[GOYA Strobist]: Golf Magazine Shoot

What have I been doing lately?

It's been a while since I got my arse off the chair to shoot something really new. I've been planning to shoot this re-creation of advertising shots (by only using small speedlights) normally seen on magazine covers for a while. The only thing that was keeping me off from executing the shoot was sheer laziness. I think about it too much, and talk about doing it too much with my friends to a point that the next time I'm gonna talk about it , I'll end up like the boy who cried wolf. In short I can say that it is enough to kick my butt to work.

Last Friday I texted my close friends Wantai, Kyrol(TT Strobist #1) and Jidin(GOYA Skateboard outing #1) for a quick GOYA outing near where Wantai and I stay. In the end it was just Wantai, his assistant Aidil and I. It was unfortunate that Kyrol had a hospital emergency and Jidin was flat out from a wedding shoot.

We shot these photos from 10.00pm-2.00am(the packing took a while) at a nearby park. Wantai and I took turns to model as a golfer. My guess is that you can find my photos in his blog or facebook. Enough talking, here are the final shots that gets my most star rating.

I love this shot because everything is in place, in position, in context, all the lights fired. The tee flew, and the ball flew, you can see the Footjoy brand on the glove and on the cap. The only thing I didn't realise was that the Adidas band was slightly covered by Wantai's pants. But shooting with my skimpy small 2.3 inch LCD? What the heck. It's a go!

If you want to learn how to shoot like this, and take control of your flash, enroll into my Commando Lighting Workshop here.



This shot gets my star rating too because of the same reason as the first image. You can't see the tee in this resized image, but in the actual size, the tee is still stuck in the ground but bent a little bit. True sign of a great golf swing eh?


How did I get the idea? From Nike's Tiger Woods slow-mo golf ad on YouTube:


Here's how we did it. Hopefully this information helps anyone who'd wanna give this a go. Let me know how your photos turn out ya? Cheers!

Commando Lighting Workshop: Now Open

Hi All,

Save up your money for the most value-for-money (compared to other lighting workshops in Malaysia) lighting workshop you've been waiting for in 2010. Further details after the poster.

I've whipped up a whimsical poster for this exciting workshop too. Here it is:



Payment Details:
Workshop fee is RM380 only.
Maximum participants is 10 people.

1. RM180 to confirm seat.
2. RM200 due during workshop date.

Please make payments to this account:
Account name: FOTOMOMO STUDIO
Maybank account: 562366109121

The step. Important:

1. Once you've made the RM180 initial payment, please email to azhar@fotomomo.com with either these topics/email title:
   
   "Commando Lighting Workshop"
   
   I will be able to filter your messages and sort them accordingly. This way, your email will be safe from getting mixed up with other incoming mails.
2. In your email, please write your:
   a. Full name (so that I can verify this against the bank transfer receipt/notification)
   b. Your phone number (so that I can contact you for urgent updates)
   c. The transaction time stamp and reference number of your payment transfer. The transaction time stamp will differentiate your payment and the other participant's payment.

---

Workshop Details/FAQs

Is this an outdoor or indoor workshop?
The workshop starts with an introductory and theory session in the studio, and some indoor shooting. After lunch we'll move out to location shooting that will be determined prior to the workshop. At this moment, I'm still scouting for a nice location to shooot, that is convenient for us to move about.

I don't have a camera. Can I join?
This is a hands-on full manual lighting workshop. You can have the cheapest China Made flash, but you would at least need a DSLR with a kit lens to enjoy the benefits of this workshop. Therefore, the answer is sorry, if you don't have a camera, it would be unfair for me to let you join. I suggest you get to know your camera first and enrolling in several basic photography workshops out there. The Commando Lighting Workshop aint goin' nowhere. We're still here and you're welcome to join the next workshops in the future.

I have a camera, but I don't have a flash gun(speedlight). Can I join?
Yes.

12th Simple Food Photography Workshop: Quick Register

DECEMBER WORKSHOP

Hi all,

Thanks for your support! I've received inquiries regarding December workshop even before the 11th Workshop has even begun. Thank you! Thank you! :)

Here's a quick registration update for the 12th Simple Food Photography Workshop, on 12-DEC-09. Other participants are communicating with me via email and pending confirmation.
1. Sitizya (RM 100 received. Thank you!)
2. Halim Jasmi (RM 100 received. Thank you!)
3. Aiman Ridhwan Anuar (seat #1 confirmed)
4. Aiman Ridhwan Anuar (seat #2 confirmed)
5. Seat still OPEN.

For payment details and registration instructions pls follow previous workshop details here.

Freakin' Hell! Joe McNally's coming to KL!Let's go!

Stop Press!
Joe McNally's coming to KL!
Hot Dang!

Achtung All Malaysian Photographers & my fans!javascript:void(0)

The almighty Joe McNally and his assistant Drew Gurian will be coming to KL for two workshops, in collaboration with Louis Pang.

