Outdoor wedding portraiture - Musawwir & Wanni

I was commissioned by the married couple for their outdoor portraiture. Wanni used to work at my office has been following my works for quite some time. She wanted the outdoor shoot to have some sort of dreamy effect. Knowing what exactly she wanted, me, Raz and Sarip arranged the shoot to be done somewhere in Ulu Yam.

Congratulations for the newly wed ;)
There's a few more photos. Will upload 'em and add on to this post later tonight.

A mesmerizing smile - feat. Nurul

This was shot during the same session the tale of the woods were shot. This time the model is Nurul. She has a mesmerizing smile, and it's very evident in this shot!

A mesmerizing smile - feat. Nurul

Strobist info:

Metz 1/1 power shoot thru large diffuser model left.
SB800 1/4 power shoot bare behind model.

Model - Nurul
Make up - Su Yin
Art direction - Me
Lighting - Me
Team- Yong, Sarip, Morph
Location - Lake Gardens

Tale of the Woods - featuring Ayu Samsudin

Strobist shoot organized at the Lake Gardens with a couple friends (Sarip, Morpheuse, Yong, Raz, Paklan). We had a blast during that day. Metz flash was shot thru a large diffuser model left for fill, and another flash from behind model, about 3-4 meters away to create a backlight on the tree and the model.

Strobist info:

Metz 1/1 power shoot thru large diffuser model left.
SB800 1/2 power shoot bare behind model.

Model - Ayu Samsudin
Make up - Su Yin
Art direction - Me
Lighting - Me
Assist - Yong, Sarip, Morpheuse
Location - Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur

KL Sentral Urbanscape

I frequently go to or pass by KL Sentral for meetings or hanging out with buddies, but I haven't really brought my camera to shoot those awesome architectures there. One fine day, I took my Hassy together with me, and with a fellow photographer, Sarip @ Guillotineman, we went for a quick scout with our cameras.

I love this shot with the train passing by in between the high rise buildings. Very modern look.

A shot looking up the tall buildings. I love the lines and the curves in the shot. Some gave feedback that they prefer some details of the skies as in this one the skies are blown. I personally think that the skies details does not carry any significant meaning to the shot as the key elements are the two buildings, colored in shades of grey. IMO, the blown skies contributed to a simple yet elegant look to the shot. Skies with details would've distracted viewers' eyes from concentrating on the lines and curves of the buildings. That's what I think. Others might have a different opinion. Either way, I appreciate the view.

This is another shot on the other side of KL Sentral. The building where the train came out from is the city's main transportation hub, linking up 5 train lines and services, including an express rail service to the airport in Sepang, city bus service as well as taxi services. I also like this shot because as you can see on the background to the right, there's massive building construction going on. In a couple years, this shot will be appreciated even more because another shot from this angle will have buildings (which will probably be taller than the KL Sentral itself) surrounding it, not like what can be seen today..

All shots were shot with a Hasselblad 553ELX with CZ 50mm Distagon on Kodak Tri-X400, developed with Rodinal 1:60, 14mins @ 20C.

Beautiful Provia!

Since I started playing with film camera, I've always wanted to shoot with slides or color positive films despite the higher processing costs. Tested a roll of Provia 100 and boy was I happy. Here's a detailed shot of the Chin Swee Temple in Genting Highlands demonstrating the beautiful colors of Provia.

An architectural study,
Chin Swee Temple, Genting Highlands, January 2010
Yashica MAT 124G | Provia 100

Passing By triptych

I was working on a project to capture the life at the KTM station at Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin with a group of PhotoMalaysia.com members. The project was shot entirely with film. A lesson learnt during the execution of this project. Visit the site repeatedly. There will always be something new to be captured. Always look from a different perspective on the subsequent visits. Try to live the life. Be the workers, be the passengers instead of being the tourist.. if you see the place from a tourist's point of view, then what you'll get are tourists' shots.

For this particular trip, I brought my Linhof Technika V (which I have sold off recently) to the station. At this time, the station was dimly lit. I resorted to a ASA3200 to limit motion blurs. A 3 stop push during developing process was required.

On to the triptych shot. I saw a man and a elder lady waiting for the last train to come on the platform they're facing. Between those two, there were very little activity done by them. They were just waiting there patiently, very less movement. I knew there will be a train coming on the platform behind them, and there will be activities happening behind them, adding a dynamic element into the almost static shot. A triptych of a train passing by would definitely show how time passes by as opposed to waiting. See it large on flickr.

