Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The serviette index
At the moment I am in Cambodia, a country considered to be one of the least developed in Asia.
Prior to coming here I was in Malaysia. While I was in Melaka there was a celebration because the state of Melaka had achieved developed status. One English-language newspaper had a supplement celebrating this occasion. A whole page was devoted to listing the criteria by which Melaka could be compared with developed countries and found to also be developed.
There was one criteria that I believe was missing. That is the serviette index.
In Asia, dining out is the norm. More often than not it is cheaper to dine out than to eat at home. So why go to all the trouble of preparing a meal? I'm not suggesting that everyone always dines in classy restaurants. Most people don't. They buy street food or something that is just one step above that. The food is still good. But you're not paying for classy surroundings. In Malaysia there are food courts, independent of malls, that sell a wide variety of foods at reasonable prices. This is where many Malaysian people eat on a daily basis.
Until my recent visit, I've had three years of spending very little time in Malaysia. Prior to that I'd stayed in Malaysia for months at a stretch. What I noticed on my return was that most of these cheaper eating places, including many restaurants, no longer provide serviettes.
OK, let's get this straight. You don't get a real serviette in any but the more expensive restaurants and there you still do. In the others, the cheaper restaurants, the food courts and the street establishments, you used to get tissues. They do the job. You finish the meal and you need something to wipe your mouth and fingers. A tissue is all you need. There used always to be a plastic box of tissues on the table and you helped yourself.
They're no longer there.
I asked my friends, 'Has this changed or is my memory deceiving me?'
My friends told me that in recent years tissues have gradually disappeared from the tables of all these cheaper eating places. You need to bring your own.
There is one place in Melaka where I used to eat regularly when I stayed there before. The first night I went there on my return the woman who ran the place didn't seem to recognise me. But the second night she seemed to be staring at me a lot. When I went to pay my bill she said, 'How come you not come long time?'
This place is the exception. They still have proper paper serviettes. Not tissues but real serviette-sized thick folded paper for wiping your face and hands. But they don't leave it on the tables. They have it on the counter.
At this restaurant I recognised a guy, about my age, who seemed to eat there every night. He stares straight at me every night but can't so much as nod. And this guy, I noticed on several nights, goes to the counter and casually takes a bundle of serviettes, folds them and puts them in his pocket. Perhaps it's because of people like him that the other places have stopped providing tissues.
But now back in Cambodia everywhere I eat, even the cheapest street stalls, they always provide a box of tissues. If there was a serviette index for measuring development, Cambodia would be considered a more developed country than Malaysia.
Prior to coming here I was in Malaysia. While I was in Melaka there was a celebration because the state of Melaka had achieved developed status. One English-language newspaper had a supplement celebrating this occasion. A whole page was devoted to listing the criteria by which Melaka could be compared with developed countries and found to also be developed.
There was one criteria that I believe was missing. That is the serviette index.
In Asia, dining out is the norm. More often than not it is cheaper to dine out than to eat at home. So why go to all the trouble of preparing a meal? I'm not suggesting that everyone always dines in classy restaurants. Most people don't. They buy street food or something that is just one step above that. The food is still good. But you're not paying for classy surroundings. In Malaysia there are food courts, independent of malls, that sell a wide variety of foods at reasonable prices. This is where many Malaysian people eat on a daily basis.
Until my recent visit, I've had three years of spending very little time in Malaysia. Prior to that I'd stayed in Malaysia for months at a stretch. What I noticed on my return was that most of these cheaper eating places, including many restaurants, no longer provide serviettes.
OK, let's get this straight. You don't get a real serviette in any but the more expensive restaurants and there you still do. In the others, the cheaper restaurants, the food courts and the street establishments, you used to get tissues. They do the job. You finish the meal and you need something to wipe your mouth and fingers. A tissue is all you need. There used always to be a plastic box of tissues on the table and you helped yourself.
They're no longer there.
I asked my friends, 'Has this changed or is my memory deceiving me?'
My friends told me that in recent years tissues have gradually disappeared from the tables of all these cheaper eating places. You need to bring your own.
