First Pano outing and I forgot the bottom plane!

It rained last night, which meant that there will be good weather in the morning. True enough it was. I went out to shoot a panorama of Kuala Lumpur's sunrise via Kampung Baru flats. My art director friend, Khairul Hasbullah has been kind enough to share me the shoot spot. I'd also like to thank my buddy Azwan for agreeing to come along and shoot together.

It was my fault that Azwan and I arrived late on location. The consequences of that was we saw the light diminishing as we went up the 16th floor.

With my mind only set to "chase the light", I completely forgot to shoot a 45degree plane facing the floor, rendering my spherical pano somewhat incomplete. You'll know what I mean when you check out the pano below.

I love exploring new challenges and this is one of them. Challenges gives me room for improvement. That being said, I'm definitely revisiting this spot for a better photo.

Enjoy!

Here's the still image from the Kampung Baru flats. This is nothing compared to various photographers shooting better versions of this shot.

To view the 360 spherical panorama, CLICK HERE.

Test Shots: Stepping into Landscape and Panorama Work

It's been a while since I last toyed the idea of getting into 360 degree panorama (spherical panorama). Recently, I've acquired a solid panorama head called "Nodal Ninja 3". This evening, I've set foot to a nearby spot not far from my home to test out the equipment. I couldn't wait for good weather to test this out so I went anyway despite the grey weather. It was raining before I got to the location and what was left was just gray sky.

Oh ya, to those who are wondering what lens I was using for this shoot, it was the Canon 17-40mm f4. I don't have a fisheye lens (which would help reduce the rotation stops) so I used the widest zoom setting (17mm) for this lens. I set the panohead to click at every 45 degree intervals. That means there were 8 stops before we come full circle.

Anyway, here are the results of this test.

Please note: The following examples are TEST SHOTS in BAD WEATHER (and not so favorable location).

As you can see, from ground up: my tripod, ballhead, the auto-leveler (blue dials), Nodal Ninja 3 panorama head, and finally, my camera. The orange coloured thing on my hotshoe, near the viewfinder is an orange sticker on my remote release receiver. This image was from my phone's camera.

Here's the still shot from the panorama head. Works great!

To view the 360 spherical panorama, CLICK HERE.

Right after Maghrib prayers, I headed out to take another test shot. It was too late and there was no light. I took it anyway.

The lotus in the river made the reflections seems patched. Definitely a bad time to shoot on both counts.

Tearsheet: Human Resources Magazine Malaysia, October 2013 issue

Made the cover for this month for Human Resources Malaysia, October 2013 issue featuring Mehtap Yanmaz Keles, HR Director for Tesco Malaysia. Interview by Iris Lee, Make up by Liza Badarudin, Art Direction by Khairul Hasbullah.

The lovely Mehtap Yanmaz Keles

This is the final shot for the aisle view. Art Director has envisioned this fantastic spread.

Test shot for today's assignment.

Today's test shot for a lovely assignment. We love the location. Went home with a very nice goodie bag too.

Tearsheet: A+M Magazine August 2013

Made the cover for Advertising+Marketing Magazine, August 2013 issue. Featuring Herry Budiazhari from Unilever Malaysia.

Made the cover for Human Resources Magazine Malaysia, JULY 2013

I had a fun time shooting this cover and spread for Human Resources Magazine Malaysia, July 2013 issue. Our subject this time is Rowena Florece from Microsoft Malaysia. Art Direction by Khairul Hasbullah. Make-up by Liza Badarudin.

Tearsheet: Advertising+Marketing magazine, May 2013

Made the cover for Advertising+Marketing magazine, May 2013.

Tearsheet: Human Resources Magazine, May 2013 issue

Made the cover for Human Resources Malaysia magazine. Shot at FOTOMOMO STUDIO.

The Photographer's Suitcase: What you should have in your wardrobe

Here's a quick blogpost for Malaysian Photographers.

Nobody has really said it formally, but dress codes can be tricky. Nevertheless, here are some wardrobe list that I think any photographer, especially in Malaysia should have in their suitcase. Hope this helps.

