Jason Beyond

Durian Season and Flu Bug

beyond — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 05:53:27 +0000

This year alone, I think I kena Tonsilitis for the 3rd time d. Usually started off with a bit of discomfort before getting full blown a couple days later on. The odd shit is.. I usually kena the thing during durian season. Who can say no to the lovely lovely king of fruits? Yeah its heat-y in nature and one should drink more fluid after feasting on them. But this time, I stayed away from durians. I think overworked la. Been shooting none stop every frigging week. December 2012. Best month to get hitched/married. Last weekend didn’t sleep well. Assignments started as early as 4 am and break time was around 2 or 3 pm. Could only catch about 2 hours sleep in between before resuming shooting activities by 6 pm which lasted till way past midnite. Imagine the same routine again the next day. I think my body system is pretty fucked up. So I have been getting sick *especially tonsillitis* every now and then. Been having thoughts of removing the tonsils. Dear Brother Sarip did it. Wonder how it went.. Read online that tonsillectomy recovery ain’t fun Hahahaha. If I keep getting it, I have to consider it in future. Every time I get it, I ll get some form of blood stain. The upper respiratory tract inflammation contributes to it. Probably I bust some blood capillaries whenever I cough or sneeze hard. And the best shit is..Cough also kicks in. Its not the normal type of chesty cough *I rarely get this nowadays* I ll get the damn irritating dry cough. Its like someone puts his/her tiny fingers into your throat and tickles the area. Been on Augmentin for the past couple of days. Had to start Antibiotics coz I was having high fever on Monday when infection took place. Hahaha. I got more shoots coming up. Need to get well soon. Plus..I can t get close to my babies. Its the season I believe, coz I have customers that are having the same stuffs. Cough and cold and etc etc etc.

Serinus Mozambicus

beyond — Mon, 28 May 2012 10:32:03 +0000

There is a bird shop where I get my birds from regularly near my workplace. Kooi Lim Pet Shop is situated somewhere along Batu 4 1/2 Jalan Ipoh. Its easy to spot the place. Just lookout for CIMB/Arab Bank/ Maybank on your left if you are coming from Jalan Kuching roundabout heading into Jalan Ipoh direction. Once you see the banks, look right. Ah Lim, inherited the business from his Dad. Apparently they have quite a lot of ‘jalan’ Hehehe. Although I live in a condo, my interest in birds were ‘awaken’ again when I worked at Jalan Ipoh. This is because during breaks, I ll be there ‘lepaking’ and checking the birds out. Common birds eg Merbuk/Budgies/Freedom birds are the norm there. Nowadays there are a lot of Merbah Jambuls (MJ). This is because the need to have a license to keep MJ has been abolished. But of course, the Perhilitan also came up with various new regulations to recoup the ‘losses’. I think I have bought quite a number of types of birds from Lim. I have tried the Merbuk, Sharma, MJ, White Eye and etc. But one of the best singers I kept was the Serinus Mozambicus aka Stone Finch. Its also popularly known as the Yellow Fronted Canary. But I believe there are two diff species or sub species as pointed by Lim. The online community probbalry mixed up the two due to the close similarities. I have seen both species and one is slighly larger than the other and the singing tune by the bigger one is different compared to the smaller one. The local birders calls the bigger species Tai Kam Chiang aka Big Gold Green. The bird originates from Africa. But the ones I bought were captive-bred in Singapore. It s a great singer due to a mixture of high pitches melodies. But one thing, the bird is a messy eater (seed eater ma). The empty shells dirties the whole place. Here are two pics I took of the birds. Forgive me if the perch is obstructing the pic. I ll avoid this angle in future. LOL.

Pics were shot with a Canon 5DMkII + 50 mm F1.4 wide open

Canon 5D Classic

beyond — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:21:14 +0000

Thanks to David Nikon/David Leica/David Canon/David Hasselblad (OkOk.He virtually used every damn system) or the real name David Tan, I managed to land aka purchase a reasonably good condition used Canon 5D Mk1 (Classic) as a backup body. The unit originate from Singapore. Went through complete shutter overhaul and the ‘laoyah’ mirror was replaced as well. And at the price of under RM3k..This is the best bang for buck back up body in the market. Full Frame ma..I had actually almost bought another unit from another guy. His unit came with a Batt Grip. But upon closer inspection, the unit was in a very used condition and best of all..the battery grip was actually faulty. It couldn’t read the power correctly. It was priced somewhere near to David’s unit hence I decided to not go ahead with the faulty unit. Lets just say..I got a really sweet deal for the unit.

