Streets Pictures

It took a trip to Bangkok few months back for me to realize taking street pictures are not as difficult.  

Lomography Horizon Perfekt. CN film, f/8 1/250 ASA100 

I'm still way far from real street photography where the pros are bold enough to shoot at 3 metres or nearer, practically placing the camera right on the nose of some strangers on the streets.



Fuji X100. 23mm f/5.6 500/1 ISO500

I noticed the shotgun with a (real?) dagger attached, so I decided to 'shoot' him from the back :)  

With friendlier faces however (for example Mr & Mrs Santa - Yes, it was Christmas!), I had no problem asking permission to get a close-up though.


Fuji X100. 23mm f/3.2 250/1 ISO320

On the streets, I used to rush from Point A to Point B, walking quickly ignoring the people I don't know.  Seldom did I give a thought to anything I saw if that was not what I was looking for.  However, since I started learning to take picture on the streets it makes me more observant of the going-ons around me, and I tend to slow down and not hurry to get to my next destination. 


Lomography LC-W. CN Film Auto ASA400

Noticed we don't see glass Coke bottles in KL?


iPhone 4. Auto

Street pictures are rewarding; it's a new experience for me and it makes me appreciate photography better.  And I may be lucky enough and offered another Lollie :)


Lomography LC-W. CN Film Auto ASA400

Take A Breather

Fuji X100. 23mm f/2 1/250 ISO800.

Even though the planet is round, there are just too many spots where you can find yourself hanging on to the edges... This guy chooses to slow down and take shelter at a corner to find peace.

Faces of KLCC

The KLCC Twin Towers has been there, as an iconic building for the past 15 years or so.  It's one of the 'must photograph' items for all, locals and tourists alike - including myself :)  



Doesn't matter the surrounding patchy potholed roads, lousy fenced-up taxi systems, over-crowded mall with foreign workers and window shoppers during the public holidays, the eyesore of smokers gathering at the entrances polluting the air, etc, as we are not going to discuss it in this post; this 88-level building, once the highest in the world, does make an attractive photo shoot subject.

I can't help but noticing this building as long as I'm in the KL city, even when I'm inside another building!



I've taken many shot shots of the Twin Towers for the past years, most of time by chance - glance through the windows, look up from inside the car during the usual traffic jams, walking in the park... and "hey! look, it's the Twin Towers!" and "click"...



... even in reflections, or distorted view during a rain.



Bored while waiting for the wife and daughters shopping in the KLCC mall?  Bring along the camera :)

  

Even an old-school film camera - this was shot with negative film, using the Lomography Horizon Perfekt.



Day or night, and anytime in betweens, you'll find many different faces of this building. 



... even when it's totally blurred :)

What's in a good photo?

I found this picture which I took with my HP iPAQ few years back - 



This photo was taken not with the usual feel of joy and anticipation as I pressed the shutter (the 'Enter' key, in this case with the iPAQ), but with anxiety and even fear as I made this shot from the wheelchair. I was waiting outside the Echocardiography Room in the hospital one late night, while the radiographers were making the preparations.  

What followed the days after were more radiography sessions, needles, medications, surgery, ICU, physiotherapy sessions, etc.  

This photo reminds me of how much this has changed my life - my job, my family, my lifestyle, even my weight (I lost 10kg ever since!) and my philosophy towards life and almost everything else (except my love for photography).   

This picture may be just another badly composed photo to everyone else, what's more it was shot with a low-res, low-tech phone camera; but it has such great emotional impact on me, and I could really 'feel it' every time I look at it.  

So, I think this is one bloody good take :)

(I hope you like it too!)

2 Sides

Who has divided the patio, the lines of trees or the sunlight?

Edit or not?

I get asked very often, "you edit your photos!?"


Abuden?  You believe your favorite CDs were recorded straight to disk, no masters, no mixing and editing? Your bowl of noodles were just boiled with water and flour? And you think your favorite politicians must be talking straight from their mouths without going through their brains!  Oh... that last one may be true ;-/



Yes I edit my photos, almost everyone of them, from minor cropping and contrast, white balance adjustments to 'major makeover', e.g. adding filters, touching up the images, etc.

 

There's no such thing as "presenting the photos as they are"; I choose to retain control of processing my photos, rather than turn processing over to someone else - a lab (for films) or the camera's built-in software.  

 

The films' characteristics, the chemicals used and even the printer's capabilities produce different print qualities.  Same goes to the software, lenses and mechanical differences in digital cameras.  The 'untouched' pictures will only reflect the camera's characters, rather than the photographer's creativity to tell the story he wants to tell.  

 


Options to make the photos in the darkroom (develop the films, scan the films, print the photos on the enlarger) or on the computer (edit the photos with software) make photos look better, and you are
definitely missing 50% of fun in photography if you are a 'straight shooter'!

 

With editing, the limitations of a camera can be pushed even further; the creativity of the photographer is not capped by the technologies, no matter how advanced or simple the equipment used, but rather benefited from them. 

 

For this reason, I love seeing someone enjoying a simple plastic camera as much as a Leica :)


p/s.  How do the pros make awesome photos with simple cameras, with some editing thrown in? Check this out - 

Shooting Strangers

It's like people watching, just with a camera to record the moment.  Walking around with a camera, even a phone camera, can bring surprises!

Some people are very good at this, like some street photographers, who are able to shoot at a decisive, witty or poignant moment to capture that 'precise shot' to tell a story.




I, for one, am camera-shy - behind the lens when shooting strangers.  I guess it takes that 'hunter instinct' to become a street photographer, that you are not shy (or feeling uneasy) of simply just jump infront of the intended subject, shoot and walk-away cooly YET (praying hard that) the subject would not be offended and got angry and started bashing me with an umbrella or something...



I kept my distance, and chose to 'shoot safe' at a distance or at a subject I was quite sure would not attack me!



But I'm getting a little bored lately and started thinking I may want to get a little more adventurous and try out real street photography ;)

Any street photographers out there to give me some pointers? 

Fun with Downgrading

It doesn’t make sense to still have fun after downgrading your gear, especially in photography?  On the contrary, while I dream of Hasselblad and Leica and Nikon D4 everyday, I actually found some good fun downgrading my lenses to some cheapo plastics!  And I’m talking about a budget starting from RM70 (US$22) vs. RM20,000 (US$6,200)!

(

Nikon D100 mounted with Holga 60mm

 

I’ve decided to proceed with this more achievable project first, while figuring of ways to fund my other  (Hasselblad and Leica and Nikon D4) projects…  I ditched the Sigma zoom from my ever-faithful Nikon D100, and mounted a Holga lens I bought online (holgadirect.com) for about US$20, and I instantly start shooting highly saturated colors and heavily vignetted pictures, and there’s no need of any filters!

 Nikon D100 mounted with Holga Fisheye

You may call this a ‘hybrid’ camera – digital camera with a analog lens – or anything you want, but the pictures are just amazing.   Soft-focused, low-res look, uneven light distribution, and all the no-no of a modern DSLR qualities are exactly what you are getting out of this lens J

 

But for some strange reasons, it simply looks nice and cool. 

 Nikon D100 mounted with Holga Fisheye

While the Leica-Hasselblad-D4 Project is still very much up there, I’ve no regret downgrading.  I’ve even started to take a bigger interest in analog/film photography.  More on this later ;-)

Nikon D100 mounted with Holga 60mm



My Nikon mounted with the Holga 60mm (Shot using an iPad!)