Result for ActionSampler Flash

I've got back pictures from my ActionSampler Flash (along with its negative.....it's quite strange since I haven't touch any negatives in the last 7 years or so LOL).

So....starting with open the package, check the negative and CD (I didn't print out the picture, instead I put them into the CD-R)...my heart beat faster than ever....and the result

(Drum rolling.....................)

They turned out not so bad. Above are 4 example pictures I took. The first two (top) were taken when I wasn't moving, but the model moved. The last two (bottom) were taken when I was the one who moved, while the model basically stay put.

I can't denied there are lots of noise on the picture, those pictures were taken with Fuji Film Superia iso 200 (only 200......ghee....I feeling snob of playing with my ISO on "A" mode on my D-SLR hahahahahaha). But they actually gives more artistic touch to the picture. What I like most is the effect that made when I turn the camera in a spiral movement, look at those leaves behind subject !

Overall, I could say, this first test with my second toycam (the first one should be my Diana F+) is considering "quite successful", so I think...I am ready to roll with another roll of film for another round of fun and original pictures.

*_* Novita

Lomo-Junkies

Lately, I really get myself into the lomography. From searching for Lomography cameras to learning how to make a "lomo-look-alike" picture.

In Lomography, the most significant things are, saturation, vibration and vignette effect. Now, you could either buy one of those "vintage lomo-cameras" (such as Holga, Diana, Lomo LC-A...etc), or a more modern version of lomo-cameras (fuji mini 7s and 25) then you are only one step away from showing your lomo-masterpiece. Please be aware that, all the vintage lomo cameras are either using the 35mm film (standard photography film which are easy to find at your nearby shops) or a medium format - 120mm film (it's quite difficult to buy it directly, but you could easily purchase them online). On the other hand, Fuji mini 7s and 25 are using the instax (instant film) which work like polaroid. Apart from the instant film, Fuji cameras are considering more affordable than those vintages one, but of course you can attract more attention when you walk around with your "grandma" camera around your neck :)

The last solution for those who don't want to invest for "another" camera, you can still use your current digital camera, but then you just need to venture your photo editing program to get the precise "lomo" feeling on your picture. Just remember what I wrote above, lomography is all about saturation, vibration and vigenette effect.

Have fun.....

Novita
PS: pictures above I took during Fètes de Genève 2010.

I am stink......

Lately I've tried couple projects of making a video podcast to share with you guys, but unfortunally...I am quite stink on it :(
I am ended up messed up with everything ! Either that I am talking too much (certainly a sign that I was too nervous), or suddenly I just didn't know what to say.....shut....I think I am really typical someone that born to be behind the camera, not in front of the camera....to shoot something, I am good...but to be shot......:)

Have a nice weekend!

*_* Novita

How to : take picture of northern lights

No one will denied the chance to take a picture of northern lights when they could have one. But to take a really nice one could be tricky somehow. Theoritically, you can take one, even if you only have a compact camera with you (of course, there is always a limit for what a compact camera could do ). Anyhow, whatever camera you have, the one that you mustn't forget to have with you is a TRIPOD (preferably a sturdy one).

If you are using a compact camera, then, accesories you will need to worry about are the tripod and extra batteries. However, if you own a D-SLR, then you will start to make a list of things you need or "might want to consider" to have with you during this photo session.
- a lens with a nice aperture (preferably wide angle (max. 28mm) with the biggest aperture possible, around 1.8-2.8)
- remote control (so you don't need to touch your camera with your shaky fingers)
- a "huge" memory card
- a sturdy tripod
- extra batteries (in the cold weather conditions, the battery will be "used up" a lot more faster)

I won't go into the details about what you should wear, but I did wear clothes like if I want to do the exploration in the heart of the antartic (4 layers of clothes, plus a super warm boots, wind stopper gloves and warm hat). But honestly, taking picture when you were on sea is a lot warmer than if you were inland, but one thing for sure, a tight pair of jeans is not recommended for this activity, unless you want to catch cold.