I understand that everyone is unique and there's a wide range of the type of photography work is around. This is not a compulsory dress code, but I think it's essential for every photographer to have at least one of these wardrobe suggestions in their collection.

The concept of a photographer's wardrobe is to create as little attention to ourselves as possible. In other words, try to dress so that you can blend-in with the crowd and be invisible. This will allow us to take the attention away from us and actually focus on getting our shots.

These are some basic suggestions, based on what I do have, and usually wear on a shoot, meeting, or presentation. It works well for me.

For female photographers, the concept is the same, dress to create less attention to yourself.

Keywords to note when it comes to dressing for a shoot:

• Invisible
• Less attention
• Sharp
• Clean
• Neat
• Smart
• Professional
• Comfortable

For formal events, dinners, launches.

Combo 1: General corporate events

1. Black shirt, long sleeve
2. Black trousers
3. Black (polishable) shoes

Combo 2: Suits

1. Black suit (with black trousers)
2. White shirt
3. Tie of your choice (possibly that doesn't attract attention: plain coloured, grey, dark blue or black)

For Royal occasions, Malay weddings

1. Black baju Melayu with complete buttons
2. Black songkok
3. Black and gold sampin
4. Black (polishable) shoes

Casual work, for commercial, on-location

1. Jeans (either black or blue), but not worn out or seasoned. You wanna look sharp.
2. Cargo pants or Khaki pants
3. Khaki shorts for sports events
4. Black plain collared T-shirt
5. White plain collared T-shirt
6. Black plain round neck T-shirt
7. White plain round neck T-shirt
8. Grey plain round neck T-shirt
9. Black shirt, short sleeve
10. Any comfortable sneakers

What do you think?

Canon 6D's dynamic range

If you haven't tried out the Canon 6D, I highly recommend it for two reasons:

1. Very good high ISO performance (I'll post some samples of an event I shot in very little light)
2. High dynamic range (as illustrated).

This is an image I shot in an Indian temple in Kuala Lumpur, around 10am. The sun was up and bright, which created a very high contrast from the shaded area of the temple interior and the outside compound.

If you notice the RAW photo on the left, the difference between the shadows and highlights would be well of between 8 to 10-stops. 

On the right is the image processed in Adobe Lightroom 4 where the shadows and highlights are rescued. Other technical aspects aside, I'm super astonished with the amount of information that was captured even in the shadows area and not to mention the highlights. Places where I thought contains no information, such as the distant high-rise apartments, actually exist in the RAW file!

If you haven't tried out this camera, I suggest you give it a go. I know I'm very happy with it.

Cheers!

*Click the image below for bigger image.

Here's another sample:

Tearsheet: Advertising+Marketing, March 2013

Made the cover again. This time featuring Fabio Fontainha, consumers markets head for Citibank Malaysia. Art Direction by Khairul Hasbullah.

Tearsheet: Time Out Malaysia-Kids Guide 2013

Hello All & Happy New Year 2013!

2012 was good and I'm looking forward to a more productive 2013. Last year I was soo busy shooting that I didn't even allocate time to update my blog. Well, this year, I've made a resolution to update as quick as possible my latest work and what's going on with me. Therefore, to start of with, here's my recent published work to open this exciting year of 2013!

I made it to the cover for Time Out Malaysia Kids Guide 2013 and got the spread too.  It was nice to meet the subjects portrayed. All three of them have a unique occupation and was truly inspirational, especially their dedication to their passion. Nice. :)

Made it to the cover. Featured here is Bryan Ng and his son, Jayden. Bryan is a Malaysian Professional Surfer and brand ambassador for Rip Curl.

Featured here is Bryan Ng and his son, Jayden. Bryan is a Malaysian Professional Surfer and brand ambassador for Rip Curl.

Here's Daniel Quilter, founder and director of Ecoteer, a volunteer opportunities agency. and his daughter Arianna.

Sitting down is Sivabalan. He works for Agathian Shelter in his free time. Featured in the background are Ivan(left) and Kesava (right).