FAST FOOD

Lepas tengok movie 'Super Size Me' a few years ago saya bersungguh nak stop makan McD dan lain-lain fast food. Nak jaga kesihatan. 

Ok la, nak stop terus susah, tapi memang cut down. Gigih avoid. Tapi hari ni gian sangat nak makan McD. Plus wife balik kampung so kena fikir nak beli dinner kat mana.

Terbayang mengigit burger yang succulent and juicy. Makan salty fries with chilli sauce. Gulps of icy coke.

Terus justify, 'Ala.. sekali sekala tak per kan'. :)

Mula-mula nak order yang ni...

Also nak order yang ni.. hmmm.. hmmmm.... :P

Mau agaknya saya makan cam mamat ni... hehe...

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PETIR

Berbulan dah berharap ank capture lightning shots tapi tak pernah dpt. Dangerous, yes but I had to try. It's something that's been nagging at me for a while now.. hehe.. :)

Cubaan Pertama:

Hujan dah mula turun.... rintik2... aku siap dgn kamera dlm kereta masa tu... menunggu... toleh sana, toleh sini... tgk langit.... aku di tepi highway, kat one of them small rest area...

Then I saw the flashes.... my heart was jumping for joy... dap dup dap dup...

Haha.. crazy I know, getting all excited about lightning... hehe... :)

Waited and snapped and snapped and snapped...

Inilah hasilnya. Not much really.... pitiful I know.... tapi yg penting attempted. I learned heaps from that experience :)

Cubaan Kedua:

Dah baring dah nak tido masa tu, tetiba nampak flashes of light kat tingkap bilik. Yay!! Lighting!! Wife dah tido dah masa tu. Senyap2 pegi ambik tripod dan camera dan set up kat balcony. Dan ini lah hasilnya... :)

I'm quite happy with these actually although I did not get that many good lightning shots. I kinda like the brewing storm within the clouds... :)

Cubaan Ketiga:

Keluar je dari basement parking kat office ternampak dark clouds nun jauh di horizon. Secretly I wished for lightning :). Sampai rumah dah gelap. Traffic jam teruk betul. Lenguh satu badan. Sampai je terus lari ke rumah dan ambil peralatan. Set up dan point ke arah bukit yg kebetulan tgh ader petir sambar menyambar directly above it. View ni dari my apartment actually.

And here was the result. Alhamdulliah.. akhirnya dpt gak lightning yg full spread.

Pas ari tu dah tak ambik petir lagi dah. Seram sebenarnya. Meremang. Pulak tu kan tripod dan camera tu are pointy objects. Tapi kalau from safe distance tak per.

Pengalaman yg best... agar aku tidak lupa.... :)

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TUGGING AT MY HEARTSTRINGS

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WORDS AND IMAGES

.. both descriptively different but when combined diharapkan dapat mencipta sebuah cerita... :)

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SEEING IN BLACK AND WHITE

Are you seeing it ...the beauty in black and white images?

Me? I just love b&w photos... I think they give a different kind of 'feel', tells a different story...

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GENG MASA KECIL

Ada la one time tu saya pegi Sekinchan. Rasa adventurous masa tu. Nak cari kampung/jeti nelayan melayu. For some photographic excursions. Once in a while stopped and tanya locals kat situ. Last-last ade sorang pak cik kat satu gerai makan tunjuk arah. I was excited... :)

Jetinya kecik je. Masa tu tengah gerimis sikit, which means the clouds looked gorgeous, beropol2 dan kelabu. I like. Bot-bot kecik nelayan berlabuh. Kecik tapi quite busy with activites. Then a fisherman came and pour his catch on the cement floor.

Then ader a couple of them tengah gulung jaring.

Dua nelayan sedang naik ke bot. Nak ke laut agaknya.

You see, it doesn't take much for me to be all excited about photography... just simple everyday activities... being there at a small jetty ... could really make my day. I suppose it was the appreciation of something I had never seen up close.. perhaps it was the sikap terbuka orang di situ that made me feel accepted...

