TNT Kickboxing

I've recently been bitten by the fitness bug and have started taking my runs seriously as well as regularly going for my kickboxing sessions at TNT. The owner and senior instructor, Master Khoo recently asked if I was keen to help do a photoshoot for a few of the students. Here's a sneak peek to this afternoon's shoot. Will be editing more photos once I'm back from Singapore!

One of the models at the shoot; Lorna - a senior student at TNT Kickboxing. Don't be fooled by those pretty blue eyes, she's one tough cookie. Look out for more pics soon at TNT Kickboxing's website or come back to the blog! 

KL Walkabout

If you're able to withstand the KL weather, breathe the dusty air, and occasionally avoid the crazy driver on the streets, you'll be surprised that there's actually quite a bit of KL to photograph. Dorsett International is in the midst of revamping their blog, and wanted me to help snap some photos of the area surrounding their hotel. There's more to KL than Bukit Bintang, Twin Towers, and the megamalls. If you're looking for something different,  here are some of the photos taken off the beaten track.

 The Coliseum Theater is one of the oldest pre-war theaters left standing in Malaysia. Built in 1920, the still running theater was built by the Chua family, houses 900 seats and mostly plays Hindi movies. (source: Wiki)

More pics after the jump.

3, 2, 1, Action!

Had a little time before dinner this evening, and Mark was making sure that I go home with as much knowledge that he can part with before my next trip down to Singapore again. This time around, along with Jonathan, we headed down to East Coast Park to test out Mark's Elinchrom Ranger Quadra Lights and played around with exposing the nearly setting sun, and filling in with the really portable and handy lights. We each took turns to hold the lights and modeled, making sure that we exposed the sky correctly, then fill it in with the lights. This was the shot that I took of Jonathan doing his Flying Kick in mid air.

More of our crazies at the beach after the jump.

Canon 7D and it's Wireless Flash Trigger

This recent trip to Singapore has been more than just a simple work trip for me. The past seven days have been like an introduction to my internship with Mark Teo Photography / Afterdark Facility, with on job training as Mark will get me to do the whole “Wax on, Wax off” stuff. The best way to learn is to be doing the task itself! As the saying goes, “Knowledge is Power” and with photography (and basically everything else in life), knowing is winning half the battle. A key lesson that I’ve learned on this trip is lighting and it has opened my chinky eyes to the fact that I could have done so much more with my previous shoots if I was equipped with the knowledge I have now.

 

If you are a new (up and coming) photographer like I am, and you are saving up to get more gears to add to your collection, you would really appreciate how useful and versatile the speedlites (external flash) are to light up your shoot. And one of the best methods to ensure that you have a fruss free shoot is by using Pocketwizards. The radio transmitter and transceivers will ensure that your speedlights will fire everytime you click on the trigger. Now unfortunately, the Pocketwizards are kinda costly, and it will definitely set you back a few hundred bucks.  

As a temporary solution, the built in wireless flash trigger featured in the Canon EOS 7D will save you that few hundred bucks as now, you wont need the Pocketwizards to trigger your speedlites, cause your 7D will do the job for you. Apart from triggering, you are able to remotely control the strength of the speedlights directly from the body of the 7D. No more running to and from the speedlites to adjust the power as you shoot.

In the 7D menu itself, you are able to individually control the separate speedlites that you are using.

Making the first move

Nope, not writing about how to woo the girl of your dreams but rather more in relation to photography. Took a morning off to do some light shooting with Mark and Jonathan at Little India, and instead of just really taking random photos, Mark suggested that we each have at least 5 shots that we are happy with, and one of them has to be a head shot. There's where the blog title comes in. Making the first move to ask a random stranger on the street: "Hello Uncle, can I take your photo ah?" will eventually pay off when you have that really up close and personal shot of that weather worn, gritty greasy, creased uncle that was sitting by the road side, enjoying his last puff on his morning cigarette.

Mark & Jonathan pondering on their next shot.

I then realised that it wasnt as difficult as I first imagined it would be. I don't know if the older folks in Singapore are more receptive to having people randomly taking their photos, or just the fact that there are people out there who are just ready to be shot...by a camera. This has fanned a burning interest in me to try this back home. Petaling Street anyone? 

A flock of tourist on their tour of Little India

Initially Little India wasn't as busy as we hoped it to be as there were no hustling and bustling of uncles and aunties. But as we had breakfast and roamed the streets abit more, we found little gems hidden along the way. 

That's my Teh Tarik buster!

The Noodle Man with endless supply of freshly made noodles!

With Mark encouraging us to go up to people and shoot, we were slowly getting the hang of it, and managed to capture really interesting characters around Little India. See more of the pics after the jump. 

Tethered Shooting

If "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder", then make up is definitely "The Apple of the Eye". I Was recently in Singapore to assist Mark from Mark Teo Photography at a beauty DIY shoot for Beautymap; a Singapore fashion magazine. Fashion & beauty shoots can be a bit different as you would have the editor and/or stylists from the magazines to oversee the shoot. For every shot that you take, they would like to view it up close to see if we've managed to capture the money shots. 

Mark's 5DMKII tethered to the Macbook for a carefree shoot.

It would be too troublesome for them to view the image on the photographer's camera screen, so instead, we tethered the camera up to my Macbook, for easy viewing. Not only is it easier to view the images taken, it is also easier for us to filter through the many shots taken throughout the whole shoot, and mark down the editor's favourites along the way. That saves us time when we have to send a batch of favourites for them to choose from.

Images taken by Mark pops up immediately on the Macbook.

Tethering the camera to the Macbook also enables the editors a live view of the shooting area when we were shooting products. Propped up with a bird's eye view of the table, it was difficult for the stylist to place the products the way they want it without looking into the viewfinder of the camera. But with the live view on the Macbook, it was much easier for them to place the products. 

Clients/editors/stylists can view the shots up close and mark down their favourites along the way.
Behind the scenes credits to: Jonathan Tan
 

Digital Photo Professional, comes bundled with Canon DSLRs.

Using the software called Digital Photo Professional that comes bundled with the Canon DSLRs that you purchase, you are able to almost fully control your camera from the computer that you sync up to. All except focal length, the software enables you to control, shutter speed, aperture, file size and even white balance. A handy software to have on your laptop for shoots such as this.

Nike Cup Grand Finals

Held all over Kuala Lumpur in search of football talents amongst today's youth, the Nike Cup Kuala Lumpur Challenge finally came to an end with the Grand Finals held at the Dataran Merdeka, and 5 lucky teenagers won the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train at the prestigious Granja Comary, the Brazilian national team’s home.



After the deserving winners were crowned, the 15,000 strong crowd continued to be entertained by a artists such as Bunkface, Forty Winks, One Buck Short as well as Indonesian power house, Nidji till the sun sets. More pictures of the bands after the jump...