There is one place in Melaka where I used to eat regularly when I stayed there before. The first night I went there on my return the woman who ran the place didn't seem to recognise me. But the second night she seemed to be staring at me a lot. When I went to pay my bill she said, 'How come you not come long time?'
This place is the exception. They still have proper paper serviettes. Not tissues but real serviette-sized thick folded paper for wiping your face and hands. But they don't leave it on the tables. They have it on the counter.
At this restaurant I recognised a guy, about my age, who seemed to eat there every night. He stares straight at me every night but can't so much as nod. And this guy, I noticed on several nights, goes to the counter and casually takes a bundle of serviettes, folds them and puts them in his pocket. Perhaps it's because of people like him that the other places have stopped providing tissues.
But now back in Cambodia everywhere I eat, even the cheapest street stalls, they always provide a box of tissues. If there was a serviette index for measuring development, Cambodia would be considered a more developed country than Malaysia.
Labels: Asia, Cambodia, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka, travel
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Taxi ripoffs
A couple of weeks ago I was in Kuala Lumpur and wanted to go to Melaka. I was staying in the Chinatown-Petaling Street area and the bus station was just around the corner. Or so I thought. When I got there with my far too many bags I could see that the entrance I usually used was closed. I asked a passerby how to get inside. 'Oh, it's closed. They're rebuilding it.'
I asked where I needed to go to get a bus to Melaka. Fortunately I was more or less outside a railway station on the line that would take me to the temporary bus station. I didn't have a deadline and it was still early in the day so not a big deal. When I got off the train I had to walk perhaps 200 metres to the bus station. The bus fare to Melaka was about RM12 (about A$4).
The Melaka bus station is no longer in the centre of Melaka. Unfortunately these days, it seems, bus stations are not being built in the centre of cities, or downtown as the Americans say, they are built out in the suburbs. When I first went to Melaka the bus station was in the Hung Tuah area which was not all that far from Chinatown. If that was where you were heading you could walk assuming you knew the way. It's still walkable from the new bus station but only to a long-distance trekker with a boy to carry his luggage. Now there are taxis to take the rest of us there. There are also buses if you know which one to get and I do but this time I was carrying way too many bags and felt I really needed a taxi.
But I needed something else even more when the bus pulled into the bus station. I needed to eat. So when the taxi tout approached this skinny guy with far too may bags I was able to say 'No, I'm going to eat first.' That was only postponing the inevitable. So I returned a while later and tried to negotiate a fare. It didn't matter who I asked. The fare was RM30. I pointed out that I'd travelled all the way from KL for only RM12 and that paying RM30 to go the last two or three kilometres was absolutely crazy. But they wouldn't budge. I didn't like either of the other options, ie bussing or walking so I shut up and paid up. BTW, taxis in Melaka don't have meters.
I had a delightful two weeks in Melaka. I had forgotten how much I love this place. Eventually it was time to return to KL and the guesthouse rang a taxi to get me to the bus station. When he turned up, I asked how much.
'Fifteen ringgit'.
I'd already put my far-too-many bags in his boot. He could have asked for 30 or maybe more. But this time it seemed I'd got one of the honest taxi drivers. I trust there are a few more of them.
When the bus reached the bus station in suburban KL there were half a dozen taxi touts waiting at the door. I was the last to get off. There was only one tout left. 'Where you go? You want taxi?'
'No, thank you. I'm getting the train.'
'Train? No train here. You have to walk six kilometres.'
'Bullshit,' I said, grabbed my far too many bags from the hold of the bus and walked past him. Ten minutes later I was on a train on the way to Chinatown.
I asked where I needed to go to get a bus to Melaka. Fortunately I was more or less outside a railway station on the line that would take me to the temporary bus station. I didn't have a deadline and it was still early in the day so not a big deal. When I got off the train I had to walk perhaps 200 metres to the bus station. The bus fare to Melaka was about RM12 (about A$4).
