Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Warning, more images to come :)

As a continuation from my previous blog post, after a heavy buffet lunch at Shangri-La (believe me, the food there was so good that it was so difficult not to want to try everything!), we all proceeded with our own individual assignments. Individual means that we split up into various groups and each group consisted of 4 team members. Each team would have a model assigned to them and we had to split our time to photograph the model.

Both Shen and Hafiz were in my group and I was the 3rd person to have a go. Part of our assignment was that we were able to borrow any of the equipment available there. From the image below, you would know that we took an Ezybox softbox with an SB-900 and an external battery pack together with another SB-900. We also made used of our own equipment as well. Since we only had an hour, we had to decide on our location as soon as we could. We had the beautiful Melissa first.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 16 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Here was Shen attempting his shot with us helping out by carrying the C-Stand

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 17 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2This was my attempt within 10 minutes. Wished I had more time to get the lighting set up a little bit more elaborately ;)

After the hour was up, we moved back into the workshop room where we were assigned another model to work with and we again had the usual 15 minutes. Our next model was Shirlyn who was a professional dancer (you can guess that Joe really likes dancers especially if you have read through both “The Moment it Clicks” and “The Hot Shoe Diaries”).

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 18 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2
My first attempt to begin with one light first before adding in additional lights. The first idea that came into my mind was to try out a multiple exposure shot but with movement but after consulting Joe, that setup would have taken me more than 15 minutes of my allotted time. I then decided that I would stick with the simple double exposure and the results are shown below.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 19 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Double exposure, courtesy of a Nikon technology ;)

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 20 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Since I managed to set things up pretty quickly, we then experimented with a few other shots with a simple two lighting system. Again still sticking to small flashes.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 21 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2After the assignments were over, we gathered downstairs for Joe to show us a little bit more of his concept and his ideas and how he actually came up with the shot.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 22 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Joe took out the big gun for this, the 200mm f/2 lens which is a huge lens and cost a bomb!

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 23 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2

After the workshop ended and Joe had to rush over to Business.FM for a radio interview, we quickly had our books signed as well as took photos with Joe.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 24 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Not forgetting Drew as well :)

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 25 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2Ok, I definitely need to lose lots of weight. Totally put on too much recently.

After the workshop, I had to stay back a while for a secret performance practice which was due to be showcased the day after at Joe’s Seminar. This portion was for Louis’ talk on guerrilla lighting. Whilst waiting for Joe to get back from his interview, Ian was toying around playing with his Alien Bees and while he was still setting up his lights, I took this shot of Melissa using available light.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 26 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2After a brief and expensive juice at the cafe, practice started and I somehow managed to spy this guy in the ballroom taking shots of the practice using an unmarked camera. Some say that it could be a Sony Alpha but others might say that its actually a new Canon. I don’t think it was a Nikon because of shape of it but before I start to speculate, we can’t really really tell what camera is that.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 27 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2An unknown person with a Sony Alpha 5D Mk2

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 28 JoeMcnally’s Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop – Part 2And of course Johan was assisting out the whole day that after almost 16 hours of carrying light stands and small flashes, it seems that he has really gone bonkers ;)

This was how I spent my birthday this year with those crazy photographers as well as the honour and pleasure of meeting Joe and Drew as well as learning from him. I must practice what I learned so do drop me an email if you are interested in having your personal portraiture done.

I spent my birthday which was on the 5th of February at Joe McNally’s workshop here in KL a couple of weeks back. This is of course thanks to Louis from Wedshooter as well as the Wedshooter team who made it all happen. The workshop was a hands-on as well as a full day course which grouped 15 photographers on a Friday in Shangri-La in KL to learn about lighting and get to know Joe a little better.

In case you do not know who Joe McNally is, Joe is the most amazing photographer I have met and you might have probably seen most of his work on the cover of the National Geographic magazine. He is also the author of two amazing books, “The Moment it Clicks” and the more recent “The Hot Shoe Diaries“.

When I got wind that Joe was coming to KL, I was quite excited but a little hesitant as well as I thought that the workshops were going to cost a bomb. Frankly, it was a big sum for me but it was an investment for me. The best part was that I managed to schedule the workshop on the same day as my birthday! (Joe had five 1-day workshops here spanning from the 1st of Feb till the 5th of Feb).

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 01 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1Here is Louis introducing himself as well as Wedshooter.TV before introducing the man of the day.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 02 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1Joe started off the session with some quick introduction about himself as well as his assistance, Drew Gurian. He then went on to get to know each of us and asked us what are our expectations for this workshop. This was good start I felt as I managed to see who the other participants were. There were of course familiar faces in the group as well.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 12 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1

Friends in the photography industry such as Ian, Shen, Edwin, Hafiz and Gabriel were also attendees of the workshop. Funnily, Joe mentioned that our group was the only all guy group. I can see the testosterone levels shooting up, I guess the mix and the environment was a lot more different compared to this workshop. Look at all the female participants there!

