I've been writing on my visits abroad of late and come to think of it, I've been to a few interesting places in my beloved country as well (Yes, Malaysia is one of the best travel destination in the world). One of the place my family and I visited was Bukit Tinggi (I'm naturally drawn to mountains, have no idea why). We took the trip a while back, but we've created lovely memories on that particular visits. Before I forget, we drove to Bukit Tinggi, from Bangi (not that far, it took us around one an a half hour).
Now, there are a few interesting places in Bukit Tinggi including the Japanese Garden, the Botanical Garden, the Rabbit Farm and the main attraction (for me) the Colmar Tropicale. Colmar Tropicale is a replica of a small French town of which housed the hotel and a few restaurant. I'll talk about that later.
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| The Small Pond: I used a slow shutter speed to create the effect of water flowing. By doing so, I had to use the smallest possible aperture (big number) and low ISO. (Nikon D90, 10 - 24mm Nikkor lens) |
The first place we went to was the Japanese Garden (personally Malaysian prefers a Korean Garden nowadays due to the popularity of K-Pop culture that spread like virus especially among young adults). It was a beautifully well kept garden with small streams, ponds, Japanese style huts and a small trail connecting the places together. In short, it makes a picturesque scenes for photographers. There was even a Japanese tea ceremony (which you have to pay quite a lot. I lost interest due to the monetary factor). But still, it was pleasing and my family and I had good times there with tonnes of photos as prove.
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| The Hut: I focused on the hut on the top of the small hill and creating 'bokeh' to the subject nearest to the camera, which is the grass. (Nikon D90, 18 - 55mm Nikkor lens) |
After spending quite sometimes in the Japanese Garden, we decided to go to the Botanical Garden, which was only a few paces away (it was actually quite a distance, my armpit was sweating like hell). The garden boasts its flora and fauna with more than hundred species of trees. Of course there were labels on each tree consisting its name and scientific terms (a hard to pronounce name that no one hardly ever used). It might appeals to those with forestry major which I'm not, but nevertheless it was still informative. The pathway was a bit moldy and slippery, so if you're with children you might want to be a bit careful. A nasty fall might spoil the whole trip (magically my two girls stayed on their feet! Even with all the running around leaving me with a probable heart attack).
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| Lost: I used my wide angle lens to capture this area, but personally the composition was way off. I used small aperture (big number) to capture the details. (Nikon D90, 10 - 24mm Nikkor lens) |
The girls had a lot of fun running around as mentioned earlier (I had a lot of 'fun' chasing them around). The only setback was it was not as cold as I imagines it would be (which was a waste as I brought my favorite Camel Active jacket and had no chance of putting it on). I was really hoping for a colder weather, but one can only hope and Allah will take care of the rest ; )
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| Cheeky Lil' Girls: A normal shot, but I purposely place the subjects on the left and not in the middle. |
The stopover at the Botanical Garden wrapped up the day and all of us went back to the Colmar Tropicale. The girls were fast asleep after five minutes in the car, tired of all the running and jumping (and whatever they did that I hardly noticed) in the gardens. I was also tired having to chase after the girls while carrying the quite heavy D90 camera bag and my wife's handbag and the burden of being a good Dad (watching over the girls while screaming on top of my lung: "DON'T RUN! DON'T RUN!"). The plan was to get a decent rest, and then have a family dinner (steak & lamb were my favorite after the long day) and start early the next day.
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| The Moldy Steps: I took this photo because of the color and the lights through the trees. However, it was hard to balance the lighting which was overexposed on the tree lines but darker on the steps. (Nikon D90, Nikkor 18 - 55mm) |
Before I sign off, I'll leave you guys with something to ponder, cheers!:
"Time is always the greatest adversary, so use it well to see the world with the loved ones even if you only have a jiffy."
Thanks.
Yours truly,
Kaz
30 Dec. 2013