If you were inland, you can put your camera on the AV mode even better if you are comfortable to work manually. The problem with the AV is since your camera works based on the aperture you choose, sometimes it takes away your liberty by giving you a long-pause (30 seconds), unless you want to harm your picture with the very high ISO (above 1600 ISO which I won't recommended to do so considering the noise which will presents on the picture later on). Since the object of our picture is the northern light which is far on the sky, then manual setting will be perfect, well, it will required some works at the beginning, and after that, it's you to choose the aperture and duration, of course ISO too. We don't really need to care about the auto focus, I will say, turn off the AF on your lens, and let it works with MF instead (put it to the infinity). My aperture preferance is 11, and I'll try to keep it on 15 - 20 seconds pause. Well, some people will tell you make it to 30 seconds, but let me say this, the northern lights' dance is depends on when the winds blows, so does the intensity, so when  you put your camera on a too long-pause you might risk to lose some of the movement (if it moves to the other side), or if it disappear all of sudden. No one can guarantee how long it will appear, and how big the size could be. It's part of mother nature, no one could give a fixed order for the appearance of the northern lights.

Above is the case if you try to take picture of the northern lights inland. Most of the challange will be if you are on sea. Imagine, that not only the northern light which will move, but also you, and worse, you can't even control the speed and movement of the boat (unless you are the captain of your own LOL). But this tricky condition could be mitigate with the TV mode on your camera. Depends on the lighting on the sea, but I will say, for the best result, try to keep your ISO between 800-1600, your speed shutter at 4-5 seconds pause, as inland, put your lens to the manual focus to infinity. In land, you might have a chance to use the ISO as low as 200 since you will have snow around you to reflect the light, however, on sea, in the other way around, you could only depends on the moon lit as your light sources.

Other thing I would like to add, since we can't really predict how long the dance would last, I strongly suggest everyone no need to check on pictures they just took on their LCD too much. Why? Because you will certainly wasting your precious time and you will used up your battery life. I took all my northern lights' picture on RAW file, not because JPEG file won't give you a bad result, the problem is, when you encounter lighting problems with your picture, then RAW will serve you the best by the time of editing.

I tried to put as many information as possible on this post. However, I am sure, I missed something on the way. If you have any question, please don't hesitate to write to me - right as comment, or to my email pyongbricole@gmail.com , I am not a genius, but I will certainly try to answer your question on my best.

*_* NOVITA

Things to bring with to Cap Nord.

Surprise.......I will be leaving to Cap Nord (North Cape) tomorrow morning!!!!!!

First I will take a long flight to arrive at Tromso where my journey to the end of the world will begin, but today, we will only talking about what I will packed for this "once in lifetime" trip.

Check list for clothings : all necessary thermal clothes, 100% wool socks, thermal gloves, wind-proof gloves (to put over the thermal gloves), water-proof and wind proof ski pants and jackets (I bring my Eider's), 100% wool winter hat and Colombia's Bugga's boots which is waterproof which can stands up to -32°C.

As for my camera bag, I will carry my Canon 5D Mark II, Power Shot S60 (it's like a joke hahahaha), my Giotto's with 360° angle head, and all "bright" lenses such as, EF 28mm 1.8 USM, EF 70-200mm 2.8 IS USM L, EF 16-35mm 2.8 USM L, and EF 24-70mm 2.8 USM L. This time, I will also carry along my Sony Handycam.

Of course things I can't life without, my Ipod Shuffle filled with all my Michael Bublé's songs.

Trip to Tozeur (Part V, Finale)

Salt Lake and Douz

Venturing our way out from Tozeur to Douz, we made a quick stop at the giant salt lake of Chott el Jerid. We begun passing the villages, and things started to turn from green palm tree to white arid landscape, and here where I really understood the real meaning of word "FATA MORGANA" I saw it myself, and it's quite stunning how my eyes manipulated my senses. While we had our time to take pictures of the breathtaking landscape, some people risked their shoes by walking on the salt lake, well, I did too, but I was safe, not not everyone was so lucky. I knew a couple of people who had to deal with the disaster of the dirts all over their shoes and feet (details).

