DCIM 2009 Day 2: Runway Show

Yes, like many other mad photographers out there I made a return to the second day of the DCIM 2009 (digital camera, imaging and media). Part of the reason was being unsatisfied with the picture output of the model shootout during the Velocity Angel Model Search finals, and me being there for the second time, I was in hope to capture a more auspicious spot to shoot from. Nevertheless, the main reason why I went for the second day, was to meet and catch up with some really cool photographers and friends out there.

Quite a number of familiar faces showed up on Day 2, and some of them were Jian (who came from Malacca), Hao, KimFei, Ser, my colleague Andrew and his cousin, and the Mychiaroscuro Olympus gang. I even made some new connections through some utterly unexpected ways with James Lum who happened to know Fishtan, and his buddy Jeremy. Both of them travelled all the way from Penang to KL just for this event over the weekend. It was indeed refreshing to see so many photographers gathering in one huge event.

Having been to this event for the second time now, I have to say that it was not as great as it was popularly promoted prior to the event. The main let down would have got to be the absence of Sony, Olympus, Pentax, and other lens manufacturers such as Sigma and Tamron. Not having that many camera equipments and accesories for display or sale made the entire place even less exciting to explore. Was there anything else to explore for a non Nikon and Canon user? And the event itself placed limited seats for seminars and talks, which by what we have seen from the papers were nothing to scream about really. Most of the photogs there expressed similar thoughts and opinion on this matter. A lot of things could have been improved. Could it be due to budget issues?

Here is another reason why I turned up for the second day, to obtain better pictures of the models. I partially blamed my bad pictures from the previous attempt on my lousy standing position, almost the third line from the front did not exactly provide me the luxury of composition, where the models would have been chopped off from any directions by flash, elbows or annoying heads. Knowing well how the situation would be, I made my appearance at the front line about an hour and a quarter before the event started !! Just as predicted, I managed to grab the front spot, and shooting without nothing blocking me from my front, I have total freedom in framing my shots.

No obstructions, no obstacles. I was ready for the models this time.

I shall break my entries into three mini-series, since the entire showdown of the Velocity Angel Model Search was also divided into three separate parts. 1) Runway Show, 2) Cultural Show, and 3) Evening Dress. Obviously in this entry, I will only be displaying pictures from Runway Show, which was the first round of the event.

If you asked me what is the difference from this session in comparison with what we got from the first, I would say very minimal. The dress and outfits were similar, and even the flow and sequence of events were really typical. I was dissapointed to a certain level, since I expected an event of such scale to have more variety to entertain come-backs like me !! The only improvements I did notice however, was the way the models walked the stage and posed. They showed more confidence, and definitely more variation in their posing styles in this session. On the first day they were all mostly very stiff, and not that prepared for the audience. Of course, after getting feedback from the people, in the face of competition, everyone would strive to outdo each other on stage. Now that was the spirit that photographers love in the models.

Interestingly, I do quite like the output of the pictures this time. I can easily compose a full body shots without anything obstructing !!! And my favourite half body, or above-the-knee shots also came out really well. I have also used a different approach in rendering the colors this time, I tried to minimize the warm orange cast which was flooded by the spotlights. Still, I preferred to shoot with no flash, in stark contrast to so many other photographers who could practically blind the models with their continuous strobing all the way. I shall explain more in the coming entry.

Note: Felixia (the model above) is my ABSOLUTE favourite !!

It was indeed a great day spent. I very much needed the human interactions, and getting the chance to work my camera along with it, I could not have asked for a better weekend.

Stay tuned for more !!

DCIM 2009: Day 1

So I have locked myself in my room over a week for the fear of the God forsaken chicken pox which the doctor thought I had. The blisters/lesions that define chicken pox never showed up, hence I paid another visit to the doctor on Thursday. Surprise, surprise, it was not chicken pox at all, and this time, the doctor said I am having measles, which explains the rash all over my body.

