Walk down the old alley in Sibu Town.

Walking down the street of Sibu feeling like one of the town’s folks.Why Sibu? It’s not really a tourism destination, not really the kind of place you would choose to go on vacation. If you ask me, I would say if given enough time and money, I would definitely pay my visit to every town in Malaysia that include Sibu my home town of 60's ,70's and 80's

 

Walk down the old alley in Sibu Town,,if safety is your concern don't do this at night.After walking for few hours with some interesting back alleys's to look into I found out that Sibu Town have many interesting shop or street vendor along back alley's of every street.

 

Muslim Celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim in Sarawak today (15.02.2011) braved the rains to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad in Kota Samarahan.Mor than 8000 peoples from various sector,organisation and school participated in a procession and gathering  at Dewan Saurah field .The procession was led by the VVIP & VIP of Sarawak.

 

 

He say something here...1 Malaysia , 1 Ummah.

Snow in my country.

Believe me you can find snow all over the country in Sarawak.I am referring to the car wash centre and a road side car wash and often have a signboard or banner which says "SNOW WASH".Those foam they used to wash cars really look like snow.

Spontaneous Street Walk.

Came late Monday afternoon, my hand was itching so badly for shutter therapy session I decided to grab the camera bag and attack the streets just before sunset. Made it home from work rather early, I sped off to Petaling Street in the city, just in time to catch the dying lights. Unfortunately, it was raining rather heavily when I arrived, but that did not stop my determination to come home with enough pictures to make myself smile. I just need to be on the streets, and shoot purely for myself. Oh no, is this what we call, an obsession? Or an addiction? say Robin Wong.

Oh my goodness ..this guy really motivated me to do street photography but of course I can't be like him,this guy  simply the best.Read what he say (Above statement).Want to know him and visit his blog kindly go to his site and I'm sure those who is crazy about street attack will not regret .His name is Robin Wong so click http://robinwong.blogspot.com

Yesterday (Sunday) late afternoon I grab my entry level E-620 and go to the street.My shooting target is the old parts of Kuching City.Like Robin say "shot purely for myself "...yeah,that what I'm trying to do but to be honest I'm just an old guy who shot just like the tourist or carry DSLR but more on P & S style.Haha,,that my style .Again Robin say "to come home with enough picture to make myself smile" .Well , I liked it.

My version of street attack with my Olympus E-620  and Lens Zuiko 14-54mm f2.8-3.5.

 

This is my target India,court house and carpenter Street.

I did not photograph much on Carpenter Street, just this lonely red postal box .

I have a chance to speak with this gentleman,he is a hired van operator .I ask him,are you reading about our petrol & sugar new price in Malaysia ?

Wow !!!! this guy really count every single cents he spend.

"My car tank is 52 litter.Previously when petrol price was RM1.85 x 52 litter = RM96.20, now after increasing I  can get only RM1.90 x 52 litters = RM98.8. It only different by RM2.60". What do you think about the differences of RM2.60? Does sugar price affects you too? ..........

 

Most shoppers who do shopping around the Indian Street Mall are from middle to low income group .I meet Bujang he work as street cleaner around this area.He remark"I’m one of the small salaries workers in Malaysia. For the past 4 years our monthly expenses just for food raise 3 times. That means 300%.What kind of government that raised our expenses but failed to offer a rewards for the small salaries group?

And so are most people around me, so it doesn't really matter what I do.I smile to strangers and say hello.Every one seem happy to-day including the 'Tukang Gigi'  or shall I call it 'False teeth maker' not Dentist....he smile 24 hours .

 

Do you know how much money this street medicine-man collect from the public to-day? I saw they give him Rm10.00 for every small packed of medicine he sold.I saw him doing few trick by drinking so call poison water being prepared by himself .Actually I wanted to photograph him while he perform the trick or magic but I have to be caution other wise instead of I attack the street  for picture he attack me.I advise the people after enjoying watching his trick 'Don't do this at home".

