A wedding in Dhaka is a multi-day affair with a lot of guests and relatives attending the different events. It also means that breakfast, lunch and dinner is readily available. The couple, our hosts, were very gracious in providing us all three meals and our hotel is only a short walk to the bride’s house.

That means we get served awesome food daily and on Day 3, I ate one of the best potato curry ever. I still dream about it… :P

With such a huge event, the supporting cast is very important. And I spent some time at the bride’s house in Day 3 just photographing a few of the workers preparing for the big day. The above is the guy who is helping out with the cooking duties. You can see him making some “roti canai” for the guests and I wonder if he cooked the delicious potato curry as well :D

Then this guy was eyeing me when I was photographing the other dude so I thought I’ll give him a shot as well. And he was quite happy to pose for me while I did so. I quickly took a few shots as I didn’t want him to stare at the camera and end up slicing his finger off.

After breakfast, I went downstairs and saw this guy fixing up the outdoor area for the mehndi session later that night. These guys are really amazing! They are efficient and when night came, the whole house was transformed! I am not sure if we have such efficient workers here. They will probably go tea every other hour and ask for 2 days to set something up.

And that was Day 3, and it is already the weekend. Day 4 will come next week so watch out for it :)

I once said that education was a lifelong pursuit (probably on Facebook) and it was worthwhile investing in workshops, seminars, books, DVDs and any other forms of education. This year, I signed up for RedNinja’s Got Mojo? workshop, Louis Pang’s Inspire+ Seminar, and the WPPM Conference.

The only sad part is that I will miss the Creative Asia Conference next year, but if you can make it, you should definitely consider it. Anyway, the post here today is for me to share what I got out of the Inspire+ seminar.

The seminar was divided into two parts – one on posing and lighting and the other on running the business and marketing. Truth be told, I was there for the second part of the seminar. After all, I don’t expect magic out of a quick posing and lighting session. One thing about workshops and seminars is that you need to know what is your aim in going for them.

This is to avoid having expectations that is unfair to the presenter. And also this way, you won’t get disappointed and you won’t spend unnecessary money attending workshops you don’t need.

I am not going to talk about the lighting and posing techniques because well, that needs to be shown. So, you can subscribe to Wedshooter.TV or buy DVDs (tons of them) where you can learn how it is done. First thing I got out of the seminar is the process.

Basically, this is generally the idea: Invite –> Connect –> Convert –> Capture –> Collect –> Process –> Produce –> Promote. It is a continuous cycle but since I am bad in graphics, I can’t make that into a nice circle lah, but you get the point. Everybody needs to go through this before we reach our favourite part of the process which is capture.

Of course, you can also look at how you can farm out certain processes as long as you are not a total control freak. I for one will love to farm out the producing part especially on things like albums and such. I would like to oversee the process, give my input but the actual work to be done by someone else so I can concentrate on what I do best.

The second thing is the type of people there are in this world. They are:

1. Never sow but expect to harvest = complainers
2. Never sow and don’t expect to harvest = sufferers
3. Start sowing and expect to harvest now = quitters
4. Continue to sow and expect to harvest later = winners
5. Strategically sowing and harvest = big winners

I would like to think I am slowly graduating from #4 to #5.

But it is not all about theory. Being there in the workshop observing how Louis works is an education in itself. We have different styles, we will have captured different shots but seeing what he pays attention to, how he communicates what he wants, those are tips that you can pick up and modify it to fit your own.

Ultimately, a workshop or a seminar is not moulding you to be the speaker but to pick up little tips along the way and improving who you are.

So, did I learn from the seminar? That I did. And I am looking forward to learning even more at the WPPM Conference this weekend.

Some of you may know that I have a wedding/ portrait photography service called “Through Our Eyes” and I was giving away some couple portrait sessions to sorta like practice and increase the portfolio. I must admit that I am not a natural in portrait sessions and that is why I am trying to learn.

Bobby and Rennie is the first couple to take up my offer and they were super sporting! Great to work with them. Hopefully, they will get 3-4 shots that are satisfactory after the shoot.

So I am looking back at the photos, got feedback from friends and I realise that there a couple of things that I should have done better:

1. Big flare on top is distracting – truth be told, I thought it was quite nice at first :P
2. Placed Bobby and Rennie smacked in the centre
3. HP advertising board and motorcycle was distracting as well
4. Looking at me seems less natural than looking at each other
5. Her arms were a bit weird, should have told her to hold his hips or even his shoulders

I conceptualised this shot in my head before I started the shoot. I liked the lines, the boxy design and I wanted to take advantage of that. But of course, it could have been done better:

1. Too much clutter in the background
2. Subject is drowned out by the environment
3. Security guard on the right!

And therein concludes my self critique session! If you have any to add, feel free to do so. Don’t worry, I won’t crawl into a hole and cry. Have a good weekend everyone!

There are a lot of positive things about the iPhone, and it is pretty much a very brilliant phone. I am not a big fan of it but I can see the appeal (and I have the “iPhone Lite”). The biggest appeal the iPhone, particularly for parents, is the ability to keep your child quiet and to sit still during dinner.