I do not know what to believe anymore. But the important thing is, the fever is completely gone, so are the muscle and joint pains. I feel completely ok now, save the minor fading rashes that would find their way off soon enough. Everything seems normal, and the only problem that has been plaguing me till now was sort of a "cabin fever" !!!

I could not stand grounding myself inside my room for so many days consecutively, I think I almost went insane. Since my signs of recovery was soundly steady and rapid, I ought to reward myself after all those tortures I went through.

This weekend at Mid Valley Convention Center, the Velocity Media and Digital Camera Magazie Malaysia jointly organized a rather huge photography event, DCIM 2009 (Digital Camera, Imaging and Media). I broke out of my room and ventured to Mid Valley to see what the hoo haas were all about. Not to my surprise, the layout of the event was similar to what you would expect from KLPF (Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival), with camera giants and accesories manufacturers coming together to showcase the latest products to the public.

Interestingly, Sony and Olympus did not turn up in the event. Now we should start to wonder what happened.

The highlight of the event was none other than the Velocity Angel Search 2009. The first round of showdown featured the 12 model contestant finalists, doing quite a lengthy catwalks and posing on stage for the public. By saying the public, I actually mean photographers, since 99% of the people surrounding the stage held at least one freaking DSLR with humongous lenses. The event was after all, a photography event. Photographers making up the audience number somehow cut down the cheering and applauding rate. Everyone was just too busy getting that shot of that pose !!

What do I honestly think of the models? Most of them, too skinny. Gosh, you should see how THIN they were. It does not seem healthy at all bearing just skins and bones. I know being skinny has its advantages, creating an overall taller profile which is desirable for modelling, but I just could not stand seeing models soooooo skinny. God knows what they have been eating !!! I do not know you guys, but I am not one for skin and bones.

There are many familiar faces that have been around, if you care enough to dig my previous fashion encounters plastered all over this blog not too long ago.

I do feel that my pictures do not do justice to convey the beauty of the contestants. Blame it on the lousy location I was standing on, and I was there almost an hour early to secure that spot. When I arrived, there were more than a dozen other photographers standing by already. I was blocked by two photographers in front of me, hence the absence of full body shots. I find half body and upper body shots worked well from where I was shooting from, thus I attacked those shots and I did them most.

I refrained myself from using the flash. Part of me felt that the lighting provided was bright enough, and filling in flash would just kill the mood if not executed properly.

So you guys think that this is the end? I do intend to camp there for the following two events on Saturday and Sunday respectively. And maybe I can capture better shots these times.

And if any of you happen to pass by Mid Valley or having a look-see at the DCIM, do give me a holla !! I will be floating around. I would definitely love to see some nice faces after being trapped in my room for God knows how long. Some human interactions would do me some good.

Thats all for now, but I will be back with MORE pictures.

The Fever, the Rash and the Rest

So what is happening to me?

Plenty actually.

It all started with quite a terrible fever I have had last Thursday, which lasted a couple of days and ceased on the weekends. The fever was so bad that I could not walk around without almost falling. I had muscle and joint pains all over my body, even when the last time I did sports extreme was months ago.

I saw the doctor on Thursday.

She told me "it is very normal for young people to experience muscle pain", and gave me muscle pain relief cream rubs !! WTF !! Then I asked her about the fever spell, which I did not suspect was fever yet, since I was just shivering cold from the night before, and felt drowsy the whole morning. She ruled that out by saying I could be having low sugar level in my blood stream. Double WTF !!

I ate the weird medicine she prescribed me and things did not get any better, my muscle and joint pains did not get any lesser, and by Friday I knew it was fever, a bad one I had.

Thinking it was just something normal, I kept swallowing the miraculous Panadol pills, and had more sleep than I have ever had in the past few weeks combined, and gradually the fever tamed itself down over the weekends. The pains went off, so did the drowsiness and dizziness.

I thought I was ok. Then the RASH came on Sunday.

