Past few days the trees by the roadside attracted me as they were all blooming with white and pink flowers. Not really sure what the species was, so named it Sakura. The view was purr-fect for a wide angle shot. But since I didn't have any, so sticked with my kits lens and macro lens for the job. Sunday was a lazy day but still drag myself out to capture the Sakura moments. But to my surprise, the flowers were barely there. I guess it is already close to the end of the flowers' season. It's life span is only a week or two. Because of the Sakura, I started to notice some other flowers which also grew near the area. With the thought to improve my macro skill, I started to put more effort into those flowers than the Sakura. This round, I played with the extreme settings in photoshop, pick up a new technique call Burst effect. But not really sure whether it work well or not. Give me some comments ya. The rest of the photos, some might look unreal hehe... cause I changed the saturation, added shadow, twick the color settings for different feel.

Pet Portrait Shooting

2010-01-05T22:38:00.010+08:00

Kelvin initiated to take Hua Kiong’s dog Money for pet photography during the New Year weekend. I was fortunate to get invited. =p It was kind of tiring morning as 4 hours ago I just hit my pillow. We started around 9am as stated by Sifu that is the best time to get the good lighting. Eng Lee and Hua Kiong brought their camera as well. The shoot lasted 2 hours and Money is such adorable and hyper that morning. He can’t really lay still for long, although he is panting. I guess he was excited to see us hehe…

I made a decision to help Money to get his first photo album. I was trying my best to get every angle that I can think of but still can’t compare to Sifu though. Below is my composition for Money’s first photo album and shared some individual photos. More photos in my flickr.

Money's first album

I hope you guys enjoy the photos and album! Finally get everything done. Phew!~