Welcome to Stinky Park

Posted by lisadragon – July 27, 2010

I mean, Sg Akar Park.

I was heading to Mentiri to send Q after jogging/touch rugby in UBD and we had the windows down to cool down. Unfortunately. And as we passed by Sg Akar roundabout, there was a whiff.. no.. not a whiff, a BLAST of disgusting smell of.. well, I don’t want to say it here. But you get the picture. And this was our soon to be finished park? No way I’m going there!! O__o;; Something has to be done about the rubbish dumpsite next door and way before launch date.. -_-;;

On other news:

- My adapters arrived! Woohoo… !! :) Photos!

Taylor & Hobson

Taylor & Hobson f1.9 lens

The Taylor & Hobson f1.9 lens I got from evilbay. This was an old lens used in cinematography, now in demand after adapters were made to match the micro 4/3rd cameras. Examples from this lens on flickr was awesome!

Here’s my example:

Tree-keh

And the adapter for Nikon also arrived.. Unfortunately doesn’t AF (autofocus) at all.. =/

Olympus Pen EP1 with Nikon 50mm

And example pic:

Maggi

Nice separation, I like it. I’ve yet to bring it to test the wonderful fairylights around Bandar for His Majesty’s birthday celebration tho! Its been raining and  poor Oly is not the underwater camera! :P

On Diet

Posted by lisadragon – July 19, 2010

So I’ve started my slimming program and I’ve yet to see much results, so in addition, I’m going on a healthy diet. Why do I say healthy diet? Well, most diets AREN’T healthy since you’re starving yourself and denying your body the nutrition it needs. (Yes I’ve been researching and reading everything I can find on this subject). So, following the slogan of an article I read, Stop Dieting, Start Eating!

Yes, a contradiction – but the only way to lose weight HEALTHILY is

1. to start eating the right food

2. knowing what metabolism type

3. and some exercise.

After going thru a quiz, I found out I’m a Mixed Type (Carb Type and Protein Type) so I can mix my mealplans from these two types. I get hungry at different times and I feel satisfied and full (not sleepy/not craving) at certain foods as well.

The principles to follow:

1. Sugar is evil. Artificial sweetener is evil too (its processed “stuff” yeck!) this includes carbonated drinks, tinned / bottled drinks..

2. Hydrogenated Oils, Margarine, Canola Oil – evil. Go for real butter, coconut oil

3. Any processed food – SUPER EVIL. Your liver too busy to get rid of this chemically-factory-made “stuff” to do its work and break down body fats. Dont eat anything with corn starch, fructose, anything with chemical names.. yeck!

4. Eat natural food – eggs, lean meat, chicken, fruits, vegies.

How?

1. Manage your calorie intake – eat often but not heavily – this will manage your hunger

2. Eat fruits (apples, oranges), rice, eggs, boiled chicken, beef. Green vegies.

3. Drink green tea and something I mixed (ginger, lemon plus honey) to detox and flush toxins, fats out.

4. Daily exercise, just a short one to sweat it out and tone your body.

I’m on Day 7 – and I’ve lost 1.6kg so far. Hmm.. have to work harder!

Adobe Photoshop CS5

Posted by lisadragon – July 18, 2010

Hellooooo~ I finally have CS5 ! And just a quick rundown..

- Content Aware IS AWESOME!!

- Masking / Selection is much more easier!

This is going to be easier on me to cutout and removing unwanted distractions! Its not a perfect logarithm but its definitely an improvement :)

On other news:

- My Alyze is done! She’s at a customizer having her face done. She looks perfect .. can’t wait to get her home.

- My c-mount Taylor & Hobson lens is here already. Now I’m just waiting for my adapters.

