Aerial Photography

I was fortunate enough to take on an aerial photography assignment a couple of months ago. It was quite an experience. Having equipped myself with knowledge I gleaned from the internet and books, I went ahead with this assignment.

There are a couple of options that we could have taken. We could mount a camera on a remote controlled aeroplane, or use a hot air balloon, or climb on top of a crane. I ruled these all out as each of these options do not allow us the flexibility of height, angle, and in the case of hot air balloon, time.

The obvious choice was to use a helicopter. Was not easy getting a quote. In fact, it took almost a month for me to obtain a quote and negotiate for the right fees. We had use of a 'squirrel'. We chose a day and hoped that the weather would be good. Pleased to note that my client is very happy with the photographs.

Here are some photographs, unedited. When I can find some spare 'photoshop' time, I will post them later.

invited two buddies, Chan Swee Meng (right) and Yip Tuck Loong (left)

during the shoot, I was allowed to open the helicopter door.

(Photo courtesy of Chan Swee Meng)

did a 'fly past' of the KL Tower. not allowed to keep the door open when the helicopter was moving fast, hence the reflection.

rather pleased with this image of the Kuala Lumpur Petronas Twin Towers and its surroundings.

Talk by Diana Lui, "Finding Our Identity through Photography"

I attended a talk this morning on the above subject matter. Glad I went. Most thought provoking. You can actually glean quite a lot from her website, Diana Lui - Artist, Photographer and Film Maker.

What did I get out out of it, that I can share? I will summarise. Do let me know if they are any good to you. Anyway, I am still grappling with the subject.

Camera's that she use - large format, 8 x 10, Hasselblad, point & shoot, DSLR's.

Preferred subject, portraiture, and anything that she can "find without searching".

The message is really just:
- understand your subject / object
- must remember the social content of a photo, and
- must be aware of the environment
- must not let the lack of time to be used as a reason to lose our sense of self
- stay present, and translate your emotions into the pictures you take

Last, but not least, came away with a few big names that I would spend some time on are August Sander, Diane Arbus, William Eagleston, and Ansel Adams.

Snippets of questions some participants asked:
- I take photographs of road signs. people think i am silly. what do you think?
- How does music influence photography?
- Malaysian photographer that you think is v good? Yee I Lan (need to get the spelling right!)

Shots of models

Took this quite a while ago, using Kaz Chua's Canon flagship camera. Thought this looks pretty good. Bumped into this model, Vanessa Chee, last week. Now a bank officer.

Anyway, just to alert those photographers chasing pixels to be prepared to invest in a fast computer. Otherwise, opening a photograph may take more than 3minutes, not to talk about processing the photo. My pc laboured while I tried to enhance this 25M file. Tough, really tough

Filing images

There are lots of articles that had been written on filing. I just could not find the time (maybe my procrastinating self just refuse to find the time!) to do a proper filing. The day my pc crash would be the day I regret for the rest of my life why I did not back up my images. etc

Would advise that images are not deleted if they can be archived for review at a later date. I found some photographs that are pretty good that almost met my delete key. Periodic reviews can bring up some interesting photographs. Here's one I took at a Microsoft event. Not well paid, but gain a ton of experience. My partner, however, was less than pleased.

As photographers, we need to be rather flexible. I am, I believe, too flexible, but my partner is just too rigid. In this instance, our client, the event manager asked that we submit the photographs taken in 5 days, as per our quotation. Their client, Microsoft, wanted the images immediately (without us having the opportunity to edit and delete).

We compromised in the end. Gave the images to them 'almost' immediately.

Here's a photo for the memories - seller of PABX system!

BASF-PETRONAS Photography Contest

This is one good contest to participate in. I especially like the theme that the organiser choses. Almost always about love and sustainability. I guess I will submit some photographs for love's sake.

website: http://www.basf-petronas.com.my/

Signages - Malaysian English (Manglish)

Tiger Woods not allowed?!

National Wushu Competition in KL

There was a change in format vis a vis the opening ceremony. No more cultural performances, and no long speeches. Good.

Bad. Was in for a surprise. Dark and nightmarish surprise. Performances (dancing, singing, martial arts, dragon dance) were held in semi-darkness.

As a result, managed to snap tons of blur and very very grainy photographs. Nevertheless, some turned up ok. Not extremely good, but ok.

I guess you guys would probably want to see an image of the singer. Did not find out the name of this pretty lass - taken with my Nikon D300

Photo for sale

Just printed and framed some photographs for sale at the art gallery I run, Art Loft.

Gallery is located at 1st Floor, Capital Square, Kuala Lumpur (off Jalan Munshi Abdullah).

Need to visit to see these photo's.... Most encouraged today when an Australian artist love those photographs so much that he will share them with his friends and contacts in Australia in the near future.

Which Camera Should I buy?

I was asked that question yesterday – what camera should I buy?

Well, easy question, but with the many different brands and models that one can find in the market, the answer will have to come from the questioner him/herself.

I am partial to Nikon, and had been using that brand for years. But should I encourage people to buy Nikon? Maybe not. Talking to photographers in Malaysia who share the same experience with me, customer service level in Nikon Malaysia is bad, some say atrocious. Well, I have digressed. Will touch on this subject later.

Back to the question on the camera to buy. I guess the buyer will need to be guided by what he wants to shoot. In the case of the person who asked yesterday, he said ‘Macro’ and ‘Scenery’.

Guess what – I recommended a Lumix LX3 (Point & Shoot). What do you think. Agree with my recommendation?



Sample photo taken with a Lumix, unedited. Quality's really good