The Melaka bus station is no longer in the centre of Melaka. Unfortunately these days, it seems, bus stations are not being built in the centre of cities, or downtown as the Americans say, they are built out in the suburbs. When I first went to Melaka the bus station was in the Hung Tuah area which was not all that far from Chinatown. If that was where you were heading you could walk assuming you knew the way. It's still walkable from the new bus station but only to a long-distance trekker with a boy to carry his luggage. Now there are taxis to take the rest of us there. There are also buses if you know which one to get and I do but this time I was carrying way too many bags and felt I really needed a taxi.
But I needed something else even more when the bus pulled into the bus station. I needed to eat. So when the taxi tout approached this skinny guy with far too may bags I was able to say 'No, I'm going to eat first.' That was only postponing the inevitable. So I returned a while later and tried to negotiate a fare. It didn't matter who I asked. The fare was RM30. I pointed out that I'd travelled all the way from KL for only RM12 and that paying RM30 to go the last two or three kilometres was absolutely crazy. But they wouldn't budge. I didn't like either of the other options, ie bussing or walking so I shut up and paid up. BTW, taxis in Melaka don't have meters.
I had a delightful two weeks in Melaka. I had forgotten how much I love this place. Eventually it was time to return to KL and the guesthouse rang a taxi to get me to the bus station. When he turned up, I asked how much.
'Fifteen ringgit'.
I'd already put my far-too-many bags in his boot. He could have asked for 30 or maybe more. But this time it seemed I'd got one of the honest taxi drivers. I trust there are a few more of them.
When the bus reached the bus station in suburban KL there were half a dozen taxi touts waiting at the door. I was the last to get off. There was only one tout left. 'Where you go? You want taxi?'
'No, thank you. I'm getting the train.'
'Train? No train here. You have to walk six kilometres.'
'Bullshit,' I said, grabbed my far too many bags from the hold of the bus and walked past him. Ten minutes later I was on a train on the way to Chinatown.
Labels: "Kuala Lumpur" KL, Asia, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka, ripoff, travel, trust
Friday, June 29, 2007
Narrowest hotel in the world?
In Melaka, in the colonial era, houses were taxed by the width of the frontage. To avoid the tax, land was divided with narrow frontages and stretched sometimes as far back as 100 metres and more. The terraced houses filled the space.Here in Hanoi, the situation was apparently similar but more extreme. The narrowest house I have seen so far was not worth photographing. The view of it was blocked by an electricity pole which almost obscured it.
In Melaka, they designed the houses with a courtyard or two to let in light and air. Most houses in Hanoi are too narrow to effectively do this. The stairwell takes up the full width of the house. Air flow is almost non-existent. In hot weather they can be very stuffy without air conditioning. And many of these houses are now hotels.
I did move house after a few days in the relative luxury of my previous place. I'm now in one of those narrow hotels. My room can't be much more than two metres wide, if that. But it's long. It has it's own bathroom with hot and cold water. Though why anyone would want hot water in this climate is beyond me.
The only thing I miss is the in-room internet cable. I could sit in comfort and stay online as long as I wanted. But considering that the top rate in an internet cafe here is less than A50 cents an hour, it was hard to justify staying in the old place. The only problem is that the internet cafes are also in narrow buildings and usually lack air conditioning. It doesn't encourage me to spend hours online.
Labels: Asia, Hanoi, Malacca, Melaka, travel, Vietnam
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Budgeting accommodation
Last year I lived in Cambodia for nine months. I went to teach English at the Buddhist monastery, Wat Xam (sometimes spelled Ksam). At the time, I gave serious consideration to becoming a monk. I chose to not do so. I'm sure it would have helped me on my path. However I look at it this way, I'm the sort of person who creates rules for myself about how I live. Monks live by the rules of the vinaya—200+ rules handed down by the Buddha 2,500 years ago. While I'm sure all those rules are admirable, I wonder how relevant they are for me today. Some are, and those I willingly adopt without wearing robes, but I prefer to have the choice of rejecting those rules I consider irrelevant to me. As a monk I would have been obliged to follow every one. I chose to not do so.