It started out from my chest, to my arms. Mini red dots spreading out to my entire body. Curious and worried, I rushed to another doctor (since the last one seemed very untrustworthy, low blood sugar level WTF) and this time, this doctor seemed to know what he was doing.

I told him the full history, and he told me that I was having....

CHICKEN POX.

That was on Monday.

It is Wednesday now, and the rash has creeped all over my body. But there is no sign of lesion/blisters that defines chicken pox. I am starting to get worried, I suspect this could be something else than chicken pox. I think it would be wise to pay this doctor another visit tomorrow just to double confirm my condition. It seems unlikely that its a chicken pox, but I am not the medicine personnel, so I shall reserve my thoughts for now.

Chicken Pox or no Chicken Pox, I will survive.

The Creatures

Here comes the short-lived weekend, a very much needed break from everything else, and just be with me and myself only. I told myself to make sure I would utilize other lenses than my current over-used macro. I did started shooting with the tele zoom lens, but after so many shots somehow it made an automatic switch back to macro.

It is ironic when most DSLR users started out with the standard body and kit lens combo, the next big thing (if not already included in the combo) they would definitely hunt for was the tele zoom. Why? Because tele lens can bring subjects from far closer to you.

In logical photography sense, if you can't get close enough, you can't get good enough of a picture.

Now lets bend the definition of close enough. If you are indeed literally close enough, and by skill, luck or just plain simplicity you can somehow get within extreme close range with your subjects, two other lenses would open up a whole new world of perspectives and possibilities (that the former tele lens cannot): macro lens and ultra wide angle.

There is just so much to love about the macro lens !! It goes really close up, and it reveals superbly fine details that we are not able to see with naked eye.

Shooting through glass has become one of the main theme in this session. Most of the subjects were behind glass which was not exactly crystal clear, or clean. There were scratches and dirt marks all over the panes.

The challenge was obvious, the glass with such scratches and dirts would cause ghosting or blurring distractions to the pictures. Furthermore this could also result in less than natural feel of the picture, since the first thing that caught the viewers mind would be the line of crack that clearly defined the existence of glass.

I have heard plenty of complains by other users (other brands obviously) that autofocus is quite a fuss when there is a glass before the subject. Interestingly, I find no trouble at all focusing through the glass with my macro lens. Yes, this time I have set my lens to fully autofocus mode, since all my subjects were actively moving, keeping track with manual focus was just insane.

To minimize the earlier mentioned problem of glass scratches and dirt paints, careful placement of the subjects, and framing can do the trick. I could not fully eliminate the undesirable effect of shooting through glass, as the imperfections still show, but these are the results I can say I am happy with for now.

I have been doing some thinking about my blog, and the direction of my entries I am taking these days. I felt as if something was missing. The element I have been lacking was: human. I have been posting less and less pictures of people I connect with. Some of my readers have even pointed out that my entries somehow screamed loneliness. True, to a certain extent.

Nonetheless, my life currently, is not exactly that "happening". Besides, I have learned that not everyone loves their faces being plastered on a blog that can be accessed and viewed everywhere in the world.

We will see how this goes, I shall make more effort in capturing photos or friends, and blog about them.

Oh, and the matter of friends. Lets leave that to another entry, someday.

Great Expectations

I know I may have over-reacted a little in my previous entry on “his photography skills sucks”. I did mean what I have said, but in reality it was a lot less harsh.

The stark truth is, I have received quite a handful of positive remarks about my work being displayed here, both on blog, and off-blog (in person). I only have you beautiful readers out there to thank for such undeservingly encouraging and flattering feedbacks. Do take note that I have not brushed aside any of your generous comments. There are times when I come home from a terribly bad day, and reading one of such thoughtful and brilliant responses just somehow killed of the headaches and traumas. You can say that it made my day. It made me feel that of all the things I have done wrong, at least I managed to get something right.

