Put Your Finger On It

There are many henna art stalls at the Deepavali Bazaar in Little India Klang. This little girl was waiting for the dye to dry while her mother gets her’s done. When the focus point is off-center, I normally use the 4-way pad to shift the AF square in the viewfinder of the OM-D. For this shot, I used ‘tap focus’ on the LCD screen instead.

Where there is cluttered background, you may want switch to Aperture Priority mode and drop the aperture to a bigger opening (smaller f number). I selected f3.5 on the 12-50mm kit lens. It provided the subtle change of focus starting from the hand to the blurred fluorescent lights. The shallower depth-of-field ‘lifted’ her hand from the background but is still clear enough for the viewver to make out the activity behind.

If you have a camera that can control the aperture, put your finger on it. Use it subtly.

Put Your Finger On It

The Parrot Astrologer

Continuing my special coverage of Deepavali 2012. Little India Klang was an explosion of colours, scents and sounds today. The narrow five-foot ways were chock-full of festive  cakes, clothes and wares spilling from the shops. Add rain to it and there were charming subjects for the camera at every turn.

Hidden by the bustle of the bazaar, were two little uncaged birds sitting on the floor. Both were unperturbed by the horde of shoppers milling around them. After an interesting chat with their palmist-owner from India, I asked permission to photograph one of the parakeets up-close. Surprisingly, the fortune-telling bird didn’t flinch even when I held the ultrawide angle lens a couple inches away. We were fated to meet 🙂

Parrot astrology is popular in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

The Parrot Astrologer

Klang Cendol

Cendol is a popular South-East Asian ice dessert. The Malaysian version has the green worms jelly (made from rice flour) in coconut milk. It is served in shaved ice and sweetened with brown palm sugar. The green colouring of the jelly is obtained from pandan (screwpine) leaves)

Originally, Indian hawkers used the wooden nail shaver or hand-cranked rotary shaver. The ice blocks came insulated with saw dust. Shops nowadays use cheap China-made electric spinners. I have not been to famous Klang Cendol for years and the old man has moved on, I was told. The shop is now run by his friendly nephew (shown in pic).

Each bowl is now RM 1.90 and you can add pulut (glutinous rice), maize, sago or ice-cream as extras. To appreciate the real taste of cendol, I always sample the pure version without red beans, cincau or anything else. The shop also sells the usual complement of rojak.

Cendol Klang is at 78 Jalan Nenas, 41400 Klang, Selangor
GPS Coordinates: 3.048967, 101.445401

Famous Klang Cendol