Walk, Eat, Sleep and Photography

... beginning of the end?

2008-03-03T00:52:00.002+08:00

Yup... this is the beginning of the end for this blog and I probably won't be updating this much anymore.

Why? I am moving to Greener Pastures. Hope to see you there. :P

... but why do you photograph what you photograph?

2008-02-16T01:52:00.008+08:00

So... why do you photograph what you photograph?

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

Recently, I had an interesting discussion with a fellow photographer; he says he is training himself to be ready for whatever challenges by practicing how to make the best of any given location/condition when he photographs.

He says, "In photography, you can't always expect to have the ideal environment all the time, have the best light or have the best of moments to capture. "; as someone who shoots weddings often, that statement does indeed echo many of my previous shoots - sometimes, the light is just not right or the location is plain messy... or somewhere somehow, it is not what I wanted to shoot; what then? Do I just hold onto my camera and say, "Nah~ not good enough." and not take a single photo? Or should I just suck it up and say, "Well.. let's make the best of it."?

I nearly always choose the later... but what of shooting more than what you need so that you can select from a larger pool of images?

I for one... is an advocate for, "Know what NOT to shoot." For me, any photo that my client would NOT want and I myself would NOT want, I would never shoot.

To me, the "Shoot-first-think-later" mode of operation that some digital-only event photographers adopts affects the quality of the shots produced. Why? Wouldn't "shoot-first-think-later" give you all the possible photos good and bad both? After all you shouldn't miss any shots, right?

Wrong~! I have found that as soon as you concentrate on shooting you will definitely be less aware of your surroundings, less aware of what is not in your viewfinder. That is what that causes you to miss shots or to mis-represent the event to an extent. Having your eye always on the viewfinder and a trigger-happy attitude only gives you tunnel-vision... you can't see the big picture anymore, you don't have time to think out of the box and make the best of the situation or event.

That's all for today.

p.s. the images are from Guan-di and Si-Ye temples in Kuala Lumpur shot during Chinese New Year eve.

Ohh... pretty seafood?

2007-12-26T09:55:00.000+08:00

About a week plus ago, I was called for an assignment to shoot the Prime Minister's visit to one of Malaysia's most productive prawn farms by JW Aquaculture at Kuala Selangor. It was really an eye-opening experience for me as I have not seen a prawn farm in such a scale before. According to their statistics, the farm is more than 8km long and employs a few hundred employees everyday to tend to them; the prawns are processed on location, packaged and exported to a myriad of locations including Europe, Japan and Korea.

Now... let's go back to the topic: "seafood" .

Being someone who loves seafood, I honestly only like seafood that is fresh from the sea, i.e. "from the wild"; not the farmed or cultured stuff as to me, they lack the "real taste" of seafood.

I am sure many would agree to me in Malaysia where we have access to really good seafood for a relatively low price. As far as in Asia is concerned, the Hong-Kong(ites) are even more interesting, being true connoisseurs of food, they prefer "live" seafood, in other words, fish, prawns and crabs that are still alive right before they were cooked. That, I can attest produces the best tasting seafood.

All that being well and good but do we, the Malaysians ever consider the impacts of our choices? Just reminded by my aunt that seafood is not like it used to be in Malaysia, she said, "You used to get big crabs, now? You only get the small ones~!" and when she went shopping for pomfret, she noticed that the fishmonger was selling tiny little, sauce-plate sized pomfrets... those could have been 9" wide succulent fish in a year or so.

Without sounding overly political, she reminded me of our fishing policies, our choice of "caught-from-the-wild" seafood as well as the prawn farm that I had the pleasure to see a couple of weeks ago.

Perhaps it's time for us to consider having tighter and more effective controls on fishing policies for the sake of sustainability so that we can still taste good seafood in the years to come? So that the fishermen of the next generation still has enough to catch? Perhaps it's time for more of us to go into agriculture and aquaculture? And maybe... perhaps it's time for me to tone down my expectations of "good seafood" in the name of conservation and sustainability? Haha... I guess the last point, I shall have to mull over it for a long, long time... :-P

Beatles?

2007-12-12T18:19:00.000+08:00

No... I am not from that time... was born after that but well... I landed a job (2 to be precise) involving the performance of David Leon & The Stars of Beatlemania recently. The songs are quire familiar and it was really nice to hear them live.

Been experimenting with using flash for stage photography again recently and I find that they are quite good when one wants to really see the person performing in their real skintones... the rest of the time I relied on available light but it is really quite useful to have some human looking skintones at least on a few portrait-like images from the set.

Stretchie and curvie~!

2007-12-04T10:25:00.000+08:00

Couple of days ago, took my portable backdrop and headed over to get some "corporate portraits" done; wasn't really expecting having to shoot a myriad of Yoga poses but I somehow managed.

"How do they do that?", "Doesn't it hurt?" or "Do they have bones at all?" were the questions that were constantly on my mind. It is quite amazing how flexible (and inflexible, in my case) the human body can be with a bit of training. Of course, these are instructors; but they did assure me that with time and training, even my 200lb self can perform some of what they did that day.