Even so, I was offered a room at the wat. I could have gone there and lived among the monks without having to follow the rules. Once again, I seriously considered this. I love those guys and really enjoy hanging out with them. But had I done so I would have had to reduce my standard of living way below what I am used to.
As someone who has chosen a life 'on the road' I have to choose accommodation that fits within my budget otherwise I can't survive in this lifestyle. If I was travelling for a short holiday I could spend a lot more on accommodation but in my situation, whatever I spend has to be sustainable permanently.
Within my budget what I get depends on where I am. In Cambodia I was able to rent a half-reasonable house for way less than the budget. In Thailand I can usually find something reasonably comfortable. In Melaka I can stay at Sama Sama guesthouse which isn't five star but certainly has a lot of charm to make up for what it lacks in comfort. In Singapore I can't reasonably stay for more than a few days. One night in a budget place in Singapore costs the same as a week in Sama Sama. You get the picture?
For the past two weeks in KL I went way downmarket. KL's not as expensive as Singapore but for the price I pay at Sama Sama you don't get much there. You get a bed, reasonably comfortable, in a tiny room, shared bathroom and not a lot more. It's reasonably clean but I certainly don't get excited about it. I think of my friends, the monks at Wat Xam and for that matter many of my friends in Cambodia who aren't even monks, and I know I can cope for a week or two.
Yesterday I flew from KL to Hanoi—my first visit to Vietnam. As I was arriving in the evening I didn't want to be mucked around. Many of the cheaper guesthouses in this city have a reputation for not honouring bookings (check out the travel forums for details) so I booked myself into a two-star hotel. Still not exactly grand but a little better than I've become used to. They picked me up at the airport. My room has air-con. It has its own bathroom with hot and cold water, good plumbing and it even has a real bath. It has a wardrobe. And most importantly, it has an ethernet connection in my room.
My original plan was to just stay here one night and then move into something more within my budget but hopefully better than I had in KL or would have had at Wat Xam. But I'm liking it here and decided I can afford to extend my stay a little longer. Not sure how long that'll be. I'm enjoying Hanoi so far. It's possible I could stay a whole month. Watch this space.
Even so, I was offered a room at the wat. I could have gone there and lived among the monks without having to follow the rules. Once again, I seriously considered this. I love those guys and really enjoy hanging out with them. But had I done so I would have had to reduce my standard of living way below what I am used to.
As someone who has chosen a life 'on the road' I have to choose accommodation that fits within my budget otherwise I can't survive in this lifestyle. If I was travelling for a short holiday I could spend a lot more on accommodation but in my situation, whatever I spend has to be sustainable permanently.
Within my budget what I get depends on where I am. In Cambodia I was able to rent a half-reasonable house for way less than the budget. In Thailand I can usually find something reasonably comfortable. In Melaka I can stay at Sama Sama guesthouse which isn't five star but certainly has a lot of charm to make up for what it lacks in comfort. In Singapore I can't reasonably stay for more than a few days. One night in a budget place in Singapore costs the same as a week in Sama Sama. You get the picture?
For the past two weeks in KL I went way downmarket. KL's not as expensive as Singapore but for the price I pay at Sama Sama you don't get much there. You get a bed, reasonably comfortable, in a tiny room, shared bathroom and not a lot more. It's reasonably clean but I certainly don't get excited about it. I think of my friends, the monks at Wat Xam and for that matter many of my friends in Cambodia who aren't even monks, and I know I can cope for a week or two.
Yesterday I flew from KL to Hanoi—my first visit to Vietnam. As I was arriving in the evening I didn't want to be mucked around. Many of the cheaper guesthouses in this city have a reputation for not honouring bookings (check out the travel forums for details) so I booked myself into a two-star hotel. Still not exactly grand but a little better than I've become used to. They picked me up at the airport. My room has air-con. It has its own bathroom with hot and cold water, good plumbing and it even has a real bath. It has a wardrobe. And most importantly, it has an ethernet connection in my room.