And that is how Audrey is kept occupied when we need to eat. Turn on some cartoons, and the iPhone is her best friend.

Look at that concentration, that focus. Seriously, not a lot of other phones can do this. And that is probably one of the biggest appeal for parents.

As promised yesterday, here is the continuation of more portrait shots of my niece, Audrey. This is not a planned shoot as I was just bored waiting for food and she was there. So, might as well shoot some photos of her while she is around.

She is one smiley child :)

When she eats, she like to sort of pout first before returning to her normal expression. No idea why but I think she is trying to sort of chew the food with her teeth at the front of her mouth. Will probably display a different expression once she has her full set of teeth. Hope she doesn’t bite me then :P

My dad loves her to bits and he is very much the “spoil grandchild kinda grandfather”. She is very naughty, and can hardly sit still. Maybe she is bored, but she will make quite a fuss when she is. That is when grandfather will stop eating and attend to her. Guess that tactic works well for her.

My sister, her mother, on the other hand loves to dress her up. And her latest accessory is this pink shades. She goes “woah” when she puts them on. Probably surprised the world turned all pink in a split second. I have a feeling she will be a pink girl soon enough.

My niece is back here for two weeks so it is that time again where I gather shots of her. Not the easiest person to photograph as you need to constantly keep her attention and she prefers to run everywhere else rather than sitting in one spot.

Even during dinner, she can be quite a handful. Here was a rare shot of her looking directly at me, looking rather like a “vampire” :P

Of course, being dinner time, she was seated so it was easier for me to get shots of her. Working with the 85mm, it was just about the right focal length on my D300 to get close shots of her. Of course, with the low-light environment at Room Eighteen at Tropicana City Mall, being able to shoot at f2.2 helped as well.

Stopped down, the 85mm f1.8 is one sharp lens. Here is a shot of Audrey after being fed a spoonful of err some goo. She likes it, although her expression seems to say otherwise.

She is also at a phase where she will put everything into her mouth. Keys, phones, toys, and even her new pink shades. Not sure if you noticed but there is a sort of consistent colour scheme across these shots. You will most likely see this style very often as I like it very much.

You can say I found my style :P More shots of her tomorrow! Although they could be considerably less colourful.

We were taught so much during the 2-day workshop at Port Dickson that I have enough content for two posting! Before Wiki started his session, we were given a few tips on posing by Jon Low. He gave tips for the eyes and said that it should follow the nose for a more natural look. We should experiment with the eyes looking up, down, left and right and find the perfect expression.

For arms, it is important to have separation and we should also look out for cuts and horizontal lines. Try not to cut the picture at joints, ears or necks. And if you are posing couples, the most important thing is to have connection and to let them be themselves. It is all about making the pose believable.

After dinner, Grace Tan and Jenny Sun shared with us their experience. Grace talked about capturing a story in every shoot and how important it is to learn the story from the client. Jenny said that these days, people are choosing photographers, not photographs.

Both of them talked about how they engage with clients, and the passion behind the lens. I definitely took home the message that even if I shot a great photo technically, it means nothing if I do not capture the essence of the couple in front of the lens.

And last but not least, booking clients is not about how good your photos are. It is about making that connection with the client and building the trust they have in you. Wiki‘s first meeting with the client is usually a free e-session. That way, they can see how he works, and he can connect with them immediately. That is certainly something worth experimenting :)

There are definitely more lessons during the course of the 2-day workshop, but you got to pay for the next one to find out :P Overall, it was money well spent and I definitely have to thank Sharon for giving me the green light to go ahead with this.

As usual, credit time!

Shots taken at got Mojo? Camp organised by RedNinja.tv at Corus Paradise Resort, Port Dickson
Models: Sonia & Reyhan
Models: Rachel & Ser Young
Make Up & Hair: Shinny Ong
Gowns by: Pretty In White

My weekend was a busy one but it was an extremely fun weekend. It was the first time I paid to attend a workshop on photography and it was an awesome workshop by RedNinja.tv! The workshop was called “got Mojo?” and it was presented by lead speaker Wiki Lee and Ilona, from Australia and supported by a stellar cast of mentors – Grace Tan, Mark Leo, Jon Low, Jenny Sun and Alex The Backpackr.

We got tips on posing, managing our business, marketing, engaging with clients, advancing the story and most importantly – how to find our style.

Let me try to share with you what I got from the workshop. Because I like to share :P Since the workshop is all about finding our mojo, of course we have to define what style is. Style is customer approach, post processing and finally our photography style.

None of us approach customers the same way, and we have to develop our preference. But most importantly, however we approach them, the most important is to connect with them. Post processing is well, how you edit your photos. We didn’t go into that aspect.

Photography style is either ninja or samurai. Ninja is more photojournalistic where you are stealthy and capture the moments as it happens while Samurai means you control everything and you create the moments. I am definitely more ninja, but I need to learn some ways of the samurai as well.

Finally, your style is developed when you can deliver a unique presentation of your work consistently. And the most important thing is to get clients that can relate to your style.

