Shooting Trip to Horizon Hill

I woke up relatively late last Saturday (29/11/2008). It was 6:30 in the morning and I already saw the reflection of the morning sun gleaming on my car. My original plan to shoot sunrise @ Horizon Hill was effectively over that day (little that I know that it was a blessing in disguise). I still have to go there I whisper to my self – to recce the place so probably I can take picture at sunset.

So, I went to some other place, shooting the sunrise. Then I went to UTM shooting MSI bathed by the morning Sun. At about 7:30 I sped up to Horizon Hill.

MSI Bathed by the morning sun

I was disappointed. There was layers of security checkpoint leading to Horizon Hill. I stopped at the first security post and asked the guard in-duty about entering the place. I have to acquire a security pass to enter the place.

I phoned my friend who informed me about the place and she said that visitors pass was not needed the last time she visited the place.

It was still early (about 8:30) and visitors (who want to see demo houses) can only enter the place @ 10am onwards. I whisper to myself – can I take photos in there? The developers might be irritated by DSLR-clad person snapping pictures in the area they develop.

Should I wait until 10am and enter or I better go somewhere else. Ultimately I went somewhere else – having my breakfast at ZZ. Because of Horizon Hill little problem I lost interest to shoot @ Program Jom Gegar Belia Johor 2008. I just went back home, do some chores and pay back my “sleep kredit”.

I will come again one day, InsyaAllah – when the area have properly developed. I might not be the first person to shoot there, but I don’t want to get into trouble with the developer (and the issue of safety in the area) either.

The conclusion: Fail shooting trip … huhuhu. But, Alhamdulillah I still obtain some pictures elsewhere.

Looking for Digital Camera … end up with a HDMI HTPC.

When I took my petrol rebate at the post office, my immediate plan was to buy a spanking new PnS digital camera – in the shape of Canon  A-series.

I’ve read several reviews and Canon A590IS or A720IS were high in my list. Anyway, just in case, I went to Canon website to checked the features and latest price and boy I am surprised! The two model has been replaced with slimmer and sexier model – A1000IS and A2000IS. The design is appealing and the prices is cheaper too. I was thinking, this is it! I want to buy one of those!

Canon A590IS

Canon A2000IS

I went to Tebrau City right after Jumaat Congregation Prayer with high spirit. I was starting to imagined taking pictures with the new camera – probably better pictures than Canon A700 because of the IS feature. When I arrived at Tebrau City, I head straight to camera shops and ask for A2000IS and played with it. I thought that the new A-series retain all the features of the camera it replaced, added more features to boot but in a slimmer body.

I was disappointed. While there are host of new features such as automatic detection for macro if the image is too close, the Manual, Aperture-Priority (Av) and Shutter-Priority (Tv) are gone! These features are important to me because I want to further familiarize myself with the modes before I buy a DSLR. So, I asked for the older siblings, A590IS or A720IS. I was disappointed again – there were no more in stock. I browsed through all the camera shop in Tebrau City but there were no more A590IS and A720IS.

While contemplating on what to do next, I skimmed through the fliers at the shop and look for Nikon D90. The price at Me Too are: RM35xx body only and RM 45xx with kit lens. The price seems to be more expensive than last time I asked. But the price includes camera bag, 4Gb high speed memory card and a tripod – so I think it’s a fair price. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough money and I think I might get better price elsewhere.

I went to Angsana next and head straight to Me Too camera shop. They only have A580 which don’t have IS feature. I was disappointed again. Without IS, it’s not much different with the old A700! While I can search around for camera at other camera shops (Leisure Mall, City Square, Other Juscos and anywhere else), I simply starting to giving up on digital camera because I started to thought on replacing my already sold HTPC.

In the end, Instead of buying a digital camera, I end up buying parts for a HTPC – AMDX2 5000+, Asus M3A78-EMH HDMI, 1Gb Kingston Value RAM, 250Gb Seagate HDD, Asus DVD-RW, 120mm fan, all-in-one card reader, HDMI cable and HDD cooler. TV card will be bought next month.

I can’t take pictures with HTPC, but I sure can record my favorite satellite TV programmes with it! Btw, the picture quality is way better with HDMI connector as compared to when I hooked up my LCDTV with the old VGA connector. All in all, I’m contempt at the moment.

Isu Boyfriend-Girlfriend – “We’re Just Friends” by Baba Ali