Or perhaps it was these kids !!! :) :)

Tetiba datang la satu geng bebudak, ceria dan ready to do some fishing. Cuti sekolah masa tu. Punya la saya gembira. The thoughts of having the opportunities to take some photos while they were having fun was just too much to contain... haha... And to capture the joy on the kids faces was suddenly the objective for me that day. And I immediately thanked Allah for this pleasant unexpected peluang.. :)

Each time they cracked jokes and laugh, I laughed with them :)

Each time one of them caught a fish, I quickly snapped... and tried to capture those precious split seconds moments. Aaaa.. the joy of being kids... 

Ha... ni umpan yg bebudak ni pakai... :)

Bila tengok budak-budak ni, tetiba saya teringat geng masa kecik.... Idit, Nahar, Haizat dan Hamidi... dorang ni la kawan-kawan baik saya... we're real tight... tiap petang mesti main sama... malam ngaji sama... belajar main kompang sama-sama [bapak Idit ni ader kumpulan kompang]... Mereka la ajar saya lastik cicak pakai getah dan lidi buluh [mula-mula saya ngeri dan kesian kat cicak-cicak tu.. tapi lepas a few successful shots, saya jadi sadis... siap pi bakar cicak yg separuh mati tuh macam bakar satay... kids can be so cruel.. hehe]... yang ajar saya main layang-layang, guli, konda kondi, main yang baling selipar ke arah a stack of daun terup [tah apa ke nama permainan tu], gasing [gasing aku selalu terbelah... bila mintak mak duit nak ganti gasing baru, mak marah, 'Berapa kali nak beli gasing nihhhh!! Kalau tak tau main jangan la main!!'... pas tu saya duduk je tengok kawan-kawan saya tu main... kawan merayau hingga entah ke mana [kalau mak tau, habis kena ikat kat sofa dengan tali rapiah]...

Kat mana korang semua sekarang ni? Macam mana rupa korang agaknya? Apa-apa pun saya doakan kamu bertiga sentiasa dalam lindungNya, dimurahkan rezeki olehNya dan gembira disamping keluarga.. Amin...

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BLOOD

Come unto me for a taste...

Drink my blood dearest heart of mine...

And we'll be as one till the end of time...

Forever young... forever together...

And I shall spent every precious moment...

... murmuring endearments....

let me become the appeasement of your unceasing hunger...

... and letting you know that this heart is yours...

For you my love a gift for eternity....

Baru lepas tengok 'Twilight'.. hehe...

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DENDAM

Kau heret aku tanpa kerelaan...
Ke dalam hutan itu...
Separuh sedar...
Aku tidak boleh melawan...
Tidak lalu melawan...
Tubuh ku telah kau lemahkan...
Cuma seteguk dan aku terus tewas...

Binatang... kau jantan sial...
Aku kau ratah rakus... celaka... laknat....
Aku cuma mampu memandang ke atas ketika semua itu berlaku...
Pada dahan dan daun-daun...
Daun-daun yang melambai lembut...
Seolah cuba menenangkan ku...
Dengusan ganas kau tidak aku dengar lagi...
Cuma terdengar bunyi desiran angin lewat petang...
Aku cuba melarikan 'diri' walau jasad ku di situ...
Air mata aku mengalir...
Setiap tusukan bagai pisau...
Tiap genggaman bagai mengoyak...

Dan aku cuma mampu menangis...
Dan memandang ke atas...
Pada dahan-dahan dan daun-daun...


Dan aku kau humban di sini...
Kau ragut nyawaku dgn kejam...
Setiap kali aku cuba bernafas...
Setiap kali itu aku ditekan kedasar...
Aku cuba meronta... sekuat hati...
Cuba ku capai dahan, batu, akar.. apa saja...
Demi menyelamatkan diri ku...
Tapi kau sudah kesetanan...
Aku menggelepar... kejang... dan terus kaku...

Jasad ku hanyut... di senja itu...
Di hutan itu...

Sekarang jadi tempat aku bermain-main...
Di pokok besar yang rendang...
Di sungai yang nyaman...
Tapi setiap kali aku di situ aku akan sedih...
Kesal... marah...... dan dendam....

Jangan risau kerana kini masa aku pula...
Awas kau akan kunjungan ku...

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THOSE PERFUME ADVERTS

So there I was, at a clinic near my house... head pounding, runny nose, terketaq2 seram sejuk... kedemaman...

