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My Ongoing Photography Education

In the 10 plus years that I have been involved in photography, I have read and owned only 1 book that contained the technical bit of photography (e.g. Exposure, ISO, Lenses, etc). The book was titled “National Geographic : Photography Field Guide“. It was simple enough for me to understand and I immediately put the techniques I learned from the book into practice and started on my journey of ‘learning how to see‘ from many teachers that have come along since then.

“All the technique in the world doesn’t compensate for the inability to notice.”  ~ Elliot Erwitt

I have counted many photographers whom I have never met in real life as my teachers. Some are famous, some are not so famous. Some are alive, some have passed on. I got to know them and learn from them through photography books. Much to the amusement of my wife, at any one time I always seem to have a large stack of photography books that I am slowly going through. Most of the books feature the work of an individual photographer. Some of my favorite teachers are Elliot Erwitt, Sam Abell, Eugene Richards, Bruce Davidson, Alex Webb, Larry Towell, Daido Moriyama, and Garry Winogrand. For instance, I can say “Elliot Erwitt taught me the effective use of juxtaposition in photography“, “Sam Abell taught me layering and to compose my picture first and then wait for the correct moment“, “Alex Webb taught me framing and the effective use of lines and shapes in my composition“, and “Daido Moriyama taught me to loosen up my shooting style and to always try and see the world with fresh eyes.”  

The learning process for me has remained much the same. While going through a photographer’s work, I would ask myself some of the following questions: “Why does this particular photograph resonate or not resonate with me? Is it the lighting? Is it the subject’s expressions? Is it the particular moment captured? Is it the composition? Is it something I want to try and emulate?” The process is very similar to what I do when I edit my own work.

I believe that each teacher that comes along gets infused into my own photographic style; some more than others but all of them, I count as influences and sources of inspiration. The photo above is my current ‘stack’ of ‘teachers’.  Who are yours?

Posted in Books, GeneralTags: ,

Street Photography in Japan with the Fuji X10 – Part 2

One of my ongoing personal projects is named ZOO. The project is simply doing Street Photography within the confines of a Zoo. It started off when I visited Arashiyama Zoo in Hokkaido a few years ago and found myself more fascinated with the behavior of the people rather than the animals. There were hoards of people moving from enclosure to enclosure and everyone had a camera. Even the children were using the camera on their Nintendo DS handheld to take photos! At each enclosure the people would be snapping away with their cameras and exclaiming excitedly whenever the animals in the enclosure did something other than staying still. It reminded me of groups of paparazzi stalking a famous person. The following photo was taken during my visit to Arashiyama Zoo.

The Zoo has been one of my favorite places for Street Photography chiefly because of the many interesting juxtaposition opportunities available as well as being able to easily blend into the crowds because practically everyone is carrying a camera. The main things that drive my composition in Street Photography are juxtapositions, lines, layers and the available lighting; so I am always on the lookout for these. In Zoos, I can juxtapose animal vs human and there also tends to be many lines (cages, viewing windows, etc) all around. The layering comes through how I decide to frame the photograph in my viewfinder/LCD screen to create depth (foreground, middle ground, and background). Sometimes it is the available light in certain areas that will catch my eye first and I will try to utilize it to create a more compelling photo by waiting for people to enter the lit area. The juxtapositions tend to make a seemingly normal setting turn into something out of the ordinary. I like what writer/photographer John Rosenthal said in an interview:

‘Sometimes it’s hard not to think of photography as an act of aggression. You’re stopping people from the flow of their lives, you’re cropping them from the space in which they live and have their meaning, you’re juxtaposing them to something they didn’t know they were next to. You’re objectifying them according to your terms, not theirs – for who would choose to be objectified? It’s very complicated, but the fact is, most photographs reduce us.’ ~John Rosenthal: The Ethics of Photography

I visited the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in November 2011 for the second time where the Fuji X10 was used exclusively during my walkabout in the Zoo. I greatly enjoy the shooting experience that the camera provides and once again, am quite happy with the results.

The following are a selection of photos from the shoot. For most of the photos, I used the following settings:- Shutter Priority (1/200 or 1/250), ISO set to Auto ISO 1600, Image Stabilization Off, and Film Simulation set to B&W. The RAW files were post processed using Capture One Pro. The zoom lens on the Fuji X10 is of a useful range but I still try to discipline myself by sticking to a focal length from 28mm to 50mm. About two-thirds of the photos were shot at this range with the remainder at the tele end when I needed more reach or if I wanted to blur out the background.

This post is Part 2 of “Street Photography in Japan with the Fuji X10″ and was first posted on The Invisible Photographer Asia on 9th February 2012.

Posted in Animals, Street Photography, TravelTags: , ,

Baby Beth

On the 26th of January this year, my wife Laura and I received our firstborn, Beth Choo Ning Xuan. I believe that with the grace of God and lots of prayer (we appreciate many of you who stood by us and interceded for us), we have gotten through the last week since we got home from the hospital. There have been many ups and downs as we have made adjustments to our daily routine as well as started to learn to care for Beth. So far, the ups have far outweighed the downs and we are definitely enjoying parenthood despite the tiredness, and sometimes sheer exhaustion of each day, as we continue to tweak our daily schedule.

I am really proud of Laura. She normally has a really low threshold for pain and yet she went through 6 hours of labour without any painkillers (i.e. no epidural, no laughing gas, no pethidine, etc). She was still walking around till about 2 hours before the birth when the Gynea caught her walking around outside the delivery ward and ordered her back inside. :P She was determined to do everything naturally and she succeeded with flying colors! She actually looked pretty fresh after labour (see the 3rd photo in the slideshow below which was taken about 3 mins after Beth popped out). We are trying to start our journey as parents well and Laura is doing a great job in her new role of mother and I try to support her in whatever way I can.

Beth has been really helpful by allowing us to sleep more during the past 3 nights. I helped do her 3.30am feeding last night so Laura could have an uninterrupted sleep till 7+am. Beth is a real cutie and likes to save energy often by just peeping through one eye (she gets this from Laura and Laura is quite sure that Beth’s acute sense of curiosity comes from me). As a photographer, she makes such an interesting subject for me. I am just trying to figure out how to get into the photos as well! One of the things that parents appreciate when I do my family/baby photography service is that both parents get to be in the photos. Normally, only 1 parent (usually the mother) appears in the photos with the child/children because the other parent (usually the father) is always behind the camera.

Here are a selection of photos from our first week as new parents:

PS. If any of you or your friends want to have a Family/Baby Photography session done, please feel free to recommend my services or speak with me via the Contact Link.

Posted in Baby, FamilyTags: ,
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