- I am on leave til 24th for a much needed break. Sooo… hoping my adapters would arrive quick so I can play XD

- Am also on a Disney binge.. watched Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast and Aladdin so far =D

- Started my diet / health / slimming – aiming to lose at least 5 kg :P

So impersonal

Posted by lisadragon – July 6, 2010

For a personal blog, Murosaki doesnt feel like a personal blog anymore. I keep telling you all (and myself) that I’d write more. But I’ve been too worried, if I write too much of the normal daily stuff, wouldn’t you all be bored to death? Like “today I did this, and had that and read this.” Well, its all about how people write about it. I love how Maurina writes as well as Jan Shim, who is also a photographer like myself (but way better in expressing himself through photos AND words) .. unfortunately I dont have the talent to write creatively (or maybe lazy.. haha). Hence why my entries are sporadic.

But the reason why I started a blog in the first place was for ME. Not to please readers, but to please me, so I could look back and read about my days and remember about my days, no matter how boring it was. I wanted to re-read about what I was doing 2-3 years ago, remember that book I read or a movie I watched.

So yes, here comes the “dear diary” entry (after the cut) XD

More…

My New Oly

Posted by lisadragon – June 30, 2010

As an update to this post. Here is the big secret. I got a new toy! Olympus Pen EP1 Series, a compact with interchangable lenses. So versatile! I have been waiting for a camera of this LIGHT WEIGHT for a while. I got interested in the G10/G11 or P6000, but the photo quality is so so. One step up from P&S, no direct flash anymore, but no bokehness either.

I wanted a light camera but unwilling to sacrifice the bokehness. Along came the Canon S90 with its f2.0 lens and super light pocketability and in the pipelines the Samsung TL500 with the f1.8 lens! Great potential! Samsung has a flash hotshoe addition, but so far I haven’t seen anything like this from Samsung, so I’ll have to wait and see. (The camera was set to come out end 2010 and I would have to wait even longer for user reviews..) At the same time the new micro 4/3rd cameras were out already, Pana GF1 and Olympus Pen EP1 .. not long after .. the EP2 and not long after again.. EPL1 with popup flash!.

More research.

So, after some fangirling, and more poison by various flickr peeps, I have finally decided to get Olympus EP1. In terms of functionality, Pana GF1 wins, but I went with Oly as I wasn’t too bothered by the focusing, the body has IS, and I’m going to use it for experimentation with manual lens anyway so.. and I totally love Oly’s retro look!

My new toy (by lisadragon)
Meet my new toy ..

Quick review:

The body feels solid and I love the sharpness and contrast of the photos with 17mm f2.8 pancake lens kit. (I have not even glanced at the 14-24.. hehe). I’ve carried it everywhere in my bag and the thought that I still have a decent camera when out and about without my D90 is a reassuring one. I spent the first few minutes being “sakai” over having bokeh from a compact camera!

Some of my test shots of the first 24 hrs…
Please let me in.. (by lisadragon)
Contrast!

O_- (by lisadragon)
Night time test
Rocking the Bokeh (by lisadragon)
Rocking the Bokeh at f2.8 !

What’s next?
I’m getting some adapters from EvilBay and will test out Sigma’s f1.4 with it. I want an f1.2 anything! And for my birthday an f0.95? Hahaha~ This is taking a big chunk out of my savings for NZ Rugby WC 2011..

Blehhh :P

Posted by lisadragon – June 28, 2010

:P

Mickey is a fatso

I so need a holiday! Not to sound whiny (well I am actually) but all the juggling roles makes me tired tired tired everyday all the time until I just want to lie on my bed, where I’d usually read but no, I dont even want to *think*, let alone read.

This is destructive. I have to stop trying to be everyone / every role , doing everything and just concentrate / focus on something.

Italy is out.

Posted by lisadragon – June 25, 2010

I can’t believe it!! The team I’m supporting, been supporting since I know about World Cup (definitely after Maktab Sains days) .. is out of the world cup in the first stage! Hello Champions 2006.. what happened?? Sigh.

I’m determined not to let that bring me down, so had Adik helped me to take photos. Late morning light was pretty nice!. Too lazy to set up the tripod/timer/retaking again and again business today.

Sometimes I have to keep on..

Its a preview of what’s to come in my flickr. Stay tuned :)

WordPress 3.0

Posted by lisadragon – June 21, 2010

Using the new wordpress 3.0 default theme. I totally love the custom menu bit! Need to play around some more.. :D