A little encouraging word can go a long way. I really can’t thank you guys enough for staying with me all this time. I guess I ought to show more appreciation to my fellow readers/friends from time to time. I must remind myself that you guys are real, and you guys make my blog real.

On a separate note, recent chain of events has mysteriously uncovered my memories of past experiences. I did not recall those memories on purpose; they just dug their way to the surface. And I shall share one of those encounters in this entry.

A friend (this one is not useless, fortunately) came along with his newly purchased bridge camera and asked me several questions about photo-taking. He showed me this picture he has stumbled upon while internet-surfing.

Friend: Eh eh, see this picture, it is so sharp, so clear, the colour is so vivid. And the blur background (bokeh) looks awesome. How can I do that with my camera?

Photo note: No this photo above is not the photo my friend was talking about. It was so long ago I could not trace where that picture was. This was just some random shots I have captured recently.

The moment I saw that picture I instantly suspected that it must have been taken with a DSLR. Now the question was, which one. An easy way to find that out was to check the EXIF data, and sure enough, I was able to gather a few metadata on the camera and lens used. It was a Canon 5D Mark 1. The aperture value adopted was f1.2 but I could not recall the focal length used. The pricing for a Canon 5D Mark 1 that time (2 years or so ago) was RM12,000 and the lens itself (I suspect 50mm F1.2 L) costed no less than RM5,000. I highlighted those information to my friend, and this was his response:

Friend: But it was the skill that matters right, not the camera? My camera is also very good one wor.

Sometimes it is really hard to hold up a conversation without stabbing someone in the eye.

Yes, I believe in stretching the abilities of the camera to the maximum, but there is a clear and definitive limit to what a compact camera can do. I also believe that the skills matter more than the equipments used, but you cannot honestly tell me that you can do what you can on a RM17,000 equipment with your RM1,400 compact camera. The comparison was a tad far-fetched, as if racing a Ferrari with a cute Kancil !!

Ultimately, I believe in doing what you can, with what you have. There is no harm in looking up pictures all over the web and plagiarise them for inspirations and to learn some techniques, especially in lighting and composition. Seeing the works of greater artists can really open up the mind to creativity and art. However, expecting yourself to be on par with such limited equipment and obviously, restricted knowledge and experience would be unrealistic.

Weekend is almost here. I should really do something else besides macro this time. But I just could not let go of the lens just yet !!

His Photography Skills Sucks

Taking a leap from a budget compact camera to an entry-level DSLR somehow raised more eyebrows than I expected. Even to this very day, people still make cynical comments, and snigger at the thought of a nobody like me utilizing such an expensive piece of equipment.

Act pro much?

Here is an illustration based on a true life encounter, an incident that happened when I have just purchased the DSLR quite some time ago.

(I was hanging out with a couple of friends, and I brought my camera along.)

Useless Friend: So your big camera should be able to take good night shots eh? Why don’t you show me?

Me: Nah, I will require a tripod. Else the shots taken handheld will turn out blurred.

(Useless Friend then whipped out his camera phone and snapped a picture of the street at night, and shoved it to my face.)

Useless Friend: Nah, see, even my camera phone can take such picture.

Me: Fine, if you want me to use my camera so badly, I will.

(I snapped a picture of the street. And then my friend grabbed the camera off my hands and previewed the picture, and compared it with the picture on his camera phone.)

Useless Friend: Eh, see, my camera phone picture is brighter and clearer !! Your camera sucks.

Another Useless Friend: Nolah, his camera is good. Obviously. his photography skills sucks.

Me: !!!

Useless Friend: What is your shutter speed? I thought DSLR can go extremely fast on shutter?? Then should not have blur-shake problem and shoot night scenes. You know how to set your shutter speed or not? Aiyooo

Me: !!!!!!

Another Useless Friend: Using flash will also boost the shutter speed. You could give it a try. You do not even know these things. And you are using such a good camera. What a waste.


Me: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Feeling nothing short of a nuclear-scale explosion sort of rage, I held everything in with my legendary smile, and we all laughed together as if it was a joke. Was it a joke? Really?

