People Will Always Deny The Truth

Lately there's a lot of fuss going on after my dear friend David posted some controversial but true post on his blog. Immediately some 'pros' from the industry quickly took it personally and started defending themselves and shamelessly shooting back in facebook. A stream of blind faithful supporters quickly followed with their own brand of baseless accusations and even resorting to childish name calling. I'm not writing this because David is a dear friend. It's because I was a victim of one of this shameless unethical wedding pro. I will not dwell in what happened. The fact that I've gone through the ordeal of not being treated ethically and professionally by one of this fellow clearly speaks of the dire state of the wedding photo industry in Malaysia. And I've seen how he treated clients and other freelancers he hired. Its no pretty picture. Many will say that he's only one of the bad apple but that's speaking out of ignorance. David has done a good job listing down the hard facts and so I won't repeat what he wrote. For those who are interested you can go to his post by clicking here. Let's be honest here. I'm sure there are many of you who feel the same way as David and I about the wedding photo industry. I really respect David for daring to speak out and giving back dignity for us as visual artist (photo/video) who still hold on to our craft seriously and has not prostituted it for fame and money.

GADOH featured on MALAYSIAKINI.TV

Gadoh is a 70-minute feature film that explores our perception of identity and challenges our hatred of the “other”. The film was directed by Brenda Danker and Namron and produced by Big Pictures Production for KOMAS,a Malaysian human rights organisation.The film was premiered at HELP University College Auditorium on Friday, 22 May 2009. Among the guest of honor during the screening were Dato Zaid Ibrahim and Dato Siva Subramaniam of Suhakam. Continue reading and viewing...

Malaysia Boleh?

Had a short chat with a colleague just now and like all Malaysians now days cannot resist to talk a bit about the current political drama of the country. He was wearing a MALAYSIA BOLEH t-shirt. Without much thought I blurt out that Malaysia always boleh for the wrong things. Things that others try to avoid like corruption, piracy and now crazy political drama. I wonder can Malaysia ever achieve its high goal of a true Bangsa Malaysia? Reading a recent post by Farish Noor: Nation Building Cannot Begin From Irrational Premises, I think not. Not in a long while.

Wee Ling & Philip Slide Show

Wee Ling and Philip... Fun, simple and sincere. It was such a pleasure shooting for them yesterday. Here's the slide show for what happened yesterday. I'll be leaving soon to capture their wedding ceremony and dinner reception in Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort. Thanks Wee Ling and Philip for giving me the pleasure of knowing both of you and capturing your lovely wedding.

Everything Old Is New Again... by Kirk Tuck

Looks like everywhere I turn, I'm hearing more and more of pros or real artist photographers going back to the old medium. Here's a fine article by Texas photographer Kirk Tuck about his view on switching back to the old trusted medium. Read on...

I’ve been talking to a bunch of my friends in the creative world and it seems like we’re on the verge of a tectonic shift back in time. And the realization of this impending shift is striking people in diverse fields almost simultaneously. Writers are going back to yellow legal pads or little leather journals to outline their next movie, novel, ad copy or grand opus. Fountain pens are once again accounted sexier than the latest laptops. My graphic designer amigos are sitting around with Bienfang sketch pads and fat #1 lead pencils as they sketch out logo roughs and doodle small icons---on real paper! Continue reading...

Decoding The Hype of Gadget by David Pogue

There are all kinds of things that make the consumer-technology industry unusual. For example, as power, speed and features keep going up, electronics prices keep going down, year after year. In what other industry does that happen?

Then there’s the fetish factor, which reached new heights on that summer day in 2007 when the iPhone came out. You’ve never seen 1,000 people camping out to be the first in line to buy, say, a new flavor of Cheerios or the latest Gap jeans. Continue reading...

Streets, KL, 2009

mentally disabled woman

duck readied for the oven

lighting a cigarette

cats in cages

man shaving in McD

flower seller

ice man

dove lover

mad men sharing a fix

back alley

Time For A Good Shaking

David (left) and yours truly (right) enjoying a conversation during BSF. Photo taken by Louis

Yesterday I came about Chase Jarvis' blog post; Shake Your Tree Today. It clearly spoke about what many of us photographers badly need to do but are too ignorant or oblivious about it. I for one appreciate some of the suggestions. Actually some of the suggestions I've already started doing before I came about this blog post. Thanks Chase for taking the time to write them all down. Taking a camera with one lens is a good start. I'm happily surprised by some of the shots I got just because I had my camera with me. Invaluable. Hanging out with like minded friends is the second thing I did. A word of caution here: Don't hang out with people because you have a hidden agenda. Also don't hang out with insincere people. The types that are just disgustingly insecure and the very reason they hang out with you is to check you out. I'm very grateful to David and Louis for their constant inspiration and friendship through our regular BSF (B'fast Shooting Fellowship). Lastly, shooting a personal project with no budget and no pay is one sure way to unblock your creativity and vision. What Chase suggested really works. But it takes dedication and hard work to enjoy the fruits. Please take time to read his blog post. It's worth every minute of your time. After that seriously consider doing one or more of what he suggested. Happy shaking!

A Million 13 Mays by Dr Farish A Noor

All the colourful Malaysian people (Pic by Bangash Khan)

AND so once again, we are on the cusp of the fateful day of 13 May. Tomorrow, we will be joined together in a state of national mourning over the passing of what many have described as Malaysia's golden years.
Year in, year out, Malaysians are reminded of the tragic events of 13 May 1969, and made to repent for the sins of our forefathers and foremothers. Like a restless ghost, we cannot get past this date without a sense of foreboding and the fear that one day, the past will revisit the present in no uncertain terms. Continue reading...

two pigeons . kl . 10 . 05 . 2009

Before Dawn, Petaling Street, K. Lumpur 2009

man pushing cart
out
check in
man by his car
cat and flip-flops
homeless woman

convenient store

beggar

lonely figuremannequin

parking lot . kl . 06 . 05 . 2009

Uninspiring Day

Sometimes every photographer will have one of those uninspiring day. My last outing about two weeks ago to Rawang was one of those days. From the selected photos you'll see what I mean. The first two were candids of my buddy David in action. I really liked these two photos. It really showed how much he (David) enjoys photography. None the less it was a fun filled day. I haven't gotten back the shots I did with my FE. May be I would have more good shots that are yet to be discovered. Keeping my fingers crossed. Below are only shots from my D700.

Our New BSF Member

My favorite among Louis' shots from this morning's BSF. Click here to view the whole series.

Today we have Louis joining us for our BSF (B'fast Shooting Fellowship). It's not his first time but it is his first time bringing along his Olympus OM2000. You can check some of his shots from his 5D here. Mine will have to wait.He's really talented, Even though he said he's still very new to film photography but I believe it'll be his second nature in no time. I'm so glad to see another photographer taking interest in photography the old school way. Call me bias but I feel to be good in shooting film is a real test of a good photographer. No apology for that.

Male Or Female?

Lately my conversations with my buddy photographer David has been revolving around the topic of male or female make better photographer. We couldn't come out with a conclusive end to our discussion. What we did realise and acknowledge is that women do more often take emotionally engaging photos compare to their male counterparts. Well, before you egoistic males start sending me hate mails, please take note that this is purely a personal opinion with no scientific backing. But what is obvious are the reasons why a lot of male photographers take boring if not totally crappy photos. I'll give you two reasons. Firstly, they are always more concern of what equipments they use. Come on. Gear fetish is the quickest way to sap any energy left in your brains (if there is any to start with). Checking out sharpness charts and bokeh comparisons rather than good inspiring photo websites/blogs will in no way contribute to your already lack of imagination and creativity. And they are usually the indecisive ones that cannot figure out should they take the D3 with the 85mm f1.4 or the 70-200mm f2.8. They usually ended up carrying too much. Secondly, males are generally boring and detach from their emotions. Feel, feel, feel... That's all I have to say. If you can't feel you can't make outstanding photos that will draw your viewers into your image. You'll be glad if they took a glance in the first place. I'm not saying that men are poor photographers. What I'm trying to point out is that they have more work to overcome distractions and finding their creativity compare to their female counterparts. Just for fun I've added a link for you to guess whether these photos are taken by a male or a female photographer. Happy guessing. Click here to proceed.