I love designing random things in Photoshop during my free time. This was designed back in 2011. I was experimenting Photoshop tools via a tutorial.

This is a more recent design I did for my Facebook cover. Knowing some advanced Photoshop skills can really come in handy sometimes!

I also love photography. Sometimes, this hobby makes you observe your surroundings better. These photos were taken via my cell phone.

These photos were also taken via my cell phone. It's amazing how the picture quality from a cell phone camera be able to compete with a DSLR.

I LOVE travelling and going for an adventure! Come on, how long can you be stuck between the four walls right? This picture was taken at Long Semadoh, Lawas, Sarawak, Malaysia. Off-road (timber route) drive to a village at Long Semadoh.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Framed

I love photography! I snap anything that captures my attention. It doesn't matter if it's a beautiful scenery, weird people behavior or something ironic.

For some images, you need to tilt and position the camera in a specific way to get a good shot. Sometimes I have to snap lots of pictures to get that one 'perfect shot'. During this process, I would be experimenting my camera by changing modes and anything else of the like. There has been many times where people gave me weird looks whenever I snap something. To make things worst, I only have a compact camera, not a DSLR (I wish I had one). So the 'professional photographer' first impression is not there (I got so used to this, that somehow this built my self confidence). I guess its all in a days work for an above-average-level photographer.

My friends were kind enough to borrow me their DSLR for a day or two, so I had the opportunity to experiment with a few cameras. My personal favorite is still Canon. I prefer Canon's camera interface, compared to Nikon. I'm sure Nikon fans would think otherwise :-P
I wish I had one for myself, so that I can learn how to create effects via camera in my own time. Not that a compact can't do the effects, but it has limited AF intelligence, compared to a DSLR. Besides, I don't really fancy those new compact camera functions, like it snaps when you smile, touch screen or it snaps whenever there's movement.

Anyways, in this post, I want to share some funny (or rater ironic) things that I spotted around. All of these images was snapped using my cell phone (cell phones are perfect substitute for camera when it comes to spontaneous photography), so excuse the pixelation.


 
McDonalds at the middle of the road!


 Holy crap, Captain Malaysia is real!


 
I dunno, maybe they spell it in this way in another country :-/


 
At my university...


 
At a mamak shop in Penang.


 
I wonder what the driver did to make the other guy mad...


 No comments...


 
I didn't know how to respond to this warning....


 
Then again, maybe it's normal in a gas station...


There seem to be some problem with pictures using this blog template. I can't adjust the size of the pictures. If the details are not clear, just click on the picture to see the original size. I'll rectify this problem soon...

These are just pictures that I took recently. I have loads more in my archive! Maybe I'll share them in the future.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Narasimha Caturdasi

Its Narasimha Caturdasi tomorrow, so I thought of sharing something about Lord Narasimha. The lila of Lord Narasimha is well known, so I'll not go into that now. For those who want to know the brief lila, here's the link. I want to share the size of Lord Narasimha by comparison (just for you to get the idea).

In the Ramayana, Ravana went to Bali Maharaj to look for help. Bali Maharaj, knowing the position of Lord Ram, declined to help, and tried to convince Ravana to give up. Ravana of course, didn't listen to Bali Maharaj's advice. In order to show Ravana that he doesn't have a chance, Bali Maharaj invited him to a huge mountain. This mountain was made of boulders of diamonds. Bali Maharaj then said to Ravana that he will give the mountain to Ravana only if he can lift it first. Ravana tried to lift the boulder, but to no avail. Bali Maharaj then revealed to Ravana that the mountain is the earing of Hiranyakasipu, decorated with diamonds.



During the fight between Hiranyakasipu and Lord Narasimha, the earing fell down to Sutala Loka. Now, can you get the general idea of the size between Ravana and Hiranyakasipu? Alright, now fancy this, 'just as one can easily crush a wasp between one's fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasp-like demon, Hiranyakasipu has been ripped apart' by Lord Narasimha. Get the idea yet?

Lord Narasimha appeared in that particular form, just so that it doesn't contradict with Lord Brahma's boon to Hiranyakasipu. More about this boon can be read from the link stated above.

Fun Facts:
Ravana was Hiranyakasipu in his past birth (This is based on Jaya and Vijaya curse).
Bali Maharaj is Hiranyakasipu great grandson (Prahlad Maharaj's grandson).
Bali Maharaj is the king of Sutala Loka