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RedNinja.tv got Mojo? Camp

April 27, 2010

Yes I didn’t manage to squeeze in a blog post last week. Why? Mainly I was busy with work, late teleconferences as well as preparing with the RedNinja.tv gang for the got Mojo? seminar and camp over the weekend. Definitely had an amazing time with the participants and all of the great fun and sharing that we had. Totally sapped all of my energy from me until I got sick on Monday when I returned to work.

It was such an honour to have Wiki and Ilona over as the main speakers and I am very sure that the participants had an equally fantastic time as well. Just search for the #gotMojo on Twitter and you will see their responses

Anyway, since a post should not have no images on it, I am going to post some shots which I took over the weekend.

I also liked this shot which Grace shot of me. She said I was doing the macarena which I don’t recall that.

Big credits goes to:

Models: Rachel & Ser Young
Make Up & Hair: Shinny Ong (her work is amazing, just look at the models!)
Gowns by: Pretty In White (Pretty in White was one of our sponsors as well)

Couldn’t have done it without them smile RedNinja.tv got Mojo? Camp

Tags: Camp, got Mojo?, Ilona, Photography, RedNinja, Redninja.tv, Stories.my, Wedding Photography, Wedding Photography Workshop, Wiki Lee
Posted in Photography, Weddings, Workshop | View Comments

Cameron Highlands Trip – Day 2

April 13, 2010

One of the places you must visit when you are at Cameron Highlands is the Boh’ Tea Centre. Getting there is not an easy task and I would really advice against driving cars which are really huge as you might have to squeeze through oncoming traffic on a horrendous narrow path. Also car pool if necessary and try to use a 4 wheel drive just to feel a little bit more at ease.

But once you drive through the horrible stretch of road (don’t forget to honk when you are approaching corners!), you reach the Boh Tea Centre which is surrounded by hills covered with tea leaf plantations. The sight itself was magnificent and you should be catching a couple of glimpses of the scenery on your way to the centre.

The moment you arrive at the parking lot, you get a view of the tea centre where you get to enjoy a nice cup of lovely tea as well as scones and strawberry jam.

Although the walk up there wasn’t exactly an easy one, ok, maybe I was just out of shape. But the climb is definitely bearable and the cool air up there does help a lot.

But once you reach the top, you get welcomed with this incredible view of the valley surrounded with tea plantations.

When I was up there, I ended up taking loads of photos there that I completely forgotten about my tea and scones. Yes, I ate a bit but forgot to take the photos

The houses below are where the workers who worked at the tea plantation lived.

A quick group shot of us while we were still at the top of the tea centre.

Besides just the Boh Tea Plantation, there is another one which you will definitely pass by when you are driving up to Cameron Highlands, and that is the Cameronian Valley.

Personally I liked the view from here a little better and you get to walk through the tea plantation and can take really awesome portrait photos here as well. Make sure that you have good shoes on or else you might slip on the mud.

Frankly I am very proud of Cameron Highlands and it is indeed a great place to chill out, relax with friends and enjoy the cool breeze. Can’t wait to plan my next trip there again and hopefully shoot more of the scenery as well as organize some portrait shoots there.

Also I will be posting up some portrait photos that were taken during the trip there as well in my next post

Tags: Boh Tea Centre, Cameron Highlands, Cameronian Valley, Landscape, Photography, Tea, Tea Leaves, Tea plantation
Posted in Photography, Travels | View Comments

Nico Hulkenberg – AT&T Williams F1 Driver

April 8, 2010

Just only last week did I have the privilege to be able to cover an event at my office. It was a huge event for me to cover mainly because as the title suggests, it was to cover a press conference as well as a meet and greet session with Nico Hulkenberg who is a formula 1 driver for the AT&T Williams team which Accenture has sponsored for the last 16 years.

Nico and his account manager arrived earlier than expected so we brought him through a tour of our office on the 66th floor in Tower 2 at the Petronas Twin tower. Our country managing director was glad to make them a cup of coffee before the press conference and I was glad that they arrived early. That means I get to sneak in a couple of shots in earlier before having to fight with the press photographers later.

The moment we headed down to the 65th floor, there was a flurry of people crowding around the main pantry area trying to get photos as well as a glimpse of Nico. Nico signed two boards before heading to the meeting room where the media was waiting for him.

Straight into the meeting hall, the press conference began with a quick introduction of Nico. It was his first year as a F1 driver following the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton who also won the GP2 and then made his move to F1. To Nico, Shumacher was one of his boy hood heroes of Formula 1 and he must be quite excited since that his first time in F1 and he gets to also race against Michael.

Overall it was a good experience for me but I was sweating like mad in the end and continuing work right after that was definitely not easy. Both Nico and Richard could articulate their answers really well and I really felt that for a 23 years old, he could answer the questions really well. Then again, the questions raised were more personal questions rather than formula 1 related questions.