Well..A couple of years back before the 5DMkII was released..The 5DMk Classic was actually priced around RM9k. It was highly rated. Full Frame..Good noise control at ISO 1600. Highly rated for natural skin tone. Highly rated for studio work as well. There was no real competitor to it until Nikon D700 was released. Most of the wedding photogs in the industry was using the Canon 5D classic too. So..Getting one as a backup to my Canon 5DMkII is not a bad idea at all. Hahaha. My only qualm is the lousy LCD panel. Its just like Leica M8. Excellent image quality but friggin lousy LCD panel Anyway..I managed to give it a quick test today. Took some shots of Nathania while she as home and also Desa Parkcity. Here are some of the shots. As usual..Black and White.

– Cheeky Litte Girl -

– iPhone Pa! -

– New Shoes -

– I like to suck on my Thumb and Finger -

– Future Model -

Nikon D800 and Canon 5D MKIII

beyond — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:48:05 +0000

Most would be aware by now that both the D800 and 5D MKIII has hit Malaysia’s shore. The RRP for Nikon D800 is RM 10899 while the Canon 5D MKIII is RM 11199 (source: www.shashinki.com) . Sometime in 2010, I think it was around November, I decided to sell off my 5D MKII in anticipation of the new 5D MKIII release. It was merely a speculation that it would be released sometime in 2011. I thought it would be around June 2011 or sometime before that. But the ill fated Tsunami threw everything off the plan. Both Nikon and Canon manufacturing plants in Japan were affected. So my plans were affected as well. Thanks to my cousin Anderson, he loaned me his 5D MKII for my assignments. But soon, I knew I cant be waiting anymore. Finally I went and bought another unit of used 5D MKII that came with warranty which in a sense was a good buy as the warranty goes into late 2013. Best of all, I bought it at RM6.3k. Good deal lo..Hahahah.

So when they finally announced the new 5D, I wasn’t that really excited when I heard the specs. Yes..They finally upgraded the AF system. Its basically a ‘1DX’ AF system. I am pretty sure it will be a much welcomed improvement over the MkII AF system. ISO range is still around there there region. I would say its no where near Nikon at the moment. Anyhow, to pay around RM5K for improved AF..I think its a little bit too much to pay. AS of today 22/05/2012, I think the 5DMkIII is available around RM9k plus for CPS members whereas the Nikon D800 is around RM 9.2k (No available stock though). I recently acquired a cheap Canon 5D (now called Classic) for under RM3k. It will serve as a backup camera to my existing Canon 5DMKII body. Despite its considered an old technology now, the Canon 5D Classic is highly regarded for its beautiful skin tone reproduction. Some says..Its better than Canon 5DMkII and for the price I paid..Lets just say its a steal. Mint-ish body and new shutter. What more can I ask for?

According to Nikon rumors, the D800 is not a D700 replacement model. There is a D600 in the pipeline. The drawback is that its rumored to be motorless..This means it would not be able to drive the AF lens. Only AFS lens can be used. Also speculated was the size of the D600 whom they claim is a smaller design compared to the D700. Lets look forward to more cameras. Though, I doubt I ll be upgrading. No money..Hahahaha. Cheers.

Happy Birthday Brother

beyond — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:51:49 +0000

Wow..37 years have passed by. My brother is officially 37 years old today. Mom has been taking care of him since he was born till now. I think mom deserve tremendous credits and praises. God Bless you Ma! My brother ‘Yang’, is born with cerebral palsy. A condition that left him physically challenged. Born with an ability to play any song by ear, his magical ‘one’ finger keyboard/piano capability was his forte. Although he is 37 years old physically, sometimes, I think having spent years at home and not much socializing with others has left him with somewhat a teenager mentality? Hahahah. He is very very attached to mom. He will throw all sorts of tantrums when he is in a ‘foul’ mood. Also loves to repeat questions to visitors. Honestly, he loves it when there are visitors. He will get real excited. There is a long list of funny character or behavior. Nevertheless, he is my brother. I have not treated him well over the years. I guess I outgrew him when I was a teenager. I remember we used to be closed when I was around 4-8 years old. Cant recall much. I also remember I used to beat and scold him when I was younger. I stopped doing that, realizing that by doing so I can t change him. He is who he is. He was born that way. He is that way partly due to our fault. So much regrets. I used to see him as a burden honestly. I still do somehow. But I ask for God’s grace to keep mom and dad healthy. God please keep Dad’s fiery temper doused. My brother has been lucky as he is healthy throughout the years. Though, I remember one year he had some boils on his elbow. God..He almost created a havoc at the HKL emergency department. Dr wanted to admit him, but we told the Dr, unless you want to risk the wrath of the other patients, we advise against to do so. Anyway..He healed up with some antibiotics and physical extraction of the pus from the infected elbow. The elbow was swollen badly. So..This year, I ll be getting him Kentucky Fried Chicken, one of his fav. Or..Both him and my sis love KFC la. Cant get him something fancy..No point. Hehehehe. God Bless ya brother. Here are some pics I have taken over the years.