Attractive as their offer were, I think I'd stick to photographing Yoga instead. ;-)

In any case, I think this was the most enjoyable "corporate portrait"shoot I have ever had. Not only did I don't really have to direct them how to pose, they actually continously asked me if I could shoot more for them and with all the interesting poses and bubbly personalities, how could I say no?

At the end of the supposedly 3hr session with 60-70 shots, I ended up with around 350 shots in 1.5hrs and everyone was tired, including my client; so we called it a day.

...am looking forward to my next "portrait" job with a Yoga studio. Hahaha... :P

Garden in the Sun

2007-12-02T14:48:00.000+08:00

1st December 2007 5:30am I left the house for the bride's makeup at The Saujana at Subang Jaya.

... probably the earliest wedding that I have ever done and it is also the wedding that have been in planning for the longest, Phyllis, my client has started planning her wedding for more than a year and my guess is it is everything she hoped for and more.

She wished for a clear sky and yes, we got a clear blue cloudless sky. In Malaysia that is both a photographer's dream and bane, clear blue skies indicates that we get the final missing element for our photos : clean, pristine blue.... BUT... it brings us our most feared as well, extreme backlighitng. Whilst harsh directional light is good for moody photos and backlit shots are actually more beautiful if you fill it properly with flash; when one is talking about the sun and shooting an event in those conditions; it can quickly become a nightmare.

Well... In any case, somehow me and my partner managed. It's been years since I had to fire my flash at full-power and in some cases, had to use a slave flash because there just isn't enough power to overcome the power of the sun.

Now... less photographer's talk and more about the setting, the garden wedding was set at the pool-side and with it's huge swaying cocunut trees; it is perhaps one of the most beautiful settings, something I'd like for my own wedding with the addition of some greco-styled columns with flowers, that'd be perfect.

Right... I am off to process and select another 1.5k shots from this wedding.

Morning walk at Putrajaya

2007-11-29T21:29:00.000+08:00

Today is one of those days where I was actually crazy enough to be able to pull myself out of bed for an early morning shoot. Armed with a rusty replacement tripod (my own is still in the tripod hospital), me and my friend rushed like mad to reach Putrajaya before 7am.

Decided to go to a place which I often go, the Putrjaya Yacht Club and walked straight down until I got to an angle which I know the sun is going to start coming out from. As soon as the tripod was set-up, the time to shoot came up on us, I shot handheld whilst my friend shot with the tripod.

The shot above was shot at 1/5s with the latest Canon ultrawide angle zoom, the EF 16-35/2.8L II supported on a metal fence. Not too bad, right? A photographer friend of mine actually commented that the colors from this lens is quite amazing and I have to agree. Able to pick up every nuance from light sources across the lake, the ripples off the lake whilst maintaining excellent highlight rendering for the sky.

I will have this lens for the next week or so and would hope to test it more comprehensively acgainst the 24/1.4L and maybe a 17-40/4.0L.

Anyway, it is rather refreshing getting up early in the morning, going to a location, allowing the cool morning breeze to brush against you whilst setting up for the shot. It was rather gloomy this morning but I can say I did certainly enjoy myself anyway, sometimes, photography like any other journey, it is not the end that matters but the journey itself.

Right... one more photo to share.

...till next time!

Elga? Who?

2007-11-24T21:22:00.001+08:00

In all honesty, I have had some contact with the local fashion industry for some years now but my contacts really haven't extended much beyond Malaysia.

With that, I hope everyone can forgive me when I actually asked this question silently, "Elga? Who?" when I saw that one of programme today at "It's A Girl Thing" was a private show by the House of Elga.

I did pass-by their booth quite on the past 2 days and it was very basic and little did the booth tell me that suggested what kinds of goods they were selling, let alone what kind of fashion they offered.

After witnessing the fashion show by the House of Elga today, I can almost understand and accept that when the fashions speaks for you, you need little else.

Yes, the fashion was impressive and I would not say too much as I am afraid that my words would describe them incorrectly.; but what I can say is that the fashion of Elga Naldy from Indonesia is about embroidery, matching patterns on contrasting colors and they simply look quite amazing.

As it would be quite improper for me to post anymore photos since the images have yet to reach the press; I can only show a rear shot as of now. Do a search on the web on the subject and I guess is all my fellow Malaysians, it's time for us to know a bit more about fashion designers from our neighbours and specifically, Ms. Elga Naldy of Indonesia.

The Launch Day

2007-11-24T00:38:00.000+08:00

Today is the launch day of It's A Girl Thing. It has been hectic and I have just managed to select and watermark 5 photos up to now. The event covers everything from makeup to spa to furniture and even saw NTV7 interviewing potential hostesses for their programs.

Lots of running around and all, plus Canon as usual is giving free 4R prints with their Selphys. If you do spot anyone of the Canon staff or the photographers, just ask and we can take a photo for you and print it on the spot. Absolutely FREE!!!