My original plan was to just stay here one night and then move into something more within my budget but hopefully better than I had in KL or would have had at Wat Xam. But I'm liking it here and decided I can afford to extend my stay a little longer. Not sure how long that'll be. I'm enjoying Hanoi so far. It's possible I could stay a whole month. Watch this space.
Labels: Asia, Cambodia, Hanoi, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Melaka, thailand, travel
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Photographer for a day
On Saturday Tzu Chi held its annual Charity Fair. I was asked if I'd like to lend a hand. I agreed and was given the job of collecting garbage. They didn't call it that, they said 'recycling'. And that is what they actually do. The garbage collectors—sorry recyclers—wander around with trolleys. In each trolley are several large heavy-duty garbage bags and any garbage they collect is sorted; paper in one, cans in another, glass in yet another and so on. It seemed my life at Tzu Chi had gone full cycle. When I first offered to volunteer three years ago they asked me to come one evening a week to sort paper for recycling.
Friday afternoon one of the photographers asked if I was coming to the fair. 'Yes', I told her. 'I'm going to be a gar...sorry, recycler.'
'What! Are you sure? Why? Can't you help us? We need an extra photographer.'
'I don't mind. But you'll have to square it up with the recycling people.'
It was arranged. I became a photographer for a day. A bonus was that I didn't have to arrive until 8.30 am. The recyclers were starting at 7.30.
At 8.30 I turned up with my fz20, loaded with a 1 GB memory card, a spare battery and the battery charger. I even wore the Tzu Chi volunteers' uniform (for the second time). When I got there I put the spare battery in the charger while I went off to shoot. My main focus was to get as many shots as possible of busy volunteers. They were good subjects, most of them simply stayed busy which is what was wanted. The odd one would turn and give me a nice smile. Nice for me but not what Tzu Chi wanted.
After a couple of hours the battery was flat. The card wasn't full but I took the lot in and while the photos were downloaded from the card I swapped batteries and then back out to capture more volunteers.
Tzu Chi sure gets a lot of support. I was thinking of how a press photographer would cover such an event. S/he would spend probably half an hour there, take the necessary photos and be off to the next assignment. They have to make each shot a good one. They won't have time to return for another go. On the other hand we had six or more of us, each staying the whole day. I estimate I took between 600 and 1,000 shots. Multiply that by six. I trust Tzu Chi should have one or two good shots out of that lot for their website and monthly journal.
There was a big crowd there. I think it could be said that the fair was a great success. I did have a secondary job to do but that is perhaps interesting enough that I'll save it for another blog.
It was a hot day and by time I'd downloaded the third lot of photos I was worn out. I only kept the ones from the third battery charge. I haven't had time to process many yet. The photos you see here are just the start. Like to see more? Take a look at my flickr page (see sidebar) in a few days.
Friday afternoon one of the photographers asked if I was coming to the fair. 'Yes', I told her. 'I'm going to be a gar...sorry, recycler.'
'What! Are you sure? Why? Can't you help us? We need an extra photographer.'
'I don't mind. But you'll have to square it up with the recycling people.'
It was arranged. I became a photographer for a day. A bonus was that I didn't have to arrive until 8.30 am. The recyclers were starting at 7.30.
At 8.30 I turned up with my fz20, loaded with a 1 GB memory card, a spare battery and the battery charger. I even wore the Tzu Chi volunteers' uniform (for the second time). When I got there I put the spare battery in the charger while I went off to shoot. My main focus was to get as many shots as possible of busy volunteers. They were good subjects, most of them simply stayed busy which is what was wanted. The odd one would turn and give me a nice smile. Nice for me but not what Tzu Chi wanted.
After a couple of hours the battery was flat. The card wasn't full but I took the lot in and while the photos were downloaded from the card I swapped batteries and then back out to capture more volunteers.
Tzu Chi sure gets a lot of support. I was thinking of how a press photographer would cover such an event. S/he would spend probably half an hour there, take the necessary photos and be off to the next assignment. They have to make each shot a good one. They won't have time to return for another go. On the other hand we had six or more of us, each staying the whole day. I estimate I took between 600 and 1,000 shots. Multiply that by six. I trust Tzu Chi should have one or two good shots out of that lot for their website and monthly journal.