 

To-day is a beautiful day but I cannot see it....being thoroughly entertained by blind musician this little boy put some token in a cash box.

Playing with billboards......
Another great classic of street photography is to compose with the giant billboards used for advertising to create unique pictures, micro comedies or dramas. Very often, the desired effect is obtained when a billboard either presents a feature that supports a character action, or, on the contrary, presents an element totally opposing it. In some cases, a scale effect between a character and the picture displayed in a background creates a fantastic impact on the viewer.
The easiest approach is to find a great poster having a high photogenic potential (pictorial, funny, or dramatic), and to wait before it. Then to patiently watch the moment when an a typical person comes and pass-by or make an action before the billboard. It requires a lot of luck but also a lot of time and patience, and the result is not guaranteed. Also you can lose precious time waiting that could be dedicated to other better catches.

So the most rewarding experience remains the typical street photographer approach : capturing this very fortuitous moment resulting from a combination of three major elements: 1) A billboard with a high potential, 2) a subject in complete match (or mismatch) with this billboard, and 3) the presence of a street photographer at this precise moment to observe the scene and freeze this moment, that will never happen a again.

I wanted to try playing with billboard but no many billboard here in old part of Kuching City . And again I need more practice ,practice and practice in street photography.

Cheers......

World Walking Day 2010@ Kuching Waterfront.

Kuching celebrates World Walking Day.
Thousands of peoples join the first celebration of world walking Day in Kuching .

Kuching beautiful people come as early as 5:30 am to register them self to participate in the event , as promise they give away free green colour t-shirt .

This morning I participate in the event Nestle World Walking Day.I carry my camera with me & photographing the event.

 

The weather is beautiful & every one is wearing green T-shirt .

 

The young one ........

All of us have heard  the phrase "Let us go for walk" it can do wonders for our bodies and  our relationships with people we love.Sometime event like this we meet new friends.

Our beautiful auntie and uncle....

The twin with their parent join the walk......

Everywhere is green...Do you know that each of the colours has the power to evoke certain psychological and emotional temperaments within you.

Starting point....all the green are ready :)

 

Beautiful people....The green special vibration and characteristic is relaxes and energises the heart centre.

Beautiful city of Kuching and beautiful people of Kuching.......

They say green is excellent for cooling heated emotion and fever.

Kuching peoples are very discipline people...line up "Q" for free breakfast and free goodies by Nestle.They give me free coffee & chocalate drink.

Every one & some with family members are having great fun at the events.

Perhaps next year 'World Walking Day' is wearing white T-shirt.

 

There is nothing better to look forward to at the end of walking then the lovely green milo van.

The van serving its popular chocalate drink at the World walking day.

They say the event will be held annually starting this year 2010 till we meet again next year ,INSYALLAH.

My Walking Day...

I was standing behind the exit to Gambier Street of Masjid India & I saw this young photographer.

This morning I was on the street ,There is no crowd yet,maybe I'm just too early.It was a year ago since I started to gain interest in street photography but I have a limited knowledge on photography.I would say I got the basic but compared to an immediate photographer I am way off.

Still no crowd yet ....old part of Kuching City.

I keep on saying & tell myself I need a lot of practice to catch up.But practice is nothing if you don't know what you are doing.I still have to learn how to maximise the light an use different angle to have wide options and the most important is to know your camera.

Street photographer is a style of capturing images of everyday life on the street.A good street photographer should  be capable to stand alone to tell a story even with out any text explanation needed.It shows everyday life as it is.

 

The young & old on the street. The young with golden gray hair style & the old beautiful people with natural white hair .

 

The hair style & colours attract the attention of my camera lens.

It employ straight forward shooting style.This mean that when this to young mans look at me they immediately understand what the photographer want to say about their hair style & colours.

So to be a good street photographer ,we need to practice,practice and practice.

Have a nice day.

(my next post is World Walking Day)

Pictures tell a story.