Anyhow, I need the rest and I shall leave you with one more photo from the launch event. The rest of the 5 photos can be found on my Flickr, the link is on the right panel.

It's A Girl Thing???

2007-11-22T21:43:00.000+08:00

No, this is not one of my long rants about the ills of the world nor about how girls are. :P Was at a very interesting event rehearsal today, the name of the event is "It's A Girl Thing".

This "It's A Girl Thing" is the first event of it's kind in Malaysia and it will start tomorrow (23rd November 2007) and end by this Sunday (25th November 2007). at Halls 1 and 2 of KLCC Convention Centre. It is by Tourism Malaysia and Shopping Malaysia Secretariat, and is designed to offer everything a girl could ever want or need.

Now... let's get back to the rehearsal, I guess this is the only rehearsal that really impressed me at the all the show rehearsals that I have been to. I can't say enough good things or describe how impressed I was at the dancers and the choreography.

These dancers live to dance and did they dance! Everyone watching was swept along, carried through their interpretations of the music and form. What am I doing? Trying to be a writer? Time to get back being a photographer, just look at the images.

Finally, I would like to end with one last image; the final scene from the rehearsal today.

Kuala Lumpur - Jakarta Islamic Fashion Festival 2007

2007-11-21T17:11:00.000+08:00

The Kuala Lumpur - Jakarta Islamic Fashion Festival 2007 is the brainchild of Dato' Raja Rezza Shah and it is his vision to both grow Islamic fashion with more varied design and creations as well as to turn the 2 capitals Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta into preferred fashion destinations.

Held on the 18th November 2007 at the beautiful Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, an amazing array of fashion was on parade; from the traditional to designs made by handicrafted fabric and items such as batik and songket right up to contemporary designs that challenge the boundries of fashion itself.

"While it prides itself (the Islamic Fashion Festival) in presenting an avenue for Muslims with different levels of religious understanding and readiness to accept Islamic wear with a varied choice of stlyes, it is also important to note that IFF gives the non-Muslims a better understanding of the trends and styles of Islamic wear.", says Dato' Rezza.

This fashion festival was indeed able to show just that as models paraded down the catwalk with designs from 50 of Malaysia and Indonesia's greatest designers, presenting everything from office wear to casual wear to bridal wear, swim wear and designs suitable for the grandest of functions.

Among the most noteworthy were the collections from Melinda Looi, titled "Flight of the Party Swan" with her daring collection that takes everyone from their wildest fantasies with beautifully detailed depictions of butterflies and flowers, brave swathes of color eye-catching yet elegent colors; to wearable and practical outfits that is guaranteed to turn heads.

Among other collections of note were Tangoo, which fielded their collection titled, "Arabian Desert" that boggles the mind and Jovian Mendagie with a beautifully concise and well-thought out show titled, "Warriors of Sahara".

The RM200 Wedding Photographers

2007-11-12T11:23:00.000+08:00

Having done weddings for the last couple of years... I do notice a rather interesting trend... the RM200 wedding photographers.

Due to the fact that DSLRs are much cheaper than ever before, we have all those who have just brought their first DSLR and as soon as that happens, either they themselves think that they are now "professional photographers" because they have a "professional camera" or their friends and relatives think so.

Once they get the RM200 or RM300, they would proudly proclaim, "Look ma*! Didn't I tell you I can earn back the money I spent on the DSLR? See? So easy!!!!"

*insert "Pa / Honey" where appropriate

What happens to the professionals that have to pay their bills? Can they afford to shoot weddings at that rate? How could they afford their rents, pay their bills let alone repair their equipment or upgrade if they charge that low?

This is compounded by the fact that being Malaysians, we as a nation LOVE free stuff; if not, buy 1 get 1 free is 2nd best. Quality? Nah~~~ we neither care nor want it as long as it's cheap or free.

Having spoken to a quite a few professional wedding photographers recently, it seems that the bookings this year have dropped significantly compared to last year... I wonder if we will ever get out of this downward spiral.

Anyhow, I guess all of us professional wedding photographers will have to do our best to survive and offer more value to our customers and hope that not that many fall for the RM200 wedding photographers.

So... why should one pay for a real professional wedding photographer:
1) Quality - in terms of delivering the best quality of work for photography as well as any prints or albums
2) Seriousness - professionals have backup equipment in case something fails during that special day and some even have backups of the backup.
3) Integrity - once you book them, they will turn up. If they don't, their reputation is at stake.
4) Experience - most professionals have been doing it for years; they can and do actually advice how or what to do during a wedding

The wedding day itself is once in a lifetime, why skimp or cut a couple of thousand ringgit when one spends upwards of tens of thousands for a house or room renovation; a couple of thousand just for gown rental; another couple of thousand for the makeup artist and the hair stylist?

If you do look your best during your wedding day, would you tolerate getting poor photos to remember your wedding day by?