There was a big crowd there. I think it could be said that the fair was a great success. I did have a secondary job to do but that is perhaps interesting enough that I'll save it for another blog.
It was a hot day and by time I'd downloaded the third lot of photos I was worn out. I only kept the ones from the third battery charge. I haven't had time to process many yet. The photos you see here are just the start. Like to see more? Take a look at my flickr page (see sidebar) in a few days.
Labels: Asia, camera, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka, Panasonic, photography, Tzu Chi
Monday, June 04, 2007
Candid Market
I had been living in my present home in suburban Melaka for about three weeks or more before someone told me there was a night market every Thursday just a few blocks away. I enjoy markets, not that I have a great urge to spend money. I just like the environment of traditional markets. My friends took me to the market that week but I didn't take my camera. I enjoy candid photography and markets create good opportunities to indulge this hobby. It was about two weeks later before I had a chance to return to the market with my Panasonic fz20.The fz20 is not a small camera. It's a bit hard to hold it up to my face to frame a shot and not be noticed. People either smile, stick their hand up in one gesture or another or run away. The picture on the left will help you see my set up for candid photography. The tripod is fixed to the camera but compacted. It is only there to give me something to hold to keep the camera steady. The camera sits hanging from my neck. The remote shutter button is inserted and the cord for this goes around my back. In this picture I am releasing the shutter with my left hand while I sit looking in the mirror. After a while I get used to taking shots like this and can get a pretty good idea what I'm taking. BTW, I don't usually look directly at my subject. I look to the side of them and frame the picture in my peripheral vision. If I am concerned about shutter noise I either turn that down or off. I want nothing to suggest to people that I am taking photos of them. And of course using a digital camera means I can take as many photos as I want and discard the duds. Surprisingly most of them are quite good. I don't worry too much about settings. I leave the camera in auto mode and let it take care of that.
This was one of the early shots. It was late in the afternoon but there was still plenty of light so the photo is quite sharp. Do you think the girl and the guy in the helmet are on to me? Or are they just staring vaguely while they wait to be served?
The market does attract its share of beggars. This young woman is not one of them. She is blind and is selling small packets of tissues.
I'm not sure if she was onto me but this girl seemed to be trying to figure out what I was doing. Then again, I was probably the only foreigner at the market. She probably didn't realise that while I appeared to be staring at a stall on the other side of the road I was actually taking a photo of her.
The woman on the right is making vegetarian popiah (spring rolls) and there's a queue. I came back later and got a couple for my dinner.
By now it's quite dark so the image is a little blurred but I love the blue colouring in the sky.
This girl is making some kind of coconut confectionary, she inserts the mixture in bamboo tubes and her mother cooks it. It must be good because there's quite a crowd waiting, so much so that I can't get a shot with my usual process. This is the only shot that night for which I held the camera in my hands. I had to, to get it over the shoulders of the people in front of me. But I still didn't use the flash. The EXIF data tells me the exposure was 1/4 second. Between the anti-shake in the fz20 and my steady hands, I was still able to get a reasonable shot.
For this one the camera is back in the dangling position but this stall is so well lit that the camera can get a sharp shot with a 1/10 sec exposure.
You can see these photos a little larger by clicking on them. If you'd like to see one or two more from this night, take a look at my photo page (see sidebar).
Labels: Asia, camera, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Malaysia, market, Melaka, Panasonic, photography
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Camera comparison
Further to my recent blog discussing my new camera, I have decided to give some examples to show the difference between the fx3 and fz20.
For the sake of the discussion it might be appropriate to discuss the sort of photographs I was happy with when I was using my Kodak DC265. They were always sharp across the whole picture and at that time I was always happy with that. It could be said the camera gave good depth of field, ie everything near and far was in focus.
As I have progressed as a photographer I've become aware that it is at times desirable to show a subject in its setting but the setting is not as important as the subject. In these instances it is actually preferable to lose a bit of sharpness on the setting and to boost the sharpness on the main subject. This is known as short depth of field or perhaps narrow depth of field.
