In this video, I share my opinion on the Sony FE 14mm F/1.8 GM lens for Landscape photography.
sony alpha professional photographers
Hi everyone, in this post, I would like to share about my recent timelapse work called – Milky Way rising in Pulau Mawar, Mersing in Johor. It was captured back in April 2021 when I was on assignment to create content with the newly release Sony lens, the 14mm f/1.8 G Master.
So I decided to take it for a spin to Pulau Mawar in Mersing, Johor. This spot is really a good place to do stargazing in Peninsular Malaysia. The sky here is often clear and you can see thousands of stars and even the Milky Way can be seen with naked eyes. You can check out my photos from this place HERE.
Anyway, back to the timelapse story. I took the timelapse with Sony a7R4 paired with the Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master lens. The settings I used are as below:
Shooting mode: Manual
Shooting interval: 11 secs
ISO: 2500
Aperture: f/1.8
Shutter Speed: 10 sec.
Total shots: 360
Shooting milky way timelapse is time-consuming where you have to use a slower shutter speed for each shot. Usually, to get 5-10 seconds of a clip, you have to shoot for a minimum of 2 hours depending on the shutter speed you use. This is the benefit of shooting with an f/1.8 lens like this Sony 14mm f/1.8 where you can shoot at an aperture of f/1.8, and use a not-so-long shutter speed in the range of 10-15 sec.
So here is the final timelapse, processed using LRTimelapse and Adobe Lightroom Classic. Hope you like it and thank you for dropping by.
I went back to my hometown in Alor Setar, Kedah during the final few days of 2018 to visit my parents. The weather was astonishingly hot during the day and it rained almost every evening. On the last day of 2018, it rained, as usual, that evening. But it stopped around 7.10pm and I was about to go out to collect takeaway food for our dinner when I saw the skies are starting to explode with colors. I ran back inside and grab nothing but my camera, the Sony A7R Mark III camera with FE 16-35mm F/2.8 G Master lens. Then I quickly drove off into a small road behind my parent’s place which leads to this small river stream that is surrounded with paddy field. By the time I reached at one corner which has enough space to park my car, the sky was already on fire!
Thanks to Sony IBIS (In-body Image Stabilization), I managed to get tack-sharp images handheld, even in low lighting conditions. What a really useful feature to have!
A puddle of water is always handy when it comes to photography, especially when the skies is burning like this! A nicely timed shot when this motorbike passing through as I went on low to get the reflection. Anyway, thanks for taking your time to read until this and if you did, much appreciated! Until my next post then, wassalam..
So I stumbled upon this majestic waterfalls while I was surfing the internet called Tumpak Sewu, located in Lumajang Indonesia. I was blown away with it and I knew I had to take a trip up there. After a short research, I packed my camera and ended up on a plane with a friend heading towards Surabaya.
The trip commences from 8th – 12th September 2018. We took a Lion Air flight JT164 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and around 2 hours later, we arrived at Juanda International Airport which is the third busiest airport in Indonesia. We were greeted by our driver and then took off straight to Lumajang which is a 6 hours drive from Surabaya. A tip worthy to take note – best to arrive Surabaya in the evening if you plan to head directly towards Lumajang due to lesser traffic in the night and you can sleep during the long drive. We arrive at our accommodation around 1 am and after a quick unpacking, we retired the night. For your information, there is no resort or hotel in the area due to the location is not developed with tourism just yet. We slept in the local villagers’ place (paid).
Tumpak Sewu Entrance
The next morning, we tried to enter the waterfall as earliest as we can. I’m not sure about the exact price but the entrance ticket shall cost you around IDR 10k /pax. From the entrance, the descend started right away. The trekking path is quite an exhausting one because it was very steep.
For most of the trails, you will be walking on a small-narrow bamboo staircase and sometimes you need to pass some slippery wet stones and crossing several small rivers along the way. You need to be very careful and ensure that you have proper trekking sandals or shoes for your own safety. Depending on your speed, the descent would take around 30-45 minutes and perhaps it will be doubled when you ascend.
Once you reached the base, it is another few hundred meters and you will reach the majestic falls. These greenies complex really worth the effort going down!
Unfortunately, the condition wasn’t that good. The lighting was uneven while we were there to shoot. The sun is already too high but not high enough to light the whole area causing part of the area to be underexposed. I guess this is a good reason for me to back again in future.
After spending almost 2 hours at Tumpak Sewu, we started our ascent and it took us almost an hour to reach the car park. We returned to our accommodation where our host had prepared a nice lunch for us. We then doze off for a couple of hours before proceeding to our next waterfall which is Air Terjun Kabut Pelangi. By this time, me and Faisal are having a crucial muscle cramp on both of our legs. It’s another descend to get to the Kabut Pelangi waterfall and this time the distance felt farther. Anyhow, we made it to fall. The 100m+ Kabut Pelangi is an incredible sight. The force it generates when it hits the pool below is incredible and this is definitely not a place you want to go swimming!
Air Terjun Kabut Pelangi
A timelapse compilation taken during my trip to Ladakh, Land of The High Passes on August 2017. Definitely a majestic place high in the mountains!