Then we arrived at Douz, a dusty village which claims itself as the gate to the desert of Tunisia. It's quite remarkable to see about 300 camels waiting to give us ride for our lunch. At the beginning, no one knew about special lunch transfer arranged by the Tunisian government, so I was one of those who refused to climb up on the back of those camel. I tried to argue with them that I prefered to walk around since my only interest was to take pictures, but then they gotten pushy by saying that's the only mean of transport to my lunch, unless I prefered to do my fasting :(

I had a very "nice" camel, which named Mustafa. He loved to take a short cut in front of other's, by climbing on the dune and went down in a sprint style. I quite freaked out by him, so...only way to reduced my fear was by shouting..."...arghhhhhhhhh". After 30 minutes ride, I think Mustafa now became a "deaf-camel" thanks to me hahahahahaha

-Mustafa-

Lunch is quite cool, we're eating, again, in the middle of the desert with not so great weather. But at least we got companied by the traditional dances and musics, and even more special, the menu of that day was "meat cooked in the sand" and salad with the "horse's cheese". Trust me, I wasn't so brave to stick my fork on them :(

But then, the end of the day approached us faster than we expected. That's the last day of our "fun" trip to Tozeur. We closed that day by having a gala-diner at one of the Chic-place at the center of Tozeur - great dinner (with lots of lamb's menu) with belly dancer and fashion shows.

It's quite a remarkable trips, even though there were sometimes things getting hard to digest (like camel meats, lambs everywhere while I am allergic to it). I wasn't sure if I would ever want to return to Tozeur, but at least, I have BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

See you at my next trip to....SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!

Trip to Tozeur (Part IV)

Sahara Lounge and Ong El Jamel

Visited one of the newest adventure park in the heart of Tozeur at the back of the horse-cart. They built the parcour using the existing palm tree to entertain the tourist and rich-local people, why I said so ? Because, a cup of espresso cost almost double than the price in Switzerland. 7 Dinars for a cup of not fresh brew espresso, I think it's a "SCAM".

I didn't really enjoy this place, honestly, but seems like otehr friends did.

At night, we've got special entertainment. Dinner at the middle of the desert on the shooting spot of the STAR WARS.

It's a bumpy ride to arrive at Ong el Jamel. First, we entered the town of Nefta, then took turn in to the sandy bumpy path, and there were all the adrenaline ride begun (for me, plus we drove at night). After about an-hour ride, we arrived at a luminated spot in the middle of nowhere, and there was Yoda's house hahaha

We've been welcomed with the traditional dance, and thousand candles been spread out all along the path to lighten up our way. It's kind of cool, especially when we found out that our welcome drink for that night was Champagne...hmmmm

We've visited the "Star Wars" village, took pictures, hoovering around with our newly given cape (it's cool, we felt like vampires ourselves LOL), it's just a new experiences for me, got lost in the middle of the dessert but still feel super cool :)

The dinner was served in the tent, accompanied by traditional musics and singers. And all of sudden, it turned to Louis Armstrong's channel. At least, that what was I thinking at the beginning, no, it's a super cool Tunisian singers. He sangs those jazz songs just the way Armstrong sang it.

(to be continued...)

Trip to Tozeur (Part III)

Dinner at Dar Cheraït

After the visit to the Oasis, I pretty much would like to refresh myself by taking a shower. However, that's actually the beginning of how I found out the defect that I have in my room. I don't have any "COLD WATER" ran in my toilet. By the end, I finished up my shower by pouring the mineral water from the bottle, the most expensive shower I ever took in my life.

Based on the program, we should walked to Dar Cheraït for our first formal dinner which was just about 50 meters away from our hotel , Sofitel Palm Beach. (I still don't understand why they called it Palm Beach, there were no beach at Tozeur, not in the approximate of 100 kms, whatever). But since I had to spend more time with my "expensive" shower, I ended up a bit late to arrive at hotel's lobby, and almost everyone had gone.

Those 50 meters road was the longest 50 meters I ever did in my life. I almost took of my shoes (I wore high-heels) and ran if I didn't see the hotel's gate right away. People on the street was "over friendly" they shouted and teased you, which made me freak out.

Anyway, arrived at Dar Cheraït, this is another palace in the middle of the economy suffered country. It's too glamour considering what they prepared for us, and imagine what others had in their kitchen at the same day. It's sad :(

I didn't spend much time on the food, I felt like to walk around it's museum which is small ,and honestly, nothing was really interesting.

(to be continued....)

Trip to Tozeur (Part II)

Oasis Chebika

We leaved Tozeur to visit one of the famous Oasis - Chebika. It's an-hour something road trip, on a bumpy road, I even made a joke with my friend that I couldn't image if I was driving a Smart car instead sitting on the Toyota Land Cruiser LOL. Anyway, the view is magnificent, we even had chance to see the camel's feeding on the road side (without stopping our car).

