Monday, June 27, 2011

Iguana | Reptile Park Bali

Iguana, satu dari sekian banyak hewan yang sampai saat ini ingin aku pelihara.
Beruntung pada saat dapet project di Bali, setelah gagal mengabadikan sunrise di Pantai Sanur,  terhalang hujan saat berniat mengabadikan indahnya "subak" di Ubud, akhirnya tanpa sangaja huntingpun terlampiaskan di Birdpark & ReptilePark Bali.



Salah satu dari sekian ribu penghuni taman burung, dan sekian ratus reptil disana, yang paling menarik perhatian adalah Iguana, reptil sejenis kadal yang banyak hidup didaerah tropis seperti Amerika Tengah, Amerika Selatan,  dan beberapa tempat di Indonesia. Secara fisik mungkin tidak ada yang terlalu istimewa pada fisik iguana, akan tetapi saat kita mencoba melihatnya secara detail, kita akan merasa menjadi raksasa di jaman purba. Detail kulitnya yang tebal, bersisik dan pada bagian tertentu memiliki lapisan keras dengan sisik yang besar dan kasar, serta punggung yang memiliki semacam duri (pada beberapa jenis iguana tertentu) akan mudah mengingatkan kembali pada hewan-hewan dimasa purba dulu.
Reptil pemakan sayuran ini merupakan salah satu reptil yang banyak disukai orang selain reptil lain seperti kura-kura.


gear : D200|Nikkor AF-D 70-300|SB-600
Location : Bali Bird & Reptile Park

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Photography Basics




This post was republished to Dmagz Photogallery at 7:30:04 PM 6/8/2011

Photography Basics


Ever wonder what it is that actually makes a camera work? This tutorial will cover the inner workings of a camera, and introduce you into photography basics and the expansive world of taking better photographs.
To take beautiful photographs you do not need an expensive camera and a bag full of equipment. What is important is the photographer’s ability to see his/her surrounding and use knowledge and personal feel for the subject.
Being the first article in a series, this lesson is meant to only cover the basics of photography. The idea with this series is to get people more interested in photography, awaken creativity and hopefully help people enjoy this hobby even more. The community here at Tutorial9 is an important part of this series and I would love to hear your feedback and questions.
An introduction to Photography

The word “photography” is French but is based on Greek word and literarily means “drawing with light“. That’s what photography is all about, without light — no photograph. The art of photography is basically seeing and balancing the light.
The illustration to the left shows the path the light travels from the object to the sensor (or film in non-digital cameras).
First the light needs to go through the lens, which is a series of differently shaped pieces of glass. If the focus is good then the light will meet on the sensor.
The aperture is placed inside the lens and is basically an opening that controls how much light reaches the sensor.
On most modern cameras the shutter is placed inside the camera body. This piece of mechanics is what controls how long time the sensor is exposed to the light.
The sensor is a very sensitive plate where the light is absorbed and transformed into pixels. As you can see on this illustration, the image the sensor picks up is actually upside down, just like our eyes sees the world, the processor inside the camera then flips it.
Aperture
The aperture sits inside the lens and controls how much light passes through the lens and onto the sensor. A large aperture lets through very much light and vice versa. Knowing how the aperture affects the photograph is one of the most important parts of photography — it affects the amount of light, depth of field, lens speed, sharpness and vignetting among other things. I will talk more about these things in later parts of this series.
F-numbers, a mathematical number that expresses the diameter of the aperture, are an important part of understanding how the aperture and exposure work. All f-numbers have a common notation, such as ƒ/5.6 for an f-number of 5.6. There are a set numbers of f-numbers that are used in photography, there are several different scales but the “standard” full-stop f-number scale is this:
ƒ/# 1.4 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22 32
These are known as full-stop f-numbers. If you decrease the f-number with one full-stop, like ƒ/4 to ƒ/2.8, the amount of light that passes through will double. If you increase the f-number with one full-stop, like ƒ/5.6 to ƒ/8, only half the amount of light will reach the sensor.
There can be several f-numbers between the ones above — depending on what scale is being used. The most common one is a 1/3 scale, which means that every third step is a full-stop, and thus giving you two settings between every full-stop. For example between ƒ/8 and ƒ/11 you will find ƒ/9 and ƒ/10. This can be rather confusing at first, so here’s a short reminder:
A higher f-number = a smaller aperture = less light
A lower f-number = a larger aperture = more light
Shutter
The shutter is what controls how long the sensor is exposed to the light. The longer the shutter is open the more light can be captured by the sensor. A fast shutter speed will result in “freezing” a moving object and a slow shutter speed will let you capture the motion of a moving object.
There is a scale of stops for the shutter speeds just like for the aperture, below are the full-stops.
1/1000 s 1/500 s 1/250 s 1/125 s 1/60 s 1/30 s 1/15 s 1/8 s 1/4 s 1/2 s 1 s
And just as with the aperture, the shutter speed is often on a 1/3 scale, giving your two steps in between every full-stop. For example between 1/60s and 1/125s you will find 1/80s and 1/100s.
The two primary factors which control exposure are shutter speed and aperture. We will cover these things in greater detail in other lessons.
See [LINK TO EXPOSURE TUTORIAL] for an article on how exposure works.
ISO
The ISO speed (the name comes from the International Organization for Standardization) is a measure of the film speed, or its sensitivity to light. With digital cameras the ISO affects the sensor instead of the film, but the principal is the same. A low ISO speed requires a longer exposure and is referred to as slow, a high ISO speed requires less time to give the same exposure and is therefore referred to as fast. One step in the ISO equals one full-stop, so the ISO is not on a 1/3 scale — film can be found with 1/3 ISO speeds, but it’s uncommon in the digital world. These are the most common ISO speeds.
ISO 50 100 200 400 800 1600 3200
On 35mm film, a film with high ISO speed had much more grain than a slower film — but the modern sensors don’t create the same grain with high ISO speeds. Instead it creates noise. The digital noise is not as favorable as the film grain and can destroy a photo if it’s too visible (the same goes with the grain, but it’s effect was more subtle and often more liked).
If light is no problem, then always use a low ISO number but if you’re indoors with bad light or other conditions when you find the combination of aperture/shutter not to be enough the ISO speed can be a great asset. New digital sensors are constantly developed and the noise levels with high ISO speeds are decreasing with every new release.