... walk down memory lane

2007-11-10T09:53:00.000+08:00

Was at the Pudu area early this morning, with Canon's latest, a pre-production 1Ds3 in hand, 3 of my favorite lenses (24mm, 50mm and 135mm).

One of the older areas of Kuala Lumpur, Pudu or "Half-Jungle" as it is known by the local Chinese, this area used to be situated in the fringe of what was KL; now, "Half-Jungle" is situated right at the center of town, bordering the well-known Bukit Bintang and Golden Triangle of Kuala Lumpur.

It is a mixture of the old and the new, with many failed attempts in developing the area caught in between the nooks and crannies of the place. There is a failed and abandoned hotel project; old early 20th century walls and shoplots sitting right beside a shopping mall; quaint little shops selling mostly food and printing presses also dot the area. In addition to that, Pudu has the largest wet market in the whole of Kuala Lumpur if not Malaysia.

There is just so much to shoot in Pudu, a week might be needed just to properly explore and photograph the area.

My main intention to take the 1Ds3 out was to test out it's low-light capability and it's usage in photo journalistic-type work. All I can say now is that it exceeds all my expectations of a PJ or street camera; focusing was fast and accurate, auto-whitebalance as well as exposure on Av mode is basically point-and-shoot : It is as if the camera was reading my mind, outstanding piece of equipment; I wouldn't and I think nobody should ever have doubts in using this camera for low-light work. It's ISO3200 is very useable with a little bit of noise-reduction.

Some might scream : "I don't need 21MP for my work!"; you can always shoot RAW + Small JPEG for those. Small JPEGs are around 5MP and if you do have a killer shot, you can blow it up to billboard sizes easily by processing the RAW file. This camera gives you options, options that you never had before and that is gotta be worth something. :P

Right... one more photo before I sign off.

Disclaimer : All comments and images shown here are referring to a pre-production Canon EOS 1Ds MK.III, hence may NOT represent the actual performance of the production models.

...bowling for good of the many?

2007-11-04T22:54:00.000+08:00

Had a really nice change of pace today, my first sports-related assignment for nearly a year now... was shooting the Canon Charity Bowling Challenge 2007 today.

In all honesty, I have only ever been on a bowling alley about 3 times before and not even once did I play, all I did was look and that it was. So, this was a really eye-opening experience for me in terms of how and what bowling is as well as how to shoot bowling.

Just a little bit of background, this bowling competition is organised by Canon Marketing Malaysia as part of it's 20th anniversary celebration. Proceeds from this event is to be donated to the TAR College Student Loan Fund and the Multicutural Ladies' Association of Kuala Lumpur... both worthy causes. Each team is to contribute RM1,000 and the team consists of a team of four and a national team bowler was to join each team during the competition.

Right... let's cut to the chase and talk about shooting bowling. First of all, I found out soon after I tried to shoot people bowling that my angles were limited as all the lanes were used and the only place I could stand were the 2 walkways on the side of the bowling alley leading towards the back.

Would a tele-zoom helped me in shooting bowling? I would say, "Yes"... it will something like a 70-200 would be quite ideal.. but the aperture on those lenses would be quite limiting. The bowling alley isn't too badly lit but it isn't as bright as daylight either, I was shooting at ISO1600, F/2.0 and 1/200s; with a F/2.8 lens, I would've to drop my shutterspeed to 1/100 or use ISO3200... both of which is not an option.

Technique-wise, keeping a focus lock on the player that you want to shoot is actually very difficult as there is just too many distractions behind the bowler as the entire place is packed with people.

Anyway... there is so much that I have learnt today and I guess it's time for me to digest all of it.

.... night shoot with a single flash?

2007-10-25T22:20:00.000+08:00

After having not done portraiture or portraiture-like shoots for such a long time, I decided to plan a shoot with a model.... she can only make it late afternoon so I decided to do something that I have not actually thought of doing so soon, a night shoot.

Armed with my camera, a 24mm, a 50mm and a 135mm... one hotshoe flash and a lightstand; we started our journey to the location of the shoot ==> Putrajaya.

The difficulty in this shoot was to:
1) get at least some background which was lit by the existing streetlights and bridge lights at location, the reflection on the water
2) get the flash output just right as to not overpower the subject
3) control & visualize how the flash is going to light up the subject

(1) was not that difficult, I just basically metered the highlights at +2 and set exposure level to something that I can still shoot handheld reliably, have the background suitably out of focus which actually meant I was shooting wide-open with the fast primes that I brought with me.

(2) is actually the most difficult aspect, shooting at f/1.2 or f/1.4 at ISO400, shutterspeed of around 1/30 or 1/50; the hotshoe flash that I brought is actually way too powerful for most shots, unless I were to place it 10-20feet away from the model. In order to place it that far, I would have to control the light precisely so that it doesn't light up the entire area spoiling the mood. I have even intentionally placed a diffuser on the flash head but that is still not quite enough... I have learnt a lesson this time, next time I shall have some "ND filters" for my flash.