Aku pun capai la salah satu magazine yang berlonggok kemas kat one of the racks where I sat. Mostly women's magazine.. tak kisah la.. tercapailah Vogue... 3 or 4 years ago punya issue... patut la tebal, penuh dgn iklan jek... then tgh sakit tu datang ilham... datang idea.... why not try ambik/create photo style advert dlm majalah tu... advert perfume... so sambil tunggu giliran aku jumpa doktor, aku pun mentally try to figure out cam ner nak buat....

A week later, this was what I did...

Berikut adalah langkah2 that I used... crude tapi ni je cara yg aku tau.. hehe.. :)

Step 01:

Create a new canvas. Use colours that you think will best highlight/bring out the subject. Since perfume yg aku guna tu kaler biru, I used the gradient tool to create a nice combination/blend of the 2 colours I've chosen. The middle part was highlighted to create a glow behind the perfume. Kononnya cam kena suluh dgn lampu dari belakang ler.. hehe

Step 02:

Shoot the perfume. Arrange it so that you get a nice 3 dimensional image of the perfume. I think better to use a white background. Then clean up all unwanted elements around the perfume using your photoeditor. Then cut and paste onto the canvas. All the cutting and pasting were quite a painful thing to do, at least for me... hehe :)

Step 03:

I shot this hand-holding-swan-thing much earlier. Tu tangan my niece. Since she was not around masa nak try shooting perfume ni, the best I could do was recycle! Guna je balik gambar lama.... hehe.. :)

Ok then I cut and pasted only her hand onto the canvas yg dah ader gambar perfume tadi.

Step 04:

Ini also gambar lama. Shot masa tgh trapped dalam kereta sebab hujan lebat. So ni gambar droplets air hujan kat tingkap kereta. Aku rasa sesuai digunakan untuk shot perfume to give that 'fresh' and 'clean' look. Also cut and paste the section I wanted onto the canvas and perform 'Overlay' [ni function dalam Photoshop ni] and it'll blend nicely... :)

Step 05:

Add in lah kata2 yg sesuai to describe the perfume....

So I wrote something like...

'For that scentsational and scentsual nights....

.... complete it with your Scentimental Favourite....'

Hahaha.. I know, I know.. so corny right... haha

Dan hasilnya adalah...

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TA DAAAAAA...... :D

Disebabkan tak der hand model dan studio/lighting berbagai yg canggih, gitu le my crude ways of doing those perfume adverts.. haha...

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ALIEN INVASION

Entah macam mana nak tangkap gambar bertemakan 'Alien Invasion' pulak :).

Caption: "Eeeekkkk !!!!!

Even our poultry is not safe !!!"

Haha.. silly I know.. but fun stuff la... :)

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FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

Agar aku tidak lupa untuk sentiasa mengucapkan Alhamdulillah atas rezeki dariNya. Antaranya dapat makan sedap2 :)

Appetizers ~ Baked Scallops with cheese & prawns dipped with err... can't remember with what. The baked scallops are to die for darlin'... hehe..

~ Cable Car, Sunway Pyramid, PJ

Breakfast ~ Prawn fried rice, 3 types of sausages [chicken, beef and err... spicy beef I think], toasts, grilled fish [tak ingat ikan aper ], sautéed baby tomatoes, omelette, hashed browns, beef/chicken ham and errr... I think that's it..hehe.. . Oh I forgot, cinnamon bun, cake and egg tart plus a cup of tea.

Heavy huh? Burrrppp !!! Opps... excuse me...Hehe... .

~ Parkroyal, Penang.

Lunch ~ Grilled salmon and garlic spaghetti washed down with a tall glass of honeyed ice tea.

~ Lavender Bistro, Senai International Airport, JB

Lunch ~ Chicken rice + soup and teh tarik. I was engrossed shooting the roasted chicken I forgot to shoot the rice... hehe.. .

~ Cozy Corner, Alamanda, Putrajaya.

Snacks ~ Fried nuggets. Just trying to get that golden brown look for fried food. Plus I was feeling hungry at that time..hehe.. .

~ At home.

Staple ~ Instant noodles.. hehe... . Need a quick fix when your stomach growls. Try the deliciously satisfying 5 minutes instant noodles.

~ At home.

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