Patterns of Nature - Rainbow over at Tioman

Can you spot the rainbow over at Tioman in the photos below? It is kind of chance to be able to see rainbow while at Tioman.

Patterns of Nature - Tioman Shoreline

Rocky yet beautiful side of Tioman island.

Patterns of Nature at Pulau Tioman

Here are my photos themed "Patterns of Nature" taken at Genting Village, Pulau Tioman, Pahang, Malaysia.

Digital Photography Tips For Beginners 101

So, you've finally bought your first digital camera? Congratulations! You're probably excited and you're wondering where you could find some digital photography tips to help you great photo results. A good advice, however, to digital photography beginners is that you need to practice. You need to get out there and get those pictures! The earlier you make mistakes, the earlier you'd learn how to really take great pictures.

What are the mistakes that photography beginners make?

Mistakes on digital photography are natural. Beginners would make mistakes that would waste a lot of shots. So, it is wise to read some digital photography tips that would help you avoid the mistakes that beginners typically make. But what are these mistakes?

The first mistake that beginners usually make is putting too much images in one picture. The whole picture becomes one messy unfocused picture. You'd find different subjects in one photograph. This is not fun to look at. It's confusing so people would not really want to look at it.

Another mistake that beginners usually make is not bothering to create more artistic and focused photos. The picture need not be center-oriented. The goal is to create photos that are good regardless of what angle you look at it and regardless of what side of the picture you stared at.

The last mistake of a digital photography beginner is taking pictures without really knowing how to handle the camera properly. They end up with pictures that are overexposed, underexposes or blurry.

Digital Photography Tips

If you are new to digital photography, here are some digital photography tips that would serve you well as you are learning the craft and developing the skills of creating great pictures:

1. Familiarize yourself with your camera. This may seem dreary to you but this is important. If you want to know what your camera is capable of doing, what its limitations are and how you can maximize its use will help you create great pictures.

2. Practice taking pictures. The art of photography is also a skill. You'll get better at it as you practice more.

3. Take as many pictures as you can and want. Most digital cameras have memory cards that would allow you to take as many pictures as you want. You can also get an extra memory card so you can take more pictures.

4. Use your camera's features and maximize its capabilities.

5. Learn how to frame your shots. This is often the mistakes of beginners. They do not know how frame their photos properly. So, they could place the photo's subject dead center. They could end up cutting the face or placing the subject too far right. Good framing would mean a lot of difference on the outcome of the picture.

6. Learn various compositional techniques. Again, you could avoid the second biggest mistake of most beginners by shifting the subject of center to either the left or right. Avoid placing your subject on the middle of the photograph. This has been overused before and has become quite boring.

7. Take more close-ups. They are more striking and interesting.

8. Be conscious of picture's lightning. Bad lightning can ruin what should have been a good shot.

9. Don't be afraid to explore and to try out new shots.

10. Never forget to take photos as memories. These types of photos have more heart.

Original Article Author

David Cross is a Photographer and Photography enthusiast who runs the site Hobby Photography, where he also posts regularly about Kirlian Photography among other things.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_R._Cross

Tips For Buying a Digital Camera

Family and friends can be pretty far flung these days, so how do you keep in touch? Snail mail and phoning are good options, but it's fun to be able to share pictures. With the advent of digital cameras, it's easy to post pictures on a blog or website, or send pictures via email.

Of course, film cameras will work, as you can scan and convert pictures to digital files, but the easiest way to send pictures quickly and cheaply is to use a digital camera.

How To Find What's Best For YOU When Buying A Digital Camera

There are all kinds of digital cameras available these days, so the trick is to find the one that suits your needs and budget. If you are buying your first digital camera, the lingo and technology are a bit different than for film cameras, so before shopping take time to learn a little and figure out what you'd like to buy.

First, what kind of photographer are you? Do you like total control over the picture taking process, or would you rather just aim the camera and push the shutter button? Then it's also helpful to decide what you want to do with your pictures. Do you just want to put them online or send them via email, or do you want to be able to print them, and if so, how large do you want your prints?

If photography isn't your passion, and you just want to have pictures to share, buying a simple point-and-shoot digital camera is probably best. It has automatic settings, so all you have to do is aim the camera, press the shutter and viola! Instant picture!

However, if you prefer more control over the picture taking process, try buying a mid-range digital camera. There is a wide range in both price and features. For the more serious hobby photographer, there are "prosumer" cameras midway between point-and-shoot cameras and digital SLR cameras. They offer better lens quality and usually more features than a point-and-shoot, though those little cameras can come pretty loaded these days!

Digital SLR cameras are top of the line and more expensive. These work more like traditional cameras, having a body with detachable lens. This gives you more options with being able to change lens, but it's also much more expensive. Just one lens can cost as much as a point-and-shoot digital camera! There's also usually a steeper learning curve to figure out how to use all the options on a digital SLR camera.

