Do or die!!

Do yourself a favour..Your kids wants to see you back home today

The last rainforest

It took hundreds of years to development such natural beauty but it will take just 3 days to flatten it.

Vertical Life

Singapore is getting bigger and bigger vertically. I wonder if 10 years down the road...Will it be a good place to live in

Family Portrait Eid Mubarak 2009

Still learning this technique.. My d50 is giving way to many noise so it is not as clean as I wanted..

Hope the D300 would come into my life soon. Click on the image to see in full size

Miq and Falisha

Two different style and concept but two of from the same bloodline.

Crossover Band with HDR effects

High Dynamic Rendition (HDR)

Previous post I wrote about Dave Hill effects http://www.davehillphoto.com/

I have been trying on some of my images and apparently it is quite tedious to execute. And when I make some mistake, I need to repeat the process back and this will take most of my time. Being an employed person during the day and spending 10 hours at work, all this time consuming post editing will not help my progress in photography

But recently as I was browsing, I stumble upon this blog http://garmahis.com/tutorials/hdr-tutorial-free-software/ that actually has a much simpler way to do it. The result is also quite satisfying too. I was recently given the assigment to photograph my brother's newborn daughter for her first 3 months celebration. We call this "Majlis Cukur Rambut" which is basically her first haircut and blessing. So this is so call my first attempt and publishing of HDR images. 

But before you actually start doing this experiment, you need to download this software. Click below:

• Qpfsgui- http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/
  
• Gimp- http://www.gimp.org/

Related do's and don't

• http://www.davehillphoto.com/
  
• http://gimpology.com/submission/view/fake_hdr_look_in_gimp/
  
• http://www.flickr.com/groups/hdr/
  

Dry leaves film noir

A new addition to my collection of Istockphoto.com images. I always have a soft spot for film noir style images. Those dark, creepy yet sexy look. This two particular image that I create from with Gimp software is anew project of mine. I set up a new Lightbox in Istockphoto.com call Film Noir Inspired Environment. Just abstracts or scene you would find in film noir scene. Do check out the light box here

Its a start. So I still got more to offer so stay tune. If you need more query about this, do drop me a mail. And If you want to purchase this images, go to my portfolio at Istockphoto.com by clicking the banner below.

How to create Dave Hill's effects using a Gimp Photo editor

No photoshops? Under budget? Use open source Gimp to create stunning images.

A lot of us wonder how those images in magazines or cd covers of celebrity seems to pop out or has that 3D visuals. Well onefamous photographer has create quite a stir in the photgraphy industry that it has been a challenge for a of photographer to try a create the same effect. The artist is Dave Hill. The technique is called Dave Hill's effects. His website has behind the scene video. So check them out.

I found this website http://gimpology.com/submission/view/fake_hdr_look_in_gimp/

that can gives you amazing effects. Of course there are other simpler ways in doing it. HDR images requires a differant software where you to take 3 same images with different exposure to create this stunning effects. Check this out 

http://gimper.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2088

Want to try those professional post processed images that look amazingly alive. 

There are a lot of tutorials in websites on doing this effects. Mostly in Photoshops. Being an amatuer photographer and has a VERY small budget, purchasing photoshops can break our wallets. So Gimp software offers a great alternatives and yes its free. you can download them atwww.Gimp.org.

More links for you likings

Creating Dave Hill Look using Photoshops

Creating Dave Hill Look in Gimp

HDR tutorial

Video Tutorial of Dave Hill looks

Crossover Band 2009

Suprisingly, was invited to shoot their gig during a music marathon. Assignment was given. My first music concert photo assignment. Can't believe it went well. Anyway, some of the images are experimental post-process. Not too sure its good or not. If you dig it, let me know. It definitely will help my progress.

SaraFalisha says, "That's mine!!!".

All grown up. 1½ years old. An the antics starts. Right now my daughter, her name is SaraFalisha btw, is learning way to much in growing up. Curiousity has always in her characteristics. Whatever she sees, is hers. I like this image as it shows her demand to have all the things she wants. She was actually trying to grab my camera. Anyway. the shot taken defy all the rules. lens flare, burnt-out sky, blurred, dull stauration, less contrast. I don't know I just love it. And My daughter.

Leaf Background Ep 2

Most recently I have been posting some images that doesn't comply to Istock regulations. I stop posting since while waiting further clarification with regards to watermarks. It went well and I finally got the answer on using Istock watermarks. Now all my photos here will be my own watermarks. Most of the images here will be Royalty-Free and Managed Rights and will be indicated in every post
Anyway, as I was saying my trip to Singapore Botanical Garden recently. This images was approved recently in Istockphoto.com
You can check the images in different resolution by clicking the link image from my previous post.













All images are © 2009 sohfimages
Royalty-free images from

Singapore Botanical Garden

12 April 2009...Mark this day as this is the first time my wife and I brought our daughter to Singapore Botanical Garden. Of Course not without my fuul gear... It was a very fine day and manage to get a lot of images for my websites....This are some of the images in my Istockphoto

To see more of my full-frame leaf surface, click the image below

Singing my baby to smile

It's really is an art just to make my daughter to smile when snapping my camera away. So what I did was I sang her favorite tune and shoot. And I manage to do is a sequence which is quite interesing

Sepang Formula One 2009

Its been awhile since I update this blog. Been very busy with Istock and work. But recently went to Sepang GP1 last weekend and had a blast!! The race was stopped due to bad weather. I managed to get this images and all I can say is that quality wise is bad if you are using low grade lens especially when lighting is poor.

Hey tats my wife

Taken on my 31st birthday at a Tapas Bar in Clarke Quay, Singapore. This was in 2006 and my first few images using Nikon D50. Amazingly I still use the camera eventhough the camera is not one of the best in the market. Soon I will buy a new Nikon D300 or........ hehehe D700x. Yippee...
2006. Very atmospheric javanese restaurant in Cikini Jakarta. I was using an ISO800. This shot was taken when I was experimenting on the quality of my D50 ISOs. Well I was happy with this shots until I start to learn about this thing call noise.....
Using the backlit under a shade at a reserved swamp in Sungei Buroh, Singapore. A technic I try to give a backlighting. I washed out the whole background and increase the brightness and high saturations.



All picture was done with Nikon Editor and Photofiltre. Photofiltre is another great software which is free and great to use. It has cloning and you can adjust the histogram even with a jpeg images. result.....well lets just say it took me a full 2 years to be able to have a great editing.

I provide the link here if you want to download the software

http://www.photofiltre.com/

The wedding

Some of the images I did at a friend's wedding