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 03 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1Louis, listening intently to the participants as they introduced themselves

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 04 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1That’s Drew over there!

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 05 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1After the rounds of introduction, Joe shared with us some of his videos as well as showed some of his latest work which was absolutely incredible and amazing. What made me smile was that he also had a couple of photos in his portfolio which was shot using available light which was what I normally do. Joe then mentioned that he himself also continued to learn by attending workshops such as the recent one where he attended Jay Maisel’s workshop in NY.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 06 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 07 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1At every workshop which Joe teaches, he carries with him lots of gears. And when I mean lots, I really mean lots! Frankly I didn’t take the rest as there are way too many equipment about to capture it all. But what he had prepared for us included around 16 flashes for us to use, an array of Justin clamps and battery packs, Lastolite softboxes and many many more.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 08 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1I spy the Twin Towers in the LCD screen of Joe’s Nikon D3s

The workshop began with Joe showing us the various equipment that were about in the workshop and then teaching us on how to use them and what the effects of using these equipment would do to an image. After trying out several shots indoor using both a white and black background, we proceeded outdoors to learn more about light shaping tools there.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 09 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 10 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1We also had a journalist in our midst, Jan Shim, hailing from Brunei who was covering the workshop

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 13 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1Then we moved indoors for another shoot again. This time it was in a service corridor where Joe showed us how to use our surroundings to create an amazing shot. Of course Ian had to pose for the shot as he would normally do.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 14 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1Then we headed out again. Here we have Joe’s camera setup to tether on his MacBook Pro which was very helpful for us participants.

JoeMcNallyWorkshop blog 15 JoeMcnallys Hot Shoe Diaries Workshop   Part 1We even had fantastic props to use as backdrops and for our models to pose with. I wish!

After an intense session of learning how to use various light shaping tools as well as understand various light placements, the group adjourned for lunch.

More photos from the workshop as well as our own personal shoots coming soon!

Lunch was good, although I had to run some last minute errands about but what surprised me was when this bit of news was published and what surprised me even more was that I sort of expected it. This is of course thanks to NikonRumors.com who kept on publishing posts about the validity of these lenses and now that it is announced, I said to myself, “hey, its finally out“.

So let’s look at each lens one by one. I think I shall start with the zoom lens first and perhaps save the best for last.

AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

353 2182 AF S NIKKOR 16 35mmf4G ED VR The new Nikon 16 35mm f/4 lens and the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 lens

When Nikon discontinued the older 17-35mm f/2.8 lens, I thought that they sort of made a mistake or perhaps was thinking of a replacement lens that is within the 17-35mm focal length. Nikon already at that time had the 14-24mm lens so that was one of the ways moving forward I guess but since Canon had the cheaper 17-40mm f/4 lens which is the younger brother of the more expensive 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, then I guess this must be Nikon’s answer to that as well.

The specs does look impressive, but the biggest surprise to me was the inclusion of VR in the lens. Yes, this lens has VR (Vibration Reduction) which is the same VR system used in the newer 70-200mm VRII lens. This system allows you to shoot at 4 stops below what you might normally shoot without VR. I ask myself, “why would anyone place VR for such a short focal length lens?“. But hey, after 20 seconds of thinking, VR rocks!

On top of that, it has AF-S meaning it uses Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor which sums up to “super duper focusing speeds with vibration reduction”. The lens is coated with Nikon’s Nano treatment and it has a minimum focal distance of 0.29m which is 0.01m more than the 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. Who gives a damn about this kind of shit?

Anyway, what is interesting to me is the focal length. If I were to shoot with two FX bodies (full frame DSLR cameras), this lens would definitely be extremely useful. One of my shooting styles is to shoot with either a 50mm/85mm prime on my FX body and the 14-24mm on my DX body so that I get a slightly different range so that when I do take group shots, the group isn’t too distorted. Now if I were to shoot with two FX bodies, this style would be quite tough because the 14-24mm might be too wide on a FX body and I have to get real close to my subjects hence the 16-35mm definitely comes in very very handy.

Price for this camera is currently set at USD$1259.95 which translates to about RM4330.35.

Expected release date for this lens is end February 2010, maybe later for us here in Malaysia.

AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED

353 2184 AF S NIKKOR 24mm f1.4G ED The new Nikon 16 35mm f/4 lens and the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 lens

Now I am very fond of prime lenses and I definitely love shooting with them and keeping them wide open to enjoy nice crisp images as well as feel the extensive bokeh out of them due to its ability to photograph things at very very shallow depth of fields. After releasing the DX 35mm f/1.8G lens and the 50mm FX f/1.4G lens, it seems that Nikon is on a roll here with the 24mm f/1.4G lens. Note, the G means that these are the digital versions of these lenses where there is no aperture ring control on them.

