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..

Going larger than 35mm..

A couple months back, I took the plunge venturing into film photography. The chosen format, medium. My first medium format camera is a Yashica MAT124G that shoots in 6x6cm format.





Yashica MAT124G is the last model of the Yashica TLR. TLR stands for Twin Lens Reflex where it uses 2 lenses, one for viewing, one for shooting. Made between 1970 till 1986, this camera is basically a copy of Rolleiflex, hence similarities in controls configuration. Equipped with a built-in lightmeter, Yashica MAT124G is a perfect tool to start your journey into the medium format world.

Lovely camera, takes both 120 and 220 type films be it. Market price is around RM650-850 for a used unit, depending on condition.

I've been shooting for a couple months now with my Yashica MAT124G, and I'm loving it!
Will share some of the works soon =)