Links to other strobist clubs around Ireland.

If you're an Ireland based photographer, you might be interested in checking out these 2 strobists clubs. I'm quite active in both of them and usually have great fun hanging out with the people from both clubs.

These two clubs organise their event via Flickr. Dublin strobist is a lot bigger than Limerick but the small size of the Limerick club means you get more shooting time at the events.

Check out the links:

Dublin Strobist

Limerick Strobist

Limerick Strobist Meet in Cratloe Woods.

It was a nice afternoon for meeting fellow strobists from Limerick. This time the venue is Cratloe woods.  Cratloe woods, while beautiful, can be quite hard to use as the a setting. Not sure if it's because there's so many options or somehow all those vertical lines just scream for some kind of symmetry and compositional harmony.  Most of us started the day working with flash, but as the sun began to set, we had a lovely stream of yellow light filtering through the trees. It seem logical to abandon the flash guns and embrace the natural light then. Well done to Triona, Tatyana, Gemma and Laura for doing a great job braving the cold. It's a shame the snow's gone at this stage.

(2 bare flash on both sides of model, one bare flash behind model, one bare flash in front of model)

(crosslighting. One grid flash camera left and one bare flash camera right and behind model)

( one flash with grid, high and above model)

Winter Wonderland in Ireland

Once in every 20 years cycle, Ireland gets a cold snap which results in considerable snow fall all across the country. I've been in this country for 14 years, I've never seen this much snow before . Not just snow, but snow that remained long enough to coat everything in the open, transforming the countryside into a wondrous winter wonderland. So on Sunday, which was suppose to be the day with the heaviest snow fall, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful country side and arrange a shoot. I didn't fancy the cold but I told myself, if I didn't do it, I'd regret it. But I decided too late but somehow manage to get a model 12 hours prior to the shoot. It almost didn't happen as things kept popping up and we almost cancelled twice.

Anyways, hope you like the photos. This was shot in natural light as I didn't have time to set up lights. It was too cold and we had to move fast. I was too concern that Jacqui the model was going to get frost bite. At one stage, her poors fingers and toes had gone numb. But she was one tough model and fairplay to her for enduring the cold.

Guess what, the snow thawed the next day and just like that, the beautiful landscape disappeared. So glad I did this shoot now. We might not see this in Ireland for another 20 years.

New friends and Photography adventures in Sarawak

(one flash to camera left shooting through speedlight prokit 6)

I was standing in front of the new Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak, or the DUN as the local call it. The newly constructed Sarawak State assembly building stands at the river bend of the sarawak river, a once strategic location right next to where old Fort Margarita stands. Once upon a time, this old fort guarded this city against raids from bandits and fierce tribal warriors travelling down the river. So when they build the DUN so close to the fort, I started to wonder if there was some symbolism attached to it.

Directly in front of me is the Waterfront. I have not seen this view of the city for more than 10 years. While much of the old city landmark remains unchanged, a lot of the old buildings are gone. Standing there, I thought to myself, I may have been born in this city, 17 years after leaving this place for Ireland, it now feels a little alien to me. I'm almost a tourist in my hometown. I took a few snap shots while Well and Phil make a few phone calls. They were trying to find me a few 'models' for a couple of photo shoot. I got to know Phil and Well through Flickr. They have generously offered to arrange a few shoots for me during my stay in Kuching. Not only that, they also offered to drive me around the city, source location, introduced me to 'models'. They were god sent, without them this leg of my trip would have been a lot less interesting and I would have missed out on the chance to visit some of the interesting locations they brought me to. Not only that, they also double up as VAL (voice activated light stands) during the shoots. All in exchange for exposure to some strobism and some info on the way I shoot.

(one flash to camera light shoting through speedlight prokit 6 high above model)

Well put down the phone and told me," We have a man who's willing to pose for us! He's an old Iban man with lots of tribal tattoo and he works as a guard at a local park! We just have to go find him!" I found this amusing as I've never quite source a 'model' or subject in this manner.

"Let's go," I said. So we hopped into Phil's car and drove to Taman Budaya. Unfortunately for us, our tribal tattoo man was no where to be found. Time for plan B, more phone calls.

We eventually found us a model. Well somehow managed to convince his sister Nolly to pose for us the next day. Nolly has done a few commercial shoots before and was happy to oblige us with a a few shots. Well also managed to access some traditional Iban customes for the shoot. As luck would have it, I also found out my cousins have recently opened a one stop bridal shop. My cousin's fiancee, Feon who is an excellent make up artist agred to do the make up for us next day at 8am.

( one flash camera left high and above model shooting through speedlight prokit 6)

I woke up the next day at 7am to the downpour of tropical rain. I forgot we were in Sarawak in the monsoon season. The weather in Kuching is as unpredictable as the weather in Ireland. I rang Well and suggested perhaps we should just call the shoot off. Phil later rang and told me we might have an indoor location as his uncle who lives next door to him has a wonderful collection of antique jars, gongs and tribal artefacts that would make for interesting backdrop. So we decided to go ahead with the shoot.

