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: Advertising+Marketing, March 2013

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

Aputure Trigmaster 2.4G

From left: Aputure Trigmaster 2.4G transmitter and receiver set, 3 extra receivers to the right.

This is what you get from a set of transmitter and receiver. From top-left:sync-cord, receiver, transmitter, flash hotshoe table stand. From bottom-left: 1/2" sync adapter, PC sync cable, camera remote cable. 

I recently upgraded my remote triggers to Aputure Trigmaster 2.4G.
At first I was looking to replace my remote radio camera trigger which has failed due to a broken internal wire in the connecting cables to the camera. Therefore, one of my criteria was to find a remote that has a replaceable wire. I found the Aputure Trigmaster to fit the bill.

Turns out that the Aputure Trigmaster can also trigger flash, therefore I decided to spend some extra cash to get another three extra receivers for my speedlights.

At first I wasn't so sure about getting this brand, but after reading a review at Lightingrumors.com, I was confident to go ahead with this choice.

The price is very affordable compared to other makes. A set of transmitter and receiver is RM100 only, and additional receiver is RM50/unit. This is the selling price at Digicolor, at Jalan Ipoh (www.dgcoloronline.com). So far, Digicolor sells this unit the cheapest compared to other sellers in Malaysia.

One thing that I like about these triggers are that the transmitter uses a 23A battery and the receivers use 2xAAA batteries, which are very easy to find at 7eleven's or your local marts. My previous Cactus V2 flash triggers and my Phottix radio camera remote uses CR2 batteries which were expensive. This problem arises when the "on" switch is accidently flicked during transport or while they're in your bag and drains the battery out before you can use it.

Field Test, what I like about these triggers:

1. Consistency.
   They fire perfectly and I have peace of mind. I've used them in three assignments to date and they all work beautifully.
2. Low profile.
   The receivers mounts low on my umbrella bracket and it's more stable than my Cactus V2 receivers.
3. Multipurpose.
   I like the fact that the transmitter can trigger my flash or my camera. Now I carry one thing less in my bag. Travel light.
4. Cheap to expand your set.
   The cheap price of an extra unit of receivers (RM50/unit) means that you can build up your set faster than any other brand. 

If money is no object.

If money is not an issue, I'd probably get the TTL radio remotes from either the Phottix Odin or the new Yong Nuo 622

Conclusion.

For photographers starting to build their off camera systems and looking for a decent remote flash or camera trigger, I highly recommend the Aputure Trigmaster 2.4G because of its is value for money and because of that it's an affordable to expand in the future (if you're planning to add more receivers into your system).

Last year's portrait

I was clearing my disk storage and found this old photo I shot last year. Featured in the photo is Azwan, who is also a rising photographer and my close friend. We've worked closely together for the past year with each of us taking turns to assist one another in our individual photo assignment. I can't exactly recall when we took this photo, but most likely it was right after we wrap for an assignment. Enjoy!

Published Work: Expatriate Lifestyle & Time Out KL

I've been busy on editorial assignments for Time Out KL and Expatriate Lifestyle lately. It was exciting to shoot for such titles. I love the challenge in editorial assignments due to the fact that there is a very small window to shoot and also I'll have to shoot with minimal equipment. Not to mention that I have no idea of what the location presents itself, in terms of settings, lighting and finding good angles. In such cases, I'm happy to see that common sense and making the most of the situation turns out really well for me. Check them out. :)

My shot is on the cover! Time Out KL, April 2011 Issue. 

Credits on the inlay, and I shot the chocolate cake image too.

Here are the section which most of my images are published in the April 2011 Time Out KL issue.

My photos are featured in the cover article of March 2011, Expatriate Lifestyle magazine. This beer photo is not mine, though. I'm posting this cover to illustrate which issue was my photos published.

The editors loved this photo. I strongly feel that it really projects the character of this bar owner of The Green Man, Dougie Roberts 

Here's Allison Martin, owner of Bulldog English Pub for Expatriate Lifestyle, March 2011.

Prior to the March Issue, I've shot this cover for Expatriate Lifestyle for the February 2011 issue with my partner Denis Erroyaux, from Brussels. Again, it was truly amazing.

Here's the inlay for Expatriate Lifestyle magazine February 2011 issue with our credits for the cover.

This is my favorite shot that I took. We took advantage of the natural light coming in from the windows and filled with a 580EX flash with a translucent white umbrella reflector from camera left. I loved the way Christine Sterk, Managing Director of Asia On Time sits herself in a very relaxing pose.

Behind the scenes: Muthualagan & Chitrah's outdoor wedding portraits

Here are some behind-the-scenes of Muthualagan & Chitrah's outdoor wedding portraits done at Pavillion, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Many thanks to my assistants Reza Amir, and Joe Hanip. Videographer Ainol from NX Studio and Mia. Also thanks to Che Ju for arranging transport for the couple and co-ordinating location. Finally, biggest thanks to Ms. Legah, Chitrah's sister who hired us to photograph this wonderful event. Thank you all!

