bsb at night

About the photo:
Bandar Seri Begawan at night. This would've looked more impressive if the waters were calmer and we had a skyscraper or ten. :)

Photo aside, I've got an announcement to make. I'll be away on vacation to Indonesia (specifically Jakarta) for about two weeks. I doubt I'll have internet access there and even if I do, there's no Photoshop for me to work on my photos. So yeah, I'll be absent for two weeks starting tonight.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch some interesting shots while I'm there. It all depends on how willing the other members of my family are to go visit interesting places rather than just shop 'till they drop.

down to earth

Seeing a butterfly settling down on the ground sparked a thought in me. These little creatures spend most of their lives in the air, flitting from bush to bush, flower to flower doing their daily routine. So when I came across this particular one resting on the ground, it evoked a sense of humbleness in me. Its modest coloring only served to drive that fact home even further.

About the photo:
Taken at Tasek Lama in Bandar, I've altered the colors using the urban acid action taken yet again from Action Central. Great place to get very useful photoshop actions made by great people.

mosque

The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is a well known landmark in Brunei, and as is the case with all famous landmarks, in Brunei or otherwise, they have all been photographed to death; thus leaving little room for originality.

Being someone who likes to take photos of sceneries, however, I couldn't resist the temptation to at least try and tackle this particular subject matter at least once. So here you have it, my take on the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque. I hope it's at least halfway original.

About the photo:
I took two shots and combined them into an HDR image via Photoshop. Then I applied Thomas Niemann's Tones (taken from Action Central) and played around with the colors a bit until I got something I liked.

As far as colors go, I suppose this is my first heavily processed image that I'm publishing (although I do have some more on my hard disk). Sometimes out-of-camera pics do get boring and mucking around in Photoshop can yield interesting pictures once in a while.

rare visitor

Monitor lizards may be a common sight for those living near the rivers of Brunei (as I am), but to see one as big as this was definitely a rare occurrence. It probably measured 5 feet or more in length from head to tail -not that I had time to take out a tape measurer and ask it to stay still while I measure it- and I could see that it was very old going by the flabs and wrinkles on its skin as well as multiple scars from old injuries on several parts of its body.

About the photo:
Taken some months ago with my previous camera, it was very hard to approach the lizard without spooking it. This was the best shot I could manage out of several I took before it decided it had enough of a photoshoot session and went back into the river.

family tree

On a two hours or so hike through Bukit Subok forest reserve (at least I think that's what it's called), I chanced upon this particular tree with so many branches err.. branching out of it at so many points that it doesn't even seem to have a main trunk past the bottom section.

It instantly reminded me of a family tree; that thing you use to track lineages. I think the title suits it well considering the sheer size of the tree.

About the photo:
I don't know exactly what species this tree is since I'm no tree expert. I took several photos to capture the whole tree and then combined them in the digital darkroom. Sort of like a vertical panoramic image.

Unfortunately, the skies were blown out. And no, I don't have a fetish for skies. Just that blown out skies are ugly. Considering the vast difference in light levels from top to bottom, I suppose that's unavoidable; more so since this is a series of merged photos.

the dividing line

Not much to say and I'm rather in a hurry right now for yet another test for entering the navy.

About the photo:
This was taken at Muara beach two days ago probably around 6AM to 7AM. The actual skies were rather bland and lacked contrast so I tweaked the colors a bit to make what little cloud there was stand out more.

As always, comments are welcome.

In other news: My first portrait-style pic has finally appeared and the layout is really ugly. I'll fix it later when I have more time.

EDIT (Dec 02, 2007): Layout fixed now.

all-natural framing

A loyal reader (:p) asked me how I could use something in a scene to help me frame the main subject when I'm taking a picture. Well here's an example. Though I think it might have a bit too much framing. Heh.

About the photo:
Not much to say really. I was surrounded by trees and I just happened to look up and saw this 'window' showing a clear view of the sky.

chasing sunsets

Chasing sunsets (and sunrises for that matter) requires patience, especially in a country such as Brunei where clouds can come out of nowhere ready to pour rain and spoiling your envisioned picture.