Above is the picture of the Village of Chebika taken from the top of the hill, just behind it. It's one of the ancient village in Tozeur area, people lived in their traditional way of living, simple but interesting. Children ran around the street to waved hello to us when they say the line of about 60 4x4-car, what invaders we were.

Hike a bit left and right, we finally arrived in a passage which will led us to the real oasis. At the beginning, I was a bit disappointed when I arrived in a "sort of Oasis" place with dried canals. I was imagining what kind of scam was waiting for me after this, since I found more souvenir sellers than any drop of refreshing water. A bit more into the depth of the limestone wall, we arrived at the real Oasis, and this one is really a breathtaking one. It was WOW....awesome, paradise, reliefing...you name it.

Now I totally understand why in the history, they talked about Khalifa was desperate looking for Oasis in their cross-desert journey. It's a paradise in the middle of the dusty hell.

Leaving the Oasis, we were facing the rocky slope. Let me tell you a funny thing, there was a lady, worse of all, she was actually our guide, who wore a long skirt plus a high-heel boots, by the end, she had to took off her boots and walk bare feet until the parking LOL. Ok, back to business, so, according to the guide, we had to walk through the rocky slope, and passed a narrow pass to arrived at the Parking, what a complicated way. But look at the good side, we were actually arrived at the peak of the slope just in time for the sunset. It's one of the most beautiful sunset in mylife. The blend of colors contrast between sands, rocks, and sky.

(To be continued...)

Inside my camera's bag (for trip to Tozeur)

Today, I would like to share with you what I carry with me for my trip to the dessert of Tunisia. Since the weather in the desert is fairly fine (clear sky with abundant of sunlight almost 12-hour per day), I could go easily with my standard wide-angle lenses plus a "not so powerful" zoom as a company.

So my Canon EOS 5D mark II will be accompanied by EF 16-35mm 2.8L USM, EF 24-70mm 2.8L USM, EF 70-300mm 4.5-5.6 IS DO USM,  Flash EX-430, and my mini companion (during the gala dinner) PowerShot S60. Other necessary things to be taken with is 4 x 32GB CF card, lens cleaner and of course don't forget battery chargers for both cameras.

For those who has been visited a dessert, you might realise there are two main nature component in this extreme part of the world, the sand and sky. Sand and sky sometimes could make a magnific lighting for your landscape picture, but sometimes, they could ruin all. That's why, for a little help, I will also carry with me my polarization filter.

I am not a big fans of flash, but I have to carry them with me just in case I have to take some in-door picture during the gathering (don't forget, this is not 100% leisure trip for me *wink*).

* Novita *

Next departure 19.11.09, destination : Tozeur, Tunisia

Next Thursday, 19 November 2009, I will be on my way to Tozeur, Tunisia. It won't be a total "vacation" trip, but will feel more like that, since the only working time will be on Friday morning, and it will only last for about 2 hours or so.

Tozeur is an oasis and a city in south west Tunisia. It's, also, a large oasis, which was important for the transportation through Sahara, where one can see fata morgana's. The average temprature for this particular area during the month of November is in between 8.5°C - 20°C, which at night it could be quite cold considering it's location in the middle of the dessert.

I won't reveal name of places I will visited for the moment, want to keep it as a secret for my reader :) But one thing I can promise, before I go, I will certainly sharing the inside of my camera bag.

Have a great weekend.

*Novita*

Greetings from the Alps

Hi, my name is Novita. I am making this special blog to share experiences and tips of traveling. I could say that I travelling quite a lot, and on the other hand, my family owns our own travel agent, which is a perfect combination in term of finding a destination and sharing tips with all of you guys. I regreted I didn't start it earlier, but, better late than never.

I live in Crans-Montana, which is located in on of the best ski-resort in Switzerland. My favorite destination, unlike my fellow Swiss who loves to do the sun-bathing, is cold-country a.k.a extreme northern hemisphere countries LOL, but since other member of my family love beaches, sometimes, we just went south.

My other passion is taking picture. I love to take artistic macro and landscape pictures, but while I am on inspection, I have no choice but taking the "detail reporter" pictures too :( More or less, I could also share a bit of my knowledge about camera, lenses, etc.

I am not only want to share idea, but also would love to listen from all of you. Feel free to left me a comment, but I do appreciate some courtesy since this is a public forum.

*Novita*