Dandenong In The Mist

Melbourne Night Noodles Markets

Melbournians enjoying a messy rain-soaked taste of asia.. Melbourne Night Noodle Markets 2013

His eyes tells a story

A young foreign worker, possibly from Bangladesh, has just arrived in Malaysia and on his way to the city of Kuala Lumpur where employment awaits (hopefully). Throughout the bus journey, he stares out of the bus window with such pensive eyes... as if contemplating what the future holds for him.

Personal Top 10 for 2012

Bukit Tabur, Selangor, Malaysia

Penguin Island, WA, Australia

Caversham Wildlife Park, WA, Australia

Tambun, Perak, Malaysia

Sherbrooke, Victoria, Australia

Mount Buller, Victoria, Australia

Lake Eildon, Victoria, Australia

Lake Eildon, Victoria, Australia

Logan Bay, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia 

Gibson Steps, Victoria, Australia

The Glorious Sunset of Kota Kinabalu

It's hard to imagine the beautiful sunset of KK is a daily affair, it's no surprise why many wedding photographers are based here in KK! I had the privilege to photograph this glorious vista at the beachfront over Labor Day holidays & I hope the pictures chosen are worthy of its beauty!

Awaiting the sunset..

Rolling skies lighting up as the sun starts to set.. towards the horizon, a light shower from the low hanging clouds adds to the dramatics..

Hues of purple starts to set in not long after, and the sea calms as the tide recedes further.

The final scene sees the skies torching up &  finally consumed by darkness.. this glorious vista knows little parallel in Malaysia.

POTY 2012 (Portrait) - Submissions

These are the pictures I chose to submit for Photoanswers.co.uk's competition for the Portraiture category:

I chanced upon the camel herder and his family on my way back from visiting a sandstone tower called Faisal's Finger in the desert outskirts of Riyadh. Evening was upon us when we drove near a camel herder rounding up his camels for the day. We were greeted kindly & after a brief exchange were asked to stay for some tea & dates with his family (I later learnt of Arab's well-known hospitality!). As we chatted, I asked for a picture of him with his favourite camel, he was more than happy to oblige! Choosing this particular shot, I felt it tells a little bit more of his story, of his children & of the simple happy life they lead. His smiling face will always remind me of the warmth of hospitality & friendship he offered a complete stranger on that faithful evening.

This is Andrew, an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast, immersing himself in the beautiful scenery of Klang reservoir set against the rugged ridges of Tabur Hill in Malaysia. Nature is where Andrew calls home, and he has been on countless nature expeditions in Malaysia. This particular hike up Tabur hill began in the early hours and the mid-morning light lit up the landscape perfectly as we reached the top. Positioning myself trecherously at the edge of these sharp ridges, I was able to get Andrew against the stunning scenery into this picture. The cloudy sky had some texture which I was able to highlight, & the reservoir was calm & mirror-like and reflected the skies beautifully.

(This pic was not submitted) This is little Ryu Iskandar and he had just gotten into a little tussle with his cousin brother & was upset. He was searching around for his father's comfort but did not know that daddy was away from home for couple of days. I took this shot as he approached me asking where his papa is :)

Prayers

May 2011 - Dad informing my divine protectors through prayers and offerings my status of becoming a 'man' the night before I was married. Details are vague but my parents have sought the help of the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) when I was ill as a child. I have since became the 'adopted' child of his divine presence - whereby the protection would end on the day I marry. Such traditional customs still widely practiced amongst Malaysian Chinese.

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Tabur

The crystal quartz ridges of Bukit Tabur overlooking the Klang Gates reservoir - a favourite spot for local hikers. The stunning views has no parallel in this region of Malaysia & the ridges form an extremely unique rugged natural beauty. My personal trips here are always refreshing, sadly it faces threat of housing development as it sits on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. If there was one place worth saving from the onslaught of commercial chainsaws - there is little doubt it is this place.

Trail Running

A man called Marvin Skagerberg once said... some days you just have to run in place & wait for the finish line to come to you..

Personally the biggest thrill of trail running is this - it makes running come alive. Being back in nature engages the basic instincts & every step taken brings you closer to nature. To me, trail running is an exciting combination of hiking & running, and for those who have yet to venture into it ~ I urge them to try it out. Prepare well for what the sport requires, take the first step & get ready to set your senses free :)

Marriage

My beautiful bride

Abandoned

Wanted to achieve a sense of dereliction & abandonment with this shot.. this was a burnt-out car in ipoh & was really tempted to re-shoot this in the evening when the sun wasn't directly in front of me. But i think my cause was helped by overexposing the background further & neutralising all irrelevant colours - leaving just the details of the horrids that has besieged this car.. hopefully enough to lead the audience into wonder what possibly happened here.. hmm.. wonder whether how that evening shot would've turned out tho.. !

The Bull..

It's a resolution this year, to attempt to revive this blogspot with more postings, predominantly photo reviews, tips & tricks & likes - really just to take this "journey with photography" a bit more seriously!

for first postings ~ i'd like to share this shot of a lone bull we (me & vons) saw while cruising on the s'pore night safari mini open-air bus thingy. i would say it was futile attempts throughout the whole journey to even try to snap anything - as we were constantly in near total darkness, with no tripod, no flashguns, all our shots were clearly "shoot & miss" efforts..!

nonetheless i couldn't resist a shot of this lone bull. standing there like a statue in the quiet of the night, partially illuminated by the artificial moonlights the safari have set up.. it did it for me, a certain safari magic. I took 2 shots as we slowly passed by, trying my best to ensure the bull remains in focus throughout that few seconds of exposure ~ only hoping to capture the atmosphere of what we were witnessing.. & with the help of some post-processing, i do hope i managed to do just that with this shot.. (i think it did enough anyways!)