Hasselblad 500 CM and CZ 80 mm F2.8 CF

Nikon FM2n and 50 mm F1.8 E Series

Leica IIIF and 50 mm Summitar F2

Eric Kim visits KL Leica Store

beyond — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:50:25 +0000

Recently, the LeicaNuts got to meet up with Eric Kim, from the fame Eric Kim International Street Photographer. Eric was down in Kuala Lumpur to run a two day street photography workshop ‘Conquering Your Fear of Shooting on The Streets- Introduction to Street Photography Workshop in Kuala Lumpur on the 3rd and 4th of Mac 2012. Shannel, the Brand Manager of Leica Store invited the Nuts over for a post workshop cocktail session at the Leica Store Avenue K. I think I reached Leica Store around 8.30 pm. I was running late coz I spent some family time with my wife and daughter at the Curve first. It was a Sunday hence Leica has to come second LOL. I have always like to attend Leica’s event, they serve some really fine food. It s not like usual camera events where you have packed jam people. Here we have enthusiast and a good bunch of friends. Most of the guests knew each other. See Meng, Nick, Johan, Scott and I were there to represent LeicaNuts.

It was actually my first time meeting Eric (duhhh). LOL. Eric is a young Korean chap born is the United States. Yes, he speaks Korean if you must know. His first comment to me was “You from Australia?”. I was wearing this “I Lup Melbourne” T shirt courtesy from Mr Wayne Lee. I said ” No la..its a freebie from my cousin”. And the group sorta hit off just like that. Interesting fact about Eric, he is the tallest in his family. We decided the credit should go to American food. I was suggesting that Nathania take some American food to boost her height. So far instead of going up, she is growing sideway. Hehehehe. Eric uses a Black Leica M6 Classic with a 35 mm Summicron ASPH lens. A flash is attached to the camera as well. Its a third party flash. Cant recall the brand at the moment. Will update again once I get the brand correct later. We adjourned to The Library for some drinks. Eric and Luke Ding also joined us for a short minum session as well. I think Eric really likes Nick Yoon s work. Nick is a pretty accomplished photog as well.

We were invited to another dinner session organized by Luke the next day. We were supposed to meet at Pavillion around 7.30 pm. It was 50 50 for me as I finish working around 5 pm and by the time I settle Nathania down it should be around 8 pm. Scott and Nick were the only Nuts that joined the dinner. See Meng missed the ride and he got back home. Johan was busy. I gave Scott a call and they have just reached La Bodega around 8 tish. I took a quick bath and headed down to Pavillion. Soon, the guys arrived and we ordered some food and drinks. My tomato spag was ‘ma ma dei’ that night. Too saltish if I may add. Dinner was quick as the guys wanna head out for a shoot session. Dang..I came unprepared. All I had was the Canon 220H. Hahahaha. Scott brought his Ricoh GRD IV along. A fine fine fine camera I must say. I used it for a couple of shots that night. I must say..its pretty good and decent.

We walked along Jalan Bukit Bintang till Jalan Alor. I was taking random shots. Utilizing a slow shutter speed and rear sync flash, I was able to capture some night ’street photos’. Eric was kind to provide some pointers to other street kakis as well. One by one he gave a short stint and quickie lessons. I had some friendly advise from him as well. I approach the subject and execute the shots too slow. Hehehe. I admire him for willing to share the craft and knowledge of street photography. A young chap he may be. A lot of critics he may have on the web. But he is truly a nice chap. I believe Eric is a very fortunate young man. He is globetrotting and giving lessons around the world. Kudos. Been visiting his blog lately. I see a lot of negative comments from trolls/haters. I ll say..Ignore them. They are probably jealous. We adjourned the night around 12.30 am I think. I got home pretty late. Eric has a 2 pm flight to London. I wish him all the best for the coming workshops. Here is one of the shot I took that night. Will post more once I get the photos from Scott

Shot from the hip level, I caught a few subjects up close I cropped the pic and titled it ‘3Some’

