Snapsnap Competition

During our trip some days ago, hubs and I had the chance to actually "battle" in photo taking. As you all know he is currently using a DSLR and myself? Olympus Pen E-PL1 ;)

Here are some of the pictures we took together. They are all 100% non-photoshopped, enjoy!

(Pictures by him are the top ones, mine are below his)

For instance,

His

Mine

Clear? Bear that in mind :)

Went to Jonker Street, Melaka to have a quick lunch. Chicken rice balls and nyonya cendol anyone?

Excuse me for looking exhausted. All that time spent in the car did this to me.

After Melaka, we returned to our chalet at PD! I love wood so much! They have a very soothing effect on me.

Here's the balcony. We got a really clear view of the sea from here. In fact, we're on the sea!

The open sky part of our bathroom. Can see the sky and the sea from here!

There were plenty of orchids around.

That's about it. Well, what did I tell you about not needing a DLSR in order to get DSLR-like results?

Plus, with Olympus Pen E-PL1 you can cheat! The pictures look edited but I don't even have to edit them in my computer. Simply just use the Art mode or for better results, edit them in the camera itself!

Heheh.

More on our trip next time!

Love World, Love Sloggi ❤

The world is such a beautiful place don't you think?

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.

~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Mother Nature is the most beautiful thing in the world. Which is why if you ask me what I love most about the world, I will say..

I love everything to do with nature!

However, when I look around me nowadays, I notice a shocking and sad truth. This is what I see..

Us humans, we're destroying mother nature with our doings. Human activities are killing our Earth!

Something must be done! Recycle, off your lights, turn off the water tap! I must do something too... *runs around in circles*

Okay no, seriously. Here's what I did as Supergirl Nature version..

That's why I love Sloggi! Not just because it's

but Sloggi also offers eco-friendly Love World lingerie range!

Imagine the amount of plastic bottles saved!

(well you see, plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting)

So, actually..

Don't know about you but I'm definitely in favor of Sloggi's effort to save the poor unfortunate souls like Bobo the plastic bottle.

Love World Love Sloggi!

Goodbye/Hello Again!

That's right peeps, so long!

'cos this is where I'm heading..

Avillion PD

Heehee, so see you again in few days time! With gazillion of pretty pictures!! (Let's just hope it's as beautiful as it seems)

But first I'll need to get through today, aish.

***

(Updated 18:44, 27/4)

Hello I'm back!!

The place was not a disappointment. Right now I'll have to get enough rest so update on Avillion next time, again ;)

Not Enough

Grocery shopping with hubs one of the days. Had to get everything done within 2 miserable hours which was totally NOT. ENOUGH. Man I hate shopping in a rush, especially when it comes to grocery.

2 hours because that's all the time we have to spend with each other everyday. Well lucky for us we're having our breakaway next week. YESSSSS, been some time since I get some time to really unwind.

So there, grocery shopping and all, done. But er, really I don't think I'll be able to pull off a bikini look this time. I can imagine my fats jiggling around in the sun having their fair share of fun. Unless of course, I hit the gym like right now. Chances of that happening? 0.1%

Also, I seem to have the appetite of a cow lately.

Thus all these body insecurities.

OKAY ENOUGH I WILL NEVER GIVE UP MY NOMS ANYWAY. Got to learn to stop talking to myself.

Thumbs up for hotplate yeemee(NOM!), makeup-less face and the monkey expression.

Okay that's all. A rather pointless update just to.. I don't know. That's why it's called pointless.

You can be a Pro Photographer too!

Since many of you are so curious about my new toy, today I'm going to get a little serious and give a detailed description on it.

Behold, the Olympus PEN E-PL1 as you know it.

The body is made out of plastic with metal front panel. Stylish but small and light enough for the ladies to enjoy their favorite activity, taking pictures of themselves. Not as bulky as a DSLR but has DSLR outcome, who don't want?

Built in an internal retractable flash which POPS out when you press the button. I was greatly amused by it and kept playing with it at first. Fun!

Way adorable.

2.7" HyperCrystal LCD with Anti-Reflective Coating. Which is very good why? Of course you want to view the beautiful pictures you took comfortably right!

The LCD has:
• 230,000 pixels
• 100% frame coverage
• 15 step brightness adjustment

Neat!