(3) is basically achieved by educated guesses and a couple of test shots as hotshoe flashes do not have modeling lights to work with. By adjusting the height of the lightstand and the zoom manually on the flash head, I was able to achieve most of what I wanted to achieve in terms of light coverage.

Would you like to see more? Please visit my Flickr gallery to view image #2, #3 and #4 for this series of shots.

Canon City Expo 2007

2007-10-23T15:35:00.000+08:00

Armed with my trusty 20D and not much to do in the morning, I thought I'd drop-by at the Canon City Expo 2007 at KL Convention Center...

Never did I imagine such a huge crowd when I arrived at 11am+, I was thinking... I would probably the only guy around, cold aircond and such with some 5-10 Canon staff loitering at the exhibition hall. And boy was I wrong!

Wasn't expecting to see the Canon International Brand Ambassador, Mr. Simon Yam as well... but I did see him and yes, in person he looks as gorgeous (I have only said this once about another man :P) as he is on TV or the newspapers. He was there for the opening ceremony, together with the Japan Ambassador to Malaysia and Ms. Ella, a local celebrity.

Anyway, as expected, Canon fielded each and every model of their digical cameras from the beginner digicam, the Powershot A460 right up to the newly announced 21MP-wonder, the 1Ds Mk.III. All of Canon's DSLR lenses are on display and available for testing as well up to and including the 600/4.0L IS.

All in all, it's a nice event... I might drop-by again tomorrow for some seminars... till then... goodbye and hope you enjoy the photos! :)

Season of seperation?

2007-09-10T21:27:00.001+08:00

Is it really that time of year now? One by one... people that I care about take up jobs, form families away from where I am. The term, "dropping like flies" come to mind but I guess it's not that appropriate to describe the situation.

Is autumn the season of change? of seperation? Where the healthy green leaves turn yellow, red and purple... finally withering away on the earth? Perhaps yes and perhaps no....

Guess life is rather cyclical, just like everything else in nature. Butterflies lay eggs and dies, eggs turn out the larvae, which in turn turn into caterpillars that pupate and finally a new butterfly takes it's place in nature.

Knowing that this cycle exists doesn't make death nor separation feel any better, it just gives it a meaning and reason.

Goodbye and bon voyage my friends... remember whom you left behind! :-P

MIFC

2007-09-05T21:27:00.000+08:00

2nd September 2007, the 1st ever Malaysia International Fireworks Competition drew to a close after nearly 3 weeks of display at Putrajaya.

Being a bit fireworks crazy these days, I practially went to every single competition night. Fireworks photography for me is one of the most demanding and not to be missed for any reason... as they are by their nature transcient... one secodn they are burning brightly across the sky, the next moment they are nothing but tiny embers or ash falling from the sky. Once you miss a fireworks shot, it's gone... forever, never to repeat itself.

Photographing fireworks is like shooting any sports, event or wedding, each shot, each action is a split-second decision; It involves a little planning, previsualisation and following that luck as well.

All in all it is a very good and fun event... the attendance really surprised me; I think this is the first time there was a traffic jam on all roads leading from Putrajaya. Seems that we, Malaysians really love our fireworks. Can we have another next year?

I shall leave you with a couple more of my favorite shots from MIFC 2007.

... our country

2007-08-31T20:00:00.000+08:00

.... at the strike of the clock at 12 midnight last night on top of a hillock in Putrajaya Internationl COnvention Center (PICC) at Putrajaya, the new administrative center of Malaysia; "Merdeka!".... "Merdeka"... boomed repeteadly on huge speakers across the entire city. (Merdeka translated into "Independence").

31st August 2007 is Malaysia's 50th birthday, it is a day that reminds us that finally Malaysians are allowed to decide their own destinies, for better or for worse. 50yrs is not a short time and I believe Malaysia has gone a long way, there is a lot still to be done but isn't there always things to do in life?

What really surprises me is that when the speakers announced, "Raise for the national anthem!" immediately after that and "Negaraku" (My Nation) started to play; everyone... on the streets... on the PICC balconies, people that have been sitting down waiting for the fireworks display from since 7pm or so, rose... all of them. Everyone... such a sight to behold.

They rose and they sang the national anthem with gutso... even the small group of Chinese college students behind me, sang their hearts out... there is hope for the nation yet, I think. Once, I always thought of the singing national anthem being only things kids did during our weekly assemblies at primary and secondary schools.. but these are teenagers who has just "gotten rid" of their school "shackles"; they actually did sang... and so did thousands others and there was a thunderous applause afterwards.

It was a good feeling, yes... similar to the feeling every year I get for shooting the Wesak (a celebration of the birth of Buddha) day procession at Sentul, Kuala Lumpur.

Yes, globalisation is here... nation's borders are being blurred and eroded; but at the same time, the Internet age... globalisation has bought everything to our own doorsteps, there is no longer need to drive to Singapore just so that we can get discount electrical goods nor is there need to take a bus to Hadtyai of Thailand to buy cheap goods.

Happy birthday, Malaysia!

