shoot off high!

click on the image for larger view.

My flickr stat for 24th June suddenly shoot off up to 233 views for the day alone! Haha!

And no, its not because of my half nude shots, silly you. People keep on viewing my street photos of late. That, and shots of my two tabby sweethearts. Thank you! Stats keeps me on track on what the viewers want to see, what they enjoy looking at the most (and no, not just nude photos. duh.) and this helps me to improve a lot. From my reference, viewers love colors with creativity injects to it. Sounds easy but very challenging indeed. Black and white is still a classic favorite, nonetheless.

Have you checked out Malaysia Street Photography - A Story in a Single Frame yet? :)

Malaysia Street Photography - A Story in a Single Frame

This is what i'm up to for the past few hours :

http://www.flickr.com/groups/malaysia-streetphotography/

Group members are growing by minutes now. I'm all excited to share my new found interest: street photography; with everyone!

Feel free to join if you are already a flickr member. But if you are not, you are always more than welcome to be a part of the flickr fun :) Click on the above link (or copy and paste it into your web browser). Then you can see what this group is all about!



street photography June 2008 - Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
An indian guy having his regular haircut.

Every soul in the universe has its own story. Be it simply a child with a lollipop in his/her hand, a dude taking the trash out or a lady planting flowers, there are always an untold stories behind everyday life as WE see it. Malaysia Street Photography is a way we channel those unfold stories which has its own mystery, its own drama and its own agenda.

Who knows, all those uploaded shots might change someone's life or inspire those who have the passion for street photography.

Thank you to all the group members for the support by signing up and taking a few minutes to post up a pic or two. Appreciate it a lot! Looking forward for more participations and street documentations!

grrrreat!

L-R : Han Ghazi, MN, Matt Marzuki, Ibah

I’ve been planning my life the past few months that it drains me out a little bit. Spent a lot of time resolving a few issues. Wheww, looking at my cards I’m pretty scared to realize that there’s actually a lot of things to be done, to be accomplish, to be enjoyed before I hit the big three-oh.

It has been a slow but tough ride for me. There are quite a handful of great opportunities laid at my feet that sometimes I am totally clueless of which to pick. I missed to join the Singapore International Photography Festival due to lack of time to which i'm a bit frustrated of. 

Saturday, finally managed to put my energy into good use. MN, Han, Matt and I headed to Kuala Kubu Bharu for some street shooting. It felt good walking around the quiet town once again, greeting folks in between cursing my camera. I kept forgetting to check the white balance and for a minute, I thought I’ve lost the ability to remember anything. After slurping some chendol we headed to Han family’s farm not far from the pekan.

It’s huuuugeeee. Twas pretty adventurous getting there and we were greeted by three fierce dogs barking at us like mad. They were the big farm’s guardians, mind you. Had fun sightseeing around the ranch. Felt like a kid again feeding the goats and hopping on the tractor with MN who thinks that he’s a tractor driver.

Sunday, I got my ‘thang’ planned out well for MN’s advance birthday celebration. I felt totally overwhelmed with my own table setting. Uhuu. Here’s what I did for the simple, modern English table setting at the park:

1- blue table cloth (disposable)

2- white table runner

3- matching English-looking plates and cups (also disposable)

4- white lilies matched with orchids for the centrepiece

And as for the food, I served tea, tarts, cookies and cuppycakes and special Belgian chocolates added as a gift. I forgot the rose petals, sadly.

Han called in to invite us for dinner, as she wanted to cook the ikan talapia she bought from the farm. Still very much in my ‘party-planner-with-david tutera’ mood, I offered to do her dinner table and bring in dessert. MN did the napkin while I got the candles and potpourri ready. My goodness, the dinner was superb! It was just a simple meal for four but boy, that fish sure taste great! Sedapnya Han masak! By the time dinner is finished, Lyanna was mad (but happy) for having us stuffing her tummy good!

Thank you, Han!