Muthualagan and Chitrah. Such lovely couple. I love them!

Reza standing in for my test shot. Joe Hanip on camera left holding one light on a shoot-thru umbrella. 

Ainol from NX Studio with the video camera, while Reza checks in for light painting with Joe Hanip.

From left: Joe Hanip, Ainol NX Studio, Muthualagan, Che Ju, Chitrah, Mia, Reza Amir and yours truly, Azhar Ariff.

Behind the scenes: Porsche Centre Bukit Bintang commercial shoot.

Hello Friends!

2011 is a really good year! Ever since January this year, I've been really blessed to be commissioned with such exciting and interesting assignments. I just got back from the shoot today for the new Porsche Centre Bukit Bintang architectural shoot and thought I'll post some of the images. I've been neglecting this blog for a while and I'm not surprised that some of my regular readers might've lost interest. Nevermind that.

Back to the topic, the image(s) that we shot are for newspaper advertisement and press release, so, keep your eyes out in our local newspapers soon (as soon as next week!).

For this assignment, I'd like to thank my project partner, Amru for his undivided attention, effort and extensive collaboration in making this assignment a success.

I hope this short post will inspire you all to become a better photographer, businessman(or business person), or simply just a person.

If you got a vision or dream of something big, go for it!

Amru trying to sell me this unit.

Here's us after our last shot. It's a wrap!

Amru just got his commission selling me one unit and got himself this Porsche. Ha ha!

Me giving it a go at one test shot.

My trusty WhiBal card. Standard procedure. Don't leave home without 'em.

Beach Wedding

Hello All,

Here's some of the wedding photos I took for a lovely couple (they choose to keep their names unpublished). Let's just say, they're Mr. & Mrs. H. They were shot in Port Dickson beach. We had a great three-hour session from around 4pm till sunset. When these photos turn out on the LCD screen, I just jumped out of my skin they're gorgeous!  Here they are...enjoy!

p/s: BTW, that lovely dress? Mrs. H designed and made it on her own. It's fantastic!

The money shot: "The Sunset Kiss". Just perfect, don't ya think?:)



Here's another shot with some ambient background.



"Last Light". The sun was really setting down. By the time we finished this last shot, it was almost pitch black and we had a hard time getting back to the car through the sand. Lucky we had our mobile phones, which doubled as torch lights!



Just Lovely.








This is one of my favorite shots. It's at the beach, yet it really looked like they were in the Amazon!




The evening light is just beautiful, accentuating their lovely expressions. Simply amazing.


Can you get "Dizzy in Love"?  I'm pretty sure you can when love is "spinning" around.

[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.

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/

G.O.Y.A. Strobist at the Shah Alam Skate Park

G.O.Y.A photography Stands for (Get Off Your Arse or Get Off Your Ass-in American English) Photography. The acronym coined by the amazing music, editorial, Atlanta based photographer, Zack Arias, So I went out and went off my ass and shoot! These images should be images that are different, creative, fun and artistic, according to Zack.

Jidin, Akmal Adanan and I headed out to Shah Alam Extreme Park last Saturday. We wanted to catch the golden hour before sundown to get some blue sky. But when we got there, It was already 7.00pm and going dark. Took me a while to set up the lights after a "while" of not shooting at all.

The darnest thing happend, which is I brought everything else except the radio transmitter/receivers for the lights! What the..? Nevertheless, I really thank Jidin for lending us his radio triggers. Hence the two-light settings (because there's only two receivers, duh...)

Note to self: Never pack in separate bags. Lugging my camera backpack which has everything is better than trying to travel light. Otherwise, pack the night before with a checklist.

What I found out from this GOYA outing is that skateboarders are cool friendly dudes who just wanna have fun. Most important thing is not the lighting, but the composition and waiting for the perfect moment when the skateboarders are up in the air doin' their tricks.

Jidin has an undeniable killer shot, fit for editorial use. Me, felt rusty, but here are my "best" shots in 2-hours session 7.00pm-9.00pm, 10-OCT-09. Today wasn't my day, but definitely, I'm going back there to get my killer shot. Till then, I hope this will inspire all of us.

Chiao!

My best shot (Still unsatisfactory to me. Oh well...I got worse sets). Considering the dark sky/background, and I managed to create a separation light, I think it's OK. It's better without the arm's shadow casting on the face though.



My second best shot. The one and only our in-house talent, Jidin, about to grind on the concrete.


Not exactly the best photo, but I just like the lighting. Perhaps a fish-eye lens would be great to capture the shop lights in the background.


Another grind shot, last call before heading home.



Yes I know you're wondering how we did it. So here it is, as simple as I can explain. Shots taken at exposure of 1/40s f4, ISO 400. Camera, lens? Doesn't matter.