When I was put in situations like this, it was obviously a lose-lose circumstance. If I were to elaborately explain why-DSLR-is-a-good-camera to my friends, it will just show that I was vulnerable by defending myself desperately, after being threatened by a mere camera phone. Besides, it would make me look like a jerk showing off his expensive equipment. Hence I chose to just let them inflate their ego and slip by with a plastic laugh.

But deep inside I was stabbing their eyes with a fork.

What was the problem here? It was not so much of them making fun of me that hurts. We make fun of each other over small matters all the time. We joke, and it was only natural. The line is crossed when you see the person less than who he thinks he is, and poke where it bleeds the most, his passion. When I have set my heart to something, I would give anything to accomplish it, thus I do expect a certain degree of understanding and respect for what I choose to be passionate about. I love what I love to do, and if you can’t see why or how I am in love with it, does it give you the right to make me feel foolish?

Furthermore, I was severely offended when I was looked down that way. So what if I was not a good photographer, would it be such a big thing to do as a friend to support and encourage each other to grow? It was utterly demeaning when people doubt your abilities. Consequently, it was depressing to think that people feel you have wasted your time on your choice of hobby. It was even more painful to see that people think you suck at doing what you love to do. Worst of all, all the above came from people whom I called friends.

Why take their words seriously, you ask? Darling, if I do not take people seriously, how can I expect them to take me seriously when I really need them to be serious about something? It may not strike those of you who do not know me well, but when I listen, I really listen. When I say something, I mean it. I do not take conversations lightly, and I do not treat my friends as jokes. You do not strip down a guy naked and laugh at the size of his penis. Even if that is nothing but just a joke to you.

People wont see what you see, or see it the way you see it. Even amongst photogs we have vast differences and varied perceptions when it comes to photography. But what you fail to see does not give you the right to make such a big fuss out of it !!

I know, I am letting out plenty of angst these days. I do believe that I am not alone. There are times I started to question about my choices of friends, and that was also the same moment I knew that I have lost faith in people. It is happening, I admit it, but the least I could do is to fight it, and I am not giving up so easily.

I know. My skill sucks still. But hey, one thing has got to be straight, I am improving. If you just give me time, I will make it. Dammit useless friends, mark my words, I will make it.

Why Can't You Take Pictures Like THAT?

Side Note: I have redesigned the click-to-enlarge views on the pictures. Also I have included a brief note on the lens used, and a summary of EXIF data (Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO settings) at the bottom of each enlarged-photo display. Please kindly try it out. Any feedback is appreciated.

I have been toying around much with an entry level DSLR camera for almost a year now. During the course of my photography sessions in action, there were numerous times I have had friends or people I come across in my life around me. A lot of them were camera/photography literate, and just as many were camera-knowledge-less. From my many encounters with them, I have received very interesting feedback and observatory notes. Some of them were flattering, some were neck-strangling, and a few that I could laugh to tears thinking about them.

Photo note: Sometimes we lose our head.


1) Why can’t you take pictures like that?

I think by now, those who have heard me rant either in real life or in my blog entries would have come to realization that I believe the photographer decides the output of the camera, not the other way around. This however, did not come without a consequence; it is often a photographer’s nightmare when your work is being compared to another, then being given undesirable remarks about it. Your capability will be questioned because others can do it, why can’t you?

Sometimes there are elements in the photograph that are presented intentionally, though that particular style of presentation may not serve the wider audience. It is rather pointless to compare, since both photographers would have had the end product of their pictures in their minds very differently. It does not matter which is better, but the undeniable fact that does matter is how people would see your photo.

Photo note: Sometimes we eat our own kind.


2) Photography is a ridiculously expensive hobby.

Thanks for reminding me that. You just made me feel like the money is worth spending when I shove the camera down your sorry throat.

That should shut your ridiculously insolent mouth up.