The make up began at 8am. On hindsight, perhaps a little too late. We arrived on location around 9.30 am and found out that indoor location wasn't really suitable. Well then informed me that we had to return the costum for 11.00 am as his niece was going to need it for a dance performance. That leaves me about 1 hour to shoot. For a fella who's only shooting fun, this suddenly feels like a paid shooting assigment with time constraints. The presssure was on. With only so little time left, I wasn't about to start moving expensive tribal antiques around for an hour. God knows what would have happened if we broke anything. Lucky for us, the rain clouds had cleared at that stage and the sun came out. We had some serious blazing tropical light at this stage. By god, it was warm and then there's the 100% humidity.

(Crosslighting. One flash thru speedlight pro kit to camera right, high and above. One grid flash to camera left and behind model)

This assignment was tough for me as I wasn't exactly clear in terms of what I wanted out of the shoot. I wasn't interested in just taking a picture of a beautiful girl. I wanted to capture colour, the patterns of the costumes itself, I wanted to portray all that in the right environment. I wanted to capture a little bit of Sarawak but I wasn't quite sure how. So I kept shooting, all the while restraining myself to simple poses. This is not high fashion, I keep telling myself, so no fancy poses. Nolly took to directions well and was a fabulous model. After just over 2 hours, we packed it in and called it a day. I wasn't so sure what I got out of the pics but didn't have time to process them till recently. It seemed ages ago but it was merely over 2 weeks. The break however allowed me to bring a fresh set of eyes to the whole editing process. I enjoyed the colour and the simple lighting we had managed that day.

(crosslighting: flash thru speedlight prokit 6 to camera right and grid flash to camera left behind model)

 

More models for the next day

 

Phil later tells me he had arranged some models for me to shoot somewhere near Serian, in a 'secret' location which he had previously visited. I was intrigued. Abang Syuk, a mate of Phil and Well who introduced the lads to this location at the first place, would be joining is. The theme of this shoot was suppose to be Iban warriors but we had a last minute cancellation. The guys were a no show. The guys however managed to find me a few replacement. I was told, they had lined up for me in short notice, a bidayuh girl in her traditional tribal costume and some a set of Malay girls who were sisters. None of these girls have had any modelling experience but I am grateful for what I'm given. No MUA this time though.

 

  (one flash to camera right shooting through speedlight prokit 6. Some light painting in PP)

This time round, I was again stuck in a situation where I wasn't sure what direction to take the photo session. Normally I had time to ponder but not then. There were so many people waiting for me and I certainly didn't want to keep them waiting. I want to play with fantastical lighting but then I want to make it look close to natural. I am not sure if I succeeded in doing this but on that day, time was very short and the 'secret garden' while beautiful, is a slippery and dangerous tiny waterfall. So lots of limitation to what can be achieved. Time to go with my guts and just shoot. The whole lighting process made so much easier when the lads helped out with the lights. The surface were so uneven, there was no way I could set up lights on the light stands so their help was invaluable.

 

 

(one bare flash to camera right)

 

I wanted to capture the sisters together but compositional wise, it was a little challenging. Lookwise, the sisters were so different, so were the colour of their clothes. Would it work just the same if they all stood in the group or would it be better if  could spread them out, yet still be able to portray them as one entity. It turns the different looks didn't matter. The tighter group shots worked better.

 

 

( one flash camera left shooting through speedlight prokit 6, one flash gridded to camera right just behind tree and model)

  (lighting info below)

The light crew in action:

 
 

Last, something which I frequently forget to do, a group picture. Big thank you to Phil for setting up this group shot and allowing me to use the image for my blog.

 

Once again, many thanks to Phil, Well, Abg Syuk and all the models for making this a wonderful trip for me.

Thank you for reading. Please visit my Flickr page for strobist info on the shoot  and my official website wakphotography.com for information on wedding photography services.

Melacca Love Story (a photo shoot in historical town Melacca)

This photo shoot was done sometime early November during my trip back to Malaysia. I haven't been back in 3 years and this time round, my family took the oppurtunity to visit Penang, Singapore, Melacca and we'll be going to Kuching on our final leg. This shoot was done in Melacca on the course of a Sunday morning. A big thank you to Jess for being so enthusiastic. She started having her make up done from 5 a.m in the morning. I was myself on location by 6.30 am. By brother was unluckily dragged into the whole equation by becoming the driver and light assistant for the morning. We started getting first light by around 7 am. We started the shoot in the Stayuds ground. We had to move fast as the first tourist bus, unbelievably arrived around 8 am. It was not possible to shoot here at any other time of the day as the place would be packed full of tourists so we had about 1 hour to grab as many shoot here as possible.

