Malaysian Adventure "Airshow"

"Reflection" Langkawi

Day 5 began with us heading up the hill to check out the view in a cable car, but unfortunately it was pretty hazey which generally seems to be the case so far. The only time for decent light is sunrise or sunset. We bought our tickets and while we were waiting to get onto the cable car I looked around for something to shoot and came across a lily pond. I singled out this lily because I really liked the way it was reflecting in the water, I pride myself on the fact that pretty much no matter where I am, I can find something interesting to shoot. I used my 100mm to shoot this at f2, 1/400 and ISO 100. We then went upto the top of the mountain on the cable car and it was certainly a long way up and had potential for a great shot but as the sign up the top mentioned it was best viewing around 6pm. We made our way back down the hill and spent a little bit more time doing some shopping we still had a fair bit of time to kill before the Air show which started in the afternoon so we decided to go for a drive and on our way we saw a sign for the local wildlife centre, so with no great expectations we though we would head over and check it out. As we arrived we where surprised to see they had a few animals on the outside of the centre, I quickly began shooting these and spent a fair bit of time doing so still with not expectation we decided to check it out seeing as though we already felt that we had got our moneys worth with the animals outside. After our trip to Tai Ping Zoo which we all thought was pretty amazing it was going to be interesting to see what was in store.

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"Pride" Langkawi

As we walked through the gate we immediately realised we where up for a completely different experience. It was one where we got to get up close and personal with the animals, with most not even being caged. We also brought some food on entry so where ever we went we certainly had no problem getting willing photography subjects. The animals that where caged also had small holes to feed them through and ran up to greet us as we made our way around. I must say it was a amazing experience and one that I will probably never forget. Our visit to Tai Ping Zoo was a great chance to see all the animals but this was a chance to get up close to them. I shot this with my 100mm which I used

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"Cruising" Langkawi

all day at f2, 1/400 and ISO 250. I had way to many good shots from the zoo to choose from but went for this one as it was a little different please visit my, wildlife page in my galleries to view some more shots from the day. I also included this shot of the fish as it was again a chance to shoot something a little different as it was though glass and indoors so was pretty dark but i like how it turned out and is again a good chance to show how to make a shoot that maybe isn't obvious at first glance. Settings where f2, 1/60 at ISO 800. So we all left the wildlife centre feeling that we well and truly got our moneys worth. We actually spend more time than expected and now had to race of to the Air show.

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"Hornet" Langkwai Airshow

It was a very hot day as it has been for most of the trip but as my back ground is as a tradie who works outside heat never really bothers me. In saying that as we arrived at the air show and walked out on to the tarmac where all the displays where we realised that the temperature was doubled this was a challenge itself but the excitement took over as I walked past this F18 getting ready for take of I like this shot as it captures the mood of the day.  I shot this with my 17-40mm at 17mm, f11, 1/320 and ISO 400. It really was something completely different for me but I enjoyed the challenge. I was actually shooting shooting some of the planes in flight. at the same time as this so settings 

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"Keep Up" Langkawi Airshow

reflected that. I needed to up the ISO to keep the high shutter and still stay at f11. I took over 2000 photos on the day and I was pretty happy with the amount that where in focus which goes to show that with AI-Servo and continuous shooting is still good on the 5D MarkII I have been seriously considering upgrading to the mark 3 mainly because of the focusing system and the high ISO performance but after this trip I think my current camera still has enough fire power to do what I need, whilst still having so far to go on my journey and still so much to learn. But the advantage for me and most other photographers is that learning something you love doing is such a easy process. 

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"Concentrate" Langkawi

After the show had finished we quickly headed back to the main airport and settled down at Starbucks and I started to offload my photos from the day and write a blog update. We were surprised to see a show at the airport of some local performers so I again quickly pulled out my camera and started shooting again. My goal with this shot was to make it look like it wasn't in the airport which i think I pulled of I shot this with my favorite 100mm at f2, 1/125 and ISO 640. After a long day I headed back to the hotel and got prepared to head of to Thailand the following morning to the Island of Koh Lipe. This was very exciting I have seen a few photos of this island and it looks amazing.

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