Picture tell a story...I know that it is warm, and perhaps nothing much is going on, but to me “sleeping” while on duty is not really acceptable.

Picture talk...does this picture has meaning or Is it legal to sleep on a park bench if you are homeless?.

Pictures tell a story. Pictures talk. As you begin to photograph different things, you will notice that each picture you've taken actually has meaning. It may be that others will recognize the meaning of your pictures, too, and there is nothing more gratifying than that. The more you learn about photography, the more you will amaze yourself with the pictures you take. You may decide to take photos of nature, or culture, or sunsets, or mountains. The sky again is the limit. Exploring the opportunities is what makes photography fun.

Can I take photos in a shopping mall?

Yes you can. That is, until a security guard or some representative of the mall’s administration asks you to stop. The mall is a private building, and as such, the owners or administrators have the right to ban photography on their premises.

Christmas Decorations are Starting to Go Up

 

 

If a person is a minor subject in a larger photo I don’t seek permission – it’s just not logistically possible to ask everyone for permission.

There are some taboos about photographing people, especially women,I mean the above ladies .

 

 

It’s just not logistically possible to ask everyone for permission to photograph....but just don't hide when photographing people.

Getting ‘permission’ can mean different things in different situations – often it’s simply a matter of holding up your camera and smiling with a raised eyebrow. Other times you might actually ask but gesturing will usually be sufficient enough to get a nod or a shake of the head. I find that it’s quite rare to get knocked back from a friendly approach.

All the above photograph are taken in 3rd floor of a Bolivard  shopping mall Kuching,Sarawak.

Candid.......

Camera shy......

I went shopping today, and decided to take the camera with me.I was just trying to quickly capture some fleeting moments with my walk down the high-street. All the photos were taken with the camera down at my side, I seem to be a little too shy to point a camera at random strangers.

You photograph me ,I don't care I just love lesson to music...You don't need to hide to photograph .

If you hide, it implies there is something wrong with it, if that person notices that you are hiding, then they'll feel aggrieved. It's all about timing and being part of the scene not just recording it. Let people see that you're taking photographs, be open about it, you're doing a good thing. Just like documentary subjects they forget the camera. I give people a chance to refuse having they're shot taken, they do have that right.

You don't need to hide to get a Candid, and street shots should be framed properly and there's not much challenge in taking a shot of someone with out them knowing. The challenge is the context you shoot them in.

Thank You people .

Just another photograph practice.....

With your camera pre-set, pick a spot on the street and proceed with calmness, sensitivity and poise. With practice, you’ll make great street photographs.I'm ready ...I'm following the above tip from the expert.

Last week end ,I can't stand the heat.The weather is so hot.I was at  my friend apartment, invited him to join me but he have reason for not going out outing due to the weather  and further more he got fever..

If I want to go to the street again,I just play the tourist style,camera around my neck,photograph everything around me,being ignorant but again the weather is so hot and I can't stand the heat..well, just forget about the whole thing.

Does street photography have to be taken on the street? what if I'm seating on a bench of bus stop. does that count ? I purposely make my self comfortably seating on a bus stop bench looking for subject  and try to shot the moment happening.

So here I'm seating on a bench of bus stop with my camera pretend  to set a camera setting ,trying to look normal totally not like photographer try to snap but I'm being watch by the lady & the three gentleman.

Wait,are they looking at me ? I don't want them to hear the shutter click.I guess all the kind people in my pictures are foreign workers from Indonesia and Bangladesh.That's the beauty I see on the street,urban street fashion wear by this young peoples.

He is not  doing a catwalk fashion modelling .He happen to see me holding a camera & I thought maybe he wanted to be photograph .
But it's  already too late as I press the shutter button without being notice by  this young man.So back home,let's take a look at the shots.
Gear : Olympus E-620 & Zuiko lens 14-54mm f2.8-f3.5.
The wise words from the PRO....."There are different way of looking.I have my own way.For me .photographing a street scene or a foggy landscape is a little like listening to a music.It give me strength ".
Thank You.