Don't forget the black and white

Busy colours in black and white

Capturing image in black and white is much more challenging than in full colour as the variation in colours will only be captured with different levels of grayscale. The following colour combinations will be difficult to differentiate: white and yellow, white and light blue, green and red. As such, textures of the cloud and sky, flower and foliage, sun, sky and cloud at sunset, lips and skin tones will not show any distinct contrast in a black and white format.

Yellow filter to enhance different tones of white

To further highlight these contrasts, filters are available for this purpose. For the old SLR cameras which using 35 mm film, filter can be screwed in-front of the lens to achieve this. For current DSLR cameras, these filters are available in the monochrome adjustment. The filters pre-set are available in yellow, orange, red and green. Yellow filter is used to make the blue sky looks more natural and the white cloud looks crisper. Orange filter will make the blue sky looks slightly darker and sunset looks more brilliant. Red filter will make the blue sky looks quite dark and brown/yellow objects look crisper and brighter. Green filter makes skin tones and lips look fine and tree leaves look crisper and brighter. If your DSLR did not have these pre-set filters, you can get the screwed on filters and used them just like using the UV or polarised filters.

Detail of image (originally rich with different tones of brown) showed with green filter

Other than the filter effects, black and white photography will require optimal light metering. Play with different sets of metering mode and look at the detail of your image captured. Evaluate closely the bright and dark areas. Good metering and the use of filter will produce an image with high contrast, thus, each detail in the image can be clearly seen.

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Converting Bedside Table to a Portable Wash-Stand (IKEA Hack)

What to do if a ready made furniture is not able to fit in the space that is available? Your choice will be either build a customised furniture or hacking a furniture for a different purpose. Hacking a furniture will cut almost 70% of the work required to build a customised furniture from zero. Here, I share a step-by-step process on one of my DIY weekend projects converting bedside table to portable wash-stand. What will be required for this project? Tools (e.g. saw, metal ruler, hand drill), sand paper and brushes for wood work, base furniture to be hacked, water-resistant paint and metal knob. STEP 1. Get some ideas on the design and materials by visiting several furniture galleries/shops. For example here, the idea was from an IKEA wash basin base cabinet, Lillangen. The material mainly particleboard, which might not be that suitable for Malaysian humidity and bathroom practice. For that reason, I choose solid wood material the project. The dimension of the IKEA...

Cinnamon Pear Cake

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The Town of Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom

The time available for me to explore the Town of Reading was limited, as my worktrip was quite packed with formal meetings at the University of Reading and vis it to hospital and community establishments. Reading is located on the west of Heathrow Airport for about 26 miles and Greater London for about 42 miles. The Town Hall of Reading with grey and red bricks Lets go to the main landmarks of Reading. The first one is Reading Town Hall. The building was built between1786 and 1897. Currently, the town hall is used as Reading Museum and a large concert hall. Actually, the frontage was newly built with grey and red bricks, and terracota ornaments. The new facelift included the clock tower. Sadly however, the building suffered severe air raid in 1943. The latest refurbishement was completed in the year of 2000. On the southside of the town hall, you can see a dominant tower like structure that is the St Laurence’s Church. The Reading Town Hall, a vi...

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