The big difference with these lenses is with the AF-S motor on the lens allowing the lower end models such as the D40, D60, D5000 and others to be able to enjoy autofocusing using these prime lenses. The lens is coated with the same nano treatment and it has a minimum focusing distance of 0.25m.

Frankly, I definitely see myself using this lens for my portraiture and wedding work but I am still a little sceptical on whether I really need one. You see, I have been having an epiphany lately especially when it comes to purchasing more photography equipment. The ever lasting battle of “needs” versus “wants” still prevail in my thoughts and of course the price tag is helping me decide whether I should get it or not.

Price for this lens is currently set at USD$2199.95 which translates to about RM7561.23.

This is an insane amount and I think I would rather replace my older 80-200mm lens with the newer 70-200mm f/2.8 lens first before considering getting this prime. Although I know it would definitely make a lot of difference in my work, I am still learning how to use more of my wide angle lenses. At 24mm, I already have my 14-24mm as well as 24-70mm lenses but I don’t get to enjoy anything less than f/2.8 at those ranges. Perhaps I might need to try it out first, so if anyone of you are rushing to get one, do let me try playing with it :D

So aside from being an extreme gear head and avoid all forms of temptation, as how energy cannot be destroyed but only converted, I shall now convert my extreme temptations into a blog post so that I can tempt my readers out there instead.

Have a great day ahead, stop drooling over those lenses ;)

I finally gotten around to compile some of the portrait photos I have taken recently, and by recently I mean quite a while back. Anyway it was one of the requirements which Grace gave me and asked me to do which was due in January last month. Well, all I can say that it is always better to be late than never! :D

The slideshow contains some of the portraiture sessions which I shot whether it may be a couple portraiture, to a personal profile image as well as behind the scenes shoot.

p.s. Make sure that the video has fully loaded before playing it to enjoy the full experience

Portrait Collection

Do let me know what you think of the slideshow in the comments section, thanks!

I am sure many of you would have heard about this fantastic landmark situated in New York, off Manhattan Island. What a lot of people might not know about is Ellis Island. When I was traveling around in that region, there were many options to choose from and I always planned that I will head back to New York again in the future.

There are a couple of ways to actually see the Statue of Liberty, you can take a helicopter tour where the Statue would be extremely small. Of course that would cost you quite a fair bit but you get to enjoy the view of New York. If money is of a concern of you, then you can also take the Staten Island Ferry which is free! Only thing is that you need a 300mm lens to get a good view of the Statue of Liberty.

The last option, which was the option I took, was that I bought a City Pass (USD$79) that allows me to go to various tourist attractions around New York at a cheaper rate. The pass provided a tour which visits the Statue of Liberty as well as Ellis Island.

NewYorkPart2 007 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty

NewYorkPart2 008 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Above were some of the shots that were taken from the ferry before docking on the island. I was amongst everyone else trying to get a view of the Statue and trust me, there were plenty of people pulling out their cameras and video cameras capturing the spectacular sight of a huge statue before us.

The first thing we did after we landed on the island was to get some lunch and walk around the park enjoying the cool New York breeze. It was a tad bit cold that day (I was wearing shorts at the time!) but it was still bearable thanks to my natural insulation ;)

NewYorkPart2 011 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

There is also a museum located at the back of the Statue of Liberty but note that the City Pass does not cover the cost of going into the museum nor does it allow you to enter the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately at that time we were there, they hadn’t open the entrance or the section which allowed visitors to climb all the way to the torch of the statue.

NewYorkPart2 010 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

All we could do was to admire the statue from the base. Of course besides just the statue, there is a gift shop and a restaurant which serves fish and chips.

NewYorkPart2 013 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

The park was also filled with mini statues of various guys, I think they were the architects who build the statue. I think.

After debarking from Liberty Island, the ferry wouldn’t head back to Manhattan Island but it brings everyone to Ellis Island. Now you might have heard about Ellis Island from one of the popular movies, Hitch, starring Will Smith. In the show, his first date with Sara Melas (played by Eva Mendes) was at Ellis Island. So it was pretty cool to actually walk around the huge museum.

NewYorkPart2 016 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

There were many tours about including live shows where actors would act out the reenactment of the people who traveled from around the world to head to New York to find a better life.

NewYorkPart2 015 Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Talking about the number of immigrants, it sort of also reminded me of the old show, Gangs of New York where there were plenty of Irish immigrants in New York at that time.

So if you are in the New York area, these are one of the must go to places.

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