Kids Klick Goes to Malacca

2007-08-19T22:29:00.000+08:00

18th August 2007 : The Kids Klick project held the 12th outing and it is the first outing for the project that takes underprivileaged children out of Klang Valley and to another state.

In this project, we aim to expose underprivileged children to photography in hopes to at least introduce to them a healthy hobby to pursue and hopefully among the children that we touch in this project, some would someday earn their livelihood out of photography.

For this event, we had underprivileaged children that consist of the inner city poor, single-parent families, orphans as well as those with special needs and learning disabilities, it can be said that this event has basically covered the entire spectrum of what we can term as "underprivileaged".

In all honesty, it is very tiring to organise such an event with logistics, budget and a lot of people problems to worry about... but I guess at the end of the day, it is the smiles and laughter of those children that makes everything worthwhile.

I have thought of giving up the project but now, I am having second thoughts about that again. :p

Allow me to end this post with a couple more pictures that I have taken as the "organising committee chairman cum event photographer".

p.s. special thanks to Canon Malaysia for sponsoring the food, transport and loaning of cameras for the kids to use for this event, without them as well as help from the other volunteers, this event wouldn't have been possible.

Bad picture? Good picture?

2007-08-13T00:21:00.000+08:00

11th August 2007 : I was walking alone down the picturesque riverfront in the town of Malacca, located in one of the most historical state in Malaysia. A gentle breeze swept across the riverfront, blowing the Malaysia flag high. Quickly, I focused, composed and took the shot.

Beautiful imagery, or so I thought... Malaysian flag waving high to celebrate our upcoming National Day on the 31st of August but as soon as I put down my camera; a sadness washed through me.

National Day soon, yes. Losing a friend to a neighbouring country, yes as well....

... right, time to rewind to nearly a week earlier.

5th August 2007 : On a jungle trek somewhere... dirty... wet... filled with leaches, dead branches and roots; the air smelled of sweat and various other unidentifiable smells.... on occassion the air carried the smell of decay and even other unpleasentness.

This was no picturesque riverfront with nicely laid roads and patterns but...

A group of young people were trekking through the trail that day, the sounds of giggles, laughter and the occasion, "ouch~" filed the trail and like me, they took photographs too and this was one such photo :

This shot is blur... and as my friend who shared this with me pointed out, the subject's eyes were closed but can you see past the surface on this shot?

Technically, this shot may not score much when compared to the 1st photo... but do ask yourself which is the good picture and which is the bad picture? Which do you prefer?

Lesson : Sometimes one should look past the technical aspects of the picture, some pictures are worth a thousand words, some pictures mean the world to the people who took them or was in them. These are the "good pictures". Learn to look past the technical aspects, past the surface . Then and only then you will be truly able to understand photography.

p.s. for the record, I love the 2nd picture for the emotion... and I would love to hate the 1st picture because of the emotions it evokes in me.

...the other side of Rainbow

2007-06-11T20:45:00.000+08:00

Went for a short trip to Tawau, Semporna of Sabah recently... came back with 973 photos. Not as many as I would've liked but I think I found peace there...

... I guess for this post... I shall let my photos do the talking.

Dawn @ Semporna

Sea Bajau Village @ Dusk

Boy of the Sea

Fishes on the Sand

Hope you like the images as much as I do. :)

Why do I enjoy wedding photography?

2007-05-25T14:05:00.000+08:00

Why indeed? I started pondering this after I read this thread on Fredmiranda.com, why do I enjoy wedding photography?

After flipping through some of my older wedding photos, a reason slowly formed in my mind. It is the joy. JOY~~~! (yes, in capitals).

A wedding, the happiest day in their lives, all dressed up, everything planned for that perfect big day and this group of strangers have decided to hire and allow me to into their lives so that I can record and join in their celebration of two person's love for each other. This is the day that you see everyone trying to be their best, be it guest or host and even the waiters and waitresses at the restaurants, the representatives of the church, the elders of the families.... everyone.

At weddings you see the groom's men checking every small detail on their cars, making sure that the cars themselves look good... the bride's family looking at the deco again and again as if those flowers, ribbons and candles mean the life to them.

So much laughter, so much joy, tears and older people grinning so wide that you actually think their teeth might fall off; to be at such an event and not be moved is nearly impossible.

If there is one thing that I'd really want to do for the rest of my life, it is to shoot weddings.

If there is only one last thing that I'd be able to do before I die, it is to shoot "one more" wedding.

... of fast lenses and low-light photography

2007-05-23T18:14:00.000+08:00

... it was a hot, clear afternoon; tired after my shoot in the morning at FGS DongZen Temple at Jenjarom, Selangor; still conjured enough strength and determination to go ahead with shooting the largest Wesak float procession in Kuala Lumpur that starts at the Maha Vijaya Temple in Brickfields.

