Litely Impressive

I read on the net about a new photography app on the iOS called Litely. Similar to VSCO to be honest, a filter to enhance your photo, to make them less digital, embracing that hipster feel, but not to the extend of lomographic fidelity which oftentimes may appear fake.

The filter were more subtle. In fact, it was kore like using different film emulation from the pre-digital days. The enhancement were impressive and the fact that there weren't that many dials to mess around with, using it was more straight forward.

This was snapped in very low light .... managed to keep the noise down pretty wellThere were a few problems though as the GPS location was not embedded into the JPEG files, necessitating some post-uploading changes on Flickr if you're into those kind of stuff - which I do.

I use the app to snap, do the enhancement and exported the JPEG files staring into camera+ app for cropping and addition of border. I then used Flickit Pro to upload to Flickr. Tedious but it appeared to be sound.

Quite literally in complete darknessCertainly the results appeared better compared to doing filtration on the computer as part of post-production when it came to effect. I ended up paying for the in-app enhancements for extra filters. The main app - downloaded for free only contain less than 10 filters. You could then purchase three batches of a dozen filter at around 2 USD to complete the collection. Trust me, they were worth it!

Would definitely be using the app in the coming weeks. GPS embedding would be a welcomed change. You can read more review on the app here.

And a hot Orchid Garden

One of the neat thing with the new E-M1 was the bright and responsive electronic viewfinder. Coupled with the Pro standard zoom which I bought with it, manual focusing was a joy with the full-time zoom capability.

It was possible to get some really nice close-ups, and I felt that manual focussing trumped the autofocus in this situation, especially doing some still life macro works. And KL Orchid Garden provided me with ample targets to train my lens.

It's now freeThis used to be an awesome waterlilly pondNow the paths looked emptyThe orchids that were left didn't look freshThe hot weather and lack of rain however had changed the garden. They were clearly struggling to provide any nice spectacles. Even though orchids did not need much water, the lack of moisture in the air must've played havoc with them.

As a result, I spent most of my afternoon visit there snapping at other things but flowers. There were still plenty to snap at, though those colourful orchids would've been grand.

They must be really desperate that even the entrance fees were scrapped. We used to have to pay some token amount to get in during weekends. It was free last Sunday. And the place were empty as well. I used to remember that it used to be full of newlywed having their wedding photographs taken there.

How times had changed. Hopefully when the rain returns, the situation would improve. I wonder how the hot weather had affected the butterfly park .... maybe I should give that a go one of these days ....

Slideshow for the trip here.

The Hot Bird Park

Back when I was in Government Service, the work week only stretched from Monday to Friday. I used to enjoy taking strolls on Saturday afternoon, either with the boys or just with my camera.

One of my favourite place to visit was the KL Bird Park. So much so that the boys even had their birthdays held there few years back. A fun place to hold one, even if it was raining.

But on my stop there yesterday with my brand new camera, a couple of things were missing. The rain and the birds.

It had been hot since the turn of the year. This may have affected the park, as the place seemed somewhat empty. Even the parrot and tropical birds abertoir seemed deserted. There were a few birds but they were not roaming freely. The whole place felt too hot and sticky.

In some areas, there were more monkeys than bird. It it seemed like it.

A few peacocks were walking around but even they looked depressed. Only a few species thrived there, but it was boring after a while just snapping their photos. The flamingo pool also felt dry. Maybe it was too hot even for them.

It looked like the monkeys were in ...The flamingo pond looked uninspiring They looked lonelyEven the peacock looked stressed out ...The owls? They seemed bored in their cages. Well, I would give the park the benefit of the doubt. I shall blame this squarely on the lack of rain. Because I refuse to believe that the park had deteriorated over the years.

Would return when the rain is back. Because I missed those colourful birds ...

Slideshow of the outing here.

Orchid Garden Slideshow

Using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the Zuiko standard PRO zoom. Write-up of the outing here.

Bird Park Slideshow

Taking the OM-D for a spin. The write-up here.