Passing By, Triptych, KTMB KL station, February 2010
Linhof Super Technika V | Kodak Tri-X400 pushed to 3200
Rodinal 1:100 for 120mins @24C semi-stand development. Slow inversion first minute, 10sec gentle swirl every 30mins.
Ilfostop 1 min 30 sec
Ilford Rapid Fixer 4 mins 30 sec

Temple in the Clouds

I went up to the Chin Swee Temple in Genting Highlands to capture something special there, if there is any. It was around 10-11am if I'm not mistaken, a sudden rush of fog started to engulf the temple, creating a sense of mystical atmosphere to the environment. This is what I was looking for! Went up one of the trails to get a higher point of view of the temple, and make my shot. This shot was actually untitled (as you can see on flickr), but when I was about to write about this shot, it finally struck me! "Temple in the Clouds" .. yea, that's it, "Temple in the Clouds".

Temple in the Clouds, Genting Highlands, December 2009
Yashica MAT 124G, Kodak Tri-X 400
Ilford LC29 1+29, 7mins @24C, agitation continuous first 30sec, 10 sec every subsequent minute
Ilfostop 1 min
Ilford Rapid Fixer 4 mins

Vacancy For Two - Charcoal Factory, Kuala Sepetang

Had an opportunity to visit again the Charcoal Factory in Kuala Sepetang, Perak a couple months back to make some photos using my Yashica MAT 124G. Shot about 2-3 rolls of B&W film there. One of the shot was taken then I saw a chair and a bicycle parked next to each other, with some light from the outside. There was something special about this shot. Went back home, developed the roll and scanned the shot. Was very happy with the outcome.

Vacancy for Two, Kuala Sepetang, January 2010
Yashica MAT124G | Ilford HP5+ 400.
Ilford LC29 1+29, 6mins 15sec@24C, agitation continuous first 30sec, 10 sec every subsequent minute
Ilfostop 1 min
Ilford Rapid Fixer 4 mins

Several months later, a very good friend has offered to print it for me. Here's a scan of the print that he did. There's 2 versions of the print.

Version 1 - Paper - Ilford MGWTFB, Lith Printing and Selenium toning



Version 2 - Paper - Ilford MGWTFB, Lith Printing, Selenium toning, Bleached and Redeveloped

Thank you Morpheuse for the prints =)

Lady Golfers

I have collaborated with Malaysia Golf Portal (MGP) to do a golf portraiture for them. The MGP team provided the models, the makeup and the venue for the shoot, MST Golf sponsored the golf apparels and clubs, while I went in with my team (BeruangPutih and Raz Mohamed) on the lighting and execution of the shots. We had a fun day. Thank you Ronald and the MGP team, MST, Beruang Putih, Raz, Min, Melissa :)

Goofy Golfer - Model : Min Ismail



Strobist info:

580exII bare 1/2 power on talent left
430ex softbox 1/1 power angled from the top pointing down on camera left.


At the 19th hole - Models : Min Ismail (left) and Melissa Tan (right)



Strobist info:

580exII 1/4 power bare about 45degrees behind model left
430ex 1/4 power bare about 45 degrees behind model right
SB800 1/1 power with shoot-thru umbrella camera top right

Baby Portraiture - Nik Zara Ariana

I am guilty for not updating my blog for quite sometime. Please forgive me again =).
A good friend and his wife has requested me to shoot their first baby's portrait. Nik Fariz and his wife Nisa is a close friend of me and my wife. Fariz used to be my partner in wedding shoots as well as other jobs. It was a pleasure having to shoot their princess's portrait. Zara, was 4 months old during this shoot.

Strobist info
580exII 1/4 power shot thru white umbrella camera top left.
430ex 1/8 power reflected with whiteboard on baby left.

The shoot took several hours. We took a break between shots for the baby to rest. Zara was a doll. She is not a camera shy girl. It can be seen from the shots above. Then we put her on her baby chair for some sitting shots.

The room was quite chilly, so it was very comfortable for Zara. During the sitting shoot, Zara fell asleep! I took the chance to shoot this moment and she was so adorable! Here's a triptych of her dozing off on her chair!

It was a great shoot for all of us. Shared the shots with the proud parents, and they were happy =) I hope I will be given a chance to shoot her for the next 20 years! Then I will have a complete series of Zara growing up..