To do this, one opens the lens up as wide as possible, ie widens the aperture. This is measured in f stops and ironically the wider the aperture the lower the f stop number.
A few afternoons back I was walking home. It was about 5 pm, which means, in Malaysia, that the sun is still very bright, despite the rainy season. There were some nice yellow flowers growing on the side of the road. This is very common here. People in the Melaka suburbs love to grow flowers outside their house on the edge of the road. I wanted to capture this all in one photo, ie I wanted to get a good shot of the flower and show it in its setting. Now the streetscape in the distance is pretty boring. I didn't want to show it in detail. I just wanted to show that the flowers grow right on the edge of the street.
My fx3 was in a pouch on my belt so I simply had to pull it out and take the shot. I'll be honest. I didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just snapped a couple and put the camera back in its pouch. Even though the fx3 has a good LCD screen, I'm not really in the habit of checking them. Probably, to be honest, because the LCD on the fz20 is not all that great and that's how the habit formed. When I got back home and downloaded them I found that I had the street in perfect focus and the flower was blurred. Good one, John.
A few days later I decided that I should spend a bit of time becoming more familiar with what I can do with the manual settings on the fz20. I'm usually lazy. I use the scene modes far too often. This time, I set the aperture to f2.8, the widest possible, left it there and wandered the streets for an hour or more seeing what I could do. Altogether I took 77 shots. (Isn't digital wonderful.) I also went back to the same spot and took this photo of the flower in the street.
(Click on these photos to see a larger version.)
I'm not claiming it's the best photo I've ever taken but it achieves my objective. The flower is sharp; you can see what's in the street but it's not clear enough to take the attention off the flower.
BTW, I shot this in aperture priority, not full manual mode. The camera calculates the appropriate shutter speed. Because f2.8 lets in a lot of light and because it's very sunny, it took a fairly fast shot—1,000th of a second.
A few days later, I was walking past the same spot, about the same time, same lighting conditions and I had the fx3 in my belt pouch. I decided to see if this time I could get a better shot. Neither shutter priority nor full manual are available on the fx3 but there are two modes that will force the camera to widen the aperture: portrait and macro. I took a couple on each.
The photo in portrait mode did not achieve my goal. The street was in focus just as clearly as the flower. I did use a fairly narrow focus point and I thought I had it pointing at the flower but there you go.
Here's the one in macro mode.
As you can see the flower is fairly clear and the street is blurred but the flower looks a bit dark. Why? Well, because it is so sunny the camera has to compensate for all the light coming in. It chose to narrow the aperture to reduce the light coming in through the lens. It chose f5.6 with an exposure of 1/320 second.
I had not allowed the fz20 to do this, therefore it compensated by reducing the speed of the shot, which I believe gave me a better photo. Yes, I could work on the second photo in photo editing software. It would be very easy to use the sliders to lighten it. I do this sort of thing all the time. But the fz20 took a much better shot straight out of the camera. (Neither of these photos have been edited, except to reduce the file size.)
I've uploaded some of the other photos taken on my little excursion to my Flora page on flickr. See the link in the sidebar.
I would like to add that I am not an expert, I welcome any comments and suggestions.
For the sake of the discussion it might be appropriate to discuss the sort of photographs I was happy with when I was using my Kodak DC265. They were always sharp across the whole picture and at that time I was always happy with that. It could be said the camera gave good depth of field, ie everything near and far was in focus.
As I have progressed as a photographer I've become aware that it is at times desirable to show a subject in its setting but the setting is not as important as the subject. In these instances it is actually preferable to lose a bit of sharpness on the setting and to boost the sharpness on the main subject. This is known as short depth of field or perhaps narrow depth of field.
To do this, one opens the lens up as wide as possible, ie widens the aperture. This is measured in f stops and ironically the wider the aperture the lower the f stop number.