3) Wow, your pictures are good, You must have a very good camera.

In response to that: Wow, you give very nice compliments.You must have a very good mouth. (idea stolen from www.whattheduck.net)

A lot of people would equate photo quality to the tools and equipments being used. It is true that the camera and lenses provide you a certain edge in photo-taking, but ultimately how good your photo is depends on how well you manage to stretch the abilities of the camera. Like what people have always been keen in reminding everyone, it is the eye behind the camera that makes the difference.

It would be a total insult to indicate the superiority of one’s work is attributed to one’s tools instead of one’s talents, just similarly to a journalist when you tell him “you write really good articles, what typewriter do you use?” (quote from www.shaolintiger.com).

4) Photoshop can save bad pictures.

Photo-editing software, the most popularly used photoshop and all its evil incarnations have become an important element in photography, some even regard it as important as the camera itself. Obviously many people would have their own takes on how much they weigh the importance of photo-editing.

There are those who would snap pictures thoughtlessly save one thought in mind: you can always edit the pictures and turn it into something nice later in photoshop. There are the purists who go against extreme photo-editing, claiming that by doing so the essence and original art of photography are compromised in the world of digital manipulation. There are those who can strike the balance in both, but the fact that photography is largely digital these days has resulted in the necessity for photo-editing.

Photo note: I was walking along a trail in the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, and found this supposedly lost house cat. The cat seemed to open up to me, and I played with it for a bit. Whenever random people walked by, the cat would hide behind my legs !! Poor little creature, so scared and alone. What did I do with the cat? You guys should not have asked, I MACRO-fied the cat with my macro lens obviously.

I would do my best to capture good pictures in the first place, and photo-editing comes in play to improve the already good shots. I rarely use it to salvage broken shots. Some people do not get it, there are things you have got to do right with the camera, and if you get them wrong, no photoshop or any other kind of voodoo can save your picture. For example, if your shot is out of focus, or blurred due to shaking, no matter how much editing you do, it will not bring back the lost details. It will still be blur no matter what.


5) You are using a rather sophisticated complicated camera. Did you take classes or courses?

For goodness sake, photography is not like piloting, or operating a machine gun. If I do something wrong with the camera, it is quite unlikely I will kill somebody with it.

6) Wow, your pictures are very good. You must have very good photoshop skills.

Just as annoying as point 3), the effort and work poured in producing the shots were negated and shoved aside with photoshop brainwashing the puny and vulnerable minds. Yes, photoshop can increase the size of your boobs threefold; lose you a hefty 15kg, give you an instant facelift, and probably a third boob while you are at it. If you seriously think photoshop is everything, why don’t you just take your own picture with your camera phone and ask a photoshop genius to do the transformation for you? Oh, and you could save yourself some money during your wedding day too. Again, just use your camera phone and do the editing later. What? Anything is possible with photoshop right? Why pay thousands to the wedding photographer?

To sum it up, I guess people have this general perception that in order to achieve top notch photography output, you have got to own good cameras + lenses, incredible photoshop skills, learned from some mentors, and spent a bomb on it. While that statement may partly be true, I beg to differ in opinion. There are a lot of components that make up a good photograph.

Art.

Originality.

Creativity.

Expression.

Emotion.

All the things that money can’t buy.

A good picture is not only about the colour and contrast and bokeh and anything else that photoshop can mysteriously create but it is about how all the components coming together harmoniously in one frame to tell a story.

A photograph that tells the best story wins.

I am no where near that level where I can tell good stories with my pictures. I am not even sure if there is anything to tell yet. But what I am sure of now, regardless of everything else, I do have the passion that drives every click of the shutter. With the passion, comes unparalleled satisfaction in taking pictures.

People will always talk. Sometimes, certain comments may not be openly welcome or accepted. I guess when you are getting really deep and serious about doing something, you would demand a certain minimal amount of understanding and respect. I may be sour in some ways, but hey I am sure other photogs out there would share my sentiments too.