Moving on to the lens, this baby comes with 2 lens initially. The first one,

M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 L(Kit lens)
It's retractable with an Unlock switch. This is how it looks like extended.

And this is when it's locked.

Closest focusing distance - 0.25m
Maximum Aperture - F3.5 (14mm) - F5.6 (42mm)
Focal Length 14-42mm (35mm equivalent focal length 28-84mm)

Bummed out? Don't worry, I'll explain what all that means(I took basic tutorial from hubs, hahaa). Free basic photography lessons!!! :)

Zoom range can also be expressed as Focal Length. Below are the pictures that can give you a clear view of the zoom range :

Shot at 14mm

Shot at 42mm

In other words, fret not if you're way at the back at your favorite artiste's concert. You can zoom close enough to maybe even spot a pimple!

Now for the second lens,

M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake (CUTE NAME PANCAKE!!! Looks like one as well)

Closest focusing distance - 0.2m
Equiv. Focal Length (full format) - 34mm

What's Aperture? Some examples to clear off your confusion :

Shot with M. ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake (F2.8 - BIGGER Aperture)


Shot with M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 L (F3.5 - smaller Aperture)

Both pictures were shot with the same shutter speed but with different Aperture. So, as u can see bigger Aperture can produce brighter and blurrer background images.

What 's the best part of E-PL1?

MICRO FOUR THIRDS MOUNT on the E-PL1 provides many key benefits :

- effectiveness of a digitally designed image sensor

- an ultra-compact design

- expandability and compatibility with all Micro Four Thirds Lenses and Four Thirds System Lens via the MMF-2 Adapter.

Translation(For those who don't speak photography yet): It's compatible with most of the lens out there of any brands! So you can attach lens of your choice to obtain desired effect, it's fun to experiment ;)

IN-BODY IMAGE STABILIZATION will give u blur-free image no matter what lenses u used. Instead of selling more expensive lenses that have image stabilization inside them, Olympus takes a different approach by having image stabilization built right into the body of the Olympus E-PL1.

Translation(For those who don't speak photography yet): Lens with image stabilization is SUPER expensive you know or not, probably a few K's. So with this built in image stabilization you can stop burning a hole in your wallet~!

Okay I may not be a pro photographer but at least I'm learning. Especially now with the Olympus PEN E-PL1, I will soon be one :)

Playing with Art

Second day with Olympus PEN E-PL1

PEN and I went over to Sunway Pyramid supposingly for a movie. Before that, we dropped by Teetoo because I can never not go in there whenever I happen to pass by.

Look at me looking all angelic again!!!

Okay I'll tell you briefly how to do it without photoshop okay?

1st method: Use a soft focus lens. Yep, the lens for DSLR which costs at least RM4k.

2nd method(What I used): Set your Olympus PEN E-PL1 to Art Filter mode and choose Soft Focus. Snap away.

Yep, that was it. No extra lens needed!

Olympus PEN E-PL1 has 6 art filters in total:

Pop Art

Soft Focus

Grainy Film

Pin Hole

Diorama

Gentle Sepia.

This is an example of a true colour picture without any art fliters applied.

This is with PinHole effect.

Pop Art. Imagine using this effect at a carnival or hot air balloon fest!

Diorama. As you can see, the focus is in the middle and the outer corners are slightly blurred.

Now you can ditch Photoshop for life, muahahaah!

Alright back to my boring life story, so after all that random shots in Teetoo I met up with Gordon. We headed to OU since Pyramid's TGV was fulllllll.

Even guys love Soft Focus okay it's not just me!

Shirley Temple in Soft Focus.

Shirley Temple in PinHole.

I love PinHole effect!!

I make a better angel heeheh.

Watched Date Night out of desperation for it is the only movie left with seats! It turned out well though, now I know why people love Tina Fey.

After movie, we were lost in the stranded mall!

The signboards don't work after midnight.

Found our way after what it seemed like a thousand years.

Should have so taken this in Pop Art mode!!! *smacks forehead like mad

You can actually FEEL the pictures, thanks to once again, the almighty PinHole!

Tell me why shouldn't I worship Olympus PEN E-PL1?? Now I even update faster and more frequently because I don't have to waste time editing pictures!