"I've seen that before..."

If you've been involved in wedding photography for quite a while and spends some time surfing the web looking at other photographer's work I bet you will start to notice that many shots are being repeated again, again and again by many photography across the globe. "Now where I've seen that ring shot before? or that window shot or that bouquet closeup, even that outdoor shoots". Is there a creativity crisis among us wedding photographer? Or is it a norm for certain 'moments' to recur and repeat itself over and over again?
Come to think of it, creativity or the lack of it may not be the only factor for this Deja Vu effect. Weddings are a cultural as well as a spiritual event with a central focal theme which is the solemnization of love of two individuals and its no surprise that this common theme resonates all across cultures and religions. To an observer lest he is a photographer or not this central theme surfaces into recognizable scenes worthy of immortality. What this have to do with photography?
All throughout the history of photography many themes tend to recur again and again and this have nothing to do with plagiarism. Some of these photographers never even seen the work of another yet their works seems to be thematically similar. In his book 'The Ongoing Moment' Geoff Dyer systematically analyzed these recurring themes throughout the history of photography. Even those iconic images by masters tend to have a repeated theme.
Does this mean that wedding photographers should not be looking hard for this elusive moments as they were not that elusive after all? Of course not, as these moments may only reveal its beauty to an observant and experienced eyes ant it is through our eyes, the wedding photographers that this central theme of love is recognized and captured. Maybe this is the real reason so If you saw that photo somewhere before it was not lazily copied but rather mysteriously resurfaced from a endless pool of moments.

Wedding photography: World's most bizzare business

The general notion of a business is an activity to obtain financial gain i.e getting money but that holds true for most of the businesses of the world EXCEPT wedding photography. Why I said this is because to some photographer this business is a zero-profit activity. i encountered a rather experienced photographer who have accomplished in a variety of commercial photography who are venturing into wedding photography, not at all surprising move in the photography world. Its only when I found out about his prices that gave me the shock of my life. It's dirt cheap, seriously. I thought a guy with his kind of skill would charge premium for his services. Is it because the demand of photography services in the corporate/advertising sector have dwindled so much due to the current economic slump have forced these photographers to take up wedding photography. If this is the case then the already-overcrowded genre of wedding photography will take a serious hit and with the super-cheap rates the full-timers will have no chance of competing. I did not have the chance to ask this guy his reasons whether he really loves the field or are just doing it for money. Money in terms of pennies instead of pounds.
This is a very tough time for a professional photographer I guess.

Crossroads

My life have reached a crossroad. Here where I must decide whether to proceed on my path or take a different path. i always knew that this day will come but i never know actually how to face it. My entire working life I was 'married' to a very demanding profession that demands undivided responsibility. The kind of responsibility that I can no longer afford to bear. Maybe my love for it is not deep enough that the burden is dragging me on day by day. in addition to that my 'old time love' comes back to haunt me, giving beautiful hope and promises.
i wanted to make the jump but i never had the courage. The courage to leap out of my current life into the unknown. Staying sometimes feels good but there is always something in my heart that yearns freedom. Freedom to decide my path, my destiny.
i wanted to believe that there is a future in the end of the tunnel but the little adventurous man within me keeps me looking back at the other path.
honestly I don't know.
Should I stay on my path and brave the storm or should I veer off into the unknown.

'Have the internet killed photography?'

For those who have read Andrew Keen's 2007 book - The Cult of the Amateur; How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture would understand this notion. In the book, Keen argued that today's internet is responsible in the death of many of our (..read Modern western) cultural icons naming Music in particular. It is somehow true to such extent that many have considered the late Micheal Jackson "The last pop king". What Is evident is that the internet have not killed off music completely. Music Is ever more popular and assessable as ever before with MP3 sharing and portable players. What is greatly diminished is the financial power of music. Micheal Jackson may not be the last pop king but he is certainly the last pop millionaire. Music, argued Keen have become liberalized until it lost it's economic potential that few are willing to become professionals against the growing crowd of amateurs.
What this have to do with photography?
As a matter of fact photography, like all modern art form have undergone serious transformations since the advent of the Internet. No longer photography is confined to the darkly projection rooms and cheap photo-albums. Instead the digital boom have liberated photography to such extent it ceased to become a geeky hobby to a global lifestyle. Just walk anywhere in any city and chances are you will encounter throngs of snapshooters clicking.
If this is so then why would anyone consider photography dead?
Photography, like music had suffered form the same 'financial death'. Even worse photography was never really a profitable art-form as music was. How many photographer millionaire can you name? The liberalization of arts through the internet have empowered the amateur artist to a level that even professionals of the past can only dream. Today many pro-photographers complain of dwindling numbers of assignments due to a rising market of dirt-cheap amateur work. Worse even, the general quality of amateur work have risen to such extent that a pro have no advantage other than a hard-earned network of contacts.
Photography never died form the internet's assault. It only grew stronger and healthier.
Only that now the pie had to be divided to more plates.