I went out to Serasa beach again today but the trip was wasted because as soon as I arrived thick clouds were practically everywhere and not long after it started drizzling. So I gave up for the day, and on the way home stopped by a restaurant to grab a bite.

Turns out when I came out from the restaurant the western sky was awash with colors; blues, reds, purples, oranges.. just the makings of a perfect sunset. Pity I was no longer in a good position to take a good picture. I guess I gave up too soon.

About the photo:
A cluster of trees visible from my house during sunset. Never underestimate that sight you've seen a thousand times already. What might be a normally bland sight most hours of the day might just turn out to be something special for a few precious minutes or even seconds when the time and conditions are right. Just goes to show you don't have to go far to get a good shot.

morning routine

Here's to the start of another weekday. As people fill up the roads heading to work or sending their kids to school, I was just returning from my morning jog at the stadium. It probably won't be long until I'm one of those people heading to work in the early morning, earning my living by doing mindless routines day by day.

About the photo:
A sunrise taken at Serasa beach. One of my earlier shots when I was still getting used to my Nikon D80 and its control scheme. I'm not truly satisfied with the pic. Something seems lacking. If you think you know what it is, please leave a comment. =)

got milk?

I got bored today so I went out to the beach to scout out the place and take some shots. I know I said I was gonna post pics from my old camera first, but what the heck, here's one from today. I guess I'm feeling a bit random right now.

About the photo:
Taken at the beach at Berakas forest reserve. I had to walk quite a ways to get to this place. It was actually the middle of the day, but thankfully the potentially harsh sunlight was diffused by thick clouds. Saved me from the heat, and yet there was enough light to allow me a reasonably fast shutter speed.

green and fresh

Looking at other people's work in photography, sometimes I wonder how long it would take for me to be able to look at something and say, "Wow, now this scene would make an astounding photo!" I miss things a lot, I'm especially not attentive enough at times when it comes to spotting animals and other moving subjects that I tend to miss the 'moment'. Oh well.

About the photo:
If you can't guess what tree that leaf belongs to, it's from a papaya tree. And again, it's in my backyard. Really miss my S5 IS's macro capabilities. I'll have to live without it for now until I can afford a macro lens.

feeling sleepy

Here I am again, posting this in the wee hours of the morning when everyone, including me, should be sleeping. Having nothing to do all day for the past few months really screwed up my sleep patterns.

About the photo:
This cat belongs to my cousins and I took the pic while I was on a visit to their house. I'm not really sure if it's actually their cat or their neighbour's cat which just happens to like dropping by and hanging around for food. Anyway, I've warmed up the picture a bit to give it that golden feel overall. It was taken in the shade one late afternoon and the afternoon sun kinda helped me in that respect with the background too.

ready for takeoff!

Now that the opening ceremony is over and done with, it's time to get the photos online. You won't suddenly see a deluge of photos coming in, rather it'll be one by one. Gotta save some for days when I can't get any good shots in or just too occupied to go out and take some photos. ;)


About the photo:
I have no idea what kind of bee it actually is, just that for a few days straight it kept coming back to that wooden stick which is actually stuck upright on the ground in my backyard. The pic was taken using my previous camera, the good 'ol Canon PowerShot S5 IS which has now been passed on to my dad while I get to play with my new DSLR. More on that later perhaps.

first light

Assalamu'alaikum and welcome to my blog.

My name is Safwan, though some on the web may know me as Ryva. I've only recently started to take an interest in photography and like a child brought to a candy shop for the first time, I've been eagerly running around here and there, taking photos of everything I find even remotely interesting. You should know by now, and from looking at the blog title, that this will be 'yet another photoblog'. But this is my photoblog, and what good are the photos I take if I am the only one to look at them?

So sit back and surf around, there will be more photos to come; and when they do, please leave some C&C. Flames, however, will be met with a fire extinguisher.