We then moved to Jonker's Walk. This charming street is full of old houses of an era gone by. It was perfect for the kind of shoot I was going for. But the traffic in this place got busy pretty quick. We then moved to the street behind Jonker's Walk which I think was a better location for shoots. We spent the rest of the morning here, moving from one interesting location to another. I'd say, my overall feeling is that Melacca as a whole a friendly place to photographers. I didn't get any hassle all morning which makes the overall experience a pleasant one. This is my first time in Melacca. Let me tell you photographers, this town is cheap, relaxed, charming and an incredible spot for a photo day out. Highly recommended. We're even thinking about relocating here permanently. :-)

Light setup has been primarily natural light. Getting the model to step in and out of the shade to feather the lighting. When we did use flash, it was usually either a single bare flash for fill or using a speedlight pro kit modifier during the earlier part of the day. No reflector though it would have been handy for light fills but we continue shooting in the shade to prevent any high contrast lighting. I was travelling light so my gear was limited to a sony HVL F58am flash, Nikon sb28, a sony a900, a Minolta 35mm f2 and CZ 85mm f1.4, skyport triggers, a Honl grid and snoot, a speedlight pro kit and a manofrotto nano light stand. This is a relatively light setup compared to what I normally take with me to a shoot and seems to work quite well when shooting in the tropical light. But then that depends on what you're looking to shoot really. I find the 35mm a little narrow and sometimes wonder if a 28mm prime would have suited me better in this trip.

Some of the buildings in Melacca were full of rich colours like the above corridor next to the Stadthuys. These make for ideal shoot locations.

We had rented the dress from a local bridal shop. They also did the make up and hair for us. I bought the fan from Jonker Street.




I was shooting a mix style of classical portraits and lastly, action shots like those of a movie scene. It was fun trying different ideas. Somehow the whole thing unfolded in my mind like a old school romantic chinese movie. Hence the name of the set.





If you were ever in Malaysia, Melacca is definitely well worth a visit.

Thanks for watching. Hope you like it. The full set can be found here.



Big thank you to Jessi who as of writing appears to be the only model from Melacca registered on model mayhem.

A grand wedding in Adare

I recently shot a wedding in Adare for the second time. I shot my first ever wedding as a second shooter in Adare in fact. This time round it was the wedding of Darragh and Fiona. The wedding was in Adare church and the reception in Adare Manor itself.

Adare is a popular location for weddings. The village itself is picturesque. I've seen some shots of couples here and there are frequently taken at the Public Park and the Abbey. Both locations are nice but it's just not very original as locations. So myself and my second shooter scouted the location, explored potential ideas. Try to see things little differently. While our ideas are not completely original, but I think it was adapted well to location.

I must say I was blessed with the fact that Fiona and Darragh were a good looking couple and have no problem posing for the camera. It certainly makes life very easy. A check out her dress, very sex in the city, just pure class.

We didn't do too many strobist style shooting here as we didn't have much time to play with lights. The ambient light in the location was perfect for dramatic lightings. Check out the images , I'm sure you'll agree with me.

Almost got sabotaged by the door man in the above image. The door was initially open, I had manually metered with the door open. Then without warning, he closed the door and boy did the light in the church drop by at least a stop and a half. I was rather worried this wasn't going to expose properly but it turned out great.

What a beautiful couple. Totally relaxed in front of the camera and the pictures show.

I'll link to the full album when it's ready to go. For more information about my wedding services, please check http://www.wakphotography.com/. Thanks for reading.

The Delivery Man and his flying dog

This here is another sunny day shoot. I like blue skies and white fluffy clouds, I do. As a child, I must have spent many a bored afternoon daydreaming as I watched the clouds and imagine myself floating thru the clouds, carefree. lalalala

This shoot aimed to capture that feeling. I know a man, known simply as 'The Delivery Man'. You call on this guy when you have something important to deliver, and deliver it he will. Interestingly enough, he also has a Flying Bassett. A wilful yet incredible sweet dog, who is mostly a pain in the hole during the shoot.

We started the day doing a few cross lighting with the delivery man against a clear blue sky.


As before, the thing to do here is expose for ambient until the sky looks acceptably blue and the clouds not over exposed. The limitation with a lot of camera and with the sony a900 is that the max sync speed is 1/250th of a second. So you have to decrease aperature size instead to control ambient light. This however also limits the amount of light hitting your sensor from your camera flash. Even at full power, I had to use two camera flash at 6 feet, firing bare to fill the shadows.

Ok ok, the backdrop were composites of clouds from that day. I couldn't find a high enough place to clear the horizon. So I had to try and get rid of the trees and other what have you's from the image in photoshop. I was really upset!

The image below was tough enough to shoot. I mean this fella could really jump. How do you frame a 6 feet tall fella who can jump 20 feet in the air. On top of it all, you're shooting at 1/250th of a second, potential this will still cause blurring. I find if you wait for the fella to reach the apex of his jump ( ie where he is almost at a stand still for a fraction of a second), the image will be the sharpest.

Now the flying Basset on the other hand has a short attention span. One thing I've learn from this shoot is unless your dog understands at least 2 commands, sit and stay, you have no hope of getting any proper shooting done for the day. For a dog with short attention span, you need a trainer or somebody who has control over the dog to stop the mutt from running around chasing other bitches or kids. Above all, you need to bring doggy treats to hold its attention and a towel to clean off the damn slobber. Failing that, you do a composite and I'm not admiting to that again.

In this instance, the dog got bored and flew away. That was the end of the shoot for the day.

The lighting setup was the same for all the shots. Lovely bare flash cross litted with the sun to camera right.

A big thank you to the Delivery Man. He models in his spare time and you can find his info on model mayhem. http://www.modelmayhem.com/570210