Hi everyone, how’s your weekend so far? ☺️ So this post would be dedicated to my second outing when I was in my hometown during Raya break. The outing took place a few days after Raya celebrations, where originally I was invited by a friend to join him to shoot the sunrise at Timah Tasoh Lake.
I’ve been to this place before (this is my second time) but it was a total failure because the whole area was covered with thick fog which was quite unusual according to the local fisherman whom I met at the lake. That’s why I’m so eager to return to this place again hoping to see the “Malaysia’s Guilin“. Luck is with me on my second time to this location…
Panorama with my iPhone
Arriving to the spot, I notice that the lake is getting very shallow and parched compare to my last visit. Had to go slightly to the middle of the lake to reach the lake shore where it’s usually filled with water. Anyhow, it was a very promising morning. Check out some of behind the scene shots below taken with my iPhone.
The sun never rose, but the beautiful light behind those mountain lasted about 5 minutes and it’s more than enough for me. In landscape photography, you just have to be grateful and learn to appreciate whatever that you were granted with. Sometimes you don’t want to be too hopeful and put too much stress on your shoulder otherwise it will later disappoint yourself…
and last but not least, the result from that morning…
Sony A7R Mark II + FE 16-35 mm F4 || © Fakrul Jamil Photography.
Thank you for your time. Until my next post, wassalam.. 🙂
Hi everyone! I hope its not too late to wish Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin to those who celebrating Aidilfitri and I would like to apologize because it’s been a while since my last entry. I really want to write something, just couldn’t find time to do it, I guess.
So last week I went back to my hometown in northern side of Malaysia for Hari Raya. The last time I went back was during Christmas break last year. Can you believe that?! Too busy with work, travelling here and there. But its good to be back!
I went back a few days ahead of Aidilfitri. I have some free time to wander around and I plan to shoot the Milky Way before. The timing was just right as the moon phase just shifted to the new moon making the sky is dark enough to see the milky way. The idea was to shoot it somewhere around “Ladang Tebu Chuping” which was located in Perlis as the location have a very minimal light pollution making it suitable to do astrophotography.
The journey from Alor Setar is around 1 hour of driving. I went there with a friend and upon arriving to the location we saw the sky was partially covered with clouds but there was some stars still visible. We drove further into the darkness and until one point, we can see the milky way with our naked eyes…
The Lightsaber | Sony A7R Mark II + FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS
The Sony A7R Mark II shoots the Milky Way just fine despite some review saying this camera would not be able to do so. Below is before & after image taken with FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens. I increased the shadow part to 100% and as you can see the image quality is unaffected.
Below is few more photos from the night. We did not stay long as the Milky Way gets higher and higher making it difficult to shoot with good foreground. After all, the following day is still “puasa” so we had to go back to have our “sahur”. ☺️
Panoramic of 7 vertical shots to capture the full length of the Milky Way. | Sony A7R Mark II + FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS
The Galactic centre of Milky Way | Sony A7R Mark II + FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS
Milky Way above the Tree | Sony A7R Mark II + FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS
Today, over 5 billion people live under vanished light polluted urban skies where the Milky Way is no longer visble. Night sky becomes a forgotten part of nature, an essential element of our environment which is disappearing.
The Milky Way is still visible in Malaysia, you just have to find a secluded area which have very minimal light pollution or easier words, a very dark area.
Timing is also important so you have to check what phase the moon is currently in. If it’s in the first quarter (half-moon) or brighter, chances are you will not be able to see the Milky Way with a naked eyes because there will be too much moonlight outshining the stars.
That’s it for this entry. I hope you’ll find this entry is somewhat useful. Feel free to share and spread the love of nature photography. ☺️
Last week I was invited to join the Sony A7RII regional launch in Shangri-La’s Sentosa Resort in Singapore.
I was officially introduced as Sony’s Regional Ambassadors for Sony South East Asia together with another 11 amazing photographers during the event. It such an honour to be representing Malaysia for this programme and probably, the youngest on the stage. 🙂
The event venue is fantastic. The hotel room is really nice, great food and friendly staff.
I was tasked to give a short presentation regarding my landscape photography work to some of the medias. It was a good experience for me. 🙂
I had the privilege to shoot with the new Sony A7R Mark II. I have planned earlier to take the new camera to the field, so I flew directly to Sabah right after the event concluded.
Thank you Sony South East Asia & Sony Malaysia for giving us such a pleasant experience throughout this event! 🙂
For more info about the programme, check out link below:
Recent Posts
- LIVE INTERVIEW: Future Traveler & Landscape Photo
February 11, 2023 - Sony FE 14mm F/1.8 GM for Landscape Photography
January 22, 2023 - Alpha For Landscape - Timelapse Photography
January 16, 2023
Instagram
Popular Posts
- Milky Way Hunting in Chuping, Perlis
July 12, 2016 - Landscape Photography Adventure to NZ
October 18, 2014 - Kelanang's Story - Cast Away
February 8, 2012
-