After struggling to find a good spot to park my car and then crossing the massive crowds outside the temple, I entered the temple proper. I was only armed with 2 lenses, 2 primes (to the unintiated, it means these lenses don't "zoom" and have a fixed focal length), a 24mm f/1.4 and a 50mm f/1.2. The 50mm sat snugly in the Sidelineshooter that I have strapped across my shoulder like a sling bag, with 8GB of memory cards and a single DSLR.... I went to "work".

Why did I choose these 2 focal lengths? The single over-ridding concern about shooting at low-light is... well... the light is low, it is often so low that you will want to sometimes get acceptable photos at shutterspeeds of around 1/10 or maybe even 1/5. So, it is best to have a wide-angle lens with you. And of course, being a "people" photographer, I love to shoot people and some details, what is the fastest lens that I can use for that purpose without wide-angle perspective distortion? It's a 50mm.

So... how does one go about shooting low-light? Just like any other types or condition that you would shoot in, think about the shots you want to shoot, figure out where and how to use your equipment to get them. Remember, every equipment has it's limitation, know their limits as well as your own limits and on events like these, it is often wise to think about your own safety as you will be shooting on the streets.

In low-light, it is often fun to play with a bit of panning or motion blur... and that shallow DOF & large apertures are your friends, do not be afraid to use them; just learn to use them creatively and remember, wide-angle lenses have a lot of DOF even at larger apertures and the further away you focus, the more DOF you get even at the same aperture settings.

.... stop worrying about getting deadly sharp photos and focus on capturing the various facets of the environment; the people, the sounds, the feelings... again, remember, your equipment are tools and they have limits, work around their limts...

... most importantly, Enjoy! If you are tensed up about something, your photos do and will show it.

Buttrflies in my stomach?

2007-05-20T13:55:00.000+08:00

Nope, not really; having nothing better to do and the fact that I took some shots yesterday at the KL Butterfly Park and I wasn't too pleased with them. I went off to KL Butterfly Park again today.

Now... it is worth noting that this place is actually one of my favorite places to be when I have too much free time. It's a nice cool place to relax whilst being surrounded by nature and at the same time, I can take some nice photos which might be useful as stock photos. Business and pleasure mixed in one. Hehe...

First of all, I have to say that I like to photograph butterflies. Secondly, butterflies have extremely erratic flight patterns and behaviour. Thirdly, butterflies are small(ish).

All these things combined make photographing butterflies rather tough and despite what many people believe, you don't really need a dedicated macro lens to photograph live butterflies. First, arm yourself with a longish telephoto (anything from 135mm or above) that is capable of doing at least 0.20x reproduction and then, all you need is plenty of patience.

What I have been doing recently is to find a spot where I can shoot in quite a few good directions with blooming flowers on them and that has interesting lighting and just wait there. One thing I have noted is that butterflies seem to favor flowers that are in the sunlight rather than in the shade but no flowers that have been in the sunlight for hours till they become completely dry.

Remember, try beforehand by looking through the viewfinder to determine if the spot you are standing at can take a decent shot in case if the butterflies decide to pay a visit to one of the flowers around you.

Next, use aperture or shutter priority. I prefer to use aperture and I set the aperture and ISO so that I can get around 1/250s or above to a proper exposure.

Thirdly, prefocus on one of the flowers and then use manual focussing to adjust your focussing as the butterfly flies into your frame.

Finally.... make yourself comfortable and wait... it might be a long wait. Hehe... :p

Unlikely Romance

2007-02-08T20:59:00.000+08:00

Strange twists and turns is what life is about or so a wise old man once told me.

Up on a hill in the most unlikely location, with the cool midnight wind blowing... that is the location for my happiest time of life up till today. A moment that I know will probably not be repeatable for a long, long time or maybe nothing else will come close to it ever again.

I didn't really do anything that night, only took a couple of shots and I just practically sat on the hill which is seemingly forever.

Photography came second that night... hell... everything else was secondary that night. All I wanted is for it last forever, never did I wanted to leave that hill but alas... nothing ever lasts forever.

It is a moment... or a night that I will remember forever. :)

I opened my eyes and I saw; and hence I am sad.

2006-09-17T11:14:00.000+08:00

Vietnam... a place that has openend my eyes once more to the world. I have been blind for so long, so used to the complexity of city life... the Internet.... Credit Cards... e-Banking... e-Commerce... e-everything.

Vietnam is place where all things 'modern' seemed unnecessary
No, they don't have to check their emails to find out if their friends are looking for them... no, they didn't even need telephones in certain places. Do you have to walk on perfectly paved roads? No, it's a luxury. Does everyone lady have to wear the latest and greatest fashion from Paris, Milan or Tokyo to look good? No, most of them CANNOT afford it and for that I thank my lucky stars; finally, I see ladies shining through with their natural beauty and not because of L'oreal or LV.

In the hills of Sapa, I saw happiness.... real joy... beauty in people as well as of the land. And all these whilst trudging thourgh a wet, muddy hill trail and bathing in my own sweat under the cheap raincoat that I bought.

I can still hear the laughter of the little Hmong girls when they trek up and down the muddy trail where they call home. I heard true and genuine laughter but where is that joy in the city?