"f8 and be there"

This maxim have been said and heard again and again by photographers everywhere. Almost all of us have heard about the historical contact of this saying therefore there is no point to elaborate. The reason why I brought this saying into light is to remind us of the significance of the saying that is to glorify the value of opportunity. In today's world of gear-crazed snap-shooters many of us seemed to have forgotten that photography is an art to capture a moment and preserve it rather than about how many megapixels your or my camera has. Many of us may and will encounter events and things that made us say "too bad I didn't have a camera now". That fleeting moment in time mostly just pass by and never return. This is why this beautiful maxim emphasize the importance of being present at the moment of time and be always ready. What good is your mega-megapixel camera with lenses priced like a house if it stays at home in a drybox. A point-and-shoot that you bring everywhere you go, ever-ready and handy is more valuable to any photographer than any other piece of gear. In addition to the availability of the camera is it's 'ever-readyness'. Never bury your camera in your backpack until you need to dug it out. Instead use a pouch or holster/beltpack for quick access. Ever since I started to bring a camera everywhere I practiced to 'quick-draw' my camera under 20sec.
The next vital ingredient is the 'be-there'. This is even a harder part for a striving photographer to achieve.
Partly because most of us prefer to be in bed rather than being there.

The myth of available darkness

Photography is about light and how best to capture it. We photographers struggled hard everyday for the best light for our subject therefore it is every photographers dream to be able to photograph in the lowest possible light and get away with good photos. To realize this dream camera companies strive hard to produce sensors sensitive enough to create images with minimal noise in the most under-lit situations. Modern cameras are said to be able to photograph ( or at least autofocus) in near-darkness. Is this finally a reality?
In practice low-light photography is more than just high-tech stuff. Even armed with a super-low noise sensor camera at ISO6400 and a f1.0 lens a photographer needs to understand the nature and the character of the light he is tackling. Soft or hard, natural or artificial, warm or cold. He must also learn his meter well to really come out with the image he wants. This is what most new photographer think, that their gear will sort it out for them. Most of the time its the skill or reading light that matters most.
To some photographer, low light is simply not enough light.

Among billions

Billions of photographs are taken every day since the digital boom a couple of years back. That makes hundreds of billions in a single year. Reading this statement makes you wonder what significance if any does our own photos have in this tsunami of images. When every corner of the world no matter how remote have been shot to death by nations of snapshooters what is there to really photograph and made the difference? I believe the answer lies within ourselves, our family. One of my most beloved photograph is this one taken not by me but my wife of our daughter Aliya. She was about 4 months old at the time I believe. It is surely not the most earth-shattering photo of our generation but the value lies is the personal nature of the photo. consider this, If you're not from a famous royal family or someone of influence chances are nobody is going to take your family's photo other than you. Im at least happy to know that Aliya will be able to see her likeness as a 4 month old years to come and to me that makes enough significance to the rest of the world. So if you want to take photos of significance to the world, photograph your family. It will be certainly a gem among billions.

The secret language of street photography

Street photography is like a mysterious foreign lady. She speaks a language that few understands let alone speaks yet she remains mysteriously attractive and dangerously beautiful. Street photography is old, as old as photography itself and sure enough it will continue to be practiced as long as there are streets. Street photography is more than just bringing a camera and taking a few photos in the street. It requires a sharp eye for spontaneous connection and in the same time a sense of purpose. all of this in a blink of an eye. Just study the works of the great masters like Henri-Cartier Bresson, Garry Winogrand and see this sense of purpose in their work. The purpose that binds all the components in a photograph and made a clear message.
How hard this could be you say? Well, some time back I was deeply interested in this arcane art and gave it a try. I took a one-day trip to Penang dreaming to get the perfect 'decisive momment'. The reality is the momment is more elusive than decisive. I must admit that street photography require lot of practice and patience. Lot,Lots and lots of it. Of all the photos I took form the trip this is the only worthy one to show. Well this time I learned that street photography cannot be mastered in one day.

My 8-hour per day dualism

the premise of my life is very suiting for a classic episode of 'The Twilight Zone'. Why you say? Just listen to this. 'a young man finds out that he is living someone else's life for 8 hours a day (..okay, sometimes 10) for most of the day of his life. in those 8 hours he finds himself a boring, demotivated whitecoat donner who frequently gazes his watch waiting for the hours to pass. As soon as the hour has passed he turns back into his own self. An energetic filled-with-life photographer. Well, that is me.

Happy Bday The Dark!!

Yup, It's that time of the year again. The day that makes you older. Well come to think of it I got myself a present especially for myself. A yummy Lumix LX3!!
Yes, yes I know. I am one of those 'can't afford a Leica' kind of people but at least this baby can keep my 'Cartier-Bresson' urges in check.