A few afternoons back I was walking home. It was about 5 pm, which means, in Malaysia, that the sun is still very bright, despite the rainy season. There were some nice yellow flowers growing on the side of the road. This is very common here. People in the Melaka suburbs love to grow flowers outside their house on the edge of the road. I wanted to capture this all in one photo, ie I wanted to get a good shot of the flower and show it in its setting. Now the streetscape in the distance is pretty boring. I didn't want to show it in detail. I just wanted to show that the flowers grow right on the edge of the street.
My fx3 was in a pouch on my belt so I simply had to pull it out and take the shot. I'll be honest. I didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just snapped a couple and put the camera back in its pouch. Even though the fx3 has a good LCD screen, I'm not really in the habit of checking them. Probably, to be honest, because the LCD on the fz20 is not all that great and that's how the habit formed. When I got back home and downloaded them I found that I had the street in perfect focus and the flower was blurred. Good one, John.
A few days later I decided that I should spend a bit of time becoming more familiar with what I can do with the manual settings on the fz20. I'm usually lazy. I use the scene modes far too often. This time, I set the aperture to f2.8, the widest possible, left it there and wandered the streets for an hour or more seeing what I could do. Altogether I took 77 shots. (Isn't digital wonderful.) I also went back to the same spot and took this photo of the flower in the street.
(Click on these photos to see a larger version.)
I'm not claiming it's the best photo I've ever taken but it achieves my objective. The flower is sharp; you can see what's in the street but it's not clear enough to take the attention off the flower.
BTW, I shot this in aperture priority, not full manual mode. The camera calculates the appropriate shutter speed. Because f2.8 lets in a lot of light and because it's very sunny, it took a fairly fast shot—1,000th of a second.
A few days later, I was walking past the same spot, about the same time, same lighting conditions and I had the fx3 in my belt pouch. I decided to see if this time I could get a better shot. Neither shutter priority nor full manual are available on the fx3 but there are two modes that will force the camera to widen the aperture: portrait and macro. I took a couple on each.
The photo in portrait mode did not achieve my goal. The street was in focus just as clearly as the flower. I did use a fairly narrow focus point and I thought I had it pointing at the flower but there you go.
Here's the one in macro mode.
As you can see the flower is fairly clear and the street is blurred but the flower looks a bit dark. Why? Well, because it is so sunny the camera has to compensate for all the light coming in. It chose to narrow the aperture to reduce the light coming in through the lens. It chose f5.6 with an exposure of 1/320 second.
I had not allowed the fz20 to do this, therefore it compensated by reducing the speed of the shot, which I believe gave me a better photo. Yes, I could work on the second photo in photo editing software. It would be very easy to use the sliders to lighten it. I do this sort of thing all the time. But the fz20 took a much better shot straight out of the camera. (Neither of these photos have been edited, except to reduce the file size.)
I've uploaded some of the other photos taken on my little excursion to my Flora page on flickr. See the link in the sidebar.
I would like to add that I am not an expert, I welcome any comments and suggestions.
Labels: camera, flickr, fx3, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Melaka, Panasonic, photography
Monday, April 09, 2007
The last blacksmith
The unofficial name of the street I'm currently living in is Harmony Street. In this street there are quite a range of temples: Taoist, Hindu, Moslem and Buddhist and also a Methodist church. The mosque broadcasts prayers over the PA several times every day. Apparently these times are negotiated with the other temples so there isn't a clash. Hence the name.
The official names in the street change for every block and relate to the shops that traditionally filled the street. One block is Jalan Tukang Emas -- Goldsmith Street. Our part of the street is known as Jalan Tukang Besi -- Blacksmith Street. I'm told there was a time when the shop-houses in the block housed mostly blacksmiths. When I first visited Melaka in 2004 there were only two left. They were still active and could be seen working every day.
Two days ago the second-last blacksmith died. Apparently he was only in his late fifties. Blacksmiths' lungs are perhaps not in good condition with all the coal vapours they breathe. The only surviving blacksmith in Jalan Tuking Besi, I'm told, is over sixty. Each of these guys was the last in his line. Their sons have followed other careers.
I wonder how long until Blacksmith Street is only a name.
Labels: blacksmith, Chinatown, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka
