Posted on

PWP Darren & Mei Ling

This is the first series of Pre-Wedding Photography (PWP) for Darren & Mei Ling. There were not much preparation as it was meant to be a casual outing + photo shooting session. The general plan for the day are separated into 3 places: morning @ UPM, afternoon @ Putrajaya, and evening @ Tanjung Sepat. We have 4 photographers (including myself) and 1 assistant joining the shooting. The weather was very promising in the morning, but turned overcast after noon. Below is a teaser shot for the event.

Teaser Shots

I quite like this shot taken at UPM, when I asked Darren & Mei Ling to hold hands and walk up the hill. The focus is on Darren’s face with fill-in flash. Several shots have been taken at this spot, and the best was chosen. The sun glare was a DPP job.

ISO 100 | 1/1600 | F2.8 @ 17mm

This shot was taken at Putrajaya Lake. Simple and clean, just one take.

ISO 200 | 1/2000 | F2.8 @ 90mm

Here’s my favourite shot from Tanjung Sepat. Again, I have asked the couple to walk hand in hand towards me, and I shoot this from low angle. I have taken several shots initially but not satisfied. I’ve switched shooting from different position and try to find a better composition. The bonus to this shot was the dramatic skies of the golden hours! The cons is sacrifying the shadow without using a fill-in flash, but I have pushed up a bit of the shadow by DPP. Other photos in the set can be find here.

ISO320 | 1/80 | F2.8 @ 32mm
Posted on

Happy New Year 2010

It’s a rare opportunity to shoot fireworks from within Petronas Twin Towers, and I have chosen this very moment (New Year Eve) to do so. You may wonder why, but my answer(s) are quite simple:

  1. I have never try that before, and I wonder how it may turn out
  2. I have the privilege to access the Twin Tower, because my office is there
  3. I will soon not have the privilege to access the Twin Tower, because…you will know later :)

So I am now sitting in my office waiting for the New Year countdown, it’s a good time to do a quick study on how to capture fantastic fireworks shot. I know I definitely need a tripod. Next I gotta choose a nice spot, some place dark enough to avoid unwanted glare light from the environment, and that’s done. Last but not least are all the “recommended” camera settings, and I’m ready to go!

Happy New Year 2010 to all my readers, let’s see how my firework shots turn out tonight.

… After 2 hours shooting… and 2 hours of editing… here’s the result.

00:00:05 First Blast of 2010

00:00:10 First Blast Goes Off

00:01:24 Homing Missles Blast Off

00:01:59 Three Eyes Monster

00:02:38 Violet Rain

00:03:15 My Favourite Blast

There are more photos at here. All shots above are taken on a tripod, preset to manual focus. ISO 100, AWB and bulb mode (average 3 seconds) using aperture f/8 – f/13. Post processing using Nikon Capture NX2 and Corel Paint Shop Pro.

Posted on

The Fate of Broga

Broga Hill taken in 2008
Broga Hill taken in 2008
Broga Hill taken in 2009
Broga Hill taken in 2009

“Leave Broga Alone”! This was a message delivered to the BN government 7 years ago. Broga is a small town that straddles the border of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The place was widely made known to the public, when the Malaysian Government proposed a RM1.5 billion incinerator to be build there, back in 2002. Since then, the residents in the surrounding Semenyih area have been protesting against the federal government to scrape off the mega project.

In June 2008, I followed my gang to hike Broga Hill, a reef knoll full of wild reeds (known as lalang in Malay), situated some 1km from Broga Town. It was an easy trail for beginners. Journey from the foot hill to the 2nd peak (3 peaks in total) takes around 1 hour leisurely. It was a great hiking trip and the rest was history. You can view my Broga Photoset taken back in 2008 here.

In December 2009, I went back to Broga Hill with my colleagues. To my surprise, now it looks more like a tourist attraction than a hiker’s heaven! It’s like a night market now for god sake!

By 6am, there are already 2 rows of cars parked by the roadside, stretching for at least 200 meters.

0600 - Night Market
0600 - Night Market

By 7am, people “invading” along the trail to the 1st peak.

0700 - Invading
0700 - Invading

By 7.30am, 1st peak conquered and a few hundreds heading up to 2nd peak.

0730 - Conquered
0730 - Conquered

By 8am, people still coming up the hill!

0800 - Still Coming
0800 - Still Coming

Click here to see my 2009 Broga Photoset.

Posted on

Season Greetings

Christmas always give me a peaceful and joyful feelings. It’s a season full of fun and laughter. Since Christmas is around the corner, I would like to share some inspiration about shooting Christmas Photography.

  • Subject

    • There are many subjects which relate to Christmas, e.g. decorative ornaments, Christmas tree, gift packages, snow, etc.

  • Day or Night?

    • I personally prefer to shoot at night, with the glittering decorative lights.

  • Handheld or Tripod?

    • If I choose to shoot at night, tripod is an usual and necessary equipment to bring along.

  • Close Up or Wide?

    • It’s a personal preference when come to this, I usually do not restrict myself to this factor.

  • Location

    • You can choose a place with many people gathering for the joyful season; or simply your neighbour’s house with Christmas decorative, why not?

I have chosen to shoot my subject at Pavilion KL. As it is a night shoot, I’ve packed my widest aperture lens, and of course my tripod. I’ve also grabbed a macro and normal zoom lens as backup. Speedlite? Nope I won’t need that. The shot below was taken handheld with a 50mm Prime Lens. Wishing everyone a Merry and Joyful Christmas!
xmaswish01

Posted on

The Revolution

Good day to everyone! After 2 weeks of design and content prep, I’ve decided to launch my new website on my birthday, and I hope you like it.  As you went through my site, you will noticed that some of my blog entries were migrated from Spaces, which was created 2 years back! OK, I admitted that I am lazy back then; and hopefully this new site will create a new energy for me to sprint even faster in this exciting life.

“Let’s get serious about this!” – I’ve been telling myself for the passed 3 weeks while I prepared for the launching of my own website. I’m sure some of my close friends and colleagues had heard me saying that as well, now you know what I mean :) Nevertheless, the phrase also express my current thinking of “stop wasting my own time”, “you have to do something about it”, “let the action fires!”.