However, if you're buying your first digital camera, intermediate, "prosumer" and digital SLR cameras probably aren't the best choice. All the settings and features can be a little overwhelming for the beginner, and your expensive camera may end up collecting dust somewhere. Try a low to midrange camera first and get a feel for digital cameras and what features are most important to you. Then when you're ready to move up and buy a Digital SLR, you'll have a better idea of what to look for before you lay out your hard earned cash!

What To Look For When You're Ready To Buy A Digital Camera

You can buy digital cameras in all sorts of places these days, from fancy department stores to discount stores, photography/camera shops and many stores online. While you can sometimes find great deals on-line, if this is your first digital camera, go to shops and look at different cameras if at all possible. It helps to pick it up and get the feel of the camera in your hand to see if it's comfortable and the controls are easy to use, and you can check out what features it has and how they work.

But what exactly are you looking for?

A pixel makes your picture....

One of the first things to check out when buying a digital camera is the MEGAPIXELS. A pixel is a single dot in a graphics image. A megapixel is equivalent to one million pixels. A 1-megapixel camera would produce an image roughly 1200 pixels wide by 900 pixels high, a 3 megapixel would be 2048 x 1536 megapixels, and so on. Higher megapixels mean better resolution, but aren't the whole picture. The main thing to keep in mind is the more megapixels, the bigger image you can print.

Approximate Megapixels vs. Print Size

-2 Megapixels prints well up to 4x6 inches

-3 Megapixels prints well up to 5x7 inches

-4 Megapixels prints well up to 6x8 inches

-6 Megapixels prints well up to 7x10 inches

-8 Megapixels prints well up to 10x14 inches

-12 Megapixels prints well up to 16x24 inches

For email, websites and printing snapshots, a 3 to 5-megapixel camera is a good choice. If you want to make high quality 8x10 prints or larger, you need more megapixels. Higher megapixels also allow you to crop down to a smaller portion of the picture while still retaining sharpness in prints.

One other thing to keep in mind when considering megapixels and resolution, be sure you are getting optical resolution. This is the actual number of megapixels the camera records. Some cameras offer interpolated resolution to get bigger pictures from the same number of megapixels by using software algorithms to determine what color pixels to add, so the picture becomes bigger at the expense of clarity.

Opt for optical...

Digital cameras have two kinds of zoom, optical and digital. In this case, focus on the optical zoom. It's the one that actually uses the lens' optics to bring the subject closer. The higher the number, the further away you can "pull in" your subject. The digital zoom merely takes the original information and makes it bigger, and once again, clarity is sacrificed. Most serious photographers turn off digital zoom. Stick to optical!

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Digital cameras commonly use an LCD screen instead of a viewfinder to focus on your subject, though some come equipped with both. Check the size of the screen when buying a digital camera to be sure you can comfortably see your subject. It's also really handy to have a flip screen that allows you to hold your camera low or high, and still be able to see what's on the screen.

Fun features...

Many digital cameras offer settings for such things as burst shooting mode, which is handy if you want to take pictures of moving subjects. The camera shoots a series of pictures without pause, then writes the files to memory. Other features allow for manually changing settings, special effects, short digital movie files, using an external flash, and much more. Look over several different cameras, decide what features you just have to have, and which are on the "nice to have but not vital" list. No one camera will do everything well.

Get the Picture...

You've got to get the pictures out of the camera to share them. Usually the files are downloaded to your computer through a USB port, so make sure your computer has one. Also, keep in mind when choosing a camera, the more megapixels, the bigger the files. You've got to store those files somewhere, so how much memory is available on your computer? Does it have a CD burner?

However, you can still buy a digital camera even if you don't have a computer. Many photo labs, even in places like Walmart or Kmart, have machines with the capability of making prints and/or photo CD's from memory cards, and will make a disk of the files, sort of like digital negatives. There's also the option of buying a photo printer with a docking station for your camera. Just plug the camera into the docking station, and bypass the need for a computer to print.

Cash After Camera

When buying your digital camera, keep some cash in reserve, because there are two more important purchases you need to make.

1. Memory - The digital camera's equivalent of film, the amount of memory determines how many pictures you can take. Different cameras use different types of memory, so the first step is to find out what your camera uses. The most popular types are: Secure Digital (SD), CompactFlash (CF), SmartMedia (SM), Memory Stick (MS), MultiMediaCard (MMC), and xD-Picture Card (xD).

Cameras are usually packaged with a small MB-sized card. A second card of 64 MB is good, but of course the more MB and the more cards, the more pictures you can take before having to download and erase the images. The different cards are NOT interchangeable, so be sure to buy the right kind for your camera!

2. Battery - There's nothing more frustrating than being in the middle of snapping pictures and the battery dies. Get extras. It's worth the expense to have a second battery charged and waiting should the one in your camera lose power. The rechargeable ones are more expensive, but the ability to use them over and over makes them worth the initial outlay of cash.