Great Photo Composition Every Time | Light Stalking email

Hi Dmagz


Composition is the way in which the photographer groups/places the various elements within the frame of a photograph to enhance the viewer's experience.

In general, the viewer's eye tends to be drawn away from symmetry in photos. Our eyes tend to want to look at photos that are weighed in a different way.

So how do you take advantage of how people look at an image?

One way that is often talked about is the Rule of Thirds.

The Rule of Thirds - is a technique where the canvas is carved into 3 equal parts both horizontally and vertically. This results in 4 points of convergence where the 4 lines cross over each other (think of a tic-tac-toe grid over the subject you are shooting). It is in these 4 areas that a viewer's eye is drawn to.

Yes, there are always exceptions to this rule (and you should usually trust your gut), but the majority of the time, the Rule of Thirds wins. Learn this single technique and your images will be composed much more strongly and viewers will tend to look at your photos much longer and be drawn in.

The good news here is that humans have a natural tendency to this rule. If you look back through your favourite images that you have taken, you will probably find that many of them adhere to this "rule" without you even trying. It's even been shown that infants are more drawn to images that follow this general composition - so keep the rule in your mind, but don't get hung up on it.

The Rule of Thirds in Landscape Photography

The Rule of Thirds applies to landscape photography, but in a slightly different manner. Instead of carving up the canvas into vertical and horizontal thirds, it's primarily the horizon that is dealt with.

The horizon line is conventionally put in the 1/3rd or 2/3rds area - not in the middle!

If you want to emphasise either the sky or the land, move the horizon to 7/8ths or even more. Again, just do not place the horizon in the middle of the canvas.

Composition is something that should become as natural as breathing to a good photographer.

Practice a lot. Then practice some more.

Think of the photo taken on 9/11 by the great photojournalist, James Nachtwey. He happened to be in New York and heard the commotion on that tragic day. He grabbed his gear and started towards the Twin Towers. When he was a ways off, the first building started to fall, he instinctively raised his camera and got off a few frames. The photo is impeccably framed and composed, he did it in a heartbeat. Your goal should be to be as comfortable with immediately composing an image in your view-finder.

Practice, and you too will be ready to compose great photos at a moment's notice.
Further Photography Composition Resources:
 
Cheers
The Team

Monday, June 6, 2011

Sudut Kota Tua Jakarta


Kota Tua-Djakarta, salah satu spot wisata di sekitra kota Jakarta. Selain sebagai salah terdapat banyak bangunan tua peninggalan jaman kolonial, di sekitar Kota Tua juga banyak terdapat musium dan tempat - tempat yang memiliki daya tarik secara secara struktur atau bentuk bangunannya, tidak heran kalau di sini banyak orang melakukan pemotretan, baik yang hanya sekedar iseng buat foto-foto narsis koleksi pribadi, atau sekedar kumpul bareng temen - temen se'hobi di moment hunting bareng, pemotretan model, bahkan sampai foto prewedding atau dokumntasi yang lebih serius yang lain.

Entah berapa kali ke sana selama hampir 3 tahun tinggal di tengah kota Jakarta, tidak ada yang berubah dari awal ke sini sampai 1 minggu terakhir kemaren. Beberapa kali foto-foto yang pernah diambil hampir selalu memiliki view dan komposisi yang sama, apa lagi kalau bukan motret Human Interest sama foto - foto bangunannya, tanpa meninggalkan objek khas kota tua, sepeda ontel.

Kali ini mencoba mengabadikan kondisi Kota Tua dalam frame dari sudur pandang yang berbeda, setelah sebelumnya menghadirkan nuansa kota tua dalam balutan warna Hitam-Putih. Dengan mencoba bermain pada bukaan diafragma F 8-16, dengan sentuhan akhir menggunakan Lightroom 3.3, kali ini beberapa sudut Kota Tua mencoba dihadirkan dalam suasana lebih dalam, sedikit menonjolkan detail arsitekturnya, memanfaatkan banyangan matahari yang cukup keras jatuh ke sudut-sudut bangunan.

Belum semuanya mendekati sempurna, setidaknya foto-foto berikut bisa mewakili proses belajar fotografi yang selama 1tahun terakhir ini, sekaligus tes gear yang baru kepegang beberapa hari.







Location : Kota Tua- Jakarta, Indonesia
Nikon D200 | AF-S Nikkor 18-70/3.5-5.6 ED | CPL 67mm