My little time-lapse work for 24 KL Long Photos - A KLickr project would be showcasing in the Urbanscapes on Saturday. Something to brag about? Not really, i still am sad about the SIPF thingy. LOL. But the rest of the KLickr members had done a grrreat job for the project! Big round applause for everyone! Yayyy!

the photographer and the lighting man :P

clockwise: MN, ibah, Han Ghazi, Lyanna Johan

As my horoscope reads:

Ibah,

Your best course of action at the moment may be to fall silent and let the facts do the talking. Everything you do today will be part of a learning curve. Accept it for what it is and keep from letting it bring you down. Consider finding a new territory if you want to make a fresh start.

lol~ 

And i'm adding this today (18th June 2008)

Ibah,

As far as you're concerned, there is no such thing as being too involved. Resist the lure of something that is obviously bad for you. You must be willing to break out of a downward spiral by accepting the inevitable. The line between the foolish and the wise has never been more clearly drawn. 

Seriously! LOL~

of photography.

My best friend Salmi often reminds me of my dream job when I was in high school; to be a fighter pilot. Honestly, I myself never remember about it but it’s one of our favorite subject to mention every time we hang out. ‘Ibah nak jadi fighter pilot,’ she would often says. Me? A fighter pilot? Crazy, innit?

When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be a painter.
When I was in primary school, I wanted to be a cartoonist.
When I was in high school, I wanted to be a fighter pilot.
When I got my first boyfriend at age sixteen, I wanted to be a writer.
When I was about to hit college, I wanted to be a fashion designer.

But now at age twenty five, I am juggling (even though struggling seems to be the better term) between two professions: designer and photographer. I am not a cartoonist or a fighter pilot nor am I a fashion designer.

Do you still remember when you’re a kid? You want to be everything. You want to be a part of this world; participate in causes, fight for your rights, dip your toe in one job and try another. But as you get older, you sail yourself towards one direction and you cruise swiftly. You know how to handle the wind and not afraid of the storm. You, shall I put it in one word; grow up.

And growth never stops. It strengthen your root, just like an oak tree.

I hope I am growing myself upward in terms of work. Branch out more skills and creativity. Looking out for the sunlight to seek development. It has been a worrying subject for me the past few months. I am lucky enough, however, to be surrounded by creative friends who have been a great help. They inspire me in their own special way. I had an interesting conversation with Adrian last Friday over fries and coke. Of future plans, of family, of religion and belief, of what we seek in life. ‘What’s your dream, Ibah?’, he asked.

The question leads me back to my memories as a kid; of all the dream jobs I wanted to be involved in. It took me a deep breath before I could answer him. As he listened to my part of stories, he smiled and told me ‘go ahead and do it.’

I wanted to believe that photography is my destiny. To be able to follow this passion of mine, even crawling, is more than fortunate for me. To be able to do it as both hobby and work, is a big bonus. I see myself as someone without any highly skill except for the basic shutter and speed knowledge. All I care about is how my end result would look like; ‘Does my photograph capture the emotions that I want to convey?’ The whole years I’ve been working on my photography skill, the vital thing I’ve learnt throughout my involvement in photography is the ability to see something beyond the generic.

This ability, is it a talent that could be mastered or is it already within oneself? I have to say, it’s a mixture of both. Nowadays, everyone can take photographs. Photos of some written words on the wall, abandon building through tall grasses, movement of people on the street; as long as one takes it using a camera, it is considered a photography. So how do you differentiate a normal photograph with an extraordinary one?

It could be the color.
Or the dramatic mono treatment.
The subject. The angle.
The one tiny piece of thing that the ordinary eyes could miss.
It could even be a blend of all of these elements.

I have spent a lot of time looking at hundreds of pictures trying to figure out the apparatus of producing a magnificent piece. I believe that one have to be genuine with photography. From the heart, through the lens and out comes undisputable real photographs. Every other things are just mechanics.

To this date, I have enjoy myself photographing all manners of things, from architectural to products shoots to nudity. From films to digital, from producing images using darkroom to experimenting with digital darkroom, I have taken great personal pleasure in all of them. I too, have gone through stages of criticism from respectable peers along the way to which I built much clearer understanding on photography.

To recount my childhood reverie of being a fighter pilot, do check out my series of catching airplanes at KLIA last weekend in my flickr. My career may not be as jet-setting, but photography remains a happy pursuit, imaginary and always a worthwhile journey.