Before I go, here is a quick photo of me and Nico taken by Kay Nny. Did I mention that Kay Nny was one of the lucky few who won free passes to the Paddock Club?

Nico 300x210 Nico Hulkenberg AT&T Williams F1 Driver

Nico Hulkenberg and me

Tags: Accenture, AT&T, Formula 1, Nico Hulkenberg, Photography, Press Conference, Williams
Posted in Personal, Photography, Portraiture | View Comments

How do you recuperate?

March 29, 2010

After a grueling time throughout yesterday’s wedding shoot, I was just asking myself how does one recuperate from a long day’s work? That got to both me and Grace talking about those photographers who shoot two to three weddings in a row.

Now the story began yesterday when I was up very early for a shoot in Puchong. I dragged myself out of bed at 5ish and reached the groom’s place before 6.30am. By that time I was already wishing that I had slept earlier the night before but thanks to some printer problems, that kept me up till way past midnight. Anyway the shoot went on until about 2pm in the afternoon so that would mean we have already shot for 8 hours non-stop.

During the morning shoot where we were shooting at the indian temple in Shah Alam, we had to go about barefoot and walk around barefooted on the tarred road which was riddled with small pebbles and stones (extremely painful experience). And not to also mention that it was broad daylight and the road was definitely heated up!

By the time I got back home after the shoot, I was completely wiped out and my feet were aching! I just couldn’t help but take a long and refreshing cold shower and rest as much.

Now the question comes to mind, how do you recuperate from a long shoot?

I know some photographers tend to take power naps.

Others might go for foot massages.

Some eat extra energy bars.

Anyone knows a quick and easy way to recuperate some of that lost energy and aching feet? If you do know, please write them down in the comment section.

Note: This question is open to all, not just those in the photography line

Image by Maggie Smith – source

Tags: Aching feet, Personal, Photography, recuperate, relax, rest, Wedding Photography
Posted in Personal, Photography | View Comments

The Nikon Discovery Centre at Berjaya Times Square

March 2, 2010

After it’s inaugural launch a couple of months back, I decided that I needed to send in one of my DSLR bodies to get it’s sensor cleaned. One of the big annoyances I had was that previously, sensor cleaning was a free service which Nikon Malaysia provided but recently since the 1st of February, Nikon has decided to charge for it. Anyway before I head into that bit, I was fairly impressed with the new Nikon Discovery Centre located at Berjaya Times square. A huge difference from the service office located at Menara PKNS at PJ State.

The showcase area wasn’t exactly ginormous or anything but it displayed quite a fair bit of Nikon’s equipment as well as had some 300mm, 400mm and 500mm lens mounted on tripods available to be tested out. I could spy on several taxi drivers sitting by their cars having a smoke and they never suspected a thing. It’s a pity the lenses didn’t reach any of the adjacent buildings but hey, I guess this is one of the few times I ever get to touch one of those huge lenses.

Anyway, back to my purpose of heading to the new centre was to inquire on how long is the current queue it would take to service my cameras which I intend to send them in as well as send in my D700 to have it’s sensor cleaned. Now you must be asking me why would I need to have it cleaned since it had a sensor cleaner in it as well. Well I kept seeing spots in my viewfinder and hence that sort of annoyed the hell out of me.

Upon arrival at the service desk, I was asked to pick a queue number. Now that was a surprise as I was the only person in line. But processes are there for a reason, I know, I implement processes in IT organizations so I do know how effective it might be. The moment I picked the number, it was already my turn so I brought my cameras to the desk and informed the agent that I wanted to have my sensor cleaned and inquired how long it would take to have my cameras serviced.

At that time, she informed me that it could take 7-10 working days so I needed to plan in my time so that I don’t have any shoots at that time and send in my cameras for a thorough servicing. Back to cleaning my sensor, I saw a notice there in regards to the charges and at first I saw a price of RM20 charged. Upon further inspection, I noticed that RM20 was to be charged for cameras which are still under warranty. All I know that, in order to clean the sensor for my D700, it would cost me RM80. That was the price I paid.

Oh well, I guess ever since Nikon has outsourced their services to Futuromic, there has been definitely a lot of good praises about their quality of service. Good things don’t come cheap. Not too annoyed by it, frankly I was glad it took them only 20 minutes to clean it. Now I can really consider getting a sensor cleaner myself and clean my own sensor the next time!

p.s. Even after getting my sensor cleaned, I kept seeing dust in my viewfinder only to find out that the dust is located in the viewfinder and not on my sensor. Just a point to note, the Nikon Center at Berjaya Times square can’t clean the viewfinder and they asked me to go to the Nikon Service Center at PJ State.

Tags: Berjaya Times Square, Nikon, Nikon Malaysia, Photography, Prices, Sensor Cleaning
Posted in Personal | View Comments

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