That's The Total Package!

There you have the basics for choosing a digital camera. Decide what kind of pictures you are likely to take, what size prints you want to make, how much zoom, and are there any extras you can't live without? Look for the camera that most closely matches your list in your price range, buy a bigger memory card and an extra battery set, and you're good to go!

Have fun sharing those pictures with friends and family!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pat_Lyne

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - The Free Kangaroos

A kangaroo, also a marsupial like koala, is from the family of Macropodidae (Macropods, meaning 'large foot'). Like all marsupials, the baby of kangaroo is born at a very early stage of development after a gestation period of 31 to 36 days which only the forelimbs are developed to allow it to climb to its mother's pouch and attach to a teat. In comparison, a human embryo at a similar stage of development would be only seven weeks old. When the joey is born, it is the size of a lima bean. The joey will usually stay in the pouch for about nine months before being confident enough to leave the pouch for small periods of time. It is usually fed by its mother until reaching 18 months old.

Lazy Kangaroo...

Mummy kangaroo with baby kangaroo, joey in its pouch.

Mummy kangaroo is tired, oh baby man you are heavy.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - The Cute Koalas

Some facts about koala:

Koala belongs to a unique group of mammals called marsupials which give birth to very underdeveloped young that complete their development in the pouch.

Koala 's pregnancy (also known as gestation) period is very short, between 33 to 35 days. Its newborn called joey is the size of a jellybean. After born, the joey crawl into its mother pouch which it must attach itself to one of her teats. The pouch faces backwards (opposite to kangaroos) so that no leaves or twigs get into it while the mother is climbing.

Pap feeding is the process which conditions the joey's stomach to digest the toxic eucalyptus leaves. It involves the joey stimulating its mother to produce a soft form of faeces that is high in micro-organisms that help break down the leaf which the joey will eat.

After 6 months, the joey will emerge from the pouch and cling tightly to its mother. When the joey grows and becomes more confident, it will permanently left its mother's pouch and can be seen riding around her mother back or stomach.

After 1 year of age, weaning is complete. The young koala will venture out by itself and establish its own home range. The life expectancy of koala in captivity is 14 years as compared to 10 years for wild one. As noted in Guinness Book of World Records, one koala in Lone Pine managed to live to an extraordinary age of 23.

Hello, welcome to visit me!!



A very hungry Koala eating eucalyptus leaves.

Still feeling very hungry!

Napping koala wakes up, look very fresh!

A mummy koala eating away happily while its baby is sleeping.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - The duck and the kangaroo

Kangaroo : Don't come near me.

Duck : I like it, so what.

Nearer the duck goes to the kangaroo.

Kangaroo : STAY AWAY FROM ME!

Kangaroo : Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! Don't even come near me again. I will bite. The kangaroo chases the duck away. The duck reluctantly went away.

Visit to World Largest Koala Sanctuary - Lone Pine, Brisbane Australia

Blue-winged Kookaburra is closely related to laughing Kookaburra, which is easily distinguished by metallic blue wing markings and high pitched trilling call.

Crocodiles have 66 teeth which all may be replaced if lost.

An emu- the male will sit on the eggs for 8 weeks until they hatch which during the period, the male hardly leaves the nest, not even to eat or drink. He loses a considerable amount of weight, relying only on the fat reserves that he built up before nesting.

The duck and the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens

Once there live a duck in a place called Botanic Gardens in Brisbane.It thinks that the pond is very big but in actual fact, the pond is just a pond in the Botanic Gardens.

Siem Reap - Views from Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm was one of King Jayavarman VII's first major temple projects which was dedicated to his mother. Ta Prohm was originally constructed as a Buddhist monastery and was enormously wealthy in its time, controlling over 3000 villages, thousand of support staff and vast stores of jewels and gold.

Ta Prohm was intentionally left partially unrestored. While the massive fig and silk-cotton trees grow from the towers and corridors offer a "jungle atmosphere" and some of the best "tree-in-temple" photo opportunities in Angkor, massive number of tourists and recent installation of wooden walkways are distracting the "jungle atmosphere" feel.

Siem Reap - Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom (also known as Big Angkor) is a 3km sq walled and moated royal city of King Jayavarman VII and was the last capital of the Angkorian empire.

Bayon, a state temple of King Jayavarman VII, was constructed during the late 12th century AD under Buddhism influence. The giant stone faces of Bayon have become one of the most recognizable images connected to classic Khmer art and architecture. There are 37 standing towers in Bayon only 4 are carved faces orientated toward the cardinal points. Who the faces represent is debatable: they may be Loksvara, Mahayana Buddhism's compassionate Bodhisattva or rather combination of King Jayavarman VII and buddha.

Victims of landmine in Cambodia - Khmer Traditional Band

Landmine victims making a living by forming Khmer Traditional Band which the name came about as they are using traditional musical instruments to make music.