Saturday, May 31, 2008

Shooting as Duo



I've always enjoyed shooting with Mike. We've known each other for 8 years now. Like every relationship, we've had our share of ups & downs. (there was a brief period where we weren't on speaking terms because of a botched assignment both of us were working on) During then, he went to assist a well known commercial photographer while i went off shooting reportage. Since then i've went through various changes career wise & Mike.... Mike? He's still Mike. With him, things are always going to be the same, and why not? 



Out-takes:



The old adage rings true. That "Two heads are better than one". So while you're busy engaging your subject, you have another dialing in the numbers on the strobes, moving props around, liaising with the art director. its tough to do this all on your own. Sadly, there are still instances when you just have to make do. But that's a story for another day.


Labels: , , , , ,

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Batam

Over the weekend, i visited the neighboring island of Batam, Indonesia. Tagged along with my aunt who happens to also be a lecturer at a tertiary institution in Singapore. Together with some 60-odd students in tow, we made the 45-min boat ride out of Singapore. It was madness having to look out for such a huge bunch i tell you. We met an ex-student of hers who now runs the entire gamut of businesses from solid fuel manufacturing to pubs, restaurants and private apartments.

It was supposed to be an educational trip for the students and i was there to help. So, it wasn't exactly an assignment per se. But i decided to lug along gear just to maintain that discipline of being always intentional and purposeful. By being always ready, i am not worried about being caught out without gear when my next subject shows up.

Considering how little time i have to myself at the end of the day (not to mention how exhausted i was), i have no time to wander the streets on my own. Wandering around a foreign land gives me a sense of purpose. (read about my China trip) You just don't know what to expect. Just engaging people by communicating to them boggles my mind at how diverse and different one human being is from the other. When words and languages fail, even the simplest hand gestures could convey universal understanding.

Below, some kids from the local squatter settlement.





"So full of despair, but yet so full of life."

Nobody said that life was fair.


Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, May 12, 2008

Shooting with your heart

As news people, we are all invariably tied to the bottomline. Nevermind if you're a writer, editor, multimedia producer or photographer. The crux of how successful your career will turn out is linked to how your publisher runs the business. It will not matter how good you are at your job. In the end, the nuts and bolts of it will be whether the business model is profit - sustainable.
(read: i got laid off and I need a job)
But lets just put aside all that for a second, put away the business aspect of publishing a newspaper, put away the issues of revenue and overheads and 30% profit margins just for a moment. And lets talk about your craft and how that defines you as a person.
The Digital Journalist has always been a fantastic resource for forward thinking news people. They talk about putting feelings and emotions back into a business that has most recently, become nothing short of bleak. 
(caution) This a photographic-centric post.
" Empathy is our ability to understand the emotions that others feel in response to circumstances and situations. The capacity to empathize allows the photojournalist to grasp the meaning that the story has for the story's key players, for the viewers and for the members of the larger society.

The photojournalist must try to recognize and understand a subject's emotion or lack of it. Emotional cues are often quite subtle.

The photojournalist must be able to capture those emotional cues. Technical expertise, including the knowledge of lighting, framing and shutter speed, enables the photojournalist to capture "the moment," but without the ability to recognize the cues, there will be no perceptible "moment" for the photographer." And without the ability to read, to understand and to capture emotion, a photojournalist might create pictures that are technically good. But the visual communication will never rise to the level of excellence.

To accomplish that, the aspiring photojournalist must "Shoot with your heart."
Read > Photojournalist: know thyself

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Wedding Outtakes



Been a tiring weekend for me. Haven't done a back to back 12 hour shoot for a while. On Labor Day this Thursday, Aaron & Pam finally tied the knot. I was just happy to be play a part.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Friday, May 2, 2008

More from the Navy