Then we also learn from Wiki what makes a good photo and what we should always have in our mind when shooting. There are four attributes which is depth of field, frame/ composition, spectacular light and pose. If we have two out of the four fulfilled, then we have a good photo. Of course, we should aim to have all four so that we have a great photo. :)

On Day 2 of the camp, we talked about the business aspect – the moolah! The most important quote I got from Wiki is that money is about the next job. Therefore it is important to establish that connection with clients and shooting awesome pictures that will get you referrals after referrals.

And no matter how popular, famous or busy we can get, we must always treat each and every customers as the only customer we have. That way, we will always put in 2500% (Wiki’s favourite number :P) effort!

Overall, it was a really great camp, a bargain at the price I paid, a fantastic experience and it has set a very high bar for future workshops that I will consider attending. Part 2 to come tomorrow!

ps: Shots taken above during practical session of the workshop. Thank you Ser Young and Rachel for being so sporting! :)

And now for the credits!

Shots taken at got Mojo? Camp organised by RedNinja.tv at Corus Paradise Resort, Port Dickson
Models: Sonia & Reyhan
Models: Rachel & Ser Young
Make Up & Hair: Shinny Ong
Gowns by: Pretty In White

Just last week I attended a talk organised by Social Media Club Kuala Lumpur (SMCKL) and it was their fifth one so far. The title of the talk was Government in the Age of Social Media and it featured some very interesting speakers. Of course, the stars of the show were Barisan Nasional’s Khairy Jamaluddin and Pakatan Rakyat’s Tony Pua.

Tina Malone, the press attache from the US Embassy in Malaysia opened the talk. Unfortunately for her, she immediately said that she wasn’t on Twitter (one of the more popular social media channel here) and I think the attention from the audience pretty much went away with that statement.

She probably does her job really well, but to me, she was a bit off the ball here. It was lots of slides, lots of .gov sites, and it was very hard to try and focus on what her message was. At the end, it sounded like the US Government social media strategy was to create lots of sites! I am sure that is not the case but it would have been nice to know what they tried to do in other channels (other than making websites) to drive traffic to these sites.

And how they made use of the results or interaction in the way they run the country.

After her opening talk, it was time for the main show. The forum between Khairy, Tony, Kam Raslan and Tina Malone. Moderated by Asohan, the forum was as I expected, pretty much a showdown between Khairy and Tony. They were pretty civil though, so no drama here.

Khairy was a very good speaker though, and he delivered his points well. I believed he charmed many in the crowd that day but it was obvious that it is a one-man battle against the old dinosaurs still sitting in the cabinet.

Asohan, the moderator, tried to bring in Kam Raslan and Tina occasionally but when every question was directed to what the government is doing, it was hard trying to find a space for them to participate. He did it well though, and even had some gems that got the crowd laughing hard. Somehow, he gave me the impression that he was like a rockstar (retired one :P), rather than the editor I used to call when pitching stories to In.Tech.

Tony Pua probably enjoyed himself, he has the biggest smile of the day most of the time. But to me, if it was a show to swing my vote, Tony Pua didn’t really do himself and the party justice. He sounded even more defensive about the use of social media than Khairy was, and I thought he would be the one that will advocate more usage.

Finally, we have Kam Raslan, who looks older than his picture on the website. Maybe it is time he updated that site, but then again, maybe he wants to hang on to that image. When he hits it, there is definitely some brilliant lines from this man. But most of the time, he was the “kancil” in the middle of the two “gajah”. Best suggestion of the night was definitely abolishing the Ministry of Information if he was made the Minister of Information.

In conclusion, did I get what I wanted from the talk? Not really, it wasn’t a massive eye opener, the answers were pretty much on the safe side and not stuff you wouldn’t expect. But I did learn that the current ruling party and the opposition is not ready to use social media.

Most of them probably wouldn’t even know how to use it efficiently. We have a long way to go, but at least we are starting.

Recently, I went to help out and also cover the THINKCON event held in Sri Cempaka Damansara school. It is a yearly event where kids, parents and teachers gather for a full day of boardgaming fun. And regardless of how electronic gaming incorporates social elements in the game, nothing will ever beat the simple old tabletop gaming.

I am not really a great photographer of people, I prefer our furry and hairier counterparts but I am trying to do people more. This was a game of Ricochet Robots which is a simple game. There’s the robots on the board, and you just need to figure out a way to get the correct robot to the correct location. But trust me, from the look on their faces, you can get quite stumped in figuring out the shortest route.

One thing though, these kids are fast. While I was still looking for the correct robot, they were already screaming out the shortest route. Must be getting old..

This year, there were quite a number of games available for play. As usual, Blokus and Ricochet Robots were the popular choices but there might be a new favourite with a particular hamburger game. There is also the 2-player Ninja vs Ninja which features very cute pieces and the very awesome Pandemic.

There is also the miniature war game, Flames of War but I seriously think that is one big complicated game to teach kids. I am pretty sure the volunteers were having a hard time explaining the gazillion rules to the kids. But they still had fun rolling dice and destroying platoons and tanks though.

I had fun at THINKCON, and I am itching to have another go at Pandemic. Anyone?