Physical Activities

beyond — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:06:41 +0000

I recall Siew Chee Hoong once asked me “Chyuan, you know any basketball courts that operate the flood lights past 10 pm?”, I said no as most of the courts in Kepong Baru dont. If there is one, you will be required to pay ‘rental’. I never did give much thought about the topic after that. I did ask why they play so late. Most of the guys finish work late. So they decided that the best time to play is on Friday nights. So one nice Friday nite around 11.30 pm, I was driving around the neighborhood and I passed by an old basketball court at Bukit Sri Bintang ( A place where I used to play everyday before I got injured), I saw those guys playing. I parked the car and got down. I sat down and chatted with them. All these years (3 years), I stayed off sports due the knee/shoulder injuries I had. But after watching them play for 5 minutes, I was called in to join in. Hesitant initially, I succumbed to the game. I moved slowly and carefully. The knee felt good. But the shoulder wasn’t. I feel pain each time whenever I did a big movement. The game ended around 1.30 am. I was happy coz I sweat a lot. I love physical activities. Yes. I honestly do. Went back home and slept well.

So the following week, I had to find a proper pair of shoes. Dad took over my Nike trainers and its was in a pretty sad state. My proper basketball shoes was peeling all over due to the storage. The only pair of shoes I have left was the New Balance shoes. Even that, the bottom soles were coming off. But at any rate, it suffice for the moment. The second game went well too. My confidence grew. No pain in the knee ma.. So two nights ago, I decided to give it a real test. I took the And1 shoes for repair and got ready for the game. Armed with a knee guard, I had it tight to minimize the joint movement. I moved a lot faster that night. But the shoulder pain was something I cant manage. So I had to limit above head shoulder movement. Nevertheless, I felt much better. I think I ll continue playing every week. Been lying dormant for quite sometime. Dont like it one bit. But jeez, I woke up with really sore legs on Sat. Hahahah. Lack of physical activities over the years. So there were a lot of muscle groups that got tuned that night. Even my arm muscles were aching the other day even thought the only thing I did was shoot and pass. The knee felt really good. I have to bear in mind though, it s not fully healed. The hole is still there in the bone. Its closing..But slow.. Looking forward to healthier life. Signing off. Cheers folks.

Gear Lust

beyond — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:36:57 +0000

A Happy New Year 2012 to all! Hope it has been a good new year for all. Sometime before Christmas, I was surfing eBay on my iPad and I kept searching for a good Rolleiflex deal. FYI Rolleiflex prices has gone sky high as it s a highly sought after camera nowadays. Read in the forums that wealthy buyers from China are buying up and driving up the prices on eBay. Be it Leica, Hasselblad and Rolleiflex, the prices has been driven up over the couple of years. If you are a true classic camera geek, the Rolleiflex is one of the ‘must have’ gear. The first Rolleiflex was introduced back in 1929. Up till now, the main film format used is the 120 mm format. Its also popularly known as the 6 x 6 or Medium Format.

So there was I ( in the middle of a workshop), I was actually concentrating on eBay I came across a couple of interesting auctions and Buy It Now Rolleiflexes. I tried bidding on a couple of auctions. But usually, the prices are not stable and I got to wake up in the middle of the night to monitor the bids. Buy It Now offer a hassle free method for buyers who can t be bothered with waiting 5 to 6 days for an auction to end. They simply BUY it now Buy It Now items usually command a higher price. So..Here am I ..Looking at a couple of Buy It Now items. A particular Rolleiflex 3.5 F ad caught my eye. The item was described as MINT. Priced at USD1199.99 (excluding shipping). Unfortunately it says Will Not Ship to Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia. But I was keen to try my luck. I contacted the seller, Randy Smith of www.holgamods.com asking him if he can reconsider shipping the item to Malaysia. After a couple of emails the deal was sealed! I asked Randy to insured the package. I was not worried about Randy. I was worried about our local postal services. Once upon a time, some idiot decided to threw the parcel over the gates. Thank God it was not lenses.

Dealing with Randy was very pleasant. He kept me updated with tracking and mails. On my side, I updated Randy when the parcel touched down and cleared the customs. I was lucky that my office was near to Batu Caves PosLaju. I picked up the parcel the moment it arrived as the Batu Caves PosLaju. Hahahaha. Couldnt wait. I opened the package at the Mizi Shabu Shabu while having lunch with my dear wife. Randy gave me a modded Holga as well. Thank you Randy!~ The Rolleiflex was packed neatly with lotsa layers of bubble wrap. True to Randy’s eBay description. The Rolleiflex was in great condition. Despite a speck or two of paint loss, I didnt mind at all. Its a great looking TLR. I love it! Its a beautiful beautiful beautiful camera, I kept telling my wife. Hahahaha. As of this morning, I ran 3 rolls of film through the camera. The speed knob is abit tight, but will do. The screen is bright and snappy. Will update again once I dev the film. Do pay Randy’s site a visit. Lovely mods he done to the Holgas.

