Happy New Year 2010

Every new year each and every one of us has or own resolutions and plans for the new year. What could be yours?
For me my resolution is to obtain more assignments this year and to firmly place my foothold in the photography world. It is not easy, especially in a field deemed too overcrowded nowadays. But as my friend Jetfynn puts it, there's enough opportunity for everyone. The thing is to stay ahead of the competition, keep a clean reputation and deliver your best.
Just promise yourselves to perform your best for the clients and most importantly stay in good shape!!

With Regards, Happy New Year 2010
Asrul Sani Shamsuddin

Asrul Sani Photography

"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.