Here's the ad, courtesy of wedshooter.tv


Schedules:
Let There Be Light
one-day seminar by Joe McNally featuring Louis Pang

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
6-FEB-2010, 09.00AM-05.30PM
MYR 380.00 (approx. USD109.00)

Hot Shoe Diaries
one-day intensive lighting workshops by Joe McNally

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1-FEB till 4-FEB-2010 (5-FEB-2010 full!), 09.30AM-05.30PM
MYR 1400.00 (approx. USD400.00)
max 15 persons

Complete article here:
From Joe's Blog (what a shocker to find this out from my RSS feed!)
http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/2009/11/16/heading-east/

From wedshooter.tv:
http://wedshooter.tv/blog/joe-mcnally-in-kuala-lumpur-2010/

10th Food Workshop Report

Hi All,

The 10th Simple Food Photography was a success! It was just two participants, Kelvin and Mohd, and we had a great time messing around with the food to get our shots. I'm also excited to look forward to share with the 11th Simple Food Photography Workshop participants in this coming 21-NOV-09.

For those who missed these fabulous workshops, I'm holding another Simple Food Photography Workshop on 12-DEC-09. You can email me at azhar@fotomomo.com to reserve your seats. I'll post an official post regarding this December workshop in a bit.

Till then, here are the pics. Enjoy!

Here's my favorite


This shot demonstrates one of the ways of how to arrange three dishes in one frame


Mohd reviewing his shots


Kelvin going in for the high-key shot.


Spagetthi Beef Bolognaise with Meatballs. Shoot in the DIY light tent.


Here's a test shot with the Whibal.


Another test shot with the QP color chart.

10th and 11th Simple Food Photography Workshop now open for registration

Hello All,

I'd like to announce that I'll be hosting another Simple Food Photography Workshop in November. There are two(2) workshop dates for you to choose from, which is on the 7th or 21st November 2009. Please email me at my FOTOMOMO email at: azhar@fotomomo.com to register or for any inquiries.

This workshop is open to all photographers from all levels. I'll introduce you to the simplest form of food photography, which something attainable for everyone. You'll learn how to light your food, compose, crop, edit, prepare a portfolio and market your services.

I only take five(5) persons max. per session to give each participant ample time to shoot their food. I've been asked several times from the past nine workshops whether I can slip in another one or two participants on top of the five persons. The answer is no, I'm sorry I can't, because that will be unfair to the other five participants. The duration of the workshop is just nice for five people to take turns to shoot and ask questions regarding food photography.

If you can't make it for November, watch out for December's workshop soon.

What to bring?
1. DSLR
2. 50mm f1.8 (if possible, otherwise, a kit lens will do)
3. Plenty of CF/SD cards because we'll be shooting RAW
4. Thumbdrive. Just in case you'll like to transfer/copy some files.

Payment Details:
Workshop fee is RM200 only
1. RM100 to confirm seat.
2. RM100 due during workshop date.

Please make payments to this account:
Account name: FOTOMOMO STUDIO
Maybank account: 562366109121

The step. Important:

1. Once you've made the RM100 initial payment, please email to azhar@fotomomo.com with either these topics/email title:
   
   "10th Food Workshop" or "11th Food Workshop"
   
   I will be able to filter your messages and sort them accordingly. This way, your email will be safe from getting mixed up with other incoming mails.
2. In your email, please write your:
   a. Full name (so that I can verify this against the bank transfer receipt/notification)
   b. Your phone number (so that I can contact you for urgent updates)
   c. The transaction time stamp and reference number of your payment transfer. The transaction time stamp will differentiate your payment and the other participant's payment.

Cheers!

---

Here are the updates on the participants list.
Update Daily

10th Food Workshop (7-NOV-09) Workshop successful. Thank you!
1. Kelvin Yong (RM100 received. Thank you!) ref:PK
2. Mohd Zainal (seat confirmed)
3.
4.
5.


11th Food Workshop (21-NOV-09) Full House. Thank You!
1. Fariz (RM100 received. Thank you!) ref:PS
2. Muhammad Zainur Bin Alias (gizmo) (RM100 received. Thank you!) ref:PS
3. Adi360 (RM100 received. Thank you!) ref:PS
4. Farhan (RM100 received. Thank you!) ref: KRMT
5. Azizan (seat confirmed) updated!

STOP PRESS! Stunning Wedding Video

I've been following Matt's (a fantastic wedding videographer from Shadowplay, Australia) blog for a while. I got to know about Matt from Kate, his wife who's a brilliant wedding photographer, who's a shootsac (I want!) owner. They both run the photo-video team Shadowplay.

Recently Matt posted an excellent article/video on their blog regarding StillMotion, who are the ultimate wedding film-making dream-team. StillMotion's studio is just outside of Toronto, Canada.

Anyway, it really blows my mind away to know that such cinematic wedding video is really attainable.

Attention Malaysian wedding videographers and photographers!
This is the kind of quality work we want to achieve for our country's industry. Benchmark this! Hot dang this is hot stuff! Enough talking, check out this video.

p/s: StillMotion will be coming to Australia to host three workshops in early 2010. Let's go!

Original article here.

the evolution experience from stillmotion on Vimeo.