A TLR within a TLR

Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day!

beyond — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:08:45 +0000

Merry Christmas to all!~ Been busy busy busy. Was shooting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am working as well today. Yeah. What a bummer. Its Boxing Day…yet I am at work. Well..I got mouths to feed and buying spree to be fulfilled. I hope everyone had a good holidays. Its Nathania 2nd Christmas. This year its more meaningful as she went to the church for the party. Best start them young. Hahaha.

Recently, took a trip to Australia with my wife. Yeah. We left the baby home. I swear I wont do that ever again. Period. We missed the little one so much when we were abroad. Thank God for the iPad, iPhone and Optus Australia. I was never cut off from home and internet. For AUS30 I think we got ourselves a pretty good deal. AUS300 call credits/Unlimited FB and Twitter/500 mb Data lasted through 3 weeks trip. Best! I think I called home 2-3 times a day. Hahaha. One thing about Down Under. There is no such thing as free Wifi (unlike Malaysia where its free at most popular spots) except in the Airports or maybe some places that I didn’t know. Would be great to able to FaceTime with love ones back home. So the Data plan was keeping me very happy as I traveled. If one follows my FB updates you will know.

I tried to do some Street Photography when I was in Melbourne. I love the place. Its pretty ‘multiracial’. You got all sort of mixture of people there. The city is mix of modern and old architecture. Perfect. We walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to the train station. From Murumbeena train station we took the train to the city. I dont know why. But Melbourne has lotsa lotsa lotsa graffiti. I guess it makes the city colorful. It was towards the end of November and Christmas decorations were up during the last week of our stay in Melbourne. Didnt manage to take much pictures. I admit..I sucks at travel photography. Did a couple of street shots. Havent process the other pics yet. Here are some samples.

Uncle David Jones

Quickie

Should I get a Haircut?

Precious Moments

beyond — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 10:02:59 +0000

Been spending a lot of time with the little one lately. On a long leave (almost 20 days),waiting for my university placement from University Malaya. As of today, status quo. Have to head back to work on Monday. Else I ll be wasting my leave away while waiting for an answer from UM. So what do I do these days? My body internal alarm still goes off every morning. I wake up around 630 am everyday without fail although yes..Sometimes I go back to sleep. But since I am at home and wifey leave for work early in the morning, my parents decided to pick the baby up later than the usual routine. Normally, they pick her up around 630 am in the morning. Since I am at home, they come over around 930-1030 am. I am left with the task of caring for the baby till they arrive. Its not easy as baby is more attached to my wife and parents. But as they always say..Time can build relationships. I have to admit. These precious time spent with my daughter has actually bonded us better. Actually..Its because she has no one to turn to..That s why she has to turn to me la! *evil laugh* Waking up to her “Pa!” calls are such a joy. I cant describe the feeling. It s a truly warm feeling in the heart. Little girls tend to be super cute. Its not an easy task caring for the baby. But I think I learnt a couple of new stuffs (yes…I know I should have known these stuffs earlier) these few days. I learnt to prepare the milk properly. I actually can gauge her better on when she wants her milk. I now know that when she sucks on her thumb, it means I am hungry. I now know she needs to fiddle with something using both her hands while drinking milk else she will loose her concentration. I also found out the easiest way to make her sleep. Not by singing to her. Not by rocking her. Its just simply standing under the fan and tap her buttocks gently. Or..I have to lie down on the chair or bed and place her over my round tummy *Grin* Yes..The extra fats serve as a cushioned bed. I love to photograph her when she is sleeping. Feels that she is very angelic when she is sleeping. Hehehe. iPhone works best. No need to use the huge a** DSLR for these moments. Also sometimes, I ll bring her down to the playground for a quick round of horse riding or swing before proceeding to the local newspaper stall for my daily dose of news. Best of all, two days ago..I managed to bath her and changed her clothing..Give her milk and cradled her to sleep. Job well done if you ask me. Cheers. Here are some photos taken during my ‘holiday’.

Waking up in the morning

Milk milk time

zzzzzzzzz

Wakes up again

Sleeps again

Bad Habit?

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