Is there anything else for us to be happy with besides getting our next paycheck? More money? The new house? The BMW 7-series?

...Inspired!!!!

2006-08-06T19:49:00.000+08:00

Attended the Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival 2006 the last two days. Was there looking for inspiration, and indeed I did found inspiration, bucket loads of the stuff and suprisingly, I made a few friends. The world of photography isn't that lonely after all.

I was dazzled by Master Pang Piao Kan's creativity and amazed by his ability to 'see the image'. "To make the convetional seem unconventional and amazing is photography!", Master Pang said and his images proved that. Larger than life, yet it depicts life itself... amazing yet rooted in reality.

Today, I was inspired greatly by a talk given by Mr. Steve Chong (www.stevechong.com), a renowned conceptual photographer. The talk introduced me into what it means to photograph concepts rather than reality itself... a huge departure from what I normally do.

Having heard 2 talks by an old master, Mr. Pang, that makes the conventional unconvetional and having seen the out-of-this-world work by Mr. Steve Chong; I can say that these 2 days have given me most inspiration for as long as I have been photographing.

Myths of Wedding Photography, part I

2006-06-11T15:48:00.000+08:00

Wedding photography, a phrase that nearly everyone is familiar with. What is wedding photography anyway? Is it neccessary?

Wedding photography is about capturing and immortalizing moments in a wedding, a once-in-a-lifetime occasion for many. The joy, the tears, the laughter... the faces... the details, everything.

Wedding photographs are cherished hand-me-downs to future generations. Something that you dust off on your 50th wedding anniversary, flip open the album and every memory comes flooding back... the emotions, the familiar faces that no longer are and to see again where it all started half a century ago.

to be continued...

Commercial? Professional?

2006-06-07T09:41:00.000+08:00

Finally found some time to sit down and write something...

Have been working on doing a face-lift for my site lately. Played with CSS and and night; quite a few annoying compatability issues with IE. When Microsft? When can we have an IE that is standards compliant?

Anyway, I am more or less happy with the look and feel now.

The comments for the 'face-lift' were mostly good but there is one particular comment from an old friend that says, "Your site looks commercial! It looks like a bridal studio's site."

That comment really made me think. What makes a site too commercial for a photographer? What seperates commercialism and professionalism?

...

Of Sunsets and Life... (part 2)

2006-05-31T13:44:00.000+08:00

Mother and son at a wedding that I shot recently. Such shots never comes to those who wait... I was 'hunting' during the wedding dinner; observing my surroundings with eagle eyes. Walk slowly... look left... look right as soon as I saw something interesting I stop, camera up... pointing everywhere else except my intended subject. When they are at ease with me being near them, "click"!

And I was rather fortunate that night to have caught this... such a rare sight for me. A child looking into his mother's eyes, sweet and innocent.

Of Sunsets and Life...

2006-05-25T14:06:00.001+08:00

"How can you be so sure that something will happen between you and her?", a friend asked me when I told her about one of my stranger 'relationships'.

I told her, "It's just like waiting at the beach for the sunset, I have all my gear setup and ready eventhough I am not sure if there will be a glorious sunset or not for me to shoot. But if there was, I am sure I will not miss the shot!".

This shot is a good example, I was huddled right beside the stage of the band. Hoping for catch that fleeting moment where the drummer had his arms in the right location. And I was rewarded by that and more... a happy expression on the drummer.

But no... waiting for the right moment all the time isn't always the best choice in life nor photography. Knowing when to wait and when to give up is equally important. The determination & will to wait as well as the wisdom and courage to move on are equally valuable.

to be continued...

Fine Art Photography?

2006-05-22T22:26:00.000+08:00

What really is fine art photography? The definition is rather simple, to produce photographs that can be treated and appreciated as fine art.

Fine art photographs are what one would hang on the walls on the living room, in the office, something soothing or invigorating to look at day after day, month after month, year after year.

Or it could be something that one would keep in the cupboard, in archival sleaves, something so valuable that it is not meant to be dispalyed but collected.

On the right is a glorious and enchanting white water lily, not glorious because of its bright colors nor patterns but for it's pure white, the lack of patterns. Clean... noble and holy to some.

Something to be appreciated and never to be touched.

Photographs?

2006-05-22T11:58:00.000+08:00

Photography? Photographs are memories, moments frozen in time.

A photo of the dawn at Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. What do you see in your mind when you look at this photo? Does it bring back memories?

Just a shot with beautiful golden clouds in the sky?

The significance of this is the location or memories of good times with that special someone that happens to be lying in bed when I was shooting this on the hotel balcony. The warmth I felt even though I was freezing my a$$ off with the strong morning breeze blowing, how my cold and numb fingers felt when i touched the shutter button and how the tripod felt when I took the tripod back into the room.

I believe every photograph should invoke a memory, emotion or a mental imagery taking the viewer to the location where it was shot. Do you have any photos that reminds you of something or someone? I have very many...